NATHAN & JESSICA

Family Pictures

2011-10-03T21:13:00.001-07:00

Well, my amazing photographer, Angie, did it again! I love how these turned out!!!

How cute is this kid? Seriously, we're going to be chasing the girls away in a few years!

He isn't wearing his glasses because he lost them...again. I think we need to invest in a spare pair.

I know right now you're thinking, "Awww, how sweet!" It's not what you think my friends. Ethan is not giving Tyler a big juicy kiss. He is being fed a fruit snack. Just a little trick I had up my sleeve! ;)

And finally a few pics of our little pumpkin. I can not believe how fast my baby is growing up!

Funny Boy

2011-06-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

Situation #1:

As most of you know, my mom is Korean. She often has Korean people over at her house, and many of them bring their kids to visit as well. What you may not know is that Korean kids are wild. Consequently, Tyler hates it when "Korean people" are at my parents' since the kids tend to destroy his toys. Well, it came as quite of a shock when we told him that HE is Korean too! Ok, so he's only a quarter Korean, but still, he has it in his blood. The funny thing is, that now he loves anything Korean! And he loves to tell people that he is a "quarter Korean".

One day, Ty's little neighbor friend was at our house playing. Tyler ran up to me to ask (in a very serious tone) "Can I tell Elissa what I am?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Ty: "You know...that I'm a quarter Korean" (whispered)
Me: "That's fine."
Ty: "Elissa, did you know that I'm a quarter Korean?"
Elissa: "What?!? You're not a quarter Queen! You're not even a girl!"

Situation #2

My kids have big heads. I mean, REALLY big heads. They are always 100 percentile in the head department. We tell them that it's to hold all their brains, but honestly, it's kind of a pain when it comes to clothing. It's hard to find shirts & sweaters that fit over their big noggins. And hoodies...forget about it! One day, as I'm getting Ethan dressed, I overhear Tyler in his room grunting & mumbling "Come on big head!" I peeked in to find him struggling pulling a shirt over his head.

Situation #3

Growing up, I hated going out to eat at buffets. I still don't love them, but I do love the variety of foods to feed to my children. And my kids love buffets. A couple months ago when my parents had their wedding anniversary, they invited us to go out to eat with them and they let Tyler choose. So where did he pick? Why "Chuck -a- Grandma" of course!

Situation #4

There are a couple of strange things about me. I won't reveal them all right now, but one thing is that I love the smell of rubber. Strange, I know. Ever since I can remember, I've loved the smell of tires, inner tubes, etc.

One day I was out shopping at Target with my boys for some church shoes for them. When we got to the shoe aisle, there were on display, a lot of rain boots. As soon as we were within sniffing distance, Ty sticks up his nose and says "Mmmmm...what is that WONDERFUL smell?!? It smells beautiful!" I was dying! Apparently, weird traits (like loving the smell of rubber) can be passed onto your children. Who knew?

Summer Lovin'

2011-06-27T15:50:00.001-07:00

I love summer! And now that I have kids, I think I love it even more. The winter months are hard for my two little boys who LOVE to be outside. We've been spending countless hours watching soccer practice

Going on long evening bike rides

Catching "bugs" (isn't my dad such a good sport!)

Cooking, grilling & baking. I love Ty's new "chef's hat"

Playing in the sand

And eating lots of messy treats: popsicles, ice cream, and E's favorite...chocolate!

I'm proud to say that we officially have a walker! 15 months and not a day sooner. Good thing cause this mama's arms couldn't handle lugging around this 26-pound cutie for very much longer!

Here is Ethan trying to make his great escape. Luckily he couldn't squeeze out past his shoulders. :)

Thomas, Swimming & More

2011-06-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to Heber Railroad's Day Out with Thomas this year. To say that Tyler was excited would be an understatement. He loves trains, cars, planes, you know, all the normal boy stuff. And in the last year or so has become a little obsessed with Thomas.

In addition to the train ride (which thank goodness was only 25 minutes!), there are a bunch of other activities for the kiddos. Ethan loved the mini-golf & imagination center.

I'm so glad that I bought the tickets for Friday morning. It was a little crowded & crazy even then. I can't imagine what Saturday & Monday would have been like! Ethan was exhausted & fell asleep in the car about 1 minute after we left.
Yesterday was the first time it was warm enough to go to the pool. It was Ethan's first time ever, and I think I should have let him get used to the place before I took him in. He was a little overwhelmed, so we wrapped up in a towel and relaxed on the sidelines for a bit.
Then after an hour of snuggling, I decided to try it again at his pace this time. He obviously warmed up & enjoyed himself the second time around.

I love this picture! It makes my heart melt. Sometime Tyler can be so sweet with his little brother. I love capturing moments like this!

On a sort of unrelated note, Ethan has discovered that he can climb into things. Boxes, drawers, pretty much anything his cute little body can fit into! He looks so proud of himself, doesn't he?
And lastly, here is a picture that Tyler drew in Primary the other week. In case you can't tell, it's his self-portrait. It makes me smile. :)

Ethan's Dol

2011-04-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

So it's been almost a month since Ethan's party, and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. I cannot believe my baby is already one! Where did the last year go? He is such a happy little boy, and full of personality, as you can see below. What a tease!

My mom was amazing (again!) and cooked for two days straight to make this delicious feast. Lots of yummy Korean food for the whole family to enjoy. Thanks Mom! There were lots more people there, but we forgot to get a big group shot.

Ethan kept making this face while we were trying to take pictures. He was tired & ready for a nap!

Tyler on the other hand, was his usual charming self. We're still working on a "natural" smile for pictures. :)

The best shots are always the candids...

After everyone had their fill of food, Ethan had to "choose his destiny." The doljabi is a traditional ritual where several items (pen & paper, mouse, money, rolling pin, whistle, book, thread) are placed in front of the child. Then they pick the items that foretell their future. For example, if the child picks up a book, he is destined to be a scholar. If he picks up money, he will be wealthy. If the child picks up the thread, it is believed he will live a long life.

Ethan chose the money first. Went straight for it! Which is funny, since I've never let him play with money, real or fake. Hopefully this future is real...I'd like my children to support me in a manner in which I'd like to become accustom. ;)

Next was the computer mouse...of course!

Here's the traditional Korean rice cake. I actually made this one myself, thanks to YouTube & a girl named Mangchi.

And the cake for him to devour. Didn't it turn out cute?

He wasn't quite sure what to do with it...

So he squished it...

And played with it...

Then Tyler had to try some...

And share with his brother, since he wasn't eating it himself.

We love you Ethan!

Ethan's 1-Year Pics

2011-03-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

In Korea, a baby's first birthday (or "dol") is a big deal. You dress them up in a traditional "hanbok" & have a big dinner, or feast as my in-laws like to call it. It's supposed to be HUGE, like a wedding reception, but my family tones it down a little bit. We're having the big party on Saturday, so I'll post pictures then. But here are some pics that I had taken last week of Ethan in his hanbok.

Not only Ethan has to wear a hanbok for the celebration, we all do. So I took Tyler along to have his pictures taken as well.

I have a large canvas print of Tyler in his dol hanbok, so I'm having this one of Ethan blown up too.

This was the only halfway decent picture of the two of them together. Unfortunately Ethan refused to smile at this point of the photo shoot. Luckily, Tyler made up for it with his giant cheeser grin.

I made a little tie and diaper cover for the session. I think they turned out pretty cute.

He looks like such a little man in a vest & tie. It makes me smile. :)

Am I a mean mom for thinking that the crying pictures are the cutest? Just to let you know, he wasn't really crying. This is his "fake cry" letting us know that he was WAY beyond done!

