mystery solved!

I still don't understand how he does it so quietly! And this is when the toy box is full, when it's empty and he has further to fall I would think it would hurt. He's also applied this technique towards getting into the bathtub (when it's empty). I'm a little worried his next attempt with this will be out of his crib.

i cannot think of a title for this post, so read it and make your own

More pictures.
Sick of 'em?
Too bad!

We had a busy week, here's a small update.

Tyler climbed in the toy box AGAIN. How he does this is a mystery to me. I'm always in the room when he gets in there, yet I never know when he's doing it. I would think with his short little legs he would have to hoist himself up on his stomach and kind of flip into it. And that seems like it would make a lot of noise as his head hits the assortment of toys in there, yet he doesn't make a sound. It's very cute to discover him there because he's pretty proud of himself and shows it with a big old grin.

Jeremy and his employees went to a corn maze and Alexis got to tag along. She had a lot of fun except when she lost her spider ring. And it sounded like her dad had a lot of fun with her.
I'm not sure because I wasn't there, but if I know Alexis, in this picture she's rubbing that wheat in Jeremy's face and saying "Dad, I'm going to feather you". In case you don't know, Feathering someone is when she takes anything that looks like a feather ( soft or not) and brushes it in your face while saying "feather feather feather".

While those two were out tromping through the corn, Tyler and I went to pack meeting. My Webelos put on a Halloween themed puppet play that they had written and made the puppets for. It was pretty funny, but it wouldn't be if I tried to explain why it was funny. So just take my word for it.

Jeremy's also started playing with his band the brilliant stereo mob again. He says he needs to work out his arm muscles and get faster since it's been awhile since he's played, so he's constantly tapping things with his drumsticks. Which means Tyler and Alexis were constantly tapping things with drumsticks too. Notice I said were. That ended once Tyler tapped-slash-whacked me in the head with the drumstick.

On Friday my mom and I processed a whole box of delicious apples. Now we have lots of jars of delicious applesauce and delicious apple pie filling.

On Saturday I had a much needed day off! I went to Park City with my friend Dorothy and shopped at the outlet stores. Normally I'm not a huge shopper, but since I don't actually do it that often these days, and since I didn't have any kids with me it was a lot of fun! I got some new clothes and shoes and had lunch at a fun little restaurant and drove my dream car. Since it's mucho cheapo for Jeremy to rent cars we do it fairly often, and for me this weekend he rented a Nissan Maxima, which is my most favorite car ever!

And it sounds like Jeremy had a fun day with the kids too. Our ward had a "trunk-or-treat" and he had to help with a fishing booth, so he got the kids in their costumes and took them up to the church and only lost one of them once! And as far as I can tell they had a good time. This is the report Alexis gave me, in her words. "I saw Jordan (a guy in our ward) and I said, 'hi jordan cabordan'. And I saw a guy with blood all over him." Sounds like a good time to me. Here's the magnificently strong Angel Alexis with Superman Jake. He looks a little mad, or is he scared of all her muscles?And I'm pretty sure in nature if a giraffe picked on a lion the way Tyler is picking on Hayden, he wouldn't survive long. Shelly, we have a kajillion pictures of these two together that are really cute, let me know if you want them. We also have some of Alexis and Jackson too.
Then this morning for church we put Tyler in this new blue shirt I bought that is actually too big for him. I guess it reminded Jeremy of gangsters who wear clothes too big for them, so instead of changing him Jeremy decides to make things worse. He slicked all of Tyler's hair back...with gel. I had hoped it was water so it would eventually dry and go back to normal. It almost made him look like a different kid, too much like Macaulay Culkin for my taste, but Jeremy liked it.
I've got to go to bed, six a.m. comes too quickly. We've got another busy week ahead but I doubt it'll have as many fun photo ops. Happy Halloween!

pictures that make me laugh

Here's some funny pictures we've got on our computer. These are all since we've had a digital camera, so we've barely scratched the surface of funny pictures here. And it doesn't even include anything Jeremy's photo shopped. Click on the picture if you want to see it bigger.

i think her face in this pictures is HILARIOUS!

after spending a whole day with dad and grandpa and not a single diaper change

picked her own shoes and socks to wear to the library

most awesome picture tyler's ever taken

merry christmas!

two headed monster

typical family picture

he was not happy to be wearing a pink boa

whoa, she grew up fast

yup, that's how I feel about it too

brushing her wet hair that already had a ponytail in it seemed like a good idea

that's my mature husband, graduating from college

just a couple of kids, taking a nap

just another couple of kids taking a nap

jeremy absolutely loves getting puked on

tell us a story Alexis

soft

In my previous post I mentioned the book "The Goose Girl". Well, after loving that book so much I did a little research on the author, Shannon Hale. And I have to say she's one of my new favorite persons-I've-never-met. I can't hardly wait to read the rest of her books (but I'm trying to be good and wait until the next payday because our library is not so great), so in the meantime I'm catching up on her blog: http://oinks.squeetus.com/ She almost almost almost makes me want to be a writer. Except for the fact that I have no literary training, I don't know anything about the rules of the english language (besides the difference between "there" and "their"...the misuse of which is a HUGE pet peeve of mine), and... oh yeah, no real interest in that sort of thing, then I would give a shot. Anyway, I just wanted to share what I've been into lately.

