Life of Dye

Not a pumpkin, just a girl.

2012-02-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sarah was brushing my hair for me today and she was asking about my hair when I was little. Then she said this:

Sarah: When I'm big I will have a little girl.

Me: What will her name be?

Sarah: {Thinking hard} I can't remember.

Me: Diana is a good name.

Sarah: No not Diana! {Thinking hard again} Punna. Like a pumpkin. But she's not a pumpkin, just a girl.

It's funny because it's true.

2012-02-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Stuff Sarah Says

2012-01-30T12:45:00.003-07:00

Justin: {seeing all the Cheerios under Henry's highchair} Henry, you need to sweep the floor.
Sarah: Henry can't sweep. He has baby fingers.

---------

Me: Sarah, Henry is getting a tooth.
Sarah: Like a shark?

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Me: {singing Old McDonald at bedtime}...and on that farm he had a.....?
Sarah: A horse with a chicken face.

The Great Indoors

2012-01-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

January feels so long. We spend too much time indoors. So I've been trying to be a little more creative. Sarah plays "Bean Blanket" which means she plays with a jarful of dried beans and measuring cups and a funnel and they must stay on the blue blanket. When that got old I squirted a bunch of Justin's shaving cream on a cookie sheet and let her go to town.
She didn't really like it.

These pictures pretty much captures real time.

Less than 2 minutes later she was done.

Ignore my messy living room and just notice how tiny and sweet my baby is. He will sit and play for long stretches at a time all by himself. He's just so sweet! After I took this picture, he turned around and gave me a big grin. Then he wanted to be held and kissed all over his cheeks and neck. "Stay little," I whisper to him almost every night before I lay him down.

Henry does this crazy Stevie Wonder head shake. You can get him to do it if you do it to him, thus the crazy camera work.

Sarah is pretty much obsessed with umbrellas. I blame Mary Poppins.

She wants one of her own so she is doing jobs around the house to earn the money. I made her a chart to keep track of how much money she needs and a jar to put her quarters in. Here she is washing windows.

I've decided it's way more work to help and supervise Sarah than to just do it myself. But she's learning a valuable lesson, right?

She lined up these dolls on her little doll couch and told me she was taking a family picture. Then she held up an imaginary camera and said "click." So I got out my camera and took one for reals so I can always treasure her cuteness.

Left to right: Kelli, Jane, Michael, Kelly

Henry went Steve Irwin on this water bottle. It really looked like he was wrestling a crocodile. The pictures make it look like he's having much more fun than he actually did. He was getting pretty mad that it wouldn't hold still.

He cut his first tooth today. I have mixed feelings about it. He will never have a gummy grin again. And nursing will never be the same either. But I guess the kid's gotta have teeth.

8 Months Old

2012-01-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

Time sure is flying with this kid. I can't believe he's so old. He cracks me up with his grunting. He has a very specific grunt that means "more Cheerios" and another grunt means "I'm bored." He grabs at stuff and will lunge from my arms if he sees something he likes. Using my phone while holding him is a test in my wingspan. How far apart can I hold him and my phone and still make a call?
I only got one good picture (and by good I mean looking in my general direction) before I lost his attention to the grass just beyond the blanket. Check out these blue eyes.

What a sweet face!

Oh my drool.

This is from last Saturday when it snowed. Sarah went with Justin to his parents' house where they and Nate....

built this snowman. This is the kind of snowman 2 civil engineers make.

6 days later it looks like something out of a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. His half-melted head scares me. Poor thing needs to be knocked over out of his misery.

One thing I didn't expect from having 2 kids is how much they entertain each other.

Sarah enjoyed this more than Henry.

Gosh pictures where Sarah looks old freak me out.

Twenty-o-twelve

2012-01-03T15:42:00.001-07:00

12 Things I'm looking forward to in 2012 in no particular order.
1. Justin finishing graduate school. April 19. 107 days. Okay, this is definitely number 1.
2. Henry's first birthday. It's quite an accomplishment. For both of us.
3. Electing a new president.
4. Discovering if the trees we planted in September survived the winter.
5. Watching my kids grow and listening to them whine.
6. Maybe a new job for Justin. New city? New house?
7. Using my new pressure cooker.
8. Maybe (maybe) I'll run a 5k. I'm thinking about it.
9. Justin doesn't know this but we are going on a vacation. A good one.
10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Hunger Games, and The Dark Knight Rises
11. My sister Rachel having a baby boy in April. My kids need more cousins that live close.
12. Sarah going to Sunbeams

Me: Sarah, what did you talk about in your class?
Sarah: (in her story-telling voice) I want snacks! I want snacks! Yay goldfish. That's what I said to my new teachers.

Happy Birthday Justin. 28 hasn't looked so good since my birthday.

Justin has this horrible habit of singing awfully for everyone else's birthday. He made Sarah and Henry cry on my birthday. So Saturday it was payback.

Unfortunately he liked it. We should have known.

The motto for these two is, If it's not going to snow, better get ready for spring fishing.

I will Text Twist it up in a minute.

2011-12-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

Play Text Twist or update the blog? Update the blog then play Text Twist. Oh yeah, Tuesday night at the Dye house.
Let's start things out right. Here's some up-close and personal Henry face.

The messier, the cuter.

A week before Christmas, we went to SLC to see the Christmas lights at the Gateway and to see the Jazz's open practice. Sarah loved it all. I like that she gets excited when we tell her what we're going to do even though she really doesn't have an idea. We ate at In 'n Out on our way up so that made the night even more magical.

Lights at Gateway. There was a picture of Sarah looking at the camera but I look better in this one.

Henry was up way past his bedtime but he did great. I think it helped to be a place with so many distractions.

I made Sarah a booster seat out of our pile of coats. This made her hair constantly staticky.

My 2 basketball nuts.

Love love love this girl. Christmas is all magic to her.

Sarah usually comes right into my room when she wakes up. One morning I heard her in the bathroom for like 30 minutes before she came in. She was doing her hair.

I need to blow up this picture really big and put it in my house so next time my kids are both crying, whining, clinging and making messes, I can remind myself that they can be calm, quiet and beautiful.

I took mostly video Christmas morning and I don't feel like undertaking the endeavor of editing and posting those so I'll just post pictures. Sarah was so funny. She got her Starbursts in her stocking and was satisfied. We had to prod her along to get all her presents open. It took forever because she wanted to stop and play with each present. But towards the end we had to watch her because twice she grabbed a present and opened it and it wasn't hers.

Henry liked his dump truck and his Junior Ranger shirt. He's looking at Justin, Senior Ranger.

We got to Skype (is that a verb?) with Dallin in Brazil. It was nice to see his smiling face and for him to see all of us.

Sarah got this fishing game. It says 4 and up but I find it a challenge. I get so dizzy. I end up cheating like Sarah does by holding the fishing pole way down near the fish.

Check out this bedhead.

Check out this pretty face.

Not pictured: 1. The return of the fishing pole game at my mom's house on Christmas Eve. Still a hit. 2. Henry not taking a nap all day Christmas Eve thus I didn't get around to making rolls and I thought my family was going to disown me. 3. Sarah dancing to Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" 37 times. 4. Justin finishing his second-to-last semester. 5. The Syme family conducting a very scientific taste-test of hot chocolate and I determined Stephens and Auguson Farm brands are most delicious. Swiss Miss is weak sauce.

My Favorite Developmental Milestone

2011-12-15T13:49:00.001-07:00

Henry turned 7 months old yesterday. Have I mentioned how much I love this age? Motor skills emerging right before our eyes...what can't be done yesterday is done today. Henry and I can barely contain our excitement.

He can now sit up like a champ.

I don't leave him alone for too long. He's known to spontaneously tip. But he gets bored with what he's playing with long before that happens, usually.

But as impressing as balance is, my favorite skill is this.

Is there anything more delightful than a baby feeding himself?
For every one in his mouth, two Cheerios end up on his lap.

I had to eat my words at the doctor's office last week. I always complain to anyone who holds still long enough that Henry tires out my arms. Arms, shoulders, back, hip, elbow, wrists. He likes to be held. "He's so heavy!" I always declare. Well at the doctor's office, I discovered he weighs 13 lbs 14 oz. That puts him in the 1st percentile, says Dr. Tipton. 1%! I walked out of there wondering what you all do with your average or above average sized babies. Do your arms fall off? I've kept a little quieter about my aching arms since then.

He may be in the first percentile for size, but he's in the 100th percentile for cute!

I want to be 3 again

2011-12-13T15:24:00.002-07:00

The longer I'm a mom, the more I realize I undervalued my own childhood. At least once a day, I see what Sarah has come up with to do and I think, I want to be 3 again. Sarah has a great life despite her dramatic claims of injustice each night before bedtime.

Sometimes I wonder if I shelter her too much. She's never had a Happy Meal nor been to McDonald's and she has no idea who Barbie is. She can quote Sound of Music and Mary Poppins but has never watched Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel. All these things I knew as a child and I turned out okay. She lives in this bubble where bad people only exist as the villains in Disney movies and the topic of "bad words" hasn't even come up. Don't we all wish we could live in that sort of world?

I don't trust any presents under the tree yet so Sarah covered all her little cooking dishes with lids and plates and put them under the tree as presents.

What's not to love about this? Sitting in a tutu and underwear, in a doll stroller, cutting a slice of cheese into tiny bites with a toy knife and cutting board. Sure beats folding the piles of laundry on my bed.

Sarah and I are having an ornament war. And she's winning. Anything in her reach gets moved to the bottom.

While sitting on the toilet today, she asked me to look at her sneeze and opened her mouth really wide. "Did you see it?" she asked when she closed her mouth. "Nope." "It's in my mouth, Mom. and it will come out and be loud." Oh to be 3.

I'm the King of jingling!

2011-12-02T14:51:00.001-07:00

We watched Rudolph this morning and that line made me laugh and now it's in my head along with Toby Keith's Red Solo Cup. Red Solo cup, I'll fill you up. Let's have a party. Let's have a party. Could the Solo cup people be any more pleased? Their advertising guys (if they have any) couldn't have created a better song. I digress.

We put up Christmas decorations on Monday. Sarah has asked multiple times since then if it's Christmas. "It's Christmastime," I try to explain. I guess she doesn't get that Christmas is a day and I guess it's really not. So yes, the tree is up so it's Christmas. She says we need presents but if you ask her what Santa is bringing her, she'll say Starbursts. I love her innocence. Next year she'll remember Santa brings toys and I'll be sad.

Henry likes lying under the tree for long stretches at a time so that means I love it.

I'm pretty sure Sarah is trying to single-handedly prove that beggars can be choosers. Is your 3-year-old joining the cause? Sarah has always been particular about how things have been done but she's taken it to the next level. This cup, not that spoon, milk with the green lid, spoon goes in after the milk, put the bowl right here, not there. Blankie, big blanket, bug blanket, then purple blanket. Arrgh! I told her beggars can't be choosers and she'll say "yes they can." She doesn't know what either is.

Here's some shots of Thanksgiving. I made Sarah make a turkey napkin ring for everyone at dinner. I ran a coloring sweatshop for the better part of November. She was so proud of them even though she was sick of them.

And that's Justin's mom's sweatshirt she's wearing. But she'd tell you it's a dress.

Playing with Henry inside while some played outside. Check out his pirate faces.

Justin asked if I watched any of their football game. I told him I thought they were playing 500. He did not like that.

Saturday we had a Baadsgaard reunion and all my mom's siblings were there. All 8. My mom has much better pictures so I'm not posting mine even though I will never post hers, let's be honest.

Oh cousins. Little Nathan was born October 13th. It was so fun to see him and the rest of my sister's family from AZ. And my sister from St. George. And my sis from SLC. Heck, I hadn't seen my mom from Mapleton in a week. I need to get out more

And some random cuteness.When Henry's not grinning like a goon, his eyes are wide open.

Bring on the messy faces: this boy likes to eat! (And yes, his bib is pink. One of the joys of having an older sister.)

6 Months Old

2011-11-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

Henry is half-way to being a year-old and I don't like it.
I like him though.

He got tired of getting his picture taken.

