The Kingdom

Sawyer turned to me & said:

2010-02-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

"Mama! Nose!"

Cabin fever.

2010-02-21T18:16:00.000-08:00

Winter is hard. Especially for active toddlers who are cooped up inside when it's too cold. We consider 40s warm, outside weather. Here are a few random samplings of us trying to keep busy...

Crafts.

This doesn't exactly have a name.

The boys like to stuff their blankets into their jammies...

With their bears in their backs and then bounce into each other on the couch.

Sawyer puts on Hudson's underwear over his clothes.

Worms, babies, burritos, this game has many names depending on their moods.

Pirate duels with daddy. Yo-ho, Yo-ho! (A youtube clip of that song was playing in the background)

Arrrgh!

Our third son Teddy even got in on the action. He was the pirate parrot atop the mast.

Snow!

2010-02-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

It finally snowed big time in the city and the boys loved playing in it. Sawyer mostly sat in it and ate it. They sledded and made two snowmen: one before and one after their naps.

Sawyer is 2!

2010-02-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

Our littlest man turned two! He's still as sweet as ever, although he can definitely hold his own. He talks a ton and still carries around Teddy, the fifth member of our family. He loves music, Yo Gabba Gabba and puzzles.

Here's a recap of the birthday celebration:

Sawyer is a pancake boy, so we made buttermilk pancakes from scratch for his birthday breakfast.

Present time!

The boys had been asking to go on the Central Park Carousel...

But they were scared the whole time we rode it! I will admit that it is a pretty fast and loud ride :)

Some snuggle time after :)

We hit up a playground to let the boys run around.

Then after FAO Schwartz, stopped at Pop Burger, home of these cute little fellas.

Sawyer mostly drank milkshake...

Our favorite picture of his first day being two. Awaiting his cake.

We picked up a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cake. Cheesy frosting (not literally) but delicious!

Look at his fingers around that fork. I don't even know how he's doing that!

Swinging

2010-01-10T20:29:00.001-08:00

Warning: this one might make you sick. There's a lot of swinging. This clip is probably just for me but it was cute of all the boys playing at the playground.

Jingle Bells

2010-01-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

The boys "performed" Jingle Bells on Christmas Eve. The best part is Sawyer's dancing once they get to the chorus... the whole thing deteriorates pretty quickly at the end.

Carter on Christmas

2010-01-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

Cameron interviewed some of the kids about Christmas. Here is what Carter (my sister Kellie's 2-year-old) had to say. Maybe no one else will think this is funny, but we laughed so hard. The deliberate choice of words along with the widening of the eyes... classic.

Holiday Travelogue

2010-01-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

Besides the actual Christmas celebrations and lots of family time (& friends), which is hands down the main reason we pilgrimage back to Vegas, here are a few other things we enjoyed.

We went to the Springs Preserve, which was a lot of fun. The boys especially enjoyed the flash flood room (sorry, no pictures) and the desert animals:

Climbing on "fossils":

The play area:

Seeing how far they can jump, sort-of...

We also went to the new City Center, which was pretty amazing.
Here's Ryan and I in front of the cool water wall.

I LOVE Chihuly and we were lucky to see his gallery at City Center.

I don't know what to call it but the Louis Vuitton light wall out front is awesome.

Main entrance area:

We visited Jenna & Hyrum's new house and Hudson held Will... for about two seconds and that was good. I held him as much as possible.

My friends from high school and I had a gift exchange and opened a time capsule we buried ten years ago. We put a lot of junk (not pictured) in there :) but it was still fun.

Christmas Eve with Cousins

2010-01-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

The boys love playing with their cousins and with six boys four-years-old and under, it's always fun but crazy. Here's a little taste of our Christmas festivities...

The boys all got matching pajamas from Grandma for Christmas Eve. From left to right:
Carter(2), Jackson(4), Sawyer(1), Hudson(3), Owen(10 months). Will (5 weeks, not pictured for his safety).

We attempted the stairs picture... this was the best we could get.

Santa & the reindeer singing Jingle Bells.

Sawyer makes the funniest faces in pictures.

Grandma read the boys the Christmas story.

Baby Will...

Sawyer was so tired from all the fun, and the time change, he laid down on Grandma's floor as soon as it was all over.

Merry Merlinpeen

2009-12-20T18:20:00.001-08:00

We go through blogging spurts. I'd like to think of it as being too busy living actual life but really, it might just be a sometimes half-hearted commitment to this blog or blogging laziness. We have somehow found the time to watch an inordinate amount of BSG as we continue our progression through season two. And we can't forget 30 Rock (as referenced in the subject line), one of the only reasons our live TV goes on each week. Anyway.

Our holiday festivities are in full-force. Here's some pics from our ward Christmas party a few weeks ago. Cameron made this giant stocking to hang in front of the huge projected fireplace.

Sawyer joined the primary kids singing Jingle Bells. He shook those bells with vigor.

Hudson made up for his Jingle Bells stage fright by later stealing the microphone, which was on, and singing into it during the group sing-a-long. Cameron and I were distracted. He got applause.

