Birthday parties and sleepovers

Sunday Joseph went to his cousin Kayden's first birthday party. It was a monkey theme and Joseph had so much fun playing with all the kids. Below is a picture of him leaving the party all decked out in his monkey party gear.

David went camping with the boys from work this week and so my little brother Christian and my younger sister Ashlie came and spent the night on Monday night. Christian and Joseph made a little bed on the floor. I wasn't sure if he would sleep all night out in the living room on the floor. But he stayed there all night and loved it.

Pierced Ears, Merry-Go-Rounds, and Messes

We took Anna to the mall yesterday and got her ears pierced. She did so good. I made David hold her since it was his idea. She only screamed for a second. Once David stood up and rocked her she was fine. We have told Joseph that he is not allowed to touch Anna's ears now. This has been hard for him because he loves to touch her ears!

After she got her ears pierced we went upstairs to the food court and got lunch. After lunch Daddy took Joseph for a ride on the Merry-go-round. Joseph picked a Zebra to ride. He was cute because every time he would pass me he would wave.

Whenever I am getting Anna ready Joseph likes to climb into her crib so that he can "help" me get Anna ready for the day. This morning was no different. He loves to put lotion on Anna. He helped me put lotion on her and then I went into the other room. Joseph usually just climbs out of the crib when we are all done. Dave and I were talking when I realized the dangerous silence. I went into the kids' bedroom and this is what I found in the crib:

He was covered in lotion! If you look closely you can tell that he has a wipe in his hand and he is trying to clean himself up. But the best part was him trying to clean his binky off. He was so worried about it!

Doctors, Doctors and more Doctors

We had a very busy week last week filled with lots of Doctor's appointments! I've had these 3 little bumps on my neck for like 2 years now. I first noticed them when I was pregnant with Joseph. They were just these ugly little bumps that never really bothered me other than the fact that they were really ugly. One of them started to get bigger and almost over night it tripled in size. On Monday, Memorial Day, it really started to hurt. By Tuesday morning it was starting to get red and it was really tender. So I went and saw Dr Dietz who told me it was a Sebaceous Cyst that had become infected. He told me that they couldn't remove it when it was infected so he started me on an antibiotic and told me to make an appointment with a dermatologist to have it removed. So I came home started the antibiotic and made an appointment for the following Thursday to have the cyst removed. Wednesday we took Anna to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor for her nasal congestion and snorty breathing. Luckily after a thorough examination including sticking a fiber optic scope in her nose, they concluded that she has a small chin and a jaw that is set far back which causes her to breathe funny. There is nothing we can do except have her sleep on her side and wait for her chin and jaw to grow. By Thursday afternoon my cyst was even bigger, redder and hotter. I called Dr Dietz who told me that the only way to clear the infection at this point was to cut the cyst open and drain the infection. However he wasn't going to be in the office the next day so he set me up with Dr Hawkins. Luckily I used to work in this office so I know all the Doctors. Friday afternoon we went to the office and Dr Hawkins took care of the cyst. He numbed me up and then cut a slit in the cyst and basically popped it like a big zit. David watched the whole thing ( I wished I could've but because of the location I couldn't watch) said that he couldn't believe how much stuff came out! They packed it full of iodized gauze and told me to come back Monday and they would take the gauze out and re-pack it. After that lovely painful experience we went up to the University Hospital to visit Dave's grandma who was there because she was having chest pains. Everything turned out ok. We enjoyed a nice visit with her. Monday I went back in. By this time the gauze had all fallen out. Luckily it had started to heal and they didn't have to re-pack it. Now I just have to wait for it to heal and shrink back down before I can have it removed! So I took a picture of the cyst before I went in on Friday to have it drained. David told me I was nerdy for posting it but I wanted you all to see what I was talking about! I didn't take an after picture because it is just a large slit now!

Cluff Cousins

Today we went to David's sister Courtney's for a family dinner. It was so fun. All the grandkids were there so Joseph had a blast! We pulled up the same time as David's brother Tyler and his family. As soon as Joseph saw the kids he got so excited and started waving. He loved playing with all the little boys. We also found out that David's sister Michelle is going to have a baby in November. We are so excited! This will be the 4th Cluff cousin in a year! How fun!

The 3 Cluff Cousin's, Anna, Sam and Wyatt--# 4 will come in November!

Won't Kenzie make such a good big sister? She loves holding the babies!

No Way!

So last night I was getting Joseph ready for bed. I said to him "Are you ready for bed?" At first he said, "No." Then I asked him if he wanted to sleep in his Speed bed and he looked right at me and said "No way mom!" I didn't know weather to laugh or be mad! He goes to bed really well at night now. We had struggled with his bedtime for a few weeks after Anna was first born. He wanted to sleep in our room with us. But he's really good about bed time now. After we read scriptures and say family prayer David or I will read him a bed time story and then turn his Speed night light and his Paul Cardall music on and he'll go to bed. However the last few nights after we turn the lights off we can hear him in his room humming to his music. It's pretty cute.

Today we were out in the front room and it got really quiet all of a sudden. Anyone who has a 2 year old knows that this is a dangerous thing! We found Joseph in our bedroom in Anna's bassinet!

2 Months

Anna is 2 months old today! I can hardly believe it! She is smiling all the time and it is so cute! We went to the doctor today and here are her "stats:"

Weight: 11 lbs 14 oz

Length: 22 inches

She got 3 shots. Can you see the purple band-aids on her chubby little legs?

