Three years...

We have had three years with this little boy and it has truly been a joy. He has such a special place in my heart. He is good-natured and for the most part, very pleasant.

I think about how far I have come as a mother in the last three years and its amazing how I have changed because of Tyce. I am so grateful for what he teaches me.

I would like to give a special thank you to my dear friend Cali for taking the following pictures of Tyce. She has captured my favorite 'Tyce expressions'. She just follows him around and lets him do his thing and catches the most perfect pictures while he is in his element. Thank you so much Cal!

Some of my favorite things about Tyce: He is so self-entertaining. He plays for hours and hours by himself. He has always been obsessed with tractors, construction equipment, and his recent favorite is trains. He is excited about everything. Everything is a thrill for him. It's so fun to experience life through his eyes. The smallest things turn into great adventures. Other favorites, he has always been a great sleeper, he was very easy to potty train, he has a tender heart, he travels so well in the car (mostly because he is so entertained by all the cars and semis on the road), he has the most addicting giggle and so quick to laugh, he is very friendly and makes friends every where we go. He always asks, "whats you name?" to every stranger in the store. He is a very good big brother. He loves Jacey, and takes such good care of her. No one can make Jacey laugh the way Tyce can - its so cute. There is much much more but suffice it to say, I really love this boy. He is such a joy, and I am so grateful for him.

Tyce's new obsession is Thomas the Train and was thrilled to death to get this for his birthday.

So last year Rustin's aunt made Tyce a backhoe cake and Tyce has talked about it for one whole year and its all he wanted for his birthday. I'm not much of a cake maker, in fact I don't even really like cake and I don't like frosting. So it took we forever to try to duplicate last year's cake. I purposely didn't post last year's birthday pictures so you couldn't compare the two cakes. But lucky for me Tyce didn't know the difference. He was tickled to death to have his backhoe cake. My favorite part was when I asked Tyce if he like it and he looked at it for a minute and asked, "where's the landing gear?" Seriously, what 3 year old cares about the landing gear or even knows what that is? So we made the landing gear with some extra Kit-Kat's. I asked if there was anything else and he insisted that the bucket needed teeth for scooping up dirt. So we had to take care of that and we had to put rocks (M&M's) in the loader and hay (green M&M's) in the bucket. But he wasn't quite satisfied until he put fruit snack taillights on the back and then it qualified for his inspection. Unreal.

His party was so fun. This is such a great age. I love it!

First Ice Fishing Trip

We took Tyce ice fishing for the first time last week. It was so fun! Tyce loved it. He ran from hole to hole, begging the fish to come. He kept saying, "the fish are a little bit coming."


He sat by his hole, jigged his pole once in awhile and waited patiently.


Jacey was a sweetheart the whole time. Who takes their baby ice fishing? Well, she had one million layers on, not a chance in this world she was cold. She slept almost the whole time.


I wish I could have caught this on video. After we caught our first fish, Tyce was giggling and saying " Oh I love fishing, I love fishing!" over and over. It was so funny.




He gave up and just starting eating snow.


We were about ready to leave and Tyce stepped in a hole. Poor boy. His whole leg was soaked in the ice cold water. I felt so bad. He was having such a good time until then. But still so fun to get out and fish. We love it!

Bum picture as promised

By way of a follow up. Here is the picture of Tyce playing in the sink with his trucks with no clothes because he already drenched them. Right after I posted the last time, I walked into Jacey's room and smelled something burning....it was the humidifier. It died. By the way, the last load of laundry is still in the dryer. Dang it. Bust still, 2 loads of laundry were washed, dried, folded and put away, which is still a first so that's sweet.

