30 Weeks

Like last pregnancy, I had to take a picture of myself to document my growing belly.  I'm miserable!  My hips ache, my back aches and my stomach is stretched to the max.  I'm defniitely bigger this round.  Most of my maternity clothes are too tight but I'm too stubborn to go buy more.  Only ten weeks left til our little guy makes his big debut!  I can't wait, we can't wait!

Ultrasound #4

Today we had our fourth and final ultrasound for Baby Long!  Today was a checkup to make sure that our baby boy's cysts on his brain have gone away, and hooray they have!  We felt so relieved to hear and see the good news!  It was so great getting to see our baby boy one last time before he makes his debut.  We're so thankful that we were able to see his healthy little self!

Training Days

I'm not sure who's training who?  Tyke has been amazing with everything so far as he develops and learns and grows.  He weaned himself of his binkie at 9 months old, the bottle at 17 months old, and now he is wanting to potty train, on his own!

Tyke has been showing signs the past few weeks that he doesn't like being in a dirty or wet diaper.  Almost immediately after filling his britches he will come to us and grab his diaper and say, "Mom, pee!" in a sad, distressed little voice, like get it off!  Lately he always lets us know when it's time to be changed!  We have discussed this new adventure and decided that since Tyke is only 18+ months old we won't be pushing the potty training thing anytime soon.  But, because he shows some signs of wanting to we also decided that we won't hold him back either, that we'd buy Tyke a potty chair and let him play with it and get used to the idea so he won't be scared of the chair when the time does come to train.

Saturday we finally bought Tyke a potty chair.  We bought one that is plain with no cartoon characters, the seat comes off so it can be placed on a regular toilet, and it also triples as a step stool.  We figured it would be the best for our little guy.  When we got home we let Tyke play with it and inspect it.  We had a busy Saturday night with the derby so we didn't let Tyke actually try out his new chair.  On Sunday we did and boy were we surprised.  Before Tyke's bath I sat him on the chair so he could try it out.  He was a little hesitant but sat and smiled at me.  I ran some water in the sink and that got things going.  Tyke was super excited, and a bit confused, to have peed in his new chair.  I showed him how we clean it out, I let him flush the toilet, we washed our hands and then went out to the living room to tell Daddy the good news!  Throughout the day Tyke kept running into the bathroom, throwing up the lid, grabbing at his diaper and yelling, "pee!"  We'd cooperate and he'd go pee almost every time!  Five times to be exact!  Twice for me and three times for Daddy!  He still had his wet diapers here and there but for the most part he stayed dried.  We're really not pushing him to be potty trained so quickly, we're just going with the flow.  We're amazed at our little BIG guy!  I still can't believe that at 18+ months old we can now say that he's gone potty in the potty chair.  What a kid!

Demolition Derby!

Our little family of three made it to our annual tradition of going to the Juab Demolition Derby!  This year marked five years for us!  (Five years ago, at the derby, was mine and Chad's first date.  A blind date to be exact!)  We were worried how Tyke would react to the big show because he hates loud noises (remember, he freaked out at the monster truck show at Painter's...)  Earlier in the day on our shopping trip we had bought Tyke his very own pair of ear covers at Sportsman's Warehouse.  He thought they were pretty awesome until he had to wear them and then he wanted nothing to do with them.  Luckily though he cooperated pretty well and we only made him wear them during each heat.  We were lucky enough to get tickets by Aunt Stephanie and her crew.  Tyke had a blast tormenting Callie Jo into sharing her churro with him.  He also enjoyed a slice of pizza for dinner.  Eventually Tyke had had enough of sitting with his Mommy and Daddy and had to climb down a row to sit between Callie Jo and her friend.  To say our little guy is a ladies man, aka flirt, is an understatement!  He was so nice to share his treats with Callie's friend.  It was pretty funny to watch him interact with someone we don't know.  Around 10 p.m. we decided to call it a night and left the derby early.  Tyke was getting restless, Chad was exhausted, and my back was killing me!  All in all it was a great night and we're so glad we were able to go to the derby and keep our little tradition going.  We can't wait until next year!

On The Mend

This croup that Tyke caught has really knocked him down.  Friday he had a good day but once night time hit he started fevering again.  I gave him some Motrin, turned the humidifier on and we went to bed.  He had a fairly peaceful, restful night.  Saturday we up woke and did a few things around the house.  Tyke played fine and acted fine.  Around 2 p.m. we loaded up in the truck and headed up Ephraim canyon looking for firewood.  Tyke's nose started running like crazy and he sneezed a lot and coughed a lot.  We figured it was a good thing, a sign that this illness was working it's way out!  Saturday night seemed normal too, but come early Sunday morning, around 1:30 a.m. we all got woken up to Tyke coughing so hard and really struggling to breathe again.  We were worried about him and tried everything at home we could think of before finally throwing in the towel and heading out to the emergency room again.  

