We're Here!

On Friday, October 3, James, Tyler, Ryan and I packed up for a month in Dublin, Ireland. James is doing a 2-month oral surgery rotation at St. James’s (not a typo – it’s how the Irish really spell it) Hospital here in Dublin, so we decided to come with him for the first month. We took the red-eye from Newark and landed the next morning. The boys were amazing on the flight as evidenced in the picture below. Tyler closed his eyes right after take-off (in his seat) and slept there for a few hours. All of a sudden I felt him twist around, fall out of his chair and land kneeling up on the ground. I think he would have fallen all the way to the floor, except his seat belt got stuck around his neck. We unbuckled him and made a little bed on the floor for him.

We took a cab to our new apartment, which is about a 5-minute walk from the hospital, but not in the greatest part of town. It’s not exactly scary at night, but I probably won’t be doing a lot of walking around after dark. It’s fine during the day. But I wanted something close to the hospital so that if James ever got called in, he wouldn’t have far to go. When we got here, the rental agent was “scrubbing” the apartment, even though I had been told that it would be professionally cleaned before we got there. I’m not going to fill you in on all the disgusting details, but we spent the next 2 days cleaning, and it’s not that big of an apartment (in fact the whole apartment is smaller than our kitchen and family room). But we got it all clean and then spent the rest of Sunday afternoon walking around Dublin.

Dublin is a beautiful city – everywhere you walk, there is an important historical site. I think I could spend the next 3 weeks exploring, and I would still not see everything there is to see. We first went to Christ Church Cathedral, which Tyler was not that excited about. It is so huge and impressive. We are planning on going to Evensong there tomorrow night.


We then walked around Temple Bar, the party section of town. We ate a good late lunch at a bagel shop and then made our way to Dublin Castle. Tyler was so excited about seeing the knights and swords so we bought tickets for the next tour and then headed back out to walk around for a while. Of course Tyler fell asleep in the stroller and so we opted to forget the tour (they were nice enough to give me a refund when I explained how grumpy Tyler would be if I woke him up and how he would probably ruin the tour for the rest of the group) and headed across the Liffy River to explore that part of town. Luckily Tyler had seen a knight in the gift shop so he was ok with that decision when he woke up.
The highlight of the day was finding ourselves in beautiful Phoenix Park. This park is twice as big as Central Park and bigger than all the major parks in London put together. We’ve only explored a small part of it so far, but will go back soon to go to the zoo and keep exploring. It was a gorgeous day and we saw so many people playing soccer, lounging with their families, hanging out with friends and playing at the playground. Tyler loved playing at the playground after being in the stroller all afternoon.

There is lots more to post about, and I will. But right now I am going to go to bed because in the morning I have to get up early to go to the airport to pick up Jill!!! Yes, my little sister, Jill, e-mailed us Monday asking if she could come visit! We are so excited! I am especially excited to have her come play with me and keep me company during the day – you can only have so many meaningful conversations with Tyler and Ryan. Plus the “lift” broke in our building on Wednesday and getting out the door by myself, both boys and the double stroller is a little difficult. But not as difficult as getting back up to the 3rd floor when we get home. So I am excited to have another pair of hands around here.

Tyler's First Day of Preschool

This afternoon, Tyler had his first day of preschool. I cannot believe he is this old! A few days ago, we went to pick out backpacks for school. He had such a hard time choosing between the Cars backpack and the Superman backpack. Of course, his everlasting love of Lightening McQueen won. Ever since then he has asked me every day when he gets to go to "Tyler's preschool" and has been practicing being a big boy and putting his backpack (along with other items of clothing) on by himself.
So today was finally the big day. He was so excited all day for it. He is going to the Hilliard United Methodist preschool 2 afternoons a week. He did great. The only hesitation was when I told him to give me a kiss, hug and tickle (our goodbye routine that he came up with). That's when he said, "You you you please please please please stay with me?" I told him that preschool was just for big boys and that I had to go. He got distracted playing the Ben (his buddy from our ward who is also in his class) and I snuck out the door. When I came to pick him up, he was happy to see me (yeah!) and ready to come home. I was a little worried about whether or not he had fun, but then he ran back and slammed into the back of his teacher's leg to give her a hug and said, "Thanks. See you next week!" So I guess it went just fine.

Tyler in front of his school.

Ben and Tyler in front of their lockers.

About 10 minutes after we got home.

Bad to the Bone

This morning was a little on the cool side, so I dressed the boys in the only matching outfit I've ever bought for them. I thought they looked pretty cute. After I took this picture, Tyler was looking at the picture on the camera and said, "Mom, we look cool!" I said, "Yeah, you guys look pretty bad." Then Tyler replied, "Yeah, we look bad to the bone!" Where does he come up with this stuff???

T-Ball Part 1

A few of Tyler's little buddies were playing T-ball this summer through the YMCA, so I decided that it would be a fun way to spend our Tuesday evenings - laughing at our kids with some of a best friends. The "season" started in June with a few weeks of practices and then a few games. I was amazed at how much Tyler improved the first week alone! This first practice started out like this:

By the end of the practice, Tyler would participate, but only if James was holding his hand.

