Best Song Ever ... Better than Sean Kingston

Check this out at You Tube ... Love My Baby by Tame

Skyler Swim Update!

The last day of swim classes came soooo fast this year. Skyler is such a good swimmer and we are so PROUD of him. Here are some videos from today. We will try to get some better footage this weekend. It really is amazing to see.

This is a video of him floating across the pool:



This is a video of him swimming for the stairs:



This is a video of him piecing together his swim/float sequence:

Happy Father's Day!

I had wanted to top off Brendan's Father's Day with a blog all about him, but then life happened! Better late then never, so here I go!

To Brendan ... A truly AWESOME father!!!

You are the best Daddy, because: (these are not ordered by importance, because every number is as important to making you amazing as the next)

1. You totally shared nighttime feedings (which is a double bonus because you bonded with your son, and while doing so, made a very happy wife).

2. You taught your son all about the "Rays!" We all knew it was coming, but who knew it would be upon us soooo soon. Our soon begging to go to the Ray's Games! Favorite quotes about the Rays :

Skyler sees a cup in the car with the Rays logo on it : "Mommy that's Daddy's cup." "What cup Skyler?" "The Rays cup, it's Daddy's."

Skyler was grumpy and had not taken an appropriate nap. Brendan got free tickets to the baseball game and wanted to take us. Mommy was sure Skyler would not make it through the game, but after some popcorn and peanuts, we made it through the game. As we are walking back to our car at 10pm, Skyler says : "Mommy, I went to the Rays Game." "You did?!" "Yes, I want to go to another one."

3. It is apparent that you guys have a connection through sports, which would come as no surprise to most! Your son knows the names of a football and a baseball. More importantly he knows the difference between the UF Gators and the Rays!

4. You take off work early on occasion to spend special time with Skyler at the park. I know how much he cherishes those moments because he always comes home telling me, "Mommy, I went to the park with Daddy!!! I had nuggets and fries!" Even weeks later, he will randomly tell me.

5. You take Skyler to school in the morning. More then just driving him to school, you take time to talk to him! This will set the stage for many important life conversations in the future.

6. You made it to almost all of his swim lessons (A.M. doctor depos aside), which showed Skyler that he has his father's support. The small cheers by the side of the pool were special to him, which was clear every time he looked up at you from the water.

7. You help me get Skyler going on Sunday mornings before church meetings. And you offer support to us at church, even if you can't sit with us.

8. You are a righteous priesthood holder who has been able to bless our family through the priesthood in soooooo many ways, that it is impossible to count.

9. Because you are a righteous priesthood holder, you have been able to give Skyler blessings, especially when he was soooo sick.

10. You are an AMAZING partner in marriage, which shows Skyler how to be a great husband.

11. You are a perfect example to Skyler on how to be a great father.

12. You work soooo hard every day at your job and in your church calling to provide for our family!

13. You do more then your share of household chores, setting an example for Skyler.

14. You play with Skyler in a way that helps him understand how to be patient! He loves the moments you take to build blocks with him. "I play with Daddy!"

"To The BEST DADDY EVER" ------- Direct quote from Skyler

Talent Show

Skyler was in the ward primary Talent Show on Friday. After the stellar end of the year play that he did for us, we were sure he would do great riding his tricycle in the talen show. But, his shyness prevailed, and most of his perfomance was spent in a koala bear hug to my hip or like this ...

Summer Has Started

Skyler started swim on Monday, June 7th. He is doing great and re-aquanting his long skinny body with the ISR techniques he learned last year. Here is short bit of him swim/float/swimming. He is a PRO :)

One Down!

Foundations is over .... A!

Two more to go ... last day - April 30th :)

No Mommy!

Skyler found No Mommy! For those of you who don't remember, this is the build a bear that Mommy all but forced Skyler to get (what child doesn't want one was the theory behind that purchase)! Today, Skyler picked him up, shook his hand, and said "Hi!" He then proceeded to sit him on the couch and read to him. He read him his numbers book, and even took the bears hand and had him counting out the number of birds in the book! Toddlers are sooo cute :) Maybe this is the beginning of a long standing friendship (that would really make Mommy a hero for her recent, seemingly frivolous, purchase)!

The Stick!