We arrived at the emergency room around 2:30 a.m. and they were busy!  We figured we'd have to wait a while before it would be our turn.  Tyke just layed on my chest with the most miserable look on his little face.  He was wheezing and coughing and we felt bad that there was nothing we could do but hold our little guy.  A nice nurse came out to look him over and said he sounded terrible and looked pale.  She took us right back and ordered a breathing treatment for Tyke and informed the on call doctor (Dr. Oveson) what was going on.  Tyke did fairly well with his breathing treatment, considering he cried most of the time again.  His Daddy held him the entire time and that seemed to help a little bit.  Our poor little guy!  Luckily he only needed the breathing treatment and no shots or x-rays this time.  Dr. Oveson spent quite a bit of time with us explaining things and reassuring us that Tyke was on the mend.  He sent us home around 3:30 a.m. with enough medicine to give Tyke two breathing treatments as needed, and four doses (two a day) of steroid through the nebulizer.  As we were leaving the E.R. Tyke, with a sad little face, waved at all of the doctors and nurses and said "thank you."  They all got a kick out of that!  

Sunday morning we woke up around 8 a.m. to Tyke sounding terrible again.  We gave him another breathing treatment and a treatment of steroid and I called up to his pediatricians office to see if there was anything else we could do for our little guy.  There of course wasn't, but I went ahead and made an appointment for Monday morning with Dr. Fullmer to follow up.  Tyke did fairly well the rest of the day and come Monday morning he was sounding pretty good!  Still a little wheezy but his cough was sounding more normal and less barky.  

Our appointment was for 9:20 a.m. in Payson.  We met with Dr. Fullmer and he checked Tyke out.  He definitely still had the croup but his lungs were clear and his ears looked good.  Dr. Fullmer suggested giving Tyke another dose of steroids and luckily this one was oral.  Chad gave it to Tyke and he took it pretty well.  Dr. Fullmer told us this steroid would last for two days and then we should be good to go.  We were also told to NOT give Tyke anymore medicine or treatments during those two days.  

Today Tyke is doing great.  He still has a yucky nose and bad cough but the bark is gone and he just looks like he feels so much better!  We're so glad our little guy is feeling better!

Cherries

On the 29th, after Tyke's well check appointment, we took Daddy to his second job, cherries.  Having Tyke's appointment so late worked out perfectly because we didn't miss any work and we got to go watch the big cherry shaking machines!  Tyke was having a blast pointing out all of the tractors to me.  We had to wait about twenty minutes before we finally could see the cherry shaker that Daddy was working on.  Tyke climbed right on with him and thought he was pretty cool getting to drive and push buttons.  When it was time to leave Tyke didn't want to go!  

It's been a long couple of weeks with Chad working two jobs but we're so thankful he's such a hard worker for our family!  Cherry season 2014 is almost over and we're so ready for it to be done!  We miss our Dadda!

Sick Boy

Tuesday night after Tyke's 18 month well check and working with Daddy at the cherry farm our little guy started running a fever.  He acted fine on the drive home but refused any food, he only wanted his milk.  When we got home he felt really warm to me so I took his temperature and it was just above 99°.  I gave him a bath and a dose of Motrin and he went right to bed.  I figured his fever was just a side effect from his immunizations, though he's never had one before after getting his shots.  I was able to text with Heather Jo and get her advice.  I kept an eye on Tyke and his fever continued to go up.  At around midnight he was measuring around 101°.  Chad got home after 1 a.m. and we, in our sleep, took turns checking on our little guy.  At around 3 a.m. Tyke's fever had hit 103°!  We gave him another dose of Motrin and his fever started to come down.

Wednesday morning he was still fevering around 100° and he was starting to have a slight cough that at times sounded like the dreadful barking cough.  Chad decided to take the day off from work and just hang out with our little guy.  Tyke acted fine and played great all day though you could see in his eyes he just didn't feel good.  His fever lingered between 99° and 100° all day.  We had dinner and Tyke didn't really care too much to eat.  He hadn't eaten or drank very much all day long.  Chad left for work (the cherries job) around 6:30 p.m. that night.  Tyke and I hung out on the couch, he was extra snuggly.  His breathing started to sound a little congested, like he needed to clear his throat, and his barking cough was starting to get worse.  I got him bathed and ready for bed and we layed down to watch cartoons.  He fell asleep quickly but had a hard time getting comfortable.  The only position he would lay in was on his stomach, curled up in a ball.

Tyke was drooling a lot, coughing a lot, and breathing pretty hard and fast at this point.  I text Chad a video so he could see and hear how our little guy sounded.  He told me to call my mom or one of my sisters to see what they thought.  I was able to get a hold of Stephanie and she told me that Tyke sounded like he had croup (she had gone through the same ordeal only a week before with Bowdee).  She suggested we go sit in the bathroom with a hot shower running so that Tyke could breathe in the steam.  Tyke was whiny and miserable at this point.  We sat in the bathroom for fifteen minutes, I almost melted and poor Tyke still sounded terrible.  I got him and myself dressed and said a little prayer before we loaded up and headed out to the emergency room (trip #3 for our little guy this year!).  My poor little Tyke was really struggling at this point and wheezing bad.  I couldn't believe how fast and hard this illness struck him!

