Hanging With Dad

I really wanted to go north shopping for last minutes items for Luke's birthday party next week.  Chad really wanted to go for a rhino ride and look for elk (he has a spike elk permit that starts next weekend).  We weren't sure what to do with the boys.  I knew I couldn't handle both on my own and feel like I was getting somewhat of a break and he knew he couldn't take them both for a ride.  So we compromised and split up.  Luke and I went shopping.  It was so nice just the two of us.  He got a couple of good naps in and was fun to shop with.  We had lunch at Culver's and he ate half a grilled cheese sandwich.  It was nice having some one on one time with my baby boy.  Chad and Tyke loaded up and headed to Sanpete county for a ride.  Unfortunately where they wanted to go was posted no trespassing so they came back this way and ultimately ended up out in Levan somewhere riding around.  They didn't see any elk but they had a great time riding, playing in the water, and even shot a chucker!  Tyke was timid at first but thought it was awesome to hold the dead bird once he got brave enough!  They had lunch at the hamburger joint in the gas station in Levan and then came home.  We all got home around the same time.  It worked out perfectly and I think it's safe to say that everyone had a great day!

Can't Win

I swear it feels like lately we've spent a lot of time at the pediatricians office.  Tyke has been there so much because of his eye that anytime we're playing and one of us says "ow" he stops, hugs us, and tells us we need to "doe tee the doctor!"  He has had a cough that has lasted weeks now.  I was starting to get tired of it and on the verge of taking him to the doctor one more time to get it cleared up.  Instead we took him to the doctor yesterday for a bad case of hives!  It started Sunday night around 7:30 p.m., right after Chad left to go help Chris, and it got worse and worse.  I had no clue what had caused it.  At dinner he kept scratching the back of his neck and then he finally just started crying to me that it was bothering him.  I figured the tag of his shirt was bothering him, when I looked and noticed the hives.  I took off his shirt and his entire back and stomach, arm pits and the insides of his elbows were covered in little red bumps, a red rash, and some hives.  I called and let Chad know.  I then sent pictures to my sisters to see what they suggested.  I gave Tyke a good long shower and then rubbed him down with an aloe vera lotion Grandma Cheryl had given us that is supposed to help with hives.  Aunt Rachelle brought over some allergy medicine and we gave Tyke a very small dose to see if it would help.  It didn't but it made him so hyper he literally ran around the house yelling, "You tan't tatch me mom! You tan't tatch me mom!" until 1 a.m. in the morning.  Aunt Danielle sent some benadryl lotion home with Chad.  None of it seemed to help but his itching subsided and the redness turned to a pale pink.

Monday morning when we got up and his hives were still present, Chad and I decided it was probably best to take him to the doctor.  I'm a little sick of that place lately!  I was able to get Tyke a 10:45 appointment.  We took Luke along with us too to see if Dr. Fullmer would check his ears (I had him at the doctors office Wednesday night thinking he had an ear infection.  He didn't but his left ear had a little fluid on it and we were told to watch him close and possibly bring him back in.  He fevered for two days after that, 102 degrees, had cold symptoms and all.  Dang kids!).  By the time we got to our waiting room Tyke's back was really raised in hives.  They didn't seem to bother him though which was good.  He and Luke and a really hard time being good while we waited for Dr. Fullmer.  Tyke was bouncing off of the walls and Luke was trying his hardest to eat the toys that belong to the clinic...gross!  Chad was exhausted from working a graveyard shift the night before and I was exhausted from the kids not sleeping well.  We were quite the bunch in that room!

Dr. Fullmer came in and looked Tyke over really well.  His lungs and everything were clear as can be.  He was stumped, once again.  He said there are four things that cause hives in children: foods, medicine, infections, and don't know.  Luckily we mentioned that Tyke had had a cough that had been lingering for weeks now.  One that would make him cough so hard he would throw up (yes, I'm tired of cleaning up puke).  We also asked if there might be a slight chance that this was connected to the swollen eye.  Dr. Harrie (ultrasound guy) had mentioned sinus problems were causing Tyke's eye trouble.  Dr. Fullmer thought about it for a second and then put two and two together!  We are treating Tyke for bronchitis, an infection of the lung.  Dr. Fullmer is fairly convinced that all of Tyke's symptoms are tied together.  He suggested we cancel Tyke's MRI for now, which we are gladly going to do, and see if this antibiotic will work.  If his eye swells up again then we will reschedule the MRI.

