Easter

I was looking back at Easter pictures through the years and put together a collage of our cutie.

Here's Brody in his Easter duds at 2 weeks, 1 year, 2 years, and 3-years-old. So handsome!

We started off Easter weekend at my parents', and my sister and her kids were visiting as well. 

Brody had such a fun time dyeing Easter eggs with his cousins.

Saturday afternoon, we did some shopping and ran into the Easter Bunny.  

Brody was uncomfortable with him being so close and refused to even look at him, but he did take an Easter egg filled with candy. 

Easter morning started with some fun surprises left by the Easter Bunny.

Then it was time for church.  I loved Brody's comment about his bow-tie-- he thought it was a bone.  Makes perfect sense to wear a bone around your neck on Easter!

This is a video of Brody's hunt for Easter eggs after church.

And now the reason we celebrate Easter.  It's about Him.

I am so incredibly humbled, and grateful for all of the suffering, and sacrifice He endured on our behalf.  He suffered and died for each one of us individually and out of pure love for us-- as our Brother. He knows and loves each one of us. I know this to be true.
He also knows and perfectly understands our pain, suffering, and the trials we may go through because He has felt all of those same feelings. 

As a result of his inconceivable pain and sacrifice, our imperfections can and will be forgiven so that we may return to live with our Savior, our Heavenly Father, and our families eternally.  

He was risen. . .

and as a result, we will be too.

3-Year-Old Brody

This little guy is the center of our world.

He's the best thing that has happened in our lives and we're grateful for every ounce of him and for every moment during the past 3 years.

This past week, Brody had his 3 year wellness check-up.

Here are his stats:

Height 39 1/2" (75th percentile).

Weight 35# (75th percentile).

He is right on track with everything he should be doing and even ahead in some areas.

Although, he's not quite consistently interested in potty training and he still likes a binky for bed time, we're working on those things. Maybe it has a little something to do with the doctor's comment as he was finished with Brody's exam and leaving the room.  He paused and said, "You have your hands full. He seems really stubborn."  I was caught off guard and wasn't quite sure what to say. Yes, our Brody is a little stubborn, but I think the Dr. was possibly taken aback because Brody was ticked off and wouldn't take a sticker from him. Brody did really well (considering he doesn't like strangers to touch him, or talk to him) until the Dr. started digging around in his ear to see if his ear tubes were still  in place. From there, the appointment went downhill and Brody refused to cooperate, and cried and kicked-- it wasn't pleasant.  Can't say I blame him though, it probably did hurt a bit to have him digging in his ear.

 (this is Brody's new play house)

Brody talks non-stop at home, but is super shy around strangers.  He has some cute/funny phrases that he has lumped into one word.  For example, "Ingasee." (Translation "I can't see.")

He is constantly making us laugh with the clever things he comes up with and it's fun to get a glimpse into his 3-year-old mind when he says random things like, "I wanna catch that bird and put it in my pants."

Or when he saw his Easter outfit, looked at his bow tie and asked, "I get to wear that bone?"

He is also a technology whiz and can unlock my phone, or the kindle, find any game he wants and navigate around it on his own.  He can even call his dad. . .
One day, I had just gotten out of the shower and my phone rang.  Brody came running and brought it to me.  It was Brent.
He asked, "Did you just get out of the shower?"
Me: "Yes, Why?"
Brent: "Because I just got off the phone with Brody.  He called me and I kept asking him 'Where's Mom?'  He told me you were in the shower, but I didn't believe him. We had a full fledged conversation."
It's a pure mystery as to how he managed to dial his dad's number.  Heaven only knows who else has been privy to receive a phone call from Brody while I'm in the shower.  I suppose anyone on my 'recent calls' list in my phone is susceptible.

Brody Likes:

animals,

Team Umi Zoomi,

Superman/ Spider Man (they are interchangeable and he calls them both Superman),

almost all food,

being outside,

his dad,

playing with his friends and cousins,

balls, 

trains,
airplanes,

books,

helping Mom and Dad,

snuggles and kisses (as long as it's his idea),

mischief.

Along the lines of the last item on the list. . .  Mischief.

