18 months old

Thank you all for your input on our family pictures. It seems an overwhelming number love the second one, so I think that is what we will go with. I am trying to post it at the top of my blog, but I need Steve's help when he gets a chance, so it will be there soon.

As for today's post.....we have a little boy who has hit the wonderful age of 18 months. I wonder if this is as exciting for people who aren't members of the church. haha Brandon has been going to nursery for the past two weeks, and I stay with him for the first hour, then leave him for the second. He seems to do OK, but when he realizes that I am gone he is a little shaken up. He will adjust quickly though I am sure, and Steve and I are very excited to have peaceful Sunday meetings again.

So, Brandon is my only child who has had a blanket that he sleeps with. The funny thing is I kind of gave it to him as an experiment. Part of it was that we were moving and he was sleeping in a different bed every couple of weeks, and I wanted to give him the blanket so he would have something to let him know it was time to go to sleep. But a bigger part was for my experiment. I always hear Mom's say their kids are so attached to a blanket or stuffed toy or something and I was always curious how the kid got that way. Was it the kids choice or the parents? Meaning, did the Mom just give the baby the same blanket or whatever every time she put the baby to bed so after a while the baby started to think that was part of sleeping, or did the baby choose the same toy every time. Well, the conclusion to my experiment is the first scenerio. I think some kids may like to have a certain feel of blanket by their own choice or they may like to sleep with a stuffed toy in their bed, but I definitely think the attachment to a specific item comes from the parents giving it to them enough times that they become attached. And now that I have a baby attached to a specific item, I kind of wonder why do Mom's do this? If you rotate blankets every week or whatever, you would never have this problem of searching for a certain blanket all the time. I want to know what you all think of this experiment, so let me have it!


Now, back to Brandon. He is attached to a red blanket that my sister Laura made for him when he was born. He has to have it to go to sleep and he is always holding it when I go in to get him from bed.




It usually stays in the house with us though, so no dragging through mud puddles or anything. I have to draw the line somewhere. This blanket even has a name (don't all attachment blankets). It is called the TT-Ma blanket which comes from a whole other story. I will make it quick. When we flew from Germany to VA last year, we were headed home and were stuck in the airport for like 5 hours before we got on a short connecting flight before getting on a 7 hour flight to Germany. Brandon was 3 months old at the time, and about the time we got on the airplane he decided he was sick of being in my arms. He started crying loudly and wouldn't stop no matter what I did. This was within minutes of us sitting down. Well, after I tried to quiet him for 10 minutes, this lady next to me asked if I wanted her to hold him. I said "sure", thinking I could save myself some embarrassment if she were the one holding the screaming baby. Well, she started singing him this song, close to his ear, while she shook him softly up and down. It was a song she had made up for her son and it said:

"Somebody's so tired, Somebody's so tired
TT-Ma TT-Ma, TT-Ma
Somebody's so tired, Somebody's so tired
TT-Ma TT-Ma, TT-Ma

It had a really catchy tune and she said the "t" sound made the baby be quiet and listen. And sure enough she had Brandon asleep within a couple of minutes and he stayed with her the whole 45 minute flight sleeping. So....we adopted that song for him and used to sing it to him all the time. Now we just use the phrase TT-Ma for bed like, "Are you ready to go TT-Ma" and he thinks we are talking about his blanket so he will got get it or show it to us whenever we say that. If that lady only knew what her little song has turned in to at our house.
I have a video of Steve singing the TT-Ma song, but he is going to have to help me find that as well.

Sleeping with Daddy and the TT-Ma blanket



Getting the blanket from the dryer! Oh Happy Day



And here are some of Brandon's new words, so we can remember when he is all grown up. :)

Family Pictures!

I need your opinions and to hear you say how cute you think we are. :-)

We took family pictures when my brother, and sis-in-law came in January, and I need to get them printed and on my wall. Why am I so bad at that? I just don't know. Anyway, here they are and I want to hear which one you think should be a 16X20 hanging in our family room. I will number them, so you can tell me easier.

As a side note number 3 is our favorite, because I thought we could get it blown up big enough to still show off the family but also get the beautiful scenery.

1


2


3


4


5


6


7


And just for fun:

Let's talk about me!

