Memorial Weekend Fun

This last weekend, we went to Bear Lake with the family. We went last weekend to clean up the cabin for the summer, but his weekend was to be for fun. The weather wasn't perfect, but we were still able to enjoy the time away.

Saturday we went four wheeling. Normally I go with my dad and we go on some rough trails, but my cousin decided they wanted to go too and bring their kids. At first I wasn't happy with the idea because I didn't think it was possible to have any fun with small kids on a real four wheeling trail. But I figured since they were bringing their kids, I may as well take Kyson. Kyson has done short trips on the four wheeler, like down to the beach, around campgrounds and stuff like this, but nothing rocky and in the forest. He loved it! He had always liked riding them, but this trip was extra fun for him. I kept asking him if he was having fun and he said, "yes." He was laughing so much and even saying "Weeeeee," as we went down the canyon. I'm so glad that I took him, but I'm afraid I opened up a can of worms. After that trip, he always wanted to go on rides, and he even figured out how to steal my cousin's kid's four wheeler. he disappeared for a short time and we found him in he yard riding Daxton's toy four wheeler. He figured it out all by himself.

All weekend Kyson played with my father. At times, I even had he courage to leave Kyson in the care of my father - Super Nanny himself. Kids love him and I don't know if it's because he's a big kid himself, or because they can do whatever they want with him. I was lucky enough to capture a perfect moment from this perfect babysitter.While my dad has his moments of admiring tractors, he is a wonderful grand- father who adores Kyson. It's fun to see them play together because I know they enjoy one another's company. It's wonderful to see the tender side of him as a grandfather that I don't remember seeing as a father. In fact, it was my dad's idea to bring Kyson four-wheeling, not something I'd expect from my dad.

The weather was too cold to take advantage of the lake, but Kyson still took advantage of the beach. I wasn't planning on him digging into the sand because it was all wet after the rain, but I turned my back to set his shoes aside, and I ended up with a very dirty boy. I let him play and even sent my dad to get lawn chairs after I'd been standing there for 15 minutes. He had to have been freezing by the end, but he was happy - and that's all that matters, right?

Not Again!

Everyone that I know of who wants to know the sex of their baby before it's born gets to find out. I have learned that I'm cursed and cannot get that lucky. With both of my pregnancies, the baby wouldn't cooperate to let us know what the sex is. Kyson wouldn't uncross his legs and we wouldn't have been able to find out if we hadn't paid for a 3D ultrasound. Even though we did get to find out, I had to wait until I was 6 1/2 months along to find out. With this baby, it was too low to tell. The technician who did the ultrasound went through all the organs of the baby and everything looked great, but she said she couldn't get a picture that we'd be able to understand that would show the sex of the baby. She said she could tell what it was though - a girl. I asked her how sure, and she said, "I'm very sure." While we waited for the doctor we talked about how exciting it was that we were going to have a little girl.

When he doctor came, she looked at all the pictures from the ultrasound and asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby. We said yes, and the technician had said it was a girl, but couldn't get a picture that we'd understand. The doctor proceeded to look again to check and said, "I couldn't tell you difinitevely, but from what I'm seeing, this looks like a boy." The baby was sitting so low on my pelvis that they couldn't get a look without too much shadowing.

Fortunately, because it was sitting so low, they couldn't see the bottom of the spine and I have to go back. They said in 3-4 weeks the baby should be big enough that we should be able to find out the sex. So, June 12, I'm praying will be the day we find out. Maybe we'll get lucky with this next ultrasound.

An Unbearable Case of Puppy Love

I've mentioned before how much Kyson and Franni Faye just love each other. I'll admit, having a puppy is like having a second toddler - she's always getting in to trouble. Actually she might be worse than a toddler, but Kyson adores her. They are inseparable and whenever he spends time away from her, he lights up when he sees her. They watch television together, they sleep together, and they play together. As Wilson Rawls said about his character in Where the Red Fern Grows Kyson has an "unbearable case of puppy love."

So Sleepy

The other day, Kyson was running around, being his normal self, when he ran upstairs and got his blankets. Kris and I didn't think anything of it and we continued to let him play. Kris noticed that it was too quiet, and went to check on our little dude. When he saw what Kyson was doing, he came and grabbed me and showed me. I took this picture through the crack between the fence and the gate from the front yard into the back yard. The poor little guy was so tired and rather than trying to tell us he wanted to sleep, he decided to go lie down outside.

Happy Belated Birthday Kyson

It's hard to believe that our little boy is already 2 years old. His birthday was on April 27, but we ended up having 2 parties (not on his birthday) because Kris' parents were sick and we didn't want to leave them out. At his first party with my family, he had a hard time with my sister and her family. He's at that "stranger danger" stage and hid behind his chair most of the party. Fortunately, he came out to open his presents. At the second party with Kris' family, he was afraid of his birthday cake, or at least the candle on it. Blake and Avery, his cousins, blew his candle out for him.

