The Davenport Family

Chim-chimney-cha-roo

2011-11-05T19:21:00.001-06:00

So we have a chimney. It someday might even have a woodstove hooked up to it but that is living in our garage until we figure out what to do so that our house doesn't burn down when we use it. But the thing about chimneys is that they get dirty and with the condition that the rest of our house was, we wanted to make sure that the chimney was clean before we even tried to hook up the wood stove. So rather than hire someone we rented the brushes and did it ourselves! By ourselves, I mean Chris did it all.

Dallin desperately wanted to help and I always had to keep an eye on him or he would start to climb the ladder.

In the end though, the boys did get to help. Tristan really wanted to carry one of the poles but he kept digging it into the ground and not moving so Chris helped him help himself. But its very nice that we have two little boys so willing to help. Hopefully they stay that way!

The first snow

2011-11-05T19:08:00.001-06:00

I don't know why but there are some crazy people out there who don't like snow... I don't understand it. And I am sure they were all very disappointed when we got about an inch of snow on the ground last Saturday! I, on the other hand, was ecstatic. I woke up and saw it and quickly ran back to the room and told Chris it was snowing. He told me to go away.. but that is okay. He was happy about the snow, just not being woken up.

Dallin looks so blissful as he would go full tilt down the hill.

It took Tristan a few tries but he eventually got into the swing of things and if you look at his face (as much of it that you can see) he was a super happy little boy!

We bought the most awesome sled last year. It is super light hard foam with awesome stuff on the bottom that doesn't get scratched. Even when you only have a very light dusting of snow as you can see we have in the pictures. The snow eventually covered the grass but we had to get out early because you never know how long it will last here in Maryland and so we have to get as much fun in before it goes away.

Halloween!

2011-11-05T19:01:00.001-06:00

Chris really enjoys going all out and getting into the holiday spirit, whatever the holiday. Give him a budget and he will blow it every time because he just gets so excited! And the same for Halloween. Last year as we were driving home from Trunk-or-Treat, we thought it would be a lot of fun to be Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach (me) and Bowser. So that is what we did!

Now, my husband left it all up to me, which is totally okay. I am definitely the more creative out of the two. But he said he wanted me to do it cheaply. So that was my goal. I went to Good Will the first week in October and bought this:

This pile had 2 pink table cloths, 6 t-shirts and 2 belts. Also some quilting batting. I turned it all into this:

A Mario costume, a Luigi Costume, a Princess Peach skirt and shirt (I figured my baby belly would make it harder to make a dress) and a stuffed chest for Bowser. We also added a soymilk box and a diaper box for his shell.

We wound up only going to Trunk-or-Treat, which happened to be in the building due to snow that day. The boys enjoyed it. They both loved the apples (especially Tristan) and lolly pops.

Dallin kept trying to unwrap candy and I kept trying to have him wait until we got home... It didn't work...

Mario kept finding lollypops and would just stick it in his mouth with the wrapper. When he realized that it wasn't as satisfying that way, he usually stuck it back in the bowl and got a new one... What a cutie!

Anyway, we had a lot of fun and we looked awesome. The Sister missionaries even got pictures of us to send home to their families in their weekly emails. And it only took me about 10 days of evening sewing and occasionally nap time sewing to make it all.

I wonder what we will be next year...

Date Night

2011-11-05T18:31:00.002-06:00

So, I was supposed to go on a date tonight. I called up my friend Alisa and asked her to go out with me and I was leaving Chris and the boys home alone for the night. Then her husband had an emergency at work and then her baby sitter cancelled on her and so here I sit... I am not upset or mad or anything, just bummed that I didn't get to go out. Though I will admit after going to Sam's Club today and spending lots of money, it might be a good thing. We bought 2 mattresses today! And lots of food but I am excited about the mattresses. Back in May or sometime around there I bought a nice hardwood cherry bunk bed that can be 2 single beds if desired (and until I can trust Tristan to not kill himself going up the ladder, 2 beds is desired). It is a very nice bed and it has been sitting in boxes in my room for months. But we finally did it and bought two mattresses! And we even set up the beds tonight! I will have to take a picture of Dallin's room, in a few short months, Tristan's room as well.

Anyway, so I am feeling a bit bummed about my date falling through. I have been feeling like my sister lately and being a huge grump. I think eating has a lot to do with it some days. I have been noticing my body just drops in sugar really fast after I eat and so after lunch I start hitting a low and I get head aches and I get really grumpy with the boys and Chris. It might be that or maybe I just get grumpy in the afternoons. Either way, it does me good to get out once in a while. Alisa and I rescheduled our awesome date for next weekend when it won't be quite so last minute but I am still feeling down tonight. Chris is feeling pretty good though. His brothers came over and they are playing games downstairs and will be, late into the night. But I have such a good husband. He keeps checking on me and brought me some pizza that they were eating and a soda and just wants me to be happy. It is very sweet of him, especially when I feel bummed about my date.

This post is mostly about me... complaining... but I am okay with that. Chris told me I should do a blog post and so I will. I will do some other ones but I felt like I needed a moment longer to be grumpy. Now, on to the happier posts!

