"Not again!"

That was poor Parker last night, sometime between the hours of 3 and 5am, as he was throwing up for the second or third time :( Heartbreaking, but still adorable. He did say some funny things though, but I'll spare too many details. I will mention, however, how very glad we are that we switched to cloth diapers. Evan's had diarrhea, which is terrible no matter what, worse with children, and worst when those kiddies are still in diapers! But, since we have cloth, NO BLOWOUTS! Hurray! And, the soft cloth spares his sensitive skin as well. So, although we've been running the washer and dryer nonstop today cleaning up after kiddie emesis, it's not because of poopy clothes! They're doing better this evening, playing really sweetly together right now, but are still pretty sick. I think Parker's just about over it though. We'll see! Always an adventure!

Christmas spirit

I forgot to mention this in my entry last night. I really love the fact that our Christmas season is during the winter months, because it makes extra service so much easier! Thomas got home from school last night, and apologized for being a little late. (Honestly, I hadn't been expecting him for another hour because I was up to my nose in kids...) He's been riding his bike to and from school (yay for going green!) and he noticed a woman shoveling her driveway on his way home, so he hopped off his bike, set it down, and finished up her driveway for her. What a sweetheart. He and Mike also shoveled our driveway Sunday morning, and then ended up shoveling that of our neighbor's as well. That's my sweetie! Honestly though, he'd do it even if it wasn't Christmas-time :)

Christmas traditions and best buds

Merry Christmas time! I love the Christmas season, and the fact that the whole world (well, much of it at least) is celebrating the birth of our Savior. It's also nice to hear songs of the Savior on the radio. I'll admit, I prefer the traditional Christmas songs to the newfangled ones. I thinkg "O Holy Night" is my favorite, even though it's not a canonized hymn persay.

I also love Christmas traditions! This year has been so fun so far, because it's really our first year doing Christmas. Our first year, we had a tiny tree with a few lights and scattered ornaments I'd stolen from my little brother (I didn't really steal them... my mom had decorated his dorm room with them the previous year, and stored them with our stuff. He didn't want any of it back...) We opened our presents, which we'd purchased for each other with each other, on Christmas Eve because Thomas worked a double shift on Christmas. We had Parker our 2nd year, but he was only 7 months old, and I don't think we even got him any presents... He did open some at Grandma and Grandpa Palfreyman's though. Last year was a lot of fun. We got Parker some presents (we didn't worry about Evan, since he was barely 2 months old), but we were in North Dakota with Thomas' family, so we did stockings and everything there. It was a lot of fun to share in their traditions. Thankfully, our families' traditions mesh really well, and we're adding in some of our own. I bought fabric to finally make our Christmas stockings. I'm looking forward to that :) My mom took the above picture of Evan while we were shopping for said fabric. That was an experience and a half! I'm actually waiting for my mom to get back from NYC to make the stockings... I'm not willing to try on my own and mess up! I actually never had my own Christmas stocking growing up. My brothers all did... even Michael, who's younger than I am...?... but I didn't have one, and so always used my mom's. Somehow, Santa still managed to put little Theresa's presents in the stocking labeled "Susan." Intuitive old elf :) I wanted to make sure that I'd be making stockings that would still coordinate when we add future stocking to the family, so I just got coordinating printed fabric, and matching fleece for the tops. They'll be fantastic, and all ours!!!

Another new tradition: on the Monday after Thanksgiving we made a tree topper for our little tree. Actually, this is the fourth annual year. :) Our first year we had a paper star, don't remember year two, last year was a fantastic angel, and this year is a paper mache star that the boys helped with. Cereal boxes, newspaper, flour, water, and a little paint :)

We decorated the tree last night: first Sunday in December! It was so fun. It's great to get into the excitement of Christmas. We have nativities set up all over the house. I put on on the hallway table that the boys can't destroy. They enjoy playing with them, and Parker loves to hear me talk about baby Jesus being born. It's fun to have the chance to teach the boys about our Savior and his love for us.
Parker's new thing is to want to eat at his little table (lil soupa) in the kitchen. Evan has enjoyed it too. It's crazy how much they're growing up!

