The bagel bandit and a crappy medical diagonosis.

I have been feeling really tired and worn down lately and had some other symptoms that made me take a trip to the doctor's office to get checked out. Most of the symptoms were consistant with Diabetes, but I have no family history of that so the doctor said it was really unlikely. He sent me to have some blood work done on Saturday and said he would call me with the results on Tuesday. So I was prepared to wait patiently (or at least patiently enough).

Last night we were at a family gathering for Mark's sister Alyssa's mission homecoming (pictures to come later!) and Mark's aunt, who is a diabetic, said "let me just test your blood sugar". So she poked my finger and tested it, and his 9-year-old cousin (who is also diabetic) looked at the reading and said "Holy crap!" And that was it for me. My blood sugar was almost 500 (which apparently is scary high). At least I am not crazy and there is a reason for the way I have been feeling.

I was really upset and really overwhelmed, but I got a blessing last night and saw a doctor today and I am feeling a lot better about things. It still sucks, but it could be worse. I am so grateful for modern medicine and for the power of the priesthood. The second that Mark and my dad and my brother laid their hands on my head I felt such a calming, peaceful feeling. How lucky we are to have that in our lives! After talking to the doctor today I have decided that I will just learn as much as I can, and do everything I can to stay on top of this, and do the best that I can with it.

So now for the bright spot in my day...After getting home from the doctor and eating no carbs all day (until my blood sugar is lower), I went in my room to take a nap. I laid down and was starting to drift off, when I noticed that my bed smelled like bagels. I thought "Man, I want bread so bad that I am having hullicinations of bagels as I fall asleep!" And then I felt some crumbs under my pillow, and reached under even farther and found THIS under my pillow:

Stashed there by HIM:

Apparently he snuck it while I was at the dr.'s this morning, but I guess I came home too early and caught him in the act, so he had to put it somewhere for safe keeping. Look at that guilty face!!!

Oh well, if I can't eat them at least someone can...just kidding, I took it away from him after I made him pose for a picture - how mean am I? "Here's your bagel...okay, now look at the camera...just kidding, sucka!"

Look who is TWO!!!

Wyatt turned two last week - I can hardly believe it. I can barely remember a time when he wasn't a part of our family. It seems like he has been here forever (those of you who know him will be asking is this a good thing or a bad thing!).

Wyatt, you are a joy and a terror all wrapped up into one cute little boy. Your personality is like a hurricane - when you are happy you have everyone around you smiling and laughing, but when you are mad you can make everyone miserable right along with you! You love to "Roar" at people, and you get so intense while you are doing it that your little body just shakes. You love your big brother and you run around the house yelling "JAX! JAX!" whenever you can't find him. You LOVE movies and cannot understand why we won't let you watch 17 movies a day - I know, we are such mean parents! You are a big mama's boy right now, and even though it sometimes makes me crazy, I love that you love me so much - I wouldn't trade that for anything!

You are strong and determined, and a little bit of a bully (you frequently have much older kids crying at the park/McDonald's/everywhere else). You were pretty sick a couple of weeks ago and you kicked the doctor right in the face when he was trying to listen to your heartbeat - the doctor said that it was a good sign that even though you were so sick you were still fighting. Ha! Little did he know... We are working on helping you harness your powers for good instead of evil :). We love you buddy and (most days) we wouldn't trade you - tantrums and all!

No interest in actually OPENING the presents, but luckily he had a little help. 15 minutes after we gave these to Wyatt, I found Jaxson in the kitchen, playing with them on the kitchen counter (counter = out of Wyatt's reach). I asked why he had Wyatt's new birthday toys, and he said "It's okay, I gave him some other toys to play with". Other toys meaning OLD toys. The perks of being the older brother!

Birthday dinner. Wyatt chose Madagascar plates and an Ice Age Dinosaur cake. Usually, I really like a theme for a party - it is cuter that way! But this year, the theme was WYATT. We had pizza and puffy cheetos (doesn't that sound like a delightful combination?). Even with two of his favorite foods, he chose to eat his fake corn on the cob instead. Which pretty much sums up Wyatt's personality.

