September Quotes

Rylan:
(September 7, 2011)
It's really hard to buckle Rylan's seat belt. I even get really frustrated sometimes because it's so hard to reach (the 3 car seats are all so close together in the car, leaving only a very small space to reach the buckle). Rylan is pretty good about buckling his own seat belt but sometimes, if it's not positioned just right, he gets frustrated. Today was one of those days and he angrily said: "Why does it want to be so mean? It just wants me to punch it in the face." Yikes!! I was scared for that seat belt!

(September 8, 2011)
While saying prayers before bed:
Ry: "We're grateful we all like baby Tyce."
It's true, we all like him :)

(September 29, 2011)
While riding his bike across the street...
Ry: "I can cross the street using my ears."
Me: "You need to use your eyes, too to be most safe."
Ry: "What?"
Me: "You need to use your eyes, too."
Ry: "What?"
Me: "Your ears obviously aren't working so please use your eyes to look before crossing the street."

(September 30, 2011)
Ry made up a game using a long pvc pipe and some beads.
Ry: "I've played this game before."
Me: "You have? When?"
Ry: "When I was in heaven."

(September 30, 2011)
Kev was in the car with the boys, waiting for me so we could leave.
Asher: "Wait for mom"
Kevin: "We're gonna wait for the momma bear."
Ry: "Why do you call her 'momma bear'?"
Kevin: "Because it's fun."
Ry: "It doesn't sound like fun to me."

Asher:
(September 12, 2011)
While exercising with me:
Asher (grunting): "My toes are too heavy!"

(September 23, 2011)
Rylan had to take a baby picture to school. I showed the picture to Asher and he said "Baby Tyce."
Me: "No, that's Ry Ry when he was a baby"
Asher, looking confused: "I see baby Tyce"

A Happy Feeling Day

Several times throughout my day I thought "I wish I could record this and keep it forever". I should have had my Flip with me all day long. Nothing spectacular happened, I was just overflowing with love for my boys and my life. I'd like to keep today so I can look back on it and be reminded of these happy feelings.
Rylan came home from school and the boys watched 'Rio'. That's something they've been doing daily. Several times a day. They LOVE that movie. So it made me happy when Ry pulled out some paper and crayons and drew some of the birds. I was seriously impressed with what he drew. He's not one to color and draw very often, so when he does it makes me smile. I had to take a picture of his picture and when I pulled out the camera he said he drew the birds for Asher so Asher had to hold it up for the camera.

As well as the picture he drew at school of him at the park.

Rylan has a cd of songs from his music class. We've been listening to it in the car to help him memorize the songs. Today Asher was singing the "echo" song, making his own echoes. And then later I heard Rylan singing one of the songs as well. Hearing my boys sing? Too cute :)

I got to hold Tyce a lot today. Sitting down with him and playing with him and talking to him...I love those moments. He's fun to look at :)

The boys ended off the day catching a grasshopper and making a home for it. I wasn't so happy they used a toy basket for his new home, but they're kids, and boys, and that's what they do! Plus, grasshoppers remind me of Rylan when he was 2 or 3 years old. We were outside and he saw one and said "Look mom, a hopper cropper. A....hopper cropper" all the while looking very confused and knowing that wasn't quite right! Cute :)

I don't know what made today so special because really it was just a day. But it was a happy day!

