Announcement

Yes, in case you haven't heard already, we have an announcement to make. I realize that it has only been just shy of ten months since we had our last addition to the family, but I guess when it's time, it's time. The latest addition to the Dastrup family arrived today at 11:23 am by FedEx. Weighing in at less than a pound, Brigham's new iPhone 3GS has made it's debut! Poor Brigham was not here for the happy event since he is still doing his rotation in Gallup, but he was giddy with joy just talking about the pending arrival. He claims that his giddiness is due to the financial responsibility that comes along with our new arrival (which is nothing since his department bought it for him and is paying for the increase on our monthly bill with "educational money" until we move to Utah and St. Marks kindly takes over the payments), but I suspect the true joy comes from the anticipation of hours of one-on-one time with his new baby and helping it to acquire new tricks. I'll try to post some pictures after this weekend when we can finally spend time together as an entire family unit!

Swined

As much as we love having visitors, I recommend that everyone stay as far away from our place as possible for awhile. Although Benjamin had a day when he felt better, he is very sick again. Yesterday I spent from 3:30-7:30 pm at the pediatric clinic (with all 3 little boys-- can I just say how excited I am that we are moving to Utah so I never have to have such harrowing experiences as that ever again??) while they did chest x-rays on Benjamin and gave him IV fluids. I was sick myself, but fortunately I didn't start vomiting until after we got home. Then I called Brigham in Gallup and asked if he could please come home. Fortunately, he is able to switch his Saturday shift to next week and is here taking care of all of us. Ty woke up with a fever this morning (which could just be a reaction to the 2 flu shots he got yesterday), but poor Benjamin is the one we are still very concerned about. He threw up all night long and still can't drink. Brigham's currently gone to get him an anti-nausea prescription, but unless that works, he'll be back in the hospital by later today. As my sister Cambrie put it when she had her bout with this nastiness, "H1N1 NE1?"

Dastrup Daily

Benjamin and I are reading the second Harry Potter book together, and I've decided that it is a great idea. Benjamin got over his crush on me awhile ago, and while I realize that this is a good thing, I have to admit that I miss his expressions of undying love and even his marriage proposals. The last few days, however, Benjamin has said to me on several occasions, "Mom, you are the greatest mom in the whole world. I'm so glad that you are my mom. Thank you for not being like Harry's Aunt and Uncle... Thanks for being nice to me and not locking me up." Voila! Once again I am the worlds greatest mom! Thank you, J.K.!

For those of you wondering how Jacob's potty training is going, the answer is very slowly. He did go potty in the toilet once yesterday and once again today, but it certainly wasn't voluntary. I can tell that he hasn't made the connection in his mind yet that excreting in the toilet is the reason I'm making him sit there. I know he'll get it, but I do think it will be a LONG project! Last night as I listened to Ty crying for about an hour in the middle of the night, I decided that I must like to torture myself-- potty training Jacob and sleep training a teething Ty at the same time-- while Brigham is gone to Gallup four days a week. Tonight I've decided to pull out my leg hairs with tweezers just to keep it real around here.

Breaking News Flash...

Ty's first upper tooth was spotted peeking out of his gums just moments ago! My baby is growing up so fast, and there's nothing I can do about it!

Super Ty

Scales slides with ease...

Potty Training: Day 1

Success! Jacob goes #1 in the potty twice and #2 once at school!!! (Large amounts of juice + no escape from the potty = success.) A huge accomplishment! Mom, however, is unable to recreate the success due to her need to take care of other children instead of hanging out in the bathroom endlessly. Attempted to potty several times without luck for about 20 minutes each time. Jacob had two accidents before Mom abandoned the effort during the dinner/get kids ready for bed hour. Effort would be easier and quite possibly more successful if husband were not in Gallup until Sunday. Currently seeking guidance from teacher as to how to proceed.

Walk Like a Man

For any of you who missed it on Facebook, here is Ty with his new push toy:

Happy Halloween!

Benjamin was a little bummed that his school didn't have a Halloween party this year (they had a pajama party instead), but as it turns out, it was probably a blessing. After the last two nights, we have WAY TOO MUCH CANDY!!

Friday night was the ward Trunk-or-Treat, and although Jacob was afraid of the costumed treat-givers at first, after chewing through a Twix wrapper and thus disposing of its contents, he decided that maybe they weren't so bad. Both boys got quite enough that night, but the suggestion that we call it good was not received very well. Halloween day we were lucky enough to have Uncle Travis come into town for a job interview, so we had fun sharing our festivities with him. Benjamin had his last soccer game of the fall season, and he helped end it with a bang by scoring a goal!



Halloween night we took all three boys around for about a half an hour, and then Daddy and Uncle Travis took the little boys home, and I accompanied Benjamin on his continued quest for candy. After awhile it got cold and Benjamin was starting to complain about the weight of his treat bag, so I suggested that we call it a night. We were trick-or-treating with Benjamin's friend and his mom (our next-door neighbors), and they were aghast that I would consider calling it a night so early. They offered to take my poor, maltreated child along with them for some more candy hunting, and I gave in. Benjamin came home to unload some of his haul and get a jacket, and then went back out to pound the pavement. When he finally came home, he had an OUTRAGEOUS amount of candy-- it was literally brimming over in his big candy bag! Back in MY day, (when we had to walk to school in two feet of snow uphill both ways, I realize) we came home with a bag with a quarter of the candy he got (if we were lucky!), and most of the goods consisted of Dum-dums, Smarties, Sweet-Tarts, and those disgusting Mary Janes that no one would ever trade with you. A fun-sized candy bar was the best! (And while I'm on the topic of fun-sized candy bars, did anyone else notice that the Mars ones are smaller this year? Not length-wise, but height-wise. They are shorter! Penny pinchers...) As much as Benjamin got this year, I did notice that people actually scaled back from last year. Last year he got a decent number of goody bags given to him on the doorstep-- this year he only came home with one. But I'm worried that we've created a monster here. What if from now on he's disappointed with his haul if the bag isn't full? We are moving back to the land of Dum-Dums and Mary Janes, after all...

After making a respectable dent in the boys' candy after dinner today, we decided maybe we should go for a walk. We went to the Bosque-- the trees near the Rio Grande, and it was a gorgeous fall day! Our caloric intake was in no way neutralized by our sauntering pace, but we enjoyed ourselves very much. We'll be going back again soon.