2May2010
Posted by Amanda under: Blog
Or however you spell that. Tyler and I have finally made a decision about the future of this blog. Because we are uncomfortable with the fact that much of what is posted on the internet may be cached and permanently saved, we will be scaling back on how much personal information we post to this blog.
So, instead of the blog we plan to send regular weekly updates to family and friends through a document sent by e-mail. For those of you that are subscribers, this will be similar to the Wiestly Reader. Besides the added security of personal information, this method will also provide a more stable and periodic history of our lives, which was a goal we had in starting this blog.
Please let us know if you’d like to be a subscriber to this Nayhem newsletter. You can either email one of us directly or leave a comment on this post with your email (we will delete it from the comments after we get it).
We really want to stay in contact with people and let those interested know what’s going on with us. And don’t worry, there will still be pictures and videos!
14April2010
Posted by Amanda under: Uncategorized
So we have a lot to update here on our blog. After we got back from our trip I got sicker with a bad cough and Henry got much better. We enjoyed Easter and even did a little Easter egg hunt thanks to our wonderful friends who left a basket on our doorstep with all sorts of goodies inside it.
So our conference weekend was very quiet and we got through some more spring cleaning organizing. Quiet except for me badgering Tyler about wanting to open our gender envelope! I got so anxious the week I was sick to know our baby’s gender, especially since we could know at any time. So we thought about what special days there are between Easter and our anniversary on July 1, and of course came up with Easter. What better day than Easter Sunday, when we celebrate life and the Resurrection? I made a chocolate cake and after a nice drive and stop at the park Sunday evening, we went home to open the mysterious envelope and have some cake. Henry was definitely more interested in the chocolate cake. As you may have guessed, we are expecting another boy!! The ultrasound technician took two pictures, one that said “I’m a boy!” and another that said “Oh boy oh boy!” So we are fairly sure about this one. We are very excited and know Henry will be a great brother. Tyler and I both had a sense that this was a boy early on in my pregnancy, but I convinced myself that there was a good chance it was a girl later on. It would be easy and relieving to say that I am finished having children after having a boy and a girl! But two boys are great too. Maybe that’s why this one is a boy… who knows what ahead for us? Anyway, we are so happy and anxious to meet the next member of our family. I can’t believe this Sunday will be my 24 week mark! Crazy.
We have mostly been cooped up indoors, but just said good-bye to my parents yesterday, who came last Thursday to visit us for a few days. We had so much fun, especially Henry. My dad knows all the tricks and fun games to play with him and he would get him laughing and having such a great time! I had things pretty easy and could take a shower or a nap whenever I wanted. What luxury. I went to the doctor on Monday after a rough night and horrible earache, and found out I have a sinus infection as well as a bad ear infection. So I am on amoxicillin and eardrops along with robitussin and tylenol, which I have been taking for a week. Today is the first day I have felt energetic in so long - 3 weeks? I just hope it keeps up and nothing else goes wrong with my weak immune system.
Next up - an attempt at potty training my happy little 19-month old! We will spend two weeks mostly at home starting next Wednesday. I am researching here and there and know that training earlier is much different than training a toddler, most of the work will be on my end, and nothing should be forced. Any tips or advice would be much appreciated…
6April2010
Posted by Amanda under: Extended Family; Henry; Work; adventures
Here are a ton of pictures from our trip.
PROVO
Hanging out with Scott
Playing with Scott and Katie
Going to feed the ducks
Why are they running away? At first the ducks were scared of us so we called Nancy to come and bring the ducks back so Henry could get a good look.
Wow!
Slide
Swings!
Whee!
The Orem Library is so cool. This is one thing we really miss about Orem - they have a huge video collection with thousands of VHS/DVDs in any genre available to check out for $1. They also have an amazing children's area with lots of events.
Henry knows what he likes
Stained glass window at the children's area of the library
A sleepy good-bye with Grandma Nancy
OGDEN
Watching TV with Lily
Breakfast boys
Fascinated at the Mac store children's display
Giving Jack a fun ride at Pottery Barn
ST. GEORGE
Zach, Lily and Henry sitting with Grandpa Jinks
Playing in the car - one of his favorite things!
As long as there are nieces there will be toenail painting! Henry wasn't very interested but watched anyway. Henry's expression depicts exactly how we felt during most of the trip!
Jackson loves nail polish and would not be left out!
