Ashton saves Gunnar!

We are constantly checking our gate at the top of the stairs to make sure it's locked shut so that Gunnar doesn't find it open and go tumbling down. Well Ashton goes up and down all day and is usually pretty good about locking it, but today he must have just propped it shut when he came upstairs and not locked it because I'm making a phone call in the kitchen and Ashton was on the couch and all of a sudden he yells "Gunnar's gonna crawl down the stairs!!" Before I knew it he had jumped off the couch and ran over to him and grabbed his legs just before he went down head first! It scared me to death! And I was so proud of Ashton!! Little hero. He's so good with Gunnar most days now.

I love to see them playing together!

Oh, a couple of his latest funnies...

Yesterday I was telling him that I was going to get my hair cut and that Daddy would be staying with him and Gunnar. So he asked me who was going to cut it and I told him who and he asked me "Why doesn't Daddy just cut it for you, because he didn't go to hair preschool like you did?" Too funny!

Then the other day I made him some chicken noodle soup and he was drinking the broth and said "Yum! I like this yellow water."

I keep telling him to stay little...

But he's not listening :(

Gunnar is 10 months old today!

Those first steps aren't too far away,

he's started cruising along the furniture the past week or so.

Such a happy little guy!

Here's Ashton at the same age...with his one and only tooth he had for a couple months before he got more!

He just looked and seemed so much older at this age than Gunnar does right now! (okay I know it could be the spiked hair, but his face always looked older too!)

As I was just looking through these old pictures I realized I need to get out the next box of clothes for Gunnar! I had forgotten all about some of the cute clothes Ashton had...Maybe they'll still be way too big for Gunnar though.

A hug from batman...

I had Lars hurry and grab the camera for this...I don't get these too often anymore (unless I beg or right before bed), but it made my day. And look how happy he looks! Oh I love him!

Two cute little teeth...

I finally got a good picture of Gunnar's first two little teeth. They starting poking through one after the other the first week of this month.

So cute!

Happy 34th Birthday Lars!

Today is Lars' 34 Birthday, so the past few weeks I had been trying to come up with something fun for him/us to do to celebrate it. Of course I had the ideas of he and I flying out to Vegas or even driving out to Wendover, but then I remembered that we have 2 small children and it just doesn't work for us to do stuff like that right now and I knew he would want to spend it with his boys anyway. So then I tried to think about what we could do around here that would be fun just for part of the day...and of course he kept hinting that he'd love to go ice-fishing (who Lars? imagine that), so I decided to call his parents (without him knowing) and ask them if they'd like to come stay for the weekend and watch the boys while we went ice fishing, he had mentioned that it would be fun to see his parents for his Birthday too. And boy was he surprised to see them here yesterday after work! I hid their car around the corner and had them go downstairs with Ashton before he got home and when he did, I told him that Ashton needed his help with something on the Mario game downstairs. I loved his reaction when he saw them! Then last night we went out to dinner and I gave him a card telling him to pack up the ice-fishing stuff so that we could go today. Of course the one day we get a chance to go together it rains...all day! But we went anyway and had our tent and heater, so it wasn't too bad. (it really is fun! Most people who haven't ever been say "why would you want to go sit out on a sheet of ice and stare down a hole?", but it's fun if you're warm and if you're catching fish!)

Our ice holes... Lars looking down his ice hole...(we could see the fish swimming by our jigs)Lars caught 4 fish... I didn't catch any, but it could have been due to the nap I took and the fact that I was messing around and missed a few that I could have had. Oh well!

It was fun just to get out together for a few hours.

Me warming up by the heater :)

Tonight we had a few friends over for cake and ice cream, now Lars is watching the Aggie game. I think he had a pretty good Birthday...of course Ashton wanted it to be another pajama party, but Lars shot down that idea.

A little help blowing out those candles...

Thanks for coming to hang out and watch the boys Nana & Papa!

Happy Birthday hunnie :)

Thanks to Facebook and Blogging...

I have recently been back in touch with my beauty school roommate Jody! It was about 14 years ago that she and I and another friend moved to Logan from Evanston. That year of beauty school was one of the most fun times of my life! There were 5 of us that were inseparable at school and I have the greatest memories of those days. After we both graduated we moved to Clearfield and worked at a dive of a salon for a few months and not long after that I moved back to Logan and Jody moved to Evanston and we kind of lost touch all these years till we saw eachother at our 10 year reunion almost 5 years ago and still didn't do well at keeping in touch after that. Then a couple months ago I found her husband on facebook and he had a link to her blog on there and I was so excited to catch up with her life and now we've been back in touch! It's been way too long Jody! Yay for blogging hu?

