Child of God

Andy came racing out of Sacrament meeting today to play in they church foyer.
He lit up and pointed his pudgy finger at a picture on the wall of Jesus and exclaimed "Jesus!!!"
I guess all the time that I've spent trying to teach him who the man in the picture is
has paid off. Then he whirled around and saw another picture of Jesus on the opposite
wall. With a big smile plastered on his face he cried out "Jesus!!!" He pointed to both
pictures at the same time and said "Two Jesus!!!" He was very happy about this and
said it several times "Two Jesus!!!!"

While he spent time in the hospital I taped a smiling picture of Jesus to his crib. It makes
my heart full to know that he knows the "man's" name who always been by his side. Now
I need to teach him more about that man's life. Judging by the way he gets so excited by
his picture I think that nursery as been teaching him well so far.

Glasses!!!

When Andy sees someone wearing glasses he gets so excited he yells "glasses!!!!"

Anytime Andy can get his hands on glasses he likes to try them on.

He wanted to wear his Daddy's glasses but we convinced him to try these on instead.

Bright Eggs, Maybe Not Such a Bright Idea....

Some things in motherhood you just have to learn by trial and error. If your baby cries non-stop for the first 6 months of their life it might not be colic, it could be reflux. You shouldn't take bottles of milk to Le Leche Leagues meetings. 40 weeks of gestation is ideal, some babies come earlier. Little boys have more energy than girls, and by 'more' I mean about 8 times as much. Sacrament meetings always fall right in line with your kid's nap time. Now I have one more thing to add to my list; Dying Easter eggs with a two- year old can get messy.

I knew it would be messy but Andy always has a way of surpising me. I should never have specific expectations with that kid.Yes this is dye, and my two year old is playing with it. And it is only 4 inches from the side of the table. The first egg he just threw into the dye and it broke. He figured out that you have to put the eggs in gentley.

Andy attempts to pull out his dyed egg with a little metal device.Okay, forget the device, just use your hands.
This was his favorite part, puting tons of tiny little stickers on the eggs. They were the perfect size for his little fingers.Can you see that this egg says 'Andy' on it? We just wanted to make sure everyone knew this was his egg. Check out his fingers and hand, they are dyed green and blue.

This is his pile of eggs. We had lots of fun decorating them with stickers and colorful shrink wrap. At the end we gathered up all the eggs and put them in a bowl. Andy was so excited he ran into the front room with them while I was cleaning up the rest of the egg mess. He sat down on the couch and promptly began throwing them on the carpet. To my horror I realized they were not hard boiled eggs. They were semi- boiled and still gooey. The dye hadn't dried either. Time to rent a rug doctor. But I would do it all again because Andy had a blast. Next time I'll be a little more careful ; 2 year old + dyed gooey egg = MESS!

No adventure too dangerous for Andy!

I grew up with a highly anxious father. I was his only little girl and only child and he was pretty certain that at any moment I was going to either trip while holding something, impale myself and die, run into the street be hit by a car and die, or be kidnapped and die, maybe even go to sleep and die. These are all valid fears of a parent but he lived them to an extreme. I was very protected and coddled from any dangers this world may have. I often remember as a little girl that when my room got messy he didn't declare it a pigsty or messy, it was simply 'dangerous.'

I tried to go easy on my dear old dad growing up. As a teenager I don't think I was quite the risk taker as him (he once rolled around on stage with a tiger at the state fair and another time nearly drowned himself performing a magic trick in a pool and let's not mention that in his 30's he took off for a war in the middle east.) Even to this day I still try to ease his fears that the world is not going to gobble me up and I will die. Andrew, however....... well he has no respect for his 'Bumpa's" fears. Absolutely none. From the day he got here, nearly a month early while Bumpa and Nana were helplessly sitting on a cruise boat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, he has terrified and concerned his loved ones. He spent 9 days in the NICU being poked and prodded with needles, i.v's, heart monitors. Finally, when he decided to let us breathe easy by coming home from the NICU it was short lived by an all too remember able trip up to Primary Children's Hospital where we learned he was a heart warrior. Worry, stress, fear and unpredictability were all going to be the norm with this kid. I thought my dad was going to die right then and there. To be honest, sometimes I nearly have.

Andy doesn't realize what he does to his Bumpa's blood pressure. He hap-hazardly takes on the world. And when he plays he plays hard. He's a little boy and boys are just crazy. My dad only experienced a little girl. Andy is quite certain that he is invincible and that whatever looks fun to do he should try. While I've struggled myself to allow him freedom to explore I am amazed that at this point his Bumpa isn't sitting in a rubber room with a bib around his neck to catch his spittle.

