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.

First Family Campout

A few weekends ago Andy and I went for a drive up Diamond Fork Canyon near our house. We talked about wanting to do outdoor stuff with our kids as they got older. I told him I wanted to be a camping family. We decided we'd start them young and planned a family camp out for a few weeks later. Almost all of Andy's family came and stayed the night up Diamond Fork Canyon. Other than Tyler waking up at 3:30 in the morning and crying for thirty minutes saying he wanted to get out of the tent, the boys didn't do too bad. Surprisingly, Bryce slept better than any of us.
Here's Tyler waiting for the fire to start sporting his camo pants. Tyler likes the fire. I guess that comes from his dad.
Bryce, all bundled up after a chilly night. He was our "Happy Camper." He only fussed a little bit during the night when his pack n play got too cold for him. So he snuggled up with me in my sleeping bag and went right back to sleep.
Why buy toys when taking rocks in and out of a box is this entertaining to kids?
Our tent was pretty crammed with our huge air mattress and Bryce's pack n play. After setting everything up, Andy asked the rest of the family if they had any room for a 2 year old in their tent. Tyler ended up sleeping between Andy and me.
It was a fun night. But I think it'll be at least another year before we try it again. And we'll stay close to home again...just in case.

Bryce's Blessing Day

Our little boy is getting so big. With my family in town we decided to do Bryce's blessing on Sunday. Andy gave him a beautiful blessing surrounded by grandfathers, uncles and even a great uncle. I prayed all morning that he wouldn't cry during the blessing and he slept through the whole thing.

He has developed into such a sweet little boy. When he is content and awake he just beams from ear to ear and says all kinds of words like "oo, aaagoo, and coo." He even started sleeping through the night on Saturday. He likes to wiggle and scoot himself around while laying on his back. He's my all natural child - doesn't really like binkys, bottles, or formula. This has made my life a little more difficult but we're learning to compromise and work with each other.

We finally got a half way decent picture of the four of us. It'll do for now.

Andy took a few pictures of the boys and they had potential to be so cute, but we couldn't quite get Bryce to stay up right and Tyler to look at the camera. Photo shoots are getting more difficult with two. We thought it was so funny when Tyler started doing this to Bryce to keep him from falling over.

My parents with Bryce in front of our house.

Labor Day Weekend

Finally, for the first time in two years we had my whole family together for Bryce's blessing. We tried to get a family photo but Tyler was less than cooperative. I guess we'll take what we can get. We had a really fun weekend. My mom and I got to shop a little on Friday.

We had a picinic up Hobble Creek Canyon on Saturday. Tyler is sporting his "Chinamen" hat here. This kid loves hats. My mom bought him this in China town and my dad thought he'd never wear it. Nope - loves it. He even wore it into Costco last week.

My sister, Sarah and I up Hobble Creek. The boys went for a hike after our picnic and got stuck in the rain. Apparently it was quite the mudslide on the way back down.

Tyler loved playing with "Pop", my Dad. They got to play basketball at the park, look at stuff animals at Sportsmen's Warehouse, and catch grasshoppers here on a pretty drive near Salem. We also went to Heritage Park on Monday, but forgot our camera. We have pictures on my mom's camera but I'll have to add those later. It was a really fun weekend and I was sad to see my family go. I look forward to the next time we can get together.

My Little Picaso

I recently looked up age appropriate activities for 2 year olds on the internet. Finger painting seemed like something I could do. Of course the compulsive cleaner in me had to keep the mess contained. It was a hit. Tyler often asks "Can I paint my finger Mommy?"