Spencer's "bloody nose"

A few weeks ago I was playing with Spencer and my nose started to bleed. I got a tissue and stuck it in my nose and went back to playing with Spencer. He asked me why I had a tissue in my nose and I said, "my nose is bleeding". A few days later at church I had a banana for Spencer to eat but no wet wipes to wipe his hands. I went to the mother's lounge and got a wet paper towel. During sacarament meeting as I was listening to the speaker, I hear Spencer say, "Mom. I have a bloody nose". I look down to see him with a strip of paper towel hanging out of each nostril. He kept saying it in his normal voice, "Mom. I have a bloody nose". Of course he didn't really have one. Wish I had a picture.

4th of July

Todd's parents came down for the 4th of July. While they were down, Spencer had a good time playing the guitar with Papa and helping him put up a rain gutter bookshelf. Thanks again Loren for the help with the bookshelf.

Beach with Auntie Wug

We went down a month or so ago to watch Auntie Cassie play beach soccer. It was really fun to watch. She had two games a few hours apart so we spent some time in the water. Spencer really enjoyed it. When we first arrived at the sand Spencer called it a sandbox.

Fair 2010

Here are some pictures of our trip to the fair.

Todd's Birthday Party

These are pictures from Todd's birthday party. Every year we have a board game birthday party where we invite people over to play games.

Wondermomful and other Spencerisms

Today Spencer told my I was "wondermomful". I think that translates into "wonderful mom".

I told him this morning we were going to meet someone at Farmer Boys for breakfast. He asked me, "Is there going to be a cow there?" I told him "No. Farmer Boys is a Restaurant."

The Missing Piece

The Missing Piece

He'll always be my baby boy.

I often call Spencer my "baby boy" even though he is 2.5 and we are constantly seeing signs of him growing up. Even when he's 92 I will still call him my baby boy.

This weekend at the fair we saw another sign of him growing up - he rode some of the kid rides by himself. The first ride I felt a little uneasy about him going alone but he did really well and loved it.

Last year at the fair Todd and I were wondering how long it would be before Spencer would want to ride rides. This year as we were going to the fair Todd thought the same thing again. Well, if you've read the beginning of this post you know this was the year.

Before we went to the fair we planned out a budget to include: an elephant ride, pony ride, and a treat.

Well, after Spencer showed interest in the rides and asked to ride some, we ended up modifying the budget and Todd ended up splurging an extra $20.00 for Spencer to ride the rides. It was fun to stand on the sidelines and watch his face and the pure enjoyment he was having on the rides.

Well, I was going to upload some pictures to go along with this post but I can't find the cable to upload the pictures.

Sleeping Beauty

Usually before bed time I read to Spencer in our bed. This evening Todd was already asleep. Spencer said that Daddy was Sleeping Beauty and thought that if he kissed him he would wake up. He kissed him and Daddy only half woke up.

I Love the Cute Things You Say

I've been keeping a journal in a Word document for Spencer. I just finished recording in it some of the cute things he's said lately. I thought I would post it so others could enjoy his cuteness.

Dear Spencer,

I’ve been keeping a list of some of the cute things that you’ve said lately. I decided to take this time and write them in your journal.

A few weeks ago daddy and I were in the kitchen getting ready for dinner when you came in and said, “I said a prayer to Heavenly Father.” Before I could find out what you said in your prayer you ran back into the family room, knelt on a blanket and said another prayer. I asked you what you prayed for and you said, “a baby”. At one point, I can’t remember if it was before or after the second prayer, you said that Heavenly Father said, “Yes.” As in yes we can have a baby come live with us.

A few weeks ago I put my hair in a bun. It was the first time you saw my hair in a bun. As you were looking at my hair, you mentioned something about hamburgers or hotdogs. The next night you were reaching toward the back of my head and said, “What you have?” meaning how do your have your hair? When you saw I had a pony tail you said, “you don’t have a hamburger?” Today talking again about my hair you said, “Where’s your burger?”.

Another cute thing recently happened as I was cuddling you. You said, “Stay away from me.” Confused I asked, “Stay away from you?” You said, “Cause I’m pooping.” You don’t like people by you when you’re pooping in your diaper.

