Progress Report

Last night was a really good night for Ryan. I called down to the NICU at about 2:30 in the morning to ask how he was doing (I've been worrying myself into insomnia since we've been here) and the nurse told me that he had been doing so well that she had actually given him a drug to wake him up enough to take him off the ventilator (which they did do at about 3:00 AM)! Yay!! These two pictures show him before and after the tube was taken out of his lungs. The Dr. still thinks that he may be in the NICU for about a week more- but we're hoping and praying that maybe it will only be for a couple of days instead. I can't believe how quickly he made a turnaround since Friday and Saturday.

We just went down to visit him again today and the nurse was also able to remove the arterial line in his arm... which meant we finally got to hold him! I forget how little these babies are-- and the reality is Ryan isn't all that small! Anyway, we took some pictures last night and this morning of all of his injection sites and the equipment that he has been hooked up to... It makes me grateful that I'm not a nurse-- way too stressful for me.

This was the hardest IV site for me to see... it went right into his head! They have to keep moving the needles around though since baby veins don't last very long before they collapse. We've learned a ton these last few days... probably more than we ever wanted to know. Anyway- that's the update for today. I'll be released tomorrow and I'll have to go home without Ryan, but as long as he continues to get stronger and healthier- I won't complain (too loudly).

Ryan Jay: 8 pounds 12 ounces; 20.5 inches long; Born Friday July 11 at 12:49 PM

So to say the very least... it's been an interesting couple of days. And there is nothing like the birth of your baby to put things into perspective. Friday, my biggest worry was that I didn't get into the salon to have my legs waxed because of the change in dates for surgery. Today we went down to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit here at the hospital to visit with our little boy. It's all about perspective.

The surgery itself went well enough-- Shaun and my mom both got to be in the operating room while I had the baby. Grandma was snapping pictures every chance she got (she's kind of a blood and guts kind of person), and Shaun sat on the other side of the curtain with me and just held my hand (not a big fan of the blood and guts-- in fact we had to rely on the guy that gave me my drugs to give the play by play). And like I said- things went pretty smoothly. We got to take the baby into the recovery room with us and hold him for about a half an hour before they wheeled him out and down to the nursery. Then we got news that the baby had gotten some fluid in his lungs and that his blood sugars were low- so he was taken to the NICU.



It's been crazy when we go down to visit him. Here he is- 8 pounds 12 ounces and he's hooked up to a ventilator and all these IV medications and right next to him is another little baby that is the size of my thumb on the same things. I guess he just wasn't quite ready to come out yet. He's been doing much better though. This morning the Dr. put him on a less intensive ventilator and he's breathing closer to normal now. I can't believe how much he looks like his older brother! Talk about part and parcel of the same crew! Shaun thought maybe we could name this one C-cubed or Chubby Cheeks the Second since they both have the same cheeks.

Ty is so ultimately confused by the situation though. We left on Friday and told him that we were going to go get his baby brother out of Mama's tummy... so when he came to visit us Friday night- he looked at my tummy and asked if his baby was still in there. How do you explain NICU to a three year old? They don't allow anyone under 18 years old to be in there, so Ty will have to wait a few more days to meet his baby brother and he just doesn't understand. Thankfully we have had the help of Grandma Janet and Grandpa to keep him busy. Even Dave and Nat took him swimming last night to help wear him out. We are so grateful for all of the love and support that we have received throughout these last few days.

We were even lucky enough to have Shaun's parents and grandparents come down and see baby as well. (I guess I can quit calling him baby now- we have officially picked out Ryan Jay- after Shaun's grandpa.) It was quite a trek but Grandpa Jay thought that the Rodizio Grill made it all worth it!

We also appreciate all the phone calls, visits and prayers in Ryan's behalf. We love you all!

Beyond Panic

Did you know that there was a place that is known as "beyond panic?" I didn't. But I do now. My doctor just switched my surgery date and in less than twelve hours I will be in surgery and our new baby boy will be making his way into the world. How crazy is that?! It turns out that our little three year old is more intuitive than we give him credit for. We asked him yesterday how many more days it was until his baby brother got here (we've been working on a countdown for about a week now and he's done pretty well) and instead of the two that we were expecting- he turned right around and looked at Grandma Janet and told her "One day grandma." She laughed it off and gave it up to a three year old not being able to count but apparently we were all wrong and he was right. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he's not right about it being twins. Anyway- probably won't see you all in a post for a while unless I can bribe Shaun into uploading a couple of pictures this weekend- but we're hoping for the best and we appreciate all the love and support that has been forthcoming from all of you! All our love!

