Just a few funny moments of the day that I wanted to write on my blog so I don't forget...
I took Darek to the doctor this afternoon to see if he just has his usual cold or if it was something more that needed to be addressed. The doctor came in and looked at him. He said that Darek has a sinus infection. Yay. So he prescribed the medicine and then asked if I wanted to get flu shots for the boys. I figured I might as well. Alex was not happy with me and I don't think he thought I would really go through with it and make him get a shot that he "didn't need". After I went and paid for it, he I knew I meant it. So when the nurse came in and asked who was first, my "brave" little Alex pointed to Darek and said, "HIM!!!" And before the nurse had come in, Alex had started freaking out about how much it was going to hurt, so he got Darek all upset and worried about it. We laid Darek on the table and after the shot it took about 10 seconds (and a popsicle) to have him calmed down. Then came Alex's turn. You would've thought he was the 2 year old... only he is much harder to control. He kept pulling his jeans back on and crying. Finally the nurse held his shoulders and looked at him. She calmly told him that if he jerked and moved that it would only hurt more. She told him that the needle wouldn't hurt, but the medicine going in would hurt just a little. She got him so calm that he was able to watch her poke him with the needle. She held the needle in for a minute to show that it didn't hurt, then slowly pushed the medicine in. He started to freak a little and she just told him to breathe through it. He started taking deep breaths and breathed right through it, watching the whole time. I think I may have been freaking out more than he did at that point, because it looked like torture. She pulled the needle out quickly and he started laughing. Then he exclaimed, "I feel so stupid now!!" Alex can definitely overreact. He's actually become really good at it now. We've seen him do it before going on roller coasters (well just about any ride really), pulling his teeth, just to name a few. It's what makes Alex, Alex. And we love him for it. I'm glad that he can at least recognize afterward when he has over reacted. It doesn't help us beforehand or even for the next occasion, but at least he'll apologize afterward.
And speaking of pulling teeth... We have been working on a tooth for the last couple days. It has been ready to fall out, but of course Alex freaks any time we mention pulling it. So last night I told him that this tooth was to be out of his mouth by the end of the week. Tonight at dinner, he got really quiet. I was about to ask him what was wrong, when he jumped out of his seat and yelled, "I pulled my tooth out!!!!" He was so excited that he did it himself and was especially excited that it didn't even hurt! So after he got the tooth out, he looked at me and said, "Mom, this has been one of the best days ever." Who would've guessed that getting a flu shot and having a tooth pulled out would make for the best day ever? Now I know the secret. :)
Kids sure keep life interesting. Just as I'm getting the boys tucked in and ready to say prayers tonight, Darek vomited all over. He's really good with timing. I told Ryan we need to keep a stockpile of carpet cleaners and probably invest in a good steam cleaner. Poor little dude. I hope the medication helps and he gets better very soon.
Now I'm gonna sit down with Ryan, eat some ice cream and watch an episode of The O.C. Yay for guilty pleasures!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Mom and Dad Bucks
So a wonderful friend gave me a great idea for a rewards system. We've been trying to figure out what the best thing to is to do with Alex as far as allowance goes. I don't mind doing allowance, but it just hasn't worked out any time we've tried it. So the idea of "Mom bucks" or "Parent bucks" was presented. I found a website that lets you personalize real-looking money with your own picture and then print it out.
I like the fake money idea because it's a little easier to keep track of for me. And it's easier to give and take away. I now have to set a system out for how much Alex will earn for things he does right (doing chores, helping his brother, obeying consistently, etc.) and how much he'll lose for choosing poorly (talking back, not doing his homework, getting in trouble at school, etc.). That's kinda the hard part that I'll really have to think about. But I'm really loving the idea and am excited to get going on it. I will also have rewards (toys, eating out, movies, friends over, etc.) priced out so he'll have some great things to buy with his Parent bucks! I'll try to give an update from time to time with how it's working out.
