Day 23 with NO Sugar...

It is true…and I NEVER thought I could do it. I consider myself a total sugar addict. However, back in December a friend of mine posted a “sugar challenge” on her blog (www.goglutenfreegracefully.com), and I thought “Why not?” The one caveat (okay, two caveats) was that Peter had to do it with me (safety and strength in numbers) and I would eat birthday cake on Charlie’s birthday—I could not possibly tell him that Mommy could not eat cake with him.

Here’s the deal…the challenge started on Jan. 3 and three days into it Ryan started to sleep through the night. Amazing! I like to say that he was like a crack addict. He was getting up every three hours to eat. He was not hungry. He was crashing from all of the sugar I had eaten and he had, in turn, ingested, and he needed more. I felt horrible. That has been my biggest motivation to complete this 45-day challenge. Don’t get me wrong…he still has nights of waking up, but he has become more consistent when it comes to sleeping through the night.

I also feel better. I have been sleeping much better, and I feel like I have more energy. I found that I eat a lot more fruit and veggies, and I am much more aware of what I put in my mouth. I do still crave sweets, but, other than that birthday cake (which was sooo good), I have not given in to temptation.

I challenge you all to try it…even if it is just for a week. It is amazing how much better you feel. And I have vowed to myself that once this is over, I am not going to go back to my old ways of gorging on anything sweet.

Thank you, Jill, for giving us this challenge. It has been an eye-opening experience!

Welcome to the world of THREE, Mr. C!

Happy Birthday (January 12) Charlie! I really cannot believe that you are already three years old. Where has the time gone? You are my little sunshine...you really do make me happy when skies are gray.

You are such a great little guy! You are sweet and caring. You make us smile with the funny things you say and do each day. You have a huge heart, and you have a crazy silly side to you that makes me giggle when I think about it. If only I could bottle that laugh and sell it. We would make millions because it just makes people happy when they hear it.

For being three, you sure do have a big personality. I think you could teach some people about the art of communication--about asking people about things in their lives and really listening to what they have to say. I know you certainly inherited that from your namesake. Grandpa Charlie could bring out the best in anyone, and he was genuinely interested in what people had to say and how they were doing.

I hope you have enjoyed your birthday week. We had a fun party at Uncle Patrick and Aunt Kim's house, which was so nice of them to host. You really had a fun time...even if you were a little upset at first. That is what happens when you miss a nap! Then Daddy and I took you to a Jazz game. Crazy thing was that it was Bear's birthday also, and all of his mascot friends were there to celebrate. You loved it! And the Jazz won!

Last week you started ski school at Deer Valley. Teacher Will said you did a great job on your first day. You are the youngest in the program, but you were the only one in your class who got to go up on the lift. Good work! We are so proud of you, and you loved every minute of it.

Mommy loves birthdays (well, her own birthday) to last a few weeks, so I think yours should as well.

You were really sick a couple of days after your birthday. You got the 24-hour flu. In fact, you threw up all over my lap that morning. It was crazy! It was the first time you have EVER thrown up. Wow...took you three years to do that!

And your new obsession is "The Polar Express" movie. You want to watch it every single day. You cannot sit though any movie, but you can watch that one over and over. It is a great movie for you to love. It is the reason you asked Santa for a bell for Christmas. It made my heart melt.

I am excited for the year ahead and to watch you learn and grow more each day. You are an amazing little guy. I love spending time with you and talking with you. You bring so much happiness and joy to our lives. Thank you for brightening my days and for just being you! Happy Birthday, Sweet Prince.

I love you too, too much!

Growing like a weed!

Sweet Ryan, you are just so big! You are 18 pounds now and 27 inches long, and you really do have the best thighs in the world! Your two bottom teeth broke through on your six month birthday, and you did not even complain. You just drool A LOT!!!

You are sitting like such a pro these days and love to play with your stackable toys, your mouse from Muti and Papa Wiley and the ball toys that you got from Santa.

