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.