My little cheeseball

2011-03-08T19:45:00.001-08:00

I realize that these are probably funnier to me since he's my child, but here are some funny things that Tyler has in the past few months:

Situation 1: For FHE we were discussing the Christ's birth, death & resurrection.
Ty: What is a resurrection?
Me: After you die, Heavenly Father brings you back to life. That's called being resurrected.
Ty: So, you're good as new?
Me: Yes.
Ty: Oh, so you mean that Halmoni (his grandma) won't be old anymore? She'll be brand new!

Situation 2: When my mom cooks rice, she often puts some sort of small bean (lentil, chickpea) in as well. Ty doesn't really care for the beans, but eats them anyway. For Halloween, he got some Krispy Rice chocolate.
Ty: What kind of chocolate is this?
Me: That chocolate has rice in it.
Ty: But does it have beans too? Yuck!

Situation 3: Every year, I buy boxes of apples as gifts for my previous music teachers. Tyler came with me to the red barn to buy them this year. They are kept in a big refrigerated room.
Ty: Whoa! Some body needs to turn the air conditioner off in here!

Situation 4: During Christmastime there's always a lot of talk about "what you want for Christmas."
Ty: Uma, what do you want for Christmas?
Me: Ummm...I don't know. What do you think I would want?
Ty: Oh, I know the perfect thing! A Laundry Folding Robot! (right on kiddo, right on!)

Situation 5: My mom had some Koreans visiting over the holidays.
Ty: Did you know that there are two kinds of people?
Me: What?
Ty: Yeah. There's Korean people, and there's regular people!

Situation 6: At a family Christmas party, we saw Nate's cousin & her little (adopted) African-American boy. Remember, we live in Utah, so there's not that many ethnic people around. ;)
Ty: Why does that boy have dark skin?
Me: Because people are born with all different shades of skin.
Ty: Oh, I get it. It's like he's chocolate and I'm vanilla!

Situation 7: Tyler is prone to get pneumonia. Last year alone, he had it 3 times. We're always telling him to try not to cough. It was Ty's turn to say family prayer one night & he prayed for help him not to cough. The next morning...
Me: You didn't cough very much last night.
Ty: Nope. You know why?
Me: Why?
Ty: Because Heavenly Father keeps the coughs away with lots of MAGIC!

Situation 8: We have 9 am church now, which means that we are always in a hurry getting ready. And Tyler takes about 30 minutes (at least) to eat a meal. We were running a little late one Sunday...
Me: Tyler, you need to eat your breakfast really fast.
Ty: Why?
Me: Because we're going to be late for church.
Ty: Oh. Is it "fast" Sunday?

Situation 9: It was Tyler's turn to pray again one evening. I'm trying to get him to come up with things to pray for on his own, so I often ask him to think about what he's thankful for when he's praying. These are a few of my favorites...
-Thankful for Christmas to come
-Thankful for my birthday to come
-Thankful for springtime & for the Spanish language

I've Reached My Limit

2011-03-07T15:48:00.001-08:00

Apparently two kids is my limit. It's taken me a very long time to get back into the swing of things. After 10 months, I finally feel like I'm back on a normal laundry/cleaning/exercise schedule. We won't mention my lack of blogging, but hopefully that will recover soon too. So here is the update. I was awful about taking pictures at Christmastime. Well, that's not entirely true. We did take a lot of movies, but most of them are too boring for anyone but grandparents to watch, so I won't put them up here.

Our kids are spoiled...by pretty much everyone's standards. Tyler got a box full of "Cars" from his brother (we're trying to win some love here), and now his collection is overflowing! His display box is completely full, but despite our objections, he still insists that he doesn't have ALL of them yet. Does a 4-year-old really need more than 130 Disney Cars? Really???

Tyler also got glasses! Nate was far-sighted when he was little & had glasses from the time he was three until he was sixteen. Ty was complaining about his eyes being tired & itchy, so I took him in and sure enough, he's just like his daddy! He hasn't complained about them since the first day, and has actually grown to love his glasses.

After the New Year, we took Ty to see a couple of theatre productions for kids, "Peter Pan" & "Babe." He loved them both, which made his daddy very happy. I'll be more excited when I get to take him to some concerts. ;)

Ty turned four! In tradition, I had to make his annual "Cars" birthday cake (detailed pics below). He had three parties (this kid knows how to milk it!) and we went to the dino museum on the actual birthday.

This picture just goes to prove that you can have fun playing in the sand no matter what age you are!

Here's the cake. I'm down to about 3-4 hours to make one now. That a big improvement from the first year's cake that took 8+ hours! Phew!

Now onto kiddo number two. Ethan has started to get around. Like his brother, he doesn't crawl, but chooses to scoot around on his bottom. It's pretty funny to watch, but makes me wonder, "What is up with my kids?" It's one thing to have ONE kid bum scoot, but TWO! That's just plain strange!

Ethan love his binky, but being the mean parents that we are, he only gets it during naps & bedtime. So he improvises by making a binky out of pretty much anything. Like a carrot....

Puzzle pieces....

Toy animals....

And my personal favorite, a french fry! HA!

Halloween

2010-11-22T13:58:00.000-08:00

Family Pics

2010-10-01T20:28:00.001-07:00

He likes to eat!

2010-09-23T13:00:00.001-07:00

Ethan loves food! Everything I give him, he likes. His favorite time of day is when he's in his high chair. I found these baby rice crackers to keep him busy while we eat. Here is he checking it out...

Gives it a taste...

And the verdict! Yummy!

On a completely unrelated note, I've decided that I'm crazy. Last week Chester got a new bed, and I decided to make him a quilt. That's right...a dog quilt! What kind of dog gets a quilt?!?

At least he likes it!

Lastly, I can't decide what color Ethan's eyes will be. By 6-months, Tyler's eyes were clearly brown. But with E, I'm not quite sure...

Tyler Quotes:

"I'm reading here. I need some peace & quiet."

A little preface for this quote. Tyler has had a comfort object/blankie since he was 4-months old. He loves it & it goes everywhere. It is a little blue dog blankie named Puppy.
"Haba (my dad) is a cow farmer. Bishop Daddy (his real name is Batty, but Ty thinks it's Daddy) is a horse farmer. And I am a puppy farmer!"

One morning, I was feeling especially frumpy & scroungy. So I asked Tyler his opinion.
Me: "How do I look today?"
Ty: "Good."
Me: "Really?"
Ty: "Yes Uma, you look beautiful & perfect!" (Way to melt my heart!)

After I changed Ethan's poopy diaper, I was carrying it to the trash when Ty asked:
Ty: "What's that in your hand?"
Me: (holding out the diaper) "A present for you!"
Ty: "Um...no thanks. It's not my birthday."

Our fish Max died a couple weeks ago. Consequently, Tyler has been asking a lot of questions about death.
Ty: "Why did Max die?"
Me: "Because he got old."
Ty: "Yeah, fish don't live very long. Where do fish go when they die?"
Me: "Um...to heaven I guess."
Ty: "No silly, they go in the potty!"

Our Little Chunk

2010-08-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

I just need to post Ethan's 4-month stats for my personal record. Weight: 16 lbs. 6 oz. Length: 25.5" He's 5-months old now, but better late than never!

Ethan has started sleeping really well at night, giving us a 8-9 hour stretch followed by another 2-3 hours.

He's also started solids. He loves everything I give him & gets so excited when I put him in the high chair. I guess he knows it's chow time! :)

Bath time has also become a favorite. Which is good, since he used to cry the entire time. Now he just splashes and giggles the whole time & makes gets his mommy soaking wet!

Swinging at the park with daddy...aren't they cute??

Ethan is such a happy baby, and laughs all the time (especially for his big brother). Tyler eats it up & is always trying to make the baby giggle. We love our boys!

