Seasons in Utah

We love Utah. One day you're jumping in piles of leaves...

 The next day you build a snowman.

 

We all had a great Thanksgiving.  We had multiple turkey dinners and spent lots of time with lots of family. We are so blessed to be surrounded by good people. Here's Tyler and cousin Ally hanging out at Grandpa's house.

And now we are just getting ready for a fabulous trip to Disneyland. As you can see, we are very excited.

Brotherly Love

These two crazy boys have so much fun together.  Jack likes to push Ty around the yard.

 Jack decided to share his Mickey Mouse underwear with his brother.

They share tools.

 We went 4-wheeling together.

Already they are learning to wrestle.  (If this had audio you'd hear Jack yelling "Yee Haw!" and Tyler giggling.)

Brothers are the best.

Go Utes!

Guess who we are cheering for on Saturday?

Hey Fatty!

Look at this figure

Are these fat thighs cute or what?

Hey! Who are you calling fat?

I prefer "pleasantly plump" or "Chunky"





Butterflies!

About a week and a half ago our caterpillars made their cocoons.

They stayed like that and got a little boring until yesterday when the cocoon started to thin out and as of this morning we could see the bright wings inside.



Then just before lunch out popped a butterfly.  One minute he was in his cocoon, I went to change the baby's bum and when I came back, viola! Butterfly.




He hung like this for a few hours so his wings could dry and we waited for Hardy to get home from work. After all, how many of us get to release butterflies on our birthday? Happy BDay Hardy!

  

When he started flapping his wings in the jar we knew he was ready so we set him free.

 

He happily flew off into the sunshine (he's the tiny orange dot just above the golf clubs).


What a fun science experiment and great Birthday present for Jack. Thanks Jenna!

Other Growing Creatures

We have in fact been doing a few things other than feeding caterpillars.

A few weeks ago we went with my mom, sister Emily and her kids to my parents cabin.



Jack and Josh
Notice the awesome socks and sandals look Jack is sporting. It's making a come back, I tell ya.



We went with Grandma and Grandpa Strong and cousins to the Dinosaur Museum.

Jack had a birthday and his very clever and talented mom made the most fabulous lawnmower cupcakes.

We went to Lagoon. Jack's favorite ride was the "skeleton cars" (Terrror Ride).  I hate that ride. Thankfully he would only go on it with daddy so poor Hardy had to ride it literally 15 times. I got to take him on Puff and Bambora. Much more fun.

These two cuties are just growing cuter every day.  Tyler still sleeps like a champ at night which makes up for his mediocre napping during the day.  Jack still adores him to pieces.  Yesterday Jack accidentally bonked Tyler in the head and made him cry. I got a little made at Jack and he burst into tears, not because he got in trouble because he's always in trouble, but because he made Tyler cry.  He felt so bad.  I love how much he loves his brother.  And Ty just lights up when Jack walks in the room. So fun. Love my boys.

Getting Bigger

Our friends caterpillars have made their cocoons so these guys should be making theirs within the next few days. Very exciting.  They are quite big and can eat through a whole leaf in a day. That also means a lot of bug poop. So gross. I wish Jack was big enough to take care of that part.

For those wishing to replicate this fun little science project (Erin :) my friend just found some milkweed plants and looked for leaves with little tiny eggs on the underside.  She stuck them in a jar with holes poked in the lid. Every other day or so we put in fresh leaves and they just eat and eat. I think later today I'll put in some sticks so they have something to attach to that is a little sturdier then the leaf stems just in case they make their cocoons.



Hungry Caterpillars

For Jack's birthday his friend Jenna gave him the book The Hungry Caterpillar and a jar with a milkweed leaf and 2 tiny eggs.  Just moments after she handed them to us the eggs hatched and just like that we had caterpillars.  It has been so much fun watching them grow every day.  At first they were so tiny, but now I'm having to change my leaves out more often because they eat big holes in them quite quickly.  Jack asks if he can hold them every day, but I still think they are a little too small.  Soon though.  They practically double in size every day. 

Apparently when they are big enough they will make a chrysallis and eventually we'll have butterflies. I can't wait. What a fun birthday present.

Bear Lake, July 4th, Blessing and Lagoon

It has been a whirlwind of family and fun these past few weeks.

The last week in June we went with my family to a cabin at Bear Lake. The water was cold and the beach small, but we had a great time.  We went to the pool, dug in the dirt, put together family history books (thanks to my geneologist sister), did silly crafts, played games, and really just enjoyed spending time together. Jack loved being one of the gang and had a marveolous time with his cousins.

Tyler spent most of his time sleeping and being snuggled by grandma, or an aunt, or a cousin, so much so that now that we are home he has forgotten how to sleep during the day without being held.

