T-Ball Practice

This practice was the day after I went home from the hospital, so I elected to stay home in Uterine Cramps Land while Ben took Dylan. I got these pictures from April's blog - thanks, Apes. Ben helping Dylan bat:

Dylan running:

I love this picture of the coach, my friend Arin. She's trying to pump them up - so cute. She has done a FABULOUS job of coaching:

And treats, the main motivator for these kids:

Our team elected to just have a couple of practices before the season began, just to show the kids where to run, and to teach them not to throw the bat after they hit the ball. I'm actually kind of glad that there aren't more practices - it's stressful enough to load up all three kids to go to the games!! And at this age, I don't think they need more practices, because t-ball is pretty low-key. Even if a kid gets out, he doesn't have to go sit down. He gets to run all the bases. At the last batter, all the kids get to run home. They don't even keep score!! This league is just a very, very basic introduction. And I think that's good for five-year-olds.

And don't ask me why on earth Dylan was wearing his hat that way. I guess it just seemed like a good idea. :)

Oh crap...

Dude, I just realized that, when I uploaded this new template, I forgot to save all my friends and family's links. Can you put them on the comments of this entry? I suck. It will take a billion years to find all of them again. Sigh...

The Power of McDonald's Toys

Dylan initially begged me to take this video of he and Sadie with their McDonald's toys, because I happened to have my camera in my hand at that moment. I was like, oh, alright... I wasn't going to ever put it on my blog, but it occurred to me that McDonald's toys are significant in my family's life. Consider the following:

1. I can get Dylan to do ANYTHING if I promise him a trip to McDonald's. He doesn't necessarily care about the food. He cares about the toys. But, because of the power of McDonald's toys, I can get him to eat his entire Happy Meal if I promise him the toy after he eats the food.

2. McDonald's toys are so powerful that Dylan becomes a huge fan of movies he hasn't even seen yet. Case in point - he is all about Speed Racer lately. He asked for this special Speed Racer car for his birthday, and he even made up a song about Speed Racer. Has he seen the movie yet? Nope. He makes up stories about Kung Fu Panda. And when he does karate moves in the air, he says, "That's Kung Fu, Panda style." (I think he saw that in a commercial.) Has he seen it? Nope. This same scenario has happened with countless other movies.

3. My kids play with their McDonald's toys more than any other toys. So I keep them around. Our McDonald's toys have lasted for years, where other toys lose my kids' interest usually after a few days. The non-McDonald's toys usually end up in D.I. Heaven after a year or so.

4. McDonald's toys are actually my favorite, because they're good for traveling. If I have a t-ball game, if we're going to church, or if we have to take a long drive or run several errands, they're small enough to fit in my diaper bag.

When it comes to the toys at McDonald's, my family is definitely Lovin' It.

Dylan's Boogers, Part 2

Poor Dylan. I've been so distracted lately that I haven't been able to get him a prescription for his allergies. I've been giving him Benadryl every morning, and it takes a couple of hours to start working. One morning, his boogers were so prolific that he literally was blowing a booger bubble every time he breathed through his nose. I caught it on tape:

A Personality Quiz from Margo

Dude, I hate Word. I got this via e-mail from my friend, Margo, and I pasted it onto a Word document, and then I was trying to “clean it up” a little – fix spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. that came with the forward, and after all that work, Word freaked out and kicked me out! So I’m not going to attempt to clean this one up. It’s here in the form I received it, bad grammar and all, except with my responses instead of Margo's responses.

For the first half, you’re supposed to put an X next to the things you have done in your life so far, and leave it blank for the things you have never done. The second half is just questions.

Have you ever...

(X ) Gone on a blind date
(X )Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
( X ) Been to Canada
(X ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
( X ) Been on a plane
( X ) Been lost
( X) Been on the opposite side of the country
( X) Gone to Washington , DC
( X ) Swam in the ocean
( X ) Cried yourself to sleep
( ) Played cops and robber
( ) Recently colored with crayons
(X ) Sang Karaoke ...
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only?
( X ) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
( X ) Made prank phone calls --
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( X ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( X ) Danced in the rain
( x ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( X ) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
( X ) Blown bubbles
( X ) Gone ice-skating
( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors

