Big bed and camping trip

This last week we finally did it...we put Shortstop in a big boy bed.  Let me tell you, it was hard!  Not because of him at all; in fact he loves it and does not get out at night until we come in to get him in the morning.  It was emotional for the parent-als!  He looks so little in such a big bed.  Mark was not happy with this change at all...he wants his little boy to stay a baby forever.  I keep reminding him we have another one coming soon and that seems to help but I am married to a man that does not like change.
We got a twin bed from IKEA and found a cute comforter at Kohl's and that was that.  While Mark was putting it together Shortstop found a screwdriver and "helped" his dad.  I wish I would have gotten a picture.  It was so cute!  Mark would rather I say manly but it was cute.  :)

Then over the weekend our ward had a father/son/man camp.  We had not planned on them going because we thought Shortstop was too young but little did I know Mark actually really wanted to go.  When we realized most of our ward has toddlers they were taking there was no question.  So he borrowed a tent and packed up and he and the little man went out camping Friday night.  I don't have a very busy life and my toddler is awesome and my little friend so it was not like I needed a break but it was relaxing.  This house gets REALLY quiet though so I made sure to keep music or the TV on until I fell asleep even if I wasn't in the same room.  I ate my Thai food dinner in silence and took a long bubble bath and then decided to read and go to bed.  I even got to sleep in.

My boys had a GREAT time.  Shortstop wanted to know what everything was.  He played in the dirt, the water, climbed over logs, found awesome sticks and rocks to bring home to me and loved looking at the fire.  They saw deer and lots of cows.  His night was not the greatest but it was about what we expected.  He slept ok until about 3 and then was up for about an hour or two.  Poor Mark but thank goodness the iPad saved the night.  Shortstop was just nervous waking up in a tent and who can blame him.  We tried to show him pictures of tents and explain what it would be like but still, a new experience like that would scare anyone.

"This is where we get to sleep? Awesome!"

"Bishop...you need any help?  I am really good at making fires."

"I found a stick!  And everyone needs to know it!"

Water...he found the one place that had the water running

"Mmmmm...so good"

Cutest boys ever

Found another stick to hold and one to sit on

"Hey dad, put the camera down and come play.  You are acting like mom."

They came home Saturday around 11 and smelled like camping and looked like it too.  It was so fun to hear everything and look at the pictures Mark took.  Naptime was very long for both of the boys and that was fine by me.  I was able to go through and clean all their camping stuff so my house didn't smell like campfire for too long.

I missed them a ton but I am so glad Mark gets to do this with his boy (soon to be boys).  My poor dad had to wait through 6 girls in order to go on a father/son campout with his son. :)

Football Clinic Date Night 2012

A few weeks ago my sister Alicia got an email from BYU inviting her to take part in a football camp date night.  She read it, forwarded it to me and we went back and forth on whether or not to do it.  It was a tad pricey but when we realized what a GREAT night it would be and how happy our husbands would be we jumped on it and sent in our money.
So this last Tuesday my mom and dad and sister Alicia and husband Tyler came down from Twin Falls for a triple date to the Lavell Edwards stadium.  It was EPIC!  Tyler and Mark have always been good friends and have a lot of interests in common.  Get those two together and they talk non stop and basically it is a good thing Alicia and I also get along so well or we would feel bored and left out.  I was really looking forward to this night also because it would be the last time for a couple of years to hang out with the Larsens since they are moving in a few weeks to New Hampshire.  But I don't want to talk about that...
We walked into the Southeast entrance and got our nametags and tshirts.

Then under the south endzone bleachers we had dinner catered by Ruby River.

And who is making the rounds and visiting with each table?  Coach Bronco Mendenhall!  We took pictures with him and Mark made him laugh, Tyler joked with him and I even got a high five.  He is so great!

After a delicious steak and potatoes dinner (no really...it was amazing) we got another picture with Kyle Van Noy, a linebacker and, of course, his signature on Mark and Tyler's shirts.  Tyler told him to write "to my best friend" and Mark said sign it "to my very best friend".  Kyle was laughing and kindly obliged.

We headed over to the West stands, walking on a field that has not had lines painted yet, and watched a pretty funny comedian.  Then Bronco said a few words and the players did a drawing for a few different tickets to the games and a helmet signed by Bronco.  My parents won the helmet!  My dad was so excited!  Wish I would have gotten a picture...he held it like a trophy. :)

I love my husband...and he loves football so it was a good combination.  Hey there Tyler in the background. 

These two are so fun together.  Gonna miss the Larsens...no wait, still not talking about it.

After all that we watched Justin Sorensen, a kicker, ride his unicycle down the field catching footballs from his left and right.  Not a bad talent!  Then question and answer with the players.  It was a lot of fun seeing them joke around and just be regular college guys who are goofy and immature.

