Dental Floss

Tyler got a hold of Darrell's dental floss and pulled it all out. Then he draped the strand around his neck and dragged it around behind him (sans one sock.)

A Birthday Party

Darrell's birthday was on Sunday. We loved having my brother Derek and his wife Tansy stop by to help celebrate on their way to the airport to head back to California.



I made Darrell's birthday cake on Saturday night. It was one of our favorites: german chocolate with the coconut/pecan frosting mixed in it (instead of putting it on the top.) Anyway, I got out our handy dandy new KitchenAid mixer to make it. It turns out the mixer is a little more powerful than we thought. It really whipped the cake--so much so, that the cake overflowed the bundt pan and then fell when it came out of the oven. The only thing we could do is spoon the cake into a bowl.



So I made another cake the next day (this time with a hand mixer.)



Here's Darrell with his two "birthday cakes." At least they both tasted good.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy Birthday to my mom! We love you!!!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Darrell! We love you!


(Taken July 2009)

Happy 5th Anniversary

to my dear, sweet husband Darrell! Wow! Those five years have flown by!

Here are two candid photos that the photographer's assistant got. I think the look on my face says it all. What a beautiful day it was! I love you, Darrell!

It's Kinda Like a Loose Tooth, But It's a Vacuum

Tyler has long had a fascination with the vacuum.


(December 2008)

But now...well, let me just describe it like this: I remember when I used to have a loose tooth. It would hurt to wiggle the tooth, but yet at the same time it would kind of feel good. So even though the tooth hurt, I would still wiggle it, because in some weird way it felt good too.

That's kind of how Tyler is with the vacuum. He "begs" me to get the vacuum out of the closet, but then once it's out he's leery of it. Silly kid!

Here he is after he's opened the closet door and is "squealing" (his way of communicating his wish) for someone to come get the vacuum out.



Here's Darrell getting the vacuum out.



Here's Tyler running away from Darrell who has the vacuum that Tyler just begged for us to get out.



And here he is crying about the vacuum. (The cord's still wrapped around the vacuum. We didn't even plug it in or turn it on.)



Lots of times he just wants to touch it, as long as we hold him.



What a kid!

Twenty-six Weeks and Counting

The "ugly" side of this pregnancy is the varicose veins (I'll spare you the picture of the huge mass of "night-crawler"-looking veins above my knee on the back side of my right leg. It is so NOT pretty.) But it is painful.

So, I looked into maternity compression support hose. Would you believe that they cost upwards of $60.00 a pair? The more expensive ones cost $115.00 on sale. I went with a $68.00 pair.

I ordered a free "care kit" with them, which included a bottle of cleaning fluid and a pair of bright orange rubber gloves. I'm to clean the hose every night with the special cleaning fluid, and I'm to use the gloves to put the support hose on each day.

And believe me, you need those bright orange gloves! The compression at the ankle is so "strong" that unless I use the rubber gloves to PULL with all my might, I can't even get the hose over my heels. (The rubber gloves help protect the hose from being torn by fingernails, rings, etc.) Then I slowly inch the hose up my leg with more pulling and pulling. At least the pulling gets easier the farther up my leg I go because the compression isn't as strong. By the time I have both legs in the support hose, I am winded and out of breath!

But it's worth it! My legs don't hurt nearly as bad, which is a good thing, since my legs will probably only get worse over the next 2 1/2 months.

It's Different with Daddy

Tyler loves it when Darrell comes home from work. He knows Daddy will do things with him that Mommy doesn't necessarily want (or have energy) to do. (See Nightly Ritual post below.)

Tyler loves it when Darrell runs around the kitchen with him. Then they bend down and jump up in the air.

If Darrell tries to sit down to eat, Tyler will go pull on his pant leg until Darrell gets up and runs around with him again. So far all I'm required to do is watch (thank goodness!) If I turn to do something else, he will come pull on my legs until I turn around to watch, and then around the kitchen they go again.

Nightly Ritual

1. Wait for Daddy to come home from work



2. Go to shoe box by the door to retrieve Daddy's flip flops



3. Get coat on



4. Head out the door for a walk down the block with Daddy



5. Come home one very happy and satisfied boy

Spring Snowfall

Tyler got to go out with Daddy while he shoveled the snow.
One look at this face says it all! He LOVED it!

One Step at a Time

Tyler is learning to go down the stairs by himself. He holds on to our hands when he goes down the "big" stairs, but he has learned to go down the 2 stairs from our kitchen into our family room all by himself. Go Tyler!

The Life of a Stay-at-Home Kid

Luckily I GET to be at home with Tyler every day, and I LOVE it! It's always fun for me to see what kinds of things he comes up with to entertain himself.