I'll have his stats when I take him to the doctor next week. He has never been a fan of tummy time and now that he can roll it doesn't last long and he gets so mad when I roll him back on to his tummy. He doesn't care for rice cereal or any baby food but he'll commandeer my banana if he can get within grasp of it. He likes to roll tiny bits of cracker around in his mouth and grunts when they fall out. And he slept 12 hours straight for the first time in months last night! It may have to do with the fact that he napped for 90 minutes total yesterday. This kid is so inconsistent. I never know if he will nap for 20 minutes or 3 hours or at all. And I'm hoping he doesn't crawl until after Christmas because I'd like to have a normally decorated tree this year.

We made this crown for FHE. Sarah wore it to the library the next day and requests her hair done to accommodate it.

What's harder than getting a good picture of your kid? Getting a good picture of both your kids. I must have been pulling some crazy faces that Sarah is imitating.

Henry in a Lego bucket. He liked it.

What were you doing at 11 am on 11/11/11? This was us.

Yes, she's still in her pjs.

I kiss those cheeks all day long.

Kicking the Walmart Habit 1 Consumer Good At A TIme

2011-11-10T16:01:00.004-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with Walmart. I avoid going for as long as I can because I always end up buying more than what is on my list, the checkers are slow as tar, the customer service desk makes me want to scream and the store brand is poor quality. I could go on but you know what I'm talking about. And yet their low prices keep me coming back like a crack addict to his dealer.

Enter my intervention. My sister told me you can get diapers super cheap from Amazon.com. It's true. I got Pamper's for the same price as Walmart's brand. "What else can I get cheaper on this wonderful Amazon site?" I thought to myself. "Could I come here for more than DVD's and car seats?" Well how about Mach 3 blades for the hubby, trash bags and toilet paper? Triumph! I did the "subscribe and save" thing where they send it to you automatically every 1 to 6 months and you save 15%. I don't know how long it will take me to use a box of 45 garbage bags so I may need to adjust the frequency but they let you do that and cancel at any time.

Shampoo and conditioner, eyeliner and paper towels don't seem to be cheaper but I'm going to keep looking for other household stuff. Someday soon, my life will be Walmart free forever (if only Target wasn't so far away).

Sarah's Birthday and Halloween

2011-11-02T17:14:00.002-06:00

Sarah turned 3 last Thursday. She woke up that morning and said "I'm not 2?" Nope. "I'm 3??" Yup. "I'm 3!!"

Justin had class late that day so I tried my best to make it fun for her. I asked her what she wanted for breakfast and she said pink pancakes. So pink pancakes it is.

We went to Walmart to spend some birthday money. I really wanted her to buy a fishing game but she wanted more fake food for her play kitchen. The 90 pc set looked impressive but 20 of them were little hotdogs. What a deal. She loves it so that's what matters.

Cute picture of Henry

For her birthday lunch, I made her favorite, a toasted cheese sandwich. I made it special by cutting a heart in the middle with a cookie cutter. I got the camera ready for the big reveal....

"I wanted squares," she is saying. "I don't know what to do." You can eat it or go cry about it. She ate it

We weren't having her birthday cake until the next day so I let her frost cupcakes.

Then my aunt and her 2 boys came over to bring her a birthday present so we sang to her then. (Don't let the change of wardrobe fool you, this is still the same day. She changes clothes like Mariah Carey in concert. Or like Mariah Carey on any given day.)

Friday we carved pumpkins with Rachel and her boys. Well Sarah ate candy and Rachel held Henry while I carved what had to be the hardest pumpkin ever. It wasn't thick, just iron plated.

Justin brought home balloons that afternoon then she opened presents from us (Yes, another wardrobe change.) I don't know why we even bother with other presents: she would have been fine with just her balloons. She got some Lincoln Logs because I love them and want to build stuff with her. She also got some candy, "purple water bottles" (grape squeezits), Mary Poppins and her favorite book, "Hurry Hurry Mary Dear." That's all on video and I don't feel like editing so trust me.

Her cake took so much frosting to make. I bet it weighed 5 pounds.

We took her out to dinner to Pizza Factory. She wanted noodles so I ate her 3 pizza.

And then back home to open presents with the family.

She is amazed at the enormity of this coloring book.

She sang along with us and then blew out her candles like a pro.

Is there anything better than the day after your birthday? So much new stuff to play with and new movies to watch.

Sarah, look at the camera.

Look at me!

Gee. Thanks.

Another cute Henry break.

And Halloween. Sarah liked it. Henry was adorable. Justin was a good sport. I'm tired of writing. You're probably tired of reading. Enjoy!

What I Really Want??

2011-10-24T15:11:00.000-06:00

I just want to go somewhere all by myself.
Open just one car door, buckle just one seatbelt.

And stay away for as long as I like. Not worry about next feeding, naptime, dinner, the piles of laundry on my bed. And not feel guilty about it all. That's the kicker.

Anyone else know exactly how I feel?

Check out these blue eyes.

2011-10-16T21:40:00.001-06:00

Henry turned 5-months-old on Friday. Apparently he thinks he's a model.

He rolled over to mark the occasion.

I think it startled him that he could do it but afterwards he was pretty pleased with himself.

Is there anything better than goofy kids?

Sarah has been very excited for Halloween even though I'm not sure she remembers last year. She put up window stickers and asks everyday to go back to the dollar store for more. And she likes to go out on the porch and pick up her pumpkin.

Sarah in Henry's costume. I think she should wear it trick-or-treating but she's pretty set on being a fairy.

Sarah was super excited when it "snowed" last week. She raked the snow while Henry and I watched out the window. Her feet were soaking when she came in and didn't care one bit. She kept saying, "Remember last year when I put on my snowsuit and I was crying." Oh yes, yes I do. We had to bribe her with candy and wrestle her into it.

This is Henry asleep on my lap. I love the chubby baby hand holding the cute baby ear.

Henry was in charge of the mail key when we went to get the mail. He did a great job. Responsible and handsome.

Sarah turns 3 in a couple of weeks and apparently she is already outgrown nursery.

"Sarah, what songs did you sing in nursery today."

"Baby songs."

There's no way to sum up all this in a title.

2011-10-02T22:05:00.001-06:00

We have definitely moved into the stage of child-rearing where Sarah embarasses me in public with what she says. Last week I took her to Macey's past her bedtime and we were having a great time. At the checkout line, she was sitting very well in one of those carts disguised as a car which drives like a semi-truck when a lady came up next to her to get a Pepsi out of the little fridge. She chatted briefly with Sarah as strangers do with cute little kids and turned away. Right then Sarah said in a voice that gets louder in my memory every time I think about this, "That lady has silly hair." The lady was still right there. And yes, her hair style was a little odd, all blond and spiky. But do you know how hard it is to shush while laughing? If you have a nearly 3-year-old, you do.

On the ride home Sarah saw something on the floor of the car that she wanted. "Mom, can you hand me this?"

I have no idea what she's talking about. "What's this?"

"That."

"What does it look like?"

"I don't know."

We continue on our drive. It's really dark outside at this point and Sarah has noticed. She doesn't go out much after dark so she intrigued and makes this observation.

"It's too dark out here......I can't see the wind.....I need glasses."

Sarah loves her dad which also means she loves anything that is her dad's. Unfortunately these things are usually expensive and not kid friendly. Sorry Justin, I let her play with your binoculars (or noculars as Sarah calls them).

Heaven help us she's pretty.

Last Saturday we went to the zoo. My favorite part of the whole trip was the drive up there. Sarah said she wanted to see a pink zebra and a teeny, tiny elephant. She then put her hands to her face and said "I'm so c-cited!" (excited)

The obligatory picture with you head in the gopher holes. There were no gophers out there. I think there was a cat. Like a housecat.

The duckpond. Notice how Sarah is covering her ears. She's really afraid of loud noises and she was extra cautious around those swans.

Every kid has to drink out of the lion's mouth. It's a rite of passage I believe.

Does anyone else thinks they make those animal habitats too big? There's too much space for them to hide from the zoo patrons. I jest. Well I'm mostly serious but I'm not advocating anything.

Henry was a good sport. He didn't really know what was going on but he was super cute.

Cute picture of cousins.

Is it annoying or endearing that the kids liked the playground and fake animals more than the real animals?

One of Sarah's favorites, the giraffes.

The comparing your arm span concept was lost on Sarah.

Close enough.

Riding the train.

We went camping Friday night near Strawberry. I was taking a nap in the trailer at this time.

How 'bout them leaves?

So that's about it. Now that it's October we've started counting-down with Sarah until her birthday. This is very hard to do with someone that has no concept of time. Any good birthday activity ideas to do with a 3-year-old, a 5-month-old and their mother on a most-likely cold, blustery day? We've gone to Macey's previous years which is a big hit (balloon, cookie, icecream cone, Laffy Taffy). I actually don't know how to top that....

Cute baby in the jumper for the first time.

Smiles, Birthdays, Binkys, and Timone

2011-09-16T21:05:00.003-06:00

Is it me, or is Henry's smile just getting better? We made it to 4 months! In my opinion, this is when babies start to become lots of fun. Well he's always been fun but there is something about 4 months... they just seem more interested and engaged in the world. He is changing so fast. He likes to grab stuff and pull it into his mouth. He still hates tummy time but likes to play airplane. And if you take off his diaper, he'll do a giddy giggle. He's such a fun kid.

Quick question: Has anyone had a baby that was an awesome sleeper but then reverted to newborn-like habits of waking up to eat every 3 hours? Henry has been killing me for the last 10 days. Advice anyone?

Now to back up a couple of weeks. Sarah wanted to watch a scary show. Funny thing is, she doesn't really know what that means and I'm not sure where she picked up that idea. So I put in Phantom of the Opera because it's kind of scary (or at least dark) and she loves music and dancing. I just skipped to the musical numbers. It held her attention longer than it has ever held Justin's.

Father and son chat. Henry talks almost as much as Sarah and that's a lot. And as a sidenote, Henry has Syme ears! They are as big as Sarah's.

This picture doesn't do it justice but Henry is quite the thumb-sucker. Usually when he's sleepy or bored he'll suck away at his hands. It's super cute but when I pull out the camera, out goes his thumb.

Last Saturday was my birthday. Justin got me a dozen cinnamon rolls (which I ate all day long) and these flowers which are still beautiful on my kitchen table. Is 28 old? I haven't decided.

He also got me a waffle cone maker. Did you know these existed? You can make your own waffle cones. At home. Any time you want. We've been having fun molding them into different shapes. This is my double-decker creation.

Cute baby with binky in his mouth.

Cute baby that just spit out his binky.

Either my baby has a big head or Carter's doesn't know how to make hats.

I promise Sarah's hair does get done and her face gets cleaned, just not when I'm taking pictures apparently.

Me: Sarah, we're going outside. Do you want your shoes on?
Sarah: No, just toes.

She loves to have conversations. "Mom, come in here and talk to me about your birthday." She also likes to review her day with me. "Remember when (something something) and you were really mad?" Or "Remember yesterday and blah blah blah and I was crying?" (Sounds like there's lots of drama around here.) She still talks about when I was in the hospital with Henry and she came to get me. She goes crazy for Henry. She calls him Baby Boy and kisses his nose and says "You don't need to cry about it" in a soothing tone.

Here's a video from June 9. (Notice sleeping Henry...he never does that anymore.) I meant to post it then but didn't so enjoy it now. I like how her mind works. But I don't like how much she's already changed since this.

Little Brothers, Big Sisters

2011-09-03T12:02:00.001-06:00

1987:

This is a picture of my little brother Thomas and I. I think this was just after my awesome self-given haircut. It better be. I don't know how else to explain my short bangs.

2011:

I tried to recreate the photo using my own kids. But Sarah wasn't torturing Henry like I must have been torturing Thomas.

******

Sarah isn't a violent kid. She never acts out physically and she rarely hits or throws things when she's mad. So you can imagine how it surprises us to hear her violent vendetta against Rapunzel.

Sarah on Wednesday: Rapunzel is in her car and she's gonna come over and I will hit her on the head with my blue pan and hide her in this closet.

And again on Friday: Later I will eat my goldfish crackers and hit Rapunzel and hide her in the closet. Mom you need to move your vacuum.

Me: Why?

Sarah: So I can fit Rapunzel in the closet.

Now I konw that's a strikingly similar recreation of the movie but she hasn't watched the movie in months and she has quite the delightful look in her eye when she describes her plan.