Tyler has gotten really weird about getting his picture taken. He went from LOVING it & always wanting to be in every single picture to avoiding the camera all together. I have to sneak in the pics when he's not expecting it! So here's a couple from Onion Days.

Tyler Quotes:

Ty: "Uma, did you know that weeds are Chester's vegetables?
Me: "Really?"
Ty: "Yeah, he eats them cause they help him poo better!"

While Chester was doing tricks:
Ty: "Chester is Chesterriffic!"

And a couple old ones that I forgot to post...

Back when I was still pregnant:
Ty: "When the baby is born, your tummy is going to bust open!"
Me: "What?!? My tummy will bust open?"
Ty: "Yeah, and then the doctor will fix you with tape!"

Tyler & my sister playing with his Lightning McQueen & Mater birthday balloons:
Julie: "Look! Mater is dancing!" (pulling on the string of the balloon)
Ty: "No Emo, Mater can't dance...he's just a balloon!"
Julie: "Oh Tyler, where is your imagination?"
Ty: "I don't have one!"

Park City

2010-08-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

We took a little mini-vaca to Park City for our anniversary. And since I'm still "tethered" (i.e. nursing), the whole family came. We did the alpine slide & coaster, which Tyler LOVED!!! Ate out & played a lot of games. It was good to get away from home for a few days & relax.

100 Days Old

2010-07-06T13:48:00.001-07:00

We had a traditional Korean 100-day celebration for Ethan last week. Lots of yummy food and one ginormous rice cake!

Here are all the baby cousins together. Four boys in less than three months! It's going to be crazy in a couple of years! Yikes!

Ethan is such a happy baby now. He has outgrown most of his colic and as long as I don't eat certain foods, he's always smiling and laughing.

Man I love this kid!!!

2010-06-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

I was just downloading the pictures off of my camera & phone and had to post some of my favorites. Is there any doubt why I love this kid so much?

A first time for...lots of things!

2010-06-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how much has changed lately. Tyler is growing up so fast, and sometimes Nate and I look at each other and can't believe that we have TWO kids! Ethan has been colicky, making for long days and even longer nights. He has gas, and a LOT of it! After trying everything from elimination diets to colic tablets to baby chiropractics, we finally found baby probiotic drops. He's not cured, but things are definitely getting better & not worse! We still have to hold him a lot, and he still cries in pain, but at least now he's not inconsolable anymore. There's nothing worse than not being able to comfort your baby. We've shared a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of tears.
Tyler has had quite the adjustment getting used to a new baby. When Ethan was first born, Tyler pretty much just ignored his existence. Luckily, we have lots of family around that helped take Tyler on the days that he felt most neglected. After a few weeks, his attitude changed to dislike. One day, Nate & Ty were driving when Tyler started singing the Primary song "Happy Family." When he got to the end he sang, "We are a happy family! Because baby brother isn't part of the family!" Sad, but a little funny at the same time.

It's only taken two months for Ty to not only realize that Ethan is now a permanent fixture, but for him to start liking him! Now he talks to him, plays with him, and even asks to hold him!

Tyler had his first trip to the dentist. To prepare him, I told him all about what would happen and that he would have to keep his mouth open for a "really long time." He did great! And he took my advice a little too seriously...he wouldn't close his mouth for the entire time he was in the chair (45 minutes!).
And I know this may be a silly first to post about, but we were so shocked we just had to take a picture. Tyler & I had the stomach flu this week, which means lots of TV. Apparently he was so tired from being sick and not sleeping well, that he fell asleep in the middle of "Cars." He has NEVER in his 3 years of life EVER fallen asleep while watching TV.
Ethan had his 2 month checkup. Just like his older brother, he has doubled his birth weight already. He's now 12 lbs. 8 oz. and 22.5 inches. His pediatrician couldn't believe that he was the same skinny little baby that we brought in two months prior. Ethan has also started to coo and smile.
Finally, it was Tyler's first day of preschool today. He was so excited that he wore his backpack around all morning and couldn't even finish his breakfast. He just kept asking if it was time for school yet. Unfortunately the excitement quickly vanished once we actually GOT to school. He clung onto my leg for about 15 minutes and wouldn't play with anything until all the kids had arrived and he could then cling onto the teacher instead. :) When I picked him up though, he said that he had so much fun and asked if he could go back to school after his nap.

Brothers?

2010-05-05T11:10:00.001-07:00

Newborn Pics

2010-04-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Ethan's Birth

2010-03-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

So after shocking most of the people I know by having a "crazy home birth," I've decided to share my experience, and the reason I made the decision to have my baby at home. When I was pregnant with Tyler, I planned on a natural, drug-free birth (I guess I'm a little crazy to begin with). I took the classes. I did the relaxation. I planned. I was prepared. Unfortunately, things don't always go the way that you plan. My water broke at home, I went to the hospital, and had about 7 hours of perfect labor until everything went wrong. I got an infection (probably from being in the hospital and having nurses check me all too often) and a fever of 103 that wouldn't break. My pulse was racing, and my blood pressure plummeted. Tyler became distressed and passed meconium (that yucky black tar baby poop) in utero. That's when the doctor decided that this baby had to come right now! So I ended up having an emergency c-section, the one thing that I hadn't planned for. Tyler had to be whisked away to the NICU because he had contracted the infection that I had, where he stayed for the next 8 days. Needless to say, it was not the birth that I had hoped to have.

It took three years for me to get up the guts to get pregnant again. At about 12 weeks, I was woken up at 5:00 am in excruciating pain. I rushed to the ER thinking that I must be having a miscarriage, but it turned out to be an ovarian torsion. My left ovary had twisted, cutting off the blood supply, and basically died inside of me. I was rushed to the OR, and it was removed. The doctor tried to remove it laproscopically, but it was too enlarged, so I had to be cut open again! Luckily, babies are pretty resiliant little creatures, and can handle surgeries just fine. But recovery was just like having another c-section. After that, both Nathan and I decided that we could NOT go back to the hospital. Since every time we do go to the hospital, I end up having surgery. That's when we started thinking about a home birth.

Luckily, Nate's older sister's mother-in-law (did you follow that?) is a midwife. Not just any midwife, but a really amazing midwife! She's been practicing for 30 years and has delivered nearly 3000 babies. So after talking with her, and some fasting and prayer, we decided that we needed to have our baby at home. So onto the actual labor/delivery story.....

I was in early labor all day Saturday. Lots of contractions, but not really uncomfortable yet. Over the course of those 20 hours, I dilated from a 2 to a 4. We went to bed that night, and real labor started at 7:00 am. When my midwife checked me, she discovered that my pubic bone was flat (instead of curved), so I would have to labor mostly in a reclining/laying flat position so that the baby's head could pass under the bone. I spent two hours in the recliner, and another two hours in the bath tub with water poured on my belly with every contraction. The next thirty minutes were spent on the bed, on my side with one leg elevated (weird position I know, but apparently it helps transitional labor go by quickly) with Nathan by my side. When it was time to push, Valerie (the midwife) said, "This can take 30 minutes or 3 hours, but we're going to have this baby no matter what." Well, I wasn't about to have it take 3 hours, so I made sure to make every push count, and 30 minutes later, little Ethan was here.

I honestly believe that had I gone to the hospital, I would have ended up with another c-section. Nobody would have been there to coach me and put me in the positions I needed to be in for my labor to progress. And when you don't progress with a VBAC, there's nothing they can do besides another cesarean. I'm not going to lie and say that a natural birth was easy, in fact, there were a few times that I had to remind myself that "This is better than a c-section" but in the long run, it was easier. No stitches or staples, no 7-inch wound in my abdomen, and no long weeks of recovery. In fact, Ethan's birth and Tyler's birth could not have been more opposite.

