Happy Birthday To Me

1. I saved my Ten on Tuesday post for today to tell you 10 things about me. Today is my 35th birthday. I have always dreaded this birthday because with each passing day I will be moving closer to 40 & away from 30. YIKES! I honestly don't know why this age frightens me, but it does.

2. I am married to my very best friend. We have been celebrating my birthday together since I turned 24.

3. I am the mama of 3 beautiful boys. They make my life feel complete & I still can't believe they are mine.

4. I am best friends with both of my sisters & feel lucky that I have the chance to live near them as an adult so we can share our adult lives & laugh about our childhood.

5. My dad & I grow closer everyday. I have always considered myself daddy's little girl but as I grow older I feel like I'm still his little girl but also his friend.

6. I am in daily contact (via email) with my childhood girlfriends. Some of us have been friends since we were 11 & it's amazing that our friendships have continued to grow through moves, marriages, children, higher education & life.

7. I am lucky enough to have met new girlfriends over the last few years that I feel like I have known for much longer & I look forward to growing closer to them & watching our children play together for many years to come.

8. I love working out, scrapbooking, taking photos, blogging, making lists, painting my nails, watching tv, laughing & wrestling with my boys & cleaning.

9. I still have a good 15 pounds of baby weight to lose but have decided that it's not worth the stress of thinking about it.

10. This is how my birthday day was spent. Johnnie came in our room at 6:45am & crawled in our bed. I love that but it still takes some getting used to that we don't have to go get him out of the crib. Then after breakfast we headed out to Disneyland with our 3 children & my 2 sisters. We finally got our 1st photo as a family of 5 & then went on some rides before meeting up with the Laughrey girls & Grandma Love who was celebrating her birthday today. Lorelei was there too but just hiding inside her sling. And of course we had to get a photo of Jimmy & Lorelei on their 1st Disneyland trip together. I had no idea that everyone was born today. Rick & I noticed that we couldn't walk 100 feet without seeing a birthday button. After some rides & lunch with them we headed off on our own. Then we ran in to Larisa & Bella but didn't get to spend time with them because my boys had missed naptime & were now starting to fall apart. Because my sisters were nice enough to spend the day with us Rick & I were able to go on Thunder Mountain on our own. Then on our way out we ran in to another friend who was also celebrating a birthday. A Mickey Mouse doll & tee shirt later we were headed home. After blowing out my 35 candle (actually Johnnie blew it out) my sisters I then went out for sushi after all the boys had gone to bed. It was a really great day & a very special way to spend my birthday. I just finished listening to all my birthday voicemails & reading emails & feel very blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. Thanks for all your well wishes friends & family!

A New Milestone Met at 31 Months

There are big milestones that we as parents look forward to & dread at the same time. One of those occurred tonight in our home. In order to move Jimmy out of our bedroom into the nursery we have to move Johnnie into a big boy bed to free up his crib to move Joey into that. Well we decided that tonight was the night so we moved a twin bed in to his room so that he could start to get used to it being in there & maybe get used to the idea of sleeping in it. This afternoon when I was putting his bedding on he told me that the crib is his bed. We didn't push the idea but just told him that this was his new big boy bed. So then we went about the rest of our day & night routines like normal. Then when I was singing Joey his good night songs Johnnie came in & told me he wanted to go night night so I asked him to wait in his room. When I came in to read to him he was laying in his bed all tucked in under the covers & asked me to only sing to him tonight. I did & then of course I had to take a picture of him to remember this moment. Rick & I were discussing what a big deal this is because once our baby starts sleeping in a bed he will sleep in a bed the rest of his life. Awww! Well Johnnie went to bed 2 hours ago & is fast asleep & he never even came out of his room or called out to us. If he sleeps in the bed all night it would have been such an anticlimactic event we worried about but at least we wil be one step closer to having our room back. But WOW! doesn't he look tiny in that bed? And take notice that his pacifiers moved with him.
UPDATE: It's 6:30a on Monday morning. We were downstairs & heard the pitter patter of little feet running down the hallway upstairs. Johnnie slept all night in his bed & only came out when he woke up this morning. He then told us that he slept in his new bed & that the crib is Joey's bed. We'll see if he actually enjoys going back to the bed tonight.