You seem to like to sit and observe things and then you tell me all about it. I hate to admit it, but I think all of that “dadadadada” coming out of your mouth means that “Dada” or “Daddy” will be a first word. And all of those times I have tried to teach you “Mama.”

Your six month appointment with Dr. Rachel went well. She was impressed with all of the rolling and your ability to sit up on your own. She also could not believe how strong you are! You have quite the grip. I asked her what some of the milestones would be for your nine month appointment, as I want to be ahead of the game. Clapping was one of them.

When we got home that night, I taught you how to clap. Now you love to clap, but you only give us a few claps, while we all yell “yay!” You are a quick study, little man. Next thing we will work on…skate skiing J You can master that, right? Who needs walking when you can skate ski?

Charlie will be three in a few days, and I cannot wait to write about your big brother. He is definitely your favorite person!

I love you, Little Bear Cub!

Happy Half Birthday, Ryan!

Hi Ryan,

Happy six months to you, my sweet baby boy! I cannot believe you are already six months. The time is going by too quickly. You are now able to sit up on your own for several minutes. However, once you hear something and turn to look, you topple right over. You sat up unaided for the first time on December 12. And you were so proud. You smiled and squealed. We were so proud of you. In fact, I think a 5K might be right around the corner.

Speaking of squealing...you LOVE to talk. Hmmm...I wonder who you got that trait from :) You like to mimic what we say to you, and you get such joy out of hearing yourself "talk." I cannot wait for those first words to be uttered. I am sure "mama" will be the first thing that comes out of your mouth.

And you are a little flirt. Again, I wonder where you learned (or inherited) that trait. You smile at all of the ladies at daycare, and then you quickly bury your head in my shoulder. I love it when you do that. I think you already know how cute you are!

You roll all over the place, and you love to be part of whatever is going on around you. You have already decided that you no longer like to sit in the bouncy chair, as it reclines too much for your liking. One of the things you love most is bath time. You kick your legs and scream with delight when the water splashes all over you. It is so fun to watch!

Charlie is still your number one fascination. You watch him and smile at anything he does. He loves to entertain you. And a few times he has hit you, and it makes you so sad (and us so mad!). Little man, with the way you are growing, I think Charlie might have to watch out when you get older...so, he better be nice now. Ha!

Christmas is in a few days, and Daddy and I are so excited for both of you. Charlie has asked for a bell (like in the Polar Express), a kitchen and a "fire" guitar. He wants for you to have some slippers and a baseball. I am not quite sure you are ready for a baseball, but you never know what Santa might bring to you.

I really think that 2011 is going to be a wonderful year for all of us. I cannot wait for the memories and fun times ahead. You are the most wonderful, happy baby. You bring so much joy to our lives. Thank you, Ryan, for a fantastic six months.

I love you, Little Bear Cub!

My very own SUPERMAN

Hi Dad,

I cannot believe it is 11 years today. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about you and wish you were here. It breaks my heart that you will never meet your beautiful grandsons, as they are such a joy and such amazing little boys. Sometimes I feel like you are talking to me through Charlie, especially when he wants to hear all about anything Peter or I have done that day. He always says, “Tell me about your day, Mommy” when I pick him up from school. I wish that Peter knew you, because I know you two would have been so close.

Peter asked me today to tell him things about you that he may not know, and I have so many memories that it is hard to narrow it down. I know I have told him so much already, but I thought I would share with him the little things that I will never forget and that will always remind me of you. I also wanted to write on the blog about you. We recently went to the viewing of our sweet neighbor Dwain, and his daughter had written him a letter years ago, and it was in a “Thank you” format. I liked it so much, that I would like to do the same…

Thank you for always having Tic Tacs in your pocket, so we always knew who was going up or down the stairs.

Thank you for playing “Mambo #5” each morning to try to wake Dominic up, as I know it annoyed him immensely. We will never not think of you when we hear that song.

Thank you for saying “it burns so good” every time you took that first sip of Coke. It made me giggle each time.