For anyone who has considered ever doing a home birth, I highly recommend it. It was wonderful being able to stay at home, where you are most relaxed, and sleep in your own bed at night! Not to mention, not having to be hooked up to monitors, or have nurses check on you every couple of hours. It was the best birth experience that I could have hoped for. I still look at Ethan and can't believe how perfectly everything went. It seems too good to be true!

Ethan N Ekstrom

2010-03-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Ethan was born on March 21 at 11:53. He weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 inches. Mom & baby are both doing well after a wonderful home birth!

Tyler is 3!!!

2010-02-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that my baby boy is already 3! Seriously, where have the last three years gone?

Tyler requested another Cars cake this year. I don't know if it's because the cake was easier, or because I've done a lot more cake decorating since last year, but it took me about half the time. He was so cute after I finished the cake. He sat staring at it for about fifteen minutes, and he kept saying "I love my beautiful birthday cake!" and "You're such a good Uma, let me give you a great big hug!"
And, like last year, we had his birthday party at Jumping Jacks (his most favorite place) with both sides of the family. Thanks to everyone that came!Ty got WAY too many presents (as usual), and my house has been a disaster since Friday (because he won't let me put any of the new stuff away).
And since he is my Valentine's baby, I had to make him some birthday heart-shaped pancakes (also his favorite food). After I made them, he informed me that he loves "heart pancakes" the most. :)Going to town on his second (that's right) birthday cake. He woke up the day after his party in tears because his birthday cake had been devoured. So, being the amazing mother that I am, I made him a new one. Granted, this one was only one layer, instead of two, and a little more sloppy in the decoration department. Happy Birthday Tyler! We love you and can't imagine life without you! You make me smile everyday, and bring more joy into my days than I ever though possible!

The Cone of Shame

2010-02-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

Ever since I can remember, my mom used a newspaper bowl around my dad's head every time she cut his hair indoors. Actually, my sister does too. So of course, I had to follow in tradition with my own family. When Nate & I first got married, he thought it was hilarious. He made me take a picture of his first haircut.
Now Tyler is old enough to get his own paper bowl. Thanks to a tractor DVD, he held still for the length of his haircut. It was sad to see all that long hair go, but it was getting in his eyes, and I don't want to cut it again before the baby comes. Will he hate me for this picture when he's older? I think he might.
Tyler Quotes:

Walking into TJ Maxx the other day:
Tyler: Hey, this is a TOY store!!
Me: Yes, they do sell toys here.
Tyler: Look, here are some mommy toys (pointing to the jewelry).

This morning at breakfast, eating oatmeal:
Tyler: Uma, this oatmeal makes my poop nice and healthy!
Me: (Giggling) Did you just say that oatmeal makes your poop nice and healthy?
Tyler: Uh huh, but it's kind of hard to push out.

First thing in the morning:
Tyler: Uma, Daddy, I need to go pee!!! (This is how we wake up most mornings)
Nathan gets up to take Ty potty.
Tyler: (standing in front of the potty) NO, not you daddy!
Nate: Why not me?
Tyler: Because your breath is stinky & going to ruin my PJs!

Crafty or Crazy???

2010-02-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

Last week we were all sick. So since I was stuck inside, I decided to be a little crafty and make a few things for the baby. Here's a carseat canopy (that doubles as a nursing cover).

A bunch of burp cloths. I loved using cloth diapers as burpies with Tyler, so I decided to make them a little cuter this time around.

Some binky clipsA nursing cover for meAnd a springtime wreath for my front door. I know, it's not spring yet, but I'm hopeful! :)All of the above items (except the wreath) will soon be available on my baby webstore www.hushstyle.com

New Temple in Payson!!!

2010-01-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

Big, big, big news for our little city! There will be a new temple across the street from our house! I guess there's no excuse not to go now! Read about it here

Catching Up

2010-01-16T13:14:00.001-08:00

The baby's room is done!!! Yay! Thanks to Nathan for putting up the bead board & chair rail (after Tyler's room, he swore he'd never do it again). I love how it turned out!
Sledding with Daddy. It was only 6 degrees outside when we went....brrrr, what were we thinking??? Ty will be very sad when he gets too big for his daddy to haul him up the hill.

I found this little Korean outfit when I was organizing Tyler's closet. He was so cute, and wanted to wear it all day. His Halmoni bought it for him to wear at his baby brother's one-year birthday party. Hopefully he still fits into it by then!
My favorite time of day. It's so cute to see them together like this. Makes me smile every time!And finally, one of the many uses of a pregnant belly. Haha! At least someone is comfortable!

Christmas Card

2009-12-20T19:58:00.001-08:00

For those of you who didn't receive a card this year...here it is!

Christmas came early this year

2009-12-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

Tyler has been wanting Santa to bring him a big boy bed for a while now. He finally grew too impatient to wait for Christmas. When I went into his room yesterday to wake him up from his nap, he was already awake. He had been lying there, for who knows how long, "Waiting for Santa to wake me up & bring me mine big bed." So Nathan and I decided that Santa would have to come twice this year.

I'm sure that part of his excitement was from us unrolling his memory foam mattresses in the spare bedroom. I knew that sometimes they can take a while to fully inflate, so I thought that I would give them a couple weeks before Christmas. He loved the mattresses so much that he made Nate read him his nap-time story on them, and even asked to move them into his room for his nap!
Due to the size of the bunk bed, Santa was unable to fully assemble it last night. So it was in large pieces in the living room along with his cool new train bedding. When Nathan asked Tyler what Santa left for him, his reply was, "Whew...Santa left a BIG MESS!!!" After we finished the job that Santa had left, Tyler played on his new bed for the rest of the morning.

He was so excited to sleep in his new bed tonight, that he opted to skip his bedtime story (that NEVER happens!) and get right in bed. Look at that big grin on his face!

It's Done!

2009-11-30T09:50:00.001-08:00

After months of work our basement office is finally done! I did most of the work myself with some help from my Dad and my Grandma Clark. Yep that is right my Grandma is awesome and is great at taping and mudding. Anyway here is my corner

and here is Jessica's. I think this is a much better place for her sewing machine than the utility closet.

The only parts I didn't do were the carpet and the trim. We hired one of our neighbors for that and he did an excellent job so if you live around here and need any type of flooring done let me know and I'll give you his number.

It's a.....

2009-11-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

HI!!! I'm Baby Ekstrom #2...

They told my parents that I'm a GIRL!!!

But they were wrong! I'm a BOY!!!

I was just being a little shy...

Today in the car...

2009-11-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

While we were driving in the car to my parents' house today, I couldn't help but laugh my head off. So Nate & I were talking about babies, and it came up that he doesn't like to hold newborns. I know! Crazy, right? It's because he's afraid of "breaking them." I guess I can see his point, they are pretty fragile. Anyway, I told Tyler, "Daddy is afraid of tiny babies! Isn't that silly?" To which Ty responded, in a very sympathetic & comforting voice, "Ohhhh, it's okay daddy! There aren't any babies in the car. Don't be afraid!" So funny! But that wasn't the end, he went on to describe what WAS in the car, "See Daddy, there's only toys, and books, and mommy, and Chester" etc. etc. I thought that would be the end of it, but once we arrived at my parents' it continued. "And there's no babies in the bushes to be scared of either Daddy!" I love when Ty takes on the role of parent & tries to comfort us. :)

Little Book Worm

2009-11-08T15:54:00.001-08:00

Tyler loves books. He loves to have us read to him. But even when Nathan or I are too busy, Ty loves to look at the pictures and "reread" the book in his head. He has an astonishing memory, and can remember most words to most of his books (anyone who has seen our bookcases knows that that's a lot of books!). He always has several piles of books lying around the house & in the car. You get the idea. I didn't think much about his love for books until I found him the other day with not one of his books, but one of mine....The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

He was, no lie, sitting there "reading" this book for about 5 minutes before he even looked up. As soon as he noticed me, he got too embarassed & stopped reading. But after I left, I heard him go back to his make-shift reading nook (aka. a stool by the front door), and return to the book. As you can see, he even uses the little shoe cabinet in our entry as a place to store his books!

