MY BOYS

I just wanted to post a few pictures of my boys that I love. Each one has so much personality. Sometimes the personality can drive me crazy! Other times it just makes me smile from the inside out! Here are a few of the moments.

James trying on his dad's hockey gear. "Look at me! I'm a goalie!"

Ward beach party. Davis making his squishy face and James begging to get back into the freezing cold water.

These kids would be the best shoppers if every store had carts that were trucks. I thought that the two steering wheels would keep them from fighting over one... but they still want to drive both.

For Halloween this year, James was really excited about being a ghost. When we were visiting Utah, we went to Witchapaloza, one of my favorite fall activities in Utah and James got his face painted as a ghost. He looked pretty scary!

Everyone thought James was wearing his Halloween costume when we would go out in this get up. But no, it was just his daily fireman outfit. He still wears it on occasion, but at least now it's not every day! As cute as it may be, it was kind of a headache.

James also will ask us to wrap him up in Haws' shrink wrap that he uses to ice his aching muscles. He really does ask us to do this! Once he is wrapped up, he walks around saying he is a potato. Maybe because potatoes don't have arms?? At least it keeps him from bugging his brother.

And then here is Davis. Showing off his tongue. Haws tried getting a picture with the 3 of them, but this was as good as it got. Oh how I love these men of mine!

Montana 2013

We were lucky enough to be welcomed back to the Bendheim Montana home to spend a week and enjoy the great outdoors and the Lake. Unfortunately for me... I was pretty sick the whole time. This is the 2nd time I have been in Montana during the first stages of pregnancy. It puts a damper on my own water play, but this year was a special treat to see my boys enjoy the water. And a special treat that Haws was with us this year. My parents and John's family was all there as well and we had a ton of fun.

The boys were such good travelers! I think they did better than I did being in the car so long.

The boys enjoyed hours in the little cub den. It's the perfect little hide away for the kiddos.

The highlight of the trip was James getting out on the water and doing the easy ski which is like a big floating boat that the kids stand on and hold onto a ski handle attached to the easy ski. He loved it and inspired some of the other cousins to get up as well.

Davis and I spent more time indoors than the rest of the crew. But we watched from the window. I was glad to have some company :)

And the best part of the trip for Haws and I was seeing James get up on the two ski!!! This of course is a learners two ski, but I was amazed that he got up and he rode it for a long time!

The first time he fell, he realized he was floating all by himself and freaked out looking for Haws. I think that was the scariest part for him. Haws got him to go for it again, but I think he cried most of the time.

Haws enjoyed a lot of wake boarding. He is pretty good considering he never really gets to go!

Haws flew home and then my mom drove back with me and the kids. We stopped in Utah again for a few days and stayed with Dana. It was this trip that we felt inspired to look into moving to Utah. It first happened when we were driving through on the way to Montana. It was more of just a thought or consideration. Something we had never thought of before. Then on the way home I had a distinct impression that we needed to seriously consider it. Haws was at home and even though we never thought we would make the move to Utah, we both felt strongly that we needed to pursue it. And now here we are. In Utah. Haws loves his job and the kids and I are adjusting and trying to settle in. Baby boy will be here in a month and things are about to get even more interesting!

I had to post some pics of while we were in Utah as well. Here they are!

Wilson Phillips

Mission Viejo Lake puts on these summer concerts. They are pretty awesome and me and these girls were able to go see Wilson Phillips. 

We were all pretty excited... but they were horrible!

Way to much banter going on between Chynna and Carnie. I swear they were drunk. Still, we had a great time and memories were made. I love these ladies.

James 3rd birthday

For James 3rd birthday, we threw his first real birthday party. It was a garbage truck theme considering its his favorite truck. This theme ended up being so much fun! I got great ideas from Pinterest and etsy. It still was a lot of work and we decided the kids are only getting parties every other year :)

I actually made the waste management cake myself! It was my first time and I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.

The gigantic pizzas came from an Italian restaurant by our house. The pizza was a hit and made things so much easier!

I found cute favors and put them into a black plastic bag with tags saying "don't forget to take out the trash"

This theme was really so much fun! 

I went to LA to find a pinata, but the closest thing I could find to a garbage truck was a huge yellow dump truck! It was pretty indestructible, but somehow we got it open.

Boys stats

It's been a while and I keep meaning to post the boys stats from their last doctor appointments in June!  So here it goes.

