Father's Day

Sawyer

Sawyer got a lot of play time in with other kids this week. It's so funny because he gets so excited when I tell him we're going to the park or a play date. He runs around and squeals, "Kids! Play, kids!" over and over. But he really is still at the stage of parallel play so there's not too much actual playing going on. He also assumes that all kids at any location are there to play with him, regardless of age which makes for some funny interactions.

I know when he's up in the morning or from his nap because I'll hear him from his room, "Find mommy," and then he sleepily pads out to wherever I am, "Hi mommy!" (If we're being honest, most of the time where I am is still in bed. He's usually my alarm.)

He's currently going through some kind of sleep regression which I didn't know was a thing for 2 1/2 year olds but Google confirmed that it's pretty common (and the internet knows all, right?). He's been sleeping through the night for a long time and never fought it much when it was time for sleep whether it was his naptime or bedtime. And that all changed in this last week or so. This regression makes me want to rip my hair out because it means that I am, once again, dealing with his freaking vomit. It's become pretty apparent that he knows how to make himself throw up and after feeling bad for him the first dozen (million) times, now it just makes me mad. 

He used to just lay down, we'd turn on his music/light machine, and he'd drift off to sleep. That shifted a little into him asking me to lay by him ("By you?" in the sweetest little voice and then he'd pat my shoulder while I sat next to him) for a few minutes. I really liked this part because I would talk to him about his day and ask him if he had fun and he'd list a bunch of things from our day that were his highlights (in his babbly two year old conversation.) BUT NOW it goes something more like this:

Me and/or Dillon: Okay buddy, bedtime.

Sawyer: Whine, whiiiiine, whine, wakeup!

Me: No it's time for sleep.

Sawyer: Fro-up

Me: (Thinking he's remembering when he's thrown up before) No you won't throw up this time (or when I became less patient...Don't you throw up!)

Sawyer: Spews up everything he's eaten that day. Everywhere. And then screams and throws up some more.

Besides for these lovely exchanges, he's been throwing up during the day a couple of times out of nowhere. But he's fine right after he's thrown up. And he's definitely not sick. And I'm definitely losing my mind. After washing his bedding twice in less than 16 hours and scrubbing spots in my carpet half a dozen times I finally snapped and when he threw up at naptime I told him that that got him absolutely nowhere because not only was he now covered in puke, he still had to take a nap. I can't say that he understood but it made me feel better. (**As a side note, he nicely went down for a nap today before I started typing this..no puke involved. So maybe it sunk in? I'm not holding my breath though.)

He's also been waking up and coming into our room at least twice a night which is very unusual for him. So far he cooperates and goes back to his room after these middle of the night excursions. Maybe pray for our sanity.

Dawson

Dawson had a busy developmental week. As of our play date Tuesday, he still had no interest in trying to sit and then Friday morning he woke up and bam, a sitter. I would say he's ninety percent reliable in holding himself in a sitting position. And it seems like when he falls over it's only because he wants to move around but hasn't figured out how to gracefully get out of a sitting position yet.

He's also started to scoot/army crawl in a forward direction. And when he sees something he wants, he is surprisingly fast. I think crawling is in the not too distant future.

He rudely teased me by sleeping through the night once last week but it was definitely a fluke because he has been back to waking up one to two times a night (combined with Sawyer's nighttime chaos and I feel like I'm back in the newborn stage). Dawson goes down at night pretty easy. We just lay him in his crib with his wubbanub and he takes care of it. But I cannot for the life of me figure out how to night wean him. I HAVE learned that when he wakes up around midnight or one, he's usually not hungry, but Dillon has to be the one to go in and replace his binky. If it's me, he'll scream forever because I walked away with the goods (even though he doesn't need them) but if Dillon does it he'll go back to sleep. He is, unfortunately, consistently and legitimately hungry when he wakes up around four or five. 

Dillon

Dillon spent the first chunk of the week talking like a chain smoker because of a reaction he had to some of the farm cats when he went to help his dad. Poor dude woke up the morning after he came home and the roof of his mouth clear to the back of his throat was covered in tiny blisters. After a few days of medicine and soothing drinks he's back to normal. (Honest moment: I'm not too sad about the fact that his cat allergy means we have a reason to never own cats, at least not inside ones.)

He planned a fun Saturday for our family. Such a thoughtful guy. He made me feel a little guilty for doing the planning even though it was his Fathers Day weekend. We did breakfast, some Ross shopping, naps for the boys, and then a trip to the aquatic center which the boys loved (Dawson is so funny and always takes a little bit to warm up to the water, regardless of temperature, but then decides he likes it and goes real limp and chill in our arms.)

