A Baby Changes Everything

I LOVE this song. I listen to it all year round. Makes me cry every time.

Music Group Round 2

Time to celebrate in song! This time...Christmas style. Carson and Cade both love music group. Definitely one of the highlights of their week. They are such cute little singers.

Cade, announcing himself for the class!

Getting ready to sing about Santa. This picture makes me laugh.

Watching Cade sing is fun. He has the best facial expressions. There were a few songs that he just really gets into...like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Must be Santa."

Cade...reindeer style!

I LOVE this picture of Carson. So hilarious. Why so somber little reindeer? What's funny is that he is usually always eager to smile for the camera and say "cheese!" But for the life of me, I COULD NOT get him to smile!

Taking it all in!

So, remember how our camera stopped working on the day of the boys' birthday? That really stunk. We ordered a new one with some Christmas money. And guess what? Our old camera started working again 2 days after we bought the new one...like nothing had ever happened. C'mon!!! Why does stuff work like that? Anyway, at least we have a working camera. And if anyone is looking, we have a spare!


We had our Ward Christmas party over the weekend. It was awesome...for multiple reasons.

• We spent the day at home together. We didn't have much on our "to do" list and had some good play time.
• Before the dinner, there was a special visitor (aka Santa). He came in on an old fashioned fire truck, all lit up in lights.
• Families and kids were given rides aboard the engine. Santa was the driver. The boys loved it (even though it was raining and cold).
• After the rides, they had the chance to sit on Santa's lap. They went right up without any hesitation and plopped down on his lap.
• Carson's conversation with the Big Man went like this: "Hi. I Carson. I a good boy!"
• Cade's conversation went like this: (after sitting down) "Trains." Santa said, "What?" Cade answered him again with, "Trains." I just started laughing and explained to Santa that he loves trains. Santa caught on quick and started a more detailed conversation about trains. It was awesome.
• They both looked at the camera and we were able to get a great picture.
• The dinner was YUMMY!
• My boys sat at the table, on their chairs for the entire dinner. I am still in shock. I couldn't have been prouder and made sure they got plenty of praise.
• We got to visit with fun friends.
• Afterward, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. One of my most favorite things to do during this month of December.
  

Here are some pics that documented the event.

Cold, rainy ride on the fire truck.

With my big boy Carson at the dinner table.

Such handsome boys.

Hope everyone is enjoying this fun time of year!

Trains & Numbers

This boy knows his trains!

One Week Ago

One week ago today, my boys turned THREE! Man that sounds old. They'll practically be full-time missionaries by the end of next year! That's how fast time seems to be moving these days.

We had quite the celebration, which unfortunately took place without a camera. Of all days for our camera to stop working. I'm still mourning over it. So, I'm going to do my best to paint the picture.

This was the first of their birthdays spent at home. Each previous year, we've been in Twin for Thanksgiving and were too stuffed with pie to really celebrate much. Not this year! I wanted it to be different. They are now old enough to recognize the magic of it all and I wanted them to feel special. And they did.

My amazingly talented, birthday-loving, generous friend made them individual cakes...the week of Thanksgiving...with lots of family at her place to be entertained. And still, she did it. Did I mention generous? I'm still amazed at her kindness. They. Were. AwSOmE!!! The most darling trains you've ever seen. And if my camera wouldn't have died, you would now be viewing the darling trains! Believe me...cutest ever. The boys loved them and admired them for a few hours before devouring them. They were so excited to be sung to and took forever to blow out all three of their candles. Like the trains, they were darling.

We had family in town and had some friends over, after celebrating with the Tucker cousins the night before. It was a party-filled weekend. Just the way I wanted. They were spoiled big time and are having a really hard time sharing their loot. Carson is still walking around the house singing "Happy Birthday" daily. They say "thank you Grandma Tucker" every time they pull out their Buzz Computer and Dinasour Train friends. And they say "thank you Grandma Lori" every time they play with Gordan and Henry and eat from their ginormous box of Goldfish. Yep...they get it...and they still feel special.

I've been thinking about all the years of birthdays ahead of us. It felt like Christmas at our house...over the top. But then I remind myself that we were celebrating TWO birthdays...TWO precious lives. We were showering BOTH boys with love and gifts to last them another year. So often, they are lumped together and I feel bad about it. They are such individuals...who just happen to share a birthday. I hope they don't grow up feeling jipped. I mean, this is the day that all kids wait for all year round. The day that their parents, their entire family, and their friends focus only on them. That one special day to be selfish and spoiled. And they have to SHARE it. As an adult you get over it (kind of!). But as a kid, it's a big deal. We are just going to have to party extra hard on that one day, since it's two parties in one. As a Mother, you just want your children to feel of your love. And you certainly don't want one to feel it more than another.

