Should we be concerned?

Yes, that is the corner of our house just outside the back door. One of the few drawbacks to having warm, snow-free winters is that yard work must still be done. So after mowing and edging our yard the other day, Lance happened upon this little fella. Actually, he wasn't all that little. Lance says he's not poisonous or anything, but he made us a little nervous. We suspect that he might be living in our bushes on the side of our house that were disturbed with the yard work. Hopefully he decides to take up residence in someone elses bushes.

The Mexican Beach

Okay, this is the last of our posts of the Mexico trip because I know I've put up a lot of pictures--there were just so many great ones! The beach was one of our favorites things we did. We ended up going three times because we loved it so much. The weather was great and the waves the perfect size. Mikey didn't love the water most of the time, but he sure had fun in the sand.

Mikey and the Beach

That is one of my favorite pictures. Mikey just loved the beach and ran up and down it all day looking for rocks and looking at birds.

Bampa in heaven walking around with his two favorite grandkids ;) (no offense to the rest)

Mikey and daddy loving the sun


Mikey and daddy checking out those waves



Bampa and Mikey pondering the amazing rocks Mikey had found

Bampa and Mikey just chillin' in the shade together and taking in the beach

Lance, Kate and Mikey pondering the water

Mikey loving the sand

The birds flying all around...

The result.

Yes, that is bird poop on his back. It was so funny! The first day at the beach, just as we were packing up, Lance said, "I think a bird just pooped." At the same moment, I glanced up at Mikey to find the bird had hit him square in the back. Perfect shot.

More Mikey and Kate

Fun at the beach!

Mikey loves to hold hands with people, but especially loves holding hands with little people like himself so he loved it when Kate would hold his hand.
Mikey and Kate going for a drive outside the grocery store (that's Bampa in the back putting money in the machine--Grandpas are the best :) Though Mikey looks terrified, he was actually loving this.
At the top of the Safari. How cute is that picture!

A Mexican Safari

So my parents had heard about this little Safari ride that they thought we should try. We got there at the end of the day and were excited to be there. After being the only ones on our tram for awhile though, and it looking like they were closing up, we were starting to wonder how fun it would be. (Well, I was, at least). Finally we got started and saw some pretty cool animals including a giraffe VERY up close (see below). I mean I think he wanted to make out with us or something. So the animals were very neat inspite of the fact that we couldn't understand the spanish tour guide mumbling over the microphone. But it was when we got to the very top that the real fun began....

So here we are waiting on our tram for something to happen.


Here's the giraffe looking for some action. Or maybe he wanted to hitch a ride out with us? I don't know, but he was like climbing in the tram. It was pretty funny.

So then we get to the end and they tell us we can get out and walk along a path to see more animals or hike to the top of the mountain to look over the view. We decided to walk the path which ended up taking us up the mountain. At the top no one was telling us about what was going on, but we saw horses and a zip line. So after wandering about a bit we realized they were for us! And better yet, each thing only cost $1!

So we all suited up for the zip line. I know, you're thinking should a pregnant lady really be doing that? Well first of all, look at how it was like 5 feet off the ground. And second, Lance and Herb did it first and only after their confirmation that it was pretty low key, did us women proceed. Plus, at $18 a ride for the Park City zip, how can you pass up $1!

Heather and I also took a ride around the circle with the kids. Again, I know, the pregnant woman riding a horse.... Well, we figured if it was calm enough for Mikey, it was okay for me. And by the way, Mikey loved it!

Here we are on "the path" to see the other animals. It was actually kind of sad because they were in small cages and the monkeys were all tethered to a line. But Mikey still loved them.
Mikey talking to a monkey
At the top with Mimi and Bampa!

All in all, it was a great Safari!

Coloring

Mimi had some surprises for the grandkids when we arrived, one of which was a coloring book and big crayons. One of Mikey's favorite things to do is to color so it was perfect. Now, normally he prefers using pens to "color" (which often end up on the couch--he wonders why we take away the sharpies!). But he LOVED the present from Mimi and spent much time using them. Well one morning I came upon him here on the dining room floor just coloring away on his belly and it was too cute!

