Mommy-hood

Warning: Too many words, not enough pictures in this post. :)

This last week has been one of our harder weeks, Zack was VERY sick. He had fevers straight through from Friday to Wednesday and as soon as his medicine would wear off it'd shoot up to dangerously high levels and he'd be in total pain. He woke up every 3 hours during the nights because without the medicine he was in too much pain to sleep. I must admit, it was totally scary. After a lot of bad experiences with doctors trying to figure out exactly what was wrong we think he got the flu and then a few days later got an ear infection. His ear is still hurting him but the fevers are gone and he's doing much much better now. It is so nice to have him back to his normal happy self.

It was heartbreaking to see him want to play but not feel well enough, he spent a lot of time laying on the floor next to his toys playing with them. It was so sad to see!Being stuck in the house for a week worrying nonstop about Zack made me think a lot about my role as his mom. Even at the worse times, when I'm cleaning diarrhea out of my "potty trained" child's pants or he's screaming in my ear and won't calm down no matter what I do I still wouldn't take a second of it all back. I can't even express how much a absolutely ADORE that boy. Sometimes I wonder how in the world I got so lucky.

When Trent and I decided to start trying for a baby so quickly after we were married even I thought we must be a little crazy, it definitely wasn't in my plans for it to happen that way. But the more we thought and talked about it the more right it felt. I could go on all day about all the reasons it really was the perfect time for us. But mostly I just think how glad I am it happened that way. My love for Trent multiplied more than I ever thought possible because he is SUCH a good dad. Zack ADORES Trent and talks about when he'll get home from work all day every day. Then as soon as he walks in the door Zack says "daddy come play with me!" and no matter how tired he is Trent does go play with him almost every single night. Aside from being such an awesome dad Trent is the best husband in the world, he never stops surprising me with how sweet and thoughtful he is. I just have no idea how I got so lucky, I seriously have the best family in the whole world!

Zack "helping" daddy build the shelves in our garage.

Notice he couldn't take his eye off the drill for the picture? That kid is OBSESSED with tools!

As the weather is getting colder it's making realize just how quickly this little guy in my stomach is going to be here. Pregnancy is a total emotional roller coaster for me. I spend half of the time wishing he could just come NOW so I could feel "normal" again and stop being so uncomfortable all the time, then I spend the other half wishing I could stay pregnant for another year because I'm not sure I'm ready for all the changes a new baby is going to bring. I wonder how Zack is going to handle it all, I wonder how it'll be between Trent and I when our "sacred" time together while Zack is sleeping will be regularly interrupted or non existent for the next little while. I've never done all that great with change, I love being settled into a routine and just knowing what to expect day to day. But at the same time I just can't wait for that new routine to start, to watch another little boy figure out how to talk and walk and imagine crazy things like Zack does. Just thinking about it while I write this makes me SO anxious for this little guy to come! I have loved every little stage with Zack so much and it's going to be so much fun to watch all those changes with 2 kids instead of just one!
Sorry for the long ranting...I could probably go on for another hour but I'll spare you. :) One exciting thing to report is that we think we have a name for the baby now! We've been thinking of this name for awhile and just claimed it to be the only name both Trent and I liked and could agree on. But I told Trent the other day that he'd have to come up with a amazingly awesome name to get me to change my mind now because I'm pretty set on it. So ya, we are about 95% sure it'll be Benjamin Ernest(after my dad) Nelson. The coolest part is his initials will be B.E.N. we thought that was pretty tricky...even though no one really cares what your initials are.
Anyway, that's the latest from me, sorry for the rambling, I'm uncomfortable all the time now and don't get a lot of sleep so I spend a lot of late nights pondering life...I guess I just had to share some of my thoughts. :)

Fun in the mountains

This last weekend we got to go up to our awesome friend's cabin. Trent met Tom when he was 17 and they've been close ever since. Danielle (Tom's wife) and I bonded years ago spending many hours waiting in small offices for our boyfriends to fix other people's computers for their business. We even liked them so much we bought a house a half block away from theirs! :)We had so much fun hanging out with them at their cabin. Danielle was an awesome hostess and I probably gained 10 lbs. eating all the yummy food she made for us while we were there! They also have a little girl Zack's age that he just adores so he most definitely enjoyed have a little playmate the whole time we were up there. We are so lucky to have such awesome friends! I of course was totally excited to get so many cute pics! :)

