Budding Musicians, Take 2

I have another cute video of my boys exploring their musical sides.  Every afternoon we take some time to play the guitar, and Eric has taken quite a liking to it.  Caden, on the other hand, waits all week for daddy to pull out the violin on Sundays.  During this carefully supervised music time one day the boys got lucky enough to both get to play at the same time.

Big Boy!

Today was Eric's second week in nursery.  He walks right in and starts playing as if he's been doing it all his life.  I'm not sure if I should be proud of my self confident little boy or worried that he is so casual about leaving mom and dad to hang out with strangers.  Its fun to pick him up because he gets all excited to tell you (in Eric babble) about what he learned and did.  He points around the room and at his coloring page while giving his narative, then concludes with a big grin.

(In case you missed it, because, well, I just posted it 5 minutes ago but backdated it to January, here is a link to Caden's Sunbeam picture)

Tumbling Class

Thursdays are Caden's tumbling class.  While he enjoyed the sports class we did in January, he seems to really be blossoming in tumbling.  Last week when Daddy came with us he took a few videos.  Although he's one of the youngest in the class of kids ages 3-5, he can follow directions really well and keeps up with the others for the most part.  The teachers show them the circuit one time, then turn the kids loose and supervise them on the harder elements.  This is one of the 5 circuit areas.

There is also a mom and me tumbling class at the same time, and since it was sparsly attended that week Eric and I were invited to join for a 'free trial class.'  Eric really loved the first 15 minutes of his class.  He smiled and giggled and stuck his tongue out in concentration (a trait he must have inherited from his Grandma Dodds).  Zoom in on the picture and check out the delight on his face! Then he seemed to get a little sick of being man-handled and just wanted to do his own thing.  I'm not sure if we'll sign him up for next month's class.

Help Me!

Eric is having a bit of an allergic reaction, which means he has a pretty nasty diaper rash.  Every time I change his diaper and wipe his raw bum he desperately calls out, "Owwie!  Help me!"  I'm not sure who he thinks will come to his rescue, but you've got to give the kid props for trying.

Eric's First Playdate

Last week Eric got to have his first play date.  Until now all the kids we've had over have been Caden's age, so when a friend called and asked if I could watch her little boy who is just a few weeks older than Eric I jumped at the chance.  All three kids napped for the first hour, then woke each other up crying.  Since the 'babies' were sad, Caden decided to read to them to cheer them up.  It was so cute to watch them all piled on the bed surrounded by books.  Caden went fishing with daddy, so the younger two were left to play together on their own for the rest of the afternoon.  They were so cute together!  Its fun to watch Eric's personality coming out more each day.  I didn't get any pictures of just the younger two together, because those kids can move fast.  Every time I caught them doing something cute they were off to the next thing before I could even think to get my camera out.

Happy 30th Birthday, Ryan!

Last Thursday Ryan turned 30.  He decided to take the day off to celebrate.  He started by sleeping in, then going to Caden's tumbling class with us.  In true Ryan fashion, he spent the next few hours outside working on his truck.  At dusk he loaded Caden into the car and the two of them went fishing for an hour.  Lest you think Eric was left out, he got to have his first playdate with a boy his age while big brother was gone.  After the fishing expedition we had a babysitter come over so Ryan and I could go to dinner at Rodizios and then catch Tron Legacy before it left theaters.  I'm not sure who had more fun Thursday - Ryan or Caden.

As the fishing was the highlight of the day (and I neglected to take pictures of any of our other celebrations), I leave you with the beauty of ice piles at Utah Lake, a little boy in heaven with his fishing gear spread, and the 'HUGE' fishy Caden caught (that is a 5 gallon bucket that monster is swimming around in).

