Starting so great and ending so... not so great!

So we were having a great week... how did it go so wrong? Well, it's not that bad- really. But man-we were on a good roll!
In a 24 hour period, all these great things happen... Ollie sleeps 7 hours straight through the night, Tyse actually tells me where he is going when he leaves the house, and even comes back to tell me when he and his friends are going to a different house (a mini-miracle at our house- I am ALWAYS tracking him down), and Emitt goes both #1 and #2 in the potty. WOW! What a day! I don't remember the last time that many great things happened in one day-

But by sunday (a mere 4 days later), Ollie was only sleeping 45 minutes at a time, Tyse was disappearing left and right, and leaving the doors and gate open so Emitt escapes as well, and Emitt is having severe diaper blow outs while Tyse is pooping his pants for the first time in months! Sheesh! That's what I get for being so excited for our progress, I guess!

Maybe we can make back the progress we made in the next couple weeks or so!
On a better note, we finally figured out Ollie and his eating preferences, so the sleep is definitely better! that helps most other ailments not count for quite as much, and Kent and the neighbor installed lights under my counter tops, in my pantry, and in my laundry room! We can finally see!

Hot Runners

Tyse is totally obsessed with Race Cars. He loves riding down Bangerter every day because there are always teenagers with their suped up civics tearing down the road. Well- he has come up with his own name for them and I think it is so funny- they are called "HOT RUNNERS". He won't believe me that the true name of racing cars (not these, however,) are Hot Rods- he only calls them hot runners. And he is so excited that gas prices are so high because that means that instead of driving the durango around, we have been reverting to my formative years and driving the spacious sunfire. We barely fit with all the baby seats in the back, but it gets more than double the gas mileage of the durango. Since kent's commute is about 10 blocks, he gets the family car and I get the commuter special. Anyway, it has a small spoiler on the back, which makes it eligible for the HOT RUNNER label and he has been raving about it everywhere he goes... I love how excited he gets about these things!

The 4 year old concerned with his future...

VS.











The other night we were eating dinner. I have a radio that is mounted under the cabinets in the kitchen that is always on, and it is mostly on a country station. Tyse is very quick to figure out who sings what and likes to sing along. Some of you may remember a past post about Carrie Underwood, but she appears to have competition...
A Taylor Swift song came on the radio during dinner and he was singing along. After the song he announced, "That was Taylor Swift. I am going to marry her." Well, I thought, at least he seems to be developing good taste in girls...?
Then, 2 nights later, a Carrie Underwood song came on. He then told me the following-
" I am going to marry Carrie Underwood in dad's temple." OK. I proceeded to tell him he would have to choose between the 2, and he said, "I choose Carrie because she is just so much cuter."
If Kent would have been there, I don't think he could ever have been more proud! I guess taste is genetic!
Then this morning...
Tyse-"Mom, will Taylor Swift have to divorce her husband to marry me?"
ME- "Taylor isn't married, Tyse"
Tyse-"But she is so cute. Why not?"
ME- "Because she is only 16 years old. The same age as Jordan (neighbor girl)"
Tyse- "OH! Well, that will work out then."

Since when do 4 year olds concern themselves with marriage? At least he dreams big!

The season has begun!

Today is a big day at our house- it is the first night of softball! Kent is playing on the Okland softball team again this year and their first game is tonight. He loves playing, but I think maybe I love watching him play more than he loves playing. And I KNOW Tyse likes it more than me! So our thursday nights for the rest of the summer will be spent at the ball park- cheering on kent and turning down dying requests for visits to the ice cream truck that makes the park his only destination.
Unfortunately, we do live in utah and though I LOVE the snow, today looks like this...

and so I am expecting that no game will take place this week. Maybe next week!

Someday...

Someday we will have cable. Why, do I need cable, when the only station we ever watch anyway is PBS? Well, it's playoff time again. Most of you are thinking... basketball. True- I have always been a Nuggets fan, but those are not the playoffs I am speaking of.
IT'S HOCKEY TIME!
You all know how much I love sports and how much time I spend keeping up with football- but how many know I actually prefer watching hockey? I LOVE everything about it! I love the speed, the roughness, the finesse of moving the puck up the ice, I love the rules, the controversy, the ice, and I LOVE a good shootout!
So therefore, the background of our blog has been temporarily turned toward cheering for the Colorado Avalanche, who are just about to enter the second round of the western conference playoffs. Their first game of this round is tonight and if I only had cable... I would become an incompetent mother for a couple hours! K, maybe not totally incompetent, but I definitely would be letting little fingers get away with things they shouldn't...

Ollie's captured smile

I finally was able to capture one of Ollie's smiles on the camera- note, I was the smile seeker and the photographer, so he isn't exactly in the middle of the frame- you do what you can when you aren't looking through the lens! anyway, here it is...
and it was immediately (no more than a second) followed by this...
It seems to be a pattern for the pout to immediately follow the smile when the camera is out. Maybe a future actor?
Indulge me one last time- here's one with his dimple...
I love the excitement of coaxing those first smiles. It is such a gratifying accomplishment when you finally get one out of him. Sadly, he doesn't seem to like to smile for Kent. He hasn't received one yet- in his 5 weeks of smiling, not one just for dad. He may just end up being our "somber little pig" as Tyse would call him.

Ode to Red

We had a sad first at our house a week ago- we said goodbye to our sweet puppy, Red. We sold him to a couple that live in Logan. I think he will be really happy there- the man trains hunting dogs for other people on the side of his real job, and they live out in the country with lots of space for him to run and roam. They are hoping to start breeding Vizsla's, so it is a great situation for him to be in. The family owns 2 other vizslas, a 3 year old male and a new female puppy, so he will have someone to play with all the time. WE are sad to watch him go, but we know it is a better choice for him right now! And although my feet get cold when I am sitting on the couch because he is no longer there to lay on them, my stress level has decreased immensely.
Top 10 things we will miss about Red:
10-knowing anytime something moves outside our house
9- visits from the animal control officer- we have become good friends and Red has been given a bad reputation!
8-my tennis ball throwing arm will most definitely become weak
7- my countertops now are littered with cookies and food that we can leave out and not have disappear
6- the realization of how often I am going to have to mop now that he is not here to clean up after meals and snacks
5- Tyse's constant playmate
4- a good reason to get outside and go on a walk
3- watching him chase shadows and reflections through the house- it was quite a sight!
2- his affection and kisses
1- taking him out into the hills and watching how excited he got when we went on an excursion

we did love him very much, but Tyse is ready to move on to what he deems an ideal pet lineup- a small dog and 2 cats. Not in the near future, sorry buddy!