Tyler also loves to learn. Whenever he finds a book, newspaper, magazine, or even a piece of scrap paper with typing on it, he brings it to us and says "Talk about it." Recently, we've been trying to learn our letters. He likes to write them, with a little help from mom. This picture is a little old (a few months old actually), but I had to include it. After I had helped him with his writing, he did this...

As you can see, he gets a little shy in front of the camera. Many of our pictures have an embarassed smirk or smile, like those that you've seen so far. Maybe he just thinks that his mom is silly for taking pictures of him with a pencil.

Tyler's Big News

2009-10-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

One Giganterous Blog Post

2009-09-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

A little disclaimer before I begin: this post is extremely long!!! I've been such a slacker this summer about blogging, that I've got a LOT of catching up to do. So here's what we've been up to...at least the events that I remembered to bring my camera along to!

Our favorite trip of the summer (and one of our most favorite overall) was to Jackson, WY for a little rafting. We ran the Snake River everyday, all day long & had a blast doing it. Here's Nate rowing (I'm not in the boat).

We also visited the Bar J Wranglers (a first for me). Super fun place, good food, but not the best show for a toddler to sit through. Luckily, we sat in the back & could listen from outside.

After a week of camping, we were all ready to come home...except Tyler. He actually cried when we had to take down the tent trailer (too bad the camera was packed away). But he sure was worn out, as you can see from our car ride home.

Here we are at the petting zoo at Lindon Days. It was by far the most popular attraction for our little family. Have you ever seen a baby camel at a petting zoo before??? Me neither!

Tyler loved the baby horse...or was it a mini horse...or a pony. I'm not quite sure...

And the baby donkey.

And of course no petting zoo is completely without your cage full of assorted farm fowl.

Next is our trip to the Zoo. My friend Rachelle & her son Issac came to visit for a couple weeks from Ohio. It was so fun to see them again, & to spend a few days together.

The boys loved the monkeys. Tyler told me afterward that they were his favorite. I have to agree.

I love that Hogle Zoo still has the same lion drinking fountains that they had when I was young. Ahhh...the memories!!!

And the best way to end the perfect day at the zoo...the train of course! Tyler loved this so much that he couldn't stop smiling for the entire ride.

And to close...here are a few of my favorite, random pics from the summer. This was taken at my cousin's homecoming. Tyler thought he looked super cool!

Daddy & Ty riding Papa's '66 Vespa. All the grandkids love this sweet ride!

We did a lot of swimming, both in the backyard & the pool, during the hottest days of summer.

And went for a lot of walks in the evening. Tyler loves to have us push him down the hill at the park by our house. I love watching him smile as he comes soaring past me!

Tyler loves to help his Daddy outside. Especially when it comes to mowing the lawn. He follows him around the entire time. Too cute!

After a long, hot summer day, Tyler would often ask to go get an ice cream cone at McDonald's. Doesn't a good old soft-serve cone make you feel like a kid again?

And finally, here is my little cheeseball riding one of the lion statues at my mom's house. Man, I love this kid!

Cakes!!!

2009-08-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

My neighbor hosted a cake decorating class in her home & I was lucky enough to be able to attend. For those of you who know me, I love to COOK & BAKE. This was a great chance for me to learn all of the "right techniques" that I had never learned before. Here's my first week's assignment: white cake with buttercream icing.

The following week was cupcakes. Chocolate frosted in buttercream with marshmallow fondant decorations & rolled chocolate sprinkle edges. SUPER easy...I took these to my niece's baptism the next day. Aren't they perfect for an 8-year-old girl???

This was my last assignment. We were supposed to find any design that we wanted to do. My sis gave me a cute cupcake book, Hello Cupcake, and I found this in there: frosted cupcakes (regular & mini) covered in candies. It was a big hit at the family 4th of July BBQ!!!

And finally, I had to throw in a pic of the mini cupcakes I made for my sis-in-law Natalie's baby shower. She has the cutest little girl, and these fit right into the theme colors. They were also incredibly easy! To get the smooth icing look, simply heat up your frosting in the microwave for 4-5 seconds & dip!!! Another cute idea from Hello Cupcake!

The recipes for the icing & fondant (that actually tastes good) can be found on my recipe blog:

My Inner Chef

Time for another trip...

2009-07-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

We are going here....

Sleeping in a....

Glad we're not in a....

We'll be eating a lot of....

Hope we don't seen any....

While we're there, we'll be doing this...

Hopefully, none of this...

Or else there will be a lot of....

See you in a week!!!

Yearly Pics

2009-06-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

My friend Kenzie took our family pictures last week. This is the sneak peek she posted. They are so cute! I'm dying to see the rest! Thanks Kenz!

You can see all her amazing pics at
http://www.mackenziekileyphotography.blogspot.com

UPDATE: Here are the rest of them!

San Francisco

2009-06-15T15:35:00.001-07:00

Nathan and I had SO much fun in San Francisco. It is definitely one of our favorite cities! While Nathan was at Google IO, I spent my days shopping and going to the symphony. It was the first matinee performance I've been to, and I think I was the only person under the age of 65 there! Check out the sea of gray heads in front of me.

I had to take a picture of the row of old women in front of me during intermission. It gives you a better idea of what I'm talking about. This is basically what the entire hall looked like!The symphony hall, is actually really interesting, visually. Don't you think the balcony boxes look like Legos?And they have all these curved pieces of glass above the orchestra. I imagine that they are for sound projection, but it's really cool to see their reflection while they're playing.In the evenings, after Nathan was done, we'd go sight seeing. Here we are at the gate to China Town, or as we like to call it, gateway to the streets filled with crap-o-la.Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.We also went to the redwoods. This was a first for me, and I loved it. This is me in the hollow of a big redwood tree.I love how lush and beautiful everything is. I felt like I was in a fairy-tale land. I kept expected wood nymphs to pop out. It is indescribably gorgeous. The picture does it no justice.And of course, no visit to San Fran is complete without going to see the sea lions at Pier 39. We could sit there and watch them for hours. They are SO funny!

Yikes...it's been so long!

2009-06-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to tell you all that we are still alive and have not dropped off from the face of the earth. It's just been really busy around here with summer beginning, rearranging schedules, going on vacation, having swim lessons, and getting ready for girls' camp. I'll post more with pics later. Thanks for your concern! :)

A Love of Cars

2009-04-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned in the past, Tyler is a little bit obsessed with this movie...

There was a point in time when we were watching it every single day. Thankfully, he has moved on a little bit, and expanded his list "favorite shows" thus retaining his parents' sanity.

He knows the names of all of the cars and even pairs them up according to their relationships in the movie (Lightning & Sally, Flo & Ramone, Sarge & Fillmore, etc.). He has more Cars memorabilia then you could imagine, which has provided him with countless hours of play time. I often find little cars in the oddest of places around my house.

These little toys are definitely Ty's most treasured possessions, and he likes to carry them around with him wherever he goes (hence the pants stuffed full of cars). We even have to take his cars with us on vacation, because he cannot bring himself to part with them for even one day!

He even has a Cars blankie that his Grandma gave him for his birthday. What a lucky boy!