Our ward actually did a treat for the men on Fathers Day which they haven't done before (which I always thought was weird and a little sad, especially since they always make sure the women get something on Mothers Day) so Dillon got some pie and ice cream to share with Dawson. Part of his Fathers Day was to get to take a break from spending two hours in nursery with Sawyer, which meant he had the baby, but Dawson was nice for him and eventually fell asleep after their shared treat.

DaNae

Besides for being knee-deep in barf, my week was fairly calm. Plenty of play dates and time spent with Dillon, which is just the way I like most of my weeks.

My dad had his second knee replacement on Monday. Having someone in surgery is always worrying but he came out okay and seems to be doing well based on our few visits to see him.

I often feel like a nutcase since I've had kids because it seems like I can never remember where I've set stuff down. I was late to our Tuesday playdate because I couldn't find my car keys. Then I found my keys and loaded up the boys, and somehow couldn't find my keys again. Our car is a keyless start so I checked to see if the car would start, and it did, so I drove to the park deciding to find them later because they were obviously in the car somewhere. After coming home and searching the car's every nook and cranny about four times I started to get so frustrated. The car would still start after I took everything inside so the keys definitely weren't in any of the bags. I finally found them after a last ditch effort and deciding to look in places they couldn't possibly be. They were inside the camp chair and it's container that was in our car. How? HOW? I don't know but I'm happy to have located them. (Every time this happens I always pray to find my keys because I always end up so frustrated because I feel like I've checked everywhere, and I always feel bad for wasting Heavenly Father's time for keys, but I always find them right after I ask for help. The little things.)

Park date with Maddie and her boys before she had to go back to California.

Sawyer ran over and stole this LaCrosse stick and then tried to play with the big boys. They were good sports about it. He really thinks everyone is there to play with him.

 We stopped by the new Palette creamery in town for our Monday (this week Tuesday) night treat. It was yummy!

My ice cream loving baby

He's all about "I-peen cones"

Simultaneous baby holding and ice cream eating talent

They were clear at the bottom of the chair's bag. I had to get a picture. So weird.

I don't think potty training is going to happen for us any time soon. This is the response I get every time and it's usually much more passionate.

Playing with brother's hair.

This picture is basically the same but Dawson's foot! Zoom in and look at that puffy thing! It's so chubby with little sausage toes just poking out the top.

 We had a water play date at Meleese's house. She's such a fun mom. I totally envy her creativity, energy, and positivity. She's good for me to be around and her little girls are the sweetest.

From Instagram: The head shake at the beginning and the wiggling toes at the end 😍 #DawsonD

Peacefully asleep after his inexplicable vomiting session and stripping of his gross bedding. Goober.

Ten Year Reunion

Sawyer

We decided to foil Sawyer's windows and it has been wonderful. He used to sleep in until around 8:30 in the morning and it was a dream. Then the time changed and we moved him into his new room and he basically woke up at the slightest sign of light. But since we have foiled his windows he is back to his normal sleeping time with the time change adjustment, so 7:30ish, which I can totally handle.

Dawson

Dawson hit eight months and got his very own post here.

Dillon

Dillon's Jeep needed a new radiator this past week which sucked and made me sad to be an adult. He took it to the place we usually go and asked them to look at the brakes too since he got an advisory warning about them when he got inspected. They ended up quoting us a crazy amount (which I wouldn't have known because I know very, very little about typical costs for vehicle stuff..thank goodness for Dillon) so Dillon picked it up and we took it into a different shop that's not as well known and it cost us half of what the first place wanted to charge us. So that's a win on a not so winning situation. Tough Times Auto. Check them out.

Dillon also went to Delta to help his dad out on the farm for a couple of days. The entire time he was gone Sawyer was on repeat, "Dad gooooone....farm. Milking. Steve." I'm glad he was able to go help and I'm doubly glad he's home. We miss him when he's gone.

DaNae

I made one of my more frustrating mistakes to date this last week. We have a second, large standup freezer that we keep food storage in. Mainly meat on the bottom and breastmilk on the top with some odds and ends in between. I got a couple of things out to thaw in our fridge and then didn't have a reason to go back in the room where we keep the freezer for a couple of days. I must not have shut the freezer door all the way because when I went back all of the food was defrosted and had gone bad, including all of the milk I had pumped for Dawson. I have never been so close to throwing a toddler-like tantrum, feet stomping and all. Everything had to be thrown away and it was irrationally rage inducing, especially because it was such a dumb mistake on my part. But the rest of the week we had some blessings that definitely helped, mostly from both of our families. And now I'm back to pumping more often than I'd like but, what do you do.

