Smiles and Bubbles

Kids are so amuzing. Tucker loves bubbles and insists on blowing them himself. He actually does it really well. Some other things he does that crack me up:
-All day long he walks around singing "Let's get Down to Busi-mess" which is actually I'll make a Man Out of You from Mulan
Iimitates Swiper the fox by saying "You'll never find your (whatever noun he decides at the time goes here) now! Ha ha ha ." He does a great villain laugh.
-Climbs on any and everything and tells me, "Mom I'n a monkey"
-Reaches up and asks me to hold him
-Gives me a big long kiss while saying "Mmmmmmmmmwhaa"

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It is not fair how hard Trent can get Charlotte to laugh. Oh sure, she'll laugh for me, but as soon as Trent starts on her it's like twice as loud. She loves being kissed on her bare belly and neck. She can blow her own bubbles with her mouth while making a motor sound. It's so great! How boring would my life be without these sweethearts!

My love of art

I have always loved art and started drawing stick figure people before I was even 3. I couldn't find those drawings right now or I would post them. Anyhow, I have liked drawing as long as I can remember, this is one of those things that I have let go by the wayside since I have been married and started my family. I hope to do a new drawing every couple of months, because I really miss it. I was in AP Drawing my senior year in high school, but I was such a slacker and didn't take advantage of that and I really wish I had. It is hard to find time to do this because when you get into it, it can be really hard to pull yourself away. When you know you won't have much time it is hard to get started, but my goal is to get back into my drawing again. I mostly do people. These are some of the many that I did in high school. I know it's hard to see well in this format, but you get the idea.After high school I did take a life drawing class at my community college. That's right I drew nude models. It was a really good experience and my Professor said he thought I could make it as an art major. Well I finished my 2 years of community college and got married and never did much drawing after that. This drawing of Tucker I did about a year ago is the only thing I have done since. I want to start one of Charlotte very soon. I miss my friend drawing and look forward to becoming reaquainted-I am pretty sure that is spelled way incorrectly. Oh well.

This Weekend

Saturday Trent and Tucker played outside all morning, well Trent was actually working in the yard and Charlotte and I were inside. I was trying to get the house picked up, but Charlotte had other ideas. Trent's parents were headed back home to AZ and stopped and took us to lunch at Red Robin. I had a delicious chicken sandwich. Tucker kept occupied with a dollar store car launcher thing and Charlotte fell asleep. It was the first time in a long time that I was actually able to enjoy eating out. We said our goodbyes and headed to Sam's Club for a few things. After being inside with a screaming Charlotte for a couple minutes I resigned to waiting in the car with the baby.
I put the kids down for naps and resisted the urge to lie down and planned my Sunday School lesson while Trent did some work. When he got home we decided to order a pizza and invite some friends over. Robby and Mel McKinnon came over with their baby Gracie. You probably wouldn't guess that she is 2 weeks older than Charlotte since Charlotte outweighs her by about 2 lbs. We stayed up talking with them until almost 10 and then headed to bed.

Sunday we had church at 9am as usual and I wanted to get a picture of my cute kids all dressed up. This one turned out the best. Check out the tongue on that girl. Tucker at least managed some sort of smile and a big wet spot on his shirt. Typical. Got a love it though. We spent a good couple of hours napping. I don't know if something Tucker ate didn't sit well or he picked up a bug in nursery,but he spent the rest of the night telling us his belly hurt and he was going to puke. He was momentarily distracted by America's Funniest Home Videos and finally hurled shortly before going to bed. He was feeling much better after that, and I was so glad. It is terrible watching your little guy feeling so bad and not being able to do much besides hold him and softly tickle his belly.

My gorgeous kids-Not to brag, but seriously

I can't believe Charlotte is already three months old! She is ticklish, she can laugh, she smiles and coos and is simply wonderful and makes each day a blessing. She is so strong, it amazes me how she can totally lift her whole torso with her stomach muscles, I bet she will be sitting up before much longer.

Tucker is so smart and funny, but also moody and bossy. Here you can see his new biting his bottom lip thing he does that drives Trent and I nuts. He mostly does it when he is tired. He only naps on the couch, and some days I can't get him to do that and then I find him asleep eating a snack at the table. His potty training is coming along well, he now asks to go to the toilet or "toidy" - usually right after he goes in his pants. But more often now he is actually using the toilet and not just sitting on it and squeezing until his face is red. Hopefully not too much longer now until I can have him in his Dash underwear (I have this habit of saying panties, which Trent feels is totally inapropriate for a young boy-go figure.)

What a week!