When her feet are sweaty, she says they are soggy. And when they get wrinkly in the bathtub, she says they are sprinkly. I could write down everything she says becuase it's all a little ridiculous in one way or another.

Dancy Pants

2011-08-29T20:42:00.004-06:00

This post is mostly about Sarah but I just had to throw in this picture of Handsome Henry. I kiss his face a lot.

At some point every day, Sarah declares, "I need to dance." Then she goes upstairs and puts on whatever dress strikes her at the moment. In this outfit she says she's a ballerina wearing a crown. I need to get a video of her "dancing". It's really her prancing from the kitchen to the living room while singing "Just a spoon full of sugar" at the top of her lungs. She then bows and tells us to clap. She told me she danced and sang in her nursery class yesterday "but my teacher didn't clap."

This morning at 7:30, I awoke to Sarah at the side of my bed wearing only her diaper, a dress in hand. She needed help getting it on. This was taken later today and is the third of 4 dresses she has worn today. She wanted to wear her blessing dress and cried when I wouldn't help her put it on. She compromised by wearing the bonnet. She looks like a milkmaid or a Dutch girl.

Picking vegetables with dad. Anyone need any tomatoes?

She watches the neighborhood kids get on the bus every morning so we've been talking about school a lot. She'll tell anyone who will listen that she's going to school when she's 5 with her friends and mom will stay at home.

This is my favorite part of summer because all the kids are back in school so we can go to the park and the store without all the crazy kids. She wouldn't go near this splash pad last summer. Today she cried when we left and didn't care that she was shivering.

My favorite Sarah quote of the day: "I'm going to drive in the silver truck when I'm big and you're going to be little and I will buckle you in your carseat. And we'll go to the park and I'll get you out of your buckles."

She will also tell anyone who will listen that her birthday is "Tober tebby-seven" and ask them when their birthday is and what kind of cake they want. We love birthdays around here.

If I didn't already love him like crazy....

2011-08-17T14:26:00.000-06:00

this picture would seal the deal. Happy 3 months, Henry.

20 Questions

2011-08-13T18:11:00.001-06:00

As soon as Sarah heard the shower turn off, she was at my bathroom door.
Sarah: Are you all done in the bathroom?
Me: Almost, just drying off.
Sarah: Are you all done?
Me: Almost.
Sarah: Are you all done in the bathroom?
Me: I am just drying off.
Sarah: Are you all done?
Me: Sarah, I already answered you!
Sarah: You did?

Sarah asks non-stop questions all day long. Her favorite is "What are you doing?" It drives me the most crazy when I'm doing things she's seen me do a thousand times like putting dishes in the dishwasher or picking up around the house. No, I take that back, it drives me the most crazy when I'm driving. "What are we doing?" I hear that anytime I stop at a stop sign or red light, slow down because someone is turning or waiting for cars to pass. At least she's learning the traffic rules.

It's a good thing she's cute.

Speaking of cute.....here are some more.

This is up American Fork Canyon last weekend. I don't feel like camping with a newborn but I needed my campfire and smore fix so we went up for the evening.

Sarah eating goldfish crackers sitting in her doll stroller while inside her cardboard house. Childhood is precious.

Henry likes tummy time for about 5 seconds.

I don't think I'll ever have a chubby baby like I've always dreamed. But I love what I can get.

This pretty much captures how they play together. Silliness meets tolerance.

It's getting super easy to get Henry to smile. Just talk to him and his face lights up. It's a real self-esteem booster.

You know, I really believe God made babies cute so we'd want to take care of them. And then He made their cries the most grating sound in the world so we actually would.

Henry's latest, greatest accomplishment

2011-08-03T09:22:00.000-06:00

Henry slept a record-breaking 10 1/2 hours last night!
Don't ask me what I'm doing, what books I'm reading or what schedule he's on. I'm doing none of that. The accomplishment is all his. He is just a kick-butt sleeper (at night).

The Great Outdoors and Such

2011-08-01T14:30:00.002-06:00

Do you feel that panic at the end of July/beginning of August like I do? That summer is almost over? Retailers don't help with their "back to school" ads coming out right after Independence Day. Justin has been feeling it more than me and is making the most of every last weekend until he has to go back to school. And by "making the most of it", I mean trying his hardest to live in the mountains.

But first, what I wanted to do all summer, Mapleton's Pioneer Day celebration. Pancake breakfast, parade, games, fireworks. Feels like summer.

The first 10 minutes of the parade are every automobile that Mapleton owns that has a siren. It gets a little old, especially if you have kids with sensitive ears.

We took Sarah to play a few games at the park. It feels like a big ward party. Keeping with the pioneer spirit, all the games are cheap and simple like this classic fishing pole game.

Sarah's favorite was giving the lady a ticket and picking a sucker. Everyone's a winner.

The fireworks that night were a-mazing. Better than Stadium of Fire for 2 reasons. 1. You don't have to go 5 hours early to get a spot and spend 2 hours getting home. And 2. You sit so close, ash lands on you. And you get to play with glo-sticks.

Justin took Sarah camping with his parents Sunday night. I don't know who was more excited to go, Sarah or Justin. She was so excited to go camping and sleep in a tent. He was excited to be in the mountains and fish. Sarah went fishing and even ate some fish. I missed her but it was kind of nice only to have Henry to take care of for 24 hours.

Wednesday my friend Tiana, brought over her twin boys. They were born a week before Henry but check out the size difference. They were so quiet and calm the whole time they were here. I thought Henry was a calm baby but he seemed like a spaz compared to them.

Friday we went to Scofield to go to the cabin and so Justin could fish again (and again and again). Sarah talks about the cabin all the time. The last time we went was in March and it was snowy and we went sledding and snowmobiling. Right before we headed out the door, Sarah ran to her room to get her hat and scarf. Then half-way there, she asked where her snowboots were. She had it in her mind that it was still snowy up there, it was so cute.

Eating pancakes with Papa Saturday morning. It was a long night. I started out trying to sleep in the bat room but the sounds of the bats creeped me out and there was no way I was staying, nevermind sleeping. So I made Justin and Henry move out to the loft. Henry grunts in his sleep a lot, like every 10 minutes so when Sarah woke up in her room, I went in to reassure her and ended up staying since it was so quiet. But then she woke up every hour or so to accuse me of things like eating her Starbursts or to whine about being thirsty or that her stomach needed a wipe (still figuring out that one). I lost track of time since there was no clock around but I'm pretty sure I got a solid hour of sleep at some point.

Sarah swung for like 20 minutes and would have kept going for who knows how long.

Henry was sad he couldn't swing.

Justin's massive splinter he pulled this out of his shin. That's what you get for fishing, I told him. I don't know why he's smiling since it was in there pretty deep and it hurt.

Sarah's new dress. Gotta love Target clearance. She's looking up at her dad which makes me love her smile that much more.

With only 4 weekends left, I've got to make sure I check off everything on my Summer To-Do list. All I can think of is see Cowboys and Aliens and eat corn on the cob and smores.

Henry's Blessing

2011-07-23T13:37:00.000-06:00

Sunday was Henry's blessing. Thank you to all that came and made it a special day. Henry was especially excited.

This is his 4-generation picture.

This is Sarah's second cousin Tanner. Tanner is moving this week so we thought we had better get a picture of these two together.

These are pictures of Henry and Sarah at about the same age. You'd think they were related....

I have cute babies.

2 Months Old

2011-07-14T20:29:00.001-06:00

Henry is 2 months old today. Justin thinks that time is just flying by. Sounds like Justin needs to get up in the night more.

He actually is a first-rate sleeper...at night. He sleeps 5-6 hours, eats, then sleeps 2-3 more. So of course his naps are suffering. He kind of naps mid-morning then he sleeps from 12-5pm if I take him for a ride then it's anyone's bet during the evening. Maybe he'll sleep between 5-9, maybe he won't.

This smile cracks me up.

This is his go-to expression for most of the day.

This photo also makes me smile but at the same time freaks me out. If I told you Sarah was heading out the door for kindergarten, would you belive me? What the heck happened to my toddler?

Last Friday we went up the canyon for a picnic. I don't know which I love more on her: my sunglasses or her neon green headband worn Jazzercize style.

"I'm going to Macey's to get an ice cream cone."

She puts her toys in timeout for not listening. Today Justin's football fell victim to her tough parenting and has been in the closet for 3 1/2 hours for not listening. (Just to be clear, she gets sent to the corner, not put in a closet.) This girl has crazy ideas.

Buckle up. This is a long one.

2011-07-09T15:22:00.000-06:00

I am just now getting around to posting our eventful 4th of July due to Sarah's surprise sickness. The night of the 4th, she woke up barfing at 1 am. I thought it was from too much fun and junk food so we bathed her, changed her sheets and blankets and put her back in bed. She threw up 20+ more times in the next 8 hours. After 5 changes of clothes, 3 changes of sheets/bedding, and 9 loads of laundry we figured it must be something a little more serious.
Here's Sarah Wednesday morning. After breakfast, she said she was cold so I told her to get a blanket behind the couch. She didn't come back and this is how I found her. She threw up 30 minutes later but seemed to be on the mend after that.

So to back up a week, Friday the 1st was Justin's brother Nate's wedding. Yes, 2 weddings in one summer for us. We've also got a baby blessing coming up and a mission farewell by September. We all decided to make the biggest life changes possible this summer, just to give Corey and Nadine the most stressful summer possible. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Waiting patiently for the bride and groom.

Nate was the first person after Justin and I that Sarah tolerated as an infant. He is still one of her favorites. And she loves Melissa so she could care less about her parents when she's got these two.

Our little family.

The brothers mocking Dallin that he doesn't have a wedding ring. He leaves on his mission in September so in 2 1/2 years he should have it.

After the luncheon but before the reception, Braden and Kristen went with us to the Living Planet Aquarium. I've wanted to go for a long time and since we had some time to kill up in Sandy and Sarah is free for just a few more months, we went. Sarah was so excited to see the penguins. When we got her out of the car, Justin told her to leave the blanket in the car. She said, "Yeah, or the penguins will eat it."

Sorry for the red eyes, Kristen. Henry doesn't nap like he used to so I've got to be quick.

I don't remember what is in this tank. Fish, I'd bet.

Huge lobster.

Seahorses [Side story: When I was 22, Justin and I were nursery leaders in our ward. One of the kids wanted me to read them a book about sea creatures. I read it to him and thought to myself, "I don't know if seahorses are real or not. How can I be an adult with a college degree and not know if seahorses are mythical animals are not?"]
Well in case anyone else has doubts, they are real.

Yucky octopus.

Pretty friendly stingrays. Stingrays are the puppies of the sea. I made that up.

The beloved penguins. Sarah ran back twice to see them again and we had to make a special trip to say good-bye before we left.

I think she would love to have a pet penguin. But not an emperor penguin. It could knock her over.

Wedding reception. After the aquarium, we were pretty tired by this point. Sarah looks like a Sugarplum Fairy.

Saturday morning I woke up with a sugar hangover. Dang all you can eat cupcakes and icecream at the reception. I really didn't do much that day. Sunday was Dallin's 19th birthday so we went to Justin's parents' house along with most of his mom's side of the family. We played 9 Square and I'm sorry to say I didn't get any pictures of it. It's 4 Square on steroids. The king square is in the center and it is stressful to be king, just like in real life.

Monday we went on a hike up Payson Canyon. We hiked up the Grotto Trail. It was a short and easy hike with some bridges over water. Perfect for me carrying Henry in a pack and for Sarah. My mom, sister Rachel and her husband Kenny and their boys Tyler and Zack came too.

Afterwards we found a nice shady spot higher up and ate a picnic lunch. Sarah likes Bugles on her fingers.

Gosh I hate Bugles.

Later that day we went back to Justin's parents and ate 4 different kinds of steak, chicken and brats. We played 9 square and ate cheesecake and had an Independence Day themed FHE. By then it was really stormy so we didn't do fireworks. But when I put Sarah to bed, we could see fireworks going off all over the valley from her window. I like this new fireworks law. I think we saw more than 20 fireworks go off at nearly the same time from Provo to Payson. And then she woke up a few hours later and puked her guts out. I will just finish where I began. Thank you for reading.

What do those Dye kids do all day??

2011-06-30T12:14:00.002-06:00

Sarah helped Justin adjust the sprinklers (or sprinkles, as she calls them). It turned into a waterfight as any good activity with dad does.

