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

What's going on with Tyler!

For the first couple months after Tyler was born I kept a journal for him in which I would write feelings I had about being his mother, different milestones he was reaching, things unique about him that I loved, his height and weight at each doctor appointment, etc. But since I am horrible at keeping a journal I think the last entry I made was when he was 6 mo. old and since we've moved I haven't even been able to find it. So, in an effort to get at least some things documented for his toddler months I want to write down some of the things he's doing right now, or has been doing for the past few months, that I love or just things he does that make me laugh!

Favorites:
-Food:Ham, grapes (purple only), string cheese
-Book: The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss (we read this 15-20 times a day)
and Elmo's Pop up Shapes and Color's book
-Movie: Elmo's World
-Friend: His Aunt Alena
-Toy: Giant Lego blocks and cars
-Animal: Toss up between Elephant, Monkey and Lion
-Thing to do: Play outside-especially at the park with daddy
Go swimming
Sit on Mommy's lap-every day-while she puts on her make-up
Take pictures of himself on our cell phones
-Letter: "O"-He says it when he sees anything round that even closely resembles an O
-Song: Popcorn Popping while doing all the actions. We sing this every night, usually 3 or 4 times, before bed.

Making goofy faces whenever we tell him to say "cheese" for a picture.

Makes me "soup" by taking the blender out of the cupboard and mixing (making blender noises and all)the food, then scoops out the soup with a spoon for me to eat.

He says "Bye Bye" anytime he wants to leave-no matter where we are; church (right in the middle of sacrament meeting), restaurant (as soon as we sit him in the high chair), the house, a friend's house, etc. And he says it over and over while nodding his head yes with a very desperate look in his eye as if to say, "please, please don't make me stay here anymore!". And then he starts to whine if we tell him it's not time to go yet. It's only mildly embarrassing.

Knows several letters in the alphabet and LOVES to point out and say the letters he recognizes anywhere he sees them-tv, books, on buildings, jars, etc. Letters he knows 100% (forwards, backwards and even upside down): D,F,L,M,O,P,R,S, and T. Letters he gets right most of the time: C,G,I,Y,and Z. The only number he recognizes is 9 and he's not counting at all! He likes to listen to us count and will hold up toys one at a time while we count them, but he will only repeat the #9. Weird! And we're working on colors and shapes but he's totally not interested. I guess he's going to be more of a word person than a number person...just like his mamma!

If Bobby and I are laughing and he hears us he starts laughing really hard and blinks his eyes fast. I don't know what that's all about but it makes us laugh.

Randomly, and several times throughout the day, he will start singing opera like Mr. Noodle does on Elmo's World. I really wish we had a video camera so I could post this because it is so funny!

I love that he calls Elmo "Mo-Mo".

He loves it when Bobby spins him in a circle really fast and he gets all dizzy. As soon as he's not dizzy anymore he wants to do it again!

He loves to wear his sunglasses (the ones from his Uncle Nathan and Aunt Rebekah!!) and as soon as we put them he flashes us the "cool dude" sign-which he does by sticking out his thumb and forefinger (spread out like a peace sign. Apparently a simple thumbs up doesn't do his coolness justice). The other day when we were at the pool we told him he couldn't walk past where the fence ended. So he walked to the very edge of where the fence was and just stood there. He had his sunglasses on and a little girl walked up to him and they were just staring at each other (like little kids do...always trying to figure the other one out or something), when he started pointing past the fence. He would point and then look back at her over and over as if he was trying to tell her that they should walk over there together. After a couple seconds of getting no response from the girl he flashed her his "cool dude" sign, shruged his shoulders and walked away as if to say, "Whatever, you don't want to walk with me, I'm too cool for you anyways!" We were laughing so hard!

During his bath he dunks Bobby's head in the water, and holds it under, so that he will blow bubbles.

After his bath, I pull him out of the tub, Bobby wraps the towel around him and then we stand up and make faces in the mirror together. Tyler knows we do this and loves when we copy the faces he makes (rather than the other way around) so he always makes sure he's the first one to make a face.

He loves to clean-up his toys. I don't know if this is just a phase, but I'm hoping it will turn into a good habit!! Anytime I say, "Okay Tyler should we clean up your toys?" He excitedly nods his head yes and just starts picking them up AND puts them all in the right baskets; toys in the toy basket, books in the book basket, shoes in the shoe basket, etc.

He folds his arms and bows his head whenever he sees anyone with their arms folded, even if we're not in church. For example, we were walking through JCPenny today and there was a manikin with its arms folded in a window so he pointed at it and then folded his arms and bowed his head. It made me laugh so hard! He's such a sweet boy.

He is SO good about sharing. If another kid takes a toy out of his hand he just looks at him like, "that was rude" and then goes and picks another toy. He never cries or tries to take it back. And if I ask him to give a toy to someone else he immediately hands it over-no whining. When my visiting teacher was over last week she brought her little girl that is 15 mo. and anytime Tyler would start to pick up a toy that she had been playing with she would start to cry and run over and take it from Tyler. Tyler just looked at me like, "what the heck is her problem?!" and handed it to her without me even telling him too. I think he was more scared of her crying than he was actually trying to be nice, but I was still so proud of him! I'm just praying nursery doesn't corrupt him!!!

I love when it's his nap time that we cuddle together and watch Sesame Street on the couch under his green blankie 'till he falls asleep (usually takes less than 15 min.!). I know you're supposed to put your kids down before they're asleep so they can teach themselves to fall asleep, but I did that when he was younger for all his naps and we do that when he goes to bed at night now, so I know he knows how to put himself to sleep, and he has always been a really good sleeper so I'm not worried about it. I just love this time I get to spend with him all snuggled up, holding him in my arms. And since I don't know how much longer he'll want to snuggle with me I'm taking FULL advantage...so, judge if you want, but this is one of my favorite parts of the whole day!!

I love that he gives pats and kisses to the baby, and that he tells her hello and goodbye while lifting my shirt up and down over my belly. He totally doesn't get the whole baby thing though because he'll do this to Bobby too! We try to tell him only mommy has a baby but he doesn't care, he just likes the game!

This is everything I can think of right now, but I'll probably remember more later and add to the list! We just love you Tyler, thanks for coming to our family!