I'm in love...

I'm so in love with these little boys.




This is how I found my sweet boys sleeping the other night - they had fallen asleep holding hands. Their little fingers were even interlaced. How precious are they?!

I love Matthew and Jordan with all my heart. I'm so proud of the big boys that they're becoming, and I feel so blessed and honored that Heavenly Father sent two of his choicest little spirits to me.

And now a word to my little men...


Dear Matthew and Jordan,

Before the doctor even told me that I was carrying you both, I knew in my heart that I would be bringing home two little bundles in a few months' time. The ultrasound confirmed my feelings when we saw two tiny little beans there on the screen. I was pretty sure your daddy was going to pass out. I wasn't surprised at all though - I had already felt your strong little spirits.

Not very many people get to come to Earth with their best friend, you know. Whenever anyone asks you who your best friend is, your reply is always the same - "Matt-matt" or "Jordan". You boys are so blessed to have each other and I hope you never forget that. Lately your days are filled with constant imaginative play. Hardly a moment goes by that you're not pretending to be a superhero rescuing a puppy or a princess in distress, racing your "super fast" race cars around Lightning McQueen's race track, or flying high on a fire-breathing dragon destroying every monkey-in-a-barrel that crosses your path. You're certainly constant entertainment.

Matthew, you are a giver and freely give of yourself when you see that someone else is lacking. You are the biggest sweetheart, and you are in love with your mommy. You tell me at least five times a day that you love me. The other night, Daddy and I came home from a date. I went into your room to kiss you goodnight but you were still awake (waiting for me, I guess). When I walked into your room, you gasped and said, "Oh Mommy, you look beautiful!" Then you sat up and gave me a big wet kiss on the lips. Haha...like I said - you're such a little sweetheart. At the same time, you are fiercely independent (although some would call you stubborn). You're an obedient little boy, but you sure won't let anyone tell you what to do, say or think. You act like you're invincible, but at the same time, you think carefully through everything. You have such an inquisitive, analytical little mind. I love that about you. That, paired with your desire to be the class clown, turns into a lot of crazy antics and really makes for some good laughs. You constantly keep us rolling, Matthew.

Jordan, you are my little ball of sunshine. You get excited about everything. I guess you get that from your mother. :) It doesn't matter what it is - every prize and present you ever receive is "all that you always wanted", and you never forget to express immense gratitude to the giver. You are silly, energetic, creative and everything that is "fun" in the world. You still talk incessantly. Jordi, you're also a pleaser. It doesn't take much to make you cry because you hate getting in trouble or hurting someone else's feelings. Quite often you ask Mathew how much he loves you ("Matt-matt, do you love me just a little bit, or do you love me lots and lots?"), because it's ever so important to you that you know your brother adores you. You are very much in tune to the feelings of others and you're quick to lend a helping hand. Oh, and one more thing... although you have great balance on your bike and roller skates, you're also incredibly clumsy. I guess you get that from your mother too. ;)

Boys, it amazes me, the things you say and do every day. I'm so proud of the big boys you're becoming and I thank Heavenly Father every day that He chose me to be your mommy. You're growing up too quickly though, and you're always sure to remind me of that if I forget. People always told me that you would grow up fast, but I'm not sure that I believed them. Well...it's true. But, you'll always be my babies. I love you, my little sweeties.

Love,
Mommy

Oh the things they say...

These are old quotes and I actually can't remember if I've posted them before or not. I just found them written on a post-it note while clearing off my desk. Anyway, hopefully I'm not repeating myself...

The boys were playing with a set of my animal stamps. Matthew was stamping alligators and penguins while telling the story:
"The alligators are eating the penguins! But wait, then the princess saved the penguins....And then the princess got married to the prophet!"

Ha, lucky princess!

************************************************
The boys were studying the letter "M". Melissa took them to the Mall and they watched all of the Mommies.
Melissa asked the boys: "What do mommies do?"
Jordan's response, "They use knives and scissors."
Melissa (chuckling): "Oh, and what else do they do?"
Jordan: "They can watch big movies with bad guys in them"

Haha, this made me laugh so hard. I just know he was trying to think of the things that I recently had told him he couldn't do until he was grown up a little more - like use knives and watch Iron Man. :-)

A Splash-tastic 4th Birthday

Heehee, sorry, I know the title is a little cheesy. :) We had SO much fun at Great Wolf Lodge for the boys' 4th birthday! As mentioned in a previous post, Matthew and especially Jordan were insanely proud to be 4 years old. It's been a month since their birthday and still, if you talk with Jordan, the fact that he is 4 will somehow be worked into the conversation. They're so funny.

Anyway, we packed up after church on Sunday and headed down to The Great Wolf Lodge in Mason. There was a crazy snow storm on the way down there and it was the coldest two December days I can remember since I lived in Rexburg, ID. It was kind of strange to put my body in a swim suit when it was 10 degrees outside. :) We checked into our hotel and the boys were ecstatic to see this in our room:


They got their own little wolf den with a bunk bed and their own T.V.

Monday was their birthday. We went to see "Rapunzel" (LOVE that movie!!), ate lunch, went back to the hotel to swim at the waterpark and then we did the cake and presents thing.

