My Big Boy Jace

These stories are mainly for my parents who are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which is 14 hours ahead of us, so I can't just pick up the phone and call them every time Jace does something smart or cute or funny or... you get the idea.

This morning when I was dropping the boys off at Daycare, I got Nixon out of the car and when I went to shut it it bounced back at me. I looked all around and couldn't see anything in the way, so I tried it again. (Softer this time) Still, it wouldn't close. Jace asked me what I was doing, so I told him the problem as I tried it a few more times. He grabbed the handle and said here mom, let me try this. Maybe this will work. I thought, "Yeah, that's gonna work. Nice try." He pulled the handle in and out a couple of times, and then gently shut the door. It worked! Whatever he did worked! He said, "See mom, I told you I could do it." I said, "Yes you did. Thanks Jace. You were right." He's only 3 and he already knows cars better than me!

Another Funny Story

On Sunday we were over at Brock's grandparent's house, as we are almost every Sunday night. We were all sitting around watching Nixon take several wobbly steps back and forth. When Nixon doesn't have his binkie in his mouth he pretty much talks non stop. Not normal human words mind you, just baby jabber. I don't really even notice it anymore. Anyway, he was sitting down chatting away to himself when Brock's grandpa says, "That kid doesn't ever shut up, does he?" We all started laughing really hard. I said, "Nope, sorry grandpa."

I Do Not Hate Reading That Book!

Another story about Jace making mommy look bad. Okay, so last week my sister-in-law Kallie was at my mother-in-law's house with Jace, Nixon, and her little boy Beckett. She was getting ready to leave and couldn't find her keys. Jace saw them and said, "They're on that book." When Kallie asked him what book it was, he said, "a church book." It was the scriptures. At least he recognizes them as church books. So then Kallie continued with, "Does your daddy read that book to you?"
"No."
"Does your mommy read that book to you?"
"No. My mommy hates reading that book."
Um, excuse me? What? I swear, this kid is making me sound like the worst mom! I am pretty sure I have never said that I hate reading any book, much less the scriptures! I might not read them as often as I probably should, but come on!
This is after Jace so calmly and thoughtfully said to Brock's mom, aunt, and cousin,
"Remember when mommy said FOCK?" They all started laughing, and said no, when did mommy say fock? Um, NEVER! And I have never said anything that sounds remotely like Fock, if you know what I mean. (At least not since he's been alive)
Oh boy, do I have a lot of work to do.

Easter 2009

Easter, as always, was great this year. I am so grateful for the true meaning behind Easter, and of course, I am so grateful for the Easter Bunny side of it too! I even used it to get Jace to go to primary without whining. Good mom. "If you go to primary and don't cry, we will go to grandma's house and see what the Easter bunny brought you." I'm ruthless. What would we have done if he cried? Gone to grandma's house and see what the Easter bunny brought him. Yeah, I know. But it worked.

Anyway, we only went to one side of the family this year as my parents are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the next 3 years. (minus one month!)
The boys really loved searching for their eggs and their baskets, and when they were done, the real fun began. Brock's parents really hide our eggs. They have money in them, so its worth the search. They also hide our baskets with a bunch of goodies. This year did not disappoint. Thank you so much Dale and Shauna! You two are too nice! We then went to Brock's grandma and grandpa's house for dinner and dessert. Yum Yum! What a beautiful day for all of it too. We had a blast!

Let Me Take a Moment...

...to brag about my husband. Besides just being the most amazing husband and father, here are some of his most recent accomplishments.

The company he works for, Spring Mobile, was just given the naming rights at the EX Franklin Covey Field. It is now called Spring Mobile Ballpark. We are going to the opening game tonight for dinner and the game. A huge step for his growing company.

He just found out that he made it into the company's President's Club for the second year in a row! This is a very coveted award given to only the best of the best in the company. I am grateful for a company that recognizes his hard work, and rewards him for it. We get an all-expense-paid trip to Cancun next month! Last year it was Vegas, and it was a blast. I am so excited for this year's trip. Nice work babe, and thanks Spring Mobile!

And, on top of all of this, he is training with his sisters for a marathon on the 24th of July. He ran 10 miles while we were in St. George last weekend, and 14 last night! He is so dedicated, and such a hard worker. He can do anything he puts his mind to.

I love you Brock. You are so great, and I am so lucky to know you.

By the way, I am adding these pictures at the bottom of this post, and after its been posted for a while so maybe not everyone will see them. My family had a "biggest loser" type contest from January to March. On the day of the weigh in Brock oiled himself up, and came out in his little speedo shorts! It was hilarious! I thought he looked so freaking hot, and amazing! He lost 24 pounds! He came in second to my brother Justin, who lost 42 pounds. We were doing it by percentage, and Brock lost by .25%! It was so much fun. Anyway, here he is, in all his glory! I love you babe!

