Our Last Day of "Quarantine"

I have a zillion posts to catch up on, but for now I just want to say how glad I am that we'll be emerging from our self-imposed quarantine tomorrow. Both Mark & Lincoln have had the swine flu (or, to be PC - the H1N1 virus). Mark got hit really hard which was sad (he's better now), but fortunately since he got it first I was quick to get Lincoln in to his doctor the first day he started showing symptoms. Being under 2 he's in a higher risk category, so I'm glad we did - I normally don't call the doctor at the first sign of one of the kids getting sick. However, upon hearing his symptoms they got us right in and sure enough he tested positive. Luckily he was started on Tamiflu within 10 hours of symptoms presenting themselves. Since he got started with the medication so quickly it did wonders. He was really sick that first day, but was dramatically better by even the very next day! He's finished out the medicine & is symptom free now, but we have been keeping him home for the recommended 7 days just to be on the safe side. Today is day 7 - so hurray for that!

Happy birthday to my man!

I just wanted to tell my sweetheart happy birthday!
32 & still smokin' hot! :) Mark, I'm so grateful for the husband you are, the daddy you are, the person you are...and the person you make me believe that I can be.
Here's to great things to come this year!
Ik hou van je!
Ich liebe dich!
However you wanna say it...I love you!

That's our Lincoln...

So, I decided that I need to put this clip in context. Right before I recorded this clip, Noah had just had a potty accident...the kind that left his clothes, shoes, the floor and the wall wet. Aaargh. So Lincoln was left to his own devices while I cleaned that up and bathed Noah (for the second time that morning). The reason that information is pertinent to this clip is that I was feeling really frustrated at the situation (and that I was late to be somewhere)...then Noah and I walked out of the bathroom together to find Lincoln like this. He provided some much needed comical relief just when it was needed most. All three of us had a good laugh, and I'm sure glad that I had my camera handy!

April Wrap-Up (finally)

At first I was just going to throw these remaining pictures up on this post with no commentary, just to be done with April. My goal was to get caught up with the blog through April by the end of today, and I didn't see any sort of theme with the pictures anyway....then I realized that besides having a few minutes to spare before my self-imposed midnight deadline - that these pictures actually do have a theme after all! They were all taken first thing in the morning! Anywhere between 5:51-9:44 AM to be exact. So, please enjoy these random morning pictures. From our house to yours.

The competition for the most desirous toys has begun between my boys (and of course the coolest toy is always whatever the other one has, right?). So, moments like this when they're sharing a toy, and having a good time doing it, warrant documentation!

I had to show a little close up of the chub overflowing onto the steering wheel. Gotta love it.

I pulled the camera out to get a picture of Noah's chocolatey-mess of a face, but the real crack-up for me ended up being this cheeser that he pulled out when I went to take his picture.
Mmmm...Nutella.

Nothing special. Just a normal shot of the boys playing first thing in the morning...but I do love how Lincoln has to tip his head back to be able to see out from behind his construction hat!

The boys came up with this game one day while I was out of the room. They like to call it their "slide". Nutty boys.


One Saturday morning Mark was ready to take the boys outside to do yard-work and had Lincoln all rigged up in the backpack. Noah decided that he wanted to wear the backpack, so we let him see how heavy it was...and that just cracked Lincoln up!

Now and then Mark brings home a surgical mask or cap for Noah. One morning Noah asked for his mask & hat right after breakfast...
After getting Noah dressed he kept strutting around the front room, telling me he was a doctor. And it particularly cracked me up how he would put his hands on his hips like this...

And I'll end with my personal favorite. Noah popped around the counter one morning while Mr. Potato Head's mustache & mouth between his teeth (and this expression on his face). I just about peed my pants laughing. It sure was nice of Noah to do something like that to reward me for waking up for the day with him at 5:45 that morning! Funny boy.
Well, that does it for April! And, I did it with 3 minutes to spare. Ha! Now, I'll just have to make time to catch up on the last month & 1/2 sometime!