Their favorite presents were an aircraft carrier they got from Mom and Dad, Viking helmets/axes/shields (which are "totally the real thing") from Grandma and Grandpa, and Mr. & Mrs. Potato head from Uncle Luke & Aunt Sissy.


Mommy made her boys a Lightning McQueen birthday cake. It was a labor of love, but it turned out awesome. I was so proud of myself! By the way, on the way to the hotel, the cake fell from the seat of my car to the floor. :( I'm such a dork. McQueen's face got pretty banged up, but the cake survived OK. I was just happy that I got a picture of it pre-accident!

Jordan forgot to blow out the candles (like mother, like son) so we had to do it over again. :)

As messy as he was on his 1st birthday. What is he going to do in kindergarten when I'm not there to clean off his face?? He STILL wears all is food.

Daddy and his little men

Total cuteness.

Later I'll post some pics of our fun at the waterpark...

Catching Up

So I can finally get caught up, I'm just going to do a super quick update on November and beginning of December.

Our 8th Anniversary

Sad that this crazy picture is the only one I got! Oh well. The week before our anniversary I had to go on a business trip to Seattle. I took it as the perfect opportunity to surprise Jeremy. I left on Sunday and he thought I was coming home the following weekend. I was doing just that, but what he didn't know was that I bought him a plane ticket to come out and spend the weekend with me! :) I'm a terrible secret keeper (not on purpose - I just always accidentally spoil the surprise), so I was so proud of myself for holding this secret in. He was totally surprised! He flew out on Friday morning. We hung out with our good buddies (Clint and Kacey), took in dinner and a movie, did a little shopping and drove around to some of our favorite parts of the city. It was a perfectly relaxing weekend with my sweetie-pea. Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!

Thanksgiving

Usually we have almost the entire crouch clan over for Thanksgiving, but this year only 2 of Jeremy's brothers and their families could make it. We still had a blast with all 5 grandkids (ages 6 and under) together - my boys, Lucas (2), Rachel (6) and Spencer (4). Fun times!

A visit with Rosanne and Hannah

I was so excited to have one of my best friends, Rosanne, and her little girl, Hannah, here to visit. As mentioned in previous posts, Hannah is the boys' little girlfriend. Well, during this visit Hannah and Jordan were inseparable. Hannah would get pretty annoyed that Matthew wouldn't obey her little commands, but Jordan bowed to her every whim. At one point I was in the kitchen and I heard Hannah say, "Oh priiiiiiince!", and then around the corner ran little Jordan - hot on her heels. I was a little worried that Jordan had stolen Matt-matt's girlfriend, but when Jeremy asked Matthew the following Sunday if the little girl sitting in the pew in front of us at church was his girlfriend, Matthew replied, "No, I just love my shy little girlfriend, Hannah." So sweet. :)
Anyway, we had tons of fun playing with our friends. I felt like it was the old days again before they deserted us to Utah. ;)

The Circus

The four of us went to the circus with my parents and Lindsey & Luke. Jordan's favorite part was the elephants. Matthew was pretty certain that the tigers were going to eat him. They also loved playing with the clown noses.

Simplification

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
- Leonardo da Vinici

I love the holidays. Thanksgiving through New Years should be the most joyous time of the year, but unfortunately for me (and likely for most us), it's usually the most stressful time of year. At the end of each holiday season, I look back and find it such a shame that I had rushed, rushed, rushed to "get things done" and I had filled my schedule to the point that I couldn't even remember why those seemingly critical things had been so vital. In the end I always come away with some really happy memories, but they are sprinkled with the regret that I didn't slow down just a bit in order to relish the elements of the season that are truly meaningful.

So this year I decided to simplify. Some might call it lazy-ify, but I call it prioritization. :-) I decided that some things needed to be postponed, some simply had to be taken down a notch, and others had to go (like an outrageous birthday party for my boys which, let's face it, was more for me than it was for them). I decided that my Christmas present to me was that I was going to allow myself to be stress-free.

And. It. Was. Amazing.

I didn't go overboard with Thanksgiving. I didn't make my usual hand-made menus and table place cards, and my decorations weren't quite as snazzy. It was still a perfectly lovely dinner with family members that we love.

I didn't throw the boys a huge birthday bash. Instead, Jeremy and I took a day off work, we stayed an extra night at Great Wolf Lodge and we spent some real quality time together as a family - time that we wouldn't have had together otherwise. And (you guessed it) the boys didn't even realize that they had missed out on a party. ;)

I decided not to have any Christmas parties this year, but we carried on our usual Christmas traditions. My Christmas treats didn't get delivered until the day after Christmas and my homemade Christmas cards weren't mailed out until 12/29; but it didn't matter. What mattered in the end was that we spent almost every December evening together - decorating gingerbread men, playing games, watching Christmas movies, serving others, and talking about Christ (and, I'm sure, dreaming about Santa).

What did I come away with? A handful of treasures that will never be forgotten or taken away from me - a truer understanding of myself, increased gratitude for my multitude of blessings, an even closer relationship with Jeremy and my boys, a stronger desire to serve others, and a deeper testimony of Jesus Christ (the true reason for the season).

This was the best holiday season ever.