I am so disappointed that I have been so bad about blogging. We have been so blessed and have had such a great last couple months. The boys are doing so many adorable things that I forget because I don't write them down. I really want to do better. My family and I have been doing a weight loss challenge where we report into a blog daily. I have to admit that more of my time has been spent there than here, but I hope that I can change that. Anyway, I hope to give a brief summary of life for the Mondays over the past few months.
Christmas this year was great for us. It was our first Christmas that we spent in with just our family. Normally, we go to Utah or at least to Toledo for Christmas. We did spend Christmas Eve and Christmas afternoon in Toledo, but ended up coming back home for Santa to visit our boys here in Lima. Although I love spending Christmas in Utah and as the old song goes, "There's no place like home for the holidays," I really enjoyed spending Christmas with Michael and my boys. It was really special.
Santa was really generous to us this year. We got so many fun things. The boys were especially excited about Mario Kart for their Wii and for their Star Wars toys. Their favorite present for the most part, was their BYU Cougar uniforms, complete with their first initial and last name and birthday for their number on the back. They all opened this gift at the same time and insisted on putting their uniforms on. As soon as they got "dressed" they told us that it was time for them to go down in the basement and play a football game, despite having a tree full of presents that still needed to be unwrapped. All three boys sprinted downstairs to verse their imaginary Ute opponents. Alden laid out the rules and told the boys that the first team to 14 won, and guess what? The BYU cougars saved the day! and won! Hooray for the cougars!!! The fun thing about doing Christmas at our house was that we were able to do that with every present. We enjoyed not being worried about holding someone up, and the boys enjoyed being able to play with their presents as we opened them.
After we spent the morning opening presents and eating a nice breakfast, we loaded up the boys and a few of their favorite presents and went to Toledo. Michael's Aunt Leslie and Uncle Jay were visiting from Utah, and Michael's grandparents were there from Toledo. It was so much fun to see them and spend time with them over the holidays. Michael's grandparents also made the decision to move to Toledo while we were there, so Michael and much of his family went to Cleveland the next day to get some of GG and Geful's essentials. We were also able to see Michael's best friend from high school, Tim, and his wife and new baby boy, Teddy. It was so much fun to get to know is wife Jin and their cute little boy that is only a couple months older than Jacob. We went to a Rockets game and spent a significant amount of time with them. It was very fun.
Another fun thing about Christmas is that our little 
Jacob turned 6 months old. It's so hard to believe that he's 6 months now. He is such a good baby. He'll certainly let us know we're not paying him enough attention, but he'll still sit for hours in his swing and can easily be entertained with a few toys. We got him a toy that plays music and has little blocks that bob up and down for Christmas. It seems that that was all he needed to start sitting up. He sits up really well now and rolls all over the place. He loves chewing on everything, and even though he's 7 months now, he still hasn't cut any teeth. He especially loves pulling his socks off and sucking on his toes. For awhile he got really frustrated wtih us always trying to give him his pacifier, but since we eased off a bit, he likes it now. When he's tired, he loves for us to take him in his room, give him his pacifier and a blanket, turn on his mobile nad let him go to sleep. All my other boys insisted that I nurse them to sleep, but not Jacob. He's really a good baby. He loves his brothers so much. He gets so excited when he sees them. Without fail, Alden yelling, "Hi Jacob" over and over and over again always gets him to smile. He loves Hyrum and Thobe too, and adores me and Michael. He loves to screech really loudly and has the cutest little giggle. He loves eating. If we're eating and not sharing, he screams (sometimes that'a little annoying), but it's also very cute. I really couldn't ask for a better baby. He's just so incredible!
Hyrum continues to be his mischievous adorable self. He's really a lot of fun. He is constantly saying the funniest things and is just a happy boy. He tells me, "I love you too, Mom" at least 20 times a day. I love it when he says that. He is really aware of other people's emotions. If I get sad, he gets very concerned. I love how he does that. He does not like to be told no and is very determined. If he asks us to do something and we tell him just a minute, he'll often not wait for us. I can't tell you how many times I've found him on top of the counter top trying to reach something changing is own diaper (potty training is still a problem because I am potty training stupid), pouring his own water or milk, or getting his own snack. He is a tornado in action. He's constantly dumping and spilling and making a disaster. The picture here is the result of him getting a bottle of blue food coloring and shaking it all over himself, his brothers and the kitchen. He is so good with Jacob. If Jacob's crying, he always tries to get him something to play with and has started getting him things to eat--this scares me. Jacob didn't like the soap that Hyrum gave him and loved the peanut butter--I wasn't excited about him eating either of those things. Hyrum is very charismatic. Everyone who meets him, loves him!
Thobe continues to be our sports fan. He loves sports and has recently become obsessed with Mario Kart. He could sit for hours watching Alden play it. When he's not watching Alden play he is constantly talking about the characters of the game. Did you know that Bowser's birthday is March 22--the same day as Michael's, and Mario's birthday is March 8? I don't know where he gets this stuff, but it's pretty funny. He's really excelled in school thsi year. He sturggles with writing--fine motor skills aren't a strength of the Mondays, but that boy can read and he is just like a sponge. I'm constantly amazed at the things that he picks up on. It's also been fun to watch him and Hyrum become closer friends. He has always gotten along with Alden, but recently, he and Hyrum have started playing together more. They fight more than Alden and Thobe ever did, but they still love each other and are playing together well. Thobe loves wearing his BYU cougar uniform. I think he would wear that thing every single day if we'd let him. He got mad at me today when I madde him change his shirt when it was so dirty. That uniform was definitely worth it for Thobe.
Alden has grown up so much this year. He is so smart and cute. He loves to please his dad and has recently become farily good freinds with a boy at his school that speaks Spanish. We're really excited about that; Alden has a lot of friends at school, and his best friend remains to be Jack. He is really excelling on the piano and is such a good boy! He is really obedient and tries so hard to do what is right. He is also really good at outsmarting me. The other day he told me he wanted to eat school lunch if they had hot dogs. I won't go into it too much here, but I hate school lunch. I think that it is nothing but garbage. The problem is Thobe loves it, so I let them eat up to 2 school lunches a week. Alden told me one day that he wanted to have a hot dog at school. I told him I did not want to pay $2 for a gross hotdog and that if he wanted one, he could buy it with his money. He told me that he did not want to spend his money on that and I told him that I didn't want to spend my money on it either. "Well," Alden said, "I only have a little bit of money, but if I had as much money as you have, I wouldn't mind spending $2 on a hot dog." He is right, $2 to me is a lot less than $2 to him. He also continue to be a Star Wars fanatic. When I asked im why he likes Star Wars so much, he said, "Well, (he always says well), I guess that's what the laser does to people." That really threw me, so I asked him to explain. He reminded me that when he was born, the doctor cut him out of my tummy with a laser, and he concluded that the laser must have made him like Star Wars. He's really fun and a bit crazy. I love him and all my boys so much though.
