Tappana Times: Smiling the Winter Blues Away

Despite the winter-y month of February with all the grays and rain, we've done our best to keep the seasonal blues away.

We went and saw my sister as a gnome in a play. Ammon, sans-nap of course, crashed where he was while waiting for the show to start.

Just keeping up the trend of falling asleep anywhere and everywhere. I'm going to do a blog one day just showing all the different pictures of Ammon sleeping in crazy places. It might be a long post...

Kendrick, Ammon, and I have gone to continuing-ed religion classes to get more spiritual. (Not to mention my mom is the teacher and she's fabulous). However, Kendrick was being too cute I just ended up snapping a million pictures of his face.

What's new.

Brigham's car died. :( :( However, we knew it was coming since it's had a lose piston for YEARS and we've been blessed it lasted this long. Although I was sad, I didn't feel too stressed. I felt like we would be taken care of and that it would all work out. We were blessed to find a great deal on a great car within the first half hour of looking.

Driving up to Puyallup to buy the car, we stopped at one of our favorite places that we always used to eat at in Provo when we would go for football games or to visit Kyle and Katrina: Pita Pit.


Mmmm, mmmmm. Of course we stopped. I've only ever seen Pita Pit in two places in Utah, and this random city in Washington. Think Subway, but in a pita with lots of sauce choices. I snapped a picture and sent it to Katrina to reminesce about old times.








And now we have a 2006 Toyota Corolla with only 70,000 miles on it. That is a serious miracle for us. May it live long and prosper. Please, please, please, please, please, please.

Please.

All the winter rain = plenty of mud for the puppies to cause trouble with.

And their baths have increased in number dramatically.

Winter also brought the cold and flu season, and unfortunately we were not spared. Not even the baby. With him being about the same age Ammon was when he contracted rsv and was hospitalized with Lydia for a week, I had WAY too many flashbacks with our mucus, long nights of pacing, and coughing, and crying. And by the end of the very long, horrible, no good week, Kendrick and I were both feeling this way.

What baby just sits there with a perpetual glare on his face? This boy. And it's another reason why I just love him.

Despite all the fears and long nights and crying (sick babies are the saddest, worstest!) I was blessed with the know-how of how to administer a good suction (due to our past horrific rsv experience, seriously the doctor made me practice in front of him at the office) and I was blessed with a helpful husband that took him so I could get a break in the evenings.

.If that's not attractive, I don't know what is.

Basically, we survived and came out with only a lingering cough for me.

Once we passed through our ills, we went to the free bingo night at the school.

The older kids enjoyed a night out and I even splurged and bought them each a fifty-cent popcorn. Whew! They take a lot to impress. Kendrick was jealous, but remained half-decent...for the first hour, and then we had to bust out of there before he lost his marbles. No big bingo prizes for us, but the night out together as a family was all we needed.

A few sunny days appeared in February and we made good on them with plenty of walks. When I felt stressed that Kendrick spent too much time in his car seat, we pulled out the back pack.

And if you want to know a good way to convince a five-year old to go on long walks with you, play this little game I created: pick a random number and every time they find that number while walking they get a jelly bean. Suddenly, Ammon turned from dreading our long walks to asking to go and running down streets looking for number seven on mailboxes and houses so he could have candy. I might have to switch to blueberries or something due to the large amount of sugar consumption....but I'm proud of him keeping up with me on three mile walks.

All in all, winter hasn't been too terrible.

But with that smile and those dimples chasing the blues away, how can it be that bad?

More To Love

When February arrives, one of my favorite holidays come with it. This Valentine's Day was simple and low-key, but still wonderful.

We made panda bear valentine boxes, and wrote out valentines for friends near and far.

We enjoyed going through the notes from friends at school.

Valentine's weekend I made the kids heart chocolate-chip pancakes.

They were fans.

That night Brigham and I were able to go on an awesome date together. We were invited to a valentine volleyball date night with a bunch of other couples. Each person came wearing red or white to determine the teams, and we had pizza, cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, and played four hours of volleyball. It was a blast!

Silly prizes were awarded at the end of the night, and Brigham and I won most combative couple. I didn't want to win THAT prize, but in all honestly, we love to give each other a hard time. Especially in competitions. So we accepted our azalea plant and happily headed home together. 

Because this is a Valentine's Day post, I get to take a moment and fill the page with some sap. Boy am I grateful for this man. Not many husbands will teach Sunday School lessons for a wife who is so tired her brain just can't even comprehend reading lesson material, let alone putting a lesson together. For months. Not many dads will take newborns during nights on weekends, and even offer during the week sometimes, so that their wife can catch up on some sleep. Not many husbands watch two kids and a newborn, cook dinner, and do the dishes on their own so their wife can exercise and go to book club with the ladies. I'm a lucky girl.

This man thinks I'm beautiful first thing in the morning, or after I work out - when I actually look like death. He loves me no matter what size I am or how much hair I have. He adores his children, works hard at work and then just keeps going to take care of us when he gets home. He has a golden heart and is one of the kindest people I know. I guess, I just really love him. 

Not to mention we make cute babies.

Brigham and I agreed not to get anything for each other this year since we've had a lot of unexpected expenses. (I did clarify that ever girl deserves chocolate on Valentine's Day. Smart man took that hint and chocolate made an appearance that day.) However, this little boy was the best present I could hope to receive. After all, what brings more love to a home than a little baby?

Lydia and Ammon smother this boy with kisses and Kendrick gives them the biggest smiles. I loved that they were thrilled with just a box of conversation hearts and some jolly ranchers Sunday afternoon. The hugs from them and gratitude expressed filled my heart. Oh how I love Valentine's Day!!

Tappana Times: New Year, New Baby

Well surprise, surprise, this post will mostly contain pictures of baby Kendrick - he's just too photogenic.

