Never Say "Never"!

I did it. I swore I never would. Not only because we are commanded not to, it is immoral, and because we are suppose to be examples for our kids, but because I want to sleep! Carden has not slept through the night in who knows how long. Sometimes up three times a night. I tried everything. Positive praise charts, reasoning, threats, ear plugs, letting him scream for hours only to have him wake Max, letting him go to the bathroom everytime he needed to, you name it. Finally, three nights ago, I did the unthinkable. I lied! I informed Carden about the Sleep Moster, I KNOW!!!!!!, that comes when you are loud at night or get out of your bed.

I always thought people that did these kinds of things were rediculous! Lie to your child. Come on. Well, I have officially joined the club.

I have not heard from him in three nights! I love it and thought I would inform him about the truth but now I may just wait for the story to fade and for him to continue to sleep.

It was perfect timing because I have been sick and very exhausted. Thank goodness I have only had to get up to take care of myself. It is amazing how much better you feel when you sleep more than three hours in a row. I am such a sleep person. Always have been. While in high school, I used to talk to my friend Becky on the phone at 8:30 and then we would go to bed! I need my sleep and even worse, so does Alan. We have been VERY grumpy around our house for awhile and thank the mysterious Sleep Moster for a new found love! SLEEP. I am so excited to go to bed because I used to dread the night time. GOOD NIGHT!

Christmas Adventures

Saturday was a very busy day. We started with a brunch at my Mom's house where Santa showed up bringing gifts for each of the kids. Carden did not want anything to do with Santa and even told me to take back the present he gave him. (He is my strong willed litttle guy right now). Max had no idea what was going on but at least he did not cry on Santa's lap.

Next we headed down to Lindon to ride a miniature train to Santa's work shop. It was sooooo much fun. We watched the Polar Express movie while we waited our turn and then rode the train. It is very Christ centered and I left feeling the spirit of Chirstmas. It is a free activity and well worth the drive! We will definatley do it next year. It was very organized and the kids were SOOOOOO good. Check it out. http://www.stringtown.us/.

Alan stayed home with Max because he has been sick. I ended up in the instacare on Saturday night with him only to discover he had Pink Eye.

I can't believe Christmas is a week and one day away. Guess we should start our shopping. I mean, Alan should start our shopping. He has done it every year and I am VERY happy about that.

Oh, Christmas Tree

First, let me give my sister, Megan (Mimi) a HUGE thank you for helping Carden buy ornaments to decorate his own Christmas tree. It is his "Utah" tree. We cut down two trees the day after Thanksgiving with Alan's brother, John and his wife April. So, a HUGE thank you to them for letting us tag along. This year was much easier. We did not have to hike for hours and I was not eight months pregnant. I just had Max on my hip instead. Our tree may not be the most beautiful tree. It actually is not beautiful at all. But it had MEANING! It has ornaments Alan made starting in the 70's and other random things we have collected over the years.

Viva La Revolucion!

Once again, Alan created a trip for us to take. We started in San Diego where Jer and Suz Strong picked us up. We headed straight to Sea World. It was fun but the Polar Bear, Sharks, and Mantatees were closed. There was only a Shamu show at 2:30 so by the time we got there, Carden was exhausted. He fell asleep and we couldn't wake him until after he opened his eyes for two seconds and happened to see the whale jump in the air. Soon, he was wide awake. He loved it.

We then headed into Las Gaviotos, Mexico and stayed in a beach house. We met up with Matt and Bree Strong, and John and Heather Lake. It was beautiful but a little chilly. We had a fire going in the fire place most the time and I did not break out the flip flops.

We had some locals come and make some authentic food that was DELICIOUS!

We did get our swimsuits out but it was for an evening soak in the hot tub. When we got out it was POURING rain. We ran to the house in streams of water flowing down the street.

All the guys went surfing a few times (that was the main reason for the trip). We went into the little town nearby and bargained for Bubaloo (Gum) and some candies. We also had a lobster dinner that was delicious! We played shuffle board and just hung out all weekend.