I took Sawyer out to visit Dustin's headstone on Dustin's birthday. I don't go out there often but I like to remember him on his birthday more so than on the day he passed. It's good, even though the feelings are always more raw on that day, and I enjoyed talking to Sawyer about the uncle he was named after.

Sawyer and I also stayed up late to watch the Summer Games fireworks with Jared, Lisa, Kourtney, and Kyler. Dawson had gone to bed at like 7:00 (unusually early for him, definitely growing) and Dillon was fine going to bed earlier since he has to get up early for work. Sawyer had fun running around the church lawn with the kids and then sat really still on my lap when the fireworks started. He just kept pointing and saying, "Pop! Pop!" while he watched.

Over the weekend my high school graduating class celebrated at our ten year reunion. There was both a family friendly picnic and an adults only dinner. I'm really glad they ended up doing both. It was fun to see everyone's cute kids outside of Facebook pictures and it was fun to hang out with just the grown-ups for a minute. There was a lot of catching up and reminiscing (and tolerating of all the reminiscing on the spouses' part.)

Our morning routine often contains a show and he often picks the animated version of Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar. He used to become so distressed when the caterpillar turned into a butterfly and would scream, "Pilllarr!!" at the TV. The last little while he's decided it's okay and does this instead..

Multigram from Instagram: Took your little namesake with me to visit your headstone for the first time today. We made sure to get flowers in your favorite color and talked a little bit about who you were. It was happy and it was sad. It hurt and it healed. I miss you all of the time but especially on this day set aside to celebrate you. Happy heavenly birthday Dustin! Til we meet again.
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Dawson is definitely my sugar baby. He loves all things sweet and particularly enjoyed this whipped cream covered spatula after I was done making dessert.

Finally captured his Wal-mart parking lot rock stacking. (Don't mind that hair, the wind was crazy).

From Instagram: Some serious goal-oriented rolling going on over here. #DawsonD 

They had some fun activities for the kids at the reunion picnic. This was Sawyer's first experience with water balloons.

When it popped he was so confused and a little sad because he wanted to keep playing with it. 

Maddie. One of those friends that will be lifelong even though we don't get to talk as often as we'd like. I just really love getting to see her and love that our kids are almost the exact same ages.

Bennett lovin' on Dawson's ear. So funny.

Dillon was a good sport and seemed to genuinely enjoy all the stories at the reunion

Everybody who was able to make it, definitely missing a big portion of people but it was so fun to see these guys.

And I think it's funny how many more girls from our class came than boys. I think girls tend to be more social than boys so I'm not totally surprised.

Love these girls

Dawson Eight Months

Eight months with this chub. He has become so noisy and makes happy little squeaks and shrieks pretty constantly (along with some not so happy squeaks and shrieks but those have been around since day one).

He's still not much of a sitter and prefers to be on the go. He rolls and scoots most places but still hasn't figured out how to go forward and it frustrates him to no end.

He has become quite opinionated and will let you know his preferences. I sometimes like to tease him when I know he's going for particular toy on the floor by moving it and offering him something else. He'll look at what I'm offering and then look at me, back and forth, and then he'll continue reaching for what he wanted in the first place. He'll also slap my hand away when he knows I'm just trying to quiet him with his binky. He usually likes it but when something particular is bothering him, he just gets even more ticked that I'm trying to stop his noise.

His two bottom front teeth just barely popped through. I find it perfectly ironic that the baby I ended up pumping for a year for, and not nursing, didn't get teeth until after his first birthday but the baby that I have successfully nursed the whole time, of course gets his teeth in a normal time frame...and I still have four more months of feeding him..with teeth.

He loves to play in the grass and has since the first time I laid him on it.

Dawson still really loves his snuggles but when he's tired he likes to just be laid down with his bink in his own space to fall asleep.

He loves this bat at my parents house and likes to wrap all four limbs around it at the same time, holding it as close as possible.

His little swimsuit

This captures a tiny bit of how he throws his head back and forth when he's excited (and when he's tired).

Some outtakes that just make me want to squish him

He's got some pretty good directionality when it comes to his rolling. He spotted my water bottle from across the room and got it in no time.

The Zoo!

