Sick

+

Snow =
Yuck

Someone save us.

Birthday Fun!

Tyler had a joint birthday party last week at the park with his friend Sam. We had cupcakes, play dough and swings! What else could a group of toddlers need?

On Monday, Tyler got a fun package in the mail. See if you can guess where this sweatshirt came from!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Hinckley! (And David and Marie for the rest of the presents!)

We got Tyler his own piece of cake for his birthday cake because we don't need an entire cake sitting in the kitchen calling my name. Last year, Tyler seemed somewhat mesmerized by the candle flame, but this year, he was terrified of it! He kept saying, "Hot! Hot!" and backing away from it. I think this may stem from me training him never to touch the oven, the stove, candles, etc. Either way, he wanted nothing to do with the cake...

...until we blew out the candle for him. Then all he wanted to do was play with the candle itself.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

Dear Little Man,

You were born two years ago today. I was in a bit of a drug-induced haze, but this is what I remember:

As soon as you were born, the nurses took you away from me to make sure you were alright. After all, it had taken two hours of pushing to get you here, and they wanted to check you over. I didn't get to hold you for twenty minutes after you were born, and I cried the whole time. When I finally did get to hold you, I was more than a little terrified for your sake, that it was your misfortune to be in my custody for the next eighteen years. You looked in my eyes right then, and it was like you knew who I was, and you were telling me you had complete confidence in me as your new mommy. I still didn't feel like a real mom yet, but I loved you more than anything right then.

Over those few short days in the hospital, I observed:

• You only cried for a minute after you were born, and then, it was like you realized there was a whole world to see, and you'd rather explore it than complain about your rough entry.


• You had your daddy's toes, the Carter pinky toes, and my nose.


• Your toes curled out rather than in when you got tickled.
  


• You were all boy, big and barrel chested, the second biggest baby in the nursery.
  


• You did not like cold wipes, and you were not shy about letting us know.


• You came into this world six days before my 20th birthday, and you were the best present I've ever had.

New Calling

Last week, the stake presidency asked to meet with me, and as of today, I am officially the second counselor in our Stake Primary Presidency.

I am so, so nervous.

I am being set apart on Tuesday along with the president, first counselor and secretary, and then we are going to be trained for a couple of hours afterward.

Holy smokes!

(disclaimer: I know it's all going to work out fine, like it always does, but man oh man this is a very scary thing to me.)

Shameless Plug

Hey, guys, really sorry to do this, but we need some help here (this is McKay, by the way). As most of you know, I'm in my last semester at BYU in Advertising, and my group is conducting a research survey for our client involving the use of suncare products. If you have a moment, I would appreciate you filling out a quick survey. It should only take about 5 minutes, and at the completion of the survey you can submit your email address to be entered into a drawing for one of several gift cards. Whoo!

Here is the link; just click and go!
https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_e5mfUZqCZY7jZNW&SVID=Prod

The survey will stay open until Sunday night, and your answers won't
be connected to you in any way. Thanks!

Lazy, Lazy Days

Tyler and I have been incredibly lazy this week, and I do not have anything worthy to blog about. It comes from any of the following:

a) Summer has ended; the sun comes up later, thus we wake up later.
b) It's getting colder, so it's easy to stay cozy in our blanket cocoon.
c) McKay has started school and work on a regular basis again, so we don't have another adult to motivate action.
d) We're still recovering from our trip to California.
e) We like lounging around and watching Dinosaur Train on two different channels, even if it is the same episode.

In any case, here are our ingredients for a very indolent week:

Favorite Sweats: Check



Good Reads: Check




Teddy Bear Chair: Check



Kill Bear Chair: Check



Lots of cuddling: Check

Five Things That Made Me Happy This Week:

1) The name of our airplane that took us to California:

2) Tyler being spoiled senseless by out of state grandparents:

3) My beautiful new apron from my sister Kimmy:

4) My sister Kristin tearing it up on the soccer field:

5) All the Eatough family in one place for Lauren's baby shower, all bellies included (some husbands not):

Hurray for quick trips home, and for peaceful flights (thank you, Tyler for being so obsessed with looking out the window that you forgot to get antsy and grumpy).

Fall in the Mountains

Last Monday, we drove up the mountains to Alpine Loop for a picnic. At the beginning of October, just before winter hits and turns everything gray, the mountains are all orange and yellow and red and gold and beautiful.

As soon as we set Tyler down on this path, he put his little head down and just marched.

Tyler found some other hikers during our dinner picnic. After this picture, he ran to ambush them.

We got there a bit later than we wanted to, so we missed the sunset on all the colors, but it was still fun to get out and see the beautiful changes that fall brings to our neck of the woods.

It Starts

I cannot even express how excited I am for the holiday season to begin.

Tyler and I have been waiting all week for Oct. 1 to get all our spooky decor out. And this is just the tame, tasteful Halloween stuff. We haven't gotten into the spider webs and ghosts to hang out on our porch and front window...yet.

Each year, around the beginning of October, I have a moment where the transition from normal person to haul-out-the-holly and deck-the-halls happens. This year, it happened when I passed a holiday-themed Airwick display at the grocery store. It was instantaneous.

Christmas music on the radio! Presents! Baking! Christmas trees, ornaments, family gatherings, love, cute nativity scenes, mistletoe!

I bought two refills for my living room air freshener, Vanilla Indulgence and Fresh-baked Gingerbread. I am perfectly aware and okay with the fact that I am playing right into the manufacturer's hands.

Happy October, everyone!