While we were driving home from my mom's house yesterday, Skyler was being extra special - Brie knows what I am talking about! There was lots of screaming and crying - mostly because Mommy told him that he could not go swimming. When we got to the house, he found an extra large stick in the yard (I'm talking larger then he is stick). I let him take it inside, mostly because I was willing to do anything to get him to stop screaming at me (I know, that's bad!). When Daddy got home, I was still on the phone with Brie and I was not really paying too much attention to the background noises from the living room. All of a sudden, Skyler ran up to me, crying hysterically, with that look of "rescue me Mommy". He then told me that Daddy had taken away his stick. Mommy, kicking it into rescue mode, looked at Brendan and curtly asked him if he had taken my innocent, sweet, little baby's stick. Brendan looked back at me, rolled his eyes, and replied "Yes! After he struck me with it." How the tables had turned. I looked back at Skyler (who looked like he had been caught) and had to remind him that it is not nice to hit people. After our nice talk, Skyler and Daddy went outside and played with the stick the way it was meant to be played with. When Skyler got back inside, he ran over to me and said (very proudly I might add) "Mommy! I played with the stick outside! With DADDY!!!!"

The stick has become a big deal to Skyler. It has never re-entered the house, but everytime we leave the house or let Jack outside, we have to check on it. We are also starting a rather large stick collection by the front door. We are ALL boy in this house!!

I will try to post a picture of Skyler and his new best friend when he wakes up.

Pink ...

So, pink finally took over our son's life today!

First, Skyler and Ava had a play date this evening. Kat was prepared with two tutu's and two pairs of heels (after a breakdown by Skyler last time princess dress up took place). This is the pair of them after their make over ... (it's ok because he is wearing a football shirt .... RIGHT?!)



After playing in the mud, both kids got to jump in the pool to clean off. When Patty tried to dry him off with the blue towel, he got upset. She then offered him the red towel ... still no luck. Finally he said, "I want the pink one!" LOL ... we were rolling on the ground.

On the drive home, Skyler informed me that Ava was blue. When I asked him what color he was, he said, "Skyler is pink!" He continued to remind me that he was pink all the way home. It was toooooo cute.

Side story ... On the same drive home, I told Skyler that Mommmy was blue. He seemed to be ok with that. Daddy told Skyler that he was orange, and he was ok with that. When I told Skyler that Patty was purple, he shouted at me, "no, Patty is orange." I had to call Patty and tell her what Skyler thought. Patty, being the purple lover that she is, politely corrected Skyler and told him that she was purple. Skyler shouted over the phone ... "NO! You are ORANGE." After much convincing on his behalf, she finally concurred that she was orange. Skyler shouted for joy about this reply and said "YAY! I did it!" I would LOVE to know what is going on inside of this child's head sometimes :)

At bed time, Skyler brought pink foofa into the bed with him (thank you Brie for the pink stuffed animal)!

All I can say is, it is great to see your child be passionate about something, even if it is pink. He is soooo cute and confident when he gets excited about something that he is passionate about! All this pink talk reminds me of the stories I have heard about Brendan when he was a little boy. I have been told that Brendan's favorite color was pink when he was a toddler ... that is until the first day of Kindergarten (peers can be so cruel)! I know I have said this a million times, but here goes one million and one ... More and More like his father every day!

Amazing Story!

This is an amazing story that will surely bring tears to your eyes! It is about a father/son team that overcomes obstacles to make an amazing life for themselves. It is a powerful lesson on how WE can make the difference in our own life:) It's worth watching in full ...

No More Medicine!

Skyler finished his last day of antibiotics on Saturday evening. To celebrate, Skyler got to pick a piece of candy ... his choice? A heart lollipop that Ava gave him for Valentine's Day. He was sooo proud of his "pop pop" ... lets just hope we can keep the germs away! It usually takes about 2-3 days off of his meds to see the sinus infection creep back in, so keep your fingers crossed for us :)

Banana Who?

So Skyler has hated bananas since he started eating. He has spit out mushed bananas, banana baby food, banana yogurt, regular bananas, banana nut bread ... basically anything with banana in it (even yummy stawberry banana creations)! BUT ... This weekend, Skyler ate a banana! He wanted the banana he saw at Granmommy's house and we were all hesitant to give it to him (knowing his past track record of getting banana everywhere but his mouth), but we did and boy were we glad to see that the picky eater has picked up some new taste buds. The bad news ... pineapple is now a thing of the past!

Family Motto ...

I have come to believe that we are living these two family mottos ...





Hopefully TLC and Encore Mystery won't come after me for having such a fun life!

Something is Amiss ...

Here is Skyler having dinner last night ... and yes, that is a pink football jersey and a pink light up heart wand. He would have been a beautiful girl. I find pink to be stunning on him!

The Blind Side

My most recent assignment in school was to complete a two-three page review for 40 different reference tools. This post is a way for me to let you know about something I love, while also pretending that I am actually doing school work!

Brendan and I saw the Blind Side on his birthday and LOVED it. I loved it so much that I was at the store on the 23rd (its release date) purchasing it!!! We haven't purchased a movie in a long time, so this is a big deal.

