All about Clyde

Time for random updates on the family - starting with Clyde Monster!

Home school kindergarten is going pretty well so far, and he's found a very willing classmate - Will! Unfortunately, education budget cuts affect home school as well - these two students have to share a chair :(.

A few weeks ago he had to go 'on site' for a reading evaluation and I used it as an excuse for a quick educational field trip to Krispy Kreme.

Student/teacher picture :). Home schooling has reminded me why I could never be an actual teacher, and why I really, really hope this is our only year doing this - I rebel against most things authoritative and structured. Luckily, we've been able to adapt the program for our situation. As long as Clyde gets the hours and lessons in, it doesn't matter if we do six language arts sessions in one day and then skip it the rest of the week and our 'school day' varies from morning to afternoon to evening depending on the day. Thankfully Clyde doesn't seem to be fazed by the flexibility.

Clyde did soccer this fall - his goldenrod-uniformed team was called "Sting"; sadly they lacked any real zing and lost every game :).

Don't let that last action shot fool you - this is mostly how Clyde could be found out on the field, mid-cartwheel. Or jumping around evading battle droids. Or running merrily along (behind the pack) often with his tongue hanging out.

As I referenced earlier this month, we recently embarked on some follow-up care for Clyde's Hirschsprung's disease.
This was the poor lad at the initial visit with the pediatric gastroenterologist. Doesn't he look chipper?

Sidenote: we really, really liked Dr. Ellison. Clyde's pediatric surgeon Dr. Curnow is an amazing doctor, but it was time to meet with someone whose entire focus is this area/functionality of the body. Dr. Ellison was very thorough and easy to talk to during the appointment (even answering a few of our questions about Will) and I loved the office staff . . . possibly because they gushed over Clyde when he read aloud the various signs posted in the waiting area. I love people who are as impressed with my children as I am :).

A few days later it was time for the outpatient procedure at St. Luke's. We decided that Chuck would take him in while I stayed home to get Will on the bus for preschool and then join them.
Clyde and Daddy headed out the door a little before seven a.m.

All set with his cool hospital bracelet.

Posing in his cute little gown for a cell phone picture to be sent to his anxious mother at home. It was really hard for me not to be there for this part, but it made much more sense to send the strong, rational parent instead of the emotional, shock-prone parent :). The wisdom of the decision was reinforced later when Chuck had to forcibly hold the breathing mask to Clyde's face for the anesthesia to take effect. I would have cried along with Clyde and been no help whatsoever.

Here's one more 'before' shot - Chuck wisely packed Star Wars legos to help calm nerves.

I arrived just after they took Clyde back, so Chuck and I settled into the waiting room. The actual procedure only took about twenty minutes, and about twenty minutes after that we were taken to see Clyde in recovery.

This is how he first greeted us. Turns out early morning + not being allowed to eat breakfast + totally unfamiliar setting = waking up grumpy. Shocking, right?

Luckily a grape popsicle and Dora the Explorer went a long way to making everything okay! He did insist to everyone (including the anesthesiologist and Dr. Ellison) that he had not actually fallen asleep but instead had just rested. We decided not to point out that had he been awake for any of that, he would definitely be insisting on a better post-op reward than a popsicle. . . .

He was almost back to normal by the time we had been debriefed and gotten the okay to take off - the wheelchair ride may have helped with that.

He did stay pretty attached to Chuck throughout the rest of the day, though :).

It took about a week, but there has now been definite progress and we're very encouraged. It wasn't an instant fix by any means, but we look forward to having a potty trained Clyde sooner rather than later!

That weekend Clyde and Will got to have a sleepover with Grandma Pam and Uncle Cody (which is the highlight of their little lives) so that Chuck and I could attend Stake Conference on Saturday evening and Sunday morning in peace.