When he opened this present, his exact words were "WOW-WHOA-WOW-WHOA-WHOA!" Pretty sure he likes it.

When a present is REALLY awesome, you just have to climb on it.

Blowing out the candles - do you like his cousin Cody being restrained from blowing it out first? I think he managed to do it anyway! It was a fun night and I think Wyatt knew it was his special day (even though he still managed to get put in time out on his birthday - don't judge me until you have spent a couple of hours with this kid!).

We love you buddy - happy 2nd birthday!

Getting too big...

Lately I have been looking at Jaxson and just thinking "Slow down!" I don't want him to get any older. He is at such a fun age and makes our house a happy place. He is so sweet and the stuff that comes out of his mouth cracks up everyday. I just can't believe how fast time is flying and I wish I could just freeze it for a little while!

Sitting on Santa's lap at our ward party. It was a polar express theme so all the kids wore their pajamas and we had breakfast instead of dinner - it was such a fun party! Besides Wyatt's 30 minute tantrum while waiting in line... Jaxson had a huge list of things to tell Santa (none of which he is actually getting - sorry buddy!). He changes his mind everyday but I'm sure he'll love whatever he gets.

Decorating the tree this year, he was trying to put a hook on one of the ornaments and was having a tough time. So all of a sudden he goes

"I can't see anything without my glasses - let me go get them."

And he comes back with these babies. I told him that spider man sunglasses wouldn't actually help, but then he was able to put the hook in and was like "see mommy, I told you I needed them!" How do you even argue with that? I didn't try.

Looking for a good book to read?

I highly recommend this one....

Don't let the long name scare you away. I borrowed it from Mark's mama (who has fabulous taste in books) and I loved it so much I'm asking for it for Christmas! It is a sweet, well written and totally unique book that leaves you in a good mood.

Super Saturday Season

Super Saturday season is almost over!!! If you've seen me with a crazy look in my eyes and a stressed out expression on my face for the last couple of months, you will see the reason below. If I haven't called you back or answered your email, I promise I wanted to - it's just that I've barely had time to shower most days! This year our little business has grown and it has been an awesome blessing, but a curse at the same time. Lots of late nights and fast food dinners. We have learned a lot though, so here is too a smoother, not so stressed-out season next year!!

Every Thursday I go to Holly's and we package all of the orders for the week. Here is a sample of the craziness:

Sanding some of the wood - don't you wish you had that job? We have great helpers though (Holly's neighbors) and it usually gets done pretty fast - once someone had the idea to use electric sanders! Duh.

My packed up car - Mark is awesome and loads it for me the night before. I'm always a little scared I'm going to get impaled by a piece of moulding on the way there...

Packaging, packaging, and more packaging.

Some of the orders being shipped off...poor UPS man.

And last but not least, can you spot the baby in the boxes? Holly's little Ellie was just happy to be a part of the action and spent lots of her time just like this, smiling at everyone around her. What a good baby!

The ultimate punishment

My mom was babysitting the boys the other day, and Jaxson was teasing Wyatt. She told him

"Jaxson, Santa is watching you and he's making a list of who is being good and who is being bad. Good boys get toys, do you know what bad boys get?"

Jaxson, with a worried look asked "Clothes?"

Clothes are the ultimate punishment, apparently. Who knew?

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

Mark did most of the carving on this one - it turned out so cool!

Halloween is my very favorite holiday. We had a really fun time this year - Jaxson is at such a good age for costumes, trick or treating, and spooky stuff. We started off the day at a Halloween breakfast hosted by my brother and his wife (thanks Chad and Ann). They know how to throw a party! Except their grab bags were a little...ahem...iffy. Thanks to Chad. Enough said. The french toast was AMAZING though and so was everything else.