Thanksgiving!

Keep reading... and I'll explain this pic, and why I'm lying on a couch surrounded by all of

the Palfreyman family after Thanksgiving dinner.

We had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the Palfreyman's home (a family for whom we are extremely grateful!) After dinner, which was fantastic, and so fun to prepare!, we took Parker out to see the horses while Evan napped. Parker had fun seeing the "horsey," and kept neighing at her.

Parker was so cute and had so much fun with Maiya, an adorable 5 year old girl belonging to Chase's fantastic financee :) They played really well together, and she took such good care of him! Parker wouldn't get up on the horse until I got on the horse though. We had a lot of fun riding. After Parker was all done with his horsey ride, I decided to take L.C. for a spin.

Yeah, it's been about three and a half years since I've been on a horse... I totally got bucked off.

So, I get the wind knocked out of me, and Derk and Thomas run down to make sure I'm ok. Poor Parker was so worried to have seen me fall off! So, there was some blood on my hand, so I asked if I was bleeding, or if it was just from my mouth where I'd bit the inside of my lip. Since, the cut was under my chin, they didn't see it at first, and told me I was fine. Then blood started dripping from my chin into my hand. Gross.

Thankfully, I was in the best place possible to have something like that happen! Karen's a nurse, and we had three other EMTs, and plenty of curious and helpful spectators. The cut was shallow enough that some steri-strips and tape should take care of it just fine. Along with some Motrin and ice :) What a day! I'm grateful for family and skilled and trained medical professionals! Although, I do feel like an idiot :)

Sum up

So, I've neglected the blog for well over a month, and have tried to sum up in a few entries. We're finally feeling better, although we're still congested and have coughs. But, at least I have energy again! Evan's still cutting those teeth though, so nights are adventures! Thanks for your patience, and for following along with our crazy lives!

Halloween

This is Parker trick-or-treating last year... his first time. He went as Mario, and Thomas was "Joe the Plumber." Evan was two weeks old, so we just hung out at Thomas' Uncle's house :)

And, this year! Parker was a prince, Evan a dragon, and Daddy and Mommy were the king and queen. It was actually the first time I'd ever been trick-or-treating in my life! We had a really fun Halloween. There was a ward Halloween Party on Wednesday (pictures pending.) Thomas and the Priests quorum put together a fun "spook alley" for that. The boys had fun with some of the games the youth had set up. Evan's favorite was "pumpkin rolling." He kept chasing everyone's pumpkins. :) On Saturday, Halloween itself, we had a very fun dinner with Thomas' siblings and their spouses at his brother Jonathan's place. Amanda (Jon's wife) made a great "Mummy meatloaf" that she wrapped in lasagna noodles to add the mummy effect, and Carlie (Thomas' sister) made "hairballs" from sprouts and avocado, served with "saliva (italian) dressing" so fun. Then the trick-or-treating. It was so fun to be able to trick-or-treat in an LDS neighborhood. It's probably one of the only chances like this that we'll have! We spent about an hour, and just stopped by people's houses in our ward. It was nice to find out where people lived, and to visit a little bit.

Afterwards Parker spent forever sorting his candy, and counting the handfuls as he put it back in his Elmo bucket. Oh--Evan absolutely loves that bucket. He added "Elmo" to his ever-growing vocabulary! And, how he says "Ehm-oh" makes Parker crack up laughing. Silly boys.

I liked this picture of the boys just sitting and chilling on the couch.