Saturday she called me to see if we wanted some tickets to the Aggie game, she and her husband Geoff and their baby Jenna (who is about Gunnar's age) were coming to Logan to go to it and stay the night. Of course I said yes! And I was so excited to get together with them. I don't think I saw more than a minute of the game since we spent the entire 2 hours or so chatting and catching up.

(late night for the babies:) At one point I hear Lars yelling to me...

"Look Ashton's up on the JumboTron!" I looked up and saw Ashton in his bright yellow shirt on the big screen! I guess it was a pretty big game for the Aggies...it was sold out and they won. Thanks for the tickets Jody (actually she got them from the Judge in Evanston, so thanks to him too!) It was cute to see our babies together trying to grab eachother and sharing cheerios.

What a fun night!Can you tell our kids have about had it? Little troopers! Oh and by the way you look awesome Jod! Four kids later!

Our first date was 10 years ago!

I decided to surprise Lars this past Friday since it was about 10 years ago that we went on our first date. (no I don't remember the exact date, but I do know it was about a week before his Birthday because back then I remember after we had gone out just once he brought me a piece of cake on his Birthday!...We happened to live on the same street back then). Anyway I asked my good friend Angie if she would watch the boys for a couple hours while I took Lars out to dinner. I left him a card on the counter telling him where to meet me then took the boys over to Angie's. On our first date way back then we (and about 10 other couples I didn't know!) went to the Blue Bird here in Logan and I thought about taking him there, but there are just so many other better places to eat! So I told him to meet me at the Coppermill instead. They have the best coconut shrimp and I know Lars likes to eat there too. So he was surprised and we were both excited for a night out. It doesn't happen very often these days...thanks so much Angie!

Luckily I got a good report that Ashton and Gunnar behaved. Once again I had to bribe Ashton with wearing his pajamas over to her house, and when I told him that he could call her and ask her if it was okay (of course she said yes!)...he was ready to go.

I had her take this quick picture of us when we were picking up the boys.

Lars' head got cut off, but that tends to happen when you're 6' 5"!

(great shot of Gunnar too!)

Can't you just see it now????

Or... Or...
Or... Yes...while I should be doing much more productive things, this is what I've spent the last half an hour or so doing :)

Pretty cute though...right?

Click here to make some of your own cuties!

More cute Ashton comments

I just love the stuff Ashton says...

Lately Gunnar likes to crawl around under the kitchen table, so Ashton likes to be helpful and pull all the chairs out for him to have more room to crawl, then he likes to get down there and crawl around with him. So he got down there first and told Lars "put Gunnar in here with me because he's my best friend". I love it!

Gunnar also LOVES Ashton's room, and especially Ashton's closet. (it's a disaster right now and to Gunnar I'm sure it's heaven to see what he can get into in there). So lots of times we can find him crawling as fast as he can down the hall to get into Ashton's room before we come grab him. (I have to hurry because the other day I found 3 little light brite pieces in his mouth!)

So today I asked Ashton what Gunnar was getting into and he said

"Don't worry Mommy, I'm supervising him"! Too funny.

In the car today Ashton said to me "Gunnar loves you a lot hu Mommy?"

And I said "yeah he does, and you do too right?"

Luckily this time he said "Yes I love you."

Happy 90th Birthday to my Grandpa!!!

My Grandpa Swede is turning 90 years old tomorrow! We went to Evanston this past weekend for his early Birthday party on Saturday. It was a lot of fun and great to see so many people come to celebrate with him. I think he really enjoyed it. Thursday night my Dad and step-mom flew in from Texas and stayed with us that night, then left for Wyoming Friday morning. They showed up right as I was going to pick Ashton up from preschool, so he was really excited to come straight home to see them.

Gunnar and Grandpa Gene We left Friday afternoon to go to Wyoming. It was fun to see my uncles and my cousins Geoff and Ashley. Ashley's twin Beth wasn't able to make it (we missed you Beth!) No one can ever believe that I only have 3 cousins. Total. Yes that's it!

