Check-ups and Smiles!

Is there anything as sweet as these pictures? Grace loves to dress up in a "Pincess dress". She loves the tiara, and has little glass slippers. Some times (understatement...) she likes to act like a princess and is extremely particular and bossy. My sister has started calling her Cinderella.


Could this child be any cuter? Max has the biggest brown eyes, and reminds me of my dad and my brothers.

We took the kids for well checks and shots yesterday Grace weighs in at just under 24lbs (fully dressed) and was right at 25 percentile for both height and weight. She is doing all the things a two years old should be doing and got an A+ for her speaking skills.... Max weighs in at just over 22 lbs (dressed) and was 75 percentile for weight and 95 percentile for height. Which explains why my 9 month old is in 18 month clothes.

Funnies from the checkups - Grace insisted on wearing her Santa hat and Frosty the snowman jacket that lights up. So she was an instant hit with the nurses and receptionist. She kept saying she wanted to see the doctor for a check-up.

Dr. Hibbard asked if Max was a good eater, and I told her he is if it is something he likes, and I proceeded to tell her he won't eat peas or beans, or chicken & rice, turkey & rice, chicken noodle etc. I said he loves carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and the doctor chuckled, she said my baby has a sweet tooth. (hmm, where could he get that from?) I also said the only meat he would eat was apples & chicken or pineapple glazed ham, pretty much confirming the sweet tooth. (I mean, I never touch sweets so I have no idea why Max would be that way!)

After the shots both my kids were blood curdling screaming and the nurses brought in balloons, Max immediately stopped, not to cry again for the rest of the night. Grace was not to be won over, and cried the whole way home. She cried until we got her a happy meal with her very own Sprite. They both slept great and this had to be the easiest round of shots yet! Yeah!!!

Visiting Teaching

Have you read the Relief society visiting teaching message this month? I'm sure you are all way better than me at getting this done, and don't procrastinate until the 28th...but I really liked it this month...

It talks about Standing strong and being Immovable in Faith.

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president: "Latter-day Saint women must be strong and immovable in their faith. They can and should excel in living and sharing their testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. We do this as we:

Make and keep covenants with Him.
Are worthy and worship in His temples.
Study His doctrine in the scriptures and the words of prophets.
Qualify for, recognize, and follow the Holy Ghost.
Share and defend His gospel.
Participate in sincere personal and family prayer.
Have family home evening.
Live principles of self-reliance and provident living.

I love that is says these are essential things that must be done before nonessential things and that no one can do them for us. We must do these things for ourselves. I'm sure this is a great reminder for all of us, how easy is it to put the nonessential things first? I do it every single day - "I'll just start one load of laundry before I read my scriptures." "I'll clean my house first, then read." "Let's watch this TV show, then have family scripture study and prayer." And more often than not, it doesn't happen. Satan is so powerful and wants us to put aside the essential things!

:) Got to go visiting teaching now.... :)

Tribute Tuesday

So, yesterday I posted a completly true version of events from the past week in Not me Monday. Today I have been invited to participate in a Tuesday Tribute created by this guy - http://pudmud.blogspot.com/ Wayne.

With gladness -

My tribute today won't ever read this. My dear sweet brother Patch. I mean Elder McBride.

He is my hero - I am so grateful he is serving a mission. I'm grateful for the example he is setting for my youngest brother, my nieces and nephews and his friends. Elder McBride put his life on hold for two years, so you can tell others about something that is so important. I know the words he is teaching are true. I know if the people who are taught will read the Book of Mormon, with prayer, seeking it's truthfulness, they will be answered.

He is so excited to teach people - and he is so loving! Patch - here's to you!

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by McKMama. You can head over to her blog at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not try to put Grace to bed for three hours last night. I did not give in and let her stay up with some friends way past her bedtime. I did not give her sugary ice cream after said bedtime. I did not laugh hysterically when she came into the kitchen at 11pm and stated that she had a good nap. I am not sitting here posting this at work today. And on Friday, I did not spend at least 3 hours figuring out how to post a collage of pictures on my brothers blog, at work, because I wouldn't blog at work.

I did not watch the original Star Wars trilogy over the weekend, instead of cleaning, dusting and doing laundry. I did not go to church yesterday and forget wet wipes for my two diaper wearing children..... hmm.... I did not pack gold fish crackers that Grace may or may not have spilled all over the chapel floor, and I most certainly did not smirk and chuckle slightly as my husband, whom I love and adore, was on his hands and knees in the middle of the isle picking up said fishes...

I did not let Grace parade through the Wal-mart, Super Target and Albertson's in a "pincess" dress and a Santa hat this week. As she wished people "A Happy to me."

While playing cards with some friends I did not read Jacks as Jackus, Sounding more like Jack@**. We did not laugh for 1 hour and 12 minutes every time someone in the group said Jackus.

I did not originally spell Monday incorrectly in this post and have to come back in and edit it.

Nope, not me! Monday!

The light at the end of the virus!