I called Grandma Cheryl on the way out to the hospital and she came and met us there.  It was just after 10:30 p.m. when we got Tyke checked in and his vitals taken.  He of course cried the entire time, anything to do with doctors is a bad deal for him.  We were lucky enough to have Dr. Rosenbeck for our ER doctor (we LOVE him!)  and he was quick to come in and assess Tyke.  It didn't take long for him to diagnose Tyke with croup.  He ordered a  breathing treatment, chest x-rays, and a shot of steroids to help Tyke out.  Tyke did well with the breathing treatment even though he cried the entire time.  The respiratory therapist said that it was probably a good thing he was crying so hard because he was really inhaling the vapors hard.  It took less than five minutes for the treatment to be over with.  I got Tyke calmed down and almost to sleep just in time to be taken back for x-rays.  He started freaking out again and to make things even worse I couldn't stay with him because of my pregnancy so he was all on his own.  It was heartbreaking for both of us but I knew he was in good hands.  Dr. Rosenbeck waited in the hallway with me for a few minutes which was nice.  After getting my little Tyke back in my arms it was time for the dreaded shot.  My poor guy, after the immunization the night before I had promised him he wouldn't need another shot for a while, boy am I a liar!  They poked him in his right leg (his immunization had been done in his left) and it took forever to get him calmed down.

Tyke scrame and scrame and neither me or Grandma Cheryl could comfort him.  The nurse finally came in and told us we could walk around the hospital if we wanted, if it would help, and so we did.  We walked down to the fish tank and that did the trick.  We got Tyke calmed down but he refused to close his tired eyes.  I'm sure that in his mind he didn't trust us to go to sleep because every time he tried he got picked on again.  I had him almost asleep when his Daddy came walking down the hall.  Seeing his Daddy is just what our little guy needed.  He perked right up and yelled, "DAD!" and jumped into his arms.  He snuggled Chad and wasn't tired anymore.  His breathing sounded almost normal and he didn't cough very much after that.  Tyke didn't require anymore treatments but we had to hang out at the hospital and be monitored for a while to make sure things were OK.  Eventually Tyke reached for me and snuggled into my shoulder and fell asleep.  Grandma Cheryl went home and shortly after that we got the OK to go home too.  It was 2 a.m. when we finally left the hospital.  As soon as we walked outside Tyke woke up because Life Flight was there and preparing to take off.  We stayed and watched the helicopter leave before heading home for bed.  Of course by then Tyke was wide awake and wanting to run around.  Luckily he fell right to sleep as soon as we climbed into bed.  He slept really well but there was no sleeping in.

Thursday I stayed home from work and Tyke and I took it easy for the day.  Tyke's fever was completely gone.  We were able to take a really long, much needed nap.  Tyke's appetite was back and he ate really well.  As nighttime set in his cough started coming back and the more he coughed the more it started to sounds like the barking cough.  His breathing still sounded fine.  We called it a night and went to bed and ran the humidifier all night long.  Because of all of Tyke's napping he refused to fall asleep until close to midnight.

Today Tyke still has his moments of sounding wheezy and the barking cough but for the most part he is doing great!  His Daddy gave him a vapor bath, rubbed some vicks on him, and ran the humidifier all morning.  Here's hoping our little guy won't have any more trouble from this croup!

18 Month Well Check

Tyke had his 18 month well check done tonight.  Our little guy is doing awesome and his growth and development are amazing.  We were able to get a late appointment, 6:30 p.m. which worked out great for all of us.  Tyke enjoyed climbing on the little step bench to watch the fish while we waited for our turn.

Once it was time to go back to our room he got pretty hesitant.  He walked all by himself, with a few nudges from us, and seemed fairly comfortable with the whole thing until we stripped him down to his diaper and let the nurse get his stats.  He cried a sad, scared little cry like he always does.  He just does not like the doctors office!

Tyke's 18 month stats:

Weight: 25 pounds 11 ounces (69%)

Height: 34.8 (98%)

Head: 19.6 inches (96%)

Tyke is our tall, skinny boy!  Dr. Fullmer came in and looked Tyke over.  Tyke once again started to cry but we quickly distracted him with one of the doctors tools.  Everything checked out great for our little guy!  He's healthy as can be and developmentally ahead of the game still.  We had a good conversation with Dr. Fullmer on what we can do to help teach Tyke that hitting, pinching, punching, kicking and biting are NOT OK!  Our little guy laughs at us when we try to discipline him and we're almost at a loss with what to do.  Dr. Fullmer gave us a few suggestions that we're eager to try on Tyke to help lose these bad habits.

