Super Rhett to the Rescue

RHETT's 3!!!

Rhett is seriously dressed up as a SUPER HERO about 80% of his waking hours.  AND WE LOVE IT!  He wears the costumes to the store, to the gym, to friends homes, outside...always.  He jumps off the stairs from 4 stairs up and yells, "Super RHETT, to the rescue!"  He runs with his capes on with one hand straight out in front and the behind.  He 'rescue's people all the time.  Since we open presents as soon as the kids wake up on their birthday he had quite the day of Super-Hero'ing with his new Captain American shield, Hulk Hands and freaky mask, and Avengers shirt! (plus he got a new leapster that he is just rocking!)

RHETT IS SERIOUSLY AMAZING! Love this guy like crazy!  He turned 3 on March 25th!  He's been so excited to turn 3 and has talked about it for probably 3 months.  He decided that when he was 3 he'd be big enough to be AWESOME at gymnastics, and like avocado's!  He is so funny and makes me laugh out loud throughout most of the day.  He loves to joke around.  

His favorite color is green. His favorite foods are yogurt and all fruit.  He loves books--especially Curious George.  He likes to watch Super Why, and Spider-man shows.  He LOVES playing tag, and hide and seek. Oh, and he LOVES playing pretend. He is always making you a meal or running a store that sales all the ice cream flavors you could think of---and then you'll eat it together.  Or you'll drive in pretend cars together to Candy Land (which is where we ALWAYS go WHENEVER we play pretend! HA!--he's my boy)  

He loves to wrestle with his dad and brothers, he loves cooking with mom, playing with his 'best friend' Hadyn up the street,  sharing...(--most of the time when he gets candy from our little "fun reading time", he'll run to his room and leave some candy on both Kade and Luke's dressers even if he only gets a tiny bit--he's sweet.)  He LOVES gymnastics, and rock climbing, swimming, running, taking long baths, swinging (particularly underdogs and swinging on his belly like Superman), jumping off high things--that's gonna come back to bite us, candy (especially suckers), smiling, laughing, tickling, eating snow, jumping on the tramp..ANYTHING (although he HATES all vegetables)! Honestly this boy is such a light.  He really is such a happy guy and we are so blessed to have him in our family!

His chores are making his bed, putting away his laundry, cleaning his room, and putting the silverware away.  WHICH, by the way,  he did this morning by himself and fast for the first time EVER---he gets a little distracted...but for a little lollipop that kid will do anything.

Hulk with his Hulk cake!

So the other day we were all sitting around after dinner and my  Dad started laughing so hard.  He said, “I just realized how the doorknobs get so sticky”  Then we all watched Rhett go over to try and open a door.  His hands weren't getting the grip he needed to open the door.  So he brought it down, licked it, and then the door opened like a charm! HA!  So funny that boy!

The Fun of a Tonsillectomy

Due to the fact that LUKE received the Heimlich maneuver twice last month, he enjoyed the great time of getting his TONSILS OUT on March 20th.  (once at home because of Pizza, and once at the classy restaurant of Chuck-O-Rama where we were celebrating Kade and Luke's accomplishment of being nice to each other for 7 days in a row.)

So Luke gagged on his food all the time. Jess and I would just tell him to CHEW HIS FOOD BETTER. Cause we're awesome like that and never actually looked into his mouth to see that his tonsils are huge.  Like on a scale from 1-4+ Luke's tonsils were a 4. I so wish I would have got a better picture of them too.  We thought that his uvula was actually connected to his tonsils for awhile because it was so close they touched.

So we took him to the ENT and he asked all sorts of questions about Luke’s sleep. Does he snore?  Does he wake up rested?  Is he sick a lot? Does he get strep?.....no no no no.  So I told him we didn't want to take them out, but he put Luke on Flonase cause he’s super snotty in the mornings. ANYWAY, when we came back three weeks later for his Allergy appointment (turns out he’s allergic to TONS of stuff), Luke had chocked twice because food got lodged in his giant tonsils.  So I said, 

‘Never mind. We don’t want him to die so, let’s have them taken out.  Done. 

BEFORE...I wish you could see in this picture just how TEENY TINY that opening to his throat was.

AFTER (STILL WITH SOME OF THE SCABS...SORRY.)

So here's what's so funny!  He was SOOOOO EXCITED for it.  It was like it was Christmas. When I dropped him off at school after that appointment he said—all giddy, “I can’t believe I get to get my tonsils out.” My dad heard him skipping down the hall saying,  “three more day still my tonsils come out.”  All he knew, was that he’d get to have all the ice cream, Popsicles, pudding and juice he wanted. Plus screen time up the wazoo! So hi—what kid wouldn’t want that. 

