Let's go to the dentist!

Rylan visited the dentist for the first time today! I've been prepping him for awhile because he is not fond of even getting his teeth brushed. All this week we've been practicing opening our mouths wide and counting our teeth. He'd count mine and I'd count his.
Because of a long night and a little cold coming on, he hasn't been in the most chipper of moods today so I was a little worried. Before we even got to the dentist I was bribing him with a trip to the dollar store.

A little bit of play time before seeing the dentist.

He refused to lay back in the chair while the hygentist looked at his teeth. She was really good with him and just let him call the shots. When she tried to clean his teeth he was shaking his head saying he didn't want to do it. She said "if you hate it then I'll stop". I got him to sit on my lap so he would lay back and right after the hygentist started with the 'tickle brush' Rylan said "I hate it"! So she stopped, Rylan started gagging, and that was the end of that.
The dentist came in and Rylan showed him how big he can open his mouth. After several gags on the little mirror Rylan did great! He laid back in the chair and got to watch Arthur. Ry has this one spot on a tooth that I was afraid was a huge cavity. Luckily the dentist said it was not soft like a cavity, but hard so most likely some sort of deformity. Well, I don't think that's what he called it. But he said that sometimes due to a fever or medication, the little teeth can have these deformities on them. (I wish I could think of the word he used!) I, of course, was glad it wasn't a cavity.
The hygenist finished things off by painting some watermelon flouride on Rylan's teeth. Again he gagged several times and when she was done he voiced his dislike of the taste. No surprise since we have yet to find a toothpaste that Rylan is happy with the taste!
Overall he did great! He chose a yellow car from the dollar store and when I asked him if he wanted to go back to the dentist he said yes!

Nighty Night

Asher is such a sweetheart. Just before I lay him in his bed at night I'll hold him and sing him a song or two. Sometimes he'll smack his lips, I'll give him a kiss, and he'll point to his bed. Maybe he's extra tired and ready to sleep. Maybe he knows that's the way to get me to stop singing! Whatever the case I just love those smacking lips!

A Simple Change

For quite some time I had been feeling tired of our red wall and ready for something new. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted but one day we ended up at Home Depot. I wanted to take some samples home to try them out but Kevin was ready to just get it done. I reluctantly agreed, we chose a color and we were ready to paint.
Naturally, Rylan wanted to help. We let him help for awhile then we kicked him out and he played Thomas the Train on the computer.

First we primed, then we painted.

We finished up Saturday night just before leaving for Kyler's ice skating birthday party. I was in a rush and pretty much just hurried out the door without admiring our work. I was still questioning the color. It was a bit more olivey green than I had expected. It wasn't until we got home from church on Sunday that I thought "I love it!" Now I need to get some decorating done!

Happy Birthday Ry!

My sweet boy is 4!!

I had been debating on whether or not I should throw Rylan a birthday party and invite some friends over for some fun. I asked him repeatedly if that would be fun and he was never too excited about it. So one day I asked him what he wanted (why didn't I start with that question??) and he suggested going to the park with Kaleb and Kade. Great! And he also wanted pancakes for breakfast. We can do that, too!
We were at Wal-Mart several weeks before his birthday and he saw a Wilton cake mold for a train cake. No surprise, he wanted it. So we came home and looked up pictures online of train cakes and finally decided on one (the day before his birthday...one of these days I'll be more prepared. I should have bought the Wilton cake mold!). After Asher's first birthday cake disaster (I'm still embarrassed thinking about that thing) I was determined to never make a birthday cake again. But this one looked easy enough. It's certainly not the greatest but, whatever. Someday I'll take a cake decorating class :)

So Kaleb and Kade, who Rylan fondly calls "my twins", came over Saturday afternoon. They all played for a bit while I was finishing up the cake. Then we piled into the car and headed to the park. It was a chilly, windy day but that didn't stop us.

Airplane arms out, ready for take off!

Trying to stay warm...brrrr!

After some swings and slides I headed back home to get the kites. Perfect idea! The boys had a ball flying the kites (with Kevin's help). It was good to get them to run around in the field to keep them a little bit warmer :)

I just had to put the above picture in even though Kaleb is blurry. But we seriously had some fantastic action shots of him! Another action shot below...

Kevin was such a good helper. All these boys were having a blast!

The boys had so much fun launching the kite!

Look at those snow covered mountains! Don't we live in a beautiful world? Do you see the kite?

After awhile we went to Carl's Jr. for dinner before heading home for cake and ice cream.

My family came by to sing to Ry Ry and eat cake and ice cream. Ry got lots of fun presents and seriously just loved the entire day.



He is such a sweet boy. No doubt there are those moments when we struggle and I have to leave the room, take a deep breath, and pray for patience. But Rylan also has the ability to make me smile when I'm sad and he certainly knows how to make me feel loved. He is very smart and I love those moments when he's quiet but I can see his mind thinking and processing. He can sing his ABC's backwards, thanks to his daddy. He has also learned some other things from daddy--he's pretty much Kev's parrot! (singing "All the single ladies, all the single ladies" is one of the funny ones!)