The last couple of weeks have been so fun with family and friends. Rather than doing individual updates this time, I'll just write out our events as they go with the pictures (lots and lots of pictures).

Two of my cousins, who were born only two days apart, graduated from high school so we had a family party to celebrate them. One got a scholarship at the U and the other is on his way to Oregon for his LDS mission. Our extended family doesn't get together as much as we used to so it was nice to see the people that could come.

Sawyer was especially impressed with the pond in my aunt and uncle's backyard as well as the two cute girls he's sitting by in the picture. He spent most of the night with them.

Petting one of the turtles from the pond

We went down to St. George to do some swimsuit shopping. Both Dillon and I ended up ordering suits online so the trip was kind of a bust but it was still fun to get out of the house.

Sawyer's designated spot because he just wanted to "seeeeeet!"

Crawling underneath Dillon's dressing room door because I get tired of trying to contain him and figure if he's not hurting anyone, I'm not going to worry about it.

We went back to the lake on the hill, this time with a puddle jumper on Sawyer and I'll tell you, for being a pretty cautious soul, that kid has no fear with the water. He would go out as far as his limited height would let him and then run back, over and over. Dawson on the other hand, still did not appreciate the temperature and screamed when I put his toes in.

Multigram from instagram: One of the only things that made me say, "When I'm a parent my kids won't do (wear) that"...Bucket hats. Because I hate them. But their practicality simply cannot be denied. Gotta protect that baby skin. Plus this guy makes them look pretty cute. #DawsonD
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Flinging mud

Dawson loves grass! Here he is chilling (and trying to eat said grass) while we played croquet.

"Hammer!" "Ball!" "Got it."

Dillon's sister has been trying to fly down to Cedar for months but the weather has not cooperated. She finally got a chance to fly a plane down here over Memorial Day weekend. We took the boys and went to lunch with her and her flight instructor. Sawyer has been asking about "Bidgette" ever since.

PC: Bridgette. It was too cute to not steal.

This is one of my favorite views when I push my babies in their stroller: tiny, naked feet, crossed at the ankles. We've gone on a few walks to the playground to get out of the house. Sawyer points out every bird along the way and Dawson swings his feet in complete contentment.

I was able to see my friend Larissa and her cute girls while they were visiting her in-laws but we didn't get any pictures. The worst. But it was so fun catching up with her!

We made plans to go up to Salt Lake to visit friends and family (although we weren't able to make it to everyone in our limited three days there, next time!). The best part of the drive up was definitely this magical moment...

...where both kids slept for a couple of hours AT THE SAME TIME. When they woke up we stopped at the Red Barn in Santaquin to stretch our legs. 

This slinky was the best entertainment of the trip. Thank you Red Barn.

We grabbed a couple of flavored honey sticks and they were delicious! But I felt like I was drinking straight syrup and immediately needed a pancake to even it out.

We stopped again at Provo Town Centre in hopes to do some shopping but most of the shops were shut down and hadn't been filled by anything new. So weird.

His first ride on a ridiculous machine that just rocks back and forth but still delights all children. I remember loving them when I was little. Watching them now, it just makes me laugh.

Happy Dawson

This was his first experience on an escalator and he was all grins (clearly we get out a lot). He just wanted to ride the stairs on repeat the rest of the time.

After we left the mall we headed over to the Britos (who we've managed to see twice in one year now, no small feat) for dinner (still no pictures, I keep forgetting!, but we love their little family and had fun visiting). As we were driving over, both kids had decided they'd had enough of the car. I had packed the Kindle for Sawyer as a very last resort and decided to pull it out to help him out. While he was playing games, he started whining and I thought he was getting frustrated by the games...then he started barfing all down his shirt and belt straps. Then he did it again because he was crying from the first round aaaand then again. Stupid cry-vomit cycle. Apparently he gets carsick like his mama and will be limited to passing the time in the car by non-dizzying activities.

So both boys were screaming and we still had about fifteen minutes before we arrived at our friends' house. I decided to unbuckle and wipe up Sawyer the best I could for the time being. While my rear end was pointed at the window, we passed a cop but, luckily, didn't get pulled over. I was committing to never traveling with kids again when we pulled up to Rob and Lindsay's but we got everything cleaned up and both kids were pleasant as soon as they got out of the car so the crisis passed.

