ISAAC IS TWO!!!!

Oh my, how quickly two years have gone by. Our sweet boy is now 2! Holy Smokes. So in keeping with tradition, here is his birthday interview. I asked him all the questions, but he is two. So I will fill in the blanks for him. Any answer in quotation marks is a direct quote from Sir Isaac himself. :)

1. Height and Weight: 34.75", 31.2 lbs.

2. Favorite Color: "Orange" (he LOVES all things orange - orange shirts, orange balls, oranges, cheese, etc.)

3. Favorite Food: "Nut-tay-yah san-ish" (nutella sandwich! He truly would eat nutella for every meal and snack, everyday....if I'd let him. A close second is cheese. That's my boy!) He really is the most adventurous eater that I have. He will try any food, and really eats just about anything I put in front of him. He's not a HUGE fan of kale or peas, but other than that, he eats most anything without complaint.

4. Favorite Movie: "uh....pokio!" (Pinnochio)

5. Favorite Game: "Hide and seek"

6. Favorite Book: "Uh...Monsser book" (Monster book - its called "I See A Monster" and its VERY cute. He cannot take a nap or go to bed without reading it first. A close second is The Very Hungry Caterpillar)



7. Favorite Treat: "Nut-tay-yah" (again, nutella. I wasn't kidding, this boy loves that stuff.)

8. Favorite Toy: "Mine hammer." (Really he likes anything that its "ok" to hit things with. He walks around hitting things with his toy hammer all the time and says "i fix it!" Its very hard to get mad at that. After all, he IS being helpful. :) He also enjoys balls and anything that is round that he can throw and call a ball...like fruit...)And he also totes around this little dog most days. :)
9. Favorite Activity: Running and climbing and jumping and digging and bringing dirt presents into my house...and annoying his sisters. He finds great pleasure out of doing things that make them scream or cry. Its actually sort of humorous to watch it all go down...
He is SO SO SO active, but he also enjoys snuggling on the couch and reading. He will sit still for food and for books, that's about it. He enjoys being outside more than anything. :)



10. Favorite Outfit: "Mine moose hat!" This silly moose hat is on his head day in and day out. He won't come out of his room in the mornings without his moose hat and shoes on. I made the mistake of washing his hat in the middle of the day a couple months ago, and he cried and said over and over again, (while throwing himself on the ground repeatedly in front of the washing maching)"mine moose hat! need mine moose hat!" So now, I have to sneak it off his head after he goes to sleep to wash it (because he insists on wearing it to sleep as well). He is one silly boy. :) He does sometimes wear other hats, but by far, his favorite is the moose hat.
11. What makes you happy: All he answered to this one, was "I happy, I happy!" And indeed, he is. He is a very cheerful little munchkin. He is easy to smile and has a contagious laugh. He is a complete joy to have around and makes our family and our life so much fun.




12. What makes you sad: when he doesn't have his moose hat. He also gets really sad when I leave him. He says "don't leave me, mommy." and it breaks my heart. Granted, I don't really leave him very often, but its sooooo sad when he says that.

13. Who are your best friends: "Appen :) and Mia mine best friends." And they are. He adores his big sisters, even though he likes to torment them. The kids all actually get along pretty well for the most part. They like to fight, as any siblings do, but I am really fortunate that they play as well together as they do. I used to think the sweetest words I'd ever hear out of my kids mouths were "i love you, mommy." But sweeter than that is when they tell each other they love each other. That is so much sweeter. And it makes my heart soar and I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

14. Your testimony: Isaac doesn't quite understand what a testimony is yet, but he says wonderful prayers and talks about Heavenly Father and Jesus and he knows they love him. :)

15. Personality Traits: Silly, rambunctious, affectionate (he always says "tuggle (snuggle) me" when he needs a little love. And daddy can't leave without Isaac giving him a hug and a kiss. He also is quick to say sorry and "i tiss (kiss) it" when he's hurt someone. Sometimes I think he hits just so he can "tiss" it better.) He is very funny and laughs a lot, happy, a little mischevious, VERY smart, very coordinated. Not that being coordinated is a personality trait, but he is super coordinated. He can run and kick a soccer ball like a pro (or a 5 year old! haha!) He is rowdy and he can be quiet when he wants to. He is very polite, says "pease" "tank you" and "no tanks" approapriately and often. He is just a rowdy boy with a sweet disposition and a good, big, tender heart. We love him so much.