I asked Rylan some questions as a new 4 year old. Most of them he wouldn't answer (no surprise. That's just Ry!) He did answer most of the food questions (no surprise, he is my son!)

Favorites:

drink: apple juice and water
tv show: monkey (Curious George)
food: pb and honey
fruit: strawberries and pears
veggie: asparagus (ha! He won't touch his asparagus. As much as we've had asparagus lately though, I could see why he'd answer this way. If I had answered for him I would have said green beans.)
toy: trains
game: Hungry Hungry Hippos
breakfast food: milk and cereal

what do you want to be when you grow up? A daddy
who's your best friend? kaleb and kade

We sure do love our Rylan!!

Follow the Prophet

Rylan's birthday is on Saturday! My boy is going to be 4...really? I've been in observation mode the last couple days, just watching him and wondering how he grew up so fast. I like to reminisce and thinking about him as a baby up until now well, this boy sure has brought laughter to my lips. He's a smart one, too. He's the type that just sits back, watches, listens, and learns.
He loves to sing at home and several times I've asked him about singing in Primary. He told me once "I just sit in my chair and listen to the other kids." Today we were going to the Bean Museum at BYU where they have a wide variety of stuffed animals...wait, that doesn't sound right. Not cute cuddly teddy bears, but animals who were once alive and who are now stuffed. Anyways, while we were waiting for the caravan of cars this was our conversation:
Me: "We're going to follow your preschool friends"
Rylan: "Like the prophet?"
Me (after a little giggle): "What's our prophets name?"
Rylan: "Ummm...he knows the way"
Me: (after another little giggle): "Yes, the prophet does know the way. Do you remember what his name is?"
Rylan: "Mom, will you just say it?"
So I said "Thomas S. Monson" and he repeated it. See, he may not be singing out loud in primary, but he certainly is learning those songs!
I should also mention that Rylan has been assigned to give a talk in Primary on Sunday about "God speaks through prophets". So last night at the dinner table we had talked about how Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today and Kevin had Rylan repeat it a few times. But little did I know that he knows the "Follow the Prophet" song!

Too Much Growin Up

Kids and boxes--such a fun combo!

It was a regular Thursday evening (except that Kevin was in Mexico for work). The boys and I were in my room playing and/or cleaning. I walked into my closet to hang up some clothes and when I turned around, there was Asher walking straight towards me. Walking...like it was all natural and nothing new! He had a big grin on his face and I cheered him on. Then he fell, got up, and started walking again. That was about 5:30pm and by 7:00 he had walked several times with just an occasional crawl. My mom came over at 7:00 to watch the boys while I went to book group. When I got home she said Asher just walked around most the night, whether it was on his own or with Lightning McQueen. Friday morning I think he forgot he was now a walker and he crawled for most of the morning. But then it was like he suddenly remembered his accomplishments the day before and he stood up and started walking. I think since then he's pretty much walked everywhere. I did see him crawl for about 4 seconds the other day but he's pretty much moved on from that baby crawling stuff :) Just for the record, he was 4 days away from being 16 months old when he started walking.
Before Kevin left for Mexico he had mentioned several times that Asher needed a haircut. So Wednesday night I tried and Asher just wasn't cooperating. I needed someone to hold him and Rylan wasn't willing to do that :) So he went to bed with a horrible haircut and I had the intention of taking him the next morning. Well, one thing after another, and it wasn't until Friday night that I finally took him in to Super Cuts where he did a fantastic job sitting still while the girl cut his hair (I was holding him, of course). Tears came to my eyes as she cut his hair much shorter than I ever would have but I waited until I got in my car to let the tears spill from my eyes. Why does it make me so sad when my boys get their hair cut? Is it because they look more grown up? Is it because I love their auburn hair and I'm afraid to let it go? It's both, I'm sure. But I do have to say he looks super cute.
So Kevin got home on Sunday night and I put Asher down to walk to Kevin to welcome him home. With him walking and his grown up hair cut, Kev said he looked just like Rylan. (Of course Rylan was upstairs hiding from Kev waiting to be found. He couldn't wait any longer and came running down the stairs to say 'Hi Dad!')
After Kev gets home from work, he and the boys like to kick the soccer ball around. Here's Asher who just started walking last week (February 25), and this week he's dribbling the soccer ball. He's not holding back now, is he?
I do love this stage that Asher is in right now. Even though he doesn't talk, he knows how to communicate by pointing or crying or showing me what he wants. He likes to play with those stacking and nesting toys and he likes to build towers with blocks--and knock them down of course. He's a great sleeper and even naps through Rylan, Kade, and Kaleb being crazy. He loves his sweets and refuses his vegetables. All of us around here need to be eating more veggies. I have to sneak them in Asher's food and even then he has a talent of separating the good from the bad and spitting out the veggies. Little Stinker! He loves his brother and daddy--Kev usually puts Ry to bed while I put Asher to bed. Asher's always pointing to Rylan's room so he can join their party. I know this kid will be happy when he gets to share a room with his brother!