Mikey and "Kake" in Mexico

Mikey just LOVED playing with his cousin Kate in Mexico. He woke up every morning saying,"Kake? Kake?" until we'd get him out and go find Kate. She could always make him laugh. It was so fun for them to get to spend so much time together, and of course sad to say good-bye.

This was the first or second morning hanging out in Mimi and Bampa's (huge and gorgeous) backyard. Their pet Tommy the turtle, another of Mikey's favorites there, was somewhere close by, I'm sure.

So Sick :(

Well we've had a rough go of things since returning from Mexico last week all because of our poor little bug being so sick. I don't think he's ever been this sick for so long so it's been very hard to watch.

As I mentioned before he had just terrible ear infections the day after we got back from Mexico. So on Monday, after a few days of antibiotics, the doctor said one side was clear and the other was getting better. We thought, "good, the end is near." But then his fever continued to drive on and he continued to be miserable. So much crying and squirming in pain, it is so sad to see! Then on Wednesday the still-infected ear burst and started leaking fluid. THEN on Thursday the supposedly clear ear burst and started leaking fluid! With a fever still hanging out over 101 we were worried and so sad because he was so miserable. We were going to take him into the doctor for a third time yesterday, but we waited just a little longer and now he is FINALLY starting to perk back up.

YAY!! It's so fun to have our little man back. He is still fighting a cold and his ears are still leaking (I know, it sounds gross--and well, it is. They are quite nasty looking) but leaking is good and is just getting all the bad stuff out. He's out squealing with laughter with dad right now!

But with so much crying and waking up so much during the night, he was just exhausted and lethargic a lot of the time. This picture is from Wednesday night a few hours before bedtime. He was watching a show and got down on the floor on his blanket and was out cold. (By the way, this is how he sleeps 90% of the time--bum in the air and feet crossed--so cute!)

Returning from Mexico (and my blogger hiatus)

Well I have to apologize for the lack of new material for the past month. Basically Thanksgiving happened, then our big trip to Mexico, then throw in lots of calling and work stuff to sort out before leaving for 10 days and you have a stale blog.

But now we have lots of new material! Here are just a few to get you ready. We had the most wonderful trip to Mexico to visit my parents serving a mission in Tampico, Mexico. We were supposed to be back by 2:30 on Thursday so I thought I'd have all our new stuff blogged by that night. (Well, not really, but I thought I'd be able to get right on it.) But thanks to the wonderful airline, I am still recovering from the worst flying experience ever. Today Lance and I talked about how our experience that day was like a TV show. You wouldn't believe how it just continued to get worse and worse.

But in a nut shell, our first flight from Tampico to Houston was supposed to leave at 7 am so we got up at 5 am. After returning to the airport 4 different times because of delays, we finally took off 9 hours late. Yep, that's right, 9 hours. And they wrongly denied us food until just before we were supposed to board (they had been serving it all day to delayed passengers, but out ticket agent had told us no!)

Then we had to sprint to catch the final flight out of Houston to Tampa for the day and barely made it at the expense of any kind of food and severe pregnancy cramping for me. They then wouldn't help us get our seats together, as promised, like our original flight. Luckily a few passengers saw the wisdom in letting us sit together with a lap child instead of Mikey sharing a middle seat with only of us. Of course when asked for any real food for a starving pregnant lady, they quickly snapped that they only had peanuts for us. (I KNOW they didn't give first class just peanuts! You'd think a little first class food would be the least they could do for what they put us through. Oh well)

So we rolled in around midnight (after starting at 5 am). It was rough for a pregnant woman and I have been cramping and sick for the past two days, but I think I'm finally getting better. Mikey, amazingly enough, did wonderfully for the day we put him through. But it caught up to him and today we found out that he has severe ear infections, one of which is ready to burst any minute. (Yeah, the doctor told me to not panic if puss or blood started coming out of his ear...um, YEAH I WILL!)

So anyway, we are getting back into the swing of things and I promise loads of new pictures very soon. Love you all!

We took a Safari and saw tons of animals that Mikey loved

We went to the beach three times and Mikey loved every minute of every day! (This moment was so cute. Mikey saw Lance come and lay down on my back so he ran right over and laid down in front of me to join the party. It was adorable!)

Pregnancy countdown...

Wow. 197 days. Does that sound like a lot to anyone else?

