Quiet Book

I have to say, that as far as 19 mo. old boys go, Tyler is actually very well behaved during church. He's definitely not perfect and we probably have to remind him to use his "quiet voice" 100 times during sacrament meeting, and have been working on saying "amen" reverently instead of yelling it at the end of a prayer, but for the most part I couldn't ask for anything better. He's usually-not always, there are definitely some sundays I want to bury my head in the ground b/c he is being SO loud- a little angel for the 1st half of the mtg and will just sit on one of our laps and doesn't move, doesn't talk, folds his arms for all the prayers, listens to me as I "explain" what's happening during the sacrament (I just tell him that we think about Jesus and Jesus loves him and wants him to be happy and to be a good boy, etc.) and he nods his head yes and watches everyone. It's the second half of the meeting that he starts to get a little restless and wants to move around, which do you blame him? By then I'm usually restless and want to move around too! (I can't stand it when I see parents that get mad at their kids when they don't sit perfectly still on the pew for the full hour. They're children, they physically/developmentally can't sit still that long!!! Sorry, that's a 'soap box' issue for me) So I let him hop down off the bench and he likes to play with the hymn books (take them out "read" them, put them back) read books on the floor, whatever. But by the last 15 min. he's just had it and starts talking and whining and saying bye-bye because he wants to leave; so I've been trying to decide what we could bring that would help him get through the end of the meeting and at the same time not be distracting (loud toys) to those around us. I looked into getting a "quiet book" from Deseret Book but they're $30 and I just don't want to pay that much for something I could make for at least half the price.

Anyway, last sunday I was mentioning this to some girls in the ward (one of which was one of the girls who made that comment in the post mentioned above) and they agreed that quiet books are definitely helpful when it comes to keeping kids distracted and quiet during church. I didn't really think anything else about it and was actually planning on starting to put one together on Wed. Tues morning as Bobby's walking out the door for school he walks back in and hands me a bag and says, "this was hanging on the door." I open the bag and inside was this:



The exact quiet book I had wanted to get for Tyler! All that was with it was a note that said, To: Tyler Bricker

I have no idea who left us this gift, but I am SO excited and thankful! I asked both the girls I was speaking to on Sun. if they left it for us and both have adamantly said it was not them. Either one of them is just being humble or somebody that I don't even know (not too hard, I don't know very many people in our ward) was extremely generous! I just can't believe that somebody would do that for our family and am so thankful to a loving Heavenly Father that has literally poured out blessing upon blessing since we have moved here. Sometimes all it takes is something as simple as a children's quiet book to remind you how much Heavenly Father knows and loves you as an individual and is mindful of your needs.

Surprise date night!

Warning: long post. If you want, skip the first 2 paragraphs, they're just explaining the background as to why this night happened.

About a week ago I was being a little bit pouty over the fact that I do not have a romantic husband. Maybe some of you have felt like this before so you'll know what I'm talking about, the rest of you...just appreciate the fact that you married the 1 romantic guy on the planet! Bobby's amazing at lots of things and shows me he loves me by, among other things, doing things around the house, (fixing the car, taking out the trash, cooking dinners, putting up shelves, etc.) going to work so that I can stay at home with Tyler, taking care of Tyler at night so I can go out with the girls, and setting aside time every night to spend with just me. (Can you tell we've had the "languages of love" talk many times?! Ha Ha!) But this particular night I was just having one of my "moments" and was wishing that just once he would do something crazy sweet like write me a sweet note, bring home some flowers, surprise me with something, or even do something as simple as tell me I'm beautiful (this only happens when I ask him to tell me!). Now granted, he will do something like get me flowers or leave a cute note in the car for me, but it happens-on average-once a year. I'm wishing for something more like once a month-yea, whatever, I'm greedy!