Cameron and some friends played a few numbers:

And, Santa Claus made his yearly appearance:

After four and a half years living in the city, Cameron and I finally went ice skating at one of the city venues. On Monday we joined some design friends from school and hit up Bryant Park. They don't allow electronics on the ice, so this phone photo is illegal and the best we could do to commemorate the occasion. :)

On Wednesday we went to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. We took the boys to see the Rockefeller Center tree beforehand:

Don't worry, the scarf is mine, not Sawyer's.

Radio City Music Hall:

Sorry, this was the only picture we got of the Rockettes. Their other costumes looked like actual clothes :) The boys kept kicking their own legs in their seats.

The boys call it the "Dancing Santa Show":

The show ends with a reading from the Bible and a tasteful depiction of the Nativity. The boys loved the live camels. It was really touching in this setting.

Unfortunately, we now have two sick kids so our focus has shifted to getting them healthy before flying to Vegas on Thursday. Merry Christmas!

Packaging fun...

2009-12-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

...but not so fun to clean up. Especially when all the peanuts got static-y and started sticking to every surface of the box, the boys, the floor, my clothes, etc. That's when I brought out the anti-static spray and sprayed everything in a six foot radius.

Gratitude

2009-11-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Need a pick me up? People on the streets of Manhattan tell what they're thankful for.

big think

2009-11-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

I happened upon this interview of John Irving on a website called bigthink.com. It was interesting and well-made. To be honest, I can't vouch for the content on the rest of the website, but if you click on the "experts" tab at the top, there's a huge archive of interviews you can delve into. They have everyone from Nobel prize winners to the guy who owns Magnolia Bakery. I know this might be boring to some, but I could watch these all day.

Speaking of Magnolia, we finally tried famous the banana pudding. Wow.

Halloween

2009-11-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

Halloween is a big deal in the King family. We've been talking about costumes, practicing Trick-or-Treating and looking at Halloween books & catalogs since August. The boys decided to be Pixar characters for Halloween and LOVED dressing up–
Sawyer as Mike Wazowski and Hudson as Buzz Lightyear.

We had our ward Fall Fest on Halloween, where there was food and fun, including trick-or-treating for the kids, a mini-carnival and a photo-shoot by Cameron of all the kids in their costumes. Check out how cute they are.

Hudson loading up on candy...

Cameron and me at the Fall Fest. Unfortunately we broke tradition, for a multitude of reasons, and didn't dress up this year. But don't worry– we'll be back in full force next year...

After the Fall Fest, we headed over to 69th, where they block off the streets just for trick-or-treating. We were all pretty much zombies by this point, but we managed to make our way down the street on our way home.

Sawyer cruising 69th:

carving time...

2009-11-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

we're finally getting around to posting some halloween :). we'll start with pumpkins:

sawyer was so excited he wouldn't stop rolling his hands and laughing.

the boys wanted to make a "flying dinosaur pumpkin".

Hudson's Photo Shoot

2009-11-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hudson stole my phone and went on a photo-shooting spree. He took 153 pictures and videos while I was doing the dishes. Here are some of our favorites:

to Cameron

2009-11-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

You mean more than everything to the three of us.

We love you so much.

Happy Birthday!

day tripper

2009-10-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our annual fall foliage tour :) Last year we explored Connecticut and upstate New York, so this year we headed west through NJ and into Pennsylvania. We almost canceled due to rain, but it turned out to be beautiful and overcast while we were out of the car and only rainy while we drove.

This is what a lot of the roads looked like:

Peak time for leaves in PA is next weekend but they were still really beautiful:

We stopped here for some apple picking:

Then went to Dilly's, a little diner Cameron remembered from one of his Martha photo shoots back in the day.

After lunch, we drove along the Delaware:

And passed such cute towns as Frenchtown, PA. Does this not look like a movie set? Stars Hollow, anyone? In my opinion, charming little towns like this are one of the coolest things about the East...

Our last stop was the Crayola factory in Easton, PA. They have a demonstration about how they make crayons and markers + lots of fun crafts and activities for the kids to do. Does anyone else remember this? We were hoping they would play that awesome music but unfortunately they didn't...

This is Sawyer coloring on a glass wall. Don't worry, he's supposed to.

Hudson painting with melted crayons. Don't worry, he's supposed to. :)

A small canal museum is housed in the same building as the Crayola factory and comes with your admission. Each kid gets a boat that they take through a series of waterways and canals. Kind of random but the boys loved it. Sawyer's actually turning a wheel to move the boats up this ramp:

The end!

Where the wild puppies are...

2009-10-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

The boys' favorite thing to do last week was to wear my fuzzy sweatshirts inside out and pretend they were puppies. Hudson named himself "Salty" and Sawyer "Pepperoni". After a while puppies got old so then they were "wild things". They've been a little obsessed about wild things since seeing the trailer a while ago. There was a period of time when we had to watch it at least once every day and Hudson was talking about wild rumpuses and commanding us to "Be still!" He's been excited to see huge signs for the movie popping up all over the city the past few weeks. If the movie is anywhere near as good as the trailer, Mr. Jonze will do us proud. I'm not lying when I say I wish I had this.

what the boys requested for breakfast:

2009-10-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

"toast with jam and fruit snacks on the top."

