slip n slide

I never posted this, but a few weeks ago Sean got the boys a slip & slide. They had a good time- & by they, I mean Sean & Sam. Joe was pretty pathetic, crying in the little pool of water.


action shot
Sam's shorts got lower & lower until they came off.. & here is the progression of the diaper


as you can see in that last picture, childhood memories don't include how red your body got from running & sliding on the ground. It's a good thing :)

I wanted to post this little video of Joey taking a few steps. He has really changed this past week. When you ask him a question, he will actually shake his head no to you now. He is finally responding more to my- no, no , no!'s I know he & Sam are gonna have the time of their lives when we go camping next week!!!

Today

Aren't Sundays great?
Today was a good day. Sam slept alot last night.. pretty close to 12 hours, which is unusual for him. This kid can function on incredibly small amounts of sleep. So, when I got up to get ready for church (cause I'm always the first one up) this morning, I thought- no whining & crying today! Sam should be nice & rested. No go. What is it about Sunday early morning that makes everyone whine & cry? Its like we can't get to church without a theatrical production... & I have 2 boys for heavens sake!! Sam still freaked out when I woke him up. I try to make church sound exciting & remind him he will get to play with all the other kids at nursery. He just cries & freaks out that he has to wear socks & shoes. It's no secret that Sam desperately needs a hair cut. He had a bath right before bed last night & then fell asleep on wet hair, so you can imagine what Ralph the night- hair dresser did with Sam's lovely do. He looked insane & of course, threw the worlds largest fit about having his hair wet & combed back down. So we went to church- 15 minutes late- with a wild headed child. It was either that, or not go at all.
Church was good. Joe actually let me sit all the way through Relief Society today & then fell asleep during Sunday School, so I actually heard some lessons today & felt nice & spiritually fed when we got home.
After church we had pigs in a blanket, as made by Sean- & it was Sam's first time to have them. He thought they were pretty cool. Then all of us got naps- wonderful!!!
This afternoon Sam brought me the phone & asked if we could call someone. He requested grandma & grandpa, who happened to still be in church.. so no answer. So we called up Kelli. She talked to Sam for a few minutes & he kept telling her that she had a new baby & telling her his name was Brigham. Isn't he cute?
It seems that they are both doing well & I wish more than anything that we could be there in person right now :(
Tonight we hung out with my fam. The highlight was when Joe took a series of steps on his own from my sister to my brother in law while I was in the other room getting a diet coke. Seriously.
It's ok.. he did it again later :) He has been taking steps here & there, but tonight was the first time he really took more than 3 or 4 steps at the same time. Tomorrow he will be 11 months & I'm actually surprised it's taken him this long... not that I'm rushing things here! He can take all the time he wants!!!! I can't believe in one month my little baby will be 1 year old!!!!
Good day :)

Another Day

The past two days I have been cleaning & trying to get my house in some kind of order. This month it will be a year we have been in this house, & I feel like I'm just starting to organize everything. Something is wrong with this picture!!!! Oh well.. better late than never :) The boys pretty much chilled the past two days while Sean worked on getting the 5th wheel fixed up & I cleaned. I may have gone a little camera happy today.
I set up the tripod & played around with my camera while Joe worked on a strawberry. He is pretty much the cutest baby on this planet!!!!
He just learned how to make the fishy face the past couple of weeks & likes to do it often!


His poor out of control hair!! It looks like he has wings & is about to fly right out of his highchair!!!

Here is Sean with his latest project.. the "campert" as Sam likes to call it.

taking a small silly break...
I know what your thinking.. why is there a picture of a bookcase on here.. I will tell you!
I spent a few hours organizing this. Like I said, it's been a year, & we still have several boxes of books hanging out in our room. We keep saying.. we need to buy some bookcases!! &.. then we don't. So I cleaned of the existing- I bought this & carried it with me all through college- bookcase & reorganized it.. not an easy feat. There was soo many papers & random things hanging out. I feel accomplished now :) Now we just need to actually buy pretty matching bookcases so we have somewhere to put the rest of the books!!!

Sam is way into "just playin, Mom!"- right now. I caught him playing with his new star wars toy & a car. It was hilarious. He was saying something about a lion coming to get them & then the car was flying.. it was awesome. He is also really into narrating things & talking to himself. Have I ever mentioned how much I'm in love with my boys?
Lazy.. busy.. Saturday :)
... &!!!! we have a new nephew!! Kelli had her baby, Brigham Andrew last night :) He is beautiful!!!!! I told Kelli that together, we will have an army of prophets.. Adam, Samuel, Hyrum, Joseph, & Brigham :)

Oh Beautiful...

Our 4th of July was pretty great this year :)
We spent the morning running errands & then the afternoon & evening at my brother's house for a pool/bbq/4th of July fun party!
There was sooo much food!!! True Lindblom style partying :) Some nice food highlight: mini-star pies, of course the red white & blue confetti popcorn, & some awesome red white & blue chocolate & sprinkles dipped strawberries! Why didn't I take a picture of the awesome food?!