 

The Boat Show

I'm behind on the blogging, but we've still been doing stuff and I have lots of fun pictures comming up.  Last week I took the boys to the boat show with Aunt Kellie.  Caden climbed in and out of every single boat on display and overall seemed to really enjoy himself.  I just had to take his picture with die-hard BYU fan Aunt Kellie in front of this decked out Cougar boat.  Eric spent most of his time in the stroller since he had boycotted his nap and was sleepy.  By the time he ventured into a boat my camera battery was dead.  Since kids are free at the boat show I'm sure we'll be going back next year.  Thanks for the fun outing idea, Kellie!

A Big Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who emailed the Representatives on the Health and Human Services Committee! The formula bill passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation, with 6 voting for it and 3 voting against it. The next step is the House Floor!

Formula Bill in Committee - Please send an e-mail

The bill for formula coverage is finally out of Rules Committee.  It was given a fiscal note that was higher than what we expected (other states have shown no fiscal impact), so we will need a lot of support to get our bill to the house floor for a vote.  Please take a few minutes to send some e-mails to the HHS Committee.  There is power in numbers. 

If you need help thinking of what to write, you can just say something to the effect of "Someone I know and love suffers from an eosinophilic disorder.  While there is no cure for the disease, there is a cure for the added emotional and financial strain many families face as they pay out of pocket for the elemental formula necessary to treat it.  Please support HB 233, a bill that provides for insurance coverage for this treatment."

Below is the information sent out by my allergy group regarding the bill and the committee members' email addresses.
****************
HB 233 was prioritized in Rules and assigned to the House Health and Human Services Committee (HHS) today! Then, this afternoon, thanks to Rep. Moss working magic, the bill was put on the HHS agenda for this Friday February 18th at 2:00pm! We are the second to be heard on the agenda and this is where the committee members will hear testimony about the bill and be able to ask questions. They will then make a recommendation/amend the bill and then possibly release it to the House floor for vote.


IMMEDIATE ACTION:

Please email the members of the House Health and Human Services Committee and ask them to support HB 233 by making a favorable recommendation and moving it to the floor for a vote. Tell how the lack of coverage for this disorder has impacted your family, emotionally and financially (or for physicians, your treatment of patients). Don't make it too long, but emphasize how the current status harms families.

Email Subject: HB 233 - Please Support with Favorable Recommendation


If any of these members are your representatives, change email subject to "HB 233 - I am your Constituent - Please Support"

Rep. Paul Ray, Chair pray@utah.gov (supported previous version of bill in 2009)
Rep. Evan J. Vickers, Vice Chair evickers@utah.gov (didn't vote)
Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck rchouck@utah.gov (supported previous version of bill in 2009)
Rep. David Clark dclark@utah.gov (voted against previous version of bill in 2009)
Rep. Tim M. Cosgrove tcosgrove@utah.gov (supported previous version of bill in 2009)
Rep. Bradley M. Daw bdaw@utah.gov (voted against previous version of bill in 2009)
Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove rmenlove@utah.gov (supported previous version of bill in 2009)
Rep. Dean Sanpei dsanpei@utah.gov (didn't vote)
Rep. Christine F. Watkins cwatkins@utah.gov (supported previous version of bill in 2009)
If you are unsure who your representatives are, click here to easily find out http://www.le.utah.gov/GIS/findDistrict.jsp. Constituent emails are much more powerful. Note to all - make sure you sign any email with your full name and mailing address.

Thank you each for your time and efforts - they are vital to the passage of this bill!!! Please let us know if you receive any feedback. You can also forward to family and friends if they would like to help send emails. The more they get the better.

Model Train Show

Last Friday Thanksgiving Point hosted a model train show.  Grandma Dodds heard about it and decided to take the boys.  While the adults were done after about 15 minutes, we drug the boys out of there after an hour.  They both could have watched the trains all night.  Eric was particularly fascinated with a Mickey and Goofy car.  I tried to take lots of pictures, but this is the only one that really turned out.

Long Train Track

What do you do on a long Sunday afternoon?  You build a long train track.  One that starts at the fireplace and goes all the way down the hall.