So, I decided that since I have been such a slacker about blogging lately I should do a little update on the little goings ons here at the Tulett house.
For starters, Reid has been SUPER self-conscious the last six months or so. I'm not exactly sure what happened to trigger this, but he has kind of become self-aware, I guess.
What this means is that he is very easily embarrassed by certain things that I wouldn't think should bother a 4-year-old. Here are some examples: 1.) For Halloween he REFUSED to dress up. At all. Wouldn't even wear a cowboy hat. 2.) Once I came around the corner to find him trying on Nate's boots, and he kicked them off as fast as he could and ran away. 3.) He throws epic fits when I get him new clothes and try to get him to wear them. Weird, right? These are just a few examples.
The reason I am saying all this is because the other day he actually put on his friend, Eric's costume and let me take a picture! This is huge progress for him! I have really been trying to talk him up lately, and encourage him to use his imagination. Maybe it's working?
Link is a super silly kid. I caught him trying on my swimming stuff the other day and had to take a picture of that cute face. He is not too much of a talker, but he makes me laugh just about every day. I am so glad he is mine!
Another fun new thing for us is that for the last few months my friend Jen (introduced to me by Sarah. You sure know how to find great friends!) and I have been switching off Mondays and Thursdays watching each other's kiddos so we can get some exercise time in! So, communal baths are a common sight around here. I sure love hanging out with her kids, and I think Reid and Link like it too!
Reid has been a rock star vegetable eater as of late. He will willingly eat broccoli, carrots, green beans, peas and corn. The other day he wanted to show me that he had eaten all of his "trees" (that broccoli around here, folks).
Link is not so good with the vegetables, but he is great at making messes! AND he recently graduated from the high chair to a booster seat so he can eat at the table with the family.
Reid loves books LOVES them, and finding him asleep with said books is not uncommon around here. He is starting to learn how to read, and is really picking it up like a pro! I signed him up for this AMAZING preschool in the area for next fall, and I am excited to see continue to advance and amaze us!
Boys will be boys, and as I went upstairs for approximately six seconds the other day Reid and Link single-handedly unrolled an entire package of Costco paper towels. Can I handle another one of these little monkeys?!
I wanted to be mad, but all I could do was laugh and take a picture. I guess this is what motherhood is all about!
SO, Nate has been at BYU for quite a while now, and I am sad to say that we have NEVER attended a BYU sporting event. Until now. I know, I know the school spirit in this town is boarder-line out of control, but we have just never felt like we wanted to spend a precious date night on BYU athletics. We are lame, I know. ANYWAY, I don't know if any of you have heard, but BYU has an amazing basketball team this year, and were ranked third in the nation, so when Nate's buddy asked us if we wanted some extra tickets to a game we said YES! Because we are super cool fair-weather fans and I likes me a winning team! Well, fate must have known that we were not true blue cougar people (or whatever BYU fans call themselves...) because the ONE game we got to go to was the one against New Mexico where they got CRUSHED. It was sad, and I actually felt guilty for being there. I kept thinking that it MUST be our fault-we jinxed them. Jimmer's gonna slash our tires in the parking lot! Ha! But I did discover a few very important things:
1.) I sort of love this kind of setting, and I want to go to more BYU games. The fans at this school are INCREDIBLE and so dedicated. I really loved it. We will have to check out some soccer and football in the fall.
2.) 50 year old men are capable of acting like teenage-testosterone-driven idiots as exemplified by the fist fight that broke out between two middle aged guys sitting right next to us who were rooting for THE SAME TEAM!
3.) Old ladies dancing at half-time are awesome (seriously, there was a group of senior citizens that did a little cheer leader routine! Adorable!).
4.) Nate and I need to invest in BYU shirts because his free capstone shirt and my non-existent school spirit outfit have got to go. Just because I graduated from another school doesn't mean I can't support one that actually CARES about sports, right?Anyway, we are so excited for the basketball team this season, and hope they do well in their playoff games. And BYU athletics, we promise we won't neglect you anymore, but we refuse to weigh in on the BYU U of U epic battle to the death, k?
