Pity Party

Yesterday we were going to celebrate Creighton's 2nd Birthday with a Mickey Mouse party. However, our entire family has come down with the flu, so we had to cancel (reschedule).

Cason got sick on Wednesday morning and I convinced him to stay home from work. He hasn't been back since. He finally went to the doctor Friday and he did test positive for the flu (contagious until 24 hr. after his fever breaks). Creighton got sick on Wednesday night. He bounces in and out of sickness like no one I've ever known. Mornings and nights he is very sick, but afternoons and evenings he is as playful and giggly as ever. I finally got sick on Friday and with a very sad heart cancelled the birthday celebration. I had hoped we would all quickly recover. But that was serious wishful thinking.

It is super difficult to be sick as a family. Cason and I take turns taking care of each other and Creighton. We have had so many volunteer to come to our rescue- thank you! And so many who have brought soup, movies, treats, soda, humidifier, medicine, etc.

Wednesday evening I was standing in line at Albertsons and as I stared at what I was purchasing I thought, "You can certainly tell a lot about a person from what they are buying!" I was buying: (2) 20 oz. Sprite, 1 box Saltines, 1 bottle Pedialyte, 1 Buzz Lightyear sippy cup, and 1 box medicine. Hmmm... No question what was going on at our house! But the guy in front of me was buying: 1 box fettucine, 1 bottle pasta sauce, 1 box sparkling orange drink, (2) bags 128 count fish sticks, and 1 pkg. sushi (from the deli). That one stumps me a bit. Perhaps him and his wife are having a romantic spaghetti dinner (with sparkling drink) and his 23 VERY hungry children are having fish sticks and their oldest sibling, with the sophisticated palate, is having the sushi. Just a guess.

We were grateful for a Phineas and Ferb marathon yesterday (in celebration of Platypus day) to keep us entertained and giggling. Grateful to have my own washing machine at home. If I had to go to the laundry mat we would be without sheets, blankets, towels, and our beloved stuffed animals-Mr. Bear and Grits (the dog). Grateful, again, for all those with calls of love and concern on our behalf.

I am feeling on the mend right now and planning to go to work in the morning. I have a nasty sore throat-but the only hygienist to cover me has a doctor's appointment. She is so kindly going to work the afternoon for me though. Often times when people find out I am a hygienist they say something like, "I hear that is a great job to have with a family! Super flexible!" Um...kind of. If I wanted to start working Thursdays instead of Wednesdays, that would probably be doable. But if I say I am going to be there on Thursdays, I HAVE to be there on Thursdays! There are at least 10 patients scheduled with me. Flexible? Not so much...

Cason is hoping to go back to work tomorrow as well. He starts training a new corrections officer tomorrow. Not a promotion or a pay increase, but it is an additional responsiblity that I suppose says they would like to have a new hire work like Cason does :) Cason is a hard worker. It is great to have a husband who works so hard. Not only does he work hard, but he makes sure he does everything to the best that he can while being respectful and showing integrity.

Mr. Creighton. I'm not sure what tomorrow holds for him. I hope he is better, but if not, I will snuggle him and read him stories over and over and over, and give him delicious red and purple medicine, and continue to play movies for him like Bolt, Tangled, Ice Age, and Toy Story. One of his favorite movies is Tangled. Cason thinks it is weird. I don't. There is plenty of action in that movie to keep a little boy entertained! And glowing hair is awesome no matter who you are.

And next weekend we will DEFINITELY be having our Mickey Mouse Birthday party to celebrate a very special 2nd birthday!!

Cason's 25th Birdie

Happy 25th "Birdie" to this guy...

We sure think that he is a "hole-in-one" million!

Going for a Test Drive

Today we went to Idaho Falls to have birthday dinner with Cason's parents. But before we had dinner we did a little shopping. We bought Creighton a bed, and right next door to the furniture store was Toys 'R Us. So we headed over for some toy shopping. Forget a new bed... Creighton wanted a new mode of transportation!