I give up! I have been trying to post a collage on my brothers blog for 3 hours now and I keep getting an error message..... Swear words!!!!

So - I'll just post something else :)

How bout' Max - yes lets talk a little about Max today.

So the last time I talked about Max you may remember he was sick. (His mommy thinks this is a gross understatement.) Well, he is still sick. He finished his antibiotic Last Thursday, and by Saturday (Grace's bday party day...) we were back up at the hospital where they gave him another shot of steroids for croup again. (If you are keeping a tally that is 3 ear infections, 2 rounds of croup and 2 months worth of runny nose since Thanksgiving...) Sunday was worse, Monday was worse and Tuesday was the worst. Well, obviously the steroids were not working, so we tied an alcohol wrap around his neck - (which he was allergic too...of course....)

During the night the humidifier broke - probably because it has been running every night for 2 months.... and Wednesday morning when I went to get him out of his crib he was smiling - I have not seen him smile like that for weeks - and he isn't coughing every minute, and I only wiped his nose like 5 times yesterday, instead of 55 times. Oh, my boy is getting better!!!! :) :) :)

See!!! He will even get down and play!!!!

"Laugher Lives Tuesday!".

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.


Grace has started wanted "kisses better" when she gets hurt. She gets really serious and says "It happened" and then wants a kiss in return. In most cases, a kiss is magical, and heals all. Brilliant!

Friday I went to pick up Grace from Grandma Ruth's and shortly after I got there she came crying to Grandma and said, with a very serious whine, "It happened Grandma."

"What happened?"

Sticking her rear out as far as a two year old can - "Kiss my butt."

We laughed and laughed and laughed.

2 months

The terrible two's are official at the Tyler home! We had three days of birthday fun this past week and Grace got spoiled so much!

To start the festivities we had a family dinner at Grandma Kates for Patch's 19th (on the 15th), Bracken's 9th (on the 17th) and Grace's 2nd (on the 18th.) We had yummy meatball subs and shared the evening with family.

Saturday we had a Finding Nemo party with Mikes family and my sister Cassie. Grace loves Nemo - so we had a Nemo cake, I colored a Nemo picture - (for 4 hours the night before.....it was huge....).


We had pizza, opened presents and had cake and ice cream. Grace had such a fun time - She got some dang cute dresses, some ice cream for her kitchen, a puppy that barks and walks (but does not pee or poop... :) and a bouncy, spinning horse.




Grace must have spun for hours on the horse, everyone else was sick watching her, but she loves it!









The cake turned Grace's lips, chin, and tongue blue. And let me just say this, we had Girl scout ice cream with it, and it was yummy!




I'm so thankful for the last two years. I can't believe how fast they have gone! Even when Grace is sick, and drives me crazy - I love her!







I had to throw this picture in for good measure - it looks like she is trying to guess the present through osmosis...





Notice my nephew Tylor at the very end of the video... helping....



And finally - Grace's official birthday arrives and Grandma & Grandpa McBride, Patch and Cassie came for lunch at Red Robin, and spoiled Grace some more. She got some very darling outfits and a princess tea set - which her and Max love....

Oh - and I almost forgot the 2 months thing.... She I've been trying to teach Grace for the past week that she is two, well now when we ask her how old she is she tells everyone "2 months...." so cute!

Thanks everyone for sharing our special week! And Happy Birthday my little love -

Goodbye Dear Friend

We have said good-bye to a very dear friend this past week. This friend has been there for the past two years, through good times and bad. It (or perhaps I should say they) has/have comforted, soothed and entertained. But, it/they have become somewhat of an addiction - and I had to do it.

I remember a nurse remarking on the fact that Grace could suck her binky, and keep it in from the day she was born - By five months Grace would not fall asleep without one binky in her mouth and one in her hand. I will freely admit that I abused the binky - and I loved that it could quiet her so quickly. By a year old we upped the binky count to three at all times - one for each hand, one for the mouth and there was usually a fourth floating close by. Shortly after Grace's first birthday she started calling "it" a "Binka".

I started to fear the binka - it started to overtake our lives. Dropping one in the grocery store, long car rides, misplacing one at Grandma Kates - all brought more tears than one person could handle!

But recently it has gotten worse. Dear, sweet Grace has developed an obsession for other babies binka's. At first it was just Max's - "Bubba's binka" then she had to have cousin "Daisy's binka", at night she would cry and cry for Daisy's - I had an old green hospital one I got when Max was born and I made the mistake of giving this to her to "soothe" her in the middle of the night. The next day she walked around with the green one, Daisy's, Max's and her own. She had her own possey of binka's - and they were ruling our lives!

So - my last post was about illness - Grace got put on antibiotics that she wouldn't take - so I decided not to give her a binka one day until she took her medicine, a nice little bargining chip. This worked the first and second time, but the third time she got all the medicine in her mouth and spit it right at me. I was so mad! I told her she didn't get her binka until she took her medicine. Well she cried for two straight hours the first day. (This broke my heart!) But we did it, she even napped without it. That night getting ready for bed she cried and cried and cried. (I had tears running down my face while we said family prayers that night, I felt so bad for her.) But she did it - and she has not taken anymore of her medicine either.