My Grandma and Grandpa Hossner were nice enough to let us stay at their house while we were up there. We got to their house a little later in the night but stayed up to visit a little bit. Dawson was sitting on my grandma's lap, totally fine, and then suddenly threw up ALL OVER her repeatedly (my kids, you guys, literally all they do is take turns throwing up). He'd had a little bit of a runny nose and when that happens, he generally gags on his own snot. I changed him into his spare PJs and then he threw up, again. So laundry was a necessity at this point. We got everything that was covered in puke washed and dried and finally made it to bed.

This baby. The two of us had a bed all to ourselves but he wouldn't sleep unless he was right next to me, tucked up in my armpit.

The next day was zoo day! We met up with all of Dillon's sisters, their kids, and his mom. It was hot and sweaty but fun. Everything with kids is more fun. Watching Sawyer was the best.

Sawyer and the...waterball?? I don't know what to call it but he loves everything water related so this was a definite highlight for him.

The giraffes

I thought Sawyer would want to run around with the kids but brought the stroller in case he got tired. Instead, he preferred to have the kids take turns pushing him around most of the day. Little prince. Allie was happy to oblige.

Getting sprayed by beetle "acid".

"Ba-ba-biiiiig el-phant!"

Getting a good picture of multiple kids is difficult

Especially a two-year-old

Who is easily distracted. "Ba-ba-biiiig train!" (which we didn't ride, next time for that too!)

Getting a little help at the classic lion drinking fountain.

Slept like a champ in his carrier for his naps.

We decided to go to the bird show and barely squeaked in before it was time to start. There wasn't quite enough room for everybody so I sat in a different spot but it happened to be right in front of my high school friend Lisa. So we got to catch up a bit and Dawson was all smiles for Lisa and was really engrossed by her gorgeously long hair.

Dillon said during the show Sawyer would point and say, "Bird! Bird!" at everything that came out. Then Dillon told him "Look bud, a cockatoo" and Sawyer deadpanned, "Cockatoo." Every now and then, perfect pronunciation from him.

Lisa, Me, and our babies

We had to make a stop at the splash pad, of course. See the kid in the red shorts in the picture below? I almost beat him up. Little Sawyer was running around having a good time with all of the other kids and for some reason this 14-year-old kept following Sawyer around and jumping in puddles right next to him so that a giant tidal wave would wash over his head. Sawyer is too good natured to whine about other kids picking on him (usually) so he would just stand and splutter every time and then wait for the water to clear out of his eyes so he could see again. Thankfully Sawyer's older cousins Kaylie and Mason took care of it for me so I didn't have to be that crazy mom who interceded. But seriously? WTH older kid.

Grandma Ronna provided all of us with a Dippin' Dots break. Before any of us could do anything, Dawson dove both hands into Kristin's and was quite pleased with himself. That baby looooves his ice cream.

Shortly after that both of our littles had had enough and were ready for naps. The rest of the family stayed for an elephant show and other fun. We made our way to the reptile house and then the gift shop so that Sawyer could pick out a prize. He got a light up Hippo and a tube of sea creatures. Dawson got..nothing. Sorry dude. When you're old enough to care we'll get you souvenir toys too.

By the time we got the kids buckled and pulled out of the parking lot, they were fast asleep. We made a stop at Trader Joe's so that they could sleep longer, and because we have a slight obsession with their different and yummy treats. Dillon sat in the car with the boys and I made the rounds to see what unique stuff I could find. I was not disappointed but I think the regulars were annoyed by my wandering ways.  

We stopped by Rob and Lindsay's to hang out a little before we all went to Grandma Ronna's house to swim in the pool. Dawson was a little unsure about the water but decided it was alright after a few minutes. His first time in his floatie was a success. Sawyer was delighted to be tossed in the air over and over by both Dillon and Rob. They would throw him up and before they could catch their breath he would exclaim, "Flying? Flying!" so that they would do it again.

That smile is my favorite but can only be caught in candid moments. He's a little Chandler Bing-ish when he knows his picture is being taken.

We all slept hard that night after playing hard during the day. We visited with my grandparents and ate breakfast with them before heading over to Bridgette's to see everyone again before heading home.

We discovered this little monkey cut his first tooth over the weekend which I'm sure is related to his runny nose.

Unstacking..

..And restacking plates

Both boys mercifully took a nap during the first chunk of our drive home and both of them woke up right before Scipio so we pulled over to get gas, feed Dawson, and get wiggles out. Sawyer was equally excited about the petting zoo there as he had been for Hogle Zoo. "See ammals. See ammals" was all we heard for the majority of the ride home.

He prefers animals that let him come to them so these giant bunnies were the perfect way to wrap up our trip.

And that was our first real vacation as a family of four. A big win overall.