He thought he liked the tricycles until he tried these...

He decided he likes the police car best-it comes with a hand held radio!

I Will Never LEGO of You

Since it is Valentine's Day...let's talk about LOVE.

This little love of my life is truely something else!

 Creighton loves to play! It is so amazing how he can manage to entertain himself constantly. Forget about using the toys how they are MEANT to be used though. Creighton always finds different ways to play with the toys. But he doesn't even need traditional toys to have fun. Creighton finds that any toiletry item is superior to anything he has on his toy shelf. Recently he has used mascara as lip gloss, a headband as a necklace, a comb as a spoon, chapstick as hair gel, and quite frankly-taking tampons out of the box and strewing them all over the house is a blast!

Buzz Lightyear and Mickey Mouse are pretty high up on Creighton's list of important "people". He loves cartoons and movies. And he always is concerned during the dramatic scenes. We watched Lion King the other day and when the lions and hyenas were fighting he kept saying, "Oh no. Oh no." Same thing when the mean dogs were chasing Russell and Mr. Fredricksen in, UP.

 Creighton loves to color! Thank goodness for Color Wonder by Crayola :) And thanks to Grama and Grampa Wilde for introducing him to it. He has created many wonderful works of art for my refrigerator. Silly mommy- I did teach him how to stack the markers and make a sword...What was I thinking?

 The floor is a fabulous place for Creighton to accomplish many of his favorite activities. Creighton will drag his dog, Grits, or a blanket into the kitchen and "read".

I am so grateful to have a child who loves to read. However he has found that it is interesting to peel off the covers of the books. Really? I have a few books from when I was little and he has managed to destroy them in no time at all. A book that has lasted me 20+ years is quickly ruined by "Mr. Destruct-o" (as I often refer to him).

By far, Creighton's favorite book is "Go, Dog, Go". He will sit by himself and turn the pages and say, "Go, Dog, Go.  Go, Dog, Go.  Go, Dog, Go." It sounds more like, "Dough, Da, Dough." I love to hear him read, so precious. Numerous times a day he will grab a blanket, his teddy bear, and a book and insist to be read to that minute. I am shocked that he doesn't get bored with the same books, but he has about 10 favorites.

This is Creighton teddy bear that he loves. It was never intended to be "his" bear. It is actually mine from when I was a baby, but he found it one day and claimed it as his. I took the above picture because I found him one night feeding his teddy bear Doritos. :)

Creighton and his Grampa are truely BFF's. Here they are watching Monsters, Inc...

 and napping on an exceptionally exhausting day of play. Seems like Grampa should be the one sleeping- Creighton doesn't let him rest. Go, go, go!

 What's not to love about grandparents who let you put a bowl on your head as a hat? Grama and Grampa Wilde's house is definitely the place to be.

But we are always so glad for visitors to come to our house. Like Aunt Sidnie and "Aunt" Kaylee. Creighton is a big flirt and just loves when the big girls come over to play and make "treats". A few weeks ago we made Oreo-stuffed cookies and Oreo-stuffed brownies. Let's blame pinterest for those ideas. Creighton was in HEAVEN! He loves sugar. But I'm not too surprised :) His favorite candy is probably M&M's. He likes to separate the blue ones out from all the others.

Creighton is so friendly and waves "hi" and "bye-bye" to most everyone. Even when I turn away the annoying door-to-door salesman Creighton smiles and enthusiastically waves and says, "bye-bye!"

