Let's Go See A Show

Cayden and I went to see Mary Poppins at the Smith Center on Saturday May 26.  I bought tickets back in January I think and we didn't tell him until a week ago.  Don and Caleb kept Kyle and Connor was off working with Grandpa.  We drove into Vegas in the spiffy yellow Camaro-it was a rental-and went to Wendy's for a quick lunch.  We should have saved our money as we both only ate about 3 bites.  we valet parked the car and then went in to find our seats.  we were had side balcony seats.  They were not as greatb as I wanted them to be because we were at an angel but it was ok.  The show started at 2:00 and then right after first song the set experienced technical difficulties.  Those technical difficulties lasted for over an hour.  It was not a fun experience especially since it was a matinee, a kids show and there were lots of kids there to see it. Cayden was very patient but it was long wait.  Finally about 3:20 the show started again.  It was almost 2 and half hours with the intermission.  The show sort of followed the Disney movie in the first act but the second act was totally different.  Cayden really enjoyed it.  I love love love Broadway so I enjoyed it too.  Since we were in the fancy car it didn't take long to get it from the valet because they parked it out front with the Jags and Cadis!  That will never happen again! After the show we did a little shopping at Target and then since we only ate a bite of lunch we were hungry again so we went to Mimi's.  Cayden kept saying the funniest things!  The only one I can remember is when he told me "Mom, by the way, In and Out Burger is just crap".  I asked him why and he said because it just so full of grease.  Well he is right on that account but I think it is still delicious.  We also had a lovely discussion in Kohl's about why he needed a tank top.  It mostly revolved around the fact that "the ladies" liked to see muscles and if he did not have a tank top then "the ladies" would say Cayden we don't want to marry you.  Interesting the things he comes up with.  We had a lovely time together and will do it again when we go to Tuacahn in the summer and then Wicked in September.

Kyle's First Sick Trip To The Doctor

Well it couldn't last forever.  We have been blessed that Kyle has not gotten sick enough to warrant a trip to the doctor since he was born.  That ended today.  He started with a fever on Thursday night and it continued all weekend and through yesterday-which was Memorial Day.  Yes my children only get sick on weekends and holidays because that is when there is no doctor around to see them.  We had a pretty rough weekend with him with the up and down fever, his nose running like a faucet and a yucky cough.  On Saturday I noticed that he was pulling on his right ear especially when he was eating so I had a suspicion that we might have a problem.  On Sunday I stayed home from church with him and the ear pulling continued.  We knew that we could get no help Sunday night so we waited until Monday.  He seemed pretty good most mornings but by late afternoon early evening he was super grumpy.  On Monday he slept fitfully and did not want to eat food or take much of a bottle.  He is a horrible medicine taker and seriously holds it in his mouth and won't swallow it so we end up putting it in his bottle.  Well Monday evening since I couldn't get him to take a bottle we couldn't get any medicine in him he was so sad.  About 6pm Don and Caleb were out running errands and I called Don and told him that I really thought that Kyle needed to see a doctor.  He was pretty much inconsolable.  We even got a medical opinion from our favorite soon to be doctor, Doctor Chris who thought it was an ear infection and upper respiratory.  I hunted online for 30 minutes looking for an urgent care that was open.  I called a couple places too but why would an urgent care be open on a holiday when it would in fact be a time where urgent care was needed.  UGGHH  There was an urgent care open in St. George when I called but with the time zone difference we would have had to of left right then and Don was wasn't home yet.  Then I found a pediatric urgent care in Vegas and even called them but their phone rang and rang and rang.  I then called Kyle's pediatrican to get a referral to an urgent care and they told me about the one that I had already called where there was no answer.  They assured me that the place was open the week before but ya just never know in this crap economy.  We really did not want to drive an hour just to find out they were closed.  When Don got home we called Grandpa Don and asked him to come over to help Don give Kyle a blessing.  Thank goodness for the priesthood.  Kyle seemed to settle down almost immediately and we were able to make it through the night.  I called our local doctor first thing Tuesday morning and we went down about 9 for  an appointment.  Yes indeed he had an ear infection but his lungs were clear so that was good.  She called in the trusty amoxicillan to the pharmacy and we were good to go.  Kyle had a rough evening Tuesday evening but atleast we were on the mend.  So goes our first real sicky sick with Kyle.  He has had a few colds but nothing that would warrant a doctor visit.  On a related note-our local doctor's office has decided to merge with the hospital/medical group in Mesquite and will no longer be seeing patients on a normal basis.  His office will be turned into an urgent care.  That is good in one way but not in the fact that our regular visits for meds and stuff will have to be done in Mesquite now.  The doctor has had a super great NP there who helped take the load off of him and made it easier to get into and she has been wonderful to our family. We will sure miss the easiness of running over there for stuff but glad that there will be an urgent care here.  Now if they were just open when we needed urgent care!

