Just A Trim, Please

I love the cute little baby fine hair that all babies are born with. Some have barely any hair. Some have a whole head full. My baby's are fortunate enough to be born with some hair. I have nieces and nephews born bald and don't get hair until they're almost 2. And on the extreme opposite side I have some nieces and nephews born with tons of hair. But, whether they were born with hair no none at all there comes a time for Baby's first hair cut.
Sawyer was sporting the cutest little old man hair style. He had these cute flaps of hair that looked like wings coming out over his ears. Then the little wings led to the back that was beginning to turn into a baby mullet. Definitely time to trim it down.
Our good friend Sabrina hooked my little man up with a nice trim. He is so handsome. He must take after his daddy who also decided it was time for a new do.
Yes, everyone you did in fact read that correctly. Tyler took the plunge and cut his hair. He woke up one morning and decided it was time. I promise you I had nothing to do with his decision. I happen to be in the shower when he made the appointment. He came in and said, "I have an appointment with Sabrina today at 12:30." I was shocked. He was ready and committed for a change.
I will admit I wasn't sad; but at the same time, I loved his pony tail. And yes, I did take pics. Enjoy!

He did so good while Sabrina trimmed his hair.

Tyler entertained him while I held him.

So handsome!

Here is the before shot.

You've got to admit that is some long hair.

I had to add this picture.

I told him he looked like a trailer park old lady with spikes on top and a mullet in back.

All that hair looks like a dead animal laying on the floor.

Now that is one handsome man!

Here are my 2 handsome clean cut men.

Sweet Scentsy

Every time I receive a Scensty package, it's like Christmas all over. I especially love it when they transition into a new season. With a new season brings new catalogs and new scents. It's been a tradition that as soon as the season delivery arrives I call up a few friends and we have a 'sniffing' party. It's so fun to discover our new favorite scents and to laugh our heads off when we discover one that makes our noses itch.
My kids love the deliveries too. It has the same impact on them as it does me. They love pulling all the packing paper out and seeing the stack of new scents and boxes with new treasures waiting to be opened.
This past delivery was extra special to me. It turn out the mail man also brought me the cutest little man ever.

Guess they smelled so good you could eat them.

 Sawyer crawled into the box and played with all the new scents. Every time we took him out; because he couldn't get out on his own. He would crawl right back in and start playing with everything all over again.
I've also realized that I don't need to buy those fancy stacking blocks. Turns out Sawyer can stack the Scentsy smell testers just fine. Plus he's discovered how well they roll.

Masquerade

I happen to be teaching preschool on Mardi Gras so I decided we could have a little fun, minus the beads, beer, and boobs. ;)
We made fun masks to celebrate with. Here's a few pics of the kids are their masks.

Kaydee and Landon

Dawson himself

Mr. Independant

I know this will come to no shock to you when I say; Dawson is a very creative child. You've all read the crazy things that come out of his mouth. Well, it turns out he's just as creative when it comes to his food. He wanted to make his own breakfast. I obliged and gave him a free day to make what he wanted. he decided he wanted  graham crackers. It could be worse, right. I was informed not to come in the kitchen because he was busy making himself food. Again I obeyed and let him have at it.
As time went on I did however venture in. And this is what I discovered was for breakfast.

This was his reaction when I found him.

He's saying, "no mom you don't come in here."

And what is it he's doing?

He's cooking his breakfast on the heater.

How is that for a breakfast.

 He thought for sure he was in trouble. 

But, I did say he could have graham crackers for breakfast.

He was pretty proud of himself for making this beautiful, yummy creation.

Tye Dye Days.

