Boys

Boys and Girls are definitely different, but it always amazes me to see those differences at such a young age.

I guess I'm use to being around all girls. . . me, my mom, my sister, her 4 little girls. . . because little boys, or maybe just Noah, definitely create a different atmosphere and environment. Girls are naturally so small, quite and gentle. Noah on the other hand, ever since he was little, has demonstrated the boy through and through. From the very beginning, he didn't talk quiet, he always hollers and didn't find his inside voice until he was 2.5 and it's still a rarity to hear his inside voice. When playing with trains, his cousins Laine and Sydney like to sit back and watch the trains go by without touching them. Noah on the other hand, likes to lay his head on the track and have the trains collide with his face. He also likes to set the trains on a collision course to run head-on into each other.

Girls want to build castles out of blocks while Noah just wants to throw the blocks and make them come tumbling down. That always frustrates Jon when he's worked so hard to build a tower for Noah and all he wants to do is tear it down.

Then, there is the potty thing. I don't know anyone who's had as many peeing stories as we already do. Noah's doing really well with potty training. He never poops in his pants or diaper now, but peeing is a whole other issue. Most days Noah does great, but then there are days where we have multiple accidents, but that's not the interesting part. What I find interesting is that Noah loves to poop outside. There I am cleaning the house when suddenly I see a bare bum out the window. There goes Noah, running across the yard with no pants or underwear on. "Noah, what are you doing? Where's your clothes?" The response I get, proud as punch, "Momma, I pooped!" and he shows me where every time. Jon caught him squatting to poop in a hole by the fence the other day. I try so hard not to laugh. Really, I promise, we don't encourage outdoor defecating. Today came another story and I laughed and laughed when Jon told me on the phone. Noah was suppose to be napping when Jon hears Noah call from the bedroom, "I'm naked!" Oh, that's never a good sign. Jon goes in and sure as can be, there's Noah with no pants again. I think he dislikes pants as much as Grandpa Clark. Then Noah proceeds to show Jon where he's peed. There on the floor is his diaper of which Noah removed, then stood over and tried to pee into the diaper on the floor. . . then comes my favorite when Noah points out he's peed down the heater vent. Oh brother!!! Someone help me.

A few days ago, Jon and I are downstairs when we hear the pitter patter of little feet upstairs. We go to see what's happening and find Noah and Sunny having a smorgasbord of lucky chairs, almonds and Swedish fish. I'm sure they enjoyed every minute of it. I couldn't even get mad, but instead turned my head to laugh so Noah couldn't see me, then grabbed the camera.

Noah's vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few months. When we say we're going to church, he says, "To play with kids?" When we give him milk, he asks, "Is it big? Is it tall?" He's talking all the time and now uses words I never knew he knew. Most recently, Noah wants so much to help us, so he asks if he can pack. Tayton even helped me go through the stuff in my bathroom so we could pack it up.

We're moving to our new house this weekend, so I thought I'd share a few photos of the kids before we leave since I'm not sure how long it will take me to get settled and have time to write again.
Picture of Tayton with her fabulous bed hair, one with pigtails, then after pigtails.











Some great pictures my sister took.

Funny Kids

Kids do the funniest things.

Here is the before picture. Two weeks ago, my sister was babysitting our kids while we were signing the contract on the new house. When we get back to pick them up, Kelly informs me that Noah got a haircut. Teri immediately pipped up and said the Sydney got in big trouble for it. They told of how Kelly went to check on the kids outside and saw that their youngest, Charlie, had little bits of hair on her shoulder. He then went looking for the 3 year old, Sydney, and found her hiding scissors behind her back. Noah was just standing there with the blank look on his face and a huge patch of hair right off the top in front. I couldn't stop laughing. Noah looked so funny. Thank goodness it was Noah she practiced her stylist technique on and not Tayton. At least it's fixable with Noah. Teri then informed Sydney that she needed to go get her purse to pay for Noah to get a new haircut. Sydney got her purse and with the saddest look in her eyes, gave me a nickle. Once again, I laughed hard and told her I didn't think a nickle would cover the cost of the haircut. I told her she didn't have to pay because we'd just get the clippers out at home, but I made her promise she wouldn't attempt to cut hair again. This is a picture after I gave him a short short buzz.

While we were packing up one area of the house I got a little annoyed with Jon over something so he and I were having a discussion. Pretty soon I hear Noah walking around the house saying, "Daddy's naughty. Daddy's naughty." I tried really hard not to laugh.

If I have to tell Noah something he doesn't want to do, he then folds his arms, given me the evil eye and then shakes his finger at me. It's so darn cute, I have to turn my head so he can't see me laugh, then I have to tell him ot to get snippy with Mommy.

He's getting to point where we laugh multiple times a day at things Noah says or does. I need to write them down so I remember them and can post them for Noah to see in the future. . . or so we can show his girlfriends at some point. :)

Here's some cute pictures we recently took.