A Busy Memorial Day

On Memorial Day Kyle woke up at 6am.  Just in time for Don and Caleb to head out the door to put up flags for the holiday as a scout project then go to a house in our ward where there was a service project putting insulation up in an attic and in the top of the garage.  For some reason I did not even try to get him to go back to sleep and I stayed up myself.  I made breakfast before 7 and woke Cayden up.  By the way for breakfast I made pancakes with strawberries on top and then I made the most delightful coconut syrup with some coconut milk that I had left over from smoothies during the week.  That syrup I could have sucked down with a straw because it was so amazing!  Then I cleaned out the fridge, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, of course taking care of Kyle during all of this too.  After Don and Caleb got home I went on an hour and half walk with my friend in the next neighborhood.  We usually walk in the mornings and we usually have our babies with us so we can only walk as long as they will accommodate us and then we still have to go home and manage our lives during a school day too.  So with no kids and it being a holiday we just walked and walked and talked and talked.  It is so much easier to walk with someone. The laps and the time just goes by so much faster.  Don and Caleb worked outside in the front yard and then cleaned out the storage room and garage.  I went to store after my walk and got the stuff for sliders and also some stuff for dinner later in the week for a friend who just had a baby.  This of course was all intermingled with Kyle being fussy because he did not feel good then we had the dreaded Monday night saga when we were trying to decide whether or not to go to the doctor.  It was easier to deal with him though with four people taking turns and we still got a lot done.  My plans for FHE went out the window though with Kyle being sick.  I was planning on talking about those in our family who served in the military and in the wars being as it was Memorial Day.  I do want my kids to know why we get a day off from school and why it is important.  Maybe next year we can try again. 

The Great Brain Project

Cayden had to do a big project at the end of the school.  Each kid got to choose their own topic and researche it and then wrote a short report.  Then they had to give the report in front of the class along with some sort of display or poster or power point.  Cayden chose, what else, Disneyland.  There was so much information about it and we actually had to cut it down by 3/4 because it was so long when we finally timed it.  He has made great strides this year in getting up in front of the class, reading out loud and now doing this presentation.  We made a power point slide show to go along with each part of his report.  Caleb helped him with that since he is the computer expert now. 

A. TOTAL. Eclipse of the Sun

We took a road trip up to St. George on Sunday, May 20, after church to get eclipse glasses from cousin Ashley Farmer.  It was a spur of the moment decision even though we had discussed it at length the day before.  We didn't decide until we were on the way home from church that we were really going to do.  We quickly changed our clothes, fed Kyle some lunch and headed out.  We talked about going to Kannaraville where the "sweet spot" was but that would have been another 45 minutes and it was still a school night.  Plus we had left Connor with grandma and grandpa and he wanted some glasses too. We also made a stop at the hospital to see a friend and her baby who had been taken there the day before and drop them off a bag full of snacks that I ran into Smith's to get for them and left St. George right as the eclipse starting.  We saw numerous cars pulled over all along the freeway at the various rest stops and truck pull outs and we stopped at one about 15 minutes from home just to use the glasses and see what we could see.  We got home and headed right to Uncle Dave's porch where Connor and the Zundels were.  We were just in time to see the mid point of the eclipse. Uncle Dave had a welding helmet and so we all took turns with the glasses and the helmet to look at the TOTAL eclipse of the sun.