Henry is growing so fast. It must be because he sleeps and eats so much. Once in a while he'll sleep 6 hours straight at night. I love him so much when he does that and I tell him so to encourage him to keep it up.

We hiked up Maple Canyon. That was a rough hike, especially since I couldn't see my feet over the Snugli carrier I was wearing with Henry in it. Justin and Sarah are good looking. Those two did much better and went on ahead without me.

I sometimes wonder if Sarah thinks Henry is just another one of her dolls. He just happens to move and cry. She picked out his outfit and insisted that these shoes that are ginormous on him were just what he needed.

Justin and I left Sarah and Henry in the next room alone. When we came back in, this is what we found. He's so lucky to have a big sister.

We went to the park for a little while but left because it got too hot. Sarah is all about the climbing.

Henry finally smiled last week! I was so excited. I think I want my kids to smile more than any other milestone. I can't get a good picture of it yet because he's too unpredictable and quick for me. But here's some good expressions.

I bought a big stack of puzzles at a garage sale. Sarah is obsessed with puzzles. Ask her what she wants to do today. "Do puzzles."

See how happy she is? She's doing a puzzle.

One Month Old

2011-06-14T15:50:00.000-06:00

You know the feeling. You go back and forth between "I can't believe he's already a month old," versus "He's only a month old? Feels like I've had him forever."

Henry slept a 4 hour stretch last night! Crazy the things you're grateful for when you have a newborn.

I love these kids. Especially right now when they are napping at the same time.

Braden and Kristen's Wedding (plus pics of kids of course)

2011-06-10T15:29:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday Justin's brother Braden got married in SLC. Here are Braden and Kristen newly hitched.

Sarah said, "She has a pretty dress." about a thousand times.

Here are my kids before leaving for the reception that night. This is the best smile Sarah would give me. She was watching Land Before Time and wouldn't give me her full attention.

Pretty flower girl.

Any time anyone would compliment Sarah, she'd reply "I have a pretty dress."

This is Sarah's second cousin, Dustin. He's a way cute kid.

No one took the initiative to decorate the car. Justin and his brothers thought Braden's friends would do it. They were wrong. So we did it last minute with the fruit dip left over. It turned out pretty good.

Henry seems to be changing so much. Every day he looks a little different to me. He's also growing so fast, I swear you can see it happening. There are outfits that were big on him 3 weeks ago that fit snugly now. It's kind of sad that he will only wear things 2 or 3 times before I have to put them away.

Handling 2 kids isn't as bad as I thought. It helps that Henry is a pretty good baby. Well, he may just be normal but after the nightmare that was Sarah's infancy, he seems like a walk in the park. He is a really good eater and still sleeps a lot. During the day, he stays awake for only an hour at a time and then naps for 2 or 3 hours. He gets pretty fussy in the evening and is awake for 3 hours or so straight but once I get him calmed down and asleep, he's good for the night and only wakes up to eat and goes right back to sleep. I hope as his little tummy gets bigger, he'll wake up less often at night. When Sarah was this age, she wouldn't sleep more than 15 minutes at a time unless I was holding her, day or night, so she was nuzzled right up to me all night long. And at least once a night, we'd have to blast music, turn on the bathroom fan or do some bouncing to get her to stop crying and back to sleep. Henry doesn't mind one bit being alone or being put to bed drowsy but awake. I can't believe how different babies can be. It makes me less worried about every little thing I do. Most of what I do doesn't make a bit of difference at this age. I felt like I must be doing everything wrong with Sarah because she was such a pill. But she was just a pill because she was a pill.

She's an angel now so I wish I wouldn't have stressed so much and wished her infancy away.

She's the best big sister. She's so stinking cute with Henry. (Well sometimes she drives me crazy because she won't back off when I want her to.) Even if he's screaming his guts out, she'll kiss him and talk so sweetly to him. "It's okay Henry. You can stop crying. Just go to sleep." She's a really good example to me not to lose my cool when he is really fussy.

Things Sarah says all the time, mostly at random times: "Mom, you have two kids?" "Punqwa's your dad?" (that's how she says grandpa) "Hi handsome" (to Henry) "Rachel is your sister." "Grandma is stuck at the cemetary?" (On Memorial Day, my brother's car broke down at the cemetary. Sarah heard about it and still talks about it like they are all still stuck there, even though she saw them come home.)

2011-06-01T16:57:00.002-06:00

Henry had his 2-week check-up yesterday. He now weighs 8 lbs 6 oz. That's a 2 pound weight gain in 17 days. Let's hope he doesn't keep up this pace. My back is already tired.

And hooray for being married for 5 years! We ate at the Bombay House in Provo and got Blizzards from Dairy Queen (We're pretty fancy people) and got back to my Mom's just in time for me to feed Henry again.

I don't have a weed whacker so I was using scissors to cut the grass along my flower bed. Sarah wanted to help. This kept her occupied for awhile and she has asked to do it every day since.

My goofy girl.

My goofy kids. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see them together. For the first week of Henry's life, Sarah couldn't go into the NICU so it was so frustrating and unnatural that my kids weren't together. So even when one or both are crying and I feel overwhelmed, I relish in the feeling of being completely in over my head because it means my family is together.

I love how tiny Henry is.

Henry is Home!

2011-05-21T20:00:00.002-06:00

Henry and I came home yesterday from our week-long visit to the NICU. The picture in the previous post is from his second day of life. This is how he looked hours after he was born.

His umbilical was tightly wrapped twice around his neck and during delivery the cord tore and he lost a lot of blood. He also had a hole in his lung. I held him for 10 seconds before they whisked him away to NICU. He required a blood transfusion and the doctors extracted air collecting outside his lung by inserting a needle into his side. He was a very weak and sick little baby and though no one put it into these words, he could have died.

We were relieved to see him like this Sunday morning.

This is our first time holding him for reals.

This is Sarah's first time seeing her baby brother. "She's so cute" she kept saying. We are still telling her "He Sarah. Say he."

The majority of our week was spent getting him strong enough to nurse to sustain himself. I lived in a motel-like room on the NICU floor so I could nurse him day and night all week. They wouldn't let him go home until he could eat 45 ml every 3 hours for 24 hours. We started off at 9 ml on Tuesday and the poor guy didn't have enough in him to nurse again until 6 or 8 hours later. After a lot of tears, prayer, water, and nursing, he was averaging 62 ml when we left Friday morning.

"I have to go back. I have to bring Henry home," I told Sarah one night before returning to the hospital after a short visit home. I can't even begin to describe the weight of the mantel put on my shoulders to get Henry better. He and I did it. Not without a lot of prayers and support from others but it was definitely our fight. He is my teeny little super guy.

When the attending physician told me we could go home yesterday morning, I really wanted to give him a high-five. "We did it." I said, through held-back tears. He is nearly a pound heavier than when he was born, has no lasting effects, is on no medication, and the hole in his lung healed on its own. All follow-up will be through is pediatrician. I can't take credit for any of that. I can't really take credit for anything.

Here's where I'd like to think Henry's life really begins.

He's Here!

2011-05-15T16:24:00.000-06:00

Henry Justin Dye. Born May 14. 6 lbs, 6 oz, 19 1/4 inches long.

I'm in love.

Quality Assurance

2011-05-11T19:56:00.000-06:00

Sarah has been very interested in the baby stuff I pulled out of storage. She also feels the need to test everything out.

She's grown a tad since she last tested it.

She's tried to climb into the bassinet and infant carseat and open the new binkies. She slept with tiny baby diapers in her hands a few nights ago and she won't leave a pair of his shoes in his closet. What's she going to do with the actual baby??

Pregnancy Brain

2011-05-06T14:48:00.000-06:00

I have a major case of pregnancy brain. Last night when I returned something to a store, the clerk asked for the last 4 digits of my phone number. Without hesitation, I rattled off 4 numbers, but it wasn't mine or anyone else's phone number. 4 random numbers just came out and it sounded weird and like a lie as I said it. I was too embarrassed to correct myself so I just let it go. This baby better be dang smart because he is taking all my braincells.

I've been busy with tons of little tasks and projects I want to get done before the baby comes. On my to do list are chores like clean the car and stroller but also fun things like make Italian Buttercream Frosting and go to a movie. After that I'll feel ready. Maybe.

So I am just getting around to posting Easter pictures. I thought about skipping over it but since I haven't taken any other pictures since, might as well.

Here are Sarah and her cousins ready to go with their baskets. Sarah looks so tiny. Russel is 7 months older than her and Brooke is 2 1/2 months older. Her 5th percentile in height sure is evident in this photo.

She was so focused on picking up plastic eggs that she put this bubble necklace right back down.

Checking out the loot. I think she liked opening the eggs as much as eating the candy. Almost.

I don't know why she is crouching. I have a dozen pictures of this pose because she crouched like this forever in her Easter dress before church. I love little girls in Easter dresses.

In other news, Justin is taking his first summer off in 3 years. He went to school from August 08 until this past April without a break. That's 33 months straight and all of Sarah's life for those of you counting at home. It will be nice to have him around more this summer before he heads back for his final 2 semesters. He started a new position with his work last month. He commutes to Draper everyday which is a bummer for time and gas money but he really likes his job and the office much better than in Lindon. And with all this extra time and energy, he plans on finishing the basement so hopefully next winter I won't have to bundle up to check my email.

Sarah's new thing is asking for all the details about what we're doing, where we're going, what other people are doing, what's going on, etc.

"Where are we going?"

"To the grocery store."

"What's something else?"

"Uh, we're going to buy milk."

"What's something else?"

"And cheese." This goes on and on until I've recited my entire shopping list.

Then it starts all over again and she'll ask where we're going. I've learned to ask her instead. "Where are we going, Sarah?"

"To Macey's. And buy cheese, and milk, and yogurt, and chicken, and crackers....."

She isn't satisfied with a simple, "we're going home and getting ready for bed". She wants to hear that we're going home and putting on jammies, brushing her teeth, turning on her lamp, turning on her nightlight, reading stories, turning off her lamp, singing songs and saying good-night. Can you tell she likes predictability and routine? Just like her mom so all the questions don't bother me too much. Let's hope she handles the disruption of a baby in the house well. I'm praying I do.

Let the Countdown Begin!

2011-04-22T14:13:00.000-06:00

Justin will graduate in one year from now from grad school. I can see the end of the tunnel! And I am officially in my final month of this pregnancy. Sorry no baby belly pictures. I don't do that. What I have been doing is finishing up all these sewing projects I've wanted to do. If I remember correctly, finding time to sew was pretty hard when Sarah was a baby so I've been making anything I thought I might want to make in the next several months now...while I can.

With leftover fabric from the baby's quilt, I made these soft stacking blocks, a stuffed fabric beachball and carseat strap covers. Sarah knocked off the blocks with a measuring spoon right after I took this picture. She doesn't like them. I found a tutorial online.

For the reversible carseat strap covers, I just traced the ones I bought for Sarah. Just super soft fabric with batting in between and bound with bias tape. They are pretty much hotpads with velcro.

I love this ball. I stuck 3 jingle bells in the middle so it makes sound when you throw it. It's soft enough to not do too much damage when we accidently bonk the baby with it plus it's ready to absorb lots of slobber. This ball tutorial was way easy to follow and it only took like an hour and half. (If you don't count the hour I spent trying to get a good jingle sound.) Note: A bell in an easter egg didn't work. Neither did bell in a squashed popcan nor pocket made out of a soupcan. 3 big jingle bells on a loop of string worked best.

On an unrelated note, if you leave your shoes in my living room for any length of time, a certain 2-year-old in residence will pull the laces out for you. Consider yourself warned.

And I like her. While we were driving to Macey's this morning, she kept yelling "Best day ever!" (She's watched Tangled every day for the past week.) When she wants to look for a snack in the fridge, she'll say, "I want some something." And her word for grandpa is "Punkwa" now. It used to be something much closer to grandpa. I like Punkwa better.

When You're 2....

2011-04-18T21:14:00.000-06:00

Everything is worth crying over.

The desire to pour the milk from the gallon jug is overwhelming. The desire to pick your own spoon up off the floor is nonexistent.

Fruit snacks, bedtime stories, and one more time down the slide are mandatory. Pants, naps, and vegetables are optional.

"No! I do it!" and "I love you, Mom" can be spoken in the same breath.