1. Any nickname? Kar.
2. Mother's name? Cheri.
3. Favorite Drink? Coke or Pepsi.
4. Tattoo? No way.
5. Body Piercing? Yep, just once in each earlobe.
6. How much do you love your job? I really love the solitude it gives me.
7. Birthplace? Provo, UT
8. Favorite vacation spot? I really loved Hawaii.
9. Ever been to Africa? Nope.
10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Nope.
11. Ever been on TV? I think I was, in the 2nd grade. We made Easter hats, and they had a cute little story about it on the news.
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? Naw.
13. Ever been in a car accident? Yeah. Luckily, they have all been minor.
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4-door
15. Favorite salad dressing? Ranch.
16. Favorite pie? Buttermilk Pie.
17. Favorite number? I like the number 2. I don’t know why. Not because “number 2” means poop. Two just has a nice Feng Shui feeling to it.
18. Favorite movie? Recently? Dan in Real Life. That movie makes me laugh so hard.
19. Favorite holiday? Christmas
20. Favorite dessert? Buttermilk Pie, once again.
21. Favorite food? Bean burritos, usually. Tonight, I had some from Fiesta Ole, and I’m sad to say that pregnancy ruined those for me. I don’t know if I will ever like their burritos again. Sad…
22. Favorite day of the week? Friday
23. Favorite brand of body wash? I like Crest bar soap lately. It smells so good and reminds me of Ben.
24. Favorite toothpaste? Close Up. Seriously. I think it tastes sooo good.
25. Favorite smell? Lilacs, cilantro, my baby’s head after a bath.
26. What do you do to relax? I love to sit on the couch with the TV on and read a recent issue of People Magazine.
28. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Hopefully I’ll be more patient. And hopefully we’ll be a little more financially secure. I’d love to still be here, in Idaho Falls.
29. Furthest place you will send this message? I’m just posting this on my blog, instead of sending it as a message. My friend who reads my blog who lives the farthest away is…Nicole. In Virginia.
30. Who will respond to this the fastest? I’m officially tagging Nat, Beads, Lex (Lex hates these, but she is such a smart aleck that I love it when she does. Her responses make me laugh. She’s very witty), Pete, April, Lynita, and Emily B. Of the people I tag, I’m guessing that Emily will do the tag the fastest.

Ready to Go Home!

Here is a picture of me and my little man, ready to head home. It took FOREVER to check out. All of that paperwork to fill out, blah blah blah... It took forever! But now I wish I was still there!

Visitors

Ahhh. When I look at these pictures, I sigh. I really loved my time at the hospital. I seriously stayed until the last possible minute. This blog post shows a few of my visitors, but I really messed up by forgetting to take a picture of my best friend, Pooh. She drove all the way up from Salt Lake City to see me - she is the greatest. And I never got a shot of my mom. I just was kind of out of the Taking Pictures mode. Oh. And Ben's boss. Okay, so I missed taking pictures of a lot of people! :) When Ben's boss came, I was asleep, and my glasses were off, and I had just taken a Percocet, and I see his fuzzy frame in the doorway, and I go, "Dad?" I was just a little confused. And I feel like Nat's family came one day, and Nat came another day, just by herself, but I seriously cannot remember. So anyways, here are pictures of some of my visitors.

Sadie:

Ben brought me Quizno's my first lunchtime there at the hospital. It was awesome. The hospital food wasn't my favorite. Here I am, grudgingly sharing my chips with Sadie:

Dylan:

And both of them together, driving me insane. Dylan is constantly teasing and tickling Sadie. She was enjoying it for one millisecond in this photo. I'm sure that, the next moment, she started hitting Dylan and screaming at him and then Dylan started crying. That's usually the sequence of events with the two of them:

Ben, the Baby Hog. He LOVES to hold and cuddle babies. If there is a baby in the room, he is holding it. He just loves this new little guy:

Me, relaxing. Something I haven't done since we got home:

Dad. He is so awesome - he visited me both days I was there, and the second day, he brought me my very favorite ice cream - Baskin Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip. I couldn't believe he remembered that! It was wonderful. He was having a ton of fun trying to wake Micah up for feedings. He would open Micah's little eyelids and say, "Hellloooo.... hellloooo...":

Nattles. She brought me some flowers that are STILL ALIVE! I have been a bad water-changer, but the yellow daisies from the bouquet she and Beads got me are still hanging in there: