Happy Birthday Tyson!

Tyson turned three years old today. We celebrated with my family yesterday and he opened a bunch of awesome books, and some really cool Word World toys. (Jaime, I have to tell you, he's been pretending to "build a word" all day today. He lines up the animal letters on the table, sings the song, does a little dance around the table and then puts the letters together. He LOVES them!)

Today, he's been walking around all day with three fingers in the air and telling everyone it's his birthday. I made him pancakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse for breakfast and then he helped me make his birthday cake. I kind of went crazy on the cake because I found some awesome cake molds in my mom's garage that hadn't even been opened yet. So I made a Devil's food chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and homemade butter cream frosting. all in the shape of a baseball with red licorice stitches. It was really fun and tasted awesome. He was so excited about the baseball cake, he couldn't sleep for his nap. I told him we couldn't eat it until daddy got home from school, so he wrapped himself up in a blanket and waited for Devin on the front porch as long as a 2-year old...excuse me...3-year old possibly could until boredom kicked in. Grandma and Grandpa Spann hopped over for a bite of dinner, some cake, and some presents (BYU sporting goods, an invitation to Pirate Island, Peter Rabbit, and The Tales of Beatrix Potter on DVD) then they came bowling with us.

Watching Tyson bowl is one of my favorite things. With a 6 pound ball in his arms he waddles up to the bowling lane. He then heaves the ball as hard as he can and kicks it after it rolls down his leg. It takes about 5 minutes for the ball to reach the pins, but he gets so excited when he knocks some down. He started lying down to watch his ball meander it's way down the lane. If it looks like the ball is stopped in the above picture, it's probably because it is...

We love you Tyson, and keep being the stud that you are!

Our Sunday

We got a call Saturday morning to give talks in church the next day. Despite being nauseated about it, we were actually grateful we didn't have to stress about it all week. :) My parents were kind enough to offer to watch our kids while we sat in the front of the chapel, so I made an extra effort to explain to Tyson that Mommy and Daddy were going to sit in the front, while he could play with Grandma and Grandpa in the back. He nodded and agreed, in fact, almost sounded excited about it. Come Sunday morning (after writing our talks at 11:30 the previous night) we walked into the chapel. Devin and I started walking to the front while my mom tried to keep Tyson entertained. He threw a huge tantrum and burst into tears. We finally just decided it would be easier to have him sit with us behind the pulpit. This made our meeting much more exciting...

The entire sacrament meeting he was waving his sucker around to the audience, kicking the wall that separates the congregation and yelling numbers and letters out. I was so embarrassed, but it was still pretty funny.

That night we went to a one-year-old's birthday party. One of her presents was a baby doll with a toy crib and stroller, etc. After watching how I take care of Holly, Tyson kept pretending to rock the baby to sleep and would put it in the crib. When the One-year-old tried to play with it, he would pick up the crib with the baby and put it where the toddler couldn't reach it. I didn't think about it for the rest of the night until it was time to go. Tyson was holding the doll and was upset because he had to put the doll to sleep. I didn't see the crib anywhere, but Tyson took off so I followed him. He had put the crib in their laundry room and turned on the fan in the room, with the light off. Holly sleeps in our closet with a fan on, so I just thought it was really funny that he had to do it with the doll. I've never seen him play "dolls" like that before.

Maybe it's one of those had to be there things though...

family pics

Thanks to Spencer Hall Photography we were able to get some great shots of our family last Friday night!! Here is just a taste of some of the great shots he got! Thanks Spence, you're the best! I still haven't chosen a family pic yet, so that will be posted soon!


Blowing raspberries at dad:


Devin's quote for this pic, (read in a very haughty voice) "And after I take this shot I'm going down to the yacht club for some tea and biscuits (hubbity hubbity)..."

My favorite... the after pictures shot...

A double victory!

Victory 1:
Our beloved cougars represented despite the horrible odds against them! What a great game against Oklahoma! We are so excited for another season of BYU football.

Victory 2 (and the potty battle of death):
Tyson loves to "make bubbles" in the potty when he goes number 1, but he has refused to sit on the potty to go number 2. I've displayed several fabulous prizes for him if and when he ever decided to even just sit on the potty (it's a basketball... who wouldn't want to sit on a basketball potty!?). One such toy was a cool motorcycle toy. This morning however I thought all was lost. After changing a horrifically disgusting diaper (and gagging a few times...) I finally just said, "That's it Tyson, you are sitting on the potty today!" He screamed about how scared he was and decided just to go number one for me to end the battle (He stands up to do this). I decided to just show him what the cool motorcycle toy did so he knew what he was missing out on, while thinking in the back of my head that he wont do it for another year... I'm sure of it. Well tonight, folks, he grabbed Devin's hand and asked him to take him to the potty so he could play with the motorcycle toy!! He tried to go for a while, but Devin realized there just wasn't anything there, but the poor kid was trying so hard! We praised him for trying and let him play with the toy for a little bit. I talked to him later and he told me in almost a sad voice , "I tried mommy. I tried for the motorcycle toy." I told him how proud I was for trying and gave him a big hug. I'm just so glad he's not scared to sit on it anymore!! Anytime I've tried, he's screamed bloody murder and clung to me for dear life. One battle down... I wonder who's going to win the war...

taking the plunge!!

Well, It took us all summer, but he finally went off of the diving board... over and over and over again.

Bon Appetit!!