I'll be honest, I thought we were going to get off easy for the terrible two's, since up until a couple of weeks ago Sarah was a piece of cake. Well that was nice while it lasted.

Here are some moments when Sarah wasn't screaming or running away from me.

She will try her pedals more often now. I try to show her other kids riding their bikes to inspire her.

I bought this Easter paint set at the dollar store. Sarah loves it. It is a real test of my patience as I try to keep her from mixing colors, getting paint on the table, helping her paint more than just one tiny area of the bunny. Perhaps I should have heeded the 5+ advice.

I took this picture to remember her cute braids. I'm posting it to showcase her big beautiful eyes.

Okay....she can be sweet.

Remember that one day when it was spring?

2011-04-05T20:55:00.001-06:00

The third best thing about being a parent is showing your kids fun stuff you liked to do yourself as a child. (First place-hearing "I lub you Mom" and second place-watching all the adorable things things they do.)

In the morning of our awesomly warm day last Friday (shouldn't every day be sunny with a high of 72?), I told Sarah we were going outside (or "upside" as Sarah calls it) to do a fun activity. Nope, not ride your bike. Nope, not shake the tree. Nope, not push the empty stroller, smell the neighbors' big rock or step on dried worms.

Sidewalk chalk.

She asked a dozen times, "Mom, wha ma ma doing?" which means, "What am I doing?", which she says when she wants you to ask her what she's doing so she can tell you.

She doesn't draw more than just little scribble lines but she took it very seriously.

Later that day we went to Canyon View Park for a picnic dinner and to feed the ducks. We got a book from the library about feeding ducks and Sarah was so excited and talked all day about how when Dad got home, we were going to feed the ducks. And I had been throwing the ends of our bread loaves into the freezer for weeks to get ready.

There was not one stupid duck at the duckpond! I was so disappointed. Sarah handled it better than me but she kept watching the pond for them which made my heart break. So we ate our dinner quickly and left to find a duckpond with ducks.

And we did. Like a half-mile from our house. These ducks were so used to being fed by people that they would eat right out of Sarah's hand if she would have let them. Justin and I had to throw bread away from Sarah to keep the ducks at bay. Sarah definitely experienced duck feeding that day.

You know how every pond has an "odd duck" of the group? The one with special needs or doesn't quite get what the humans throwing bread right at their beak are trying to do? I always try to find that one and make sure it gets it's fair share of bread. I couldn't find that duck because this dang duck was such a bully and would peck at the other ducks while they ate their bite. No wonder it was so fat.

So that's pretty much the highlights of our life. Justin is back home safe and sound so I'm happy and less nervous sleeping at night. I did get used to sleeping in the middle of the bed with all the pillows tucked around me but I was willing to give all that up to have Justin back. Marriage is about sacrifice, you know.

This Day in History

2011-03-24T17:13:00.000-06:00

Friday, March 24, 2006

Justin asked me twice earlier that day while I was at work what my plans were that night. I should have been suspicious since we were well past the point of knowing we were hanging out every spare moment, especially on a Friday night, and second, Justin planned ahead maybe 3 dates our entire courtship.

Nonetheless, I tried not to look too much into this rare moment of planning as to not get my hopes up that he would propose. Since I had known we were going to get married by like our 3rd date, like 8 months before, this was a long time coming.

I spent extra time picking out my outfit (Shannon, thanks again for letting me borrow your purple shirt) and making sure my hair was just right. He showed up at my apartment door with a bandana and a motorcycle helmet. Sigh.

We rode up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls. But instead of directly walking the path to the falls, Justin kept trying to stall me. Like by suddenly lying on the dirt and asking for his picture taken.

And then asking to take my picture while still lying down.

Then taking 10 tries to get a good shot of both of us.

Finally he seemed satisfied enough and we continued down the path. We rounded a corner and I noticed a pinata in the tree but didn't think anything of it as other people walked past it and paid no mind. As we got closer, Justin stepped ahead and grabbed a baseball bat leaning against the tree. I almost shouted for him to stop, to leave someone else's pinata alone, but when I saw the look on his face, I figured it was for me.

I wish I could tell you I smashed the tar out of that thing but I don't honestly remember if it was difficult to get open or not. Wait, I do remember the bottom half came off but the head was still attached with stuff inside so I had to keep whacking.

When Justin was confident I had sufficiently dismembered the bird or whatever animal it was, we began picking up all the candy (Easter candy, my favorite) and I was worried he had put a loose diamond ring in the pinata now possibly lost in the dead grass and leaves.

I spotted a larger piece of candy but to add to the suspense and to make sure he saw me see it, I waited before picking it up. It was a ring pop with a paper attached that read "The second best I could do." (I still have it.)

I looked over at him and he was on his knee, holding an open box with a beautiful ring inside (I should mention he picked out the ring all by himself. I would only help by providing my ring size). I don't even remember how he phrased the question. I was just waiting for the pause so I could say "Yes!", hug him, and put the ring on.

His hair is so long, mine so blond.

A kindly passerby took this picture for us. I remember a few people asking, as we were cleaning up, if he had proposed or something.

We went to dinner afterwards (Ottavios was it? Sheesh, the things you swear you'll never forget). I remember wanting to wait until the morning to break the news to the world. I liked that the two of us were the only ones to share the news. Well besides his friend and family that helped him out. 2 months and 2 days later, we were hitched. (I just realized I don't have this story written down anywhere so thank you blogger.)

Justin is far, far away from me right now and I miss him like crazy. We should hang out Justin, when you get back. Love Di.

We're still here.

2011-03-18T15:04:00.001-06:00

I haven't posted in a while mostly because of 3 reasons. 1. Our computer is in our unfinished basement which is pretty cold so I don't like being down here for lengthy periods. 2. I'd rather take a nap and 3. Sewing the blanket for Baby-Who-Has-Yet-To-Be-Named has taken up much of my free time when not napping. But the blanket is now done, it's sunny thus slightly warmer down here and if I hurry, I can still get in a good nap before Sarah wakes up.

I like any picture with Sarah and her dad. Especially ones where she looks so tiny.

We got this step stool for Sarah to use in the bathroom to brush her teeth and someday to get herself up to the toilet. Instead it is in the kitchen all the time and this is all it is used for.

We went to Scofield a couple of weeks ago. This is the first and probably last time we got Sarah into her snowsuit all winter. We had to bribe her with candy. She didn't care for sledding. Her favorite thing to do was ask everyone if they were all right after sledding, tubing, or snowboarding down the hill.

Another outfit picked out by Sarah. She has on a t-shirt, a dress, a sweater, track pants and the diaper cover that matches that dress. And yes, I took her to the store like that. I'm hoping strangers assume she's the one that picked out her clothes.

I got a double jogging stroller so we just had to make a little house out of the box. For the first couple of days, Sarah watched TV and took all her meals inside the house. Then I moved it to the corner of the room and she kind of forgot about it.

Here's the baby's quilt. Justin says it needs like 20 more yard markers and isn't quite to scale to a true football field. There's some disagreement whether it is a football field in quilt form or a quilt design inspired by a football field. Since I dreamed, designed, sewed and slaved over it, I'm telling you: it's the latter. It took me forever to make since I had to wait for the fabric to go off sale to use my 50 percent off coupons and then only 1 per week. And since I had to do all the math, that slowed me down too. Plus I did the binding all by myself by hand so that seemed to take forever but I'm pretty pleased. Now I just need a baby boy to spit up on it.

In other baby-related news, I've got 9 1/2 weeks left (yes, I'm counting half weeks) and I sure hope my skull survives. I've had horrible, chronic headaches for the past 2 weeks or so. Headaches that make me want to smack my had against the wall because that would feel better than the throbbing in my brain. My doc gave me some Tylenol with codeine which resulted in some strange hallucinations involving Sarah coming into my bedroom and watching me sleep (in reality she was asleep in her room, I was dazed and confused) or not being able to sleep at all. So I'm back to covering my head and neck in bags of frozen corn and leaving the mild opiates to the thrill-seekers. But other than that, I'm healthy, right on track and the baby is getting big and kicking for extra space.

Justin leaves for the Dominican Republic Monday night. He'll be gone for 9 days with his study-abroad class. Don't ask me what he's doing there exactly and he'll be mad that I don't know since we've talked about it a lot. I have no memory or cognitive thinking skills as of late. He better bring me back something cool.

And here's a cute video of Sarah.

Oh, and we got her a trike last week. She loves it even though she doesn't do it right and it drives me crazy. She'll try peddling for like 2 seconds and then say, "No, I'll walk" which means scoot along while sitting and getting her shoes caught on the peddles and back wheels.

Feel the Love

2011-02-23T22:07:00.001-07:00

For Valentine's Day Sarah and I made cinnamon rolls. She loves to cook with her pretend food so you can imagine how excited she is to handle the real thing. She was hilarious while I rolled out the dough later that day. She couldn't help herself snitching bites of raw dough. I'd get after her and she'd act sorry but then her hand would ever so slowly pinch off another piece.

Heading out to dinner for Valentine's Day. It's a family day for us. When we got home we surprised Sarah with some Valentine's candy and some dress-up shoes.

The cinnamon rolls turned out good but I shouldn't have copped out and used canned frosting. Canned frosting knocks any baked good down a few notches. Justin got me a 1.9 lb bag of Sour Patch kids that hilariously said it has 21 servings on it. I could eat that in a day. I'm not, but I could. And he got me some cold medicine. I couldn't have felt more loved.

Saturday we went to the Bean Museum. It had been a year since we last went and Sarah loved running around then. This time she looked at the animals more but still ran around. That thing in her hand is a baby hat she thinks is a purse.

Apparently one of the animals was yucky. No wait, that's her camera smile.

She's actually smiling! I can't believe how grown up she seems lately. Maybe it's her big-girl bed or that she learns like 10 new words every day but I feel like she's not a baby anymore. She now puts herself to sleep for her nap (which is awesome) and is all-around wanting to be more independent. She is so dang happy and polite. I sang her a song before her nap today and she clapped and said, "Good job Mommy." She says please and thank you for everything and "I'm sorry" way more than is necessary. I could feel proud and think that I am doing such a good job teaching her manners but she's much nicer than me so this is all her. But I can't keep her from licking my face when I ask for a kiss. And she thinks it's a game to sit on my stomach really hard, laugh about it and say "I squishing the baby." Keeps me humble.

I've been making a quilt for the baby and she always wants to help. So instead of pushing the back-stitch lever on my machine when I don't want her to, I let her do some embroidery. She loves it! This kept her occupied for over an hour. She poked herself a few times but kept on going and is a natural.

The finished piece. Well I'm sure she'll want to add more tomorrow.

I like her. She loves to sew and cook with me one minute and play cars and watch basketball with dad the next.

Believe it or not, this face was her response to my request to smile.

I've got 3 more months to go! My back is already killing me and I'm cursing our 2 flights of stairs. I don't know why I feel so much more worn out this time around. I have a feeling chasing a 2-year-old all day compared to having a desk job has something to do with it.

No pretty smile. Just cheese.

2011-02-11T14:28:00.001-07:00

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you know that I have a hard time getting a picture of Sarah without her scrunching up her entire face. This is how that struggle goes.

Vegas, Sarah, and More Sarah

2011-02-07T21:43:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, Justin and I went to Las Vegas. For his birthday, I got him tickets to see Aaron Lewis of Staind perform at some casino I had never heard of. The venue was small which made it all the more exciting to be sitting so close to the one and only Mr. Lewis. But for some reason the intimacy apparently gave license to all the other concert-goers to yell out requests, stupid comments and questions. And as the concert went on, the drunker the others got and the louder and more inane the shout-outs became. But other than that, Aaron rocked, he played a satisfying set and the buffet was delicious. You can't go to Las Vegas and not eat at a buffet, right? Right????

I like this picture because Sarah is so cute and happy.

And this one because she's so weird.

This is my second of many baby-related sewing projects. It took me 2 trips to the fabric store to decide on some non-nerdy yet boy appropriate fabric. Fabric designers need to come up with more boy patterns than trains and sports. Anyway, the project went smoothly until it came time to placing the straps on this crazy serpentine handle. I'm not going to tell you how many times I pinned and re-pinned to get it just right.