Dr. Fullmer checked Luke's ears quick before leaving and luckily they still looked great!  Turns out he's just a grumpy child.

Dr. Fullmer gave us some Claritin to give Tyke for the itchiness and a prescription for Azythromycin.  I had to fight hard with Tyke to get him to take the Claritin, it's a small dis-solvable pill.  He probably kept half of that dang purple pill in his mouth.  By the time we were done fighting we were both covered in purple.  When we got to Grandma Cheryl's house I tried to give Tyke his antibiotic.  He was having none of that and kept slapping me until I finally broke down and had to leave.  To say I'm exhausted and tired of everything that has been going on in our world would be an understatement.  I had to go sit in the car for a few minutes and have myself a good cry.  Chad was able to get Tyke to take his medicine and that was that.  I went back to work, and Chad went home for a nap while Grandma Cheryl babysat the boys.  Around 2:30 Grandma Cheryl called me concerned about Tyke.  He was covered in hives, head to toe, and was lobster red!!  I didn't know what to do so I told her to give him a cool shower and put aloe lotion on him.  She did so, and sent me a picture of his poor little body.  My heart sunk when I got the pictures.  I immediately called the pharmacy and talked to the pharmacist about what was going on.  She said it sounded like he was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, to stop giving him the meds, and contact our doctor immediately.  I called Dr. Fullmer's office and spoke with his nurse.  I answered a lot of questions about what was going on.  The bad thing was I was still at work and knew very little about how he was.  She wanted to know if he was fevering, eating and drinking well, etc. and I had no answers for her.  Just that he was way worse than he had been this morning and what the pharmacist had told me.  She let Dr. Fullmer know what was going on and then called me right back.  She told me to give Tyke 1 tsp of children's benadryl and monitor him for an hour and report back.  I left work and went to the store for the benadryl.  Tyke took it easily and within minutes was bouncing off of the walls.  About an hour later Dr. Fullmer's nurse called back to check on Tyke.  His coloring looked a lot better but his legs looked terrible with hives.  She let the doctor know and then called me again to say keep doing what we're doing, plus cool showers and to try the antibiotic one more time, the next morning, watch him close and report back.  Once Tyke slowed down from being so hyper he crashed hard and had a good long nap.  We had a really hard time waking him up but eventually did.

This morning Tyke woke up with NO hives at all!!!  We gave him his dose of antibiotic and I was so nervous to see what it might bring.  Luckily he did great with it and had no ill side effects.  Dr. Fullmer's office called to check on him and was happy to hear the good news.  So, I guess we'll just go with the flow of things and see how the rest of the week goes.  He has three more doses to go before he's finished with the antibiotic.  We really, really, really hope it's the cure to everything that Tyke has been dealing with the last couple of months.  Fingers crossed!!

Sunday Doins

There's not really much to say about today.  We were lazy.  Tyke fell asleep eating his lunch.  I have no idea how he didn't fall of his chair?  I kept talking to him and when I finally realized he wasn't responding I went to check why and found him like this.  It was adorable!  Tyke also had fun running around the house teasing his Daddy by wearing his hats and saying, "nah, nah Dad! I dot you hat!  Nah, nah!"  Luke had anxiety about Chad being outside without him.  He threw a mega fit until Chad finally took him out to mow the lawn with him which I'm sure was super awkward but the boy enjoyed it.  He's turning into quite the Daddy's boy!  Luke also ate almost 1/2 of a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner!!  I was both excited and impressed!  Uncle Chris got his elk, right at the close of his hunt.  Way to go!  Daddy, Bampa Terry, Teagen and Uncle Cody are on their way now to go and help pack it out.  Happy Sunday! 

Bubbles

We've been giving Luke lots of bubble baths lately with the Johnsons & Johnsons lavender bath soap, in hopes to get Luke to sleep through the night.  It hasn't worked (nothing does) but Luke sure loves the bubbles!  He seems so confused by them and intrigued, and then he dips his head down to the water and tries to eat them!  Yuck!  I tell him no, no and he shakes his head no at me and then eats them off of his hands.  Silly Lu!