During the first practice, Tyler would not go get the ball. So all week long, James "coached" him on how to get the ball, telling him over and over that he had to be the one to catch the ball. So of course, the following week, as all the kids were making a mad rush for the ball, Tyler was trying so hard to do just what his dad had told him to do. This caused a few little fights over the ball, and we had to adjust the brain-washing James had done earlier. By the following practice, he was pretty good at staying in his spot and only going after the balls that came his way.

Tyler has loved playing T-ball and we have had fun watching him. It is rather obvious that he is the youngest on the team and the only one (I think) that hasn't played team sports before. But he is learning that sports are fun and that's the experience I wanted him to have.

T-Ball Part 2

This was the game this past Tuesday. Tyler acted decently when they were playing in field. However, our boy provided a lot of entertainment for all the parents when his team was outfield. These pictures say it all. About halfway through the game, James started telling me that we should just take him home. The worst (and most comical) part was when he decided to lie down between 1st and 2nd base and, of course, a kid on the other team tripped over him as he was trying his best to get to 2nd.

As amused (and annoyed) as we both were getting with him, I decided it was all worth it when both of his coaches (independently) told us after the game that Tyler kept saying, "I love this game. Do you love this game? I love this game." over and over as they were man-handling him back into position. Luckily, score is not kept and so Tyler wasn't really hurting anyone and none of the kids were upset with him (except after being tackled) for not playing the game right. Next week is Tyler's last game and all in all, I'd say that this has been a fun experience for both him and us.

Who's Baby Is This???

As I get to know this little guy more and more, it's amazing to me how the gene pool works. We are having a hard time deciding whether this baby is a Jacobs baby or an Evans baby. He definitely looks a lot like Jacobs, but every once in a while he makes these faces that scream Evans. For example, Ryan has been a thumb-sucker for a while, but has lately developed a preference for his first two fingers instead. When I looked at this picture, I couldn't believe how much he looked like my little sister, Amy! I think it's because he is sucking his fingers just like she did as a little girl, but he is also a tiny little thing, just like she has been her whole life. I started feeding him cereal this morning - he wasn't quite sure about it, but smiled through it until the last few bites when he started gagging in a very drama-queen like fashion. When I looked at this picture, I was amazed at how much he looked like James as a baby.
Now, James and my sister, Amy, look NOTHING alike. So, how can the same baby look so much like two very different people???

What We've Been Up To

*Ryan Is 4 Months Old Already!
I can't believe it's already been four months since sweet Ryan arrived. He is the happiest, most smiley baby I know (granted, I'm a bit biased). He is such a good and easy baby. We went to his 4 month check-up today and he weighs a whopping 12 lbs 14 oz, which puts him in the 15%. He is also 24 1/4 inches, which means he is also pretty short - in the 25%. I'm afraid he is not destined to be the next star in the NBA. I checked Tyler's records when I got home today and Tyler weighed 12 lbs 11 oz at his 2 month appointment and 14 lbs 11 oz at his 4 month appointment and was a full inch taller at both appointments. I think I am going to have one little guy on my hands!


*Tyler is such a great Big Brother!
Tyler is usually so sweet and thoughtful towards Ryan. He is great at alerting me when Ryan has woken up and is a great binky finder. Today, when Ryan got his shots and was crying in the car afterwards, Tyler kept telling him, "That's ok Baby Bry. (he's still a little confused on Ryan's name) Now you won't get sick." Then, as we drove past McDonald's, Tyler told me that Baby Ryan needed a happy meal. I'm not sure if his motive was pure. :)



*Playing Outside
Tyler has been loving the nicer weather, and I love having a gate on my deck so he can go out and play while I get stuff done. He also loves to ride his tricycle down to the park and I'm getting much better at balancing Ryan in the bjorn and pushing Tyler on his trike once he gets too tired/lazy to do it himself. Also, now that it's a bit warmer at night, James has been taking Tyler in the jog stroller when he goes running, which is a great break for all of us.

*Lounging Around

We have also just been spending a lot of time at home lately. Usually in the mornings, I pack the boys up and we all go to the gym. They have a fabulous child care facility there and it's really affordable. The girls that watch the kids are so cute and nice; I really couldn't ask for anything better. Tyler loves it there and often asks me if we can go back in the afternoon. We usually spend the rest of the day at home. A lot of my life revolves around who is asleep and who is awake, but that's just fine with me. At least they are both napping!

Tyler has also discovered that there are movies at the library that you can borrow (if you know Tyler, you know how much he loves his shows!). This has been a good and bad thing - he wants to go to the library just about every day, and while we do borrow quite a few books and we are reading a lot more lately, he also has a lot more shows to pick from now. He also knows that we can only have them for a few days and has perfected the excuse that we have to take them back soon so can he watch it just one more time. I hate to admit it, but I usually give in. LOL!