We Have a Mission Call

After many weeks of waiting Cody's mission call came on Thursday, September 27. I got the call from the post office at about 8am and immediately called Cody and Don. I didn't go to the post office until around 11 and then I left the envelope in the car the rest of the day so I wasn't as tempted to open it. I did google how to steam open an envelope but I did not use my new found knowledge. We were able to get Cody a flight down that afternoon. Don was in Vegas golfing so he was able to go and get Cody when he got in. We called everyone and setup a time for the opening. We tried to Skype with the family in Provo but our lovely DSL kicked us off right at the critical moment and they weren't able to see the big opening. Aunt Dena, Taylor, Lara, Grandma and Grandpa, Ms. Dalley and Jackie and Dani Pray came over to be with us. Cody will be serving in the Raleigh North Carolina mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. He reports to the MTC on November 28. We have alot to get done in just 62 days! We are down to less than that now! Cody had to fly home Friday morning because he had to go to work that evening. He ended up missing his flight because he was reading his scriptures and didn't look up for an hour and a half. I guess it could be worse and miss your flight because you were gambling at the slot machines. We are so proud of Cody for making this choice in his life and for the example of dedication and obedience he is.

Kyle Stats and Update

The cutest texting driver on the road. 

Wacky Wall Walker

This is the chair that I got the year I turned one.  It's amazing how things built FOREVER ago last!

I love this cute face.  It is my wallpaper on my phone.

This child is climbing on everything he can.  This is the luggage rack at the hotel.

He likes to stick his face in the water in the tub.

His swing he got for his birthday.

He likes to climb on this lap desk and get to my jewelry.

The cutest gangster EVER!  I found this hat at Walmart and just had him try it on for the photo.

Climbing the barricades.

After his first official haircut by a trained professional-my friend Shelby Turner.

