First Amarillo Snow!

We woke up to snow Thursday here in Amarillo and this storm continued to dump snow across the rest of the country. Matt made it to work fine, saying he took the frontage roads, and they were just slushy. Tommy was SO excited and thankfully we received a bunch of warm clothes from Mimi the day before. I  let Tommy go out in it for a little bit while I watched from the door and held Tyler. Tommy had no problem being out there by himself and I had to MAKE him come in. He was so cute asking if he could go ‘crunch’ in the snow. He was saying “crunch, crunch, crunch, as he walked in it. Our hotel friend, and manager, Ms. Anita told him to keep his hands in his pockets so they stayed warm. He listened  well! When Matt got home, they made a little snowman. He was so proud of it and when the sun came out, he was so worried it was gone. It lasted a couple days because it was in the shade…phew This storm reminded me of being in Utah because it snowed until about 2:00 and then the sun came out, warming up to the upper 60’s. In Fort Worth when it would snow, it would be cold, icy and cloudy for days it seemed like. It didn’t last long, but I told Tommy there would definitely be more

                                        
                                          

 

NYC vs. Amarillo

I have crazy dreams. I always have. I have also always wanted to go to New York City. I’ve  had many dreams about going there. Last night I had one that I wanted to remember... well the afterthought anyway. I dreamt I was on the Today Show for a craft contest, hahaha. I had done something crafty (don’t know what) and was one of three contestants to win. They announced the winner and it wasn’t me. But the next segment was Matt Lauer taste testing Pizza Huts new and improved breadsticks, along with another pizza place’s breadsticks. I know, weird. When he started the segment he said, Allyson come on over and taste test these with me. So I did and they were delicious. I chose the Pizza Hut’s and Matt Lauer chose the other ones. He said, You really think those are better? And I said, ‘Yeah, have you had the previous breadsticks from there, so not good!’ So to the point…..I finished the segment and walked into their beautiful Today Show building (because the segment was done outside). I was in awe of this place that looked like a 5 star hotel. I was so excited and thrilled to be there. My heart was pounding and I was just taking everything in when…..I woke up….to Amarillo. Yes Amarillo, Texas, living in a hotel. Now when I have dreams they feel absolutely real. I wake up with the same emotions as were in the dream. My heart was beating fast with excitement in my dream and that’s how it was when I awoke. I laid in bed and for a minute was disappointed my dream was over, and THEN I realized what I had. Although I was living in a hotel in Amarillo, Texas, I was sandwiched in between two of the most beautiful blessings I could have ever asked for. Tyler on one side. Tommy on the other. They were peacefully sound asleep cuddled up next to me. I thought, this is the best place I could be in right now. This role of motherhood, despite hard days and lots of work, returns with it insurmountable love and joy. I love my boys so very much and I do know how lucky I am to have my beautiful family. 

Don’t get me wrong though, I wouldn’t pass up a trip to the big apple;)

T & T Moments

There are always lots of cute moments with my boys that I’m sure I’ve forgotten about, but I wanted to record what I do remember in the last couple weeks. So I plan on posting these little bits every now and then.

• Matt and Tommy were throwing a ball of play-dough back and forth. Tommy was being too loud, stomping on the floor in between throws so Matt said he needed to take a break and calm down. While doing so, Tommy found a tiny piece of play-dough on the floor and gave it to Matt. Next thing Tommy knows, Matt’s closing a play-dough lid. Tommy gets the biggest lip and tears, and comes to me saying, “ I was being loud and my dad put my ball away.” Just hearing him say “my dad” made me start laughing. It was so cute and funny at the same time. Then Matt showed him his ball and I told him the little blue piece was put away, not his ball. Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was pretty good.
• I was holding Tommy in my lap and I said, “Uh oh, Did you know you’re made of sugar!” He said, Noooooo! with a smile. I said, “Yes you are, and I LOVE sugar!” I kissed him all over and through his giggles he yelled, “Don’t eat sugar!”
• Tommy was holding Tyler and after two seconds, wanted him off and said, “He’s a fat baby!”

                  
                  

 

