J is now three months. They have gone SO fast. Three months always seems so far away when they are first born. We sure are happy to have him in our home. Here’s a very typical J face these days.
And here was a sleepy B-man face at three months.
Honestly it doesn’t even look like B-man to me. I wonder what J will look like in five years.
I love this picture of the group, check out what B-man wants us to see.
September 27, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a long week. It’s finally over and I can’t say that I am sad. Monday and Tuesday were normal days without much going on. We did FHE got some shopping done for the week, etc. B-man started coming down with a cold and on Tuesday we had mutual.
Wednesday B-man woke up feeling pretty gross. I had to wake him up which is pretty unusual for him, so I kept him home from school. Also that day I watched two of the children of a woman that I visit teach. She knew about B-man being sick but still needed me. The kids were at my house all day, and things went pretty well. I tried at first to keep B-man separated from them, but after a few hours it was impossible to keep up. After feeding the children dinner they were picked up and then we put B-man to bed.
Thursday B-man was feeling good enough to go to school. I watched the two kids again, although for a little less time than the previous day. They were two busy, busy days. That night M went to B-man’s school to learn about a program where the fathers come and help out at the school for a day.
Friday I woke up not feeling so great. The day was pretty relaxed and I mostly tried to recover and get a little done. That evening we took B-man to a birthday party at Chucky Cheese’s and while he was at the party we went to dinner. It was a quick, but a nice night together. We came home and went to bed early.
Saturday M went canoeing on the Potomac River with some of the men from the Elder’s Quorum. When he got home he was very nice and let me sleep and rest since I was feeling quite sick from the cold I got from B-man. B-man told me several times during the day, “I’m sorry I got you sick Mom.” He was very sweet. It was nice to just sit and sleep and relax. That night after the boys were in bed we watched “Duplicity” and then went to bed early.
Today has been a good Sunday. I woke up feeling well enough to go to church. All that sleep and rest really must have helped. After church we went to dinner with M’ home teaching companion. They had invited over all the families that they home teach. It was a great night even if some of the families couldn’t make it.
We love you all!
R, M, B-man, and J
P.S. These are pictures of the boys as they were going to bed tonight.
September 20, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been slow! I can’t seem to remember much of what has happened. Monday night for FHE we took B-man to use a birthday ice cream coupon. The boys had also gone swimming that day. We have been trying to go to the pool almost every day even though the weather has not been very good. This has been the last week that our pool is open and we wanted to take advantage of it. Of course it was too cold for me, but that’s okay. We also delivered a Book of Mormon to our lifeguard friend since it was his last day. He was so nice to B-man and was leaving to go back to Serbia.
Tuesday night I had mutual. We helped to clean the nursery toys that will be going in our new chapel. At first most of the girls were mostly chatting and not really cleaning. I was a little worried that the mountain of toys would never get clean. But with a little encouragement the girls started working and we were able to get them all clean and sorted.
Wednesday M got home early from work, and we ended up going to the farm together. The weather was beautiful, and we were able to pick edamame, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes for us and a friend. It was a lot easier with M there. The farm has some new tool that uncovers the potatoes for you, so this year we didn’t have to go hunting with our shovel. After the farm the boys went for a very quick dip in the pool and then we had dinner. After dinner we went to the church and B-man drove his new remote control car around the gym while M was working in the Clerk’s office. That night he had a presidency meeting.
Thursday was a calm day. My visiting teacher came by and brought her son that is B-man’s age. They had a great time playing together while we visited. That night was going to be nice and calm, but at the last minute some friends needed a babysitter for their two boys.
Friday was our family party day. We made pizza and then watched a little of the movie “Cars.” B-man had seen a little playing at Costco and wanted to see more at our house. With our new school schedule and a new baby we have been going to bed pretty early every night.
