Autrey and Shilo

3 months ago Autrey's mission buddy/BYU roomie, Pat Hobbs, found out his 6 year old had leukemia (2 days after Anndalyn had baby Braddock, mind you). Our hearts broke and we started praying for Cam every night. He is now doing well with his chemo and started going back to school again. We flew out with our corporate sponsors, Doug and Mona, to see the Hobbs family, to be part of baby Braddock's blessing, and to run in the 5k to fight children's cancer with Pat and Anndalyn. An added bonus is that Ali lives in Arizona too, just 30 minutes from Pat, so she was my running buddy for the race. She just had another ACL revision surgery and was fighting the flu, and I am horribly out of shape and am having quite a bit of pain in my joints, but we battled the cold and did it. Team Gimpy finished in 35 minutes. We weren't going very fast, but we finished 35th and 36th out of 120 in our age group. Not too shabby. Autrey reached his goal to get under 30 minutes with 30 seconds to spare. All 3 of us finished in the 200s out of 3,000 runners. I should mention that we started near the front. And old people and people pushing strollers still beat us. Just finishing without injury was a victory in my book.

See that little red heart on my hoodie? For me, this run was also for my friend, Jody Montierth. She got sick on Valentine's day and died suddenly on Wednesday morning. The bloodwork came back on Thursday that she had a rare acute case of leukemia, and she never knew it. This weekend I was still in denial. I didn't really talk about it because I didn't want to cry. It was easy to pretend she was still alive since I was out of town and away from my ward friends in Texas. Her funeral was today. The pretending is over. Though I've cried a lot today, her funeral was an uplifting spiritual experience. I know it wasn't a coincidence her husband was released from being our Bishop a few months ago so they could spend more time together. Or that Elder Bednar came to Dallas a week ago and her son attended his CES fireside about having the faith NOT to be healed, sharing a story about a young man with cancer. I also know Jody was worried that she would miss her son's wedding because she was in the hospital. He gets married in the temple tomorrow. And she will be there.

Autrey was trying to get his namesake to look my way for a picture. As soon as he was looking I said, "Autrey, get your hand down." Poor little Autrey thought I was talking to him. Oops.

Little Autrey is blonde, fearless, messy, and eats everything. They named him well.

A singing cowboy must have followed us from Texas.

I have lots of random pictures that don't really need their own posts, so here is the random hodge-podge before the over due update...

My winter walking sidekicks:

You wouldn't know this kid didn't like jumpers or walkers when he was Colton's age:

At Tommy's 4th birthday fireman party:

The lawn troll. (The sun makes his hair look crazy):

Grass is very exciting:

And so is dirt:

At the Fort Worth Livestock and Rodeo carnival rides:

With boots he was barely tall enough to ride this roller coaster by himself. He loved it. Twice:

I was too busy admiring all of the 'pretty' cows to take pictures. Those cows were more primped and polished with more products than I have ever been. Seriously. Ever seen a manly cowboy teasing and hairspraying a cow tail? I have. Spinoff of "Toddlers and Tiaras" could be "Herefords and Hairspray" or "Milk Money" or "Beef Beauties" or something. You know those cows were just waiting to sit in manure again. I did snap a picture of these horses though:

We stopped at a park to let Sheriff Dylan play while I fed Colton (like a cow, I might add):

He played with a cute little girl we met there. She made her grandma take her all the way back to her car so she could get a hat she made to give it to Dylan. When she sat down on the bench he scooted close to her and held her hand. I think my jaw hit the ground. (He's also been given a picture by Ava in Sunbeams. Sheesh.):

My tired cowboys taking a nap:

Current Sunbeam, Future Missionary:

Current Cutie, Future Missionary:

Warm weather walking sidekicks:

BYU baby:

"I love you THIS much!"