So anyways, I'm trying not to get grumpy about this characteristic of his because it's who he is, and I will not be able to (and should not try) to change him, I instead try to think of all the ways he showed me that day through "non-verbal" cues (since that's his "language of love") that he loves me, but am still not pacified. I need some good old fashioned romance! I decided that these feelings were all stemming from the fact that we haven't had any alone time since my birthday in July (like quality, romantic time) and we just needed something to help us re-connect. I knew that Bobby wouldn't in a million years be thinking any of these things and that if I felt something needed to change it would be up to me to make that happen. And as much as I hate that I have to be the one to always bring stuff like this up, I realize that if I want to be happy in the marriage (and one of those things that keeps me happy is romance) I can't just sit around and stew about how unfortunate it is that my husband isn't romantic, I have to be the one to do something about it. It kind of stinks, but that's just the way it is. (And maybe, just maybe, the more often I do these things for him, the more often he'll do them for me...I can hope right?!) Once I made up my mind about this, I started planning.

I wanted to do something that would 1)be a total surprise and catch him off guard. 2)give us quality alone time and 3)be memorable. I knew that we wouldn't be able to get a babysitter so it would have to be something we could do at home after Tyler went to bed. That puts a lot of limits on any kind of "date", but it was SO fun to try and think of creative ways to pull this off. Anyways, this is what I came up with for last Fri. night:

Tyler goes to bed at 8:00. After we say our family prayers, I leave the room and Bobby rocks Tyler and sings to him for about 2-3 min. During that time I ran out to our car with a pair of "date" clothes, which I had meticulously ironed earlier that day (I knew he would be wearing B-ball shorts and a tee shirt b/c that's always what he changes into when he comes home from work), some cologne, shoes, his wallet, phone and this note:

(click on it if you can't read it)


After he's done singing to Tyler he comes in our bedroom where we read scriptures. I ran in the front door(from putting everything in the car) right as he was walking out of Tyler's room and told him I had left my cell phone in the car and had to go get it. (Yes, that was part of my genius plan and I actually did leave my phone in the car so I would have this excuse just in case I wasn't back by the time he was done with Tyler) And then I said, "oh shoot, I forgot I left the camera in the car too and it's just sitting on the front seat. Could you run out there and grab it before we read so that we don't forget to get it?" (this was the only thing I could think of to get him to go out to the car-I knew he wouldn't be okay with leaving the camera in the car overnight b/c he's real particular about stuff like that) I was just praying that he wouldn't say that we should just read first and then do it because the To Go order had to be picked up by 8:30! Thankfully he said, "ya sure" and walked out the door. I locked it behind him and got busy. (side note-I should've been an actress, I can't believe I totally pulled that off without giving anything away. I was so excited that I just wanted to bust up laughing, but instead pulled off the perfect whiny voice so he didn't suspect a thing!)

While he was changing (there's a laundry room bathroom right by where we parked the car-also part of my genius plan) and getting our food I got the house ready. I changed into my "date" clothes, put on a little perfume (I don't think I've even worn perfume since I've had Tyler), set the table with candles and Hershey kisses, put our Sparkling Cider in a make-shift ice-bucket(yes I had to hide the cider and the ice since we don't ever buy either of those things), got out our "fancy" glasses, and set up the ipod (with a specially prepared playlist for the evening). Everything was perfect I was SO excited. He came home exactly when I finished lighting the last candle, I tell you, it was like a scene from a movie. It was perfect! It was so cute how giddy he was that I planned this whole thing. It totally made everything worth it! Here are a few pictures from the night:

Picture with flash on (no, our kitchen table does NOT always sit in the middle of the kitchen like that, it's usually pushed off to the side)


flash off so you can see what it actually looked like with just the candle light


YUMMY food!






Not very flattering shot, but the only one we got with the self-timer before the camera died.


At the end of our meal, I gave him a little surprise gift:


The night was perfectly fabulous and went exactly as I'd hoped it would. Even though I'm the one that had to plan it, I have to be honest... it was almost as fun planning this surprise as it would have been to receive it! I love my Bobby, even if we don't always speak the same "language"!