He is great at giving "loves". Him and his daddy give "bisous"-a kiss on each cheek and then on the lips!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

For the Love of Chicken

This afternoon we stopped by my mom's house for a few minutes (which turned into an hour and a half thanks to Star Wars on Wii) to visit. As always, Creighton was so sad to leave and started to cry. Creighton's grandma was making chicken strips and mashed potatoes for dinner and gave him two in a ziploc bag to take home. He wanted to hold them in the car, but I wouldn't let him because he knows how to open plastic bags. On the way home he fell asleep. We carried him in the house to take him to bed and he noticed the ziploc bag of chicken sitting on the counter and started screaming/crying/pointing for the chicken. But he didn't want to eat the chicken (in the kitchen, at least). So I let him take the bag of chicken to bed with him in hopes that he would calm down and take a much-needed nap. However, he first unzipped the bag and layed there and giggled as he ate two huge chicken strips. I sat next to him on the floor and laughed the whole time. Cason would peek his head into Creighton's room and shake his head. I guess I've got a chicken strip lover!

Hello? Is Creighton There?

Creighton loves to talk on the phone! He loves to pick up "his" phone, or my cell phone and say, "Hello?" He puts a lot of emphasis on the "o" and he sounds British. So cute. For some reason though the person on the other line always wants to talk to Creighton's mommy.

A few days ago I substituted in nursery and found out that Creighton is not the only one who likes to talk on the phone. There were enough phones in the nursery that all of the kids had one. "Hello? Hello?" Being in nursery and watching Creighton with the other kids was fun. I was glad to see that he got along well with everyone for the most part. He is also super helpful. During lesson time they sit on "magic carpets" and Creighton wanted to hand all the kids their carpet. More like chuck it at them, but whatever. He also likes to set up and put away the chairs. He doesn't like to put away toys though, but I already knew that. During the lesson, about prophets, the kids' teacher went around asking all of them if they could say, Joseph Smith. Most of the kids tried to say it. When she got to Creighton she said, "Creighton, can you say Joseph Smith?" He lowered his head and rapidly shook his head, "no." I had a good laugh over that one.

No, he doesn't say many "real" words. But he sure does talk ALL day long! Yesterday he did say "cake". He also says, "Bickey". Not sure if he is saying Mickey or Vickie-his grandma's name. He has started saying "no" a lot. But never just once, he always has to say it three or four times in a row. Hmmm... I wonder where he may have heard that before? The last couple of weeks Creighton has been trying very hard to repeat words that he hears. Not too long I am sure before it is sentences!

A few weeks ago a patient of mine and I were talking about our little boys. Hers is a few months older than Creighton and she said she is so worried that hers is hardly saying anything at all. I told her Creighton is the same way and she was a little relieved. Sometimes it is hard to think that your child is behind on what other children are doing. But when I think about all of the things that he CAN do- he is truly amazing and doing all that he is supposed to be at 22 months!

Creighton got this BYU-Idaho hat from his Papa Chambers for Christmas. I didn't think that he would keep it on, but he loves to wear it and when it starts to fall off he adjusts it to be nice and secure! I think it is because he notices his daddy wears a hat a lot. One day I came home from work and said, "Why is Creighton wearing that hat?" And Cason said, "His hair was messy. I didn't want to wet it down." What a boy-response.

He also loves this rocking horse at his Grandpa Dennis' house. Creighton loves to go over there. He has such a good time. Grandpa Dennis has been watching Creighton while I work Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But we recently got a new baby-sitter for Creighton on Tuesdays. She comes over and watches Creighton at our house for 8 hours. Creighton usually warms up to people really fast but I was still a little worried. I don't know why. Of course he loved her and didn't even notice when his dad tried to tell him good-bye. He was too concerned about showing his new friend, Tristan, all of his toys. And then when I got home from work Creighton didn't want her to leave. I am so pleased that this new arrangment will work out. Creighton still gets to go to Grandpa's on Wednesdays and that makes him so happy!

I am happy to report that Creighton has gained 4 pounds in the last month! He has finally decided that food is pretty good. A recent favorite: black beans. He is his father's child. He is doing so well using utensils. Just the other night he was sitting in his high chair eating a pudding cup with a spoon, only making a little mess :) and I started getting a little weepy. I just can't believe that he is big enough to be feeding himself like that! He is truly growing up.