my not-a-baby-anymore baby

Jace is my baby. He is so different from Reuben. Not only did I get my brown-eyed baby, but he's also a mama's boy (still) and not as talkative (yes, still). He gets so shy around strangers, hides his face, and runs away. I remember one day when Reuben was a baby, we were at a restaurant here in town and the waitress wanted to take Reuben to show his blue eyes to the chef. We let her, and he gladly went. Now-a-days I would not only NEVER let this happen, but neither would Jace. He would cling for dear life, and I love it. We took a picture of Reuben in this outfit and Jorge's hat when he was the same age. It's the one on the left side of the blog. What do you think? Complete opposites?
Jace has been curiously exploring how underwear works. He's decided to make a fashion statement, in his support of Reuben's potty training.
I was undressing Jace to get him in the bathtub, when he escaped. This is where I found him. He wants to be everything Reuben is and do everything he does. That can be good and bad! He sometimes does not realize he's 2 years younger and I'm sure he'll be giving me a heart attack soon. Brave boy. His devilishly handsome smile says it all. I told Allison tonight that I've been blog-neglecting Jace. I've had a lot to say about Reuben with his potty training and you know, talking! But I love Jace too and wouldn't change him for the world. Just thought you should know! have a great week!

Thanksgiving. 08

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I love Christmas! I love shopping for everyone, making hot chocolate (almost daily), Christmas music, cookies, decor, etc...and I especially loved Christmas tonight. I had made pumpkin bread after church and of course hot chocolate (secret mexicany ingredient: cinnamon)! to go with it while we watched the 1st Presidency's Christmas message. Reuben has learned that Christmas is "Jesus's birthday party" and he paid so much attention to the program. Here are his comments. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have:

"He said OATMEAL!" (in reference to Pres. Uchtdorf)

"Mommy, HE said Jesus Christ." (Pres. Eyring)

"Bishop, mommy, bishop!" (again, Pres. Eyring)

He didn't comment during President Monson's talk, but listened so carefully and pronounced his little sincere "Amen" at the end. How my little 3 year old's attention span lasted so long was beyond me, but I'm glad it did. It was so heart warming to sit with my little family and listen to loving reminders about the Christmas season and celebration of our Savior's birth.

my first.

Reuben is my firstborn. The first to make me a mother. Well, this weekend I had another first. The first time I've experienced potty-training. It was great. Reuben is great. I have learned so much from having him, and he is amazing. It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about how we almost lost him. Most 27 weekers don't make it, or do, but with a lot of challenges. He is so smart, good looking, and creative (all 3 of which I'm sure he got from his Daddy!) We had a 3 day weekend, thanks to some unknown-to-me Mexican holiday, so I decided to POTTY TRAIN REUBEN! I know, I know...if you're doing the math, I'll help you out. He's almost 3 1/2. But I didn't want this to be frustrating for either of us, especially since my time with him now is limited. Here's how it went:

Putting on his first sticker! He was so proud of his big boy underwear, but a little embarrassed to have me take a picture! He kept telling me that he wears underwear and Jace uses diapers.
We started bright and early Saturday morning (5:30 to be exact). He tried for a while, while watching cartoons.

...even had to have a snack...

We read his "Potty Train" book...a few times...

And at the end of the 3 days, HE'S POTTY TRAINED! He's so proud, and so are we! Yes, the first day had it's share of accidents. Jorge told him that after he's potty-trained, he'd take him to the ranch to ride horses all day. After that, the stickers kept piling on! (Jorge, when we potty train Jace, please make that promise on the first day!)

For every successful "go" (how do you say that?!) he would get a sticker and an M&M. Jace stood watch, and when he saw the results, he'd run and ask for an "em!" also. Look at all those stickers! Man, he can pee! On a funny note, he would get so distracted and say, "mommy, it's LONG!" Yes Reuben, please go. Silly boy. Successful weekend! YEAH!

the rest of the sick day

This was the afternoon of our "sick day".... usually I don't cook lunch so we weren't stocked for today (atleast with anything that sounded yummy), so we ordered PIZZA! Reuben was pretty amazed that our pizza came on a "moto". Jorge was cleaning out his closet and found this. We do not put bumper stickers on our vehicles. I think it's somewhat rednecky, if that's a word. But Reuben was happy with his. I'm going to ignore what implications that may have....

I put Reuben down for a nap and FOUND THIS. My fault. I left a pile of folded laundry in the basket in their room. So after he tried getting up a zillion times, I took him back to the disaster area and calmly explained that if he didn't take a nap he'd need a time out. He just looked up at me and said, "I'm poopy mommy." Augh.....so THAT'S why....*beware: diaper changing lingo....I changed his diaper and said, "Reuben, you did have a little turd." To which he replied, "It's a TURTLE!" hahahaha...... Have a happy Tuesday!