I'm one proud mamma

So guess who's potty trained!? I am SO proud of Zackie! I've had potty training on my mind for awhile now but he's so stinking stubborn I was totally putting it off. Well, the other day Zack was talking about his buddy Logan who wears "big boy underwear" and said he'd like to wear big boy underwear too. So I figured I'd run with it and just put some big boy underwear on him and tried to get him to go potty but he gave me his all too common response "it's not working!!" So I just let him have an accident in his big boy underwear just to see what happens when you don't go potty.
Then my sister was nice enough to let us borrow her kid size potty. All he wanted to do all day was sit on that potty, the first time he saw it immediately took his pants and diaper off and had to sit on it (it was in my parents living room so I thought that was pretty funny!) So we spent the whole day Monday watching "Elmo's Potty Time" and reading stories about potty training.
I read a lot about it and a lot of people recommend setting a timer and having them go every 30 min so they don't have an accident. I tried that on Tuesday and it TOTALLY backfired. He refused to sit on the potty and was super mad at me every time I brought it up. I gave up and figured we'd try again later.
The next day he just started going by himself. He always tells me to "stay out there" and he goes potty, flushes the toilet, and washes his hands all by himself then will let me help him get his pants back on. That's Zack for ya, either he'll do it himself or he won't do it at all!
Anyway, he's been doing great! Only 1 accident in 3 days and he stayed dry for naptime and bedtime! I'm so proud of him, he seriously did it totally on his own. I don't even have to remind him to go, he'll just stop playing and "sneek" into the bathroom to go when he needs to. What a good boy!
He has already filled up his potty chart so now we are taking him to the zoo as his reward tomorrow, anyone want to come!? :)

Fishing

We had a fun overnight camping and fishing trip with the Nelson's and my family all together. We had the best luck I've ever had fishing. We seriously caught 5 fish within an hour! It was really fun!

I love this picture, the entire Nelson Family just hanging out. This is one of my new favorites!Yum, yum.

East Canyon

Every year we have the "Broderick family reunion" over Labor day weekend. We had fun doing lots of boating, eating, swimming, eating, playing games, eating, etc. If you know the Broderick's you know they are all good cooks and they all come over prepared. Every dinner that was made was big enough to serve twice the amount of people that were there to eat it. :) It was tons of fun! We even took Zack out on the tube, he was a little nervous but enjoyed it for the most part. (I didn't have my camera in the boat the time we took him so I didn't get any pics. :( )

Whenever I couldn't find Zack my first question was "where's dad?" Zack spends every moment he can with Grandpa!My cousin's little girl Brooklyn, isn't she a cutie?Zack and I enjoying the boat.Connor bonker. (my nephew)
Halley is at the cutest stage ever right now. She just barely starting to walk and talk...just the right age to teach her "tricks" she's such a sweetie! It's so fun having her close and getting to know her personality so much better!

Here she is doing "patty cake" with her feet.

Melissa gave her mission farewell talk in church on Sunday. She did an awesome job and we had a fun gathering of everyone that loves her at my parents house afterwards. That was when it sunk in that she is leaving REALLY SOON! Well, not for a month but it's coming up fast. I'm excited for her but it's going to be weird to not have her around for so long.If only Richie, Kira, and Wes could be here and these pics would be complete!

Utah State Fair

On Monday we went to the State Fair with Trent's cousins Mike and Mel. It rained off and on the whole time we were there. You'd think that would ruin the fun but Zack LOVED it. He had a blast jumping in all the puddles. We went to the "Ice Cream Tent" where you can get all you can eat ice cream. Zack was in HEAVEN!Talk about a sugar high!

Loyd and Jonah

Kate and her brother Levi.

Zack: "Ya right, I'm not turning my attention away from this delicious ice cream for a picture!"

We also saw lots of animals (cows, sheep, pigs, etc.) and Zack thought that was really cool. He loved when they'd "talk" to him, it was cute to see him get so excited.

At the end of the night we named all the fun things we'd done and asked Zack what his favorite part of the night was. He responded "Poop comes out of the cow." Yes, after all fun things we did his favorite thing was seeing a cow pooh. How charming eh? hehe. (Sorry, I didn't take a picture while the cow was pooping, I know, you're all so sad)

The things Zack loves...