Apple apple apple

2011-10-05T19:12:00.000-06:00

Last Friday the boys and I went up to Baughers to pick apples and we had such a good time. We don't get out of the house very often since we don't have a second car and so my friend Camie picked us up and took us! It was wonderful! The boys had such a good time picking apples and eating them.

Dallin would eat a little of one apple and then throw it away and find a new one. He was so funny. Always being so particular about which apple he would eat.

I gave Tristan his apple as soon as we got there and he ate the WHOLE thing. I do think I got it away from him long enough to be able to rip out the stem but otherwise he ate the seeds and all the tough middle part. He was so cute walking around eating his apple. He makes me happy.

Plums anyone?

2011-10-05T17:59:00.000-06:00

Sometimes Dallin gets up on the counter and gets into things he shouldn't. Like the fruit that lives up on the counter. And sometimes he likes to share his "finds" with Tristan. My boys love plums and Tristan especially. And so Dallin gave one to Tristan and then he got one for himself and then Tristan decided one was NOT ENOUGH!

Look at that face. That was right after he took a big bite so his mouth is stuffed full of plum. He walked around until bed time with his plums eating them and ate about 1 and 3/4 of the 2 plums. They are so funny, how Dallin gives Tristan stuff and Tristan just takes it and runs... And then Dallin totally blames it all on Tristan! He has learned young to try to not take the blame....

My good lookin' boys

2011-10-05T17:54:00.002-06:00

I like to do the boys hair on occasion. Chris thinks it looks... silly... I think they look adorable when I give them little faux-hawks. This was just after I had cut their hair and I was lamenting the loss of Tristan's long fluffy hair and wanted to do something cute with it. We were going out to a ward activity and let me tell you, they looked good!

Tristan is a little finger sucker and he was unhappy about getting trussed up in his carseat and so he was sucking his finger but he was sure cute! He looks so much older since I cut his hair and when I do his hair I feel like he is even older. But oh-so-cute!

Dallin wanted to show all how stlyin' he can be with his hair and sunglasses. He is such a stinkin' ham some days but I sure love him!

Sleepy time for Dallin

2011-10-04T19:35:00.001-06:00

Dallin doesn't always enjoy going to bed at night... Sometimes he fights it. He isn't in a crib and we don't shut his door anymore because he can open it up. He is so funny about it because at 10 at night when Chris and I go up for bed Dallin won't be in bed... he will be in the hallway! So cute! I started taking pictures of him when I find him in the hallway and I think it is so funny.

One of these days he will stay in his room when he is going to sleep... I am sure of it... Maybe when he is 10 or so... But by then the hallway might be full because I am sure he will have "taught" Tristan to do it too...

We have more yard!

2011-09-22T19:26:00.002-06:00

I am here to argue that it is possible for a place to be too green, that things can grow too well (mostly weeds) and that you can feel overwhelmed and closed in with too many trees and greenery. I didn't think that a place like that existed until I lived in Maryland and owned my own house. Now I realize how incredibly well things grow here, too well I might even say.

Can you see it all there in the background? Would you believe me when I say there is a fence in there somewhere? There is also a part that didn't have a fence that we didn't discover until we had cleared a huge portion of that back corner, which took Chris 5 hours to clear out, probably more if our back-up hadn't offered his help.

Our house was unoccupied for at least 3 years, probably closer to 5 years and unmaintained for the lats 8 years before we bought it. It lay neglected and the plants took over the yard. We have been fighting a losing battle with the greenery in our yard. But happy to say it, we enlisted (he offered) our neighbor, Don, to do some work in our yard. Chris was out there one day, feeling motivated, and decided to weed whack his way towards the fence. He feels like a bad neighbor when our weeds start to encroach on Don's lawn. So he was out there and Don happened to be out there. And Don said stop doing that! Let me come over. And he proceeded to work for 2 hours, clearing out with his little loader the entire portion of our yard that is next to his. It would have taken Chris 12 hours a day, for probably about a month straight to clear out and do what Don did in one day. Then a few days later Don came over with his skid loader and proceeded to level it all out so that it would be pretty and pack down the dirt so that we can put seed down.

This is a picture of the back corner where there was a shed, many years ago, and wood and rocks and trash was left there. And gravel. And the plants grew over everything and it took us hours to get the wood out from under it when we first moved in. Now it is a lovely flat place that we are thinking about having a bonfire soon.

This is another picture of the corner with the boys walking in the nice clean area. They like to walk back and forth in it. Dallin looks for trash and picks it up and puts it in the bag we leave down there for such a purpose. They are about 15-20 yards from the fence, a long ways away!

Dallin likes to mosey along and other times he loves to run as fast as he can or he will push Tristan on a little fire truck at full tilt. They both love having a huge flat place with nothing on it. And we gained about 15-20 extra feet in our yard since we did this! Flat space in our yard! We don't have much of that...

Anyway, Don, is amazing and I wish I knew what we could do for him to say thank you because it was just so much help for us. But he is too nice and won't even let us pay him for the gas he used up to clear out our yard. I do know though that he enjoys our boys and we walk over once or twice a week and talk to him and Don really seems to get a kick out of Dallin and how attached Dallin is to him. Maybe we can just lend him some grandkids? Anyway, it is awesome that that huge project is now done, and it only took 2 days to complete!

