Birthday Cakes and Fun

I am WAY behind on this. Tyler turned 5 at the end of January and Nathan turned 3 at the begining of March. Though I mentioned their birthdays in previous posts, I never actually posted any pictures of their party or their Birthday cakes. =(

Everyone says I go crazy on the cakes, but I enjoy that part of the birthday planning the best.
I always try to make their cakes themed, just because it's fun. It's easy because I always know Tyler wants a train (because he is a train fanatic) and Nathan is a sports fanatic so he's happy with anything resembling a ball of some sort =). I'm so glad they know what they want =).


Because Tyler likes Trains best...

This is what's called a puzzle cake which is made up of cupcakes in all different shapes,

it was really fun to make (except the frosting which took forever to dye).

I made this cake twice, one for his "friend party" and one for his "family party" that we had at Family Dinner.

Nathan got two different cakes for his parties. For his "Friend Party" he had cupcakes made to look like basketballs and baseballs and for his "family party" or family dinner, he had a basketball icecream cake.

The ice cream cake was so yummy! A lot of work, but well worth it I think. I made three round cakes, then put two layers of ice cream in between them having to re-freeze it between each layer. at one point one complete layer slid to one side an froze half way off so I had to cut it off, reposition it and freeze it again =) Fun! =) It's a good thing it tasted good =) and that Nathan REALLY loved it!

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The Parties..... as I said before, each of them had a very small friend party, and then when we had our family dinner (which we have every other week) we celebrated their birthdays with aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins.

Tyler had a travel themed "friend party"

We set up his Geo Trax set....

Each "traveler" had a train or a plane to control on the track...

Then we took a picture of them in their travel "disquises."

They were cracking us up!

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For Nathan's "friend party" we had a few friends over to play sports (of course). We had basketball, T Ball, and soccer going on in the backyard.

Then for the family party/family dinner,

We had both sides of the family over for hot dogs.

"Sports food" of course! =)

Tyler opened one of his favorite gifts which was a complete soccer outfit, socks and all!

Here is Nathan and his new soccer clothes and kleats.

He is in this stage right now where he only wants to wear "sports clothes." he wouldn't wear anything else if we let him get away with it. If we can convince him that an article of clothing is worn by "sports people" he will willingly wear it, if not, then we have a bit of a tantrum. =) He's funny =)

Our Craziness

Wow, life has been crazy! I feel like I can finally breathe a bit, but this weekend is not going to be any slower =). Between working from home (about 10hrs a week), reading & writing for my literature class (which takes forever!), babysitting in trade for Tyler's Pre-school 3 days a week(for an adorable 18month old boy), interviews (for another side job for me, 3 this week alone!), church calling (activity days leader), and home life (which never stops, of course).... I'm exhausted! Luckily my Mom takes the boys for me when I need some quiet time to get work or school done. They got to spend two nights over there this week which helped me a ton! I don't know what I'd do without her!

This week I have been at two different hospitals visiting friends and family. Monday I had the opportunity to sit with a friend for a few hours while her husband underwent heart surgery. We played games in the waiting room and tried to keep her mind off things. I was so happy to be able to be there when the surgeon came out to give her the good news that everything went well but was amazed at how serious the situation was at such a young age. It was a miracle and really reminds you how fragile life is. Those kinds of experiences, to be with people when they need someone the most, are what make me SO happy. I was glad I was given that chance.

On Wednesday my family and I visited with my Grandma at a different hospital. She had undergone stomach surgery after being rushed to the Emergency Room Saturday with stomach pain. They did the surgery that evening but didn't tell anyone just how serious everything was until afterwards. The doctor told my grandma that after they had gotten the MRI results, they realized if they waited another hour or two she would have died. None of the family realized the severity of it until long after the surgery. Thankfully everything went well and she can now recover at home. I love her so much, I had panicked when I got the call last week, but quickly felt peace that she would be okay. The Lord definitely answers prayers, there were a ton being said for her.

Josh is still job hunting and has had a couple phone interviews, but nothing too promising yet. He goes and studies with a friend three days a week for about 5 hours a day for his upcoming PE Test (Professional Engineering). It's at the end of April, so he and his friend are studying their hearts out trying to prepare for this insanely difficult, ALL day, test. I am proud of him for working so hard on it and really hope he passes (say some prayers for him) =).

Tomorrow we get to enjoy General Conference (which I am excited about), My Nephew's State soccer game (Go Dallin!), grocery shopping (blah!), house cleaning (double blah! If I have time), I get to shadow someone for a couple hours at my possible new job, then I'm off to a night out with the girls to say goodbye to a friend who's moving out of state. Sound busy? Yeah, I'm crazy!

I need a vacation =) from life =) lol

Oh yeah! An exciting piece of news from last week is that I got a 97% on my midterm! Yay me! =) lol

Baby Hungry?