Also I'm making Tyler a quilt. It's been an idea for awhile and I finally dug out the old sewing machine and got crackin'. So far I love it and am pretty proud of myself, but I am in no way, shape, or form a perfectionist. Because that would be boring right? I'll post a picture of it in a few weeks when it's all done.

I wanted to share a cute story. Alexis is very particular these days about what goes on with her bedtime routine. I'm not sure what Jeremy does with her when it's his turn, but when I put her to bed there are several things that have to be done:

a) read at least one bedtime story (several if I'm generous)
b) say a prayer
c) back-scratch, where she lays across my lap and pulls up her shirt then repeatedly tells me "softer, softer, softer*" until I'm not even touching her.
d) talk. This is where we talk about whatever she wants. Except that I'm not allowed to say "what should we talk about?", that's her job. The topics vary from alligators to ballerinas to school to the volcano sisters. My knowledge on most of these topics is pretty skimpy, but fortunately she doesn't mind if I make things up. One of these days I'm going to videotape a "talk" because they are when she is quite possibly at her cutest.
e) goodnight kiss and a huggle (that's what we call a hug, except it's better than a hug)
f) another goodnight kiss, but this time a very soft one placed on her cheek while she's pretending to be asleep. And if I don't do it soft enough she says, "no mom, like this", then she puckers her little lips and makes a kiss motion, but no sound comes out because it is that soft*.

And after all those steps, especially the last one I think to myself, "okay, I can handle another day of this".

*Soft is her most favorite adjective. She wants everything soft, including her milk. Somehow I've managed to accomplish that.

check the date--yup, it's still october

This is what we woke up to this morning. Actually I didn't notice it until I had been out of bed for about an hour, because if I had noticed it earlier you can bet I would not have gotten up. Most of you that read this live here in Utah so you saw the same thing. Is anyone out there actually happy about the snow? Thank goodness the sun is out now, and as soon as I'm done with this I'm going to sit on the floor in the living room and soak up the sun coming in through the window.

In other news:

*Alexis' front tooth is turning brown! I was worried something like this would happen after her big fall a few weeks ago. So my weekend has been spent mourning for that tooth.

*We went to a children's museum in Salt Lake with some friends. Tyler became the youngest fire chief in history. It's a good thing he's got great leadership skills because he can't drive the truck or even lift the hose to actually stop any fires.
*At the same museum Alexis planted carrots and Tyler immediately pulled them out. This isn't really news, its just a variation on their daily routine of Alexis doing something and Tyler ruining it.
*I finished a book called "The Goose Girl" that I loved and is definitely one of my all time favorites. It's technically Young Adult Fantasy, but it was so great. If you're big into fantasy you probably wouldn't like it because it's on the mellow side of fantasy. But again, I loved it and would recommend it to everyone except that I don't like recommending books that I like this much. Go figure.
*Jeremy spoke in church today. You can ask him about when he actually remembered that he was supposed to speak in church today.

*Tyler had his one year check-up and weighs 22 pounds.

*We hung a decorative skeleton in the archway to the kitchen...so you can guess how many times I've walked into that already.

*Alexis came home from school on Wednesday and told me, "mom, so-and-so was fighting with me and I just walked away". I cannot tell you how happy and proud I was to hear that! I've been trying to teach her that instead of hitting a kid back or yelling at them or crying, she should just walk away and find something else to do. So to see that something stuck with her enough that she remembered to do it when the time came...that's just great!

I'm off to enjoy the sun while the house is quiet.

yellow and a poll

So kids eat weird things. Every kid does it, but sometimes I wonder if Alexis cannot taste. I mean, she eats plain lemons, she eats spicy food that I can't handle, she eats other crazy things that will be shown in the following pictures. And then she doesn't eat some really tasty foods. So here's my theory. She eats things based on what they look like, not what they taste like. And I'd say that if it's yellow, that's even better. Example, a lemon. Slice it up and she'll eat it plain. That's yellow and looks like fun, but it sure doesn't taste fun.
What's that? Why, it's mustard. Straight mustard being squeezed directly into her mouth. And yes, she asked for more.