16. Our thoughts about you from the last year: Oh monkey munchkin Isaac. You were such a mellow baby that I thought maybe I'd finally have a mellow munchkin, but alas, that was not meant to be. You are by far, the most active and hard to keep up with little boy I have ever had the pleasure to be around. But you are awesome. You are inquisitive and so smart. You always ask "what's that" and like to figure out how things work. You like to tinker around, I think you get that from daddy. You like to play in the dirt and be outside, running, jumping, just playing and enjoying life to the fullest. Life with you around will never be dull. Sometimes its exhausting trying to keep up with you, but you are just enjoying all that this beautiful world has to offer you. You make me smile, Isaac, smile when I think about you and smile when I see you and when I am with you. We love you and we love your zest for life. You are adventurous (which terrifies me) and you seem to have no fear. You're so stinking coordinated that you can do things that I don't feel like you're old enough to do. Good thing for daddy who forces me to let you do more. You have an awesome vocabulary. You say big words and have great sentences. You are smart and you pick up on things so quickly. The saddest thing, for me, that happened to you this year was daddy cut all of your beautiful blonde curls off! While I was at the grocery store! And he didn't save any of it, or even take a picture! This is what I came home to:
Mommy was so so so so sad. I seriously set my groceries down and cried. So the next time daddy cut your hair, I made sure to get some pictures.

You think pockets and rocks are just fantastic. You get super excited about pockets. Its adorable how you walk around with your hands in your pockets and puts "woks in mine pocks." It reminds me of how Aspen used to say that when she was your age, so I double smile when I hear it. :)
Oh sweet Isaac..hugs and kisses, "tuggles" laughing and wrestling, tickles and playing, all of the crazy little boy things you do, they all add up to the greatest, cutest, most wonderful son we could ever ask for! We love you, Isaac Malo Hasselblad. Happy Birthday, little love bug.

Isaac

I love this little boy. He is rambunctious, wild, loving, affectionate, sweet and has a touch of mischievous naughtiness. And he REALLY likes hats and shoes. Check out the purple princess shoes...adds the perfect touch, don't ya think? ;-) He's kind of been having a rough week. He had an eye appointment on Wednesday, where they told me that his wandering eye could be fixed surgically and so they referred me to an eye surgeon in Portland. In the meantime, I am supposed to patch his good eye for 3-4 hours a day. YEAH RIGHT! We've tried pretending he's a pirate, and all sorts of bribes. The kid is not interested. at all. And he's not even 2 yet (though its only a week and a half away...but still), so how can I expect him to be on board with this blasted eye patch?!? Anyway, I'll keep trying. But yesterday he woke up with pink eye. Got him his medicine for it, and he screams bloody murder when I put it in his eyes. Between that patch idea and eye meds, he probably thinks I'm just trying to torture him. And then....last night, he started throwing up...he's still doing it. And we just added diarrhea to the list this morning. *sigh* my poor baby boy. Its so sad because he's SO HAPPY all the time, so his sad, pathetic whines are even more sad....here's to hoping this doesn't last long...

just a bit of rambling

I haven't updated on this blog in such a long time, its almost a joke for me to even try to keep it up. But I am going to try. Not for anyone but me. I don't even know if anyone follows this anymore, which is ok, this post specifically is just for me to vent a little. Because I have been having a rough time. I've spent almost the last year worrying about my mom, and now that she is definitely on the road up, in the clear-ish, I realize how much focus on my own life and family I have lost. Mostly me. My kids are fine and always my number one priority. So I guess between mom and the kids, I have truly forgotten to take time for me. My Uncle Sam passed away a few weeks ago, lymphoma. Cancer again. Its te worst word in my vocabulary. He was like a father to me, he was an amazing man and a kind and funny person. While at his funeral, someone asked me what I've been doing for me, for fun, for ME, lately. I had nothing. Nothing at all. I laughed at his suggestion. Like I have time for ME. All of my energy is focused elsewhere. ALL of it. I give ALL I have to my family. Its truly ALL i have right now. But perhaps that is the problem. Maybe I would have MORE to give, MORE to give, if only I took some time for me every now and again. Don't get me wrong, I am not unhappy. I am just depleted. I love my family, I love my children more than I have words to say, and I would do anything for them. But maybe, just maybe, I could do MORE for them if I did more for me. Maybe my cup needs to be filled so that I can have MORE to give. By the end of every day, I am exhausted. I have given my all, every single day. But that means that I have nothing left for my husband, either. We put the kids down at 7 and by then, I am done. I am exhausted. I am tired. I have used all I have to teach, create, play, teach my children. And I am more than happy to do it. Its just by the end of the day, I can't do anything else.