Here are the little boys after church a couple of weeks ago. The primary program was last week and we were psyched when Clyde marched on up with all the other wee children and clearly said his part ("Heavenly Father speaks to us through His prophets"). He also knew all the words to the songs (thank you primary music CD!), although he yawned at least twice during every song, the tired little goof :).

We sure do love our Clyde!!

(Even with the newfound five-year-old attitude, grrrr. . . any reassurance that this phase of argumentativeness will be gone soon??)

Happy birthday Eden!!

Today happens to be my gorgeous sister-in-law Eden's 21st birthday, and since I can't be there to buy her first round (of the non-alcoholic drink of her choice), a birthday blog celebrating her awesomeness will have to do.

See what I mean? Gorgeous. This is Eden being adorably contemplative during a quiet moment on her wedding day.
* I wish I could take credit for this picture, but alas, it was Sam who captured it.

When Quinn and Eden began dating, he used one word in particular to describe her to me, and I can't think of a better description: enchanting. To know Eden is to love Eden - there's no other choice.

Especially when she willingly plays 'Just Dance' and rocks super sweet moves like this one the first time she meets you :).

Seriously, though, Eden is one of those charming individuals who is well-liked by all she comes into contact with - her genuine goodness makes her a friend to all. I knew this about her, but it was at her bridal shower in May that I was able to observe this firsthand:

SO many people came to celebrate with Eden and shower her with love and generosity. The sisters in her ward are an incredibly supportive - something I witnessed again at the 'cupcake decorating' party the day before the wedding :).

Eden comes from a family of really strong women, and I've really enjoyed getting to know her mom and sisters better (Aubrey and I actually grew up in school together, so it was fun to get reacquainted!). This is us getting ice cream after a successful wedding dress shopping venture back in April :).

Eden isn't just a pretty, friendly face - she also is incredibly talented in a variety of areas.
Remember her awesome skills at the shooting range?

She's also incredibly artistic . . . and ambitious :). After excelling in a flower arranging class at BYU-I she opted to do all of the flowers for the wedding, and I happily got to see her in action as she created her amazing bouquet. We also watched 'Tangled' (one of Quinn and Eden's favorite movies) as she worked and I was struck by how much Rapunzel reminds me of Eden - joyous, beautiful voice, caring. They both are handed circumstances in life that could leave them angry or bitter, but instead choose to allow love and light to help them heal and continue on.
(Oooh, turns out that early morning Jana is deep!)

We witnessed more of her artistic talent one night as she played with Will; unfortunately I don't have photographic evidence of the super cool flowers she drew with chalk but suffice it to say my driveway has never been so pretty!

Eden also has a natural connection with kids - Will is pretty sure the earth revolves around her and she is sooo patient with him. Clyde is also very smitten; they both approved from the start of Unky Quinn's good fortune.

Bailey is also a fan of Aunt Eden. Eden has lots of nieces and nephews already (she's been an aunt for more than half her life!) so it's no surprise that she took so naturally to the three wee ones in our family.

Which makes it that much more exciting that these two crazy kids . . .

are going to have a 'wee one' of their own! Quinn and Eden are expecting a baby at the end of April, and I'm so, so excited for them. I can't imagine a child being more loved and joyously welcomed.

As I've referenced, geographic distance (and possibly Quinn's embarrassment of me) dictated that Eden and I didn't meet in person until a few weeks into their relationship, so we opted to e-mail back and forth in the meantime. I'm so glad we did; I loved getting to know Eden a little bit and I was struck by her maturity, her spirituality, and her fun-loving nature.

And of course my favorite thing about her is how perfectly she complements my goofy little brother :).

So happy birthday my dear Eden!! I feel like this post barely touched on your awesomeness (she also rock climbs! And sings! And is fun and crazy and up for anything!). I can't wait to see you next month so we can compare baby bumps (yours will be darling, mine will be out of control). I love love love you!

Izatt family circus reunion: Friday and Saturday

The end of September found us buckling up in the ol' (er, new) minivan for its maiden road trip. Destination: Salt Lake City, for a weekend of fun with Chuck's family! The trip down went very well, mostly because Chuck drove the whole way and I curled up in the very back for a nap :).