Theatre Buff

Caleb was involved in two 30 minute plays in May. He played the part of the backwoods sheriff in the  Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring and he played a thief named Chickenwire in the play called Afterhours.  He did such a great job and really looks and acts so natural.  He got many compliments as did I from parents in the crowd.  Many of them said how he was just like his older brother Cody.  After the plays his teacher Mrs. Bradley handed out awards and we gave her flowers.  She is retiring at the end of this year.  Don was out of town and could not go but grandma and Cayden went the first night and then I went the second night.  I made him a "superstar" star covered in starbursts.    

Mother's Day

These are the gifts I got for Mother's Day this year.  Don is always so good to me and he knows I love flowers even though I say that they are a waste of money it still is so nice to get them.  He picked them up on Saturday and hid them somewhere so that the boys could give them to me on Sunday.  Cayden made the orange paper/sticker card and wrote me nice card.  He also made the lovely  bead bracelet that is just a bit too big.  The only bummer thing about that day was that the YM president called a meeting that morning at 9:30 before church.  Seriously!  I was not happy about that and the ding dong probably got an earful from his own wife about it.  Don didn't get back to pick us up for church and he had the car seat but as I detest being late we got in the car, buckeld Kyle between Caleb and Cayden with their arms across him, said a prayer and then drove very slowly and very carefully to church.  I will deny this if ever asked about it.  Church was not such a guilt inflicting event like it usually is because the speakers did not go off about all the things that mothers should be doing.  I usually think that the speakers Basically give a list of things that if your not doing all of or not doing well enough then you suck. Or even if you are doing those things or atleast trying then you should have this perfect and lovely family.  Ummm not so much.   I know that technically that is not true but that is how I feel about it.  After church, I got a lovely nap and Don and the boys made me yummy chicken and potatoes.  Don's other gift to me was a giftcard to the spa in Mesquite along with a note that he would either drive me up and back or get me room because I always say that after I get a massage or spend the day the spa I don't want to have drive home after all that relaxing.  I really really want to use that gift card SOON. 
As far as the other mother's go in our lives I can't say how much they mean to me and our family.  My mom is such a good listener and really tries not to tell me what to do or what I should have done when I call her about things.  She sometimes offers suggestions but she really seems to just seems to want to listen which is really why I am calling her in the first place.  She is so good to my kids and to my husband and I really love her.  Don's mom helps our family so much in so many ways.  She is always willing to watch the boys when we need her to and her house has become a second home to Connor.  She helps with their diabetes and wants to be at all their events even though I forget to tell her sometimes.  She raised a loving and very unselfish son who loves his family so even if if there were nothing else she ever did, that alone would be enough. Without him I would not have had the opportunity to be a mother.
We love our Mawmaw and Grandma Adams too and recognize the importance of them being in our lives and that our children are so lucky to know great-grandmas like them. 
On Mother's Day I do try and think about other mother's like Mary and Eve and Emma and those other mothers in the scriptures, some of who are unnamed.  Also mothers like Marjorie Hinkley and Julie B Beck.  Even mothers who have never had children like Sheri Dew and Cody's drama teacher Kenna Dalley.  Each of these women are great examples to me and one day I hope to be able to tell them that.  They individually have traits and qualities that I would like to make part of me and my mothering.
Mothering is the hardest job on the planet but makes the world go round.

Kyle the Big Boy

Kyle had to help me with laundry one morning and then when I was in the shower he pulled himself up to a sitting position in his rocker.  He has almost outgrown his swing and he reaches up and bats at and sometimes hits the bird mobile above him.  These were both taken on May 9, 2012.

Kyle Brandt is 8 Months Old

5-9-12  This is how I found him when I got out of the shower.  He had pulled himself straight up in his bouncer.  Good thing he was strapped in.

I needed to do laundry yesterday 5-9-12 and this is where I put him, on the counter in a basket.  He quite enjoyed it.

It seemed like 8 months of pregnancy was eternity but this little darlin has been here for 8 months and it seems to have gone by sooo very fast.  He is such a little love and a good baby.  These are the things that he is doing.
He eats lots of food.  Tonight he had spaghetti and corn like the family.

He has tried grits, toast, peas from the salad bar at Pizza Factory, broken pieces of crackers, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, rolls, tiny bits of steak and chicken, Trix cereal, baby yogurt melts, baby puffs and various store bought baby foods.  He has not disliked anything yet.

He loves loves loves cheerios.

