Day After Christmas

Well, I've got most of the wrapping paper cleared out and the small parts stashed, so now its time to play. Ivan has been enjoying his new rokenbok vehicles, Tyler has been patrolling his slide (he won't slide, but Ivan isn't allowed to either) and Ryan has been taking it easy. We have built Lincoln Logs, played tractor, played dress-up and eaten through a lot of candy. I posted my favorite pictures of today. We have Ryan all snuggled up in his blankie from Aunt Breanna. The next shot is Ivan as Superman with his disgruntled no costume sidekick diaper boy. Mommy succeeded in building a very nice Lincoln Log house that Ivan is taking credit for.

Christmas

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We had a great time opening presents with the boys. I took more video than pictures because there were more "action " shots than posable pictures, those boys open fast! Santa brought a new slide for Tyler, dress up clothes for Ivan and new chew toys for Ryan. Grandpa Easton and Grandma Paula came over to watch the unwrapping and eat breakfast. I made gingerbread waffles (thanks Rachel Ray X-mas special!). We'll be opening gifts with the rest of the Young's and the Metsker's over the next couple of days since its been tough to travel with the weather.

Ivy's Wedding

My sister Ivy got married at the beginning of October and I finally have some pictures (thanks Bree!). It was a beautiful fall day at Ritter Island in Hagerman and everyone had a great time. Ivy was super brave (and had a small budget) and allowed me to make the cake. With a little help from my mother-in-law who has done wedding cakes for 20 years we managed to put it all together. Ivan and Tyler had fun eating chocolate covered marshmallows. I'm sure Ryan was having fun making mommy look hugely pregnant.

Mr. Chubby

Ryan had a pediatrician well baby check today. He is already 11 pounds 6 ounces! But only 21" tall. I love all of the little rolls, just makes them seem hardier than a thin little baby. He is starting to sleep a little longer at night and notice what his brothers are doing.

Tyler picked up a case of pinkeye from the large play toy at Carls Jr., spent all day Sunday running to urgent care and then waiting at the pharmacy. He is looking much better now and didn't even pass it to the rest of the family.

Its been a busy week trying to get ready for Christmas. Ivan thinks it is taking forever...if only I were 4 again!

Trip to see Santa

My friend Tami (Ben's wife) and I decided we would take our kids to see Santa and play on the big toy at Carl's Jr. in Ontario. They also had a carosel for the kids to ride in the parking lot, not real traditional but of course they wanted to do it. Despite his absence in the pictures Tyler was with us but refused to get anywhere near Santa and wouldn't let go of me once he sat on the fairly tall carousel horse. The babies rode the carousel too, luckily for no charge! Adventures like this are a challenge with three kids, but Tami made me feel better as she tried to keep two girls' hair done and clothes clean...Thank god for boys.

Christmas Lists

Just in case anybody is planning on participating in the "Black Friday" Christmas shopping I thought I would get Christmas lists put together. I'm already done with the purchasing part but still have a long way to go on assembly! Ivan is the only one who is able to voice his opinion on what he wants, which is pretty much everything he sees on T.V. or in a catalog (unless it is pink).

Ivan:
Clothes: Size 6 shirt, Size 5 pants, Size 11 shoe. Not in need of anything specific, but he likes to wear cool new things to preschool.
Toys:
Idea 1) Ivan spends hours out in the commodity shed playing in the distillers grain and would love some new functioning construction toys. He has two big Tonka trucks but only one little plastic loader. He leaves these outside, so probably nothing with electronics or sound.
Idea 2) Ivan also loves to build stuff. He has some duplo blocks and probably isn't ready for real legos (his brothers would probably try to eat them). Sets that include wheels or house parts like windows and doors would be a big hit. May also like K-nex, Lincoln logs or other building sets.
Idea 3) Ivan has been learning letters and numbers at preschool and could really use some reinforcement. He loves the idea of the electronic games. His cousin has a Leapfrog Leapster that he thinks is pretty cool.
Idea 4) Ivan is just now really focusing on action figures and cars. Batman, Spiderman, Transformers, Speed Racer etc. are all cool right now. He has liked the Matchbox and Hot Wheel sets when we have been shopping.
Idea 5) Ivan is at the age where he is just starting art projects and creative stuff. Coloring books, markers, play-doh and stickers keep him enertained for quite awhile.