"what's wrong with fruit snacks on toast?"

the creative mastermind...

teaching the boys important life skills...

2009-10-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Georgia

2009-10-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Last week we jumped on a plane down to Georgia to visit Opa, Mimi, (Steve & Michelle, President & Sister King... whichever you prefer :) & Connor. We had a great time and LOVE seeing family whenever we can.

Here are a few highlights from the trip:

Play time at a local park:

Story time with Opa:

We saw the arena show "Walking with Dinosaurs". Hudson was a little nervous at first (he was also still really tired from our late flight) but loved it by the end:

We visited the Atlanta History Center. Here's Cameron doing the "long jump" in the 1996 Olympics exhibit...

Hudson showing his cycling skills & the boys playing on Ambrose the stone elephant:

We walked over to the Swan House, the beautiful antebellum mansion you see next:

The boys' close-ups from their photo shoot to update mimi & opa's picture frames:

Okay, you can't tell me they don't look at least a little bit different...

And just because we thought this one was funny:

Conversation overheard:

2009-09-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

Cameron: Hudson, don't eat your shirt.

Hudson: But I want to eat my shirt.

Cameron: We spend lots of good money for you to have nice clothes and we don't want you to eat them.

(Erin: It ruins them, honey.)

Cameron: If you're hungry, tell us and we'll get you some food to eat.

Hudson: But I want to eat shirts.

Cameron: Then get one of your old shirts to eat. But, I want you to eat the whole thing.

Hudson: No, it will make me sick.

Cameron: Then don't eat your shirts.

Hudson: But I want to eat shirts.

Practice makes perfect...

2009-09-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the toy store, Hudson and Sawyer got the classic plastic pumpkins to go trick-or-treating with this year. When we got home they said that they needed to practice for Halloween. These are the costumes they pieced together...

I love Sawyer in this wig.

Hudson sporting his old Nacho Libre cape.

This is when Sawyer started playing peek-a-boo with the wig.

Don't worry... we'll intervene before Halloween :)

We like cheese.

2009-09-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Nice!

2009-08-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

President Eyring has an iphone. And he downloads apps. That is cool on so many levels. Just sayin'.

My little shadows...

2009-08-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

...follow me around every time I sit down to do anything on my computer or read any sort of book. Today I sat down at our little table by the window to write a letter to Kevin, and within a minute Hudson and Sawyer stopped what they were happily playing with and ran over to squeeze themselves in the tiny space between my chair and the wall. Oh, just because :) I grabbed my phone to snap their picture in the moment. Although I may miss having lots of personal space at times, I wouldn't trade these guys for anything.

At the park...

2009-08-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

The boys were playing with some friends we saw at the playground today, when suddenly the elephant fountains turned on. They all decided to get soaking wet in their long jeans and long-sleeved shirts (it was in the 60s when we left the house...). Then when one boy got to take off his wet clothes, they ALL wanted to take off their wet clothes and then we were left with lots of pale skin and sneakers :)

Rocks are fun.

2009-08-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

The boys and I take walks by the river a lot. There's one area full of landscape rocks that we usually pass on by. However, last week I learned that we are missing out on one of the best little boy attractions down there. Throwing rocks, carrying rocks around, building rock houses and towers, and trying to run and throw them in the river before Mom will stop me (Sawyer). They loved it. I'm sure we will spend much more time in the rock patch from now on.

(Sawyer carried around this letter "B" all day...)

I love when people do cool stuff on a grand scale, just for fun :)

2009-08-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, San Francisco transformed its famous "crooked" Lombard street into an enormous Candy Land board to celebrate Candy Land's 60th birthday. How cool is that?

Kids from a children's hospital and a for-kids non-profit organization got to play the giant board.

At the end, everyone got to eat this amazing birthday cake.

*Photos from sfist.com

trek across the bridge

2009-08-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

hudson demanded he ride in the ergo...

waiting for grimaldi's to open... first in line!

with our lovely friends, the clawsons...

little boy feet :)

2009-08-16T18:26:00.000-07:00

Rauschenberg, Braque, Picasso, or Hudson?

2009-08-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Rocket, 2009. Assemblage.
by Hudson King

This latest installation in the Museum of Artistic Toddlers (MoAT) utilizes the mundane commercial toys found in a single urban living room. Each piece symbolizes the artist's interpretation of life from a 36-inch vantage point. The monolithic scooter serves as the focal point, capturing adolescent mobility juxtaposed with toddler stability. The side-stepped running shoe that intersects with the scooter symbolizes the artist's desire for control. Rules. Guidance. However, this contradicts with the "paternal pedal of punk" that gives fuel to the fire to break all bounds while each miniature automobile simultaneously signals a different path the artist could follow. His choices are so meaningful, yet so small.

On display for a limited time only in the main gallery. Scratch that. The installation had to removed from the gallery before bedtime.

Be afraid... be very afraid...

2009-08-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Let's make something clear. Hudson LOVES Grandma. He talks about her all the time and informed us that he was going to "leave [us] here and go live with Grandma in Las Vegas. And I'm going to be naked in the airport."

However.