I have made him sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes and chicken, apple pear banana sauce, apple mango pear sauce, carrots, and banana apple sauce from my Bountiful Baskets produce.  I puree it in the blender and then freeze it in ice cube trays, pop out the cubes and bag them.  When he is ready to eat I microwave them and mix them with a little baby rice to thicken it up.  Both he and I prefer it to be thicker with even a few chunks.  The store bought baby food is so thin and so messy.  He likes a little substance to his food and it is less messy that way.

Bananas make him poop like rabbit.  The funny saying around the house is "who pooped in your pants?"  or "did a little rabbit poop in your pants?"

He gets up and all fours and crawled about 4 steps last night.  He does a little hop like a bunny once in a while.

He turns to a sitting position from his knees.

He scoots pretty quickly and will scoot toward me when he wants me to pick him up.

He raises his arms to be picked up.

He leans toward who ever he wants to hold him.

He babbles mama and dada  bababababa. Mostly mamamama and dadadada.

He is still super spitty.

He has two teeth on the bottom.

He likes to bite on dad's puka shell necklace.

He loves cords of any kind. 

We put up the barstools and video rockers as baby barricades and we have to put all the cords behind them or he gets them.

We put the plug protectors in to the walls.  He put one in his mouth the other day because it was on the floor after someone pulled it out of the wall to plug something in.  He actually had it wedged in his mouth and was just crying crying and drooling.  I did not know he had it in his mouth until I picked him up because those things are clear. 

He almost has outgrown his baby bath.  At Grandma Penny's over the weekend we put him in the bathtub just laying down and he loved it.  He was kicking and splashing and smiling. 

He has outgrown the size 2 diapers and wears mostly 12 month clothes but even some of those are getting too small.  I definitely prefer Pampers Swaddlers but got a box of Huggies as a gift so I am using those.

He is a super sweaty baby.  He lays on your arm or chest and when you him there is a puddle.  I bought a bunch of summer jammies for him because he was in the long footed sleeper ones and one night when he woke up I pulled him out of his bed and he was just drenched and so hot.  I usually only cover him with a light thin blanket.

We think he is knowing his name a little more.

We made the mistake of letting him sleep in our bed about 2 months ago when he had a little cold and now we can't get him to sleep in his bed for more that an hour at night.

He is starting to roll over in his sleep and almost prefers to sleep on his tummy.

He still loves his binky.  I swtiched to the Nuk ones about 2 months ago because they stay in his mouth easier and they are easier to put a clip on.  I don't like using the clip though because he sucks on it until you can seriously wring it out.

He has been waking up between 6:30 and 7:30am after going to bed around 10 or 11.  He wakes up and has a bottle then wants to take a short nap about and hour and half later.  He sleeps for about 45 minutes, usually when I am on my walk with him in the stroller.  Then he eats his breakfast, plays for about another hour or so and then around 1 takes his good long nap in the afternoon. He wakes up around 3-4 and has a bottle then has dinner with the rest of us around 5-6.   He has another power nap around 6 or 7pm then has his last bottle around 10 and goes to sleep for the night.

He smiles at the dog, cat and monkey on the animal game on my phone.

He flaps his arms when he is excited.

He is almost too big for the swing because he twists himself and reaches up to grab the hanging birds.

When I shower and there is noone else home I put him in his bouncer in the bathroom with me.

He rocks and bounces his little exersaucer to the point that it looks like someone is shaking it. 

He almost needs a haircut around his ears and the front.  He has the reverse bald man.

I thought he was allergic to oatmeal or some of the baby food because after we came back from Utah to help out after Ella was born his little nose ran for a month.  Plus the day I started him on baby oatmeal he got a pretty good rash all over his back and tummy.  I pulled him off of all solids to see if that did anything but it didn't really do anything but make him super hungry.  I decided that he has allergies to whatever is in the air here.  It is much worse when the wind blows which seems like every day for the last 3 weeks until today. He has been eating everything else with no problems-even cheerios which are made oat flour.  I have not given him baby oatmeal again though.  His nose had gotten better until this week when he got a cold.

He got his 6 month shots on March 13.  He got his first flu shot and that was horrible.  He had to get 6 shots that day and it was so very sad.  The flu shot gave him a pretty good fever that night and he was so so so very miserable.  We did not go back and get the 2nd dose mostly because it was so hard on him and also because it would have been at the end of April and I think that flu season is mostly over. 