Sam LOVES to swim at uncle Phil's & aunt Melissa's house!!!! Joe dosn't mind it too much either!
Here is Joe downing some strawberries & watermelon.
Des & Garrison
those crazy Lindblom cousins!
Many people helped tote my children around the pool, which I am very grateful for! It's hard to keep an eye on 2 babies in a pool!!
Shooting some hoops was a favorite past time of the guys.. but grandma too :)
The fireworks at the church not far from us went off earlier than we had anticipated :( We were pretty bummed about that. It may have had something to do with the storm coming in!!
We, of course, couldn't let a 4th go by without some explosions :) Wendi, Grif & Grant came over & joined us in setting a few fountains & sparklers off!




Anything that made noise scared Joey to the point of many tears. He was pretty much clinging to my leg the whole time. That, & he was pretty tired. I love how insanely white my leg is compared to my little Indian boy :)

The best part of setting the fireworks off was the 3rd fountain. We all thought the first fountain was pretty good. The second was better.. the explosions were more fun. But the 3rd was a total dud!! It barely sputtered!! So we sat & boo-ed at the 3rd one & kept going on about how much it sucked & then after we had taunted it for awhile it burst back into these huge sparks & started going again, proving to be the best one. Me & Wendi laughed for a few minutes cause it was so funny. It was like the fountain was saying- I sucked? Oh yeah... I'll show you!!! Ah... good times :)

I wanted to include this video of Sam in the pool. He hasn't been the most eager about doing anything in the pool other than squirting people with the squirt guns, but aunt Wendi got him to do a little swimming & taught him to walk along the side of the pool. He even went under the water voluntarily!! It was a good day! I was so proud :) Thanx for working with Sam Wend!!!

Joe-sy

I wanted to make a little post about my Joey, or as Sean likes to call him- Joe-sy. He is 5 1/2 weeks away from his big numero uno bday!!!! I can hardly believe how fast this year has gone by!!!!
He is such a light in our lives & I had a few pictures of him that I couldn't resist sharing with everyone :)

Joe is one spoiled boy. He loves attention & to be surrounded by people. He is definitely not a loner. He loves to play with toys & can entertain himself with an empty water jug for a good 15 minutes. His fav though is pushing cars & trucks around as he crawls. I love it!! It just makes me laugh to see.
I know this boy needs a haircut, & his older brother & dad do too!! But something about those sweet little curls all over the back of his head makes me smile too :) They look a tad out of control in this next one though.




This week I went & bought Sam a new toothbrush, so I thought I'd get Joey one just like it & he LOVES to chew on that thing!! When you push in the bottom it lights up for a minute.


We also opened up our new slip & slide this week! Sam absolutely loved it.. Joe on the other hand, kinda just sat in the water & whimpered. He likes uncle Phil's pool quite a bit more. No fooling this little guy!


Some of Joey's favorite things to do right now are:
imitate his brother making high pitched noises- a pure joy!
stealing away & trying to play in the toilet- another joy for mommy!
pushing things around on the floor
& practicing walking. He loves to stand up & pretend like he is actually gonna do it, only to fall on the cushioned little bum of his & haul his booty by crawling.




Thankfully, God blessed me with one child who will nap. Joe LOVES his naps.. so don't mess with them!! He also has a habit of falling asleep in odd places. I turned around one second & found him like this.
And Joe's favorite thing of all to do.. stand at the door & longingly stare out. This boy was made for the outdoors (much like his older brother & daddy). Of course, with a billion degree weather, no one is making their way outdoors right now. But a boy can dream, right?


Another of Joe's favorites is to slap everything. Not necessarily hard, but he takes his little hand & hits, pretty much everything. Not the best when we are in the middle of a church meeting & he slaps his hands on the folding chairs & it resonates through the room.
He loves to eat cantelope, watermelon & strawberries right now. Maybe cause I do :)
I was holding my little Joey close to me the other night after he had fallen asleep & realized how quickly time passes & how much I need to record the little things these boys do that I love so much. Hopefully, I can do that, but my track record this year hasn't been the best.

This is a bit random, but my posts lately are!

boys!!

Every day brings new stuff with our boys!!
Joey is on the verge of taking some serious steps on his own. I included a video of him using a walking aid & really moving around. He took about 3 steps on Tuesday (the 21st) & when he stands up and walks along furniture you can see him really thinking about walking away, but he eventually ends up crawling cause he knows he can get around that way.
Sam says something new pretty much every day & always amazes me. Today he told me what all the shapes on a page full of shapes were, including an octagon & a rectangle. I was impressed!
Today we went swimming & had a little run in with a scorpion friend. Sam got stung, but the little guy must not have injected him, cause he ended up being ok. It freaked me out, just a tad, though! We called poison control & they gave us all the symptoms to look for if he were to have any kind of serious reaction, and he hasn't- thank goodness!!! just another day in the life of raising 2 crazy active boys!!!!
This year has definitely made me appreciate the time I spend with my boys. I've been working more now that Sean has been going to school full time & not able to work as much. It's made me be more patient and loving .. maybe its not such a bad thing after all!!! :)

To the men I've loved...

