Conversations with Lincoln

On September 25th as we loaded up the car early in the morning to head up to Idaho to see Tutu, Lincoln said, "I'm so excited!"  It was the first time that he used that word.  He is started to express emotion.


We stopped at In-N-Out for lunch and as we were leaving there he said, "We going to Tutu's email!" I questioned, "Tutu's email?  Do you mean Tutu's hotel?"  Lincoln, "yes!" (as if, duh, that's what he said all along.)


As we were preparing to cross Hoover Dam, Ricky was explaining to Lincoln that we were going to go over the dam and we were going to see a new huge bridge that they were building.  We finally got to the check point but we weren't yet at the point where we could see much of anything.  Lincoln, with anticipation and eagerness shouted out, "Where is the dam bridge!?" Of course, Ricky and I could do nothing but laugh.


As we continued to drive I had given Lincoln some raisins in a little bowl that he was holding on his lap.  At one point in the drive the road got bumpy and there was traffic causing Rick to hit the brakes pretty hard. Suddenly Lincoln says, "Whoa. Hold on raisins! Hold on!"

Papa

December 23, 1923 - September 29, 2010

As mentioned in early posts, we went back to Idaho and Utah to say goodbye to Papa and to attend his funeral.  Papa was Ricky's maternal grandfather.  Growing up Ricky lived as neighbors to Papa so he was pretty close to him and has a lot of memories with him. Ricky was actually named after him and they share the same birthday. Nana passed four years ago and we weren't able to attend her funeral but we knew the day would come that Nana and Papa would be reunited.  They were really the foundation for Rick's extended family and often the reason that the aunts, uncles and cousins all got together.  It was nice to see all of Rick's extended family together for probably the last time. 

Papa suffered a fall, two weeks before he passed, which caused a brain bleed. After a few days in the hospital he was put in home hospice care. We got to see him, say goodbye, and take one last picture with him.  Logan had never met him before so at least he can say he has a picture with his great grandfather. 

Papa was a sweet, hardworking man who loved the news and current events.  He left a great legacy behind and he will be missed.  We love you, Papa!

(Thanks, Nancee for the picture!) 

Nana and Papa later when I knew them.

Nana had a bridal shower for me at her house before I married Ricky. She was so sweet to me.

Aunt Evelyn is Papa's half sister.  She lived near us for a while in Whittier. 

 Papa and Ricky and Aunt Evelyn's funeral.

Papa visited us in Idaho.

Logan's only picture with Papa.  (He tried to share his blankey with him!)

We Almost Made It

Lincoln almost made it to three before having a hospital visit for a broken bone or stitches.  Unfortunately we ended up in Intermountain Hospital - Children's Urgent Care on October 2nd for Lincoln to receive six stitches in his chin.  The poor little guy was enjoying a fun filled evening with his cousins in Draper, Utah (following Papa's funeral - more to come on that later) when he fell off a picnic table bench and landed chin first of the back cement patio. I instantly knew we were going for stitches.  Luckily Logan was in bed so grandma Tutu just had to listened for him while Rick and I were off to the hospital. Lincoln was such a trooper!  He cried for a little while (as expected...it was a pretty big gash) and by the time we got in the car he had stopped crying. His chin bled the entire time until we arrived at the hospital.  We were the only ones in the waiting room (it was about 8:15 pm) and the staff that assisted us were fantastic.  Lincoln watched the movie Cars while we waited on the bed and as the nurse cleaned the cut and administered a numbing cream.  He even fell asleep for a few minutes while they stitched him up.  He didn't squirm or resist them at all.  He was excited to receive an orange popsicle and a Spiderman sticker when he was done.  We were in and out of the hospital in a little over an hour.

The chin is not an easy place for a 2 year old to keep and band-aid on.  Lincoln has done remarkably well and we got his stitches out today!

 He was in quite a bit of pain but held really still for the nurse.  

 After they got the numbing cream on him he was feeling pretty good.  He sat up to watch his movie and to talk with us.

By the end of the night he was so tired.  It had already been a long day and then to add the trauma of this injury on top of it wiped him out.  He clung to this little train from the Clayton's house (where we were staying) and he didn't want us to take it from him until the doctor came in.