Our Week

I'm so glad it's Sunday! This past week was a little tiring so it's nice to have a day to relax. We're all getting over colds plus Xango had their yearly convention in Salt Lake this week. That meant long hours for Kevin...and long mommy hours for me! He was leaving the house around 6:30 each morning and coming home late, tired. Friday night he stayed up in Salt Lake and got home after 9:00 last night. And we were all glad to see him! Too bad BYU was having such a horrible game or else it would have been a better greeting!
The boys were fantastic for me and I was given some extra patience so we made it through the week happily. I know several girls (including my sis) whose husbands are frequently gone for days/weeks/months at a time. Wow...those girls amaze me!
For Rylan's music class the parents come every other week. This was a parent week and so I joined Rylan and I really am impressed with how well he does. At one point the teacher would sing a note (Do) and the kids would have to repeat it. She would tell them to sing higher or lower until they hit the note. Rylan got it after his second try and it sounded great! He got his bells on Wednesday (like a xylophone) and he's had fun playing with them all week, singing us songs :)
Thursday was spent up at Kacy's house. The boys played while Kacy and I canned some yummy peaches. I'm always scared to do it on my own. Plus it's more fun to have someone else in the kitchen. We've canned together the last couple years and it just works out perfectly for me--Kacy does most the work! I sure do love my sisters :)
On Friday I got to help out in his school class for rotations. At my table we went over letters and sounds and played a game with Smarties. His class is so cute and I had a lot of fun. After school we joined Mindy and her boys at the park for a picnic and some play time. We were there for several hours and had lots of fun! It was perfect park weather. Afterwards Ry went to his friend Christian's house while Asher napped. Rylan came home in such a good mood. I think I'll send him to Christian's house more often!!
Saturday was a pretty good day. After some time lounging around the boys and I went to pick some more raspberries. Same place we went last year and I really like it. There were loads of raspberries which was good because there were lots of people there! Mindy and her boys showed up, too! In about one hour we got 4 lbs of raspberries--delicious! Asher was ready to go after about a half hour and then Ry needed to go potty so I had to pry myself away from all those gorgeous berries. It was hard. I was feeling greedy and I just wanted more! But we left and I'm happy with what we got :)
After lunch the boys watched a show and then Asher took a nap. I fell asleep with him for about 15 minutes and woke up feeling revived so I mopped the floor and semi-cleaned my bathroom. Asher woke up just before my parents stopped by for a few minutes. That took us outside where the boys rode bikes and scooters for a bit. Asher does surprisingly well on the scooter. It's rather cute :) And it's cute to hear him say "Bahma and Bahmpa" (Grandma and Grandpa). (And I also want to note that Asher has been sleeping under his pillow lately. You can usually see his face so his pillow is on the side of his face. I'm not sure why he's started this!)
I told my parents we'd go to their house for the BYU game. My mom offered to make enchiladas. I love this 'Goodman Style' of enchiladas but never make them for my little family so I was thrilled!! First we had to run some errands--Shopko for a blowdryer and Macey's for a few groceries. The boys wanted Wendy's for dinner (I knew they wouldn't eat enchiladas) so we stopped there before going to my mom's house.
The game wasn't fun to watch so I had my fun eating my dinner, talking to my mom and dad, watching my boys play with flashlights, eating chocolate chip cookies and holding my baby. Kevin showed up after 9:00 and we watched the game for a short period until he could take it no longer. This morning I asked him how the game ended up and he said "You don't want to know. I wish I could unread it." Sad.
Kev brought me home a new RSL jersey so I'm excited to go to another game. I'm wearing it today seeing as how a BYU shirt would just be embarrassing :)!!

I just love this picture of my sweet babe :)

4 Months

This little boy...I just can't even explain my feelings for him. I crawl into bed at night and try to tell Kevin how amazing my little Tyce is, how my heart is so full of love for him, how I just want to hold him and make him laugh all day. Kevin just smiles and says "I remember you saying the same thing about the other two boys." What is it about babies? They just get a hold on your heart, don't they? Well I love it and I feel so blessed!
So Tyce is now 4 months old and he's growing. You'd never guess he was such a small baby when he was born!
He's not fond of tummy time and I fear he's getting a flat head because of that. I bought him a bouncer thing for him to stand up in and play, but he's not quite big enough for it. As cute as Asher was with his helmet, I really don't want to have to do that whole thing again :) (Funny how both pictures I'm putting on here are tummy pictures!!)

Tyce is sleeping much better at night. He'll typically go 6, maybe 7 hours at night. Some nights it's even been 8 hours--wahoo!! He still sleeps quite a bit during the day.
He has not even attempted rolling over.
It's quite easy to get this little boy to smile. And once he starts laughing it makes me laugh and then he'll laugh again which makes me laugh even more--it's contagious!
He usually has his hands in his mouth.
He likes to play Peek-a-boo once or twice. He's a bit of a jumpy baby so occasionally it will scare him. And he doesn't like that!
With two brothers who can get crazy and loud, you'd think it would be their screams that would startle him. But no, it's the coughs or doors closing or other random things that make him jump and then he'll get the super sad face and start to cry.
4 month check up stats: He weighed 13 lbs 9 oz (17%), 24.75 inches long (36%), Head circ. 16.5 (34%).

Wall Artist

Asher drew on my walls. With green crayons. I was not happy. And it wasn't just on one wall but six walls. SIX. So in my determination to teach him a lesson I gave him a sponge and told him to start scrubbing. Rylan, being ever so helpful, grabbed a flashlight to shine on the crayon marks so Asher knew where to scrub.

All the crayon came off (after I went over it with a Magic Eraser) and our walls were looking great! And I guess Asher thought it was fun to scrub the walls because the next day he drew on the walls again. With a purple crayon. Boo.

Whew--what a day, what a week! I didn't think my life would be much busier with Rylan starting Kindergarten since he only goes for a few hours each day. But I was wrong!

I have to get up earlier to get Ry up and ready to go. We have to leave our house by 8:20am when Ry rides his bike and I walk with Asher and Tyce in the stroller. Ry's not super fast or confident on his bike so other kids are zooming past us and pushing us off the sidewalk! Rylan fell off his bike the other day so now each time he comes to the end of the sidewalk he has to get off his bike to walk it down the ramp, across the street, and up the next ramp. Once back on the level sidewalk he'll get back on. He's cute :)