Well we've done it.
We saw Julie and Julia and were inspired to experience Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon for ourselves. Actually, I merely thought about it, and my dad put it into action. After a big shopping trip, a lot of hard work and 3 hours of heavenly scents wafting through the air, we were able to unanimously say, "Yum..." (You have to see the movie to get the reference:)) Good job Dad (and Mom!), and might I say it was a spectacular feast. I'm glad I didn't try to make it, because I would have totally ruined it!!
Thanks Julia!

smiles and frowns

Cute video...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Movie night!!

Dinosaur jammies, pizza, homemade ice cream, cupcakes, popcorn, and a Monster's Inc... WHat more could a little boy ask for?! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Hemmert for organizing Movie night for us. It was a big hit the all of the little boy cousins. We look forward to the next one!!

Holly's blessing day

We were able to bless Holly in our home yesterday. It was very special, and Devin did a great job. We were so grateful to all of the family that came to support us and especially to everyone who prepared things for the dinner. (Thanks for putting it all together Mom!) We had quite the crowd here, so we decided to keep it just to close family members.
One of my Dad's nurses made her beautiful blessing dress. DOn't look too closely at her face though... The baby acne has officially arrived in full force. :)

"Let's just pick up and go..." The journey to West Yellowstone

Devin only has two more weeks of freedom before his scholastic endeavor at BYU begins, so we decided to take advantage of it and journey into the wild of Yellowstone. Our cousins Justin and Ashley were kind enough to join us with their little boy. This trip has to be on one of the top 10 most enjoyable trips ever.

Trip perks included:
Staying in a nice condo with a Jacuzzi, being with fun easy-going people, driving and hiking through the wonders of Yellowstone, having a 4 week old baby that was perfect for traveling, the 511 restaurant in Ashton, seeing a black bear, bison, and a black wolf all in the same day, eating at the Roosevelt Lodge, getting manis and pedis with Ashley after watching the kids while the boys golfed, watching Tyson get attacked by a little fish, and being with my little family all day.

The not so great moments:
Being grumpy because of the sleepless nights with a newborn, (I officially nicknamed myself Eeyore), wasting a lot of money on the worst salad bar in history in West Yellowstone (our 3 attempts to eat in West Yellowstone failed miserably... Never eat there, ever, ever ,ever), and eating way too much crap that I felt sick (Okay, maybe that was really fun, but physically I feel totally gross).

At the Artist's Paint Pots: Tyson-"That made a mess!"

Old Faithful (Tyson is taking a picture too...)

Corgan and Mr. Fish

Cave Falls in the rain

Mammoth Springs with the Reeves family

He's saying, "I don't like her" after holding her for 5 seconds. He still gives her kisses though. :)

The infamous fish attack

Holly doing her best "slug in the rain" impression

Best $2 I ever spent was buying Tyson a fake camera. He took Pics of everything. We also splurged and bought him a Junior Ranger vest. He wore it the whole trip.

one week old

So here are some better close-ups of Holly. I couldn't decide on the best one, so I put all three up. My favorite one is the last one since her eyes are cross-eyed so often. :) She is a very active and wiggly baby, and loves to look around a lot. I also discovered that she has a dimple in each cheek. We went to the doctor today, and he said Holly has officially broken the office record on the amount of weight gained back after birth. It looks like were going to have another chubby baby on our hands.

Tyson loves to look at her and give her kisses. I left them alone in a room together for a second, heard her sneeze, and Tyson responded, "Bless you Holly!" I'm just glad that he's kind of accepted her as a part of his life so easily. It has made a big difference to have Devin around to play with Tyson. They are like two peas in a pod. I'm so grateful for such a helpful husband.

AHH!! I'm cross-eyed!!

Holly Joy Spann 8.35 lbs, 19.5 inches

She's finally here!! After moving from our town home last week, I had been having crazy pain all week, but she decided not to come until Monday. Everything went so smoothly and quick, Devin and I both couldn't believe that I had just had a baby. She's very healthy, and has a cry to prove it. :) Tyson is very excited to have a new baby sister and loves to look at her. He says, "Baby sister is so cute," then he does a silly laugh and grins. We had our first night home and Devin was instantly reminded of why babies make you so tired! Because things were so easy this time, I'm still full of adrenaline and don't feel tired at all. Hopefully I can get some more things unpacked before the exhaustion kicks in!! My dad took some better pictures of her that I still need to get off of his computer, so there will be more pics a little later!!

Palm Springs

Devin's boss was kind enough to take us to Palm Springs as a thank you for all of the hard work he and his coworkers had done for Ken Garff. Granted I was 6 weeks from delivery but it was still beautiful and relaxing.

Memorial Day

It was so nice to have Devin around on a weekday! In the morning we went on a hike in Battlecreek Canyon with some of the Hemmert family. The little boys had a lot of fun throwing sticks and rocks into the river. I was really proud of myself for not dying on the hike. I can't tell you how much of a difference working out has been during this pregnancy!! I was in better shape and had an easier time hiking it at 8 months pregnant than I did when we tried it two years ago when I was just totally out of shape.

Tyson kept looking for the Big Bad Wolf in the cave. We never found him...

Cousin's and uncle Matt. :)

The party.

Yes, I am a master at hiding my big fat prego belly behind a two year old and a black bag. Woot woot!

We had a bbq at the Spann's house for lunch. Devin, Emma, and Tyson had a lot of fun playing with the snowball tree in the backyard. I remember doing that at my grandma's house when I was little!
Funny story: During lunch I caught Tyson doing some funny things with his arms and sticking his lips out at Emma. I listened closer and overheard him say, "Look at my triceps! These are my triceps!" Like father like son, he was trying to impress a pretty girl with his muscles. :) There's a first for everything.