Easter Hunt

We had a fast little Easter Egg Hunt this past Saturday with a really great friend of mine Janice and her adorable two kids!! Nathan was downtown for an interview with University of Chicago to get into their Executive MBA program so he wasn't able to be with us but we had a great time with Janice and the kids. I love to see the anticipation on their faces as they are waiting for the count down to run and grab some eggs. Clayton pick up alot of eggs and most were filled with little Easter toys that last oh about a minute because of such great engineering of the toy-- HA. I think Hayden had the right strategy though, go straight for the candy! He just couldn't pass up all the sweet stuff he could see for a single mystery egg. He's so funny. We live for kids and the fun they have huh!!

Thanks Janice for driving all the way to the Easter Hunt and bringing the kids. Both the boys couldn't stop asking when the next time we get to play again!! Thanks for the snacks too you are ALWAYS so thoughtful of others!!

Justin's Blessing Day

Last Sunday was the day we gave Justin his baby blessing. My parents were both able to come and they brought my little sister Sophie as well. My other siblings (Emily, Max, and Jessa) all gave us calls and congratulated us over the phone. Nathan did a great job on the blessing and it was great to have both our fathers take part in the blessing. I am so thankful to family and friends that show their support and love to our family. Even those who could not attend the actual blessing, their comments, calls, or congratulations meant alot to me. We all can't do everything or be everywhere, but it goes a long way and says alot when a person recognizes something in your life that is important and they let you know that they care. We went home and had a really nice ham and potato dinner with all the fixings! My parents and Sophie were here for less than a week but it always brightens me up to spend time with them. We watch some good movies, played cards, attempted to do get high scores on the WII games all the while eating and laughing at each other. Clayton is really into hot wheels and every morning he would hound dad up to race cars down his race track. He was relentless at times and I had to pull him aside and explain to him that you do bug people when they are in the bathroom taking showers or trying to get ready for the day. I said "You need to be patient, what does being patient mean?" Clay answered "Ahhhhh I have to wait" all sad like.

Sophie all serious he he he

Ouch!!

This has not been the week for Hayden. First while running around the house with Clayton he slammed into the corner of a table in my foyer, making him have a nice looking black eye for church. Then just went that is beginning to fade to that ugly green bruise color, he slips off the the laundry bucket he is using as a stool to reach the sink in our bathroom so both he and Clayton can play car wash and wash all of their Hot Wheels. Unfortunately, being too excited for shiny Hot Wheels Hayden tried to reach in the sink too much and the laundry bucket slips on the (of course) wet floor and he hits his head on first the porcelain sink and then the tile floor!! As I was helping him up and saying "Let me see" I totally gasped at how huge and purple the bump on his head was already! Poor guy. Hayden is a tough boy and it takes alot for him to cry out in pain, so when he does it's important. I have a Spider man ice pack I keep in the fridge and we rotated that with a bag of frozen peas to get the swelling to go down.

I promised him we would go look at Easter stuff and let him pick out a new Easter bucket. Out of the four choices of the $1.50 buckets he choose the RED one!! Some of those baskets are so darn expensive WOW!! Having a bad day like this I think it merits a "Hayden Day" where he can pick out his favorite movie, what kind of dessert to with dinner, and be the first to play wii games. Again poor guy!!

Our days

So I have been asked how have my days been and honestly we are still in hibernation mode here. Mainly because it is still really cold, gray and gloomy outside so any entertainment of going out would be to McDonald's for Happy meals and to run some of Clayton and Hayden's energy off. Justin is one month old and is doing well but I can tell he has started that "I am more aware of things and I want to be held" stage and I am sure he doesn't quite like that I give him a little time to settle himself down with his little cries, but that is necessary so you can train a non needy baby to some extent. There definitely is way more laundry with the one little addition with spit up and bombshell diapers in the scenario Justin does his fair share of dirty clothes. He is a very good eater and once he gets his fill he just lays there limp like he is drunk or something. I laugh every time!!

Today is Super Hero day at our house. I think with 3 boys I am in for a lot of Super Hero's, dodge ball fights, sports, and wrestling wars. We call Nate every morning and Hayden's usual talk is "Hey Daddy, when you get home, I going to fight you! I on Clays team."