This past year I’ve been talking to you a little about your birth and how you came to our family. I’ve even mentioned a few times that you have a birth mom. Anyway, you were playing with a music box that came attached to some balloons that Auntie Lala and cousin Lincoln gave to you when you were a baby. You showed the music box to daddy and said, “When my birth mom comes I’m going to give it to her.” That was probably one of the first times I’ve heard you mention your birth mom.

One Sunday we were in Sacrament meeting and you and daddy were looking at a book about Jesus. You put your hand on your head and asked daddy, “This means your giving blessing?”

One day when were at the park and you were talking to a little girl. After a little while you came over and said, “That little boy said I can’t be a daddy.” (I think you thought she was a boy because she had her hair back and it looked short) Anyway, I explained that when you’re big like daddy you can be a daddy. A little while later you were on your scooter and I heard you say, “When I’m big like daddy I can be a daddy.”

Sometimes when Spencer does or says cute things like this it reminds me of stories my mom told me of cute things we did as kids.

Muffin Marathon

     Well, a half marathon, anyway, which is just over 13 miles. You may have heard that LynMarie ran the Fontana Days Half Marathon this year! My parents and sister Cassie came out to watch her run and we got to cheer her on during the race. She trained for months and really put in a lot of effort. Her goal was to finish the race in 2 hours, 10 minutes, but she actually came in at 1:52:16, which is an average of just over 8½ minutes per mile! Great job, honey -- we're so proud of you!

LynMarie waving to us around mile 10


The three of us after the race


Everybody chilling out afterwards (except Nana, who's taking the picture)


Here's Nana! Later that day reading to Spencer, who looks so cool in his shades.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Abominable Snowmen

     Well, I've had the best of intentions to go back and organize all the pictures sitting in the upload folder on our computer and post about everything, but if I wait to try and catch up before posting current stuff nothing will ever get posted. So the new plan is to try and post at least one new thing here every week.

     Anyway, we're now blocked out from using our Disneyland passes for the summer, so we wanted to make one more trip while we could. We saw Chip up front and Spencer had to say hello.



Here are Spencer and LynMarie with the Matterhorn waterfall in the background.



Spencer has been growing as you can see...



... so this was his first chance to ride the Matterhorn! He likes going through tunnels in the car, and didn't seem to mind the first part of the ride in the dark. About halfway through he said, on his own, "I like it!" He also got to go on Gadget's Go Coaster in Toontown, though he didn't seem to like that one as much.

     After we got home he told me, "I saw the abominable snowman, but he can't get you." Ah, how quickly they grow up...

Good Things to Come

Good Things to Come

# 1 and # 2 All in the Same Week!

We haven't officially started potty training Spencer but we have started doing little things to get him interested in the toilet. For example, sometimes before a bath I'll sit him on the toilet. We also told him if he goes poop in the toilet he'll get a sticker. A few days ago he told me he needed to go poop, so I put him on the toilet and after a while he looked in and said there was poop in there. I looked and he was right. Then tonight as I was changing his diaper (diaper was already off) he said he needed to go potty. I didn't want to get squirted so I threw a wipe over him while I got the diaper ready. I then took it off to put his diaper on. He said he wanted to pee in the wipey and I said no. I then noticed a little dribble and asked him if he wanted to go on the toilet. He said he did and I told him to hold it and ran him to the toilet. Well, shortly there after he went potty in the toilet for the first time. I was pretty impressed. I was also impressed that he held the urine in from the changing table all the way to the toilet. Maybe toilet training is around the corner.

My Family's Got Talent!

At the beginning of the month we had a family talent show. My eight year old niece thought of the idea herself and put it together. We had it at my parent's church building and my mom decorated for the talent show. Spencer and I sung "I Love to See the Temple". Well, acutally, he wouldn't sing so I invited the audience to sing it with me.























































My sister and nephew told jokes.















Valerie was the mc and did a great job. She kept us laughing.











My brother and his wife did the Salsa for the talent show. They did an awesome job.











