Happy Mail

Friday was a happy mail day. No bills and an unexpected surprise from Grandma. I have come to love the little unexpected packages just as much as the boys do--because of the entertainment value at hand. They dig through their goodies (and eat a few of them too) and it is like Christmas! I don't hear a peep from them and all is harmonious for at least a good hour. It's fabulous! And I love how it ties them to their grandparents who live all too far away--it gives them a chance to feel a connection to them. And of course, I love that part!




Voluptuous lips look good on Sam, eh? I was amazed at how long he walked around with them on--only to then get frustrated when he couldn't get sucker into his mouth after several attempts. He couldn't quite figure it out!
And Tyler walked around saying "I want to suck your blood!". No surprise that he was doing his best to play the part!




So, we just wanted to say thanks Grandma! We were so happy we could kiss you or suck your blood (depending on who you're looking at/talking to!). We love you and miss you as always!

Risin' & Shoutin' in the Big Easy

Wow, I can't even tell you how many times I've sat down to do this post and not finished. But now's the time, really. Even if it's 5 weeks after the event...oh boy.

But first off, thanks to all for your well wishes and prayers for Sam. He is recovered and doing well. It took about one good solid week and I truthfully don't think the flu would have been all that much worse than any other sickness, but combine the flu with a second virus (Coxsackie) and it was truly terrible for a few days. The pain in his mouth and throat was too much for him (and me) to bear sometimes and it was just sad. But the sores are pretty much healed and the swelling has gone down and he's got a spring in his step again. But thanks to you all for thinking of us!

And now on to the post (finally)...on September 12, we were lucky enough to have BYU come play in our town. So we had seen them play the weekend before in Dallas and got to watch them just 7 days later. Kind of cool since we hadn't been to a single game since we moved from Provo 6 years ago. We felt like we were their biggest fans. It was great! Festivities started off on Friday night with a fireside put on by the team which was really neat to attend. I had heard about them being done each time they have a game, so it was fun to finally get to go to one and see all these guys bear their testimonies, sing songs, wear white shirts and ties, and get the opportunity to shake their hands. They really are a pretty impressive group of guys!

Then, Saturday morning was a tailgate party in the parking lot at the chapel on St. Charles. I was pretty impressed with the work and planning that went into it. It was truly a shame we weren't able to do something about the pesky rain!
But when we got there, the rain was staying away for the time being and Tyler quickly found his little buddy Alex and was excited that they had the same shirt. Tyler looooves little Alex (as does Sam--but Sam is just much more bashful than Tyler!). Alex is adored at our house!

And then Cosmo came. And so did the rain.

But that didn't stop him from signing autographs and hanging out with everyone. Tyler was thrilled to see him (as you can see from the picture at the top). And Sam was terrified and calls him "Nomo" and says he's scared of Nomo. Can't say I was all that surprised.
So the rain kept pouring and pouring and pouring. Attempts were made to hide out under the tent and actually eat our food, but that wasn't all that successful because two boys thought playing in the rain was much more exciting.

And then they had a "jumping contest" with one of the missionaries that entertained them forEVER.

And Tyler was catching some sweet air, and Sam was trying his best.

And finally Sam had his moment and caught some "sweet air" as well. This will forever be one of my favorite pictures. Look at that form!

And then the boys did their best (successfully, I might add) to get as drenched as possible before heading over to the game.

But clearly, there were no complaints from these two...

And then we got to the game at the Dome, and got to cheer on our Cougars. We had seats right on the 50 yard line, 14 rows up from the field. Wow. I've never sat that close and probably never will again. We were on the Tulane side, but other than that, the seats couldn't be beat. Especially since Tulane has like 3 fans or something. It was amazing how empty the Superdome was. There were definitely more BYU fans than Tulane fans.

Sam was totally fascinated by the whole thing. He sat like this and didn't move for the entire first quarter. He is obsessed with football and it was like all that he'd seen on TV right before his very eyes!




And we all know the outcome, but here's the photographic evidence--we creamed 'em. It wasn't even close. It definitely didn't compare to the energy and the atmosphere of the OU game the weekend before, but we didn't mind...we'll take any opportunity to watch our Cougars play and love it! (and of course this was especially exciting because there was so much hype for their season after their opening win, and on this day they hadn't suffered their crushing loss to FSU, but we're not going to talk about that...) Go Cougars!

Turning 2: A Recap

So, since it's been almost a month now, I think it's probably time to recap Sam's 2nd birthday. Yeah, I was getting all caught up here and now another big blog lag...some day I'll get it, some day. Anyhow, I mentioned previously that Sam's 2nd birthday was also Tyler's first day of school. Soooo, that meant I quickly realized that I was not very prepared for his birthday and it was going to be a busy day!

And since we were starting the new schedule of getting up and at 'em and out the door in the morning, it meant that I had to wake up the poor boy on his birthday. And which you can see, waking up is hard to do!

But luckily, he got over it quickly. :)

And then it was a rush to get in some birthday pancakes before getting dressed and ready and out the door to school on time. Birthday pancakes are always a huge hit!

So with Tyler dropped off promptly at 8:45, Sam and I headed out for several errands during school. Remember how I said I wasn't very prepared for a birthday celebration? Yeah. So this meant I ran to Target and Toys R Us for presents and WalMart for groceries, back home to drop them all off, and back to school to pick up Tyler. Whew--all in three hours' time! And after we picked Tyler up, we indulged in a birthday lunch with a few friends at McDonalds (about the closest thing to an actual "party" that I'd be going for this year!).