I like the fake money idea because it's a little easier to keep track of for me. And it's easier to give and take away. I now have to set a system out for how much Alex will earn for things he does right (doing chores, helping his brother, obeying consistently, etc.) and how much he'll lose for choosing poorly (talking back, not doing his homework, getting in trouble at school, etc.). That's kinda the hard part that I'll really have to think about. But I'm really loving the idea and am excited to get going on it. I will also have rewards (toys, eating out, movies, friends over, etc.) priced out so he'll have some great things to buy with his Parent bucks! I'll try to give an update from time to time with how it's working out.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Random
I just had a few things to write down that I wanted to remember. Sorry for the randomness...
I LOVE CLEARANCE! I have scored some awesome deals in the past few weeks and I just wanted to say how much I love it! I just got Alex's main birthday present (an Air Hockey table) for $17.48 today! It's awesome to be able to give someone a $20.00 gift and only have spent $5.00 on it! Especially when you don't have a lot of money to spend. It really makes your dollar go far... very far!
Alex got in the car yesterday after school. He was carrying a little purple bag. I asked what the bag was all about. He said a girl named Annika gave it to him at school. I asked what was in it. He said he hadn't had a chance to look inside it yet. So he opened the bag, took the "stuffing" out and looked inside. His face got pretty red. He pulled out a little heart and a note. He opened the note and said, "Oh.. my.. gosh!" So me being the nosy Mom I am asked what it said. "It says, To Alex From Annika. I love you." At this point he was giggling nervously, smiling and completely red in the face. I asked if he knew that she "loved" him and he said he had NO IDEA! I asked him if he liked her and his reply was, "I like her, but only as a friend." I teased him like crazy about it. I had to tell Daddy, Grandpa and Grandma so they could all tease him too. I love this point in a kids life. All the little boyfriend/girlfriend situations. It's so cute!
A lot of thoughts and reflections on Alex lately. We are nearing his 8th birthday and I'm getting very sentimental. He is getting baptized in early April and it's so hard to believe that it's already time for this. I swear we still had a couple years before this happened. He can't wait to start scouts. We had a meeting this past Sunday to go over what to expect with the baptism and talk a little about scouts. He gets so giddy when you talk about it with him. I'm very grateful that our ward does baptisms on a ward level so that he isn't baptized with a whole bunch of kids he doesn't know. He happens to be the only one getting baptized in our ward that day, so we get to plan the whole program. I am excited about this and we've been talking about who will be giving talks and saying prayers. Some of it he doesn't care all that much about, but he has been very specific on other things. We've already planned out his birthday too. He wanted his party at Chuck E Cheese this year, so we have that booked and are deciding who to invite. I'm also letting him have a late night/sleepover with those that we can't invite to Chuck E Cheese. He is spoiled rotten, but eh... he deserves it!
I cut Darek's hair last night. I meant to leave some of it so that he wasn't completely bald in the winter time, but it didn't work out. So he's a cute little bald boy again. He looks so old without hair. But still just as adorable!
Ok, that's all for now...
I LOVE CLEARANCE! I have scored some awesome deals in the past few weeks and I just wanted to say how much I love it! I just got Alex's main birthday present (an Air Hockey table) for $17.48 today! It's awesome to be able to give someone a $20.00 gift and only have spent $5.00 on it! Especially when you don't have a lot of money to spend. It really makes your dollar go far... very far!
Alex got in the car yesterday after school. He was carrying a little purple bag. I asked what the bag was all about. He said a girl named Annika gave it to him at school. I asked what was in it. He said he hadn't had a chance to look inside it yet. So he opened the bag, took the "stuffing" out and looked inside. His face got pretty red. He pulled out a little heart and a note. He opened the note and said, "Oh.. my.. gosh!" So me being the nosy Mom I am asked what it said. "It says, To Alex From Annika. I love you." At this point he was giggling nervously, smiling and completely red in the face. I asked if he knew that she "loved" him and he said he had NO IDEA! I asked him if he liked her and his reply was, "I like her, but only as a friend." I teased him like crazy about it. I had to tell Daddy, Grandpa and Grandma so they could all tease him too. I love this point in a kids life. All the little boyfriend/girlfriend situations. It's so cute!