Halloween

Children have transformed my perspective of Halloween. Answering the door for tricker treaters really drives me crazy. I swear I'm my father's daughter in the fact that I'd rather turn all the lights off and hide in the house, not answering the door. I think some of it has to do with the fact that sometimes I'm anti-social and like to be alone or with the fact that I'm self conscience so I hate answering the door and passing out candy, talking to children and parents that I don't know. I'm not sure what it is, but Halloween definitely is a holiday that I wouldn't mind skipping.

Jon, on the other hand absolutely LOVES Halloween. If I'm correct, it's his favorite holiday of the year. He must REALLY love it if he ranks Halloween before Christmas. The first year we were married, Jon put a stereo outside playing spooky music, put a black light in the porch light, he put on a creepy mast, bib overalls and answered the door very slowly and made eery sounds. Scary to the point that he made multiple children cry that night. I tried hard to stay out of the limelight and sat in the hall upstairs out of sight watching it all happen and rolling my eyes every time there was a knock at the door. I finally had to yell at Jon and tell him that when kids got scared and cried or would back away from the door, he needed to take the mask off and tell them to come get candy. I was extremely annoyed, but didn't mind my place in the dark hall, watching.

Halloween registers so differently on my holiday scale now that we have children. It has become this magical day for children, which in turn makes it such a magical night for me as well. I love the excitement that fills Noah when we show him his costume. Noah trembles with joy when we say he gets to go to a party dressed up. He's figured out that if you go to each house and say "trick or treat" they give you candy and he gets so excited about that. Last year, Noah was two, and he didn't quite understand until about the 5th house. After that, he had a ton of fun running from house to house. This year, he just enjoyed every minute he could spend with this cousins, Sydney and Charlie, and was so thrilled to have people put candy in his little bag. Nothing made my heart smile more than when Noah would go to leave someone's porch and he'd turn around and say "thank you" in his little three year old voice. At about every third house, Noah would coming running back to me and say, "look mommy, candy" and he'd stop where he was on the grass or sidewalk, rummage through his bag until he could find me the piece of candy that particular house had given him.

Halloween has turned into one of my favorite holidays now because of the sweet spirits of my children. I get to stand back on the sidewalk and watch his face light up at every single house and watch him learn about people, traditions and spend time with his cousins. It doesn't get any better than that!

House Hunting

As many of you know, we've decided to move from the Sandy area and relocate to Weber or Davis county. The rationale behind this move is so I can be closer to work, lessening my commute and gaining more time with my family. Currently I travel 42 miles one way to work, which takes between 40-60 minutes each way depending on traffic. Based on my current schedule, that means I leave the house at 5:50 a.m. and get home around 4:30 p.m. My hope is that when we move closer to work, I'll be able to spend more time with my family. And if the truth be known, I'm ready for a change and want to live in a newer, larger home. Call me greedy, but our "stuff" has outgrown our current home. I'll blame it on two kids, all their toys and the fact that I don't dare part with any of their old clothes since I'm afraid the minute I do, we'll somehow be blessed with another baby. I can hope, right?

Each time I've purchased a home, I've gotten more and more particular in the things that I'm looking for. My first home was a townhouse in Millcreek, UT. Buying my first home was so scary, but so exciting at the same time. It was a 3 bedroom 2 story home that was only about 5 years old when I moved in. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to make the mortgage payments, so I rented 2 of the rooms to roommates. Over the 5 years I lived there, I only had about 7 roommates, and oh what an adventure. I learned a lot about people and I learned a lot about myself. . . some good and some not so good. I loved everyone of those roommates and miss those relationships today since I've lost track or have little contact with most of them now.

When I married Jon, he moved into my house with me, but we wanted to find a place of our own that we both chose together. We found a home in Sandy, before it was even on the market. Weird situation, but I'm a firm believer it was meant to be. So we bought our home and have lived here for the past 5 years. It appears I have an itch to move every 5 years. :) We've loved this home, but now it's time to move on.

Finding the right house is so hard. There are so many to choose from in today's housing market, but some are better than others. I'm getting very particular in my old age and want very specific things in my new home. Now that hard part is finding all the particulars in one house. I keep finding some of my particulars in each house. The biggest thing we're careful about is finding a home that is CAN NOT be a fixer-upper. If you've seen the projects that Jon and I have done together on our home, you'd laugh. We're not exactly the handy type, oh and forget plumbing and electrical. . . we don't touch that. . . or shall I say, I won't let Jon work on those projects. We've had too many incidents with plumbing particularly that now I make sure we have a plumber's number handy at all times.

We've found houses that we like and that would meet our needs, but nothing has jumped out and "spoken" to me yet. :) Am I just crazy? I need to find a home that when I walk in, it feels like home! I know we can make any house feel like a home, but I also feel like I'm suppose to be somewhere, but I haven't found where that is yet.

Missing a Friend

A dear friend of mine posted to this blog on October 20th. Cheryl Smith. I've lost track of you and don't know how to reach you. Please let me know how I can contact you. E-mail me at this blog e-mail, tomicrane@gmail.com I miss you and want to talk to you, but can't seem find you. Miss you!

