Sharing a Room

Well, we took the plunge--our boys are, officially sharing a room. Last night was their first night together and here are the details:

2pm-7pm: With 2 trips to the hardware store and a few interruptions (phone calls, etc.), Matt put together our new bunk beds. While he did this, the boys could hardly contain themselves--running around, screaming and cheering (literally, for 5 hours!) They could not wait to try out their new beds.

7pm-7:45pm: We bathed the boys, did our normal nightly routine, but this time stories and songs were together in their new room. (For any of you who keep track, yes we are past our normal bedtime, the building of the beds took a little longer then expected.)



7:45pm: Lights out. This is a new concept for Wade because he is "scared" of the dark and sleeps with the bathroom light on (used to be his bedroom light, so at least we are making progress.) We told him that because he gets to sleep with Seth, he doesn't need a light on. Now they have a small night light which seemed to be okay with both of them.

8pm: They are still up there talking and laughing (which we expected.)

8:30pm: STILL, talking and laughing--it seems to be getting louder so I go up to check on them. They have turned on the bedroom light and are playing with the books and few toys we have in the room. I, manually, turn off the light from the fixture to prohibit them turning it on again and ask them to, please go to bed!

9pm: I head up to bed (I know it is early, but I am SOOOO pregnant and tired) and check on the boys. This is what I saw:


"Not half bad," I think to myself. Not only were they SOUND asleep (Wade was actually snoring), they were both in their own beds and seemed content. I was also pleased to see that Seth was IN a bed. If you remember, I have mentioned that he doesn't usually sleep in his bed. Instead, I find him on the floor by the door every night I check on him, so this was a pleasant surprise.

1am: Matt fell asleep watching TV and did one last check on the them before coming to our bed and found Seth in his old room and bed! Silly boy! Matt moved him back to his new room and bed and thinks he stayed there the rest of the night.

All in all, we are happy with how well they did! I have been nervous about this for a long time and feel relieved that it went so well. Now, I have to get serious: redecorate and paint the boy's room and do the same to the nursery. Not to mention, finish moving Seth's clothes and other stuff to his new room while washing and putting away baby's stuff. Hmmm...it sounds like I will be busy these next couple of weeks ;)! At least I can cross, "putting the boys together in a room" off my list!

Grand Opening

This past Saturday was the grand opening of Matt's dental practice, Vista Dorada Dental! It was a lot of fun and a great success. Matt and Wade woke up early to post signs and balloons throughout the community to spread the word while Seth and I got ready at home.

The Hunsaker's picked up Wade for soccer while the rest of us headed over to the event. There were balloons, prizes, music and food. Matt and his staff gave tours of the office and chatted with everyone who came. Matt has a wonderful staff who worked so hard to make this event great and they did an amazing job!

If any of you dental school graduates are getting ready to do something like this soon, BE SURE TO GET A SITTER FOR THE KIDS! I know I should have and it is almost common sense, but I thought with Wade being gone to soccer half the time, it wouldn't be so bad watching Seth while trying to participate and get to know the visitor's--well, to say in the least, I was WRONG!!

At first, Seth entertained himself by pushing the stroller around (typical) and refused to even think about sitting in it. I decided we both needed a break so we went to sit in the car for a minute, cool off and watch part of a movie. I also opted to put the stroller away.
After our timeout, things seemed to be going okay. Seth was running around, but staying in my eyesight, until I took my eyes off of him for a SPLIT SECOND to introduce my friend to Matt's partner. Well, you can imagine what happened--Seth disappeared.

I excused myself from the conversation and started running (keep in mind I am 9 months pregnant :)) down the sidewalk that I last saw him on. He was running with another little boy and I could see that kid about 25 yards away at the entrance of the grocery store "Basha's."

When I got to that boy I asked him where Seth was, but he was too little to understand me. I just kept running up the sidewalk. My heart was pounding, I was sweating and my life was seriously flashing before my eyes. I couldn't believe I couldn't find him. I started to think, "what am I going to do?", "what am I going to tell Matt?" I continued to round the corner of the strip mall and was now over 100 yards away from the practice.