This movie is very touching and not for the faint of heart. The movie is based on a real story and has a sort of Cinderella feel to it. The movie tells the story of how a privileged family helps a disadvantaged youth. The assistance that this family provides is heart warming and uplifting. Sandra Bullock (lead actress)takes an extremely disadvantaged and homeless youth (Quinton Aaron) into her home. Sandra Bullock disregards the social risk of allowing a troubled African-American youth move into her home. The movie, while remaining concise, is able to portray the deep thoughts and emotions that the characters (even those that only have a few moments of air time) feel about the peculiar situation that Aaron presents. This movie is uniquely uplifting and leaves you feeling hopeful about the world. Bullock fully deserved her Academy Award for this movie!

I clearly feel everyone should see it at least once :) In my opinion there should be more movies like this.

Cutest Moments :)

So I would consider night time one of Skyler's cutest moments. I'm not talking about night waking, night stripping (which he is certainly a pro at), or even the part about actually falling asleep (mostly because I think we are part of a Super Nanny show every time I try to put him to sleep). I am talking about the moments in the room, after the door is shut, where Mommy, Daddy, Jack and Skyler get to spend family time together. We usually bring Skyler in the room, let him read, let him "show off" the little things he does so well, and then pray with him. I think Skyler puts all of his cutest moments off until the night time. I am definitely the weakest link when it comes to putting our son to sleep! I am sure that Daddy would testify that Skyler walks all over me during those moments. Here are a few night-time-isms that give examples of these moments:

1. Skyler and Daddy are lying down on the ground in the bedroom. Skyler looks up and points at the fan in the dark room.

"Look daddy, 'x' and 'o'.

" Wow, did you see that, he recognized the fan blades as "X" and the fan light as "O."

"YAY SKYLER" (with lots of cheers for several minutes)!!!!!!!

2. Skyler is sitting in Mommy's lap in the dark room after prayers with his lullaby music on. Daddy is in the kitchen getting Skyler's medicine.

"Mommy, I want a drink, please." (with such manners who could refuse?)
"Go ask Daddy for a drink." Skyler runs out to the kitchen ...
"Daddy, I want Juice (sounds like chuice)."
"Go ask Mommy." Skyler runs back into the room ...
"Mommy, I want Juice."
"Go ask Daddy." Skyler runs back into the kitchen ...
"Daddy, I want JUICE, JUICE, JUICE."

Of course we then grab a hold of this moment and use it as a bribe ...

"Skyler can have juice if he takes his medicine." (We are starting to get desperate with this medicine thing - we welcome all suggestions!)
Skyler looks at the medicine and back at the juice and then back at the medicine. Then he opened his mouth and took the medicine without incident!!! Just in case I ever wondered if he got it, HE DOES. This child certainly understands the way of the world ... He is no longer a baby ;( You better believe he clutched to that juice cup tightly for the rest of the evening (until we finally got him into bed). He even shook it a few times to make sure it was still full.

3. Mommy, Daddy, Skyler and Jack are in Skyler's dark room after the prayer. The lullaby music is on and Mommy is rocking Skyler. Skyler all of a sudden starts fighting with Mommy to get down. Mostly out of curiosity, Mommy lets Skyler get down. Skyler walks over to Jack and says ...
"Come on Jack, lets go."
Then they both head toward the closed bedroom door. Of course I am rolling on the floor laughing and Skyler got what he was after .... A distraction from going to sleep!

4. Daddy and Skyler are lying on the floor in the dark room with lullaby music. Brendan coughs and then hears a little cough. Brendan sneezes and then hears a little sneeze. Realizing that he is being copied, he continues to sneeze and cough while Skyler continues to copy him. This goes on for several minutes, while Skyler gets to escape the world of dreams.

5. Skyler, Mommy and Daddy are in the dark room after Skyler has woken up during the night. Skyler gave Mommy lots of kisses and identified all of he facial body parts. Skyler also gave Mommy lots of cuddly hugs (which is big if you know Skyler, who doesn't slow down for anything). After all this love, Skyler asked Mommy to watch the "show" (which is Baby Einstein). Mommy can't refuse and lets him out of the room to watch the show. Daddy thinks Mommy has gone CRAZY and promptly brings Skyler back into his room for night nights.

Last, but not least,
6. Mommy, Daddy, Skyler and Jack are in the dark room with lullaby music on. Mommy is rocking Skyler.
Daddy says in the prayer : "Thank Heavenly Father that Mommy's hair looks hot." (b/c Mommy just got a new "do")
Skyler says : "Oh no, Mommy your hair is hot?!"
He got up and started to blow on my hair saying "Mommy's hair is hot."

SOOO much laughter followed, that Skyler got out of sleeping for at least another 20 mintues!

