All About Graham

I love him so much!!

My little Graham is the kind of low-maintenance kid every mother dreams of. He's super easygoing and sweet. Everyone falls in love with this kid. The teenage girl who helps her mom in nursery told me Graham is her favorite baby. :) I don't blame her!

Grahammy-bear is so tender-hearted. He loves people and radiates joy all the time. He's soft, squishy, and doesn't mind being cuddled and kissed all day long. He and I play a game where he toddles across the room and then runs back to me with open arms for a huge, belly-laughing hug. All I need to do is crouch down, hold my arms out, and we're playing his favorite game. So cute!

He has a sweet laugh and smiles most of the time. Sometimes, he can throw tantrums and be emotional, but he calms down pretty easily as long as he's distracted by something. He likes to end his sentences with "mommy." For example, he'll say, "Look, airplane, mommy!" or he'll say, "Oh, a treat, mommy!" I guess he likes to make sure I know he's addressing me. :) 

He went through a spell of throwing his food that was not fun, but he's mostly over that now. He will not sit in a high chair anymore - only the stool! He sits like a big boy next to his brother whenever they eat meals together. He drinks from a big boy cup and eats with a fork and spoon. Such a big guy! He likes to copy his brother. 

Graham is really helpful around the house. He will put his dish in the sink, he'll throw his diaper away when I ask, if I tell him I need to change his diaper, he'll go lay down for me. He's really obedient. He'll even clean up his toys when I ask him to. What?! I know. He will be a calming influence on his brother, I'm sure. 

He loves the cartoon "Bubble Guppies" and sings the song when I'm not looking. He also knows the ABC song, Hot Chelle Ray's "Tonight, Tonight" (at least the chorus), and the Sunbeam song. If you try to join in and sing with him, though, he'll say, "noooo" in this little sad voice, like he doesn't want you to ruin it for him. Haha! He knows almost all his ABCs by sight. He is talking a lot more than Calvin did at his age, but it's probably because he's copying his brother. 

This little angel is such a blessing in my life. I do not know what I would do without him! He's such a calm little spirit. He brings me so much joy. I really want him to stay my little baby forever. I can't handle the fact that he's getting older. My two little guys keep me busy, but they sure are fun. I can't wait to see how these two continue to grow and play together! 

All About Calvin

Little blueberry face!

Oh, Calvin. My sweet little stubborn guy. 

I'm not sure even what to say about this kid. Let's start with the good stuff. He's so funny! He likes to imitate people and tease his younger brother all day. He sometimes talks baby talk and thinks it's hilarious. He's also really smart. He catches on quickly to most things, but only when he's 100% ready. Otherwise, watch out. He knows all his ABC's and their sounds, all his digraphs and blends, all the numbers, all his sight words (about 100), all his colors, and how to count. He still resists potty training which makes me insane. I honestly want to go crazy!! He sometimes tells me when he needs to go, but when I ask him to pee before naps or at night, he always puts up a fight. It goes something like this: 

Me: Calvin, it's time to go pee, then we'll read a story!

Calvin: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I don't WANT to go POTTY!

Me: Either you go sit on the potty, or I will have to put you on the potty. 

Calvin: NOOOOOOO (runs away)

Me: Calvin! I will count to five, and if you don't come to me, you're in time out! One! Two! Three!

Calvin: (running to me) Stop counting!!

Me: You need to say, "yes, Mommy," when I ask you to go pee. Ready? Calvin, you need to go pee.

Calvin: Yes, Mom.

Me: No, I said to say, "yes, Mommy." Say, "yes, mommy."

Calvin: No, mommy. (Runs away.)

Me: (head exploding) Calvin, you need a time out for not obeying. 

Calvin: NOOOO! (As I carry him to time out.)

Me: Okay, are you ready to do a pee now? 

Calvin: (defeated at last) Yes, Mommy.

This little interaction gives you a snippet into my day with this strong-willed little guy. He resists almost everything I ask him to do. Don't be fooled by his "yes, Mom," response and how it seems close enough. Nope. He knows exactly what he is doing! Anything he can do to wriggle away from my rules or standards is what he's after. He likes to test me at every turn - at people's houses where he thinks I won't be as strict, at the park, at church, etc. He's an "aggressive researcher" as one book calls them. All this means is I have to be 100% consistent with him at every turn, and I would be lying if I said I didn't lose my patience sometimes. It's really hard to constantly have to reinforce rules and obedience. Really, really, really hard! I've tried the more lenient and flexible route, and his behavior becomes even worse because he now thinks he's in charge. It's really exhausting!

