Thanksgiving

We kicked off our Thanksgiving holiday with a trip to the zoo! It was the Hogle Zoo's free day on Wednesday and my mom and I took the boys up. We always get there right when then open (my kids are early birds anyway) and we beat the crowd! My boys do like the zoo, although at every single animal we saw Hudson would look at the animal and then look at me and say "different" meaning, show me a different animal. Then he started requesting to see a cow. So Hudson was being a little harder to please, which is normal for us these days, but he still had a good time and was particularly excited about the bears and crocodiles. Chase asked that morning if mommy and Nana would get brave and take him to see the reptiles (we are both super scared of snakes). Of course we toughened up and took him to the reptile house and he was fascinated the whole time! Then the boys took their first ever ride on the carousel! We had never done it before and the boys loved it!

 I didn't get many pictures at the zoo- I was too busy trying to enjoy the experience with the boys to try to get good photos. We all came home extremely exhausted, but it was totally worth it!

Thanksgiving morning started off with Ben making pumpkin waffles, then we gathered and had a Smith family football game! My mom held Nora on the sidelines and the rest of us played a very casual game of football (meaning we let Chase be the star of the show). Nora was kicking and smiling the whole time watching us, and Hudson was torn between wanting to play and be with Nora. After Katie scored two touchdowns in a row he came up with a great strategy- making his Aunt Kate hold him through the rest of the game.  And then he frequently wanted to check back in with Nora.

 Chase was very excited about playing football this year! He was such a cute little runner and got so into the game. We all had a great time with him.

 We had a beautiful dinner and everything turned out delicious! I think my boys each ate three rolls a piece and completely ignored the rest of the dinner, but it was a holiday so we just let them do their thing. I feel so completely grateful for all my blessings- the top of the list being family. I've said it before, but being a wife and mother is my greatest dream come true. I'm grateful that we are healthy and happy. I'm grateful to be part of a bigger, wonderful, happy, supportive family. I'm thankful for all our wonderful friends. I'm so thankful to have the gospel in my life. And of course I'm thankful for all the silly simpler things like cars that run and food to eat, for White Collar and Dairy Queen pumpkin pie blizzards, iPhones, flannel sheets and free zoo days. We are truly blessed!

Highlights of November (thus far...)

I can't even believe we are this close to Thanksgiving! November is going by so fast for us! Before it's over, here is a little update on what we've been up to this month! In no particular order:

• We had a really lovely dinner at my friend Katie's house last Friday night. I failed to take any pictures, but let it be documented that we had a great time. Katie and I were in London together back in 2007 and became fast friends. Now she's married to a Ben as well and we all got together at their beautiful home in Pleasant View. My kids adored Katie and Ben and talked about them for days afterwards! We enjoyed getting out and doing something with friends! Ben's new work schedule is giving us all kinds of freedom!
• Likewise, we had a great date night out with our dear friends Chad and Alyse. We were supposed to meet them at Lucky 13 (a bar in Salt Lake) for what are claimed to be the best burgers ever. Well, it didn't occur to me that they ID at the door there, and of course I didn't have my ID with me. (This shows how often we frequent bars...) We ended up at a BBQ place instead which was excellent- but we still definitely owe the Bennetts a night at Lucky 13!
• My amazing BFSC Jana came down to visit this month! It was basically the best thing ever! I got to meet her new baby- little Carma- who both boys fell in love with instantly! Her visit was 2 1/2 days of wonderful conversation and lots of laughter, late nights and early mornings (thanks to our kids), some yummy food, a little working out, and mostly just chatting about life and motherhood. It was a much needed distraction for me from our normal life! These pictures show a little of how "hands on" my boys were with her. Carma's a fourth baby and seemed extremely unphased by my boys smothering love. 

 On our walks Chase would repeatedly get out of the stroller just to check on Carma- or Cah-ma as he says it. Hudson mostly called her "nora" or "cars".

 Jana and I figured out a most efficient way to get errands run with all three kids- Jana stayed in the car with the kids while I ran in and out of the store and post office. My boys were entertained by the sheer view of baby Carma next to them!

 I love Jana- she's funny and sensitive and charming and so much fun. I can (and basically do) talk to her about anything and everything. TMI doesn't even apply in our relationship. I was so so happy that she came!

•  We tried, not once, but twice, to get a decent family picture for our Christmas cards- and thus ensued the most frustrating 45 minutes of my life. This is why it would just be a better idea to pay someone professional to take our pictures- hopefully next year! We got a few fairly good shots (neither of these made the card). The first try we just tried to get pictures of the kids, which was basically impossible. The second time we brought my dad along to snap the pics. It was going horribly until my dad found a way to keep both boys looking at him and laughing- making farting sounds with his mouth. Of course. Christmas cards are now printed and ready to be sent! 

•  Along the same lines as the Christmas cards, I made a goal this year to get most of the "business" side of Christmas done before Thanksgiving (aka shopping). Ben and I had a fun date night last week and finished up all the shopping we needed to do for the boys! We still have a few things to get for family, but we are mostly done! After Thanksgiving I plan on spending all of December just enjoying the magic of Christmas with the kids- untainted by the stress of Target at Christmas time.
• I snapped this picture of my sweet baby on my phone- I just have to document his curls. Oh my goodness, this kid makes my heart melt for so many reasons, one of which being these sweet little curls! I never want to cut his hair! It's starting to get long, and I know a haircut is imminent, and I'll probably cry when it happens. We are waiting for a certain aunt and uncle to come in to town for Christmas, both of whom have requested we not cut Hudson's hair until they've enjoyed it in person. 

