What My Autumn has Brought Me

I just wanted to share a little bit of what this great season in my life has brought to me recently. Namely: Joy, smiles, fun, patience, understanding, humility and lots of fun. Here's some pics of my sweet family.

This was our Avengers Reunion we had a few weeks ago. Polo looked forward to it for months and insisted that he not only be Batman (we have nearly every other superhero costume already in our home- just not that one!) but that he be the BLUE Batman! Thank you Amazon.com for carrying such things at such great prices and helping me make a priceless little hero! Oh and there's Superman in his Clark Kent disguise! I was planning to be She-Hulk but never really made it around to a good costume so- there.

We blessed Wesley the Sunday after the reunion and it was awesome to have so many from both of our families come and support us in this.

Thanks to Lene we didn't have to buy a blessing outfit- or so we thought. Wesley is growing at an amazing rate up there in the 95th percentile! Needless to say, he was busting out of his cute little tux and pants and they came off right after the blessing. (at least he didn't have a blow-out in them) So we have no pictures of him in the actual suit- but these are the pictures of the feeling we all felt that day! See how happy we all are?!

Here's my superman again- thanks Pinterest!

Who knew a mohawk could grow so perfectly? He'll never have to do his hair- ever! All I ever do is dry it with a towel and then it spikes up like this! Uncle D has lovingly nicknamed him Spike.

And sometimes Spike gets so tired that he just can't take it anymore. He has learned to roll over and then tries to move but inevitably inches backwards- which really makes him mad- and tired apparently!

And this is my ninja. He is reading and writing stuff getting smarter every day. He often talks to me about how he's going to have a wife someday and have some kids so we've been discussing what kinds of things he will need to do for his "beautiful wife". He's going to be really good at it when he finally gets there! Good thing I have a few years left with his sweet little ninja face!

If nothing ever changes, then nothing ever changes!

Have you ever thought of this? If nothing ever changes, then nothing ever changes!!! Well my mom has! She saw it on a bumper sticker and shared it with Rene who shared it with me. How crazy is the notion that if nothing ever changes- everything will stay the same? Not so crazy right. In fact it makes perfect sense. So instead of fearing the change that is coming in life, I have had to learn to embrace it as steps on a journey to a destination which won't be much of a destination at all, but rather another step in my long journey home. And after all, it's not where I get in life- but what I learn while getting there that's going to help me in the hereafter. I've run into some great advice from friends and family lately- great advice and great attitudes.
I guess you could say I tend to fall on the negative side of things. I'm more of a "glass half empty" kind of gal when it comes to my life- and yet when it comes to others' lives and outside situations I have a rather sunny view. Figure that out would ya? No really- what's wrong with me? But I guess that's what friends and family are for: that outside sunny perspective. So instead of focusing on the winter chill I am realizing that if I don't get through the winter first- I can never get back to summer.

And I guess life will be like that forever and ever- cycling seasons throwing me and my family through change and teaching us the wisdom of each in its own time. And if I was thinking it was hard before I am now realizing that I was perhaps in the early stages of autumn (which I particularly love as a season- and has brought me so many joys as a time of life) and barely heading into a long winter. For all of you who may watch this show... "The Starks are always right eventually- winter is coming".
So am I ready? Am I prepared for a long winter? I think to myself that perhaps I am not, but then I change the question to this: "Will I make it through alive, in tact, married, happy, and better off for having lived through it" and my answer is: absolutely. So though I may not think myself ready for certain things to change in my life I am certainly ready for change! Because if nothing ever changes, nothing ever changes!

Easter Eggs

So I didn't get any pictures of us actually coloring the eggs- I was too busy! But Polo picked his very own coloring kits this year and it had silly stickers in it. Jake did two eggs- you'll know it when you see them (Mr. Artistic!) and I did the marbled eggs with a kit of my own. We went a little commercial this year but it was fun any way! Oh and the Easter Bunny did come visit us and he brought Polo a figurine of the Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and Raphael's sais and mask (Ninja turtles). He was so excited he could hardly wait to leave church so he could go home and play with them! (Seriously Primary was a disaster and he just wanted to go home. Next year we're going to ask if the Easter Bunny can come on Friday night!) It was fun and now we have lots of boiled eggs to eat!

The Rock- aka Dwayne Johnson - everyone (who won't be at priesthood session this Saturday) tune in to watch him face the extra handsome John Cena!

This is the HULK!

Loved how the marble effect turned out!

Lots of silly faces!

Polo the Handsome

Ok so I guess we always knew Polo was extremely handsome. Ever since he was born he's been that "pretty" boy! And he got to be a part of his Uncle Brad and Aunt Lindsay's wedding last month. It was awesome!
The only problem was that he hated his boutennier and wanted to take it off- and he did! (as soon as he finished walking down that aisle!) He was very proud of his brand new white shirt and awesome green bowtie. Thanks Uncle Brad and Aunt Lindsay for letting him be a part of it all! And Congratulations!

4 Weeks Today!

At the request of his Auntie Rene- here are some pics of our newest little Wesley!



Gonna get a better shot of this when he can hold still a little better- or maybe when he's sleeping!