After Dr. Fullmer left, the nurse came back in and we held Tyke down while she gave him his immunization.  He was not a happy camper!  He stopped crying quickly and was impressed with his Superman band-aid.  Tyke is officially done with immunizations until kindergarten, yay!  We got Tyke dressed, let him pick out a sticker for doing so well at his doctors visit, and left.

We're so proud of our little guy!  He's healthy, happy and just great!

Pioneer Day 2014

We had a great, low key, "24th of July" celebration.  Mona always celebrates on the Saturday closest to the 24th.  This year it landed on the 26th of July.  We got up early and had a quick breakfast before getting ready to head out for the parade.  The parade started at 10 a.m. and we were able to sit at our usual spot with Grams and Gramps and fam.  Tyke had fun collecting candy with his cousins Kayson and Swasey, Aunt Char and Daddy helped him too.  I would have, but bending over is getting more and more hard these days.  Tyke did really well gathering candy this time.  Instead of throwing it back he brought it to us excitedly and filled his little bag.  He finally caught on what parades and throwing candy are all about, too bad this is his last parade of the year.  Cousin Brooke was in the Mona royalty and Addi and Quade were in a dance class that got to go through.  It was fun seeing our family in the parade, we got a little extra candy out of it too.   

After the parade we went and spent a couple of hours at the park visiting with family and friends.  We had lunch (Tyke devoured his slice of pizza!) and decided to leave.  We had plans to go car shopping and grocery shopping.

It was a long hot day spent driving around in Utah County looking at cars.  We lucked out and found the perfect one and within hours were driving home in it!

We got back to Mona around 7 p.m. and made a quick stop at Aunt Jenny's house to grab our chairs and stroller, before heading over to Aunt Stephanie's house for dinner.  They had BBQ-ed brats and had lots of other yummy foods too.  We visited until it was almost dark and then we headed back to the park for the big firework show.  

The park was packed!  I have never seen so many people!  We were lucky enough to find a spot by Grams and Gramps, in our usual area.  Tyke looked a little concerned as to what was going on and he got really upset once the fireworks started.  The first couple were OK but after that he was scared to death and snuggled into his Daddy's shoulder crying.  We kind of knew he would act like this, he hates loud noises, but we wanted him to get the whole experience, plus it's tradition!  He eventually, somehow, fell asleep while we enjoyed the rest of the show.  We had a fun, busy day! 

26 Weeks

We are officially 26 weeks preggo and surviving this hot, hot summer!  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone.  Summer time has been OK for me until July hit and the temperatures rose.  I'm surviving but some days I feel like I'm going to melt into a puddle.  I also have a hard time breathing sometimes, like I can't catch my breath.  To be honest, even though I feel so great, I'm miserable!

My stomach is getting huge and my maternity clothes are shrinking.  I'm going to have to give in and buy new ones before we make it to October for sure.  Our little guy is strong and kicks like crazy through out the day.  He kicks a lot harder than I remember Tyke ever kicking, and he wiggles a lot too.  His favorite spots to "play" are right behind my belly button, which is sometimes painful, and on my bladder.  So much fun...but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I love each and every kick!

We go back to Dr. Nance next Monday for our 27-28 week checkup and we will be scheduling an ultrasound for 29-30 weeks of our little guy.  We can't wait to see his cute mug and how much he's developed since 20 weeks.  We have to do an extra ultrasound because at our 20 week we found cysts on Baby Long's brain.  We were assured it's nothing to worry about and almost always goes away by 30 weeks so we're hoping and praying that that is the case.

My cravings still haven't gotten out of control yet.  My favorite things right now that I can say I actually crave are: salt, salads, salsa, tacos, hot sauce, jerky and limes.  I've found a really good lime Popsicle bar that I have to cover in salt to eat.  I suppose that's weird, but dang it's good!

My best news about this pregnancy is that morning sickness is officially gone!!!!  I never thought I'd be able to say that but it's been seven weeks now with only three hits of morning sickness.  It has been so stinking nice I can't even explain!  My energy levels are slightly up too.  I just feel good!  So much better than I did with my first pregnancy.  I can thank my endocrinologist for that.  He has monitored my thyroid levels really closely and stayed on top of things which is why things are going so good.  I am lucky to have such great doctors!

We're still on the look out for little boy names.  We've got maybe two that we're considering but we don't like them enough to settle just yet.  I sometimes think this poor boy is going to come home without a name.  With Tyke, we had lists of boys and girls names, we had a favorite of each.  I'd like to have a variety to choose from for this little guy too.  We want to meet him and see his cute face before giving him a name, so we know that it fits.

Only thirteen weeks left and we can't wait!!!

18 Months Old

EIGHTEEN MONTHS OLD, 18!  I can hardly believe it!  Our little guy is now a year and a half old.  It's crazy to me how fast the time has gone by.  Tyke is a smart, clever, sassy, silly little guy and his personality just keeps getting more and more cute.  