MRI Scheduled

Dr. Young called me this afternoon.  It caught me off guard to be talking to her and not an assistant.  She said that while she was happy that Tyke's ultrasound results were good, she was still concerned that we might be missing something.  She said she had consulted with a few other doctors and they all feel that Tyke needs to have an MRI done to rule out any "solid" tumors.  I was hesitant to agree with her but she sounded genuinely concerned and said she would really hate to miss anything.  She transferred me to her receptionist to get things scheduled.  Tyke will be having his MRI done on October 6 at 9:30 a.m.  He will have to fast and be sedated for the procedure.  I'm a little nervous of the thought of him being sedated.  He has been sedated once before, when he had to have stitches in his eyebrow, and he had a hard time coming out of it.  Once again I'm feeling nervous and anxious.  Here's to more hoping and praying that nothing bad will be found on the MRI and that all will go well with the sedation.  And here's to hoping that we can all relax and not stress out too much until October 6th comes.


-Update 9/24/15- MRI has been canceled.  We're going to wait and see what this antibiotic does for Tyke and then go from there.  Here's hoping that we don't have to reschedule!

32 Months Old

The Roni-man is 32 months old today.  I feel like the months keep going faster and faster around this place with our wild little boys.  Tyke is so full of life and is almost always smiling and giggling.  He's such a good, sweet boy and we love him so much!

Tyke has been my big helper a lot lately.  He takes diapers to the trash, dirty dishes to the sink, and laundry to the laundry baskets.  He loves to help out with whatever whenever.  Of course,  helping out Daddy is way more fun than helping Mommy because when helping Daddy it usually involves tools or a garden hose.  Tyke is always exclaiming to us, "I help me you Mom/Dad!"

Tyke is such a good big brother!  Luke absolutely adores him and looks up to him.  These two boys are so fun to watch together.  They play well, wrestle well, and laugh at each other often.  Tyke has started "helping" discipline Luke and he gets himself in trouble when he does so.  It's so hard not to laugh because it's hilarious to watch him man handle and lecture Luke but it's really not his job, it's ours.  If Luke is getting into something he shouldn't, Tyke will tattle tale on him and then grab by his leg and drag him away, or grab him by his neck and knock him over.  The past few days Tyke has even started to pick Luke up and carry him to me.  That is a big NO NO but he thinks he's helping.   Poor Luke just looks at us confused as to why Tyke is hauling him away.  Luke is almost as big as Tyke now I swear, so it's amusing to watch.

Tyke's appetite is still about the same.  He is starting to eat more and always requests seconds but he still refuses to eat 99% of what we cook.  He will only eat pizza, meat pies, corn dogs, and grilled cheese sandwiches.  It kind of makes it hard for me to want to give him "mo!" (more) when it isn't as convenient as it would be if he ate what we make.  Depending on the day and the mood he is in he will eat fruit cups with his lunch and dinner.  He likes corn on the cob a lot but we have to remind him of this every time we have it.  We literally have to force feed him some foods that he likes but he's unsure of.  Once he gets that first taste a look of realization comes onto his face and he grabs the fork away from us and pigs out.  He's a silly little eater for sure!  He's not a big fan of fast food (not that we offer it to him that often) and it makes it kind of hard to decide where to go.  He'll eat cheese roll ups (a quesadilla rolled up) from Taco Bell and grilled cheese sandwiches from Sonic and Culver's.  Other than that we are out of options.  He's a more picky eater than I am and that's pretty bad!  Luke on the other hand, that kid will eat anything!

Tyke has really been talking up a storm lately.  We feel like some words he used to say so clearly are now mumbled and sound more like baby talk.  Other words though have caught us off guard and we love hearing him say and use new terms.  He properly uses the word "too" all of the time which amazes me.  He has started to show a renewed interest in the ABC's and counting.  He hasn't mastered either one but he has the tune down for the alphabet and counts the numbers one, three, two...in that order every time.  We're working with him on this but he thinks it's funny to tease us by saying it wrong.  I'm excited to say that we have Tyke signed up for pre-school next school year with The Apple Academy.  I know I'm way early at doing so but I did it anyway because their spots fill up super fast.  I feel a little less anxiety about it now.  I'm so excited for him to go to school, even though it's a year away, because he's such a smart little fart and loves to learn and be challenged.  Here are a few of Tyke's new words and phrases over the last month:

