Beach Days are Here Again!

It was a little too chilly to swim yesterday, but we still enjoyed our first beach day of the season. We are surely going to miss the beach when we leave FL.

Since I wrote SOOO much yesterday, I will spare you the reading and just post some fun beach pictures. Just one little thought first: I was just thinking as I got Tyson ready for the beach yesterday, that when we moved here just over a year and a half ago, I was pregnant with him. Now, he is a walking, talking boy. I can believe it. Where does the time go?? It has brought Greg and I so much joy to see him learn and grow over the past year. We are very happy he decided to come to our family when he did.

Doesn't that smile say, "Take me to the beach, mommy!"?

(No, I don't wear make-up to the beach :P)

MIA

Greg went to Moab for his spring break last week. He got into Salt Lake a couple days early to get his bike ready and to look for houses. Fortunately (and unfortunately) he found a house that he LOVED the first day he was there.

He called and sent pictures, trying to convince me that this was THE ONE. After viewing the pictures, and hearing the price, I was confident that "this" was NOT the one. (Some of the pictures he sent are posted below--I didn't take any new ones....too busy). He, however, felt very strongly otherwise, so he booked a flight for me (against my wishes) and I flew across the country, with a WALKING, highly ACTIVE little boy. (We will save the flight from HELL story for later).

When I arrived in Springville, where G's parents live, (he was still in Moab for another day), they took me to the house, and I was disappointed because I knew right away that Greg was right. Dang it! I hate when that happens. (It's not very often, mind you!)

So, this is the rundown of my perfectly planned spring break, before the big find:
Sunday: Sabbath--go to church. Take a good nap.
Monday: Play with Tyson. Get Take-out. Enjoy Tyson. Rent a Chick-Flick.
Tuesday: Visit Jessica, see the new baby. Eat left-over Take out. Watch American Idol.
Wednesday: Go to lunch with a friend. Take Tyson to the park. Eat left-overs from lunch. See who was voted off American Idol.
Thursday: Play with Tyson. Get Take-out. Rent a Chick-Flick.
Friday: Play with Tyson. Get Take-out. Rent a Chick-Flick. (ps--I never eat out--thus the obsession with take-out).
Saturday: Get ready for Easter. Teach Ty how to hunt for "balls". Make a pie for Greg.
Sunday: Pick up my LOVE, who I [would have missed] soooo much from the airport.

Instead, this is what my Spring Break looked like:
Sunday: Sabbath--go to church. Take a good nap, Get a call from Greg about THE house.

Monday: Play with Tyson. Get a call from Greg that he has booked a flight for me to fly to UT, TOMORROW! Pack frantically. Find someone to get me to the airport (Thanks Amyee and Mariah), and someone to watch Vegas (Thanks Jeff, Krystal, Damon and Allie).

Tuesday: FLY ALL STINKIN' DAY: Change airplanes 5 (not kidding) times due to bad weather and Air Force One==missed connecting flights, run to the new connecting flights b/c no time to walk, stuck in seat for the long (4 hour flight due to tornado in Midwest--lots of turbulence), loose my luggage (thanks Southwest for bringing it to me on THURSDAY), wrestle with Tyson who decided to not nap, but instead to SCREAM the entire 4+ hr flight--Oh, nevermind, he did go to sleep as we were coming in for the landing (He fell asleep in the middle of screaming, he was so exhausted--I thought he died... No joke, 7 minutes before we landed!). That meant that I had him (asleep) in my arms, along with his carseat and a [large] diaper-bag. (A picture of me may be on the Internet somewhere as I walked off the plane crying. I saw someone take a picture of me with their cell--Good Times!), Get into SLC at 1:?? AM, instead of 8:?? PM. Fall asleep dressed (because what else was I supposed to put on?).

Wednesday: Get up, strip down to NOTHING, put Ty in the tub while I am in a towel, our clothes in the washer. Put Ty down for a nap --in a diaper. Put me down for a nap--in a towel. Get a call from Southwest that our bags will be delivered at 3:00, YEAH! Greg gets home around 4:30-- I relive, (to my recollection), the WORST day of my life. Call Southwest because it is 5:00 and we don't have our bags. Find out the bags are on their way--should be arriving any moment. At 9:00 PM, call Southwest again, a little angrier (Tyson has gone to bed in his cousin's 2T sweats), wondering where the luggage is. The nice lady connects me with the moron who is delivering the bags, HE IS STILL AT THE AIRPORT! and has 2 stops before mine, so he won't be to me before 12:00 AM. Call Southwest again, very angry, they give me a flight vouture and PROMISE that the bags will be there before morning. They were right. We got them at 4:00 AM.... 13 hours after they were promised.