A lot of thoughts and reflections on Alex lately. We are nearing his 8th birthday and I'm getting very sentimental. He is getting baptized in early April and it's so hard to believe that it's already time for this. I swear we still had a couple years before this happened. He can't wait to start scouts. We had a meeting this past Sunday to go over what to expect with the baptism and talk a little about scouts. He gets so giddy when you talk about it with him. I'm very grateful that our ward does baptisms on a ward level so that he isn't baptized with a whole bunch of kids he doesn't know. He happens to be the only one getting baptized in our ward that day, so we get to plan the whole program. I am excited about this and we've been talking about who will be giving talks and saying prayers. Some of it he doesn't care all that much about, but he has been very specific on other things. We've already planned out his birthday too. He wanted his party at Chuck E Cheese this year, so we have that booked and are deciding who to invite. I'm also letting him have a late night/sleepover with those that we can't invite to Chuck E Cheese. He is spoiled rotten, but eh... he deserves it!
I cut Darek's hair last night. I meant to leave some of it so that he wasn't completely bald in the winter time, but it didn't work out. So he's a cute little bald boy again. He looks so old without hair. But still just as adorable!
Ok, that's all for now...
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
You May Have Noticed...
that I changed a few things on my blog. Honestly, I'm not sure why it isn't Disney/Mickey all the time with how obsessed we are with it. But the reason I changed it is because we're getting ready and excited for our next vacation to Disneyland! 52 days and counting until we leave! There are a couple reasons we're extra excited about this trip versus past ones. 1 - My amazing parents are paying for the trip! They decided a family vacation was in order and instead of trying to work around what people could afford, they are covering the cost! That kinda brings me to #2 - Almost the WHOLE family is coming! Except for my youngest brother and sister, all other siblings, nephews and nieces will be coming. I believe we'll be a party of 21! I have yet to meet my brothers 2 youngest kids, so this will be a wonderful treat to see all of them! 3 - Darek has not been to Disneyland since he was this size...
so it will be a whole new experience for him this time and he is going to LOVE it! He talks about going to Disneyland every day now and names off every person who is coming with us and who we're gonna see there. SO CUTE!
It has been close to 2 years since we've been (which may be a record for us) and we are excited to see the new attractions and changes. We are also hoping to visit Universal Studios and Magic Mountain while we are there. And we will get to take a whale watching cruise, which I have never done and am extremely excited for!
Vacations are a huge part of our lives. We love the break and stress relief we get from our regular lives and the family bonding time you get to experience. Why does it still have to be 52 days away??? :)
so it will be a whole new experience for him this time and he is going to LOVE it! He talks about going to Disneyland every day now and names off every person who is coming with us and who we're gonna see there. SO CUTE!
It has been close to 2 years since we've been (which may be a record for us) and we are excited to see the new attractions and changes. We are also hoping to visit Universal Studios and Magic Mountain while we are there. And we will get to take a whale watching cruise, which I have never done and am extremely excited for!
Vacations are a huge part of our lives. We love the break and stress relief we get from our regular lives and the family bonding time you get to experience. Why does it still have to be 52 days away??? :)
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
How To Complete A Family???
Ryan and I are getting ready for some changes in our lives. Before you get too curious, let me say... no we are not pregnant and no we aren't planning on adopting any time soon. But we are getting ready for Ryan to be done with school in late June/early July. And after that happens we are planning on finally moving! Until he has a full-time job, we do not know where we'll be moving. But we're pretty much up for anywhere (hopefully not Utah).