Sarah loves helping out in the kitchen. Here she is stirring the oj. She gave up about half-way. Can't say that I blame her. I've gotten tired of stirring orange juice myself.

Apparently Sarah just loves sitting on the floor. This is from last week and she ate her lunch there again today.

Maybe she just doesn't like the table. This is where she wanted to eat on Saturday.

As of last I checked, Sarah is sleeping in her new big girl bed! Or as she calls it, "gew bed." We're slowly getting her new room set up in preparation for the baby taking over her current room. So far we've got a twin bed and her nightstand and books in there and she couldn't be happier. We thought she'd like having a real bed since she loves playing on ours but I had no idea she'd be as excited as she was. We tried putting her there last night and she really wanted to stay but she was way over-tired and upset from being up too late that it didn't work out and she went back into her crib--which made her even more upset. And then I tried putting her there for her nap today but she was too excited to calm down enough to sleep, so back to her crib again. I think the novelty of it needs to wear off. But tonight we read books then I turned off the light, sang songs and tucked her in. She started to cry so I told her if she wanted to sleep in her big bed, she needed to stop crying. I closed the door and haven't heard a peep. Keep your fingers crossed she doesn't fall out. Her moose pillow on the floor should prevent any injury.

You have Obama to thank for this

2011-01-25T21:35:00.003-07:00

Since Obama pre-empted "The Good Wife", I am at the computer creating this wonderful, unplanned blog post instead.

The other morning, Sarah was playing in the living room when she declared she was "freezing." She dragged this queen-sized blanket over to the couch, snuggled under it and said, "Take my picture."

Feeling a bit cabin-fevered, I took her to the dollar store and got a few activities. Here's what we bought.

This is a Pooh matching game. We've already lost 2 cards but we keep lining them up anyway, over and over, day after day. (I promise we do get dressed....and I do clean my living room.)

Speaking of repetitive activities, Sarah looooves jigsaw puzzles. She got one for Christmas that she's done 100 times. Hold still long enough in our house and she'll ask you to do it with her. I bought her a couple more at the dollar store because Justin and I were getting so sick of the one she had. But I actually don't hate doing it with her a few times each day. She's really good at it and I like seeing her get better.

Before she noticed the camera.

After she noticed the camera.

She dances and sings all the time. She'll dance to anything resembling music and sing along to a song whether or not she knows the words. Heck, even if she's never heard the song before she sings along. And I hear her singing made-up songs to her toys or while she's playing by herself. Here she is "dancing."

At bedtime I ask what song she wants me to sing. The requests are usually what's going on in her mind at the moment. Some of the more difficult ones: doll song? candy song? book song? Mom song? Sarah song? fishing song? baby drink song? If I'm feeling creative, I'll adapt a song to fit in her requested topic or I'll make one up. It becomes really challenging when she wants me to repeat it and I don't remember what I just sang to her.

I got her this toy bottle so she can feed her baby doll. She didn't know what it was so I had to show her that it's for her doll. I could never get her to take a bottle as a baby and I guess she has never seen one in use much. She calls it "baby drink." I love her messy face and hair. What I wouldn't give to be 2 again.

I made this nursing cover today. It was pretty easy and only took me an hour and a half. I followed this tutorial.

I didn't have one of these with Sarah and got by just fine. I always used her blanket. But I decided that while nursing a baby all summer long, a blanket might get a little warm. Plus it only cost me $7 to make.

4 more months to go, as of yesterday. I feel like pregnancy is a terminal illness of sorts. I have 4 more months to get done all these projects and do all these things I want to do. Because in 4 months, my life ends in a way. I will enter another "baby year." A year of doing a little less in some ways and yet a ton more in others. While I am sooo excited to have another baby, I will have adjust again to not getting into the shower until the afternoon and it taking 2 days to fold a basket of clothes.

Those of you with more than one kid, which was harder, adjusting to the first or the second?

But I really shouldn't complain. I'm healthy, the baby's healthy and is punch-dancing his excitement to join our family as I type.

It's time for everyone's favorite game

2011-01-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

Making Sarah Say Funny Words.

This week's word: Scuttle. We got The Little Mermaid from the library. She thinks it's scary.

This is her "Farmer Jones" hat.

We are having a

2011-01-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

BOY!

Which was what I thought but you never can be sure until the tech points out his "unit" --his words, not mine.

Looks comfy, doesn't he?

Mele Kalikimaka

2010-12-28T21:51:00.001-07:00

Sarah has refused to wear hats since she was six months old...well until a couple of weeks ago. Now she's obsessed. This one is mine and she thought it was extra funny to wear.

Last Tuesday we went to Temple Square before we picked up Justin's family from the airport. Sarah loved running around, being outside, almost getting ran over by other people, and the lights. She ran around nodding her head and saying, "I like it."

She really wanted to touch all the lights. We let her a few times.

Sarah "playing" the Xbox with Dallin. She sat with him for like an hour. He got a kitchen chair to sit on and she got a kitchen chair too. I asked her if she was hungry and she said "No, I watching." Yikes. I'm glad we don't own video games.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house. The kids got out Headbands which is really one of the best games ever. But the game goes really slow when it's an 8, 7, 6, and 2 year old playing. I tried to help them form good questions but when your card is Alaska and you don't understand what a state is, I gave up.

Sarah's says Pentagon. She did not win.

We had the kids fish for their dollar store present -- primary party style. It was a big hit. They each got 3 presents and still wanted to fish so they were catching licorice, mini candy bars, packets of honey....

Jack wearing the hat Isabella caught. Sarah caught a pink one but wouldn't go near it.

Christmas morning. Justin got individual shots of his family coming into the living room that I am very tempted to post. But since I don't want to make any enemies, I'll leave them off.

Sarah didn't want to put down her Kitkat while she opened a present from her stocking. Smart kid. Note to self: 2-year-olds are good with dollar store stickers and a slinky for Christmas.

Sarah got a pig Pillow Pet and a piggy bank. She loves pigs. And she got some farm animal bath toys that actually got her to sit down in the tub and play with. Talk about Christmas Miracles. Pretty much anything that has to do with farm animals and baby dolls she loves. She also got a sled but won't put on her snow suit. She got 5 DVD's but we've watched she same one 5 times, pajamas she won't wear, a book she's not interested in, and a doll she takes everywhere.

Justin got her a box of microwave popcorn. She wanted to eat it for breakfast. I relented but made her eat her Flintstone vitamin so I feel okay about it. And she got that big bottle of water in her stocking too. She would take a bottle of water over a can of soda, any day.

Here she is with her new baby doll. She plays with all kinds of toys but her dolls are close to her heart. I think she's going to love having a real baby in the house.

The pillow pig and baby doll are now part of her bedtime entourage. That makes a doll in each arm, Little People Farmer Jones and Mike the Fisherman in each hand and the pig pillow under her head. Her blanket (aka Bye, as in rock-a-bye) as covers and another blanket if we can sneak it on without her noticing.

Justin M. Dye, B.S.

2010-12-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

Justin finished his bachelor's degree this past week. I'm assuming his diploma is in the mail. Since BYU doesn't hold December graduation and he begins his master's degree in 2 1/2 weeks, I've been trying to make this time in Justin's life memorable. So I made him go through a painful interview and and took his picture.

How does it feel to be graduated? If you could sum it up.

I never thought this day would come.

What's the number one lesson you've learned by earning your bachelor's degree? You know, a life lesson.

I don't know. Learning to get stuff done.

What's been the hardest part of going to school, working, being a dad, all at once?

Combination of everything. But I did do it, so take that.

If you could go back in time and meet the right-off-the-mission Justin, what would you say to him?

Quit working, take loans, atleast don't work full time. Wait to get married until after.

Is there anyone you'd like to thank?

My mom. That's all I can think of. My dad.....You I guess. For always making me sign up and for never once helping me with my engineering homework. Well you did help me with my English paper.

What are you going to do with your time off?

I hope to go rabbit hunting. I'd like to go fishing. Sleeping, play basketball.

Do you feel smarter?

Yeah. Like I couldn't see "first year me" doing this semester. But there was no dramatic moment.
How do you feel about your experience at BYU?

Pretty good. It would have been nice to spend more time on campus. Most of my professors were really good.

What's in the future? What are you future goals?

Masters degree and then sell my soul for money. Then I'm going to do everything to sell out. Live where I want to live. I want to own my own small engineering firm.

------------------------------------------------------------------

And those are her pj's that she's wearing as a jacket. A few minutes later, she had them zipped up over her clothes and wore them like that the rest of the day.

Sit back, relax, wait for Santa.

2010-12-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

I finished my Christmas shopping today. I got some really good deals on things I had my eye on. Plus all the gifts are wrapped and hidden away in my closet.

But I'm most proud that I did it all without setting foot inside Walmart.

Funny Kid

2010-12-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

I always say 1-year-olds are so much fun. And they are. But 2-year-olds are funny.

Another one of Sarah's outfits.

Sarah in a good mood:

Me: Sarah, you have a pretty face.

Sarah: Uh-huh.

Sarah in a bad mood:

Me: Sarah, you have a pretty face.

Sarah: (buries head in hands) No! No face!

I waited until Sarah was nearly 18 months for her to call me mom. 8 months later I am persuading her again. She figured out everyone else in the world calls me Di and she thinks she has come across a hilarious secret. "Di!" she yells in the morning from her crib.

I've been pretty good about correcting her but it is kind of funny. Sometimes I don't even notice and answer "what" without thinking. Last night I was in the living room, she was at the table in the kitchen eating cereal. She called me Di and I ignored her so she said "Mom" and once she had my attention, she said "Di" and laughed and laughed. This went on for awhile...I would ignore her until she said mom and then she'd say Di and giggle mischievously.

Randomly she says "Listen teacher" (Listen to your teacher) I must say this to her when I leave nursery.

We've been listening and singing Christmas songs the past couple of weeks. She already memorized Santa Claus is coming to Town, Jingle Bells, Must be Santa and Rudolph. This kid is a sponge. She can't say all the words but she tries. If I can ever get her to do it on camera, I'll post it.

Decorating the tree. Sarah loved it so much, she took the ornaments off the next day to do it again.

My baby can read. Well she likes to recite her favorite books along with me while we read. And she fakes it if she doesn't know the words. She has a second delay as she repeats what I'm saying right after I say it. It's pretty funny.

Monday she found this Glow-Worm in her basket of baby toys. She hasn't seen it since the batteries died 18 months ago. Now she rarely lets go of it. She calls it More Doll or Button since it has a button on its chest that makes it light up and play songs. I wonder what other baby toys I could wrap up and give her for Christmas......

And I'm a really bad mom and didn't get Sarah any gloves until the snow was crusty and half melted.

These are prints she made with the side of her hand.

For FHE Justin and I pick a picture on the Gospel Art book and talk about the story with Sarah. A few months ago I chose the Good Samaritan.

No matter what story we've done since then, Sarah always interrupts and asks for "ouie". She loves to look at this picture and tell us all the things that the beaten man needs. Food, water, bed, shoes, pants. And the Good Samaritan is "nice" and a "helper". And she gets so upset when we tell her it's time to put the book away.

Oh and here's a parenting moment that backfired. Here I am teaching Sarah to do a loogey. Well, she had done it before to copy Justin but she hasn't stopped doing it since this day, a couple of weeks ago. But now she's added the spitting part. Justin couldn't be prouder.

Baby Math

2010-11-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not exactly sure how this face

plus this face

can equal this face. But then again, my math skills are at a 10th grade level.

I wonder what will happen a second time around. We'll all find out May 2011.

Adventing

2010-11-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

I finished the advent calendar last night. Here's 3 weeks of my life. It took a lot of time but I had fun making it.

The idea came from HomemadeByJill who found it on this Inchmark blog. But I didn't do all the same ornaments that they did. Mouse ornament? Sick. And I made my car ornament after a Hotwheel car, a Syme family stocking tradition.

I had the idea of buying mini ornaments at the store if I didn't finish in time but technically I just needed to stay ahead of the calendar. But once I started, I discovered some of the ornaments went really fast, like the lights, so I'm done with time to spare.

So now all the ornaments are tucked in their pouches and the calendar is in the closet for another week. I kind of need a break from looking at it.

Here's a post.