Andy figured Bumpa would LOVE to see him monkey around at McDonald's play place. A 20 foot swirly slide and endless feet of tube to crawl in where a boogie man or germ could catch him at any turn. My dad really just needed to take a Klonapin the entire time we were there. It was scarier to him than watching Freddy Krueger. Matthew and I kept promising that even though Andy had gone to the top he wouldn't go down the slide. It just seemed like something he'd want one of us there to help him with. As we were calling out to Andy who was suspending somewhere in a plastic tube 20 feet above our heads we heard a screech going down the slide and guess who pops out? Andy!!! He had a toy in his hands and we think he was trying to get it when he fell down the slide just like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. He also had a bewildered look on his face when he popped out of the slide like he was thinking 'what just happened!!??" He LOVED the slide and did it 3 more times. Bumpa was a mess.

Since that time I have taken him to the play place 3 more times. One time he got to the top and refused to come down. I had to crawl up and get him. I'm a big girl AND 6 months pregnant, it was not a pretty show. Another time some really nice children helped him down the slide when he thought he was stuck.

All I can say is that the kid is a dare devil!!! It's scares me to think of what shenanigans he will pull as a teenager. All I can say to my son is, "Andy, please be kind to your Grandpa."

Mr. Andrew tackling the "big kid's" playground. What a "can-do" attitude! "You coming with me, Grandpa?"
Peek-a-boo! I see you!
Don't be scared Andy, the slide is only 20 times your height.
Ha ha ha! See Grandpa? No worries! Let's do that again!

Kick.Kick.Kick.Kick. 100 Days To Go...

I can definitely tell that this little baby inside me is getting bigger and stronger. Last night Matthew was able to feel him kicking. Tonight in the bathtub I was just laying there and I saw my tummy hopping around. This kid kicks hard and he is always on the go. I heard somewhere that male fetuses are more active than females, I don't know if that is true but I don't believe this little guy could be more active.

We are still working on a name. We have a pretty good idea of what we will most likely go with but just really want to give ourselves enough time to be certain. As of today there is 100 days to go! However, with my previous delivery history it might be just barely shy of that. We are definitely praying that this baby isn't as anxious to get here as Andrew was. The longer he stays in there the better, and I truly don't mind getting kicked in the gut.

Arrrrgh! Andy turns TWO!!!!

This little pirate's name is Captain Birdy Legs, he's also been called Captain No Beard. When he was just 11 days old his parents went to the Build-a-Bear Workshop and bought a pirate outfit that was made for a stuffed bear. Captain Birdy Legs was still such a small thing it fit him too. He was probably just a little over 5 pounds here.

Well, 2 years laters and 20 pounds heavier it was time to celebrate this little pirate's birthday!

Here he is checking out the cake and cupcakes. He decided to pull every gold coin out of every cupcake. Grandma and Nana.

Checking out all the booty and swag he got from his friends.
Some of the crew that came to celebrate. More bounty. Nana and Bumpa

Here we are at Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta where we had pizza and cake and rootbeer as well as a bunch of gold coins. Ever since his birthday every time Andy sees a pirate he says "ARRRR!" He even has a little rubber ducky pirate that he yells "ARRRR" at each time he gets in the bath tub.

Oh, and of course, every good little pirate knows how to navigate the waters. Andy and his friends went swimming right before we went out. We didn't get very many good pictures of swimming but we sure had a good time. We are sure thankful that "Captain Birdy Legs" has been in our lives for 2 years spreading joy.

Andy gives the camera a "Cheese!!!"

I did this photo shoot on a whim. I wanted '2 year old' pictures so I ran Andy over to Target. The quality didn't turn out great because my scanner is crappy. . I still think he's so cute he can make any picture adorable. Can you believe he's two already? I need to blog about his 2 year old party, it's over a month late now. Andy loves to say "TWO!!!" and hold up two fingers. He definately knows he's two..... terrible, wonderful, stressful, choactic, incredible two.

I Love My Daddy...

"There is no other relationship quite like that which can and should exist between a boy and his dad. It can be one of the most nurturing, joyful relationships in life, one that can have a profound impact on who boys become and also on who dads become. "
- M. Russell Ballard

No one tickles Andy better than his Daddy.

Even Superman needs a Daddy.

Slaving away with Daddy at work.

He gets SO happy to see Daddy come home.

First fishing lesson ever. And they get a HUGE catch! Honestly, this is the first "fish" I've seen Matthew catch.

"A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child." -Knights of Pythagoras