Left to right players: Austin Holt-TE, Ross Apo- WR, Joe Sampson- DB, Preston Hadley- DB, Kyle Van Noy- LB

We headed down to the Cougar Room for what was called X's and O's by Brandon Doman, the offensive coordinator and ex-quarterback, and then one of the defensive coaches.

Of course there was another Q&A and the best question of the night came from a gal who asked "Why do you have your quarterback sometimes run straight into that big glob of players in the middle of the field?"  All the guys laughed, all the girls were happy that was asked since we really don't know either,  and the coach just bowed and shook his head and said "We don't call that.  That is not what is supposed to happen."  It was great.

Due to a migraine and a babysitting issue, my mom and I headed out after that but we both were ok leaving at that point because the next and last thing was field rotation practicing plays...not exactly my thing while I am pregnant.  But Tyler and Mark and Alicia and Dad had a BLAST!  They spent time in the locker room hearing more info.  (Did you know each player gets a new set of cleats every game?)  Then they did plays, drills and got to mingle more with Coach and the players.

And of course a picture with Michael Alisa, the feature running back for the team.  (Mark was excited because he made him laugh). 

Team cheer

 Ok, my husband is hot!

Mark and Tyler got Bronco, Michael Alisa and Ross Apo's signatures on their shirts to finish off the autographs.  

They all came home about 45 minutes later with grins and stories and pictures.  I am so glad we did this.  BYU is doing it every two years so if we are still here in 2014, we are doing it again!!!  Perfect date night for BYU football fans.

Countdown to Disneyland!

Is anyone else just blown away that it is August?  Where did the summer go?  But we have quite a fun family trip coming up next month and we are so excited!!  We are taking Shortstop to Disneyland for the first time and Nana and Grandpa (Mark's parents) are coming with us!  We don't get to see them enough so the fact that we get them to ourselves at the happiest place on earth, well...life doesn't get any better.
To get ready for our trip we had to make a paper chain countdown.  I found this cute Disney paper in my scrap paper box so it worked perfect.  Shortstop loves walking by it and making it swing from where it hangs.

We also made a CD for in the car and at home of all Disney songs.  He loves them and sings along (in his own way) to most of them.  I love how he yells "You gotta friend in me!"  And look at that grin.  Such a cute boy.

And of course one night a week we are showing him Disney movies.  He already loves Toy Story and Winnie the Pooh and Cars but we want him to see the classics and get familiar with characters he will be seeing at the park.   This night we showed him Robin Hood.

My boys are so cute I can't even stand it!  He loved getting his own bowl of popcorn and is of course holding on to a glow in the dark light saber Grandma Morgan gave him.

And last, I downloaded an app on the ipad that shows the park and the rides and helps toddlers know what they are going to see.  Shortstop loves scrolling through and asking what everything is.  This is just for our down time during the day but I think he is getting ready and excited!

Family Reunion/ Shortstop phrases

This last weekend was my family reunion and we decided to go to Yellowstone.  It was awesome!  And no there aren't pictures but I am proud of myself.  I remembered my camera...I just forgot to take any pictures.  :)  We stayed in a huge cabin in Island Park and everyone but one sister was able to make it.  That is a lot of Morgans!  But the cousins get along so well and it was nice to visit and hang out.  The food was great as every sibling was in charge of one meal and one snack.  My family knows how to cook!
We went to Old Faithful, drove around Yellowstone National Park, played games, floated down a river, went fishing, played more games, did crafts and treasure hunts, had a talent show, and stayed up late talking.  There was even a run in with a lake and countless leeches (I was home with a napping boy so I "missed out" on that.  Gross right?!)
Shortstop was in heaven with all his cousins and loved chasing them around.  He is at that age where he thinks he is one of the older kids but can't quite be left to play alone.  So Mark and I were very tired chasing him each day.  He was dirty and bruised and scraped up by bedtime each day and it was awesome.  He did so well on the drive to and from and kept everyone entertained during the reunion with his "I am the most important person here" attitude.  During the talent show my dad wanted to say a few words to everyone at the beginning and Shortstop kept interrupting him by talking about his books or BYU or just standing in the middle of the floor repeating everything Grandpa had to say.  My child is not shy!
One of my favorite nights was our last one there.  All the siblings and spouses stayed up late talking and reminiscing.  The kids were in bed so we just sat and visited.  I was 9 when my first brother in law married in and things have sure changed!  We laughed and joked and even discussed serious things.  I really have a great family and am so happy to see them when I can.  I have one sister in Boston, another in Michigan and in a month another will be in New Hampshire so it does get harder to get together.  People just keep getting further away so I really enjoy these times.  Thanks mom and dad for being so wonderful and getting us together every two or three years!