Week 11 and a half

2011-09-22T12:19:00.002-06:00

So, I finally went and had my first midwife appointment! It was wonderful. I loved Kay when I had Tristan and I totally lucked out that she was the one to deliver me and now I am excited to be able to have her on board with me this pregnancy again! I was waiting until close to 12 weeks before I went in because sometimes you get a talking-to if you don't go in until after that and I would just rather avoid any talkings-to. It has been almost a whole year since I last went to the office, I went in for my six-week check-up after I had Tristan and haven't been back but I knew we would be there sometime this year!

Anyway, I am looking forward to finally moving out of the first trimester soon and have an increase in energy again. I have been DYING! It is so hard to have the energy to stay conscious enough to be aware of what the boys are doing. It isn't just sitting down and not moving, it is that I am always mentally exhausted! Thankfully though in a few weeks I shouldn't be dealing with that as much... hopefully... Then there is the whole issue with diabetes that since it runs in my family and I had a big baby (Tristan was 9lb 3oz) that I have to do the glucose test right away, rather than at week 32 or whenever they have you do it.

Also, I got to hear the baby's heart beat. It took Kay a good 8 minutes or so to find the heart beat since the baby is only the size of a lime right now, but she did it. It was so neat. I don't know why but I felt like it was a bigger event to hear this baby's heart beat than it was to hear Dallin or Tristan's. I don't know why that is. Kay said that the heart beat is fast and maybe that means it is a girl, not that that is an actual scientifically proven observation or anything, but she thinks I need a girl. I think I do too. I would love to have two little girls after having two little boys. We will see what the Lord blesses us with though!

What to eat...

2011-09-19T20:26:00.003-06:00

So with the first trimester of this pregnancy I don't really like food, but that isn't much of a surprise though. But it does make it hard to find things that ever sound appealing. I have decided smoothies are the way to go but I am avoiding dairy because when I am pregnant it does horrible things to me. I had a brilliant idea the other day though. I don't know how many of you have been to Jamba Juice, but they make my favorite smoothie of all time. It is no longer on the menu but you can still ask for it. You ready for it?

Berry Lime Sublime

It is full of raspberry goodness and sweetness and tartness and wonderfulness. Unfortunately I live in Maryland where the only Jamba Juice I know if is at the airport... behind security. So, I could buy a $59 dollar plane ticket to where ever Southwest flies so that I can get behind security to buy myself a real Jamba, but since it isn't a "real" one, they won't make it. I asked last time I was at the airport. Because of that I had my brilliant idea. I decided to look up the recipe online! Supposedly someone who worked at Jamba Juice posted the recipe. I haven't made it but I am really excited to try it! But because I think it is the most amazing drink ever, I decided I would share it with you!

16 oz (sixteen)
8 oz Raspberry juice
2 small scoops of lime sherbet
2 small scoops of strawberries
1 small scoop of raspberries
1 scoop of ice

24 oz (original)
12 oz Raspberry juice
2 big scoops of lime sherbet
2 big scoop of strawberry
1 big scoop of raspberry
1 scoop ice

32 oz. (power)
14 oz. Raspberry juice
3 big scoops of lime sherbet
3 big scoops of strawberries
1 big scoop of raspberries
1 scoop of ice

The biggest problem is that I am not sure where to get raspberry juice at. It doesn't seem like something that would be in the juice aisle. I did some reading from another website and they say use frozen juice concentrate and use half the recommended water and that way you will get the right consistency for your smoothie. So, I am hoping I can find some frozen raspberry concentrate this week so I can make myself a much needed Berry Lime Sublime.

One year old!

2011-09-16T20:01:00.002-06:00

Want to know what my favorite thing about when our boys turn one year old. They get to be forward facing little munchkins! We went to Massenutten Water Park which was like a 4 hour drive and it was Tristan's first time being in the car forward facing and it made such a difference in our very long car ride! Ahh if only we had a van now...

"ice"Phone

2011-09-16T19:54:00.002-06:00

Dallin is a very technologically advanced two year old. He loves to play on the icePhone or as we would say the iPhone. And another thing that he loves to do is run around in his undies and then another thing he loves to do is to play on my bed. This picture just shows him doing all three things at the same time. I love his smile too!

Potty training

2011-09-16T19:41:00.002-06:00

So we have been potty training Dallin and we have done a great job if I do say so myself. He has been so good about it lately and he has been wanting to help others with their lack of training. He tried to help Tristan for a while but I nixed that in the bud, if for no other reason than Tristan likes to play in the potty and I don't like that so I have taught Dallin that we always need to have the bathroom door shut. So he stared looking for a pupil elsewhere. And he found one! He loves Baby and likes to feed and burp change Baby's diapers and now even try to get baby to go potty in the potty! So funny!

New posts

2011-09-16T19:33:00.002-06:00

I was talking to my sister in law Bethany yesterday and she motivated me to do some blog posts. I haven't updated in quite some time and I have been having a very hard time with motivation lately. Just in general, not just with my blog. So, Bethany told me that I should try to just do small ones rather than huge comprehensive ones. So here is my goal, at least one post a week! Just something fast from the week that we did. So now I will go ahead and do one or two posts of things that have happened in the last few weeks.

