Sunday, December 14, 2008

Of Tools and Super Glue and Princess Things...

Sheridan is intent on hanging up her artwork...and she's going to "do it self!" Tyler is glad that another kid is showing intense interest in his love of tools.


I'll sandwich my idiocies with cute pictures of the girl. So, here's my (long) funny story.
I am NOT coordinated or graceful, but now I am SCARRED!
Last week, I was trying to get down an iron that's been sitting in our hall closet. Not because I was going to iron (my last fiasco with ironing curtains has left a lasting mark on my right forearm 3 inches long...) but because I was being nice and getting the extra iron for someone else. Because, if nothing else, I'm unfailingly nice, right. Right?!?
Anyway, it was stuck behind several games and some wooden home decor items that have been put away for Christmas. Heaven forbid I actually move everything to pull out one little iron! I was adroitly easing the iron out when (BANG!) the Memory game tried to end it's frustrating situation on top of all the other games. While dodging the game, I did not see the aforementioned wooden home decor hurtling through Memory's shadow into my FACE. (I guess the decor was frustrated by my replacing it with Christmas stuff.)
I retreated to the bathroom, managing to keep my language clean all the while (really, that was the most impressive part of the whole fiasco!). When the haze of pain cleared I looked in the mirror, fully expecting a sweet bruise on my upper lip. Instead, I was greeted by a half-inch long gash that was bleeding freely. Looked like a 12 year-old boy who'd gotten into a tussle with Dad's Bick. Sigh. And to make things even lovelier, it wouldn't close up with a bandaid--it kept gaping open and bleeding all over.
Tyler, very smart guy that he is, suggested super glue. Fabulous! I busted that out, squeezed it onto the cut (after noting on the package that it bonds to skin in seconds--just what I needed!) and watched in horror as it spurted out of the tube and ran down over my lips. I had the presence of mind to open my mouth, though, so it didn't seal shut! Phew! The second time, I got things right--cut sealed nicely with a little super-help. Of course, it's right under my nose so the FUMES (which are toxic--good thing I'm not pregnant any more!) were threatening to asphixiate me until it dried. But, you know, I avoided the Emergency room and the stinking huge copay to have them super glue it for me at 11 pm. So, all's well that ends well! And, yet another reason to not even TOUCH the iron, let alone use it!

On a brighter note, for any who doubt, Sheridan is fully invested...in becoming a Princess. Her Dad watched her create this sweet ensemble, all by herself!

They Just Can't Get Enough


They, being far-away family members. Enough of what? Henry. Due to popular demand, here's some more picts of le bebe.
In some he looks like Sheridan, in others he looks like Jack...In all of them, he is CLEARLY a Vigue-child. Yes, the Vigue genes are strong with this one (but which of my kids AREN'T they strong with, really?)

Neither kid looks too sure about this picture. Seconds later, Sheridan was trying to shove him off of her saying "All done! All done, Henry!" Ah, portents of things to come!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

More picts of our cute baby and expanded family. Thanks, Jim!



Thursday, December 4, 2008

Christmas comes a little early...

During family songs, the kids both wanted to sit by Henry...so they dragged their seats over to where he was sleeping and settled in. To distract the kids from mauling their baby brother (he is a kid magnet, I guess), we had to procure and decorate a Christmas tree. It's a fun distraction--a lure that is impossible for the older kids to resist!
Our neighbors also passed along a nice little gift for our kiddos--a used but large football toybox. The kids like it. They like it a lot. They think it is a kidbox.

Falling in Love All Over Again!

( Sheridan just wants to hold her baby!)

I have to say, I'm feeling much better now that I'm not pregnant. This has been a fabulously easy recover and Henry seems (thus far) to be a very mellow kid. We'll see what the next few weeks brings!
(This is Henry, coming home!)

Wanted to add some more picts for the faraway family...but you can feel free to enjoy them, too! Thanks for all the congrats and well-wishes--we're grateful to have such good friends.

(Jack LOVES his baby brother!)

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Oh Boy, OH HENRY!!


Born on November 25th, 8 lbs 15 ounces--Henry has arrived! Ali is pretty much the toughest person ever, delivering her third consecutive "all-natural" birth (un-medicated, aka no epideral). She did an amazing job, and while birth beat up her body a little bit she is recovering fantastically and just taking advantage of the full-time medical professionals and the serenity of a private room in the hospital for a second night. We love her so much!

[Can you believe that woman just gave birth like 2 hours prior to this photo?!]



You can tell from the pictures that this is one of the three absolute best looking newborns ever. He has a nice head of hair (as did his siblings) that has some curl when it is wet, but dry, lays down flat and straight. He has some nice sideburns that don't show up as well in pictures, and he opens his big eyes often that already have a very visible blue tint to them. He was born with a true knot in his cord, andwhile that would have been a serious concern had we known about it prior to birth, it turns out the kid still gained wait at a very high rate. (Ali was 39 weeks the day he was born weighing 8 15. He was so big for his gestational age that they had to track his blood sugar for the first 24 hours.)

The kids got to meet him this morning at the hospital and they couldn't wait they were so excited. They really love him a ton and shower him with affection. They were also stoked about hanging out in the hospital room and watching movies (about the only way we could realistically stay there for more than about 9 minutes at a time). Both Jack and Sheridan talk about how cute Henry is and how much they love him. They both want to hold him and give him hugs and kisses.

We will have much to be grateful for when they come home on Thanksgiving day. Ali and I have officially joined the ranks of "outnumbered parents." Wish us luck!