Getting back into San Diego for our flight was a great adventure! Thank goodness we fed the kids some food before leaving. We thought it would be an hour or so at the most. When we got to the border, it was taped off with police tape. The second entrance was also. We spent many hours, yes HOURS, in line waiting to get out of the country. Almost four! I am thankful to be an American! We bought handmade churros, roasted corn, and coke from the street vendors while waiting. The kids watched many movies and Susie and I realized how much our husbands are alike! We sure do miss the Strongs...a lot! It was soooo much fun being with them. We made it past the border just in time to hit up an In and Out Burger. We then raced to the airport. We made our flight and came home to our Max. We missed him very much. Thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa for tending! It was nice to have one child on a trip.

Back to the real world! Without a cell phone that is. I left it in Mexico! OOPS! I have not heard the end of that one from my honey! SORRY> Guess we will just have to go back!

We are greatful for wonderful friends and for where we live. We are so blessed and look forward to the next few weeks of holiday parties and time spent with family and friends.

Maxxy Moo

Maxxy,
WE LOVE YOU!!!!! You are soooo cute and adorable. I honestly think you are the cutest baby I have ever seen! You look like the Gerber baby and lately an old man missing his dentures. You got a tooth yesterday! YAH, great job. It only took almost 11 months and you are confused by what it is. You suck your lips in and bite down most the day. You are an eating machine these days! You eat more than Carden sometimes and he eats A LOT! You love spicy food. Anything on my plate looks yummy even if it is your food so I feed you with my utentsials.

I think sometimes you may be happier if you would start crawling soon. You are getting more interested in the world around you. Instead if crawling, you roll. Mostly to get to me! I actually think it may be a good thing you can't crawl yet because you would be on my heals every second (instead of my hip). I try to give you alone time each day and you are getting much better!

SLEEP! WOW! I have not heard from you in the middle of the night for months. You are sleeping very well. Better than your brother!

You wave bye bye, clap your hands everytime you see Daddy, play Patty Cake, say "Ma MA", shake your head no, love a sippy cup, still like your binky, hate your carseat, kick kick kick in the tubby, give great kisses, and cuddle every morning in bed with me while Daddy showers. You are still on Myralax three times a day and we get excited everytime the phone rings it might be the GI Dr. saying they had a cancelation and we can get in earleir than January! We'll keep praying.

We adore you Maxwell and enjoy your sweet spirit!

Jersey Boy

Oh Carden,
"These are your words."

You have made me laugh out loud more than once today! I love it. After attending cousin Travis' basketball game with Grandma and Grandpa on Saturday, you are "into it". It just so happens I also bought you a sweat shirt last week with Champs written on the top with a 90 on it. You now insist on wearing your "jersey for the grey team" every day! SICK!!!! I always heard about these moments and felt horrible for the parents that had to touch their kids in dirty nasty clothes. You had a tubby tonight and are back in your "jersey clothes" asleep in your bed along with your blue socks because "jersey boys do not wear white socks".

You may ask how to "play jersey"? Well, it is very simple. You throw a ball and run back and forth, back and forth. I have to cheer "like grandma does" and you race around with a giant grin on your face. You may very well be content if I sat on the couch for 10 hours and cheered for you while we "played jersey". Max thinks it is great and laughs his heart out. He is now cheering too by clapping his hands and yelling.

I must admit there are days I have to go into the bathroom, take MANY deep breaths and still try to avoid you for a few minutes. You have a VERY strong personality. You use very complex words for a two year old and sometimes I wonder where you get them from. The other day you had some friends over and became so upset it made me worry. You kept telling me you were "nervous". Finally, you went to bed. It was 11:30 in the morning. Great job removing yourself from the situation. But I had to go out and tell your friends your play date was over because you were asleep. Later that day when Max started fussing a little, you said "Oh no, now Max is getting anxious!"

I Love you buddy! Thanks for making me laugh and please be patient with me as I learn to be patient with you!

My Mom sent me an email the other day and I thought I would share it! Thanks MOM! I love you more and more everyday! (Thanks to my own kids).


Abby....I know how frustrated you are with my darling grandson but I know this is just a phase and he will pass through it soon. You are an unbelieveable mother...so patient,so loving, and give so much extra time and planning to your children's lives. They are so lucky to have you. Today I was going through my Christmas stuff just looking for a poem to put on my calendar Christmas letter and came across this and it brought tears to my eyes. Hope it gives you so encouragement. And by the way, you will sleep again someday.

