A very sick baby for a very short time

So on a Saturday night, Van got a pretty bad fever and crashed at bed-time. He ran hot all night long and by Sunday morning, he was over 103 and completely lethargic. I alternated Tylenol and Motrin every few hours, gave him Pediasure and did my best to make him comfortable, but the poor guy was miserable all day long! We just held him and vegged on the couch- it was a tough day for all of us. I was planning on taking him to the doctor Monday morning, but he woke up with no fever and something to prove! He was wild and unruly and totally out-of-control! It was so good to see him back to full health so soon.


Even though it was sad to see him so sick, these pics still make me laugh.

Our Park

We live on Park Ave., aptly named since the end of our street runs right into Alameda Park. We love to walk over there so Van can play on the toys. He likes to be pushed on the swings- and he's only jumped off once... and the cuts on the back of his head were very minor! He likes to jump on the wobbly bridge and follow the bigger kids around. He also likes to pick up other people's garbage- PLEASE throw your trash away! Mostly he loves to climb the stairs and ladders and go down the slides. Van really loves his park. He sometimes asks to go to the park first thing after waking up in the morning. I was lucky to get a few pictures of him playing.

Annual Stucki Family Campout

Every year we get the whole Stucki family together for a camp out. Just as much a part of this tradition is somewhat less than perfect weather- not bad, just not ideal. We went on Labor Day this year, so we wanted a place where that wasn't packed with all the other family campers so we wouldn't have to worry as much about our kids. Good luck with that! Then Tyler remembered a friend of the family who has their very own, fully equipped, private campground out in Arbon. They gladly let us use it for the weekend, and it turned out to be even more perfect than we had all hoped for. There was a fire pit, a picnic table, a clean out-house, lighting, a pond with a paddle boat, plenty of room for the camper and tents, trails to ride the 4 wheelers on, grassy open meadow for the kids to run and play on... and the weather was great! We had a wonderful time and we were so grateful to the Haydens for letting use their perfect little spot for our family camp-out this year!

State Fair

I'm not a huge fan of the fair- too many people, too many smelly people, too many dirty people, etc. But I'll admit I was a little excited to take Van this year. I knew he would love the animals and all the treats. He liked the petting zoo the best, as well as the tractors. He had a really good time in this cute little kiddie area where you can milk a fake cow, groom a fake horse, drive little trucks in corn and bean pits, lasso a bull and drive a mini tractor. We stayed for the Demolition Derby and he really got into all the crashing and banging. It was still crowded, dirty and stinky, but we had a good time anyway!





And I can't write this post without giving a shout-out to my dad who happens to be the absolute coolest "great"grandpa ever, ever, ever! He is so great with Van & I love watching them together!

"Smile"

Van went through this phase in September where every time I tried to take a picture of him, he would show me his tongue. I have a handful of pictures of him, all with his tongue hanging out. I'm still not sure where he picked up on this trick, but eventually it went away.

Our 1st Home

We bought this house in April, after 3 months of looking at about 30 homes in our area. We planned on spending a few months cleaning it and fixing it up and moving in over the summer but we ran into a few problems:

1. There was more work to be done and that we wanted to do than we had initially planned.
2. Tyler was going to school and working two jobs.
3. I am basically useless as far as home repairs and construction go.

We tore out almost the entire upstairs to the studs and re-did nearly everything in the house, including the plumbing and electrical. (Side note: when I say "we" I mean Tyler, so keep that in mind here.) Tyler tore down 3 small sized arch-ways to open up the rooms, took down a wall in our room to make a closet and removed all the old kitchen cabinets. We replaced all the flooring: new carpet in the bedrooms, tile in the bathroom and wood laminate in the living room and kitchen. We cleaned, textured, sealed and painted all the walls and ceilings. Tyler completely tore out the entire bathroom and reconfigured a new one with a bathtub and a window. He also did all the tile work on the floor and in the shower on his own. We hired some local guys to build and install our kitchen cabinets (which cost about the same as rest of the remodel!).

We took one gigantic load of debris to the dump and sent a heaping trash can to the curb every single week, all summer long. We spent hours scrapping nasty-weird brown felt stuff off of the kitchen walls. We went to Home Depot and Lowes almost every day. We ate countless cardboard dinners on fold-up metal chairs in what would someday be our living room. We worked when it was so cold we couldn't feel our fingers and when it was so hot we thought we might pass out. We pulled out trees and we weeded and watered the lawn several times a week. We cleaned walls, windows, ceilings, baseboards, and floors constantly. We burst candles and opened windows whenever we could to get the smell out. Friends, family and our new ward helped out whenever they could. We went home late, tired and exhausted every night.

We ended up moving in the day before Tyler started school for his first semester in the Physical Therapy program. There were a few details that still weren't finished (and some that STILL aren't) but it was good enough to live in and we were out of time!

The first collage is the bathroom remodel.

The second collage is the kitchen remodel.

And of course Van had to help "fix it" too! We tried not to bring him here for most of the remodel, because it was too messy and dangerous, but there were times where we had no choice and he loved every single one of those times. He so badly wants to be helpful and big like daddy and it is pretty cute to watch him try so hard... except when you have to fight him to get the tools back!

Every time I walk into our beautiful house, I can't believe it is the same dark, dirty, smelly house we looked at in March. At the same time I am overwhelmed with pride at the capability of my wonderfully hardworking husband. I am amazed at all the work he did and the exceptional quality of it. He did every single extra project and tedious little thing I asked him to do and he did it fantastically! I love our house, I love the love we put into it and I love having our own place for our little family to be together in.