PS- remind me to not wear orange when I'm pregnant any more. While Charlie Brown and Linus may like the look of the "Great Pumpkin"-- I don't know that I'm feeling it.

A State of Panic

I was looking around my house today- and I think it has thrown up on itself. What a mess. When the Dr scheduled my C section last week, I got home and was so excited that there were only three weeks left. And not that the excitement to have my body free from my cute little parasite- I also came to realize that there are only three weeks left baby free. I had a lot of plans for my house before baby came and I think that none of them have been done. Can you say panic?! So in an effort to get organized- I started by purging- which in reality, only makes a bigger mess. I mean, we still have things in boxes downstairs from when we moved in. At this point though I'm thinking that it may just be easier to take the unopened boxes to the DI drop in town and be done with it- if we haven't used the stuff in almost a year- how much do we really need it? Of course however, curiousity gets the better of me and all the boxes are at least open now (by the by- I found my purses!!!). Anyway it's gotten to the point that I have had to call in some re-enforcements... My mom is coming up this weekend to help me. Thank goodness. My house has reached a point called CHAOS (which stands for "Can't Have Anyone Overy Syndrome") and I panic everytime the doorbell rings. Not to worry though right? Right... I should take some pictures of the place and let you guys see it. Then hopefully once things are under control I can take the "after" pictures and you'll just be so impressed... Or something like that.

Anyway- here's to baby... only 16 days to go!

IT'S OFFICIAL

I went to the Dr today and he told me that he was not going to make me be pregnant forever (which I'm extremely grateful for). We have officially scheduled our C-Section for July 12 at 7:30 in the morning (which I'm not extremely grateful for... I am not a morning person). We are so excited to get our little guy here- Ty even asked me this morning when he could play with his little brother (so see... it's not just me that is getting anxious). I have no picture to post this time- just good news!

PS- We are accepting gifts. Please send them to the house- unless they are the big expensive ones- I can pick those up for you.

Window Washing

My brother and his wife have kind of moved in for a couple of months. They leave for grad school in August and thought that they would use this opportunity to move to Bear Lake and play for the summer. Good idea in theory- but man (and woman) cannot live on love alone- so Dave is washing windows again and Nat is working at a PT office in town to bring in a little cash in between all the playtime. Dave needed some help with some of the jobs that he got- so he "trained" Shaun as his assistant the other night. This was good because it meant that my windows got washed too! They look so sparkly clean!

Ty thought this looked like so much fun- so Nat (Dave's wife) pulled out a few things for him to play with. He was too short to wash the windows with the big kids so he washed his car instead. It was so cute and such a nice evening! The snow did eventually melt- so we were able to enjoy a few hours outside this week.

So Long, Farewell... you know the rest

So I'm a little bit soft when it comes to certain things and my little boy. I hate getting mad, I don't always make Ty eat everything on his plate and even though he turns three next month... I haven't totally taken the binky away yet. I planned on it. I knew that he couldn't take it to Kindergarten with him... but since he only used it at night- I kind of pushed it to the backburner and kept praying that by some miracle he would wake up one day and tell me that he didn't need it anymore.

The other day we when we were playing with our National Geographics- I introduced Ty to scissors (by the way- do you know how hard it is to find kid scissors?! I must have gone to four different stores before I found them at a grocery store in SLC). He loved them! So I casually asked him if he wanted to cut up his binky too (he was cutting up a piece of paper at the moment). He turned and said "Yes". So I got up and brought it back to him- not thinking that he would really go through with it... But you know what? He totally did! He cut up his binky!! He paused after he did it and looked at the pieces in his hands and got this "Oh crap" look on his face but he handled it well and there were no tears.

Of course when I tried to throw it away he had a fit. He dug the pieces out of the garbage can and told me that I had to save them. Shaun came up with a good idea that Ty liked. We promised Ty that the next time we were in SLC that we would go to Build a Bear and put the pieces inside so that he could still sleep with his binky. This went over very well- way to go Shaun!

Things have been going pretty well too- he only asked for it a couple of times. The kid is just so good (most of the time) I can only pray that his little brother is of the same temperment. (And on that subject- yes the fat lady in these pictures is me. The doctor must have been mistaken about us having a baby. We are having a moose. I only have a few weeks left thank goodness- the countdown is on!)

I hate Montpelier

Apparently Montpelier didn't get the memo that it's June.

The Potty Training Saga Continues...