• "Mom, I told, I need b!" (Mom, I'm cold, I need a blanket!)
• "Nope!" (One of his favorite words!  It was cute at first but now it's just annoying because it's his only answer to everything!)
• "Hi-ya!" (He thinks he's a ninja turtle and likes to try and karate chop us and anything in his path)
• "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!" (While dancing a silly little teasing dance)
• "I poop! I det monies!" (I've already blogged about this but he still constantly says it to me when I beg him to use the potty, which by the way is not working out too well at the moment)
• "Turtle eat pita!" (Turtles eat pizza!)(He's a Ninja Turtle fan big time!)
• "Where my turtle toy doe?!" (when he can't find his ninja turtle)
• "I want apple-joo box!") (apple juice box)
• "I want doe to gamma's home!" (I want to go to grandma's home)
• "Otay" (Okay-it's another favorite word lately.  He says it a lot!!)
• "No, Louie want him bum changed!" (His reply when I ask if he needs a diaper change, every time!)
• "Mom, is my dinner done yet?!" (This question he asked me two nights ago and it totally caught me off guard.  I have never heard him speak so clear and so grown up!  It made me smile and made me proud of this cute boy of mine!)
• "I wuz you more too!" (I love you too!)

A funny little story.  Every night after bath time I comb Tyke's hair, clean his ears and nose with Q-tips, brush his teeth and then get his diaper and jammies on.  Last night while cleaning his nose I told him to hold still (I pretty much just wipe the inside of his nose to keep things clean).  He looked at me seriously and asked, "Whoa mom, it a big one?!" (questioning what I was digging out), sure enough it was a sticky boogie and once I pulled it out he exclaimed, "Me tee, me tee!....Eeewwwww!" (Me see, me see, ew!)  He was completely disgusted and I was trying hard to not bust out laughing at him.  He's such a goofball!

Tyke has been doing pretty well at sleeping in his new big boy bed.  He goes to bed by himself almost without any problems.  He usually asks one of us to lay by him but the last few nights we've been unable to (Luke demands to be rocked to sleep now and we're trying to stay on schedule...yeah right!).  I give Tyke his sippy of chocolate milk, tuck him in, give him loves and kisses, say our prayers and then leave the room for twenty or so minutes with Luke to get him to sleep.  By the time I get back to lay Luke in his crib, Tyke is almost always dead asleep.  He still comes in to our room in the middle of the night to sleep with us about 80% of the time.  Sometimes I haul him back to his bed but most of the time I don't even notice him until morning.  I'm that tired.

Tyke, at this points, refuses to potty train.  It's been a struggle and I've finally just given up for now until he's ready.  He will get so excited to wear his big boy underwear (we have all characters to excited him: turtles, toy story, planes, Mickey Mouse) and within minutes of wearing them he will pee all over.  It's frustrating and as exhausted as I am I don't really want to deal with it right now or I'll pull my hair out.  We'll wait another month or so and see what he decides to do.

Mr. Tyke continues to grow big and strong.  He's so big for his age that people comment on it all the time.  He hasn't changed much in the clothing department or diapers.  He's still a size 3t-4t shirt, 3t jeans, 2t shorts, and size 10 shoe.  He loves his boots and wants to wear them all the time, proclaiming: "I a tow-boy Ma!" (I'm a cowboy mom).  We misplaced Tyke's hat one morning and he refuses to leave the house without one so we borrowed one of Daddy's and adjusted it to see if it would work.  It fit perfectly and it's now his new favorite hat.  I'm just glad I don't have to stress about finding toddler sized hats anymore.

We love our handsome, big boy so much!  We look forward to every new and exciting new thing he learns and does.  He's a good kid and my little sweetheart!  Happy 32 months buddy!  We love you more too!

2015 Hunts

Between both sides of our families there were three big tags to fill this year!  Uncle Chris drew a Manti elk tag.  Aunt Tiffany drew a Pahvant elk tag.  And Aunt Stephanie (M) drew a Wasatch moose tag.  All three hunts started on the same day!  Chad volunteered to help Chris and we volunteered to go and hang out at Tiffany's camp.  When it came down to it though, I opted to just spend a few hours opening day visiting.  The boys hadn't been feeling the greatest so we just took it easy.  

We left the house Saturday around 11:30 a.m.  Grandma Cheryl rode down with us.  We stopped for lunch at Costa Vida before venturing up the canyon to Tiffany's elk camp.  When we got there no one was there, they were all out looking for elk. We hadn't been there long before one by one all of the guys, and Tiff, made it back to camp.  She had quite the crew helping her out!  When they arrived the let us know that Stephanie had got her moose!  Where we were sitting there was no cell service so we must have just barely missed the text messages from Steph.  We visited for maybe two hours before it was time for them to head back out for the night hunt.  We watched them all load up and go, and we loaded up and left too.  It was a fun day out in the outdoors.  The boys had fun playing in the dirt with the rocks and twigs.  Love my cute boys!!

