Easter

We were pretty excited to have Easter in our new house! Although sadly it was raining so we couldn't do the Easter egg hunt outside like I was hoping. Oh well.

Can't a guy get some sleep around here?! I laugh at this picture because it reminds me so much of a picture from when I was little where my dad is trying to sleep and all 3 of us kids (Mal wasn't born yet) were all over him haha.

The boys loved opening their baskets! They each got a Transformer, an umbrella, and some other goodies. They also got some play scarves and a Darth Vader night light to share.

I guess I don't have any pictures of the egg hunt in the basement, but they loved it! Nolan was rushing every which way to try to get more eggs than Branson 😐 

Breakfast and dyeing some Easter Eggs 

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I don't have any pictures of it, but we tried to work on teaching the boys the real meaning of Easter this year. We had 12 numbered eggs, each with a scripture and an item pertaining to that scripture. They each opened 1 each night for a week leading up to Easter. I hope they learned a bit from the activity and they looked forward to it every night! In fact, once we were done they wanted to start over!

Things I Don't Want to Forget

• We've been watching Transformers Prime and B is super into it. While driving in the car he was quizzing us..."Guess who rides in Bulkhead?" Who? "Miko." "Guess who rides in bumboobee?" who? "Raf."
• Both of the boys love listening to songs in the car. We even made them their own bad guy song playlist. It's cute, but sometimes frustrating because they want to dictate which songs to listen to and will argue/whine about which song was chosen or that theirs wasn't picked first. If you don't pick the one Nolan wanted, even if it's one he loves, he'll tell us he will NOT sing it (like it's a punishment for us haha). B's favorite is the Imperial March and will clench his fist and pump it in the air during the song. 
• It about melted my heart when I asked B, "Branson, who is your best friend?" And he responded, "My brudder is my best friend." 💗
• Several nights we'll hear them on the monitor doing Transformer battles when they should be sleeping
• We have been talking about David and Goliath and they both love that story. When Branson does something brave he'll say, "I'm brave like David!"
• If you throw a ball at B instead of catching it he'll let it hit him so he can do a dramatic fall. sometimes stepping backwards into a wall before falling dramatically to his pretend death 😆
• Branson likes to jump from the window seat, almost land on something, and say, "Phew, that was close!"
• Sometimes Branson will pull up a chair next to you and say something like, "So, how was your day swimming?" or "So, how was your sleep mommy?" or "How was your day at work daddy?" Such an adorable conversation starter. 
• Branson weasels his way into many a heart with how he grabs your hand and leads you somewhere. So adorable.
• Read 2 Dragon Masters books by himself, is very motivated by Transformer toys, won't read to Branson though
• Nolan can be such a sweet, sweet boy one minute, and a total pill the next (and that's a euphemism). 
• B sometimes puts his hands on either side of my face and says, "You're the best mommy in the whole wide world." 💗
• B will yell, "I LOVE you guys!!" about the silliest things. Like, if we tell him we're doing pancakes for breakfast or we're watching a movie, or going to play in the loft. Cute boy.
• GG called him 'Darling' and he said, I'm not Darling, I'm Branson Michael Bailey!

We bought a house!

Well it's been a long time coming, but we finally moved into our new house!!

I first moved into 4839 Memory Lane #6 with Brittany Gilson back in 2009. She was the best roommate ever and we really got a long so well. Then she bought a house and I started dating Justin. Once Justin and I got married in 2013 we moved into #5 across the hall and we've been there ever since.

I have so many good memories there from when I was single and even better ones from more recent years. Justin and I shared our first kiss on the stair landing outside the doors, and we brought our 2 beautiful boys home to that apartment. It's been the only home they've ever known and really it was a great place. The rent was cheap ($850 for a 1200 sq ft, 2 bedroom, 1 bath), especially for the nice area, and we LOVED the Holladay 14th ward so we weren't really in a hurry to leave. But we just started outgrowing it and were definitely feeling a little sheepish living in an old apartment with 2 kids when we were old enough and established enough that we could afford a home :D.

It was a long search because there were things that we really wanted in a home and neighborhood (Justin was even more picky than I was though haha). We looked for probably 8 months and then our ward friend Melanie Campbell told us about a home in the Sandy area that the owners were waiting to sell until their new home was built. She got us their number and we arranged to go look at it. The rest is history. I really really liked the house the first time I walked into it. We first looked at it in July 2018 and finally went under contract in October. However because they were still building we couldn't close until February 2019 and couldn't move in until March. Oey, it was a rough wait, but now that we're here it feels like it wasn't so bad. Funny how that works. I still look around and can't believe this is really our home!!

