Heaven

I have been in a bad mood for the past week. I feel like my son NEVER listens to me. And time out is not working!! Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get a 4 year old to listen and not tell me NO?

I sent Ben to the grocery store, and he brought back my favorite ice cream (without me even asking him). Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie. Any of those words are good on their own "chocolate" "fudge" or "brownie", but together they are heaven in a cup. What would heaven be like without Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream?

The Count Down

Only 4 days and about 14 hours to go. Who else is as excited as I am?

Happy Birthday Benny!

Alright, sorry I called you Benny. I know how much you love being called Benny. Yes, Ben is 28 today. We just keep getting older! One day we'll be young again right? Ben had to go to work today, so I just made him breakfast before he left and kissed him goodbye. Later he asked if I would make a special dinner, so I'm doing that also. Me and the boys got Ben an awesome 22 ft. Little Giant Ladder. He loves it (at least he said he did).

Here are some random pictures:

This is Ethan eating his first Oreo (I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist).
For our anniversary we went to Castle Creek Bed & Breakfast. It was so relaxing, and so pretty. Here are Ben and I in the gardens there.
This is me in the gardens still. They were so beautiful! I felt like I was somewhere else (not in Salt Lake).
This was the cool front door. Sorry if you think it's lame. It had a little mini door that you could open and see who is outside. SO COOL! I've just seen that in movies!

Anyway, we had a good time. Thanks to my mom for sleeping over and watching the boys for us! We love you! And Happy Birthday Ben!

Baby Ryan

I told you you'd get sick of seeing pictures about Ryan's birthday, but having his birthday made me think of his actual BIRTHday. So here is a blast from the past. 4 years ago (or more) when Ryan was born.

Sorry for the graffic nature of this picture. This is our ultrasound to find out it was a boy at 18 weeks pregnant.
This is me about 3 months pregnant on New Years Eve at my friend Libby's house. I was obviously coming out of the bathroom, and she thought it would be funny to take a picture of me with my belt undone (my pants were getting a little snug).

My baby shower with friends from high school at Jen's house. (did I have something on my butt? I don't remember why we were laughing).
At the hospital on July 18th talking to my mom.
The first time we saw Ryan. He was born at 11:18 pm, just a few minutes before our anniversary.

Ryan on the scale, he weighed 8 lbs. 14 oz. and was 22 inches long.
Aunt Maren, Ben's little sister, with Ryan.
Libby & Jenifer coming to see Ryan
Ben and Ryan
Ryan sleeping next to mom after we got home.

It's so fun to go back and look at pictures that you really didn't think was so long ago.

Happy Anniversary Ben!

We had Ryan's Birthday party on our anniversary. Pretty romantic ey? It was actually a lot of fun. We had some neighbor kids, and some preschool friends, and some cousins come to the party. We didn't want it to be too big. And I must say, 2 hours for a birthday party is too long!! It was exausting, but I'm sure glad we had the slide. It kept everyone entertained.

THE SLIDE

Ryan
Climbing up
Ryan going down
The party guests

Ryan doesn't like cake so we made dirt cups instead with pudding and crushed oreos and gummy worms on top. They were a hit. (for Brooke) we told Austin it was dirt and he gave it back saying he didn't like dirt. (we then told him it was oreos, not dirt and he loved it).
Ben trying out the slide
Proof that my dad can hold Ethan without him crying (Ethan crying, not my dad)
Me and Ethan going down
Yes, I look so awesome in the picture, but I thought it was funny, so here you go

After the party my parents stayed later to watch the boys so Ben and I could go on a date for our anniversary. We actually went to dinner AND a movie! Crazy huh? A real date!! Thanks Mom and Dad! Ben and I have been married 6 years. Can you believe it? Sometimes I feel like I've been married for 15 years, and other times it feels like it was just yesterday I was single. Happy anniversary Ben. I love you! You are a super husband and we make some pretty darn cute kids!

Ryan's B-day

The next few posts are of Ryan's birthday. You may think I went overboard with the pictures, if so, just don't read it. Anyway, this was ON Ryan's b-day. He opened his presents when Ben got home from work. Then we went to Carl's Jr. (with a play place) for Ryan's b-day dinner and Uncle Jake and Aunt Shayla came with us. Then we had a surprise b-day party for Ben's friend Ash who turned 30 that night. They lit the candles on the cake and sang to both of them.

Sarah and Ethan.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Today Ryan is 4 years old. How am I the mother of a 4 year old? I still feel 18! Anyway, Ryan is a good boy, we love him very much. We feel so blessed to have such a fun little boy who is full of energy. He is always making us laugh. Lately he's been really into watching, "The Little Rascals". He goes around the house saying, "Dear Darla, I hate your stinkin' guts. You make me vomit. You are scum between my toes. Love Alfalfa". It's pretty funny to listen to in his little voice. Happy Birthday Ryan!

I've mentioned this before, but my computer is sometimes dumb (it's probably just user error), so right now I can't see the pictures while I'm typing this post. So I will explain the pictures to the best of my memory and hopefully you'll see them in order.
Yes, this is really what Ethan is playing with. A Tampon from my purse. Whatever keeps them happy right?
I made Ethan a mini pancake. He loved it!
This is our awesome neighbor Cheryl feeding Ethan. Notice Ryan's shoes? He said he was a princess.
Grandma Linda and Grandpa Bob Clegg came over for Ryan's birthday last night. Grandpa Bob made Ryan a step stool so he can reach the sink and other things. It looks awesome! I asked Ryan later if he liked it and he said, "I love it, that Grandpa Bob is so nice".
The last picture is of Ben and his birthday present from his parents (the flat thing on the floor, with the clamps Ethan is eating). It's some sort of cool tool, although I couldn't explain it to you. Ben's birthday is a week from today, but Ben's family is going on vacation next week so they brought it over early.

We haven't done Ryan's presents or anything yet. We're waiting for Ben to get home from work. We're having a birthday party for Ryan tomorrow also, so I will do another post later.