Hi again! It's been a while. Does anyone even read this anymore? :) I'm so not a good blogger. Oh well, one day I'm going to print this all out and put it in a binder as my "journal" so I'll try to keep it up. This past month and a half has flown by. We wanted to have everything done on the outside of our house by Caleb's birthday - June 6. That's in about 2 weeks. Are we done? Um... no. We've done a lot though. The siding is almost done, the deck is done, some landscaping is done, but there's still stuff to do, including finishing Gabe's playground thing, new front steps, and painting the garage. I'm sure we'll have a busy summer.

Gabe is getting so grown up it seems. Here's a story that melts a mom's heart. He said he wanted cookies one day after watching cookie monster on tv. So I said, "We don't have any, we'll have to make some." So we go into the kitchen and Caleb was napping so I was letting Gabe take his time adding ingredients and stirring. Then as we put them in little balls on the pan he looks at me and says, "You a good-" (and I thought he was going to say cookie-maker) but he says, "You a good mommy." I was like, "Aww! Thanks Gabe!" I really like this age. :) Finally, some pay back for all those sleepless nights.

Caleb is my busy boy. He is way more into things than Gabe. My friend (who got married a year ago and is not sure she's ready for kids) was picking my brain one day and asking, "Who's the easier kid?" I was like, "Well, Gabe has always been moody. So when he's happy he's sooo much fun, but he has a bad temper and can freak out really bad sometimes. Caleb is overall more easygoing, but he's into everything! You can't leave him alone for a second!" Then she's like, "So they're both hard." Yup! All kids are! :) But Caleb is a good baby as far as sleeping when we put him down and he'll eat ANYTHING (as you can tell from his size!) He's just never been one to sit next to you and cuddle. I think that not counting his newborn stage when he slept all the time, he's only fallen asleep while Josh held him ONCE. And it was when he was sick. So that's kind of sad, I loved it when Gabe did that. He's just the life of the party! He's almost walking. I can't believe he isn't already. He's been so close for like, 2 months. I'll have to post after his one year checkup with his weight and height but I bet he weighs at least 30 lbs. He wears 24 month and 2T and it's almost too small!

So those are the boys. Oh, and Josh is good too. :)

Happy Easter!

We are finally starting to get some nice days! We have had a couple freak 65 degree days in March but then the next few weeks had a snow flurry, some rain, and lots of wind. But this past week it was in the high 40's and sunny every day. This meant that we were finally able to start our siding! We bought it a couple weeks ago and it was in our garage waiting for a good day. Josh was able to get a good chunk done on his three days off this week. I'm really excited to see it done. I think it will look aLOT better. Here is a picture of the progress (the burgundy shutters are going to go!)


Today we had a fun little primary activity with a breakfast and Easter egg hunt. Gabe really had fun. At the end I said, "Okay, the Easter bunny needs to get the eggs back now so he can do this again next year so we need to go give the eggs back to the primary leader." Gabe was like, "Noooo," with a sad face, and I was like, "We have to so we can do it next year!" and so he then sadly walked over to the leader who was holding open a bag and he opened his first egg, took the candy out, and dropped both the egg and the candy into the bag. Then I was like, "No, no, you KEEP the candy!" Then he smiled and it was like, "Oh that's all!? No problem!!!" I was so surprised he was actally going to give up his candy!




Another quick funny Gabe story:
He saw my wedding picture hanging up in our room and he had recently seen a preview for a Sleeping Beauty movie on his Tigger and Pooh Dvd. So it goes like this:
Gabe: "Mommy! You a princess?! Why you turn into a princess?"
Me: "Oh that was before you were born. Yes, I used to be a princess. Now I turned into Cinderella. It goes backwards in real life when you get married and have kids." (haha, sorry to show you I'm that honest with my kids, but it's true!)
Me again: "Are you going to turn into a prince someday when you grow up?"
Gabe: (thinking) "Um, no. I turn into Little Einsteins." (His favorite movie)

So I thought that was pretty funny.

Lastly, a quick Caleb update. He is so relaxed (most of the time.) Gabe was so moody even as a baby. Caleb always has a smile for anyone who looks his way whether it's my grandpa or the Walmart clerk. His only challenging trait is that he's SO busy!!! He wants to be everywhere and always wants to look at something you have or if you are eating he zooms along the couch right next to you, grabs onto your pants, and shakes you till you share. He's kind of like a puppy! So lovable, but sooo into everything! When he walks (soon) I will really have to keep an eye out.


Well that is the update! Happy Easter to you all!

Happy Birthday, Gabe!

Our little man turned 3 years old yesterday. As I thought about that scary night he was born 3 years ago in Rexburg, it's hard to believe he is a perfectly normal, rambunctious, entertaining, sometimes naughty, and healthy three year old little boy! Everyone always told me the two's were terrible and three was great. Today, his second day as a three year old, I walked into the living room to find him playing peek-a-boo with a blanket over his face, making Caleb laugh hysterically, and he was actually SHARING his toy barn! I could not believe it. Then when he saw me he said, "Mommy, I be nice! I make baby laugh!!!" I'm sure in about three hours or less he'll freak out over Caleb touching his trains- his prized possession- but for today I'll just enjoy the thought that maybe three really will be the perfect age. :)

Nauvoo

We are having a great time this weekend with Brad and Diane. I actually have a spare minute with Diane's laptop here so I am posting some of our Nauvoo pictures. My mom is officially remarried! It's crazy. But we are all very happy for her. This was the first time Josh and I have been back to the Nauvoo temple since since we were married here almost five years ago. We were also in the same sealing room so it was kind of surreal to be sitting in the "mother of the bride" seat (my grandma isn't a member) and watching my mom get married. The boys have been pretty good so far and we took a wagon ride today that Gabe liked. Here are some pictures!