At school we chain up his bike and walk him in to his classroom. He'll give me a quick wave and then gets busy doing his school thing. Last week I went to the office to buy his school t-shirt and when I finished I decided to go back to his classroom just to see what he was up to. The kids were at their tables building towers and suddenly I heard a little bell ring. Immediately the kids jumped up and started putting their toys in a bucket on their table. One little boy at Rylan's table just sat there, doing nothing. After Ry put his toys in the bucket, he walked over to Jakob and started putting his toys away. Jakob and the other kids left, going to sit down on the rug. I saw Rylan take the toy bucket and go put it away and then he went back to the table and pushed all the chairs in. He was one of the last to sit on the rug. I wasn't surprised when he came home with a sticker (which he saved for Asher!) and told me it was because he did a good job putting things away! Just the other day I was in the hall talking to another mom as the kids were getting settled in class. Ry was in his seat cutting his paper and I suddenly heard him call out "Miss Miles, Miss Miles" and then he proceeded to tell her about his homework. It seems silly, but this surprised me. Not at all did he act like the shy Rylan I've known for so long! I mean, he followed his preschool teacher around, glued to her side, for the first couple months of preschool. I'm glad he's so comfortable in class and with his teacher!

I get home and have just enough time to get in a quick workout or take a quick shower. Sometimes Pam and I will talk a walk on the trail but she teaches preschool a few days a week, so we don't get to walk every day. Before I know it it's 11:00 and time to leave to get Rylan (he gets out of school at 11:20). Most days I'm glad I get all that walking in (45 minutes to an hour total). But some days it's hot and we get home sweaty. They other day Rylan said "I don't like riding my bike home from school. It's so irritating because I get so hot and my legs get tired." Irritating?! Earlier that day when Tyce woke up Rylan asked him how his sleep was. Rylan told me "I asked Tyce how his sleep was and he said it was lovely!" Lovely? Ha, this boy cracks me up!

So by the time we get home and have lunch it's around 12:30 and I'm surprised 5 hours of my day are already gone. The rest of the afternoon is filled with homework, play time, naps, a little bit of cleaning, dinner (if we're lucky!) I need to figure out a system to get a little bit more organized!

Anyways, Ry started his music class this week. The teacher invited me to stay to watch and see kind of what they do in class. I had Asher and Tyce and nothing I could do would keep Asher next to me. He was right up with Ry and the other kids, asking for a turn, doing the motions, singing the songs. At one point they were singing "Do, Re, Mi" and Asher walked up to the teacher, tapped her on the leg and said "I've heard this song before!" Unfortunately they don't have a class for 2 year olds. I need to find something for him to do. I feel like it's always "Let's take Rylan to school, soccer, music, a friends house..." But, I'm excited for this music class for Rylan. A little boy Matthew (who he sits by at school and who is my friend Pam's son (she told me about the class)) is in this music class as well so I think they'll have fun together. It's supposed to be something that will prep them for piano lessons in the next couple years. I hope it's something he'll at least be semi-interested in!

On Wednesday morning I fed Tyce at 10:30. It came time to feed him again but he wouldn't eat so I waited awhile. He's on a three hour schedule and when five hours had passed I started to wonder if maybe he had an ear infection or a sore throat or something. He was content as long as I was holding him and he was even smiling and laughing so I didn't know how concerned I should be. I called his doctor and ended up taking him in. Everything checked out okay so I was a little reassured, but still a little worried. It wasn't until 10:30pm that he finally ate (after fighting it). A whole 12 hours! He's back on his 3 hour schedule but still not eating quite as much. Strange. Kevin and I both feel like we may be getting a sore throat and Ry was sneezing today so maybe Tyce has something, too??

Today...I had a good 3 mile run this morning. Walked Ry to school. Showered and cleaned a little. Picked up Ry from school. Had lunch. I had agreed to watch the twins at 1:30 but forgot that I had a dentist appointment. I offered to reschedule but Kev said it was okay. Plus, I thought Tami was going to call me to confirm if she needed me or not and I didn't hear from her so I wasn't positive I'd be watching the boys. Then, silly me, I agreed to have Rylan's friend Christian come over after school (he's in our ward and also in Ry's class. His dad is Ry's primary teacher.) It's easy to have kids over when I'm not the one who's gonna be home with them :) So the twins ended up coming and poor Kevin had 4 five year olds plus Asher and Tyce while I was at the dentist. I obviously wasn't having much fun getting cavities filled but I did feel bad leaving him with all those boys!

Christian's dad picked him up around 4:30 and we took the twins with us to our ward potluck. Ry and the twins whined about having to go but we knew they'd have fun. Kev played some football with the men while I chatted with the ladies. The boys played in the sand volleyball court, ate cookies and brownies, and played with sidewalk chalk. They were a mess! When I told them it was time to go, they whined and wanted to stay. See, we knew they'd have fun! We got home just after 8:00 and Garren came to pick up his boys. Kev got the boys in bed and prepped his stuff for his half marathon tomorrow here in Spanish Fork. The finish line (and the starting line?) is just up at the library so I'll walk up there with the boys around 8:30am so we can cheer Kev across the finish line. He should finish around 9:00am.

I've put away laundry and written this scattered journal post. The rest of my house is quiet, everyone asleep. Now it's my turn!