Goodbye 2010.

We had some good times in 2010. Here are a few of my favorites...

-Making gingerbread houses-

They liked eating it way more than building it.

-Spare room to Playroom-

We made the kids a playroom out of our spare bedroom. This was their ultimate Christmas present because we even filled it with all new toys and furniture. We went downstairs in the morning and had them open their presents under the tree. Once they were done and the hype was starting to die down, we took them upstairs to see their other present.

Needless to say, they spent the entire day in that room. I think Santa did good. :-)

-Becoming best friends-

Over the past year, we've slowly watched the boys get closer and closer. They do fight but not very often. Every time they do, it's to timeout they go, followed by giving each other a hug and saying sorry. They don't like being apart but love 1-on-1 time with mom or dad. We've even caught them holding hands a couple times. They have fun with each other and we have fun watching them with each other. Its a win-win!

-Our ultimate favorite things about 2010-

Cashus.

1. His ability to make me smile instantly, even when I am completely mad at him.

2. His big brother attitude. He has to have control of every situation when it comes to his brother. "Now you have this sippy cup and I'll have this one."

3. When he says "momma" over and over and over again until I answer him or give him what he wants.

4. How he loves to cuddle at random times throughout the day.

5. He makes the "smack" noise after kisses.

6. He LOVES being tickled by long nails. He completely freezes, drops his jaw and can barely breathe.

7. How he loves talking. He jibber jabbers all day long and talks to us like we know exactly what he's saying. Plus, he will try saying any word we throw at him. He's a total chatterbox.

8. When he doesn't quite know what he wants and you ask him a simple yes/no question, his response will be "no....yes!" And even when you ask him again and again, his response will be the same. Slightly frustrating but incredibly cute.

9. When singing him his nightly lullaby, he will hum along.

10. How he says "What's that?" to almost everything new he sees.

11. How no matter how many times we sing a night night song, he will always ask us to sing it once more.

London.

1. London is his own man. He does what he wants, when he wants, and will not take 'no' for an answer.

2. How he calls his brother "dundon".

3. How after 22 months of sleeping in the same crib, one night he decided he wanted to switch Cash cribs and has went to that crib every night since.

4. He's a leader. He will be the first to come up with any scheme, game, or idea...and his brother will follow along. Sadly, this goes hand in hand with getting in trouble more, too!

5. He has this weird ability to see whenever a pop can, piece of food, or really anything he's not suppose to have, is put within his reach. It's a superpower, really. I am amazed at how fast he can get there.

6. How he can say tons of words but when it comes to 'please', he will always sign it, not say it.

7. All his corky traits. Out of nowhere, I will see him doing the weirdest things. We will make eye contact and he will give me that corky smile of his.

8. He has the funniest crusty face when he gets mad. He squints his eyes and will hold that glare until he's decided that enough time has passed and he's over it.

9. How he sincerely misses his brother whenever he's gone or can't be found.

10. Anytime Lucy starts crying or fussing, he yells at the top of his lungs, "BABY!" We thought at first that he did this because he was annoyed with her, but over time, we've figured out that he actually cares about her wellbeing.

11. He loves babies. Especially little Lucy. Hugs, kisses and plays with her all the time.

Lucy.

1. Her smile.

2. She is incredibly curious. She will snag anything that comes within her reach.

3. Her laugh. She really makes you work for it, but when you get her to laugh, its unlike anything else.

4. How she thinks its funny to annoy her brothers by pulling their hair or grabbing one of the toys they are playing with.

5. She has an amazing death grip. If you attempt to take something away from her that she's not ready to give up, you will have to peel her fingers away from it, one by one.

6. How she loves cuddling with me and her dad. She would prefer to sleep in between us every night if she could.

7. No matter how hungry she is or how little sleep she's got, she will always give you a smile if you smile at her.

8. Ever since she was born, she has had the WORST farts imaginable. 90% of the time, Te and I would change her, assuming she was poopy...oh no, she just has bad gas.

9. She has always been a really calm baby. She will watch me tend to her brothers and wait patiently until its her turn. This attribute is one of the reasons I have kept my sanity.

10. She gets excited about any toy that is given to her. She acts like its the best toy ever, every time.

11. She is my personal sanity. All I have to do is hold and snuggle her and all the craziness of life disappears for those tiny, but perfect, seconds.

My kids are my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am excited to watch them grow in 2011.

Happy Holidays.

I'm incredibly giddy for Christmas this year.

My boys don't know who Santa is. Nor do they have any idea

that presents are going to show up under the tree in a couple days. But one thing they

will experience on Christmas day is complete and utter surprise.

Te and I have been working day and night on their present for

the past week. I have no doubt in my mind that they will LOVE it.

Merry Christmas!

Utah Baby Blog.

Utah Baby Blog

My friend, Jen Herem, created this blog. It's pretty much awesome. She was nice enough to include me and ask if I would like to contribute to it. Since I love writing and love my kids....'no' just wasn't an option. I'm very excited for this opportunity to share my advice with other moms. So check it out! Hopefully, you will enjoy what we have to say!

This month.

November.

The kids were introduced to a few new things this month.

Some they liked, others they loved, and a few they hated.

One.

Finger paints. Loved. (the paints were cool because they were

clear, but once touched to the specific paper, they changed colors.)

Easy clean up = my style paint.

Two.

Ears pierced. Lucy hated, I loved. Of course, inflicting any sort of pain on my offspring pulls on my heartstrings, but the result is OH SO CUTE. She handled it like a champ too. Only cried for like 30 seconds. She's a tough little cookie, that's for sure.

Three.

