Meeting Santa

Every kid's gotta have a picture of them bawling on Santa's lap, right? Well, here's Matty's. He was fine as long as he was at least 5 feet from the big guy. He had no problem waving goodbye! Bryan loved every second of it, though, and went back numerous times during our ward (church) party to tell him something. When we finally left he called out, "Bye, Santa! I love you!" (Isn't he the greatest looking Santa, by the way? The beard is real!!)

Here are a couple other pics from the party.


We love this picture! He certainly still believes! :)

Life in PA

I have to admit that leading up to this trip when I thought of spending 6 weeks at my parents' house I was a little skeptical of how it was going to be. Not that I don't love my parents, but I thought the boys and I would get stir-crazy pretty fast and miss being in our own space. The boys had no trouble making themselves at home, though, and I've been surprised at how much fun it's been! Thanks to my parents' patience and my dad's baby-proofing we've been just fine. Our routine here is similar to our routine at home (breakfast, playing, lunch, nap, etc.), and fortunately my parents haven't minded too much the messes that inevitably come along w/ little boys. I will say that it took my dad especially a little breaking in period as he'd forgotten what living with small kids are like. ("What? He doesn't listen when I ask him to do something??") And both he and my mom have had to put up with things mysteriously disappearing from their normal spots (glasses, calculators, keys, whatever!). All in all though, life here in the Toone home has been good. Yes, we miss David a ton, but he's been so busy with work we probably wouldn't have seen much of him these last few weeks anyway. And now he gets out her in less than a week! We're counting down the days with a small paper chain Bryan and I made a few weeks ago. (It's the first thing he thinks about in the morning.) The time really has flown by, and I'm already not looking forward to having to say goodbye.

Anyway, here are a bunch of pics showing some of how we've passed our time these last few weeks.

(I know this is a super long post, but for the sake of the blog book I'll be doing in a few months I'd rather post all the pics instead of putting them in a slideshow.)

First of all, the kids have really lucked out having a preschool teacher for a grandma! She's got tons of fun stuff in the basement that we just rotate upstairs every now and then. Matt and Bryan have loved playing w/ different toys and cause all sorts of havoc as they tear through the house!
Bryan especially loves playing w/ Grandpa. Here they're "building" together - it's a guy bonding thing, I guess.
Bryan's favorite thing out here has been board games! He LOVES playing games - Chutes and Ladders, dominoes, Uno, and Memory (the "matching game"). Grandpa's patient enough to play with him - a lot!
Bryan's also been a good helper in the kitchen while we've been here. He got to help Bree make "pigs in blankets" (Bree's specialty).
Here's Matty and I waiting for dinner to be done. If Matty's got food or knows he'll be eating soon, he's a happy boy!
Bryan and I made some yummy sugar cookies one day. It was my first real attempt at sugar cookies, and while they didn't come out as nice as I'd wished, it was still a fun experience. This one got a burned nose and looked a little bit like Rudolph. (Bryan was in charge of the sprinkles.)
Here's Matt with Phoebe before she died a couple of weeks ago. He loved being around her and got a kick out of giving her little snacks. She was so patient with him! It was really cute.
Bryan and Matt just love being around Grandpa. I guess he looked like he needed some company while eating his soup. (Not quite sure why they were on the stairs...)
Bryan has always been our little treasure hunter and loves finding trinkets and random things. I have to check his pockets at night to see if he's swiped any of Grandma or Grandpa's little things during the day! Here are some safety glasses he found in a drawer somewhere. At least they're not small enough to hide.
The boys love all of Grandma's musical instruments - the organ, piano, and all sorts of fun things in the music room. It's noisy, but at least they stay entertained!
Here's Bry at his favorite park here in PA - the "hooden" park (doesn't pronounce his "w"s well in this case). It's been so cold we've only been able to go once so far.
Aunt Bree was nice enough to brave the cold weather and take the boys out for a walk one afternoon. They loved getting out of the house!
And here's Bryan again visiting Grandma's pre-school class. He loves being w/ the other kids and playing with all the fun things!
The other kids seem to like having him there and were nice enough to let him join in on their fun "work time."
Even Matt got a chance to play at the water table.
Most of the time, though, he had to stay strapped in so as not to get into too much trouble. :) He had fun as long as he had something interesting to hold on to!
While here I've decided I need to make Matt a new "lovey." (I'll write more about this later.) Here we are at the fabric store trying out different types of fabric. He seemed to like this one best. :)
We were a little worried about Matt being around all the Christmas decorations, but he's done really well and hasn't moved too many things out of their places. He sure loves the snow globes!
He also loves seeing all the lights - inside and outside. He's learned the word "pretty" from looking at so many things w/ Christmas lights.
Of course the boys' favorite thing is being around Grandpa's "tractor." (Matt's a little obsessed with tractors these days - one of his favorite little books is the catalog from the John Deere gift store here in the mall!)
Here's Grandpa taking Bryan out for a spin on the snow-covered lawn. They claimed they were picking up leaves, but I'm sure it was just to have fun.
Bryan's been a good helper in lots of ways outside. He just recently helped Grandpa put up Christmas lights. Yes, I was a little nervous to see him on the ladder, but not as nervous as I was when I saw him with the pruning shears Grandpa let him use a couple weeks ago!