Tyler
Clothes: Size 24 months or 2T (still haven't figured out the difference between these two!), Shoes size 7.
Toys
Idea 1) Tyler is very active and coordinated. Santa is picking him up a slide. He would do great at active stuff like ride on toys, sit and spin, and rockers. Since all of the boys have their own room we are ok on toy storage, so don't worry too much about size.
Idea 2) Tyler thinks he is 4 so anything in the above list for Ivan that you can find with bigger pieces or even if you want to duplicate would be great. Tyler and Ivan are not the best at sharing but are getting better. They do spend a lot of time playing together (and I spend a lot of time settling arguments!)
Idea 3) Tyler still likes repetitive toys so anything that moves or makes noise keeps him happy. Some of these things look babyish but he is really now just enjoying them. Even if you aim too low he does have a brother that will eventually play with it. Toys that I have seen are a ball popper, musical instruments and simple radio control stuff.

Ryan
Clothes- currently in newborn but will be in 0-3 months by X-mas. I'm now ok on 3-6 months thanks to some consignment shop and ebay finds.
This is the hard one- he has everything thanks to his older brothers. The only things he needs are diapers (Size 2 Pampers or Huggies) and wipes (sensitive skin). But, we will use any toys or clothes that he gets because everyone likes new stuff.

All three boys have 529 plan college savings accounts, so if you would like to fund these instead of buy toys just let me know. Stock market has not been kind to them, but I think we are nearing the bottom now (hopefully).

Randall
Clothes- Size 31/34 on pants, Size Large on shirts (for some reason they make the arms real short on Medium and Smalls). Always can use socks. Santa picked him up 3 pairs of pants. Anything to stay warm is always appreciated so long johns, sweatshirts and wool socks are always a hit.
Randall is hobbyless, thanks to the full time hobby of the dairy. He is tough to shop for because buying things for the dairy isn't with in a X-mas budget. The boys really like to play with him in the evenings so if there is a cool toy he can share with the boys that might be the closest thing to buying something fun for him.

Tessa
Clothes- Size XL on shirts, Size 16 on pants (I can even fit into my pants already!). I'm in need of stay-at-home long sleeve shirts. I have heavy fleece or dress clothes, don't really work for just around the house. Some days I don't even get dressed so loungewear is perfect because then I won't look like I'm still in my pajamas (actually with Ryan's eating schedule I just wear my clothes 24-7).
Toys- would like an Ipod nano (these are the little $30-$40 ones). Crafty stuff and books help keep me from going insane. I'm also a big fan of gift cards, give me an excuse to online shop or actually get out of the house. Anybody willing to babysit a 4 year old, 2 year old and an infant could also earn big points by letting me go out to lunch with the hubby.

I really hope this helps. There is nothing worse than trying to shop with no ideas. Hope you find short lines and mild traffic (yeah right!).

Two Weeks and All is Well

Since my last post had the poor baby in a lit up suitcase I thought I better post an update. We had our 2 week Dr. appointment today and the little guy is now 8lb. 2 oz., up from 7 lb 6 oz a week ago. He is accomplishing this by eating every 2 hours 24-7. I'm a little tired and am hoping he will spread out the evening feedings a little in the next couple of weeks. Other than sleep deprivation I'm doing fine and even managed to squeeze on some non-maternity pants to go to town today. On top of that I got three kids out the door, picked up the neighborhood girl and made it to preschool on time. Even though its only been two weeks I'm really glad to be back in the swing of things and be able to go about a normal routine.

