Riley: This is me when I was a super hero.

A Blessing on the Food

Riley was helping Jeremy say the prayer to bless the food. The prayer goes as follows,

Riley: Dear Heavenly Father

Jeremy: Dear Heavenly Father

Riley: Thank you this day

Jeremy: Thank you this day

Riley: Please bless the food

Jeremy: Please bless the food

Riley: that it will strengthen our bodies

Jeremy: that it will strengthen our bottoms

Yes you read that right, strengthen our bottoms. I could hardly contain myself.

If you know Riley, and how important it is to him to make good choices....
and if you know Maggy (my mom's dog), and what a badly behaved and annoying dog she is...
Then you will understand why this is so funny. On Sunday I took Riley with me to go visiting teaching. We were at Jennie's house and she has two pugs. After we left this is what he said,

"Those dogs liked me! They didn't even make bad choices like Maggy! That's the kind of dog I need!"

I would have to agree.

This dog is one of Jeremy's favorite toys. He plays with it a good part of everyday and often takes it with us on outings. The other day, while we were about to go into Costco, he asked if he could take him on a walk. So he did. Everyone kept telling him that they really liked his dog. He was sooo proud.

On this particular day, Jeremy had been singing to his dog a lot. I thought it was so cute so I taped it. Jeremy loves to sing. He is frequently singing his own made up songs while he sings. He has the sweetest voice.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I was giving Tyler a bath in the little tub that sits on the sink. Jeremy stood on a chair by my side the whole time, helping you know. I lifted Tyler up and layed him over my arm while I cleaned his bottom. Then Jeremy exclaims...

"Look at his cute little penis!"

Tyler is such a good baby. My easierst baby so far. He still sleeps all day. And he really doesn't cry. He is A DELIGHT! He's growing so fast and getting chubby cheeks. He is such a cutie pie.

Riley is a frequent nose picker. So I was happy to hear him singing this cute little jingle. What's funny is that the culprit of the crime, is the same finger that is shaking at you.

Do you have decorative hands?

After I put Riley's plate on the table at lunch, he picked it up and while holding it above his head, walked around the room. He then told me how hard it was and that I should try it sometime. Then he said,

"You have to have decorative hands... magical hands to do this."

Riley had my mom draw this picture. He started out saying,

"Draw you and me. Now Jeremy, Tyler, Dad and Mom. Draw my baby sister too, she's in heaven."

Riley was so sure that Tyler would be a girl. I guess he's not giving up on that. : )

Nursery

Today when I dropped Jeremy off at the nursery, at church, he was crying because he didn't want me to leave. I know he always stops crying 30 seconds after I'm gone, I quickly left. When I picked Jeremy up, his teacher told me that he only cried once. She told him, "Jeremy it's not your turn to cry." Jeremy stopped crying immediately and in a sad whimpering voice said, "oookay."

On a side note, Jeremy calls hickups 'pickups'.

What does spicy mean?

I usually use the word "spicy" to describe food that is hot in flavor (not temp). To Riley, spicy takes on added meaning. Like a...

"spicy five"

and spicy soda

So if Riley gives you a high five, he will almost always ask if it was spicy. If you give him a high five, he will let you know if it was spicy or not. After all, the level of spicyness is an important thing to know when it comes to high fives.

Today, we were watching General Confrence. Jeremy must have thought that the brother who gave the closing prayer needed some help. He had his eyes closed and arms folded. About half way through the prayer he kept repeating, "and doggy." He wanted to thank our father in heaven for his toy dog. Then he started repeating, prematurely, "in Jesus Christ, AMEN." I guess the prayer was a little long for him, and just like we help him with his prayers, he was giving his assistance for the closing prayer of General Conference. It was cute.

Riley and Jeremy are proud big brothers. Riley completely adores Tyler, and Jeremy thinks he's just great!

6 Days Old

Tyler has 3 "angels kisses." They are basically a birth mark that goes away by the time they are 2. It's the same thing as a stork bite, only it's on the face instead of the neck. Angel's kisses is really what they are called.

Weekend in Sisters, Oregon

Ten days after Tyler was born, we went to Sisters for Chuck and Amy's wedding. For anyone who doesn't know, Chuck is my little brother. It was a lot of fun.

Tucker and Riley wrestled for a long time towards the end of the reception. Tucker is my nephew. I was having a heart attack because Riley was wearing his church clothes as they rolled in the grass. Two of my brothers kept telling me, "Sarah, just let it go." I guess that is something I'm going to have to get better at since we have 3 boys now.

My brother Tom, who is in the Army, brought Riley and Jeremy army jackets and bandannas. They are really cute and the boys love to wear them. Their names are embroidered on them, they really like that. Thanks Uncle Tom and Aunt Kristi!!

Riley and Jeremy meet Tyler

Riley is completely enchanted with Tyler! I knew that the boys would love him, but I was really surprised to see how tender and loving Riley was when he walked in the door. The boys didn't get to see Tyler until the day we left the hospital. They wouldn't allow them to go in the NICU. Riley walked in and he was just beaming with love! It was soooo sweet! He is still the same way. He completely loves his baby brother. He always wants to hold him, and rub his head, and tend to his needs. At times, he can be a little too much help!