On one hand I'm crazy, my kids were already sick and I chose to take away the "Binka" - what was I thinking, on the other hand, if she was sick anyways - why not kill two birds with one stone? I'm a mean mommy! Actually, I feel like this is the first grown up "I did it for your own good" decision I have made...

Fast forward 5 days, Grace still asks for her binka, today she cried the entire way up to Hyrum (60 straight minutes of crying.....) But she has stopped crying during the day (except in the car), she still wants it at night and nap time - but I'm hoping that she stops asking for her dear friend eventually.

Sickly Sickies.

Can I just say that I hate being sick. I hate my kids being sick! And I'm really ready to be healthy?

So Monday I took Max to the doctor. Well, I made Max an appointment, but the weather was so bad that Ruth and Todd had to meet me there, and we were all still late. (But so was the dr. so no worries there....It took an hour to get from the Mall in Ogden, to the hospital in Layton....) Max had been coughing, had a fever, a runny nose like you wouldn't believe, and was not being a nice little boy to say the least. Round three of ear infections for the boy child (since Thanksgiving....) and croup. I had him look at red dots on his tummy and they were not too worried, but I said Grace's were even worse. So we lifted up her shirt and the grand ole dr. said she needed an antibiotics, but since she wasn't checked in there was nothing he could do. Don't we just love medical people?

So - I went back out, checked Grace in (paid another co-pay). To be fair, they didn't make us wait too long and there were other people complaining that they had been there over an hour. So when I took Grace back the doctor actually took a few minutes and said a bunch of stuff - and then he said she could have chicken pox, she could have mersa, she could have a viral infection or it might not be any of those things. Well, all I know is that Grace had red bump like things on her shoulders, that spread to her lower back, her arm pits and her tummy. The girl child will not take her medicine, even if it's hidden in some thing else, and the dot's (even the infected ones have started to go away.) So she's had them for about a week - and I really don't know what they actually are.

Que Tuesday - sick and ornery, Max's cough gets worse

Wednesday - sick, a little happier for Max - Grace now has the perma drip runny nose.

Usher in Thursday - Max still has a cough, it's a bit better, Grace will not take her medicine - I can't bribe her, I can't force her, I can't trick her - I just don't know what to do!

Friday - Grace wakes at 3:11 am, and does not go back to sleep. Max sleeps through the night for the first night in weeks, and I'm sitting with Grace for 2 1/2 hours in the middle of the night - and did I mention she is grumpy as all get out? And, now my voice is limited - to say the least, my chest and my throat are tight. I don't feel too bad, but I can tell it's coming!

I just want us all to be well - is that too much to ask?

Happy Birthday Mike

***I just realized that I didn't re-post this after editing..... Happy Belated B-Day!!!

I got a migraine for Mikes birthday, so I wasn't much into the parting mood, but I think he had a great day. We went to lunch with my parents, Patch, Jordan, Shaun, Ty and Nayvie, and then had dinner at Mikes parents house. I think he is most excited about his new exercise bike! (Me too.....)

We don't have any furniture in our living room for a few days, so the kids used Mike as their chair.

Mike is hoping this year will be a very long year! My child of the 80's husband will be 30 next year - 6 months after me. I believe that it is just one more year older, but he seems to think 30 is when all your goals should be accomplished by. I love him!

And they sleep...

This is how I found Grace and Mike at 7:58 pm tonight. It's Friday, and we had big plans. (Yeah, right.) So, I got Max a bottle, moved Grace to her bed and by 8:10, I was the only one stirring. I'm sure I could do something useful with my time before my ultimate exhaustion sets in - but after doing the dishes, the laundry, scrubbing Max's car seat in the snow with a toothbrush and plastic fork well, I'm going to play online now.....

Oh my sweet boy! I love Max so much. He is so full of smiles. He says "Mama" (debuting on Christmas morning.... :) He says "Bubba" (which is what Grace always calls him) and he says "Bye". Max has a very low rumble laugh, and he growls - do all boys do this?





He also loves to play with toys, he is a mad man in a walker and is so close to crawling - I just want to jump in and help him every time, he just can't figure out where his right leg goes! So you may be asking yourself, what is person - a seemingly normal person doing scrubbing out a car seat with a toothbrush and plastic fork in the cold and falling snow? Max christened his car seat today. His brand new car seat. I could not believe it, it's in the buckles, the crevices, Oh my gosh - can you just say that this morning was not my favorite!!!!!! I was late to work, which I hate - Max had two baths before 8 am, and I had to call Grandma to come and pick the kids up this morning. I'm pretty sure all the poop is gone. I hope.

Grace is still as rambunctious as ever. She loves, loves her kitchen and baby dolls and plays with them nonstop. This morning when I was getting her dressed she kept asking me if the outfit was cute -

"It's so cute?" I know she is a girl - but are they really suppose to care this early? I'm in so much trouble -