Kyle has been walking now since before his actual first birthday.  You could hear him walking on the walls for support but not he is getting faster and faster and much more stable.  He started doing this cute bear crawl in August that we just find so funny.  He was crawling faster than he could walk but now he is almost running.  He started playing chase with Don and the boys.  He will crawl or speedy walk away when they come after him but then he turns and sits on his bum or turns and faces them head and laughs and laughs.  He is trying to drink and walk at the same time but doesn't quite have the balance yet so he falls down.  We call him a little orangutan because he is slightly bowlegged and he puts his arms out and they sort of wave like an orangutan.  He has climbed head first off the couch and also feet first off the couch.  When he wants to get down he pushes away and when he is sitting with Don in his chair he will just head dive over the side.  Don always grabs his leg and lowers him down but he is getting pretty fast.  He puts his hand to his mouth and says Waba Waba-what we call it -and will do it when we ask.  He gives kisses when we ask and sometimes just does it on his own.  He loves to wave bye bye and does it almost all the time we ask him.  He is putting his hand up to his ear like he is talking on the phone when anyone says Hello.  He must have seen that one too many times.  I have been teaching him animal signs like fish, dog and cat.  He did sign fish and dog once to me this week.  He will give me things when I ask him to like the clicker or the phone-two of his most favorite things ever!  He says ah ah for ah oh when he drops something.  He climbs on everything-the barricades we put up for him, the treadmill, the lap desk, and I even caught him pulling himself up on the end table by Don's chair the other day.  He opens cabinets and knows that there are things in there to play with.  We bought many cabinet locks for the double cabinets but can't really do anything for the singles other than just keep doors shut and keep barricades up so he can't get in the kitchen.  He makes this cute frowny scowly face when he is mad or when someone like a cashier at the store tries to talk to him.  He still does not like his bed and absolutely will not fall asleep in it on his own. If I lay with him or rock him to sleep and move him into it he sometimes stays asleep in it. He has yet to stay the whole night in his room and bed by himself but he has gone 6 hours.  He really does not like waking up in that bed!  He cries like we have offended him greatly and when someone picks him up he lays his head on their shoulder.  He has been on a terrible nap/sleeping schedule this past week.  He won't nap for more than 30-45 minutes at all during the day.  We thought at first it was just the Sunday struggle because Sunday always throws him off but it has lasted all week long.  During the school week he has been getting up sometimes as early as 5:30 but if I stay in the bed with him I can usually get him back to sleep.  If I have to get up with the boys or with Cayden for tutoring and he wakes up, he won't go back to sleep and then his schedule is off for the morning.  We all really want to be in bed by 9 because we have to get up so early but some days he just won't go to bed until he is darn good and ready.  He completely hates covers on him at night.  I worry that he gets cold but even when I cover him up he will kick the covers right back off.  He has been sleeping in long sleeve and long pants jammies since the middle of the summer even though it is so hot outside.  He has a million toys all over this house but he would rather play with cords and the mouse for the computer.  He reaches up on his tip toes and tries to pull off anything he can from the office desk and off of side tables.  He pulls cords out of the walls and the cables out of the printer.  He has this little vein that rings his eye and sometimes he looks like he has a black eye.  It really looks worse when he is super tired and several people have commented that he has a black eye to which I quickly respond that he doesn't  and that it is just his eye.  He likes to sit in his bouncer/rocker and watch Baby Einstein.  He pushes all over my room.  I strap him into it and let him watch Baby Einstein when everyone is gone so I can take a shower. It helps to know that for 10 minutes he is safely trapped in the chair and can't get hurt or get into anything.  He tries to stand on the little rocker but he can't quite figure out how to get back down.  He also stands on his little motorcycle from Aunt Dena and looks like Evil Kenievel.  He is at the point where we know he is telling things with his cute baby babble but of course we don't know what it is.  It must be very important though!  He still doesn't like to eat eggs but I can get him to eat mashed potatoes with gravy and oatmeal sometimes.  He loves grahm crackers and vanilla wafers.  He also loves string cheese and bananas but we have to not give them to him at every meal because of the adverse effects it can have on his digestive system.  I struggle with making sure that he is getting enough veggies.  We have given him cottage cheese, butternut squash, black olives, mushrooms cucumbers and green beans too.  I made a crockpot minestrone soup last week and he really liked that with 2 kinds of beans, yellow squash, carrots and celery. He can suck out of straw pretty good if I start him off with it upside down and let him suck on it as it runs out.  After a few times of that he is able to suck on it normally.  He has outgrown most of the 12 month clothes and wears mostly 18 month clothes.  He is getting quite the little temper when he doesn't get his way.  He went to the doctor this week for his 12 month check up and shots.  He weighs 22.6 pounds and is in the 47th percentile.  He is 31 inches tall and is in the 80th percentile.  For height and weight he is in the 61th percentile overall.  He got 6 shots this time and it was so very sad.  He did so well this time though and only had a little fever on Saturday morning.  The last time he got shots he was so sick and his fever was almost 102 all night long.  That time he was so fussy and cried and cried.  This time he was not even that fussy and didn't even wake up too much more in the night than he normally does.  He likes to be outside and since it has cooled down some,I have started walking again some mornings so he gets to be in the stroller.  We want to open the doors in the morning when it is cool but he heads right for the door and tries to escape.  He loves it when his brothers come home and will gladly go to them when they hold out their hands to him.  We are really trying to not always tell him No.  That is so hard though when he is constantly into everything.  He loves to take a bath and will constantly try and stand up in the tub and even put his mouth on the faucets.  He also likes to stick his face in the water.  He is quite the little arm pincher.  He likes to get the back of your arm and it leaves bruises.  He still does not like shoes.  He will help get himself dressed by pushing his arm through his shirt sleeves and lifting his leg for me to put his pants on.  He has almost outgrown his car seat.  We asked the doctor about moving him to a forward facing one because we just couldn't see him having to stay in this one for another 11 months.  The straps on this one are at their last slot and it is getting tighter and tighter on him.  Most of the car seats say 22 pounds and above and he is just barely 22 pounds but he is just getting too big so we will have to get him a new seat soon.  What a big boy!  We can't believe how big he is getting and what a little stinker he is!  He understands when I say sit down when he is in the tub or when I say lay down when he wakes up and I need him to go back to sleep.  He usually does those things too.  He understands when we say it's time to eat or do you want a drink or a bottle.  I seem to be paying more attention to what he does and doesn't do.  Partly I think because of the delays that Connor and Cayden had but also it really amazes me how fast babies learn and I find myself wanting to be a better teacher to him.  I don't remember feeling like that with the other boys-maybe I did but I just don't remember or else I was just so caught up in the day to day business that I didn't recognize those feelings or apply them.  It may have to do with the fact that he is our absolute last baby and I want to savor it.

ANTS!