We made it home in good time.  We were all exhausted and ready for naps.  We had no sooner crashed on the couch when Grandma Cheryl called to let us know that Stephanie was home.  I was so excited I quickly loaded the boys back in the car and to Mona we went.  Stephanie killed a huge, nice moose!  The boys thought it was awesome and so did I!  Of course the boys were more interested in playing with the kids and eating all of their cookies.  Luke even had his first chocolate chip cookie and he loved it!

Sunday afternoon Stephanie and Seth dropped their kids off at our house for the day so they could go help on Tiffany's hunt.  We had fun playing and baking and watching movies.  We were all so excited to get word that night that Tiffany had gotten her elk and they were all headed home.  Way to go Tiffy! 

I love that our families are hunting families and that we all get to enjoy the great outdoors and everyone's excitement!

Here are their trophies! We weren't present for either kill but we are sure excited for Aunt Stephanie and Aunt Tiffy!  Way to go girls!

At this time, Uncle Chris still hasn't got his elk...

Eye Ultrasound

We survived Tyke's eye ultrasound.  His swelling was completely gone by Saturday night thankfully.  We made the trek to Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake Clinic and met with Dr. Harrie at 3 p.m.  I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be and I'm sure that's thanks to all of the praying and prayers that were said beforehand.  We had a long wait in the waiting room but luckily there was a Trax line just outside our window that kept Tyke entertained with the Trax "train" driving by every ten minutes.  He was such a good boy!  

When we got called back to our room Tyke immediately noticed there was no TV playing cartoons and asked repeatedly, "Mom, where TV doe?!" (Dr. Young's offices have TV's in each room to entertain the kids).  The nurses took his stats, had him identify some objects on the wall, and got all of our information.  The room was hot and there were too many fun things that Tyke was interested in but we wouldn't let him play with (doctors equipment) which resulted in a mini meltdown.  Luckily he was fine by the time Dr. Harrie came in.  

Our visit with Dr. Harrie was fairly short and to the point.  I held Tyke for his testing and we were reclined back in the chair.  Tyke was squirmy and unsure about what was going on but he did great!!  Dr. Harrie did three different ultrasound tests (at least that's how I'm explaining it).  The first one took pictures of the eye (like a baby ultrasound), the second one measured wave lengths, and the third one had a radio attached and he listened to the noise it made.  Tyke wasn't a very big fan of the gel that was used with each of the wands but he cooperated well regardless.  While looking at the wavelength pictures Dr. Harrie asked us if we sure that Tyke didn't have sinus problems because the jump in the wave lengths indicated that that was where the problem was at.  He also let us know that he didn't see anything "scary", thank goodness!!  He told us it would take him a couple of days to go over the information and that he would let Dr. Young know the results as soon as possible.  I'm guessing he got done a lot quicker because Dr. Young sent me a text that night asking questions because the info she got was really vague.  I told her everything that Dr. Harrie had told us.  She told me that we should follow up with her in two or so weeks and to let her know if anything changes in the mean time.  I'm so relieved that Tyke got a clean bill of health with his cute little eye.  Prayers were answered!!  Thanks!

Eye News

My poor baby.  Tyke has been having more trouble with his eye swelling since that first episode back on July 27.  After starting his antibiotic and over the counter eye drops the swelling disappeared within two days and all was well.  Roughly two weeks after that swelling had cleared up his eye swelled up again accompanied with a fever around 100 degrees (again).  We didn't take him to the doctor we just simply started giving him eye drops and within two days everything had cleared up.

While camping this past weekend up the canyon, on Saturday morning, his eye started swelling again but this time it was his eyelid and not below the eye like in the past.  At this point I didn't really worry too much about it.  A few people commented on it and I told them about the last two episodes and that it was fine.  Well, it's not fine.

Monday afternoon Tyke kept complaining that his eye hurt and he was rubbing it pretty hard like it itched or something.  When I checked his eyes his swollen left eye was really pink and red.  My first thought was that he had pink eye.  I text my sisters and mom for their opinion and whether I should take him to the doctor or not.  They suggested no doctor yet and to try allergy medicine.  We gave Tyke some allergy medicine around 2 p.m. and it didn't help at all.  That night he started his 100 degree fever.  We gave him Motrin and put him to bed.