Amazing Fun Farm

On Saturday we went to this farm that was literally in the middle of nowhere (I know what you’re thinking and no, not everything is like that in Amarillo:). Although, it was still only about 20 minutes away. Matt got a discount for working at Bell. Apparently all he has to do is show is badge pretty much anywhere and he gets a discount-not too bad. We didn’t get there until about 12:00 so it was really sunny and warming up. Of course there was no shade so that’s why most of the pictures have squinty eyes. Tommy had a great time though. They were dressed in their Halloween attire, Tommy in is ‘Ghoul bus’ shirt and Tyler in a ‘spooky spider’ onesie. There were lots of little activities but he especially loved the hay ride where they took him to the little pumpkin patch. I didn’t go because Tyler was asleep, but Tommy picked out 2 little bumpy pumpkins. Then they had a pumpkin cannon and Tommy was too scared to do it because it was pretty loud. They also had a little area filled with corn to play in. Tommy hid and uncovered his pumpkins multiple times. He posed for some pictures and then we headed to the corn maze. We did the short version because Tommy wasn’t interested for too long, saying, “Can we get outta the maze now?” and Tyler was out when we started (notice that darn thumb). Tommy did have fun climbing to the lookout point and then going down the slide. He also rode a ‘cow train’ in a stoic, silent manner. He had been talking about it for 10 minutes and when we finally did it, he expected me to ride with him. I told him it was just for kids and then the driver took off. It didn’t go far and he didn’t like riding it by himself, but you could tell he really didn’t want to get off either. We snacked on some kettle corn on the way home and then he quickly fell asleep. He stayed asleep after getting back to the hotel, clearly tuckered out:) I thought it was fun and I’m glad we went and did something a little different.

Tyler’s Stats

Tyler went to his new pediatrician on Wednesday. He is a chunky chunk!
Weight: 14.11 lbs.  (30%)
Height: 26 inches (82%)
Head: 16.75 inches (75%)
He is doing great! The doctor checked his hip and said there was still a click. Although, the orthopedic doctor (whom we’re going back to in 2 weeks) said a click didn’t necessarily mean anything…so we’ll see. He got his shots and even though he didn’t cry for very long, it’s still heartbreaking. The worst was later that day when you could tell he was in pain every time he kicked his legs. He wouldn’t let me put him down for the rest of the day. The doctor checked his head and said it was round and looked pretty good. Tyler was hitting all his milestones except rolling over. The doctor didn’t say much when I said he hadn’t rolled over yet, just asked if he was getting plenty of tummy time. When Tyler is on his back, he often sucks his thumb so he really isn’t motivated to roll over, even if I put toys next to him….mmm…need to work on that.
He loves looking at himself in the mirror and checking out his hands. He holds his arm straight up  with his hand flexed, and just stares, like in the pic below. So precious!

Hockey Game & Discovery Center

Tommy went to his first minor league Hockey game with Matt on Friday night. His work bought tickets for his department and it was more of an obligation for him to go. He really doesn’t care for hockey and I didn’t think Tommy would either, but he went anyway. I asked Matt to take some pictures but naturally, he forgot. He said it was pretty loud and that’s the first thing Tommy told me when he got back, “it was too loud for me.” They didn’t stay long and I’m glad because he said they started fighting quite a bit in the second quarter…or whatever the 2nd half is called. Anyway, Tommy got some cotton candy and a foam ambulance they were throwing out at the crowd, so he was pretty happy.

I had heard about this Discovery Center from a few people and I hadn’t taken Tommy yet for a couple of reasons. One, I thought it was more in ‘downtown’ Amarillo and a further drive. Two, I didn’t how much help Tommy would need with things and how I would do that by myself, with Tyler. And three, it’s hard to make it out of the hotel, showered and all of us ready, at a reasonable time to do an all-day activity like I thought this would be. Anyway, I was running out of things to do so I finally decided to go for it on Friday. I’m so glad I did. The drive was probably 7 minutes, MAX. You would think I’ve learned by now that everything is NOT that far. Tommy absolutely loved it and asked to go back as soon as we were driving home. It’s pretty much a Children’s Museum plus it has an awesome Planetarium. I loved the planetarium when I was a kid and I was probably more excited than Tommy was when we went in to watch a show. All the shows run 11-4 o’clock on the hour and are free with admission, so  Tommy played with a bunch of exhibits until a show was playing. Then we headed in there for “Black Holes” which was way over his head, but he didn’t care. He kept saying,”wow” and “we’re spinning!” Tyler was sure mesmerized too! Then after the show, Tommy played for at least another hour and a half. Tommy could do everything by himself and there weren’t a lot of kids around for me to watch out for. It helps that Tyler is such a good baby, as my last post stated. The only reason we left was because Tyler was getting hungry. I decided to go for the annual pass because Tommy had so much fun….wait…actually I bought the annual pass as soon as we walked in. I took a chance and it was a good one. This will be great especially in the winter. We went back on Saturday with Matt and I think he had just as much fun as Tommy! I know we’ll definitely get use out of the membership and it’s close to already paying for itself.