Finger Painting

2011-08-08T19:40:00.004-06:00

Some days it can be really hard to come up with things to do with Dallin and Tristan to entertain them throughout the day until Chris comes home to take care of them. Haha! I am kidding. It is very difficult some times to come up with things to do but being outside is always wonderful and then I thought it would be fun to try out this neat recipe I found on this blog post. It was a great idea because Dallin had a lot of fun.

I followed the recipe on that blog post and even had baby food jars on hand and was able to take some pretty pictures before Dallin made it all gunky.

Tristan liked to try to open the jars and also to eat the insides and push the paints on the swing.

Dallin saw me taking pictures of Tristan and started to say "ME!" and "cheese" because he really wanted me to take some of him. So this is him before we got started and before he got messy!

Here is Dallin in action! Painting and havings oh so much fun! He did really well. The stuff is kinda goopy so he started getting too much out at the end but he had a lot of fun and it took up time. Which is always my primary goal!

This is what Tristan did most of the time. Climbed up the stairs and then climbed back down. And played with the dead plants...

"Do you want to try it Mommy?"

Dallin's awesome artwork.

We had a really good time doing it and the paints are super easy to make. I was surprised how quickly the cornstarch got gooey. I will admit I was expecting it to be more paint-like in texture rather than a goo, but meh, who cares! After we were done we went and hopped in the pool and got all cleaned up! It was a good day for us.

Let sleeping babies lie

2011-07-26T19:02:00.002-06:00

It doesn't matter if it is hot or cold or if he is clothed or in a diaper, this is how Tristan always sleeps.

He is so cute and I love how he ALWAYS sleeps on his pillow. He has been sleeping on his pillow since he has been able to move around enough to be able to sleep on it! He looks absolutely adorable in his little frog position. I am happy he sleeps on his tummy now too because I hated it when he would stop breathing if he ever got a little stuffed up and was on his back because of his adenoids. That problem will be fixed soon though. I do hope he continues to sleep like a little froggy for a few more years though.

He fights injustice...

2011-07-26T18:50:00.002-06:00

He is PRODUCE MAN!

He watches over the kitchen to make sure all vegetables are treated partially and fairly. That they are not thrown around and trampled upon the floor by careless males in my kitchen. He upholds my law!

That sucker weighed 5.2 pounds and made lots of zucchini bread and zucchini pancakes and zucchini fries!

Poor Dallin...

2011-07-26T18:33:00.002-06:00

Chris took Dallin outside this evening for a little bit and after being outside for about 15 minutes I made Dallin come inside. The poor poor poor boy had probably about 25 bites all over. We tend to let Dallin run around naked all the time... who needs clothes in the country! Anyway, he came inside and I started to put benadryl rub all over him.

He swelled up like crazy wherever those mosquitoes bit him and hopefully he will not be too itchy tomorrow. We did find out today though that Tristan has strep and maybe Dallin has it too so here is hoping that the itching and possibly the strep aren't a problem tonight!

And she is outta here!

2011-07-11T19:50:00.002-06:00

I am so excited. And nervous. And full of lots of other emotions. I am going away for a week. I am leaving my two boys and man behind. I will be child free for a week! It is going to be pretty awesome staying up late and not having to deal with boys and going out and eating all the foods I miss from Rexburg. Wingers... Jamba juice... mesquite seasoning from Broulims. Ahhh I can't wait!

First word!

2011-06-29T18:18:00.002-06:00

So today I was sitting in the hallway with Tristan while Dallin was running around and Tristan kept saying something, over and over again. I figured he was just talking and being repetitive like he usually is so I didn't think anything of it. And then I noticed he was pointing too. Then I realized he was saying his first word. "Light". Wow... I can't believe he chose that to be his first word, but he says it all the time if you pay enough attention to his talking! Dallin says it all the time too but its just funny that Tristan says it before mommy or daddy or moo (Dallin's first word). Oh well! Maybe the third child will decide to say mommy first... But it is really neat that Tristan is starting to understand words and can now say them, like light! Chris plays a game with him all the time to get him to turn the light switch on and so I think that is a big reason why he likes lights so much. He is growing up too fast...

Pee pee in the potty!

2011-06-21T07:22:00.002-06:00

So, I just had a WONDERFUL experience with Dallin! I was sitting here, typing up the last little bit of my previous post when all of a sudden, I heard Dallin going pee! We have been working on potty training the last week and a half and let me tell you I have cleaned up a LOT of messes! No poopy ones thankfully! BUT! He has never gone to the bathroom unprompted so when I heard him going pee I was scared for the mess he might have been making. But NO! Dallin was going pee pee in the potty all by himself! He knew he had to go pee pee and so he ran over to his potty, sat down and did his business! It was amazing! I heard him going and I stood up to tell him to go sit on the potty but he was already there! I seriously wanted to cry tears of joy. He has never sat on the potty and gone pee without me right next to him, telling him to go pee! I am SOOOO STINKING HAPPY! Now if only he can keep this up we might be moving out of diapers for him in a week or two! Think of the savings!

