Finally on his 5th day, he is allowed in the play room.
Last Tuesday our little Jacob was admitted to the hospital. He has been quite sick for some time and has not been able to recover on his own. He stopped gaining weight back in April because his body was focusing all of its energy on fighting the ulcers and inflammation lining his large intestine. A colonoscopy revealed that he most likely has ulcerative colitis, a disease that generally affects older teenagers and adults. Jacob has been the most patient little patient. He has endured more than any small child should ever have to go through. He had an IV in his right hand for the first 5 days of his stay, and then they transfered it to his foot yesterday. He is happy to use both hands, but has a hard time walking around with a big board on his foot. I can't handle getting into specifics of other tests and procedures they have done to him because it makes me feel too depressed. Thank you to everyone who is praying for our little Jacob and our family. This has been the most trying experience of our lives and we wouldn't be able to endure it without the support of our family and friends. Jacob is still in the hospital as of today. He has a CT scan scheduled for tomorrow. I hope he is well enough to return home this week. Please keep him in your prayers.
My mom, Ethan, Jacob, and I drove out to Mesa to celebrate my niece's 3rd birthday. She had a Hawaiian themed birthday party which turned out really fun.
Our handsome big boy! You can see a picture of me on the collage in the background. That's funny, I just noticed that! :)
Ethan just started preschool today and loves it! It's so nice to have an activity for him to look forward to twice a week. He's such a ball of energy and thrives when he has somewhere to expend it. I didn't get emotional dropping him off and he didn't seem to care when I left. I guess we were both very ready for him to start school. It sounds like he got along with his classmates today and had fun participating in the different activities his teachers shared. He said his teacher told him all about ladybugs and he seemed really excited about it.
Jacob and I dropping Ethan off in his classroom
The rainbow classroom. Ethan has four girls and eight boys in his class!
We recently had our annual Long gathering at Tom and Jeannette's and thoroughly enjoyed catching up with everyone. Our kids had a blast connecting with their (2nd?) cousins and Ethan insisted that we have to go back to Tom and Jeannette's house again really soon. We feel blessed to be a part of such a great family!
The first stop on our summer vacation was in St. George. We wanted to visit the St. George Temple, but first came across the St. George Tabernacle. We did a tour there and learned some interesting history about the city. Next we visited the temple grounds, where a newly married couple was being photographed. I always love to see that! Brings back memories of our own wedding day. After we finished looking around the temple and going through the visitor's center, we had lunch at Nielsen's Frozen Custard. Yum! For anyone who loves ice cream, you can't pass through St. George or Bountiful, UT without stopping in for this delicious treat! Next on our trek north on the I-15, we stopped into Cove Fort and did a tour there. I've passed it so many times throughout my life, but can't remember ever stopping in to learn more about it. We found it very interesting. That night we stayed at Grandma Turner's house in Orem, UT.
Idaho Falls Temple
We drove from Orem to Island Park, ID the next day, with plenty of stops along the way. Our favorite stop was at the Idaho Falls Temple. It's so beautiful! The kids enjoyed stretching their little legs on the temple grounds (we didn't see any newlyweds this time).
Island Park, ID
Our first full day at the cabin also happened to be my mom's birthday. She got some special birthday hugs from all four of her grandchildren. The older ones were super excited about Grandma's birthday cake.
Yellowstone National Park, Day 1
On our first day inside the park, our final goal was to see Old Faithful. Along the way we made a couple of other stops and saw some amazingly beautiful geysers. As you can see, little J had to sneak in a nap on the go. Ethan quickly bonded with Jacob Stoddard, and those two hung out a good part of the reunion. We also had our first wildlife sighting of a couple of elk. One of them was collared.
Mack's Inn, Mt. Sawtelle, and Roasting Marshmallows
The next day one of Josh's former missionary companions, Mike, came up to hang out with us. First we went to Mack's Inn to see Johnny Sack's cabin and Big Spring. Next we drove to Sawtelle Peak. The drive was a bit scary because the road up the mountain was narrow and unpaved. I'm glad we went up, though. From the summit, we could see out over three states (Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming) and a good park of Yellowstone Park. I think everyone enjoyed the campfire that night, making s'mores and other creative roasted marshmallow snacks.