While we were there, Grandma selflessly watched all the boys so that we could go see Harry Potter. When we came home she told us about this conversation.

Hudson: "Grandma, I want that cup." (glass goblet from Jenna's birthday breakfast on the counter)
Grandma: "Sorry, but you can't have that cup."
Hudson: "I said I want that cup."
Grandma: "And, I said you can't have that cup."
(defeated Hudson goes and plays for a minute then comes back over to Grandma)
Hudson: "A bad man is going to come and take you away and I'm going to get that cup."

What?! Where did the evil plotting come from? We can't remember ever talking to Hudson about "a bad man". Oh, well. At least he's creative :)

summer vacation

2009-08-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

We spent July visiting family in Vegas and Utah... the boys were so
excited for the trip they tried to pack themselves :)

Grandma & Grandpa armed them with plenty of toys including
awesome rocket launchers...

& plenty of snow cones in the 105°+ weather.

Love this picture :)

These five can be a handful all together but
they had a great time.

Then it was off to UT to drop my brother Kevin off at the MTC.
He's headed to Paraguay.

The little guys love Uncle Kevin...

That night we hit up the Spanish Fork Carnival...

and SF Rodeo (our first one!) Loved it...
especially the mutton bustin'.

For the rest of the week we had lots of King cousin time.

At the Bountiful Handcart Days Parade...

These two were all for snuggling...

The boys first trip to Temple Square.
Sawyer slept through most of it :)

24th of July... watching fireworks after a trip to the lake.

happy anniversary, sweets

2009-07-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

i love you.

The clouds outside our window Friday night.

2009-07-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

The Hudson Cup

2009-06-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hudson turned the big 0-3 this past Thursday. The day began with a special breakfast of waffles, sausage, watermelon and grapefruit juice– all chosen by Hudson. Next it was time for presents...

...followed by a trip to the zoo. Then for lunch he chose Shake Shack, a burger & frozen custard place... one of his favorites. No complaints here!

Hudson stood in this statue at the zoo and said, "Take my picture!", then did the fake smile.

This polar bear usually just swims by but this time he stopped and stared at us for a really long time. Cool and creepy...

Today we had his party, The Hudson Cup. Hudson and Sawyer love cars and Cars (the Pixar movie), so that was the theme we settled on. Hudson was still battling for a "stranger" party, even after we explained to him that strangers are adults we don't know. He finally relented.

When the kids arrived, the "DMV" (Cameron) took their info and measured their height for their license.

The kids all got their own shirts with a personalized NY license plate on the front. They got to pick what it said. They colored their "race cars", mounted them on sticks and then we headed to the Hudson River Speedway.

Here's the dramatic event, captured on video:

After the race, it was time for water balloon fun. We had a few games planned, but decided to just let them go crazy and pop them.

Last, but not least, cake and ice cream + presents. Happy Birthday, Hudson! We love you.

Sawyer: the reflux capacitor

2009-06-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

We met with the doc, "the pediatric urologist" last Monday, who was not convinced that Sawyer has a blockage. He ordered two more tests, which Sawyer went through today. One was another abdominal ultrasound and the other a VCUG, which shows if he has reflux between his kidney and bladder.

Turns out Sawyer has some serious reflux going on. They rate reflux on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the worst. For Sawyer, one side is a 2-3, the other is a 4. Kids with a 1 pretty much always grow out of it. The urologist said he would guess Sawyer has about a 50/50 chance.

Sawyer's treatment plan is an oral antibiotic once a day for the next year, when they'll check his reflux again. If it hasn't improved at all, we'll discuss surgery. The doctor said it's a 2.5 hour procedure, with a day or two hospital stay. They do a ton of them and it almost sounds better than some of the other stuff he's been through. But we won't worry about that for another year...

As of now, Sawyer's kidneys look fine and haven't sustained any permanent damage. The doctor said if he grows out of it or has the surgery, that should still be the case. "Twenty years down the road, you can't pick out the kids who have had reflux." There's only damage when reflux goes undetected.

Overall, we're just glad to know for sure what is going on and how to treat it. He has no physical limitations and shouldn't be in any pain from the reflux. He shouldn't have to go through anything out of the ordinary for a long time, which is a huge relief. We're looking forward to Sawyer running on his full 1.21 jigawatts soon.

Need a laugh?

2009-06-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Visit engrish.com. You can find jewels such as:

Click the 'most popular' link on the left to get to the best ones. I was seriousry raughing so hard.

Runner-up for the most funny website of the week: awkwardfamilyphotos.com. These were pretty funny, although some were just cringe-inducing. I'm pretty sure these people are awesome in real life...

Thanks to Emo and Chris for the tips. Have a great weekend!

Erin's Special Day

2009-06-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

So in honor of Erin’s birthday yesterday, we held the annual Church picnic in Central Park. It was more coincidence than anything as it was the day that had no other ward activities were going on.

The highlights for me would probably be the water balloon toss and the watermelon piñata. For those of you who have not yet experienced this fruity activity: 1. replace the piñata with a watermelon, 2. place (don't try and hang) it on the ground (preferably on a tarp for juice containment), 3. add a large stick, 4. blindfold at your preference, 5. whack the heck out of it, 6. eat, season to taste.

