Adventures in Babysitting

My sister, Leslie called with a few days notice asking if I could fly up to CA and watch her kids while she worked her P.M. nursee shifts and slept during the day.  I had about 0 rearranging of my schedule to do, so Ty and I took a last-minute save-the-day trip up!  Luckily, we found cheap flights on Southwest and came on up!  I honestly was a little worried that I would be bored/wouldn't have lots of fun, but I was wrong.  I did learn a thing or two about being "mom" to two 2-year-olds and got some fun comments from others when we took little trips out like, "I hope you're having just 1 this time!" and "Good luck..." We survived just fine.  :)

Ty and Soy playing cars together.  There was definitely a healthy balance of playing together and hitting/pushing/screaming together.

 Piano time!  They all look so happy--and they were for about 3 minutes.  That bench ain't big enough for the 3 of them...

 Soy is so funny in this picture!  After lunch on Friday I told them they could have a popsicle, the ones that we bought at the store as their special treat earlier that day.  I thought we were buying small ones that they could eat quickly before they melted all over.  I was wrong.  Luckily, I made them get into their swimsuits and be outside for their treat: smart move Carolyn.

 See how Carl's almost done with his and Soy and Ty look like they haven't even started?  They both had popsicle-stained hands, arms, toes, and tummies.  :)  Good thing we just went into the pool after that because I don't do sticky messes real well...  I love that this picture looks like "Summer," though! 

 Ty and Soy are both kinda chicken about swimming, which is fine with me because I didn't want to have to jump in and save anyone and get my hair wet.  Thanks to their life-jackets and my keen life guarding eye, nobody even came close to

 Carl is a fish and enjoyed swimming while the little guys were taking naps--fine with me!

 Ty's feet were getting scraped up on the bottom on the pool (I don't know WHAT he does to his poor toes & feet!), so I made him wear socks in the water.  He wasn't too happy about it until he forgot about his unconventional footwear. 

 On Friday night we watched Cars 2 together--movie night! After jammies were on and blankets were snuggled in with, everyone got their own little brown bag of popcorn.  For the first 30 minutes, all 3 were thoroughly engrossed. 

 

 ...Then the little guys (mainly Ty and Sawyer joined him) got restless and they ran around the room taking pauses in their chasing each other to watch the movie.  :)

 On Saturday we had a mini birthday celebration for Carl.  We went to the Nut Tree, a spot I used to visit as a kid.  As a special treat, we rode on the little train that circles the play area a couple of times.

 We also rode on the carousel; Ty was still a little groggy from being waken up from his nap and not too sure about this up-and-down frog thing.  He talks about it now, though, so it must have been fun enough!

 Lel and Soy riding on the rocking horses that we used to ride on.

 Mama and Ty-ty on a red horse.  That thing was UNcomfortable.

 Then as another lucky treat, we went to Fenton's, the delish ice cream cafe and shared a jumbo sundae.  They put candles in our treat and called the attention of all patrons to sing to Carl, who loved it.

 Here's how Ty looks when he eats:

 Here's how Sawyer looks:  (Seriously--he was nasty after every meal!  I have been spoiled by a child who asks me to wipe off his hands when they get dirty.)

 Since we missed our flight (long story, not our fault), we got to stay with Mor-Mor and Far-Far for the night.  Ty stayed up way too late so that he could play with them a little bit and get some good stories from Mor-Mor. 

Happy Father's Day/End of School!

Friday was a holiday we (but mainly Russell) has looked forward to for years: his last day of class--ever.  No more lectures, no more scheduled tests and group presentations--aside from the major one next May and the licensing exam in June, of course.  Anyway, Russell will start his clinical rotations in a few weeks, but the "school" part of his graduate program is over with.  So, here he is on his very last day of class: happy.  :)

 As if celebrating classes being over wasn't enough, we decided to throw a little bit of Father's Day love in there!  Russell was very easy about his demands for the day (uhh...none) and we had a nice, relaxing Sunday together.  He requested barbecue meatballs (bbq sauce, not meatballs thrown on the grill) with rice and homemade ice cream sandwiches for dessert, I made snickerdoodle ice cream sandwiches Saturday afternoon.  Like a dummy, however, I forgot to check how many meatballs we had in the freezer.  [We recommend the big bag of frozen ones from Costco--just as cheap as ground beef and way easier to make.]  Since I haven't eaten meatballs in months due to their incredible lack of appeal over the past few months, I didn't realize we only had about 12.  Oops.  I had the sauce simmering on the stove by the time I made this realization, so we threw in some chicken, too.  It turned out pretty good still. 