Geyser Basin
Wednesday we returned to the park to view Geyser Basin. It was breathtaking! We ended up hiking around on some dirt trails, pushing the double stroller over some pretty rough terrain. On the way home that day, we got stuck in about an hour of traffic. We kept our fingers crossed that it was an animal sighting and not a car accident. By the time we got up to the front, we were not disappointed. A bison was sunbathing in the middle of the road, and his family was off to the side, causing quite a traffic jam. It was amazing to be that close to such a huge animal in the wild!
West Yellowstone
The next day we hung out in West Yellowstone without actually entering the park. We saw a couple of movies at the IMAX theater (Yellowstone and Bears) and Josh took Ethan to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center where he could see wolves and bears up close.
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Our final day in the park was my personal favorite. We saw several bison throughout the day, an eagle's nest with the baby looking out and the mother perched nearby, and the views of the river, waterfalls, and canyon were beyond description. We also got caught in a brief, but heavy cloud burst. You can see the looming clouds in the scenic pictures.
Journey Home
We had to make lots of stops on the way home. Ethan was doing fine thanks to the DVD player that we borrowed, but Jacob decided he was done with his car seat. Poor little guy. By the time we got in to Vegas to look for our hotel for the night, he was crying so hard that he threw up. That was the first time he'd ever done that. :o( These are some pictures from three of our stops: one for a Twinkie break, one to take a look at the Rexberg, ID Temple, and one was a lunch break when Jacob learned how to pucker up for a kiss!
Here are some cute pictures of Ethan, Dan, and Judy from earlier this month. Ethan really did have a great time. I'm not sure why he looks mad/comatose in his pictures! lol He looks really ticked at Tinkerbell. lol
Today when Ethan asked for a popsicle, I told him yes, but that he'd have to eat it out on the front porch because it would be messy. He happily agreed to my terms and took his popsicle out to the porch swing. A few minutes later I grabbed my camera thinking I'd get a cute picture of a sticky Ethan. I was surprised to see he had already finished off his treat, with just one little drip on his shirt, and was relaxing in the swing. I was excited to have him sitting still long enough to take a couple cute pictures of my little man.
Our city library has a children's summer reading program. If a child reads four books per week, then they get a coupon for a free ice cream. I signed up both Ethan and Jacob. So every week we go to the library, check out four books, sit outside the library on the grass, and I read stories to them. I'm not sure how much they are listening, as you can tell from the pictures, but they enjoy this outing. We then go return our books and pick up our ice cream coupon and go out for ice cream. It's nice to have something fun like this to do during the hot summer days!
Here's a video clip of the aforementioned Independence Day fireworks at the University of Redlands. Ethan absolutely loved the show and asks to see this clip over and over again.
This was the first year we took Ethan to a fireworks show. In years past we always decided that he was too young and would be scared from the loud explosions. He ended up loving the fireworks show and has asked me everyday since the 4th if we can see the fireworks again. My dad, sister, and bro-in-law came with us, while Josh graciously stayed home with Jacob. It was a great celebration at the University of Redlands. I haven't been to a firework show for years and this show exceeded my expectations. Ethan drank so much of my dad's and Spencer's drinks that I had to take him potty twice within one hour. He was so thirsty! Not to mention he loves sugary cola drinks.
We wanted to capture Ethan and Jacob playing together, but Josh and I just noticed that it looks like Ethan is measuring Jacob's head in one picture and ready to drill through his head in the next! Jacob is playing the willing participant. We got a good chuckle out of those two shots.
Ethan wanted to meet Mickey Mouse, but was hiding behind his hat and glasses.
Mickey Mouse decided to take matters into his own giant hands. Ethan is normally very particular about how he wears his hat by wearing it really low on his face. He won't let anyone adjust it; however, when Mickey adjusted it, he didn't protest even the tiniest bit.
We had a fun day at Josh's parents' house to celebrate and honor our fathers and husbands. Judy made steaks and I made garlic mashed potatoes. A manly man meal for the men in our lives. I'm so grateful for my husband, for my father, and for my father-in-law. I feel blessed to have these wonderful and honorable men in my life.