On Sunday March 12, we set our alarms and loaded up the kids at 1am to start the drive to Mesa, AZ. After 12 or so hours of snowy roads and a pit stop in flagstaff for an hour at Aunt Kim's we arrived at the Brimley's. This is where we got to meet our new niece/cousin, Adam and Michelle's beautiful baby girl, Moqui. She is two weeks Charlotte's senior and hopefully they will get to be great friends! What a darling pair, they immediately took to eachother, staring and smiling. Sunday evening I was able to see my cousin Jill and her husband Kevin, my dear friend Lindy and her family,my high school friends Bryce and Diana and their baby girl Ava who is 2 weeks younger than Charlotte and is darling too. It was a long, fun, exciting day for us. Monday Emily and Brandon flew in from Oklahoma-Emily is my only sibling besides me that doesn't live in Mesa. Okay and Ted who is in the MTC.
Tuesday morning we woke up and drove to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico where many childhood Spring Breaks were spent. We had all the Brimley's except Ted, even Grandma and the family dog.This year was a little different since we stayed in a house at Playa Encanto instead of the usual camping at a beach much closer to town. We had tons of fun enjoying the delicious food, sandy beach and wonderful company. We tossed a frisbee and played card games and got to spend time with all the cute kids. Kaleb, Ethan, Moqui, Gabe, Chandler, Jackson, and my youngest siblings Spence and Claire. It was a little crazy and noisy at times, but how cool to get to spend that time together, it's pretty rare. Especially all under one roof for the night. Tucker esecially enjoyed picking up shells, flying his brightly colored bird kite, building sand castles, and sitting on a boogie board on the sand next to his cousin Jackson, who is less than a year older than him. He also liked climbing the sand hill behind the house, which he rolled down a couple times and managed to swallow a shell! I'm not quite sure how that happened.
Wednesday at about 7pm we headed back to mesa while the rest of the family stayed one more day. Thursday morning Trent interviewed with The Will Cardon Company. We got to spend time with our Powell cousins and Grandma and Grandpa and had tons of fun. Friday Tucker and Trent spent most of the day at Bart and Dusti's playing on their four wheelers, golf cart, and playset. Charlotte and I, Blake and Andrea, and Wes and Terrie all met there for a fun dinner and get together. This is Kolbe holding Charlotte. All the cousins loved her.

Saturday morning I got to see Abbie and Jake (my bestest cousina and her husband) very briefly, but it was much needed. They got to see my kids and I got to hang with them for a bit. Too bad we didn't have more time. Then we had family pictures with the Brimley's at candlelight park, grabbed some Ned's Krazy Sub and headed back to the Powell's to finish packing up. Wes and Terrie were heading up to Utah for a skiing trip, so we even got to caravan with them halfway. They stopped in Page for the night and we continued into the wee hours hitting another storm on the way home.

March 9

Our budding photographer

Whenever Tucker find's the camera within reach, he insists on taking pictures. He's actually improved quite a bit. See this picture of Trent, well for starters he got the person in the picture. Also, note the absense of a large finger colored blob obscuring the entire picture. Very nice.
Okay, obviously Tucker didn't take this one, but aren't we cute?

Here Tucker wanted to show you all how his little sister has a large bald spot on the back of her head and should not be told she is cute so often. He did take this picture although I had to zoom in quite a bit after he took it. Some of Tucker's other hobbies include eating chocolate or any candy or pop, elongating the word yeah in response to almost any question, pushing a chair to the kitchen counter and getting into the cupboards, climbing into the washer or dryer (whichever is left open), and squeezing out 2 drops of pee while sitting on the toilet to get a sticker on his potty chart and an M'n'M.

Hot Spots

Charlotte has been enjoying this spot on a Pooh Bear blanket looking at brightly colored links in her awake time. She also enjoys her swing and mostly being held. She does not like her car seat and is warming up to the baby bjorn. She had her two month check up on Monday where she weighed in at 11 lbs. 14 oz. and measured 23 inches long. Both are about the 75th percentile, I don't think Tucker was ever that high percentile wise. Her hair is growing back nicely on the top of her head as she rubs a bald spot on the back of it from lying on her back all the time. The doctor was very impressed with the strength in her neck and back! She's a keeper.
For the last couple of days this has been Tucker's favorite toy, the box to my sewing machine. For hiding , playing, drinking from a sippy and watching cartoons, you name it. He is always good for a laugh. This morning he was eating some teddy grahams, he put a handful in front of himself on the table. I asked him "Can you count those?" To which he replied "Yeah. Uno, dos, tres,quatro,seis, dos, quatro, quatro." Thank you Dora the Explorer!

Robed Robin

Woops, i'm sideways. Well if you were wondering why robed robin-a lot of my day on a lot of days is spent in this green terrycloth robe.