Yellow Baby under the Blue Light

Ryan is following in the foot steps of his older brothers and turned a nice yellow color as soon as he came home from the hospital. Unfortunately his jaundice was a little worse then the other two and we had to do UV light treatment to attempt to break down the biliruben so his little liver could handle it. This has involved keeping him in a suitcase with blue lights for 7-8 hours a day over the last two days. Now maybe a normal baby would just sleep in this thing...but Ryan insists on ripping off the face shield and attempting to blind himself the whole time he is in there. He also wants the pacifier held in his mouth or he will scream and kick until you give up and take him out of the weird contraption. Lets just say its been a long 2 days. We are headed to the lab for tests this afternoon (3rd day in a row of driving to Ontario) and god hope the levels are low enough that we can quit. He was pretty close yesterday, so I've got my fingers crossed. On the positive side Tyler has really enjoyed tapping on the glass like his brother is an exhibit at the zoo. Otherwise Ryan is doing wonderful and is a very good baby outside of his lighted suitcase.

Brotherly Love

Picture of the day

Welcome Home Ryan Jason Young

Ryan was born on Nov. 4th at 7:56 a.m. in Ontario. He was 7 pounds 8 ounces and 18" long. Although he came out just fine he developed breathing problems in the first couple of minutes. After turning blue he was kept under the oxygen hood for the next 36 hours. His rapid breathing and low oxygen saturation were just a complication of delivery and he is now completely fine with no lasting effects. He is adored by his older brothers and is extremely content, as long as he is being held. We have enjoyed our first day at home and being all together. I'll write more when I have two hands to type with!

Happy Halloween!

We survived a night of trick-or-treating! It really helps to have a practice run...I had non-scary make-up on, pictures taken and out the door in half the time tonight. Best thing is I can safely say that we are not having a Halloween baby!

Preschool Halloween Party

Ivan had a preschool Halloween party today so we got to get dressed up a day early. Its really hard to do clown makeup that is not scary! The time it takes to sew costumes is all worth it once they have them on. We were invited to a "trunk-or-treat" tomorrow so we will be dressing up again. The trunk-or-treat is at the LDS church and everyone parks their vehicles and then hands candy out from the trunk. The kids make the loop of the parking lot to collect the loot. We may hit a few country stops after that, but it sure beats getting in and out of the van 20 times!

Hope everyone has a great Halloween. I'm just hoping to not have a baby tomorrow...only 5 more days to the scheduled c-section!

Pumpkin Patch

Ivan's preschool class took at field trip to Purdam's Pumpkin Patch in Fruitland on Tuesday. It was a very cold and windy day but the kids had fun. We took a wagon ride out to the field and the preschoolers could pick any pumpkin that they could carry back to the wagon. Ivan (almost in tears) wrestled a pretty big one back to the wagon. That night I helped Ivan carve his and Randall took on Tyler's. Ivan and I were our typical type A personalities and followed a pattern, where as the free spirits just took a "stab" at it! haha. On the 30th Ivan has a preschool Halloween party and all of our costumes are done for the big night on the 31st. I'm glad I decided to go as a clown because even that huge costume is a little tight!

New Little Boy's Pics

27 More days to go till that scheduled cesarean on November 4th. Got some very cute pictures today at the ultrasound. Yes, those are chubby cheeks! The little guy is a little over 6 pounds, which is at about the 75th percentile for his age. Looks like we might have another big boy since he could easily put on 2 or more pounds before birth. I'm hoping to go early because he is running out of room in there. Somehow he can kick the bladder and cause acid reflux at the same time. Nothing has fallen off since the last ultrasound...definetly still a little boy.

Baby's Room

Well, baby's room is all ready to go. I went with a polka dot and frog theme. The stripes on the walls are sponge painted in turquiose and aqua. I was very tired of my farm and yellow theme after recreating it 3 times (Castleford, Kuna, Nyssa) so its really nice to have something new. I sewed the curtains and crib set all by myself and of course did all the painting too. Its nice to have it complete. Now I've just got to wait 34 more days till the baby arrives!

School is in session...