This picture is of my sister in law and her almost 10 month old son. He demonstrated his talent of walking with a walker.






Some other talents were, my 8 year old niece played a song on the piano that she had taught herself, she also sang a song with her mom, a trumpet player, my cousins' kids ages 2, 3, 5 dancing to the song "All the Single Girls" (not quite sure if that's the title), magic tricks, and building with legos. My mom and sister in law also used their talents in making desert. It was a fun night and I hope this becomes a tradition.

Hair gel?...No

     I know we're not very good about posting things here and we've got quite the backlog of pictures and stuff. I'm trying not to worry about getting things in order and just get some things posted, or nothing is ever going to get done. Anyway, here's a cute video from a few days ago. Some days, the hardest part of being a parent is not laughing...

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I've been keeping a journal for Spencer and the following is the entry I wrote for tonight. I thought it would be easy to just cut and paste instead of re-writing the whole thing again.

Dear Spencer,

Yes. I am going to write more about some of the cute things you say. Yesterday I was folding laundry telling you about people we know who are going to have babies. As I sometimes do I started to talk to you about having a baby come live with us. You said you wanted one and so I said we need to wait until Heavenly Father sends us one. You then said you wanted to ask Jesus for one. A little while later you said you wanted to talk to Jesus on the phone.

Today before your nap you wanted me to read you the children’s book we have about Joseph in Egypt. When we got to the picture of Joseph sitting in jail you asked why he was on time out. I explained to you in the best way I knew how by saying, “Potifer’s wife accused Joseph of trying to kiss her.” After we were done with the book you took it and started to “read it” yourself. I sat back and listened to you and this is what I heard:

“Why did Joseph get a time out? He tried to kiss him (I don’t think you quite know the difference between him and her).”

Turns the page, “Why did Joseph get a time out? He tried to kiss him.”

Turns the page, “Why did Joseph get a time out? He tried to kiss Joseph.”

Turns the page, “Why did Joseph get a time out? He tried to kiss Pharoh.”

I guess we still need to work on this story.

Church Water

Spencer says some of the cutest things. Today in Sacrament meeting he looked up from drinking out of his sippy cup and said, "I want church water". He was refering to water out of the church's drinking fountain. We've been trying to get him to be quiet during Sacrament meeting and today he did really well for most of it.

Today his nursurey teachers where doing a slide show on the creation and they said he was naming a lot of the animals.

Happy Birthday Spencer

Wow! Time flies. We can't believe our little boy is already 2. These past few years with Spencer have been wonderful. We couldn't have asked for a better baby boy. He is such a joy to our family. He is a little light.

He has learned so much in his short time here on earth. He can sing the alphabet song, recognizes red,blue,purple, can count to 13 by himself and to 20 with help

Spit Shine

Tonight Spencer asked me for a paper towel. Usually when he asks me for one he starts wiping things down. I looked over after a little while and saw him spitting on the seat of the chair and wiping it. I have no idea where he learned this from because I don't clean house like that.

I Want to go on a Mission

Today while I was cooking dinner I was singing the song, I Hope They Call me on a Mission". As I was singing, Spencer said, "I want to go on a mission". That made me so happy to hear my little boy say. I can't believe he's not even one and he already wants to get married in the temple, of course he's recently had the example of Auntie Alysha and Uncle Blake, and go on a mission.

It's kind of ironic, cause the other day I was thinking about our next adoption and how things are slow and the possiblility that he may be our only child. Then I got to thinking about sending him on a mission and how much I would miss him and wondering if it would be more difficult to send your only child on a mission as opposed to sending one of many children on a mission. Oh well, random thoughts.

When we first brought Spencer home, I remember seeing his diaper bag, that the foster mom had packed up for him, sitting on our couch. I don't know why, but seeing it all packed up made me think about him growing up and us sending him on a mission and I started to feel sad that he was going to grow up and leave us. But I guess that's what life is about. Raising your kids to be good people and then sending them out into the world. More random thoughts.

