Wahoo! Warm Weather!

Sorry it's been a while since I posted.

On the day of my last post I found out that I am going to be laid off at the end of April. So that put a damper on things for a little bit. We are very grateful that I am losing my job instead of Joe, and that we have time to make adjustments and see what else is out there. Lately I have been spending time online looking for something else I can do part-time.

On to happier things....
Saturday was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining and the temperature got above 50 degrees! It was heaven! Of course we had to let Jacob play outside and there was only one place he wanted to play.

Boys and their dirt!

Jacob was in heaven. As a matter of fact, every day since he has wanted to go outside and play in the sandbox.

Saturday while I was at a women's conference, Joe discovered that Ephraim doesn't exactly care for shoes. Joe put some sandals on over Ephraim's socks so he could walk around outside without getting his feet wet on the soggy ground. As soon as he put the shoes on Ephraim started wailing!

Joe even tried it later while Ephraim was in his high chair, and even though he couldn't see them, Ephraim started crying. I guess that's what happens when you learn to walk during the winter! He has only ever walked when he had socks or bare feet, so he does not understand what we are trying to put shoes on him for!

We let him play with the shoes for a while, and he did a bit better today. I actually got him to smile... while wearing shoes!

Of course he wouldn't move an inch with the shoes on, so we'll have to work on that.

Today was a pretty nice day too. Jacob and I played outside for quite a while. Since it rained Sunday, I didn't really want Jacob in the sandbox. So I got him to play with bubbles instead. It's kind of nice when your kids learn to blow bubbles by themselves, isn't it? Now I don't have to get lightheaded to keep him amused!

Great job Jacob! Look at all those bubbles!

I also took the boys for a walk this afternoon. We had to stop by the construction site and check it out. Jacob still LOVES to watch all the construction equipment. It looks like they are going to start framing in the church building very soon. What do you think?

Snowy Week

We have had crazy weather this week. It keeps snowing, but luckily the snow keeps melting off the lawn.

Earlier this week I went outside to check out the snow and I found these tracks in the lawn. I am pretty sure they are from a raccoon.

I went online and raccoon tracks seem to be the closest to these. I have never seen a raccoon near our house, but maybe they only come around at night time.


Later this week we took a quick walk to look at the construction equipment at the church building site near our house. Jacob LOVES to go see the big tractors. Here is a picture of him "walking" over there.

Wait for Mommy!

If you look closely behind Jacob in this next picture, you can see that they already have the foundation poured for the church building. The street that the big trucks drive on is a muddy mess! I bet they will be glad when warmer weather comes too!


Notwithstanding the icky weather, we are having some signs of spring in our flowerbeds. I think these are our crocuses and probably daffodils. It's too early for tulips, right?


Hopefully we can get some sunshine around here so these little guys can grow!

Two Boys in the Tub

Joe took some cute pictures while I was giving the boys a bath last weekend. So I thought I would share them with you. I don't usually get any pictures taken because Ephraim is a bit enthusiastic about bath time.


Here is a picture of Jacob that I thought was funny. He is trying to smile for Daddy.

Ah well, at least he is cooperating!

Walk on Ephraim!

Ephraim is getting better and better at this walking thing! Can you believe that he's not even 11 months old yet? Ok... he will be tomorrow, but Jacob didn't walk until he was over 13 months. I guess it makes a big difference when you have somebody to follow around!

I took this first video this morning and it makes me laugh so hard. Ephraim sometimes still uses the walls and couches for support, but he is letting go more often.



Here is another video that I took last night while Joe was on the phone with his family.

Jacob plays dress up

Jacob did the funniest thing Sunday night. While I was on the phone with my parents, Jacob walked up to Joe and asked him to make this blanket into a dress for him. So Joe wrapped the blanket around him. Then Jacob asked me for a hair bow. It was pretty funny because he has never played at being a girl before.

So I put the hair bow in his hair. He decided he didn't like that, so I put it on his "dress". Here are the blackmail photos:

He told me that his dress needed buttons, so I pretended to put some on there for him. It was actually pretty funny. I guess all kids like to play "dress up", right?

No photos, please!

A Close Shave

On Saturday the boys and I ended up home most of the day without Daddy. Joe was providing some support for a conference at UVU.

We had a pretty good day together because the weather was pretty nice. We played outside for a bit and went on a walk in the afternoon. I thought that the boys might get a haircut later in the day, so I decided to play "barber" with Jacob. I was hoping that it would help him so that he does not get so scared and upset when we give him a haircut. I actually got him to hold the razor and give Clifford a shave. It was so cute! Check it out.

Jacob's Website

Yesterday we went to the library for "Wee Read" as we do on every Thursday. Jacob absolutely loves going and listening to the stories each week. Ephraim is a bit more of a challenge because he wants to just crawl around the entire time. This week he was pretty good and sat on my lap until the very end, so that was nice.

After we were done with Wee Read we went upstairs to check out some books. Right now we are limited to board books because Ephraim is not necessarily safe with regular books. So I am looking through the books when Jacob starts to walk away.

I say, "Jacob come back. Where are you going?"
To which he replies, "I'm just going to check my website."

He then climbs up on one of the chairs by the catalog computers and starts to furiously type on the keyboard and move the mouse around. It was pretty hilarious.

I asked him to come back here please, to which he said, "In a minute, I'm checking my website." I think by then nearly everyone in the library was silently chuckling at my funny little boy.

Funny thing is, this isn't the first time he has said that while we were looking for books at the library!

Ephraim walks and Jacob talks

Would you care to see what Ephraim has figured out in the past week or so?



Yep! Every day the little bug is taking more and more steps. He now regularly walks between the coffee table and couches in the living room. Before long he will be standing up in the middle of the room by himself and walking all over the place. Then he will be chasing Jacob around! Fun, huh?



I can't believe how quickly he is learning this skill, and at only 10 months old! Isn't he a cutie?

Not to be left out, here is a short video of Jacob. I had the camera out Jacob wanted me to sing with him. Of course I let him do most of the singing. He is so precious!