Earlier in the week, Ty and I went to buy Russell's Father's Day presents.  He may or may not have already purchased the tool-thingy, so that was easy.  He also asked for those Ninja Turtle glasses months ago and subsequently forgot we had purchased them to be given at a later date.  I ordered Russell a gift card to a go kart track place in Vegas he's been to a few times before, which was actually (I think) a welcome surprise. 

 When I asked Ty what he wanted to get Daddy, he thought about it and said, "Wubbypops!  Daddy--wubbypups." So we went to the store and picked out a bag of lollipops.  On Sunday I told Ty we could go and wrap presents for Daddy to which he replied, "Wubbypups, Daddy, present!  Daddy,  wubbypups!"  I think it's adorable that he remembered what his present was and was excited to give it to him.

 I'm sure Ty wasn't expecting to share in Russell's gift at all...course not.  Oh, and the girls give you the gift of not being born yet.  That's about as good as they can do...

We love you, Russell and are glad you're the dad of this family! 

Mother's and Birth Day

Not everybody is as lucky as I am: I got to celebrate my 27th birthday AND Mother's Day on May 13th this year!  Actually, I'd rather spread out the holiday love, which we did throughout the week, but the more I have, the less birthdays matter to me.  It was just fine.  Plus, this whole Mother's Day thing is kind of a newly celebrated holiday, anyway.

Speaking of mother, how about adding 2 more to the party?  This was the day before my birthday, in some new maternity clothes from my mom.  (Thanks!)

 Thanks for being the reason we get to celebrate twice today, Ty!

I really do like being his mama.

And the next day; I'm not so sure I grew any overnight...21 weeks.

 For our "special" dinner, we had leftovers (good ones) and pulled Ty's little table up to the TV so we could watch the movie Up together.  Ty got a kick out of the kid named Russell, "Russer--Daddy!  Daddy--Russer!"

 Look at this handsome little face...

 Ty was so nice and helped me open presents.  Russell was so nice and got some for me to open!  (For a few, it wasn't too hard to get them, since I said, "Here--wrap this up, please."  This shirt being one of those.)

 Ty and Russell did give me an awesome award, though, signed by both.  See, I am lucky!

 This one really was a surprise--push-up popsicle makers!  I had mentioned that I wanted some a few weeks ago and Russell, the genius, wrote it down.  :)

Nothing like a beautiful bouquet of flowers to make you clean up your front room/table!  Thanks to Vicki and Big Russ for these.  I've never had flowers delivered before!  As they said in the note, though, "Birthday and Mother's Day together, you got ripped off girl!  But with Ty and the twins, you won the trifecta." Indeed I have.  :)

A Middle-of-the-Night Song

Last night as I was rolling out of bed at 3 a.m. I made up this song.  I'm surprised I still remember something from 3 a.m. and that it's been stuck in my head all day; I'm not sure if I should be proud or embarrassed.  Anyway, without further adieu, my 3 a.m. ballad (to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know it"):

In the middle of the night I gotta go.

Roll myself out of the bed and gotta go.

But now really, it's okay--

I wasn't comfy anyway!

In the middle of the night I gotta go.

Is it appropriate?  For all (most) occasions, no.  For me, big and pregnant at 3 a.m., it sure is fitting.  Pardon me for indulging in my "creative" side.  Hope everyone else out there sleeps well tonight.  :)

Our Clean-cut Funny Face

Ty's hair was looking a little shaggy around the ears and neck and because I had a $4.99 coupon for Great Clips, I decided that $5 (plus tip) was worth seeing if someone else could make his hair look better than I can.  Results: they can.  :)

Before side shot:

 Before front shot, complete with awesome penguin cape that we looked at and talked about when he had to look down while the back of his hair was being cut.

I think this is funny because Ty looks upset but he really was pretty good the whole time!  Other people in the...uh...salon commented on how well he was doing and how smart he is; we said the alphabet and counted a few times to get his mind off of his head.  He was mad about having hair all over him.

 Things got a little better after I told him we were going to style his new 'do then get him a lollipop.

And here it is: a blue dum-dum "wubbypup!"  He really did earn it and when asked over the next day or so about his haircut he responded with, "Hair, cut, penguin, wubbypup."

 Just before going to bed the other night when we were brushing his teeth, Ty discovered that he can make a "silly face" in the mirror.  He was CRACKING himself up!  (Please ignore the dirty mirror from him splashing water all over it."