I love him with all my heart. I know he's going to conquer the world someday! He must have a really cool plan on this earth, but like an untamed stallion, I think he needs me to help him control his emotions to achieve his best. And I know he can achieve spectacular things. He's so smart and he already reads people so well. I can't believe a three-year-old can already grasp the mood of a room and when he can take advantage of a laid-back setting versus when he can't. He'll sure test, though. Over and over. Even if there's a firm consequence, which there always is, he still tests to see if I'll crack just once. 

Calvin is very social. He loves his friends so much! Every day he asks to see Sally, Rowan, or Finley. He's really good about playing without as much of my supervision, something I couldn't have said a year ago. He jumps at the opportunity to be responsible and lead. Any time I ask him to help me throw away a diaper or get a snack for Graham, he does it. I've even asked him to go into the bathroom to get the lotion or help put toothpaste on the toothbrushes, and he'll do it. He likes responsibility. Cleaning up his toys, not so much. But as long as we do it together, he seems willing. It's taken months of time outs and consequences to get him to clean up his toys! But he's finally doing it without too much complaining these days. 

He's really creative in his play. I'll hear him doing voices for his toys and reenacting episodes of Dora or Diego. It's so cute. He isn't great at building with his legos, but he will build train tracks and seems pretty into that right now. He also likes to color, play Candyland, and do our reading lessons. But once he's bored, there's little chance he'll come back around. It's on to the next thing. I probably need to work on that with him.

We love him so much. I know some days can be trying, but I also know he's a really special spirit who has lots to do in his life. I only pray I can be the right mom he needs to guide him! 

I Haven't Blogged in a Long Time

Oh, hey! I haven't been the best blogger, I know. (It's been over a year since my last post!) A lot has been going on in our lives, like two crazy toddlers, selling our home, and moving to the beautiful neighborhood of Daybreak, but in reality I've just been a lazy pile of garbage. Many nights, I would just rather watch reruns of "How I Met Your Mother" than write about my day. Let's change that!

The kids and I are doing great. We could not love our new neighborhood more! It's so beautiful and the people are incredibly friendly. Sometimes we feel like we're in Mayberry! There's a park right behind our house (we don't have a yard), the elementary school is just down the street, the pool is two blocks away, and the temple is a half mile up the road. We scored the perfect location!

Sometime last year, I sat in our old home and couldn't believe how hot it had gotten already - and it was only March! We had so many huge, west-facing windows that any direct sunlight at all brought our house to above 80 degrees. We found out too late that our air conditioner wasn't powerful enough to cool all the square footage, no matter how long we had it running. Nightmare. We ended up putting these huge reflective insulation sheets in our windows just to keep some of the heat at bay. It worked, but it made our house dark and gloomy for six months out of the year. It was totally depressing! 

Sitting on our bed in the already too-hot house, I called TJ and told him we needed to sell. He put up a fight at first, but once I told him my online research had shown me a Trax station was scheduled to be built right behind our house in the next 5-10 years, he agreed it was time to sell. We weren't too crazy about our street, either. There were some really nice people, but more than half the houses were renters, which meant few cared about their lawns or gardens and our ward had 70% turnover every year. It was time for a change.

I told TJ we should just look in Daybreak since we had had our eyes on it for years but were initially turned off by the HOA fees. Living in a non-HOA area, however, did more to sell us on an HOA than anything else could have! The reason Daybreak looked so nice was because the HOA forced you to keep up your lawns, bring in your garbage cans, and not park your RV on the street. We just loved the look and feel of that neighborhood and decided to go for it.

We had our eye on this exact neighborhood, so anything that popped up for us within a mile or so radius, we looked at with our realtor. We were also preparing our old home for pictures and viewings, which took so much more cleaning and organizing than I could have imagined! Tons of work. One day, we looked at a house that had already been on the market for a few months, and we soon found out why. The renters who lived there did nothing to show the house well (it was a dirty mess every time) and said everything they could to talk us out of it! Leaky showers, cracked walls, houses that had been "slapped together," Daybreak's rules - they did whatever they could to tell us how awful it was and how we should look elsewhere. I wasn't buying it. Something told me they weren't being honest. Despite TJ's misgivings, I persevered and we put a low-ball offer on the house - $20k less than asking price and closing costs paid by the seller. The seller took our lower offer (miraculously!) and we proceeded with the homebuying process. 