One thing we have said since we adopted the boys was that we couldn't fit another child in our home, so we'd have to wait until we moved to complete our family. Now that we have actual plans in place for when we'll be moving, I can't help but start daydreaming about adding to our family. In my mind, we have 3 options. Fertility treatments, private adoption or foster to adopt. All are scary, time consuming and possibly expensive. I was talking with Ryan the other night about this and we had an interesting conversation. One I wasn't quite expecting... and honestly made me a little sad. When talking about these 3 options I brought up that I was looking at costs at a local fertility clinic. Then I looked at his expression and asked him if he was even interested in pursuing adding to our family through fertility. He very honestly shook his head that he did not. I had known that it was not his first choice, but I did not know that he didn't really want to consider it as an option. I can totally understand why. It is the hardest thing as a couple that we have had to do. It sent both of us on an emotional roller coaster every single month. It was very costly and sent me into a pretty bad depression until we stopped treatments and decided to adopt. It consumed me. And even though I have no desire to go through all of that again, I really wanted to experience being pregnant one more time. When I was pregnant with Alex, I loved it! It was an amazing, beautiful experience for me. And I never imagined it would be the only time I'd get that experience. Now I know that miracles happen and one day it might happen naturally, without medications. But that conversation left me a little sad about closing that door completely.
With all of that being said, please do not get the impression that I wouldn't be thrilled to adopt again. I loved everything about the adoption of boys (minus the cost maybe)! I would feel honored and humbled to have that experience again. We are considering private adoption (although the time wait on it is not ideal at all) and foster to adopt. Once we move, we'll probably start pursuing it with more intensity. For now, I will dream about our future children and hope that we don't have to wait too long.
One thing we have said since we adopted the boys was that we couldn't fit another child in our home, so we'd have to wait until we moved to complete our family. Now that we have actual plans in place for when we'll be moving, I can't help but start daydreaming about adding to our family. In my mind, we have 3 options. Fertility treatments, private adoption or foster to adopt. All are scary, time consuming and possibly expensive. I was talking with Ryan the other night about this and we had an interesting conversation. One I wasn't quite expecting... and honestly made me a little sad. When talking about these 3 options I brought up that I was looking at costs at a local fertility clinic. Then I looked at his expression and asked him if he was even interested in pursuing adding to our family through fertility. He very honestly shook his head that he did not. I had known that it was not his first choice, but I did not know that he didn't really want to consider it as an option. I can totally understand why. It is the hardest thing as a couple that we have had to do. It sent both of us on an emotional roller coaster every single month. It was very costly and sent me into a pretty bad depression until we stopped treatments and decided to adopt. It consumed me. And even though I have no desire to go through all of that again, I really wanted to experience being pregnant one more time. When I was pregnant with Alex, I loved it! It was an amazing, beautiful experience for me. And I never imagined it would be the only time I'd get that experience. Now I know that miracles happen and one day it might happen naturally, without medications. But that conversation left me a little sad about closing that door completely.
With all of that being said, please do not get the impression that I wouldn't be thrilled to adopt again. I loved everything about the adoption of boys (minus the cost maybe)! I would feel honored and humbled to have that experience again. We are considering private adoption (although the time wait on it is not ideal at all) and foster to adopt. Once we move, we'll probably start pursuing it with more intensity. For now, I will dream about our future children and hope that we don't have to wait too long.
Buca Di Beppo... Titus Family Style
A tradition for the Titus Family for the past couple years has been to go to Buca Di Beppo on New Years Eve. Last year Chad, Beth and I made a cake especially for the occasion. This year, to save some money, give my parents a break and to put a little twist on our tradition, we decided to do our own Buca Di Beppo. Beth and I looked our favorite Buca recipes online and split them up. Our menu consisted of:
Bruschetta - made by Ryan, Chad and Mandi
Garlic Mashed Potatoes - Made by Beth and Chad
Green Beans - Made by Mandi
Cheese Manicotti - Made by Mandi
Baked Ravioli - Made by Beth and Chad
Chicken Carbonara - Made by Mandi
Chicken Limone - Made by Beth and Chad
Once it was all set out on the table, it looked like it could probably feed 20 people! This was our first time at attempting most of these recipes, so we really hoped that it tasted somewhat like the Buca version. I can say with much certainty that we were very successful! The food was insanely good and extremely fattening! :) Although we gave our parents a break, we gave them one task... decorating. At Buca Di Beppo, each room has a theme. And at every Buca, they have a "Pope's Room". They have pictures of different pope's on the walls. Well we decided to put a twist on that as well and make a "Prophets Room". My Mom did a great job and other than dinner being really late (didn't plan very wisely with time), it was a perfect evening! Here are some pictures of our feast!
