He did it!

Well, after two years of hard work, Phillip graduated with his MHSA (masters in health services administration)! I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard and has learned so much.

Clem and Rita came out to celebrate with us! They flew in Wednesday night and graduation was Thursday.

The School of Public Health held their graduation in the Hill Auditorium. It's a beautiful building and was perfect for the occasion.

This is Dr. Philbert, the dean of the school.

The first speaker was an MPH graduate in health behavior and health education, who was done with classes in December and then moved to Boston to start working for the Boston Public Health Commission. Her first assignment was in one of the first-aid tents at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. She spoke about her experiences witnessing the bombing and the casualties. It was a great speech. 

This was the graduation speaker, Thomas Goetz. He did a pretty good job. Spoke about how he got interested in public health. He's a writer and entrepreneur. He did a pretty good job

Now on to the most exciting part, Phil walking the stage! Unfortunately, I did not document this very well. All of my pictures were VERY blurry. Bad lighting. But here's what I got

 Phil chatting in line with his friends. He's the blurry one in the beard.

Receiving his alumni pin. They didn't hand out diplomas, or diploma folders like BYU, just the pin.  

Here's a better picture in his grad garb. No hat because his was a bit small and didn't like wearing it. This is Garrett Bean, another LDS guy in Phil's program. He and his wife Ashley lived in the other Ann Arbor ward, but we still got together with them quite a bit. We love them and are going to miss them terribly. They just moved this week to Colorado!

Here's the four of us, plus baby Henry in the stroller. We love the beans and we're so grateful for their friendship. 

And here's the pants-less wonder...here's the story:

We knew graduation day was going to be a hard one for Felix. Graduation started at 3pm, with a department reception before from 12-2. So we knew Felix would have a hard time with skipping his nap. He was pretty good at the reception as long as he could walk around and someone followed him. Then we had to walk over to the auditorium to get our seats. When we got there Felix threw a huge tantrum. Screaming and yelling. All very embarrassing for me. I finally just gave up and let him walk around and climb the stairs. When the speeches began, grandpa offered to let me go in and enjoy the graduation ceremonies and he would follow Felix around. I was so grateful for Clem! What a great grandpa. After Phil walked the stage, I went out to find them. When I did, Clem told me Felix had just had a blowout. And instead of coming to get me and the diaper bag, he decided to tackle it himself! He offered a lady $10 for a diaper, but she just gave it to him free of charge (though it was a few sizes too small). He changed his diaper and then washed his pants in the sink and put them back on him. Oh man was that kid smelly when I got him! Poor Clem! I took Felix in the bathroom, changed his diaper into one that fit him and put his pants, shoes and socks in a plastic bag. When we went to go meet Daddy, Felix looked like this. I still feel so awful for Clem, who I'm sure hasn't changed a diaper since Phil was little! Felix hasn't had a blowout since he was a newborn, so of all the days to have one he choose this one. Needless to say, we didn't take many pictures afterward because we wanted to get him in the tub. 

It was a very memorable day! 

This will not be our last graduation! Phil has decided that 3 degrees is better than 2 and he's starting a PhD program here in the fall. We're really excited to stay here in Ann Arbor!

Felix Turned 2!!!

I can't believe I have a 2 year old. The past 2 years have gone by so quickly!

We took Felix in for his 2 year check-up and he's huge! 99th percentile for height (38") and 84th percentile for weight (can't remember the exact number).

As you can see he's kind of a lean kid. His six pack is stellar! But he's very healthy and making good progress development-wise. His doctor usually puts 2 year olds on skim milk, but she says whole milk for Felix for another year wouldn't hurt since he's obviously growing so quickly.

The past month has been hard for me as a mother as Felix has transitioned into being 2. I think it's because he's changing so much and is becoming more of a toddler and I need to catch up and figure out how to mother a toddler. So needless to say, we're working on it and I'm working on not getting so stressed about it. But I've been told by multiple people that it's just a phase and things will get better.

Other than that, Felix is a joy. He's very loving and will come up while I'm in the kitchen and just hug my legs. It's the best. He talks a lot and knows his colors (yellow, red, blue, purple, pink, white, black, brown, green) we're working on the hard ones to say like orange and the weird ones to recognize like gray, but he's very good at pointing out colors. He has a hard time saying his f's...he calls himself Peepee. (He does that a lot with words, taking the first syllable and repeating it, but in this case he's replacing the F with the P...its quite funny when he let's us know in the third person that he has a dirty diaper!) He's very much into cars, books, trains, and any kind of animal these days. Almost every morning and after nap time he will just grab a stack of books and plop down on the floor and flip through books for a half hour. Whenever he plays with trains or cars, he always organizes them and lines them up in rows. He definitely doesn't get that tendency from me! Felix loves to run around and kick balls and is always much happier when we get to play outside.