We were nervous about the inspection because of all the bad things we had been told by the renters, but our inspector told us this was one of the most fantastically in-shape houses he had seen in a long time. HA! We couldn't believe it! Clearly, the renters just didn't want to move. The place needed some new carpet and a little TLC, but TJ and I took care of that the first few months of owning it. Our old home was sold just five days after putting it on the market by a retired couple moving from out of state. Another miracle! It seemed like we were supposed to move to Daybreak. 

There are still many things I want to do to update the house, like change the counters, paint that striped wall, put some pictures up. In the meantime, though, we feel really blessed to live here. The first week of moving in, every single neighbor came over with treats and introduced themselves. Our ward is so kind. The kids absolutely love the park, pool, splash pad, and lake. The lake is only a half mile from our house, so I've made it part of my jogging route and it's just a dream to run around. Sometimes I worry God can't bless us this much and something bad has to happen to compensate, but I try not to think like that anymore. We just love it here!

Updates from the last few months...

It's been a really, really long time since I've blogged. I am just the absolute worst! I will admit it. Honestly, I haven't had the time. Things have been crazy busy around here, and I just haven't been diligent about keeping track of all our fun activities. What I'm going to do, then, is just post a bunch of pictures and talk about what happened in each of them. They'll probably be completely out of order, so just roll with it!     

Calvin loves his little y-bike he got from Aunt Melissa. It's so fun to wheel around the house! I can't wait for when it's warmer outside so he can use it on the sidewalk.

Sometimes Calvin and I make brownies and eat the batter together. He's my little sous chef! I love it. Both my boys will absolutely learn how to cook food. I'm not talking about how to follow a recipe - I'm saying they will know how to cook. Their wives will totally thank me one day. :) 

Our little Graham is just the smiley-est little man in the world! We love him so much. 

I'm really grateful to have been able to be in touch with the Zinn side of my family this past year. My cousins are pretty great! Tim and Katherine, in particular, have inspired me to be better than I am and extend myself to a cause that I am so honored to be a part of. My other cousin, Jessica, and her husband, Brian, couldn't be sweeter people. I have a lot of cousins in the area that I didn't even know about until recently. David and Nick Grant are also really fun to hang out with - I've known them since I was a geeky little middle school kid. Anyway, Tim's foundation is called Operation Underground Railroad, and you should really check it out (www.ourrescue.org). TJ and I were invited to attend the premiere of their documentary, The Abolitionists, and were blown away by how incredible this movie is. Go see it when it comes to a theater near you!! And it will soon. :)

The kids and I sometimes go to the Dinoland at the South Towne Mall, mostly because it's free and because it's indoors. Well, this particular morning, their little train came by and Calvin freaked out. "Train! Train! Train! Ride train!!" I couldn't resist. I shelled out the $3 for all of us to take a ride, and it was worth it to see the excitement on his sweet little face. Presh!

I love this cute kid. He's a dream. His schedule is pretty much the same as before: two naps each day, bedtime at 7pm, three bottles and three meals. I make sure he and Calvin go down at the same time so I get an afternoon break. :) 

TJ and I got to have a night away on our anniversary thanks to Jordan and Cristal Smith. They were so sweet to sleep over and watch our kiddos for us. I felt SO BAD because Graham woke up twice that night, and he never wakes up! Poor Cristal was 38 weeks pregnant at the time. They were sure sweet to give us our first night away in over two years. We owe them big time!

TJ and I splurged on breakfast at the Grand America the next morning. It was delicious! We went back seconds and thirds... and fourths. I was a heifer and I don't even care!

Just keep being the cutest little thing ever, Graham!! He started crawling one day before reaching 10 months. Now he is everywhere... Everywhere! I forgot what it's like having a crawling baby in the house. Looks like we're going to have to re-baby-proof everything.

I got a year pass to Thanksgiving Point last week. Totally worth every penny. Calvin and I will have many, many adventures at the Museum of Natural Curiosity! He loves it there. Have you seen it?? It's seriously amazing. Hours upon hours of fun. I love having things to do in the mornings after Graham's nap. We usually pick between an errand/grocery shopping, Thanksgiving point, story time at the library, or Dinoland/park. He needs to get out before his afternoon nap or he doesn't sleep well. 

Bath time with my cuties! I love seeing them play in the bath together. So adorable.