We have been pretty lucky that he has not been super sick with colds and stuff.  I make the boys wash their hands as soon as they walk in the door from school and maybe that has helped.  Monday night though after we got back from Utah after Ella's blessing Caleb and I had a bad stomach ache most of the evening.  I am pretty sure that Kyle had one most of the night because it was seriously the worst night he has ever had.  He cried and cried and crawled all over me all night.  The only that settle him was a bottle and he had 3 during the night.  He has not done that since he was newborn.  Of course Don was not home.  He was in Vegas at a dinner meeting and stayed overnight for meetings the next day.  Both Cayden and Caleb slept in my room but both were woken up by Kyle's screaming.  Caleb eventually went to his room around 1:30 because he just couldn't sleep.

He has the bluest eyes and the chubbiest cheeks.  People come up to see him and say how cute he is then they see his eyes and just ooh and ahh over them.  His cheeks are so squishy kissable and he gets lots of kisses.

He has a super cute low kind of gutteral laugh and the boys spend lots of time trying to get him to laugh.

He loves it when his brothers come home from school and he just lights up and smiles and smiles when he sees them.

He is a good snuggle buddy with Don in his recliner and there are many times I find them both asleep in it.

His bedroom is still not ready for him because I am not ready to move him clear across the house.  He has the pack and play in our room since we Aunt Suzanna needed the cradle for Ella.  He has 2 sets of plastic drawers with his clothes in it and I do go back and forth to his room to get some other things once in a while.  His diapers and wipes are in our room too.  I have considered changing the office over to his room but it would be quite a major undertaking and would need to be painted too. All of the wires are in there for all the computers in the house and that would be a pain to move.  We would have to take apart my desk and the closet is not set up for clothes hanging because it is almost entirely shelving.

He has baskets of toys in the front room and in our room.  He has pulled the bow off of Minnie Mouse, the yarn pompom off a money Don brought him from Oregon and the butterfly off his yellow duck from Easter.  He seriously almost choked on the pompom because it came apart into lots of little threads and he of course put them in his mouth.  I did not know he had anything in his mouth until I took Cayden to school and heard him kind of gagging in the car seat.  When we got home and I pulled him out there was a wad of yarn on his shirt that he had gagged up.  

When he is sleepy and drifting off he makes these silly sweet little moany groany sounds.

He is not too far off of pulling himself up. He straightens himself up on us when he is climbing on us and when the video rocker is in his way he is reaching up for it. When it is not laying down in his way and sitting like it should he pulls himself up on it and straightens his legs.  

We sure do love love love this little monkey.  We even sang Happy Birthday tonight to him after scripture and prayer. 

We Love Our Ella Belle

We drove up to Provo on Friday, May 4 for Ella's blessing on Sunday, May 7. We wanted to go up earlier for Calley's graduation on Friday but Don had only had surgery just the week before and we didn't have the all clear from the doctor plus Cayden had his May Day dance that he finally was going to participate in. We made it to church on time which was good since it was a whole hour earlier than down at our house and clear out in Pleasant Grove too. Don and Cody got to be in the circle and I made a pasta salad for the luncheon afterward. We had a tasty lunch of sandwiches and salads and a delightful cream puff bar for dessert. After the blessing we went back for a nap and then headed home on Monday. We were glad to be able to go and support our family.

May Day

Well, after 4 years at Bowler Elementary Cayden finally participated in the May Day Dance. The 3rd graders did a square dance to Cotton Eyed Joe and Cayden did great. His partner was a girl named Isabella.   There was a question about whether or not he wanted us to attend because he is so funny about us watching him but he finally decided that we could go. I was so proud of him. This year he has really come out of his shell and done a lot of things that he hasn't before. The May Day Dance was just one of them.

Good Citizen Award

On Thursday, May 3, Cayden got an award at school for being a good citizen. It may have been from the month of January and they must have just gotten around to it or else they dated the certificate wrong.  Who knows. He got to eat a McDonald's lunch with the vice principal, Mr. Solomon and the other kids who got awards for the month.  He was pretty excited and we know that he is a good citizen!