Thursday: Go see the house with Greg. Figure out our non-existent fiances. Decide we will do it if the price comes down a little. Greg meets with the builder. He lowers the price significantly. YESS!! We can get it. We meet with him together. Sign a contract. Get our budget for carpet, granite, lighting and plumbing fixtures. Yeah, we get to have a say in the fun stuff.

Friday: Spend the ENTIRE day getting stuff chosen for the house (G leaves on Sunday night). Ty took 2 naps in the car, for one of them we LEFT HIM in the car with the windows cracked. Although illegal, we were all happier as a result of doing so. (It was a whirlwind--I hope it all looks good together.)

Saturday: Met with the carpet guy. Went to the dessert to eat hotdogs and do an Easter-egg hunt--a Trapnell Tradition.

(I am trying to stay in the same tense here--hopefully I did for the most part. It is quite difficult to write in past-present)

Sunday: Celebrated Easter. It was so nice to have this DAY OF REST. Took G to the airport. Got my "To Do List" from him for Monday.

Monday: Spent some time with my sisters. Finalized lighting and carpet. Tried not to throw-up as I began dreading my flight home ALONE the next day.

Tuesday: Checked carseat (good move for a single-parent traveler). Doped Ty up with LOTS of cough medicine after our fist layover in Vegas. As we were taking off for the long 4 hr flight he conked out. YESS! Oh my word. You don't even understand my elation. I know Heavenly Father answers prayers. I was giggling inside with how perfectly that went. Tyson slept the whole flight. We landed in Birmingham and he woke up. We stayed on that plane, and the flight attendants were so impressed with my "ANGEL" that they filled his sippy cup with Cranberry juice and gave us 3 snack boxes. What a different experience. I will never travel without Dimetapp again!

So, there is the rundown. I feel like all of that happened in just a few hours. We are VERY excited about our new home. Please read between the drama to see that. The house will be done in May, and we'll be up there to check everything out and to get some more pictures.

Here are pictures of the backdoor/downstairs to the [unfinished] basement, pantry (yeah) and main family room. I really like the paint color and the dark, hardwood floors.

Greg's favorite part--the over sized 3-car garage.
One of my favorite parts of the house is the front door/entry way.
Sorry, no pictures, use your imagination :)

4 Ways Kids are like Peeps

1. They're sweet, though almost always a bit sticky.

2. You can give them a little squeeze if they're yours--but not if they're a stranger's.

3. They're a known cause of stubborn belly overhang.

4. It can be hard to stop at one, but after two or three, the mere thought of having another may make you queasy.

He's Back!

He is back and better than ever! Tyson has recovered from his 24-hr flu.... HALLELUJAH!! My happy, chatty boy has returned. In honor of his recovery, I am posting a little video of his new favorite word, Uh-Oh. He is a walking, talking little Lovey, ENJOY.

"Joyful Life"

I had the opportunity to leave my sick husband with Ty (or Ty with my sick husband) and head off to TIME OUT for WOMEN this past weekend. What a fun break! I thought a few times about not going, as Greg was sick, and I was sure that TyMan was going to get something, but I decided to go for it. And, of course, it was worth it. (PS-the boys survived without their nurse).

The theme of the conference was Joyful Life, which they defined as: great delight or happiness caused by a life that is exceptionally good or satisfying. We heard from many great speakers. I especially loved what Sheri Dew, Mary Ellen Edmunds, and Hilary Weeks had to share.

I attended the conference with 6 other ladies: Daisy Feisty-Fuentes, Lindsay Air-Freshener, April Shoe-Mocker, Krystal Lactation, Mariah Deseret-winner, and Julie Sweetness. (I am the 7th in the picture, Noel Yappy-Trappy).

Yes, I have grown 2 feet since living in FL--It's the humidity.

Here April, Krystal and I are checking in with our men. Yes, we did make a HUGE sacrifice by riding 6 hours in the BACK of the van, thanks for noticing. (PS-I would do it again.)

Although I enjoyed myself, I was very anxious to see my boys. Tyson had begun walking around more regularly the couple days before I left, and I had completely forgotten, so it was way too cute when he stood up from the kitchen floor and walked over to meet me at the door ALL BY HIMSELF! He was so proud of himself.