Henry and Zach (2 1/2), who was so sweet to Henry and pushed him around on the couch cushions
future pianist
breakfast in a diaper
Liz and her boys - Ethan, Chase and Zach
"But I was playing with it!" Henry got very territorial around all his cousins
Henry, Zach, Chase and Jack - all the boys except for Ethan
31March2010
Posted by Amanda under: Extended Family; Family; Friends; Henry; Work; adventures
We had a fantastic weekend in Provo with Tyler’s family. Most of the festivities were centered around Tyler’s brother, Scott, who is about to leave for a mission to Peoria, Illinois. We are so excited for him! He looked so handsome and gave a wonderful, sincere talk in church on Sunday. We were so glad we were able to be there for it. He will be a very good missionary.
We also got to see many extended relatives, some of which traveled a long way! It was fun to catch up with everyone and enjoy some delicious food together. Scott left for the MTC today. It is strange to think that we won’t see him for two years!
After our weekend in Provo, I traveled with my sister Sabrina to spend a few days with her in Ogden while Tyler traveled home to Colorado Springs. I had a great visit at Sabrina’s (of course she made me wonderful food again!) and then we met up with my dad on the following Friday to travel to St. George to visit everyone in my family except for my brother Nathan’s family.
We stopped on our journey south to have a late lunch with a high school friend of mine and Sabrina’s, Jon. It was great to see him and catch up. After we got things back together and set off again, everything got a little crazy. It got dark quickly and we hit a pretty bad snowstorm before we even reached Filmore. Then we hit another one. Then my stomach gave in to the tight queasiness I had been experiencing since noon, and I threw up a whole lot. Probably most of what I had eaten that day, which I won’t write about to spare you some queasiness yourself. I didn’t think I would throw up, since I didn’t feel as sick as I did my entire first trimester. The roads were so bad that we just had to drive on to Beaver before stopping to get cleaned up.
Anyway, we eventually made it to St. George around 11:00pm, and it took about an hour to get everyone to bed. That night I woke up every half an hour or so to go to the bathroom. Again I will spare you the details but I was so sick and was experiencing all sorts of chills, etc all night. The next day I was exhausted, and then Henry got sick, as well as my dad. Next was my sister’s 9-month old son, and then her two year old. One by one we all got it, except for Sabrina’s family. She thinks it is the same sickness she had two weeks ago! Do some kinds of flu last that long? After the flu comes a bad cold, which I am still dealing with.
The rest of the week, we have been recovering and my sisters have been helping my parents get organized in their new house, which they moved into last week. It is a bit crazy even without the sickness going around, with my parents hosting three daughters and seven grandchildren under the age of 8! I can hardly handle Henry when he isn’t feeling well, since he wants to be held all the time. Anyway, Henry and I head home tomorrow night, while the party goes on with everyone else still here until Monday. It has been good to see everyone and spend time together even if we were sick for most of the time. We got some good pictures, but I will have to post them when we get home. Henry and I are so excited to see Tyler again! I just hope we don’t get him sick…
15March2010
Posted by Amanda under: Blog; Friends; Henry; home
wow
Henry had his 18-month doctor’s appointment on Monday. He is over the 10th percentile on weight, which is a jump from his 12-month measurements. His head circumference and height are both 42nd percentile. Long and lean! This trait mostly comes from Tyler’s side of the family.
Henry loves to cook and helps me whenever I make something. This is tricky because I need to be prepared with everything I need before I put him on the counter so that I don’t need to walk away from him. I let him pour things into the bowl and occasionally help me stir (this is usually a very bad idea).
Making cornbread
The weather has been warm and cold on different days so we just try to adjust to whatever it is like outside at the moment. I don’t mind spring snow as much since it melts right away. We made a trip to the park Saturday that was lots of fun, and made me think we should get a shovel and pail for Henry to be more productive with his sand play! Henry has been trying to say more words and practices them over and over. Yesterday when we were out grocery shopping Tyler kept repeating “please” slowly and Henry kept responding with different variations of “dee” and “gees.” It is so cute, similar to his practice with “uh oh” a few weeks ago. I don’t know if I am ready for my little boy to be saying words… he is growing up too fast!
Usually we read almost every one of Henry's books twice a day. His current favorite is Dinosaur.
We are on the hunt for a bed for Henry, and almost bought one from Craigslist this week. His doctor said we should get him in a bed within the next two months or so since he is getting bigger and more agile. (I guess this is when toddlers figure out they can climb out of things?) He doesn’t climb on furniture by himself yet, but I don’t want the first time to be a scary climb out of his crib.
