Brynlee visits again

We love when Kayla and Bryn come to town, we get so excited.  Ethan and Sydney were excited to show Bryn our new "park" in the backyard.  They were so cute playing together.

I snapped a photo of Lyla that day posing while resting next to Doug on the ground.  Doug is still polishing his dissertation when he receives feedback of minor changes from different departments at BYU.

Beck-Christensen picnic

I introduced Lyla to her other 'family'--the Christensens, today.  We met in Alpine on a 100 degree day for a picnic and splash pad/park fun.  I love these ladies.  I looked around and couldn't believe how old we are now--married with kids.  It was a fun time.

Happy day

Doug stayed up very late again, but finished his revisions of his dissertation last night.  I helped until midnight and then I think he came to bed around 2 am.  I had to snap a photo of how Doug has worked for the last several months--papers and books scattered around him on the floor.  Those couch pillows have been his favorite.  

Another milestone was that I started working out!  Happy day!  I have two workout buddies that use 1 lb bars from an old ankle weight to join in the fun.  I have missed sweating and lifting weights.

Lyla is such a happy baby.  She is nearly sleeping through the night--I just have one middle-of-the-night feeding.  She's amazing.  Ethan sat in her car seat this morning and then asked if he could hold her in it.  It was too sweet not to catch on camera.

Sydney then had to have a turn.

Defense has arrived

Doug's dissertation defense has finally arrived.  We have waited for this day since he started his graduate program in 2007.  Doug has been working feverishly since January.  He has been taking public transportation as much as possible to and from work to maximize his working time.  Sundays have been our family time.  We've even hired out our lawn care! (Thanks Dallin.)

Last night, Doug did our gorilla walk to their beds, which we do every night.  Since being fully pregnant and now recovering, Doug's been the only 'gorilla' for a few months.  Sydney has gotten creative and now rides the 'gorilla' by holding onto Doug's pants and sticking her nose (literally) into Doug's bum.  It's quite hilarious.

I called my mother a week or so ago and asked if she would accompany me down to BYU to surprise Doug as he walked out from defending his dissertation.  It was tough to keep it a secret.  I woke up with, what seemed like, mastitis this morning and thought I would have to cancel.  I had a babysitter over so I could go up to my work for an hour.  My mom picked up a prescription of antibiotic for me to take down to campus just in case.  She also picked up the balloons.

It was so fun to wait outside--Matt came over to wait with us as well, as he lives closeby.  Doug's sister, Michelle, came to wait with us and Doug's cousin happened to be on campus and we had quite the crew!

Ethan and Sydney had asked to bring their musical instruments and I thought that would be a great idea to play while Doug came out.  Well, it proved to be entertainment the entire time!  There were a dozen or so EFY groups that passed by and Ethan and Sydney loved serenading them as they passed.  We sure attracted a lot of attention.  They are performers through and through.

Funny enough, I ended up nursing Lyla in a camp chair when Doug came out of the building beaming (with a pile of books 12 inches high) that he had passed his defense with very minor revisions!

I had one more surprise in store when we had family waiting for us at home after stopping for a celebratory dinner at Cafe Rio.  We had ice cream and Michelle had made a carrot cake.  It was so fun to share this moment of excitement with those who had supported us the past several years.

Lyla's first hike

I cannot believe how good I feel!  Lyla is 4 weeks old today and I suggested we take a fun hike today.  Doug was so surprised when I suggested it.  We called our friends, the Nelsons, and hit the trail to Mary's Lake much later than we wanted.  It was difficult to time everything with all three kids--potty breaks, feeding Lyla, diaper changes, etc.  It was freezing outside!!  We were glad we waited a while to start when we saw that it was not quite 60 degrees.  The kids were huddled in our minivans.  

Doug carried Lyla for the ascent--she slept the entire way.  She only cried when I nearly reached the trailhead when I came down.

She was plenty warm, but her feet were a little chilly as I hadn't thought to bring socks.

We ate a picnic lunch at Dog Lake about halfway up the trail. The kids were loving it.  Ethan hiked the entire journey up without asking to be held--he insisted he bring his "Cat in the Hat" backpack as well. He has Doug's 'hiker' blood.

The view from our rock where we ate a picnic lunch--pretty stunning.

We had to keep telling the kids not to wander while we ate--we had Ethan do a 'Good Listening Dance' when he was obedient.  We sing this:
"Good listening dance, good listening dance (Woo hoo!), good listening dance." while Ethan busted out some dance moves.  They still love that.  We've been doing it for nearly 2 years.

We reached Mary's Lake and it was pretty breezy.  The weather had warmed up a bit, but we didn't stay long.  We took a few photos and Tiffany and I headed down the trail to the car.  I knew Lyla would wake up hungry any minute and didn't want to feed her along the trail.

The men followed with the toddlers and Blake made a snowman with them in a small patch of snow along the trail.  Too cute.

They were so wiped out when we got to the car.  They were so hungry.  They finished their sandwiches--well, sort of.  Ethan fell asleep while eating his sandwich.

Such a fun time!