Greg began to feel much better by Saturday night. Tyson, unfortunately, did not. He went to bed shortly after I got home, but woke up about 1 1/2 hours after he went down. Greg said he had had diarrhea most of the day, so when I heard him stir, instead of letting him go back to sleep, I got up to check on him. He was sitting in a surprisingly large pool of sweet smelling, pink vomit.

My life was joyful at that moment for a few reasons:

1. I was SOOOO glad I got up and checked on him before he had time to play in it.

2. He loves "softies" so I lay one of his soft blankets down for him to sleep on, and it just so happens, his yellow softie caught every last bit of throw-up (thank you very much!).

And, 3. When I got up to get my sicky, I left the baby monitor on so Greg heard my, "Oh! Darn it. Poor Baby!" and came in to check on our boy. Is that so sweet or what?!! He removed the discolored softie and rinsed it off for me, so I could love on my sick boy. Then, he rocked Tyson for a minute, loving on him a little as well.

I have decided that it is not too hard to find joy in my life. I have been blessed with a wonderful(and SUPER hard-working) husband (who, after 2 weeks has returned from the dead--HALLELUJAH!!) the sweetest baby boy in the world and great friends and family. What else do you need (besides a steady job at BabyGap???!!)? I've got it all!

Remembering the Good Old Days!

I was just looking through some pictures (as the Monster is napping), and I found these precious shots. It made me realize that he was cute and sweet at one point not too long ago--hopefully my little angel will come back...SOON!

And because you can NEVER build the tower just once (or twice for that matter)...

How cute are the closed eyes?? He is already anticipating the impact.

We're Sick!--Actually, THEY'RE Sick!

I could not be a nurse! (Well, maybe a Labor & Delivery nurse, but I probably wouldn't keep my job long after I stole the first baby I delivered--)Anyway, the point is, I am not into taking care of the sick. I have compassion for them. I have sympathy for them. I just don't tolerate them very well. All of the germs, coughing, nose-blowing and violent throwing up, and/or diarrhea makes me highly irritable.

Thanks to my genetics (Greg says) I rarely get sick, which means, when everyone else is sick, I get to be the caretaker. Some would be happy not to be the sickling-- most of the time I am "some". Some of the time, however, I would rather be the one laying in bed, needing more tissue, or OJ, or soup. After this weekend, I am tired of germs, I am tired of being irritable,--I guess I am just plain tired. Maybe I am not as motherly as I thought. Greg has been sick for a few days--flu sick, and although he is not the biggest man-baby I have ever seen, he is still needy, which is not normal for him. Tyson, who is not officially sick [yet] (fingers are crossed) would not be acting much differently if he was.

So, last night as I was trying to find something, (anything), about the day to make me smile, I was cleaning up Tyson's toys, and I discovered this:
If you look a little closer--you can see that one of these "balls" looks a lot like an orange. For the past few days, actually since I gave Tyson the little fruit basket from the $1.00 section at Target, I have found him putting anything that looks like a ball (the lime and orange most commonly) in this toy. My boy can classify! Yeah. And it's just a bonus that the hue of the orange and lime match the other balls to this toy perfectly. I am so proud of my little genius! Finding this at the end of a long day did bring a smile to my face. Did I mention that I was exhausted and desperately searching for joy in my day?!?!

Better Walking

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

First Steps

We have been doing little else but practicing how to walk around here. Please enjoy our progress.

PS-- This video is too long--even for me. Sorry. I need to go to video editing school. And, what's with my obsession over the "doggy"-- sorry again for that nonsense.



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Food for Thought

Last night, as I was making dinner, I put Tyson in his highchair with a little food to entertain him while I finished up. (Oh, I could live without the "mad-hour" in my day). I went to the sink to rinse off a knife or something and turn around to find him ON THE TABLE. I could not believe that he had climbed out of his chair and on to the table without killing himself. And, I am ashamed to admit, I almost ran to get the camera to snap a picture of it for the blog! Oh, I am so thankful he did not fall on his head. I seriously was at the sink for less than 20 seconds. Once on the table, he was pulling the ice cubes out of my ice-water. I guess I am grateful that he has his father's athletic ability. I am really going to have to watch our little girls closely!

While we are on the subject of dinner-- here are a few shots of my good little eater.