Love you so much...mom

'Two and a Half"

Hold him a little longer,
Rock him a little more.
Tell him another story(You've only told him four),
Let him sleep on your shoulder,
Rejoice in his happy smile,
He is only two and a half
For such a little while!!

Author Unknown

No Comment!

The GooD, the GREAT, the bAd, and the UgLy!

What is a blog anyway? My sister and I were talking the other day about how crazy blogs can be. We just seem to put all the happy moments down and fail to put the tough moments into words. I think sometimes we try to show how perfect our lives are when in reality we are all conquering similar struggles which help us to become what we really are and hope to become. I would really love to read a little more about others’ real lives! Come on people…. do not be afraid to show who you really are!

I always try to avoid putting anything negative on our blog. I guess I just do not want to seem like I am complaining. But then I leave out some of the real important things happening in our lives. I am going to try and be more clear and detailed about our daily story. After all, OUR blog is for OUR family anyway. It needs to be reality so in 20 years when my kids read it, they see the REAL Pohlman family. I believe they can learn a lot from our experiences. Good and bad! So I guess that is what our blog is. The good, the great, the bad, and the ugly!

I bet people can’t wait for our next blog post! Ha Ha!

October Days

Let's start off with Halloween. Many of you that know Carden, know how much he loves hot dogs. Not eating them but rather singing about them. When asked about what he wanted to be for Halloween, we always got the same answer, "A hot dog!". Alan and I found a hot dog costume at Old Navy for infants. With the help of Alan's brother, Paul, it was adjusted to fit a two year old. Thanks Uncle Paul! I think it is GREAT! I still laugh every time I see pictures.
Max was a Monkey, Alan was a, Hmmmm, I am not sure, and I was a flapper.

It was a jammed packed day. We went to Alan's work, Alan's parents' for dinner, and then my parents for my Mom's witch brew show. She has been dressing up for more than 25 years and people come to her neighborhood just to see her. Aunt Mimi made the cutest pumpkin cake! She made two bundt cakes, put them together, and put Ding Dongs on the top for the stem. Carden thought it was his birthday so we had to sing Happy Birthday!

Happy Halloween!

I found Carden the other day with his Easter basket on his head! He was playing baseball in the back yard and the basket was his helmet. He was also wearing his pajama tops because he only wants to wear his jammies ALL DAY! It took some serious negotiating to get him to put pants on to go outside. He has the best imagination.

Max is still not crawling and I love it! He also does not have any teeth! I am hoping they all come in at once. He is ten months old next week! WOW! Can I just say one more time, he is my CUDDLE bug. He will sit on my lap for hours and just give me hugs and kisses! I LOVE IT! No wonder he is not crawling. He is always cuddling.

It's Fall Ya'll

Yep, it is officially fall. Last week even seemed like winter. I must admit I was not excited when I saw snow on the ground. I do not like that feeling you get when it is cold outside. You know, where your bones ache and it is a 20 minute process just to get clothes on to go outside.

The past few weeks have been wonderful. We went to get pumpkins at a patch. I haven't really ever bought pumpkins before. The pumpkin I wanted was $20. Are you kidding me?!!!!! Alan explained they are a lot cheaper at the stores. He was right! We bought a few small pumpkins for the boys and waited to buy the larger ones for carving at the grocery store.

We went to Eden last weekend with some of Alan's family. Carden and Alan spent a lot of time making a fort. It was huge. We love that place and the traditions we have already started there. Alan and Carden love to hunt for golf balls and 41 seems to be the lucky number they always find. They enjoy going on motorcycle rides searching for animals and eating a whole pan of rice krispie treats.
Finally, when it was cold outside, Carden and I started a new art project. We paint and then the paint turns into stickers to hang on the windows. It has been great! The paint peels off of every thing it gets on and Carden loves waiting for it to dry.

Random Thoughts...and Pictures

Zoo Time

I thought I would share some of our favorite things from the first real zoo season for our family. This year the Zoo had a White Alligator. It was freaky looking. Carden's favorite part was the baby alligators. We loved watching them grow through the season. We also LOVED the elephant show, Kettle Corn, and my favorite, the baby orangutan. Here are a few pictures from our last Zoo day. Can you tell Carden is sick of pictures?