College Game Day

Since this is a family blog, and not just a place for me to show off how cute my kids are :) I thought I should add a quick entry about ESPN's College Game Day coming to Provo. Thomas' cousin Derrick came and spent the night over here on Friday (we enlisted him for babysitting, of course) and then he and Thomas headed out ridiculously early in the morning for the stadium and College Game Day, after having stayed up to make a fantastic poster, of course :)

This picture of Parker was taken by someone sitting behind us. I don't remember which game it was, but it shows our little cougar fan! He loves saying "YUB Cougars!" So, still a little backwards, but a profound question nonetheless :)

Fun in Leaves

I have such fun memories of raking leaves with the whole family, and then promptly running through the piles and jumping in them. Thomas and I felt obligated to share these experiences with our boys. After that, Parker would ask almost every day to go outside and "have fun in leaves?" Too cute. I love the autumn! It's nice to be able to live in a place with a yard and trees!

After raking, we also harvested the apples from the apple trees, from which my mom has canned jars and jars of applesauce, apple pie filling, and she's been running the dehyrdator making dried apples, which Parker calls "apple candy"

Blah

I know I'm terribly behind in updating here, but things have been crazy! Evan's cutting five teeth (he's finally getting some teeth on top!) and we've all been sick. Thomas and I have been tag-team parenting. I'll wake Thomas up from his nap when I can't stand it anymore and try to rest myself, and then he'll do the same. Thankfully the boys haven't been as sick as we have. They somehow manage to have too much energy! Evan's cough keeps him up a little at night, combined with the teething, but that's getting better. We've been sick for a week, so hopefully we'll get better soon! Especially since I have a sink full of dishes I've been too sick to be motivated to clean!

Laundry diving

This is my new favorite picture of Evan. He's getting to be a little boy instead of a baby! He loves climbing in, on, and up everything he can! I'd just folded a basket of clean laundry, and he couldn't resist diving in :) He also finally learned to go down stairs this weekend (thanks Aunt Julie!) We've found him in Parker's bed a few times, on top of the toilet (we leave the lid down, otherwise he probably would've been in rather than on,) and he's even figured out how to climb onto the couch! Such a big little boy :)

Parker the helper

Grandpa Mike was picking up apples to feed to the horses (honestly, I'm not sure whose...) and so Parker decided to help! He really is such a sweetheart sometimes!

Another chore that Parker really enjoys is dishes! Notice, he's even wearing an apron, just like Daddy. Please disregard the disgusting volume of dishes in that sink, and remember that we have two children, and no dishwasher!

We are really grateful for Parker's natural desire to help. He's the kind of little boy who doesn't like to get dirty, and will close doors that are accidentally left open, will put the diapers away after they're stuffed, and will tidy up after Evan, singing the "clean up" song from nursery. He'll also arrange his toys in neat little lines... all over the house! He also love to help me bake: measure flour and sugar, and stir. It's good to remember these sweet moments when his alter-ego the terrible two year old hellion takes over :)

I posted several posts today... so keep scrolling!

A family pic :)

One of Parker's favorite tricks. He'll even stand on just one foot! He's quite the little show-off

Acrobatics! Evan used to stand reflexively, but now he consciously stands stable. Parker started doing it because Evan would, and now Evan does because Parker does! Silly boys...

Evan is our little monkey... he climbed up into the cart when I was at the sink. He's sneaky too.

From the mouths...

So, I have a thing for linguistics, and love to listen to how people speak, both the words they use, and the way they pronounce those words. I've had a lot of fun as an easterner out here in UT as well, although when I was teaching in Middle School back home, my students asked me where I was from because they said I had a funny accent :) But, I had also just gotten home from my mission in France and Switzerland... Anyway, it's also a lot of fun listening to Parker figuring out English (and French.) I got really excited when he told me that something "falled" off the stairs. Although standard English would prescribe "fell" instead of "falled," his use suggests that he inherently understands that "ed" at the end of the word denotes past tense--thus, he was speaking from his own understanding of grammar instead of merely repeating a phrase he'd heard Mommy say. Fantastic.