But my favorite part about his obsession is when he acts out scenes from the movie using his miniature toy cars (i.e. tractor tipping, pit stops, and races). I'll hear him narrating the dialogue while I work around the house, and it never ceases makes me smile.

Going Private

2009-04-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

So like many of you, I too am deciding that we need "a little privacy." After all, I did post pics of my little one's potty experience on here! So if you want an invite, leave a comment with your email address. We'll make the change in a week.

No More Diapers!!!

2009-04-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

Today we officially start potty training Tyler. He seems ready, and has grown to HATE his diaper. We'll see how long it takes for him to catch on.

We "taught" potty bear how to use the potty yesterday.

And Ty has LOTS of potty treats. Who wouldn't want to use the potty with a basket of goodies like this?

Wish us luck!!!

Vegas Pics

2009-04-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

The weather was so beautiful! It was hard to come home! Tyler & Gabby both LOVED the shark reef at Mandalay Bay!

There is a beautiful park close to Heidi & Dave's house that we visited everyday we were there. We had to drag Tyler away!

And of course, we had to take a dip in the jacuzzi everyday too! :)

Thanks to Heidi & Dave for having us. This is DEFINITELY one of our favorite vacations!

Vacation...YAY!!!

2009-03-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

We're going to...

To enjoy the sunshine...

The swimming pool...

And the SUSHI!!!

Goodbye SNOW!!! I hope you're gone when we return!

Sick of Being Sick!

2009-03-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

We're all sick, but Ty is sickest of all. It started with daddy, then spread to mama, then just when we thought we'd escaped an illness without passing it onto our child (as if that is EVER possible), Ty got it. What illness? Walking pneumonia. Yuck! We feel like this...

Have been doing a lot of this...

And need a lot of this...

Hopefully this is the end of the vicious cycle of sickness that we Ekstroms like to call winter.

Walking the Dog

2009-02-20T10:18:00.000-08:00

Since the weather has warmed up a little, we've been taking Chester out for walks again. This is now Tyler's favorite activity. We go on two walks a day, but if it were up to Ty, we would go on at least eight. And he insists on wearing his yellow galoshes. He calls them his "Chester walk boots."

My Valentine Boy

2009-02-19T08:13:00.000-08:00

We took Tyler to the Living Planet Aquarium on his birthday (Valentine's Day). It's small, but they have fish, sharks, frogs & a sting ray touch pool. He especially loved the "Nemo" fish.

But he wasn't so excited about the lizards & frogs. His expression is classic!

Afterward, my whole family went out for Chinese. Check out the plate of goodies they made for the birthday boy! My favorite is the egg rabbit.

Birthday Boy

2009-02-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

Tyler had his 2nd birthday party a couple days ago. To celebrate, we went to Jumping Jacks with all of his cousins.

He's always so tired after a couple hours of jumping!

Then we came back to our house to have pizza & opened presents. Thanks for the great Cars blankie Grandma DD!

This is how Tyler told Lucy "Thank You" for her present. Kissing cousins already!

And here's the cake that I made for Tyler. He is obsessed with Cars, and I found this cake online. It took me all day to make. Definitely a labor of love!

Quarter-Centenarian

2009-01-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Today I am 25. A quarter of a century. And I have to say it's been great. I have been blessed with a wonderful & supportive family, devoted friends, good health, and the best husband & cutest little boy anyone could ask for. My present to myself this year is to follow my own advice. To find joy in the journey. Make more time for my baby that is growing up too fast. Enjoy cleaning up the toys strewn throughout the house that won't always be there. Be thankful for all the loads of laundry, because I have a family to create it. And be grateful for what I've got & not what I've not. Because when I look at my life and what the Lord has given me, my heart is overwhelmed with His Love for me. Here's to another year.

Student Recital

2009-01-23T08:50:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I had my first studio recital. I thought it was about time that all my beginning piano students got a chance to play for their families. All of the kids were really nervous, even though they were all SO prepared. It went well, and it was short & sweet (30 minutes). 5 students couldn't make it, so hopefully next year, there will be a few more students to play.

Christmas Day

2009-01-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

So it was a little exciting for us to play Santa for the first time. And it only took about an hour to assemble! I'm sure the elfin workshop hours will increase as time goes by. This year, Tyler got a kitchen. I know, it may be a little girly for a boy to get a kitchen, but he loves it!

With a fully-stocked fridge & pantry (thanks Emo!).And even a BBQ grill (Ty loves to "play" with our real one when it's not hot).The picture doesn't really capture his reaction, but he was pretty excited, especially once he started playing with it. His favorite toy in nursery is the kitchen, so we knew this would be a hit.

Grillin' up some hot dogs & hamburgers.Flipping an egg "Like Dada."And even pouring us some drinks. What a good cook!

Pre-Christmas Celebrations

2009-01-06T10:24:00.001-08:00

Is it just me, or does Christmas seem to get busier & busier with each passing year? This past Christmas was quite possibly our busiest ever. My family got together the Monday before Christmas in SLC. We all stayed at a hotel up there, went out to eat, opened, presents & just hung out. It was a great night, and I think we'll be turning it into a new family tradition. The only think we missed out on were the lights at Temple Square. It was just too cold!

Here is the shopping cart that my sis found for Tyler. If you notice, it's filled with presents. She spoils him too much.This was the first year that Ty has really understood how to open presents. And once he started, he couldn't get enough! He helped just about everyone rip off their wrapping paper.My sis bought him the cutest fake food to go along with the kitchen that Santa was bringing. So of course, he had to taste it all!Ty's favorite is the velcro cake that he can cut with a knife. He also loves the velcro ice-cream cone that he can stack five-scoops high!Thank you Emo! We love you!A little post-present snuggle.There were a few family parties that we attended before Christmas as well. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera to some of them. This is Tyler after getting candy from Santa at one of our family parties.Nathan's parents always host a grandkids only Christmas party. This year we went to Kangaroo Zoo & jumped around. Tyler loves anyplace that has giane inflatable toys.Then we went back to Papa & DD's for dinner, games, presents & cookie-decorating. This was the first time Ty had ever decorated cookies. He LOVED it! He especially loved the sprinkles (apparent from the look of his cookies). I guess it's time to start baking with him.

Enjoying the treat after all that hard-sprinkling-work. Yum!!!

Strike!

2008-12-15T09:14:00.000-08:00

We decided to take Tyler bowling last week.

This one? Ummm...16 lbs? Maybe not.

Watching his score beat Mommy & Daddy's.

The joy of a great "roll."And waiting for the ball to come back.

We love bumper bowling!

A little video of Ty's intense concentration while bowling. It doesn't look like he's having much fun here, but he got into it after a while.

Monkey toes ... ATTACK!

2008-12-01T06:48:00.000-08:00

We having a standing joke in our family about Jessica's amazingly dexterious feet. She can pick up about anything with her toes, and does quit often. What is really amazing though is how hard she can pinch with her toes, hence the title. Tyler watches her and has started doing the same thing. He will stand there for several minutes trying to pick things up with his toes. So the other day while he was coloring I took this picture.

It is a lot of fun to see some of the traits your kids pick up, or are born with. As long as he keeps only getting the funny and good ones I think we'll be ok.

First Movie

2008-11-28T11:25:00.001-08:00

We decided to take Ty to see his first movie in a theater. We chose...
He was so excited to see the movie after we told him there would be monkeys, zebras, lions, and birds in it. Nathan wasn't sure that he would sit through the whole thing, but he loved it! When the movie was over, he kept asking for more.
And this picture really makes me believe the "experts" that tell you that your little kids shouldn't watch more than 30 minutes of TV. Look at that face! A little sensory overload?
And for those of you who don't know already, Tyler LOVES to eat! He is the only toddler I know that eats everything I put in front of him. He especially loves Oriental food, and rice. So when we were out for Chinese the other day, and he wanted more food (even though he had already eaten two servings of rice), we decided to give him the almost empty rice bowl.
So he started to shovel it in, for the next 5 minutes or so.And when that wasn't fast enough, he stuck his whole head in the bowl! Funny boy!