Last night we ran to Wheeler Farm for all of 30 minutes to check it out. It was a beautiful night! What a fun place! We will be going back soon to take advantage of the many other things to do there. Of course, I remember the camera only to have it shut off after three pictures because the batteries were dead!

Can you believe Maxwell's eyes? He is my blue eyed baby boy!

Finally, a few pictures of Carden and his best friend Amber. He loves her soooo much and often starts his mornings asking where she is. He has missed her the past week as vacations and the death of Trisha's sister has kept them apart. Finally, yesterday Trisha let Amber come and play for a few hours and Carden was soooo giddy. Trisha could hear him yelling when she pulled into the driveway because he was so excited. We love the Deming Family and wish them comfort and peace at this time of sorrow!

Go UTES????????

What the world? Can they really be that bipolar? One week we are awesome the next week it is embarrassing! Alan and I went down to Vegas...without the boys. It was fabulous. Alan drove down with the bros on Thursday and I flew down with my Mom, Dad, and my sister on Friday. It was a great trip minus the U game. That was really BORING!!!!!!!!!!!! We mostly ate... a lot. Cheesecake Factory, In and Out Burger, a Buffet. All the Vegas spots. I was so happy to have my Dad with us but it was hard on him. He was a trooper! His eyes do not make tears anymore so he has to put drops in about every 10 minutes and ice his eyes. He sat through the game with a sweatshirt over his head to block the wind and had to wear a mask for the flight. He is soooooooo amazing. I admire him more than anyone else in the world. We also had our own personal chauffeur. Megan's friend, Robb, drove us around Vegas and did a great job. Even with us all yelling at him from the backseat. We only circled around the city a few times everytime we needed to get somewhere..... Just kidding Robb! I would love to share some photos of the weekend but when you leave the kids home, you pack light. I mean really light! I am bummed I did not bring the camera but it was nice to only have my bag to carry. Oh, and my pump, and the cooler for the milk. Once you have kids, they seem to never leave your side. Even when you are 400 miles away!

I HUGE THANK YOU to Alan's Mom and Dad for taking the boys for the weekend. Can I just say how much we love living by family? I know many people enjoy living away but I can honestly say there has not been one day I did not thank the Lord we live so close to family. Carden loves his Gramdma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, aunts, uncles, and cousins so much. I am so grateful he knows them and they have seen him grow up. He had a great time with the family and again, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for being soooooo helpful!

Good Bye Diapers, Hello Potty

Can it really be that easy? Carden is potty trained and we are loving it. Apparently he was ready because it has been very easy for him. I am so proud of him. We have had a few hilarious moments and have actually enjoyed the process. Why does it seem like he grew up last week? Maybe it is folding the tiny undies in the dryer, the little knocks on our bedroom door in the night asking to use the potty, or him asking if we would like him to potty train Max. I am having one of those days were I can almost cry because life is racing by us too fast. Max is now 8 months old as of yesterday. He says "Ma Ma", shakes his head "No No" and has NO desire to crawl. He hates his tummy and is content just sitting and watching everything going on around him. He LOVES to cuddle and I cherish every time he snuggles into my shoulder. I love being a Mom and I am so grateful Alan works so hard so I can be with my boys all day long.
Happy Potty Days!

Potty Advise?

So I decided to attempt to potty train Carden. I have heard the basics....stay home for three days, do it when they are ready, etc. I would love to receive ANY advice fr0m all of you experienced potty trainers. Pull-ups, no pull-ups, what to do at night, rewards, whatever you think would help.

Bear Country

Alan talked us into going up to Yellowstone for the weekend. We had a blast. It was so fun to see Carden get excited about the animals and once again, Max was along for the ride happy as could be. We also hung out with Les Hopkins and Bart and Gayle, which was a lot of fun. I must admit it is tough traveling with a toddler and an infant, but always worth it. Just as it seems we will spend a little time at home, my honey comes up with another adventure for us to embark on.

I had so share this picture of Max in his outfit Nana bought for him at one of the shops. We talked my parents and sister into coming with us. It was so fun to have them with us.

Welcomed Season

As you can see, it was an exciting morning around here. Alan's dream come true with his Utah boys! The first game is tonight and I am not sure if Alan is more excited about the game or the fact we have been married 7 years today. Happy Anniversary Honey! I love you so much.

