CANCUN

We recently returned from Cancun, Mexico. We were spoiled with sunshine, all you can eat buffets whenever you want, unlimited kayaking, sailing, swimming, and soft sand. We had a room on the bottom floor looking out to the ocean. The boys loved playing in the sand, swinging in the hammocks, going down the waterslides, and swimming in the pool. They were also spoiled with an icecream cone at lunch almost everyday. We enjoyed this beautiful place with Janice and Delwin and Derick, Niesja, and Ethan. Despite the 4 year age gap, I think Landon and Ethan had a lot of fun playing together. One day Ryan, Derick, Niesja, and I left the kids with grandma and grandpa and went to Chichen Itza. We were amazed at the pyramids and the life that the Mayans lived. So advanced, yet so primitive. I just can't understand why a civilization would think that cutting off each others head and killing each other would be pleasing to God. Craziness! Here's some pictures of our adventures....

Sharp Family 2009

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Fun Stages!

I have to say I am really enjoying the ages of my boys right now. Landon is a little over 3 and Zachary is 20 months. A couple weeks ago Landon started preschool 3 days a week which has really changed the relationship between him and Zacky. Instead of getting bored with each other which turns into pestering and fighting, they now are super excited to see each other after their seperation and they play great. Zachary still isn't talking a whole lot, but Landon loves to ask him questions and they still manage to carry on a conversation. For example, this morning they were in the tub and Landon asked Zachary to show him one of his bruises. Zachary points to his toe and grunts. Landon says, "Oh, that's a nice bruise on your toe. Do you have another bruise?" Zachary then points to his arm and grunts again. And on it goes until they run out of bruises to show. Not that they really have very many bruises, but they count every little scrape or discoloring of the skin as a bruise. They love to play trucks or cars and throw balls around. Landon has also been very protective. We went miniature golfing with some friends the other day and the little girl that's Landon's age kept taking Zachary's ball away. This made Landon very upset and he would start crying until we got the ball back to Zachary. At home, he always waits for Zachary to get in the elevator first when we go down to our car and he'll get mad at me and tell me to stop and wait for Zachary if I'm walking a little to fast. It's so fun to see them playing and getting along so well. Hopefully, they'll keep it up and be best friends forever.

Exercise, Planes, and Utah

Hooray for me! With Ryan home while the boys were napping I was able to get myself to the gym today. I keep telling myself that my walks with the boys and twice a week kettle ball workout is enough, but something(maybe the way my pants keep feeling tighter) tells me it's not. We just booked a trip to Cancun in November so my goal is to get my butt, abs, and thighs looking a little firmer over the next 4 months. You would think it would be easier to do this during the summer, but for me it's not. I'm used to exercising with the kids in the stroller in the middle of the day, but the heat kind of ruins my plans. We also don't feel like hiking, rollerblading, or biking when it's too hot. Which leaves swimming, the gym, and my exercise videos. Not the wide variety that I prefer, but still possible and I'm making a goal now to work harder and be more disciplined.

Anyway, we returned from a quick trip to Utah about a week ago. We were able to fly (thanks to air miles) and now Landon keeps asking when we can go to the airport again. Notice I said airport and not airplane. Because we used air miles we had a lovely layover in Phoenix for three hours where the boys had a blast riding the moving walkways over and over again. I'm just glad the airport was somewhat empty. They were fascinated with how fast they could walk on them and Zachary threw a fit when we finally had to go catch our plane. The plane was cool for the first 30 minutes or so to Landon, but it didn't even compare to the walkways. While in Utah we went to Bryan's farewell. It was fun to see a lot of my extended family that I haven't seen in a couple years. All my little cousins are getting so big. We also went to two water parks. One with my family and one with Ryan's family. We had fun playing in the shallow pools and going down a couple water slides. Zachary couldn't get enough of the slide. As soon as he reached the water at the end of the slide he started pointing and grunting to go again. Good thing daddy was so willing. We had a great trip and look forward to seeing more family when we go again in September, right after my brother, Jeff returns from his mission.