Do you remember the good ol' days of Tye dying? Well, in YW. we revisited those days with a fun activity of Tye dying. The girls loved. The only rule was; bring something to dye. I told the girls they could bring shirts, socks, scarfs, hair bows, and bras.
I about gave one the YW. advisers a heart attack when I suggested a bra. It wasn't the bra that gave her a heart attack it was my comment following it. I said, "No one will see it. You'll be casual on top and a party underneath." The girls thought it was hilarious. We even joked about wearing our Tye dyed bras on the outside of shirts at camp. Can you just picture it now. 25 girls wearing wild bras on the outside. I love it!
I chose to make shirts for all kiddos. I did 2 onsies for Sawyer. He has a long sleeve one and a short sleeve one.
It was so much fun that the girls wanted to do it again. That's what I call a successful activity.
Here's Dawson wearing his shirt.

Isn't he so cute.

He told me he wanted to make a scary face. This is what it turned into.

His mouth is opened so wide you can see his dangly throat thing.

Poor Baby.

Sawyer had a fever of almost 103 on Tuesday and Wednesday. I tried to bring it down with some Tylenol and Ibuprofen. It didn't provide much relief at all. I put him in the bath to try and cool him down. He loves his bath so I thought for sure he'd enjoy it. Wrong! He splashed for a little bit and then started screaming. He was shivering and cold. I pulled him out and his skin so hot to the touch, yet his little lip was quivering. It was heart breaking. I called Ty at work and told him he needed to get home on time tonight because Sawyer needed a blessing. A few hours after a Priesthood blessing his fever finally broke and his little body felt some relief. I am so grateful to have the priesthood in my home to be married to a man worthy of holding it.
The next day, Sawyer's fever was only about 100. Not too bad compared to the previous couple days. Unfortunately, he was still miserable because he had a nasty, runny nose and no appetite. He hasn't slept good because he couldn't breathe. And that also is what has affected his appetite. It's hard to drink from a bottle when you can't breathe.
Today, I finally had to take him in. I made him a doctor's appt. and explained what was going on and hoped for some relief for my little dude. However, what came next was a big run around. The doc. wanted to do a nasal swab to check for RSV. He was a little concerned when he heard fluid and wheezing in his lungs. So I was sent over to hospital to get the lab work done.
When I got to hospital I ran in to check if this indeed where I needed to go. I was assured that it was, so I ran back out to my car and grabbed all the kids and  hulled them all into the hospital. I entered Sawyer into the computer and waited to be called by registration.
Once I was seated at registration, I answered all the usual questions, name, birth date, my name, Father's name, employment, address, etc... Then she asked for my insurance card. I pulled it and she looks at it and says, "Oh, we don't take your insurance here." I was dumbfounded. She said, "we can do the procedure, but you'll have to pay for it." I asked where could I go to to get it done and my insurance cover it. She sent me to a clinic down the street.
I loaded the kids back in the van and headed to the clinic. Unloaded them and proceeded inside. Of course the lab was on the other side of the building. Ughhh. I sat down once again in the chair and my first question to her was, "Do you take our insurance?" Yes, they did!!! Then she asked my doctor's name. I gave it and she said, "he's not one of our providers. We can only do services for our listed doctors." You have got to be kidding me! Nope. She told me I needed to go to Timpanogos Hospital in Orem. Once again, I hauled the kids back out and onto yet another hospital.
I called Ty on my way to explain what the heck was going on. I was livid. I couldn't believe what was happening. Here I am with 4 kids, one of them is really sick and I'm getting the run around. I was practically in tears. Mostly because I was running of time and because I had a screaming baby. When we arrived at Timp Hospital, it was after 5. I needed to be back to Lehi to do gymnastic trade by 6. Plus we only have 1 car right now so I had to pick Ty up from work before trade so he could be with the kids. Any who, I went into the hospital and spoke to the lady at the front desk. She said to have a seat and they would call me up to registration. After a minute or 2 I heard the woman on the phone talking about her utility bill and making sure it got paid so the power wouldn't be turned off. I couldn't believe my ears. Did she really make me wait so she could make a personal phonecall. Once again, my blood was boiling. However, I remained calm and even said thank you as she called me over to the registration desk. I even told her, I hope her bill got paid so she would have heat when she got home. Wasn't that nice of me. OK. maybe a little snotty, but it made me smile.
As I sat down for the 3rd time at a registration desk the young, bow tie, wearing man asked me how my day has been. I smiled and said, "it can be a whole lot better if this where I need to be." He smiled and said, "how can help." I told him I have only 2 questions for you, "1 do you take my insurance and 2 does it cover my doctor and this procedure?" And his reply, "yes and yes!" I smiled and said, "Then I love you and you've made me very happy."
I told this story is long so bare with me. While I was in the room waiting for Sawyer to have his swab done, Ty called me. He explained that he called our insurance and asked them if they covered procedures done at American Fork Hospital. He specifically asked if they covered the one Sawyer needed. And guess what, they do indeed. They explained that not all of their plans are covered by the hospital but, our plan is. She explained that the lady at registration needed to look up our plan or call them and verify what they covered. She would have found out that we were covered and Sawyer could have had test run there. I couldn't believe it. Ty was so upset he called AF Hospital and complained about my treatment. Way to have my back honey.
Now we are waiting for the lab results and when I get them I'll let you know whats going on.

