We're still here.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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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.

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

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.