Back to Idaho

On Friday, September 24th we got word that Papa (Rick's maternal grandfather) was going to be put on home Hospice care and we should expect to only live for another 3-5 days past that.  With that news, first thing Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed up to Utah.  We arrived in Salt Lake that evening and first thing the next morning we visited Papa.  He wasn't able to open his eyes or talk with us but we wanted to see him one last time, say goodbye and get a picture with him and the boys.  It was the only time Logan had met. Despite the fact that Logan would obviously not remember, we thought it was nice for him to have a picture with his great grandfather. After a short visit there, we headed to Temple Square for a few pictures and then on to Idaho for the week.


We had a great time visiting with Papa Tutu and Aunt Natalee.  Grandpa Tutu spent most of the week in Salt Lake caring for her dad so we didn't see her much until later in the week.  As always, the boys loved all of the fun things to do.  We played with the kitties, made Star Wars pancakes, rode on the tractor amongst other things.


Papa (Sandi's dad) passed on Wednesday, September 29th.  (I will blog separately about that) but while at the funeral Grammy came down from Logan to take care of the boys during the funeral.  Aunt Talicee drove up from Provo to also help out.  They had great time and Grammy kept them busy at the mall and target.


The reason for our visit was a sad one but we really did enjoy the quick trip up there.  It's always nice to have new experiences and visit family.

 We don't have many family pictures but I thought Temple Square would be a good place to get one if we could get the boys to be still long enough to.  It didn't turn out so bad.

Logan's first time in Temple Square.

Grandma Tutu met us in Temple Square and then we rode the Trax to the Gateway Mall for lunch.

Pancakes don't get better than this! Lincoln wanted to eat Yoda (Whoa-dah is how Lincoln pronounces it.)

Every morning Papa Tutu would eat breakfast with the boys at the breakfast bar. 

Everyone was still happy when we went to pick them up.  Considering the boys had short naps, I was pretty surprised. 

Tutu's House

Since we've spent so much time at Tutus house this summer I thought it would be fun to give it it's own post and share some of the fun pictures.  They talk about selling it eventually so i wanted to make sure that we captured pictures of it since we love to visit them there. Sorry...this post will be picture heavy but really the house is so beautiful I don't think you will mind me sharing!

              The end results in the winter months.  Pebble Creek Ski Resort in the background.

Ricky and I had a special Valentine's picnic in 2009 in the loft of the house as it was still being built.

Front of house in the beautiful spring months. 

Back view with the main house on left and the guest house and workshop on right.  The driveway gravel was still being laid. 

My favorite picture.  This sort of captures the peace and calm that can be felt when looking through the windows at the beautiful panoramic view.  No matter if it's seeing snow covered mountains, the deer and the green grass on the rolling hills, it is quite an amazing view.  

          

The furniture was rearranged to baby proof things but I love the openness of this great front room. 

Entry way (front door) is off to the right and the kitchen and loft (grandchildren's playroom) upstairs above the kitchen.

Lincoln's favorite place in the house.  He dubbed it HIS playroom.

Master Bedroom.  I love the red walls!

Master bathroom.  I love the chandelier.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  Behind the person taking the picture is a huge walk in closet and around the corner is the other half of the master bath with a shower and a walk in closet equal to (or possibly larger than) the bedroom. This is my favorite part of the house. 

Papa Tutu put in a climbing wall on the backside of the workshop.  Lincoln mastered it pretty quickly with Tutu's help.

House framed 

The construction of the house lasted a couple years because they can't work through winter. 

Ricky takes after his mom and has always been fascinated with home building.  He really enjoyed seeing the construction take place. Luckily we were living there for the later part of it so he was able to see how a lot of the house was constructed. 

The blue prints changed several times as they went a long but it was quite the undertaking.  

We're Done! No More Helmet!

After nearly five months of Logan having to wear his Doc Band (helmet as we most often called it) he is finally done!  He has a new found freedom....and so do we!  No more long drives for Ricky to downtown Phoenix for doctors appointments.  No more daily (sometimes multiple times a day) cleanings of the helmet.  It was really an involved process but it's been worth it.  It really did make a difference.  As you can see from the pictures, the left column are the before and the right side are the after shots.  April 23, 2010 to September 10, 2010. Unfortunately now his helmet is off at a time when he needs it most...for different reasons.  Since he is now learning to walk his head has been bumped more than ever.  While he was wearing the helmet for different reasons, we joke that now would be a good time to have it on. Thanks for Cranial Technologies.  They were great and our little Logan has a much more round head to prove it!

