An update on us

I haven't posted in a week so I thought that I would go ahead and do that today. Dallin is upstairs sleeping and so it gives me some time to myself to reflect on life before he wakes up to eat soon.

First item on the list is that Chris didn't finish his senior project so we will be staying in Colorado Springs for another 4 months or so. We aren't quite sure how long because Lance, the property manager said that if unit A gets rented out he will give us a 4 month lease but otherwise, we are stuck for 6 months. That wouldn't be a bad thing because no one wants to move right at Christmas time or probably hire someone so we might just wind up waiting until February to move anyway. We can save some more money and look into the housing market because no one wants to move or sell or buy a house around Christmas so maybe February would be a better time for that.

Second item is good news, Dallin sleeps through the night reliably now! It is amazing! I haven't gotten so much sleep since before he was born and not even then because I had to get up all the time to go to the bathroom! He goes to sleep after 9 and then wakes up sometime during 4-6 and eats and goes back to bed until at least 8! It is wonderful!

Third item, Chris and I started the Rice Diet a week and a half ago and it is working out pretty well. I have only cheated twice in that time. Once because Chris broke down and ate a BUNCH of chicken nuggets because he doesn't like going so long without meat and then last night since we had the missionaries and I felt bad inflicting our very nutritious diet upon them. I didn't cheat much though. Already I am at least 5 pounds lighter! It might help that I am breastfeeding too and thankfully the diet isn't interfering with my milk so Dallin is still getting plenty to eat. My goal is to lose about 60 pounds and then I will be back to where I was around the time that I met Chris and I can fit all those clothes I love that I no longer fit. And that is the whole reason behind this diet... Because I don't want to spend a fortune on a whole new wardrobe to fit me. Plus, no one likes to buy clothes that are bigger than they are used to. It does something to the self esteem...

Fourth, I have finally started to sew fleece diaper covers. I went and bought some awesome fleece in blues, green, pinks and purple. They are going to look awesome! I have been studying the ones my mom made and I have figured out how to sew them and maybe make them look a little more "professional". It took me so long to get started sewing because all my stuff is in Dallins room and so I had to rearrange everything. It is still messy and unorganized but it is organized enough that I can actually sit down at my table and reach my sewing machine. So, if anyone wants fleece diaper covers, let me know! haha.

Well, that is about all the news in our life. We don't get out much and we don't know many people but there have been two new couples move into our ward that are very friendly and live nearby so we are hoping to do something with them soon. Other than that, Chris goes to work, I stay at home with Dallin and we are a happy family!

And now, because we can't have a post without pictures, here are a few!


Happiest baby EVER!


Time with Daddy after work


Getting an extra snack


My toe and the nasty wart that I killed!


Chris getting Dallin ready for bed after a bath

Two Months Old!

Well, Dallin is now two months old as of last Friday! It is a very exciting time for him because he is developing so much and each day it seems like he does something new! These are some pictures of him from the 16th and 17th of last week. I wish Jen was still here so we could get some pictures that look the same to see the real difference in Dallin from month 1 to month 2 but I guess we will just have to look at pictures from my "awesome" camera!


I took some pictures to show of his skinny little arms and body with his cute diaper cover! He has been getting so good at sucking on his hand and it was sometimes hard for me to get his hand out of his mouth long enough to take the picture!


I think his face is adorable.


Dallin and I went to our friend Joyces house and I wanted to get a picture of Dallin and Ben next to each other.


Chris says Dallin is doing his ventriloquism act with his chicken mitten!


This is my new hair cut! I don't really like it because it is too short for me but Chris says it looks fine.


This was his two month day and we had a doctors appointment and you can see his band-aids where he got his shots on his thighs.


This was on the 17th when we were putting him down for good for the night. Chris was trying to change Dallins diaper but Dallin was too tired for it so he rolled over, closed his legs and fell right back asleep!


This is from today. I love Dallins saddest sad face. It is so cute! I have been trying for weeks to get it in a picture and this is the best I have come up with. Doesn't he look like someone just ran over his pet? There is even a tear!

Just in case anyone was wondering, here are his stats from Month 1 to Month 2!

Month 1 Weight - 8 pounds 8 ounces (18 %)
Month 2 Weight - 9 pounds 12.5 ounces (12 %)

Month 1 Head Size - 37 cm (25 %)
Month 2 Head Size - 38 cm (12 %)

Month 1 Height - 21.5 inches (49 %)
Month 2 Height - 23.25 inches (64 %)

So that is my baby boy! Two months old... Its hard to remember a time without him already but Chris and I are so happy to have the little boy around!

A Business Idea

I have recently been thinking of possibly trying to start up a online business. I am sure that lots of people are out there that want to do that and I am now one of them! Chris has told me to not fall into the trap of thinking that everyone in the world will see my website and I know they won't but I am not in it so much for the money as to help some people out from a difficult search.