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They boys are absolutely loving the new house. When we first talked about moving Nolan was a little nervous that he would have to leave his stuff. And a few days before we moved we went for a walk in the Holladay Cemetery (where we've gone so many times) and I noted that this might be the last time we go walking there Nolan got really sad and said he didn't want to move and can we come walking here again?! It was pretty sweet. But once they came to the new house and most of their stuff got moved in and (most importantly) we turned on the projector in the basement, they didn't look back. They LOVE our new house!

In fact, Branson doesn't want to go to our old apartment. We're still taking them to Jeanni's and when I picked them up Branson got sad and said, "I don't want to go to our old house, I want to go to our new house." When I said, "ok! Let's go to our new house!" He got a big smile on his face and said happily, "ok!"

Our new ward is much smaller than the 14th ward. Nolan was very nervous to go to Primary the first week, but went with no problem the next week. He even snuggled right up to his new teacher during singing time which was cute.

Branson was just the opposite. The first week we took him to nursery and he went in without looking back. They brought out some blocks and he sat down and said bye mommy and daddy! The next few weeks he seemed fine and excited to go to nursery, but as soon as the door opened to nursery he cried and clinged to us.

We've already met some of our neighbors and they're all so nice. We are just so excited to be here. We still have so much to do (and so much to buy, yikes!), but it's fun.

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Boxes everywhere in the apartment. We were really feeling cramped at the end there because there was just nowhere to store boxes while we packed them up!

We had so many amazing friends help us though - Brad and Myranda Nielson watched the boys for a few hours while we packed one night,  Charlotte Baker had the boys over for over 4 hours one Saturday, and Shannon had them over too. We have the best friends!

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The day we got the keys to our new home!

The previous owners were so sweet and left the boys their haul of blasters. Needless to say they were in heaven with their new toys! These pictures don't really show it, they left probably 15-20 blasters and a bunch of ammo!

We've Joined the Minivan Gang!

Well, I finally said goodbye to my beloved Honda Accord. I remember when I bought it. My parents were in town so I took the opportunity to have my dad come shopping with me. He and Granky were with me when I bought the car. It was nice to have them there (not to mention having a co-signer 😊).

We put the car seats in Justin's car since we weren't driving mine much (it had some serious issues at the end with overheating and things). It was weird driving back from the auto repair place without my boys in the back seat. But luckily I caught a glimpse of them on the road!

Behold our new amazing van! Yes, I'm that excited about it. A lot of people try to avoid a minivan, but not this girl. I'm ecstatic about all the features and ROOM!

The boys are SO excited! We've had it for about 2 months and Branson still always asks if we're "riding in our new van?" And Nolan loves telling people about all the cool things it can do. Their favorite features are definitely the ability to make phone calls (and everyone in the car can hear), the automatic doors, being able to get in and walk standing up to the other side, and the ability to play their favorite music from mom's phone.

My favorite features are pretty much the same (except I would also add how easy it is to listen to books and podcasts, not just music!). Yay!

Things I don't want to forget...

BRANSON

• He thinks burping is just about the funniest thing ever. Anytime he burps he looks to see if anyone noticed, then says, "I burped!" and laughs hysterically with is adorable squishy face.
• He pronounces Starscream from Transformers, "Carcream," and I'm not correcting him.
• "Don't be mad Megatwon, be happy!"
• "I want my bwuhder" (when he's sad and wants Nolan).
• We are constantly admiring his playing skills. You wouldn't think this is an art, but it really is! He is so independent, creative, and just overall fun to watch play.
• One of my favorite things he does right now is he'll grab your hand and say, "come here." Then lead you somewhere, hand you a toy, and say, "you be him." Then he'll usually just have you hold the toy while he 'defeats' it by banging it with another toy until it falls. 
• He has at least 5 or 6 Star Wars guys in his hands at all times.
• His favorite toys at the moment are the two little lightsabers that came with the Star Wars Mr. Potato Heads. He carries them EVERYWHERE, and even takes them to bed.
• He was an absolute monster at bedtime for a few weeks, crying/screaming when we put him to bed, but he's much better now. Still doesn't like going to bed, but doesn't put up too big of a fight.
• Whenever I change him into his pajamas I'll get his pants on, then take his shirt off, and just as I'm about to try to get his shirt on he'll yell "wrestle!" and wrestle me to the ground. Crazy kid!
• He loves to jump. It's crazy how high he can jump and still land on his feet!
• He loves to lift up his shirt and say, "Look at my tummy!" (and sometimes makes you show him your belly too haha).
• Whenever we take his socks off he'll smile, stick his feet up, wiggle his toes, and say "smell my feet!" or "stinky feet!" until you sniff them and say, "ohh, yucky! stinky!"
• He does a pretty impressive dramatic death scene. If you get him with a lightsaber or 'shoot him with a blaster' he'll do a dramatic, "uh..." then fall to his knees, then crumple to the floor. Sometimes he'll even run into a wall or something else first haha. It's hilarious!
• He likes to put his hand behind his back and say to one of us, "guess what I fooouuund?" with an I-know-something-you-don't-know look, then excitedly reveal a long lost toy (or sometimes one we haven't seen in 5 minutes 😜) like, "ducky PEZ!", "Poe!" etc. 

