This and That

Just some cute pictures from today. Tyler having races with his cousins on their "bikes" today at Grandma's.
Watching BYU get beat by TCU with my boys. BYU football games have become a Saturday staple at our house. We even sprung for cable just for BYU football season to watch the games at home. You can see our enthusiasm over a disappointing game.

Halloween Carnival

I've really been enjoying fall this year. Being in Samoa last year its been 2 years since we've experienced the changing leaves, good apples, pumpkin treats, and Halloween festivities. A few weekends ago, Andy and I took the kids to a farm just south of us and Tyler got to pick out his own pumpkin. Unfortunately we forgot our memory card in the camera so we have no photos of this. This past week we got to go to a Halloween carnival at Thanksgiving Point. They had tons of things for the kids to do and they all had a lot of fun.

They had a Princess playland where the kids could dress up. I didn't see these knight costumes at first and thought they were going to put a dress on Tyler. He thought the sword was really cool.
Tyler was much braver than usual and tried more of the rides. He rode on this little cow "train" all by himself. Although when we got in the car to go home he told me "I lost you Mommy when I rode on the train." He put on a brave face at least.

Whats up with the Boys

I thought I'd do a little update on my boys and what they're into/ doing right now. I figure this blog is as much for other people to read as it is my own record keeping.

Tyler is two and half now and learning more and more independence. I've found that this new found freedom can be a blessing and a curse. I would say we're "in training" still with the potty. He can use the potty when we ask him to but I don't think he's in any hurry to keep his pullups dry or tell us when he needs to go. He's learning to dress himself and change his own pull up though which is saving me a lot of time. Lately, he's been practicing his dressing skills when he's supposed to be napping. I found him this way in his room on Saturday after falling asleep on the floor. If you look closely his pants are on backwards and his diaper is some how twisted around and backwards as well. Yesterday I found him naked from the waist down. Tyler also loves lions and dragons and likes to crawl around the house on his hands and knees growling at all of us. He's very excited to wear his dragon costume for Halloween and growl at everyone.

Bryce is 4 months now and quickly teaching Andy and I that each child is different and the parenting techniques we used for one will not always apply to the next. Bryce has a persistent/ stubborn streak in him. He's gone on a no bottle strike lately which I'm determined to win. He refuses to suck on a pacifier too. I took him to his 4month appointment on Tuesday and described what nap time is like to the pediatrician with the swaying, rocking, bouncing, walking across the floor dance required to get him to sleep that for some reason I'm the only one thats perfected. Even after our dance routine he often only takes a cat nap of about 30 minutes. Some days he'll go 3-4 hours with only 10 or 15 minutes of rest. The pediatrician agreed that he's a "terrible napper." Unfortunately he told me to focus on night time sleep for now and at 6 months we can do some more drastic interventions for nap time. Bryce has also become somewhat of a mama's boy and would love to spend his entire day seran wrapped to my hip while I stand and sway slightly. Luckily he's started to become a little more self entertained. Although he's providing us with some challenges he's also a very happy boy and a very giggly 4 month old. He giggled through his exam at the Dr's office and often does during diaper changes too. His favorite entertainer is Tyler. If Tyler just stands in front of Bryce and talks to him Bryce will laugh the entire time. Tyler always brings a smile to his face. I'm excited to see what good buddies these boys will become in the coming years.

St. George Marathon -Warning: Viewer Discretion is Advised

Last Friday afternoon we loaded up the car and drove down to St. George to watch my dad finish in his 3rd St. George Marathon and 29th Marathon Finish overall. He'd trained really well and was hoping to finish in under 3 hours and 45 minutes to qualify for the Boston Marathon again. Saturday morning we had breakfast with my mom and then walked down to the finish line with the boys and a big sign that said "Go Pop!" for Tyler to hold. As 3:45 approached we watched for my dad down the shoot of runners. Finally we see his white microfiber shirt and recognize his running stride in the distance. As he approaches we see that the side of his face is covered in something red. We say "Is that blood?" There are no cheers from my dad's fan party, just looks of disgust and gasps from the crowd -"Look at that poor man, he's bleeding everywhere." One person behind us says "I saw that man at mile 16. He's been bleeding a long time." Jaw dropped and shocked we quickly walk to the First Aid tent.
I ask a volunteer if a man bleeding from his head came in. She says he did come in but just looked around and then left. It figures - my dad wouldn't have the patience to wait. We finally find him in the crowd and despite his bleeding body he doesn't look too bad. He said the First Aid tent said he'd probably need stitches, but otherwise he felt ok. He'd been running with a tight group and he'd tripped over someone's heal on a downhill and fell face first. He had fallen at mile 3! He'd run for 23.2 miles with a bleeding head, arms, legs and finger. The rest of his running group had begged him to stop but my dad wanted to keep going and left them all on a big hill around mile 9.
As we walked through the crowd to find our way back to the hotel we heard whispers from the crowd of "Did you see that poor man?" "He's bleeding from his head" "He must have had a bad fall." Tyler's only response was "Pop bonked." After a good shower we drove over to the urgent care clinic and my dad spent the next 2 hours soaking his wounds and getting 6 stitches above his eye and more in his pinky finger. And as if he hadn't drawn enough attention to himself the nurses put bright green bandages around all of his wounds but his head.


In the end he was 4 minutes shy of his qualifying time for Boston. He'd lost some time with the fall. However we're glad he survived without too much permanent damage. It makes for a good story and its a testament to either my dad's perseverance or stubbornness. You decide.