Leatherby's

I decided that I wanted to document a bit more about our outing with my mom from early April (that I talked about in the previous post). After exhausting the planetarium, we walked across the street to the children's museum (where we have a pass) and let the boys run wild for the last half hour or so that they were open. I also bought Noah & Lincoln the firefighter hats (from the gift shop there) that I'd been promising Noah for weeks. Noah promptly put his on, and wouldn't take it off for anything. Then! We decided to go all out and get some ice cream at Leatherby's. Now I know that I've written before in a previous post about how much I love that place, but I just want to say one more time...yuuu-um! There. Not too much commentary is needed for these 3 pictures, but I just have to mention that what Noah is eating is the smallest banana split on their menu!

Sharing some of our cold treats with the little monkey. Lincoln would shiver, scrunch up his face from the cold...then swallow ask for more!

Enjoying my "black and tan" while Noah (who wouldn't even stop to look up) enjoys his banana split. You should have seen the faces of the people seated around us when they placed that dish in front of a three year old!
I know that the boys had a great day and night, and I sure did too. Sometimes it's so fun to just decide to spoil your kids rotten. Thanks for helping, Mom! You're the best & I love you.

Planetaruim Visits

We had two fun visits to the Clarke Planetarium in April. The first one was at the beginning of that month with my mom. She treated the three of us to an IMAX showing of Under the Sea. As you can see from the pictures, the show is in 3D. Lincoln wasn't very interested in leaving the glasses on, but Noah did pretty well. It was so funny at the beginning of the movie though to watch both boys reaching out and grasping at fish that seemed to be swimming right in front of them. And, yes, Lincoln is sitting in his booster seat. I know it probably looked funny that I hauled the thing in, but it's been a life-saver at movies. He's contained (and he knows it) and the tray provides a great place for snacks and drinks to keep him happy.

My mom & Noah.

After the movie was over we explored the fun museum at the planetarium. First we stopped to watch this contraption. Lincoln enjoyed watching the balls, but seemed particularly distressed when he realized that he couldn't touch them...


Next it was off to a moon & Mars exhibit. Here's Noah walkin' on the moon...

...and then running on Mars. Although if you watch this clip you'll hear that he seems to think that it's more of a desert scene than a space scene. (He's saying "Giddiup! Giddiup!...Ridin' the range, let's go...wahoo!") Funny kid.


Our little monkey (Lincoln) who is normally always busy climbing, seemed content to just walk around and point out all of the rocks...

Thanks, Mom! We had such a fun time!


Our second trip to the planetarium was at the very end of April with our playgroup that we attend. Things were a lot more hectic trying to wrangle both boys by myself, and amidst so many other kids - but we had a good time. Here's a photo of Noah hanging out on some moon rocks. He seemed to grasp that the Mars scene was a planet this time too :)

This is my friend Jessica's daughter Lucy (about 9 months old at the time) with Noah.

I didn't take any more pictures that day because I was running two different directions, but I did manage to grab this short (5 second) clip which is so cute. Noah was being a weather man, and I ran up just to catch the end while he was saying something about "sunlight". I love the way that he's gesturing like a weather man, and watching himself on the TV screen too (that is on your right side during the clip).

Let's Go Fly a Kite

We had such a fun surprise one day toward the end of April. My dad was out near our house between seeing patients and called to ask if he could stop by. He brought a surprise for the boys, and they were excited to see him pull out a kite. Lincoln just watched, but Noah got to learn how to fly a kite for the first time! We headed into the back yard and my dad taught him what to do...

He showed him how to let out some string (but not much between the short running distance, and power lines above us)...

How to hold the kite...

What the tails do...

And, best of all, how to run with it!

Here are three quick clips of the event (each is 6 seconds or less in length):

The first flight...


I love Lincoln's little "wahoo!" in this one...


And Noah got more confident each time he did it. I love his little satisfied smirk in this clip...

Thanks again, Dad. That was so thoughtful of you, and such a fun spontaneous surprise.

When Jen Comes to Utah...