Mother Nature decided to make her brief appearance at the end of the party (10 minutes prior) so that created the rush to clean up, but we enjoyed being in the rain. Overall, we couldn't have done it this week without a lot of help from friends pitching in and finding various ways to help. It was amazing that it all came together so well.

We hit Magnolia on the way home from the picnic for Erin’s favorite cupcakes and wouldn't you know they had coconut meringue cupcakes. Perfect! We also walked by Dustin Hoffman, who wished Erin a Happy Birthday with a kiss. (Half of that sentence is true.)

You'll also see that little s is on the mend and enjoyed his share of cupcakes as well. He has been so happy since arriving home. (Personal side note: I think the concept of hospitals should be re-evaluated as they aren't the most conducive to healing).

For some reason Hudson decided to play around with the cupcake wrappers. We'll just call this next shot "untitled." :)

For the evening, we dropped the boys off at our friends' place and went out to eat. Wouldn't you know it, but I forgot the "tickets" in the stroller and we had to go back, only to find a few friends there to yell, "SURPRISE!" This was all pre-planned and I'm lucky I didn't spoil the surprise. For a guy who usually unwraps and re-wraps his Christmas presents, this was a hard secret to keep. I think she was genuinely surprised, though.

Erin is an amazing person. She is genuine with her emotions and comfortable in her own element. With the challenges the past few weeks have given, there's no possible way to give to her what she has given to Sawyer in support and care. We all love her (especially me)!

Sawyer Update

2009-06-11T08:27:00.001-07:00

We're home! Finally. After five days in the hospital, we all enjoyed sleeping under the same roof last night. These pictures are of Sawyer after they took his IVs out and we got him dressed. He was giving us this sweet little hopeful smile, like "Really? Are we going to leave?"

After a long test where he had to be under anesthesia, we found out that he has a partial blockage between his kidney and bladder. There's a possibility he'll have to have surgery... we'll find out more when we meet with the pediatric urologist on Monday. Until everything is taken care of, he's on oral antibiotics 2x/day. Definitely a trade up from IV meds.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, food, and babysitting for Hudson. We appreciate it so much.

Our little sick man...

2009-06-08T18:36:00.000-07:00

I really try to keep my posts short, but this is a long story. Here we go:

Last Saturday night Sawyer came down with a fever. Sunday he threw up a few times, then was eating normally. By Tuesday, the fevers were still in full force and pretty high (104+) so we took him to the pediatrician's office where he was given a diagnosis, not by his normal doctor, of "...viral illness going around like crazy, 4-5 days of fevers, followed by a rash..." He had no respiratory symptoms, ears and throat also looked perfect, so it made sense.

The next morning, Wednesday, I was starting to feel nervous again because he just seemed so sick. Whenever our kids have fevers, they act sick when the fevers are high and then when the meds kick in, they play with their toys, act better etc. Sawyer was extremely fussy even when the fevers would go down. He reminded me of the sick-bed scenes in period movies where the sick child lays there in a daze while the family mops their brow with a cloth. He was that sick. Plus, super clingy and totally lethargic. He kept grabbing his neck over and over, which made me nervous about meningitis or something else horrible. And I kept expecting Hudson to come down with it but he was 100% healthy.

By Wednesday night his fevers spiked at 105+. I called his normal doctor who said to bring him in that night, even though the office was closed, for an immediate urine test (by catheter- that has to feel great) to see if he had a UTI or kidney infection. They also drew blood and did flu swabs. Everything came back normal except the blood showed a possible inflammation somewhere in his body but was generally inconclusive.

By Friday, the fevers should have been gone if he had the "fever virus" but then they spiked to 106.5. Our doctor sent us to the ER where they took us fairly seriously until his fever once again spiked to 106+. That freaked them out more than our word that his temperature had really gotten that high. They drew blood, more urine by catheter, flu swabs, chest and abdominal x-rays, and a spinal tap. All the immediate tests came back negative but we had to wait for the results of the cultures, which take 24-48 hours. They admitted Sawyer and we finally got into a room in the pediatric unit about 3 am.

They gave him tons of fluids by IV, as well as antibiotics as a precautionary measure until the test results came back. His fevers steadily improved through Saturday and Sunday. By Sunday night the results where looking like we might end up with the general "fever of unknown origin" diagnosis. Sunday night they told us they found an organism in his urine (basically a UTI) causing his fevers and pain. They started him on a more specific antibiotic and told us they would need to do more tests to make sure there were no other problems.

Which brings us to this morning, Monday. After an abdominal ultrasound, they discovered that his left kidney is swollen. Two things could be causing this. 1- a partial blockage between his kidney and bladder, or 2- "reflux" between his bladder and kidney, meaning things could be traveling back up into the kidney from the bladder. Apparently that's fairly common in little kids.

So now we have to do a separate test for each of those possibilities and are looking at a going home date of Wednesday or Thursday, as long as his fevers keep a bay. Even though the source of the problem hasn't been treated, the antibiotics for his infection have made a big difference. Today was the first day in over a week that he has smiled, eaten well or played with toys. We were starting to feel like we were never going to see "Sawyer" again.