We went to the trunk or treat at the drive-in in Erda - it is one of my favorite Halloween things around here. They do dinner, a trunk or treat, and then a movie. We didn't stay for the movie this time, because we wanted to trick or treat in our own neighborhood for a little while.

The T-Rex. He LOVED trick or treating this year and thought he was so awesome in his costume.

The dinosaur/dragon...we aren't really sure. But he sure looked cute (when he would leave it on)!

Tired boy. He got that apple from one of the people at the trunk or treat, and wouldn't let go of it for the rest of the night. Better than candy, right? Except I will just end up eating his candy instead, so maybe that's not better...

Tired and then SILLY. I pointed the camera at us and said 'smile!' and instead Wyatt said 'shheeeez!' and that is the face we ended up with.

When we got home Jaxson dumped out all of his loot on the couch. Isn't that always the best part of trick or treating? Then he had a blast answering the door and passing out candy - I think he liked that better than the actual trick or treating! We ended the night with pizza and a good baseball game on TV (go Yanks!!!). Happy Halloween!

Friday Night Hike

Last weekend Mark got off of work early and I had no craft classes to teach, so we headed up the canyon to check out the leaves and hike Donut Falls. We only made it halfway up, at which point we came to a river with a little bridge and decided that the trail was really muddy and the boys won't ever know the difference. We had fun throwing stuff in the river and eating dinner on Logs.

The funniest part though (you are going to think I am MEAN, but you have to picture it) was on the way back - Mark was carrying Wyatt on his shoulders because he was throwing a tantrum about leaving the river (surprise!). He was walking ahead of Jaxson and I on the trail, and he ducked under a pine tree, but not low enough - he totally ran Wyatt into a pine tree branch! He wasn't hurt, and it actually stopped his tantrum. I don't care if I am mean, it was FUNNY. And maybe now he has learned his lesson - little boys who throw tantrums get ran into trees!! We should write a parenting book.

The boys heading up the trail with their Daddy. We had to hold Wyatt's hand or carry him becuase the crazy kid kept taking off up the side of the mountain.

What is it with boys and throwing stuff in the water?! They could have done that for hours.

Jaxson took this picture of us, and he looked at it on the camera and then with an exasperated sigh and the 'Mark eyebrows' said "MOMMY! You aren't supposed to close your eyes!!" Oops.

Fall fun and the terrible two's...

We hit the Garden of Erda Pumpkin Patch the other day (on Brian road for those of you who live out here!). The boys had a blast running through the pumpkins, until Wyatt tripped and fell in the ONLY mud puddle on five acres.

He was mad. You can't see it very well in this picture, but he was COVERED (and so was I, by the end).

It was a fun trip though that ended with a car full of pumpkins and a bag of apples from their orchard - so SO good!

Conference weekend my mom and I decided to take the boys to see the witches during the priesthood session....little did we know it was Wee Witches Weekend at Gardner Village! A little crazy and way crowded, but fun.

And last but not least, the terrible two's are making an early appearance at our house. This took Wyatt all of 30 seconds to accomplish...

But it is so hard to stay mad at this face!

2nd Degree on a Sunday Night

this

+

this

= this

SAD!

(but not serious)

On his way up in the world...

Wyatt gained a couple of pounds and grew a couple of inches - hooray! We'll take what we can get with this kid. He is now officially taller than our dog.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Two funny things that I don't want to forget...

Jaxson ran out of preschool today so excited to tell me some exciting news- "Mommy, guess what?! I have a brain in my head and it tells me what to do!"

.

Last month we walked into church (late) and I was hurrying Jaxson into his classroom. As he was walking in, I looked down and noticed his hands cupped around something. I stopped him just inside the classroom to see what he had, and if you are guessing potato bugs, you are right! He had gathered up a whole family of potato bugs on our walk to church and was planning on bringing them into primary to do who knows what with them. Don't worry, he set them free (reluctantly) through the window in his class. There is never a dull moment with little boys!