It's always interesting to see which friends you stay in contact with over the years, don't you think? My friend Jen is one of those that stuck. We've been friends since we were 7 years old...so, it's been 24 years now. Her & her hubby live in California with their two adorable kiddos. So, it's always fun when she comes to Utah to visit...plus, when she does I usually get together with her & the only two other friends that I've kept in contact with from high school (Allison & Tobie)! Last time, which was toward the end of April - Tobie, Jen & I (from left to right in the photo) made time to escape for dinner without our kids. We went to The Mandarin (yum!) and had such a nice time chatting. In fact, after dinner we went and found somewhere else that was still open so we could gab some more over dessert (Cold Stone). It was so nice to just relax and visit with each other - thanks, girls!

Another day I also ended up bringing the boys over to Jen's parents house to play in their backyard too. Between the water slide & all the toys they have - it's such a fantastic set up back there, and the kids love it. Here's Noah with Jack (Jenny's son) driving one of their Power Wheels jeeps.

Noah, Jack & Lincoln.

Yet another day we went to Discovery Gateway (SLC children's museum). Here are Jack & Noah enjoying piloting the helicopter they have there.

Lincoln can't stay away from water...

...and he got into the music stuff more this time than he has in the past.


Our good friend Allison (who is a nurse) had to work the night shift the night before, so she wasn't able to join us until later in the afternoon, but she (along with her super cute son Isaac) joined up with us at the food court and went over to the fountain afterward. Here are Noah & Isaac being their happy little selves.

Jack & Noah running hand in hand toward the fountain.

And I couldn't end the post without including a clip of playing in the fountain. Lincoln loved it.


It was so good to see all three of you girls! I only wish it happened more often, but thanks for providing an excuse for us to make it happen, Jen! Looking forward to your next visit...

Cowboys in Scivvies Series

Easter Sunday

I know, Easter was almost 2 months ago. What can I say?...I'm super behind on my blog posts. Part of the problem is that it actually takes me longer to sort through & narrow down which pictures to include in each post than it actually takes me to do the post. (Those of you that really know me - stop laughing) So, rather than spend another hour hmmm-hawwwing about which photos that I would be ok not including...I'm just going to speed things up & include most of them, so that I can move onto finishing the rest of April's blog post (yes, I said April). Sigh.

I'll start off with a snapshot of our little family of four from Easter Sunday.

We spent the first half of the day at my parents house. They did another egg hunt for the boys, but this time it was with real eggs. It was funny watching Lincoln in this video - I was surprised how much more steadily he's walking since just 2 months ago.


Can you tell that the boys had fun?

As for Noah - he cracks me up. I love this kid. First of all, you've got to love that he randomly breaks out into spinning circles. And I'm sure you can understand why the clip so quickly ends after he says, "Catch it!" - referring to the egg.


I'm hard pressed to think of anything that I love more than when I see things like this...

Having already done a couple Easter egg/candy hunts that month, it didn't take too long for Lincoln to catch on this time.


And Noah loved to show off each egg before putting adding it to his basket.

Oops.

Don't you just want to kiss that face?

Can you see that smile of delight on Lincoln's face?

This is a clip to show why Lincoln's whole basket of eggs were all cracked...and I have to mention how much I love his little side shuffle and squat down.





My mom made us all a delicious Easter meal. Thanks, Mom! Yum. Oh, and don't mind that we just yanked off the boys' Easter clothes and let them eat in their diapers. It makes for easier clean up anyway. (In the photo: my parents, my mom's parents, my brothers Matt & Josh, and my boys)

Lincoln's favorite part of the meal was definitely the fruit salad. He would just inhale it, and then sit there and sweetly say, "Please....please" (while signing please all over his slippery chest) until somebody gave him more:


Easter basket time.


And then, of course, the grandparents had to spoil them too.

Here's my dad showing Noah my mom's Easter bunny cake. He loved it, but it was just so hard for him to wait to dig in.

The four of us with my grandparents.

The boys with my parents.

After a few minutes of trying not to laugh to hard, I grabbed this quick clip of poor little Lincoln. Classic.


This was a little more comfortable for Linc, and I was impressed at Mark's ability to play cards one handed too.

Then it was off to Mark's parents house! We feel so lucky to be able to live so close to both of our parents. Of course they were ready to spoil us too, there was a giant basket for the 4 of us...

Hanging out at their house with them was the perfect way to wrap up a fantastic Easter. Thanks for everything, we love you!
We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday too! Happy Easter...a couple months late.