You Broke my Heart

During dinner last night, Andrew and I were struggling to get our very reluctant Taylor to eat a piece of avocado. We had given him a small lecture about it, tried playing games with the avocado, and it had come down to the dreaded choice:

"Taylor, you may choose to eat your avocado, or you may choose to go to bed."

Through soft tears of frustration he responded something that we never expected to come out of our two year-old's mouth:

"Daddy, you broke my heart!"

Where does he get this stuff? Taylor, you crack us up!

Thanksgiving in the South

I think this was a Thanksgiving for the record books. Anyone out there hosted more than 86 guests for Thanksgiving dinner? That was our number this year! My sweet mother in-law possesses the epitome of southern hospitality: I have learned that at the Norris home, every one is always welcome.

There was good food (yes, traditional southern dishes were there, like country ham, corn pudding, and pecan pie), LOTS of good company, and great memories were made. And it was beautifully done, too: complete with glass goblets and real china at every place setting. The only misfortune was that poor sick Taylor threw-up all over the kitchen floor as the large group was dishing-up their dinners. (He did this again over a half-dozen times during our stay there!) Sweet little guy.

Thanksgiving day was just the beginning. We were able to vacation in Alabama for eleven days! This gave us the fun opportunity to spend one-on-one time with each of Andrew's seven siblings and their families and witness some exciting events too. Namely:

Seeing THE RING, THE LUCKY GUY (Drew Downs--we love you!) and watching Rachel try on wedding dresses for the first time. We are so pumped that Andrew's sister is getting married!

Taylor adores him: we celebrated cousin Scott's fourth birthday and met Cindy and Cameron's newest little addition, Cayden, now three months old.

We celebrated Don and Mindi's announcement that they're expecting their second baby--due to join our family in May :), and Don being admitted to the Orthodonics Program at UAB Dental School! It was only after congratulating them on achieving this great accomplishment that we learned what an honor it is: Don was one of thousands of applicants to the ortho program, who then was awarded one of only four available spots at the school. Wow. Way to go, Orthodonny! (Totally love that!)

We were able to attend Grandmother's annual christmas party. Somehow, we managed to dress 19 little Norris grandchildren in festive attire TWICE for pictures that morning: once in live nativity clothing, and a few rushed moments later, in cute Christmas pajamas that Andrew's mom gave to all the kids. I'm telling you, this was quite the gymnastic act! I think the pictures tell the story of our exciting adventures.

Russell riding on an airplane for the first time and Taylor riding on an airplane for the first time as a paid-for-it passenger. They both handled the trip pretty well and Taylor really especially enjoyed that we got to ride in a Shamu airplane on the journey home. (For a 2 year-old, does it get much better than that?!)

I can't think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving than with family, whom we are so thankful for! Making memories with all of Andrew's family together was such a treat, as we don't get to do that very often. In our perfect world, Alabama wouldn't be so far away! We're glad that we have the wedding in June to look forward to when we can be together again. Thanks for deciding to tie the knot, Rach! :)

6 Months Old

Really? MY baby is NOT the newborn baby anymore?? How did this happen?!

Russell Macfarlane Norris

Growth Stats as of 12/7/2010:

Height: 26 3/4" (55th %ile)

Weight: 17 lb. 6 oz. (50th %ile)

Sleep Pattern: 7-9 hours at night

And he's grown so much just in the past 4-6 weeks especially: changed from resting calmly in my arms to wanting to look around for every sound he hears, from remaining relatively quiet throughout the day to frequently testing-out his vocal chords with boyish baby babble, from keeping to himself when I enter a room to insisting that I give him my full attention, from just looking when an object is interesting to trying to rip each new scene to shreds. My baby is growing at lightning speeds...and no matter how I beg him to quit, he just won't!

As Russell has given me the opportunity to be a mother to more than one, I'm really discovering for myself that no two kids are alike. Besides the obvious physical contrasts, baby Ruh-russ is so different from his brother.

