My Favorite Things... About My Boys

I guess first off I should state the general news and state of things. We have accepted an offer on our house and, as long as everything goes smoothly, should close at the end of May. At which point, we will be homeless. Unless we land a job between now and then, we will probably head out to Colorado and stay with family til things get settled. We think. :) For one who does NOT enjoy change or uncertainty, I'm handling things fairly well, most of the time. Anyhoo, on to part two... the menfolk.

Calvin

1. His smile. It is quick to surface, and adorable. He has a dimple on his left cheek that I love.

2. The fact that he always has a smile for me. He's definitely a mama's boy, and that's okay with me.

3. He has recently started to crawl and he also has gotten more daring with pulling himself up on things. Just tonight he pulled himself up to standing on one of the kitchen chairs. I love how proud of himself he is when he does it!

4. Baby noises. He loves to hear himself, and is delighted when you copy his sound back to him. Keeps life interesting when he starts it up during Relief Society when he's bored and tired.

5. I love his laugh. He is delighted with so many things and laughs so readily.

6. He adores his sisters. They are fascinating. And he puts up with their "care" fairly well too. He also loves his dad, and laughs and loves to play with him.

7. I have a weakness for how he says "Ma-ma-ma-ma" when he is sad and crying. Even when I'm frustrated with him, it's hard to stay that way when he's calling me (even if I'm not completely sure that he knows he's calling me). He also sticks his bottom lip out in the classic pout, and I'm a sucker for it.

8. He loves to wrestle with me. I think this might be the only time when I can hold my own with him... as soon as he gets bigger that will have to be daddy's job, but right now it's fun. He loves to be swung around and held upside-down above me, just gets a kick out of it. And he's extremely ticklish, which is fun. As I said before, I love his giggles.

9. He's definitely a boy, and I love it. I was so nervous about having a boy, but Calvin is so fun. He has an affinity for balls and cars. He will watch cars drive up and down the street while we are outside, and he has already started pushing toy cars around on the floor--he knows exactly what to do with them. And he loves his little foam soccer balls, he will chase them all over the house.

10. Calvin loves to snuggle. When he is tired he will lay his head on my shoulder, tuck his arms in, and go to sleep. I can tell he's really tired when he does that instead of sucking his thumb. He also likes me to sing to him, which is kind of fun.

John

1. John is an amazing father. He is so great with the kids. He adores them, and they know he adores them. And they adore him back, because of it.

2. He can make me laugh. He can make me laugh when I want to scream. I'm still not sure how he does it. But he's a lifesaver.

3. John doesn't worry about things. He sees no reason why he can't take the girls camping that night (no matter that he thought of it two hours before) or why he can't decide Friday night to have a garage sale in the morning. And somehow, even though I see lots of reason why not, he'll pull it off. He balances me out pretty well that way. Spontaneity is not my strong suit.

4. He does so many things around the house, just quietly. The garbage is always taken out, the dishwasher unloaded, even the shower cleaned. I'm very very lucky.

5. He can tell when I've had it with the kids. He will gather every one up, and go for a walk, or take them outside, or something so I can get a few minutes of quiet, or a nap. This was a lifesaver when I was pregnant with Calvin, and would happen every other day.

6. John is an amazing handyman. Things that I think we will just have to throw out or give up on, he fixes. This goes for anything from the microwave to the car door. He just sees how things work (or how they should).

7. John loves kids. This partly goes with him being a good dad, but it's more than that. He teaches primary kids (Emily's class) and they love him. He's so good at making things understandable to kids, getting on their level and including them in whatever is going on. He's very patient and good at teaching them.

8. He loves to be busy. Sometimes, this drive me crazy, but I do admire his work ethic. He gets so much done!

9. John sacrifices so much for our family. He put up with a miserable job for over a year in order to provide for out family and keep things stable for us. And then he would be so great about letting me go out every so often and get a night out while he put the kids to bed.

10. Most importantly, John strives so hard to do what is right. He is dedicated with scriptures and prayer, and teaching those to our children. His heart and his priorities are in the right place, and he keeps our little family on track and moving the right direction. I love you, John. Thank you.