And on another note, more for journaling purposes, I wanted to record the new things Shortstop has been saying.  I feel like in the last three or four weeks he has just decided it is time to really talk and have conversations.  He picks up on soooo many things that I don't even think about him picking up on.
     - Says "Thank you mom/dad/whoever" after anyone gets him something.  It is sweet and he does not need to be reminded or told to do it.  He is also picking up on "You're welcome."
     -  Says "I'm sorry" when he means "excuse me".  So if he scoots by someone or wants us to move he says "Sorry" and just smiles.
     - Of course he still loves to talk about BYU, football, the Mariners and Cosmo
     - One day he looked at me after I asked him if he wanted to eat and said "I don't think so" in a sing song voice.  I had never heard that and I don't really say it.  It is in perfect context too.
     -  "I love you" has become a daily thing for him.  And today he added "I sure love you mom".  I have the sweetest child!
     -  If I have to get Mark's attention in the other room or speak louder than normal he will ask "Mom, are you yelling?" and has to make sure I am not angry before he goes back to what he is doing.
     -  He has a very specific taste in music.  Oftentimes I will be listening to a song in the car and he will say "No mom, I don't like it."  And until I find the right song, he is not pleased.
     -  On the flip side, when he is enjoying food or a song or an activity he nods his head and says "Yes mom, I do like this!"
     -  Anytime someone gets up to go do something away from him he asks us to "Please stay here".  He does not like to be alone for long.
     -  If someone coughs or sneezes or says ow, he gets right in your face and says "You ok?"  then adds "Be happy!"
     -  When given a choice between two things he puts his finger on his chin and says "Hmmmm...let me think".
     -  In the car he often asks for me to hold him (if I am in the passenger seat).  When I tell him I can't he says "Ok, hold my hand please?"  No matter how uncomfortable is it for me to try and turn to do that, I do not give up on that moment.
     -  If he gets nervous (like an uncle chasing him or a cousin tickling him too much) he quickly waves in their face and says "Hi" over and over until they are interrupted from what they are doing.  Great diversion.
     -  The other day after dinner he lifted his shirt and patted his full stomach and said "Hi baby!"  Guess I am showing a bit more these days.
     -  He still loves babies and gets a cheesy grin whenever there is one around and goes up to give them a hug and a kiss.  Then he giggles and says "Nice baby.  So cute."

Jack-ism

Tonight we were being silly with Shortstop before bedtime and playing in the living room.  Mark told him "Ok son, go to bed.  Go crawl into your crib all by yourself.  Goodnight".  With a smirk on his face, Shortstop got on hands and knees and "crawled" all the way to his room and to his crib.  Love that he already has a sense of humor.

It's a BOY!

I know the facebook world already knows and so does everyone else who has the pleasure of me calling them a lot...but I wanted to record everything for journaling purposes.
Yesterday we went in for my 20 week appointment (yay for halfway) and found out we are having a boy!

We are so thrilled and shocked and happy and blessed and so many other emotions.  Because this pregnancy was so different than Shortstop we really thought this was a girl.  We had no preference and are happy with any healthy baby but we really "knew" it was a girl.  And so did everyone else!  Only a few people guessed boy so the reaction we got was pretty shocked.
We took Shortstop with us and as Mark was wrangling him, the lady asked if we wanted to know the gender.  I said yes and turned to look at the screen and got a great shot of the evidence this is a boy.  I just pointed and said "Hold on...that's a boy!"  Mark looked up and said "What?"  We were so surprised.  We were also emotional, in the happy way, just to see our cute baby moving around and being healthy.  Everything looks great.  I love seeing the spine and heart and watching the baby move and squirm.  This may sound corny but it really is an amazing miracle.
Shortstop was very interested in the sound his brother's heart made and just smiled when he heard it.  Then he kept asking to look at the ultrasound picture saying "Baby brother is cute mom!"  I cannot wait to watch these two interact.  I feel like he is old enough to kind of get what is going on and to be excited about it all.
I have not felt this baby move a lot and was concerned but the ultrasound tech pointed out my placenta is on the top front so there is a lot of cushioning between baby and the front of my stomach so there is nothing to worry about.  My heart and blood pressure are great, I have no swelling and I am right on track.  I am very nervous about my gestational diabetes test in a couple of months and am trying my best to do what I can to not have that again.  It was not horrible but it was not fun either with Shortstop.
We don't have a name yet but we have some favorites.  There is a lot of pressure to pick a good name!  I have known since I was a pre-teen that I would have a kid named Jack but that was the only name I ever KNEW of.  So we are having fun getting ideas and running them by each other.  (I veto a lot of Mark's choices...I don't mean to.  He just picks old man names).
But all in all I feel like myself again 100%, I am starting to show, and we are having a great summer.  Life is pretty great!
In other news, Shortstop now sits at the table with us and I thought this was a pretty cute picture.  I can't believe he is not in a high chair but I have to get used to him growing up.

