Granny's Surprise...

This is how we surprised Granny and Grandad.  It was pretty hilarious.  My phone died before I could get my dad's reaction.  They had no idea we were coming, and it turned out to be a great Christmas present for them.

Flight to Utah

 We needed to prep for the COLD so we bought hats...

Asa is a little monster so his hat was pretty appropriate!

Nash ended up getting a black hat with gloves that had skeleton hands.  He said they were SCARY!

We ended up being in the Columbia airport for a bit longer then expected.  The boys were so good.  I love this airport because of the rocking chairs and it isn't busy at all.

 The boys were so good on the first flight.  Then we got to Houston and they were pretty tired.  Asa screamed for 2 hours on the flight to SLC.  I was pretty stressed out that I started crying too.  The lady next to me was from England.  She was SUPER nice and rubbed my back and the ladies behind me kept saying..."You are handling this so well."  As I am bawling my eyes out.  Nash was mad because Asa was being so loud and the people in front of me were annoyed by the crying.  It was a LONG flight to say the least.

Kedrick and Koen were there to pick us up in SLC.  Nash was SUPER excited about being with Koen and in Utah.  Thank you Kedrick for picking us up.

Lights at the Zoo...

Darin was assigned the PICU for the month of December which meant we would NEVER see him and what fun is that to spend Christmas without daddy or family around.  So I decided in August that the kids and I were going to Utah to visit the family.  I wanted it to be a surprise so I only told my brothers so they could figure out to get us from the airport without my parents knowing.

We were flying out of Columbia so we decided to go the night before our flight to the Riverbanks zoo to see the Christmas lights.  Then Darin dropped us off at the hotel and we made our way to the airport from there.

The zoo was so fun.  Nash wasn't all that excited about the lights.  He wanted to see the animals.  However the fake snow was pretty awesome...

 Asa was just cold...

We even got to meet Santa.  Which I think was Nash's highlight of the night.  He was so focused on telling Santa that he wanted Power Rangers.  Asa smiled for the picture then he was done.  He wasn't a fan of Santa.

The Nasharoo...

I have to say Nash has become an incredible big brother.  He has taken to the role very well and deals with his crazy little brother very well.  

He loves doing activities with Asa where he gets to "teach" him how to do it.

 SCOUTS: Nash gets to attend 11 year old scouts with Darin each Wednesday night as a way to spend time together with Darin's busy schedule.  Nash really thinks he is a scout and part of the big boys.  He is constantly asking me if I wish I were a boy so I could be a scout or scout leader.  Darin informed him that there are girl scouts and that Grandma Willardson was a scout leader for many years.  Nash was very silent after that.  He now tells me that he and daddy are real scouts and can teach me anything I need to know to become one.  The other night at a scout activity I tried to hold Nash's hand as we were walking in and he told me that he was a scout so he couldn't hold my hand....broke my heart. :(

MUSIC: Nash LOVES music but it has to be "kid music" like Alvin and the Chipmunks, Kids Bop, or his favorite WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?  Darin put the Fox music video on the big screen and Nash went nuts!

He was so mad when I asked him to take a picture... 

 We have had our fair share of sickness this year.  Especially Nash.  I don't think he gets enough sleep.  We put him to bed at 7:30-8ish and he will wake up sometimes 2-3 times in the middle of the night.  Mostly he wants a dream but occasionally he has growing pains in his legs.  He wakes up most days anywhere from 5am - 7am.  He knows he can not leave his bed until 7am so that has helped out with grumpy mommy sickness!

 Nash has REALLY enjoyed his new preschool class.  I got to help with the Halloween party and have accompanied him on a few field trips.  He really loves his teachers and all the kids in his class...makes my heart swell to see him learning and so happy.

 Our neighborhood is the highlight of Nash's life.  He waits for his friends to get home from school and is so disappointed if he doesn't get to play.  Yesterday the kids were over here and were playing handheld devices.  I heard Nash say "can we play with toys please!"  Which surprised me since Nash LOVES to play electronics...yay for imagination play!

 BUGS: Nash really isn't a fan of bugs up close or crawling around his bathroom and will scream like a little girl and come running.  However when find fun bugs like a praying mantis he is all about them!

SPEECH: Nash is receiving speech at preschool and at the hospital.  He was recently tested by both and found to have the language skills equivalent to a 3 year old.  We have quite a bit of work ahead of us but he is doing so well and we are starting to understand about 90% of what he says.

This was Nash's school picture from his old school.  I am SO happy that they will be taking new school pictures this next week at his new school.

Nash is a sweet little boy and is really becoming independent.  Most of his friends are girls but he thinks they are gross.  I tell him that is great but he has to love me and his baby sister on the way.  He told me he would "think about it." When Nash is angry he has started slamming doors (sadly that trait comes from me.), stomping out of the room and saying "I don't want to be near you!" or "I am going to run away!"  He is pretty dramatic but all of this drama is usually gone and forgotten within 20 minutes of quiet alone time...thank goodness!

