Sleeping Angels

There's something so instinctually satisfying about a sleeping baby. Seeing both my children in bed well fed, warm, and protected, it's like I've done my job taking care of them and now they fell secure enough to sleep peacefully.  And that is so fulfilling. I think this display of peaceful security is what makes it hard for parents to resist taking lots of sleeping baby pictures. In truth, it's a temptation not to whip out the camera every night as I check on my children before heading to bed myself.

I mean look at Lydia during her Sunday afternoon nap:

Snuggling her bear, with her with her red bow highlighting the rosy cheeks beneath her long dark lashes. Gorgeous.

I originally grabbed the camera because I loved how she was curled up.

It might be hard to tell, but she has her little legs curled up against her, almost in the fetal position, and it was just so cute I had to get a picture. How sweet my sleeping girl is.

Then a few nights later I find her sleeping so proper:

Once again it might be hard to tell because of blankets, but her leg is crossed over her other leg which is bent at a ninety degree angle under the blanket. Like she just crossed her legs and fell asleep. What a lady she is even while slumbering :)

And if you notice with the owl, she always has to sleep with a stuffed animal. Even if I don't give her one, she sneaks out of bed to pick one out after I leave. I figure it doesn't hurt so I let her pick one out every night before bed. What I find interesting is that she doesn't have a favorite one she picks out more often, she just wants any general one of her animals and she's happy.

Ammon couldn't care less what he sleeps with besides usually preferring a binky. And sometimes he really doesn't need anything at all:

I went to get ready while Lydia was watching Sesame Street and Ammon was playing happily, and when I came to check on them I found him passed out like this. It was like he just couldn't go anymore. In his defense he did get a fever of 103 later that day. Poor, sweet, little guy.

Why don't adults look so sweet while sleeping? Is it because we've lost all our innocence? Or just our nice baby smooth skin? Who knows. What I do know is, that I sure love a sleeping angel and can't help taking pictures when I get the chance.

Baby It's Cold Inside

On Groundhog's Day, Mr. Groundhog dismally predicted six more weeks of winter. Although I shouldn't complain since this winter has been pretty mellow, I was very disappointed. Maybe it's because I've had some of those winter blues, or maybe I'm just antsy to get outside again, but I'm tired of being cold! And I'm tired of the sicknesses that float around in the colder months.

Unfortunately, Mr. Groundhog did is his job expertly and it's been cold and snowy this last week. And my kids finally got sick. We've been doing great this winter, scraping by with good health, but they succumbed to the nasty coughs, runny noses, and we're currently weaning Lydia through a strange fever.

Being in the basement with the snow and the cold, it tends to be chillier than the average household. One evening, poor, sick Ammon couldn't seem to stop shivering during dinner. So I did what any good mom would and bundled the kid up so he could eat in peace.

Sporting a jacket, hat, and bib, we continued on. I would have put gloves on too but they would have been covered in oranges.

I knew he was doing better when his smiles returned and his resumed eating with gusto. That's my boy.

He may have looked silly eating all bundled up, but it did the trick and soon he threw his hat on the floor in victory over the cold - well, actually because he throws everything on the floor, but I knew it meant he was warm and that was a victory for me. Curse you cold - we will win!

My Three Valentines

I seriously love Valentines Day. I mean flowers, chocolate, romance, and love all celebrated in one day - amazing! This year I was especially lucky because my Valentines keep multiplying and now I have three! To kick off the day I made two of them homemade, whole-wheat, heart-shaped pancakes. Good for the body and the soul :)

We slathered them in strawberry jam and enjoyed. Aren't my two Valentine's cute?

I didn't leave out my third Valentine; I sent him a cute, heart-covered mug full of hot chocolate mixes for him to enjoy at work. Plus, we had our own hot date planned for that evening.

Brigham made reservations at a steakhouse called Madelines and we enjoyed a fancy dinner after dropping the kids off at the grandparents. We exchanged gifts and I got a beautiful necklace with matching earrings and Brigham got the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay. 

At first I was hesitant about the necklace because a bit earlier I told Brigham I didn't want jewelry and I just wanted chocolate for Valentines Day. In fact, my exact words were, "It's Valentine's Day. Every girl deserves to get chocolate on Valentine's Day. I won't be happy unless you get me chocolate and all I want is chocolate. Well, you can get me something else too and I'll be happy...as long as there's chocolate with it." Obviously I was having a moment, but I was trying to get the point across loud and clear. I don't know how much clearer it can get.   

So when Brigham pulled out the necklace, I kept waiting for something to accompany the gift and when nothing did...it took me a moment to overcome that fact. However, I will say it melted my heart when Brigham told me he picked out this necklace because it's made out of the same type of shell that we were given during our sealing at our wedding. So sweet!

As for Brigham, I was happy to surprise him with Mockingjay. We have the first two Hunger Games books and Brigham had read both, but he needed the last one. For the last week, he had been trying to convince me to let his friend at work borrow one of my books so that Brigham could borrow Mockingjay in return. I kept saying I didn't want to talk about it and pretended like I didn't trust his friend borrowing our book. Really, it was all a ruse to hold out until Valentine's Day so my present wouldn't be ruined. Let me tell you it was hard work getting two men off my back about those dang books, but it made for a pretty good laugh in the end when everything was revealed.

After our dinner and gift exchange, we made a fast pit-stop to get me a small bit of chocolate I'll pretend I'm ok with, and then went to the movies and saw This Means War. It was hilarious, although a little sketchy in spots, and an enjoyable time together.

After the movie, we picked up our little Valentines and headed home. It was a lovely day. Especially since I'm now blessed with three different Valentines to share it with. I hope your day was full of those you love and Happy Valentines Day!

First it was There, And Then it was Not

Remember Ammon's hair?

Besides that memory and this picture, that's all that left of it.

He needed a haircut AGAIN (that's like three haircuts in three months) and I was sick of how it hung on his forehead and my bad chop job in the back, so I went a little crazy with the scissors...

And now he looks like this:

It ended up being shorter than I intended (what haircut isn't?) because I still have a lot of learning to do (poor Ammon having to be my guinea pig) but I actually love it. I think it makes him look grown up and more dignified. It also shows off the roundness of his pinch-able cheeks and his blue eyes. Brigham says he looks more like my side of the family now, but I think that he still looks like his daddy's clone - with a Nelson haircut.

I have to thank two Dum-Dum suckers, the Baby Einstein movie, and my endurance of screaming for making it through the cutting torture. Too bad we don't have working clippers, because, since it ended up being so short, buzzing would have been a lot easier than hacking it all off with scissors.

At least I shouldn't have to cut it for a REALLY long time now.