Nate and I have a new tradition; hiking the Y on Valentine's day! We did this last year and it was awesome. This year was no different. As I have said before I really could care less about V-day, and we weren't planning on doing anything really, but Jen insisted that she watch our kiddos so we could spend some time together. What a great friend!
The evening was gorgeous, and exercising WHILE getting to spend some one-on-one time with the love of my life is just about my favorite thing in the world!
We spent this Christmas at home in Provo this year, so my Dad decided to fly out and join in on the festivities! The day he got here Provo got hit with a huge snow storm, so what did we do? We busted out our snow pants and sled and hit the hills for some fun in the snow! Also, I love Link in his little snow outfits. He seems to be having a good time, no?
He does love being pulled in the sled though!
We hiked to the top of the hill, and Reid was my brave little boy and went down all by himself!
I took Link down, (and Reid kindly gave us a push!) and he LOVED it until we plowed through like a foot of snow and Link got totally buried-I had to dig him out! That's when he didn't love it quite as much.
Poor Papa had to hike up and sled down with Reid multiple times. We all got a great work out!
Linkers had much more fun diving in the snow and rubbing his face in it (he also does this with sand).
We also all went to one of our favorite winter hang outs; the Lehi indoor pool! I'm so lucky that I have two little boys who love to swim!
Reid coming down the slide
Even though we have lived in Utah for over three years we have never gone to Temple Square to see the lights, and I have always wanted to go, so we packed up the fam. and headed up to SLC. What I didn't know was that it would be unbelievably crowded and super cold. At least I can say I have been!
We had dinner at a local restaurant, and Nate had to get documentation of just how much damage two little boys and one grandpa can do...
On Christmas Eve we made some cookies for Santa, although I think the kiddos ate more cookies than Santa did...
The finished product! With a cup of milk and a carrot for the reindeer, of course!
Although Link doesn't look super excited, I got the boys matching Christmas jammies for Christmas eve. I'm pretty sure this will become a tradition at our house!
Then Papa read The Night Before Christmas, and Daddy read Luke:2. These might also become traditions at our house. Can you tell I am loving having the Holidays at home? I love having family traditions!
On Christmas morning Reid was super excited when he discovered a train table awaiting him downstairs, and Link was just excited to get candy canes for breakfast.
Reindeer antlers were not as much of a hit as I was hoping...
Both boys got waaay too spoiled this year, and Nate and I decided that we need to be better Christmas budgeters (is that a word?) next year...
Enjoying the Thomas train table! A dream come true for two little boys!
And this is how I felt by the end of the Holidays. I made lots of meals and desserts, decorated, wrapped presents, shopped, (all things that I do not love by the way...) but I love my family and I love doing things for them!
When we dropped Papa off at the airport Reid was VERY sad. He cried the whole way home, and begged to go back to Washington with him. We'll have to make a trip home soon!
Waaaaay back in November I had the boys pictures taken again by Wendy G. I just love her, and she is pretty reasonably priced too. Anyway, I thought I would share a few of my favorites with you. The above picture depicts the kind of photo shoot I WANTED....
...and this picture more accurately depicts what really happened. Seriously, these two were such stinkers that day I am surprised she got as many good pictures as she did! It was sort of the longest hour of my life, but after seeing these pictures I decided it was worth it!
Also, I was kind of afraid to cut links hair back then, but I wish I would have. It looks pretty unruly in these pictures! At least I have good documentation on the cute baby hair before I cut it all off and he magically turned into my big boy.
This is my favorite of Reid even though the smile is fake...
This is my all-time favorite. Those are real smiles on two handsome boys!
Link bum
I love this action shot of my Reidster. Throwing the leaves was definitely a hit.