Some videos

Here a few videos that we've had on youtube for awhile, in case you missed them.

One of our favorites EVER:
"Hi Froggie" The whole thing is cute enough, but just listen for the "hi froggie." It's the best part. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqKZBHkA6dI

Mikey loves talking:
"Andy pweez" Thanks to Halloween, Mikey is now quite aware of candy (andy) and asks for it constantly. At least he is very polite and always uses please (pweez). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmBOC-5v_ls

"Oh, Man!" This is also one of his favorite phrases. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s51Se_Op2Jg

Our little sports fan:
"Sports fan" He normally claps pretty enthusiastically when playing with this basketball game, but he was getting so into it this time and bouncing up and down. It was so funny! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDxckvJso_k

Our little grown up:
"Big boy" Mikey now refuses to sit in a highchair or use a bib. He also will eat almost anything if he can eat it with a fork or spoon because he LOVES using untensils. It's cute, but mealtime is now the messiest thing ever and we go through a whole lot of clothes. This is just him eating like a big boy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87qtFvenUag

Hair cutting time

Mikey is so handsome with a clean hair cut, but man does he HATE it! He would hardly let Lance touch him and he was screaming bloody murder. So I got him tootsie pop and that mostly did the trick. As you can see, though, it also made for quite a large (and funny) mess. And we couldn't even adequately capture with the camera the amount of hair stuck all over the drippy sucker drool. Needless to say, he went straight the bath after this, but only after letting him sit in the sticky mess in order to finish the sucker.

So handsome and so happy to be finished.

Mikey all grown up! (well, getting there anyway)

Mikey the scientist

We actually took this picture because he was walking around eating a snack and decided to take a seat on the scale in the middle of the room which was funny. (It was out to weigh Brad's bags before he got on the plane.) But he just looks so grown up to me in this picture! Maybe it's just me though.

I know this picture is dark, but that's Mikey holding dad's scriptures and his hand on the way to church. So cute!! He LOVES holding hands now. When we walk anywhere he stops, puts his hands up, says, "Han!" and waits for Lance and I to both grab his hands. It's my favorite thing!

Can Mikey come out and play?

So there are a bunch of boys from the ages of probably 8 to 12 on our block who are constantly outside playing--riding bikes, throwing balls, whatever. Whenever we happen upon them with Mikey, he LOVES it. He runs around after them and they are nice by giving him the ball to throw and playing with him for a bit. We always think they are nice to play with him.

Then yesterday during Mikey's nap time, Lance and I were working in the garage on a few projects when the boy from next door came wandering over. The first thing he said was, "Is Mikey home?" I thought it was so cute!!! Funny, of course, because I'm not sure where Mikey would go without us, but so cute that this 10-year-old kid wanted to play with Mikey. He was sad to find out he was sleeping.

Everyone says they love Mikey, but I never know if they are just being nice. I guess they really do. He is a pretty stinking cute kid, I don't know who wouldn't love him (but I'm his mom).

Happy Halloween!

No Halloween is complete without a pumpkin and we had to show off Lance's amazing creation.

Shark Attack!

Here we are at our ward Halloween party, and I must say, Mikey stole the show as our little shark. For those of you not quite getting it, he's the shark that attacked us two surfers (with the help of a few of his friends--see Lance's arm and the back of my shirt.) Though you can't adequately see it, we also have numerous bloody and scabby shark bites on arms and legs that really just ended up on EVERYTHING! Car seats, diaper bag, Mikey's costume, unknowing kids who got too close....

Mikey before food....

Mikey after food....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lPJobwIb_A (that kid MUST be a Moss)

Looks like the shark got too close to our boards. (By the way, Lance's is the cool flaming one. Mine's the less cool and less creative stripey one. I guess we know who the artistic one in the family is. See pumpkin above for further proof...)

A rare picture with the hood on and NOT crying...

...or distracted with candy.

One couple in the ward came up to us and said they didn't know who we were until they saw Mikey around us.

Yummy surf boards....

Do you know what a shark says? Well Mikey does! (Okay, I know they say nothing because they're under water, but we've taught him what we think they would say.) This video also features one of our favorite girls in the ward and one of Mikey's biggest fan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmn4N_kwP7o

Trunk or Treat!

Another amazing creation of Lance's.