It's nice to have a little helper though!


Tyler Bradley Cook

A good self esteem is always a plus!

Riley surprisingly likes dramatic music that is powerful and has lots of instruments. For example, he likes Phantom of the Opera and even the Mormon Tabranacle Choir. On Tuesday, we went to meet a friend at the inside park (at least that's what we call it) at the mall. So for 15-20 minutes we had been listening to the M.Tab. choir, at Riley's request. Riley must have been feeling the spirit and just loving life and, well, himself. Right as we turn into the parking lot our conversations goes like this...

Riley: MOM, I LIKE MYSELF!

Me: I'm glad! I like you too!

Riley: I LIKE YOU TOO, AND I LIKE MYSELF!

Me: Well, I'm glad you do!

Riley: YEEEAAHHH, I CAN WRESTLE BAD GUYS, SUPER HEROS, LOTS OF PEOPLE!
(and then with way more enthusiasm)
JUST LOOK AT THESE MUSCLES!!!!!
(showing me his muscles)

It was a priceless conversation.

Treasure Hunt

The boys found a treasure map at Grandma's house.

They are ready to go find the treasure.

They have their guns in case of a run-in with pirates.

(treasure map- complements of Valane)

Jeremy informed me that he was, "getting the alligators."

The treasure map indicated that we needed "wandering stream water."

Even though we're in full sun, a flashlight is always required when reading a treasure map.

With great enthusiasm, Jeremy went and got the shovel.

The treasure has been found!!!
Riley had soo much fun, he decided he'd go find some more treasure.

"Baby," for a moment got the boot.

When I say "baby," I mean Jeremy's pink satin blanket. Uncle Chuck is going to make a trundle for Jeremy. We just got the trundle mattress and decided to try moving Jeremy into Riley's room tonight. At first, all was going GREAT! Jeremy was so excited!!! Riley was being such an example! We did our bedtime routine, and Jeremy climed under the covers. I made it like Riley's with the top sheet and a quilt. Jeremy excitedly climbed under the covers. I handed him baby. He held baby for a little bit. Then all of the sudden, he so unceremoniously threw baby across the room. As far as he was concerned, at the moment, he didn't need that old thing anyway. He is a big boy, sleeping in a big bed, afterall. Valane and I laid down with the boys for a couple of minutes while Valane told them a story about when he was a kid. Then Jeremy said, "You guys, Go Away!" So we shut the door on our way out.
Sweet success? No. Within 10 minutes, we hear Jeremy goofing around. Riley stayed in his bed and tried to do the right thing, Jeremy was too excited to sleep. The night ended, after several tries, with Jeremy in his crib. He was devistated. And yes, at that point, he had baby again. I can't say I"m surprised, but hopefully tomorrow goes better! Hopefully he willingly gives baby up without a fight. Not that I mind too much. I just don't want him carrying around a pink satin blanket for too much longer.

The Air Show

After about 20 minutes in the heat and sun, Jeremy and I were miserable! I was actually contemplating taking Jeremy home and coming back to pick up Riley and Lane. So was it worth it?! Initially, NO! But then.........................

we got smart! We relocated our chairs to the shade by the sony play station trailer. It had it all, great view of center stage, shade, and a cool breeze (because it was pumping A/C out to cool the trailer while the people payed games. That cool breeze blew right on us.). Were it not for all of this, I don't think I would ever go again, 8 months pregnant anyway.

The kids liked seeing the big jets. We missed the blue angels though : ( We were there for 4 hours, and the boys had it. So next time, we will have to plan accordingly.

Fountain Fun

Jeremy was initially very cautious about this whole experience. He was excited to go, but when he got a little bit wet....he was upset. He wanted to take it all off. It took quite a while of convincing, from Dad, that he wore "those" shorts and "those" shoes to get wet. He finally took the plunge. Riley and Jeremy had a blast!

Del-ick-o-lous!!!

Yesterday I took the boys blueberry picking. We went to 3 places, only to find them closed, before we found a place to pick. After the third place, Riley lets out a big sigh and exclaims, "THIS IS DELICKOLOUS!!!! Why are they all closed? THIS IS JUST DELICKOLOUS!!!" So it was!

When we arrived at our destination, Riley proceeded to find a few big sticks. Then, instead of picking blueberries, he played in the dirt and investigated his surroundings. Jeremy on the other hand did pick, only he ate everyone one of them, including everyone I put in his bucket.

We had blueberry pancakes for dinner. They were delicious!

Ring Around the Rosie

Jeremy is elated when he gets to play ring-around-the-rosie.

It's sweet to see how much the boys love each other!

It's so great when they play well together too!

Popsicle

Like all kids, Jeremy loves popsicles...

The funny thing, he sucks on them so hard, he actually shakes. This picture wasn't even a good one. We tried so hard, but we kept barely missing it.

The flash delayed catching it when it was really good.

It's So Hard Waiting Your Turn

...Especially when your brother is playing with one of your favorate toys.

There's More Than Meets the Eye

Riley used the remnants of a roll of wrapping paper to become........

A Transformer. He had me taping them to his back for about three days.