I haven't been reading my scriptures as I should, I read with the kids and I teach them from the scriptures, but I haven't been studying them for ME. I am going to start. I haven't been to the temple since I was pregnant with Isaac. I am going to MAKE the time to go. I haven't been excercising consistently all fall and winter, which has led to weight gain and even less energy. I am going to get back into it. I haven't been on a date with my husband in forever. I am going to make time for that.

Where am I going to find the time for these 4 things that I know I need to do? First of all, I am going to pray for strength and energy and guidance. And then I am going to shut the stupid computer off in the evenings, when I waste time on facebook or pinterest. I am going to limit that time to 10min or so a day for awhile, until I can get back to where I need to be. I will use that time to study my scriptures, to take a nice bath, to relax (instead of mindless vegging and to spend some time actually talking to the man that I love. Talk that doesn't involve the "plan" for the next day, but actual talking. And listening. Because I haven't been listening to him, he is so busy and the times that he wants to talk, I have been busy cleaning up or too tired to pay attention to him. But I love him and its not showing very much love or respect to our love and our marriage if we don't make time for each other. So I am going to make sure we have at least one date a month. Just me and him, no kids. Though family time is so important, we need to have couple time. I know if should be weekly, but I am trying to be realistic here. I am making a goal of once a month. I will make sure it happens at least once a month. If more than that, GREAT! But once a month is the goal. And to attend the temple once a month is another thing that will happen. Whether by myself or with Malo, it WILL happen.

And the other thing...the exercise. I know that not working out really makes my energy levels drop. But when I am so tired, it is so hard to even think about exercising. But that is the only way I am going to get more, is to use more! So....daily. Today it will start. Daily. That doesn't mean I am going to run 400 miles a day, but I will do something at least 30min a day. And I will get up in the morning, before the kids do, and do it. Every day.

So hopefully if I make these 4 changes, hopefully that will help get me back to where I need to be. So that I can be a better wife and a better mom, a better daughter and sister, a better friend. I can't be there for others if I am not taking better care of me. So for all of those important relationships in my life that I am not doing enough for, for all of them, I will make sure to do my four goals here. :)

Thanksgiving

We didn't go anywhere and didn't have anyone over for Thanksgiving this year. It was kind of weird. But we had a nice, laid back day. I got up and ran the turkey trot, came home and the girls asked "did you win your race?" No, no I didn't. "well did you run faster than everyone?" ha, not even close. So then they wanted to go running, so we took them down to the high school track and we ran "races" until they were tuckered out. They're so fun. Isaac is getting pretty fast and can almost keep up with Mia. Mia can almost keep up with Aspen. So it was fun to do their little races.

Then we drove around looking at big beautiful house with land and big shops....someday, someday, someday.

And then we came home, ate our yummy, low key turkey dinner and enjoyed these cute little guys that I'd made the night before. They don't make gluten free double stuff, so I had to make Aspen's with extra cookies. Haha. :)

I am thankful for so much in my life. Its been a long, hard year, but we have been blessed beyond measure. I have an amazingly wonderful family. I am most thankful that my mom is doing better. And I am grateful for the wonderful family I was born into, as well as the one I married into. And I am thankful, oh so very thankful, for my awesome cute hubby and for our beautiful children. Aspen, Mia and Isaac bring joy and purpose to our lives.

And I am grateful for the friends I have. My whole life I have been blessed with true friends; I do not know why, but I have. And I am grateful for them all.

I am thankful for my Heavenly Father and the love that He has for me. I am thankful for all He has blessed me with, and continues to bless me with. I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for the sacrifice He made for me and for all of us.