Parents of the...Week?

Okay, so a lot of people mention on their blogs that they should be in the running for mom of the year, dad of the year, parents of the year, you get the idea. Well, we had an experience today at church that should at least qualify us as the parents of the week. Brock goes to get Jace from his class in primary when church was over, and his teacher said that when they asked Jace who he thought created all the animals on the earth, Jace responded "Black Spiderman". Yup, that's right. Such a proud moment for Brock and me.

Nixon Turned ONE! (a month ago)

Well, once again, I am behind. My sweet baby boy turned one on February 28th. We were in Maui, Nixon's second time being there. Lucky boy. We celebrated with a little icecream cupcake from Coldstone, but waited until we got home for his party. We were busy until Saturday, March 14th, so we had his party a little late. He didn't seem to mind, except for the fact that the entire week before his party he was so so sick. He had a really bad cough and fever, was throwing up and wouldn't eat. We took him in to the doctor and he had a double ear infection, and RSV, or a "cousin" of it. Anyway, by Saturday, which also happened to be the day we got our Sanders Family pictures taken, he seemed to be over the worst. He had a fever while he was opening presents, and was kind of sad and quiet most of the party. All the other kids had a blast though!
We had all of our family over for pizza, presents, and cake and icecream. Nixon wants to say thank you to everyone for all of his fun presents. He has loved every one of them! So has Jace.
At his one year appointment he weighed 18 lbs, 11 oz. (25%)so no facing forward in the car seat :( I'm pretty sure Jace was 20 lbs at 9 months. So crazy how different two babies from the same parents can be. He was 28" tall (10%) and his head was 17" (<5%). Yes, we still have a teeny guy. He is crawling all over the place, has four teeth on top and two on bottom and loves to grind them! I can't stand that sound! He loves his binky and his blankie. He sleeps through the night, eats all foods, and loves his bottle of milk at night and in the morning. He is just the sweetest baby. He says dada, baba, and boy. Boy comes out sounding kind of like bwee and it always ends on a high note. Its really cute. He has recently learned that he can climb the stairs which has been fun for us. He points at everything whether he wants that thing or not. He just loves to point.
We are so blessed to have Nixon in our lives. He brings us such joy, and Jace loves being his big brother. They are so sweet together. I love my life!

Maui 2009

We left for beautiful Maui on Sunday February 22nd. My birthday. What a day to spend my 27th birthday. I would have preferred to have left Saturday so I could spend the whole day laying in the sun, but what can you do? It was a lovely birthday. Brock surprised me and had gotten me a present. So sweet.
The airplane ride to Maui was a lovely 6 hours and 40 minutes. Jace did so great with his DVD player and didn't complain one bit the whole way. Nixon was really good too. Only whining a bit when he was ready for a nap. He took two naps on the flight. It was long for Brock and me though. Man, staying in a 5x2 amount of space for 7 hours was pretty torturous, especially since we couldn't really sleep. Usually we will sleep for a couple of hours to help break up the time. Not with two munchkins in tow!

Here are the boys watching a movie.


And looking out the window.


Then Jace wanted to take a picture. Good job.


Then it was to the beautiful condo. My parents have a time share at the Westin Kaanapali Resort Villas in Lahaina. It was so beautiful. They have several different pool areas. One of them is a huge pirate ship that Jace loved. And another one has a big water slide that we had to go to every day. Brock was so great and would be in the water with Jace the entire day while I layed out and hung with Nixon. I did get in the pool once or twice I think!
















And of course we had to go to the beach. There was a really great beach right outside of our hotel room. It was amazing. Jace loved to chase the water down the sand and then run away from the waves as fast as he could with Granny. Nixon loved to eat the sand. It was so much fun.







Brock bought a kite and a frizbee while we were there, so we gave that a try too. Nothing like getting our friz on.











We also did a bunch of lazing around.







Saturday, the 28th was Nixon's first birthday. Brock and I decided to celebrate by having my parents watch the boys and we went to Ruth's Chris Steak House. Oh man. Happy Birthday Nixon. It did not disappoint. I love their buttery delicious steaks. Then we picked up ice cream cupcakes from cold stone to really celebrate.







Then, on Sunday, our last day, our flight didn't leave until 11:30pm, so we spent the day swimming and getting the last few rays of sun. Then we went to Mama's Fish House. Yum Yum. We go there every time we go to Maui, and it never lets us down. They have some beautiful scenery there, and we always have to take pictures.







I am so sad its already over. We have had this planned for about 10 months now, and I have been looking forward to it forever it seems like. And like all vacations, it was over too quickly, and it is on to planning the next trip! On the plane ride home Brock and I were trying to decide when and where we are going next. We're thinking a cruise next January. Anyone can come! Thanks to my mom and dad for letting us come along with them, and for watching the boys so we could hang out just us two. We love you!