Big & Bigger...

Big News - The weather is down right SPRING-like.

Winters in Utah make for hardy boys, so when temps like 50 degrees happen in February, well, they shuck their shirts and play in the hood for hours on end.

In one afternoon alone, I spied sidewalk chalk, a driveway full of bikes and scooters, soccer games, juice boxes, and baseball.

Mama doesn't complain.

Just for kicks --My favorite quotables this week:

"Mom, I think you have a sickness.  I think you should probably be diagnosed with throat-ida-tosis."  

-Dax Man, upon hearing his Mama's nearly-gone voice.

"I am like so dang hot out there.  It is as hot as St. George! I need my flip flops and no shirt."

-Kael, every afternoon the sun shined this week.

 

 "Shame Shame - I know you're name!"
-Dax, who waits for outward demonstrations of affection so he can taunt and tease like a little nugget.

"I want a butter sandwich, please.  But remember to put butter on top, in the middle and on the bottom because that's how I like it."

-Ace, who is clearly a fan of dairy.  :)

Bigger News... as in, size-wise. 

Boone is HUGE.

Seriously he just busted out a gut and cheeks and he is easily in 3-6 months clothes but they're only JUST long enough for his long old legs.  What am I gonna do?  What is he trying to do?  I feel like he's gonna play soccer this fall with his brothers or something at the rate he is growing. 

Mama complains.  

And finally, correct me if I'm wrong, but 'dem lips are just asking to be kissed a zillion time a day, 

Am I right?!

Swoon.

Happy Spring Things!  It won't be long until we've summited our snowy hump known as winter before surveying blue skies and blooming crocus.  And that is VERY newsworthy, indeed.

Traditions of Sun...

Our winter tradition going beyond ten years... The St. George Home Show with my Mama & Sister!

I had my doubts.  I didn't want to strap poor Boone into his seat for hours on end.  He is so young and I didn't want to expose him to a bevy of nasty germs.  He isn't sleeping through the night and I didn't want to keep my Mom and Sister up at night, and on and on...

But tradition hollers loudly - and the smog that covered the Wasatch Front leading up to the weekend of our excursion, sealed the deal.

So we drove south to find spring.  Warm sun in a beautiful blue sky quickly put all my doubts to rest.  It was gorgeous and the Vitamin D was just what the doctor ordered after a couple of months of being inside watching gray and white landscapes out the window.

The homes were beautiful per usual.  I love how the trends are going toward light and airy.  I also love the lower maintenance floors and the minimal decor and the tendency toward fine craftsmanship.

I mostly loved that my little travel buddy was a milk guzzling sweetie pie.  He seriously didn't make a peep the entire drive down or back home.  He was ah-mazing!  And it's a right of passage for all babies who belong to Grandma Gail... every single one of her grandkids have had their turn being doted on at the Home Show and I think all her baby whispering puts them right at ease.

And the big boys had a Bachelor weekend in the sun all their own.  RyGar loaded their bags full of camo and took them to the Wayne house to shoot their BB Guns at rabbits (for the record only one rabbit was killed and I'm pretty sure Ryno did the deed).  

They rode four-wheelers and stayed up late telling stories and visited the uncles and played in the mud pits (which I can attest to as I am just now conquering the monstrous laundry pile that awaited me upon my return). 

I don't know how I got so lucky that out of all the boys in the Universe, I got the best ones... 

And even though Punxatony predicts an early spring... I will make it without complaints either way now that we have all had a taste.  Besides... we know just where to find it if it gets delayed.

A Long Valentine's Weekend...

President's Day coincided with Valentine's weekend this year.  It was also the first weekend we (and by we - I mean, Boone and I) actually got out of the walls of our house for a night on the town.  Kinda.  Sort of.  I mean, if you count going to the Sportsman's Expo dinner as a "romantic night out" with a five week old in tow - well then, we nailed it.  :)

We met all the adults of my family Friday night in Salt Lake.  We had prearranged for the big boys to sleep over at Grandma Janice's house and cousin Zane's house.  And there we were - with a babe in tow - and thousands of other sportsmen - at a banquet dinner.  It was fun to visit with my Mom and sisters and watch my Dad rock the babe.  OK and not cook dinner or do the dishes.  I even made Ryno pose for a selfie as evidence that we did celebrate Valentine's weekend with a date night.

Sunday fun-day was Valentine's.  All my boyfriends went to church and I prepped them a "No Fork" noodle dinner then presented them with cookies the size of their faces.  #winning

P.S. It took Kael .3 seconds to lick his frosted name right off the top of that thing.

Bright and early on President's day we headed to Provo to walk through the new temple.  The boys were SO DANG GOOD I nearly banged my head into a wall.  Boone slept in Ryan's arms the entire time.  Ace only had one outburst when he saw the mural with "A TIGER!" which he prompted ran up and petted and hugged profusely - oops - and Kael and Dax didn't even trip one another or drink from the fountains that were all roped off.  I call that a win.  The temple woodwork and stained glass was all so AH-Mazing!  It was a beautiful, early and drizzly morning with my faves.

And it ended with a nap with one of my faves...

Ohhh naps are truly my love language - so even though RyGar didn't send me flowers, he wins because he did give me that... the baby AND the nap!  :)

And In Other News...

We signed the "big boys" up for winter swim lessons.  We thought it would be a good distraction from all things Baby and would help them burn some of their excess energy and get them out of the house for a bit.  Turns out - it's a little deflating (mostly for the mama) to go to your first swim lesson in the middle of a BLIZZARD!  We're talking horizontal snow and freezing temps and wind whipping -- a bonafide snow storm!  Alas, these little troopers bucked up and rocked it at swim.

So proud of them.

The next week proved to be infinitely less blizzard-y and we even saw the sun on our way to lessons.  So, you know, my hardy future Olympians were all smiles.

They've also been learning the art of holding Baby Boone, reinserting the binkie 'softly', and otherwise coping when Mom is busy feeding or changing Boone.  Ace gets into full costume and takes on another persona when all of this new "big brother stuff" gets overwhelming.  :)  Whatever works, little man... whatever works.

I will say I am proud of their newfound independence and teamwork.  It's not constant, but they've definitely done a little growing up this past month and they play for hours together, for which we are very grateful.  Kael even celebrated being 100 days smarter at Kindergarten!  Big Milestones - folks.

Boone keeps growing despite my protests -- and since I'm playing a bit of catch up here are a few of my favorite shots of the past month.

We're loud & crazy and Ryan has had to talk some sense into me multiple times when the emotions and hormones got a little whacky -- but we're getting the hang of things with FOUR boys!

Holy Smokes... We better move to a ranch with acres and acres of open land for these little hooligans to run "WILD"!

Of Boone...

Our little man is five weeks old!

What we lack in sleep we make up for in snuggles.  This little love likes to neck with his mama, sleep on his Daddy's chest, take warm baths, guzzle milk, and smile & smirk at all the action around him.  

We've discovered he can sleep through ANYTHING which will serve him well in this household full of chaos.  He has the immune system of a gladiator dodging all kinds of germs the rat pack brings home including Strep throat and the pukes... lovely.

He snorts and sneezes and hiccups and is one loud little dude -- just living life to his own loud little sound track.  His hair is thinning and his thighs are thickening up.

We are in love with him and can't believe he is already a month old!
How did we ever live life without him?

XO Little Lad -
Love,

Yo Mama... The one with the tired eyes and the full heart.