Tuesday morning Tyke woke with a very swollen eye and was still fevering.  He had a stuffy nose and a cough.  I text a picture to Chad and told him I was taking Tyke to the doctor, I just felt nervous about things.  We got Tyke scheduled with Dr. Fullmer (thank goodness, we LOVE Dr. Fullmer!  When we took him to the doctor back in July it was with the after-hours doctor, Dr. Miller and I really wasn't that impressed).  We met with Dr. Fullmer at 12:30 p.m.  He looked Tyke over really well and gave him a clean bill of health other than his eye.  Dr. Fullmer gave his eye a good examination.  He noted that there were small red bumps on the inside of the lower lid.  No pink eye thank goodness, but also no answers.  Dr. Fullmer was stumped.  He ruled out infection, allergy and injury.  He told us to keep giving Tyke eye drops and to call back if things got worse or changed.  He also told us that he was going to make a couple of phone calls to some eye doctor friends of his.  He said they would do some research and call us later that night.  We received a phone call around 6 p.m. that night with no answers but were told they would call back in the morning after thinking things over over night.

Wednesday Tyke woke up even more swollen and his cold sounded a bit worse.  He also had a little bit of dried up goop on his left eye.  I was excited to see that because I thought it meant an infection and we could get this all cleared up.  I called up to Dr. Fullmer's office and reported that the swelling was worse, the cold was worse and that there was goop.  They relayed the message to him and called me back saying I needed to bring him in.  They scheduled us for 3:45 p.m. but called back and told us to come sooner.  And so we hauled Tyke back to the doctors office for a 1:45 p.m. appointment.  Again, everything checked out except for his eye.  Dr. Fullmer noted that it looked dryer than the day before and that his upper eyelid looked dry and like it might peel.  He still had no idea what might be going on so he suggested we take Tyke to a pediatric ophthalmologist.  While we were there Tyke pointed out a sliver to Dr. Fullmer and he kindly pulled it out.  Yay for us not having to be the bad guys!

These are all from the past week.  You can see how the swelling has fluctuated but never gone away.

Thursday morning I got a call from Dr. Young's office (pediatric ophthalmologist in Riverton) and they scheduled us for 12:45 p.m. that day.  We headed right up.  Dr. Young works at the Moran Eye Clinic in the Riverton Hospital.  She was surprised at how big Tyke is for a two year old.  I told her Tyke's story and showed her the pictures I had been taking to document his different stages of the swollen eye.  She had me text some to her so she could consult with another doctor.  Dr. Young was really good with Tyke and he did so awesome!  She had lots of fun little toys and stickers to get his attention.  After spending a few minutes with us they dilated Tyke's eyes which really ticked him off.  I had to hold his hands down while they sprayed the solution into his eyes.  He cried and put up a good fight.  We went back out to the waiting room to wait fifteen minutes for his eyes to dilate.  The spray they had sprayed into his eyes made his cheeks blotchy.  We were worried about it being an allergic reaction or something but they assured us that it's totally normal.  Tyke got really mad once his eyes were dilated and freaked out a little bit, crying and screaming, "I tan't see! Wipe my eye mom! I tan't see!"  It was hilarious to watch but so sad at the same time.  He would try to concentrate on something and then grab his eyes in frustration like they were broken.  Poor kiddo!  We were called back after fifteen minutes, into a different room, and Dr. Young did a bunch more testing.  Then she looked at his eyes through her "binoculars" (that's what we told Tyke they were so he would cooperate).  She found nothing wrong.  Nothing.  Which really sucks because now we have to go have an ultrasound done on his eye on Monday because Dr. Young is really thinking that Tyke might have a tumor that's causing all of this trouble.  After hearing those words I zoned out and concentrated on not crying.  I wish I would have held it together better and asked more questions or even remembered the name of the tumor she thinks he may have.  I'm just sick about it.  Worried sick.  He's my baby and the thought of anything being wrong with him has had me crying for the last 24 hours.  We are scheduled to see a Dr. Harrie at the Salt Lake Clinic on Monday at 3:00 p.m.  I'm hoping and praying, so hard, for good results.  We tried to convince Tyke that wearing his new shades was turtle power cool but he was having none of that.  We got him to wear them to the car and that was that!  They really ticked him off and he was grumpy because he couldn't see.  He also hadn't had lunch or a nap.  He requested pizza for lunch and Chad and I were so upset (at the "results") and proud (at how awesome Tyke had been for Dr. Young) that we told him we would go find him some pizza.  Unfortunately/luckily he fell right to sleep and slept the entire drive to Mona to go pick up Luke, so we had pizza for dinner last night.