Halloween!

2008-11-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

We started our Halloween festivities early this year. I took Ty to Gardner Village to see the witches with my friend Rachelle and her boy Issac. We got tons of cute pictures, and the boys were so good to sit in their strollers for a couple hours so their moms could shop.
Ty loved feeding the ducks in the little stream.
This is super-cute Rachelle and her little rough-and-tumble Issac. Issac was so funny, he wanted to sit on the witch about a million times.
Ty on the other hand wasn't too happy when I made him sit on her. This is his "Get me off of here" face.
Then of course the moms had to stop at Tai-Pan for a bit. After five hours out, a lot of treats, and watching "Cars" in the car, the boys are still happy to be shopping...amazing!
The next day, we carved pumpkins. I don't like to carve them until right before Halloween, so that they look good instead of old and shrunken. Here's a picture of our (my) creations. Nathan hates to carve pumpkins, so his contribution is getting them scrubbed and cleaned out for me.
Then on Halloween day, we went out to lunch with my parents and brother. And Ty discovered salsa! We've known that he likes spicy food for a while now, but I haven't given him any salsa thinking that it would be too hot for him. Guess not.
He spent the entire time we waited for our food dipping, and eating. It was the easiest 20 minute wait at a restaurant ever! I guess we need to go out for Mexican more often!
For Halloween, Tyler was a ninja. I told him the day before that he would get candy in his Elmo basket, so he was very excited to be running around the church parking lot getting candy. He was literally pulling me from trunk to trunk until his basket got too heavy.
I thought it would be fun to decorate my trunk, and I'm glad I did. The kids thought it was great, and I was one of only a couple cars that was decorated. We made the little spiders and the teeth. But it was a little too scary for some of the really little kids because they didn't want to stick their hand in to get candy!
What a busy few days it's been. Tyler was pooped! Hope everyone else had as great of a Halloween as we did!

Post-Its

2008-10-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

The other day, Tyler found Nathan's stash of post-it tags. He is REALLY into stickers lately, and this was a thrilling find. He proceeded to take them all out and stick them on his head, arms, and all over his clothes.And this was the end result. As cute as the picture is, the funniest part is that he wanted to keep those darn things on all day! When one would lose it's stickiness from the constant sticking & unsticking, he was very, very sad. Also, here's a video of Ty making Chester do tricks for goldfish. He loves our dog to death, mauls him everyday, and has been really excited that he can get the dog to do the same tricks mommy & daddy get him to do. Chester won't perform for Tyler unless Nate or I are around, but Ty still thinks it's great.

They call it the UPS scam

2008-10-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

So here is a fun story. Last Tuesday I ordered a new laptop that was supposed to arrive this week. Except on Saturday I was over at my in-laws having lunch and Fedex delivered a package for me. It contained an HP laptop. It seemed a little strange that I would get a package at my inlaws and even stranger that it would a computer that I hadn't ordered, I had ordered one of the new Mac Book Pros. So being the optomistic guy that I am I assumed someone had sent me a laptop as a gift. So we immediately started trying to figure out who would give me a laptop. The only one I could come up with is Abraham, a guy who my in-laws took care of for a couple of years when he was younger and who I am building D&H Auto Parts for.

So I tried to call him and say thanks a couple of times on Saturday and then sent him an email. Since I assumed the HP laptop was for me I called Apple and got the laptop I ordered cancelled and started setting up the HP one. Imagine my surprise then when Abraham calls me Saturday evening and says, "I didn't buy you a laptop, sorry." So then I went and looked at the invoice that came with the package and noticed that it was charged to my credit card.

So basically someone stole my credit card information and bought a laptop with it. So that the credit card charge wouldn't look suspicious they had it shipped to my address, except in this case it was an old address. I immediatly called Discover of course and cancelled my card and then I called HP, who put me off until the fraud department opened on Monday, they made a special point though of saying, "If UPS comes by to pick up the computer don't give it to them, we only use Fedex." Sure enough UPS called my in-laws house to schedule a pickup for the computer.

After talking to HP I learned that they call it the UPS scam. Someone steals your credit card information and buys a computer that is then shipped to you. They then schedule a pickup with UPS to get the computer, assuming that you realize you didn't order it and have contacted your credit card company and/or HP and so are expecting a pickup. I wonder how many people gave the computer to UPS before HP started saying, "Do not give it to UPS. We don't use them and we didn't schedule the pickup." So if any of you mysteriously get a computer delivered to your house, check the invoice.

Logan

2008-10-10T20:13:00.001-07:00

So we went to visit my sister over General Conference. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Tyler LOVES his Emo. He could live there forever, and never even miss us. Why would he? After all, she does run the geriatric pet clinic in her area (aka: her collection of really old pets). He loves to feed the deaf German Shepherd, chase the nearly-blind Chihuahua, and search for the cat that is always hiding. Not to mention, look at the gecko, and ride the horse. She even makes grocery shopping seem fun. Of course, having a store with cool car-carts helps.
My only complaint is that Logan is WAY too far away! 2 1/2 hours for a toddler is about 2 hours too long. The picture below shows you just how bored Ty got on the drive home.

A Temple in Italy!!

2008-10-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, I served my mission in Italy. You can imagine my excitement when I heard President Monson say that a temple was planned for Rome Italy. He didn't say when it would be finished or even started but it will be such a great blessing for the Italians. There is a prophecy that Italy will blossom as a rose and I think having a temple there will go a long way towards doing that. A beautiful temple will make people much more aware of who we really are, instead of thinking we are the Amish, and will give the members there a lot of strength. I am so excited.

Ekstrom Look-alike Meter

2008-09-27T14:09:00.001-07:00

Everyone debates who Ty looks most like, me or Nathan. He obviously is a pretty equal mix of the two of us. But I win, by just a little bit!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Commuter Car, Anyone?

2008-09-24T08:58:00.001-07:00

We are selling the Jetta. It's a great commuter car (35 mpg), has been running perfectly, and has less than 50,000 miles. Let us know if you, or your friends are interested!

New Favorite Toy

2008-09-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

We recently bought Ty a Weebles Camper from Ebay. It instantly became his new favorite toy. He plays with it all day, everyday. And recently, has integrated it into his non-play activities as well. The other morning, he decided that his camper needed to eat breakfast with him, so he gave him a place setting.
Later that day, when it was time for a nap, Tyler also put the camper to sleep. He cracks me up!

Carnival Fun

2008-09-06T10:11:00.001-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend, our town celebrated Onion Days. They have parades, races, bake-offs, and a carnival. Ty LOVED the rides!
The cars were his favorite. He actually cried when this ride stopped!
In other news, Nathan graduated. I forgot to write about it last month. Here's a pic of all the male Ekstrom BYU grads.

Family Pics

2008-08-31T20:26:00.001-07:00

Las Vegas

2008-08-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Vegas to see Heidi & Dave (Nathan's sis) officially adopt their baby girl, Gabby. I had to borrow these pics from Heidi's blog since I forgot my camera everywhere we went!
It was so great to be there with them in the temple, and see the joy in their eyes. What a blessing it is to have eternal families! Thanks you guys for a great weekend!