2010-11-17T14:46:00.003-07:00

I haven't updated the blog in awhile since, as you can see, we've been really busy. No, she's not sleeping; she's watching the Prince of Egypt. I've finally gotten Sarah to branch out in her movie watching and it's been weeks since we've watched Mary Poppins. Yay! This week's movie du jour is the 1972 cinematic gem "Charlotte's Web" or "Piggy movie" as Sarah calls it.

Sarah's birthday was 21 days ago. These are two of her birthday balloons as of this morning. I had no idea getting balloons from Macey's was going to be such a long-term commitment.

What do we do other than watching Sarah's balloons die a slow death? Justin has been furiously busy with school. One more month and he will have his bachelor's all done. The respite will be short-lived as he starts the graduate program in January but I am proud of him and excited just the same.

I've been working on this awesome and time consuming project of a Christmas advent calendar. I'll post pictures when it's done but let's just say for now Sarah can't leave it alone--it's that cool. I'm pretty sure my children will fight over it when I die.

Sarah cracks us up all day, every day. She says "sorry" and "thank you" more times a day than I can count. She is way more polite than I taught her to be. Sharing is a completely different story. I blame her bad attitude on nursery.

Her Halloween candy is finally gone and I am so relieved. Candy was the first thing on her mind in the morning and the last thing at night. She wanted me to sing a song about candy the other night. I was at a loss.

Here's a little conversation we had:

Sarah: Mom help?
Me: What do you want?
Sarah: Canny.
Me: You want candy? (I was making sure I understood her)
Sarah: (shrugs shoulders) Sure.

Now that my battery and camera have been reunited, I may be taking more pictures now. The battery sat in the charger for 3 weeks so we should be good to go. I am soooo excited for Thanksgiving. I love food.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

2010-10-29T16:15:00.002-06:00

Wednesday my baby girl turned 2. When is a child no longer a baby? I keep extending the date by adding new benchmarks she has to reach. Walking? Nope. Talking? Nope. 1 year old? Nope. 2 years old? How about when she's potty-trained? Good, she's still a baby for a little while. Relief.

We started off her special day by having breakfast in the special Birthday Bowl.

Then we went to the mall with Kenzie and her kids, Malea and Isaac. They played in the playplace and then we got pretzels. That's what you get when your birthday is on a stormy day.

During her 40 minute nap (grrr) I managed to finish her cake. Pretty cool huh? The frosting was delicious. I bought it from Macey's bakery.

Justin brought home balloons for her. That would have been enough presents for her. She had to hold them while she folded her arms for the prayer and has barely let go of them since. She cried that night when I wouldn't let her take them to bed. Notice the cool red Birthday Plate.

Super excited to open presents.

She was pretty much a spaz all day. It must have been all the treats.

She caught onto opening presents pretty quick considering it had been since last Christmas that she opened one. Maybe I'll post the video. Basically she stopped looking at was in the bags and just moved onto the next.

I love this sequence of pictures.

She got kind of nervous when we started singing.

But she knew just what to do.

The next morning we played with her new toys for a couple of hours. She is all about cooking and feeding her stuffed animals. She says "more salt?" dumps more in, tastes it then says "more salt?" She gets that from Justin.

She even put on her apron. Victory!

I came into the room and saw this. I told you she's obsessed with her balloons.

I took some pictures of her today in her new dress at my parents' house with their awesome new camera. It's way too complicated for me to figure out all the settings but I think we did pretty good on the auto-setting. And it helps to have a gorgeous little girl to photograph. I took 167 pictures (yikes). Here are of my favorites.

Okay, here's a bunch more since she's so dang cute.

Farewell to a chair

2010-10-21T14:33:00.000-06:00

I put Sarah's highchair away today. She would rather sit at the table now. But I'm kind of sad about it. She's sat in that thing every day since she was 4 months old. Here's a few of my favorite highchair moments. And since she's turning 2 next week, this will be a nice review of how dang cute she's been all these years.

"Sarah loud? Daddy loud? Mom loud?"

2010-10-08T14:38:00.001-06:00

This is Sarah's favorite game. She picks a person from Column A and says that they are something or has something from Column B. The possibilities are endless. She can go on for hours and hours. And the game just keeps growing in length as she learns more people's names and new words. In fact, when she learns a new word, she has to run it though everyone she knows.

Column A                                                        Column B
Sarah                                                                 Right back
Dad                                                                   Silly

Mom Nice

Nana Shirt

Papa Loud

Maga (Grandma)                                                Messy
Baka   (Grandpa)                                               Stinky
Nate                                                                   Arm
Braden                                                               At work
Dallin                                                                 At school
Zack                                                                   B-bye
Tyler                                                                  Scary
Indy (Justin's aunt's dog that she met once)          Heavy
Dosie (Josie Blume)                                             Stuck

She's into fake sneezing because she likes it when I say bless you. And she never misses saying "bessoo" when others sneeze.

I like this picture because she looks like a lion cub. A lazy lion cub.

I don't remember which video she's saying what. Since I do a lot for her, I don't feel guilty making her say things for my amusement. My favorites right now are "noodle" and "little". But I don't want to make her say it too much or she'll get better at it and then it will be boring.

And Meeoh is the wandering neighborhood cat. She calls for it whenever we are in the backyard and will follow it anywhere.

And it's been almost a month since she's seen her Grandma Nadine (Nana) but she talks about her every day. So Nadine, one of these is for you.

And I love how she counts. We've taught her ready, set, go but I think I like 9, 6, 9 better.

Sarah's favorite toy for a few days was this old paint can. She wanted to take it everywhere, even in the car. I threw it away when she was asleep.

I cut Sarah's sandwich into "fingers" just like my mom used to. I had to laugh at how Sarah nibbled at it.

Sarah really wanted to eat her breakfast while sitting in her rocking chair. This is the set-up she came up with. She ate all her oatmeal.

Watching the rain yesterday afternoon.

Well, I better get back to preparing my RS lesson. I've only taught primary so I'm not sure how to end a lesson without coloring and candy.....

More Fun with Bias Tape

2010-09-29T16:13:00.001-06:00

Bias tape makes everything better. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I just finished sewing this apron for Sarah's birthday next month. I didn't have a pattern but I had a good idea of what I wanted it to look like. So I just drew the shape on a paper sack and cut it out. With coupons and stealing thread and buttons from my mom, total cost $5. The neck strap buttons on so it is adjustable as she grows taller. It will be really long on her now.

Now if I can get her to wear it. She is very particular about what she wears and it's driving me crazy. She's seen it as I've been working on it and wasn't interested. Maybe in a month.

Sarah's Indian name should be Crazy Face

2010-09-15T15:55:00.008-06:00

I think I've posted enough pictures on this blog to prove that Sarah is quite adorable.

So I don't feel to bad teasing her publicly with some unflattering pictures. She's grown out of her stop-everything-and-run-to-the-camera phase. She will actually pose for a picture if I tell her to "hold still and say cheese." Sometimes she comes up with her own poses. And faces.

Like this pose. I wanted a picture of her awesome bed-head. I guess she thought the feet in the air were a nice touch.

She was no where near her toy box when she saw the camera but this is where she stopped and posed.

I asked her to smile. I don't know what this is.

And this face she started pulling a few days ago and I can't get her to stop. I say "cheese," I get this. What is this?

I may have to come up with a different command than 'smile' or 'cheese' because this is what I keep getting.

And to prove that she is also beautiful and that I'm not a mean mom....

And it was my birthday last Friday. For the next 15 weeks, I'm 27, Justin is 26. Please don't remind him.

Parenting Awesomeness

2010-09-02T18:41:00.003-06:00

You know when you're at Walmart and there's that kid that you can hear screaming at the far end of the store? At the top of their lungs? And there's no end in sight?

I found out today I have that child.

Trip to New Hampshire Part III of III

2010-08-28T19:05:00.005-06:00

To wrap things up, we went to a park and Sarah loved the swings, of course.

And the slides with Nana.

Who needs Disneyland when you have a playground?

More swinging. She's such a daredevil. You have to remind her to hold on.

She asked for ice cream every day. She is a Dye. Well she's also a Syme so she didn't really stand a chance in that area.

And her Mary Poppins fix.

Thursday August 14 we ate at the restaurant that Justin's dad makes the sauces for at his plant, Joseph's in Haverhill Mass (pronounced Havrill). Everything is good. Butternut Squash Ravioli. Mmmm. And the servers were really nice. They didn't get mad after almost tripping over Sarah four times.

Friday August 13 we went to a Creed concert. The opening band was named Skillet. If their name alone, didn't concern me, when the guy in the cut-off tie dye shirt got really pumped as they were taking the stage, I got really nervous. But they weren't that bad. It would have been nice to hear the lyrics. Creed was good and also really loud. Maybe I'm getting old but when music messes with my heartbeat, that's loud. Scott Stapp looked nice and sober and grateful to be there.

Saturday August 14 we went boating. Sarah did better wearing a lifejacket than I thought . She'd ask to take it off once in awhile but we'd distract her with something and then she was okay. Sadly this was the only picture I took. I dominated the tube, FYI.

Boston - Where Dreams Come True and Things are Really Old

2010-08-25T15:25:00.010-06:00

Wednesday August 18 We spent the day in Boston. I was really excited to see one of our country's oldest cities. In 20 years, Boston will be 400 years old! Since all of our buildings here in Utah only go back 160 years, I was just amazed at the age of the things we saw. So don't mind me as I totally geek out on history.

Case in point, here's a cemetery. I don't remember why it's significant or if anyone important was buried here. But look at the crumbling headstones. Some are leaning against others. Most are dated 17 hundred something. I did learn that the undertakers would sell the same plot over and over and toss out the old bodies to make room for the higher paying customers.

Here we are on the Freedom Trail. This red brick path goes all over the city connecting the historic landmarks. I tried to sing "follow the red brick road" but I couldn't get the rhythm right.

The Old North Church. In this steeple went the lantern signal, "One if by land, 2 if by sea." Then began Paul Revere's midnight ride.

Inside the church. It is still home to the same congregation from Paul Revere's time.

If I heard right, this is the oldest pipe organ in the country and the oldest clock still in use.

Check out these pews. Gives a new meaning to box seats doesn't it? The design kept people warm during church services in the winter.

And keeps toddlers from running up and down the aisle.

I think our church could use a few of these.

Here's the revered Paul Revere. I don't know why no one has made a movie out of his life.

Here's a dream fulfilled. Here I am at Paul Revere's house. It's the oldest structure still standing in Boston.

It's owned and operated by Revere's descendants. They turned it into a museum with period furniture. Sorry, no interior shots. Cameras weren't allowed. But if you've been in Joseph Smith's home or any Church historical home, that gives you a pretty good idea. The main floor had a hall and kitchen. Upstairs is a master bedroom and another bedroom. The upstairs bedroom is where guests would visit since it was above the stinky city air. "Where's the bathroom?" some guy asked. Seriously? This house was built in like 1640. Two words: chamber pots. Five more words: public outhouses down the street.

Sarah didn't share my enthusiasm for Paul Revere.

"You can thank your local civil engineer for this road" says Justin. The picture doesn't do it justice. I'd never seen a wavy road before.

I don't remember why I took this picture. I guess I just like how 'Boston' these buildings look.

Next stop. This is the USS Constitution. Also known as 'Old Ironside' although it looked like it was all wood. It's the oldest Navy ship still in use. Paul Revere forged the copper bolts and George Washington named her. She defeated 5 British warships in the War of 1812 and served as a training ship in the Civil War. And I stood on her.

Pretty cool, huh? She fought in numerous other battles and has sailed around the world.

The wheel was roped off or, believe me, I would have been at the helm.

Sarah manning the cannon. I love the crazy look on her face.

Group shot. Dallin, Nate, Sarah, Braden, Kristen, me, Justin, Nadine. Corey is taking the picture.

I like Justin. And if you look in the background, there's a monument for the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Here's a little artistic shot. This is the tour bus we rode through Boston. It's the best way to see the sights. You can get off at any of the stops, look around and get on the next bus as they come every 15 minutes.

We took a history break to tour TD Garden. This is where the Celtics play. They are refinishing the floor.

I don't remember this guy's name. Bill Walton? And Justin might get mad that I'm not posting a bunch of pictures he took of sports memorabilia. Sorry babe, I blog what I know and I don't know what that stuff is.