Last night we had Uncle Trenton and Great-Uncle Brent come to the house and give Tyke a blessing.  He was hesitant at first with the oil but he did great.  I had to hold him during the blessing and he sat so still with his arms folded.  He's such a good boy.  Trenton gave an awesome blessing to Tyke!  It probably didn't do much to phase Tyke but it sure comforted me, and his Daddy too, I'm sure.  After his blessing he shook their hands and told them each, "tank too!"  It was adorable!  Today Tyke's eye is still swollen.  It fluctuates between bad and okay.  I want it to just go away and never come back.  Please, please, please don't let there be anything wrong with my baby boy!!!!!  

Night Light

Silly Tyke.  He's been obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lately.  He is always talking about them and saying, "turtle power, hi-ya!"  We bought him a ninja turtle night light that projects a picture of the turtles onto the wall or ceiling.  He thinks it's pretty awesome!  Every morning I unplug the light, put in the outlet cover, and place the light on top of his shelf so that he can't play with it and break it.   Tonight he came running out of his room proud as can be and begged me to come and see what he had done.  He kept repeating, "turtle power, turtle power."  I'm not sure what I was expecting, maybe to see that he had straightened out his turtle blanket on his bed or something (he got a new ninja turtle blanket this week for being so good at all of his doctors visits).  Instead he proudly pointed to his night light, plugged in!!  He was grinning ear to ear.  I looked at the ground and there layed the outlet cover.  I always put that on the shelf too when not in use because Luke eats everything he gets his hands on.  I asked Chad if he had done this and he hadn't so we asked Tyke how he did it.  He jumped up on his bed and jumped around for a minute.  There's no way he reached that shelf from his bed, it's easily six feet up from the floor.  He hopped off of his bed, ran across the room and picked up his backpack (which had been hanging from the shelf as well, meaning he had climbed onto his bed and stretched to reach it).  He hopped back up on his bed, jumped, and chucked the backpack at the shelf, knocking things over.  He was seriously so proud of his accomplishment.  He's a smart little guy!  I had a good talk with him about not doing that anymore (yeah right) because he would knock down things other than the night light that might break, including the shelf.  Silly Tyke.

Labor Day Weekend 2015

We had such a great Labor Day weekend!  We camped with the Kay/Sutherland clan (2015 equals 55 years of our families camping together!!!!) up Nephi canyon.  We usually camp at Red Creek Flats but it was already reserved so we ended up taking our trailers up a few days early to the mouth of Nephi Pole Canyon to save a spot.  It's a good thing we did too because that area filled up fast!

We had an awesome turn out this year!  There were eleven trailers in our camp and lots of family coming in and out to visit.  The kids had a blast playing in the dirt, building rockets, hiking and playing in the creek.  Tyke loved throwing rocks in the water and even getting on his water boots and diving right in.  We had lots of yummy food!  We all gathered and did potluck for two meals.  Our little family ended up not having to do too much cooking at all because we got invited to join in with Drew & Charlotte and Rick & Lucinda.  It was nice!

Chad left us for the day on Sunday to go and help Uncle Chris look for elk.  We got along just fine and the boys loved playing.  Luke hated to be held or strapped into his stroller!  He just wanted to be on the ground eating dirt, rocks, sticks and whatever else he could get his hands on (um, cow poop, ew!).  Tyke and Luke were filthy by the time the days were over.  It was a successful camping trip and I'm so glad we were able to go and enjoy!!  We can't wait until our next get together which will be Easter 2016!  Happy Labor Day!!

11 Months Old

We are one month away from the Louie having his first birthday!  I can hardly believe it.  He's my big sweetheart and we love him so much.  I can hardly believe how much he has grown and changed in the last month, it's almost unbelievable!