Our little guy is so much fun!  He's a rough little boy with shins covered in bruises, and at the same time the biggest sweetheart ever.  Chad and I were talking the other night about just how perfect he is.  He's a gentleman, smart, sassy, sweet, rough, and just plain cute.  Everything we could have asked for!  He LOVES playing with his cousins, especially the ones closer to his age and size.  He's very protective of the girls, watches the boys like a hawk, and copy cats them all.

Tyke plays hard.  He loves pushing his trucks around, some are bigger than he is.  He likes climbing in and out of his giant dump truck.  He LOVES his new Strider bike that his Daddy bought him.  It took no time at all for him to master it.  He's a smart little guy!  Tyke is like his Daddy, more and more every day, studying things and how they work.

He's also the best helper ever!  He does almost everything that we ask him to do.  He helps with the groceries, the trash, sweeping and vacuuming (which makes things extra hard), laundry and closing the refrigerator and dishwasher doors.  He is so independent and stubborn and will struggle a lot before coming to one of us for help.  He just likes to figure things out on his own.  We love that about him!  Although, he could learn to control his temper a little.  He gets so worked up when things don't go his way or work the way he wants them to.  

Sometimes I wonder if we're entering the "terrible two's" early.  The past month Tyke has really started to throw some fits, and fists.  If he doesn't get what he wants, or if we make him do something he doesn't want to do, he will throw his body around and kick and scream and hit and pinch.  Occasionally he bites and pulls hair too.  He turns mean when things don't go his way but we can usually get him calmed down quickly.  He's got attitude for sure!  The other night he literally threw a fit, and got put on his bed for two hours because I had made him food he didn't want to eat.  He never tried to get off of his bed, just sat there and scrame and cried the whole time until we caved.  Once we let him off, we made him a cheese quesadilla and he was so happy with that.  He's a very opinionated boy and apparently likes to make his own choices.  Tyke has also gotten really good at daggers and plugging his ears.  If we don't get a temper tantrum from him because of dinner, we get a dirty look.  We take no offense to it because it's the cutest thing ever but he sure communicates his displeasure of things.  He doesn't like me to whistle either.  He will yell at me: "MOM! Shhh!!!!" and plug his ears.  What a kid huh?!

Tyke has figured out what "owies" are and really puts on a show.  He will point out every little scab on his body that he can find and frown and tell us "ow!" while whimpering.  Even when things are healed he still remembers where they are and points them out.  It's a good thing for us that he doesn't understand that bruises are "owies" too or we'd be looking at them all day too.  The boy is rough and gives this momma a heart attack.  I have the hardest time letting go a little so he can be a little boy and get hurt.  I want nothing more than to protect him but I don't want to "hurt" him by being too overprotective.  Boys are just trouble I've decided!

Tyke is starting to talk really well.  He tries his hardest to repeat the words that we ask him to.  He's even started putting together short sentences!  Nothing major, but he has said: "Bye, Bampa!" and "Mom! Dada, shhh" to let me know we need to be quiet when Daddy's sleeping.  Chad is working two jobs right now (it's cherry season) and Tyke and I miss him a lot.  Tyke will ask me at night, "Mom!  Dadda all don, go?" meaning that he's at work.  It's so cute but sad at the same time.  Tyke is a Daddy's boy for sure!  Other new words/phrases lately are: um ma, lay-da (later), bye, moo (moon), Do-Do (Jo Jo for Heather Jo), Ellie, dirls (girls, for his Oregon cousins), buh-bun (button), Head-er (Heather, his first official full name in his vocab!), boo-ta-ya (boo-yeah when we do knucks), dub a dub dub (rub a  dub dub when he's in the tub), me-no (Nemo), Mom Shh!!! (he's always telling me to be quiet),  Peek-ta (peek a boo, his favorite game lately), dank-ew (thank you, which our sweet boy says all the time and correctly too!) and our favorite, bro-der (brother).  He will randomly come up to me, pat my belly and say "hi bro-der" before laying his head on my stomach with a huge, happy grin on his cute face.  I don't know if he understands why my belly is growing, but he sure shows a lot of love to his brother.

Tyke's favorite foods right now are pretty much anything with cheese (still) like macaroni and cheese, cheese quesadilla and grilled cheese.  He LOVES pizza and scarfs it down better than anything, peppers and onions and all!  Tyke also does really well with meat pies, chicken nuggets, red vines licorice, fruit, applesauce, and crackers.  He LOVES chocolate milk and drinks milk best when it has the good stuff in it.  He's officially off of the bottle as of 7/2/14 (because we had forgot to pack any for our camping trip).  He's even officially done with needing a sippy of milk before bed.