Ah yes, back to our historical tour. This is the Old State House. This is where the Boston Massacre happened in 1770. Simply, a mob gathered to intimidate the British soldiers standing guard. Someone taunted them, yelling "fire". They misunderstood orders and open fired on the civilians. 5 people died. Not to sound insensitive or unpatriotic, but the term 'massacre' sounds excessive. But it added fuel to the Revolutionists cause.

King's Chapel. Just an old church. Perhaps some revolutionary speech was given there. I wasn't really paying attention to the tour guide.

This is a house on Beacon Street. As the most expensive real estate in the city, naturally it's the snobby row of houses in Boston.

Dream come true number 2. Cheers! I didn't know it was a real bar until my visiting teacher told me. Oh the blessings visiting teachers bring.

You wanna be where everybody knows your name.

This building is the birth place of Edgar Alan Poe. Now they sell overpriced gourmet burritos.

Boston Common. This is one of the nation's oldest parks.

It was once a cow pasture, camp for British soldiers, place for public hangings, and witch trials.
Now just a boring old park.

This concludes our tour. We ate some Italian food, bought some t-shirts and drove back to New Hampshire.

Trip to New Hampshire Part 1

2010-08-24T14:41:00.007-06:00

I'm baaack. We spent the last 10 days in New Hampshire to visit Justin's parents. We got back late last night.

Saturday August 14 Sarah's first airplane ride. We had to leave the house at 5 am to make our 7 am flight so Sarah woke up at 2:30 giddy as ever and wouldn't go back to sleep. Awesome.

Sunday August 15 Sarah was quite the star at church. I heard, "So this is Sarah" a half-dozen times. I got stopped in the hall twice about how I do Sarah's hair and they had questions as if I invented the use of tiny, clear elastics. Nope, I copied the hair of most of the little girls in my ward. Must be a Utah thing. Or a Willows Ward thing.

Nadine had a stocked house full of things for Sarah to do. Her favorites were the puzzles and the big, heavy bocce balls.

It wouldn't be a Dye vacation without playing games. Justin dreamed of playing Monopoly and Risk simultaneously but it never happened since no one else was interested.

Here's Sarah taking off with the ladder toss balls.

I love this picture. Sarah is so short and Braden is so tall. She finally started saying his name. And then she wouldn't stop saying it.

Here we are playing Bocce. I like this picture because I think it could go on the box for the game. And I wanted to point out the cob-web like thing in the tree. They are everywhere in New Hampshire and I still don't know what kind of creepy creature makes them. Kristen got her hair caught in it which is what they are laughing at.

Monday August 16 I tried my hand at golfing for the second time in 4 years. I was worse than I remembered. I'm not even going to tell you how many swings I took on that first hole. And by swings I mean not even hitting the ball. The groundskeeper waiting for us to play so he could mow got fed up and drove off. I stopped keeping my score after while and just put a smiley face or a frowny face depending on how I felt I did.

Tuesday August 17 We went to the beach. Sarah wanted nothing to do with the sand or water so that made it interesting. On the bright side, I didn't have to worry about Sarah being swept away in the sea.

Papa Corey trying to persuade her to touch the sand.

She did okay if she was sitting on the blanket and just stuck the frisbee in it.

Justin and Nate surfed in the cold water and I took pictures.

Fog/mist settled in over us giving a nice eerie feeling.

"Can you see Dad out there?"

I can't spot him but he's one of those surfers.

Braden and his girlfriend Kristen.

Sarah did finally touch the sand because here she is trying to get it off.

Stay tuned. This post is getting too long and I'm tired of dragging pictures up and down to get them in order. Coming up: Boston, Boating, Butternut Squash Ravioli and my critique of Creed in concert.

An Open Letter to Department Stores

2010-08-10T21:00:00.007-06:00

Dear Department Store Buyer,

If I am 26 and don't want to look 40, which one of your 'Misses' shirts should I wear?

And if I don't want to look 15, which should I choose from your 'Juniors' collection?

Believe it or not, there is a huge population of women out there that aren't 15 or 40.

Please make a new department. You could call it 'Little Miss' or 'Senior' if you can't come up with anything else but please make it happen.

Also, judging from the patrons at the mall and from your sales racks, skinny jeans are here to stay. I guess I'll just have to ride this one out. Please don't stop selling what is flattering for every other female that doesn't have skinny calves, the bootcut jean. I'm begging you.

Thank you.

--------------------------------

Seriously....I can't be the only one hating on the age gap in clothing stores. Has anyone out there had good luck? Where?

Pictures but not much else.

2010-08-05T14:48:00.005-06:00

Justin busy with school + Hotter than heck outside = Not doing much

But Sarah sure has a pretty face. And she's obssessed with Mary Poppins. Boppa, as she calls it, has been on every day for the past week. She only likes the part when they jump in the chalk drawing and clean up the nursery so I've seen that 1/2 hour many times. Aladdin is boring but Mary Poppins is captivating.

So here's a few cute pictures of her.

The Daily Gathering

2010-07-26T14:35:00.002-06:00

I love summer, I really do. But is it bad I'm looking forward to school starting again? It would just be nice to be outside for 5 minutes without my front lawn turning into gymnastics land. And it would be nice to talk to people that aren't shocked that I haven't seen High School Musical 1-3. And no, I don't want to hear the plot either.

Sarah is just a really good audience. Too good, probably.

A Little Lady and Her Gloves

2010-07-19T20:56:00.007-06:00

This is a story of a little girl who wanted to wear peach socks with her pink plaid pants. Her mom would not let her since it was a hot day. And they were ugly socks--where they came from and why they are still here is anyone's guess.

So the girl carried her socks to the store in her hand. She dropped them way too many times so her mom decided to put them on her hands to keep them from falling once more.

The girl loved her sockgloves. She had to touch every box and package she could reach with them on.

She also had to try out a few actions to her favorite song.

She continued to wear them all the way home. And while the groceries were put away. And while she sat on the counter while her mom made her lunch.

She took them off for her nap but they went right back on when she woke up. And she wore them while she picked grapes off the vine.

Two days later, and there they are still. The peach sockgloves. Even stained with strawberry juice and dirty from playing outside, the little girl loves them still. There's even a newly made hole by a wiggly little finger. The little lady and her sockgloves shall never be parted in the foreseeable future. The End.

This picture brings me to the garage sale find of the week. This little doll stroller I got for $.50. I wanted to get her one for her birthday so I had my eye out. So did she. There was no way I could hide this until October. She tried pulling it onto her lap while in her carseat on the way home.

Sarah takes turns with her doll sitting in it.

They also take turns wearing these sunglasses I got for a dime. I figured if they survived the ride home, they were worth the money. It's been 2 days now and we're still going strong.

Justin thinks Sarah looks like his mom here. Nadine, what do you think?

Sarah gets really hyper after dinner and likes to run and jump on the couch. I don't know if you can tell but she is all sweaty.

We must destroy in order to create.

2010-07-12T17:00:00.000-06:00

Justin came into our bedroom the other day and saw his shirt cut up into pieces all over the floor.
Justin: What have you done to my shirt?
Me: You have to destroy to create.

I didn't know I was paraphrasing Joseph Stalin at the time. I just googled the phrase wondering who said it because I didn't think I made it up. Surprise! Just to make it clear, I am not a communist, just ingenuitive.

With some elastic thread and bias tape, voila! New dress for Sarah to grow into. I don't know where I was on the day they covered bias tape during my 5 sewing classes I had over the years, but I just discovered it. I love it.

And no shirt in Justin's closet is safe. I already have plans to make Sarah an apron out of another.

Happy Birthday to Zack. He hit the all-important 8 on Sunday.

Mapleton Park has the best playground for Sarah. There are 5 slides she can get to and go down all by herself. Now I can just stand around and watch how cute she is.

Here's Sarah taking a break from being a spaz at the mall fountain today.

I meant to post these awhile ago. This is at our family reunion. Listen carefully for Sarah to say "Brr" when asked if she's cold.

This is Sarah's favorite song for the moment. Well actually it was her favorite song the week after Father's Day. She's already moved on. She's a sucker for a song with actions.

I love how Sarah says popsicle.

Developing Her Personality

2010-06-29T19:52:00.008-06:00

A few things you might not know about Sarah...

-She loves Flo from the Progressive commercials. Sarah stops dead in her tracks whenever she's on.

- When she wants a bite of what I'm eating, she'll ask "bite?" then open her mouth really wide and close her eyes.

-She's deathly afraid of bubbles in the bath but begs to blow bubbles outside all day long.

- While watching Looney Tunes, she'll say "silly" whenever someone gets hit/electrocuted/exploded/etc.

- If her hair is in her eyes, she'll come find me, grab my hand and put it on her head and say "hair" because she wants me to brush it back for her.

Our Yard Sale Find of the Week:

Child's Rocking Chair $3

Sarah has barely let go of it since Saturday.

We also got Sarah a snowsuit for $1. Here's Sarah sporting the hat.

And then it was the doll's turn. I found it like this on the kitchen floor.

Speaking of this doll....(it doesn't have a name yet. Just "da" which is also her word for dad). I threw it in the washing machine last night so Sarah couldn't sleep with it like she usually does. She asked for it once while we were getting ready for bed but I told her no doll and she was fine with it.

Well this morning when I went in her room to get her, the first thing she asked for was "da". "Doll or Dad?" I asked. "Da" she replied. So we go downstairs for breakfast and she sees her doll on the counter where it had been drying all night and she yells "Da!" I give it to her, put her in her highchair and make her oatmeal. I look over at Sarah and she's hugging the doll tightly and taking short, fake cry-like breaths. It was quite the emotional reunion. She pats her, kisses her and continues the fake whimper until I put her oatmeal and Flinstone vitamin in front of her. Then she hands the precious doll to me so she can eat.

After breakfast she raided her diaper bag, pulled out the changing pad and got into diaper-changing position just for fun, I guess. This is the best shot I got of it since she runs for the camera once she sees it out.

And I'll just let these pictures speak for themselves.

Father's Day Weekend

2010-06-22T14:13:00.009-06:00

There are 2 things I love about this picture. First, I love how serious Justin takes his Lego building. It's always about making it the tallest possible. Second, I love the socks Sarah is wearing. Finding these lovely peach socks and insisting I put them on her was the first thing she did after her nap that day.

This picture freaks me out. When did my baby become a little girl?

Friday and Saturday was the Baadsgaard Family Reunion. I love typing Baadsgaard. You can type it all with your left hand. Which makes me so jealous of my mom--she can type her maiden name all with her left hand except for the M at the beginning. Margaret Baadsgaard. So cool.

Anyway, here's my nephew Tyler. Notice his cool necklace. My aunt Melanie helped all the kids make these. The wood is from my grandpa's cherry trees (I miss him and his cherries). The kids sanded the disks and then either put spider stickers or glued silk flowers on them and then strung them like a necklace. It was a lot of work for Melanie and I'm so happy Sarah has a piece of her great-grandpa's cherry tree.

Zack showing his off. Sarah will only wear hers for 2 seconds at a time so no picture of hers, sorry.

My little happy camper. Sarah loved camping. So much so that it took her hours to finally fall asleep. I think it was a combination of too much candy and the excitement of being in a tent. It took a good 2 hours for her to calm down. Maybe more. She would not stop jabbering away in the dark.

My mom and cousin Chelsie. And the beautiful nose and lips of my aunt Mel.

My cousin Hailey and niece Jessica. I loved seeing cousins who rarely or never met hanging out together like old friends. Family bonds are so cool.

The Happy Camper Dye Family

My cousin Trevor and his dad. Don't let the sweet face fool you. Okay, he really is sweet but......

He climbed into my aunt Sue's motorhome and put it in gear. No one knew he had even awoken from his nap. Suddenly the RV rolled back toward the campsite. We all ran for our lives (well not me, I was somewhere else and missed all this excitement). It was stopped by this tree on the right before it could roll over anyone. The ladder has a nice bend in it now. Good times.

The circle of love. The chairs had to be pushed out and the circle made bigger as more people came.

"Just wipe it on my pants." Sarah wasn't quite sure what to do with the dirt on her hands. But then it was pretty fun for her to wipe her hands on me.

The circle of love even bigger.

Sarah thought the tent was so amazing. She didn't want to get out when we were breaking up camp.

Father's Day! Here's Sarah helping Justin open his super-cool new pepper and salt grinders.