I was frantic and asking/panicking to anyone I saw if they had seen a little boy run by. No one had, so I decided to run back. I ran into a lady from my old ward and few others outside the grocery store and they started to help me look. I ran into the grocery store and screamed, "has a little boy come in here?" They began to look and started making announcements over the intercom.

Suddenly I could see my friend, Lalani, waving her arms trying to get my attention. I ran back down to the practice and she exclaimed, "Jen, I have him, he has been here the whole time!" I can't even describe the relief I felt at that moment. I let everyone know, who had been helping me look, he was okay and hugged my little boy tighter than I ever had.

He was "lost" for a good 5 minutes and it felt like an eternity. Even though it is 3 days later, I still find myself hugging him and kissing him a little tighter than usual. I do not know what I would have done if I really had lost him. Thank goodness it wasn't anything worse (or really anything at all.)

We decided to call it a day after that, not to mention the massive contractions I was having (I guess I know what to do if I get desperate to have this kid ;)!) It turned out to be a great day despite our mishap! Thank you to all who supported us!

Favorites

I have noticed a few of you posting on you or your family's favorite things, I decided to do the same thing. I thought it would be fun to look back and read about a few of the things my boys LOVE right now and also added a few of mine and Matt's.

WADE LOVES:

The Wii
90% of our conversations throughout the day include the Wii. Whether it is how long he gets to play, when he will play next or how well he did the last time he played. If you don't believe me, I scanned a picture he drew during sacrement meeting this past Sunday (hey, at least he was being quiet :).) It is a picture of the game "tanks," which happens to be his favorite.









Disneyland
If 90% of our conversations are about the Wii, at least 7% are about Disneyland (if you are doing the math, that leaves about 3% for everything else--kinda sad, I know!), the "Pirates of the Carribbean" and when we will be returning to Disneyland again.


Running FAST!
He loves sports and running and loves to race and talk about how his different shoes make him run faster than others. Whenever he plays soccer in the backyard, he insists on changing into his soccer cleats so he can run "faster." When he goes to school, he has another pair of shoes he likes to wear so he can run faster than his friends. It's all about how FAST he can go!


Tokens from Peter Piper Pizza
Wade loves it when Ampa comes to town and takes him to Peter Piper. He, especially, loves to get tokens and play the games for tickets and then to trade them in for prizes. The other day, Wade found a token at Aunt Jess' house and he kept it with him 24/7 (in his pocket and on his nightstand) for several days. He just loves them!

Frosting
Wade loves birthday parties, end-of-season soccer parties and any other occasion that includes cake. Although he never eats the cake--just licks the frosting off until there is nothing left. He does this with cookies too. Do any of your kids do this?

His blanket
He has had the same blanket since he was born and still loves it with all his heart. He has to sleep with it and you won't ever find him without it while watching a show on the couch in the morning (or at any other downtime for that matter.)

SETH LOVES:

Pushing the stroller
He INSISTS on pushing the stroller and refuses to ride in it anymore (without a fight!) Whenever there is a stroller around (that may or may not belong to us), Seth is right there pushing it.

Peanut Butter
I, personally, do not like peanut butter (unless it is in a cookie or ice cream), but Seth LOVES it! Granny Roper and Aunt Jess love peanut butter so that is where he must have gotten it. He has to have a peanut butter sandwich everyday and he eats it all!


Juice
Seth loves a sippy cup with juice in it. I have recently limited him to one cup a day of it and it has not been easy on him. He would be content drinking juice all day, but with a husband as a dentist, that doesn't fly to well in our house--too much sugar on his teeth!

The Vacuum
Yep, this one is still going on. He loves to vacuum and help clean up. At least I have one supporter of cleanliness in the house!


Sweets
He got this from me. Seth loves anything chocolate (as do I) and is always up for something sweet, sugary and delicious!