Thought of the Day ...

Toddlerhood, the only stage of life where it is acceptable to scream when your parents are taking your clothes off AND when they are putting your clothes back on!

Sink ...

I saw the bottom of my sink today .... YIPEE! For the first time (in I won't tell you how long b/c it's been that long) I got all of my dishes washed! Add that to the laundry from the previous post and I'm exhausted! Of course it's full of dishes again, but it was nice for a few minutes.

Prescriptions!

I decided to write a timeline of doctor visits and medicines that Skyler has been on recently in case we were sent to an ENT for more follow up. As I pulled out Skyler's medical file, I was amazed at it's recent thickness.

Here is a picture with the receipts of all the medications he has been on since January :



Here is a picture with the RECEIPT of the medicition he was on prior to January :



Wow I feel broke! But, happy to say, Skyler's boogies went away yesterday! Hopefully this is the beginning of the end :)

Laundry !

As you all know, the last few months have been full of sickness for the Fletcher family! The result ... LAUNDRY! Today I set aside a laundry day, mostly because we were running out of stuff to wear, eek :) The grand total ...

2 Baby
2 Whites
2 Darks
2 Linens

That's a lot of folding :|

On a positive note, Skyler is back at school today :) Gotta run so I can get some studying done in between all those loads!

P.S. I know I like to put pictures with my posts, But I'll spare you the image of all my dirty clothes!

New Family Member :)

Everyone, Meet "No Mommy," the newest member of our family :



I thought it would be a GREAT idea to take Skyler to build a bear for the first time. Kat brought Ava to get the new Spring Bunny. I let Skyler pick out any animal he wanted ... verdict - no interest! The whole time we were at the store, my mom kept telling me ... "I don't think he is into it Ally!" I was going to show her. The result?

Skyler what bear to you want?
No Mommy!

Skyler pick out a heart to put in your bear.
No Mommy!

Skyler, can you wash your bear?
No Mommy!

Skyler, what outfit do you want for your bear?
No Mommy!

Skyler, what do your want to name your bear?
No Mommy!

Hence the creation of the name No Mommy (Someone needs to teach Skyler a thing or two about the importance of a name). I take it everywhere with him, hoping it will turn into his new favorite pal (mostly b/c I don't want Brendan to be able to prove that Skyler's wants are really MY wants)! What does Skyler know about cool toys anyways?!?!

No Mommy now joins Ally's other build a bears ... Major Pumpkin, and of course, Gators! Here is the whole family together -



Gators was purchased before the UF National Championship glory and was the good luck charm behind the two football and two basketball national championships! See there is magic to be found at build a bear :)

Roseola Anyone?

Side Note - All of Skyler's infections/colds are actually becoming comical for me to blog about! An old employer once told me that you have to have levity in your life or you'll go crazy, so here it is:

Skyler's new sickness is ...

You guessed it .... Roseola (or something like unto it)!

We went back to the doctor today after Skyler broke out in a welted rash all over his body. The doctor helped us look past the current ear, eye and sinus infection to see that the poor little guy has also developed a virus! Treatment .... Nothing! YAY! It is great to say that I don't have to add anything to his current course of antibiotics. The diagnosis explains the high fevers on Sunday and Monday and the current rash! We were soooo grateful to hear that we can put off the x-rays and blood work for now.
From here we finish the final 17 days of antibiotics and hope for the best. The good news is that the doctor reports that one ear looks perfect and the other ear is almost clear. More good news .... the nose almost stopped running today!!!

Eye infection - Gone
Ear Infection - 1/2 Gone
Sinus Infection - ??? - I'll post an update in a few days :)

Just another example of priesthood blessings at work!

Flavored Prescriptions ...

One of the last times I was at the pharmacy, I was intrigued by the flavors that can be added to prescriptions. Since Skyler has been on so many meds recently, he has been refusing to take anything that is in an alligator spoon, syringe, or plastic cup. It is definitely a two person job to get him to take it, and most days it ends up all over him, me and sometimes even my face (spitting is such a disgusting habit)! Hence why I was intrigued by the flavored add ons ...
After discussing this with the pharmacist, who was sure it would help, I walked out of the pharmacy with with my strawberry flavored Omnicef and a feeling of accomplishment.

BIGGEST WASTE OF MONEY !!! The only thing it did was make it taste better for me when it came flying back into my face!

The next week when I went to get the Augmentin filled the pharmacist asked if I wanted to add flavoring to it. I gave an emphatic "no" response and she looked at me shocked! I'll save the buck for something crafty :)

Lesson on Manners ...

