Wells turns 4!

Last Thursday we had quite the birthday for Wells.  The night before Wade and I got ready for the adventures of the next day.  We first hid all of his presents in places that he could find in the morning.  One on our TV in our room, one in the drawer were he gets his cereal bowl out, one in the pantry were his cereal is, one in his dresser drawer, and one in Chandlers room.  His expression every time he found a present was priceless.

After a special birthday breakfast of Fruit Loops, we headed off to the Doctor's office for his four year old check up.  While we were there the doctor checked his heart beat and said that he has a very strong, fit heart.  He said that it beats at a rate of a very fit 12 year old.  He then had Wells do some coordination tests and he said that in all his 25 years of practice he has maybe only seen two kids be as fit and coordinated as he is.  He kept saying, "this kid is definitely not a couch potato".   He's in the 85% for height and the 77% for weight.

Then when we came home Wade and I set up a little stand for all the neighborhood kids to come and have hot dogs, popcorn, and lemon aid.  Wells just loved having everyone over to his house.  He thought he was pretty cool. We blew through about 34 hot dogs!

After the hood party it was on to making Wells cake.  He was pretty excited about it when he saw the finished product.  

Then we had the family over for cake and ice cream.  Both grandparents came, along with the Panter's, Hooley's and Christensen's.   We are so lucky to have such amazing/supportive family so close by.

Grandma Farr even brought a present for Chandler to open.

Here are a few things that Wells doing now that he is four!

*He rides his bike all day, every day.  Even if he's just going next door.  He also loves to go down our driveway for some speed and get some air as he jumps off the curb of the sidewalk.

*He loves to say, "Conck your face!" after everything we say that's sarcastic.

*He loves Chandler and is such a good helpful brother

*He calls his best friend Eli, Bro. 

*He has an amazing imagination and when he plays by himself he does it really well.

*He loves to sing at the top of his lungs while going to the bathroom.

*Love to wrestle with Daddy in the "wrestling room" (which is the front room).

*Loves to help Wade mow the lawn every week.

*Laughs at everything.

*Has tons of friends, his motto in life when it comes to people is, the more the merrier.

*Will only hug Mommy, Daddy, Chandler and sometimes Grandma.

*He's pretty good at saying please and thank you.

And here are a few things that he has said that has had me laughing:

(I've been saving these for a while)

- As we were pulling up to the hospital right after having Chandler Wells said, "Are we getting another baby?" and then a few months later after telling Wells we were going to Babies R Us he said, "Are we going to pick up a baby?"

-While praying Wells said, "Thank you for otter pops... except for the blue ones"

-Randomly he said, "Jesus makes me like Chick Fa Lay"

-Wells came in eating something and he had a very guilty look on his face.  I asked him what he was eating and he just shrugged his shoulders and wouldn't answer me.  Then I asked him again in a more stern voice.  Finally he said in a soft voice, "Broccoli".  I told him he could eat all the broccoli he wanted.  Then he was happy.

-I pulled out my old prom dress to take to Young Women's and when Wells saw it his eyes widened and he said, "Mommy!  is that your princess dress?"  I  said it was and he told me to go try it on... so I did.  When I came out I did a little twirl and he just stood there with his jaw dropped and he said, "Mommy... you look so beautiful!"

-While driving in the car Wells was pretty quiet.  Then out of the blue he said, "I want a Slimeinator!"

-Before going to bed I went into Wells room to cover him up and in his sleep he whispered, "Mommy, I love you".

The Annual Neighborhood BBQ

Tonight we had our annual neighborhood BBQ party, but this year we added in a bike parade.  It all started at noon, where we all packed a lunch and had a picnic at the Slacks house.  Then our amazing neighbor Tenille Slack had a little bike washing station set up with soapy water, sponges and drying rags to make their bikes all sparkly clean.  Then they could go over to the decorating station.  There she had balloons, pipe cleaners, ribbon, crate paper, markers and paper to make signs, duct tape, and flags.  The kids loved being creative and making each of their bikes unique.

Then at 6:30 when all the dads came home we pulled out three grills and started cookin.  There was so much good food!!!  After socializing for a while we started the bike parade... and this is when I started taking pictures. 

