Sprightly on Our Way

Thursday, October 17, 2013

A Hallowed Surprise

Yesterday the boys and I came home from a family visit down in southern Utah. Jeff had returned earlier with my parents. Sadly, I had contracted a nasty flu bug down there and had vomited profusely, had the chills and the aches. The almost four-hour drive home was miserable. When I finally walked up to the stairs to our apartment, what did I see? MONSTERS!!!!

Soooo awesome, right? Jeff decided to surprise me and the boys with a spic 'n span clean house and festive Halloween decor! He made these decorations. What a man!!! I have theee coolest husband ever!!!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Two Years Old!!! Part 2

Since Grant's birthday fell on a Tuesday, we decided to have a bigger birthday party for him on Friday night. It was a lot of work, but a great success and a lot of fun!

Remember how Jeff stayed up until 4:00 to decorate before Grant's birthday? Wellllll, he pulled an all-nighter and decorated even more for Grant's birthday party yesterday! Crazy? Dedicated and awesome father (and husband, since he let me sleep while he did it all)? Spoiler? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Homemade margarita pizza (I made three...and I don't ever want to have to make three in one day again!)

AWESOME decorations, right??

Liz kindly helped out with this car wash station! Thanks, Liz!

It was a huge hit with Grant and Laura! They loved it when we turned on the bubble machine!

Grant's cake! I did everything except decorate the car. Haha I left that job up to the artist of the family! Don't judge us too harshly...we're not pro cake makers like some of you out there (Kayla!)!

Opening presents before eating dinner! He was too anxious to rip open these packages and couldn't wait. This boy sure is loved (spoiled) by people who know him so well!

He loves this car, Eric and Karyn! This was his favored item to snuggle to sleep with tonight! Thank you!!

He did a great job blowing out the candles!

Playing "Pin the Tooth on Mater." The kids weren't up to trying it blindfolded...maybe when they're a little older?

It was such a great birthday party, and we loved having family over to celebrate the life of our buddy Tochan!

Some post-birthday shots of him and some of the presents he got yesterday:

Sportin' some handsome BYU apparel! Thanks, Liz and Amy!! Too bad BYU lost today...

He loves his fireman hat and book, Gramps and Grams! Pretty much the coolest interactive kid book that I've ever seen! Thank you so much!

Lastly, a picture of our Koa Guy. He loves the grass!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Two Years Old!!! Part One

Oh, hello, blog world! After taking a loooooong blogging hiatus, I think it would be good to get back in the habit! There's so many fun memories that I'd like to document about that have happened since I last posted...but right now the thought of playing catch-up overwhelms me. So! Let's start with writing about the present, and maybe we'll go back in time and update later.

I can't believe our little Grant is now two! Jeff and I have been parents for two years now...it's crazy to think about all the things we have gone through and done together with Grant and now with Guy. We sure don't feel old, but when we think about having two kids it boggles our minds a little!

Grant woke up bright and early to a nicely decorated house. Jeff stayed up until 4:00 in the morning to decorate! Apparently he wanted to surprise Grant (and me) and when I went to bed he went to Walmart twice and then put up balloons, streamers, a Cars banner and an awesome handmade poster of Mater. It looked awesome!

I cooked up some fluffy pancakes and we had them with ice cream and strawberry sauce on top. Since Jeff had to work at night, we decided we'd do all the party stuff in the morning.

Next came the presents!

We gave him his very first Book of Mormon. He actually really likes it. He will sit down and turn the pages and "read" out loud. Or he'll ask us to read it to him. His attention span lasts only for about one verse so far.

We also gave him a "weeooo weeooo" helicopter! He wouldn't put it down and it had to be at his side for the rest of the day...or that is, until GramMi and PawPaw dropped by later that night.

Homemade pizza and home-grown pears from Gramps's and Grams's pear tree for dinner.

Participating in one of his favorite daytime activities: watching the diggers and trucks work outside out apartment complex.

Grant loved all of the happy birthday phone calls, messages, and video chats from family members! Whenever someone would sing "Happy Birthday" to him, he'd pretend to blow out candles.

PawPaw and GramMi dropped by right as I was about to put the boys to sleep. Grant was so happy to see them! He liked his digger outfit, but he LOVED the John Deere tractor! His weeoo weeoo helicopter instantly went on the back burner and his tractor was the favored item to be snuggled to sleep.

And just for fun, a few stats:

Head circumference: 19.6 inches - 87th percentile
Weight: 25.57 lbs - 35th percentile
Height: 32.5 inches - 18th percentile
Favorite dessert: Ice cream
Favorite book: I Like Myself
Favorite animal: Elephant
Favorite foods: Pizza, strawberries, pears, smoothies, cheese
Favorite movie: Cars
Favorite Sesame Street Character: Cookie Monster
Shoe size: Toddler 5-6
Shirt size: 2T
Pant size: 18 Mo
Words that describe Grant: Happy, curious, detail-oriented, focused, easy-going, selective listener, loving, affectionate, rascally, climber, fearless, fun.

We sure love our Tochan buddy! He has such a happy and sweet spirit and is a great joy in our lives. We're so grateful to have him in our family!!!

Friday, March 22, 2013

The Perks of Bedrest

I finally figured it out. I am so grateful and feel so blessed because everyone does everything for me all of the time. And, I am so irked and feel so frustrated because everyone does everything for me all of the time! Quite the conundrum, eh?

Anyway, I am now 34 weeks along in my pregnancy. Three more weeks until I am full term! Hopefully this babe can stay in and cook a little longer. As much as I despise bedrest, I am sooooooooo grateful that he wasn't born very premature at 27 weeks, when I first started having contractions.

I was thinking more about the blessings that have come and the lessons I have learned through all of this so far. Then I started wondering, have there been any perks to all of this for me? I have to admit, there have been many!

1. I have had many special eating privileges. I can't sit up for very long, or else the contractions will get worse, cut off my oxygen supply to my brain, and I'll black out. (True story, it happened in the hospital.) So, I get to eat on the couch! This is a big deal at my dad's house, since he hasn't allowed anyone to eat in the newly-remodeled living room...until very recently! However, it can get tricky without a table to eat over. Baby wipes often come in handy.

2. I'm getting far more rest than I've gotten for the past year and a half!

3. Since I'm hardly on my feet, my feet and legs haven't gotten swollen yet (knock on wood)! Huzzah for no cankles! I'm just slowly getting fatter as I lie around all the time...though according to the doctor it "wouldn't hurt to try to fatten up more" since I'm on the low end of where my weight should be.

4. I have been able to read some books! Leisurely books, not textbooks! Yipee!

5. When I'm feeling good, I've been working on some crocheting. It's been fun taking patterns and adjusting them to what I want to make, and sometimes making them up completely by myself. I still would like to open up an Etsy shop and sell the things I make...hopefully that will start sometime soon! Here's a little taste of what projects I've been working on: