Lessons to be learned from an Action Figure and a 5 year old

You know how you love your kids?
Just have this unending well of love.


and sometimes,
it seems like there is a temporary shortage
(when they color the walls, or dump gallons of juice on the floor)
maybe not of love,
but definitely of patience.

and then other times,
there is nothing big enough to contain it.
It runs over and spills out
and you see them as they were created to be seen
and love them as they were created
by a loving Heavenly Father
to be loved.

We were Christmas shopping
(we had a gift card)
at a certain store


the collections of "stuff" there constantly amazes me
(Is it rude to say junk? because I think a lot of it is junk)
it is so eclectic, you never really know what you will find

and if you don't buy it then,
there is really very little chance of ever
ever
finding it again.

For some strange reason
I had taken all the kids in with me
(Don't ask me why, I plead temporary insanity)
and Caden found these.
Halo 3 Battle Helmets

I expected the begging to begin,
I was waiting for it.

and then in a voice of awe,
Caden said

"Mom, Dad would think these were so cool."

I glanced over and with a quick "uh huh" and kept moving.

"Mom, can I..."

"No Caden, we are not buying toys today"

"But Mom, for Dad?"

"Put it back honey, I can't find what we need, we'll come another time,
and if it is still here we will get it. I don't want to stand in line."

"Okay, I'll hide it so no one else gets it."

He talked about the stinkin helmets
non stop for three days.
Non-Stop.
How much Ryan would love them,
How cool they were,
How he was going to get them
and they would be
the best Christmas Present Ever.

How do you not cave to that?
So on Christmas Eve
I took him back to get the dang helmets.

He was so excited he couldn't even walk,
he had to run.

As soon as we walked in,
I knew we were in trouble.
Big Trouble
There was almost nothing left in the whole store.

He ran right to the hiding place.
Nothing.

We went back to the place we had found them.
Nothing.

We went through all of the empty toy shelves.
Nothing.

His little head bent
he quietly said
"I guess we were too late."
"I even brought my tooth fairy money to get it
so you couldn't tell me we don't have the money for that."
and the tears started rolling down his face.

I couldn't stand it.
It was all I could do
to keep the tears from rolling down my face.

That was it.
I called Ryan.
Desperate for something to fix it.

Fabulous man that my husband is,
he reminded me that there was another

in Orem
that we could check out.

We were on a mission,
with tears mopped up
and high hopes.

I was praying and crossing my fingers
that we would find it.
I didn't think I could take the heartbreak again.

We searched and found nothing.

Desperation.

I told Caden to walk through the toys one more time
and keep looking.

He came back with a huge smile on his face.

He had found this
the package was torn open
all the accessories were missing,
but it was a bonafide
Halo 3 Action Figure.

He was sure
that Ryan would LOVE it.
(he reminded me that the helmets were cooler, but...)

He held it tightly and marched to the front.
Where he pulled out his ziplock bag
that had all the money
that he had ever earned, been given, found,
in his short five years.
It totaled around seven dollars.

I convinced the lady that she should give us a discount
since it was open and missing all the pieces
and she rang us up.
I slipped the lady our gift card
and then took a dollar out of his bag
and handed that to her as well,
so that Caden could pay for it.


As soon as we got home
he carefully taped the package back together.
(used almost a whole roll of tape)
and then helped me wrap it up.
and signed the wrapping himself.

He was so excited
that he accidentally told Ryan
that it was an action figure
the second Ryan walked in from work.

When I gave him the eye
he quickly explained to me
that he didn't say what kind of action figure it was.


He was so excited for Ryan to open it.
He could barely sit still
and kept telling him how he got it just for him
with his own money
because he knew that he would LOVE IT.

Ryan loved it.


I love that little action figure
that lives on Ryan's night stand.

Because that little
Halo 3 Security Guard
reminds me how much I love Caden
and what he was willing to sacrifice
because he knew his dad would love it.


What a kid.


P.S.- That kid's birthday is coming up,
and guess what I found on Amazon.com
yep,
Halo 3 action figures
and Helmets galore.
I think,
he is going to love it.

I lied, but let me explain...

I told Holly that I have been too busy to blog.
I lied.
I used to make time.
I am just tired.
I'm not too busy,
I am just too tired.

So here is my reattempt
to not be too tired
for the important things.

Like,

playing transformers in the under the table fort.

Kenna and Cohen have reached the age
where they will take themselves off to play for bits of time.
Lovely break,
and highly entertaining to snoop on.

and fun moments like,

watching Avatar in IMAX 3D.

Philip (my computer guru brother)
convinced us that this was the ONLY way
to really see Avatar.

He was right
(he usually is)

It was really amazing
on the IMAX screen
with the super expensive ($70) IMAX 3D glasses.
An alarm went off
if you walked too far out the theatre doors with them on.

This was some serious business.
I would get so into the movie
I would forget I had them on
Then I would look over at Ryan
and chuckle because
we looked like such idiots.





I have also been trying not to be too tired to
work on some of the projects that have been piling up.

Like the Block of the Month
Quilting thing.
I paid to do it,
so I need to not procrastinate getting them done.


Cohen just dumped an entire gallon
of apple juice
all over my kitchen floor.

