Other November

Eli snapped this picture of Tyler in the car and I can't believe how much he looks like my brother Dan did at that age... there must be a little of my side of the family in him!

Most days the chairs and stools in my kitchen end up like so:

Otherwise this happens:

Sleeping or not, he's just so sweet:

After his bath (and after everyone yells, "naked baby!") and once his diaper is on, he loves to wrap up in his blankie and roll around in all of its softness:

If I have to run errands in town, I generally do it immediately after dropping off the kids at school.  Most of the time, I'm back home by 10 or 10:30.  But unfortunately, Costco doesn't open until 10am, so if Costco is on my list, this usually happens on the way home:

Peek-a-boo/hide and seek/playing in his 'fort':

Look who discovered the DVD player in my car...

Not thinking about the fact that we just did senior pictures for Bryson, I ordered school pictures for him and this is what he brought home:

Ugh.  Since I paid for it, I totally made him do retakes!!

We got our first snow fall of the year just before Thanksgiving:

He wasn't quite sure what to think of it, but he sure liked eating it!

We dog sat our neighbors dog Jetta:

Just going for a little meander:

We had Thanksgiving Dinner Lunch at our house.  Afterwards, the kids all wrapped Tyler up in his blanket and then swung him in it like it was a hammock- He loved it:

My dessert helper:

A nice fit:

We set up Christmas the Sunday after Thanksgiving, now Tyler has a whole lot of new stuff to explore:

Big boy at 'his spot' at the counter:

He is d.o.n.e. with his high chair.  (notice I said 'he is', not 'I am'...)

We took a walk to the gate one day with Jetta- I was impressed that he walked all the way down, but 15 feet from the gate on the way back home, he sat down- he was tired!

Sick Baby

Jace got Tyler up this morning and didn't notice that his whole bed was wet... sometime during the night, he'd puked everywhere- not much solids (thank goodness), just mostly stomach juices, but the poor baby then slept in it!  He is clearly not feeling well, but besides a fever and no appetite, he's got no other symptoms.  The kids are at school, so we're just snuggling.  

I'm not gonna lie, I kinda like it.

Seattle

The weekend after my Arizona trip, Nathan and I headed to Seattle for a dental CE course.  While I love getting away with my sweetheart, I don't love Seattle.  Especially in November.  We stayed downtown right next to the convention center.  I ventured out a little, but I mostly just stayed in the hotel room reading- it was such a luxury!

The last day we were there, we went to the Space Needle!  Funny that Nathan had been up in it, but the other three of us (Dr. Rich, Holly and I) from Washington never had!  My kids were pretty impressed when I showed them pictures of the 14 foot tall Lego Space Needle made from over 55,000 bricks:

It was an overcast, cloudy day (no surprise there!) but the views were still pretty great from the top:

Standing up on the glass bench and leaning against the plexiglass wall was super scary!

I just keep hoping that one of these years, the Pacific Northwest Dental Convention will be held somewhere like Tahiti... is that too much to ask?? *wink*

Sisters Weekend

Nathan's sister Christi turned 50 this month and us 'sisters' wanted to celebrate!  A few months back we all purchased tickets to go to Arizona for a long weekend getaway at the Ripperdans.  For a while, I wasn't sure if I was going to be up to going... but in the end, I was so happy that I felt well enough because we had such an amazing time!

Aunt Sandy watched Tyler the morning I left since Nathan was working- he had lots of fun exploring her house and 'toys':

Christi and I met up in Seattle and then had the same flight to Phoenix!

Adam donned his Halloween 'redneck' costume for us and boy, did he play the part well!!

Christi and Bob made us a bunch of swag, including commemorative t-shirts:

I was the odd ball with my colorful shorts...

Hiking one day we saw a HUGE tarantula on the trail- it was big and hairy and SO SO SO creepy!

*full*body*shudder*

Dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant:

We paddle boarded and kayaked, hiked, stayed up way too late talking and playing games and bonded.  It was just so wonderful to be together, enjoying nature and the warm sunshine.  Thank you Sarah for coming up with the idea and for hosting us.  It was so fun to get away, but also so great to get back to my family!

Some {completely inappropriate and for sure TMI} Funnies

It didn't really feel appropriate to include initially, but as time has passed, I want to share two funnies from my delivery with Wesley.

When we first arrived, my nurse did a wonderful job of explaining to us what to expect. She said that at my gestation, often the placenta is 'sticky' and doesn't deliver very well. She explained that if that happens, they will give me an intramuscular injection of a med called 'hemabate'. She warned me in advance that one of the really common side effects of hemabate is severe diarrhea. Lovely. She also mentioned that if necessary, they would give me a second dose, but she'd never seen that happen- one dose had always been effective in the past {cue ominous music}.

So fast forward to post-delivery. My placenta didn't deliver all the way. Lucky me. So they gave me the injection in my thigh and I noticed that Nathan had let go of my hand and went over and sat down... and he was looking fairly pale! I asked him if he was all right... he said he was fine, but I wasn't convinced and told him to lay down.  It took some coercion, but he finally admitted that he totally felt like he was going to pass out- the man who gives hundreds of injections every month! I seriously laughed so hard!

Until I dared not laugh that is... because that 'severe' diarrhea that my nurse had warned me about? Turns out, she wasn't kidding. It hit me real hard, real fast. I frantically begged her to let me get up to use the bathroom and since I hadn't had any pain meds, thankfully she let me. And well, her describing the diarrhea as 'severe'?? I would say a better word would be 'explosive'. I know, TMI, but for reals, it was unbelievable! I was confident that my entire gut was cleaned out, right on up to my esophagus. 

Alas, my placenta proved to be especially sticky and I needed a second shot. Nathan held it together this time *snort*, and I have no idea how, but I swear to you, the diarrhea was just as shocking the second go round. Wow. Just w.o.w.

And now you know. Sorry 'bout that!

Happy Halloween

Since Halloween was on Sunday this year, we had our ward carnival a few days early- good thing, because it forced me to have costumes ready too!

Nathan is the Deacon's quorum advisor and the boys wanted to do a David and Goliath marshmallow sling shot for their booth.  Nathan drew Goliath (he's so artistic!) and I helped him paint it- it turned out great, if I may say so myself:

Tyler trying to eat a donut on a string:

He *may* have had a little lot too much sugar that night!

Minions!

Hermione:

Dallin came up with his costume and literally was finishing it moments before we had to leave:

Most people didn't have a clue what he was, but a few were clever enough to figure out he was a "cereal killer"...

The Mandolorian:

I had to make him smile!

Nathan's office was all from Despicable Me, Nathan being a pretty cute Dr. Nefario:

The stinker wouldn't wear his costume to our ward party though.  Ugh.

And I may or may not have stolen mine and Tyler's costumes from the aftermath of his office's costumes at the last minute...