It's me, Josh, making a rare appearance posting something on our family blog! Normally I'm busy working on my LOST blog, my computer security blog, or one of my podcasts (or, you know, working at my real job), but I thought this Father's Day gift from Ethan was really cute and had to post it myself!
So I guess now that Jacob is one year old, he decided to get his first tooth. I took him in for his immunizations on Monday and the doctor said his gums looked tender and when I mentioned that he frequently tugs on his ears, she said he is definitely teething. The very next day I could see his first little tooth cutting through on the bottom!
That same day I was vacuuming the house and left the boys downstairs while I vacuumed upstairs. When I came down to put the vacuum away, Jacob was on the third stair and started to sit down. Luckily Josh caught him before he had a tumble down the stairs. Stair gate time! I need to get in the habit of putting it up. Today I was watching both boys downstairs and didn't have the gate up because I figured Jacob just likes to stay near me and wouldn't attempt the stairs. Plus, the downstairs isn't very big so I figured I could keep my eye on him wherever he is. Well, Ethan had me distracted with something for maybe 30 seconds or so, and when I looked up to find Jacob, he was half way up the stairs! I have never jumped up so fast to dash to the rescue. He started sitting down right before I got to him and fell back one step before I caught him. You better believe the gate went up immediately. I completely underestimated my little munchkin. If I had even taken one second longer to get to him, he would've had a nasty fall. My heart was racing and my hands shaking after rescuing him just thinking of what could've happened to him. Now I know the gate needs to go up every time he's downstairs. Whew!
Josh, Jacob, and Ethan in the parking lot after the movie
Ethan and Syvanah during their bug hunt
Birthday festivities and cake
To celebrate our little man's special day, we took Ethan and Jacob to see the new Pixar movie "Up" and Jacob did surprisingly well. I thought he'd be scared of the loud sounds, but he didn't seem bothered by it. He was getting really wiggly and tired by the end, but we made it through his first movie!
The following day we threw a family party. Josh's mom told me a while back that she was making a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed quilt for his birthday gift, and so I decided to go with a bug themed birthday party. To start off, Ethan and Syvanah enjoyed a bug hunt with their new bug cages. Aunt Mackenzy set out lots of fake bugs in the backyard for the kids to find. Before the game started, Syvanah tried picking one up and so Mackenzy told her not to or else they would bite her. Well, you probably guessed it, when the game started, she didn't want to pick up the bugs and when Shelby finally made her do it, she cried. She did however, quickly figure out that the bugs weren't real and stopped crying. We enjoyed a Mexican-style potluck dinner featuring Aunt Sue and Grandma Judy's delicious chicken enchiladas with green sauce and beef enchiladas with red sauce. Yum! Jacob's birthday cake was caterpillar shaped, formed out of green frosted cupcakes and a red frosted head to resemble the "Very Hungry Caterpillar." The guests all had the green cupcakes and Jacob got to eat the head, which was Josh's masterpiece. Originally, the head turned out pink, but Josh mixed a little powdered sugar with red food dye and painted the cake red. Then he dyed the red licorice black using a mixture of food dyes. Good job, honey! Grandma and Grandpa Taylor provided their famous homemade peach ice cream to go along with the cake. Later on, we played a game of pin the bee on the flower. That was pretty fun, except poor Ethan ran into the wall while he was blindfolded. He was a good sport about it though. Jacob received a lot of darling toys which he and Ethan have been thoroughly enjoying! Thanks to everyone who helped make this a birthday to remember!
Jacob had an awesome first birthday! We love him so much!
My sister Shelby is visiting from Arizona, which means Ethan and Jacob get to play with their cousins Taylor and Syvanah. I wanted to share this cute picture of all four of them playing at our house.
(If you double click on the collage, you can view it larger.) Thanks to Mom and Dad Long, we had a fun family weekend getaway to Indio to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary! The weather was unusually pleasant for this time of year with highs in the 80s. (Josh and I went two years ago and endured weather of 120°!)
We checked into the Worldmark resort on Thursday afternoon and spent that evening having dinner and getting settled into our two-bedroom room, which Ethan enthusiastically called our new home!