James at 3 years old

29 lbs (40%)

36 3/4 inches (40%)

Just a little below average on each. He hasn't grown much in the last year... Not too concerned. Doc thinks 3 will be a big year as far as growth goes. We will see.

Davis at 16 months

21 lbs 12 oz (25%)

31 1/2 inches (70%)

Head 40%

Davis growth is great, his weight is consistent. Still not walking! 

6th Wedding Anniversary: The Montage

Haws received a free night at the Montage in Laguna Beach as a thank you from work for installing some cabinets (I told him he needs to find more handy man jobs to do around the office!). The night included a free meal at one of the hotels fancy restaurants too! We saved the night to celebrate our anniversary. Thanks to my parents for watching the boys so we could have our over night date!

This was our room. It was on the 2nd floor and had a beautiful view of the ocean. Although June gloom kept us away from the beach and pool, we found plenty of ways to entertain ourselves. We had fun acting like kids in a candy store.

We got dressed up for dinner. Good thing too! That place was fancy!

This is a sample of what the 2nd course was like. $28 for Rabbit!!! You don't even want to know how much my halibut was. Good thing someone else was footing the bill!

 Room view. 

After dinner we got comfy and went to a late night movie. We didn't get back until after 1:00am! I still insisted that I soak in this tub before bed. Luckily I slept until 9am the next morning. Have not done that in forever!

The next morning we walked the hotel grounds and went to the gym. Pretty uneventful, but it was Sunday and we had to get home to pick up the kids. I think we should do this every year! :)

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Disneyland Memories

Our Disneyland passes are blocked out for the summer, so we had to say goodbye to our weekly Disneyland trips until the end of August. I honestly would never want to go to dland during the summer. It's too crowded and too hot for my liking. As we took our last trip with our dland buddies, The Mans Clan... Cinnamon pointed out that I needed to document a few things to remember from our recent trips.

One trip I left Davis with Aunt Brooke and took Caroline and James for a
big kid" day at dland. We were outside the Little Mermaid, James and Caroline where in the double stroller "sharing" blueberries and watching a parade. Of course James was stuffing the blueberries into his mouth so that Caroline wouldn't eat them all... and all of a sudden a woman walking by says "I think he is choking!" It took me a second to realize she was talking about James since I couldn't see his face. Luckily he wasn't strapped in the stroller so I was able to grab him, flip him over and do a quick Heimlich maneuver. The blueberries shot out of his mouth and he was fine. Thank goodness. We were able to laugh about it about 20 min after the incident... but it shook me up a bit.

 These kids are the cutest!

James started potty training during our regular visits and of course started to refusing to wear a pull up while we were there. We only had one pee pee accident in all those trips! It was right outside the Mater ride.I had run into and old friend and we were talking while James and the kids played around a trash can. He was so excited. jumping up and down and all of a sudden I see the pee running down his leg. Awesome. James was scared of the automatic flushers for a while, so we knew where every self flushing toilet was. He would say "Big Disneyland toilets are scary!" I guess they kind of are. Between James and I, Cinnamon would joke that the bathroom was our favorite attractions!

One night I took James all by himself and met up with Cinnamon and Max. James decided he wanted to walk, so we didn't bring the stroller. We stayed late, got ice cream cones and watched the fireworks. As we were walking back to the car, James said to me... for the first time ever... "I am so tired mom! will you carry me?" Now I know how to wear him out.

I already wrote a post about James puking all over the place in California Adventure. That is a memory I will never forget. The disney crew continues to amazing me! One time I had a vitamin water stolen from my stroller and a working got me a voucher for a new one. What great people they have working there!

One of the boys favorite rides is the casey junior ride. My boys both drool like crazy. (james has actually gotten better). During one ride James drooled all over Cinnamon's foot. It was gross... luckily she is a good sport!

One day, while it was getting close to summer, it was crowded and hot. I decided just to let James play  in the water area in bugs land. He got soaked! Even Davis got in on the action. Luckily I always bring a change of clothes just in case. The had so much fun... it was a perfect activity for a hot crowded day.

It was always fun when I was by myself in the baby center trying to get both boys in their pjs before the ride home. I would put them both on the changing table just praying no one tried to leap off, and then wrestle with them to get their PJs on. Davis would inevitable find a light switch and turn the lights off at some point during the changing routine. The good thing is almost everyone in their is struggling with their kids and no one cares if yours are being crazy too. Those baby centers are amazing!

There are so many more memories I am sure I am forgetting. Can't wait to go back in the fall and make some more :)