He has been a trooper through the whole thing but needless to say, he's scarred. He cries whenever nurses or doctors come close to him or touch him :( I'm just glad he's young enough (sixteen months) that he won't remember anything.

Here's what the first few days in the hospital were like:

Sleeping a ton or crying/fussing but we didn't take pictures of that :)Teddy has been Sawyer's faithful companion through it all.

Here's how he was doing today. Don't judge my hair. I'd been in a hospital room for 3+ days straight...

And just for bonus... here are some videos from lunch and of the boys playing. You also get to hear one of Hudson's favorite things to say: "I am a robot. De-dum-de-dum-de-dum..." :)

This one is pretty much for the Grandma's :) It's just the boys playing with the new toy we picked up for Sawyer today.

I've been too nervous to leave the hospital up to this point, but since he is starting to do better, Cameron sent me home for the night. Needless to say, we're looking forward to all sleeping under the same roof again. We'll keep you posted...

Sawyer's Animal Sounds

2009-05-31T18:34:00.000-07:00

Sawyer has been working on learning his animal sounds lately. Here's a little sampling...
(we'll work on "what do chicks say?" some more :)

Birthday Parties?

2009-05-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today while we were eating lunch, Cameron and I asked Hudson what kind of birthday party he wants next month when he turns 3. We were suggesting party themes of things he likes– a Cars party, animal party, art party, super-hero party, dinosaur party... Hudson's ideas were:

· stranger party
· trash party
· ABC party
· garbage truck party
· ham sandwich party
· Kooka poo poo party (Kooka is what he named our fish, we won't address the poo poo)
· coconut party (as he stuffed shredded coconut into his mouth)

He also specified that he wants some sort of special birthday drink and he wants helicopters to come pick up the kids with strings and take them for rides– especially if it's a space ranger party.

Hopefully he won't choose the stranger party... handing out those invitations would be really awkward (especially to the pigeon man who pours birdseed on himself over in the park). At least no one would feel offended if they weren't invited...

Art

2009-05-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hudson brought this paper over to us and said, "Look! I drew a dolphin!"

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous.
It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking
around outside your body." -Elizabeth Stone

My favorite thing about Spring...

2009-05-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

...the flowering trees in New York.

...and these tulips get an honorable mention :)

A few days of summer...

2009-05-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

We've had one weekend of summer temperatures so far this year, so we decided to take a stroll through Central Park by Sheep's Meadow. Call me crazy, but I think that maybe a few New Yorkers were excited for the warm weather... good thing we wore sunglasses or we might have been blinded by all that first-reveal-of-the-summer white skin.

Dia:Beacon

2009-04-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

A few Saturdays ago we took a road trip up to Dia:Beacon, a contemporary art gallery that occupies a former Nabisco factory. We loved the space and especially the details like these frosted glass doors and the opaque factory-glass windows with cutouts of clear glass interspersed.

The boys loved playing outside behind the museum on the grassy hill overlooking the river. They were excited to see the train go by :)

by the way...Happy Easter!

2009-04-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

egg dyeing:

sawyer wanted to help but letting him
play with dye seemed like a bad idea,
so he got plastic eggs in water. he
thought it was fantastic.

the boys had a little easter egg and
treat hunt + gifts from grandparents
and great-grandparents:

all in all, a lovely holiday...

my new favorite picture:

2009-04-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

Warning the ward...

2009-03-29T17:30:00.001-07:00

Today at church, during a lull in the testimony meeting, Hudson stood up and yelled, "The Holy Ghost is coming!" Everyone around us was laughing. Thanks for the warning, buddy...

Kittens inspired by kittens

2009-03-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

My cousin Kristen posted this on her blog and Cameron and I laughed so hard when we watched it. I love random stuff. Maybe you've already seen it, but if not, it's 1:30 well spent :)

So, maybe we were a little bored...

2009-03-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

funny pictures from the last few weeks...

2009-03-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

daddy's winter riding gear= deep space explorer

hudson eating his "peanut sandwich butter" with chopsticks

the boys love when daddy lets them sit on the mantle

hudson is baking lego cupcakes and sawyer is cooking balls

a fun new game where the boys ride on flying books...

it's been titled "the pagemaster"

sawyer sporting the new hat

hudson loved this crown he made at "play school"
(pre-preschool with friends)

i totally remember my celery being stringy like
this when i was little...

sawyer giving brobee kisses

love this kid's smile

this is what we see almost every night after putting hudson to bed.
he's currently suffering from "jack-in-the-box syndrome"

A little toddler tidbit...

2009-03-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

This past week Hudson came up to me and said, "Mommy! You look cute!" Hudson has never told me that I look cute before. What outfit was I wearing? Total scrubbies... A bright blue tank top under a gray shirt with pink writing on it, brown capri-length sweat pants and black and pink socks. I finally learned how to get a compliment from a two-year-old... Dress like one! :)

Daddy Shopping Trip

2009-03-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

While Mommy was at Stake Women's Conference this past Saturday, Daddy decided to take the boys on a shopping trip to Herald Square. That actually takes a lot of courage to brave that area with two boys on a Saturday, so I was impressed. Things on the list to buy were jeans and summer clothes for Hudson and sandals for both boys. None of that came home in shopping bags but this new hat and these very cool adult size sunglasses (as well as a colorful belt, not pictured) that Hudson picked out at H&M and wore the whole time, did. Oh, well...at least they had fun :)

I need more dresses that aren't black...

