Trevor turned 2!

On March 21 Trevor had his second birthday. I would like to post some things about him.

I made a Boston Cream Pie cake - It was fab!

He is fearless. That kid has more bumps and bruises than any toddler I have met. We have caught him going down the stairs on his stomach, face first (we call it stair surfing and no it is not allowed in our home), climbing onto counter-tops to help himself to food, jumping off the fourth step onto the carpeted floor below, running away from us and not looking back, etc, etc.

He is his own little person & a creature of habit. He likes things done the same way every time. If he gets an idea in his head or wants something he will let you know in no uncertain terms. He doesn't say no but rather has a head shake with a distinct "uh-huh" if he doesn't like something or doesn't want to do something.

He is also obsessed with airplanes. In the car, at the soccer field, out our front window, he'll spot any plane, near or far, and say "airplane airplane airplane...." until you acknowledge him. And since we live west of the airport and near airport #2 you can imagine how many times a day we say "yes, Trevor, there is an airplane!". I recently found some old PJ's of Tyler's that have airplanes on them- he loves them.

Trevor likes to dance and sing. He has a song that he sings in the car that goes a little something like this "Ba ba bee, mommy". We don't know what it means but he sings it a lot. He bounces around to music too and especially likes the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse songs. When he is hungry and wants something to eat he will do a little happy dance in the kitchen while I fix his food. It is very cute.

He loves dogs, or as he calls them "bubbas". His old babysitter had a dog named Bubba so that is what he thinks all dogs are called. Even though we have tried to teach him to say dog he still says Bubba. We had an encounter with a chihuahua the other day too. It was nice weather on a Friday that I didn't work so I decided that Trevor and I should walk over to pick Tyler up from preschool instead of drive. On our way home we were met by a nasty little chihuahua that was barking and growling at us. I tried to ignore it and keep walking but Tyler had climbed half way up me in complete terror and Trevor was going after the dog with arms wide open trying to pet it. The problem was, the dog was biting at my feet and I was afraid it would bite my Trevor. So that wasn't a fun experience but we try to let him be around any friendly dog (or any animal for that matter- he doesn't discriminate- he loves them all!).

Trevor loves bananas. Actually he just loves to eat and will eat anything, at any time, and any place, but bananas are his favorite. It's gotten to the point where I have to hide them, and yesterday when we ran out of bananas, whoa, I thought the world was coming to an end!

Here he is eating a banana along with cousins Taylor & Gavin.

Poor kid has the craziest hair ever! He has four cowlicks! Two in the front and two in the back. The two in the back are on the very top of his head and they go opposite directions so he has a perpetual mohawk. We either have to keep his hair really short or let it be longer and do whatever it wants. Here is a picture of how I found him after a nap one day. He had rubbed his way-too-long hair against the bumper pad so it was all matted and standing straight-up Don King style. It was too funny. He has a great personality. He's a mellow guy most of the time and has been such a joy to have. When I think back to when he was born, and I remember how scared I was when he was born 6 1/2 weeks early, it amazes me how far we have come. He's a wonderful little man and I wish for a brilliant future for him.

We love you Trev-boy!

Heart-breaking News

S. Clair Bankhead

It was two weeks ago that I got a phone call from my Mom, who was in tears, to tell me that her Dad had leukemia. He has always been in great health so this was a real shocker. He was admitted to LDS Hospital and diagnosed with Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia (AML)- not a good diagnosis for a 75-year-old. But through much prayer, discussion and thought he decided to go with aggressive treatment to kill the cancer. He has completed his first week of chemo and is on a "break" period for nine days. Once that time is up the next round of chemo will be determined based on how his blood cells responded to the first round of chemo. So really, everything is up in the air. For the time being he remains inpatient at LDS on the Bone Marrow Unit which (in my opinion) is the best place for him although he is feeling the walls closing in. I'm telling you, he is the most active, hardworking person I know. He's a busy-body and just itching to get back to feeding his cows! Eventually though the plan is for him to be at home but receive his chemo infusions at a clinic. Currently he is doing really well. I was there on Thursday when his doctor came in and said he was doing better than expected. (I'm not surprised- he's a trouper!)

These last two weeks have been so hard for me personally because I have felt so much guilt for not taking my kids over to visit more often, I haven't kept better in touch with my grandparents and I haven't had them as involved in my life growing up as I would have liked because of the distance apart we lived. I've always taken for granted the fact that I have all four of my grandparents alive. It's amazing how all the things that were important in my life suddenly came to a halt and he, my grandma and my Mom moved to the top of the list. I am very fortunate to work just minutes from LDS Hospital so that I can visit him every few days during my lunch break. It does my heart good to see him and my grandma (and generally some of my aunts & uncles too!).

Thanks to everyone who has asked about him- I really appreciate your love & concern. Please keep him in your prayers. And if you are able, please donate blood. In the first few days he was admitted it was the RBC's & platelets that saved his life. He continues to get blood products and I feel so thankful to everyone who has donated for helping to save him.

Kangaroo Zoo

We recently went to a place called Kangaroo Zoo with some good friends of ours. It's this large building full of blow-up bounce houses and toys. It's a place both kids and adults can play (although after playing I really felt my age!). Trevor was fearless and climbed everything, Tyler ran from place to place it was hard to keep up with him (hence the picture of a streak). We had a ton of fun and bought a punch pass so we can go back again and again.

After playing we went to Wendy's for lunch then the boys crashed on the way home.
Aren't they cute when they're asleep?!?

Discovery Gateway

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Back in February we got to go to Discovery Gateway with the whole Newman clan. It was extra fun because Ashley & little Lincoln were here from Texas and we just don't get to see them enough (we missed Mike too but you know, it's busy season for those accountant-types). Anyway, all the cousins were there and it was the opening day of the Sesame Street "The Body" exhibit which was rather exciting for me since I work in organ donation an all. And to top it all off KISN radio station was there giving away prizes and I won a year-long family membership to Discovery Gateway! Awesome! I think Tyler asks me once a week when we are going to go next. In March we got to go with most of the Thacker cousins and that was fun because it was the first time they had been. The kids have so much fun there so if you haven't been, I recommend you make a trip soon.

Pictures: Tyler (construction), Tyler (with macaroni skeleton he made), cousin Katelyn with aunt Andrea, Trevor (with a rooster), Tyler (rock wall), Trevor (in blue egg), counsin Lincoln (in stroller), Trevor (grocery shopping).

Our family has expanded!

We'd like to introduce our newest addition to the family...our fish. We finally broke down and got a pet. Don't get me wrong, I love doggy's but the idea of having another living being to feed and clean-up after wasn't a thrilling idea. But, since Tyler was so afraid of animals we decided that we needed to get some sort of pet and maybe "upgrade" slowly until he overcomes his fears. So we got a fish. A really cute fancy black goldfish with bulgy eyes. Brad and I wanted to name him Darth Vader but Tyler's name won: Blackie. After a couple of weeks we decided to upgrade to a larger tank and add another fish. This one is a fancy orange goldfish that I named Mitzie. We have them in our kitchen so I can make sure that they are OK (Trevor stuck his hand in and tried to grab Blackie one day when I had my back turned) and they have quite the personalities. Mitzie will spend her entire day hiding behind the rocks and underneath the filter until she sees me walk into the kitchen. Once I walk in the kitchen she is front and center waiting for me to feed them. Like most goldfish, feeding time is the highlight of their day.