My responsibilities

2011-06-21T06:46:00.003-06:00

I gave a talk in church on Sunday on the topic Accountability and Responsibility in the Family. It was actually a very difficult subject for me to get started with. I had a hard time the first... three weeks of preparation! I don't know why but I just didn't feel confidant and able to talk about the topic. Maybe it was the Lord's way of telling me that I need to better understand what my responsibilities are? Dunno!

Anyway, while I was pondering the topic I thought that there are some things Chris and I need to be better, be more responsible about teaching to our children. A big one that I thought of is prayer. Chris and I have rarely ever missed a night praying together as a couple since we first got married almost 4 years ago. But we rarely say nightly prayers with the boys. I have been trying to always say prayer before we eat and this morning Dallin sat in his chair and I put his food in front of him and went back into the kitchen to get Tristan's food ready and Dallin stood up on his chair and kept saying "pair". I looked over and he had his hands folded and was looking at me! I was amazed that he was waiting to eat until we said prayer because honestly, he usually starts eating his food while we are saying prayers!

Another thing we need to start teaching our boys is reading the scriptures. I think it would help me and Chris a lot in our own scripture study if we started reading a verse a night with the boys. So I am hoping to start implementing that this week. It is just so hard to remember to do it! And along with that, I have been wanting to have family home evenings more regularly. We are not the best at it at all. But I was looking in a box of books yesterday and I saw the book Standing for Something by President Hinckley and thought that would be a good idea. There are 10 virtues he talks about that if we live them, we will become better families and a better nation. So, I thought that every Monday night we will take 5 minutes out of our night, sing a song, say a prayer and then talk for about 1 minute or less on the chapters virtue. Last night was love and I found a quote that I liked and we talked about it. "All of us need to learn that life is a mission and not simply a career."

So here is hoping that I become a more responsible parent because I don't want it to be a sin upon my head for not teaching my children all they need to know to become righteous individuals!

Bath time!

2011-06-20T14:34:00.002-06:00

How can an ordinary mixer make two little boys oh so happy?

When it is used to create mountains of bubbles in their bath time!

This was their first bubble bath ever and the bubbles in bubble baths disappear too quickly, or it was just the brand of bubble we got. Either way, Dallin was very disappointed when the bubbles were almost gone and so was I so I had a brilliant idea to get the mixer and whisk the water and make those bubbles come back!

Look at that happy face. Bubbles can only make it cuter.

I gave them my mirror so they could look at themselves covered with bubbles but they only wanted to put bubbles on it!

Such happy little boys in the tub. That is what we do on the nights we need to burn time before bed time! Ahhh we love bath time!

Strawberries!

2011-06-15T20:06:00.003-06:00

Two or three weeks ago we went up to Baughers U-Pick farm and picked strawberries. We got about 8 pounds worth of strawberries and I made about 3 quarts of strawberry freezer jam. We had a lot of fun out picking. It was the first cool day in a long time (it felt like that to me) and it was cloudy out which was a good thing since I forgot the sunscreen for my fair-haired little munchkins!

Here we are on the tractor ride on the way to the strawberry fields! Dallin doesn't look very happy about it...

This is Dallins first strawberry of many. He ate one and then...

Another and another! He was a very happy boy.

This is Tristan just out of the backpack and crawling around. He was also a happy boy. Look at all that stuff he can put in his mouth!

Oh wait! He saw the strawberries. He crawled over to see what he could see.

The strawberries! So many strawberries! But poor little Tristan couldn't ever get them off of the stems and so he would grab one and turn it into strawberry mush in his hand in his attempt to get the strawberries into his mouth.

After a while he looked like he was starting to enjoy himself!

I was definitely the star picker! I picked most of them and Chris just kinda kept an eye on the boys, making sure Dallin didn't steal my basket and making sure Tristan got a real strawberry to eat every once in a while instead of the mush he made.

This is what it looked like most of the time. Dallin next to me, stealing the strawberries out of my basket and Tristan sitting in the middle of the row, playing with something he found or a strawberry that Chris would give him.

Me and messy-hands Dallin! He saw Tristan mush up the strawberries and he had to get in on the action and made a huge mess!

Thankfully we had some wipes and were able to get Tristan cleaned up a bit, his mess was mostly dirt by the time we left.

"Why no, Sir, I didn't eat a single strawberry while we were out picking!" I am sure that is what Dallin is trying to convey with his guilty smile.

"I been caught red-handed!" Good thing they expect you to eat some strawberries while you are out picking! At least I hope they do or else they probably added some more onto our bill when we left...

It was a lot of fun going out as a family and picking strawberries and coming home and being able to eat the fruits of our labors! Maybe someday I will get adventurous and made something other than strawberry freezer jam. I doubt it though because it is just so yummy!

My big boy!

2011-06-05T05:47:00.004-06:00

Dallin just had his birthday a few weeks ago. He is two now! I can't believe how time has flown. We are so happy to have him in our family though! I would post pictures of how much he has grown but that would require getting up off the couch and getting the external hard drive so maybe I will do that later... Right now I am just trying to do this before I should run upstairs for a shower before church.

Anyway, he is such an intelligent little boy and is oh-so helpful! These are some of the things he can do/likes to do.