Temple Portraits

We have been working on this project for Super Saturday and home classes, and it is finally ready! We started out just offering the Salt Lake Temple, but we have added a bunch more. To see the details, go here. To see pictures of the other temples, go here.

The picture is HUGE and so pretty. Keli at http://www.kelibphotography.blogspot.com/ took all of the pictures for us. This is really fun for Super Saturday or enrichment night- pass it on to your enrichment leader! Also, if you host a class at your house, you get to make a picture for free.

One last thing - we are looking for a couple of fun ladies to teach the classes in Logan - if anyone knows of someone please let me know!

What we are up to...

Wyatt's favorite spot to watch movies...he doesn't even mess up the pillows!

1st day of Preschool, where he said to me "Mommy, you just stay in the car, I'll go up to the door by myself." Ummm...stay in the car and cry my eyes out, you mean? How in the heck is he this old already?!!

If you see us and we look slightly dusty, this is why. I talked Mark into the idea of repainting finally, and it turned into this...scraping the orange peel texture off of some of the walls. Which is surprisingly not as fun as it sounds! More pictures to come...

Spirited

Wyatt about gave me a heart attack in Walmart today. Seriously, this child. We made it through grocery shopping with no major meltdowns, a feat with a one and four year old in the shopping cart. 1 trip to the potty, 2 bananas, 1 donut and 1 hour later, and we were ready to pay. Yay! My favorite part of the experience of shopping with toddlers. I would rather have my fingernails ripped off. One by one.

So I am unloading groceries as fast as I can onto the conveyer belt and Jaxson is playing with the little toys in the register isle. (P.S. I would love to get my hands on whoever made those little cell phones and cameras and decided to put them at the point in the store where parents are the most worn down and desperate- I think we have about 12 of those little beauties floating around the house.) I usually leave wyatt strapped in at this point, but he had wiggled out of the buckle and I was afraid he was going to fall on his head trying to reach the candy. So...I let him down on the floor to play with Jaxson. Both boys were sitting there playing with the cameras and phones while I unloaded the rest of the loot.

I had a big bag of dog food on the bottom of my cart, and the elderly man who was checking my groceries couldn't get his hand scanner to work. So he was trying to lift the bag to the register, and I took about 5 seconds to help him. 5 seconds!! All of the sudden, the nice lady behind me was like, "ummm, your son just ran off, he was heading to the exit". I look down. There is Jaxson, still playing. Wyatt is no where to be seen. I took off at a dead run through walmart (I still can't see him), I ran through carts and people around the door to the exits and see him just RUNNING for all he is worth through the double doors. I caught him just as his feet hit the parking lot of busy cars. AAAAAAHHHH! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I think I was close to doing both. So I carry him kicking and screaming back to the check stand (where I had left my groceries and Jaxson) to pay for our stuff and get the heck out of there. Sweaty and near tears, I'm trying to pay one handed as I hold a squirming-like-crazy Wyatt under my other arm, and the nice elderly man working the register goes "He sure is spirited." Uhhhh...yeah.

Random videos and a picture of a really harry pirate

So, I meant to post this one in July...but we can still be patriotic in August, right?!

And then Wyatt (of course) was not to be outdone by his brother, so he had to show off his latest accomplishment: jumping (okay, really stepping off of) the cable box in our yard - many, many times. I never wanted an electrical/cable box in our yard and was sad when we ended up having one. I was wrong to feel that way, apparently. The boys love that thing and play on it almost as much as their swing set. Dang it, who cares if it's ugly! I love his face in this video, but this can't be a good sign from him, can it? Maybe we shouldn't be encouraging him and clapping for him as he falls on his face...

And I've decided to finish off this post with a picture of a dog in an eye patch (left over from the pirate party), because I am guessing that most of you haven't seen a dog wearing one of these before. So here you go:

Doesn't he look so happy?

A Pirate's Life For Me