On Friday we spent a lot of time playing at the one-foot deep kiddie pool. It was perfect for Ethan! He played in there for two hours straight! Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the camera down to the pool so we don't have any pictures of that. Mom and Dad Long arrived Friday evening to help with the children so that Josh and I could enjoy an evening out. We dined at the Olive Garden in Palm Desert, and then we searched around for a movie theater that was playing "Star Trek." We were unsuccessful at that and so headed back to the resort.
Saturday we all went to the Living Desert park to look at the animals. When we got home we relaxed for a little while, then Josh and I headed down to the Lazy River at the resort. Strangely enough, it was a little too cold outside even though the water was heated, so we ended up in the jacuzzi. When our fingers started getting pruney, we headed back up to our room to order pizza and watch Wall-E with Dad, Jacob, and Ethan. Mom had come down with a fever that night and was resting.
Sunday morning, we got up and got ready for a 9:00 church meeting. After speeding over to the church, we discovered an empty parking lot. Apparently, we happened to be visiting Indio during their Stake Conference. Not knowing where to go from there, we headed back to the resort to start gathering our things. We checked out at noon and were sad to leave, but look forward to another trip to that beautiful resort in the future!
One Sunday a month my extended family members get together for a potluck dinner. We rotate around between the Taylors', Chows', and our home. It's a lot of fun. Ethan especially loves his Grandmas, Grandpas, crazy Aunties and Uncles, and his cousins. He gets really hyper, which makes getting a picture of him very difficult. Josh and I have found that capturing him on video is much more effective. However, Jacob holds nice and still for very cute pictures.
What a simple way to build family unity, have some good laughs, and create memories that will last a lifetime. Thanks Alyse, for coming up with this tradition!
Last week Ethan and Jacob were invited to a birthday party for their buddy Orion. It was at a place called "My Gym," where there is a wide array of activities for children to do, such as a trampoline, ball pit, ladder/slide, barrels, and hula hoops, to name a few. My boys had such a fun time and Ethan really worked up a sweat, too. It'd be nice if he had the opportunity to use up this kind of energy everyday!
We celebrated Memorial Day at the park with our extended family members. We enjoyed a potluck dinner and then let the kids play. It was extra special this year because Grandma Taylor was down visiting from Oregon and Shelby, Syvanah, and Taylor were visiting from Arizona. We are truly blessed with amazing family. What a wonderful opportunity to gather in honor of those who have given their lives from our country. We are so grateful for America and for all the brave men and women throughout history who have sacrificed their lives in defense of our freedom. May God continue to bless this great nation!
Last week I had the opportunity to take the boys to the Redlands Fire Station on a tour. It was fun to see all the trucks and gear up close. Ethan had a great time, but cried a bunch because he couldn't take away his buddy's toy fire truck. As you can see in some of the pictures, he did end up playing with the truck by the end of the tour. The firemen allowed the children to climb through the truck to get a photo taken as they came out the other side. I thought that would've been really cute, but Ethan just cried over the toy truck and said he didn't want to climb into the fire truck. After we got home from the tour he decided that he wanted to go back and climb in the fire truck. Too late, little guy! Ethan also cried when the fireman was teaching the children how to stop, drop, and roll. All the other kids had fun rolling on the floor, but when I nudged Ethan to get on the floor, he threw himself down all dramatically and started bawling. I think most moms would've been flustered or embarrassed, but I'm so used to Ethan's drama that I don't even feel embarrassed anymore. Even with the fireman and other moms looking at me wondering what happened to my kid, I just smile and wait for Ethan to get distracted and stop with his bawling.
Josh took Ethan camping for the annual Fathers and Sons overnighter in our ward. They went up Friday night and came home late Saturday morning. Ethan had the time of his life! He's told me several times between yesterday and today that he wants to go camping again. Maybe next year.
This is totally off-topic, but I thought it was really funny: Last night when Josh was helping Ethan get his pajamas on, Josh put Ethan's pajama shirt on his own head. Ethan thought that was really funny and said, "You smell like a goat!" Josh quickly figured out that he meant to say, "You look like a ghost!" We had a good chuckle over that one.