Saturday morning we went looking at garage sales. We found some great things! One house several great buys, the kinds of things you only find once in a life-time. I know that sounds cheesy. But who sells brand new Cutco knives at a garage sale? (I bought three for $8!) The rest of the day was busy, busy. We had a friend come over and work on a bunch of projects on our house. The first project was replacing and tacking down shingles that had blown off our roof. There are some incredibly strong winds here in the winter, and almost every house in our neighborhood needed some work done on their shingles. All of our neighbors saw someone working on our house and so they all ended up getting their roofs fixed at the same time. Then we all had a break, M and B-man went to a house warming party for a family that he used to home teach. I stayed at home while J was sleeping and worked on my lesson a little. We also managed to squeeze in a game of Stratego, and writing and practicing B-man’s talk for Primary.
Today has been a pretty typical Sunday. M had meetings, and we practiced B-man’s talk a lot. It took a lot of bribing and energy to get him to practice! I tried to squeeze in some thought on my lesson while all this was going on. At church I ended up only getting ten minutes to teach my lesson. That is always a little frustrating for me. I never know if I will have ten minutes to teach or thirty minutes. We also went and listened to B-man give his talk. I held up pictures while he spoke into the microphone. He really wanted to hold the mic, which meant that I had to turn the pages. As part of the talk he told the story of him reminding me to say a prayer when I had lost an envelope filled with cash. Whenever we practiced he would add that the police called and caught the people that stole the money. There were no police involved in the true story, and thankfully he left that out of the talk he gave to the Primary. I always wish we could video tape talks in Primary. After church M went to help give a blessing to someone, and I worked on a salad that we were taking to a dinner.
We love you all!
R, M, B-man, and J
Five years ago B-man came into our lives. I couldn’t imagine life without him. I am pretty sure that he is the only child on the Earth like him. He makes me laugh everyday, and I can’t believe that he is old enough to ride a bus and be at school without me.
Here are a few of his favorite things…
He loves yellow, although he has informed me that red is his new favorite color now that he is five, or maybe black.
Pizza “macaroni” to be exact… (He means pepperoni.)
Swimming, running, jumping, and making loud noises
Playing with his friends.
Those of you who have met him know that I am constantly embarrassed by how outgoing he is. If he sees you, he will talk to you whether you want to or not. The other day as we were leaving for church he asked a woman moving in a few doors down if she went to church. When she said “no” he said “Why not? You should go to church.” All while I am trying to usher him into the car as I know where his line of questioning usually leads. There is no such thing as “none of his business.”
September 13, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a big week in our house. Labor Day was a relatively quiet day. We had a fun breakfast, the boys went swimming in our pool, and in the afternoon we went to our ward party that was held at a local park. We had just enough time to eat, and then I went to feed J in the car. Just as I finished and walked back to the pavilion it started to pour down rain. B-man wasn’t bothered by the rain at all and continued to play football with the big kids in the rain. He was a filthy mess when we left.
Tuesday was B-man’s first day of Kindergarten. I can’t believe that he is going to school! We got up nice and early (6:30) and started the day going. I got really nervous when he said that he wasn’t hungry for breakfast. I kept trying to get him to eat something, but he really didn’t want anything. He was just thirsty. I was so panicked that he was going to be hungry at 9:00 a.m. and be telling his teacher that he was hungry. We took pictures and then walked to the bus stop. B-man was SO excited for the bus. I kind of thought he would climb up the stairs and then give me a little wave, but he just kept on walking without looking back once! I can’t remember what I did while he was gone, but I was pretty busy with random things. When I picked him up at the bus stop later he reported that school was great. He didn’t have a whole lot of details about the day, but he seemed to have fun. We then went to run some errands together before heading home. M got home late almost every day this week, so sadly there was no time for the pool once he got home. That night was mutual; we did a scripture scavenger hunt.
Wednesday once B-man was off to school J and I went to the farm. I picked cherry tomatoes and edamame beans. While picking the edamame J decided that he was not happy, and everyone in the field knew it. I tried to keep picking but it just became impossible. One cute woman that was there by herself helped me pick a bunch, but in the end I just gave up. I was going to pick for a friend too, but it just wasn’t possible. I drove back and was able to make it to the bus stop before the bus arrives. If I’m not there when the bus comes they take B-man back to school to wait to be picked up. It’s a lot of pressure to be there when the bus comes. That afternoon B-man came with me to take J for his belated two month check –up. The check-up went well. He is 26.5 inches and 14 lbs. 11 oz. which is one hundredth percentile for both. He’s a long drink of water.