Is that a chicken nugget that shes dipping into the bbq sauce and mustard together? No, it's an apple slice! She ate like 7 apple slices, all with one of those three (or a combination of the three) condiments on it, and not a single chicken nugget.

Also, one time I had a box of macaroni and cheese that had a white sauce instead of the traditional yellow. Would she eat it? No. She cried and cried because she wanted yellow macaroni and cheese. So being the clever mom I am, I put yellow food coloring in it and she ate it right down. Maybe if I find a pair of glasses with a yellow tint in the lens and make her wear them for every meal we could eliminate our food woes. Hmmm.

On a different note I hope you've noticed by now that I've changed my background again. If some of you haven't checked this in a week or so than you missed the bright pinkness that I had here for a few days. I feel sorry for you (because I liked it) but there are several readers out there who did not like it. I thank them for expressing their opinions and this time I've given you all the option of telling me how you feel with an official poll. Please vote, it's on the side of the blog. If you are under 18, feel free to share your opinions with me in the comments section, but don't vote. If the government doesn't feel you are responsible enough to vote for our leaders, I don't think I can trust you with this heavy of a decision either. Actually, I don't know if anyone under 18 even reads this, maybe Eric, but I hope he knows I'd make an exception for him since he's a responsible 17.

ty guy's birthday

Well, the birthday came and went and I think Tyler had fun. I'm sure he had no idea what was going on, but anytime anyone said "Happy Birthday" to him he got a big grin on his face--apparently he thinks that phrase is funny.

We spent the morning with our friends Kole & Dorothy (and kids) doing our annual canyon trip with a twist. Due to the cold and rain we ate breakfast inside at McDonald's (or Old McDonald's if you ask Alexis) and then we all drove in the same car (Jeremy rented an Expedition) through the Alpine Loop to look at the leaves. It was fun and the kids were great, despite the chorus of crying that happened in the first 5 minutes. And I now know that I will never buy an Expedition for two reasons, a) I don't have $40,000 and b) every time I got in that car it made me nauseous.

Then, later in the evening, we had family over and Tyler opened his presents and we all had cake and ice cream. Here are a few pictures:

Go Broncos! Thanks Uncle Aaron and Aunt Tricia, we (especially Jeremy) love it!A bat and a ball...what more could he ask for?

Half of his new snowsuit...I sure hope he likes sitting in the snow because I'm not sure he'll be able to walk in it while wearing this! But cool nonetheless.

I don't think he understood that he could eat this. He didn't like that it stuck to his hand, and we had to force cake into his mouth...
but once he figured it out...
he became a huge mess. He likes ice cream too!

Thanks to everyone that came and thanks for his gifts. We're grateful for new toys to keep him busy (and so he can stop playing with pink girly toys), and new clothes to accentuate his studliness.

who's bright idea was this?

That's all I want to know! Who thought that Drew Carey should be the new host of "The Price is Right"? Seriously.

Really really bad idea. Not that I was a huge fan of Bob Barker, but I like Drew even less.

get out your kleenex

Tyler's birthday isn't until tomorrow, but I was fiddling around on the computer today and was able to make the aforementioned cheesy slide show. So here it is, 3 1/2 minutes dedicated entirely to Tyler! I'll post pictures from his actual birthday sometime later this weekend.

BTW, I found a website that did this for me for free. I put in all my own pictures and even used a song off my own computer, so if any one's interested it's www.onetruemedia.com It's nothing too crazy or complicated but I was impressed with it.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

my, what a giant head she has...

...all the better to hold all those brains with. I took this picture for a preschool project we made today and it makes her head look huge! Probably a combination of the angle of the picture and also her slightly poofy hair that hadn't been combed in a day or two. And notice the bruise on her nose? A huge improvement over the last picture I shared of her nose. However, it does look slightly crooked, so I guess we will be checking on that to see what we need to do.
Now, in case any of you were wondering what I looked like one year ago to this day, here's a picture. (And if any of you really were wondering that, why?)That's right, three more days until Tyler's 1st birthday--I can hardly believe it. I'm so thankful I no longer look like that, the smile on my face in the picture is deceiving because I was miserable. I felt like I was moving a whale everytime I had to move (no comments on that please). Check back in a few days and I'll share some pictures of the birthday festivities and maybe even a cheesy slide show if I can figure out how to make one. And don't worry, I'll spare you the pictures of what I was doing a year and three days ago.

