Protecting Baby Brother...

Okay, so I know that I need to post our Christmas stuff on here, but I need to post this before I forget. I had a very frustrating day with Toben who was SO fussy. Toben started crying for what seems like the billionth time so I walked over and said, "Toben I am done with you...what do you want!" Chase looked at me and said, "Mom! You don't be mad to Toben!" "If you are mad to Toben then I will not let my friends come over anymore and I will give toys to Asher but not you and mom...that's the deal!" "That's just the deal." Well...what do you say to that!

Chase the singer

Chase sang this song for sacrament meeting all by himself. He did such a great job and didn't even get scared! Here he is singing it at our family Christmas party.

Toben J

Our sweet Toben is three and a half months old! Our good friends offered to take some pictures for us and as you can see they turned out just darling!(Of course I may be a little partial)

Polar Express 2008

We took the boys to the Polar Express. Let me say that it is fantastic for 5-year-olds, not so hot for 1-year-olds. The train ride is about 1 1/2 hours long. Asher was interested for about a quarter of that time. We did have a good time though as you can see.

The Messiah

In an effort to find something that makes me matter to the real world outside of my home, I am singing in The Messiah written by Handel. It is interesting to note that Handel wrote the entire piece symphony parts and all 4 vocal parts in just 24 days. The version that I have does not include the symphony score and it is 138 pages long. It is also even MORE amazing that it is polyphonic music which basically means that all the vocal parts are doing something different at all times-YIKES! It is nice to have something to challenge me and something that I enjoy. If you want to hear something crazy listen to "Worthy is the Lamb that was Slain" out of the Messiah and just listen to all the crazy parts doing all their crazy things...let me know what you think :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poWEneZoyyo
This is a link to that song that is almost descent. It gets pretty crazy around 2 min. and then again at the end...

I Got Tagged...

8 Shows I like to Watch...well, we don't have TV that's right, not one channel, but, when I'm somewhere else or on the internet I like:

1-The Office (watch EVERY episode online)
2-House
3-The Ellen Show
4-CSI
5-Lost (Ammon and I are only to season 3...I think)
6-30 Rock (Thank you netflix)
7-Scrubs
8-Supernanny

8 restaurants I like to eat at:

1-The Olive Garden
2-Famous Dave's BBQ
3-Cafe Rio
4-In-N-Out
5-Port o Subs
6-Chilis
7-Gandolfo's
8-Pizza factory

8 things I did today...

1-Mopped with pine sol (smells so good)
2-Ate a spoonful of peanut butter with chocolate chips on top :)
3-Screamed when Asher pulled my hair and then laughed hysterically because he thought it was so funny.
4-Got puked on (Thank you Toben)
5-Ate lunch with my in-laws
6-Sent Ammon on the road AGAIN :(
7-Packed to go to Mesquite (Yeah!)
8-Fought with my insurance company

8 things I am looking forward to:

1-Going to Mesquite and warm weather
2-Ammon's travel season to be over
3-Toben sleeping through the night (please say it will happen soon)
4-Asher learning to tell me what the heck is wrong...
5-Being able to leave all 3 kids for more than two and a half hours (Toben refuses the bottle)
6-Going on a date with my Hubby on Thursday
7-Our new house being DONE
8-The Polar Express in Heber

8 things on my wish list

1- A place to go in Ephraim when it's freezing
2- Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
3- A Diet Pepsi (To go with #2)
4- A Full Night's Sleep
5- A cell phone that works all the time in Ephraim
6- Some sort of accessory that Asher won't break (goodbye necklace #4)
7- A backyard
8-Clothes that actually fit (or how about a body that will fit into my old clothes?)

8 people I'm tagging

1-Heidi
2-Tahina
3-Melissa
4-Emily
5-Roz
6-Jilene (if you find some time away from babies)
7-Dawn
8-Meghan

Halloween 2008

Here are the Arave boys on Halloween. Chase is Mario, Asher is a moustacheless Luigi and Toben is a dragon (Bowser) all off of super mario brothers. Asher hated his moustache and so I waited until right before the picture to paint it on...then, he sneezed-oh well, he still looks cute! My favorite Halloween moment was when we were a few houses down and there was a little dog inside barking. Chase took one step inside the house and looked at the dog. He immediately told the owner "You have a really ugly dog!" Oops.

Can I Go To Bed?

Is it normal that I hear this question from my child? Chase has always been such a funny kid about going to bed. When he's ready, he simply asks or just goes all by himself. When he was really little he would go find his binky and climb into bed. I'd go looking for him and he'd be fast asleep for his nap. He asked me tonight, "Can I go to bed right now please?" "Yes, of course you can." "Oh, thank you mom." Counting my blessings...

She's Gonna Blow!

I was looking on Amazon.com today for some Chrismtas gifts. I ended up looking at motherhood books and some of the titles are as follows:

She's Gonna Blow! Real Help For Moms Dealing With Anger

Motherhood: The Gift (then crossed out) GUILT That Keeps on Giving

Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons

The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies For Hiding Healthy Food in Your Children's Favorite Meals

Families Are Forever If I Can Just Get Through Today

I Didn't Plan To Be A Witch and Other Joyful Surprises of a Joyful Mother

PET: Parent Effectiveness Training

What do these titles tell you about the plight of being a Mother? I think the one I most related to today is She's Gonna Blow! But seriously 100 easy lessons? Does that sound easy to anybody here? The Sneaky Chef...and code name PET I feel like I should have had CIA training for my current position. The Guilt does keep on giving! Last night I told Ammon what a good husband he is and what good care he takes of all of us he said, " Yeah, I couldn't do it without you-You do all the dirty work!" What an awesome hubby. He is so good to notice and realize how hard my new full-time job really is.