Luke is trouble!  I tell him that all of the time and he just grins his toothy grin and shakes his head no.  He's a sassy little guy and is always telling us no.  Occasionally we can get him to shake his head yes.  He is fast at crawling now and is all over the house.  We try to block him in into the main living room but he either squeezes his way through the gate or completely knocks it over and goes about his business.  He likes hanging out in the front room by the glider chair and I'm really surprised he hasn't bonked his head with that thing as much as he rocks it.  For as adventurous as Luke is he's also really cautious and hasn't had too many bumps and bruises or crashes.  He still scares me to death on the tile but luckily has only had one mishap so far.  Luke is hilarious to watch crawl on the tile.  He immediately stands up on his hands and feet once his hands hit the cold tile floor.  His knees never touch anymore.  He "walks" pretty fast on all fours, silly boy.  Luke pulls himself up to things with no problem and has even gotten brave enough lately to pull himself up to random walls in the house.  Luke's other favorite places to play are under the dining table and at the fireplace.  The little stinker is always crawling up on the hearth and then yelling for help once his little hands are completely black and grey and he can't climb down.  He gets his hands slapped a lot because of this but it doesn't phase him at all.  It takes a lot of stern talking and a couple of smacks before he gets upset.  He's tough!  Under the dining table, Luke likes to hangout and push the chairs around, whether they are occupied or not.  He will give Tyke a ride while poor Tyke is trying to eat.  The kid has got some muscles or something!

Luke loves his bath time!  He gets so excited when I start his water that he nearly jumps out of my arms and into the tub, clothes and all (that hasn't happened yet but I'm sure surprised).  He is becoming more and more brave in the water.  He's a very curious little man likes to try and pump the baby soap all over the place, play with the tap, stick his face in the water, and stands up to the sides of the tub.  He gets in trouble for all of these things but he just smiles and shakes his head no back at us and does it again.  He's trouble I say!!

Luke absolutely HATES to be stopped for anything at all.  He hates getting wrapped up in a towel after bath time so that I can pick on him (clean his ears, nose and brush his teeth).  He hates being stopped for diaper changes (he will try to crawl away and if he can't then he bounces his bum up and down off the ground making it almost impossible to get one on, all while fussing).  He hates lotion.  He hates getting dressed and undressed.  And he hates being put in his car seat and always arches his back and throws a fit.  He's exhausting!  It's almost a two man job but luckily we have learned how to pin him down to do all that we need to do.  It's a wrestling match for sure!

Luke loves playing outside.  The grass and dirt don't bother him at all.  He loves to pick at the grass or flowers and try to eat them.  He likes to gather rocks, and try to eat them.  He likes to eat dirt and sticks and pretty much anything he can get his hands on.  He's a munch gut and loves it all!

Luke is starting to really hold his own with Tyke.  Tyke likes to bug him and Luke likes to scream at him and fight back.  I can't wait for the day when he actually gets his hands on Tyke.  It's going to be hilarious, the first time...

Luke loves his food.  He loves treats (yogurt bits, puffs, and Gerber Cheetos).  He will eat any baby food with no problem at all.  We have started really introducing table foods this past week (we feel like we've been slackers in that department) to him and so far so good.  He has liked everything he has tried which includes: cheerios, rice, corn, chicken, grilled cheese, mandarin oranges, jello (but not cool whip), and hash browns.  We gave him some yummy potatoes once but he gagged on them and refused another bite!

Luke seems to keep growing and growing.  I swear he is huge for his age.  He weighs in around 24+ pounds now.  He's heavy and just big!  I've had to dig out the 12-18 month size clothing.  12 month clothing is starting to fit a little tight and a little short.  This kid is long and I'm almost certain that he is going to outgrow his brother.  We moved Luke into size 4 diapers, today actually (Tyke is in size 5...).  Size 3's still fit but the 4's look like they're more comfortable on him.  And they're less stress for us to put on him because little guy likes to put up a fight the entire time we try to get a diaper on him.  He hates to have to hold still!   And I just recently found out that the size 1 shoes I was shoving his feet in (which was only a couple of times) are way too small...he's more like a size 4 now!  I can't keep up with this kid!  I swear as soon as I pull out all of Tyke's old clothes for him it's time to put them right back away (I really need to start selling them but like I said, I can't keep up and we're getting buried).

We love our bubba Lou so much!  He makes us laugh lots and is always keeping us on our toes.  He's Tyke's best friend and we love watching them play together and wrestle together.  He's such a sweet boy.  Happy 11 months Louie-pooey!

My Lu

We sure love this little snoopy, handsome, sweet boy!  He's into everything now days and thinks he's so big!  He tries so hard to keep up with his brother and together they are called "double trouble!"  I wouldn't have it any other way!  We love you Louie-pooey!