Sweet things John has been saying...

(Sunday morning) "Mommy, you stay home with me everyday?" (I was ready to turn in my resignation letter.)

(Saturday evening) "Mommy, cuddle me please."

"You done yet?" (He knows he can't get dessert until everyone is finished with dinner. So he gets up on your chair, looks over your arm, and then asks.)

"Calm down. You okay." (This is what he says to Sophia when she is crying.)

(Monday evening) "Pops, my best friend."

Sweet Sophia has been saying "Hi" and "Yeah Yeah". She waves and then does this cheesy grin. SO cute! Here is a video of the cheesy grin at the end. Sorry it is sideways.

A Saturday in The Turnbough House:

1. Cris Cakes breakfast with a fire truck to climb on.

2. A trip to Union Station to see the trains.

3. Coffee at one of our favorite coffee places on Stateline.

4. Home for lunch.

5. Off to HyVee as a family.

6. Building tables, John falling off a stool, Sophia scooting and getting into EVERYTHING, a quick dinner and...

7. Bed time.

During devotions this mornings, these words caught my eye....

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Matthew 9:37

Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At the time, you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit speaking through you. Matthew 10:19-20

It is risky. Christianity is not a safe religion. When lived, it is a sacrificial relationship.

A baby gift for one of the many baby showers that I will be attending this Spring.

Saturday night was a glorious night of sewing and watching Law and Order.

A pocket to hold wipes and diapers.

A changing pad that can also be used as a small blanket or maybe someday a baby doll's blanket.

The combo!

I believe that I would like to try to make this with my NEW sewing machine!

A bed hanger...to put a book, magazine, remote, etc...BRILLIANT!

While I was out in NC over Christmas Break, my sweet, sweet husband tiled the bathroom floor! Isn't he amazing? He had never tiled anything before and it took him a whole week to do it. He worked really hard and was so proud of his work. A big thank you also goes out to Terry...he helped Matt out. You guys are great!

Background to the flooring incident:

We use to have carpet in the guest bathroom. Right after John turned 1, I was exhausted because I was in my first trimester with Sophia. We had just thrown a big shin dig for John's birthday and I needed to soak a piece of John's clothing. I put it in the bathroom sink, stopped up the sink, mixed in some Oxy Clean and turned the water on. I guess I got side tracked because I left the room and started doing other things. That was when it hit me...I ran to the bathroom and it was flooded. Water was everywhere. It was even leaking under the cabinet and dripping into the garage. I was sobbing and felt terrible. Matt tried to dry out the carpet but it just couldn't be saved. So the carpet was ripped out and this ugly flooring was exposed. We kept it exposed for quite awhile...Matt kept saying he wanted to tile it. He wanted to learn.

This leads to the wonderful surprise that my husband had for me when we returned from NC. He had told me there was a surprise waiting for me and I was not expecting it at all. It looks wonderful and I love Matt so much!

Thank you Matt!

Big Boy Bed

It finally came. He has learned to climb on everything. Nothing is out of reach for this boy. The only thing that he left alone was his bed. He would climb into it, but not out of it. I had seen him climb out of it, but never when he was suppose to be sleeping.Until Saturday...

We tried to lay him down for a nap...and out he walks. No nap was taken and that is never good. We tried to get him to lay down for bed time...and out he walks.

So it was time. My plan was that when we potty trained over Spring Break, we would do the big boy bed also. Well...throw that plan out the window.

John helped Matt take apart the bed and make it into a toddler bed. John acted very excited for it on Sunday night. Until it was time to actually go to sleep. Long story short...we were up 3 times putting him back into his bed throughout the night. It wasn't that he was coming out of his bed...it was that he was screaming in the middle of his room.

Oh boy...

Today (Monday), his nap went great. He laid down easily and slept for an hour and a half. Tonight was another story. He wanted me to lay down with him. I stood my ground and said no. We discussed and I kissed him good night. He soon came out saying "Mommy, you forgot your bag!" (I had left a bag in his room earlier that day) We directed him back to his room and the tears start to flow. "Bed too scary" was the words I was hearing. It was so sad. We discussed once more. I promised a treat. Soon, John is back in the kitchen saying "New PJs please!" He had brought in new pjs to put on. Directing him once again, more firmer, and the same words were being said "Bed too scary". I tell you what...when he puts on that sad face it is hard not to scoop him up and put him to bed with us. But we stood firm. I did sit in him room for a few minutes to help him calm down.

Sunday afternoons...kids playing together...Bliss.

And yes...Sophia has a party dress on.

Sophia and Sippy Cups

Sophia start using a sippy cup today! We had tried it a few weeks ago and she would not have anything to do with it. Today, she was quite taken with it. She really did a great job. It is amazing to see how much she has changed these last few months. She is growing up so fast.

Elmo Date Night

Part of John's Christmas gift from Nanee and Pops was tickets to see Elmo live at the Sprint Center. So Nanee and myself packed up the kiddos and headed downtown. (Really it was more my mom because I was at work while she was getting the kids ready.) We ate at Fritz Train Cafe for dinner. This is always a good time with the trains going around, dropping off food at the tables. You just can't beat it. John and Sophia had a good time watching the trains and trying to guess when the train was going to show up at our table.

Don't you love those cheeks?

We had some time to kill, so diapers were changed and off to the Crayola store we went! John colored and looked at all the fun items in the store. Sophia even took a jab at drawing with a crayon. She wasn't too sure of the whole thing. Then it was time...we headed to the Sprint Center and John was excited to be greeted by the big Elmo cut out as we entered the door.

We went to see Elmo last year, around the same time. John was about 18 months at the time. We had seats quite high from the stage. I remember John loving it, but he fell asleep after intermission.