I put this pic in here so the registration lady would know where to kiss.

I Love My Little Muffin Top

My house is filled with the distinct smell of muffins baking in the oven. Who could resist the temptation a fresh blueberry muffin smothered in melted butter brings. Not me.
But wait there's also warm gooey chocolate chip muffins baking too. And no child of any age can resist the urge to nibble away at one of those.

Sawyer wanted in the yummy goodness.

If you look close you can see his 2 bottom teeth.

I don't know if it was more playing or eating at this point.

 But, I do know he sure enjoyed it.

Love his chocolate smile.

I'm seeing RED.

It's no secret my favorite color is red. Look around my house. My kitchen is painted red, the curtains are red. My living room rug, pillows, and curtains are all red accents. I love red. It makes me happy to see it.
At least I was happy to see red until I found it where it doesn't belong. Turns out Sawyer likes red too. And he's discovered his love for coloring.

This what I found under the kitchen table.

This is in the living room.

And here is the cause of Sawyer finding crayons.

On a side note, I also found red crayon in a diaper.  Guess it tasted good too.

Just Cuz.

It's funny how no matter how many years separate cousins. Family is family and when we all get together kids will be kids and fun will be had by all.
Here are some pics of the kiddos enjoying being together.

The girls are showing off their necklaces that say;

"Best Friends Forever."

Cute little Ivan.

I wonder what these 2 are up too?

Something tells me it's no good.

Silly girls!

         Is Dawson sad because we're leaving?

                 Or is it because everyone else gets to eat?                              

The cutest little 'Daisy' in the group.

Sweet Toothless No More.

It has finally happened. Sawyer's first 2 teeth have made their debut. It only took 10 1/2 months. He has his front, bottom teeth. Now he can officially bite/chew something. Well, at least attempt to bite something. Good thing his saliva helps a lot.
I'll try and get a pic of them if he'll let me. Every time I open his mouth, he covers his teeth with his tongue. Little stinker.

Brown Stuff.

Thank goodness for $0.79 hamburgers from Artic Circle. It was one of my crazy hectic days and because of my time limits I grabbed hamburgers for the kids. I asked them who wanted one and who would rather have a corn dog.
Kenz and Xan both wanted burgers. Dawson however, asked for a hamburger without the brown. I tried to clarify what he was asking for by repeating his order back to him but changing 1 word. I asked him if he wanted a hamburger with no bun? He then said, "No, without the brown in the middle."
To clarify again, "You want a hamburger without the meat?" He sighed and explained to me, "I want the bread, salad, and the pickle. No brown stuff from the middle. Got it, mom." As I'm laughing I explain to him that you can't order just a bun and pickle. To which he replied, "I want the salad too."
He ended up with a corn dog.

Sticky and Slippery

Despite the title this post contains no adult content.
hehehehe
Sawyer has discovered a new love for pancakes. It's so nice to have him eat real food. He also likes waffles. Is this kid a little Dawson or what.
Any way, what happens when a 10 1/2 month old eats pancakes?? A sticky mess. Luckily, kids clean up easily. He actually does a good job with eating his fork bite by bite. But, hands and mouths will still get messy.
As I put his hands under the water at the kitchen sink he decided that it should be bath time. This is where slippery comes into play.