Thank you for giving me fluoride pills until I was about 15. I am convinced that is why I still do not have a cavity.

Thank you for always letting me talk the entire walk when we would go on walks at night. I think I miss that most of all.

Thank you for making me campaign with you and go door-to-door handing out flyers for Palmer De Paulis, Jim Bradley, etc. Teaching me about politics at a young age was smart of you.

Thank you for reading the newspaper front to back every day. I was convinced that you knew always everything going on the world, and that you could always answer my questions.

Thank you for the downtown walking tours of SLC. I wish I could remember all of the facts and all of the history of the buildings downtown. I would love to do the same for Charlie and Ryan.

Thank you for our date to the Capitol to see the Christmas Tree and then lunch at Snappy’s. It was amazing how you could make Maury smile. I am not sure anyone else was capable of that.

Thank you for having lunch with me once a week. I loved sitting in your office and eating a kay-sa-dee-yah from Scott’s or wherever you picked up lunch that day.

Thank you for going to the Daddy-Daughter night for Pi Phi even though it was at the dreaded Olive Garden, as I know you hated the meal!

Thank you for always driving on the fieldtrips at Cosgriff and for always being a “lunch lady” with the other moms. I always knew I had the best dad!

Thank you for letting me drive the new Jaguar home from the dealership, while you drove my car. I will always remember you saying, “It is just a car, and that is why we have insurance” when I said “but it is new and so nice, and what if I crash it?. The meaning of that has always stuck with me…and I drove about 20 mph that day, but what a great car to drive!

Thank you for teaching me the value of the dollar by making pay you for my first car and then revealing, years later, that you put all of the money back into my savings account. And also, for making me believe that if I had less than $200 in my checking account that the bank would call and yell at me. Poor Dominic never got to learn these lessons. Ha!

Thank you for the trips to Fred Meyer. We still laugh about how Dom and I would rather go to the grocery store with you on a Friday than out with our friends at times. You always made every experience fun.

I think I could go on and on, but you always knew how I felt. Thank you most of all for being the most amazing dad, for loving me unconditionally, for teaching us what it means to be truly altruistic (and some do not believe that can exist), and for always listening. You will always be my hero! I love you si, si.

And thank you, Peter, for helping me remember all of these wonderful things.

If you give a mouse a cookie...

Charlie,

Today Grandma Lynn and I took you to your first play (actually, it was Grandma Lynn's treat to us). We went to see "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" at Salt Lake Acting Company. And, I can honestly say it was one of the top moments I have had in life. The play was really cute, but watching your reaction was sheer joy--indescribable. You were so excited all day to go, and when we got there you were in awe of everything you saw. Not to mention, you were so happy that you had your own seat.

I think Grandma and I could have watched you the entire time. There is something so incredible about the innocence of a child. You were the first one to start laughing, and you have the most amazing, infectious laugh. In fact, you made the people in the theater giggle as they heard your wonderful sounds of joy. Everyone who knows you, would agree that you have one of the best laughs ever heard. And your big, beautiful eyes were shining the whole time.

Grandma and I talked after the play about how we both were moved to tears, just by hearing you laugh. It made us both realize that it is the simple things in life that make a child so happy, especially you. I thought about how you were laughing so hard, and people were probably wondering why I had tears in my eyes. But they were tears of joy! What a fantastic time it was!

So, Charlie, thank you for reminding us what it is like to be a kid--without a care in the world and finding humor in the little things. This was the most perfect way to kick off the holiday season. I cannot wait until our next adventure, and I cannot wait for Ryan to come with us when he is a bit older.

Sweet Pea, I love you too, too much!

A quick update…

Ryan is not QUITE as big as we thought…we had an appointment with Dr. Rachel today, and she thought everything looked great and could not believe how strong Ryan is. He is actually 15 lbs. 8 oz. (diaper must have been wet at the PCMC appointment). He is 85% for height and 60% for weight and his head falls into the 89^th percentile. Keep growing, little man! You are awesome!