We are on a Batman kick right now and we took action figures and matched them up with Hot wheel cars. They had to have the right color of car (i.e. Batman-Black Spider man-Red Hulk-Green and so on) even the "Bad Guys" had tripped out cars. Nate says Clay is like me that when he gets his mind on something he can't let it go. He has been wanting me to play non-stop Batman and sorry for him with a newborn that is just not possible. Non-stop yeah right! Determination is a good thing I chant to myself when Clay is still asking me to play some more when I have a crying baby to tend to.

My boys go with the flow really easily and I am very thankful for that. If I had a long night with Justin I can count on them playing together in the basement or watching a few cartoons while I get back to functioning. More times than not they are best buds and it just make me smile.

MY Little MEN

Clayton really likes to wear his suit for church on Sundays. Mainly because he "Looks like dad" and has a tie, so when he saw Justin in his own church outfit he was pleading me to take his picture with him!! I have to say I like having Clayton get excited to dressed up for church and look his best, hopefully that doesn't wear off!!

MY little MEN !!
The main MAN of the house was already at church fulling his calling as ward Clerk

Justin Ron Cottrell

He is here!!

Justin was born Monday January 26, 2009 at 11:39 am. He weighed 8lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long!!

He came really fast so his poor face was really bruised at first but is all gone with now. I had great help with my mom and we have been enjoying her company here so much that I am just getting to this post.

We are all doing great and having fun with this new addition to our family!!

Hayden's Three!!

Happy Birthday Hayden!!

It was Hayden's birthday January 12 and since we just arrived home from vacation and were in the mode of restocking empty shelves with groceries, cleaning and trying not to deliver a baby too soon, we had a party with just our little family.

The extent of our party was a bucket of Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes, tater babies and rolls from Jewel/Osco and cake and ice cream. When I asked Hayden "Are you excited to eat your cake soon?" He was already hoping in his seat and said "Chicken!! I want to eat Chicken!" He downed two drumsticks and a thigh all on his own and they were completely picked clean of any remaining meat. WOW I was impressed with the kid.
We have alot of fun on birthday's and a big thing with us is what kind of birthday cake are you going to have (and if I can make that character or not). Who doesn't like having a theme set for their big day!! This year Hayden picked Batman for his cake. He really liked Batman climbing up on the side!!To surprised Hayden we decorated the dinning room with blue streamers, a balloon tied to his chair, and his blue wrapped present. He came in the room and just said "WOW Mom for ME?"

Hayden's present was a remote control Thomas train track set. I got this on my 4:30am Black Friday trip this year such a bargain!! He loved it. I'm not loving the Thomas theme song being played continuously right now but hey he's happy.

Here are some other fun cakes we have done together!!

Spiderman Star Wars Red velvet 4th of July cake

Mickey Mouse Elmo

Disneyland/Arizona Christmas Blast!!

We are back!! And yes I made it through the airport with two kids, a car seat and stroller to maneuver, 1 three hour lay over and being 9 months pregnant. We were gone almost 3 weeks and Nathan was there for a full 2 weeks its was great!! I won't go into a day by day run down of all that we did because would just take too long! So here is a summary!

* Arrived in Arizona and stayed at the Thompson Retreat (the new house my dad and his brothers bought together)

* Hot wheel birthday party for Clayton. He is 5 years old!!

* Drove a quick 5 hours away to see Aunt Gail and family in Yorba Linda CA

Aunt Jessa with the boys by Gail's gorgeous tree!!

* Toured a huge 7 MILLION DOLLAR HOUSE being built by friends of my Aunt Gail. And saw some of the homes that unfortunately were completely burnt down by the recent California fires.

* 2 day adventure to Disney Land and California Adventure Theme Parks!! Hayden loved the parades and Clay was such a dare devil with all the rides he went on!

* Back to Arizona to Thompson Retreat

Aunt Sophie with Hayden

Swam at the house, huge card tournaments, festive dinners, Christmas, Movies

* Saw the annual Christmas light decorations at the Mesa Arizona Temple

*Watch Grandpa Delwyn's horse come in 2nd at Turf Paradise Race track

*Toured Model homes

* Arizona Zoo with the most gorgeous weather.

Whole Thompson Family in attendance!!! With two new babies on the way!!

I know I am missing tons of things that we did but the most important of all was being together with all the family. It was the best!

Thanks Mom and Dad for making such a fun trip possible for all of us! You both are so giving and thoughtful to those around you. You are our examples to follow!!