Potty Training is a device used by the devil in order to make parents want to kill themselves (and their toddlers). Because of the crappy weather lately- I thought it was a perfect time to reaquaint Ty with underwear and the concept of using the toilet. Stupid pregnant lady. While very cute in his Elmo underwear- the Kidd household at this point in time only has two people that will willingly use the toilet. I've heard that designated "naked" days are supposed to help kids and they are more aware that they don't actually have a place to put the... waste (for lack of a better word), so they use the potty. Not so in Ty's case. In fact he giggled when he peed on my rug. I'm starting to think that we may be sending Ty off on his mission in diapers.

An Ode to Uncle Gary

Several months ago my uncle Gary sent us home with a few boxes of old National Geographic Magazines that he collected over the years. He thought that they would be good for Ty to look through and play with. How wise that man has proven to be.

The weather up here has been crazy and it has been dumping rain for almost two weeks straight. Needless to say, my two year old is more than a little stir crazy at this point and I think the four walls were starting to close in on him. So- in one of my more brilliant moments- I remembered the boxes of magazines stacked in a corner of our garage. I brought one in and pulled out all the art supplies that we had in the house; crayons, markers, glue, scissors, paint and construction paper-- and just let Ty have at it. I helped him go through the mgazines and find the pictures of the animals that he wanted to glue onto the paper. We only used one magazine- but it kept Ty entertained for over two hours. TWO HOURS!! That's almost an eternity in toddler time. And it was so nice that everything we needed was only an arms reach away- so the very pregnant mom didn't have to get up a zillion times.

Anyway- it was a very pleasant afternoon and Ty is already asking when we can do it again. THANKS UNCLE GARY!!! WE OWE YOU ONE!

Is Bald Really Beautiful?

I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to talk Shaun into shaving his head for the six years we have been married and for the year that we dated. I don't know what the appeal is. This idea however, wasn't really something that my conservative little husband was very fond of... until recently! I don't know what brought on the change or if he was just tired of me suggesting it everytime he had to have a haircut... but tonight- he let Ty and I shave his head! Yay! I think he looks totally hot (and I want you to know that this is not a word I use loosely)! Ty watched me take a few passes at his dad's head before he would come very close. When I asked him if he wanted to cut dad's hair too- his face just lit up! It was like Christmas had come early. I gave Ty the clippers and helped him guide them across dad's head. Ty just giggled like a little girl- he thought it was so funny. Afterwards I asked him if we should cut his hair like dads and his eyes got big and he shook his head and said "No No No Mama." I guess I have another one to convince.

BEFORE

AFTER

Follow the Leader

It is probably something that annoys Shaun (or maybe he secretly revels in it)- but Ty just idolizes his dad. I suppose it's that whole father/son bonding thing that, as a mom and wife- I just don't understand some of the things that appeal to the both of them.

Shaun was mowing the lawn the other day (it has been raining like crazy up here for like two weeks straight- and it was a rare afternoon that the grass was dry enough to mow- Shaun could only get in two passes before the bag was full and he had to empty it again) and I looked out my kitchen window (it overlooks the backyard) and I saw Ty following Shaun EVERYWHERE. It didn't matter if Shaun was mowing or emptying the bag- Ty was right by his side every step of the way. It was too cute not to take some pictures of.

Boise (Finally)

Okay- I quit being lazy (but probably just for today) and I used some rare downtime after a ward primary activity to download pictures off of my camera onto my computer. Because it's been a while- I have a few posts to add to the blog all at once. I'm generally not a fan of this approach because I would rather tell you what we've been doing a little at a time rather than go whole hog and do a mass entry- but you are going to take what I give you because I am 47 months pregnant and I can get away with that kind of thing right now.

Anyway- a couple of weeks ago, Shaun loaded up the car and Ty and I and we took off to our former home of Boise. However, as nostalgic as this may sound- it was not to go and have a look at all the places that we miss- but it was a chance that we had to go and show our support and excitement over the fact that Chase and Jeni were graduating from BSU. We give a shout out to you two because we know how much work, dedication and abject stubborness went into both degrees- and we're very proud of you both. Yay. Apparently however, we did not take any pictures of anybody graduating- so instead- lwe are going to share more pictures of ourselves.

Disney

Ty has been a little off lately. I think that he's tired from a trip that we took to Boise (if you're lucky- I'll quit being lazy and actually download the pictures to our computer so that we can show off the newest college grads in the family) and now he has a pretty nasty cold. And the weather has turned kind of cold and wet. Really all he wants to do is snuggle up in my chair with me and watch movies. And since I'm all fat now (I used to have ankles- but now my calves just turn into feet. My ultra sensitive husband calls them my "stumps") I have no problems doing just that with him. Besides- I figure that my time with just Ty in my lap is pretty limited and I feel a little guilty about it. Ty loves Disney movies and we just watch them over and over.