Tyke is shooting right up in height.  Two weeks ago his jeans fit him good and now they are capris on him.  I can't believe how much he's grown and so fast too!  He's tall and skinny and you can see his little rib bones.  It worries me but I know he's getting enough to eat and drink because the boy is a little piggy!  Tyke is still in all of the same sizes: 18-24 month clothes, size 6 shoes and size 4 diapers.  He now has 12 teeth!  Three new ones came in at the same time and boy was our little guy miserable.  It's funny how sometimes he does really well with a new tooth and others he doesn't.  He got a new molar and FINALLY two more bottom front teeth.  His little chompers that came in the very first now have neighbors, yay!

We love our little guy so much and the fun, sassy, entertaining little stinker he is!  He is our everything!!

Ute Stampede Weekend 2014

It's that time of year again!  Thursday morning I took Tyke to the park to watch the cowboys run the wild horses and cows down main street to the fair grounds.  It was supposed to start at 8:30 a.m. but by the time they finally ran in front of us it was nearly 10 a.m.!  Tyke had fun playing with his cousins and teasing me.  He started getting a little sassy and turned his ears off and kept running towards the road so I pulled out the stroller and strapped him in.  He was pretty excited about that, really.  He was a good boy the entire time he was strapped in and he thought we were leaving so he kept telling Aunt Jo and Grandma Cheryl "lay-da!"  When the animals finally made their way down the road this little boy had a grin from ear to ear!  He moo-ed (for the cows) and made a clicking sound (for the horses) and just giggled and waved at that cowboys.  That right there made it worth it to miss work for a couple of hours to take Tyke to see them!

Later that night we ventured out to for the horse parade.  It started at 6:30 p.m.  It was chilly and windy and thundering and lightening but we only got sprinkled on a little bit surprisingly.  By the time the parade was over it was pouring rain!  Tyke had fun watching the horses and collecting candy.  He had more fun throwing the candy back!  He could have cared less for it and had a blast tossing it into the road or at the other kids.  He was a happy little camper to be playing in the street with his cousins.  He eventually found a puddle to play in and splashed and splashed until he was soaked from the knees down.  We had a hard time controlling the kid when it came to water, as usual.  We had plans to take Tyke to the carnival but it was raining so hard and it was so cold we canceled and went to dinner with the fam at One Man Band instead.

On Friday both Chad and I were able to get off work a little early so we could take Tyke to the Mammoth Parade.  It started at 4 p.m.  We sat at the park with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Cody and the kids.  Tyke had a blast playing in the road, catching candy and throwing it back.  Quade was super good to hang out with Tyke in the street.  Chad and I took our turns with him too.  It was so hot and muggy but we survived.  Tyke was so fun to watch, between catching/throwing back the candy and touching the hot pavement and yelling "hooootttt!" to us while shaking his hands like they were burnt, he kept us laughing.  Chad and Tyke ventured across the street to 7-11 for a free Slurpee (since the date was 7-11).

After the parade was finished we went home and relaxed for a few minute before the big rodeo.  It's tradition every year to go with our Kay fam on Friday nights.  We got ourselves freshened up and changed and headed down to the fairgrounds.  Chad and I grabbed some nachos and a carni corn dog before heading to our seats.  Tyke enjoyed helping us eat our yummy carnival foods.  The rodeo was good, a little repetitive of years past, but the we enjoyed ourselves.  Tyke had the best time wandering around between aunts and uncles and cousins, eating yummy rodeo food and licorice ropes, and screaming and clapping for all of the livestock and cowboys.  He kept yelling at me, "Mom!  Mom!" and I'd ask him what and he would point at the horses with the biggest smile on his face and click his tongue to imitate their sounds.  It was adorable and it was non-stop all night long!  Around 10 p.m. our little guy fell right to sleep.  He was one worn out little boy after such a long day full of excitement.  He was so tired he missed the motorcycle stunt riders and the fireworks, and all without flinching from the loud noises.  It was such a fun night and we're glad we get to always spend our Ute Stamped Friday nights with the family!

Saturday we had a lot planned to fit into our schedule.  We slept in until 8:30 which felt so good after the fun night we had had.  We had plans to meet the girls at the pool at 10 a.m., swim for a couple of hours, grab some Reed's food for lunch and go to the car show and craft fair.  A busy day for sure!  Tyke had a ball playing at the pool with his cousins.  He was obsessed with the little crocodile in the splash pad area and kept sitting on it and making it spray us.  He also kept giving it kisses.  He played so hard!  It was fun to watch him splash his little cousins and giggle and play.  He is such a happy, fun little guy!!  After about an hour and half we decided to get out of the water and dry off for a while.  Tyke wasn't too happy about it but we were all exhausted.  Once we were dry we ventured out through the car show.  Uncle Allan (Grandma Cheryl's brother) had his old Ford mustang entered in so that's what we went looking for.  We visited for a while and checked the car out before heading across the street for some lunch.