I am excited for Christmas as it approaches. I love the Christmas spirit. I am thankful. Thankful for my simple, but wonderful life. :)

Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year. Aspen and Mia were SO excited (and remembered so much from last year - it is so amazing to me how much they remember!) for Halloween to come. We even had a countdown because every night when it got dark, they asked to go trick-or-treating and we had to say, "no, 29 more days" and so on. I have to say, I LOVE how excited my kids get about even the littlest things. It makes it so much fun to do things for them and with them.

Anyway, since July Aspen has been saying she wanted to be strawberry shortcake, Mia Rapunzel. And Isaac, well he didn't get a choice. He was the monkey. The monkey Mia was last year and that Aspen was the prior two years. Haha. That monkey has definitely been worth the money. ;-) Anyway, enough jibber jabber and on to the pictures! :-D

Here is our lovely pumpkin carving. We had one big one and the kids each had a little pumpkin to decorate. This picture of Isaac makes me laugh; it looks like he's mad at his pumpkin "what am I supposed to do with this things? You won't let me throw it, but its round like a ball!" hehe.

 

 

Halloween morning we had a festive breakfast of ghoulish ghost pancakes, pumpkin shaped ham and eyeballs (blueberries).

 

So Aspen had a fun little Halloween party at preschool. This was her gf jack-o-lantern pizza.

 

 

It was actually really fun to make a gluten free version of all the little treats that everyone else was bringing, so that Aspen could have some of everything.

After her party (which was really fun and I got to hang out with her at it! yay!) we came home, had naps and then when everyone woke up, we got up and got ready to go to the merchant trick-or-treating in downtown Benton City. Its a pretty cool thing they do, they open up all the stores in the itty bitty stretch that makes up downtown. Its cute. And they pass out candy. The kids love it. We met up with some friends and that was fun. Aspen saw a lot of her friends from preschool, too, which was fun. I didn't manage to get any pictures there, left my camera on the counter. Oops.

But then we came home, had dinner with daddy and then daddy took the kids around the neighborhood trick-or-treating while I stayed home and passed out candy. After awhile, the kids and Malo came home and Aspen and Mia passed out candy. They were so cute, they got SOOOOOO excited everytime someone came to the door (which was often because we get a TON of trick-or-treaters!) and they even started saying "another customer!" haha. They crack me up; I have no idea where they come up with this stuff, but they sure make us laugh. Anyway, Aspen is a VERY generous passer-outer of candy. I'm talking handfuls at a time. We blew through 10 bags of candy! Anyway, back to more pictures:
Isn't Aspen the sweetest Strawberry Shortcake ever?

 

Mia Bediah is Rapunzel - and the hair made the costume. It came all the way down to the floor and would have a gathering of leaves and other stuff as she walked along trick or treating. :)

 

And our little monkey Isaac. He did NOT want to put his costume on. But once we got out and he figured out the sheer excitement (haha - candy, candy, candy) of trick-or-treating, he was good to go!

 

Here's some pics of all of us.

 

It was such a fun Halloween. The kids are already talking about their costumes for next year! ;-)

Happy 4th of July

Happy 3rd Birthday Mia Mia!

Mia Mia Mia. How is Mia 3 years old already? Our itty bitty baby girl that we were so worried about the whole time I was pregnant with her has just grown and changed so much this past year. She is a happy, healthy thriving and awesome little girl. She loves to copy things Aspen says and does, but in the past year she has really developed a great imagination and her very own, very pink personality. We love our little Mia Mia and here is her birthday interview!
1. Height and Weight: 33 inches, 23 pounds, 2 oz (yes, Isaac outweighs her by a full 8 oz.)
2. Favorite color: "PINK!" (I ask her often if she likes ANY other colors and she always says so matter of factly, "no. I only like pink. pink is my favorite." i do NOT know where she gets this from.
3. Favorite food:"HOT DOGS! I love hot dogs, they are my favorite. My daddy is going to take me to the store and buy me HOT DOGS!" (and she always throws her arms up in the air in sheer excitement when she says HOT DOGS! It is the funniest, most high pitched excited sound ever! SO funny! Also, most days as soon as Malo gets home from work she asks him to take her to the store to buy her hot dogs. It cracks me up.)
4. Favorite movie: "Rapunzel. But we don't have it at mine house." (Rapunzel is the movie TANGLED. Super cute movie and she will be SO excited to see she's getting it for her birthday!)
5. Favorite game: "My Dora game." (Dora Memory)
6. Favorite book: "My pink purse book"
7. Favorite treat: "Pink cake"
8. Favorite toy: "The mommy horse and my baby pink piggy."
9. Favorite Activity: "eating picnics on my pink blanket."
10. Favorite Outfit: "My kitty cat dress!! Because its PINK and it matches me because I am pink!" (She seriously wears this silly "dress," ALL THE TIME. Its not even a dress. Its a nightgown. And its Aspen's. But Mia claimed it months ago and would wear it all day every day and every night if I'd let her. She cries every time we wash it and asks "is my kitty cat dress dry yet?" over and over...until its dry.)