Oh, and here's what Alexis looked like a year ago before she knew how fun it was to have a brother. Before you start to think we're too weird, just know that this picture was her idea, not ours.

time to whine

Today has been one of those days. This week has been one of those weeks. I don't know what happened to my children, I think someone replaced them with monsters that look exactly like my children. Alexis has been crying over EVERYTHING. I'm not exaggerating, she has cried more than she's spoken today. And if you've ever met Alexis, then you know that's saying a lot. Of course her nose probably hurts (which by the way, the doctor thinks might be broken), so that's probably the cause of some of it. But she also decided this week that she's done napping, and I think that's the other reason for all the crying.

Tyler's woken up at 4 am the past few nights and keeps us awake for 1 to 2 hours each night. He's had congestion issues, but mostly he doesn't know how to calm himself down so he just screams and screams and gets so worked up that he can't go back to sleep. And he's very much a mama's boy, so he's clingy and needy. Combine that with Alexis' recent neediness and I'm going crazy. Oh yeah, and he throws everything. So I've been dinged in the head with more toys than I care to count. But even worse he's hit Alexis on the nose several times with some very hard toys. I don't know how to get him to stop, I tell him no very firmly and I take the toy away. He cries about it for a minute then picks up something else and throws it.

And what's the worst news? It's cold outside! Cold enough that something resembling snow was coming from the sky today. I don't know what happened to fall, it went from summer to winter here and I'm not happy about it.

And now it's 8:15 pm and I still have to do the dishes, wash and fold laundry, and go grocery shopping (in the cold). Anyone feeling sorry for me yet? I sure am so I guess I need to think about something positive. Hmmmmmmmmmm, okay. Here's the list of good things that happened today. I can't leave you all on a bad note.

*Jeremy was home for at least 60% of the day
*I got to listen to probably 3/4 of conference
*Before Alexis went to bed she wanted to talk to me so we talked about conference
*I got to work on the quilt I'm making Tyler
*Alexis and I made some delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
*I didn't have to make dinner because we ate leftovers

Sorry, that's all I can think of. Hopefully next week will go better.

this post is about something sad

Here is a picture of Alexis' face before it comes in contact with the kitchen floor:















And here is a picture of after:




This evening I was putting groceries away and Alexis decided to stand on the seat of a toy stroller on the kitchen floor. I didn't know she was doing it until it started to roll and she fell forward, landing right on her face. She didn't catch herself with her hands so I knew it was going to be bad. And then she started to cry, but it wasn't her normal cry, it was the "I'm serious mom this really hurts" cry, and that confirmed that it was bad. Fortunately it's not broken (I think) because it's not seriously misaligned, but the bridge is pretty badly swollen and she managed to give herself the fattest lip I've ever seen, which makes her sound a little funny when she talks. And it also made it impossible for her to suck on her pacifier when she went to bed tonight. She was understandably VERY upset for awhile, but fortunately we had just bought "The Jungle Book" at the store so the new movie helped distract her.

However, there was nothing much to distract me, and all I could think about was how my little girl was hurting and I couldn't do a thing about it. And then I realized that this is only the beginning. What veteran parent hasn't had to deal with worse than this with at least one of their kids? And the thought has crossed my mind before in the past and a lot tonight, that if I have more kids than the two I already have, the more chances I have of dealing with stuff like this, or way worse, again. Oh man does it hurt to be a parent. And oh man does it hurt to be Alexis right now.

what I liked about being a newlywed

We'll start with a disclaimer, this is a family blog, this will be a G rated post.

I have a good friend from college that is getting married in a few months, and that has got me thinking back on the days when Jeremy and I were first married. They were great days and (probably because my memory is a little faulty) all I remember is roses and sunshine. Well, not literally cause we lived in a basement apartment with very few windows, and we were too poor to buy roses, but you know what I mean.

So here's a list of my favorite things from the pre-kids era.

*grocery shopping together at Macey's
*sharing a car, so driving EVERYWHERE together
*waiting for each other to get out of class on campus
*listening to Jeremy go on and on about how dumb "The Daily Universe" (BYU's newspaper) is everyday...and then laughing at him because he would still read it everyday.
*game nights every Sunday with other kid-less friends
*having no money but not really realizing it
*buying one of our first big purchases, a BBQ, which at the time seemed like a big deal!
*listening to Jeremy's band play just about every weekend
*snowboarding together...back when I liked snowboarding
*taking social psychology together
*staying out late
*eating McDonald's, Hamburger Helper, or Rice-a-Roni & chicken for dinner just about every night.
*guaranteed nap every Sunday
*having NOTHING to do except driving to "the best place" with Kole and Dorothy. Always with Kole and Dorothy.
*uninterrupted sleep allllllllll night long
*sleeping in
*camping

I'll stop there. While I love those days, here's the good thing about life: it can always get better. And for us it has.

Happiness Then

Happiness Now