Pi inside
Last night we had our annual Pi Day celebration! Unfortunately some of our friends couldn’t come because of vacation and sickness, but it was still a lot of fun! We had chocolate pudding pie, key lime pie, chocolate cream pie, and blackberry pie. A lot of pie for 6 adults and 5 toddlers. So we all filled up on way too much pie.
Pi pies!
Tyler recited the first 100 digits and then learned the 101st. It is 8.
Recitation - he got them all right!
I thought I was taking a video and then when I pushed the button on the camera to stop the video, it took a nice flash photo… I was mad. You’d think after going to film school I’d know how to maneuver a camera! oh well. Yes, that’s Henry watching Wallace and Gromit to the side. We put on a video to keep the children occupied. Henry is glued because this is the first time in two weeks we have taken out a DVD!
We took a picture of me yesterday at 19 weeks, since next week we will be in Utah and I am sure I will forget.
Yes, I am definitely getting bigger.
19 weeks
This week my friend Mary Ann and I received our first check for our business! A momentous occasion, so after we opened up a business account on Friday, we celebrated with some gelato at this really cool local place called Nocon’s Gelatorio. This month we’ve been meeting with two clients, and will begin meeting with three this week. There seems to be a good amount of demand for Mary Ann’s type of therapy in this area.
Celebration! My coat makes it look like I am hiding something. really big... do you ever wish people would tell you these things before they take your picture?
This week has been getting more and more booked. Over the next four days I will teach my last English class, get a major fix on our car, make the cake for the ward RS birthday celebration (supposed to feed 50??), go to a sweet one-year old’s birthday party, attend a baby shower, work like usual on Tuesday, meet with a friend who is moving to Hawaii (so sad - for us!), go to our ultrasound appointment, and prepare for a two-week trip to Utah. Oh yes and somewhere in there I need to exercise, find subs for my primary class, and do visiting teaching as well as I can. All before 3pm on Thursday, which is when we leave for Provo. I have to say though, I am so much happier with this to-do list than my to-do list from this time last year. What a nightmare every day was back then.
11March2010
Posted by Amanda under: Family; Friends; home
Yes, in a few days the mathematicians, geeks, genius-types, savants, nerds, and sure, some normal people too around the world will be celebrating pi day… along with our household! Come join us for some pi fun this Sunday anytime between 5 and 7pm. It will be open-house style. The big event will be Tyler doing a 100-digit recitation around 6 o’clock. Feel free to bring a pie if you like, and please let us know if you will so we can plan accordingly. We would love to see anyone and everyone if you can make it!
4March2010
Posted by Amanda under: Friends; Henry
Yesterday Henry’s friend Sydney had a “half-birthday” party (they have the same birthday) so we went and had a blast. I had to wake Henry up from his late nap to go so he was a little out of sorts for part of it, but it was great. Sydney’s mom Laura prepared half-cookies to celebrate, we played outside with a huge bin of bird feed (it was just like sand - Henry had so much fun scooping and pouring), and then went inside and sung “happy half-birthday” after playing with Sydney’s cool toys. Henry was lucky to be outnumbered by the girls 4-1! I forgot my camera but Laura was prepared with hers. Here are some photos from the afternoon fun.
half-birthday fun with lots of ladies
Sydney living it up
wow! I get to make a mess?
3March2010
Posted by Amanda under: Henry
Henry is 18 months today!! We spent a fantastic day: shopping, having lunch with Tyler, and playing with good friends. We are so proud of our little boy and so happy that he is learning new things every day, is growing well, and generally just loves life. Here is a list of some of his favorites:
- Foods: most types of fruit, pasta, cheese, peas, bread, and anything with sugar in it!
- Activities: playing and throwing things outside, reading books, climbing up onto things and then down again, “cooking” with things in the kitchen
- Music: anything with a good beat
- Words/phrases: “uh oh” - he has perfected it and says it a lot!
- Bath-time game: splashing everywhere
- Time of day: bed time!
- Toy: anything with buttons, knobs, wheels, or steering wheels
- Clothes: shoes
- Girlfriend: Sydney
- Songs: lots of primary songs, the wheels on the bus, ram sam sam, three blind mice, rubber duckie, happy birthday
- Books: Red Hat Green Hat, Goodnight Moon, The Little Caterpillar, Good Dog Carl, Cheerios Book, Big Little
He also has many things he dislikes, but I’ll save that list for another day. We are excited to go in for his 18 month appointment on Monday. We can’t believe he is growing to be such a big boy! This whole parenting thing is going really fast. I keep thinking of how Henry was a year ago and how different he is now. It’s crazy how time flies.
Henry under a hat