I've noticed I don't have any pics with my mom in them! I guess she's the one always behind the camera. We do spend most of our time with Grandma, once she's home from work. I feel bad because she's with 4-year-olds all day long, and then as soon as she walks in the door Bryan's begging her to play a game or read a book or look at some interesting thing he's found... Thankfully she's a wonderful, patient grandpa and loves doing just about anything w/ both Bryan and Matt! I'll have to be sure to get some pics w/ her in them!

Things we've done that we don't have pictures for: lots of shopping, watching Grandma's Disney movie collection, eating out, attending different holiday parties or church things, reading Christmas stories, singing songs w/ Grandma. :)

Bryan's Birthday - Part 2

This past week we celebrated Bryan's real b-day out here in PA. He's been SOOO excited to turn 4 and counted down the days for weeks. Despite Grandpa being out of town and Grandma and Bree working most of the day, we ended up having a lot of fun! Once again, we started off the day with breakfast - this time a quick one at McDonald's with Aunt Bree. Then we headed over to Grandma's pre-K class so Bryan could show them some of the sign language he's learned lately (he's a HUGE Signing Time fan) to go along with their weekly theme of our 5 senses. Afterwards he was able to stay and play with them during their "work time," which he loved. He's so excited to go to pre-school one day! That's the first thing he said, in fact, when he woke up - "I'm 4 now and that means I can go to school!!" Hopefully he can start in the next couple of months! (This pic's a little blurry but I still thought it was cute.)


Later that afternoon we decorated my parents' Christmas tree with Grandma, and then we headed out for dinner and a little play time at an indoor playground at the mall.


When Aunt Bree got home we enjoyed cake and ice cream and Bryan got to open his presents. He'd been asking for months for a doctor kit and pretend cash register (a little random, I know), but his favorite gift was the wooden castle Grandma got for him. He doesn't go anywhere now without his knights!

Happy birthday, Bryan boy! We love you so much!

Bryan's 4th Birthday - Part 1

It's hard to believe our Bryan has turned 4!! Sometimes he seems much older than that, but sometimes he still seems so little! This seems to be a special age where he's not afraid to learn new things, meet new people, show affection (lots of affection!), express his feelings freely, and just be the sweet, quirky individual that he is. I hope he won't lose too much of that as he grows even older!

Anyway, since David wasn't with us on Bryan's birthday, we celebrated a little bit as a family before we left. We started off with breakfast at IHOP, something he'd been wanting to do for weeks! Javi was able to join us, which is always a lot of fun.

Then the other thing Bryan really wanted to do was go miniature golfing! He even chose that over Chuck E. Cheese. So David and I took him in the freezing cold and he loved every second of it. He's actually a good little golfer! I froze, but I don't think anyone else minded the cold.


Finally that night we had Heather, Jake and Nathan over for cake and ice cream and a few rounds of Hide 'n Seek (at Bryan's request, of course). It was fun being able to celebrate our little man with our Utah family before heading out East!

Our "best dog"

My family's dog, Phoebe, had to be put to sleep yesterday. We all really miss her, Bryan especially. She was almost thirteen years old and had had health problems for years, so we didn't even expect her to live this long. We think she was hanging on for Bree to get home - she and Bree had always been really close.

When the boys and I got here a couple weeks ago I talked to Bryan about how Phoebe was old and couldn't play very much anymore, but I was surprised at how much life she still had left in her. She still loved catching hot dog pieces in the air, snapping at bubbles, rolling in the grass, finishing off our yogurt cups... She was still the dog we'd come to love so much in the eleven years she was a part of our family. Bryan called her his "best dog" several times, and while we didn't let him or Matthew get too close to her very often, both boys loved watching her and giving her loves when given the chance.