Last year he couldn't eat his birthday cake because of his eating problems, this year, he just refused to eat it. He wanted to eat it while walking around and we wouldn't let him. So he got angry and didn't eat anything. . . until everyone left.

Everyone was so nice and generous with Kyson. Thank you for the support. He got a new tricycle and some other wonderful things he can enjoy. He even got some new clothes that we really enjoy. he's growing too fast.

It Sucks to be Sick!

After our fantastic adventures in California, we had the opportunity to come down with the flu. Kyson started it, and it has spread like wildfire. The morning we were leaving San Diego, Kyson woke up at 2:30am throwing up. This continued every 10 minutes for 5 hours. He slowly started throwing up every 20 minutes, then every 30 minutes, then 45, and eventually staggered to occasionally. He threw up just as we were about to take off in the plane, and it was apparent he was just plain miserable! As soon as we landed, we took him to the Instacare. They said, "If he keeps throwing up tonight, bring him back." He threw up once during the night, but that is where the vomiting ended. . . at least for Kyson.

After the Instacare, we picked up some food and I ate. I threw it up, but thought it was because I waited too long to eat, being pregnant and all. That night it continued, and throughout the next day. I was throwing up every 30 minutes and lost 7 lbs in 36 hours. I eventually called my doctor to ask if I should do anything. They told me to go to Emergency. We took Kyson to Kris' parents on the way to the hospital and he ended up needing to spend the next few days with them. In Emergency, I had to be given 4 liters of fluid through IVs to get out of severe dehydration. The baby is fine, but it scared us when they couldn't fid a heartbeat for some time. The next day, I continued to throw up, but it was much less, and I began to move past the bug.

At the hospital, Kris started not feeling too well. His sickness affected the basement rather than the attic, though. He missed the entire week of work because he felt so weak.

Our saga began Saturday morning, we missed Easter, we both missed work, we missed Kyson from Sunday to Wednesday, and then the worst news hit - Carol, Kris' mom started throwing up on Wednesday morning. She's still sick and today is her birthday. We feel awful about her getting sick from helping us.

San Diego

Last week, our family had the opportunity to go to San Diego. Some time ago, we had decided we should plan a fun trip just before Kyson's 2nd birthday. The reason being, he can fly for free and would have free admissions to most places. We used our points from our credit card and were able to fly free as well. The reason we decided on San Diego was because of all the animals there. Kyson is a huge animal fan.

We started our trip off visiting the Midway museum. It is a battleship that was used during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. It was amazing how big the ship was. It would take someone 3-4 hours to look at every room in that ship. While it is huge, all the rooms are extremely small and the hall ways very narrow. I can't imagine living on that ship for 6 months at a time. It sounds like torture.

While the first activity was for the adults, we went straight to kid stuff by the next morning. Wild Animal Park is a place that is run by the San Diego Zoo. It has all sorts of animals that roam free in one area and a tram takes you to see them. They had great shows, and a wonderful petting zoo. Believe it or not, Kyson's favorite part was the carousel. He made me ride it 7 times in a row. He would have gone more, but we were ready to leave.
The next day was Legoland. According to their website it says that there is so much to do for the entire family. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Families with children under 5, really shouldn't waste their money. There were a handful of rides Kyson could ride, and that was it. It also closed really early. The best part of Legoland was an aquarium that they had next door. Kyson loved all the "fishies." They had one huge tank full of sharks and stingrays and it gave you the feeling like you were surrounded by the sea life. It wasn't as good as Sea World, but Kyson seemed to enjoy it.

Sea World did seem to be the highlight of everyone's trip. That was most people's favorite. I didn't take many pictures, but Kyson enjoyed it a lot. The shows at Sea World were amazing. Kyson is so sensitive to animals that at first, he was getting angry, thinking that the trainers were hurting the animals. After we reassured him that the animals were having fun, he settled down and seemed to really enjoy it.

Going to the San Diego Zoo after having been to the Wild Animal Park and Sea World, was quite a disappointment. All the paths were extremely narrow and steep. It wasn't built to cater a lot of people, or for small walking children, or older people who may have trouble walking. They had a lot of animals, but the shows were disappointing, the petting zoo closed way too early, and the layout is not friendly for people who are not familiar with the zoo. They had some adorable babies, like a giraffe, a gorilla, and an anteater.

And what trip to the coast is complete without going to the beach? We went a couple of times, but both times were too chilly for me to get in the water. My husband and father were the dare devils tackling the Pacific. Like when we went to the Atlantic ocean, Kyson loved it. At one point he was running in and out of the water and a big wave was coming so I had to rescue him before it knocked him down. He loved it. He also loved wearing his shades. Overall, the trip was a success. We were all tired when we got home, but it was a lot of fun.