So I am very stubborn and will not admit to being baby hungry......because I'm not! ;) LOL

For some reason Heavenly Father has not let me forget what it was like being nauseous, sleep deprived, swollen, uncomfortable, and even worse.... the delivery. All I have to do is think back to it and I can almost feel it all over again! Sad huh? Aren't we supposed to forget all that stuff so we want to have more? I remember forgetting all of it before getting pregnant with Nathan and then it all came back to me weeks before his birth. =) If I had not been so uncomfortable and unable to even sleep, I would have begged to just keep him in =) LOL .....okay, okay, it wasn't THAT bad =) LOL The sleep part yes, but the rest...no, not that bad ;). So why in the world am I looking at the boys' baby pictures and feeling anxious for the day when I can hold my next one in my arms? I feel like there is a little one just waiting to come to us (I have felt like that for about six months now) and maybe that is why I feel this way even though everything else in me is screaming NO! NOT AGAIN! So, besides the timing being awful for us right now (you know without much of an income and no insurance), and my crazy huge babies that make my labors very eventful ;), and my Midwife retiring, and my babies being horrible sleepers, and me never even coming close to my goal weight........ I still feel this way? Am I nuts???? YES! I believe I am. Maybe I just need to stop looking at baby pictures =) ....and stay away from babies all together..... and pregnant women ;) LOL Or maybe I should just pray that Heavenly Father helps me forget all the bad stuff and just remember the great stuff......yeah, that might work =) LOL =) So, to live up to my stubbornness....I am NOT baby hungry! Really, I'm not ;) I remember it ALL TOO well! =) LOL

Well, at any rate...... I may not be, but this baby sure is hungry!

I could not resist posting this picture, it made me laugh too hard! =) LOL

"I thought it was a dream"

To understand this you will have to read my previous post...

I asked Tyler if he remembered what happened last night. He looked at me confused and started guessing random things.....I just waited (not wanting to bring it up if he didn't remember). Then it dawned on him "oh yeah, I peed...." I asked "did you forget?" he said "I thought it was a dream." Poor kid. I reassured him that it was okay and made sure he drank less water before going to bed =) LOL

I'm sure he is going to appreciate me when he's older for posting this =) and I'm sure it will be one of those stories I tell his kids one day =)

The Joys of Boys- "This isn't the bathroom!"

So it is 2:00am on Saturday morning as I am sitting at my computer finishing up the last of my essay and sending it off to my instructor, I hear something down the hall. I realize it is the sound of peeing which is not unusual because I always hear Tyler get up for his middle of the night bathroom break when I stay up this late doing school work. This time it sounded different and realized that it is not the sound of it hitting the toilet. I scramble to my feet, running (or more like hobbling) to where the sound is coming from. As I flip on the light in the laundry room I say “Tyler this isn’t the bathroom!” and he sleepily opens his eyes and starts crying =( He was standing in front of the laundry baskets peeing as if he had drank four big gulps right before bed! He had gotten out of bed and instead of turning right out of his bedroom to go into the bathroom, he went left which took him to the laundry room. The poor kid was so upset and so disoriented he didn’t know what to do with himself. After I cleaned up his “big gulp” pee, I had to sit on the coach with him for a while just hugging him and telling him “it’s okay, things like this happen sometimes.” I eventually started laughing at the whole thing which made him smile a bit, but he was still so sad that he had done that. Now I’m just curious if he will remember this in the morning =). At least the laundry he peed on was already dirty! =) LOL needless to say I will be up a little longer doing laundry =) LOL.

My Baby is Growing Up!

On Friday my “baby” boy Nathan turned three years old. I can not believe it! Where did the time go? I was looking back at some baby pictures and decided I had to post some. Sometimes it seems just yesterday he was this little and other days it seems like he was never this tiny. I hope I never forget how cute and squishy he was, even when he is a know-it-all teenager, towering over me in height. =) I just love my baby boy!!!

Nathan just weeks old =) so precious!

Discovering his world around him =)

Discovering Red Vines! Yum!!!

Nathan at his 1st Birthday Party

Wow, this cake stuff is squishy!!!

Nathan just weeks before his 3rd Birthday.

Where does the time go???

I will post pictures of his birthday party later. He was so happy to have friends over and really excited about his cool cake! He had a Sports themed birthday because he is a sports nut =).

Injury

On Wednesday afternoon I got my husband to help with our Activity Day for the girls in our ward and we were playing soccer. Everyone knows I DO NOT play soccer, but I thought it would be alright this time on a tiny field with girls 1/3rd my age…… guess again! I simply took a step backwards, stepped wrong, fell backwards because of it, and had to sit out the rest of the time because of a shooting pain in my foot. I didn’t think it was that bad so I still walked on it for hours afterwards, but it slowly got worse and worse until I could not even put any pressure on it at all. I always thought I had a good tolerance of pain, but I could not sleep for hours and only fell asleep after taking lots of Ibuprofen. So maybe I am actually a wimp =).
I kept thinking how it was just my luck that I go a year without using my insurance and then three days after it runs out something like this happens. =) LOL Totally the kind of luck I have, it’s great =) LOL. A good friend who is a PA said I had to go get an x-ray to be sure it was not broken, so thankfully my Mom knew a very kind man who is a podiatrist/ foot surgeon, and he gave us a deal even though he did not have to. What a sweetheart!!! I owe him big time and could not have asked for better.
I had an x-ray this afternoon and the doctor saw a very straight line across one of my bones right where it hurt, but determined it was most likely not a fracture because it was too straight and did not go all the way through, but he was sure I sprained my foot. I wish I could remember the terminology he used, but it’s one of those things you have to show someone where it is unless you know the anatomy of the foot. I thought it was all very fascinating and Tyler also loved looking at the x-rays =).
So, our prayers were answered and it was a good verdict. Thankfully I can still claim that I have never broken a bone =). Unfortunately I have to use crutches for almost two weeks and can not put any weight on it until Tuesday, when I can gradually put pressure on it each day until I go back in for my check up.
I absolutely hate having to be waited on and look forward to the day I can do things for myself! I just keep reminding myself it could have been SO much worse and I am just so grateful it turned out this good. Needless to say I will be very easy to reach because I will be at home trying to stay off my feet………B O R I N G!!! =) LOL