In doing this however, I have come to appreciate the darker side of Disney. Think about this- in an effort to impart some kind of moral to the kids- Disney uses some pretty dark humor. Tell a lie- get eaten by a whale (Pinnochio). Be mean to an old lady- get turned into a monster (Beauty and the Beast). Go down some strange dark hole and all of a sudden cats will start to disappear, tea parties go nuts and some queen will start yelling to cut off your head (Alice in Wonderland).

The Hulk

Ty was irritated with me the other day. It was beautiful outside and the sun was shining- but all he wanted to do was lay on the couch and watch a movie. I, being such a responsible mother with my son's best interest at heart, told Ty no and that he was going to go out and enjoy the weather instead. So I literally had to carry him out the back door, while he continued to kick and scream "NO!!!" I figured that once he was outside and distracted by the swing set or something that he would forget about his movie and want to be outside- I mean come on... Aren't kids supposed to like being out in all the fresh air? Shaun has been pumping me full of crap for years about the country air being so fresh and all un-polluted. Kids should eat that up right? Right.

Anyway, I was right. After a while- Ty was a little distracted from the thought of going back inside and decided to chase the bugs in our backyard. He watched the bees on the flowers (okay- "flowers" is kind of deceptive- the plants with petals in our backyard are technically dandilions), chased a beetle and buried a worm. Then he yells at me to come and look at this BIG spider that he found. I was weeding on the other side of the garden, but dutifully got up to come and see his discovery. However, since I am "heavy with child"- it took a minute. While I was hefting myself upward, Ty yelled that the spider wasn't moving. I told him that he was probably sleeping or that he was dead. "He's sleeping?" questioned my innocent little boy. Then without another thought- he reaches his little hand out toward the spider. At this point- I was close enough to actually see the spider he was talking about. This thing was MASSIVE. HUGE. If it had been a human- we would be calling him The Incredible Hulk. I was halfway through my sentance, telling him not to touch it-but my warning cries were a little late. Ty's fingers had reached The Hulk and he poked him. Now instead of scuttling away like any normal bug would do when confronted with a chubby poking device- The Hulk jumped up onto Ty's hand and then started crawling (quickly) up Ty's arm.

We are talking blood curdling screams.

Then Ty takes off running toward me flinging his arms in every direction- trying to dislodge The Hulk from his arm. At one point- The Hulk either fell off or jumped back into the garden and Ty glommed onto my leg saying "Mama save me!" I held him for a few minutes until he calmed down enough to see that The Hulk had gone back to "sleep" next to my pile of discarded weeds. Ty then calmly climbed down and walked resolutely to the back steps. He climbed to the top one and sat down with his arms folded across his chest. He turned to me and said "Mama- I want to go inside now and watch a movie."

Needless to say- we spent the rest of the morning watching "Lady and the Tramp."

The Lawnmower

I feel... old...? No, maybe grown-up...? I'm not sure. Either way- Shaun and I are totally homeowners now. We bought our first lawnmower on Monday night. Our lawn has taken on the looks of a jungle- Shaun and I were debating on whether or not we should buy the lawnmower or a machete instead. We decided that in the long run- the mower would probably be a better option. I'm sure our neighbors were starting to worry that we were never going to mow.

Anyway- I learned something new. Lawnmowers apparently do not come all put together. They come in a box. You take your box home and you assemble it there. This is one of those times that I am grateful that I am married. My job was to go get the gas for it. Shaun got the lucky job of putting things together. Ty was his "assistant" for the evening. It was cute- Shaun had Ty help him measure out the right amount of oil and then showed him how to check the level of the oil on the dipstick. Ty was fascinated. I went inside for a few minutes to get dinner started, and when I came back out- Ty started jumping up and down yelling "Mama look! I helping!!"

Red Badge of Courage... Or Clumsiness

Today Ty wears his first scars of the summer. We went for a walk today after dinner and Ty totally ate it in our front yard. Luckily it was as we were getting ready to go in for a bath- so we were able to distract him from the tears pretty quickly. After his knees were all washed though- it doesn't even look like he got hurt- but he told us that they still did. I figured it was blog-worthy. It's not the first set of skinned knees he's seen and I'm sure it's not the last.