This last weekend, though, things went downhill fast. Her back legs had been giving out on her for a while, but this weekend she really struggled to get up at all. She started having big seizures as well, and after each one she was disoriented and puppy-like. We knew things were really bad because she wandered several times onto the carpet in the dining room and living room, something she's never done while living in our house, even when my dad has tried her coax her to do so. By Monday morning she was completely worn out and couldn't even go outside to relieve herself. It was clear she was in a lot of pain, so putting her to sleep seemed like the best thing to do. Unfortunately my dad left on a business trip Sunday and wasn't here to say goodbye or help with things. I had to call the vet since my mom and sister were too emotional to even talk. Somehow the three of us got her on a tarp and lifted her into the van. I didn't go to the vet, but my mom said everything went well and she just slipped into a peaceful sleep.

We told Bryan that she's in heaven now with my Grandma and Grandpa Toone running around and doing all the things she hasn't been able to do these last few years. Bryan just said, "I'm so glad we didn't miss Phoebe going to heaven." I'm really thankful we were able to spend time with her before she died. She was an amazing dog and a special part of our family, and she's going to be missed so much!

Thanksgiving Surprise

We had a wonderful surprise the night before Thanksgiving - David showed up at my parents house to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with us! He'd been in Phoenix for his training and told me that the company wouldn't pay for a flight to anywhere but his hometown, so I assumed he was going to be spending Thanksgiving eating Chinese food and playing X-box at home with his brother, Javi. Apparently his company was happy to fly him out here instead and he'd been planning this surprise for months! Unfortunately (though it makes for a funny story) Javi called me Wednesday evening and said something like, "Is David there yet?" I said, "Um no, you're supposed to be picking him up from the airport right about now, aren't you??" He said, "Oh, so does that mean he's flying out to see you tomorrow?" to which I replied, "He's eating Chinese food with you at our house, isn't he??"

Needless to say, it was a very confusing conversation, and it got me suspecting that something was up. I told my sister that if we got home from the video store and my Dad had had to go "back to work" something was definitely up. Sure enough, my Dad was on his way out when we got back, but I still didn't want to have my hopes up too high. I played it cool all night and was still pretty surprised when David walked into the kitchen around 11:00 that night. He'd never looked so good! It was wonderful to have him with us out here for a few days and we had lots of fun hanging out w/ the boys and my family. He did have to leave this afternoon, but it's not so bad knowing that now it's only a few weeks until he'll be back for Christmas. I'm so thankful for him and for all he does for our family. I'm certainly not as good of a person without him and love him so much! I'm glad we didn't have to spend this Thanksgiving holiday apart.

Bree's back!

My sister, Bree, got home from her mission on Monday and we're SOOO excited to have her back! She served as a Spanish-speaking sister in the Spokane Washington mission and loved it! Now she and I can speak Spanish together which is tons of fun. Bryan is ecstatic to have her here w/ us. He comes in at 7:00 every morning (Bree and I are in the same room) and asks why Bree isn't awake yet. I'm not sure how to explain that it's really like 4:00 a.m. her time. He just can't wait to play! Thankfully she's patient with him and gets a kick out of all the crazy things he says does (for now, anyway). I told her he's a "pesado" at times and shouldn't feel bad if she needs to send him away from time to time. =)

All in all, Bree's doing great. She went to Institute last night and listened to her first secular song this morning. I love that I'm the one that gets to introduce her to the things she's missed the last year and a half. =) We're going to have so much fun these next few weeks together!

At home in PA!

So, the boys and I are in Pennsylvania right now with my parents, and we're going to be here for a whole 6 weeks!! Crazy, I know. David's going to be in Arizona training for the next few weeks off and on anyway, so I figured we might as well come out here and spend time with my family. We don't get to see my parents often enough, and my sister, Bree, gets home from her mission tomorrow! We'll have lots of good bonding time with her, and hopefully the boys will keep her from missing her mission too much. =)

We actually survived the flight out here without too many problems. We were squished with one boy in the car seat and one on my lap the whole time, but thankfully the woman next to me was patient and there were several nice people who helped me with luggage, etc. as we got on and off the plane. David will be joining us for Christmas so he'll be on the flight back with us - as far as I'm concerned, the worst is over! Bryan has certainly made himself at home here and has loved playing games with Grandma and building with Grandpa. Matthew is enjoying running around in all the different rooms and gets a kick out of Phoebe, my family's old yellow lab. We're all looking forward to seeing Bree tomorrow night, and though we miss David A LOT, it's good to be "home."

Surprise!!

So we just found out last night that Baby #3 is going to be a little girl!! Yes, I'm expecting, and I'm a little over 16 weeks along! I've suspected that it was a little girl, and Bryan's insisted all along that the baby in my tummy will be his new "sister," so it was nice to get a confirmation. My brother's girlfriend works at an ultrasound place in the mall so she got to do the ultrasound for me. It was great! (Thanks, Robyn!!)