Emptied the whole kitchen towel drawer
trying to clean it up himself,
then splashed through the puddle
and tracked apple juice footprints
all the way across the kitchen
and onto the carpet
to tell me he spilled.

This is his face while asking if he can come out of time out.

See why I am tired?


There is also this excuse,


but it makes me feel like a whiner
to pull this one out.

26 weeks this week.

When I went in to the perinatologist
they gave us these pictures

Baby A Profile

Baby A sucking his thumb

Two baby heads
Side by Side

Baby B looking right at us

Baby B looking at us again
this time sporting the Alien Look

and she told me that even though on that day
I was only 25 weeks and 1 day

Baby A
was measuring 26 weeks and 3 days
and weighed 1 lb 15 oz

and

Baby B
was measuring 25 weeks and 2 days
and was 1lb 10 oz

both bigger than the average single baby at this point
and both bigger than my due date.

Fabulous.
Huge babies.

My OB then proceded to tell me at my appointment
2 days later
that my belly was measuring 31 weeks
(or what would be 31 weeks with a single)
even though I was only 25 weeks.

I told Ryan
and bless his heart
he said
"But, you don't look that bi..., well..."
"Honey, I think you look fine"

Meaning,
I really look that big.
Pictures are deceiving.
I am that big.

I sent the picture to my dad
and he said I should keep the mirror
because it was flattering.
Meaning what?
Not lookin so hot in real life?
Yeah, I got it.

One more time.
Suddenly I don't care if its whiny,
I'm using it.

See why I'm tired?

I'm hoping by tomorrow I will get over the tired whining
and have the energy to post something fun.
We shall see.

Playing Christmas Catch Up

So its half a month late,
but how could Christmas go by
without some pictures on the blog?


The kids were all kinds of excited
Not going to lie,
so was I.


Holly and Cory and Miss B
came over on Christmas Eve for some
Comfy Couch Movie Watching
and some Chicken Pasta Salad
in our new PJ's.

We passed on the cookie making this year
because I was so tired
I couldn't do one more thing
Next year Dad, I promise
we"ll keep the tradition alive.

Santa came


and the kids
were thrilled
They didn't really want to look at me
when there were so many presents to check out

Ryan with his Audience
opening the most anticipated gift of the morning
They were bursting for him to see it
and see if he loved it.
I think they told him what it was
before the wrapping was even off.
I'm kind of proud of them for holding it for that long.
(It deserves its own post the story is so precious)

Caden
sporting his new Ben 10 Omnitrix


Cohen
Showin off some Cougar Pride
He walked around shouting
Go Cougars
all morning
and was devastated when he got it wet
and we had to take it off.

Somehow I missed a picture of
Kenna
opening her
Ariel Barbie
but the shriek was ear piercing
and we had to open the box up immediately.

Then we got dressed
(well, put shoes on with out PJ's)
and headed to Grandma's House
More fun, and more presents.

Then we hurried home to get ready for
sledding
on our new sleds.


Mac, Rachel, and Vienna
Holly, Cory, and Brynley
Philip and Laura


and
Ryan's brother and sister
Aaron and Tiffany
all braved the cold and headed out.

We told Tiffany
that she looked entirely too beautiful
to be sledding with our hodge podge group
She just laughed and told us to knock it off.
Then went flying down the hill with Kenna in her lap.


I would have taken more pictures,
but it was dang cold,
and I had to take off my gloves to take pictures
so I gave up after a few
in order to keep all ten of my fingers
safe from frostbite.


Fun was had by all
but it was a long day

so after leaving Barbie to guard her wiggle car
and putting on her Cinderella Nightie

Kenna conked out on the couch
while watching Dad play his new XBox 360 game.

I don't know
if there ever was a cuter princess.


Cohen fought it
but he was wiped out too.

What a perfect day.

Lots of family.
Lots of fun.
Lots of good food.
Lots of love.

I love Christmas.

The Name Game

It has become a favorite pastime
of my children
thinking up the silliest names they can
for the twins.

On Sunday
Caden and Kenna and I
were laying in my bed watching Diego
and Caden suggested
"TV and DV"
"and that could work for boys or girls"
he proudly exclaimed.
or
"Chad and Action Figure"
"I like those too."

I tried to keep a straight face
and nod seriously

Kenna Pipes up with
Ben and Gwen and Kevin
from their current favorite cartoon.

I laughed out loud at this.

Caden was horrified
and quickly corrected her

"Kenna,
that would be triplemints
and we're just having twins."

I laughed so hard I almost fell off the bed
then I texted Ryan
and he had a good laugh too.

23 weeks

This was last week
at 23 weeks.


Don't worry,
I'm even bigger this week.

Baby Center says
that they are just over a pound each
and 12 inches long this week.

I have my next ultrasound
on January 12, in one week.
We'll have to see
if they are both boys
again this time,
or if we have a new combo.

Caden asked me the other day
why I always come to get him from school
in my pajamas
(I don't every day! Just the days I don't work)
I told him that I like to be comfy.
He said
"Oh, cause the babies are making you fat huh?"

Yep, the babies are making me fat.

Lovely

I've decided to embrace it though
and maybe make a t-shirt that says

Yes, Its Twins
No, Not Going to Pop Any Day

and wear it proudly every time I'm in public.