Who needs a double stroller? Joseph and Anna fit just fine in one!

Mother's Day

So I have been thinking a lot about motherhood the last few days and I really felt like sharing them on my blog. I have been thinking about Motherhood in a lot of different ways. I used to just reflect on my own mother on Mother's day but as I have grown-up and my life has changed my views on motherhood have changed.

First I wanted to talk about my own moms. I have been so blessed because Heavenly Father gave me 2 moms. First is my "real" mom as I like to call her. I don't think I ever appreciated my mom as much as I do now that I am a mom. We are pretty close now. We had our differences when I was teenager but as I've grown up we've grown closer. She is an amazing person. She has such unconditional love for people around her. She is one of the most compassionate people I know. I often think of the Mother Theresa quote that says "If you judge people, you have no time to love them" when I think of my mom. She is always thinking of ways she can help other people out and really admire that about her. She is also an awesome grandma! It's been so fun to see my mom as a grandma. My kids call her Grandma SoSo. One memory that I wanted to share is when my mom and I went on a cruise for my senior trip. We had so much fun! We laughed so much! It was fun to spend a whole week with her. I think she was glad to spend the time with me too, especially since Dave proposed the day we got home! I was grateful for my mom this week because she came and took care of me Tuesday after I had my gallbladder surgery. It was fun to sit and talk with her. I am also lucky to have my mom #2. I don't feel like I could ever call Julie my "Step-mom" because she's just my mom. I have 2 moms and that's just the way it is. It's confusing sometimes because I call them both mom. Sometimes even my husband has to clarify who I'm talking about. They are both listed in my phone as "Mom". I am so grateful that my "real" mom is so cool about sharing me with my mom #2. That's another amazing thing about my mom! My mom #2 married my dad when I was 8. At the time I was living in Arizona with my dad and at the time it was just the 2 of us. Along with a second mom I got 2 sisters and later another brother. It didn't take very long for my mom to become my mom. She took an awkward 8 year old and helped shaped me into a pretty well-grounded teen-ager. I lived with my dad from the time I was 12 until I got married and then David and I lived with them for about 3 years after we were married. My mom has always loved me like her own. I really feel like she's my mom. She used to listen to my boring stories everyday after school and she would always listen to me tell her about the latest book I was reading. I'm sure that she was bored out of her mind listening to me talk sometimes but you would never know it! She taught me how to cook and do laundry and make a bed and clean bathrooms. She also helped me through the awful highschool years when I thought that nobody would ever want to date me let alone marry me! She kept telling me that somebody special would come along and she was right. I was so excited when she learned how to text a few months ago because it's much easier to talk to her everyday! She has also been such a fun grandma to my kids.

I have also been thinking a lot about my mother-in-law, whom I've never met. 26 years ago today she died suddenly at the young age of 31 leaving 6 young children ranging in ages 6 weeks through 9 years. My husband David was that 6 week old baby. Her name was Paula Jean. We gave Anna her middle name after her grandma Paula's middle name. It seems unfair to me that I had the opportunity to have 2 moms growing up and my husband didn't even get 1! I have no doubt in my mind that she is still a very real part of our lives. I know that she was there the day we got married and I know that she was with our children before they came to us. There are many quiet moments when Anna will get very alert and look past me and I know that her grandma Paula is near. A few years ago David's aunt's put a book of memories together for the kids. There are some pictures in the back of the book. I pulled the book down earlier in the week to show Joseph. The last picture in the book is the last family picture taken before she died. It has all the kids except David. Joseph liked to point to all the people and have me tell him who they are. I pointed to Paula and told him that was his very special Grandma Paula who watches over him from Heaven. I told him that she died. Joseph looked at me and while pointing to Paula said "grandma died." I know that he has no concept of what "died" means but it was still very sweet. Later in the week he pointed to the book and we looked at the pictures again. He again pointed to Paula and said "grandma died" He had remembered our earlier conversation. I was surprised he remembered. We went and bought a little potted white daisy (Paula's favorite flower) and we let Joseph decorate the pot with Mickey Mouse stickers and he colored her a card. We took it to her grave today. He loved the cemetery. He proudly put his pot of flowers on her grave and then he liked to look at the picture of the temple on the grave. He also liked walking around looking at all the flowers and pinwheels and balloons. We took a picture of him sitting down by a grave. He was just sitting there and it looked like he was deep in thought. I wondered what was going through his little 2 year old mind. I have thought a lot about being a mother a lot today too. I love being a mom! I can't tell you how being a mom ha changed my life. I never knew it was possible to love another human being this much! I mean don't get me wrong I love my husband but it's such a different love you have for your children. Joseph made me a little hand print with a cute little poem in nursery. I couldn't even read it without crying! The poem was about how one day I'll miss his little hands. I can't believe how quickly both of my kids are growing. Anna will be 2 months old this week and Joseph is a little boy now. It seems like he skipped the whole toddler stage! I love these 2 little people. I hope that I can do a good job raising them! I love them both so much! I am so grateful that I am married to someone who makes motherhood a priority! He is willing to make sacrifices so that I can stay home and take care of the kids. I love him so much! I'm sorry for such a long post but I just had some things on y mind that I wanted to share with you--who ever you are!

Joseph and Anna with their great-grandma Stevens, ( David's mom's mom!) on Mother's Day. That's him below playing with the ducks outside Grandma's house.

So the other day I found Joseph sitting in Anna's swing. He turns it on and then climbs in and plays with his cars. The little stinker!