The Mystery of the Bloody Hand

Zane rolled over in bed and saw this on the sheets.

The first words out of his mouth that morning were then, "Ariane, why is there a bloody hand print on our sheets?"

Not Zane's usual first words.

After the fog cleared from our too tired heads, the memories of the night before came back. Dallin climbing in our bed saying he had a bloody nose at 2:30 in the morning, turning on the bedside lamp, dabbing at Dallin's nose saying it wasn't a big deal (there was a tiny bit of blood coming out of his nose), and telling everyone to go back to sleep.

After seeing the blood on our sheets, we checked Dallin's bed. Blood drops and smears were on his pillow and sheets where he must of wiped his nose repeatedly smearing blood everywhere before climbing into our bed.

I think it is time to buck up and get his nose cauterized. Anyone had this done or had to get their child's nose cauterized? Dallin's had bloody noses since he was very young. He doesn't even flinch when it happens. He just calmly walks to the bathroom telling me he has a bloody nose.

It sure was an interesting way to wake up!

The Ramp

Over General Conference weekend, Zane built this ramp. Dallin expressed interest in a ramp like his cousin and Zane looked at the scrap wood in the garage and came up with this. Pretty impressive.

It started out as Zane and Dallin's project until Zane's attention to detail and perfectionism was too much for Dallin's attention span.

"Working" Together

After it was finished, Zane brought it in to show Dallin. Dallin looked at it and said, "Let's break it apart." This just shows the phase Dallin's in. Zane and I build the towers, Dallin knocks them down. I put together the train tracks, and Dallin pulls them apart. Zane may have been a little hurt though as it has been played more by friends than by Dallin although he doesn't play with many toys. He enjoys running and jumping more.

Then I caught these pictures the other day.
(Dallin's wearing his cousin's Transformer Halloween outfit.)

I loved watching the boys play together and Zane loved seeing his boys playing with the ramp!

Tamina Festival

We enjoy going to this festival/fundraiser every year. The games are perfect for Dallin and he wins lots of prizes (candy).

The big prize this year was our first pet named Nemo. Dallin was very excited for his pet and enjoyed feeding it, watching it swim, and checking on him throughout the day. Unfortunately Zane and I didn't read up enough on how to care for a goldfish, because Nemo died Monday morning after being in our home one and a half days. I think it is best to say that Zane and I should stick to raising kids and keeping them alive and visit other families with pets.

He's A Swimmer Too!

Gavin loves, loves the bathtub. He gets on his stomach and army crawls all around the tub. In water though, it looks like he is swimming (he has a nice butterfly kick already.) He hasn't liked our baby pool, so I wasn't sure how he would take the big pool. It was also cooler water. It took a couple of minutes, but now he loves the pool, especially the splashing.

Learning to swim (army crawling in the water) Check out his legs! Perfect butterfly kick.

Swimming with Grandma (my mom and dad joined us for our first swim of the year)

Some of Dallin's antics: This kid has no fear. He hasn't been in a pool since last summer and he immediately went to the diving board to work more on his "flip" (crouch down at the end of the board and roll off like a somersault.)

Swimming with daddy

Blurry pictures of the slide

and daddy

Of course the diving board

We are so excited the pool is open now!

Who is Going to Win???

Here's the game: Show Gavin and Dallin the stuffed animal. Throw it. Hold Gavin back so that he doesn't false start and Go Go Go!!!

Stay focused on the prize

Who's going to win?

It was close each time. When Gavin wants something, the kid can move! This might be our new favorite game!

Rain

Thanks for coming rain. We have sure missed you. After the thunder and lightning stopped, we sure enjoyed the puddles! Please come again soon!

Slip and Slide with Daddy

While I was getting dinner ready, Zane was hanging out with Dallin outside while Dallin played on the slip and slide. I guess Zane felt like Dallin wasn't getting the sliding part right, so he decided to show him.

Then the game became throw Dallin to see how much further he could go.

We had to call it quits early that day because Zane popped the end of the slip and slide. I tried to tell him the slide was meant for 5 to 12 year olds (or something like that). Zane sometimes forgets how old he is.


The next week they decided to play again (this time everyone was in swim suits and after Zane fixed up the slip and slide) and Gavin joined them. Zane doesn't seem to understand that he is a little too big for the baby pool.

Gavin wasn't sure about the slip and slide

Dallin trying to help him

A new way to throw him down the slide???

What entertainment!

Mother's Day 2011

This Mother's Day I took many mental pictures but failed to take out my camera for some real pictures. I'm a little bummed not to catch all the fun moments.