Dating

Last night for the bishops youth fireside the Bishop talked to the young men and young women about dating and gave them all a copy of April's New Era that is full of amazing advice. I took some extras to give to the young women that didn't make it and set them on the table when I got home. This morning during breakfast Landon started asking about the magazine cover that has a boy with a rose in his hand and he's knocking on a door. I started to explain to him a little about dating and how when he turns 16 he can go on group dates and then when he's older he can date to find a girl that he wants to marry in the temple. He got really excited and jumped off his chair and ran to tell Ryan, who was just waking up, that when he turns 16 he can marry mom in the temple. It was really cute. I was surprised that he was so interested in learning what dating was. I know he has a long time before 16, but I'm going to keep this issue on the book shelf in case something like this isn't made again. I think it answers curious teenagers questions really well and it has everything from "What's so Special about 16?" to "What makes a person Datable?" and in the back is a fun list of cheap dates that I think Ryan and I should try out.

Swimming

It finally warmed up enough to go swimming and we have been loving it. Ryan was home sick with a nasty earache most of the week so when Zachary would go down for his nap Landon and I went out to enjoy the pool. Landon did good at staying on the steps or at least close to the steps with his tube on so I was able to do some laps, which felt wonderful. I wish I could do that everyday, but as I found out today, it's not possible when I take Zachary. Ryan wasn't home today, but with it reaching 80 degrees we just couldn't resist so we all went to the pool. Zachary didn't like being in the water much so I spent most of my time chasing him around while trying to keep an eye on Landon doing laps back and forth in his tube.
Landon started swim lessons this week and he loved it. He was smiling and laughing the whole time. His teacher was really good. He even got him to float on his back without much fuss which is amazing because he never lets me lean him back. Even when we wash his hair he has to hold his head forward. I thought maybe we had reached a new phase so I tried to help him float on his back like the teacher did, but he refused. I guess I don't have the right touch. He's signed up for the next 3 months so it will be fun to see what else he learns and hopefully he'll start to use the skills he learns in our own pool.

Happy 3rd Birthday Landon

Now that I have a couple pictures I'll back up to Landon's birthday on May 7th. He was extremely excited to have a party. Almost everyday he would talk about the balloons, cake, friends, and presents that would be at his party. About a month before his party I let him go to the party store and pick out a theme. He chose to go with Diego. The day of his birthday he woke up and wanted to have his party immediately. It was really hard for him to wait until the evening. However, we did get him some helium balloons that him and Zachary had a lot of fun with.
Because our house is a little too small for a bunch of guests we chose to do the party at a park. The kids had fun throwing rocks in the river, hitting the pinata, and playing together. Thank You to all those who came to celebrate with us. It's been a couple weeks now and Landon still talks about his party. He also knows the sequence of our families birthdays so he keeps saying, " it's daddy's turn next, then Zachary's, then Mommy's and then mine".

Success!

Landon is doing extremely well with the whole potty training thing. He's only had one accident since we started and it was on the first day so that's to be expected. We are at the close of day 3 and he has been going by himself without any help for the past day and a half. We even went to the store and to the park today. When we came out of the store he shouted, "Hooray! I didn't pee in the store, Mom!" We were both very happy about that. Hopefully, he'll keep it up.

Potty Training

I've been telling Landon for the last month that after he turns 3 I'm going to teach him how to use the potty and we're going to throw away his diapers. He hasn't liked this idea very much and has insisted that we throw away his underwear instead, but his birthday was Friday so I stuck to my word and we started potty training today. If any of you remember, I tried to potty train him one other time when he was 20 months, because of a book I read that said that was the ideal age, but it ended up being a nightmare and we've been scared to do it ever since. I was thinking today that I totally skipped age 2 when most people try to potty train which is a little weird, but I just never found a good time and Landon kept insisting on wearing diapers so I didn't push it. Diapers are too easy. Anyway, we started by taking off his last diaper and trying to put on underwear, but he didn't want anything to do with the undies so we put clothes on without anything. Half way through the day he decided he didn't want clothes on either because "it was too hard to go potty" so he ran around naked until bedtime. We made it through the day without any messes, but the first two times he needed to go he said he wanted to take a bath before he went so he ended up going in the tub. I thought we were going to go the whole day without making it in the potty until tonight when I heard the magic words, "mommy I need to go potty" and he went to the toilet and went. Not even a dribble. He was so happy. He kept saying, "I'm doing it mom!" Now we'll have to see how the night goes. The book I read says to do night time training at the same time, but I wasn't sure I was up to it so I bought some "night-time underwear", but he insists on NOT wearing it or any pajamas. BUT at least I talked him into putting on some underwear to sleep in. I'm confident he'll get it soon. This has been a much more pleasant experience than the first time. I don't think I'll ever try at 20 months again.

