Four Eyes

Why do babies look so much cuter in glasses than everyone else?

Perhaps it's they way they put them on sideways and look at you as if that's the way the glasses are meant to be.

Or perhaps it's the cute round cheeks that add to the glasses glamour.

Or maybe the imitation of being grown up just tugs at your heart. How can my little girl look so adorably old?

I'm thinking it's the look of, "What are you putting me through this time? Yes, I'm once again a spectacle (no pun intended) for all."

It could be the family resemblance. Like father, like son :) 

I don't know what makes those rims so ravishing on little ones. What I do know is, four babies later...glasses never looked so good :)

Between a Funeral and a Wedding Reception

    

Brigham and I had been promising Lydia we'd feed the ducks and go on a picnic "in a minute" ...for a couple of weeks.

We took advantage of being on the east side of Salt Lake between a funeral and a wedding reception, and made good on one of our promises by spending an afternoon at Liberty Park.

Lydia was able to somewhat appease her slide addiction. Going up, going down, over and over again. They make her so very happy. Perhaps, because it makes her feel as though she is flying.                                                              

Ammon was very unhappy at first, but after a much needed siesta, he chippered right up.

Lydia cried when we made her leave the slides. Until we introduced her to the water. Ah, her second love.

She piddled through the paths of water and then plopped her bum down on a bridge and contented herself with splashing around.

We contented ourselves with the view of her cute purple underwear poking out.

   

Brigham got a hold of the camera and here's what happened. ME. Manning the stroller.

Lydia was pretty upset when we said we had to leave the water to feed the ducks...

So she buried her woes in a hamburger bun :)

When we gave her the bread to feed the ducks, she exclaimed, "Thank you!" and promptly took two large bites out of it. Obviously, she didn't quite know what was going on.

But, with some guidance, she soon realized the bread was for our feathery friends.

While the birds were fed, Ammon decided he was hungry as well and found that his carseat tastes quite delicious.

Oh the things my kids do :)

We had fun, we had drama (it was both kids' naptime). We had sun and we had rain (we had to hide out under a house porch during a short rain burst). We had good birds, we had bad birds (the evil seagulls tried to hog all the bread and pecked at the ducks if they got close). We came and we went.

And we hope to return soon :)

Why My Husband is Such an Awesome Dad

It's Father's Day weekend 2011 and I want to honor my husband for being one of the best dads I know.

On one occasion, Brigham and I were discussing a couple that had recently divorced to escape the issues they had in their marriage. This couple was discovering that they couldn't just escape their problems with each other by divorce, because they had a child that kept them bound together.

As we were talking, I put myself in that position. I thought, if things turned disagreeable with Brigham and we ended up separating (heaven forbid), it would only be easy if I could get full custody of the kids and if Brigham never wanted anything to do with them so I wouldn't have to see him.  However, I instantly knew how impossible that was. Brigham would NEVER let his kids go. And here's how I know.

Because the first time he felt Lydia kick inside my stomach, when I was pregnant for the first time, it made him cry.

Because he is constantly sending me texts or calls from work telling me how much he misses the kids.

Because he used to beg me daily to bring the kids into his work during his lunch so he could show them off to everyone. (We just fulfilled this wish as a Father's Day surprise this past Friday, despite me stubbornly refusing for weeks)

Because he washes bottles when he hates it "SO much!"

Because he's so good at taking his turn wiping poopy bums, with hardly a complaint.

Because he watches both our kids and his one-year-old niece on Monday nights so I can go to water-aerobics with the girls...and he continues to happily volunteer to watch them. Even after the time Ammon started throwing up, and we came back and found various puddles of puke on the floor with all three kids screaming, while Brigham was frantically trying to change Ammon.

Because Brigham will always watch the kids if I need him to, and often volunteers to watch them to give me a break. Not every dad will do that.

Because, from the time he gets home from work until the time the kids go to bed, he probably calls them each "so cute" a thousand times.

Because of the way he plays with Lydia and calls her "little thing" -his term of endearment for her.

Because after we watch the movie Taken, he declares that he would do all that Liam Neeson does to rescue his daughter, to rescue Lydia. And he thinks that he could.