Everyone keeps telling me to update my blog. Problem is, I don't really have anything to say. I don't think the camera came out the whole month of January, and we are doing absolutely nothing exciting. So, I finally decided that maybe I could blog about me! Most of my blog posts are about "the boys" which I am aware are the most interesting. But my sister Jessica blogs about her own life and I find her blogs to be fascinating. So, maybe I can think of something interesting to say about me. (Just don't compare me to Jessica)

Here are a couple of things from my past couple of weeks.

1. The week of my last birthday (nov.) I gained five pounds. Grant it I went out for breakfast, and dinner, and ate most of my birthday cake by myself, but I have been doing that for years! Steve told me it is because I am getting older. But seriously...on the actual week of my birthday! So, needless to say, I was pretty frustrated. At that point I started obsessing over recipes, and reading things that would help me to eat healthier and get rid of that five pounds, plus about 50 more. I have read a lot and learned a lot and I do feel like I am definitely eating better. Unfortunately it has not show on the scale much. I have lost the 5 pounds, but that has been just in the past two weeks. But I am on a roll I hope. Some of my favorite things to eat now are:
-an egg sandwich (honey wheat english muffin, slice of turkey bacon, and one egg.) that fills me up for such a long time and tastes great.
-I have been making a shake when I need a snack and really like the taste of it. (1/2c oatmeal in the blender to make it powdery, then add banana, strawberry, milk, ice, and a touch of chocolate syrup.) This also fills me up, satisfies my sweet craving and tastes great.
-this new bread product called sandwich thins made by Arnold select. Seems like much healthier bread to me so I can have a good sandwich. I also bought almond butter for another recipe and really like the natural taste of it. Put it on a sandwich thin with a little jam and it is fantastic.

-I also have been drinking a lot of Sam's choice flavored seltzer water. It has no calories, or anything else for that matter, but it taste great when water just is not what I am looking for.

Feel free to tell me if any of these things are not as healthy as I think they are. I am still figuring this health thing out.

2. While we are on the subject of food, I had some great recipe successes this week.
-I finally figured out the secret to delicious fried rice. Sesame oil! I love the taste of sesame and this recipe I found said to saute and fry with sesame oil and it was so good. I sauteed onion, garlic and mushrooms, then added carrot, and frozen green beans, then a cut up left over chicken breast, and some cubed ham, next add cold rice, and soy sauce to taste. I added a little more sesame oil at this point to fry up the rice a little and it was delish.
-I also made these cookies with my bananas that were going bad, and it turned out very good. Like banana bread in a cookie.
3. Along with eating better I have been exercising for the past three weeks and am totally enjoying my exercise videos. I am excited every morning to exercise, and feel like I am getting a real work out with them. What a great, cheap, effective way to exercise!
4. A couple months ago we bought a new couch and I love it. You all know I would take comfort over fashion any day and this couch is all comfort. I love it so much that I have been using it a lot at night to unwind in front of the T.V. instead of blogging. Of course I am always either cross stitching or folding laundry at the same time. But still enjoying the comfort.

5. Last week as I was cleaning my room something caught the corner of my eye, so I looked in the hall and saw a mouse scurrying down my hallway!! NASTY! Me and Jacob ran out to the family room to see where it went, not knowing what to do if I saw it again but we lost it. It had been really cold for a couple of days and Steve says it probably came in to get warm. Luckily we have a trusty cat who still has her front claws, so we just had to wait for Ginger to attack. Today was the death day of the mouse. Thanks to Ginger for her catlike skills.
6. I decided to get myself a haircut and apparently it was long over due. I have gotten so many glowing compliments from people since this haircut I don't think I will ever go back. Steve is the only one who doesn't seem to appreciate it so much, but I guess if he doesn't care, I will stick with the cut that everyone else likes.


7. Last but not least, we have been pretty sick here this week. Brandon has pooped and thrown up more in the past 3 days than his whole life combined. After being intimate with many of his bodily functions I started to get sick on Friday. Every time I start to get a throw up sickness I pray and pray that I will not throw up, but will be able to get rid of all the nasties from the other end. Up until now that has never worked, but it did this week!! Every time I stood up I thought I would throw up, but I never did. I was thrilled to know now that that is possible.

Well, I guess I had a lot to say.