4 Months!

• This is such a great age! My ‘sugar bean’ or ‘sugar pie’ as I call him is so smiley, giggly, and NOT mobile yet! Although, he is now squirmy and wiggly. He is arching his back pretty high, but still hasn’t rolled over to his tummy yet. I’m perfectly okay with that:) I should probably give him more opportunity but I worry about his head getting flat from sleeping on his back and being in the car seat. I couldn’t get in to see the pediatrician that was recommended to me until the 19th, so I don’t have his stats, but I’ll add them in. I’m sure he’ll check Tyler’s head at this appointment too and hopefully put my worries to rest.
• He also arches his back when he's in your arms and is getting tired or tired of how your holding him. I thought this wiggling came later...
• He rarely takes the binky and although I REALLY don’t like him sucking his thumb, I lay him down in bed and he falls asleep after a minute or two of sucking it. If I pull it out and try enforce the binky, I’m met with an all out scream! So I’ve let it go for now….another question for the doctor.
• He still sleeps well. He wakes up every 4-5 hours, eats and goes back to sleep most of the time. He even takes a pretty good morning nap. Granted he sleeps on our bed….
• He grabbed his toes on 10.7.11. It was pretty cute!
• He’s so wiggly the picture below is how he now sits in his Bumbo seat! I don’t think it’s going to last much longer.
• He’s grabbing anything and everything.
• He’ll lay on the ground for a few minutes at a time, the Bumbo a few minutes, and the Baby Bjorn he likes fairly well. I bet if we had the einstein jumper out of storage he would like that a lot! Tommy was his age when we first put him in it.
• Now he’ll sometimes try and put BOTH hands in his mouth. He’s ALWAYS chewing on them…always. He isn’t real fussy though so I still don’t think teeth are coming. I remember Tommy being extra fussy! He is drooling ALL the time though and is clothes get really wet, really quick. I gave Tyler one of Tommy's toys to look at while he was on his tummy. When Tommy saw he said, "Oh no! Baby Tyler don't drool on that!"
• He squeals now, whether he’s happy or fussy. He would make the perfect pig for Halloween!
• I attached 2 videos. I recorded Tyler giggling with Matt last weekend. Then I found a video of Tommy giggling at the same thing at exactly 4 months old.

He really is such a good baby and I feel so blessed! We love him to pieces!


Is the picture below not the sweetest, cutest,
most precious face you’ve ever seen?
Don’t deny it.

Tyler

Tommy

Maggie’s Birthday and Joey’s Blessing!

Yay! A break from the hotel!!
We had such a fun weekend celebrating Maggie’s 4th birthday and Joey’s blessing! We flew to Fort Worth late Friday night.  This was Tyler's first flight and he did great! Tommy did great too because he had some new cars to play with and loved opening and closing the window shade while telling us everything he saw. On the flight home we had our trusty Finding Nemo that I think Tommy could literally watch all day every day if I let him.

Aunt Shilo threw a fantastic Halloween/Princess party-exactly what the birthday girl requested! It was complete with Halloween décor, food, and costumes!

1.Maggie had an awesome Cinderella cake! It had an almond flavor that I really liked too! Side note: Matt wouldn’t have any because he said he doesn’t eat people. Which is also related to why we can’t have any cookie jars with heads that you have to pull off. He will not pull off a Santa or Snowman head to get a cookie and says, “it’s just wrong!” I have to laugh.

2. Games included a pumpkin shaped balloon game, ghost paper towel bowling, and a pumpkin piñata that was almost indestructible. Thanks to Danny’s nephews, the kids got some candy out of it!

3. Our little boys went hand in hand-a firefighter and a Dalmatian;) Tommy’s costume, thanks to Mimi, was fitted with all the bells and whistles…including a hose that really sprayed water! (Thanks Autrey for setting that up) Tyler’s was a makeshift costume because the one I ordered didn’t arrive in the mail on time….but it worked. Maggie was a beautiful princess and her sweet brother was a frog prince! I love that idea! Dylan was a handsome cowboy who would say, Howdy Partner! and it could make anyone smile!

4. Most unique costume goes to Tyler-Cowboy Dalmatian!

5. After the sugar rush wore off, Joey received a beautiful blessing from Danny. He was so cute in his outfit and white shoes! Then we had picture time and of course, something happened while I was downloading a few from Mimi and Shilo’s camera and they didn’t get sent….bummer. So I’ll have to add the group family pictures and princess Maggie later.

6. Sunday we went to Autrey and Shilo’s church and then had a little craft time. Shilo had the idea of creating these and we made one of all the grandbabies for Mimi and Papa. Here is the one I made for me (and I sent one to Grandma) and Tyler in action. My kiddo’s were by far the toughest to get because their feet are SO ticklish! They turned out really cute and I’m glad Shilo put it all together!

7. Then we had to say goodbye I was not looking forward to leaving….but we’re hoping to put an offer on a house soon! Although Tyler isn’t smiling I love it anyway and think it’s frame-worthy because Joey’s face is just adorable! What a sweetheart. I miss him already! And sweet Maggie asked to hold Tyler before we left.

8.It literally seems like yesterday we were in Washington celebrating Maggie’s 3rd birthday! It’s amazing how time flies! Here’s a few pics to reminisce
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