The Buddy Bond

When I was younger my parents bought a audio cassette tape that I used to listen to that reminds me of my life right now. It is called The Buddy Bond by Troy Dunn and I feel like I am in the middle of his talk. He tells about growing up with two brothers and how certain things become normal when you have boys in the family.

Take for instance the fighting. Many nights I go to bed with the sweet sounds of laughter bellowing out of the boys room as they sneak into one another bed and play until daddy gets home. Other nights, Like tonight, I listen to the sounds of crying, screaming and fighting. MD is positive that we need him to be Hyrums boss so I usually hear a high pitched scream saying something like this "Get Down Hywum!!!!! Get Down!" or "Mommy Hywum is out of bed!" or on one occasion "Mommy Hywums foot is touching me!!!!!"

Or the sound of crashing. In the tape he talks about his mother judging how bad something is by the amount of blood showing. That is sometimes how I feel. I know I am fighting a losing battle when it comes to keeping my furniture or even my boys completely undamaged. About every ten minutes I hear a band or a crash coming from whichever room the boys are in and I just close my eyes and wait to hear "THE scream" If it comes I know someone is really hurt-otherwise it is just a flesh wound :)
My belongings have become a casualty of parenthood. So far the casualty count goes as follows : Broken window blinds, broken glasses, broken projector, Dented wall, broken light covering, reprogrammed computer, broken VCR, broken TV, all their books ripped to shreds, two broken phones and a broken treadmill. All of these things happened in the year 2010. I think my children's mission is to make sure that the only things I ever get attached to will end up marrying some girls and moving far away from me :)

I have no dignity. I gave it all away the moment my boys learned to talk. So far I have been told that I shouldn't sing out loud, that my food looks like poop, and that I have bugs on my face (I have a mole of my chin and freckles) One Sunday We were visiting family when out of nowhere MD looks up at me and loudly asks me "Mommy you have a booger in your nose?" I start to cover my nose and try to quietly shush him, while trying to ask for a tissue when MD tells me again (In a louder voice) "Mommy you have a BOOGER in your nose!" Michael who is sitting on the other side of MD starts to laugh as MD climbs on my lap and tries to pull my hand away from my face "Mommy YOU HAVE A BOOGER IN YOUR NOSE!!" He then adds "I have boogers in my nose too" After that I just start to laugh, which then eggs him on to yell "MOMMY I LOOK AT YOU BOOGERS!!!!" Finally I am able to blow my nose but at this point I am laughing so hard that I am crying and Michael starts to tease me about my boogers too.

Sometimes I look at mothers who appear to have it all together and envy them- Then I realize I am doing the world a favor. If we weren't here who would provide everyone with plenty of entertainment?

How do I love you?

Let me count the ways

I love when you play so happily together and I come in and find you laughing hysterically at silly things.
I love the mornings when you climb into my bed and cuddle up close

I love watching you dance together


I love that you are my biggest fans

I love how you do everything together
I love your sweet voices saying "I love you too Mommy" When I say "Guess what?"

I love being a part of your sweet lives.

The Y

Another post I have been meaning to get up for awhile :) Since we moved here a year ago I have been asking Michael to hike the Y with me and after months of reminding him that he agreed to it we finally did :) I am not going to lie-Not an easy hike with two toddlers. MD after about 5 minutes into the hike asked to go home. Michael ended up carrying him most of the way, Hyrum however was AMAZING! This kid did practically the whole hike himself and then tried to run down the mountain on the way back. The kid was exhausted when we got home and took a 4 hour nap. I am glad we did it, and am glad we are done.

My friend from college is now in town and we have loved having her come over and hang out! She came on the hike with us, and was a big help with the boys.
Starting out-Such optimism :)
Half way through
At the top-Everyone has to take this picture :)
Yahoo All done! At least the uphill part is done :)

Mother and Sons date

Michael came home from school yesterday and told me that he needed the whole of Saturday to study for finals. I decided to take this opportunity to go on a much needed (for the boys) mother-son outing. At first we were going to go to the park and have a picnic, but it was overcast and windy and a little rainy, so I switched our plans to us going to the Mall, playing in the playhouse and having lunch there.
Starting out. At first the boys just ran around screaming
Then it evolved into playing on the slide
Then climbing all over the place
My little dare devil. He climbed over most of it until he realized he couldn't get down.
More running and screaming





And then time for Lunch. Nothing says Mommy date like some greasy pizza for the boys and subway for me
Say Snake! (thats what the guy taking the picture told us to say)
And every date should end in dessert.
I think I was the envy of every mom in there with two such handsome boys by my side :)

The Birthday!