Does anybody know....

...are you supposed to tip when you order food TO GO. You know, at places like Chili's, Olive Garden, Pasta Factory, etc.? And if so how much?

Thanks!!

How many letters in the alphabet?

Last night I was telling Bobby that Tyler knows almost all of the letters in the alphabet now. He gets all of them right except for Q, V, W (which he always calls "M"), Y, and Z.

And Bobby says, "Oh that's good, so he knows like 20 of the 27 letters?"

Hmmm...I wonder what extra letter Bobby knows about that I don't.

Houston Reunion

This weekend several people who grew up in Houston and are now living in Utah got together for a Houston reunion of sorts. We were hoping more people would be able to come, but since we had it in Kaysville and not Provo (where most everyone is at, attending BYU) a lot of people weren't able to make it, but those of us that did had lots of fun catching up and meeting each others babies! We're hoping to have another one soon down in Provo so more people can make it!

Okay so here's my "belly shot" at 24 weeks that I took right before we left.


Same picture just zoomed in on the "goods".




I was so glad Alisa was able to come up from St. George because I haven't seem my little nephew in 2 mo. and he's SO much bigger!!! Tyler kept trying to give him "5's" but Nate would just grab his hand and Tyler was really confused!


Mingling


My, just turned 5 mo. old, nephew CRAWLING (and has been for the past several weeks)




The cousins with their Auntie Amanda




Tyler, secrets don't make friends...


Tyler: "So, can I blow this joint or what?" (But don't they look so cute sporting their college wear?!)


I promise this kiss is a lot more innocent than it appears to be...


All of us from L to R: Annika Bruno, Genevieve Bruno, Jessica Tibbetts, Anna Facundo, Amanda Nelson, Bobby Bricker, Tyler Bricker, Angela Bricker, Cameron Johnson, Ellen Johnson, Jake Johnson, Alisa Ence, Nate Ence


Tyler just being his dang cute self


A BIG thanks to: Ellen Johnson for putting everything together, Bro. and Sis. Tibbitts for letting us use their home, Pepper the dog for letting Tyler chase after you, pet you, and touch your face the whole time we were there, and to all those who drove miles and miles to come!!!

I have to stop...

...eating these:



Thanks to the scale at the good ole doc's office I realize it is no longer acceptable, and potentially hazardous to my post-baby recovery period, for me to feed my weekly-and someties bi-weekly- craving of Arby's curly fries. I have gained 9 lbs. from my starting weight and I still have 16 more weeks to go!!! I lose so much weight in the beginning that my doctor tells me to eat whatever I want as long as it's high calorie and will put pounds back on my body. Somehow once I've regained the weight and am feeling better I forget to stop eating...and eating... and eating. I'm just so excited to be able to eat again! Ugh! I don't crave anything else, just those scrumptious, deliciously curly, hot and fresh, perfect amount of seasoning, mouth-wateringly tasty, fries. Okay, I have to stop. I'm starting to salivate.

24 Weeks

Yesterday I had my 24 week doctor's appointment with my new doctor. Sorry no belly picture, I was going to take one before I left for my appt., but I was running late since it was right in the middle of Tyler's nap and I had to wake him up and get him ready. I didn't have time to figure out how to do the self timer thingy on the camera before I left, and then by the time we got home I had to get dinner ready and after that I just wasn't in the mood. And I hate taking pictures of myself so that's probably the real reason. But don't worry I'm meeting up with some people this weekend and I'm sure pictures will be taken so I promise I'll post one!