 

11. What makes you happy? "my kitty cat dress"
12. What makes you sad? "when my mommy says 'no that i can't wear mine kitty cat dress'"
13. Best friend(s): "Isaac and Aspen and Esther."
14. Your testimony: "Heavenly Father loves me and Aspen because we're girls. And daddy and Isaac are boys, but Heavenly Father sometimes loves boys like them. Well, Isaac always, but daddy mostly, well, sometimes." (that's ALL her - I have NO idea where she comes up with stuff!)
15. Personality Traits: Sweet, strong willed, shy in new situations - outgoing and loud at home and when you are comfortable, snuggly & cuddly, loving, affectionate, helpful, very excitable, munchkin-like,
16. Our thoughts about you from the last year: Oh our little Mia Mia Munchkin....you are one awesome little girl! You make us laugh every day and you make us scratch our heads in disbelief at the crazy and quirky things you say and do! You have a voice - a voice that when you are being sweet, is the CUTEST little munchkin voice...and when you are excited, holy cow it gets so loud and high pitched that it could cause all the dogs in the neighborhood to howl. So funny. On the flip side of that, when you are mad, you are MAD! Its sometimes really hard for us not to laugh because you get SO frustrated and you have so much to say when you are upset, but you come in this teeny tiny little package of a person and it just seems so...off...but its real. Sometimes I am certain that when you start throwing a fit, that people who live miles away can hear you. ;) Silly girl. When you make up your mind to do something, there is no stopping you.

You are so loving and affectionate, you love to be held and curl up in a tiny little ball in our arms or on our laps. You go up to Aspen and Isaac multiple times a day and just hug them and you come up to me a give me a big hug and tell me you love me at LEAST 3 times a day. You get SO excited and run to daddy whenever you see him. You are still pretty shy in new situations and around new people, but you are getting a little quicker to warm up. :)
You have so much spunk and spirit and are so fearless. You love to run around and chase Aspen and Isaac. You play tag and hide and seek and you really just love active play. You rarely will sit down long enough to watch a movie, but you will sit for an episode of "Dora!" and you get SO excited about Dora. It cracks me up. You really really like to sit on my lap, or daddy's lap, and have us read books to you. That is something you will always sit for. And sometimes you will even read to other people. :)

My spunky little Mia Grace, you are SO stinking girly sometimes that it is ridiculous. I seriously have NO idea where that all comes from. But you are all things girl - pink, pink, pink, ruffles, accessories, dresses, purses, shoes, hair bows. And lately you won't go anywhere near anything that has a spider web without asking someone to get it for you. You love princesses and "being beautiful." You do mommy's hair all of the time, and like to put bows in Isaac's hair. You also enjoy painting your toenails and fingernails (if there is even a chip, you ask me to fix it.) You recently started painting them yourself, but it was too messy, so now you paint Isaac and Aspen's...and mommy's. But you still have me do yours so it will look just beautiful.


One really funny thing about you right now is that we find you in random places asleep when we get up in the morning. Sometimes you're in your toy bucket, on the couch, by the door in your room, in Aspen's bed, in Isaac's crib, in mommy and daddy's bed, beside our bed on the floor, in laundry baskets, on the back of the couch, etc. You always go to bed in your room, but at some point in the night/early morning you go randomly sleep in other places. And you LOVE your owl bed (and are obsessed with owls right now) so its so funny that you go sleep in other very random spots.

Oh Mia, we just love you so much. You have such a big personality in such a little package. You constantly surprise us with the things you say and come up with. You are very determined and want what you want. And you are very specific with what you want. You are such a great kiddo and we adore you. Never a dull moment with you, that's for sure. Happy Birthday, Mia! We love you!