Scofield Cabin

2008-08-10T20:12:00.001-07:00

We spent last weekend at Nathan's sister's in-law's cabin (get that?) in Scofield. All the Utah Ekstrom siblings came.
Ty had a lot of fun with his cousins. Especially Lucy. Tyler loves girls :)
We went boating, and Nathan skied for the first time in three years.
Ty was so excited to ride the boat. It was his first time, and you can see by the smile on his face that he loved it!
But it sure did wear him out!
Tyler's favorite thing was riding the 4-wheelers. He would ask to go on a ride everyday, and he once he was on, he wasn't getting off!
Thanks Heather for a fun weekend!

Snake River

2008-08-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

Nathan and I spent the last few days of July running the Snake River with his family. It's one of our favorite vacations, and we can't get enough of it! Here is the view from our campground.

This set of rapids is right below our campground. It's called Champagne because it's all bubbly (due to a thousand little whirlpools). The rapids here are so small that Nathan and his siblings usually float through in their life jackets. It was a little too cold for any of us to want to float through this year.
The part of the Snake we run is if Wyoming, near Jackson Hole. I took this from the back of the truck driving to the drop-off dock. Doesn't it look like heaven?
We decided not to take Tyler to the "dirty dirt" campground, since he's not old enough to actually run the river. He stayed with my sister in Logan instead. On the way there, we had to stop at Walmart in Brigham City to change a stinky bum, and he wanted to shop.
Here are a couple more pics of Ty. One in a box, and the other wearing Harry Potter glasses and a headband. Is he cute or what?
And finally, you have to drive through Afton to get to the Snake. They have a world's largest elkhorn arch. Amazing, yet creepy, don't you think?

Llamas!

2008-08-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

We decided to go to Llama Fest this year. A friend told me a long time ago that I should go, and I finally did. It was...interesting. They had lots of animals there, and it was pretty much like a petting zoo for Tyler. There were strange humpback miniature cows.

Birds.
And llamas of course!
We were allowed to go in the Hare Krishna temple.
Where there were some interesting idols.
Mom & Dad brought the Frandsen kids.
And Ty fed the llamas.
All in all, it was fun. Hot, but fun. So if you decide to take your kids to Llama Fest next year, go in the evening after the sun is down!

Tyler Loves...

2008-07-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Tyler was able to do many things this week that he loves. My sister, Julie, came down for a few days, and Ty LOVES her! She brought her dogs along, and as you can see from the pics, Ty loves dogs too.
We also went to the Bean Life Museum at BYU. Tyler thought it was more interesting than the Zoo, probably because he is allowed to be closer to the animals, but I think he'll enjoy both activities better next year.
We also went to the Scottish Festival. It was fun to see the dancers, bag-pipers, and Highland athletes. Tyler loves to ride in his stroller and "people watch." He also ate his first Italian Ice at the Festival, and you guessed it, he loved that too.
All Festivals/Carnivals/Etc. are held in the city park which makes it really nice for kids. If you get tired of the events, you can just go play.
There is a little basin that has a drinking fountain at the park that all little kids love. Tyler staked his claim on it for 20 minutes, and we had to drag him kicking and screaming from it so that other people could get a drink too.I'm so glad that I live somewhere that has celebrations. The little carnivals, festivals, and shows are what makes living in a small town so much fun!

Camping at Woodland

2008-07-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July, we went camping at Woodland with Grandma & Grandpa. I know, most of you reading this are thinking, "Did I read that right? Jessica went camping?!?" Normally, I am not a big fan of camping, with not being able to shower, being eaten alive by millions of bugs, and having to squat in the woods, but this is a different kind of camping. This is camping at CamperWorld. Showers, swimming pools, playgrounds, and most importantly...toilets! Here are some pictures of our latest "outdoor" adventure.
The weather up there was wonderful! 85 in the day, and 50 at night. Ty would get a little cold in the morning, and have to sleep with us for a couple of hours, but he loved to snuggle with Mommy & Daddy.All in all, it was a great little trip.
It was Tyler's first camping trip. We weren't sure how he would do, but he loved it! He slept well, he ate well, and he played hard! He especially enjoyed being outside 24/7.
It was also the first time this year that he went swimming in a big pool. The first day he was a little tentative, and only wanted to hang out around the pool. But after that, he was jumping in!
Thanks to Grandpa for reserving an awesome site, and thanks to Grandma for cooking all the delicious meals.

Dry Mountain Fire

2008-07-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night, Nathan took the dog outside and this is what he saw. Dry mountain (aptly named) was on fire. At first we thought that it was my parent's mountain, so I called my Dad to let him know. He drove up there to check things out, and thankfully it was the mountain directly South. Helicopters were dumping water on it for at least 24 hours, and it didn't burn that much (only 10 acres). But it has made our backyard view a little less beautiful.
We also finally finished Ty's sandbox. It took 3000 lbs of sand! Apparently, sand weighs a lot. If it took 1.5 ton of sand for our little hexagon, I can't even imagine how many millions of tons of sand it must take to make a beach. Needless to say, Nathan is glad that it is full and he doesn't have to move anymore 50 lb. bags of sand this year.
Lastly, a pic of Ty. I told him to "Smile!" and this is what he did. Is he cute or what?

Timpanogos

2008-06-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

We hiked Timp Cave on Monday. My sister & her fam came down from Logan, and my parents joined us at the last minute. It's been 10+ years since either Nathan or I had been up there, and it was a fun family activity.
It was Tyler's first hike. We didn't take him last year, because he was so small. So it was our first hike in two years! It's been way too long. We love hiking, and have committed to go at least once a week for the rest of the summer.
I love the fresh mountain air, and the view from the top. Not to mention that hiking is the funnest form of exercise ever!
Ty did pretty well in the cave. He was happy to get out of the pack for a while, but a guided tour isn't such a good idea with a super-active toddler. But overall, he was a trooper. He didn't cry until we got to the end and it was an hour past his nap time.
Ty LOVES his Emo (my sister Julie). He would have preferred to have her carry the pack up the mountain, but seeing as how the pack weighed half as much as she does, I didn't think she would make it. :)

A Quiet Milestone

2008-06-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

So this is my first blog post here but I decided I should commemorate a major milestone somehow. It has been five years since my last radiation treatment.

For those who don't know the story two weeks after Jessica and I got engaged I found out I had Hodgekin's Lymphoma, the same cancer my sister Heidi had 3 years earlier. That was December 10th. On the 27th I had my first of eight chemotherapy treatments. They ended in April and I started radiation in May. My last radiation treatment was around the 20th of May. I can't remember the exact date.

So now it has been over five years, I have been married for almost five years, and I have a wonderful wife and son. Life is good. I thank God everyday that I have been so blessed, and even for cancer because I wouldn't be who I am today without it. It changed me for the better and helped me realize what is really important and how lucky I was to have Jessica.

If I had to say one thing I learned from cancer it would be to follow President Hinckley's advice. Never put off spending time with some one or telling them how much they mean to you because every moment is precious and you never know how many you really have left.

A New House

2008-06-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't been to our new house, or live too far away to visit, here are some pictures. We moved in about a month ago, and I think we've finally settled in. I think we only need one more Saturday to finish all the honey-do projects.

Blogging for Dummies

2008-06-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

So until recently, I didn't think I was a complete computer dummy. I realized that compared to my super-human computing husband, I am an idiot, but I always thought I was a part of this "young technologically-capable generation" that our grandparents are always talking about. Blogging has changed my view of myself. I am one step away from becoming my mother (who hardly touches a computer for fear that it will spontaneously self-combust on her). That's right, all you other women that think you're becoming your mother. I am one step closer to that reality. Blogging has me completely dumbfounded. Sure I can add a post or a picture, but how in the world do I do anything else? *Sigh* Hopefully my sweetie will be able to help me before I become too afraid of this potentially explosive machine that sits in front of me.