What a Big Boy

Jimmy boy (Johnnie's name for him) is now 2 months old.

13 pounds 10.5 ounces (90%). 24 inches long (85%).
Very mellow. Still enjoying sleeping during the day.
Getting up 1-2x a night. But (YAY!) going back to sleep after.
Still sleeping 14-16 hours a day.
Have started waking up happy.
Giving smiles sometimes & cooing more often.
Loves talking to the birdies on your swings.
Stick your bottom lip out in a pout when you are sad.
Many 1sts this month.
Haircut. Sitting in the bumbo. Attending parties.
1/2 day home with auntie Kayci. Evening home alone with daddy.
Meeting new friends. Hanging out & having pictures taken with old ones.
Not cooperating with my camera. Willing to smile at me & coo until I point the camera & then he gets very serious. Except when he's looking at the birdies.It's still very hard for me to believe how much you can love your children. All your children.
I especially love to see all my boys together. I love watching them interact even if Jimmy's participation is just laying there. He's a tough kid which will serve him well in this house. We love you big guy. Now just give me some more smiles & could you please do it while looking at my camera?

Ten on Tuesday

1. We had a jam packed weekend here at the Bolander house. Friday night I went to dinner with some girlfriends with NO kiddos. Poor Rick stayed home to deal with the worst part of the evening. The kids are all getting tired & falling apart & it's sometimes just not fun when you're all alone. And then to top it off Jimmy decided that he doesn't like bottles. He cried for food & then would use his tongue to push the bottle away so now he will be entering bottle bootcamp. Thanks again babe for taking care of the boys so I could enjoy a nice evening out.

2. Then Saturday Rick had school so Auntie Kim & I took the boys to the park wearing their new shirts my sister gave them. She is an ASU SunDevil Alumni. Could you guess?3. Joey loves playing at the park now. He mostly enjoys running away from us & giggling. Or sitting before he slides giggling. Basically giggling.4. Johnnie mostly just plays on all the different slides & tries to climb on EVERYTHING. 5. And of course when it's time to head home for lunch & nap time, Johnnie lets you know he's not happy.6. And speaking of not happy this is what Joey does when you tell him no or take something away from him.7. It was absolutely beautiful all weekend. Warm (actually hot), sunny & just a slight breeze. We spent Saturday & Sunday afternoon outside in the backyard letting the boys run around playing with the water table, the tee ball set, the push toys & the basketball hoop. It was a great way to enjoy the weekend & the boys had a blast.

8. Joey loves playing basketball. He makes shots & then gets so excited. Actually excited doesn't begin to explain the way he feels. After making a shot he reacted like he had just won the NBA championship. I just hope he's tall enough to play basketball one day.9. Johnnie spent the entire time playing with the water. If you remember last spring then you know Johnnie LOVES the water table. He especially likes to throw the water up in the air so that it rains down on him.10. Couldn't post all these photos without showing a photo of Joey with grandpa. He is in love with his grandpa. Runs to him as soon as he walks through the door. Wants to be held by him. Read to by him & just loved by him. Here he is playing the tickle game & loving every minute of it. And the very last photo of the weekend. Jimmy & I spent Sunday afternoon doing tummy time. Can you tell?

Tickle Tickle

While looking at a friend's blog today I was inspired to share this series of photos. Having boys so close in age I often find myself trying to keep them from fighting over the same toys, sippy cups, attention & oh yeah, Jimmy's swing. Well on this particular evening Joey climbed in & because I had made the comment to not pull his brother out Johnnie decided he would try to coax him out. "Tickle Tickle!" Johnnie would exclaim above Joey's laughter & of course I was there to capture the moment by yelling "Look at me. Over here." I guess boys will be boys, right?