Goodbye, February!

So, I've been told I need to post more often and I know I should. But does anyone else out there feel like you don't even have time to go to the bathroom most days? That's how I feel lately. This month we got a lot done on the house. Unfortunately we also had a minor setback. In the NICU with Gabe they told us the whole journey would be like 2 steps forward one step back. One day he'd improve, the next he'd go backward. That's how renovating a house is. Josh did this beautiful wall wainscoting that I posted a few weeks ago. But about a week after he did it, we noticed some dripping water in the basement. It kept getting worse and we concluded there was a leak in a pipe. I went to Kohl's for about an hour and when I got home, my grandpa and Josh were working and there was a huge hole in the wall! My beautiful just-finished wall! I was so sad. Apparently, Josh - in all his good Rhodes family luck (I tease him about his family's curse) had managed to hit this skinny little inch wide pipe with one of his nails when he put the wood on the wall in not just one spot, but TWICE! So there were these two little holes in the pipe that was causing water to spray out all over the inside of the wall. Talk about 2 steps back. So my wall is in the process of being fixed now. Here is a picture of me by the wall.


You can't even see how bad it was here cause it was already somewhat patched. So that is my first bit of news.

Here is another bit of news. Our weather has been CRAZY!!! It was so snowy for a while. Then like, one week it was 60 degrees! All the snow melted. I thought, "Yay! Spring is here!" We played outside with no coats. I wore open toed shoes to church (I hate closed toe heels!) and I was so happy. Then like, a week later it snowed again and it is like 17 degrees as I write this. Boo. :(

Here is Gabe in the snow and then the next day when he said, "My snowman not happy!"






So, that is my second news story.
My final news story is that my mom is getting married in 2 weeks! We are excited. But mostly because we get an excuse to go to Nauvoo and Josh's parents are coming out. Gabe is pretty pumped. Josh asked him where grandma and grandpa Rhodes were coming from and he said, "The mountains. Where we pick hucklebewwies." It was so cute. I think Josh got a little misty-eyed. (Not cause Gabe was so cute, because he misses Idaho) Now that my mom is getting married hopefully she won't cry so had when we move back in 2-4 years. (I love you mom! If you're reading this!)

So, that is pretty much all my news. Caleb is getting so big and is getting his first tooth. He's a pretty happy baby. I'll post some pictures so you can see the boys, our house, etc. Miss you all!

Before

After

January pictures

Happy Super Bowl Day!

Josh is excited today because his Pittsburgh (where he served his mission) Steelers are in the Super Bowl again. We are over here at my mom's for a party so I thought I'd take this opportunity to update again. It seems like when things are actually happening in life then there's no time to blog. But when you have time to blog, there's nothing to blog about! We have been super busy with our house still. Just as we get done with the interior it will be summer and time to start the exterior! Josh did this cool thing in our dining room this weekend. I love it. It's kind of like a wainscoting but cooler. I'll post pics. The boys are good. Caleb is just immense. Like, he's in the 100th percentile for height and 110th for weight. He weighs 27 lbs! I think he is about 30 inches long if I remember correctly. So, it's pretty tiring carrying him around. He can sit up and play now with Gabe and roll his way around so it's better than always having to hold him. Gabe loves playing outside. We have a deck and he'll take his Bob the Builder trucks out there and play in the snow. We took them sledding the other day which was fun. Hope you guys are doing well!

Happy New Year!

I would say that my new years resolution is to blog more often but I'd fail at it. It seems like when things are going on that people would be excited to hear about (such as moving into our new home that we spent 6 weeks working on and are STILL working on now that we are in) there is just absolutely no time to blog about it! Then when I do have time to blog, there is nothing going on so it's like, "Why should I post?" So, here are some pics of our house since some people have been asking. This was right before we moved in, like December 13th. Now we are moved in but we just have our futon and our recliner in our living room and our TV on a little end table so it looks pretty sad! The bedrooms are nice. Maybe I'll post some more of those. But this is all pre-move in.

Our Christmas was good. Gabe is so spoiled. Our new toy room is already packed. I should post pics of it. My grandpa came over and looked in it and said, "Poor kid, I wish you'd get him some toys to play with!" (sarcasm) It was nice to have our first Christmas where we woke up in our own new home. Though, I was pretty sick so I was ready to go to bed at 8 pm on Christmas eve and did not want to be Santa's little helper all! But it all went well and Gabe loves his new trains. Caleb is getting HUGE! At his six month appointment he weighed 25 lbs 4 oz. He is off the chart for weight and I think 95% for height. We need to switch him to a bigger carseat already. He has this jumperoo thing that hangs from the door frame that he LOVES to jump around in. At least he is getting some exercise!

We hope your Christmas and New Year were good as well! I'll try to post again soon!