Zack said a prayer ALL BY HIMSELF for the first time last night before bed. It went something like this: "Heavenly Father, bless food, thank you mommy, daddy, bear, choo choo train, car, train tracks, fire engine, bless that we'll have a good morning, amen!"
I wish I could write his voice inflections cause they make everything he says sound SO cute. I must admit, I got a little teary eyed, he is growing up so fast!
After the prayer I kissed Zack goodnight and left him with his daddy to tuck him in. I heard them "shooing" the Tigers, making up silly songs, and laughing at who knows what. Trent told me that as he was walking out the door Zack sat straight up and made him PROMISE not to take apart the train tracks they had built together last night. I love those boys, I think I am the luckiest person in the world!

Ramblings of a 2 year old

I know most people don't really get as big of a kick out of Zackie stories as I do but for those of you that are close to Zack it usually gives a good giggle. I always forget the funny things he says so for a couple of days I decided to write them down. He has such cute mannerisms and watching him learn to try and express himself is SO funny! I just love being his mom, he's such a cutie!
One morning Zack and Trent were sitting at the table eating breakfast together quietly. Out of no where Zack turns to Trent and says "I'm having a good attitude daddy, I won't hit you." Hum...how sweet of him.

I was tucking Zack into bed the other night and our deal is that I always lay by him for one minute and then I leave. This was our conversation as I was leaving the other night.
Zack: "mommy, come back."
Me: "no Zack, it's been a minute, it's time for you to go to sleep."
Zack: "No mommy, come back!"
Me: "No Zackie, go to sleep."
Zack: "Mommy, just come back and give me a kiss!"
Who can resist that?

Every morning when Zack wakes up I ask him how he slept. He always gives me really random, silly answers so I love asking him. Here are a few of his answers....
Me: "Zack how did you sleep last night?"
Zack: "fast" (that one is the most common)

Me: "Zack how did you sleep last night?"
Zack: "long"


Me: "Zack how did you sleep last night?"
Zack: "tall"

Me: "Zack how did you sleep last night?"
Zack: "slow" (he said that one day after he took a really short nap. Maybe it isn't just a silly answer and fast and slow actually means something to him, who will ever know!?)

Me: "Zack how did you sleep last night?"
Zack: "hour"

His favorite drink in the whole world is Root Beer. The other day he got some when we went to a restaurant and as soon as he took a drink he excitedly said "Oh my gosh! This rootbeer is AMAZING!" He's 2, what 2 year old says that?

Trent: "Zack you're cute."
Zack: "ya, I am."
Hehe, maybe someday he'll learn some humility, just not TOO soon!

The other day I got out his pajamas which he always knows means it's almost bed time. I told him to come get them on and he said "I don't wear pajamas, they make me sick" Nice try kiddo.

Zack saw a Tractor driving on the road with all the cars. He got all upset and said "Stupid Tractor! He best be in the dirt!" You tell him Zack! (we are working on not saying stupid, I'm not always the best example for a 2 year old! :)

Instead of cucumber he calls it a "cute-cumber"

When he doesn't like something instead of being a normal kid and saying "I don't like it" he says "It's not for me." Who says that? It makes me laugh every time.

The other day we were outside and I told Zack I couldn't get something for him because it was in the mud and I didn't have my shoes on. He turned to Trent and said "Daddy, get mommy's shoes, she can't walk with her toes on."

This is a picture of Zack "sharing with Baby brother"
He does it quite often actually, he brings toys and set's them on my belly for baby brother to play with. What a sweet heart!

Trent was playing with Zack one night and Zack brought him his "lunch box" full of cars. Trent pretended to eat it in a such a way that Zack thought he really did eat it. We didn't want Zack to be trying to eat his toy cars so Trent showed Zack his "trick". Zack was is so discrete about it...we had to take a video!



This is another playtime with daddy where Zack was just making me crack up while he tried to be like daddy.


A favorite game of Zack's is to "freeze" at random moments. This is him playing it with my family at Sunday dinner. It is so fun to have the cousins around again!

Oh and I can't leave this picture out. We went on a day trip with some of our friends to see the Park City Parade of Homes. It was SO fun to have a day with just the adults hanging out together! Anyway, Zack got to spend the ENTIRE day with is grandpa and he hasn't stopped talking about it since! Here he is being Grandpa's little helper.
I took all these pics after I finished this post just so I had something to put with the quotes. Nothing more real life then a messy face, dirty shirt, and cute boy being shy of the pictures. I may be a little biased but I think he may be one of the cutest kids in the whole world!