10 on Tuesday

1. I hope everyone had a great Easter Sunday. My family came over for an early dinner, an egg hunt, an impromptu golf challenge & just an afternoon of fun. Right when we brought the boys out to the backyard to look for eggs Johnnie knew exactly what to do. He found this 1st yellow egg right away. Great hiding place grandpa! Haha! 2. Joey needed us to point them out to him. And even when I did that he just pointed too. We would then pick it up & hand them to him. Once he found the egg that held goldfish, he was done with the search. Too busy eating.3. Grandpa even helped Jimmy participate in the day who basically slept the whole afternoon. And he was so happy outdoors that he even smiled in his sleep.4. Once all the eggs were found Johnnie had fun opening his. Some of the eggs were real, some held goldfish, some held teddy grahams but his favorite had Sesame Street characters in them. 5. So here's how the golf challenge came about. Rick likes to chip golf balls in to the backyard firepit. My sisters & dad started chipping away too. Then it was bragging rights to see who could actually hit the most balls near or in the firepit. My dad won & Kayci & I came in last. Johnnie & Joey participated too. They ran around trying to pick up all the balls & in the process trying to avoid getting hit by the balls. Not really. 6. Grandpa took some time to show Joey how to ride the tricycle. He actually looked forward this time. 7. Here's a close up shot of our dirty boy. He was definitely enjoying the day. So much in fact that he enjoyed playing too much to let me clean up his face. Egg hunts, bike rides, ball collecting. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it. 8. The egg hunt & running around must have worn Johnnie out. He put down his new stuff as he referred to it for a nap & then put his head down for a few seconds rest. Just a few. 9. After Joey had gone to bed, Johnnie had one of his Easter treats. A lollipop. He loved it & was sweet enough to offer licks to us. When we said no he would just stick it in our mouth. 10. Jimmy is 7 weeks old. This is the 1st smile I have captured on camera while awake. I love that this photo also shows his leg rolls. My big boy. My now occasionally smiley boy. BONUS: Weekly installment of Jimmy & Lorelei from last week. I had already posted today but then Katie sent me the photo so I had to include it. She was wide awake & my boy just slept. I told you he just likes to sleep most of the day or EAT. And what better way to sleep than cozied up to his girlfriend.

WANTED

SBB (Single Baby Boy) seeking new parents who can love me & feed me & most importantly function on little to no sleep. I like to eat A LOT at night. We're talking 2-5 times between the hours of 10pm-6am. I also require lots of attention during those wee hours of the night. I like to be carried, bounced, talked to & basically just entertained. So if you think you can love me the way my current parents do but won't beg me to please go to sleep when it's pitch black outside, please apply. I promise to only spit up on you a little.

Learning to Ride

On Sunday we gave Johnnie his 1st tricycle. Actually he picked it out with a little coaxing from me. At the store I took him over to the bike aisle & asked him if he wanted one. He asked for the pink & purple one, but I coaxed him to get the one that is blue, red & yellow instead. As soon as we got home Johnnie was off on his new bike. We didn't even get to finish taking the tags off. At first he pedaled with one foot while the other one stayed on the sidewalk but riding in the other direction he was able to use both pedals probably because it was slightly sloped downward. Rick was trying to show him how to ride but he also just spent a lot of time keeping him on the sidewalk because Johnnie kept watching his feet as opposed to watching where he was going. Oh well. Mommy & daddy need to learn patience. More mommy than daddy, but that's a post for another day. As Johnnie got the hang of it he had to pedal fast enough to stay away from Joey who was chasing after him. Johnnie was nice enough to give him a try though. And of course daddy was sweet enough to show him how to ride too. And just like his older brother he liked to watch his feet too. And to end our day on the bike Johnnie decided to help Jojo go a little faster with a push & he loved it. I think we will be spending a lot of sunny days outside trying to learn how to patiently ride a bike.