-Knows all his colors except orange, it's a hard one!
-Knows how to count to 5 by himself and 10 with a little help
-With visuals can get to M in the alphabet
-Loves to "shoot" diapers into the trash can
-Playing with Tristan
-Helping in the kitchen. He knows exactly what goes into Mac'n'Cheese.
-Sleeps in his crib with the side off and has only fallen out twice!
-Still takes naps!
-Loves to destroy towers or anything we have built
-Runs everywhere
-Understands "no" but also knows how to push the limits
-Can hold his pee until he has a diaper on again (grrr)
-Jumps on the trampoline like no ones business
-Loves to ride down our big hill in his car
-Loves to watch t.v. especially Thomas the Train and Phineas and Ferb
-Does not know how to turn on said T.V.
-Can't open doors still (naptime will be fun when he can!)
-Can use the iPhone better than most adults
-Hates wearing clothes

These were his birthday day pictures! Chris worked super late and he was having so much fun in the mud that I didn't have the heart to bring him in and put him to bed.

"I may be 2, Mommy, but I still eat dirt!" And wear it too...

Who needs rain boots? Just run around in undies!

He looks so big and grown up in this picture to me. I remember when he was 7 pounds 9 ounces. Now he is 26 and a half pounds. But Tristan is gaining on him! He is 22 and a half pounds!

Grandma Peggy and Dallin share the same birthday so she came over for a dinner with us which was nice since Chris was still working. When she left though she took her cat back (yay!) who we had watched over the weekend for her while she was out of town. Though now every time Grandma comes over Dallin always asks for the "neenee" which is the kitty.

Man... What am I going to do when Tristan turns 2? They get so big and old and independent so fast!

My big helper

2011-06-03T20:28:00.004-06:00

So I have posted pictures of Dallin helping before but I felt that these were some good pictures of him when he was "helping" Mommy. I don't remember what I needed the cookies for but I needed them and so early one Saturday morning we made cookies.

This is Dallin making sure that there was still enough flour in the dough, because as you can see, he spilled a LOT on the counter.

On the counter? Change that! He got it everywhere! I even found it in his diaper later on, which I am still trying to figure out how he got it down the back of his diaper. That poor chair used to look nice and clean and then Dallin came into its life.

After trying to shake all the flour off of his head into the bowl he had to make sure the dough was as delicious as it looked. It was...

And of course, our day wouldn't be complete without Tristan. Dallin thought he was being left out so he made sure Tristan had some chocolate chips to snack on while we did the hard work!

He does make quite a mess when "helping" me in the kitchen but he is so cute and can be so much fun with his excitement over something so small that I quickly forgive him. I do look forward to the day he can be a little more cleanly in his helping.

Bulk Trash

2011-06-03T20:06:00.004-06:00

A few weeks back my friend Cammie called me up and told me about bulk trash night in her neighborhood. Now, I have never been to a bulk trash night in Maryland, or the U.S. in general but I remember in Germany that Schpermuling (sp?) happened once or twice a year, can't remember, and my family would load up and go driving around the German neighborhoods looking for treasures in the trash. So when Cammie told me about bulk trash I was excited! I talk Chris about it and left the kids with him for the night and I went out cruising the streets for my treasures!

On this side of the car you can see the hose I got, the ironing board, a beach chair, a guard rail for a bed and an umbrella stroller that I can keep in the car.

To this side I got some plastic chairs, the next step up in car seats for Dallin (he has a long way to go), the lid to an storage ottomon, a nifty little 3-legged "table" thing for Tristan that has buttons on it and makes noise, a wagon, and a basket ball hoop.

In the trunk was a filing cabinet, another beach chair, a second base for the infant car seat (can always use two of them!) and a little fire truck toy for Dallin outside.

All in all I feel like I totally made out like a bandit. One mans trash is another man's treasure and I definitely felt like I found and saw so much treasure! I am hoping to go to another bulk trash night soon but we will see if I do. I love getting free stuff!

Vroom vroom!

2011-06-03T14:56:00.004-06:00

Dallin loves riding in things, on things, with things and on us! He is so funny with the ideas he comes up with sometimes to make slides or cars. A while back I took his Cozy Coupe outside because I thought he would enjoy running around with it like he does downstairs. I had no idea how well it would entertain him!

First he grabs the back of it and pushes it up the "hill" to the high side of our driveway.

He has a hard time getting it to stay still at the top of the hill and sometimes it takes a minute or two of positioning until he finds the right spot.

Next he has to make sure his juice is secured in the back compartment and turns the car around so it is facing downhill. Then he climbs in...

And he is off! He will stand up and walk a little ways to get to the "hill" and then sits down and lets motion move him!

Yay! That was fun! Let's do it again and again and again!

He did this for about an hour the first day I took the car out for him and he had a blast. Since then he has enjoyed having the car out but he has become more adventurous and now goes down the big hill in our yard. He has some guts, this kid does! Lets hope it never results in a broken appendage or head.

Brothers

2011-05-05T19:09:00.002-06:00

I am so lucky to have two ADORABLE little boys. I like to think I am even luckier because they play so well together. Tristan has recently started crawling, since about 3 days after we got home from Hawaii, and since then Dallin has had so much more interest in playing with him! Today they played together in the kitchen with bowling pins and bouncy balls for about half an hour. I just watched them and sat there hoping that they can stay that way as they grow up.