Here he's a ghost with his blanky. (Thank goodness he's getting better at anticipating obstacles that may be in his way. He's had a few crashes.)



Here he decided to join me at the ironing board with his toys. (I was hemming some pants for Darrell and needed to sit down for awhile.)



One day he brought me my apron from the kitchen drawer. I tied it around him and then he played with some utensils on the stairs.

Move Over Baby Einstein

Tyler has a new favorite DVD. It's Lassie



We got this DVD for Christmas one year before Tyler was born. We watched it and placed it on the shelf. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when Tyler discovered the movie because it has a "doggy" on it. I put the DVD on and was surprised at how much Tyler watched. He loves watching for any dog to show up.

One day he brought it to me to put on. I assumed he'd prefer to watch his usual favorites, so I put on a Baby Einstein movie instead. Well, he let me know that he did NOT want to watch that, so out came the Baby Einstein movie and in went Lassie.


Needless to say, Lassie usually gets watched at least once a day at our house. Tyler has yet to sit through the WHOLE feature-length movie, but he does watch it for quite a while.

Sometimes he'll go upstairs to get his blanket.



Then he'll jump up on the couch with his blankie and watch or sometimes he'll get his trucks and cars out and play with them while "watching."



P.S. Lest we think Tyler is through with Baby Einstein movies, Darrell brought home a new one last week and it is rivaling Lassie for some screen time.

Basketball

The last weekend in February, we were able to attend a BYU basketball game in the Marriott Center.



Here's Tyler at the game.



Here's our happy family at a game in January--I just never posted about it.



My grandpa, my uncle John, my uncle Scott and his family, my mom, and my sister and her kids were also at the game. We didn't all sit by each other, but later my grandpa treated us all to dinner at Chuck-a-Rama. Yum!







The next day my mom, my sister and her kids attended church with us and then we were able to celebrate Aubrey's 4th birthday one day early.

My Grandma

My grandma (my mom's mom) passed away on Christmas night (2009). She had fallen down the stairs at their house several days before and was taken by ambulance to the University of Utah hospital. She had a broken collar bone, a broken rib, 3 cracked vertebrae in her neck and a blood clot in her brain to boot. It was just more than her 80 year old body could handle.

Darrell and I were able to visit her at the hospital a few days before her passing. My grandma hadn't been herself the last couple years, due to a struggle with depression. But that night at the hospital, my "old" grandma was back, if only for a few hours. We didn't have much time together that night, but I was able to thank my grandma for "connecting" us to a girl in her ward who had previously gone through invitro fertilization. It was through her that we started our invitro path, and I'm so thankful for my grandma's hand in that aspect of our lives.

I'm grateful to have been the oldest grandchild on that side of the family and to have known my grandma for 37 years. What a blessing! I'm grateful for wonderful memories of visiting "Grandma's house" throughout the years. I'm grateful for the times Grandma and Grandpa were able to be there for my special days: my baptism, graduation from college, my mission farewell and homecoming, and for my marriage in the temple.

I'm grateful for my grandma's prayers. I know my grandma prayed A LOT for me to find a spouse, and frankly, because I didn't get married until I was "so old," I gave her lots of years to pray. I remember her saying to me quite often, "Bless your liver." It was her way of saying, "You're doing great, just keep hanging in there." I know I'm not the only one Grandma prayed for, and I know her prayers didn't stop after I got married. As I mentioned before, she had a hand in us being able to bring great grandbabies into the world.


(Grandma and Tyler New Year's Day 2009)

I'm especially grateful for the knowledge we have that Families Are Forever! My grandparents' marriage in the Idaho Falls Temple over 60 years ago has blessed generations, and I know their legacy will continue on through more generations. Because of temple marriage, we are are sealed together as a family, and we WILL be together forever, even though death separates us now.


(Grandma and Grandpa in 1948 and 60 years later)

I know I will see my grandma again. I know she is just on the other side of the veil and that she is mindful of her posterity. I love her so much!



All of my grandparents' posterity 2008 (More have been added since then!)

See! It's True...

they're twins! (Hee! Hee!)


Baby "A"


Baby "B"

I think ALL ultrasound pictures look alike--kind of a little "alien-ish." But nevertheless, here you have it--"matching" pictures of the twins "looking" at the "camera."

I went in for my 24-week ultrasound this week and we were pleased to find out everything still looks good. Since I fit into the "high risk pregnancy" category, I will have more scheduled ultrasounds than I would if I was carrying just one baby.

One baby weighs 1 lb. 8 oz. and the other weighs 1 lb. 9 oz. Modern medicine and technology are amazing!