The one and only picture from Mother's Day: First thing in the morning opening presents and wearing PJs still. Both boys are looking at the camera though and smiling! Aren't they cute???

Mother's Day started first with celebrating it at preschool. We had our students make lunch for their moms, sing some songs for them and present a flower craft. The moms got to enjoy eating a real lunch and talking to women instead of fighting kids to eat. It was a lot of fun preparing the lunch with the kids.

Saturday night Dallin walked into the house carrying roses for me that he picked out while at the store with Zane. He looked so sweet holding out roses for me and he reminded me all weekend to look at my flowers.

Sunday morning we had a nice breakfast that Dallin and Zane made. Zane was really sweet because I wanted to try a new breakfast casserole that you have to make the night before so Saturday night he and Dallin were making breakfast. I'm sure it was the last thing he wanted to do. We were also hosting our extended family's dinner and Family Home Evening Sunday night, so that meant more work on our part making our house presentable and making dinner. Zane insisted on doing most of it to give me a break. He was great and the boys made my day special. I'm not sure my mom got much of a break. While we had our FHE lesson, my mom kept the grandkids in Dallin's room teaching them a lesson so we could have an adult discussion. She survived somehow but she is a pro!

It was a great day with my boys. Mother's Day always has me reflecting even more on their wonderful birthmoms. Without these amazing women, I wouldn't be a mom. How grateful I am to them.

Zoo fieldtrip

We had tons of fun on our zoo fieldtrip with preschool. Dallin loved being with his friends and rarely walked around with me. At the last minute, my mom joined us which was really helpful with my own kids.

We made these masks for our art project in preparation for this fieldtrip

Dallin loves animals right now. The only TV show he likes to watch is Wild Kratts. It is a new find and I really like it. He is learning so much about animals and I enjoy watching it too! He especially likes anything to do with alligators/crocidiles, snakes, and sharks. So you can imagine how cool it was to see a live alligator! (Dallin is the one touching the alligator with the tank top on.)

It was a long and tiring day but a lot of fun!
(Can you see how tired they are from this picture!)

Gavin at 10 Month (April 26)

I'm obviously a little late in posting a 10 month update. Gavin is fun to photograph because he loves it. He freezes and smiles when he sees the camera. He actually just loves posing for anyone who is giving him attention. He will crawl around a room and stop at whoever is there and flash them a smile. Because he loves posing so much, it is hard to catch a face other than a smile. This one though cracked me up.


Gavin at 10 months is on the move. He has perfected the army crawl and is fast. He will get up on all fours, move one hand, and then plop back down on his stomach and is off. For some reason he thinks following Dallin around the house is super fun especially if Dallin has a friend over. Pure entertainment.

Gavin started kneeling up on objects and then two days after he turned 10 months, he stood up first in the bathtub, then a few days later in his bed. Gavin is definitely losing his baby weight with all his moving. He also became a pickier eater for a couple of months I think because he had three teeth coming in at once. He is now back to eating all baby foods, cereals, and crackers although he doesn't like our table food yet. Dallin wanted to eat all the time and loved the table food. Gavin though is taking his time and enjoys being fed with a spoon. He has also become a pro with saying mama and dada.

Here are some favorites:
Food- Goldfish: He gets very excited if he sees goldfish

Time of Day- BATH TIME!!! Gavin loves his bath. He does his army crawl all over the bath tub which makes him look like he is swimming. Dallin gets annoyed at times because Gavin is everywhere in the bathtub and won't stay still! If he is sitting up, then he is splashing like crazy. This also causes problems because Dallin thinks he can also splash like Gavin. He can't figure out why when Gavin does it we think it is cute and try to get pictures and when Dallin splashes he gets pulled out of the bath tub.

Person- Dallin hands down. He loves mommy and daddy, but Dallin is his favorite. He loves wrestling with Dallin and I'm really amazed with how much rough housing he can handle. I'm constantly saying be gentle but Dallin doesn't understand because Gavin is laughing.

This little boy is growing so fast and constantly making us laugh. We love him!

Talking about Adoption

Dallin and I were watching the movie Tarzan and he asked who the baby's mother was. I thought it was a perfect time to talk about adoption and I pulled out his adoption book. After we looked at a few pictures and discussed his birth story, I asked if it was ok that I was his mommy. His reply was short and sweet.

"No, I want that mommy."

I guess living with a gorilla could be fun, at least Tarzan makes it look fun. I doubt he had to put his "clothes" away or clean up his room and he gets to swing from trees. Looks like a pretty sweet life.

Slip and Slide

The Easter Bunny brought Dallin a new slip and slide in his basket. We tried it out with his cousin Caleb and discovered it was super fun!