All the parents lined up on the sidewalk and all the kids lined up at the top of the cul de sac.  Each kid had their turn to come down and wave at the crowd as we cheered them on.  The kids loved the attention from all the adults and all the adults loved seeing there kid beam from excitement.  Then the kids circled around did it all over again...and again...and again...and we kept cheering again... and again... and again.  It was so much fun!

I can’t express enough the love I have for this neighborhood.  We've become such good friends with them that they're just like family. I don’t ever want the dynamic to change, if only I could freeze time!

A half marathon only means you're half as crazy right?

Last Saturday I ran my first half marathon. That's right 13.1 miles!!!  I finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes.  It started at Tibble Fork Reservoir up AF canyon and ended at the AF High School.  I just have to say I couldn't have done it with out my bff by my side, Gina.  I never thought I would say this but I think I might miss training because we always had such good talks while running.  (I know... I can't believe I could run and talk either)

 

This race was a cancer race.  Meaning that all the proceeds go to families who can't afford cancer treatments.  I was part of Team Hope, which consisted of a lot of my neighborhood and some of their friends.  There was actually about 60 members of Team Hope and about 2200 runners in all.

Wade made these awesome signs with Wells the night before the race.  They made me laugh and made the last mile and a half a lot easier to run just thinking about them.  Wade had a lot of the runners say his sign was the best one they saw...and there were a lot of signs.

Now I just have to get a little mushy for a minute... so here we go...

I could never have even imagined starting something like this if it weren't for the soft and sweet encouragement of my hubby.  He was so patient and willing to get up with the kids four days a week so I could train.  Also, the night before the race he was so excited a giddy for me.  He took me and the kids to eat sushi (so I could fill up on carbs), he made the signs, he made sure I had a warm hat and hand warmers to take for the beginning of the race.  He was there on the side of the road (with the kids) cheering me on and then at the finish line.  His energy was just so contagious that it made it fun for me.  I couldn't have asked for a more supportive better half. 

Chandler

Chandler is now 10 months old.  My favorite age!!!  He makes me laugh every day with all the cute and funny things he does.  He knows when he is being watched and he knows how to ham it up to whoever is watching.  

Some of my favorite things he does right now are:

*He tilts his head to the side when he wants to look cute for someone. Like a little puppy. He knows he will always get a reaction from that face.

*He doesn't crawl but he does the best/fastest scoot.  We call it the crippled man scoot because it looks like one of his legs is broken and just dragging behind him.

*He loves to do Patty Cake.  He gets excited for the end and throws his hands up in the air way before we sing "toss it in the oven".

*He will say mamamamamama if you ask him to and he will sometimes say dadadadada.  

*He loves both Grandmas and when he sees them he practically jumps out of my hands to get to them.

*Sometimes when Wade gets home and if Chandler is on the floor, Chandler will toss his hands up in the air and tilt his head to the side.  It is the cutest thing EVER and Wade can't help up smile and pick him up.  

*He loves to be outside.

*He loves bath time and cries when I take him out.

*He loves to pull everything out of the dishwasher.

*Almost every night after I nurse him he loves to cuddle and usually will fall asleep on me.  I just soak it in and love every minute of it.  

*He repeats everything we do.  Like shaking his head up and down or side to side, or waving, or making noises.

*He loves play with balls.  He will throw the ball, and then chase after it and throw it again and again.

*He hates the blender.  Whenever I start to put stuff in it he starts waving his arms and looking at me with panic in his eye.  So I pick him up, have him touch the bender before I start it, and then start it and calmly talk to him while it does it's thing. (Man, the things we do for our kids)

*He gets the biggest kick out of Wells and loves him so much.  My heart just melts like butter when I see the two play together.  You can just see the love they have for each other at such a young age.

*Whenever I sit down to eat he is right there at my legs begging for food.  And if I don't give him any he will start to smack his lips like he is chewing.

*He's a pretty picky eater when it comes to baby food, but he will eat pretty much anything if he see's it's off of my plate.

*Waves goodbye to everyone and everything.  He loves to wave.

*He is such a happy baby, always smiling and babbling.   

*He's a good sleeper.

*He's the best to cuddle.

*And last but not least he as the chubbiest little legs that I LOVE to squeeze!