Three Firsts

I usually look at peoples blog for the pictures, which is why I never post without pictures but today is a first. First time I post without a picture, first time both kids have been sick at the same time, and it hasn't happened yet, but I think today might be the first time I get three loads of laundry done in the same day. I am really good at getting a load washed and dried but for some reason getting them folded and put away takes two or three days. The last load has a hard time finding its way out of the drier and it always seems to be the underwear. I often just pick out a pair before I jump in the shower and forget to get the rest out before the next shower. Rustin used to ask me where this or that shirt is, but he doesn't even ask anymore, if its not hanging up in the closet, then he just heads to the drier where he will inevitably find it. Even if I get a load folded nicely, it sits on the bed until we go to bed, at which point it goes back in the laundry basket, and doesn't make it to the drawers until a few days later. So now (if anyone is still reading at this point) I have decided to get not 2 but 3 loads washed, dried, folded and put away today. Today is the day! I'll let you know how that goes.

The reason I have decided to post today about things, probably no one cares about, is because I have been in the house all week with two sicky kids and am in need of a little social out. But since they are still sick, blogging is as good as its going to get. Sick kids seem to be the January curse for most people and unfortunately I haven't been left out. It really hasn't been too bad. Just a wicked cold and cough for both. They have both been relatively pleasant even though they don't feel good - something only children seem to pull off. I'm usually way too ticked off about being sick to resemble a pleasant person. Its always amazing that through fevers, runny noses, watering eyes, and a horrible cough, they still smile and laugh. Every time I ask Tyce how he is feeling he insists, "I'n ok, I'n just ok." He jumped off some stairs last weekend and his foot got swollen and bruised and he limped around for a few days and every time I tried to look at it, he says the same thing, "No I'n ok, I'n ok. I'n not hurt, its dus fine! It turned off!" "What turned off? Your foot?" "Yea, my foot is all turned off now...its ok." He gets so embarrassed when he's hurt. He hates that kind of attention...kind of funny. Especially when most kids wear there owies like trophies. So back to my sick kids, the biggest problem is, which room do you put the humidifier in? I don't know how it has kept running. It practically runs all day and night, only getting a break in between naps.

Well, if anyone had the patience to read this whole boring saga, thank you....I was actually going to stop here but one more funny thing. While I was typing, Tyce has been playing with his trucks in the sink, in the water. He started out helping me with the dishes, but as with everything we do, it always ends up in a construction site. So anyway, he just turned to me, looking a little stiff, and said, "I need some new clothes." I said ok, come here and I'll take your pj's off (yes its almost 11 am and he is till in his feety pajamas, its been that kind of week). His lip starts quivering and says trying not to cry, "I cant move." He was soaking wet, and shivering cold (he can only reach the cold water nob). It was really funny so I stripped his soaking pj's and underwear and its kind of cracking me up to see his little buns at the sink. When are they too old to post pictures of their naked bum? Three? Oh good, i have a few more weeks. I'm pretty sure I need to post that picture....next time. I really am signing off now. Thank you for humoring me.

Hardware Ranch

We went to Hardware Ranch on Saturday, it was so fun! They take you on a sleigh ride into the elk herd. Tyce really loved it, even though it was being pulled by horses instead of something with a motor.







It was pretty cold but we were bundled up. Jacey seemed so happy to be outside. Fun fun!

Rice Cereal

We let Jacey taste some rice cereal...i love watching her experience things for the first time. It's so funny.




She did not love it.


Tyce did not love his first taste of cereal either.


I love this one! She's really not enjoying this.

Temple Square

I know Christmas is long over, but I forgot to post these pictures. We wanted to take Tyce to Temple Square last year and never made it so I was excited to take Tyce this year so we fought traffic all the way through Salt Lake, fought through the mobs of people, froze our faces off, only to have Tyce throw one million tantrums, Jacey was screaming, and the only thing Tyce cared about was watching the Trax. He wanted to sit on the road and watch the trax! Didn't care a lick for all the Christmas lights. I was so mad. We got home super late. What a waste. I don't think we'll be doing that again anytime soon. Gotta love 2 year olds :)


The lights were very pretty however. I hadn't been there for a long time, I forgot how pretty they are.