They sure are cute ones though :)

(that's my uncle Charlie in the back) Of course Ashton was so excited to go to Grandma and Grandpa Harry's house. Here he is getting ready to go outside with Grandma...I forgot his hat and gloves at home so he's wearing mine. He looked so cute in my pink hat!My Mom noticed that he and Grandpa Harry had matching green and black coats...Gunnar had a lot of fun crawling around their house too this time...Here he is making the funny face he makes all the time. He squints his eyes and tips his head back. I love it! He's sitting in the "bear chair" that is the highchair we use when we go to my Mom's house. It goes back to when she and her sisters were babies and me and my siblings all used it as well.

Here I am with my Dad, my step-mom Michelle, Ashton cheesing it up and Gunnar right before we headed home.

It was a fun weekend and good to spend time with everyone who was able to come. Oh and the boys even traveled pretty well too. I didn't even have to sit in back this trip!

Ashton is 4!!!

Happy 4th Birthday to Ashton today!!It was a snowy January day 4 years ago when Ashton was born at 4:17 pm in the Logan hospital. He weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long. He was such a beautiful baby! There was a time when I started to think that we would never be able to have a baby, so when I found out I was finally pregnant, it was one of the best days of my life! We were really on the verge of giving up after trying for 2 1/2 years and I remember praying and just handing it over to God, then finding out not long after that we would be having our first baby. Our prayers had finally been answered!

There has never been a dull moment since he was born.

Ashton keeps us on our toes that's for sure!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this kid!

I love his infectious laugh and his beautiful smile.

I love how he can't stop his skinny little body from dancing when there's a song on that he likes.

I love how his brilliant little mind works...it blows me away sometimes the stuff that he comes up with. He's always been wise beyond his years and has always looked and acted so much older than he is.

I love his imagination and the way he pretends with everything.

I love how excited he gets about little things.

I love to see him learn new things.

(he wrote his name for the first time today!) I love to see him try to get Gunnar to laugh, and to see him laughing at funny stuff Gunnar does.

I love how he LOVES his Daddy and wants to be just like him.

I love it when every once in a great while he hugs me out of the blue or says something sweet like the other day when he said "you're a nice Mommy".

Even though it drives me crazy sometimes, I love how he asks so many questions and is so curious. And how every thought that comes to his mind comes out of his mouth. He rarely ever stops talking from the minute he gets up in the morning till we tuck him in at night! I love how he still loves his Lovey!

I love to sneak into his room after he's fallen asleep and just watch him or take a quick picture :) He never stops moving during the day, so it's nice to see him so still and peaceful. Today for his birthday he wanted pancakes for breakfast, then he wanted oatmeal and a toaster waffle for lunch. Then it was time to get ready for preschool...his first day back after the Christmas break. He was so excited to go. I called in to see if he could bring a treat since it was his birthday and his teacher said it was fine so he wanted to bring little Snickers bars (or "Sneakers" as he calls them).

He came home with a birthday hat and a little stuffed bear and said the class sang the Happy Birthday song to him. I love that he felt special in his class!

I had asked him all day long what he wanted to do after Daddy got off work to celebrate his Birthday, but he never really said. So I tried to talk him into going out to dinner, but he didn't really want to. Until I told him that since it was his birthday he could choose any of his pajamas and wear them to the restaurant. He immediately perked up and said "Without real clothes on over them?" and I said "yep only because it's your birthday." So he happily agreed and we took him to Chili's in his new Iron Man pajamas. Maybe this will become a tradition...last year we took him to Chili's in his Incredible pajamas. (that finally have holes in the knees, so I can hopefully get rid of them!!)

He said a couple of funny things at dinner that I have to put on here. One of Lars' friends from work stopped by our table and talked to us for a minute and when he walked away Ashton said "Was that your boyfriend Daddy?" Ha!

Then when Lars was looking at the menu trying to decide which dessert to get he (Lars) said "looks like they have a chocolate chip molten chocolate cake."

And Ashton said " A chocolate CHIPMUNK???"

I have to add how I love all of the funny things he says every day to my list!

He is so entertaining.

What a great, fun, happy kid!

Happy Birthday Ashton!

I LOVE YOU

Ashton's Pajama Party!