We have been trying to expose our little guy to some politeness/etiquette. On the docket this week is compassion. He really loves when Mommy gives a boo boo a kiss all better. Recently this has become an all the time occurence. He has been looking for any reason for Mommy to give some extra love (and to be honest I love the attention he gives me)! We thought we would spice up the request for love by teaching him that he could give some boo boo kisses too. On Sunday night we were at my mom's house for dinner, where his Aunt's and Uncle really played this up ... EVERYONE had a boo boo for Skyler to kiss! Apparently he did not want the attention to end!!!!When we were doing prayer time before bed, he went up to Daddy and hit him. After hitting Daddy on the arm, he said "Daddy you ok? It's Ok I kiss it better!" and leaned over giving Daddy a kiss where he had been hit. Being a wise mom, I decided I better not show how intensely I was laughing inside (especially for the sake of his friends at school). THEN .... he came over and did the same thing to me. I could not hold it in anymore! I was rolling on the floor laughing and Skyler ate it up :) Of course, now we are dealing with the etiquette of not hitting other people ... It is never ending with toddlers :) As long as I get funny stories like these to blog about, I am definitely ok with new lessons!!!

Although I do not have video footage, I do have this cute picture that was taken at Disney recently:

The Boogies Came Back, They Couldn't Stay Away ...

After 7 days of the last round of antibiotics, Skyler still isn't better. The eye boogies, green nose boogies, and a fever of 102.8 have been lingering. We talked to the doctor on Monday and we got a change of Antibiotics to Augmentin. Another 20 day course ... ugh! Of course Skyler now hates to take his medicine, so a lot of bribery and sometimes holding goes into getting him to take it twice a day (plus any tylenol that he requires). He will have to go in on Friday for chest x-rays and blood work if there is no change by then. He got an amazing blessing from Uncle Adam and Daddy on Sunday, so I am sure whatever happens he is in good hands. Thanks to Aunt Brie and Uncle Adam for opening their home and handing our blessings to our entire family who is currently sick again! I am so grateful to have the preisthood in our homes because I felt immediately better, and was prepared to take on another week of sick baby while tackling the mounting coursework :) This picture was taken on Sunday during our sick family lock in ...



This is what happens when toddlers pick out their own clothes :)

Disney!!!!

We took Skyler on his FIRST Disney trip this weekend. It was Ava's 3rd Birthday and Rich and Kat took her for a Princess Makeover and a Cinderella Castle experience. Ava went to the Bibbidy, Bobiddy Boutique for a princess makeover and it was soooo much fun to watch. She had her hair, nails, and makeup done by her fairy godmother. Kat got her the cutest Sleeping Beauty outfit with matching shoes. So after the whole experience, she was the BEST looking princess around. Here are some pictures of the event :




After the makeover, we went to the Magic Kingdom and let loose. Of course Skyler refused to nap on the way to the park, so he was a little cranky. He has never really been into rides before, but he really enjoyed the ones at Disney. While we waited in line for the carousel he pointed the pony that he wanted to ride, identifying him as, "my pony!" When he finally got on the ride he did not want any help from Mommy or Daddy, this of course made us a little nervous, but he held on beautifully. Then when it was time to get off of the ride .... well I am sure you know what he did. Of course we had to ride it a second time :) Here are some pictures of us on the carousel (as a way to compare and contrast, I included a picture of Skyler on the carousel at Sea World in December to the one at Disney)

Seaworld -

Disney -





We also rode It's a Small World (and it really was, because standing behind us in line was a friend from my old job), Peter Pan, and the Haunted Mansion ... All pictured below (the one of the funny faces was the Haunted Mansion) ...





For the most part the day went great. Although we had several melt downs throughout the day (due to the lack of nap and Skyler's cold), we loved watching Skyler have soooo much fun riding the rides and eating ice cream and popcorn.

After a day full of adventure, we decided to brave the Dumbo line (now only 30 min wait at 9pm). Skyler fell dead asleep in Brendan's arms while waiting. Brendan wanted to wake him up for the ride, but Mommy remembered all the melt downs we had between rides and thought it might be a better idea to let the little guy sleep. I had to bribe a line exit with a ride on thunder mountain ... BTW it was a 1 hour wait! We were lucky the little guy was asleep :) Thanks to Brie for letting us borrow her full recline stroller (ours won't be here until Wednesday)!

After a few last rides, we went to the monorail to go home ... Nothing cold have prepared us for that. The longest line at the park - over an hour to get back to our car! I felt like I was being held hostage. Fortunately Skyler slept through it and all the way back to Tampa. We are excited for our return visit (we got the Florida resident 4 day pass) in the coming months. Next time we will be a little more prepared with the nap and hopefully Skyler will be over his infections by then.