Big Accomplishment

We took all of the grandkids on Alan's side to have their pictures taken. We actually got a really cute one. It was a great accomplishment!

I also got a few with Carden and Max!

As far as sleep goes. It worked!!!!!!!!!!! For four nights straight. I was amazed. But the past two nights he has been up. Whatever!!!! I am used to it now. He only gets up for a few minutes and he has been staying in his bed. However, every morning now he says "I had good sleepies last night." He does not even know he gets up in the night. I love him so much with or without sleep! Just look at him picking his nose!

SLEEP STRUGGLES ANYONE?

This post is dedicated to all of you dealing with little ones giving you fits when it comes to any sort of sleep time! I have spent the last few months TRAINING Maxwell to sleep. It took some work and a lot of guilt but we have been successful. However, Carden has been so difficult when it comes to sleeping through the night. Usually around 3:00 a.m. we hear him crying and some gibberish talk followed by banging on the door. We have tried sleep charts, rewards, praise, punishment, etc. I have checked out books at the library and asked everyone I know what to do. He has always been an excellent sleeper (which I do take credit for).

My new plan…. (ya right, another attempt at sanity)
Earlier wake time. Earlier nap time. Earlier bed time. Yesterday was the first attempt. IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!! Now it may be a fluke but I am happy to have received 6.5 hours of straight sleep last night! It felt great. I was reading a few blogs and noticed so many of our friends are dealing with the same thing. I had to laugh. It is nice to know, Rossi Family, we were not the only ones with our lights on at 4:30 a.m. Max woke but went back down after only a few minutes. However, I had had over six hours of sleep. That is rare and so my body was not going to go back to sleep. I thought maybe I should go to the gym. However, it is not open at that time of the……morning…..or is it still night? So I RESTED in my bed and actually fell back asleep at 5:30 only to have cute Max wake for his morning feeding at 5:45. So, off to the gym I went after all.

Isn’t it nice to know many other lights are on around your neighborhood at 1:00, 3:00, or even 4:30 a.m.? No one is alone in the not so simply task of teaching our children to sleep.

SWEET DREAMS!

Summer Lovin'

I am so sad tonight because we just arrived home from our last summer trip we had planned. Can it really be fall soon? We spent the weekend in Eden with my whole family and the Whitney family. We had a great time. Swimming, motorcycle rides, hot tubbing, reminiscing about the good old days on Aplomado Drive, disciplining the children :(, frog catching, hot air balloons, BBQ's, snake training, and sooo much more. We had a great time and the kids were pretty good all things considered. I was bummed because many of our activities were cancelled because of the weather but we still had great times. We did not get any pictures but Bobbie took some of the kids so I will post those when I get them. I can't believe we did not get the camera out. We love the Whitneys and hope this tradition continues for years to come.

Happy 24th

Why does it seem summer is almost over? Maybe it was the big rain storm we had yesterday or the slight drop in temperature. Or possibly the summer holidays coming to an end. Or even the fact that I saw Halloween decorations in the store. Whatever it is, it has been a wonderful summer and I hope we can make the best of the last few weeks of HOT weather. We really need to use our pool pass up. As you can see, Alan made some new posts. We got some great photos this past week and had to share them. I find it funny how I will grab my camera more often because I see the kids doing something and think "That would be a great blog moment." Happy 24th! We are happy to live in this great state and love being so close to family and friends we love so much!

Viva La Revolucion!

Alan went on a surf trip to Mexico a few weeks ago with a some good surfing buddies (J-Bull Strong, Matt Strong and Mr. John Lake - aka Johnie Utah). This was just a prelude to many surf trips and family vacations to come, when the Revolucion begins and we have a vacation cottage south of the border.

Viva Los Gaviotas! Viva La Revolucion!!

What's the Buzz?

We finally did it! We buzzed Carden and now wonder why we did not do it sooner. No more crazy hair or wasting time trying to make him look decent. Alan broke down and shaved his head also. I LOVE IT! Also, he actually let me do it. I have never cut hair in my life and swore to his Mom I never would. Well, I am now the new barber in the house. The summer cuts look great.

Cowabunga Dude!

Bear Lake 2007

Check out Carden Kneeboarding!

We had a great time boating, eating icecream and shakes, golfing and hanging out with the family.

Good times were had by all.

Alan