We celebrated Ashton's birthday a few days early on Saturday with a fun Pajama Party. A couple weeks ago I was trying to think of what he's really into right now and what he'd like to do for a party and I thought hmmm...what does Ashton love? And seriously he is happiest when he is at home in his pajamas and like I've mentioned before he spends a lot of time just changing between all of his different pajamas. So it came to me to have a pajama party and you should have seen the excitement in his eyes when I asked him if he wanted to have a pajama party for his birthday! He jumped up and said "Yeah!! And everyone can wear their pajamas all day at my house!" Pure heaven for him to not have to get dressed in normal clothes all day!

So that is what we did. Two of his friends from our neighborhood Tyler and Jace came over and Lars' Mom and Dad and sister and her kids Ali and Hunter came from Price and my Mom came from Wyoming for the day. We had a pinata,had pillow case races, opened presents...

(Ashton got a bunch more fun stuff...a light brite, an etch-a-sketch that plugs into and shows up on the t.v., A glowing drawing thing (can't remember what it's called), a little stable for his horses, a spiderman game for his Vmotion system, money, a transformer truck, a wall hanging with his name on it, a cars puzzle from Gunnar, the superman pajamas he's wearing plus 2 other new pairs of pajamas (that he changed between all day!) And I can't remember what else! Spoiled!Then we had cake and ice cream. (Ashton wanted a spider on his cake, so Grandma Susan decorated the cake for me when she arrived :) I think it turned out pretty cute! Ashton LOVED it all! Then after the party was over Lars took him to the hotel where his family was staying to go swimming (or sit in the hot tub for a minute anyway). Then we all went to Firehouse for dinner and Ashton got to have his cousin Hunter stay the night at our house. He was soooo excited! So excited that he started waking up at about 4:45 the next morning asking if it was time to get up yet so he and Hunter could play! Grrrr...

Silly cousins having fun in the truck on the way home from dinner...Getting ready for bed with their matching loveys What a fun day!

Looking back on 2008

2008 was such a great year for us! Here are some of the highlights...
Ashton turned 3 and moved into a big boy bed!

Lars turned 33 and moved into a Big Boy truck...I know he secretly misses all those years of driving my little red truck especially in the summer with no air conditioning. After having it since I was a senior in highschool!...we sold it to my Mom and Harry. It was kind of sad for me, but I'm glad it stayed in the family. I have a lot of memories in that truck! On February 26th Lars and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. I was so pregnant that we just got a babysitter for Ashton and went out to dinner.

Then finally after a long 9 months (that seemed like 9 years...) our second sweet little boy was born on March 28th...9 days early. It was one of the two best days of my life! In a matter of a few hours all of the morning sickness, weight gain and horrible back pain (that had me limping to the bathroom holding on to a ski pole in the middle of the night!) was forgotten and so so worth it, (okay maybe not completely forgotten, but definitely worth it. What a miracle to see Gunnar's little face for the first time and finally hold my precious little baby! After that everything is kind of a blur...Where did the rest of the year go??? Those first few weeks and months after Gunnar was born we spent a lot of time at home and I felt like I spent most of my time on the couch feeding him! Every 2 hours on the hour around the clock...the boy loved to eat & still does!

I think Ashton had the most changes over the year. He finally met his little brother and had to learn how to share his Mommy and Daddy with him. After many hard weeks (maybe months...) of adjusting, he has done pretty well and really loves Gunnar. This summer he earned his big boy bike and has learned how to ride it really well.I just can't believe how much he has grown up and changed! He learned how to dress and undress himself and spends a lot of his time every day doing that. Sadly (for me) he has almost completely given up napping. After much anxiety and trepidation he started preschool! And like I knew he would he got used to it and now he loves it! I love when he comes home and tells me all about it or repeats things that he has learned from his teacher. One funny thing he repeats often that they taught him is that if you drink a lot of soda it's not good for you and it "disappears your teeth and bones!" We have enjoyed watching Gunnar grow and change too and doing lots of things for the first time...like smiling, laughing, rolling over, eating baby food, sitting up, crawling, feeding himself, pulling up to standing, waving, and recently clapping! One of the greatest days was when he was baptized as a Catholic on June 8th.He is such a blessing in our lives and it's never far from my mind how lucky we are to have our two healthy, happy little boys! I just wish they wouldn't grow up so fast. So many times I find myself wishing I could freeze the moment or stage they are in.

We had lots of other great memories too, but this post has already taken me 3 days to finish and most of the other big moments have already been blogged about!