Skyler Slide

Here is the video of the slide that we promised from the fair. The quality is not really good because it was taken on an I-Phone, but it is good enough to see how much fun the slide was. Skyler went down the slide three times ... Such a big boy. He does have a stunned looking face in this video ... Maybe Daddy enjoyed it a little more then Skyler?!

Surprise … Skyler is sick AGAIN!

I know this will come as a surprise to all, but Skyler is sick again. His antibiotics ended for his ear, sinus and eye infection on Friday. We went on a short Vaca for Bren’s birthday on Saturday, hoping everything would run smoothly. We got a call on Sunday morning from Aunt Patty, who was our babysitter, saying he had been kicked out of nursery because he had a runny nose (sounds a lot like his school)! Of course the runny nose was immediately followed by eye boogies. Patty had a grumpy little boy on her hands on Sunday (kind of nice to be on vacation). Of course the plans of dropping him off at school before she had to be at work on Monday morning did not go so smoothly! Thank heavens for Granmommy who came to the rescue. I called the doctor first thing on Monday morning and we headed back to Tampa to take the little guy in. The doctor reports that the ear, eye, and sinus infections are back! He also said this strand of infection is in the less then 5% that is resistant to 10 day rounds of antibiotics.  Leave it to our baby to find a resistant strand on his first time with an ear and sinus infection!!! The doctor prescribed a 20 day round of antibiotics. After finishing this dose, Skyler will have been on antibiotics for almost 47 days straight! Hopefully this does the trick, because if not …. ENT! I hate to have to keep asking, but please keep our little man in your prayers.

Something Happy

In light of all the sick baby posts I have been putting up, I thought I would add something fun and happy. Brendan and I hit the road for Orlando this past weekend as another way to celebrate the Brendan’s birthday… I know, real far! We went to our favorite resort, Mystic Dunes, for the weekend. Picture Below :

This was a long over due vacation, that was actually supposed to occur on Valentine’s weekend (which is also our anniversary), but due to all the colds/infections, we decided to postpone. Skyler stayed with Aunt Patty and had an exciting sleepover party! Patty took great care of him and kept him busy so he would not miss us too much. She made sure he had plenty of candy,FUN activities, and they even made it to church on Sunday! When we heard from Patty on Sunday morning, she told us that Skyler was up to his normal jokester self. She said that when she was putting Skyler to bed on Saturday night, he said while pointing to Patty:

“Are you Mommy?” Pause

“Noooooo!”

I’m not sure how it is possible, but he is getting cuter every day. Thinking back on his funny comments certainly makes me forget about all those sleepless nights and intense temper tantrums that have beset him in the last few months.Here is a picture of Skyler blowing bubbles at the park taken by Patty.

Back to the FUN vacation. Brendan and I left Saturday morning after picking up the car from the shop. We went to the Temple and had a great time! It is always so uplifting to be in the Temple and I cannot think of a better way to start a vacation! We had an awesome melting pot dinner (we had the Swiss Alps Big Night Out) … SOOOOO good! The rest of the vacation entailed some shopping (only a little b/c it was Brendan’s birthday after all), relaxing, movie watching, fantasy baseball draft, and arcade games (an Ally favorite).

Picture of us at Melting Pot -

 

We had a great time and we are hopefully rested enough to get through these next 20 days, oh and finals as well!

Alert Dogs?!?!?

We knew that we had one alert dog in the family (Jack Bauer of course), but little did we know that we had really had two. Here is a video of what I am talking about …



Skyler appears to be the more dedicated of the two seeing how Jack wandered off. They were both wrong on this occasion, as no one was really at the door!

Brendan’s Birthday

Happy Birthday Brendan :) Brendan turned 29 this year … how fast life goes by!

For his birthday, Brendan took the day off and we had a day full of fun …

First it started with Mommy dropping Skyler off at school instead of Daddy.

Then Breakfast in bed.

A Racecar experience … the cars went up to 50 mph!!! Of course Brendan won, but only by 1.9 secs :)

A PF Changs lunch … one of our favs!

A Movie with yummy popcorn – The Blind Side – SOOOO Good!

A home made masterpiece dinner by my mom - Brendan’s annual request – Pesto Pasta with Beef (this year it was Shish Kabob) – and Skyler actually ATE it!!!

 

A Cake Batter Ice Cream Cake from ColdStone

Mommy and Skyler wish the best to their favorite Daddy and Husband during year 29 (and so on)!!!!

Another Sick Day!