September Update

I know my blog is ugly right now but we've had computer issues and apparently the host site changed it's server, knocking my cute background off.  I will work on fixing that but wanted to give some updates in the meantime.


Logan is growing like a weed.  He is such a big boy and has made some great advancements over the last month.  He now has six teeth (4 on top & 2 on bottom) he crawls but prefers to walk holding on to our fingers.  He is VERY active and wants to move constantly.  Logan has recently started a phase where he feels like he needs to be able to see either Rick or me in order to be okay.  It was cute the first couple times but now we're hoping it's a phase he gets over quickly.  His new favorite words are "No. Nope, and Uh-Oh."


He is 25 pounds which makes it hard to hold him for long.  He's wearing 18 - 24 month clothes. He is a solid little guy so he fills out his clothes much more differently than Lincoln ever did. Logan's still on formula and baby food but wants to eat whatever we're eating.  He loves when we give him little bite of whatever we have.  For the most part he is a happy boy, sleeps and eats well.  I know Lincoln is waiting for the day that they can really play together.  For now Logan continues to admire his brother and watch his every move. They already know how to push each others buttons.  Logan purposely screams to get a reaction from Lincoln.  Lincoln will try to resist but can't help the urge to scream back.  Then is starts.  A screaming match until we can find something clever enough to distract or calm them. Lately, when this happens in the car, we've turned on the radio....really loud. We have a nice system in the truck that we never use but now we're finally getting some use out the sub-woofer.


Lincoln is loving his part time pre-school.  He is excited to go every morning and his teachers say he is doing really well.  He is now potty trained with the exception of naps and bedtime.  We've had to do a lot of bribing but it seems to be working.  Not sure though why his teachers get away with bribing him with stickers and we get roped into giving toys?!  Lincoln loves helping with projects around the house and going grocery shopping.


Auntie Calee came to visit us over Labor Day weekend and we had a fun time shopping and visiting.  Michaela and Jared came over for dessert and games one night.


Aunt Genesis came to visit with her finance Forrest.  It was the first time that we got to meet Forrest and the first time Genesis has seen the boys. It was a nice, short, sweet visit and we were happy to have them come.

                               

We've been busy with all the normal day to day activities like work, projects around the house, playing with the water table, cleaning, day-to-day errands, etc.  There's always something to do!

Ricky tried a new Southwest Tangy BBQ recipe that he put on chicken. It was yummy!

When you put a sharp chip clip on your lips and then pull, this is what you get. Unfortunately, Lincoln learned the hard way.

 We loaded up Logan's pack-n-play with these balls.  He wasn't to sure what to think the first time we put him him. He learned to have fun with them.

 Brother Lincoln was quick to show Logan how much fun they are!

 Learning to enjoy being brothers! (Daddy dressed them.)

 Logan's first ride at Chuck E. Cheese.  He loved it!

Our city had a local event at the Stadium nearby.  This is the first time Lincoln rode a horse!

A Quick Visit to Grammy's House

Over July 4h weekend we actually drove back down to Logan, Utah to visit Grammy and Aunt Talicee. It was a quick trip, we got there mid-afternoon on Saturday and left mid-day Sunday. It was enough time for a field trip around town to see the temple, the Utah Festival Opera Theater, and a fun toy store. Mom just moved there a few months ago so it was the first time we'd seen her house and her office at her new job. It was a nice visit and we got to see Susie, a long time family friend who also was in town for the weekend. The boys loved going on a walk with grammy and playing with the animals. Since it was July 4th, Grammy did buy some sparklers for Lincoln to try. It was a bright Sunday morning so I don't he thought they were all that cool because he couldn't see the flashing colors. No fear from that little boy though. It was a great visit. (Minus the fact that they forgot/intentionally didn't tell us that Talicee's snake had escaped it's cage just two weeks before we got there and that it was still missing!)

Logan, Utah Temple

Lincoln's First Sparkler

Grammy's House