Snow. Undecided. London liked being outside, but hated all the getup. He started liking it more once Te showed him how to eat snow. Cash liked it until he fell down and couldn't get back up. I'm sure they will like it more once they go sledding or build a snowman. Right now, they don't really know what to do with it.

Four.

Family movie night. Loved. We decided it'd be fun to let the boys stay up late and enjoy popcorn and root beer while watching a movie with mom and dad. We threw on Shrek 3 and got bundled up in front of the fire. It was pretty much awesome.

The last two pictures are random but they have been added into the

"Mom's Favorite Pictures" folder. Who doesn't love a good cuddle? :-)

Thanksgiving was busy. From house to house to home.

I consider a holiday successful when these three things happen:

1. Kids are good.

2. Company is good.

3. Food is good.

Thanksgiving was 100% successful.

The Lawrence household is officially ready for decking the

halls and trimming some trees. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Lucy, my love.

4 months.

Lucy turned 4 months.....about a month ago. Oops.

That being said, she got her "monthly" stats back! If she continues at the rate she's growing, she will be picking on her brothers before we know it.

Weight: 16 lbs. (85%)

Height: 26 1/2" (97%)

Head Circum: 42 cm (68%)

10 Things we love about Lucy:

1. Her smile.

2. Her super cute pouty face.

3. The ongoing obsession she has with watching

her big brothers run circles around her.

4. Her mellow demeanor. She's calm, cool, and collected.

5. The way she lets mommy dress her....3 times a day.

6. The fact that she LOVES all her girly toys. (I thought this

was just a myth about girls and boys but it's seriously true. She

loves her dolls and anything sparkly or feminine.)

7. The way she flirts with anyone who looks her way.

8. Her chunky thighs and cheeks.

9. How she always manages to roll over or do a 90 degree turn

but only when I'm not looking.

10. She thinks her brothers are hilarious, even when they don't

realize she's watching them.

And one more....

11. Her famous nose-dives into her bottles or bowls of food.

Our Lulu bear.

Yo Gabba Gabba

Like many of you, this show haunts my dreams. I find myself singing their songs and dancing when I'm not paying attention. I curse you, Mr. Gabba Gabba...whoever you are.

That being said, we went to their Live Show. Again, I found myself dancing and singing more than my kids...and come to think of it, more than the kids that were sitting in front of us and behind us...hmm...

It was fun though. It was something new to experience with the kiddos. I love watching their expressions and the way their faces light up when they see hundreds of balloons hanging above their head (reference picture # 3). Will we go again? Not until they are a couple years older. At half time, we were doing more chasing than watching. That didn't stop me from buying $15 keychains though! (I was secretly justifying the four $50 tickets I bought)

In the picture above, my camera occasionally does this blur thing. In this case, it turned out kinda cool. It's a keeper for the non-photog type, like myself.

London just might go into shock at the sight of all the balloons over head. Wait for it....okay, he lived. Barely...

The happy family leaving just after halftime. But at least they have their keychains (reference London's belt buckle acting as a safe spot for Muno). The boys kept throwing them. Another jab at mommy's ego. :-)

Pictures Galore.

***I received some emails/texts saying that people couldn't leave comments after my "going private" post. Pretty sure it was my template. So I changed it in hopes that you can now. So again, this will be my last public post. Please leave your email if you wanna keep following me and mine! Thanks!***

Backyardigans.

The boys love being outside more than anything else. To remember my little munchkins during these times of simple, utter happiness, I took some pictures of them playing out back. They could care less what the weather is or that there is no giant swing sets to climb on. They are just happy with some rocks and dirt. Such boys.

Londy pants.

Casher boy.

Early Christmas presents.

These Early Rider bikes were supposed to be their Christmas presents. Once they got to the house, Te and I were both too excited to wait. So we let them play with them for a week or so. Since the boys are a half an inch too short, we decided to do a sneak attack and store them away until Christmas morning. Pretty sure they will still be as equally excited to see them then as they were the first time they laid eyes on them. Gotta take advantage of the short term memories that toddlers have!

First time with playdough.

To sum up this experience, Cash kept trying to sneak a bite, while London kept touching the playdough to his face. Apparently, he liked the texture against his skin. Weird, I know.

Last minute 12 hour drive.

We decided to take a stroll up to the Oregon coast again this year to hang out with the Marriotts. It was a last minute decision, literally 3 days prior to leaving. The boys did AMAZING on the long drive. The Toy Story movie saved our lives. They watched that about 10 times total. The drive ended up a total of 27 hours on the road. Ouch. Lucy was an angel too. But we didn't expect anything less from her since she's always a sweetheart. We went over Halloween and thanks to the Marriotts, had an awesome beach house to crash at. All in all, good times, great friends, and many memories.

Our pad.

The boys second favorite thing in this world, playing in water.

The ladies.

For those of you who don't know Molly, she's been a best friend for a very long time. She's the one who introduced me to Te. The one I turn to for a laugh, a cry, to keep a secret, or just to vent to after a stressful day. What's crazy about us is that we were both "surprises" to our parents. Born a week apart. Lucy and Mina were both "surprises" and born a week apart as well. Who says things don't happen for a reason?!

Uncle Dusty, Cash and little Mina.

London

Cash on the drive home.

Geeking out with Dad.

A couple nights ago, Cash woke up around midnight, during mommy and daddy's relaxing time. He insisted on wearing his sunglasses while watching Te play on his ipad. I am not lying when I say I get excited to hang out with my kids every day. The things they do and say always keep me guessing and laughing.

Little on Lucy.

There wasn't much in this post on Lucy. But her post will be coming next week when she goes in for her 4 month check up. To us, she's pretty much perfect in every way.