PS- Upon review of the last post on this blog, it appears that Corey is our winner with an exact guess of November 25th. Congratulations Corey--your prize is that you got to spend 8 hours with our two older kids on Henry's birthday!!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Take a Guess...

Well, here are my cute kids. Sheridan decided she wanted to be a knight, and Jack was all about cowboy tonight. Utah must be rubbing off on him :)
Heck, while we're at it, here's a pict of the cute kid-to-be. It's obviously a little hard to see how cute he specificly will be, but that's ok. The picture a while back where I looked HUGE...well, my friends, that's called tricky photography. Anything is going to look significantly larger when taken from that angle. Put that trick up your sleeve for some April Fool's Day fun! Not to say that I'm tiny, but I'm not a planetoid or anything!
Hey, and feel free to submit your guess as to when the little guy will get here. I must warn you, I am dilated and effaced pretty well, but officially not due until either the 2nd or the 7th of December, depending on the doc or the ultrasound. Take your pick, it doesn't really mean much! I was 2 days over with Jack and they induced me after being at 4 cm for 2 weeks just before my due date with Sheridan. So, being dilated to 3.5 and 80% effaced probably means...well, not a whole lotta. But, you know, it's always fun to have a guess and see how close (or far off :) your guess comes!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

How did it come to this!?!

How is it possible that my little man is 4 years old already?!? Seriously, there have been some long, tough stages, but I cannot believe he's 4. It is very surreal.
This was a pretty fun day, hopefully leading up to a fairly fun next few days. Jack came into our room at 5 am, asking if he could open presents. What do you think this is, kid, Christmas? He fell asleep on Tyler for the next few hours. They woke me up at 7:40 and Jack declared that "Heavenly Father gave me a special present today: Snow!" Yup, a few inches on the ground is all it takes to make the kid happy. We finally let him open the gifts from his grandparents and one from us. He was in heaven. A Little Einsteins movie, Little Einsteins action figures, cooking gear, a "flippin' frogs" game, and a Little Einsteins Rocket kept him happily entertained all day long. He even helped me make his cake for tonight, Curious George (it looks a little rough because it is...I guess that's what happens when you wait until 4:30 pm to start decorating it!). He adored his cake, as did Sister, which is all that matters--well, that and it tasted delicious!
Thanks to the friends and family who called to wish Jack a Happy Birthday!
"Sister, don't even think about blowing out my candles!"
Oooo, on a side note, here's a cute recent story about Jack. In Primary (the kids' class at church) this last Sunday, they were making paper bag puppets and writing on the back 3 reasons they were thankful to be them. Jack's reasons:
1. I love my family
2. I mow the lawn with my Dad
3. I share with Sheridan.
My little heart almost burst with joy that those are the things he's thankful for in his life (sure, it may have actually burst if he said "I have the best mom in the world who takes care of me better than anyone", but I'd rather not need heart surgery anyway, so it's cool). We are so lucky to have this kid!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Happy Halloween!


Well, Halloween was a smashing success. I was able to vote early--waiting the hour in line to do so was the biggest nightmare of the day! The temps were warm, the sky slightly overcast. It was ideal weather for trick-or-treating. Neither kid had to wear a snow suit or even a coat, so that was already a good thing!
Jack remembered trick-or-treating from last year and was very excited to go. He was even willing to leave our friends, Corey and Jenni, to embark on candy-gathering. Sheridan quickly figured out that people were handing out CANDY at their doors! If she saw the candy before saying "Trick or Treat" all she said was "CANDY! CANDY!"
In fact, that's pretty much all she's been saying since. We did have the candy on top of the fridge (in a rather large, slightly translucent bowl), and this morning she was determined to get it. She got her stool out of the bathroom and put it by the fridge, then stretched and stretched to get the bowl of loot. Great idea, but too small a stool (or too small a reach). We are going to have to watch this girl closely!
A final view of our pumpkins at night. The kids loved them with candles in!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Happy Halloween! Thought we'd bring you up-to-speed on our Halloween fun thus far (we still have tonight to go!)

October 17th we met up with a bunch of Jack's buddies at Gardner Village. They do a witch-theme every October and had fun witchy things all over the shopping village. The kids' favorite part? Going to McDonald's playland afterwards. The didn't want to leave McD's! I spent the week before working frantically on Jack and Sheridan's costumes, but didn't get all of Jack's details finished in time (probably because I decided to use a different material the day before and started over on Thursday!).

On Monday the 27th, we went to the Halloween Party at the Bean Museum on BYU campus. The kids LOVE all the animals there and had a great time dressing up. I worked on Jack's costume during the day, since I hadn't touched it except to move it since the 17th! Still wasn't 100% finished, but people knew what he was! As a note, Sheridan's costume was WAY easier. I don't know why the boy wanted to be the Tin Man, but who REALLY understands the mind of a nearly-four-year-old?

Wednesday the 29th we had a cousin party up in Sandy. Unfortunately, the AF cousins couldn't come, but we had SO MUCH FUN with those who were there. I think it may have to become an annual event. I don't have a pict of all the cousins together in their costumes, but they looked ADORABLE! Tyler's Grampa Larry and Gramma Diane were able to come and they had the funkiest masks--they are so much fun! Gramma Di made an eyeball cake that had strawberry puree injected into the white cake...eeewwww! It was a ton of fun for everybody!


Last night we carved pumpkins (or, in Sheridan's case, colored them). The kids had so much fun.
Tonight we're planning on trick-or-treating and other Halloween fun! We'll update you...soon!