KAYLA IS 8!

Our little girl is eight now (as of Nov. 9th), and I can hardly believe it! I still remember so clearly the day we found out we were having her..... I was 21, had just stopped nursing Tyler (who was 15 mo.s) and I was on the pill and 4 days late. I didn't really think anything of it, but since a pregnancy test was free to those of us in military households, I went in and got tested so I wouldn't wonder. No one had called with the results yet and I needed to go to the commissary, so I left Tyler with Ryan and went grocery shopping. When I returned home, Ryan greeted me with a HUGE grin and there was a note pinned to his shirt which read "of 2!" I was stumped for a minute, until I realized that he was wearing his "great dad" shirt (so, for those who are mentally challenged like me, the shirt now read "great dad of 2!")! I was completely shocked. It took about 5 minutes for it to sink in, and then I was just as excited as Ryan was, but of course he likes to try to irritate me by saying that he wanted to have Kayla more than I did. (MEN! ) Kayla is such a sweetheart-- she does great in school and is a help to me with her younger brothers, but gone are the days when she'd announce to anyone listening "I has a pink pack-pack" or when she'd go running down the hall, waving her arms, screeching "I has to go POOOOOTTTTTTTYYY!" I get to enjoy her company in new ways now, and I am so lucky to have an ally to roll my eyes with when the boys are being ridiculous!

MY HOT HUSBAND

Ryan had a costume party to dress up for at his annual 4-day recruiting training/party thing a few hours away, so he and his friend went as Joker and Batman. Perhaps some of you saw the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, and will remember the scene where the Joker dresses up as a nurse.
Well, my husband decided to give the nurse's outfit a try! We made him a button and "hospital id" to complete the costume. Unfortunately I didn't get to see him in full get-up in person (since I didn't go to the annual--no one to watch the kiddos for that long), but these are the pictures he gave me-- I think they're hilarious! p.s. I bought him the tights HAHAHA

HOW DID HE GROW UP THIS MUCH?!?

Tyler's 10th birthday was on Oct. 27th. Seriously- how did he get that old this fast? Where did my super-chunk big baby go? Ten years has gone by so quickly! Why does he insist on growing up-- doesn't he know every year he has a birthday, I get older, too?

Despite the fact that I had told Tyler I refused to let him have another birthday, we did have a little family party with the usual cake and presents. I had seen a cake in a magazine that I thought would be fun to make for Tyler-- not baby-ish, but still cooler than a plain frosted one. Tyler surprised me a little by his gratitude for my efforts, so that was nice! :)

Instead of a "friend" party this year, we gave him the option of Ryan taking him and a friend to Six Flags, so Tyler brought along our cousin Andrew-- who brought sisters Kaitlyn and Jessica, and Kait's boyfriend, Chris. Actually, Chris brought everyone, since he drove up here from Corpus Christi. Ryan doesn't usually do roller coasters, but he did pretty well despite his tendency towards becoming green and passing out once they're over. (hahaha) Tyler had a blast and went on every big roller coaster in the park--some of them twice-- and had a great day! I'm so glad "the cousins" could make it up here to go with him!

CHECK-UP

It was time (once again) for Dylan's check-up with Dr. G, so yesterday Ryan took him to the hospital for his ultrasound, x-ray, blood work, and physical. Dylan was a "big boy" this time, and he laid on the table all by himself for his bladder ultrasound! (Daddy still held him for his belly one.) Ryan said that Dylan was very happy, cooperative, and a total angel until the very end of the appointment, when he asked Dr. G if he had to "get a poke". The doctor replied, "yes, but only one and I'll be fast." To that, apparently Dylan yelled, "NOOOO! I want MOMMY!" (I had to laugh when Ryan told me that--he's such a mama's boy sometimes) At least Ryan made sure that it was the doctor who was drawing blood this time and not the usual nurse (who always puts the needle in just a little OFF and then has to fish around under his skin for the vein), since Dr. G has a gift for doing it quickly, and doing it right on the first try!

We waited longer than usual for the results to come back (I think it was around 4:30 in the afternoon, so I got to stress out more than usual because I imagined all kinds of awful reasons why it was taking so long), but the doctor called and said that everything looks great, Dylan's kidney has grown as expected to compensate for the missing one, and we don't need to bring him back until February! (5 months from now, as opposed to the 3 month spans we've done since his surgery.) Our boy is healthy; I am grateful, I am hopeful, I'm happy.

WE'RE HAVING A BOY!

I had my 20-week appointment for our ultrasound on Tuesday! I left Dylan and Riley with my neighbor Abbey, who also happens to be my visiting teacher, and picked up Ryan from work (Tyler and Kayla were at school). Really, we can hardly believe that we're having another boy! Not that I had any feelings otherwise-- Dylan was the only child I really KNEW the sex of before we were told officially. (He's just my odd child all the way around! haha) Growing up with one brother and four sisters, I had always thought that I'd end up having a lot of girls, so this is a bit surprising for me! When I think about all the sporting events I will inevitably attend in the future, I can only say that it's probably my payback for all those years I forged my mom's signature to get out of P.E. (SORRY, MOM!) Still, I am pretty excited to have 3 little stair-step rugrat boys to take care of (in addition to my two older loves, of course!) I was a little sad, though, that we couldn't bring any of the kids with us, since Wilford Hall is a military hospital and they only allow 1 guest in the radiology department who must be over 12 years old. Bleh, stupid rules! Still, it was a nice mini-date for Ryan and me!

TAGGED

Ok, Sarah, I'll play....

A. ATTACHED OR SINGLE? attached for the past 10 years!
B. BEST FRIEND? my man
C. CAKE OR PIE? i'll take cheesecake any day
D. DAY OF THE WEEK? really like Friday and Saturday
E. ESSENTIAL ITEMS? family, friends, music, books, and dessert!
F. FAVORITE COLOR? green and all the colors in a sunset
G. GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? swedish fish and sour patch kids
H. HOMETOWN? Santa Maria, CA (miss that weather!)
I. INDULGENCE? books and good conditioners
J. JANUARY OR JULY? January-- I hate being hot
K. KIDS? God willing, in Feb. I'll have 1 girl and 4 boys-- noisy house!
L. LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT? love and humor
M. MARRIAGE DATE? 1/9/1999
N. NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? 1 brother, 4 sisters
O. ORANGES OR APPLES? orange juice. or apples, if i get to dip 'em in cream cheesy, marshmallowy stuff
P. PHOBIAS OR FEARS? phobia-- snails and slugs, fear-- losing any of my loved ones
Q. QUOTE? "A kiss is a contraction of the mouth due to an enlargement of the heart" (anonymous)
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." (Mark Twain)
"Too many people are ready to carry the stool when the piano needs to be moved" (anonymous)
....I could go on all day....
R. REASONS TO SMILE? a very blessed life
S. SUPERMAN OR WONDERWOMAN? Mystique
T. TAG 5 PEOPLE? I don't know if I've found 5 people on here I know yet.... How 'bout I'm tagging anyone who reads this?
U. UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? I love love love to walk through model homes-- the pricier the better
V. VEGETABLES? the green ones. and the orange ones.
W. WORST HABIT? being late-- ahhhh, I am awful
X. X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? whichever one's best suited for the needs!
Y. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? dessert. (are ya seeing a theme here?) and anything from the Cheesecake Factory. and handrolls (only with cooked fish stuff in 'em) I think I'm hungry...
Z. Favorite website? myspace or ebay

suckered

i now have a blog. yes, i have joined the ranks of tons of other mormon mommies, and i MAY even post things on here. occasionally.