2009-03-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Want to win a cool handmade dress? Check out the link...

Badge of Courage

2009-03-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

Book basket 1, Sawyer 0

This should brighten your day...

2009-03-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

My friend Ryan posted this on Facebook. I think it's hilarious.

Pay It Forward

2009-02-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

"The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch though...Post this same thing on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift!"

I usually don't do stuff like this. Really I am only doing this because I know Sam will make something awesome. And I am married to someone who makes incredible things by hand, so let that entice you... :) He has no idea I'm posting this.

The Man Behind the Curtain

2009-02-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

I saw this man on the street walking home from church last week. Corner of 71st and Broadway. Who is this man, you may be asking? Carlton Cuse, Executive Producer of LOST. I may not have flagged this man down and told him that Cameron and I love his show and that our second born son is named after Sawyer on LOST (he's not) but it still blew my mind to see him in the flesh.

We love LOST. We can't help ourselves. And we wouldn't want to if we could. The fact that I even know who Carlton Cuse is shows the extent of our devotion.

Cameron was interviewed for this post and his comment regarding Season 5 thus far is as follows:

"I'm liking it, pretty much. It's shaping up to possibly be one of the best seasons of television ever."

In closing, I would just like to thank Carlton (& Damon) for LOST and for letting us know that Jin is alive, as we suspected. But I will never forgive you for Charlie.

Sawyer is ONE!

2009-01-25T16:56:00.000-08:00

Our little guy Sawyer turned one this past Friday. We feel like the past year has flown by but we've loved every second we've had with him. Sawyer is just a squishy little ball of fun and adds so much to our family with his own little personality. He thinks he's just as big and old as Hudson and tried to prove it when he started walking 2.5 months ago. His current favorite activities include: walking around holding his belly, drinking his ba-ba, dancing and spinning in circles, running back and forth laughing and flapping his arms when he gets excited, pushing Lightning McQueen around the house and trying to mimic words like bye-bye, ma-ma, tiger (that one was a fluke). He loves to be tickled and laugh his hearty little laugh. We love him so much. Happy Birthday DJ Soy Sauce!

Here's a recap of Sawyer's big day:

Pancake breakfast with family complete with a match candle. We had normal candles but we went for excitement instead of convention.

The boys got new shirts for the big day. Hudson was included so he wouldn't feel too left out...not that he didn't pirate all the gifts later anyway :)

Here's a snap shot of Sawyer's Yo Gabba Gabba party. It was crazy and fun...13 kids + 10 adults in one little living room.

Cameron made some really awesome stuff for the party, including 'space invaders' that hung from the ceiling. The kids tried to shoot them down with our stomp rocket.

This is the giant Muno for 'Pin the Eye on the Muno'...

Sawyer LOVED his cupcake and ice cream, although he didn't really catch on to the concept of blowing out the candle :)

Hudson is now the proud owner of his own Gabba Gabba Land complete with all five characters (I realize this means nothing to most of you :), also made by Cameron for the party.

Georgia on My Mind...

2009-01-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

First off, I think it is fair to say that GA has the coolest state song ever. Although "Home Means Nevada" will always have a special place in my heart thanks to Nate Mack Monday mornings. Here are some more wonderful things that we encountered during our Christmas trip to the great southern state of Georgia:

Cameron's parents and brother Connor who we love and loved spending time with for the week we were there. They are currently serving as presidents of the GA Atlanta North Mission.

The Yellow River Game Ranch, a.k.a. Redneck Petting Zoo. Deer were running up to us to be fed and petted. There were bears, sheep, chickens, bison, mountain lions, peacocks, donkeys, raccoons, goats, ducks, foxes and much more including this guy:

The MONSTER PIG! The picture does not do him justice. He charged us at full speed for food, which was very slow due to his obesity, but he was ferocious. Hudson wouldn't go within 10 feet of him. He still makes me happy just looking at the picture.

We also visited Stone Mountain on a beautiful, overcast day. We had the grounds to ourselves since it was Christmas Eve.

Christmas! Most notably Sawyer's first Christmas. He carried around two jingle bells the whole time to show his festivity.

We also got to spend time with the Cotterell cousins who came the day after Christmas. We spent our last full day there with everyone in Atlanta at Coke World...

...and the aquarium, which was amazing. The boys loved the sea life.

And last but not least...this beautiful display adorning someone's yard. I was hoping to see some good cliché southern yard decorations and this fit the bill.

The "Two-Year-Old Filter" Applied to Church

2009-01-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

It's interesting to see how things filter through the mind of a two-year-old. Every week in church, after every single prayer or "amen", Hudson joyfully exclaims: "Yea! Time for nursery!" Last night during FHE, we sang "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. He refused to sing anything but "Jesus wants me for a dinosaur" in his best growling voice. When asked, "Who do we pray to?", he answered, "A Ghost". And finally every time we mention President Monson, he yells, "President MONSTER!"