For those of you who aren't familiar with our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, young men are encouraged to go on a two year mission at age 19. Young women go at age 21 for 1 1/2 years. When a young man or woman decides to go on a mission it is a joyful occasion for the family. Both Todd and I went on missions before we were married and have been blessed by the experience. We also hope to go on a mission as a couple when all our children are grown.

Our church also builds temples where a man and a woman can go to be married not only for life but for eternity. So again, when a couple decides to get married in the temple it also brings great joy and happiness to the families.

New Pictures

The first picture is of Todd and Spencer before church. Spencer loves this train tie. The second picture is of me and Spencer before our first bike ride. We love our bike rides. Spencer loves holding on to the handle bars and helping mommy steer the bike. He sometimes tries to push my hands out of the way so he can steer by himself. Of course I tell him no. A few times he has said, "I'm helping mommy".

The Angels

Today we went to my parents' house and my mom had my brother's trophies out. Spencer looked at them and said, "The Angels". I kept thinking, "How does he know about the Angel's baseball team?" Then it hit me. I think he was talking about the Angel Moroni on top of the LDS temples. They're the same gold color and we also had an Angel Moroni on top of our Christmas tree that looked like it was made out of the same material as the people on the trophies. So I think that's what he was talking about. Any how, I thought it was cute.

We also went to visit my grandma. We visit her and my parents once a week. It's fun to see Spencer and my grandma interact. I can tell that she adores him and he just loves her. She gives him rides on her walker around the house and she usually has M&Ms lined up in a row on her side table waiting for him. He usually sees them and goes over and eats them without even asking. When we leave she walks us to the door and when we're outside she looks out the backdoor curtain and plays peek-a-boo with him. I'm so glad she has been able to live this long to get to know him (She just turned 90 this year). We've been going over to her house almost every week since he was a baby.

To bring the Camera or Not to Bring the Camera

Lately, I have had a few experiences where I wish I had my camera with me. One was a few weeks ago at a local mall where we exercise on windy or rainy days. As we pulled up to the mall, there was a huge black hawk helicopter on a trailer in the mall parking lot. Spencer and I went with our friends for a close up look. Luckily my friend had a cell phone and took some pictures.

Yesterday, as we were getting ready to go to Disneyland I decided I didn't need to take the camera every time we went. Well, it turned out to be a great day for pictures. Such a great picture day, that I am seriously considering paying the outrageous $12.95 for the pictures the kind staff at Disneyland took of Spencer with Goofy and Mickey.

When we entered Main St. We saw Goofy and Spencer got excited so we went over to see him. Goofy took the leash to the backpack Spencer was wearing and started to walk Spencer around. He then gave Spencer the leash and I took this as him saying, "You're free".

We also saw Mickey in his house at Toon Town. Spencer went up to him and gave him a kiss.

It was so fun to see Spencer’s excitement as we drove up to Disneyland.

Creche Festival

This was a picture taken at a local Creche Festival that Spencer and I attended in December.

Colors

For the most part Spencer seems to learn things quickly. However, colors seem to have taken a while. Todd and I were beginning to wonder if he was color blind. Recently, however, he seems to be learning his colors. A few weeks ago he correctly recognized the color of his towel as orange,which suprised me because I don't think we do orange a lot, and when I was doing laundry the other day he again pointed out the orange towel on the couch. Then tonight as I was getting him ready for bed he identified my shirt as blue,it was probably more a tourquoise but i think it counts as blue, then I pointed to some other things that he correctly identified as blue. I then pointed to some red things and he correctly identified them as red.

This morning when I was getting him ready for church he said he wanted to wear his red socks. After seeing that he had red in his shirt I put on his red socks. He then told me sometime after that he wanted to wear his pink socks. I told him he didn't have any pink socks. He sometimes talks about pink. That's a color that I don't think we've talked about much. I think we mostly do red and blue. Anyhow, at one of his doctor's appointments a few months ago he got a pink sucker. So I'm wondering if that's how pink got into his mind. Any how, it's so fun to watch him grow and learn.

As far as numbers he seems to be recognizing things in two. For example, yesterday we went on a little run/walk and, since we've recently started going on bike rides, I would point out people riding by on their bikes. Sometimes two people would ride by and he would say something like, "there's two bikers".