Can we say HAM! He is so good at saying cheese.

Look at those eyes. Adorable! He also has some wonderful eyelashes that I wish I could have. Maybe I do have them but I wear glasses so you never see them anyway.

One of Tristan's favorite places to play is under the table where he can pick up the food he dropped earlier. We have been vacuuming every day since he figured out how to crawl and what was on the ground in the dining room. It is cute though because any time Tristan goes under the table, Dallin goes with him and plays with him and frequently even tries to help feed him...

Dallin likes to show Tristan how to play with toys. I believe he was putting blocks in it and throwing them around, rather than the shapes that belong in the box...

A favorite of mine. I plopped Tristan into Dallin's lap and he kept hugging and petting Tristan. I even got them both to smile and look at me at the same time. As I said before, I am so lucky to have my two boys that play so well together. Dallin makes Tristan laugh ALL the time and I love to hear it. I am not looking forward to the fights, which I am sure will happen, but I think they will also be good friends most of the time, just in the way they are together now.

Potty Training

2011-04-29T06:49:00.002-06:00

Now that we are all healthy again we are starting on our most difficult feat ever... We are going to potty train Dallin! He is so ready for it. And though it can be so frustrating, we also have some funny moments and I wanted to share one of them.

This has happened 2 or 3 times now and I am never quite tuned in to what is going on. Dallin will be near me and all of a sudden start saying yes yes yes. I didn't ask him a question so I am never quite sure what he is saying yes to. If I look over at him though I know what he is doing! Going poop! He just stands there saying yes... So then I ask him if he is going poo-poo and he says yes yes yes and I then ask if he is all done or more and unfortunately he is always done. He is a one try kinda guy.

I am sure if I would just pay better attention to him when he starts saying yes yes yes then I would be able to get him on the potty in time... but he talks such silliness most the time and I don't understand it that I don't always pay attention to what he is saying. Maybe tomorrow I will be attentive?

A fruitful shopping adventure

2011-04-23T21:09:00.002-06:00

So tonight I went to do some last minute shopping for Easter dinner tomorrow night. Also we needed some more eggs for dying purposes. I went out right after I put Tristan down for the night. I decided that I wanted to maybe buy Easter presents as well. Easter presents weren't really a thing in my house growing up, more Chris's but not much still. I decided though since they won't really be getting candy tomorrow that we should have something fun for them to get in their Easter basket. So my first stop was one of my favorite stores.

I stared by looking at clothes for the boys. I thought it would be fun for them to get new Sunday clothes but that didn't work out. There was a not-surprising lack of little boy suits. So then I looked at shirts for me since I feel like I could use some bright colors to wear this summer. After that I walked into the back at the toy section and immediately saw something I must have! An awesome bowling set for only $3! I thought that would be perfect because I have been wanting to get things for Dallin to play with outside and I thought he would really enjoy that! Tristan will someday too. I kept looking around and found something even more awesome than a bowling set! A little tent for Dallin! I decided that we would hold off on giving that to him until his birthday but it has a tent in great condition, a matching sleeping bag, rain fly and a bag that fits the sleeping bag and tent in it on wheels so he can drag it around the house! Chris can't wait to give it to him for his birthday. The best part? It was only $5! Then I went to look at baskets and found an old-time picnic basket for $15! Its very cute and roomy and will be perfect for those lunches we leave the house for! I can't wait! I left Goodwill feeling very happy and left for my favorite grocery store... ever.

I really do love Martins. It is a newer store so it is very clean and pretty. It has a huge selection of "International Foods" compared to other stores I have been to. Martins also has some of the freshest produce I have come across over here in Maryland. I have been to Giant, Shoppers, Super Fresh and there was another one and all the produce has been small and over ripe but Martins is always fresh. I also love Martins because they are so friendly there. I was waiting for the girl to finish scanning and she just kept talking to me and so did the bagger. The thing is that it happens every time for me! Who ever is checking me out is always so friendly! And I have been out in the parking lot many times putting my groceries in the car and then the cart collecter comes and takes my cart away for me! For selection and friendliness they can't be beat! I was so happy from my Goodwill finds and then having everyone be so friendly at Martins that it made going out and shopping while I am sick a pleasant event!

Hawaii - The Arrival

2011-04-17T20:30:00.003-06:00

Before I forget all about our trip in Hawaii I wanted to write down what went on for us while we were there. I will admit we were lazy and didn't really do much but I want to make an effort at remembering for my boys when they are older and ask about our trip to Hawaii.

Chris and Dallin swinging in the Banyan tree. It drops roots all over and my dad knotted them into swings for the kids to play on.