Baby Russell, 6 months old (November 2010)

Baby Taylor, 6 months old (December 2008)

My baby LOVES to eat! I remember having such difficulties getting baby Taylor to nurse, eat from a spoon, drink from a sippy cup. So far, little Russell hasn't presented such stressors. It's been so fun to nurse him without any problems, bottle feed him when I need to, and introduce new tastes to his little palate, as he audibly approves with his Chewbacca-esque baby "mmm, mmm" sounds.

Russell is such a sweet, mild-natured baby. His brother enjoyed discovering new toys and body movements at this age, but Russell prefers spending quiet time with others: being cuddled and talked to, and observing people around him. This includes himself. I love it when I catch him quietly rotating his little wrists around in front of his face, as he loves checking-out his chubby baby hands.

Oh, how I love this little one! I can truly feel that a very blessed, Christlike little person has come to our family. One whom I can feel the Spirit telling me has come to this earth for a purpose. It's a humbling, overwhelming, and touching feeling. I sometimes have to pinch myself that I am his mother!

Madly

November 5-6th was one of the best weekends of my life!

Thanks to all of Andrew's dedication at work, he and a small handful of other Haselden employees were awarded a day off of work and a weekend getaway to any Colorado destination. Yeah! Two weeks beforehand, my hubby, who knows me so well, sent me a suprise email detailing a plan for a getaway that was sure to please...and spoil me big-time! It went something like this:

Your mom will be flying from Utah to watch our little guys for a few days.

By this time, her itinerary was already set!

We'll wake up early on Friday and eat breakfast in old downtown Littleton.

For those of you who don't know, I LOVE going out to breakfast! I think I like it more than eating out for dinner. I also love downtown Littleton; it's an older part of town that's so charming.

After breakfast, we'll head to Denver and shop the 16th street mall.

What girl doesn't love to shop? Especially in the city, and especially when it doesn't put any holes in my wallet!? :)

We'll eat lunch downtown, and then we're scheduled to have spa treatments at the Brown Palace Hotel in the afternoon...Couples pedicures and massage!

In the evening, we have reservations to eat dinner at the Palace Arms restaurant at the Brown Palace Hotel. This part of the email is about where my jaw dropped. It's such a treat to eat there!

We'll stay the night in one of the Top of the Brown rooms of the hotel for the night. This hotel is a treasured piece of Colorado history. I couldn't wait to experience staying there!

After breakfast, we'll drive back to Littleton and go to the Denver Temple together. What a perfect way to end a trip.

Well I'll tell you, the weekend went almost exactly as my sweetheart planned it. As promised, my amazing mother arrived on Thursday afternoon to watch our boys. Since I'm still nursing Russell, I was a little nervous to leave him at the time. Now looking back on the experience, I'm a little embarrassed that I was! I should've known--both he and Taylor were well cared-for and thoroughly spoiled by Nanny while we were away (Taylor was actually a little annoyed when Andrew and I came home on Saturday)!

Andrew and I discovered a fab restaurant in Littleton for our breakfast beginning--a new favorite, I must say--called "Cafe Terracotta" (can't wait to go again!). We had a blast poking around the cool R.E.I. downtown and shopping the 16th street mall for new clothes for Andrew and fun jewelry for me. It felt like we went to heaven and back while we were pampered at the Brown Palace spa and the Palace Arms restaurant. On-and-off through the weekend, I envisioned myself as Jane Seymour in the movie "Somewhere in Time..." I was at a gorgeous historic hotel spending a dream weekend with the perfect man--who I am madly in-love with! Going to the temple on Saturday morning was the perfect way to end it too; it brought all my good feelings and reflections from the day before into one perfect focus. I am so blessed.

I love you, Andrew!

Happy Halloween!

We had a blast celebrating Halloween this year throughout October! At the beginning of the month, I had fun taking fall pictures with my new SLR camera, as our good friends Eric and Alison Steadman invited us to join them at the Chatfield Botanical Gardens' pumpkin patch nearby our home. It was such a perfectly beautiful day!

