February was a fun month for our family! The boys loved celebrating Valentines Day, especially decorating cards for Daddy at the library! Benjamin was so excited to give Daddy his gift (a bag of spicy, hot cheetos) that he had a hard time keeping it a secret! We bought it the day before Valentines Day and I had Benjamin help me hide it so Daddy wouldn't find it, but the first thing out of his mouth the second that Ammon walked in the door after work was "Daddy! Daddy! We got you Cheetos!!! Haha! I'm glad he gets so excited about giving gifts to people he loves :)

Benjamin and Isaac were both excited to wake up to their Valentines gifts too! Heart shaped balloons (that quickly turned into swords, they only lasted about 10 minutes, haha!) and their own box of chocolates (which didn't last much longer than the ballons!)

Ammon did a great job spoiling me, too! We ate a breakfast of french toast and strawberries together before work, and then I went back to bed for a couple of hours. When a came down to the kitchen later, I found he had left me some Valentines surprises! A dozen roses, a piano book of love songs, Brazilian treats, and my favorite dark chocolate sea salt caramels from the BYU Bookstore! Wow, he knows me so well and makes me feel so loved! <3

The boys also had fun wearing matching red sweaters and playing with their brand new red soccer ball together! It was definitely a Valentine's Day to remember!

Winter finally decided to make an appearance after all this year! We only had snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year, so the boys were happy that we got another chance to try out their new sleds. Isaac only lasted a few minutes, and then was just happy to sit and lick the snow off his gloves. Benjamin loved it though! He went sledding down a hill, made snow angels, and really enjoyed kicking the snow off of the tree branches.

Benjamin's birthday was a HUGE celebration and highly anticipated day! He had been talking about turning 3 for months and was so excited for his choo choo train party with all of his cousins at Gigi's house! 

Since his party was on the Saturday before his actual birthday, we decided to spend his real birthday, February 20th, with his buddy and birthday twin, Sam Hess! These two get along so well, and I think it's fun that they are exactly one year apart and get to share a birthday! We celebrated at the Kangaroo Zoo and then went to Angie's house for lunch, a pinata, and cupcakes!

Luckily Benjamin was able to have a lot of fun the first half of his birthday week, because the second half of the week we pretty much stayed cooped up inside the toy room. Yup! Potty Training has begun! Benjamin is doing awesome and makes me so proud! He was kind of reluctant at first, but we went to the store and he picked out Paw Patrol big boy underwear that he is pretty proud of. He is definitely growing up fast!

Benjamin's showing of his big boy underwear and his favorite birthday toy from Grandpa and Gigi: a tee-ball set! He has a hard swing, but has a hard time remembering that the goal is to just hit the ball, not to knock the entire tee over, haha!

Isaac was a great sport during potty training! He loved eating the salty snacks with Benjamin and running with him to the potty whenever it was time to go! In this picture his is sporting his latest bruise, from slipping on the bench at McDonald's and face planting into the edge of the table. His whole nose was swollen and black and blue! 

After a couple of days of potty training inside, we definitely all needed a trip outside. Benjamin requested snow shovels "like Daddy" so we spent an hour digging in the snow. They had a blast!

I love how these two boys love each other so much!! If you ask Benjamin who his best friend is, he will quickly shout "Isaac!!" and if you ask Isaac who his best friend is, he will just as eagerly yell "Men-Ma-Min!"  haha! These two make my heart happy!!

Benjamin's 3rd Birthday!

Benjamin James turned 3 years old this month! He has been so excited for months and asked every day if it was his birthday yet. When we asked Benjamin what kind of a party he wanted, he immediately shouted "A choo choo train party!!!" So a choo choo train party he did have!

My favorite moments of the day were probably right when he woke up in the morning! He was so cute and excited, the day he had been waiting for for so long had finally arrived! We gave him his present from us (a train table) and showed him his cake. Then we headed down to Provo for the big party at Gigi's house!

I was pretty proud of how the cake turned out! Benjamin loved it too, so I call it a success :)

We chose finger foods that Benjamin loves: chips and fruit and pulled pork sandwiches!

My wonderful neighbor let us borrow her Polaroid camera for the party, so each kid got a picture of themselves dressed up as a train conductor! 

Benjamin is a huge bookworm, so I knew we had to start off his big day with story time! I found this cute book about a train turning 3 at the library, and the kids loved blowing train whistles everytime the train went "choo choo!!!" It was adorable!!

The "toss the coal into the engine" game was a hit too! 

Ammon had the genius idea to let the kids play "Pin the Conductor in the Train" with their Polaroid pictures. They had so much fun and it ended up looking really cute! I think they could see pretty well through the bandanna, haha!

PINATA!! Nothing cuter than watching 3-5 year olds hit a pinata with a plastic bat! haha! In the end we had to help them out by ripping a hole in the bottom. But they still LOVED it!!

I love love love Benjamin's smile in this video! Sometimes Benjamin gets really shy when he is the center of attention, so I wasn't sure how he was going to like having everyone sing to him. But I didn't have to worry! You can tell that he just feels so happy and loved! Thank you to all my wonderful family who made Benjamin feel so special on his big day! 

So now I officially have a 3 year old! Benjamin James, you make my days so happy and fun with your bright, smiley, silly personality! I'm so grateful that I'm your Mom and that I get to watch you grow and learn more and more everyday!