Travel Log...

2008-12-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

For two weeks in November we headed out to Las Vegas (with a few days in UT). We love getting to spend some time with friends and family that we're far away from most of the year. I even survived my first flight with just me and the boys, as our responsible bread-winner was not able to join us until Thanksgiving week. A fun time was had by all. Here are some highlights...

the boys first trip to the Bellagio fountains

lots of play time with cousins

the traditional johnson play-in-the-dirt extravaganza

my beautiful cousin lisa's wedding

visiting the cotterell cousins

celebrating grandma robert's 90th birthday

play time with old friends

thanksgiving dinner

and only in Vegas, a trip to the Christmas cactus garden

To see all our photos...

Happy Birthday Cameron!

2008-11-06T14:06:00.001-08:00

To the most amazing husband and father in the world...Happy Birthday! Being married to you has been even more wonderful than I could have imagined. My life is happy every day because of you. I love you so much!

Halloween'd Out!

2008-11-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

It kind of bugs me when people wish away great events in life just because of the effort it takes to bring them to pass...however, I have to admit that I'm a little bit glad that Halloween is over! I'm sure the feeling is mutual concerning our blog as you look at the third Halloween posting in a row :)

We threw our second annual Halloween party on the 25th and it was a smashing success. Last years party came to fruition out of our desire to throw the ward Halloween party that was not happening any other way. The irresistible desire to throw parties and other social gatherings runs in my blood as anyone who knows my mom can attest (love you Mom!) and Cameron is the same way. It went well but was so much work that Cameron and I hardly had time to enjoy it. We learned our lesson and simplified things this year. Plus, we had it at our friends' building where they can reserved the party room, conference room, billiard room and theater, so it was nice to have some extra space.

On Halloween in NYC, they close down certain streets for trick-or-treating and that is where most people go. We went to one lined with decorated brownstones and it was packed! Not that we expected any less :). One fun addition this year, was that someone beamed the Bat sign onto their brownstone and then had superheroes including Batman and Spiderman repelling and climbing all over the building. Hudson was riveted. We spent about a half hour making our way down the street, then picked up some pizza (our Halloween tradition) and Magnolia bakery treats, then called it a night!

Pictures from our party and trick-or-treating are in our October album.

I love these pictures

2008-10-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

I noticed this hand print on our chair one day. I have no idea when it appeared or what was all over Hudson's hand but it made me really happy. I felt like it was such a symbolic little representation of our life now. I kind of didn't want to clean it off but it was really sticky...

Sleepy Hollow

2008-10-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

I may be the only one, but I didn't realize that Sleepy Hollow was a real town until I moved to NYC. I remember watching the animated Disney remake of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow many times when I was little but the opening sequence telling the exact location: just a little ways up the Hudson River from Manhattan, obviously didn't stick with me. Nevertheless, Halloweentown is alive and well. This past weekend we attended the Legends event:

"At Philipsburg Manor, lit by candle lanterns and bonfires, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow lives and the Headless Horseman still rides! During this wildly popular, classic Halloween event, the grounds transform into a haunted landscape visited by goblins and ghosts from Hudson Valley folklore. Wander through at your own pace while ghouls, witches, pirates, and apparitions come eerily to life."

It was a lot of fun and we love it when people go all out for a holiday. The photo above is one picture of the headless horseman taken right before he rode through a tree and got stuck in the branches :) Here are some more photos of our excursion on Saturday. We drove through CT and also visited the Union Church in Sleepy Hollow where the Rockefellers commissioned Chagall and Matisse to do 9 stained glass windows. Beautiful, but unfortunately you can't take pictures.

The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze!

2008-10-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

You may not be able to tell from this photo, but these are ferocious pirates made out of flaming jack-o-lanterns. They are one of the many amazing pumpkin creations we saw this past week at The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze at the Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. Weird name for a town, huh. Here's what they say about the blaze:

...more than 4,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated Jack O'Lanterns. Visitors meander through a woodsy, darkened, riverside landscape and discover a breathtaking, artistic display: dinosaurs, snakes, giant spider webs, ghosts, fish, mushrooms, flowers, clowns...all made of pumpkins! Enhanced by professional lighting and steeped in spooky music and sound effects, this must-see event is a delight for all senses!

Check out the rest of our photos...

Good Times

2008-10-14T13:25:00.001-07:00

I have many sweet memories of my Grandma Olive turning on the Lawrence Welk show after many a Sunday dinner at her house. This is pretty much how I remember it.

Here's how it's going to work...

2008-10-14T11:46:00.000-07:00

For a while now, I've been trying to figure out the right answer to the blog dilemma. Have a "normal" blog that everyone is used to or have a website where we can post photo albums, videos and more for grandparents and other loved ones who don't get to be a part of our everyday life due to geographic restrictions. Plus it's always fun to be a little different. So, in the latest effort to find a happy medium, we are going to have both. The website can act as an extended edition where you can find full photo albums of events and things posted here plus much, much more. I'll provide the links. We'll see how this goes...

Happy Blogging. I like fireworks.