Can you believe this?!

This is what happens to Grandpa when he comes to our house :)

He absolutely loves bath-time. He loves the water running on his head and over his eyes- it's adorable.

He doesn't usually cry when Grandma holds him- he loves Gram & Papa!

1 Week old

Well we are just so proud of our new little guy that I have to post some more pictures. We have enjoyed watching Polo love his little brother and be overly protective of him. And he loves to give him kisses too.

Happy to push Wes in the swing until our batteries come in the mail!

Who knows if he really likes his swing...

Playing Ninjagos on the floor!

Reading in my hope chest.

His hair only looks like this right after the bath. It's my favorite. Then as time goes on it forms itself into this awesome natural mohawk that I can do nothing about. I was never a fan of mohawks- but this one is completely adorable.

Polo loves to play by his brother which I'm sure Wesley will appreciate- someday :)We love our boys! We are so blessed to have these little joys in our lives. We are so looking forward to whatever today brings!

Wesley James Afuvai

Here he is! This is our new little guy Wesley James. He was born on the 6th of March (let me put in a little plug here that I went all natural on this one- no epidural, no nothing! Ok enough about my small success.) My huge success is that this little guy weighed 8 lb 11 oz and was 21.5 inches long! I started labor in my sleep around 2 am and so we headed to the hospital and got there after four only to wait 6 more hours to see our little guy. And he is beautiful and has tons of long dark hair. He is healthy and happy and adorable and we love him so much. Polo is already an amazingly good, protective and concerned big brother. He's just plain awesome. We love our boys!

100 Piece Puzzle

Ok so if I'm totally honest I have no idea how to cultivate a mind as bright as my son's. He's such a smart little guy and he's so wonderful. One thing he loves to do is puzzles. We picked up a load of puzzles at the Dollar Store featuring all sorts of Marvel heroes. Some are 25 pieces- which take him about five minutes to put together, and some are 100 pieces- which take him about a half an hour. There is one that he's been able to do for a long time but I never thought much of it because it has twelve or so different images on it and he put it together accordingly. Turns out that's the perfect skill for piecing puzzles! When he finally put together this puzzle back in September all by himself (I didn't hand him one single piece or tell him where to put it)we were so proud of him. He separates the pieces out by color and/or character and then completes them one at a time. If he finds a piece that might fit he puts it in one spot and turns it in all directions to try to get it to fit. If it doesn't work he tries another pieces. Working spot by spot and piece by piece he has become a master of puzzles. We are so proud of our little Smartie-Pants!

That tongue comes out during concentration time! Oh and he never even looks at that smaller picture of the puzzle- that's just for me and Jake when we put them together with him!

Both Papa and Uncle D have worked on puzzles with him lately and they are both impressed (Papa's face) with Polo's powers of deduction when it comes to placing puzzle pieces! ... And so are we!

"Halloween Time"

Well ever since the stores started putting out their Halloween decorations Polo has been asking me if it's "Halloween Time". (since the start of September!) He absolutely loves all the scary things out there- as long as they don't move and are miniature sized. So I've learned to endure all sorts of creepy shows like Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Corpse Bride and all other Halloween-themed kids shows. (Coraline really freaks me out!) We were set on the Hulk for a costume until The Nightmare Before Christmas became a favorite and its leading man Jack Skellington took precedence. We did plenty of awesome Halloween crafts and enjoyed every ghoul-filled moment. We stopped by some spook alleys (both of which I refused to go in) and I'm told that Polo got to the entrance and backed out- more like tensed up, buried his face in Daddy's chest and freaked out! That's my boy! We've made the most of it though- and Halloween isn't even til tomorrow! We've had homemade cider (thank you Crock Pot) and doughnuts, consumed lots and lots of hot chocolate (7-11 still has the best in town!), visited the corn maze, carved pumpkins and already been out trick-or-treating in the local grocery store parking lot! My little boy has been such a joy to watch this season as he revels in all the Halloween spookiness. He just eats up every minute and every creepy little thing. I love it him.

At the corn maze! He had a blast rolling in the corn kernels, riding on the train, hiding in the hay, climbing on the hay, sliding down all sorts of make-shift slides, falling off riding a teeter-totter, visiting the animals (llamas, goats, miniature donkeys and others), and drinking that giant hot chocolate- Thanks Uncle Brad! He loved it!

This is Jack Skellington. He the Pumpkin King, the idol of Halloween Town and the scariest guy there is. He's not mean though and becomes particularly interested in Christmas and all its wonders. Thinking he will give Santa Claus a break this year he tries to get all his scary friends to help him deliver Christmas to the kids- it doesn't turn out well! (Oh an by the way I sewed that tuxedo jacket complete with scary tails and craziness all over from a single pair of pants ($5 at DI) and with no pattern! Thank you Mom and Grandma for passing on your skills so I can be frugal!)

Our pumpkins had to match the theme and this is Sally, Jack, and the Oogie Boogie man from the movie. We are so very proud of them and happy to have them as companions in our home for a few more days! Polo really just likes to light the candles and then blow them out! Oh well- Jake and I love them and we also got some delicious roasted pumpkin seeds out of the whole deal!