Today was such a beautiful day weather-wise. I think that we spent from about 10:30 until 5:00 outside (with the exception of lunch and naptimes). Shaun figured it was time for us to go in when Ty's little legs started to turn pink (hopefully he isn't too sunburned... maybe just sun kissed) along with my forehead.

I think that my favorite time of day though is at night- just before bedtime and after Ty has had a bath. He just smells so nice and he's kind of tired- so he's up for a snuggle. Today though I think he had some alternative measures in mind. He came into the living room and climbed on my lap, gave me a hug and told me he loved me. I thought he was so sweet. Then he asked if he could share my drink. Uh-huh. Loves mama my foot. I had made a drink called frozen hot chocolate (thanks to my sister in law Dani) and Ty informed me after he downed half of it, that it was "Yummy."

Ahhh Spring.

Spring has finally sprung here in the Bear Lake Valley (I do mean finally- and even though it's supposed to snow on Thursday- I've chosen to ignore the weather reports). The last couple of days have been absolutely beautiful. It's given me hope that all isn't lost here in this forsaken town out in the middle of nowhere. Yesterday Ty got to pull out his bike and ride it up and down the sidewalk- something that he has been harping on since about mid-January. He just couldn't figure out why he couldn't go and ride it in the snow. It's just been nice that it's finally warm enough to go outside for extended amounts of time without the fear of frostbite.

Today, I literally threw him outside just because he wouldn't stop trying to "help" me put a few things away. He didn't understand why anyone would want their clothes put in the dresser (since he doesn't)- so immediately after I put Shaun's pants away- Ty was in the drawer pulling them back out again. To be fair- he kept putting them in the laundry basket- so the good intentions were there. Good intentions or not though- he ended up outside. Because the weather was so nice- we both got to wear shorts and flip-flops (aren't his little legs and toes cute?! Mine are not- so I won't subject you to having to look at mine).

While we were outside today- he discovered worms. And apparently they are okay. You can't go near him with a bug or a little water snake- but these are alright. Maybe its because you can't tell which is the head and which is the butt that makes them a little less intimidating. Anyway- I told Ty to put the worm back in the garden and cover it with dirt so that we could go inside and make lunch.

At this point though- I beg to ask the question... Is it brain damage that so affects my child? Or is it rampant congenial idiocy that stems from either the Kidd line or the Henriksen line (I know which I would say-- though it would probably be the complete opposite of what Shaun would so it makes it difficult to tell. I post my question to my readers out there)? At what point do you look at a pile of dirt (that you have just buried a worm in no less) and decide that it is a good idea to pick up a handful and place it in your mouth? I watched Ty do this very thing and promptly spit it out. He turns to me and says "Eeewww!" I felt like saying "No kidding Sherlock," but I held my tongue (apparently the mothering instinct that we heard so much about in biology is innate in all of us- though probably buried deeper in others) and asked him instead if he wanted to go inside to wash out his mouth.

That ended our adventures this morning- though if the weather holds- I'm a little bit curious to see what he eats when we go out after his nap. A rock? A tree stump? Maybe we'll be lucky and he'll stick to something a little more mellow... like grass.

New Favorite Site

Okay- I don't know if you guys have heard of this- but I found this site and it is hilarious. It's called "In The Motherhood" and it is this collection of little web movies (they are only about 7 minutes long) that are written by moms for moms. Anyway- I watched one this afternoon and I almost peed my pants (granted that isn't all that hard to imagine right now since my baby thinks my bladder is a squeeze toy- but the movie was funny anyway).

http://inthemotherhood.msn.com/Default.aspx?source=email&videoId=16

Anyway- the humor is right up my alley and makes me feel a little bit more connected to something bigger than Montpelier has to offer. Hope you guys like it too!

Ears

What is it about little kids that they refuse to listen to what you want them to hear, and the things that you would rather them ignore- are the things that they glom onto? Case in point: I am starting to sound like a broken record; "Ty- come here! Come here please. Come here. Come here. Comeherecomeherecomeherecomehere. Here. Here." "Stop it. Stop! Stop it now. Stopstopstopstopstopstopstop!" "Not that! No! Nonononononononononono!" I think you get my point. I could go completely mute and I think that the results would be the same. Sometimes- I think Ty just gets tired of listening to me.

On the other hand- there are times that I wish he wasn't paying so close attention. The other day- I smelled a smell. Ty refuses to use the toilet lately- and I was pretty sure that I knew what the problem was. So I pulled out a new diaper and some wipes and told Ty that we needed to take the poop off. He stomped his foot and told me "No way." I told him he didn't have a choice and to come get on his bed so that I could change him. He took one look at me, crossed his arms and said "Oh hell." Whoops.