Thursday was B-man’s birthday. He turned five years old and was so excited. We had pancakes in the morning for breakfast before heading off to school. I had mixed up the wet and the dry ingredients the night before so that I could have it almost ready in the morning, and something went wrong because they were very flat little pancakes that weren’t very good. Lucky for me B-man isn’t picky. His teacher doesn’t allow any treats to be brought in, so I didn’t do anything while he was at school except shop for his birthday presents. B-man had some pretty outrageous requests for his birthday, like a remote control helicopter. I settled on a remote control car. A Ford Mustang to be exact. After picking him up I took him for his birthday lunch. He chose the location and we went to McDonald’s. That night for dinner we had homemade pizza, and then opened his presents. Everything was a big hit. He had also been asking for a real frog, “not a poison one.” There was no real frog, but somehow Grandma Dyer knew he wanted a frog and sent a stuffed one. It let me off the hook. He immediately wanted to play with his remote control car, and after he played with it a little M wanted his own turn. Now M sneaks a turn whenever he can.
Friday was a quieter morning. I read and worked around the house a little while B-man was at school. That evening we continued the birthday celebration by going to Chucky Cheese’s. B-man loves that place, he only plays the games where he can drive, ride, or shoot something. After Chucky Cheese’s we went to dinner at Red Robin.
Saturday was such a nice relaxing day. We woke up and after breakfast went to look for garage sales. It was over pretty quickly because there weren’t many. Then the rest of the day we spent at home swimming, working, and playing with our neighbors. That night M and I watched a movie before heading to bed.
Today has been fast and furious. We have been going fast since we woke up. M had a meeting at the church and I spent the morning making a cake, making dinner, and working on my lesson for Young Women’s. Luckily M came home and helped with B-man and J so that I could get things done. I was so happy to be back teaching my Beehives again. After church we came home and got busy fast working on dinner since we were having some friends over. J chose to have a massive blow-out of a diaper all over M which ate into our time a little. Eventually we got everything done. Just as we were getting ready to eat our friends called to say they couldn’t come because one of their children had just gotten ill in their car. B-man was a little sad, but we were able to convince him we would still have fun. After dinner we had cake. B-man was so excited; he had wanted a “brown cake, with blueberries underneath and peaches on top.” At one point he also said that he wanted green and yellow licorice on top but I put my foot down. This cake is my first attempt at a real frosted cake. I made a chocolate cake with a blueberry filling and whipped cream icing. It was a bit lopsided (my fault) and the blueberry filling was very runny (the recipe’s fault) but it was still pretty delicious. We gave wishes to B-man and then sang for him to blow out the candles. It was a fun way to end all the birthday celebrations.
We love you all!
R, M, B-man, and J
September 6, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
We are back in Virginia, but we didn’t start the week that way. Monday we were all in Fairfield still visiting with M’s family. We had a very low key day; we visited the Jelly Belly factory, and played tag outside with B-man. That night for FHE we played a few rounds of “Personal Preference.”
Tuesday M spent the morning packing up. We took him to the airport late in the morning, and sent him back to Virginia. On the way home we went to Costco and a few other quick errands. It was a super hot day, and so we took B-man to some water fountains that were in front of the courthouse. We all enjoyed the water and getting wet. B-man got super wet, but had a blast.