Sick mom with sick kids

Just when I thought we would make it through the winter without getting the flu...we go it! It's been a horrible week of throw-up, crying, and sleepless nights. I hate feeling totally drained. Especially, when I have kids that want extra love and care because their not feeling well. Zachary wanted me to stand up and hold him non-stop most of the week, but while I was sick I only had the energy to hold him lying down. Because this is not how he wanted to be held he would cry and wouldn't give up until he was tired enough to take another nap. Poor Landon ended up watching way to many Dora shows. I'll probably have to have a week of weaning him off T.V. now. Today the boys and I are feeling better. They are still a little more tired than usual and have a bad cough, but none of the other stuff. However, now dad is not feeling well so I'm afraid we may have a few more days of this. I'm really sick of having a sick family, but it does make me even more grateful for good health. We can't wait to be able to get out and be around people again.

6th Anniversary

Thanks to my sister, Ryan and I were able to leave the kids and enjoy some time together as we celebrated our 6th anniversary. We started the night off by going out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse where we enjoyed eating without the constant struggle of keeping kids seated and quiet. Then we headed to San Francisco to stay the night. When we first arrived we thought we must have gotten one of the best rooms that looked down into the streets of some of best places to shop, but it didn't take long to realize that we would have traded for an inside room away from the street noise. The windows of the old San Francisco buildings are so thin it sounds like you have the windows open and so we were awakened throughout the night with people yelling and cars honking. It reminded us of when we went to Italy for our second Anniversary. Despite the noise and lousy sleep we still were excited the next morning to go to Angel Island. We went to Tiburon to catch the ferry and had a wonderful time biking around the island and enjoying the views of the city and Golden Gate Bridge. Afterwards, we had to rush back home for Ryan put out a little business "fire". Then we went to the mall and had way too much fun shopping without kids.

Mess Makers

I wish I knew how to arrange my pictures. They don't seem to move where I want them to go. Oh well! To the right is Landon showing me his sad or tired face. Sometimes when I say, "show me your happy face, " he gives me a sad face. Silly boy. Also, to the right is Landon with Grandma Bowen. We were lucky to have her come stay for a few days. It had been awhile since we've been to Utah so we're glad she came to see us. And Below are the MESS MAKERS. Ryan always sings the song, "Mess makers, mess makers, make me a mess". It's working because they sure are good at making messes together. Here, they found the ovaltine container and spilled it all over the floor. They had fun making the mess for the few minutes I stepped out of the room, but didn't have so much fun when I locked them in their room so I could get it cleaned up. The smell was horrible. I should give Landon a little credit for trying to clean it up though. He ran into to tell me he had made a mess. I told him like I usually do that he better clean it up or he'll be put in time out (not knowing what kind of a mess he made). When I went to check if he was cleaning it up he was on his hands and knees with a towel swishing it back and forth. He probably was trying to wipe it up, but in reality was just spreading it all over the floor and into the cracks of the hardwood.

Happy Birthday Zachary

It's hard to believe, but, Yes, Zachary really is a year old. We celebrated his birthday yesterday by going to the Childrens Discovery Museum in San Jose and having some really yummy chocolate, brownie birthday cake. Zachary and Landon both had so much fun exploring the museum that they fell asleep as soon as they got in the car and didn't even wake up when we moved them into their beds. This hardly ever happens.
A year ago Zachary surprised us by coming 5 weeks early. We were told he could be a few months behind until he reached 2, but we haven't noticed that he is slow in any way. The first couple months he slept almost non-stop, but since then he's seemed to keep up with his age pretty well. He is now a really fast crawler. He can stand without help and is getting close to walking without help. He loves stairs and will go up when you say, "up" and come down when you say, "down". He loves to play with phones and will put the phone to his ear and babble. He says mom and dad, Uh-oh, hi, and tries to say many other words but few could understand. He is fascinated with lids and will play with a container that has a lid for minutes(longer than any other toy). He loves his dad and gets upset if he doesn't get a hug when daddy comes home. He's getting good at throwing fits and will start screaming and fling himself to the floor if Landon takes his toy or I take something away he shouldn't have. He loves food and most of the time will eat more than Landon. His favorite food is cooked zucchini. We love this little guy and are so glad to have him in our family. He loves to laugh and makes us smile many times throughout the day.