Aunt Mer's baby chicks
The last time we were in Cedar, Aunt Mer's family had some baby chicks. They are SUPER cute and Seth talks about them everyday. He LOVES the "chickies!"


MATT LOVES:

The Phoenix Suns


Guitar Hero


Hot Tamales at the movie theater

playing with our boys



I LOVE:

Cookies (especially chocolate chip)

My little, fam

going to the gym (don't hate me for this, but I REALLY love it, I need it!)

Diet Coke w/ lime

Special Events

The past week was filled with a few special events for our family (keep in mind, it doesn't take a lot to impress us :)!)

The first event was...Seth got a haircut. Now, I know most of you told me not to do it and when you look at the pictures, I am sure you will agree that I was very conservative. Just a trim--his hair was getting too scraggly. Now it is better and we were able to maintain the cute style.

Before:

During:


After:

See! Some of you may even be thinking to yourself, "did they even cut it?" Like I have said many times, I love his hair so much, so this was about all I could take!

The next event was a surprise visit from Ampa! It is ALWAYS so wonderful to have my dad visit for all of us! The best part about his visit was that he got to see Wade's soccer season 5 opener. My dad has wanted to see Wade play soccer for a long time now and Wade was thrilled to "perform!"

While our husbands went to "Priesthood session" a bunch of my friends and ward members met at the neighborhood park with our kids. We ate dinner and after park playtime we took them for ice cream/ sno cones. The kids (and I) had a wonderful time running around with their (our)friends. Finally, the best part of the past week was General Conference. I LOVE conference and feel so blessed to have been able to listen to the counsel of the leaders of our church. There were so many wonderful talks. These sessions were the best, so far, for my family because my boys are starting to pay a little bit of attention.

My favorite talk (which was probably yours too) was by M. Russell Ballard. When he said "I want to focus on young mothers," Matt and I were so excited! I feel so loved and appreciated by the church leaders. I know my Father in Heaven appreciates me (and all of you) so much. I love how inspired our leaders are and my testimony is reaffirmed in this each time I hear any of them speak!

I also enjoyed so many other talks and look forward to receiving my "Ensign" and also to study some of the select talks in upcoming Relief Society lessons!

I have to mention my love for President Monson. At first I felt like a piece of the puzzle was missing since President Hinckley was not there, but to hear President Monson's testimony was so comforting and inspiring. I never realized he was so funny! It was fun and moving at the same time to hear him speak! I am excited to hear and see him more in this new role. I know, for sure, we are blessed to have another amazing Prophet.

Father and Son Campout

This past weekend, Matt took the boys to the ward father and son camp out. If some of you remember, the last ward "camp out" we attempted ended up with the Roper's at home, making smore's in the microwave, so it was a big deal that they actually went.

Matt grew up with all sisters and I only have sisters as well, so camping in any form was not a big part of our childhood years. We do know, however, we better get camp savvy with at least 3 little boys (and probably more boys to come :)), it is inevitable.

Matt and his friend, Nate who has two boys the exact same age as ours, decided against spending the night, but left here around noon so they could take advantage of having most of the day. All 6 of them piled into our car and headed up to join our ward for an adventure in the mountains/ woods which included:

playing in the creek:


hiking around:

and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows:

My boys LOVE being outside and had a WONDERFUL time. Matt also loved spending special time with the boys. Some of the highlights were: the hours and hours of amusement with the creek and an equal amount of amusement with finding sticks in the woods. Wade, also, thought it was REALLY neat to roast his own hot dog while Seth was perfectly content eating 2 1/2 hot dogs, chips, soda and about 10 marshmallows--yikes!

Matt knew it was time to head home when both kids were crying and begging to leave because it was so cold (they definitely have AZ blood.) They got home around 11pm, tired, happy and DIRTY (these pics don't do justice to how dirty they really were):

It was a great time had by all (with mom enjoying her day off at home as well :)!)