•  Hudson asks to wear his "gersey" every single day. Besides his obvious love for his BYU football jersey, he also just seems like he's already in training to be a football player (ie- tackling Chase several times a day). He's also started tattling- I've now heard "Chase pushed me!" about 8 times this week. He always says it like he's an innocent victim. Lucky for Chase, I know better. 

•  With it getting cold again we are enjoying our Discovery Pass more and more! Oh how we all love that place! There is a darling class every Monday morning (Music and Motion) that we try to go to. The gal who teaches it is darling with the kids and definitely is on a first name basis now with my two boys. Last time it was a fall yoga class which was the cutest thing I've ever seen. The kids were being trees, whales, deer, mice and snakes. Usually even the idea of snakes creeps me out, but Chase sliding all over the floor on his belly was pretty adorable. 

21 Months of Hudson

 At 21 months Hudson is so cute, funny, determined and, ahem, contrary. Seriously, every single question you ask him is first answered with "No" and then sometimes followed by the right answer. Every single time I give him his sippy cup of milk he pushes it away, even if he asked for it. Then when I offer it a second time he'll take it. He's started trying to identify colors, and he's usually wrong, but insists he's right. We've had many a discussion lately about the correct colors for things. He doesn't give up easily!

When you ask "Who's the boss around here?" Hudson will get a huge smile on his face and say "Hudson boss!"

He is finally loving story time and just snuggles in so sweetly while we read to him! He's always been a hard kid to put to bed because he's just so dang cute and cuddly at night.

Speaking of nighttime, he already has a clear preference on what jammies he wants to wear at night, and the definite winner is the fire truck jammies (which were also Chase's favorite at this age). He'll ask me during dinner "Firetruck jammies? Dirty?" It's a big deal when they are dirty, which is approximately every other night.

Hudson is a strong little boy! He can hold his own against Chase. He's been known to tackle Chase to the ground and then giggle while he sits on top of him. And it is no easy task to pry a dangerous/breakable object from his chubby little hands.

He is in love with his cousin Nora. He talks about her every day. He loves looking at pictures of her. And then when he actually sees her he starts flapping his arms, gives her hugs and kisses and talks to her about 3 inches from her nose.  Luckily, she's starting to really love him too and giggles when she sees him.

He's a total tease. Lately, he's been rebelling a little on sitting in his high chair. So for breakfast and lunch we let him sit in a booster at the table- in the chair my dad sits in at dinner (it has arm rests so it holds the booster a little better). Hudson knows he's sitting in Papa's chair and they've talked about whose chair it is several times. One morning my dad walked through the kitchen without commenting on where Hudson was sitting. Hudson started timidly saying, "Papa? Chair?"  When my dad realized what Hudson was getting at he said in his deep, tough voice, "Who's sitting in my chair!" Hudson's cute little face split into a huge grin and he said, "Hudson chair!" over and over.

He's talking up a storm these days and is putting together 2-3 word sentences. He's a good little communicator! Of course, he wants to be big just like Chase and still totally looks up to Chase and wants to do everything he is doing (including playing with the exact toy Chase is playing with). We love our Hudson James! He definitely keeps us on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Out of the Mouth of Chase and a Chase Update

We love this kid!

Last Sunday night Ben and I settled in to watch the movie "17 Miracles" which is now on Netflix. We've meant to see it since it came out and are just now getting around to it. Our sister-in-law Kate's dad (Bruce) is in the movie, he's the angel that comes every time a miracle happens. We were trying to get Chase to just play, because we knew the movie would be boring for him, and also a little intense for a three year. Alas, he mostly insisted on watching a big part of the movie with us, and his comments during it were hilarious!

"Hey! That's Bruce! When is Lisa going to be in this?" (Lisa is Katie's mom- Kate's parents are both darling with Chase and we see them all the time since they live up the street and Chase adores them.) 

He repeatedly asked for Lisa throughout the movie.

"I like this movie and I'm just a little bit bored."

and then every time a miracle happened Chase would comment, "That was so nice of Heavenly Father!" "Oh, God was nice again!"

Several people have asked lately how old he is, and he responds with "I'm still three." I think he knows that he's getting close to four.

During breakfast he randomly started explaining how football is played to Hudson. All of a sudden I hear, "Then you bend over and throw the football under your bum bum."

Poor Chase got sick this week! He's definitely our iron-immune system kid, he has hardly been sick at all in his little life! The kid doesn't even get mosquito bites or sunburns! It started last Sunday night with a high fever and just general crumminess. Then by Monday night he seemed totally fine, only to have him spend all of that night on our floor moaning/coughing and finally puking everywhere! Then 4 perfectly normal and healthy days went by and all of a sudden he threw up again everywhere on Saturday morning (at 3:00 am, all over his bed, I don't really want to talk about it.) Then he went back to acting fine, and then by that night seemed just lethargic and not quite himself. Basically I don't know what to think and I worry that we infected people when I thought he was over this bug, but I guess he wasn't. One thing about my sweet Chase is that sickness makes him sweeter! He's so polite and calm when he's sick. He also has so much energy that he doesn't show any sign of sickness until he's really sick- like suddenly he's just throwing up with no warning, or all of a sudden he's running a high fever. He just powers through life!