I started my online teaching job on Friday and am anxiously awaiting my students to log in today. I'm teaching Earth Science to 8th-12th graders. Some are homeschool students but most are using the online class because their school doesn't offer Earth Science in a time that fits their schedule. My class size is pretty small, only 12 students. The online school hasn't quite met the enrollment they were projecting when they hired 100 new teachers. But, at least I have my foot in the door and Spring semester always has more students than Fall. This class runs until January 19th, so wish me luck over the next 16 weeks!

First Stitches

You would think that by now my house would be babyproof...but leave it to Tyler to prove me wrong. He tripped this morning and hit a piece of trim and opened his head wide open. Luckily I have a strong stomach because head wounds sure do bleed a lot. His gash was about an an inch wide and 3/4 inch deep. After Randall held him and I got the bleeding stop we went to the local doctor. He now has 3 stitches in his forehead. He was an angel at the doctor and only cried a little. Something about watching them sew your child together is pretty traumatic on a mommy. He is playing like nothing happened and enjoyed getting his picture taken. We get stitches taken out on Monday.

Rummaging Through Baby Clothes

I started cleaning up the nursery today in preparation for painting. I decided to see what I had for 0-3 month clothes. Oh my god! I have 31 one piece outfits and 15 shirt and pant outfits...it barely fits in the dresser. Thank you all for your generosity because most of these clothes were gifts. Some are a little stained from the huge amount of spit up that Tyler was constantly spewing, but most are still in great shape. Looking in the next size up, all of my 3-6 month clothes are shorts and T-shirts for summer. Unless this guy is a little one that grows slow, that is going to be a problem. If anyone is planning on buying for Christmas or Birthday please go for the 3-6 month size. You may want to wait too, because if this one grows like Ivan I'll need 6-9 month by Christmas.
As far as other baby needs I've got 20 or so receiving blankets, a whole drawer full of spit up rags and bibs and every baby accessory or toy sold on the market. The only thing I'm going to need is diapers and wipes. I usually use Pampers newborn and size 1 and then switch to Costco Huggies which aren't available till size 2.
Please do not read this as a solicitation for more stuff. Everyone has been so generous in the past I really don't expect anything more. Now if this child comes out as a girl (that would be a big surprise and I'm pretty sure I've seen boy parts at the ultrasound) then your free to buy every cute and frilly thing you can find! haha.

Tyler's Room

Tyler is moving upstairs into Ivan's room. To give it some character we have decorated it using puppy stencils. I toned down the big red wall by making a pattern, a whole roll of painters tape later it really adds some fun to the room. Tyler loves playing upstairs but we haven't made the transition to sleeping and napping upstairs. Only have 7 weeks to make that happen...

I've been keeping busy by sewing the last couple of weeks. The busier I keep my brain the less I feel all of those pregnancy symptoms. So far I've made 2 Halloween costumes, a dress for Ivy's wedding and a complete crib set. I took some refresher classes at JoAnn's to get me started. I'm taking a class to make very cute curtains for babies room now (pictures will be posted when I'm finished).

Ivan has been enjoying preschool and both boys have been enjoying the nice fall weather. It won't be long till they will be cooped up inside because its too cold. At least I can utilize all 3 floors of the house to keep them enertained now!

First Day of Preschool

Ivan started preschool on September 4th. He is going Tuesday and Thursdays from 10-12 at Jen Wilcox's house. She has been teaching preschool for several years and babysat Tyler and Ivan for me last year after my maternity leave. Ivan is pretty excited about going to school and picked out the biggest back pack he could find. His choice for first day clothes were his car shirt that makes a sound of a revving engine when you touch the red pocket in the corner. Tyler was panicked that I was going to leave him at home and put his own pants and shoes on. So far Ivan is working on writing and saying the sound "A" makes.