Let me tell you about the events that occurred during the course of ONE single day to illustrate the mischief our little boy can find:

I was playing with Brody in his house (the one pictured above) and he says to me, "You stay here, I be right back."  I then heard him go into the laundry room and could hear him fumbling around in the drawers.  I listened for a minute, and then it got quiet so I got up to see what he was up to.  Brody had the door barricaded, sitting in front of it and when I finally made my way in, he had a package of gum (Brody calls it "junk") and was hurriedly stuffing pieces into his mouth.

Later on, we were watching a movie together and I closed my eyes, just for a minute.  I woke up literally 5 minutes later and saw mysterious piles of popcorn all over the floor.  Wet, soggy  popcorn.  Brody had moved the chair over to reach a ginormous bowl of popcorn on the counter and had dumped piles of it on the floor so he could eat it like a dog! Awesome!!

(He also laps water like a dog when he's in the bath tub-- delicious.)

Awhile later, Brody told me he wanted to get his bug juice out of the fridge.  He came running over to me a few minutes later, put both of his hands on my cheeks, with his face inches from mine (like he didn't want me to look away from him) and kept saying, "Hi Mommy, hi mommy, hi mommy."  I knew he was trying to distract me and sure enough, when I pried him off of me and looked in the kitchen, there was salad everywhere.  Evidently, he had gotten a whim to dump a bag of salad on the kitchen floor.

Then later that day, Brody disappeared into our bedroom and it got quiet (I always worry when it gets quiet) so I went to see what he was doing now.  Again, he was barricading the door by sitting in front of it.  Brody had climbed up and found one of Brent's pocket knives and was playing with it.  Thankfully he can't get any of the blades open, but I'm sure it won't be long.  Needless to say, the pocket knife now has a better hiding spot.

This kid sure is amusing, and to be honest his mischievous behavior makes me smile inside.  It's hard to get mad at his cute self.  

I think discipline is the hardest part of parenthood.  We realize the importance of consistency and boundaries--we want to teach him to do right, but at the same time we have trouble being too hard on him-- definitely a fine line.

He melts my heart when I hear him say, "I love you, Mommy," or "Thank you, Mommy."

One of my favorite bedtime routines is:

Me: "I love you."

Brody: "I love you."

Me: "I love you more."

Brody: "I love you more."

Me: "I love you most."

Brody: "I love you mostest."

Followed by a hug, and a slobbery kiss (which Brody kindly always wipes the slobber off of my lips for me!)

We sure love our Brody.  We're so grateful for the gift he is, and the opportunity to be his parents.  And we can only imagine how our love will multiply and expand when/if another sweet spirit joins our family. 

Over-Nighter

A couple of weeks ago Brody, and I, went on an overnight trip to Salt Lake with some friends.  We left Monday night and stayed in a hotel (Brody called it a castle), then we spent all day Tuesday exploring and having fun.

We started out in Thanksgiving Point at the dinosaur museum.  Here, the kids walked through caves, looked at ginormous dinosaur bones, dug for fossils in the sand, and watched a 3D movie.

Brody thought he was one of the big kids and joined right in with whatever they were doing.  

Mallory was so sweet to Brody and watched over him, and was sure to include him in everything.

 This picture was at McDonalds in the play area-- Mallory was in Brody's way, apparently, so Brody just took care of business and climbed over the obstacle.

Brody, Mallory, Trey, Porter.

And he's off. . . 

Later on, we went to the Children's Discovery Museum at the Gateway Mall.

There was endless fun to be had here, and endless germs. . . 

The germ freak in me was going crazy thinking of all the germs we were encountering.  First, McDonalds play area, then the hands-on activities at the dinosaur museum, next the hands-on stuff at the Children's Museum.  Total germ infestation!  

However, I'm happy to report that we survived and didn't even get sick after all.  

Prayers are answered! Lol.

Doesn't Brody make the cutest, AND happiest little cashier ever?  There was a pretend grocery store where the kids could push around a shopping cart and "shop," or they could even work at the grocery store and check groceries.

Next, we hit Build-A-Bear and Brody was tuckered out by then.

The kids were thrilled with their new animals.  

You may have noticed an extra little person-- we picked up Alysn's niece who lives in SLC and she was the cutest little thing.

After that day, I had a new found respect for people with lots of kids.  

Keeping track of 5 kiddos (and keeping 5 kids happy at all times) in all of those busy places was exhausting!

On the way home, Brody and Mallory tried their photography skills and this was the result. . .