This year was totally different. He was SO excited! He kept asking "Where Elmo at?" "When we see Elmo?" My mom got us seats really close to the stage. It was AWESOME! John couldn't take his eyes off the stage the whole time. The theme was Healthy Heroes. He even got to touch Abbey (from Flying Fairy School). After she touched his cheek, he kept touching it. He said she was very soft. There was NO falling asleep. John is still talking about it. He tells people he saw Elmo on stage and Grover was flying.

I wasn't sure how Sophia would like it or if she would even stay awake. This girl was alert the whole time and she loved it! She would bounce on my mom's knee like she was dancing. She would smile and chuckle throughout the whole thing.

It was such a great time. The only bad thing was that as soon as the show started, my camera batteries went dead. I took pictures with my phone, but haven't gotten them onto my computer. Hopefully, I will get them posted soon. This is the one picture we got taken...

John loved his train hat so much from the restaurant. He wore it most of the performance.

Thank you Nanee and Pops!

Rice Crispy Men on a Snow Day

This past week, we had 3 snow days. It was the best 3 days with the kiddos. We didn't have fits or sickness...just a tooth coming in on Sophia. The days were FABULOUS! I got a lot of stuff done plus quality time with the kids. It was great to have a little bit more break before classes began. One of the days, while Sophia was taking her extremely long naps, John and I made rice crispy treats. It was so much fun. He helped me measure, stir, spread and decorate the yummy treats. He also ate a lot while we were making them. The cutest part was that he would get a sneaky grin on his face every time he would eat something and then he would giggle. He certainly can not hide things!

Measuring out the marshmallows...

Sneaking a marshmallow...

Yes...he has marker on his head.

Spreading the treats

Sneaking candy while Nanee was watching him decorate.

Decorating his Rice Crispy Man....he named him Terry.

A Special Christmas Present

My Grandma Dean heard I was starting to collect glassware in different colors. So for Christmas, she gave me some beautiful glassware that belonged to a great great aunt. I wasn't expecting it at all and I am completely in love with it. It was such a special gift.

Miss Sophia has cut her 3rd tooth and is now working on her 4th. I tell you what...she is a champ. This child sleeps more than other child I have ever seen when she is cutting teeth. Yesterday she slept from 8:30 - 11:00 (she only woke up because I had to wake her up to go get John) and then again from 1:00 - 5:30. Today she slept from 9:00 - 1:00 and then again from 2:30 - 5:00. I must add that it is without any medication.

Sophia turned 10 months this past weekend. Here are 10 things I love about her.

1. I love your chuckle when you see your Daddy or Pops.

2. I love how you steal things away from your brother and then grin at him.

3. I love you eat ALL the time.

4. I love how you are pretty much refusing to crawl. You scoot around but crawling just isn't on your agenda.

5. I love the grin that you have when someone talks to you.

6. I love the babble that you do in when you wake up from naps.

7. I love how you play with your pacifier and talk to it.

8. I love how you hug dolls and stuffed animals.

9. I love how you take your socks off and you think it is a fun game.

10. I love how you are my cuddle bug.

John had his first sleepover with his cousin Luke this past Tuesday. They got to stay at Nana's house. As Matt, Sophia and I left, John showed us to the door and said "Good Night!" I guess every stuffed animal was collected and put to bed with the boys. Later on, Nana joined them. That is quite a bed full! John let me know that he had fun and wants to do it again.

Above is a picture of what the boys were doing before we left. John on Matt's I-Touch watching Barney and Luke checking out the weather channel. What a sight!

I love that it is freezing outside and neither one of the boys have shoes or socks on.

Our first snow day...the call came at 4:30 a.m. Matt still had to go to work, so the kids and I got bundled up and headed outside. While bundling up, Sophia didn't like getting all the clothes on and John thought he was going to a farm when I put his snow bibs on. His statement was "I going to a farm...got farmer clothes on."

As we headed outside, Sophia sat in the stroller and John played ball. He loved it but was finished after about 25 minutes. "Mommy, it cold...need to go inside to get warm."

My sweetie and I got away for the weekend. Just the 2 of us, while the kids were at Nanee and Pop's house. We went down to Big Cedar Lodge and spent 2 nights...just us. It was great! We hadn't gotten away, just the 2 of us, in a long time. Big Cedar is a beautiful place. We ate at the yummy restaurants, laughed and vegged out all day on Friday. Literally, we watched a House marathon for 4.5 half hours! It was fabulous! I didn't take many pictures, but here is our room and view out our window.

John has started saying "Cheers". He wouldn't take a drink tonight without saying it.

On a whim, the kids and I decided to head out to NC with my parents to see my brother, sister in law and the soon to be baby Eli. It was great bonding time and it was good to see the North Caroliners. New Years was spent with a dinner at Outback, Starbucks (thanks Scott), and some serious card playing.

Christmas Morning 2010

I love Christmas morning. It reminds me of growing up. My brother and I always slept in the same room on Christmas Eve night. We would wake up ridiculously early...like 4:00 a.m...and sneak into the living room. We would go through our stockings as quiet as we could. Then we would wake our parents up...as if they didn't know we were already up. My dad video taped every Christmas morning. He would make us go back to the bedroom and pretend that we were just waking up. We would walk sleepily out of the room acting as if we had seen light yet that day. The living room would be filled with laughter, presents and a great family time. Later on, we would watch the new movies that we had gotten for Christmas. I love Christmas morning. I pray that my kids will have memories like I have.

This Christmas morning was much like the past. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. without even meaning to. I snuck into the living room, already to find my dad...who seems to never sleep. We had coffee/tea together. The kids woke up happily at 6:30. Christmas morning began and it was a relaxing, wonderful day.