Anyway, this is the second time I've met with my new doctor and I LOVE him! I actually didn't think I was going to be able to find a better doctor than the one I had in Orem, but I actually do like this doctor more. The whole office in general is so much nicer, more organized and more efficient than the old place I went to and on my first visit my doctor actually spent 30 min. in the room with Bobby and I just talking and he discussed all of my concerns with me seriously and really took the time to get to know me as a patient and a person. The nurses are SO friendly (which those of you who read this blog and go to the same doctor I did in Orem know how very UNfriendly those nurses can be) they joke around with me, play with Tyler, ask if they can get me anything, etc. And probably the best thing about it, is the wait time. With my old doctor it wasn't uncommon to spend 2 hours in his office because you spent 45 min-1 hour in the waiting room and another 45 min waiting in the actual room and 5 min. with the doctor. With this last appt. I was there 30 min. from the time I got out of the car to the time I got back in the car. Heaven...especially with a toddler! So this appt. was really quick, he just asked me a few questions: can I feel the baby move (yes), have I had any cramping or bleeding(no), have I had any contractions(no), was I feeling better(yes), etc. Then he told me he thought about me the other day (which totally blew me away because I had just met him) because he delivered a patient that had had a lot of my concerns that I had gone over with him at my last appt. and her delivery had gone just fine. Just things that had happened during Tyler's delivery that I am praying do not happen his time like having an episiotomy AND a 4th degree tear (the worst possible tear) and 12 hours of labor, and being seconds away from having a c-section, just little concerns like that! But he said the girl (it was her second delivery too) didn't tear at all, only was in labor for half the amount of time, and told him she might now consider having a 3rd baby, which is funny just because I had told him that this was probably going to be our last baby because my body just couldn't go through all that again. I was so impressed that he remembered all that from our conversation 4 weeks ago and it just made me like him and feel more comfortable with him all the more.

Unfortunately (and the reason I will be scheduling all future appts. on the days that Bobby is home and can watch Tyler) Tyler HATES doctor's offices and he clings to me-literally-for dear life whenever the doctor comes in the room. I don't know why he gets such bad anxiety, maybe because he just had his 18 mo. appt and remembers being laid down on the table for shots, but the second the doctor had me sit up on the table he started crying loudly...more like wailing, and would not stop until I got off the table. The doctor even let him sit on the table next to me, but he was not havin' it. We couldn't even hear the baby's heart beat because he wouldn't stop crying, but the doctor read the numbers off his little machine and said it was beating at 140/bpm so it was just fine. So things are good with Baby, things are good with me and things are now good for Tyler just so long as he never goes in another doctor's office again!

YUM!

My man is THE master of the grill! Even though it was 50 degrees outside and raining we had to grill something for Labor day and these kabob's were SO delicious!

(yes, this was all for the two of us and I'm not ashamed to admit there wasn't very much left over!!!)


Although I'm ready for cooler weather, I'm really going to miss grilling and eating summer foods!!!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

When Bobby and I went to Disneyland a couple years ago we got a couple of those Mickey Mouse ears and Tyler happened to find them in our closet and loves to put them on. Bobby "fixed" one so that it would fit Tyler's head and he wants to wear it everywhere!

Daddy and Tyler in their Mickey hats

To my best friend...

DEAR ALENA,

You are my best friend. I miss you everyday and wished you lived closer so that we could play. Thank you for always being willing to play with me no matter what you are busy doing. If we are with a big group of people I always choose you to play with because you are my favorite person. I love to grab your hand and pull you outside onto the patio at Grandma's house and sit on the chairs with you while you sing silly made up songs and I dance. I love to sit with you in the grass and play with the dirt for hours. Mommy always gets tired of being outside because she says it's too hot and takes me back inside before I am done playing and it makes me sad, but you play outside with me for hours and never get tired. I love to "fake you out" and hide behind your back while you pretend to look for me. I love to run around like a crazy person while you chase me. I love to talk to you on the phone and tell you "wu you" (love you) and "bye bye". And most of all, I love that you love me as much as I love you.

Mom says that lately whenever she wants to take my picture I always run to my room and grab the picture of you that I keep by my bed because I want you to be in the picture too. I love to give your picture kisses and show you off to the camera so everybody will know you are my best friend.







Wu You,
Tyler