New Additions

Jon pointed out that our last post in July 2010 introduced Lola to the family. It's sad to report that Lola left our family months after that introduction. She was part Boxer, part Labrador and was so high energy. It got to the point that she was constantly jumping our fence and we couldn't keep her contained. She didn't jump the fence to run away, but would jump the fence to go visit the neighbors to the east and to the south, both of which had dogs. On more than one occasion we got the phone call or knock on the door from the neighbors saying that once again, Lola was in their yard playing with their dog. We tried everything, but to no avail, so we listed her on KSL and found her a great family with a stay at home mom and a dad who wanted to take her running twice a day. Interestingly, I got a phone call from them about 2 weeks ago where they reported that she's doing fabulous. She still jumps the fence at her house and still has lots of energy, but she fits in perfect with their family and they are so happy to have her.

Well, we weren't lonely too long, because in February, Tayton joined our family. She is the most good natured little girl ever. Just so happy and easy going. Only fusses when she needs her diaper changed or when she is hungry or tired. Now at eight months old, she's nothing but smiles and happiness. She's so happy and giggly. We recently discovered that if you put her in her excersaucer in front of a Baby Einstein movie, she squeals at the top of her lungs and shivers she's so excited about it. Tayton has a full head of hair that has a little curl to it and everywhere we go, someone stops us to ohh and aww over her. Think she's too young for "Toddlers and Tiaras"? Just kidding. Tayton enjoys blowing raspberries all the time and sticking her tongue out. Not very lady like if you ask me, but I think she can get away with it for a few more months. Noah enjoys giving her kisses and blaming bad smells in the car on her.
A 2nd new edition joined our family on May 23rd this year. Sonny is a black miniature Schnauzer given to us by Jon's brother Mike and wife Sara. We didn't want another dog after Lola, but couldn't resist Sonny. He is calm. . . he wants to lay around all day right next to you with his head on his lap. He is quiet. . . he never barks, even when someone comes to the door. He puts up with Noah hugging on him, kissing him, mauling him and yelling, "Sonny Come!" so quickly and loudly that it sounds like "Sick'em!" He even let Noah bury him beneath mounds of toys. Couldn't have asked for a better dog and am so glad we chose to welcome him into our home.


No other additions to our family to report at this time. I keep telling Jon there is one more little soul out there to join our family, but I don't know how or when. Give us the strength to keep up with the two we have! We love each of them dearly!

Potty Training Challenges

Can't believe it's already been a year since we last posted to this Blog. Everyone's posting to Facebook and Twitter these days, but I want someplace to write more. This Blog was originally intended for prospective birth parents to be able to get to know us a little better in hopes that they'd select us. Now that the most amazing two children have joined our family, I'd like this Blog to be more of a "In the Life of the Crane's" blog.

My most recent challenge is potty training. Noah turned 3 in September and we're still working on perfecting the potty training. We started back when Noah was about 2 years old, but based on Noah's lack of communication, there was no way we would be able to master it. So we waited and started up again when he was about 2.5. We tried asking him, we tried forcing him, we tried M&M and Swedish Fish as potty treats. Treats were a hit for about 1 day, but then he'd just go into the bathroom and eat the treats without sitting on the potty. We tried putting him in underwear. The underwear turned out to be a big failure since Noah would just run around the house and suddenly stop. You could see that he was peeing and by the time I'd get to him, he'd say, "I peed!!!" All proud of himself and everything. We went through about 8 pairs of underwear and shorts each day for 2 days until I couldn't handle it anymore and we'd run out of underwear. We've now resorted to a sticker chart. Once the sticker chart is filled up, he gets to go to the store and pick out a treat (toy, candy, balloon, whatever he chooses). We are also still doing the potty treats. That seems to be working, but only when Noah wants to. He takes the treats and stickers if we happen to force him to the potty, but whenever we ask him if he needs to go potty throughout the day, he adamantly refuses. He's definitely a strong willed little one. Of course, when it's time to go to bed, Noah tells us he needs to pee 4 times and poop twice. We spend a lot of time on the toilet when it's bedtime. How is it I can be manipulated by a 3 year old? I don't dare not let him go to the bathroom though, because the few times I've called his bluff and refused to allow him to go, not more than 30 minutes after I shut his door for the final time, I'll hear him crying that he's peed and sure enough, he's gotten naked and peed on his floor or his bed and now wants me to clean it and him up.

Well, something has clicked in little Noah's head because we've come to discover that he's learned he doesn't like to have poop in his diaper. However, his way of handling it definitely not appropriate. About 2-3 times a week, I go outside to find Noah, naked from the waste down saying proud as punch, "I potty! I potty!" I ask him where and he goes to show me where he's taken off his pants and diaper and pooped in the yard. Oh My!!! What am I to do? We've told him time and time again that we poop in the toilet, but it doesn't seem to phase him. The best part is when the neighbors see Noah out there naked and us cleaning up poop in the yard. How embarrassing. Thank goodness they just shake their head and laugh. The other issue is when he does this at other people's homes. We were recently in Boise with my aunt when I temporarily lost track of Noah. Oh, but don't worry, my aunt quickly found him and my 2 year old niece in the yard where Noah was proud to report he had pooped in the garden. Grrrr! Can't we keep our little secrets safe at our house?