My mom, (aka "Nanny") gave Taylor an adorable little horse costume this year. Living in Denver, the already super-cute Taylor/horse ensemble got even better when friends nicknamed him "Little Bronco" on the several occasions that he wore it: at a party with friends in Lakewood, at our our ward/Chatfield Ward/Ken Caryl Ward combined trunk-or-treating party, and for a little bit of trick-or-treating to some neighbors on Halloween night.

It didn't take long for my two year-old to figure out how easy and fun it was to load his green "monster bag" full of goodies. Every time Little Bronco went on him, phrases like "I get more canny!", "my mon-ser bag?", and "my turn!" came pouring out of his mouth. I found myself giggling tons during trick-or-treating as I watched him plaster his face in the doorjams of darkened houses calling out his version of "Trick-or-Treat," saying: "Halloween...HALLOWEE-EEEN!" only to learn the hard way that not ALL front doors are willing to open to trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. Ha ha...he was such a cutie!

My cousins Cade, Dillon, and Paige Mercer trick-or-treating with Taylor to homes in our grandparents' neighborhood

So happy that the house across Grandma's street was giving out HOT DOGS to trick-or-treaters! Taylor wasted no time devouring his.

Taylor trunk-or-treating with "Big Monster" and his brother, "Little Monster."

Coal Mine Ward missionaries getting in on the candy

Choosing an October pumpkin at the pumpkin patch with the Steadmans

My big boy exploring the corn stalks with his daddy

Eric pulling the boys, Ashton and Taylor, in their family's new Radio Flyer--purchased just for this occasion!

Trick-or-treating. There's no time for chit-chat with Mommy here...he's a little man on a mission!

Ode to Motherhood

I think it's no mystery what's been keeping me busy over the past three months and beyond: it's this sweet little guy, and his cute older counterpart, both whom I adore with all my heart.

I am so blessed to be the mother of two such perfect little boys. I know it. But I feel so guilty, because my "job" often leaves me feeling more depressed than happy! I don't know why...

Maybe it's because motherhood isn't all that glamorous. Take a peek into an average day in the life of Tiffany Norris and you will find a routine that goes something like this: Wake up early. Feed Russell. Change diaper. Wake up again. Feed Russell again. Change diaper again. Get myself dressed. Get Russell dressed. Change diaper again. Get Taylor dressed. Change Taylor's diaper. Feed both babies. Make beds. Change laundry. Do dishes. Clean up baby poop or breakfast spills or other daily surprise. Play cars with Taylor. Read books. Change diapers. Feed both babies again. Change diapers again....I think I've painted the picture. It's mundane to be sure, but I also know that if overnight I could become Oprah Winfrey or Carrie Underwood or someone else completely glamorous instead of being "Mommy," I wouldn't do it! So maybe it's not the glamor thing. Maybe I struggle to mother two little ones because of those "daily surprises" that I mentioned; the moments like these:

or these.

Wow, just remembering the high-energy moments makes me have to breathe in and out a little more! Talk about crazy! So that must be part of it.

To all you mothers out there who have managed before me, and especially to those of you who are mothers to several children and still haven't given any of them to the gypsies...I admire and respect you dearly! This is so much harder than I thought it would be! Keeping a clean house and keeping everyone clothed and clean and fed are super tough, let alone trying to manage making time for exercise, scripture study, BLOGGING, scrapbooking, home projects, or just ME time (is there such a thing?).

If it weren't for a merciful Father in Heaven, I think I'd be on the fast track to muumuu land from eating comfort sugar 24/7. He helps me to cope by blessing me with moments like these:

Seeing Taylor insist on wearing star sunglasses,

or watching him learn to set the table,

or walk "like a lion,"

or hearing Russell laugh.

Those sweet moments remind me where my children came from, and more importantly, that they really aren't my children; they're His. Blessed, blessed am I to be given the great stewardship of being their mother.

I just wish it could be a little easier some days. :)

Another Son

Russell Macfarlane Norris
Born May 23, 2010 5:14am
7 lbs 4 oz
20 in



One Happy Mother


Mom and Dad with baby Russell


Taylor loves his little brother