January in Georgia

We are enjoying life here as we are settling back in to having the kids back in school. Steve left on the 4th of January, and will be back on the 23rd, and to be honest, things haven't been bad at all. Of course I prefer to have him here, but a man's got to do what a man's got to do. And my man has got to WORK. The boys have been so good, despite their sore throats. Except Brandon that is. He has been crying since Steve left. He has a new molar, one that he is working on and a sore throat to blame for all of his crying. He has also been sleeping in my bed so that I don't get too lonely.

Here are a few pictures of what we are doing to stay busy.

Before Steve left he was off for a couple of days for New Year's. It was a bit windy, so what else would you do, but fly a kite. The nice thing here is, we can easily fly it in our own front yard with plenty of room to run it.

Nathan got a hold of an extra paintball that their cousin Daniel left when he came to visit, and Steven was standing too close when Nathan decided to squeeze it.
Landon, Sarah, Aiden, and Anne stopped by our house on their way to and from their vacation in Florida. Even though it was quite uneventful, it was so nice to have their company and let the kids play with their cousins.

They also decided to make dinner the night they were here and made some fantastic homemade pizza, with homemade crust and everything. It was really good, and now I am wanting to try every pizza recipe on allrecipes just for the fun of pizza making. Way to go you guys.
More about food: I taught our little church preschool group today, and had the letter "K" to work with. So for snack we had kabobs with apple chunks, cheese slices and raisins. I let the kids put them on the stick however they wanted. Jacob liked it so much that he wanted to share it with Steven and Nathan for afterschool snack. It was a fun and healthy snack.





Brandon has been a little slow at picking up words, even though he understands a ton. I wanted him to say cheese for the camera and he did a great job. Please ignore how many times I say the word. I guess that is the best way to teach though huh?






And to close..... here is some rare talent from Jacob.

Happy 2009

Happy 2009 everyone! We have had such a busy and exciting year in 2008, we are excited to just relax and settle in this year.

We flew out of our beloved Germany on June 2nd and moved our family to Brooklet, GA. We are loving being back in the states, and I do believe life is easier here. We miss so much about our life in Germany though, and no one should be surprised if we decided to go back if the opportunity arose. We would learn the language first though. :-)

As far as each of our lives....

Steve started his new job in Georgia in July and is enjoying it for the most part. He is a trainer for the soldiers (not a personal trainer of course, haha) and he really enjoys teaching, but doesn't always have someone to teach. In which case work can get pretty boring. He does get to travel a lot, and he has always enjoyed that. He will be leaving on Jan. 4 for the whole month. This will be his longest business trip, and I think we will both be ready for February to get here. He continues to be a fabulous cook, a helpful handyman, and a loving father and husband.

I have been staying busy this year with keeping the boys in line and getting this house in order. We have two boys in school now and two at home. Jacob has become quite the little home maker as I use him for a gopher boy. I have made more trips to Walmart in the six months I have lived here than anyone could count. I swear that place gets half our paycheck. I have also been trying very hard to decorate our house and it is coming together nicely. At least we have some pictures on the wall. My hobby is going garage saling on Saturday mornings. I love to see what treasures people are getting rid of, especially as I am decorating. I also love that time to myself. Steve stays with the boys and I am usually gone for about 4 hours BY MYSELF. It is great rejuvenating time.

Steven (7) is in second grade this year. He absolutely LOVES his teacher and school. He gets excellent grades and even got to go to Applebee's with his teacher and 6 other kids for having the highest grade in science. He seems to have a lot of friends at school, even though we haven't had any over to our house yet. His teacher was concerned at the parent teacher conference because he never plays with the other boys at recess. When we asked Steven about that, he said he doesn't like to chase and tease the girls with the boys in his class, and that is why he stays to himself. He also loves xbox and any other game system and he has become quite a good reader. Sadly he seems to have forgotten all German and I am not sure what to do about that. Steven is a great boy and a perfect oldest brother.

Nathan is 5 and has matured so much this year. He started Kindergarten at Brooklet Elementary and is loving it. He and his teacher had some problems at first with his behavior, but she has coached him on how he should behave at school and he is doing so much better now. He also LOVES his teacher and has even told me during this Christmas break that he misses her and wants to see her again. She is a great teacher with a nice southern accent. So far Nathan has not been speaking with a southern accent, but if we live her much longer I have been told that he will be able to speak with a perfect accent. He is a good brother and he and Jacob play make believe very nicely together.