On Friday and Saturday we celebrated Independence Day with my family at the Centerville carnival, concert and fireworks and then a morning parade.  Both boys did great and had such a good time.  Already I've got Tyler trained to like fireworks and parades. Poor Hardy will be stuck coming with us for years to come :)

Sunday we had Tyler's blessing at church. Amazingly we had every single one of his cousins in town, plus a few extra great aunts and uncles. In all I think we had 60 people come to the church and almost as many came over to our house for food after.  It's good to know we can accomodate such a crowd.  It was a great day and so fun to be able to celebrate this wonderful little boy with so many people we love. 

Monday we went with Hardy's family to Lagoon for the Fourth of July. Jack had a great time and went on everything he was tall enough for, including the new roller coaster Bombora. He was just barely big enough so we let him come. He didn't love it and said it was a little scary (but he also says that about putting a shirt over his head so I wasn't too worried), but he said he wanted to go again later. I never though he'd be able to go on roller coasters, but his cardiologist told us he should be okay so we let him.   Tyler - well, he slept through it all and stayed happily in his stroller. 

Speaking of Tyler, he really is such a good baby. I hardly dare type it lest it jinx me, but he actually slept through the night last Friday from midnight to 6 a.m.  I didn't know babies could even do that at 5 weeks old. That was the exception, but most nights he only really wakes up once to eat around 1 or 2 a.m. then sleeps until 6:00.  He is just so sweet and good natured. I absolutely adore him, and so does Jack. It's all I can do to keep Jack out of his face as he wants to snuggle him all day long.

We are so happy and blessed right now. Some days I just sit back and marvel at how good life can be.  So, knowing life can change quickly, I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

Hapyy Father's Day!

The First 10 Days

Well, we've survived the first 10 days as a family of four.  Jack is still in love with his baby brother and gets up each morning asking if we can go wake up Tyler. He is coping fairly well with having someone to share mommy and daddy's attention. He is more emotional than usual and over reacts to everything, or maybe we're more tired and over react to his over reactions, but either way he is still a big fan of his brother.

Sweet little Tyler is turning out to be a very nice boy. He is good to eat and sleep, and when he happens to be awake he usually just looks around peacefully. He only fusses if his tummy hurts or he's hungry. 

While we are still adjusting to new schedules and how to get everything done each day, we feel very blessed to have this sweet boy in our family.  

Jack thinks all of the baby's gear is great fun to play with.

Welcome baby Tyler!

Tyler Marc Hardy
8 lbs 6 oz, 20 inches
Healthy, handsome and doing great.

2 Weeks

I went to the Dr. yesterday for my 37 week pregnancy visit. He checked me and said that I am dilated 2 cm but about 80% effaced.  He said he wouldn't be surprised if I had this baby in the next few days, or maybe not for a few weeks, but we're definitely making progress, so that's good.  When I told him I was to the point where I couldn't wait to get this baby out (probably because I had been up since 3 a.m. tossing and turning in discomfort) he said we could schedule an induction for May 26th if I was interested. My first thought was no, but then I decided that really would be a convenient day as it's right before Memorial Weekend so Hardy would have an extra day off, my parents have already offered to take Jack up to their cabin to play with his cousins for that weekend so he'd be set. Really, there is no downside, so we're on the schedule. Two weeks from today and this little fella will probably be here.

Or possibly sooner as I woke up at 2:00 this morning with some fun false labor that really got me thinking about all the little last minute things I need to get ready. Last night really would not have been convenient so I'm glad itwas a false alarm. I think he may have dropped though because I feel like I'm a different shape. Anyway, we're getting close.  I'm excited but also a little nervous. What am I going to do with 2 kids? Oh my.

Backyard in Progress - Step 1

For our exciting major house project this year we have decided to improve the backyard - the patio to be exact.  Today we took the first step towards making it a fabulous place where we will spend lots of time this summer. 

We began with this:

And today we added this:



Jack thought it was so great when the builders got done that he insisted be have a picnic for dinner. Who was I to say no to such a good idea?  So we had some lovely bbq chicken and potatoes and enjoyed our new living space.

Step 2 begins on Wednesday when we will have the rickety wood steps removed and replaced with nice concrete ones which will also cover over the insane mint bush that just will not die.  I'm very excited about that.

And the goal is to install Step 3 on Friday (when we've invited my dad out for dinner to help ;). We're going to put up a nice sun shade on the west side so we have shade at the pull of a string in the evening. 

Those are all the steps Hardy is aware of.  I also plan to add some nice greenery and hanging flower baskets, maybe some fun lights, and a good gliding bench so I can rock the baby for hours while Jack plays in the sand box. That's the idea anyway.

So, the party is at our house this summer!  You're all invited.