NOLAN

• He is a master at bedtime stalling. Most nights I try practice piano right after they go to bed and I'll often hear rustling and sneaky footsteps behind me (so frustrating!). I tell him to come out and he proceeds to give me the silliest reasons he needs me. "My blankets are messed up" "Will you pack three oreos in my lunch tomorrow?" "I think I need to check that the DVD got taken out of the player." "I don't go to sleep until Branson does." etc etc. 😆
• He takes an ETERNITY in the bathroom. Seriously what is taking him so long?! He just plays around I think haha. Mostly he takes forever washing his hands. Oh and flips out (upset and crying) when we ask him to hurry up! Although recently he has just told me, "I can take as long as I want!" haha.
• He is an absolutely incredible reader for his age and even does well at comprehension. He can also do simple addition and subtraction.
• He loves board games! His current favorites are the ones we got recently Race to the Treasure, Cauldron Quest, and Dragonwood (and he likes to throw in Candyland here and there). Grandma also bought some good ones - Dinosaur Escape and Hoot Owl Hoot.
• On the way home from church one day he asked why mom and dad go everywhere he goes or something like that. So we explained that he goes to Jeanni's house without us, and at church he goes to class without us, and someday he'll go to school and mom and dad won't be there, just his teachers and friends. Then he started talking about, "well, what if kids are mean?" and "what if they're bigger than me?" etc. It broke my mama heart to hear him thinking about those kinds of things. I pray every day that he won't have to deal with mean kids and that he can find even just one good friend. But even if he does have to face jerk kids, I know he'll be strong, and I hope he always knows how much his family loves him!!!
• He refuses to laugh at Bransons attempts at jokes because he says they're "not funny" which we laugh at because Nolan still isn't quite sure how to come up with a good punchline haha.
• He is a walking IMDB. He knows who plays who in his favorite Disney movies and even knows what other characters the same person plays. For instance, he knows that Tony Jay plays Frollo and Shere Kahn in Jungle Book 2. 
• My absolute favorite thing he's saying right now is he'll say, "ARE YOU CRAY-ZAY?!" as a response to just about anything.
• He is a really good boy. He whines more than I'd like and stomps when he doesn't get his way and sometimes does things or says things just because he knows his brother won't like it, but that's pretty normal for a 4 yr old. For the most part, he's kind and easy to be around. My favorite is when I get to be with him one on one, he is a wonderful conversationalist and is so fun to be with!

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One family night we came up with our own list of Top 10 Disney villain songs.

"Make me the Emperor." - Branson

"Find me!" (one of B's favorite hiding spots :))

Just looking adorable in their snow gear on the way home from Jeanni's house.

Ugh, he's such a big boy lately :(

Most kids carry lovey blankets or stuffed animals around everywhere, B carries his light sabers.

Sneaking up to Shannon's house to surprise her with Valentine's Day cards and treats 💗

Valentine's for Jeanni!

They love their name in pancakes.

Branson is always putting on our shoes. Silly kid.

Kangaroo Zoo with the Carruthers who were in town this weekend!

About 40-50% of the time we'll come into the boys room before we go to bed and find B with a pillow on top of him. I guess this night Nolan joined him in the weird department.

Color Me Mine with Charlotte and Shannon for Shannon's birthday. It was so fun to have a girls night with these ladies. And I'm super excited about the special plate I made. I'm hoping to make it a tradition to use this plate whenever someone has a special day or simply does something worth celebrating!

This silly boy was eating salsa straight! I guess he got some of his Gm Mathews in him :)

Friday night at Noodles and Co. with Lis and Sara.

I love catching him reading on his own #proudmom 💗

The boys frequently fall asleep on the way to Gm and Gp Bailey's house. We got them inside, but they fell right back asleep.

Dinosaur Escape!

This kid kills me with cuteness.

#childhood

Family lunch!

Aww, they can be sweet to each other.

One of my new favorite pictures. Hiding in Gm Bailey's cabinets!