Skyler woke up in throw up today ... the poor guy! He apparently caught a stomach bug and has been throwing up all day! Brendan is in Jax and I am with sick baby again ... have I ever told anyone how much I HATE vomit (My gag reflex can't handle it). It took me three rounds of throw up to realize that cleaning it off of the wood floors downstairs was easier the cleaning it off of my bedroom carpet. I bleached the toys and the bathtub, I antibacterial scrubbed the toys that could not be bleached, I scrubbed the carpet clean (with oxyclean), and I have done four loads of laundry ... with the promise of more to come. Boy does my house look and smell clean !!! I just keep thinking of how far behind I have gotten in my school work since Skyler's sick spell started in January. Most of all ... poor Skyler is still not feeling better. I called in the reserves and my mom got here with gatorade, saltines, oxiclean for Skyler and McDonald's for us. On top of the anitbiotics Skyler is taking for the eye, ear, and sinus infection, he is now on a crackers and gatorade diet!!! Of course, Brendan and I have already started to feel the bug set in (McDonald's might not have been such a good idea :( Brendan is in Jax taking depos all day (at least I am at home)! Pajama Party Time!!!




To top off the great day we are having, I had to get one of the cars towed to the shop because it won't start. Thank heavens it's still under warranty. Skyler watched as the car was put on the tow bed and started crying and screaming ... "my car, my car!" I thought he would like the tow truck, seeing how he is a boy and all, but I guess not!!!!

We have settled down now and Skyler is taking a nap. Hopefully we will all be feeling better by Thursday so we can celebrate Brendan's birthday in style.

Skyler Calamari

Skyler Calamari
Originally uploaded by allygatorgirl

Tonight we went with Adam, Brie and Kayden to Carrabbas. Brie and I prepared the boys for a quiet dinner out with I-Pod touches, coloring menus, and bread. Little did I know that Adam and Brie's appetizer of Calamari would be the big hit with Skyler. He even ate the little squid shaped pieces. It was hilarious to watch him chew and chew and chew the pieces of calamari down. I even caught a video of it!!! (of course as soon as the camera stopped rolling, a big "CHEESE" came out of his mouth! You will just have to imagine it). I think I see a little Mitchell blood coming out in him.

Sick AGAIN!

So after 10 days of amox, 5 days of an oral steroid, a round of eye drop antibiotics, and albuteral for two days .... Skyler is sick again!

All medicines was finished on Friday. By Saturday evening, he was holding his ears and crying (hard to determine what was causing this pain at that point because Kayden and Skyler engaged in some WWF the very same evening).

On Sunday evening we noticed Skyler's eyes gooping over again. He also started holding his ears and crying about them. The ear rubbing while crying out "my ears" (you know, in that funny little forget the "a" sound way a toddler does) is a first for him ... It was nice to see that he can finally verbalize his discomfort, but it broke my heart to see him in pain!

After an entire evening of crying Mommy called the doctor and the doctor said ... We still have an ear, eye and sinus infection! We are now on a stronger antibiotic, as the last one was only supressing the infections (per the Dr.). This antibiotic is supposed to tear up the little guys digestive track, so the doctor also put him on a probiotic (Brie was giving me this advice long ago). He told us to put it in anything he eats of drinks, we told him good luck convincing him to eat or drink! We ended up putting it in ice cream tonight (this sick thing is really paying off for him).

Tonight is proving to be another restless sleep evening ... hopefully those antibiotics will start relieving his pain tomorrow. Mommy and Daddy are very tired ... Is this what it is like to have a newborn who doesn't sleep through the night (Skyler always gave us abt 8 hours)?

BTW ... we love our Doctor ! He is always great about recognizing what is wrong and putting our concerns at ease. What a blessing to have an awesome medical team available to take care of our son!

More and More Like his Father Every Day

On Wednesday morning, we noticed that Skyler's eye infection was back!!!! We immediately took him to the doctor to get the scoop on his poor eyes. We were not expecting this ... He had an ear infection and sinus infection, along with the eye infection. The doctor told us that the eye infection was a result of the ear and sinus infection that he has probably been battling for a few weeks (all that night waking was for a reason)! He put the poor little baby on antibiotics. He also told us that he is not contagious and that the last eye infection that he had was not contagious either! Oh well, I guess I was fooling myself with the idea that we did really great hand washing.

On Thursday night (when Brendan and I were supposed to be watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice), Skyler's cough got worse. It was every 10-15 seconds, but not very flemmy. We tried a bath, vick's baby rub, a blessing, TLC in Mommy and Daddy's bed .... nothing worked. After about 2 hours the Doctor was called into the situation ... Result ... take him to urgent care. Now for any of you that don't know Skyler very well ... He has never been a really sick kid and we have never had to take him to the doctor at night! I was very nervous for the little guy. The Doctor at the urgent care said that he heard some wheezing in the cough and put him on a nebulizer treatment of albuteral ... WHAT ... Like I said, more and more like his father every day!!!! Here is a picture of us attempting to keep him still for the treatment ... (we were glad he was tired)



BTW ... no one told me that albuteral would make him so hyper until after the treatment ... like when he was running around like a crazy man! Here is a picture of him rocking himself very fast (especially for 11:30 at night) ...