And at the birthday lunch, the first present of the day was opened. A dinosaur from his friend Luke. A big hit.

Then we were homeward bound for the afternoon nap and dinner/cake preparations. I usually try to make the birthday boy's favorite meal for birthday dinner. And since Sam can't really tell me what his favorite meal is, I just guessed. He seems to love spaghetti, so a spaghetti dinner it was. And he is 100% obsessed with balls of every shape and size, but it seems football is his definite first love right now. So, I made an attempt at a football cake. Now this was big for me, since I don't really do cakes as I've mentioned before. But my friend Rita (who does do cakes, and lots of them) talked me into it and convinced me that I could do it no problem. So a double layer carved football was the result and I didn't feel that it turned out all that bad. Garrett told me it was a little on the "skinny" side, but Sam recognized it as a football and was excited about it so I chalked it up as a success!

But before we could start dinner & celebrations we had to take Tyler to football practice. Ugh! Just one more thing to throw into the already crazy day. Oh well! But we definitely got a late start on our festivities. So we at our dinner and it was finally time for CAKE!

And this little man couldn't have been more excited. For weeks leading up to his birthday, if you asked him what he was going to do on his birthday, he would go through all the motions of blowing out the candles. So, this was a big moment for him!

And then it was time for presents. I love watching little ones open presents! They are so funny and their excitement is just so cute!

Mickey Mouse & Elmo...doesn't get any better than this for our boy. And after presents, he just wanted to work on perfecting the art of blowing out the candles. I figured that's what he had been looking forward to the most for his birthday, so what the heck? So we re-lit the candles over and over and over again and let him have at it. And you'll all be happy to know that no burns were suffered this year like last year. Another sweet success! So, of course, now we have several 'blowing out the candles' pictures. I just couldn't resist! Made for one happy boy, though, that's for sure.

He was definitely a little pro by the end of the night!

And he had to have his obligatory birthday picture with Mom and then it was time for cake!

And if it's a sign of another success, you'll see lots of finger swipes in the frosting. A couple of little boys just couldn't quite wait for it to be served on their plates first! (ps...you may or may not have noticed that we are not sitting at the table for any of the b-day pics. One more thing to add to the wild day was that we were in the process of refinishing our kitchen table, so it was out in the garage...didn't get it finished in time for his birthday. So, we did all of our celebrations on the floor! Awesome, huh? I'll post more about our table soon!)

I can't quite believe my boy is 2 years old. He's still just my baby, I swear! A few things for documentation's sake that I want to record about Sam and his year from 1 to 2.

*he absolutely loves and obsesses over balls of every shape and size. He can act out any sport and you know what he's talking about even without the use of words. "Ball" was, without a doubt, his first word. He said it way before he said 'mama' or 'dada'.

*he is still attached to his blue blanket and can't sleep without it. He still loves his binky, but we've at least been able to break him of it for all times except bed times. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get it gone for good!

*he's a pretty good eater, but he doesn't have a huge appetite, but he does love sweets. Go figure.

*he is our best little prayer reminder. Always folding his arms and closing his eyes before a meal, before Garrett leaves in the morning, or before bed. What would we do without him?

*he loves his baths, going for walks, swimming, and feeding the ducks.

*he is really starting to copy every little thing that Tyler is doing. Tyler is much more successful in getting him to talk then we are, simply because he tries to copy whatever Tyler says.

*he is a boy through and through--loves balls, cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, tractors, dinosaurs, and the list goes on.

*he gives the BEST hugs and kisses. Hands down. No competing with him on that one.

*he gave me a run for my money this year, seeming to be a new person after he turned one. There was a lot of screaming from Sam, lots of frustrations for both him and me, and I think it was mostly due to his lack of talking. A frustration for both of us. But we made it through and I feel like it's getting better every day. He is saying a new word or two every day now and it is like music to my ears! He definitely still has his fits and tantrums, but it's nothing like what we were doing about 8 months ago. And it reminds me that I think 2 might be my most favorite age of all. 2 year olds are just so dang cute, I can hardly stand it. They learn something new every day and you see how their little minds are working and I just absolutely love this stage.

And while we're talking about Sam (if you've made it through this very long post), the most recent news about him is that he tested positive for Swine Flu yesterday. He has been one very sick little boy! And then overnight he developed sores all over in his mouth and swollen/bleeding gums. So another visit to the doctor today...and we didn't learn all that much. He either has Hand, Foot, & Mouth along with the flu, or a possible very bad and rare reaction to the Tamiflu. Either way, we just have to let the virus(es) run their course and hope it doesn't get too ugly. But it's already been pretty ugly... :) We're making sure he doesn't get worse and hanging tight here at the house, not going anywhere. Believe me, you don't want to catch what Sam's got.

So there you have it, all about my 2 year old. My heavens, I sure do love this boy! I don't know what I would do without him!

And PS--2 year stats are:
34 1/4 inches (65th percentile)
33 lbs. (75th percentile)

And since I failed to include the 18 month stats, they were:
33 inches (75th percentile)
28 lb. 2 oz. (65th percentile)