 

Dawson helped Sawyer get a little wetter.

Once he decided he was done playing it was time to strip.

Who could resist a little nudie booty.

What do you think?

I was playing around with the font and colors on my blog. What do you think? Can you read it OK? Does anyone know how to shrink the main pic at top? I already clicked shrink to fit. But I can't make it smaller. Is it possible?

Ouch!

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like everything wants to come crashing down on you all at once. Thursday was one of those days. It started off with the never ending morning battle to get kids off to school on time. As I was getting their breakfasts and lunches packed I opened the freezer to find a jar of baby food I made on Tuesday had expanded while freezing and popped it's top. So I pulled it out to defrost a bit so I could take a couple scoops out and get the lid back on.
I was also teaching preschool that day, so I put the finishing touches on my lesson stuff. Sawyer always has a melt down as preschool starts because it's getting toward nap time. Dawson was also having a melt down at the same time. He was working in a  activity book and got frustrated because he couldn't figure something out. I am now down to 20 mins before school. I still needed to get dressed and brush my teeth. I went over to the counter to take care of the baby food and get it cleaned up. As I reached into the cupboard to pull out an empty glass baby food I bumped another one and it went crashing to the counter below. Glass now covered my counter, stove, floor, and flew into the opened jar of baby food. I couldn't win!!
The good thing is that when the jar shattered, both boys stopped crying and whining. Dawson gladly took Sawyer in the other room so I could clean the mess. I got that taken care of and still had 5 mins to spare so I could dress and brush.
Preschool started and we had a success with the first  activity. Then Dawson started. He had a huge meltdown over a crayon. He threw it across the table and that was it. I put his little self in time out and continued with my lesson. The whole time he is hysterically crying and carrying on. I didn't give him another look. I went on teaching from activity to activity. I told him that when he decided he was done crying and acting up then he could join us. With 15 mins left he finally decided to come back. Once he realized I wasn't giving in and when he saw the other kids have snack, make a craft, and do other worksheets.
Preschool ended, Dawson was fine and Sawyer was once again happy. Then the phone rang. It was the secretary from the school. She was calling to tell me that Xander was down in the office with a gash on his forehead. She said, I might want to come look at it. Being the mom that I am, and being raised by the mom that I was, I have the mentality of; are you dying? Then you're OK. Or are you broken? Then get up. I told the secretary, "Linda, use your mom judgement, is he OK and can he make it the last 35 mins of school or should I come down?" She giggled and responded, "If it were my kid, I'd say he'd be fine. But, you should come down to see if you think he needs stitches." "OK", I said "I'm on my way."
So I ran to the neighbor and asked if he would watch my other boys because I didn't know what I was going to find with Xander. I just had his boy at preschool so I knew he was home. Thanks again Christian! I went to school to find Xan sitting in the nurses room with a paper towel on his forehead. As soon as he saw me it was instant tears. I removed the towel to find a gash going down his forehead. And it was swelling up. He was going to have a goose egg and bruise. That was for sure. It didn't look to bad but, he definitely needed to come home and calm down. Some good ol' liquid band-aids would take care of it.

I went up to his classroom to get his stuff for him. When I got there a couple kids in his class handed me get better soon cards they had made up for Xander. They were too cute. They made me giggle so I had to take a few pics of them to add to this post.

When we got home, things returned to normal. I was able to get preschool stuff cleaned up. Dawson and Sawyer fed. And I even managed to put make-up on. It's days like this that make me realize I grateful I am for the calm relaxing days I do manage to get once in awhile. Yet, at the same time it's days like this that make me grateful for unexpected events that make my life a little extra exciting and unpredictable.

Xander was fine, Dawson was fine, Sawyer was fine, the baby food was fine, and I SURVIVED.

It was all in a days work.