We do love our little dude and I hope he doesn't grow up too fast. :)

Tucker Dog

We have some good friends here Megan and Garrett Welch.  Megan has had to travel a lot lately and Garrett is in the Oral Surgery Program so we have had the fun opportunity of tending their dog Tucker. Nash is pretty timid about dogs so he wasn't so sure about Tucker but he is warming up to the dog since we have had him at our house a lot.

 I didn't know that Tucker wasn't allowed in their bedroom at all and I broke the rules and let him sleep on our bed with us.  How could you refuse such a sweet face!

 He spent a lot of time in their back yard and got super dirty!

I gave hime a bath.  It is so funny how big his nose is when his fur isn't so fluffy!

WE LOVE TUCKER!!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

He may look innocent but he is TROUBLE! Nash really did spoil us, because Asa is into EVERYTHING!  I have to be watching his every move or he will be drawing on walls, emptying trash cans, dumping buckets of toys....he is a TORNADO!

 He loves his daddy and wants nothing to do with me when Darin is around.  He often walks around the house screaming "DAAAAAA" and then some jibberish that sounds like "where are you?"

 Where's Waldo????

 Church is crazy.  We are so happy if we can make it through sacrament meeting with one or two REALLY LOUD SCREAMS!  I try to always sit in the very back, I find he is more manageable back there and we don't get as many looks for having such an irreverent child.  I am not even kidding when I say there was a family who moved away from us during the prayer...haha.  We spend a lot of time in the hall or primary room so we can actually here the talks.

Nursery has been an adjustment.  This ward does not allow the kids to come in and get acclimated before they turn 18 months.  Which was really frustrating.  I am the Primary councilor over the Nursery so I am slowly working on this because some kids need to have that adjustment period where mom and dad come in with them.  Asa so far is doing okay.  He is just not okay with closed doors, so when the door opens and closes a lot during nursery he is a wreck!  Grandpa Willardson says Asa has "an open door policy!"

 This is not an odd sight in our house.  Asa is always getting in these little predicaments.  And then screams like you did it to him.

 This next picture makes me laugh.  Nash is behind the door hiding from Asa.  The poor little minion had no clue where his brother was and was very upset about it! 

 Nash was very proud of himself. 

 Oh the drama that comes with Asa being sick....

 Asa is definitely our hat boy.  He loves to put on hats!  Luckily we can put a hat on him in the store and he doesn't think he has to buy it just quite yet.  We did have to buy the sword because he used his little chompers to take a bit out of it.

We sure do love this little ball of trouble!  He is Nash's little sidekick and is quite lost when Nash is at school.  Asa can out eat all of us and is great at jumping in at dinner and trying everything on his plate.  He is also VERY good at throwing.  He always has a ball in his hand.  You need to be on guard at all times because you never know what is going to come flying at your head. 

New Baby...

I don't think I have ever announced on this blog that we are expecting another baby!  It came as a bit of a shock to me as I had just finished nursing Asa and we were getting settled into our new home.  I felt a little sick and thought I had the flu, never did I think I was pregnant since I do not get morning sickness during my first trimester.  Well I took a test on a whim and when Darin got home that night I gave him this sign and told him to go put this on Asa's crib....

 The best part about it is he really started walking back to Asa's room while reading it.

I perk about Darin's fellowship is he is part of the ultrasound fellowship too so he is able to bring home one of the ultrasounds.  Asa wasn't very happy about another baby coming into the family at this point and Nash was flat out mad about the gender.

Because Darin is the one that got find out that we will be expecting a little GIRL.  What a scary thought.  I have had a hard adjustment to it as well.  Not that I don't want a girl.  I just fully expected another boy and was happy with that since we have everything for a boy and I know how to raise boys...some what.

There are all the same issues with this pregnancy as there were with Asa.  I have lupus and test positive for schogrens (sp) disease so the baby runs the risk of having congenital heart block.  So they have been tracking my kidneys and whatever else comes with a billion doctors appointments.  I am not a huge fan of the 24 hour urine sample... UGH!

The doctors appointments at GRU are awful one of my appointments took 5 hours.  I am not always able to get a babysitter so Asa has to come with me and I have Nash go to lunch bunch after preschool just in case I am not done in time to pick him up.  Life certainly does get more complicated with each child.  But when you have moments like these.... 

Makes me happy we have been blessed with these beautiful children in our home.

Backtrack to fall...

I have jumped ahead of myself...this is why I should not procrastinate blogging!  We waited patiently for autumn to hit South Carolina.  When it did the colors were pretty but were NOTHING compared to what we experienced in Pennsylvania.

I took the boys on a hike around an old plantation.  I guess a tornado came through a couple of years ago and destroyed a lot of the trees.  It was a great way to enjoy the fall colors.

I wish I had taken more pictures of this fun park.  You really can only play at it during the winter months because it is so hot.  Everything is made out of wood and tires.  My kids love it there.  To be honest it is the most dangerous park I have ever seen but we frequent it quite often, and I plan to take some spring pictures there. :)

It is ALWAYS a wonderful day at the park with Darin gets to join us!