Cute suit, funny faces:

They wouldn't look at me, but they were so sweet just playing together:

We went to Houston to celebrate Papa's birthday this weekend. We went to the Children's Museum and the Houston zoo, for Papa, of course:

1st carousel ride for Colton, since he was asleep when the older kids rode the one at Disneyland:

Dylan's 1st time feeding a giraffe:

So life-like:

Dylan chased this goat around the petting zoo:

Monkeying around:

Video of Colton laughing at Dylan bouncing a ball down the stairs:

Video of Colton's 1st taste of lemon:

Dylan's 39 month update:

*In January, Dylan was wearing size 3 pants, but they became too short and now he is in size 4. In most cases, the same can be said for his shirts. He has also moved from size 10 shoe to an 11.

*Dylan gave up his daily naps a while ago, but takes 'rests' or naps as needed. They are always needed after we go on vacation or visit someone for the weekend. He seems to always stay up past his 8pm bedtime and wakes up earlier than his usual 7am when we aren't at home. Both boys are asleep as I type this.

*He has learned his right from his left. He occasionally gets confused, but he is pretty consistent.

*It was time to eat at G-ma's house and Dylan called to Autrey, "It's fooding time!"

*Dylan loves "Mada-gas-card" (Madagascar movie)

*Me: "Please hold still."

D: "But I like to move it, move it!" See, he loves that movie.

*Aut: "Dylan, stop crying. I can't handle it anymore."

D: "Yes, you can handle it. You just don't want to." Stinker.

*Me: "Watch what you're doing. You got pee pee on the ground."

D: "It's just so slippery, mom."

*D: "Are you the cooker for us?"

Me: "You betcha."

*D: "Do you have the Holy Ghost?"

Me: "Yes, and you will too when you are baptized."

D: "Is he hiding?"

Me: "No. You can't see him but he helps you to be a good listener."

D: "He helps me not to say 'stupid'. I do have the Holy Ghost, mama."

*Everything is "I can do it all by myself." He clears his place and puts dishes by the sink, he climbs into his big bed, turns his night light on and off, puts his cars away, and is becoming potty independent. He can get the stool, turn on the bathroom light, pull down his pants, go pee pee, pull them back up, flush, turn off the light, and come get me to help him with the snap on his jeans. Washing hands and #2 need my assistance.

*He loves to be my big helper around the house and with Colton. His new thing is helping me bring grocery bags in from the car and then handing me the groceries to put away in the fridge and pantry. Last week the only casualty was squishing the hamburger buns. I'm excited that his 'helping' is actually helping and not a hindrance.

*One of Dylan's recent prayers all by himself: "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this great beautiful day. Please help Josh's dad to find a job. Help us to be happy. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." (Our neighbor did find a job 1 week after losing it - thanks to Dylan's prayers. Haha. He also prayed for Grandpa Holdaway to get out of the hospital, Avery and Christopher to be healthy, and Camden Hobbs' cancer to get better. I'd say he's on a roll.)

*Dylan loves Sunbeams. The only time he cried was on the 1st Sunday when he saw Autrey in the hall with his Primary class in between 2nd and 3rd hours and he thought it was time to go home. He hasn't had a problem since. He really likes Sister Biggs and Sister Ganir. I know he's learning because he will say things like "My spirit has a body" and while pointing to his coloring page "That's Daniel. He's praying. The lions didn't want to sneak him out."

*Aut: "What did you learn about in Sunbeams?"

D: *silence*

Aut: "Where did you live before you came to Earth?"

D: "With Sister Biggs."

*We saw a fire in the distance throwing up lots of black smoke and he says, "The sky is ruined."

*According to Dylan we are "Dylan Taylor Duke, Dylan Taylor Mama, and Dylan Taylor Daddy." He knows our names are Shilo and Autrey, but I think he got confused why he had so many more names than we did.

*"Mom, you are the E-E-S-T. The best." He won't believe me that it starts with a B.

*Dylan was in the bathroom with me as I was getting ready one morning and he said, "I want to put a Nemo-fish in your 'milkwash' (mouthwash) to swim around. That's so silly, mama." Cracks himself up.

*He is learning Southern charm by saying "Yes, ma'am/sir." He and I both get a kick out of it.

*He sometimes says "Just a second" when I ask him to do something. It's my fault and I don't like it. Dylan is also rubbing off on us. Autrey caught himself at work saying "Give me a little minute" and I accidently put the toilet lid up for me to go to the bathroom.