I'm grateful for a Mom who always makes me feel special and loved on my birthdays. I'm doing my best to do the same for Carson and for Cade.

Thanks to all of our loved ones who helped me do just that this year.

Mid-Laugh

The two of us had a fabulous Thanksgiving. How 'bout you?

Bucking Up

I decided I needed to buck up this morning and get my kids outside in the snow. I couldn't refuse Cade's puppy dog face any longer. So with some extra excitement in our home this morning, we headed out to the backyard (which I'm so grateful for). If you remember from last year, Cade was a lover of the fluff and Carson was more of a hater. Here's a reminder in case you forgot.

This year things don't seem to have changed much.

But Carson wasn't in tears, so that's a step forward. He was happy to be outside and close to the snow, as shown above. He just wasn't much in the snow.
This is where he hung out for most of our outing. I asked him a couple of times to go run and play with Cade, but he just politely said "no." I didn't push it...he was happy.

Cade, like last year, was one with the snow. I couldn't get him to hold still for a picture.

He headed to his favorite spot in our yard, between the trees, and laughed histarically as he ate the snow.

Look at Carson go!!! He took a few steps on the cement...never quite made it to the grass. He then acted like he was eating snow, but was completely against actually eating it! Funny boy.

Can you tell he's proud of himself?

Snow Angel!

Forget picking it up to eat. Just go straight to the source!

Yay for a fun morning! Afterward we had pancakes for lunch, per Cade's request.

Everytime I'm preparing a meal, the two of them yell out their color requests for their plates and forks...

"Mommy, I wan orange!"

"Mommy, I wan Byue!"

Back and forth over and over and over again. They think it's funny. At least I know that they know their colors.

Here's a random tidbit. Carson always requests blue. As an infant, he had the blue binkie and as a toddler the blue sippy. Cade was the orange or green binkie and the green sippy. He always requests green or orange. I didn't realize on day one when I desperately forced binkies that I was determining the colors that would be their favorites.

Carson still hates feeding himself and gets super frustrated at the whole utensil thing. At lunch today, every time Carson said "Mommy Heeellp!" Cade would respond with, "Is okay Carson, you can do it!" How's that for sweet brotherly love?

And why am I still such a bad pancake flipper? Seriously.

Another reason for celebrating is because I found our missing remotes. I loaded the dryer with some towels, turned it on, and heard some major clunking going on. What do you know...remotes!

No Tears Today

I am so eager to report our successful Sunday. Complete night and day difference from the before written about experience. We made it through the ENTIRE Sacrament Meeting with ZERO yelling or screaming or crying. All four of us sat through it all. Together. and Happy. (we sort of deserve a standing ovation right now!!) At one point, I even reached over to hold my husband's hand. Yes, it was THAT good. All I can say is, it's about fReaKInG TImE!
We all got naps after church, cozy in our beds while the snow came down. Once we were up, I couldn't resist pulling out something I couldn't resist from buying...a gingerbread train kit. I love that these boys are old enough to do little projects. They were super excited about it and were good little helpers. Well, Carson kind of just sat and ate chocolate chips the entire time. But he was a giddy and happy Carson. It was awesome.
We ended the night with hot chocolate and The Polar Express.
I am one happy Mommy tonight.

Love Carson in this one...happy with choolate chips, his milk, and his doggy.

Love Cade in this picture...the little I got of him. He was so into the whole thing and watched and participated with pure amazement.

Something cute. The boys love their monster jammies. Tonight, after Cade got his on he walked up to me so proud and confident and said pointing to his monsters, "Wook Mom, I is so handsome!"

Our finished Gingerbread-Happy Birthday-Train

They associate cakes (and apparently Ginderbread Trains) with birthdays. So the whole time Cade was calling it his Happy Birthday Train, without any promting on my part. And of course once it was finished, he asked to blow out a candle. I certainly couldn't turn down his request. So we got out the candles, put one on top of the train and started belting out Happy Birthday. We did it over, and over, and over again. They were in little boy birthday heaven! And I tell you what, they have the blowin' out candle thing DOWN!

Carson's under-lip blowing. He blows so funny. Sticks his lower lip out, but he gets the job done!

Cade blowing his candle out.