Our neighbor's (2 doors down) have a boy Felix's age. Bevan is just a week older than Felix, so we decided to do a low-key joint birthday party with their little friends a week before Felix's birthday. A few doors down there's an apartment the student housing departments keeps empty for community activities  so we used that and let the kids run around and play with balloons.

Megan (Bevan's Mom) taking Felix's picture

Part of the gang

Cupcakes made by your's truly!

Felix was not a fan of the cupcakes, but chowed down on fruit!

He looks kind of grumpy in this one...

Felix received some new hot wheels and immediately started organizing them!

Felix's actual birthday was on a Sunday, so it was pretty low key. After dinner, we had cupcakes and opened presents. 

He enjoyed this cupcake a lot more than the other one, but still only had about 4 bites. 

A sweet Red Sox shirt from his Singer cousins!

Here he is with all his loot. He literally stayed in this position for a half hour while he inspected all of his new toys. Phil and I bought him a train and gave him the white truck, which has been in our basement for a few years. And then Phil found the animals and cars at a yard sale for $1. 

The most exciting present was his tricycle! Grandma (who Felix now refers to as "Nanny") and Grandpa Singer sent Felix this and he loves it. He doesn't know how to use the peddles, but he does pretty well just scooting around. It's the perfect gift for this summer! Thanks Rita and Clem!

 sugar/toy overload! 

WE LOVE YOU FELIX!!!!!!

A Morning with the Ducks

Some of you may not know, but Phil and I fed ducks on our first date. It was not the scheduled activity for the evening, but it was perfect. Phil hiked Mount Timpanogos the night before and was exhausted when he got back, so our night got a little delayed. By the time we got done with dinner and tried to go to our scheduled activity (Color Me Mine), it was near closing time. So instead we grabbed some bread and went to a local park and fed some ducks and then swung on the swings and talked. It was a perfect night and really gave us the chance to get to know each other.

A few weeks ago, on a sunny (but cold) Saturday morning we decided to take Felix to Gallup Park. While we were there we got to look at the ducks, geese, and swans. Felix loved it. Especially since he's getting pretty good at saying quack and could talk to the ducks! We were kicking ourselves that we didn't bring bread with us to feed them, but promised we would next time! (In fact, as I type this, Phil and Felix are at the park feeding the ducks!)

 This particular swan decided to follow us around!

It's so fun to watch Felix discover and learn new things. He finds so much joy in simple things like buses/airplanes/cars, leaves blowing in the wind, or birds chirping. And now ducks, swans and geese swimming in the river! I need to be better at remembering that even though things aren't new to me, almost everything is new to him and to stop and take a minute and watch the ducks, or step on a stick, or throw a rock and let him explore this big big world. Luckily Felix has a Dad that's really good at that, who likes to take the time to experience these things and learn about them. I'm so lucky to have these two. 

Our Trip to Cabela's

I've never been to a Cabela's before. I've heard about them and we've even driven by their headquarters in Sidney, Nebraska,  but I've never really had a reason to go. Until this past December. 

Winter with a toddler is hard! I'm always trying to figure out fun things to do with Felix, but mainly indoors because our little man does not like playing in the snow and I do not like playing in the cold. So during Phil's Christmas break we decided to take Felix to Cabela's to look at the animals. It was perfect. Felix got to run around (the store wasn't too crowded), look at animals and fish, climb some stairs and sit on some benches (two of his favorite activities) and it was free, which is always a bonus. 

Our ride down there

This bear was huge!

The "mountain" in the middle of the store

Who knew Cabela's has such great home offerings?! Camo recliner? Yes please! (there was even a mini version, but Felix much preferred the adult sized one)

Staring down the fox

One of the many benches Felix climbed on

Felix loved the fish! There was a little turtle that was especially fun to watch.

I actually felt like the experience was educational for me. I learned about a few new species of animals I wasn't familiar with and I got to peak a little into the world of hunting, which I have no experience with at all. Did you know that Mr. Cabela and his wife are big hunters and would take hunting trips all over the world? We saw some of their kills/spoils/prizes from Asia and Africa. Very interesting.