I mean, look at that face. And it sorta sums up my life right now. Lots of baby.

And late nights with his squishy face.

Kendrick turned one month old and was so excited he raised the roof in his sleep.

Lydia had spirit week at school and went as an 80's girl for decade day. I dusted off my crimper and put it to good use. Apparently, the style is coming back for the younger generation because all of Lydia's friends "looooooooooooooved" her hair.

She also had some pretty crazy hair for hair day.

Normally I like to go a little crazier, but this was the best I could manage with the baby. His crying really cramps our style.

And our walks. On President's day I thought it was great idea to go for a walk with the kids, since it was such good weather. Half way through, Kendrick decided he was done sleeping, realized he was in his car seat, which is just unacceptable for him, and let us know. Ammon also decided that his bike wasn't working out for him and that he had to go to the bathroom. So for the entire mile back home, both boys cried. It was a long mile; home never looked so good.

All worries are forgotten when you get those sweet baby smiles. Though, they are are incredibly hard to catch on camera! I almost got one of his sleep smiles, and when Kendrick was smiling at his sister, I did my best to capture the moment before it was gone.

I also had to capture the time Kendrick spit up everywhere in his burp rag, and then sneezed his face right into the spit up and gave himself a milk goatee.

This kid has some pretty little curls after his bath, that slowly loosen up as everyone strokes his hair, until his hair just lies flat on his head.

I put him in one of the outfits I used to love to put Ammon in, and here they are side by side, though Ammon is brand new at the hospital, and Kendrick is a month old at this point.

We tried him out in his bumpo, and while he does just fine sitting up in it, it always makes him spit up half his bottle, and he never lasts long. He does enjoy being closer to the light so he can burn his eyeballs out better.

This kid is kind of a grump and acts like his life is so hard all the time.

But really he's got it pretty good. I'm the one suffering. My dad texted me and asked how my day was going, so I just sent him this picture.

Because it represented my day perfectly.

However, Kendrick is getting better. We have some good days mixed in with the bad where he'll sort of sit there content to be...for a few minutes.

It's a good thing he's so darn cute.

He looks so innocent here - you would never know.

He still makes the funniest faces to himself while he sits in his chair.

And has the cutest pouty frown ever.

Either his clothes are shrinking, or he's growing. And he sure is starting to get chunky.

It might have something to do with his constant desire to eat.

Basically, I love this little guy and he fills my days with his brother and sister trying their best to help me until dad gets home.

Obviously I'm a bit obsessed. And I'm only a little ashamed.

Because who can resist a baby? Especially at bath time :)

Ammon Turns 5

Having your birthday right after Christmas can be sort of a drag. I felt bad for Ammon this year as his fifth birthday approached, and with me being so tied up with the new baby and life resuming normal pace after the holidays, extravagant birthday plans were out of the question. However, he's young enough that he doesn't know better and I can get away with less fanfare.


Luckily his birthday fell on a day that he goes to preschool - his favorite. That worked out in my favor. And honestly, until dinner, the rest of the day was business as usual. I guess that's life.

Ammon picked chicken patty sandwiches with jello for his birthday dinner for the second year in a row. After dinner, family came over to open presents.

Legos, movies, hot wheels, a leap pad, transformers, shirts, and more. At least he scored in the present department.

He even got his very own box of packing bubbles - another favorite. He was more excited to pop them at Christmas than playing with his gifts, so I decided to save up a bunch and give them to Ammon for entertainment.




He had a blast popping every single one right there in front of us. 












Lucky for me, he requested Yeti Yogurt rather than a cake, so after presents we left for froyo. 

Of course, the second that he finished his yogurt he declared, "Now I want some cake!" and I gave an exasperated sigh. That's Ammon to a T, working the system to get as much goodies as possible. Bottomless pit.

I feel like a broken record once again saying, I can't believe he's this old! Five?! Holy Moly! What happened to my first baby boy? Now he'll be starting kindergarten this year and that just hurts. He's such a playful sweetheart. Shy, easily distracted, good, smart, tender boy. He loves TV, and all things boy. Bad guys, firemen, cars, trucks, sirens, weapons, superheros, blue, halo, minecraft, games, food, etc. I'll let him tell you more about himself in his birthday interview.

Even though it was a simple birthday, I hope it was the best. I love you so much my monster man and wish I could freeze time to keep you with me always. You're turning into such a handsome, smart boy and I'm proud to be your momma. Happy Birthday Ammon!

Ammon's Fifth Birthday Interview

1. What's your favorite song? Nephi's Courage
2. What's your favorite thing to do with Mom? Play games
3. What's your favorite thing to do with Dad? Play with him
4. What's your favorite day of the week? Monday
5. How old are you? Five
6. Who is your best friend? Hyrum
7. What's your favorite thing to do? Play with toys
8. What's your favorite color? Blue - light and dark
9. What's your favorite food? Jello
10. What do you like to do with your family? Play games
11. What's your favorite toy? My new cars
12. What do you want to be when you grow up? A missionary
13. What makes you happy? Watching PJ Masks
14. What makes you sad? Getting in trouble
15. What's your favorite show to watch? PJ Masks
16. What's your favorite book? Superhero book
17. What do you like to learn about? Legos
18. Where do you like to go? Yeti Yogurt
19. What's the best part of your birthday? Getting presents
20. What's your favorite treat? Ice cream
21. If you could meet someone famous who would it be? President Obama
22. What's your favorite movie? Big Hero 6
23. What's your favorite game to play? The Shark Game (a version of old maid we have)
24. What sports do you like? Baseball
25. What do you like to wear? The same clothes that I always wear
26. Who's your favorite Superhero? Thor and Hulk