The Tractor Bed...Finally

I have not done a woodworking project since I left home for college about 12 years ago. Now I remember why. The tractor bed is now complete after every nap time for the last month spent cutting, measuring, sanding, painting and yes even a little cussing. The paint lines are wiggly, the bucket is a little crooked and the mattress fits very snuggly but its done, it looks like a tractor and Ivan is happy. We went with yellow paint since one side of the family owns "green" tractors and the other owns "red" ones. The CAT loader is Ivan's favorite tractor outside to ride on too. I have a full set of plans if anyone wants to attempt it for their own child someday...just don't ask for my help! haha.

Ivan and Tyler Dance

Update...so much for weekly!

I have been busy on the computer taking an online class to learn how to teach online. This hasn't left me much time or motivation to post to the blog. But, I've been busy so we have lots to talk about.
I've spent every nap time for the last two weeks working on building Ivan's tractor bed. Its been a long time since my "shop" days and my patience for measuring, cutting, sanding and painting have been tested to the limits. I've got two coats of black to add to the bed tires and roof and I'll finally be finished. I'll post pictures when I'm done.
Pregnancy has been going ok. My hip occasionally pops out and I limp around for a couple of hours and my stomach hasn't stopped hurting for weeks. Some days are surely better than others! Baby is growing good according to the doctor and I've got 100 more days left. Does that sound like a hell of a lot of time to anyone else??
Ivan and Tyler have been rough housing on a daily basis. It involves a lot of screaming and someone always gets hurt. In between the battles they are having a blast. I've been trying to take them swimming once a week. Tyler is way to brave for his own good and both boys have drank a lot of pool water.
I'll be posting a video of Ivan and Tyler dancing... you'll love it!

Ivan's Minivan video

I had to host this on YouTube to get it loaded on the internet...maybe Ivan will be a star. This video is testing out my tech abilities, hope this will finally work.

http://www.youtube.com/v/dvq7eYgKeNY

Ivan's Room

With the addition of another little boy we are doing some room rearranging. Ivan's headed to the basement and Tyler is going upstairs so we can free up the nursery for the new kid. I was fairly ambitious and decided to tear up the 400 sq. ft. of moldy smelling carpet in the basement. Unfortunately the concrete floor was uneven and rough so my plan to just paint it went down the drain. I managed to find "rainbow" carpet tiles for 49 cents/sq foot on the web. My knees and back almost didn't survive but the carpet is down and the painting is finished. The shop theme includes painting all the furniture red, silver and black to look like tool boxes. Now I've got to finish my stenciling and build a tractor bed. Only 2 more rooms to go after this!

The New Ride

Randall and I just traded in our Maxima on a mini-van. I was fairly reluctant to make the full conversion to "soccer mom" but now enjoy all the convenience and comfort. Ivan "LOVES" the mini-van. I'm planning on shooting video of his explanations of the features to share with you and to tease him with when he is 16. Three rows of seating is a dream. Ivan can't reach Tyler to steal his toys or food and Tyler doesn't have to squeal continuously to tell us that Ivan is stealing his stuff. I remember being "stuck" together on long trips with my sisters sweaty legs touching mine. These boys don't know how good they have it. The van is a Honda Odyssey with every power feature you can dream of. It looks pretty new but its a '99 with 99,000 miles on it...got to think of the budget!

Pictures of the Boys

The first picture is of Ivan in front of the flower bed. He is growing like a weed and luckily so are the flowers behind him. Ivan is now 4 and spends his days tormenting the cats, riding tractors with Daddy and asking Mommy "why?"continuously. This is little Tyler, he is now 18 months old. Ever try to take a picture of a toddler? Everything turns out blurry because they are always on the move. He was trapped between two chairs here so I was able to catch him. I don't know what parents did before digital cameras...this is the only one of 15 pictures that turned out clear.

Welcome to the Blog

I don't write letters, I rarely call and am sometimes slow at responding to email. For those of you that care enough to want to know what we are doing here in Nyssa I decided to start a blog. Theoretically I can update pictures, video and short messages on a weekly basis and keep everyone in the loop. I want to thank Kristi Lambing (high school friend) for being my inspiration, she has an excellent blog and I enjoy keeping track of her via her posts.