Hyrum has been SOOOO excited for his own Birthday. After watching what went on with MD's last birthday, Hyrum was practically giddy when we told him he was going to have his own in a couple of months. Over the next two months Hyrum sang "happy Birthday" to himself over and over and let us know he wanted a Birthday cake (He switched between a Lightning McQueen cake and a Lion cake) and let us know he wanted a bike. Michael and I decided right before his birthday to get him a car instead of a bike, and it was the right choice- he was almost shaking when he realized it was his. The morning of his birthday I woke up to Michael coming into my room and informing me that Hyrum had found the gift we hid and wanted to know if it was ok if he played with it. It was fun to watch Hyrum actually "get" a birthday. He was also pretty excited when his guests showed up-His Mamma and Poopah Huish! he waited for them outside and refused to go inside until they showed up:) And as always he was constantly asking for his friend Ella who was able to come for a Bit. Thanks Brianna!

I love how excited Hyrum is- This was when we decided to go ahead and let him have it :)
Ready for some Cake!
We went with a lion :)
Hyrum hasn't gotten the blowing part down, but he sure tried hard!
Michael thought I looked funny

Hyrum at the end-He was SO tired but he had a blast :)
Happy birthday my big little man!

To my two year old

I have been meaning to have this post up for a few days, but considering all that has been going on I am lucky to get it up now :) Hyrum Johnny Huish is a special little boy who lights up a room the moment he enters is (And no I am not JUST talking about his red hair :)

I have realized I need to be better about recording the thoughts I have had especially during these young years. Life just keeps speeding up and my memory just keeps getting worse the longer I am a mother so I am afraid some of these precious moments will be forgotten before long.

I have heard over time some negative feedback about Michael and My decision to get pregnant with our second so soon after our first. I was a little surprised myself when Michael came home from church one Sunday when MD was around 3 months old and announced that he felt like we needed to start trying for our second. I was floored to be honest. Here we were with a brand new baby, I had no where near lost all of the pregnancy weight from MD and I remember thinking "Are you Kidding??? We have a baby!!!" I prayed and prayed and tried to wrap my mind around what my husband had announced and after a couple of days had the feeling that either I trust my husband and his prompting, or do it my own way and regret it. Michael never at any point pressured me, nor did he say that having another baby was priesthood council

Shortly thereafter I found out I was pregnant with baby # 2. As I sat staring at the positive pregnancy test I remember being completely overwhelmed with emotion. I felt the reassurance of the spirit that what we had done was right and I had the distinct impression that the Lord was grateful for my faith in him and his timing.

Michael had received his deployment orders by this point and so we were trying to get as much together as we could before he left for Afghanistan. The night before he left I received a blessing where in it I was told how grateful my child was to be coming to me, and was excited that I was going to be their mother. Michael told me afterwards that he was pretty sure we were going to have a boy.

Michael left and I got used to the life without Michael physically present. MD was a comfort and was more then enough to keep me busy. During this time MD became a close Friend who seemed in some ways to realize how much I needed him. He would come and lay down next to me and touch my face when I would get overwhelmed and would break down and I remember treasuring that time with my first born, I think like most mothers, as the time grew closer to have Hyrum the more I mourned for the lost one on one time I would stop having with MD, but I knew I was giving MD a better gift-A brother and a friend.

Michael was able to come home for the birth of Hyrum. We had a hard time naming MD but with Hyrum there were only ever two options. I never thought we were going to have a girl so we never even picked out a girls name. When Michael suggested Hyrum, it fit. I read in D&C a couple of days later and the passage 124:15 which reads, "..blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me.." and I felt like there was no better name for our sweet boy.

Michael left after 2 weeks and MD decided he wanted nothing to do with me since we had brought Hyrum home. I think in his mind he couldn't understand why I would find another kid to replace him. Because I had a c-section I wasn't allowed to pick up MD at all and so he turned to his grandmothers. It was really hard to watch MD pick another mother figure but during that time, and the months following Hyrum became my constant comfort. He was remarkable good. He never cried unless he was hungry or sick, smiled freely and let me hold him as much as I wanted.

Hyrum has continued to have a very laid back personality, but the older he gets the more Ross I see in him. He looks like one, but he also acts like a mixture of my brother Samuel who liked to keep things stirred up as a kid, and my dad with his big personality and friendship to everyone. I have realized over and over what a blessing this special boy is in our life and I would never decide to go back and do what we did differently. So happy birthday my Sweet, engaging, loud, happy, enthusiastic and crazy child of mine. We would not be complete without you.

Hyrum a newborn in the hospital weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 21 inches long!
Blessing picture
Blessing day

Learning to walk-he learned with a walking stick-no lie :)
1'st Birthday!



My little super hero
Morning of Second Birthday!