So, my idea, is to sew fleece diaper covers. I would like to get input as to whether anyone thinks that they or someone they know would buy fleece diaper covers. I understand they aren't the nicest looking things...

As you can tell with this picture, the diaper cover is huge on Dallin but you have to keep in mind that he was only about 1 week or a little older at this point. His covers fit him much better now but because he is sleeping I don't want to take a picture of the cover on him.


In this picture you can see three of my covers. One of them is open and you can see the gussets and then the closed one and then one of all the snaps. My mom bought a snap press while she was here to help me make them (I was the excuse she has been looking for...) and she made me a couple of them.

I like the idea of lots of snaps on the middle part because they allow for growth. Dallin is still in the smallest size and he is two months old! He will be in these covers for a while yet. In my research I have found a few places that sell fleece diapers but they all have the snaps on the sides rather than the front and they only have one set of snaps rather than lots to allow for growth. I would be making covers like these that would have lots of snaps.

Okay, the reason I want to do this is because I had a very difficult time trying to find diaper covers for Dallin. I had decided earlier that I wanted to do cloth diapers because it was cheaper. I found a neat website that showed the price break down of disposable vs. cloth at http://www.diaperdecisions.com/cost_of_cloth_diapers.htm Unfortunately if you look at the prices still, it is all VERY expensive. I understand that it is from birth to potty training but that is still a lot. The biggest thing is that they are using the popular brands and the cost of those brands. For me personally, I have not spent very much yet on diapers for Dallin but I am almost all set from now until potty training. The last thing I need is diaper covers for when he is much bigger. But he is still quite a ways from that. I will admit the $70 I spent on chinese prefolds would have been more had they not been half off due to a manufacturer "defect". They said there were ones that had missed seams but none of mine did. Anyway, I have only spent about $100 on cloth diapering for him so far.

Anyway, I like the fleece ones for many reasons and I will now go into them.
(1)They can be made much cheaper than buying them or other kinds of diaper covers.
(2)They allow for breathing and so when Dallin is sleeping, the diaper prefoldcan still dry because the moisture isn't held in by the cover. I will admit that his clothes feel damp when I pick him up in the mornings but it isn't as bad as the many leaks he has had with the disposable diapers.
(3)They dry super fast and so even if he had a really wet diaper I can put the same diaper cover back on him because it is dry!
(4) They can be reused and don't have to be washed after every diaper change and because they can be reused, you don't have to have more than 4 or 5. I rarely use 3 covers by the time I have to wash his prefolds anyway! But it is nice to have extra ones just in case!
(5) I have never had a single diaper leak, either pee or poo
(6) You can wash and dry them with the diapers or regular laundry
(7) They don't stain... ever!

So, I would really appreciate some input on whether you think you or someone you know would buy fleece diaper covers. As I said before, they aren't the prettiest thing and I don't think there is a way to make fleece look professional but they work really well and are cheaper. I am really glad I went with home made covers instead of buying lots of All-In-One diapers or pocket diapers because I think it has been cheaper and easier on me as well.

To finish, I just wanted to add some pictures of Dallin from the last week or two!


This is Dallin and Ferdy the Frog. Dallin loves to hit Ferdy and he also stares at Ferdys eyes for extended periods of time as though he is trying to figure out what Ferdy is because he isn't a mommy or a daddy so what else is there?


Dallin was staring at his dino and I walked away and when I came back Dallin had grabbed him and had Gregor the Dinosaur in a head lock. I thought it was very cute even though he didn't realize what he was doing!

DeKay Family 2009 Halibut Cove

This year my family took a fun-filled vacation out into the middle of no where, also known as Halibut Cove, Alaska. It is a boat ride away from Homer, which is about 5 hours drive from my parents house. A lot of people who I told that we were going camping thought I was crazy for taking a month old out there but I figured he would be easier to have in a camping setting than the two 16 month olds that were there! Dallin did great though because all he had to do was sleep!

To start the week off, we had Dallin blessed in my parents ward that Sunday. It was a very nice blessing and I am glad that we were able to do it with my family around instead of here in Colorado Springs where we don't know anyone... This is also our first really good family picture (I think).

This was the entire group that went, plus Crystal (sp?) who is Tysons sister. Tyson couldn't go since he was training and Shawn couldn't go as well since his base was undergoing some missle training or something like that. My uncle Mons and his three sons came up and then there was my family, Roberts family, Jennifer and her kids, Becca, Carolyn and her family and no Jonathon since he is on his mission. All in all there were 24 of us and 10 of which were under age of 12 and two expectant mothers!(Bethany and Carolyn)

This was Dallin in his very cute T-shirt that Becca made for him. She made green ones for all the adults and blue ones for all the kids. Dallin was super special because he was the only one who got a short sleeve shirt! That was because they didn't have long sleeve in his size, which is okay with me because it would have been hard to fit long sleeves over that sleeper he is in!