The point of this entry though, is to mention Parker's newest linguistic quirk. He's started adding a dipthong to words with the "ow" sound. Ex: he now says "die-own" instead of "down," "i-out" instead of "out," and "ki-ouch" instead of "couch." It's hilarious, although it makes him a bit harder to understand. He used to say those words perfectly, and Ihave no idea where this new tendency towards dipthongization came from!

Harvesting Blackberries

Wednesday my mom, Parker, Evan, and I went to a neighbor's (i use the term loosely... she lives a few blocks away...) house to pick some blackberries. My mom had picked some prickly pear cactus fruit, and then juiced it to make jelly. Unfortunately, the stuff, although healthy for you, doesn't taste so yummy; it's pretty bland!! So, my mom needed to find something to mix with it to optimize flavor while preserving the health benefits. A sister in our ward offered her blackberries. So, 9 am (it ended up being closer to 9:15) on Wednesday we all headed over to pick the berries, we stayed for about an hour, picked around three gallons of berries, and Mom got to make her Desert Jam.

Parker had a lot of fun finding the black berries, not the red ones, and putting them in his bucket. He did get pretty perturbed about the juice that stained his hands though. He does not like getting dirty!

Here he is. "Parker all dirty! Parker needs water!" He eventually bugged us about his dirty yucky hands until we left, and could not have been happier to have his hands washed!

Evan had a lot of fun trying to grab some berries too. He suceeded, without my knowledge, and got blackberry juice all over his face, and my shirt.

Family Home Evening

Now that Daddy's home, it's much easier to have an official Family Home Evening. We've been reading scriptures and praying after bathtime each evening, but haven't been as good about FHE. But, our family scripture study actually inspired this week's FHE lesson/activity. We'd just finished reading about Lehi's dream (we can only get through about 10 verses a night... slow going, but we still feel the Spirit and have a good time!) so we decided to go outside and draw what we'd read about with sidewalk chalk (thank you again Jeni!) Parker and Evan loved it. They got nice and dirty, but they had fun, and bathtime quickly followed FHE time :)

Daddy's Home, and Ward Campout

Parker had so much fun following the little trails and kicking his ball along them. At first, he'd just tried to cut straight across the field, and was very pleased to discover that the paths provided an easier route.

Fun with glowsticks!!

Parker really liked the parachute that the ward had rented for the weekend.




Our gorgeous campsite was up in Payson Canyon, in the Nebo mountains. It was last Friday and Saturday... who wouldn't want to go camping two days after getting home from two months away working in North Dakota? Actually, it was a really great weekend for all of us, even though we were all pretty tired Saturday afternoon. The boys ended up falling asleep in our arms at the campfire, and then Evan was up and ready to go at 6:30 Saturday morning. We'd brought the pack'n'play, and he slept in it until about 1:30, when he woke up cold because he'd kicked off all his blankets. Addition one to our queen-size air mattress. Parker woke up around 4 or so, thrilled with his sleeping back, and fell back asleep for another half hour, and then we had addition number two to our bed. So, Evan woke up to find his entire family in the same bed, and was absolutely thrilled. He romped all over all of us until everyone was awake and ready to play.

Parker was helping Daddy collect firewood for the campfire, but just ended up carrying this stick around for the rest of the evening!

Our luxurious tent :) Parker and Evan absolutely loved it. Until Parker realized that we weren't going home Friday night. After eating dinner and playing with the parachute, we changed Evan into his pjs to keep him warm, and changed his diaper, etc. Parker told us he was ready to go "homey-home." We told him that we were going to sleep in the tent that night. He was shocked. It was hilarious. But, he adjusted to the idea and had a fun time anyway!

Yay for air mattresses! I don't care what anyone says... after having had kids, I'm allowed an airmattress when camping! I've done my share of sleeping on the ground :)

Parker and Daddy watching ESPN before bed Wednesday night. Boys and their sports :) Both boys were so happy to have their Daddy home! Evan still follows Thomas around everywhere he goes.