There is no other relationship quite like that which can and should exist between a boy and his dad. It can be one of the most nurturing, joyful relationships in life, one that can have a profound impact on who boys become and also on who dads become. ---M Russell Ballard


Man #1 aka. Papa.
Sam started calling my dad Papa without anyone telling him to. I like it though :)
Lots of love on this special day to the man who showed me all the qualities I should look for in a man & who shaped me into the woman I am today. I love watching him get down on the floor & play with my boys & I hope someday he will get to answer all their questions about life & pass on the wisdom he gave me. I love you dad!!!


man #2. aka. Daddy :)



lots of love to my husband and the father of my boys. I'm grateful that I married someone with a tender heart & a strong work ethic to help our boys be all that they can be. I most grateful for his testimony of the gospel & the desire to raise our children to have that same testimony. I can't imagine my life without you!



Fathers, you are the primary model of manhood for your sons. You are their most meaningful mentor, and believe it or not, you are their hero in countless ways. Your words and your example are a great influence on them.--- M Russell Ballard

Growing up

My little Joey is growing up!! He just turned 10 months old & is ready to be his own little guy now.

This first video is Joey clapping his hands. When he crawls towards the camera he looks so much like Sean as a baby!!!




I love this little video. It amazes me how boys are boys from the beginning. He is pushing his car along as he crawls with it. He is such a crack up.

Joe is standing up by himself, but hasn't taken any steps yet. I'm a fan of letting him wait a long long time til that happens!! Sam was already walking by this time!

Bday

Tonight we are going to celebrate my sisters birthday with her :) Sammie even drew her a card!

ok....

I have never been so far behind in my blogging life as I have these past few months. This post is ridiculously random!!!

These first few pictures were taken at the beginning of April. Sean hasn't let up on his smoking addiction.. meat of course. On Mothers Day this year he actually smoked a brisket for me & it was amazing!! This is a random pork shoulder...


I took this picture because it is exactly what Joe does almost every day. He is drawn to the outdoors more than Sam is, if that is possible. He LOVES being outside & he is often found standing at the back door staring outside, longing for that day that he can run around like Sammy.
This was also taken in April after Sammy went in the big potty. Sean wanted to really reward him.. unfortunatly, he is somewhat afraid of the toilet now. Any time I mention going on the potty he has a small panic attack. I think he will be closer to 3 years old before he is fully potty trained.. or even close at that matter.

Sean took several pictures when cooking one night. Here is a spread from his rub & sauce making.
and his famous smoked beans.. I hear they are good, so if you like beans you must try them! I, sadly enough, cannot make myself like beans no matter how hard I try, so I will take everyone else's word on this one.
At the beginning of April Sean's grandma Labor was here visiting, so I had to get a picture. Making 2 kids look at the camera at the same time is pretty much impossible!!
In mid- April, Sean & Sammy found a poor little bird by the house that had lost its way. Sean has such a tender spot for animals & is always trying to help out a lost animal.

So they made a little home in a box up in the tree so that no cats would eat our little friend. Sammy would ask to look up at him for days afterwards.
Speaking of new animals.. Roxy joined us around that time as well. She is one hyper puppy, & Sam is a pretty good match, cause he NEVER leaves the poor dog alone!!!!
This was taken Easter Sunday.. Sam LOVES to jump on the trampoline at the Dillards & asks quite frequently to "jumpy, please". I'm pretty sure that when he gets on there with the other kids, he just gets thrown around alot cause he is the smallest, but apparently that is tons of fun!
Also on Easter Sunday, dad showed off his best Mr. Fredrickson impression.. what do you think?
Joey is 9 months old now & into EVERYTHING!!! He wants to crawl, crawl, crawl, & he is one fast little guy!! He stand up on furniture & has even stood in the middle of the floor a few times. He is pretty happy most of the time, & sure LOVES to eat!! This kid wants to eat everything!Not that it shows, or anything :)

Yesterday we went on our first swim of the summer. We swam with a bunch of the fam at Phil & Melissa's pool (which is awesome! btw). I got mad at Sam for deciding he could jump on in any time he wants without an adult nearby. I told him very sternly that he would drown & then realized he probably didn't know what that was, so I told him he could die if he wasn't careful. Later on he was playing on the steps & stepped of & went under for a split second. When he came up he was a little frazzled, but pretty quickly began telling everyone he had died. He is still telling me that today. Here are the boys after our swim.
One other addition to our family... the fifth wheel. We sold ours last year & just hadn't replaced it. Sean's insane camping desires drove him to seek out a new one.. I guess I shouldn't really say new, cause it's a 90', but it is newer than our last. We love how open the layout inside is, but we do not love that the crazy lady that previously owned it decided to cover the walls in magazine clippings instead of the wallpaper that was there. We also are not too big of fans of the crazy orange she decided to cover the wood veneer with. We have most of the wallpaper off, but "after" pictures will come in the next few months!!!
Hectic is a nice word for what my life has been like this year. We also got a desk top instead of the laptop we had forever, so I don't get on the computer as much as I used to. I will try to be better about keeping up on here!!!