 "Funny!"

 Tonight he asked to go brush his teeth so that he could make his silly face in the mirror again.  Apparently, the face isn't being made/nearly as funny if he can't see it!

"They're almost viable babies!"

It's true; now that I'm officially 24 weeks along, if by some crazy chance the girls decided to come now, they would have a chance of survival.  This is by no means in our plans we still have lots to do before they come:

-go to Fairfield to watch Sawyer and Carl while Lel works later this week

-go to Oklahoma for our long-overdue, but sure-to-be-fun visit

-move out of our apartment and into a house

-pack for said move

-unpack from moving

-attend Groves (my mom's side) family reunion in Southern Utah

-celebrate Ty's 2nd birthday and our 4th anniversary

-spend a few days in Vegas with my fam visiting

-other stuff

So you see, little ladies, coming now would not be convenient, nor would it be advised.  I do not feel any sort of inkling like they are coming, but it's kind of relieving once we get to this point.  

I'm sure I was sending mixed signals about them staying in the womb when I'm dancing and shakin' it around a stage in the 70's and 80's show dance recital last week!

 Ty got to meet Baby Milo Hansen, new little (and I mean little--barely 4 lbs!) boy of our friends to whom we owe loads of babysitting. 

 Ty was very sweet giving Milo kisses and pointing out parts of his face.  He even would interrupt playing with his football or Hercules the dog to come over and say, "Hi Miyo."

 Official 24 weeks picture.  Maybe it's the angle, but I don't think I look too big here...at least not as big as I feel sometimes.

 Ty was looking for his "baby sit-ters" under my shirt.  He knows there in there somewhere...

Firsts: Cookies, Bowling, and Ice Cream Cones

Have you ever had clothes a size or 2 too big for your child hanging in the closet, waiting for the kid to fit into them and then by the time you realize it fits, they only get to wear it a couple of times?  Well, that only loosely applies, but I wanted to make sure that we cover some "kid" events that I didn't realize he was old enough for.  Obviously he is, and we'll be repeating these multiple times. :)

#1: BAKING COOKIES

While Russell was gone at Scouts (?), Ty-Ty and I donned our aprons and set to work making some good ol' chocolate chip cookies.  He did a great job dumping stuff in...and out while he was trying to stir.

 When I was mixing the batter with the beaters, Ty kept saying, "Treat!  Treat?" And, even though it does contain raw egg (hasn't made either one of us sick yet...), I let him lick off a beater.  He was having a hard time waiting, though, and wanted to lick one after I had just mixed sugar and butter.

 What a goofball!

 Here you can see how long the little apron was on him!  Maybe I should make him his own that's a little smaller and slightly more masculine.  (Add it to the list/pile of "things I'm going to sew."  Feel free to step in and do that for him, anyone.)  Can't have cookies without milk, though.

 Ty did enjoy the finished product.  Unfortunately, so did Russell and I--probably a bit too much!

 #2: BOWLING

I've been wanting to go bowling for a while since we hadn't gone in at least 2+ years and Ty likes anything to do with a ball, so when we were invited to go with some friends, we jumped on that.  Next time we go, we should request to bowl in a separate room so I don't have to keep chasing an overly-excited Ty down as he runs from the lane to the vending machines to the brightly-colored balls, trying to pick them all up and all over the place! 

 Playing on this end of the ball return was much, much safer because of course Ty wanted to stick his hands where the bowling balls would pop out. Those things are dangerous! 

 Russell and I took turns letting Ty bowl one of our frames.  He had a fun time using the metal walker-looking thing sometimes and rolling the ball (that luckily made it all the way down the lane although it usually looked like it was going to come to a stop in the middle) off the bumpers. 

 Luckily, we were already done with our game, so it was okay if he touched the screen.  There was just so much new stuff to play with when we were "Bowling Ball" as Ty kept calling it.  :)

 #3: ICE CREAM CONE

How did we take so long to get him his first ice cream cone?!  He has definitely had ice cream before, I guess I'm just not adventurous enough to let him make a mess in a cone.  Ty is a notoriously slow eater, so of course this was just a huge, drippy mess waiting to happen.  I should have stripped him down.

 Of course he liked it and kept telling us, "I cweam cone--yummy!" while he ate. We had to convince him that he should take bites of the cone and not just suck on it, too.

 "Funny!"

Having a Ty around is fun.