Afterwards, it's story time with Daddy! TJ reads the kids lots of books before bed. Because I've been working so much lately, I've been heading to the library with my laptop while TJ bathes the kids and puts them to bed after he comes home from work. It's been kind of nice, actually, to get a break at 6pm every day. Who would have thought I'd call working a break?! But it totally is! Taking care of these two kiddos is super hard work. The hardest job ever. I don't care what anyone says! Anyway, I work from 6-9 at the library, until it closes, and then come home to work some more until I can't keep my eyes open. Then I repeat every day. :) I don't mind, though, because I'm actually really enjoying this project. It's been nice to use the "adult" part of my brain in the evenings. 

Well, that's it for now. I know I have lots to catch up on, but I'm just taking it one day at a time right now. :) I will post about Christmas soon! Or maybe it's been too long for that... I may just scrapbook about it privately and call it good. 

Graham is six months old!

Hi, Graham! We love you so much!

Graham is seriously, for real, the easiest baby ever. EVER. He is a gift from Heavenly Father, pure and simple. He never makes a fuss, he sleeps like a dream, he is happy and smiley all the time... he's just an angel and we love him. 

Graham sleeps from 9am-10am, 12:30 to 3:30, and 5pm to 5:45. Then he sleeps from 7:00-7:00 or 7:30. He is ridiculously consistent. He does tend to sometimes wake up and talk to himself at around 5am, but he will usually just go back to sleep or we will put his paci back in. I debated weaning him from the paci completely, but he's so close to the age where he can put it back in himself that I am just waiting it out. Plus, I've been waking up at 5:30 to go running each morning, so I just put his paci in before I go if he wakes up. I think I just need to feed him more solids throughout the day, but sometimes I get sidetracked and forget. 

He has four bottles each day and three servings of solids. He is doing great! He loves to eat. He is 50th percentile for height, 30th for weight, and 40th for head. Calvin, at this age, was 7th for height and weight and 75th for head. Haha! They will be the same size soon, I think. :) It's funny about his height, because I was expecting another short baby; he was only 19 inches when he was born. But he's turning out to grow pretty fast! I'm not used to a baby who fits into the clothing he's supposed to fit into. :) 

Graham loves people. He loves me most. :) His entire body smiles when he sees me or Daddy. He makes loud squealing sounds all the time - he's just so happy, it bursts out of him! He is zero stress at church. His love and laughter are absolutely infectious. You cannot be sad while holding this sweet little boy. He loves to be tickled, kissed, pinched, talked to, whatever. He's just happy to be along for the ride! He's gotten better about being in the carseat. The only time he's not very happy is when he's missed a nap. He doesn't really know how to sleep anywhere but his crib, so we have to kind of just keep him happy if we're out and about. He's missed his third nap a few times and ended up alright, but still a little grouchier than usual. I think he'll need his third nap for a while longer than Calvin did. He can roll from his back to his tummy but not the other way around. He is sitting, too! All by himself. 

He loves his brother, and his brother loves him (most of the time). Calvin isn't aggressive toward Graham, but doesn't really know how to be extremely gentle with him yet. The few times he has hit or thrown something at Graham, I'm not sure he completely knew what he was doing. Calvin gets in huge, gigantic trouble when he does that, so maybe he is starting to know better. :) Anyway, I am hoping and praying they will be playing together soon because Calvin desperately needs a playmate.

We love you, Graham!! You are such a blessing to me!! Don't get any bigger, okay??

Calvin turns TWO!

My little sweetie pie is two years old. How did that happen?? We love this spirited toddler. He's a lot of fun and has a really funny personality. He's definitely strong-willed, but I can't tell if it's just his personality or if he's just your typical two-year-old. He's smart and cute and sweet, but also hates change and isn't good with transitions. For example - he really doesn't like coming into the house after being at the park. Or leaving McDonald's after playing there. I think I probably just need to get better at distracting him. :) He still isn't great about going to bed happy - he'll cry every time - but if I tell him over our monitor to stop crying and go to sleep, he does! So at least there's that. 

I'm just going to write what comes to my mind about this cutie pie to give him a proper update since I'm horrible about writing in my blog. I've been getting a lot of freelance writing work lately, which is a huge blessing, but it takes up my evenings and nap times. 