The night I got back from my time out I crashed hard with Kyle around 10pm and when I got up in the morning my kitchen looked like the above pictures.  Ants had invaded my pantry and Don had emptied some of the shelves to spray them.  He emptied the shelves onto the counter by the sink.  Poor guy was up until 1am because he had to dump out boxes of crackers and cookies and rinse off the jugs of oil and syrup.  How did we find the ants you may wonder?  Funny story-Caleb went to the Stake dance and Don went to get him around 11.  I was asleep with Kyle and Cayden was still up and was hungry.  He called Don and asked him if could have some Cheezits and Don said yes and to count them out into a cup.  When Don got home the box was on the counter.  He reached into it to grab a handful of crackers and put them in his mouth.  As he chewed and went to close the box he saw ants on the counter, then he looked in the box and saw ants in the box and then saw ants in his hand.  He immediately hollered at Cayden to look in his cup and yes, there were ants in his cup of crackers that he was obliviously munching.  Cayden was a little concerned that there were ants in his stomach and said that he was going to puke.  But Don assured him that they were dead now.  Man oh man is it a good thing I didn't see any of the excitement because I may have really puked after I got done screaming.  Don cleaned up the best he could and sprayed down the pantry and then shoved plastic grocery sacks along the bottom of the door so the little suckers couldn't escape.  When I woke up Sunday morning I walked in to the kitchen and said  "what the hell happened to my kitchen?"  Don was still asleep but he heard me and hurried out to explain.  I told him thank you for not waking me up-since I had been going on less than 3 hours of sleep-and I told him I would have told him to go away or had a meltdown if he had woken me up in the night to tell me about the ant infestation.  So Sunday morning, even though my plan was to be this great and wonderful mother and make my kids a warm and nutritiously delicious breakfast, they got cereal and egos and we went to church.  Don thought that I would have wanted to clean it up but I told him it could wait.  The ants were all dead and would stay dead.  After church I was too tired to mess with it even then and took a nap.  The mess stayed on the counter and the pantry stayed a mess until about 7pm when I finally decided that it couldn't wait any longer.  Don was concerned that the ants had infiltrated the other pantries and cabinets but after a good looking over we decided that the little buggers had had their fun with Cheezits and vegetable oil.  The good news was that it happened Saturday night because Don had to leave Monday.  The bad news was that they invaded under my sink and on the side of my dishwasher, all in my toaster, on the run in front of the sink and were headed to my cereal cabinet on Tuesday morning.  I got up with the boys at 5:30 and Caleb saw the ants and we promptly hosed them with ant spray.  I had to let it sit for a while and spray in between the dishwasher and the cabinet and then I would spray again if I saw any survivors so the kitchen was a mess again for most of the morning but I got it cleaned up.  The cabinet under the sink is nice and clean now.  The rugs got a good washing and I went to Walmart the next day and bought a new toaster so all is well.  So far they haven't come back.  I dare them!

Mom Needs A Time Out

On September 21-22, I got a time out! I was able to go to Las Vegas with one of my best friends and we to Time Out for Women. Amy Marshall came down from Panguitch that afternoon and we headed in to Vegas. We met some of our other friends at Outback for dinner and then went to the evening event. That night we stayed at the Embassy Suites because the morning event started at 9am and we didn't want to have to drive back and forth from Logandale. We stayed up until 3am talking and laughing and eating room service. It was lovely! We ate a quick breakfast at the hotel and then headed out. It was a lovely experience. There were great speakers and great music and the spirit was there so very stongly. It is so amazing to be around that many faithful women who all believe the same things and are trying to do what is right. After the event we went to Cafe Rio and USwirl before we headed home. Amy stayed the night since we didn't get back to Logandale until almost 7 and she had a 3 hour drive and we were functioning on 3 hours of sleep. I wish I could go to these all over the country. There are different speakers and presenters at each one but I would go and see the same people over and over. I take copious notes and this time it was nice because I had my Iphone and was able to look up scripture references or conference talks that were referred to if I couldn't write fast enough. I think my favorite speaker was Emily Freeman. When I went to Time Out 3 years ago she was there and she was fantastic! She was just as fantastic this time. There was a sister from Sierra Leone who endured many many trials and horrible things when she was a child. Her name is Mariama Kallon. Her whole talk was gratitude and it was amazing! She was so grateful for such simple things that I take for granted every day like spoons and shoes! John Hilton spoke on 542 questions in the Book of Mormon and Brad Wilcox on some of the names of Christ. There were other presenters but those were my favorite!