Our Rock-Climbing Adventure!

We went rock-climbing yesterday as a family. Who does that with 3 kids? We do. It was fun. Ammon, Chase and I all climbed to the top (about 60 feet.)Who knew I was that brave? Here are some pictures. As you'll see Asher let us know when it was time to go home.

Toben's Baby Blessing

Halloween Family Home Evening

We saw these cute shirts in Family Fun Magazine. So, we had a Halloween FHE. We made our cute Halloween shirts and watched "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." while we ate popcorn and hot chocolate. Does it get any better than that?

It's Snowing!?

We are from Mesquite, NV where it is warm...It's WARM!Now we live in Ephraim where is snows in October! Last Saturday we decided to go to the football game. It was very cold. Since we have two babies we left at halftime- on our way home it started to snow! I think Toben's face says it all.

Get him off this thing!

For those of you who don't know, Toben has been on a heart monitor. Right after he was born, the Dr. thought he heard something wrong with his heart, so we have to haul this lovely thing around for 2 months. We only have about 2 weeks left, and everyone is confident that he is just fine...so I'm ready to be unplugged. Anywhere I go I haul a 5-year-old, 2 babies, a diaper bag, and this monitor (Ugh) The other thing is that when he wiggles out of his little electrodes, the monitor goes off. It sounds very similar to a smoke alarm-that's fun in the middle of the night. We are very grateful that that is the only reason it's gone off. We have a healthy baby and are ready to be done with the heart monitor.

Toben's Look-Alike?

Okay, so maybe not. Ammon and I swear he looks like Ben off of Lost. I think it's the eyes...what do you think?

Butterfly House

Grandma Wursten got Chase a Butterfly House. We raised the butterflies from little caterpillers. We enjoyed learning about butterflies and as you can see, they really took a liking to Chase.

Proud Mommy

Look at all the new things my boys are doing!



Chase is making us proud on the soccer field. As you can see, no matter how crazy things get, he always makes time for high fives!



Although it may be hard for you to tell, this is Asher shaking his head no. He is mastering this new skill and we love that we're "communicating" with him. It's hard to tell because he tilts his head, but look closely and it is a definitely a no.



Asher is a dancing machine!

New Baby at the Arave Home!

Toben J Arave was born Friday August 22nd at 3:35 am. He was only 5 lbs 8 oz 19 inches long. A few hours into labor we realized baby wasn't turned the wrong way so he was born c-section. We're both recovering nicely so far, but we have a long way to go. Chase is LOVING the big brother thing again, and Asher shows some interest, but is too busy learning to walk. We are all busy adjusting, that's for sure. What a special time for our family!

Our CRAZY Summer!

First I would just like to say that I am happy to be online again. We moved at the end of June and got the internet this week. We are doing well here and Ammon LOVES his job! The boys are finally adjusting which is good because baby is due in 3 weeks! Baby boy Arave (no name yet) is being a little monster even in the womb- he is transverse and he has already rotated correctly and is now transverse again. We have an appointment to get him flipped (hopefully) next week. Wish me luck on that. We are renting a home until we decide where we want to be exactly. I am staying at home with the 2 (soon 3) boys and am adjusting to life as a stay at home mom. It's exhausting to say the least, but we are all getting used to our new life here. I am excited to hear from all of you again, that is, if anyone still checks my blog :)

Pictures of summer 2008

Joy School Graduation

Here is Chase and his Joy School friends singing the theme song. Chase is the one on the far left that won't leave his hat alone.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Asher's First Haircut

AFTER

BEFORE

Funny Eater

We enjoyed watching Asher eat Pork 'N Beans the other night. We hope you will too. When he gets excited, he clenches his little fist and leans to one side-isn't it funny?

Chases Jam

Chase loved the M&M Factory in Las Vegas. Here he his doing a dance while we wait for the 3-D movie. My favorite part was when I asked him where he was (wanting "the M&M factory") and he says..."Right Here!"

What did we do in March?

We had a pretty busy month as you can see. Some of the highlights (in some cases lowlights) included:
-Asher with pneumonia,RSV, and an ear infection
-Camping at Whitney Pockets
-Trip to Las Vegas (M&M Factory, Coke Factory, and Doctor for mom and baby)
-Asher with the Chicken Pox (Poor baby, I think they were almost worse than RSV)
-Easter Morning and rolling easter eggs!
-

Who is helping who?

While we were rolling Easter eggs, Chase slid down the hill. Aunt Krystal decided to try to go down and help him up...maybe not the best idea!

Check out my Slide Show!

Adoption Finalized!

Last Monday, we went to Las Vegas to have Asher's adoption finalized! We are excited to finally have that behind us and are looking forward to taking him to the temple in a couple of weeks. The judge commented that Asher slept through the whole thing-a very important day of his life and reminded us that we can't give him back when he's 16 (ha ha)We are so excited that he is officially ours!

Happy New Year

We didn't do too much for the new year. We just hung around at home and then played games at Grandma and Grandpa's. Here are some pics of the boys hangin' around at home.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas in our new home. We were all really spoiled. Chase didn't get his Blue Motorcycle, but he did get a power wheels 4-wheeler. He rides it everywhere! He likes to ride it outside on the hills just like the big kids do-Yikes!