Our sweet Jacob is now 11 months old! It's hard to believe he will be one year old in another month. Time has gone so fast since he was born. He's been such a joy to have as a baby. We love him with all our hearts and can't imagine our family without him. It's cute to see how much he loves his big brother, Ethan. He will follow Ethan wherever he goes, crawling as fast as he can to keep up. His whole countenance lightens up whenever he sees his daddy. He will smile and point at Josh to play with him. He also loves to play peekaboo. Jacob is starting to warm up to other people, although he is still a mama's boy.
Last Friday morning Ethan accidentally swallowed a small but strong magnet. He panicked after it happened, knowing that he shouldn't be eating nonfood objects. I called Poison Control to find out if we needed to take him in to his doctor, but they assured me there was no potential for poisoning from a magnet. However, they did say that we had to dig through his stools for the next couple of days to make sure the magnet passed. If we couldn't find it, then we'd have to take him in for x-rays, which we really wanted to avoid. After three days and several dry heaves later, I'm proud to announce that we found the magnet this morning. Josh and I had this ingenious idea to save us some of the horror of the task of looking for it. We took another very strong magnet and used it to pull out the other one. Ethan is relieved that the magnet is not in his tummy anymore and we are even more relieved that we no longer have to search for it.
Happy Mother's Day! I'm really excited for Josh's gifts to me. For his first gift, he moved the computer and computer desk out of Jacob's room into our bedroom! Yay! Now I can blog more regularly and add pictures more easily than before. What a great gift! It was so hard to use the computer before because normally I wanted to work on this while Jacob was napping, but since the computer was in his room, I couldn't. Anyway, problem solved, and I'm one happy mommy! I'm also excited to be able to decorate Jacob's room into a baby's room. The other gift was a beautiful red rose bouquet, which is the centerpiece on our brand new breakfast nook kitchen table set (thanks Mom & Dad Long!).
Later today we are having family over and all the married men are providing dinner. Josh is working on the lasagna right now. I'm so proud of him!
In church today, the primary children sang two Mother's Day songs to the congregation. When the children were invited to the front to sing, Ethan started walking up, then he changed his mind and came back and sat down with us. I felt sad because I was really looking forward to seeing him sing. For the second song, all the children received a rose to give to their moms, so I told Ethan, "go up and get a flower." He said ok and headed up to the front for the second song. The only sad part about it was he was in the back since he went up late, so I couldn't see his cute little face.
I'm embarrassed that this is my first post for the entire year, but maybe if I get it over with, it won't be so hard to continue on from here. We will see. Anyway, the most recent news around here is that Jacob is in the 3rd percentile for his weight and 0 percentile for his height. If anyone has any advice to boost his growth, let me know. I've been feeding him more at each meal, which he doesn't seem to mind, so we will continue on from there.
I'm dedicating this post to Shelby because she inspired me to get back into blogging, reminding me what a great family history this can be... and it's so much more fun than writing in a journal!
On Saturday we attended the Hillside Ward Fall Festival with my parents, Mackenzy, and Grandma Taylor. Before heading over to the church building for the party, Ethan, Josh, and I carved a jack-o-lantern. It's fun having a child old enough to really get into the holiday festivities this year. He helped scoop out the seeds from the pumpkin and picked out which facial design he wanted from a few that Josh sketched out. After carving the pumpkin, we got the boys ready in their costumes. Ethan is a safari guide this year, and Jacob went from being a surfer boy to a train conductor to a slumber party baby. My mom dressed up as a slumber party girl and Mackenzy was a gangster.
Today I'm taking the boys to the Live Oak Pumpkin Patch with the mom's group from my ward. I took Ethan last year and he enjoyed seeing all the pumpkins. Plus they have a petting zoo with goats and some other types of animals.
Next Thursday is our ward's primary Halloween party at a retirement home. The kids get to dress up in their costumes, then they will sing for the residents, and at the end, the residents like to hand out candies to the children. Although Ethan isn't officially primary age, I'm going to dress him up and let him trick or treat to the residents since he will be there with me anyway. It's one of the perks he gets for having his mommy serve in primary.
Next Friday we are driving out to Mesa to visit my sister and her family. Since that is Halloween day, we plan on taking the children out trick or treating to some of her friends from her ward. All in all, we are having an enjoyable holiday season and look forward to the upcoming events. I will post more pictures soon!