Wednesday and Thursday were spent doing laundry, packing, and doing things around the house. E helped me alter some pants that I had purchased at a garage sale. Julie also helped consult on them. I think they turned out great, especially for only spending fifty cents on them. (Although E’s time was invested too…) We also went to the fire station by their house. Once again the fireman that gave us a tour was so nice and accommodating. They never act as if we are any sort of a bother at all. He let B-man turn on the lights and the engine to one of the trucks, and let B-man and I put the earphone radios on and talk to one another. It was a great afternoon and B-man was so thrilled at all the fun things he got to see and try. We made a visit to a park near the house, and B-man followed the older boys around more than anything else. He even played a little soccer with them. The other activity for those days was looking for dresses for E and the upcoming wedding. The boys were very patient with all the dress shopping, and we even found at least one good option. That night M (in Virginia) went to “Back to School Night.” He said it made him feel old to have a child in school. I would have to agree.
The other big event of the week was that with Grandma E’s help we started training J to fall asleep on his own. His sleeping was getting ridiculous, and since we didn’t have as many people to worry about disturbing we were able to start letting him figure it out. He made a lot of progress and usually would fall asleep in five minutes or less of crying. It feels so good to know what to do with him, and he has been much happier because of it. (And I have been sleeping more because of it.) I feel bad for everyone at Yosemite that heard him crying so much!
Thursday night late we drove to San Francisco for our flight back to VA. Grandma E drove us to the airport, and everything went very smoothly. The only problem came in that there were zero extra seats. So I had to check the car seat and hold J for the entire flight. I did remember to bring the front pack which made it a lot easier. The red-eye flight was aptly named. When we landed I was not a pretty picture, but since B-man slept the entire way, and J slept almost the entire way, I think it was worth the sleepless night. M picked us up from the airport and then we dropped him off before heading for home.
Once we were home all I wanted to do was find a bed, but instead we had to get going immediately. We quickly ate breakfast and then changed clothes before heading to a Kindergarten Open House for B-man. The Open house was pretty chaotic with all the kids and all the parents crammed into the room together. B-man stuck close to me at first, but when we looked at the computers, and then he ran around outside with the other kids he started to loosen up. The teacher sang a few songs with the kids, explained what would happen in the morning on the first day, and then all the kids went for a bus ride to practice the bus riding skills. B-man was thrilled! Although he did report to us today that he was a little nervous that there were no buckles in school buses. Somehow J managed to sleep through all of this. I had last fed him somewhere in the middle of the flight and through all of this drama and driving he stayed asleep. It was such a blessing since there was no comfortable way to feed a child with all those people around and no comfortable quiet seat.
M got off early that day because of the holiday weekend, and after a quick lunch we headed out to the farm to get our boxes. We first picked edamame beans and then while M and B-man did a few fun things I fed J. When we got home the boys went swimming while I cleaned up a bit. That evening we went to the airport and picked up B-man’s booster seat. In my sleep deprived state I forgot to get it that morning (it’s a good thing the airport is so close). We then headed over and helped pack up the moving truck of some friends. B-man loved playing with the other kids, and the night was very pleasant even with the moving and the bugs. The couple moving then treated us and another couple that helped to dinner before heading back home. We were all exhausted. B-man had only about five hours of sleep, and I had about thirty minutes of sleep from the previous night. B-man went straight to bed, and then we all went to bed early that night.
By some miracle J slept until five in the morning. It was amazing! Never before in my life has a child actually slept longer when I wanted them to most. All that sleep training really paid off. I ended up getting almost twelve hours of sleep once I really got up thanks to M entertaining B-man for a while. That morning B-man and M walked to the bank, and then to see if our friends needed help unloading the truck. They both went swimming in the pool in the afternoon and we ran a few errands together. I worked in the yard while they were at the pool. There were some very tall, very large weeds. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but some of them were so large I couldn’t pull them out, I just broke them off. I’ll need some serious work in there once the garden stops producing. B-man went to bed early again and then M went to watch the BYU football game at a friend’s house with some other guys.
Today has been a great day. It was great to be back in our ward, and see what has changed. B-man was so excited to be the spotlight child. He has wanted to be that since we started doing it over a year ago! The Primary also sang to him for his birthday coming up.
We love you all. We feel so blessed to have been able to see so many of our family members this past month. We wish we could see you more!
R, M, B-man, and J
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