We went to Reed's and got some food to go and then picnicked a the park.  Grandma Cheryl and Great-Grandma Jean joined us.  It was fun and relaxing.  Tyke slept through most of lunch but woke up as we were finishing and had some chicken strips and tater tots.  Afterwards we went and played on the playground.  Tyke had fun swinging and thought it was especially cool when his Daddy twisted the swing up and let go, letting Tyke spin around and around.  I sat in the shade on a bench with Grandma Jean and watched lazily.  After about half an hour we decided to head over to the old court house and check out the craft show vendors.  Chad and Tyke walked over, while I drove the car over.  We got ourselves a Texas twister drink and Tyke thought that was pretty awesome, especially when we let him hold it.  There wasn't really too much to see.  We got the drink, some yummy salsa, and a new backpack for Tyke and headed home to relax for a while in the a/c.  It was definitely a hot day!  

Chad took a nap, and I tried too but Tyke was way too wound up to rest.  Once I finally dozed off poor little Tyke came running around the couch trying to get my attention and slammed right into it.  He screamed an awful scream and was holding his nose.  I just knew he had hit it hard, but he hadn't.  Once we got him calmed down we noticed blood in his mouth.  He refused to let us look at what the damage was but I caught a small glance and he had put his teeth threw his tongue!  It made me sick to think about.  Around 8 p.m. we headed down to the fairgrounds to check out the carnival and get some carni food for dinner.  Tyke enjoyed a corn dog and did pretty well eating considering his hurt mouth and picky appetite.  We ran into all sorts of family and had a good time visiting with them.  Tyke's tongue was still bleeding and I was getting nervous about what to do but I knew there was nothing a doctors visit could do to help.  We bought a sno-cone and shared with Tyke.  When he opened his mouth to take a big bite we were able to really see what the damage was.  He had stuck all four top front teeth through his tongue and boy did it look sore!  We hung out at the carnival for a couple of hours.  Chad took Tyke on the carousal and I took him down the giant slide (neither one of us enjoyed that at all!).  

  

All in all it was a great weekend and we had so much fun spending it together as a family, with our families!  We can't wait for next years Ute Stampede!

4th of July Weekend Fun

Last weekend after our Clayson camp out we decided we needed a little more camping, so we left our trailers at the same camp site and went up again this weekend.  Our group was a lot smaller than last week but we still had a lot of fun!

Thursday night after getting Tyke's pictures done, we grabbed some dinner from Arby's and headed up the canyon.  About half way up to our destination I realized I had failed to grab any bottles or sippy cups!  We were going to turn around and go back for them, but I convinced myself that we had extra sippy cups in the trailer so we didn't.  When we got to our camp everyone was there and had just finished their dinner.  We unloaded the truck and put things away and I checked for the extra sippy cups, but there were none!  I panicked a little but decided I could use one of Chad's coffee cups instead and just make the mouth piece as small as possible.  It didn't work out too well.  Tyke wasn't convinced and refused to drink much milk before he went to bed.  I felt so bad!  We decided that maybe this would be a good weekend to wean him off of the bottle all together (for the record, he only has one at bedtime).  We built a fire and sat around visiting until we were ready to call it a night.  Tyke enjoyed snuggling, and so did I, while looking at the stars and moon and the flames of the fire pit.  It was a perfect, calm night and no jacket was needed.

Friday morning we woke up bright and early, not really because we wanted to but because Tyke can't stand to sleep in past 6:30-7:00 a.m when camping, he's just too excited!  He's late to bed and early to rise.  Chad was still asleep so Tyke and I snuggled for a few minutes before I got up and got him a mini donut, breakfast of champs!  He was so excited and gobbled it right up!  As soon as he was done he gave me a kiss, told me "lay-da!" (later) and hopped off the bed to go wake up his Daddy.  It's our morning routine when camping and I love it!

We all got dressed and went outside to find that we were the last ones up!  Everyone was sitting around visiting wondering what to do.  We all decided to load up in the back of Uncle Chris' truck and head down to the lake to do some fishing.  I packed a bag of goodies, a cooler full of drinks and off we went.  Tyke once again got to sit in the back of the truck but this time it was with his momma and dadda.  He sure enjoyed it!  We got to the lake and headed over near the bridge.  We didn't have any luck catching fish but Tyke sure had fun playing with our poles.  We'd get them cast out and sat down to play the waiting game, and he would grab one and start smacking the water.  I was really surprised that he had no interest in playing with the reel, he was content just smacking the water.  He eventually got tired of us hovering over him (little stinker kept trying to get in the water) and went for a walk with Nana.  We munched on goodies and visited for a couple of hours before finally calling it quits and heading back up to camp.  We spent the rest of the day eating, napping, playing in the dirt and getting ready for the fireworks!  Also, Chad and I made a quick trip down the canyon while Tyke napped with Nana, to visit Walmart for some sippy cups and more ice.  It was a relief to finally have sippy cups again!