Calvin wakes up about 7am every day. He is happy to see whoever gets him from his crib and starts talking right away. "Light!" "Tree!" "Beffast!" (Breakfast.) He eats toast or wheat pancakes or cereal with yogurt and fruit. He eats with a spoon and does really well! When we're done, he plays with me until Graham's nap and then goes into his room to play for a while so I can get ready. He loves these little busy bags I made him a while back - I need to make some more. He doesn't really understand them all that well, but it's something new and that's all that matters! 

He is fantastic when we go on errands. He doesn't cry in the cart and loves to see the new sights and sounds. He isn't upset if we pass the cookie aisle and doesn't get anything, even though he asks for it. "Treat?? TREAT?? Cooooookie? Cookie?!" He says cookie like Cookie Monster does. :) He loves Sesame Street! We watch it every day. If you ask him to do his impression of Oscar the Grouch, he says, "He he he.." in a menacing little voice. He will also do impressions of Cookie Monster and Grover. It's extremely cute. He's learning so many words! He's doing well with his shapes and numbers and says the letters he sees when we're out and about. He randomly knows who Elsa is, so that's interesting... we've only watched Frozen one time. Good job, Disney marketers!

He goes down for a nap around 12:30 and usually sleeps for 2-2.5 hours. Sometimes I'll get a 3 hour nap, but not often. When he gets up, we play downstairs and watch Sesame Street. Then we go up and make dinner together. He's a great little sous chef! He likes to be a part of the action. He pushes his little stool over to wherever I am so he can sit up like a big kid and cook with me. I think he's a chef in the making! He does well with eating and is doing great with his veggies as long as they're mixed with a little ketchup. :) 

He is perfect for Nursery on Sundays. He LOVES it. His leaders say he is the best kid in there; never a problem, always low-maintenance, shares his toys, isn't bothered when some other kid takes his toys, etc. I hate that he's bullied already. TJ and I saw him playing at an indoor playground just recently and some of the other kids were pushing him around. He didn't seem to know what to do; just stood back and stared. Poor little guy. He did once tentatively reach out to try to hit back, but only I would have known he was "hitting" - it wouldn't have looked like a hit to anyone else. TJ and I are seriously enrolling him in Krav Maga classes when he's four. Yep! Seriously. He isn't even on the growth charts anymore. He's dipped to the 1-2 percentile. :( But what I love about Calvin is that he's tough. He has a feisty little personality. He's independent, smart, and isn't phased easily. He doesn't come crying to me wanting comfort very often at all. He is pretty resilient! So I think those personality traits will serve him well should he ever be confronted later in life. He's got the Zinn spark. Zinns are tough as nails, extremely successful, very charismatic, quite stubborn, overly confident, and resolutely independent. I hope I know how to help Calvin harness those traits in a positive way. :)

I am so proud of my little man. He's a great kid. He's a challenge at times, but I know Heavenly Father will guide me in how to raise this strong little kid. Plus, he's so cute and funny, it negates the tantrums. :) 

We celebrated his birthday in Mountain Green with the whole family! It was so fun. I sure love these people. They are so warm, wonderful, loving, kind, and accepting. Calvin loves them, too. 

Presents!

Kami can get this little kid to sleep every single time! She's got the magic touch. :)

He was scared of his candles. 

Dishes with Mom! He's a great helper. 

He loves to "push" the cart! I hate pushing this thing around, though. It's HUGE and really hard to maneuver. 

Selfie!

Forts and Sesame Street - my kind of afternoon!

We went to Gardner Village during Halloween and it was so fun. They have adorable little shops! It was all decorated and cute for Halloween and Calvin had a great time. TJ... didn't. :)

Haircut! These ladies are amazing. He didn't even cry.

Dad, do I HAVE to watch this show??

Getting lost in the maze! He loved being able to run free. 

TJ made him do this. :)

Twick-o-tweet! Such a cutie. He LOVED it. I was so happy he was finally old enough to get what was going on. 

He ate candy for dinner. :) Oops! We brushed his teeth afterwards. I love this kid so much. No one makes me laugh like he does. I think my biggest challenge will just be keeping up with him. He gets bored instantly and needs lots of new things to do/explore/look at/play with. Always. I've even divided all his toys into bins marked for the days of the week. He can only play with that toy bin for the whole day. This way, he doesn't get as bored. It's been working great so far! I just hope it lasts. :)

Calvin is so special. He is an amazing little spirit. He is a born leader and I know he will look out for his little brother. He is a huge blessing in my life and is my little buddy every day. I love him so much! I can't wait until we are reading chapter books together. I can't wait! He already loves books so much. Harry Potter... here we come!