I have to admit that when we found out, I was really excited but also pretty nervous. I've been so immersed in cars and trucks and superheroes these last few years, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle all the girly things! It will be a whole new world for me! I can't wait to start buying little pink clothes, though. That's the part David's a little worried about. =) He and I have also already started the name battle - we always have a hard time agreeing on names and I think this will be especially hard. There are so many cute girl names to choose from!

As far as the pregnancy goes (for those of you that haven't been around me much these last few months) I was pretty nauseous for several weeks - much more so than I ever was with Bryan or Matt. Thankfully that wore off around week 12 and I've been feeling pretty well ever since. I never show much when I'm expecting, and this time it's not much different, but I am carrying much higher with this one (typical with girls, right?). I also always have vein problems when I'm pregnant and they seem to get worse each time, so I get to wear sexy compression hoes to combat the pain and swelling. Thank goodness it's winter and I can wear long pants! My legs are not a pretty sight!!

The baby is due April 26 (my sister Bree's b-day!) so she'll come right at the perfect time - after the awful cold and before the sweltering heat! Now I just have to survive the long wait. =) I love and hate the anticipation that accompanies pregnancy. I love having something (someone) to look forward to, but I hate how time crawls, especially towards the end! One fun thing is that my sister, Heather, is also expecting a little girl and she's due only 6 weeks before me, so we can wait and plan and dream about baby girl things together. =)

Our first real snow!

Bryan was elated to look out the window this morning and see snow on the ground! He immediately told me he wanted to make a snow angel, throw a snowball, and catch snow on his tongue. So before it was even 9:00 in the morning he was bundled up in whatever snow clothes I could find and out the back door. He had tons of fun and would have stayed out there all morning if I'd let him! At least one of us is excited about the snow... Memories of last winter are still a bit too fresh in my mind!

Changes

So the elections are over. I have to admit, being a very conservative Republican, that I've been leery of Obama's liberalism and smooth ways. That's not to say that I was a huge fan of McCain's, either, but I guess you could say I was more comfortable with the idea of him being president over someone so radically different.

David and I have followed the election process pretty closely, so yesterday evening I was glued to the TV awaiting the outcome. I think Bryan thought we were watching some kind of sporting event - the red team against the blue team. At one point he asked, "Who's the blue guy, Mom?" When I told him it was Obama he replied, "Oh, Daddy's favorite man! Yes, he's winning!!" (pumping his arm in the air). It was funny, especially since David's been a little wary of both Obama and McCain as well. He does come from a socialist country, though, and agrees with many of Obama's ideas. Needless to say, we've had some interesting conversations over the last few months...

With all that said, I was still touched and overwhelmed watching Obama's speech last night. It is an amazing thing the we've come so far as a country that we've elected our first African-American president. Who would have thought even a few decades ago that this would be possible? As Obama outlined last night, we've changed immensely as a country over the last century, and we all know Obama's big thing is about making more changes in the years to come. Yes, change can be good, but it can also be scary and lead to bad outcomes. I'm hoping that the upcoming changes are for the good.

I hugged Matthew extra tight last night after checking on him one last time before I went to bed and thought of the challenges that lay ahead for my children. I hope that, despite the inevitable opposition, our country will be able to hold on to some of its values and goodness. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Obama's changes will allow that to happen... only time will tell. At least Proposition 8 passed in California, proving that many Americans do still care about traditional values - perhaps there's hope for our country after all!

Happy Halloween!

We had a good, simple Halloween this year. We didn't do a lot of the things I wish we could have (corn maze, hayrides, etc.) but I blame that on the move. =) We carved our pumpkins Friday afternoon and then got ready for the "trunk-or-treat" in our neighborhood. I started asking Bryan a couple months ago what he wanted to be for Halloween and he insisted on being Diego from "Go, Diego, Go" every time. He was more than excited to put on his costume and head over to the church.


Matt wore Bryan's old lion costume and didn't try to take the hood off even once. While I took Bryan around to get candy at the trunk-or-treat Matty hung out in the back of our van with David and growled at people as they came by. =) I think it was his reaction to the scary costumes he saw more than the whole lion thing, but it was still really cute. After the trunk-or-treat Jazmin and Landin came over to go around to some of the houses in our neighborhood w/ David and Bryan. Bryan loved every minute of it and got way too much candy for a 3-year-old. Matty got a hold of a dum-dum sucker and sucked the wrapper right off it it! Bryan's favorite treat was a little skeleton he got somewhere, and loved talking to us about all of our bones. Here's a pic showing Matt's "crazy" face. He makes this face whenever he gets excited about something - in this case I think it was an airplane. =) You gotta love kids, especially in costume!