Wicked

I was able to take Caleb and Cayden to see Wicked at the Smith Center on September 15. We bought the tickets many months ago and we were so excited to go. They both loved it! We went to lunch at Five Guys on the way in. I love love love Broadway musicals. I know that there are powerful messages in music and that music can speak to our souls sometimes more than words can. The talents of these people amaze me and I know that those are gifts from God. That Elphaba had some serious pipes on her and when she sang and belted out those songs I was literally mesmerized and frozen in awe! There were some members of the company who were familiar so that was fun to see them live and in person. The Wizard was the guy from Heavyweights and Reva Shane from Guiding Light was in it as well. What a great time we had!

Kyle's Cake and Presents

We had a monkey themed party for Kyle's first birthday. We invited everyone over for a delicious dinner of Cafe Rio style beef tacos and salads, rice and beans, and salsa. Kyle opened his ginormous pile of presents and then we had cake and ice cream.  I had a lady here from the valley make his this darling monkey cake.  She also made him a little cupcake to eat on his own.  He was not a very happy birthday boy and we did not get many smiles from him most of the evening.  He didn't have a good nap at all that day and so he was super tired.  Plus he is in the baby stage where he is a little shy around people.  I was pretty sad that these pictures don't show his happy smiley face but after the party when everyone had left and he was in tub he finally perked up.  He got lots of new toys and clothes for the fall.  Calley and Cody came down on Sunday for the party and also hoping Cody's mission call would come.  Aunt Dena, Taylor and Lara, Grandma and Grandpa and our family were at the party.  Thanks for coming everyone and for those of you who couldn't come, thank you for sending so many wonderful presents.  He is one blessed little boy and we are so blessed to have him in our family.

Look at this awesome cake!  The monkey and the bananas are made of fondant and the vine is made of tootsie rolls.

His nummy cupcake.

Messy hair!

His darling Eye Spy blanket from my friend Michelle.

We got him this car that he can sit in and be driven around.  The boys love to push him around the house.

Not a happy birthday boy.

Kyle and mommy and his super darling cake.

First Day of School

And so it begins again. School started on Monday, August 27 and we were up bright and early at 5:15am. The boys started early morning seminary and it starts at 6:10. Connor did not take seminary last year and this year he does not have any open classes available so he is going early.  Caleb takes early morning because all Freshman have to take it in the morning.  Connor has 3 SPED classes for extra help and he is the student tutor for the contained SPED class.  He loves that class and the teacher actually asked for him to be in there.  He gets to help the other kids in there but he also is getting social skills and life skills training like they are.  He and Caleb are in the same Biology class.  Caleb has Guitar, Foods, Theater and Spanish plus his regular core classes.  Cayden didn't have to get up as early as the boys but he was up and at it at 6:45. .  Kyle, who could have slept all morning got up at 5:30 and put a kink in my plans for the whole morning. The boys were pretty excited. Don gave them blessings the night before like he does every year and that is always nice. I walked Cayden to the bus stop so he could ride the bus and know which number his was and where it is parked at the school. Then I went up to the school to meet him there and help him find his class line. Cayden is in 4th grade and in Mrs. Shumway's class.  Kyle stayed home with Don. The last few years Don has been able to be home the first week of school. The years that he has had to travel have been very very hard on everyone so he has just made sure that he is in town to help. I made the kids cookies like I do every year the first day of school.  This time it was applesauce chocolate chip.  We were all pretty darn tired that first night but the kids had a good day and came home excited to talk about their day.  I have been doing this school thing for now for 13 years now!  It is crazy!  This year with the early morning seminary is super hard and we have to make sure everyone is in bed around 9.  Cayden actually started a morning tutoring class on Mondays and Wednesdays that begins at 6:45am and it is  in Overton so those days he has to get up at 6am just as the boys are leaving.  The other days he get up around 7:30 so he can do his homework before school because by the end of the day he is just done and we are both too tired to do homework.  Caleb and Cayden started taking piano lessons in August and they have lessons on Tuesdays.  I try to have Cayden do his piano practicing in the mornings too so that it is not such a battle in the afternoon.  It is nice to have a schedule again and getting up in the morning helps me get more done during the day but boy is it exhausting.