So the day of the surgery arrived.  He was soooo excited to get to the hospital.  There they had a ‘pre-op hop’ where a sweet lady (only slightly taller then Luke J) told him all about what was going to happen to him.  Showed us the doors he go through after he left the room where I was, showed him pictures of what everyone would be wearing, gave him a “friend”to keep with him during the surgery, that he got to color and name. (It was a stuffed person with a hospital ‘sponge bob’ gown on).  Plus, the community had donated things that made him feel soooo cozy. He got a Harry Potter fleece blanket someone had made, a toy car a retired vet had made, a pillow and pillowcase that someone made, a teddy bear from his doctor. AND Socks!  (He Loves the traction socks J).  He got all dressed and they wheeled him away.

Jess had given him a blessing the night before, and these are sooo routine that I wasn’t worried. When Luke got wheeled back in to the room, he had fallen back asleep.  When he woke up 5 minutes later he was still and calm and just said, “can I have my slushy now?” He’s so darn cute.

            That day, he was AWESOME. Julie, Jess' mom, was soooo sweet and had driven down from Evanston to watch Max and Rhett while I was at the hospital.  She’s so great.  When we got home Luke was happy, able to eat and drink, and not tired at all. The next day was a lot the same with our other boys being all sorts of jealous of Luke’s diet (we gave all the boys lots of screen time to avoid jealousy).  Then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday…they were all pretty rough. His throat started scabbing up and hurting to the point he didn’t want to eat or drink any of those promised items. He didn’t want anything.  What he wanted was to be able to eat pizza and chips and cake like the rest of us.  He was tired and hurting and grouchy.  I guess there are nerves in your ears that are the main pain receptors for the teeth, and throat as well--so even though he didn't complain about his throat hurting much, we hear lots about the ears.  Sad Sad Sad.

        He was always pretty good about staying hydrated which apparently is SUPER MEGA important for recovery.  He had several gifts and visitors that helped to make his recovery that much sweeter from Primary teachers, primary leaders, and neighbor kids.  I totally thought he'd be back to school in a week. But he needed a week and a half...which then turned into 2 1/2 weeks because of spring break.  Lengthy--and he was sooo ready to go back to school.

After Surgery waiting for his slushy.

His Tonsils.  I know it's kinda gross....their about the size of the tip of my thumb to the first knuckle. The way they get these out with cauterizing is AMAZING.  Isn't technology great!  They took out his tonsils and adenoids (which are WAY back there behind the nose--amazing!)
Luke was put to sleep with bubble-gum flavored gas...and got lots of stickers.  Overall it was a huge success!  No Chocking has happened since! Also, American Fork Hospital was fantastic. The end.

Max turns 1!

MAX!!!

Max turned 1 on March 19.  He's A-Freaken-Dorable and we love his little face off.  He took his first steps that night and now is walking all over the house. He loves climbing everything.  It's soooo great. I love watching them develop.  He's a little guy. Got him up to the 5th percentile though so that's good.  He's not what you'd call "stellar" at sleeping through the night--so that's fun. Bit of a cryer.   

He says 'mama', 'dada', 'hi-dad', (Jess says he doesn't say any of those things...but he TOTALLY does).  He LOVES outside, plays peek-a-boo, does the sign for 'more', rolls balls, loves cake-ice-cream-candy---anything dad gives him :) He hates: getting his nose cleaned.

 

Here's a note from Luke to Max for his b-day:

Dear Max, You laugh a lot and that makes me happy. Love you. Love, Luke

Ha ha--I made a monkey cake...and well...it was a little leprous for awhile.  Turns out when you cut into a cake, and then try to frost that area...it just keeps frosting and falling.  Luckily we got to put donuts over most of it.  It was...special.  But Max liked it so there you go :)

Max's brothers love him so much.  They love holding, feeding, playing with him, and especially in the last few days--holding out their arms to him so he'll walk to them. Rhett will push him around the house on the racer that Rhett got for his 1st birthday.  

He sat on the counter and just ate cake with all of us. LOVED IT!

Bathtime!

Scotty's home!

WELCOME HOME LITTLE BROTHER!!!!

My amazing little brother came home from serving honorably for 2 years in the Rochester, New York mission on February 20th, 2013.  I've been so so excited for this.  Cause guess who gets to live with him? We do!  Woo Woo!!!  Can I just tell you how much I love my siblings! TONS!  And Scotty is so freaken great.  The boys made posters, got out of school early and were so excited. Then we found out that he might get in early and CRUISED up there, got all set...and....wait for it.....wait for it....

keep waiting.......

BAM! There he is.  Mom got the first hug, as all mothers should.  She cried, Scott got teary eyed, dad got teary eyed...it was great!  WE love him.

I was surprised by Rhett. He's usually a little shy around new people. But Scotty asked for a hug and he didn't even hesitate. It was so so sweet to watch.

Since he's been home it's been a blast! He LOVES games just like me and mom do.  He's an amazing brother and uncle and is always playing with the boys.  Whether it be outside playing ball or inside playing video games with the boys---they love him.  LOVE LOVE LOVE him!  Plus the example he sets for my boys (and the rest of us) is rad. Love. Him.  

WELCOME HOME SCOTT!

Vegas Vegas Vegas

SO....we took a trip!  A great trip.  To the quaint little town of Las Vegas.