These boys were so cute today. We are sure excited to celebrate their Birthday. Seeing the looks on their faces as Shane and I sang Happy Birthday to them tonight was absolutely adorable...heart-melting. They just lit up inside. It was obvious that they felt special. And they are. How did I get so lucky?

Fitting

I love this song. So fitting for this time of year and always.

Because I Didn't Include Pictures...

Do I really look that fat?

Recently, Cade has started talking along with or echoing what's being said in a movie. Last night, we were watching a little of Toy Story 2. When Buzz sees his fellow Space Rangers in their sleek boxes, he says "Do I really look that fat?". Cade said it right along with Buzz. I just started chuckling. He's been doing it with any dialogue in songs too. A couple of the Veggie Tales songs have dialogue and he knows it word for word. Pretty cute. Cute is also Cade's singing. He has a low, way off pitch, froggy-type voice. Always makes me smile. But it reminded me about how careful I have to be about what they are watching and listening to, since it is obvious that they are paying attention.

Speaking of listening, Cade impressed me with another little thing the other day. I was playing the piano...going through some Christmas music for my students. Cade was eager to come join me on my lap. He played along for a minute and then just looked up and stopped. He then got super excited, pointed to the music and said, "Mommy, is a half-note!!!" "And Mommy, is a shark (pointing to the sharp symbol)!!" "Mommy, is music cwass!" I was so proud of my little sponge...soaking it all in. He's a genius, you know...in case you were wondering.

Carson is also a learning machine. He pays attention to EVERYTHING while we are driving around town. He knows to watch the colors of the lights and what each colors mean. He's always eager to tell me to "get going" since the light is green. He is also very quick to notice stop signs. And he always knows where we are and which direction our house is...or stores. He gets super upset when I don't go in his requested direction.
So, the other day we were on our way out to Nampa. We passed the Meridian exit and Carson said, "Bye bye Austin's house." Meaning...we aren't going to cousin Austin's house. I was shocked but repeated...bye bye Austin's house. Austin's house is off the Meridian exit, but not that close off the exit. His house isn't even in Meridian! But Carson knew that was the exit we take to get to his cousins. Crazy!

Carson is also quick to help me out as a Mom. He's excited for "clean-up time" and is a good little helper. Cade has picked up on this and is already trying to pass his own responsibilites on to Carson. "Hey Carson, you go put Cade's cup in a fridge?" Carson jumps at the chance! Anyway, here's what he's been doing recently.
Cade will ask for something...for example...to listen to a song over again.
Carson then says, "Cade, what you say?"
Cade..."Pweease!"
Carson..."Okay, good job Cade!"
Thanks for making sure he says please Carson!
He's a genius, you know...in case you were wondering.

They are turning THREE in a week. What?! THREE??? And next week is Thanksgiving. What?! This month is going too fast.
So, we'll be doing some major party-ing next weekend. I'm excited. I even have a sweet friend who has offered to make them a fun cake...and since I'm a lame mom who has yet to be cool like that...I happily obliged. The boys are going to love it.

This next year is certain to come with more trying times for me and my favorite twins. You can already tell. They have become increasingly defiant and...well...naughty! Fighting over toys. Pushing, hitting, yelling. Lots of it. I just feel like whatever stage we are in...we are in complete overload of...whatever it is. A lot of any one thing is sure to take a toll. I'm trying to just buckle myself in, hold on tight, and ask my Heavenly Father for LOTS of help.
Sometimes I feel at a loss and completely clueless when it comes to discipline. Hard stuff. In fact, on Sunday at about 12:15pm I was ready to find a cave to hide in for a few years. It was a hard Sacrament hour and I know that I let it get to me too much. I had tears waiting to spill over...I was frustrated. Carson's yelling and screaming reaches a certain decibel that just causes my blood to boil. BUT, then we have great moments that I have to do my best to bottle-up. AND, we've started watching some Super Nanny. It's been theraputic to say the least! It's like she's right in my home helping me take control of my home. Shane has been watching with me. It really has been good. We are making progress, little by little.

On a lighter note, I've been busy with some projects that I'll have to document later. Talk about therapy! Projects are exactly that for me.

Celebrating Baby

Cute Mommy-To-Be and my sister in law Katie! She is looking so cute these days...only 4 weeks to go. It was so fun to plan this shower with her and my other two Tucker sis's-in-law Debbie and Brooke. It was such a fun party. We can't wait for another Tucker Boy to arrive.

Married to the Tucker Boys...........
Brooke, Debbie, Me, and Katie. Love these ladies. Annette, we missed you.