It is hard to see but between Robert and Becca there are two bald eagles that were hanging out. There was a nest in a tree on a cliff and I believe they lived there. It was neat because one night we were sitting around the fire and one of the eagles was flying to the nest and it was carrying a fish! I thought it was really neat and then some dumb tiny birds ganged up on it and flew at the eagle. I don't know who was the winner of that fight... It was very neat though to see the eagles.

And then there is my dear sweet husband. He was very helpful with Dallin all the time and he enjoyed himself quite a bit, especially when he had his rocks and water! I don't know what the allure is for him but he loves to skip rocks and so anytime we are near calm water and there are rocks he will start skipping! I think he did it like 3 or 4 times on our honeymoon... I just don't know why he likes to skip them so much! And then in the background you have all the little kids looking at seaweed and all the icky things to be found over there.

Funny story, Hannah, found a itty bitty fish on the ground after the tide went out and she put it in a plastic bag. The funny thing was is I asked her why she didn't put water in the bag to keep the fish alive and her response was that he was already dead which was why he was moving... I guess she thought if she put water in there he would stop moving! haha Another funny story is I believe it was Hannah and Cassidy were smashing mussels and an adult asked them why they were smashing them and the girls answered that they were looking for pearls! Aren't kids cute?

Halibut Cove Cont.

These are just some pictures that happened during the week while we were camping in Homer.

As with every camping trip, you always need fire! Robert and Bethany had dinner on Wednesday (I think) and they made dutch oven chicken and rice along with dutch oven peach cobbler. It was a very good dinner but to use the dutch ovens they needed lots of coals and so Robert built a nice hot fire with a huge log that was unmoveable. It even still had live coals the next morning when we all woke up. Speaking of fire, I swear my hair still smells like it!

Its kind of hard to see but my dad and Keith used their combined engineering powers (and input from Curtis) to build this stand for the big rock. There are three pillars of small flat rocks that they put the really big rock on. Keith got to stand on it and pose on it and when he got off, Becca wanted to stand on it and she upset the delicate balance of the rock and it all came tumbling down!

While camping in the great out doors I usually like to stay in a netted area and so I actually spend a lot of time in this net tent because the bugs were bad. My mom says that the reason you take a hat camping with you is so that no one will see how bad your hair looks but the reason I would take one is because it keeps the bugs off of your head... unfortunately I forgot a hat so I liked to sit in the net tent so I wouldn't have millions of bug bites. I did do my fair share of bug killing though! There are probably a couple hundred less bugs in the world now because of me!

This is a very cute close up of Dallin. I bought his cute sweater at Salvation Army right before we left. I chose it because it has a hood and most importantly, that hood has cute little ears on it that make Dallin look adorable! He was always pretty bundled up because it was pretty cold. The only time he seemed hot was in the mornings when we woke up. He slept with me and he would get so sweaty and hot in that sleeping bag with me! No ventilation down where my arms are I guess.


There were like 20 pictures of Rachel posing for Chris. I think that girl has aspirations to become a poser some day! She is adorable just like all my other nieces.

Last night and back home

This was our last night at Right Beach. It was actually very sad because we all had such a great time and I really didn't want to leave because it meant that we would be leaving to come back to Colorado that night.


I like this picture because I like my dad but also because it was the first time we realized that Dallin was starting to reach for things. He can't grab yet but he spends a lot of time at home playing with a frog that hangs over his head but we didn't know he was that advanced until he started trying to touch Papas scratchy face.


Dallin spent a lot of time with Chris like this. This was the morning that we left. Dallin just hung out with his daddy while I packed up everything. Chris is such a good father. He always plays with Dallin and makes him happy. Dallin was some what chilly because we didn't want to start a fire since we were leaving in like an hour so he had to be somewhat bundled up and I don't think he always appreciated that.


This sleepy girl would not wake up. It was really funny because the night before she was so out of it that while she was wiggling in her sleep she fell off of the bed and between the bed and the wall and climbed back out of there, unhurt, and laid down and went right back to sleep. Apparently Jennifer, who shared the bed with Rachel, had to bring her back onto the bed during the night too. I wonder if all kids sleep that heavily.


When we got home we hopped in the shower and after I had finished rinsing off as much dirt as possible off of me, Chris brought Dallin in to have a bath and get clean. We thought he looked really cute so Chris took some pictures of Dallin while he was in the tub.

He loves the camera. And the camera loves him! He was such a good baby for this trip. Granted, before Chris showed up he was not that much fun and when we got home I really did not enjoy myself. Dallin still has a hard time falling asleep due to being held all of the time while we were there. Speak of the little devil. He woke up from his nap and is crying because I am not there I guess! I should go take care of him... It has been a huge trial for me to get him back on a schedule or some sort and I have found it very difficuld to control my temper some days with him but I still love hime lots and wouldn't give him up for the world!