We stopped in Ogden to have lunch at Fat Boy's and see Big Will. He and Clyde played legos, Will ran around like he owned the place, and Chuck checked out the 'UFO Hall of Fame', upon which he someday hopes to be featured.

Then we drove to Amanda and Steve's place in Kaysville and met up with Grandma and Pops for a quick visit, which baby Anna mostly slept through :).

Then we hopped back on the road and ended up at the hotel in SLC. We got settled in, went swimming with Grandma and Pops, made a grocery store run with Grandma for the essentials (peanut butter, honey, bread), and then crashed - unfortunately before seeing Melissa and Lee and their families, who rolled in later that night.
The next morning we got up early and headed back up to Ogden for some rock climbing. Amanda and Steve are both avid climbers (and Melissa and Kevin and their kids are into it too), so it was a natural choice for a morning activity. I was pretty impressed with the climbing gym; the staff was really friendly and verrry patient, especially with my little boys. They do have a location in Boise, and it looks like they have some neat specials running during the month of October - here's that website link.

Clyde initially liked the idea of rock climbing more than the actual activity, but then he (mostly) got over his apprehension.

Sooo high!

Coming down may have been his favorite part :). Thanks to Aunt Amanda for her awesome belaying skills!

Cute little boy.

I figured Will would be all over this, but I guess he prefers his climbing to be more furniture and kitchen counter oriented. Luckily he found other ways to stay occupied!

Here's my super cute husband climbing. Again, mad props to Amanda who is super buff and can nonchalantly belay her big brother!

Mallory, Courtney, George and Lily climbing.

Mallory and I decided to try to the 'slackline' - I made it about a step before I bailed :).

More shots of the fam at the climbing gym. We were bummed that we missed Lee and Aleesha and their kids, they rolled in after Chuck and I left for lunch and afternoon naps.


And since we were just down the road, we went back to Fat Boy's for lunch.

Will and Pops got some good bonding in :).

After naps for my three boys (somehow I managed not to get one since Clyde and Will's naps did not overlap, boo!), it was time to join the whole fam for a big dinner. We took over three big tables at the restaurant and ate to our hearts' content.

Will was crazily rambunctious/grumpy until Aunt Melissa whipped out some sort of magical device with alphabet games on it and he chilled on her lap for the next hour (Lily was sweet enough to share her mom!). I love that two three-year-olds are this adept at technology.

After dinner we met back up at the hotel and walked down to the arena for the circus. Here are Lee, Aleesha, Bri, and Eli posing by one of the circus trailers.

We got there early so that we could mill around the floor with all the performers, which was super cool. The Blue kids got in on the act and took advantage of the awesome photo ops.

My kids were more content to stand back and watch, although they did participate in the 'dance instruction' that the peppy dancers gave . . . of course, I had to do it with them. It's cool; I have no pride.

And then it was CIRCUS time! We had really good seats (thanks Mom and Pops!!) and the visual aspect was pretty amazing. I really liked the physical comedy of the clowns - and I was super relieved to see that clowns have gotten decidedly less creepy since I was young. The boys were, naturally, mesmerized by the tigers and elephants and their tricks. I was likewise impressed but also slightly nervous about the undoubtedly rigorous training that led to such tricks . . . what can I say, I'm pretty 'bleeding heart' :).

Will got pretty wiggly starting at intermission; I think the fact that not even a circus can hold his attention for an hour is pretty telling - how the flip am I supposed to keep him quiet at church?? :) The grand finale was pretty sweet; I was constantly impressed at the choreography - how they could have SO many performers on the floor at once without any issues or collisions! And then it was over and time to head back to the hotel to tuck in very worn out boys . . . and their mom and dad!

Thanks again to Chuck's generous parents for treating us to such a fun adventure!!