Play time

I have been getting up the courage to take all three kids out of the house this week.  We went to the park with our friends, Mac and Will.  They were in the NICU with Ethan and Sydney and are twins that are just 2 days younger than Ethan and Sydney.  

Ethan and Sydney loved saying goodnight to Lyla in their bed with them.  They were so excited.  She is very loved...very.

Both Ethan and Sydney have experimented with nursing babies or stuffed animals.  It's pretty cute.  Sydney held the stuffed animal up to her belly button.  Pretty tricky!

We had friends over to play.  Ethan and Quentin were so funny playing with the garbage pail I keep outside the pack door.  Not my favorite to use as a hat.

Happy Father's Day!

It was a special Father's Day here with a new, sweet baby Lyla.  Ethan and Sydney sang to Doug during the last block of church meetings, so I was bummed to miss that!  It was so fun spending the day together celebrating dad.  

Time with dad is precious because Doug is preparing to defend his dissertation on the 24th--in just about 1 week!  We are excited that the day has finally arrived.  There have been plenty of "ups and downs" with "maybe you'll graduate", "you won't graduate in August", and "this isn't fair to me" messages from the chair of his committee.  We are celebrating every day with time together! 

Cousin time

We were lucky enough to have lots of cousins in town this week.  Doug's sister, Natalie, and her family was here for a visit and took Ethan and Sydney to Seven Peaks water park with them on Monday.  They had a blast!

While they were gone, I took Lyla for her 2-week check-up at Doctor Farley-Jones' office.  I feel like this appointment is a 'test' for me to see if I've 'done my job' and she's gained enough weight.  I was pretty nervous because I haven't woken her up to eat at night and she's going at least 4-6 hours at night. It was the moment of truth.  When we left the hospital, she weighed 5 lb 13 oz.  This appointment, she weighed 6 lbs 14 oz!!  She is a fantastic eater, sleeper, burper, and not super fussy.  We are so blessed to have her join our family and the calm spirit she brings to our home.

That evening, we had a BBQ at Tonya's house closeby and Lyla got to meet more cousins, aunts, and uncles.

Tuesday, we went to pick up Natalie and Shelly from my sister's house where they had stayed.  It was so fun to have them stay with us for the rest of the week.  We went straight over to Tiffany's house and walked up the street to swim in her neighborhood pool.

Ethan and Sydney absolutely love every minute they spend with them.  They wake up and ask where they are right away.  We stopped by Grandma Beckstrand's house Thursday and spent a little time there where Ethan was thrilled that grandma let him borrow one of her princess dresses.  It's going to be a long haul explaining the word "borrow" in that we need to return it!

Natalie and Shelly let me sneak in a nap Thursday afternoon with Lyla.  I love snuggling with her.  She is such a good baby.  She is starting to sleep longer between feedings at night.  Most nights this week she went longer than 6 hours between feedings at night.  This means I'm getting decent sleep.

They loved all the presents that were still coming for Lyla.  Ethan would wrap "presents" with the gift wrap over and over.  

They especially love that many gifts for Lyla are accompanied by gifts for them.  They aren't sure why they're getting presents, but they're loving it!

Happy 60th Grandpa

We put together a surprise party for my dad and almost all of our immediate family was there.  It was so fun to get together.  We gave him a new big screen TV and he was thrilled.  

Ethan was enthralled by a toy guitar and played it most of the evening.  I laughed when he showed me something on his finger the next morning and wasn't sure what it was...it was a blister from playing the guitar.  I love this boy.

Happy 60th dad!

And so it is written!

This morning is a special occasion in our house.  Doug stayed up until 4 am and FINISHED WRITING HIS DISSERTATION!  Yes, the entire thing is written.  All 197 pages.  This means that we can have a weekend where we can spend a few hours playing.  

We celebrated with a special breakfast that E&S and I made while Doug slept in.  We are all so excited.

Playing at home

We aren't going anywhere these days.  Adjusting to bringing three kids in three car seats (with 2 active toddlers) seems overwhelming.  I called my sister, Tiffany, Monday to see what she was doing and her kids came to hang out for a bit on the new swing set "Lyla" gave Ethan and Sydney so they could play while I fed her. There are no windows in sight from a camp chair in our fenced backyard, so I can sit outside and feed her while they play.  Win-win!  They came inside and watched a YouTube video of some pre-teen girls singing "What Makes you Beautiful".  They were so focused.

In other entertainment news, Ethan and Sydney discovered our magnet we bought when living in Hawaii of a ukulele.  They were thrilled that they could 'play' it.  I was laughing so hard inside and trying to contain it.

When they had to take turns with the magnet guitar, Ethan brought out the big guns with another toy guitar.

This swing set was a great idea!  Now if we can get the teeter-totter and glider assembled to add to it...

The twins think it's so fun to stick their fingers in Lyla's mouth and have her suck on them.  I have them wash their hands "with soap" and end up letting them do it.  This could be a big mistake.  Syd let Lyla' suck on her thumb as Syd still finds it pretty tasty.

I laughed when I found Lyla sleeping like this--she had rolled onto her tummy from her side and her face was smashed into her bean bag head support thing (NICU secret they use to help baby's feel like they're being held).  It was just cute.