Because he rushed to the hospital when Ammon was sick, even though he was supposed to wait for my call to come, because he was so worried about his son.

Because he tries so hard to be patient with his kids' mom.

Because he works so hard so I can stay home to take care of them.

And finally...because when I told Brigham it would only be easy to get divorced if he didn't want anything to do with kids, he exclaimed, "That would NEVER happen!"  And then we spent the next hour jokingly arguing who would win the kids in the custody battle... :)

What's for Dinner Tonight

The other night, we were happily eating haystacks for dinner -a family favorite.

It was tasting delicious when Brigham and I heard a little burp accompanied with a splat and we looked up. Suddenly, we had an extra topping for our haystacks.

We laughed at Ammon's "What?" face, cleaned it up, and kept eating. It's amazing how desensitized you become as a parent.

Haystacks a la spit-up. Delicious.

The New and the Old

First with the new...

If you haven't noticed, I redid the blog. In truth, I took over the blog. I kicked Brigham off and made it solely mine. We all know I was the one running it anyways.

Honestly, I've been wanting to trade my blog in for a classier look for awhile now. I just had no idea how and didn't have the time to research it. Little did I know, it would take A LOT more time than I anticipated. How in the heck is the average girl supposed to know how to edit HTML style?

So after making my same header six different times, hours of research in the help section, light-years playing around in HTML land, and pulling out more hair than I can afford to lose (seriously, how hard can it be to center a dang header?!?), I am quite pleased with the results. Hope you like them.

As for the other new news. Ammon rolled over. I think it was a one time wonder for now.

He also started solids. I knew he was ready because of the way he stares at us while we eat.

And the fact that he's starving constantly.

He did a pretty good job, not much of a story, but the pictures of the first time spoon-eating are always fun.

The mess was minimal

He ate it all gone...Super Baby!

Now with the old...

This subject fits in the old category because it happened a little while ago and, well, because my dad turned fifty, officially joining the old-raisin status (read about it here). Consequently, when he recently came to Utah, two of my brothers and I threw him a surprise birthday party. It was awesome.

He's so skinny now with his badge that blinked 50 pinned to his shirt :)

I made bbq pulled pork sandwiches (I never want to shred pork roasts again; my hands still hurt), some lame decorations, and a couple of fun games involving facts of my dad's life and guessing what the prices were of common items the year my dad was born.

With my brothers' help it ended up being really fun and my dad said he was truly surprised (even though I swear we gave it way several times).

And just a nice little insert...

The fact that I have two adorable children is old news...

                                    

which is why this picture fits perfectly here :).

Warning: Enter at Your Own Risk

 Don't these two just seem so innocent and harmless?

Well think otherwise because these two varmints seem to be constant carriers of disease. You heard it DISEASE!

Man am I sick...sick and tired of being sick! Sick of my kids being sick, sick of my husband being sick, and sick of catching what any given member of my household has and becoming SICK. 

We can't seem to make it two weeks before someone catches something. We've had ear infections, eye infections, staff infections. Pneumonia, RSV, bronchitis. Fevers, colds, allergic reactions, GERD, croup, and more. These seem to be paired with lots of doctor/hospital/ER/ambulance bills.

To top it off, anytime Ammon gets sick, it aggravates his reflux so he becomes a barfing machine. I've never dealt with so much puke in my life. Let me illustrate. We left the kids with a babysitter. In the span of two hours he full-out projectile-puked eight times. Despite Grandma Sue being traumatized, it was pretty normal.

When one of us comes down with something, I think, "As long as Ammon doesn't get it. Please don't let Ammon get it. I can survive if Ammon doesn't get it." He always gets it.

I've sanitized, wiped, boiled, sprayed, washed, and scrubbed until the only way I know of to get rid of anymore germs would be to burn the house down and to start with a clean slate. I make us wash our hands until they are chapped and bleeding and we go through hand-sanitizer like a teenage boy goes through Axe deodorant.

So if you want to come over, enter at your own risk. Depending on the week, we may or may not be ill.

I'm hoping the warmer weather starts killing all the germs so I can relax like this little man.

Otherwise my family will officially be quarantined until I deem it safe to enter the world again.