We left urgent care with a prescription for albuteral to be given to Skyler every 4-6 hours for the next three days. But, after only three hours, he was requiring the treatment again! Hopefully this will clear up fast ....

The jury is still out on whether these are the first signs of asthma. The Doctor said that they do not like to diagnose things like that so soon. He said that they call this Reactive Airway Disease. I think we will wait to hear what his normal ped has to say about the situation. Please keep Skyler in your prayers.

Socks

Today was the first time I have thought of my son as a comedian. He is usually straight forward when asking for something. He is definitely straight forward when demanding something. But today he decided to be a little jokester …

When I was getting him dressed for school, he was wiggling around like normal. He didn’t sit still until I began to put his socks on. When I was putting on his socks he started to say something indiscernible while touching his first socked foot. Finally when I had put the last sock on, I realized what he had been saying …

Skyler – Is the sock hot?

Ally – What?

Skyler – Is the sock hot?

Ally – What are you saying?

Skyler – Nooo ….  it’s not hot! (huge grin)

I don’t know where he came up with it, but he was overjoyed to have been so funny!

I love toddlers :)

The Fair

So, I am not sure how this happened (AGAIN), but we got to the fair this year without a camera. Between Kat, my mother and myself …. no camera to be had. All pictures posted are from our picture phones! Rich took a great video of Skyler and Brendan going down the giant slide, so as soon as I can secure it, it will be posted. We had such a good time!

In attendance : Skyler, Brendan, Patty, Kat, Granmommy, Grandaddy, David, Rich, Ava, and Me.

Food consumption : Cheese sticks, london broil, gyro, corndog, steak on a stick, fried twinkie, funnel cake, BBQ, caramel apple, fiskes fries, fried peanut butter cup, ice cream, and last but not least … chocolate covered bacon. We drew the line at the krispie kream donut hamburger (where the donuts are the bread). BTW … Skyler devoured a whole cup full of Fiske fries … we really are good parents :|

  

Rides – Giant Slide

Attractions – Pony Ride, petting zoo, cracker country, expo hall, and Brendan’s annual cooking show.

Purchases – Jacob’s ladder toy, Choo Choo train piggy bank (Skyler would not put it down), and a new purse for me :)

Skyler … who doesn’t sleep anywhere but his room and at preschool … fell asleep on Rich’s shoulders as they were walking through the expo hall while the girls went to work shopping!

MORE PICTURES ...
Mommy and Skyler -

Mommy, Daddy, Skyler and Uncle D -

Granmommy and Granddaddy -

John Mayer

For my birthday this year, Brendan secured us tickets to the John Mayer concert 2/5/10! To start the night we went to Gallagher’s Steak House in Channelside. We had ribeye and some yummy extras. Then it was too the concert (which is only a short walk from Channelside). It was awesome. The guest singer was Michael Franti and Spearhead … one of my faves as well! Michael Franti came into the crowd and was only a few feet from me. That is him with the big sock like thing on his head (I know it is is a bit blurry - I forgot my camera, so these are all from my phone) dancing through the audience …

We were super close and John Mayer was signing super great!

After a stellar performance for over 3 hours (who knew concerts lasted so long) the crowd cheered him on for an encore performance.

After the concert we walked back to Channelside for some Coldstone icecream … YUMMY!

By the time we got home it was after 12am – a long night for a concert that started at 8pm! I wish I could say it was a relaxing rest of the weekend, but fair on Saturday and Superbowl on Sunday!

New Posts

I have finally updated some of the blog ... make sure to go through all of the old posts b/c the first one I updated today was from October 2008! Man was I behind!!!!!!! Hopefully I will stay more up to date ...

Am I loved or What??

I started school this January and most of it is online, with the occasional class on Saturday. Last Saturday I was totally bummed because my class went from 11 am – 5 pm, with only a 30 minute lunch break. The school is 30 minutes away, so I felt like I was going to miss the whole day with Brendan and Skyler …. BUT …

Brendan came to school with Skyler for my lunch break with WingStop (my fav)! On the way he and Skyler detailed the Homda and on the way home he detailed the VW!  When I left class I had to do a big project that was due by midnight … I was a little stressed with formatting and APA writing style (I’m not sure I really missed school after all), so Bren helped pull up some citation assistance for me!  When I got in the car after the project was done, I found a poster/love note waiting for me!!!! I’ll let you decide if he loves me!!!

        

P.S. No one tell Brendan this is up or he might make me take it down!