Our great friends from Georgia, the Lindquists were blessing their newest addition, Beckam and invited us to come on down! So we started planning a mini family vacation.  Then a week before the trip, we got the news that Jess' Grandpa Winn, who was such an amazing man, had passed away.  

His funeral would be the following week, in Vegas.  What a blessing it was that Jess had already cleared himself and prepared to take off the time from school, and we had already budgeted money to get down there! A wonderful tender mercy. There's no way he would have missed it.  It just made everything so much simpler to leave behind.

Jess had the greatest idea to drive down through Ephraim and revisit our old courtship (and his childhood) stomp'n grounds.  We drove through Mt. Pleasant, and we all saw the house he lived in there and  his elementary school. 

Then off to Ephraim--ahhh, Ephraim, it's such a great great place.  And this time of year I didn't even smell the turkeys which was awesome!  Anyway, we made a stop at Roy's (ha! Doesn't it look like "Boy's" in this picture--how ironic)

This used to be Fat Jacks Pizza and mmmmm.  I love it.  Good memories of their pizza, and country dancing upstairs, plus, they have a cute little candy and ice cream shop.  The boys all got $2 to fill up their candy bags.  Then we drove around to show them dads old house, the school, an attempt to show them my old house "The Fishbowl"..but turns out it had been leveled to make room for another church which is awesome and a bummer.  Memories of ultimate Frisbee, intramural racquetball with Jess, warm homemade bread at the institute, and dating an adorably amazing guy.....and then dating Jess--HA HA! Just kidding--see what I did there.  I love that Jess and I'm soooo so blessed that he chose me and that he's the guy I fell madly in love with.

Still driving near Ephraim, we passed this adorable Mater on the side of the road.  I made us turn around so Rhett could get a picture on it. He loves love Mater.

Here's Melodie holding Max at the luncheon after the funeral. She is soooo good with my kids.  They love her.

Rhett and his cousin became best friends soooo fast!  They ran around the whole time together. Love.

 We saw some amazing video footage of Jess' dad and brothers dressed u and singing...it was so insanely special.

After awhile watching this slide show, I went to find all the kiddos. They were in the primary room organizing a news cast.  It was adorably cute. Seriously, don't you love how quickly kids meet someone and are best friends.

Playing basketball together.

Crazy night at the IHOP.  Favorite quote of the night was won by Melodie.  Kade kept eating sugar packets. He was talking kinda loud and I said to use his inside voice.

Melodie: "After 4 packets of sugar--that is his inside voice." HA HA HA. So true.  We also played a rad quarter game at the table.  Ihop is a wonderful place!

After all of Jess' family had driven back home we got to spend some time with our great friends the Lindquists!

YAY!  I love this girl.

playing at the park...i didn't really get any amazing shots since it got dark so soon..but it was great fun running around and playing tag--then playing hide and seek in the dark with the kids! Good times.

Sunday morning we were able to head over to Jessica's parents house and be there for Beckam's baby blessing.  Then afterwards we went to church with their ward.

One of the best parts about this whole stay was that we got to stay in a house with the Lindquists.  That equals maximum hanging-out-age.  So...that was super nice :)  Here's a picture taken during Movie night with Mac and Cheese.  So. Focused.

Breakfast. I love how sleepy and dazed they still look.

Doesn't Jessica and Beckam look so so so cute here?  Yes, yes they do.  We went to one of those bouncy places with all the kids. Best choice ever. They absolutely loved it!  Plus I love that they let parents get on and play with them.  But I also loved so much that we were practically the only people there.  SCORE!

Lucas was actually really mad in this picture. I can't remember why....so there you go.

They treated us to a WONDERFUL night out at the Cheesecake factory. And what's amazing with that?  Jessica's mom watched all the kids. How angelic is she?  So so so sweet. It was great to have some time to just talk without having to keep the peace with kids.

Most amazing Strawberry Shortcake (he's not a cheesecake fan). Right? It's huge? And even though we shared our meal there was no way he could finish that!

yup...he tried this.  It was special, and a dare, and all sorts of whipped creamy.

We did bring Max along cause we knew he'd be just fine and didn't want to put too much on Jessica's willing mom. (seriously, so so nice of her) and he was a stallion. They even gave him a special complimentary plate for babies. They had a bunch of cute little breads and banana slices.  That's sweet right? Plus, there was another little baby off the end of the table and he and Max had this smiley laughy communication the entire night.  It was awesome.

Jess, Bridger, Beckam, and Luke.  Sweet!  Beckam had a hard time out there. The first few months of his life were spent crying a lot.  He's much happier now, which is a HUGE blessing to poor Jessica.  But see here? In Jess' arms he WASN'T sad. So there's that.

Luke with Bridger. There was a pool table at the house (it was a seriously amazing house complete with a bazillion rooms and beds, a pool, a pool table and TV in the rooms. The kids were in heaven.

I love these two. They're super cute together.

 We had a great time with our friends and found out that they're MOVING to UTAH!! woo woo! So that was great news.  We'll get to see them tons more now :)  Thanks Lindquists for the invite.  We had a great great time!