*He pretends to talk into a calculator and calls it a "talkulator."

*Dylan can be sneaky and say things like "Colton says not to play with him. Play with me." Or he will tell Autrey, "Mom says to eat a cookie/go outside." The best is when he uses 3rd person imaginary people when referring to himself: "Batman doesn't want to go to the nature trail" or "Mr. Incredible doesn't like to eat that."

*I ran a practice 5k and when I walked back in the door Dylan said, "You came back. Baby Colton missed you...and daddy and me."

*He talks about Derek moving back to our house, his trucks going to Arkansas, and having a baby boy named Derek when he grows up. Clearly I'm not the only one missing Alice and the rest of the Kellar family. We just found out that his sweet little friend, Rock, will be moving to South Korea. Makes me really sad since the Anderson's were the couple we started date swapping with at the end of the year.

*The 1st 2 times we played Candy Land, Dylan beat me soundly. I finally came back in the 3rd game. Darn pink picture cards.

*He is obsessed with cheese and asks for it all the time.

*When he hears Gotye's song "Somebody I Used to Know" he will get excited and say "That's our song, mom!" I love that he chose a song for us.

*Dylan noticed that I only make treats once a week when the Scouts come over on Wednesdays (the same night I take Colton with me to Young Women's) because when he sees me making something he will ask, "Are the Scouts coming over?"

Colton's 9 month update

*Head: 17.4 in, 20% (Dylan was 45.7 cm, 60%)

Height: 28 in, 40% (Dylan was 27.8 in, 30%)

Weight: 18.3 lbs, 15% (Dylan was 18.5 lbs, 20%)

*The doctor was telling me to add more fat into his diet because he is so little. I feed him all the time and I am trying to fatten him up. However, I'm not as worried as I was with Dylan at this age because if Colton keeps following Dylan's exact growth pattern he will be in the 97% for height and weight soon enough.

*In December, Colton completed his physical therapy for his left foot. Woo hoo!

*In January, Colton was still in some of his 3-6 month clothes but moved quickly into the 6 month stuff I got back from mom's house at Christmas. He was also in a size 2 shoe and size 2 diaper. Now he is in 6-9 month/9 month clothes, a size 3 shoe, and a size 3 diaper.

*I finally got Colton re-trained to sleep through the night since the holidays messed him up. He goes to bed at 8pm and gets up between 8-9:30am. Days like today I sometimes have to wake him up to go to the library storytime or Play to Learn at the school. He will either take 2 short naps or 1 long one, depending on how busy we are.

*He has mastered sitting and holding objects. He is rolling and haphazardly army crawling all over the place. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks but goes back on his belly to go anywhere. He can almost go from his back to all the way sitting up, but can't quite get do it yet. He is trying to pull himself up into a standing position, but only in the bath tub.

*This kid does NOT like getting into his carseat. He will cry and arch his back and get all upset, but then will generally be ok once we start driving.

*Just like Dylan used to, he doesn't like waiting in between spoonfuls of food, and he manages to kick his shoes off all the time.

*He started waving at us.

*Colton was sitting on the counter and fell on the kitchen floor. Went to Cook's Children's and was told it wasn't a traumatic fall and no head scans were needed. They kind of made me feel silly for going. I didn't think anything was wrong, but being unsure was making me nervous. Autrey asked Dylan what the doctor said. He responded, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

*Colton's nickname is "Jack Jack" from the Incredibles movie. Looks just like him with his big ears and little tuft of blonde hair.

*He rubs MY hair when I am holding him. He rubs HIS little tuft of hair when he is nursing or tired. I like that method of self soothing much better than binkies or sucking his thumb like he used to.

*He is always blowing raspberries and making fish gulps with his mouth. He gives sloppy open-mouthed kisses.

*He started saying "Oh, woah" and using a lot more voice inflections in his babbling. I have heard the "ma" sound, but he is not saying "mama" or "dada" yet. He will also growl and squeal. And just like Dylan he 'talks' sometimes while he is nursing.