Jacob is 4 and as I said is my little gopher boy at home this year. He can unload a dishwasher, put grocery's away and sort laundry better than anyone else in the family. He is a big helper as long as he knows there is a reward of TV or computer when the work is done. He will start kindergarten next year and it will be a great thing for him. This year we are doing a preschool one day a week at the church which he and I both really enjoy. I have also decided that he needs some craftiness in his day, so we read books and do a craft most days of the week. Our crafts have consisted of painting and gluing a birdhouse, printing and cutting our chore cart, putting stars on his ceiling, coloring, and many more fun preschooly things. Jacob has developed a little attitude this year, and we are dealing with it the same as we did with the other 4 year old attitudes. He is a good boy and I love to have him at home with me.

Brandon turned 1 in August, and has been such a different baby than the other three boys. He was finally forced to sleep through the night in Nov. which has worked most nights. He still occasionally wakes up and wants to be held for a minute. Not something I love doing in the middle of the night. He started walking just before Thanksgiving and is a pro now of course. I was telling my sister-in-law, you know it is your 4th or later child when you don't even make a blog post about his new walking ability. Oh the woes of being the 4th. He is a very mischievous boy and loves to take things apart, dump things out, get in to the trash cans, and tear up scripture pages just to name a few. And Steve thinks that we should get a puppy. Brandon is such a smart little boy and it is a joy watching him learn. It is amazing how much he can understand and do. We love having him in our home.

Our lives have been so full of joy and learning and I can only hope for another year just as good. We have tried to center our lives on the gospel of Jesus Christ and have a greater love of the scriptures this year through making a commitment to read them daily. Our goal this year is to set the Family Home Evening habit in stone. We have so much to be grateful for and so many people to love. I hope each of your years will be rich and fulfilling.

Love,

The Hughes Family

Yay! - Christmas Post

I have been SOOO lazy this week it is horrible, but wonderful at the same time. I didn't even have the interest in telling you about Christmas. But....Landon and Sarah are coming to spend a couple of days with us tomorrow, so lazy days are over and it is time to get this house in order. Now that I am up and about again, I feel I should do my blog.

We had a very nice, very relaxing Christmas. We were very happy to be in our home with our family, but I did realize some problems with it. When you have company over you put much more effort in to the festivities. We were very laid back and unorganized but it all came together in the end.

Here are the few pictures we took.

The Shepherds
The wisemen (and yes that is a toy worm as baby Jesus, Brandon stole the doll I had right when we were about to start and I had no idea where he put it.)
Mismatched Brandon. It was 80 degrees here on Christmas Eve. He would have been sweating in his santa suit.
Steve at the piano for our Christmas songs.
The Christmas Eve presents:

Presents from Santa:

{Steven got a bug vacuum}

{Nathan with his moon shoes that he doesn't seem to like}

What a Merry Christmas, and now on to the Happy New Year (without fireworks!, oh well)

Scripture humor

We have started a habit in our home that has stuck pretty good over the past couple of months. We have scripture study every night where we each read a couple of versus and then Steve and I explain them to the boys. We just read one page a night. We are already to the Isaiah chapters in 2nd Nephi and are determined to get through them. I never realized that teaching scriptures to kids could be a funny thing. Here is the humor.

1. Steven and his class were studying Native American Indians shortly after we started reading as a family. We had explained to him that the Lamanites were what we consider the American Indians. So, apparently in his class one day he raised his hand and explained that there was a group of indians called the Lamanites. I asked him what his teacher said about that and of course she had never heard of them. haha
2. The other day I was talking to Jacob and he was asking me about something dying. It wasn't a morbid conversation just a four year old conversation. He said something along the lines of..."If a cat eats this candy bar will it perish?" At first I had no idea where he got such a word, and then realized that he has been listening in scripture study.
3. This is not about scriptures, but a sacrament issue. We were in Sacrament Meeting and they were passing around the water. When I passed the water to Jacob, he said "No Thanks", I looked at him a little surprised and said "take some!" He said in a little angrier voice, "No Thanks, I am not thirsty!" That is when Dad got involved and made Jacob take the water. We definitely need to have a lesson on the sacrament.

In other news....Santa Clause visited our house this evening. His suit seems to be getting a little tight around the leg area, but it should get another showing on Christmas Eve.