Soon he will be in a big boy bed.  He loves that phrase too...big boy.  He will sit in a chair and say "Look mom...I'm a big boy."  And the way he plays with other kids is just crazy to me.  He is not shy and will just...play.  I don't need to follow him or help him up the stairs to the slide.  I feel like this all happened very recently so I am still getting used to it.
And a cute video of course.  I love Food Network and one of my favorite shows is Chopped.  Well the other day I guess Shortstop was listening in and the next day he was saying something over and over.  Mark and I could not figure it out at first and then we realized he was doing the countdown the host does when the clock has 10 seconds.  Then he says "Time's up and step away."  We were laughing so hard!  Sadly we did not get it on video when he puts his hands in the air while he says it like the contestants do but that's ok.

A week away and no pictures!

I always forget my camera these days so sorry for a lack of pictures!
My parents came into town last weekend and asked me if I wanted to come home with them for a week.  Shortstop has been so cooped up in the house with as sick as I have been that the idea of him getting to play with grandma and grandpa and cousins every day sounded awesome!  I am feeling much better but I wanted to make it up to my son and this was the answer. :)

Poor Mark had to stay behind to work but I made it up to him by letting him fly home a few days ago to go to a couple of Mariners games with his dad so I think he was ok.

We left last Sunday to drive to Twin Falls and the minute we walked in the door all my sisters' little girls just bombarded Shortstop with hugs and requests to play.  He LOVED the attention and learned a lot this week.  I feel like he grew up a ton.

We went swimming, played in the sprinklers, ran around the yard, my sister and I went shopping, we enjoyed my brother-in-law's softball game (which Mark got to play in the night he came through on his way to Seattle), and I ate some AWESOME food.  My sister is such a good cook and asked me what meals sounded good.  And boy did she deliver!  I always feel so spoiled when I go home.

Shortstop got a little tougher this week too and endured a few bumps and bruises on the forehead, a bloody nose and lots of other little boy injuries.  It was good for me too because I am a bit of an overprotective mom but my sisters and mom helped me see that boys will be boys but they are almost always just fine.  He also got two more teeth and the biggest news of all? He is done with a pacifier!!  I was dreading this day even though he is not too attached.  He uses it at naptime and bedtime but nowhere else.  Well, he has been biting through it for a while now and it was hanging on by a thread.  One night I woke up nervous about him biting through it and swallowing it in his sleep causing his to choke (see...paranoid mom!).  But the next morning I decided to follow my instinct and rip off the rest of it.   I talked to Shortstop about it, showed it to him and let him decide and do it himself.  He told me to "break it" and "throw it away".  I did and that was that.  He never struggled, never asked for it and has not missed it.  Such a good boy!

One of the highlights for me was watching Shortstop interact with his newest cousin, Tyus.  He is 2 months old and the sweetest and happiest baby.  Shortstop loved holding him and talking to him and was so attentive if he cried.  He has already asked to see him this morning and is missing him.  It made me that much more excited to add another one to our family.  He is going to be a wonderful big brother.  And of course I loved all the snuggle time with that baby.  They are moving to New Hampshire in a couple of months which I am trying not to think about, so I got in all the time I could.

Mark had a GREAT time in Seattle.  He drove through Twin and stayed the night at my parents and then flew out of Boise on Friday.  His dad picked him up from the airport and went straight to the ball park.  It has been years since Mark and his dad enjoyed a game, just the two of them and could go early enough to watch batting practice.  Mark has so many great memories of being at the park with his dad and learned all he knows about baseball during those times.  I think it was good for the two of them to do it again.  He enjoyed visiting with him mom and dad while they went shopping the next day and out to lunch and of course was in heaven with the cloudy rainy weather.  Saturday night they went to another game and from what I hear, had the whole section laughing and enjoying their commentary.  These two know baseball better than anyone I have ever met and they love to have fun during the games.

Mark came back through Twin Falls on Sunday and picked us up and we headed home.  I needed this week so bad...just to feel human again and see that I hadn't done serious damage to my son by being so sick for so long. :)

It was nice that both Mark and I could spend time with our families.  We are so lucky to have such great parents who actually enjoy when their kids come to visit and are sad when they leave! :)  Now we are getting ready to have Aunt Rae and Uncle Thomas come into town to enjoy the 4th of July with us!