I hope this becomes our new tradition! I think it was a lot more fun doing it this way than going to the restaurant. And we had TONS of leftovers!
Bruschetta - made by Ryan, Chad and Mandi
Garlic Mashed Potatoes - Made by Beth and Chad
Green Beans - Made by Mandi
Cheese Manicotti - Made by Mandi
Baked Ravioli - Made by Beth and Chad
Chicken Carbonara - Made by Mandi
Chicken Limone - Made by Beth and Chad
Once it was all set out on the table, it looked like it could probably feed 20 people! This was our first time at attempting most of these recipes, so we really hoped that it tasted somewhat like the Buca version. I can say with much certainty that we were very successful! The food was insanely good and extremely fattening! :) Although we gave our parents a break, we gave them one task... decorating. At Buca Di Beppo, each room has a theme. And at every Buca, they have a "Pope's Room". They have pictures of different pope's on the walls. Well we decided to put a twist on that as well and make a "Prophets Room". My Mom did a great job and other than dinner being really late (didn't plan very wisely with time), it was a perfect evening! Here are some pictures of our feast!
I hope this becomes our new tradition! I think it was a lot more fun doing it this way than going to the restaurant. And we had TONS of leftovers!
Christmas 2010
I have lots of blogging to catch up on, so hang in there with me with all these posts! I'll first back track a little to Christmas break. I usually tell long stories and I think that's why I don't blog as much as I want to... because it takes too much time. So instead, I'll post pictures and just comment on an individual picture if I feel like it. :)
All the little boys got matching Batman pj's and wore them on Christmas Eve. They were so adorable and my boys especially loved matching their cute cousin!
Santa brought Pillow Pets for both the boys (bumblebee for Darek and a Panda bear for Alex). They were in heaven!
Alex's favorite gift, by far. If you haven't seen these Hex bugs in action, they are pretty amazing little things to watch.
For whatever reason, Alex really wanted a football jersey for Christmas. He didn't care what team it was or who the player was, but he really wanted a jersey. Since the 49ers are the only NFL team I've ever cared about, we decided to get a 49ers jersey. And since Alex Smith was the Utah Utes quarterback and went to the 49ers and shares a name with Alex, we decided to get his jersey. My Alex was SOOOOO happy to finally have his jersey and wears it every chance he gets!
We were so happy to have Chad, Beth and little Gryn here for Christmas. They were all fun to have around and I loved being able to hold and spoil my little nephew.
It was a very Merry Christmas for our family with lots of fun memories. Until next year...
All the little boys got matching Batman pj's and wore them on Christmas Eve. They were so adorable and my boys especially loved matching their cute cousin!
Santa brought Pillow Pets for both the boys (bumblebee for Darek and a Panda bear for Alex). They were in heaven!
Alex's favorite gift, by far. If you haven't seen these Hex bugs in action, they are pretty amazing little things to watch. 
For whatever reason, Alex really wanted a football jersey for Christmas. He didn't care what team it was or who the player was, but he really wanted a jersey. Since the 49ers are the only NFL team I've ever cared about, we decided to get a 49ers jersey. And since Alex Smith was the Utah Utes quarterback and went to the 49ers and shares a name with Alex, we decided to get his jersey. My Alex was SOOOOO happy to finally have his jersey and wears it every chance he gets!
We were so happy to have Chad, Beth and little Gryn here for Christmas. They were all fun to have around and I loved being able to hold and spoil my little nephew.
It was a very Merry Christmas for our family with lots of fun memories. Until next year...
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