I think this proves an important point though. It just solidifies in my mind the fact that my two year old hears everything I say- it's just whether or not he chooses to give me the time of day.

PS- the picture has absolutely nothing to do with the post other than it was cute.

Ahhh. Grass.

Do any of you know what this is? Take a good hard look at it... I almost didn't recognise it myself since it has been so long since I have seen it. For those of you experiencing a little bit of "I-don't-know-what-the-heck-I'm-supposed-to-be-looking-at-itis" it is called GRASS. Real grass. A little dead- but grass nonetheless. And the best part is (drum roll please): It's in my very own backyard. Yes people we are starting to see a little bit of snow starting to melt. I can see grass. The world's longest winter is finally coming to and end. Whew.

One Little Monkey Sitting in a Tree

Ty had a dentist appointment last Friday up in Pocatello- so rather than drive two hours and turn around- we drove two hours and then another 45 minutes to go to Grandma Jacki's house instead. While at the dentist- we learned that Ty did not have any cavities and that he has twenty teeth. Way to go kiddo. It was kind of funny though- the only way that Ty was going to open his mouth up for a complete stranger in a surgical mask was that the dentist had to shoot water into Ty's mouth so that he could have a drink. I guess you go with what works. Anyway- after the dentist- we hung out with the family and Ty learned how to climb a tree (with only a little help). I half expect him to put the car into drive tomorrow and drive to the store to get a gallon of milk- he just figures things out too quickly for my liking.

We're Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo, How About You You You?

Did any of you ever sing Rafi when you were growing up? I know Jeni's family subjected her to this- but I've never heard of anyone else's doing the same. Anyway- he sings this funny song about going to the zoo that Ty just loves and it's fitting for this post. Hogle Zoo was just calling to Ty and I a few weeks ago so we went down to Salt Lake for a few days and we went to the zoo with Grandpa. We went right before they closed the gates- so the place was pretty empty which was nice because I just let Ty run amuck. He was pretty stoked that he didn't have to be in a stroller or that he wasn't stuck holding mama's hand the whole time. Ty is kind of an animal nut and he had a lot of fun running from exhibit to exhibit (okay- again- I'm not sure if it was the animals that encited all this running or if it was the fact that he could do it). He wansn't so keen on the big spiders (of course neither was I), but he thought the bears were pretty cool. And when was the last time any of you got a good look at a giraffe? I forget how freakin' huge they are!!

Ty Kidd gets a haircut

Since my haircutting abilities only extend as far as shaving my kids head- I decided that I was going to take Ty to a real barber so that he could actually have hair instead of just running around bald all the time. Trauma? Not really. I was suprised at how well he handled this big scary Navajo coming at him with scisscors and a comb. My dad has been gong to Steve Featherbutt (no I'm not making the name up) for 100 years to get his hair cut. And my brother has been going almost as long. So- the last time we were in Salt Lake, my mom and I loaded Shaun and Ty up in the car and took them both to have a shearing down at the 20/20 barbershop. Shaun was very brave and handled his haircut without any tears at all. For his effort I promised to buy him a sucker. Ty on the other hand had to be bribed with M&M's and a promise that he could sit on his dad's lap for the entire thing. And you know what? Ty came out with both ears still intact and not a divot anywhere on his head (and a handful of M&M's). He didn't shed one tear and as he went out the door he told Steve that he liked his haircut and left with a resounding "Go Utes." Steve is a big U of U fan- so he got a chuckle out of Ty's gameday warcry.

Let's Paint!

Ty loves messes. And the messier he can get things- makes things even better. Last week we pulled out the fingerpaints and I sacrificed a few kitchen sponges to the cause- and Ty just went nuts. Apparently there are few things greater in life than having wet, slimy paint squished between your fingers. Ty had a good time pointing out the different shapes that I had made him from my cut up sponges and painted us several very pretty pictures. We hung the one of "Mama, Dad, Ty Kidd and Baby" on Ty's bedroom door and everytime he passes it- he has to point it out. I love projects like this because they keep Ty busy for an hour at a time. Most of the time, he has the attention span of a moth- and won't stay put for more than a few minutes. But for whatever reason whenever I pull out paints or something along those lines- we're set for the better part of an hour. It's really nice. If anyone else has some activities like this- let me know because the snow still hasn't melted and I'm running out of ideas!!