For fireworks, instead of heading down the canyon, we drove on up to the Utah County Overlook.  Our entire group loaded up in Chris' truck again, this time we put Tyke in the front in his car seat, and headed up around 8 p.m.  Tyke fell asleep on the ride which made me nervous because it made for a late nap, which I was just sure would make for a late night.  We were the second truck load of people there.  We got our spot, snapped a few pictures and visited while we waited for the fireworks to start.  So many people showed up!  It got rowdy, and Tyke finally woke up just in time.  The fireworks weren't that spectacular from our point of view.  We got to see a lot, but they were so small that they blended in with the city lights.  The kids didn't really know what was going on and Tyke paid no attention at all to them.  After they finished and people started leaving, we finally loaded up and headed back to camp too.  We got back around 10:30 p.m.  Our little family was exhausted and we went straight to our trailer to watch a movie and un-wind, while the others started a fire and stayed up late.

Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast before piling in the truck again to go try our luck at fishing.  We went to a different spot but once again had no luck.  Tyke had fun messing up every one's fishing poles by grabbing them and smacking the water.  We tried our best to control the boy but he's too wild!  He even managed to get in the water up past his ankles, the fast little stinker!  After a while we called it quits and walked over to the other side, the beach side, so the kids could play in the water.  Chad and I had agreed that Tyke wouldn't be getting in because neither one of us wanted to get wet and we hadn't brought any towels, etc.  Once we got close to the water Tyke started freaking out with excitement!  Autumn and Waylon got right in but Tyke couldn't and it really made him sad.  I stripped him out of his wet shoes and pants and we sat on the beach and cooled down the best we could.  Eventually Nana came and offered to take Tyke in the water so I stripped him on down to his diaper and let him.  He was so excited!  Until he got his little piggies in the water that is, he came running right back to me with his hands on his face and yelling, "brrrr!!!"  It didn't phase him for long though, he immediately turned back around and ran back in.  He did this a few times before finally relaxing in the water and splashing the other kids.  He probably only played in the water for a half an hour before he called it quits because he was so cold.  I got him changed and he sat on his Daddy's lap the rest of the time we were there.

We got back to camp that afternoon and I was roasting.  We turned on the A/C in the trailer and started a movie and just hung out inside munching and napping.  We all got a good long nap and it felt great!  After resting for a while we spent the rest of the day/night playing outside.  It didn't take Tyke long to be covered in dirt from head to toe.  We gave him some licorice too so he was an absolute mess but so dang cute!  Chad let him play in the truck for a few minutes and he thought that was pretty cool.  This boys smile when he's doing "man" stuff is priceless!  He loves being just like his Daddy!

Sunday was our final day and we were so ready to head home!  We had packed most of our stuff the night before so it as an easy clean up.  I made breakfast while Chad got things put away and Tyke played with Waylon and Autumn.  When it was time to hook up the trailer Chad had Tyke help him.  The entire weekend Tyke had been obsessed with playing with the chains so Chad had his big helper hook them up.  Chad gave Tyke the chains and showed him where they needed to go, and Tyke hooked them on like a pro.  Chains in one hand a pop tart in the other.  He was pretty proud of himself and so were we!  He's such a big boy when it comes to helping us out!  Our cleanup was quick and we were on the road by 10 a.m., probably a new record for us.  Tyke enjoyed the ride for a while before finally falling asleep.  It was another fun weekend spent with the Long fam but we are definitely camped out for a week or two!

Pics

Livingston Photography was doing their annual patriotic mini shoots so I signed Tyke up!  I figured we could just call these photos his 18 month pics (they were taken two weeks shy of him turning 18 months).  I was nervous how he would be for pics because: 1-he's shy 2-he refuses to smile for professional pics and 3-I wasn't thinking too clearly when I signed him up for a 6 p.m. photo op, his usual late afternoon nap time.  

As soon as we walked into the studio he got very shy and timid.  He refused to walk on back to where the action was going to be happening.  He stuck his fingers in the corners of his eyes and started to pout his scared, shy little pout.  We tried our hardest to cheer him up but he kept his fingers in his eyes.  Amanda (the photographer) suggested we try some bubbles.  As soon as Daddy started blowing bubbles, and I tried popping them, Tyke lit right up and giggled and giggled.  After every round of bubbles and giggles he would look at Amanda with a huge grin on his cute little face.  

To say that we are happy with the end results would be an understatement!  It was the easiest, quickest, most successful photo shoot with our little guy to date!  Within fifteen minutes we were done and sitting at the desk going through edits.  I was blown away with how grown up our baby boy looked in these pics!  He's such a handsome little guy!  Within thirty minutes, start to finish, we were walking out with photos, cd and treats in hand!  Amanda did an amazing job!

Beach Bum

While Mommy and Daddy were at work, Tyke got to go play at Seven Peaks today with Aunt Jenny, Darian, Teagen and Quade!  He of course loved the water and played hard until he was completely wiped out.  We love our little water baby, and we're so glad that he gets to tag along on so many adventures with his aunts and cousins!