We left Saturday morning, early... It was early... We woke the boys up and stuck them in their car seats and drove to the air port. Chris and I had been up late packing and then didn't sleep well because of all the nerves from about to travel for 14 hours with two little boys can make a person stressed! So we woke up at 4:30, got our snacks and sippy cups for the boys, put them in the car and were off. At the end of our road Chris says"Crap!" and I wanted to know why. He apparently didn't factor in the time it would take to park the car and take the shuttle into our leaving the house time. So from then on I was nervous and stressed and wanted to cry. I didn't though. I was brave. I did babble and was very worried that we were going to miss our plane or not be able to check our luggage. Veeery nervous. So we drive a little faster than the recommended limit and we get close and I say lets park in the day parking rather than long term because that will take 10 minutes off my worry time and Chris said okay. Unfortunately he wasn't paying attention and missed the turn off for daily parking... I just about freaked out. So instead of turn around he just kept going to long term. We get there and we are out of the car and on our way to the bus stop within 2 minutes. Fastest car clearing time ever. I see the bus coming so I grab Dallin and his blanket and the diaper bag and the dvd player and the big suitcase and run after the bus. It thankfully waited for us and I plopped Dallin down on the bus and went back out to help Chris with Tristan, who was such a good sport the way Chris was carrying him. We get on the bus and I just kept praying that we wouldn't have to stop for anyone but of course, we stopped for lots of people.

Tristan and Remi are two months apart but are the same size... such a big boy! And Canyon is 15 months. Three cute babies!

Eventually, when my fingers were worn down to nubs from nervous nail biting, we get to the US Airways check in and I see a sign that says NO CHECKED BAGS 45 MINUTES BEFORE FLIGHT. I looked at my phone and we were at the 45 minute mark exactly. Thankfully they didn't say anything and they took our bag! Next to security. My heart rate usually drops about 80 points when we make it through security and that is what happened! I felt so much better. We went to our gate and hung out for 15 minutes and boarded. We took Dallin's car seat along this time and strapped him in and it made a world of difference. That was about all the excitement we had on the plane.

This is Chris and Tristan acting very hot in Hawaii. It wasn't too bad but the humidity was a bit much the first hour or two we were there.

Dallin and Tristan played and ate and slept and eventually we reached Hawaii. Carolyn and Curtis picked us up at the airport and drove us to Waimea Plantation, where we were all staying. As soon as we got there we were bombarded with kiddos and I got to say hello to all the nieces and nephews. It was wonderful! Then we went to our cottage and changed clothes and headed over to the big house for some food and to see everyone. At about 6 we took the boys back to our cottage for some much needed sleep and we all went to bed by 7. Dallin had his own room and Tristan shared with us. Thankfully they both slept through the night and we were well rested for Day 1 in Hawaii!

This is just before Tristan got sick I think. He was happy the first day and it went downhill after that. But he was always so happy to sit there and play with the ball for a while!

My Boys

2011-04-03T20:09:00.000-06:00

Have you ever seen anything so cute?

I sure haven't! Dallin and Tristan are so adorable. Tristan is almost as big as Dallin, which is just crazy. But they are adorable and I love them oodles! Such good boys and are so good together! I hope they are always good friends.

Mr. Fix-It

2011-03-05T19:44:00.002-07:00

When we moved into our house we loved the idea that we had a tub with jets. The catch is that they have never worked the whole time we have lived here. We have thought about fixing them but never gotten around to it. We don't take baths very often, just the boys, and they are scared of them anyway so whats the point in rushing to fix them?

The other day I was trying to figure out the problem with them on my own, nothing serious, mostly because I don't know what to look for. Anyway, I decided that we should probably call one of Chris's brothers to come take a look at it but it could wait.

So tonight, Dallin was taking a bath. He has a little baby hair brush and he was using it as a hammer in the tub and whacking the sides. I am not quite sure why Chris was letting him do this, since we sometimes have problems with Dallin hitting a lot. Anyway, I was putting Tristan down for the night so I wasn't in there. I was rocking Tristan, giving him his bottle right before bed, listening to Dallin whack the tub with his baby hair brush and then all of a sudden a huge noise started in the bathroom! It scared the bejeebers out of me and Tristan but it sure scared Dallin more. Some how, through his whacking the tub, he got the button for the jets to finally turn on! So he had been happily standing there, whacking the tub and all of a sudden the water becomes a whirling mass of fury and he started to scream. My immediate reaction was that a garbage disposal had somehow been hooked up to the tub and got turned on and was going to chop Dallin up... Can we just say I have an over-active imagination?

I felt bad that Dallin got scared so bad, it took Chris like 10 minutes to calm him down, but I am glad that Dallin could get the jets in our tub working! Now to clean them out all the way and then take a nice long relaxing bath with the jets on.

Time for a Change

2011-03-02T13:37:00.003-07:00

So, what do you think about my new blog layout? I think for the first time ever I am happy with a template I was able to find on the internet! I have tried using the generic ones, I have tried making my own and I have never been happy with the finished result. But I spent about 10 minutes looking at templates today and saw this one and I thought "I like how that looks and it makes me happy inside". We change our decorations in our homes to suit our moods and the seasons, maybe I should do it for my blog as well, because in a way, it is an extension of my home.

Its almost here!

2011-03-01T19:03:00.005-07:00

Spring is getting so close! I can feel it in the air and I am sure it is just around the corner! On Sunday it was a pretty nice day after nap time and so Chris took the boys outside for a bit to enjoy the warmth. It was light-jacket weather. I love light-jacket weather.

Since Tristan still can't run around Chris got him all bundled up and stuck him in our awesome double jogger so that he would stay warm but wouldn't have to be held the entire time they were outside. He looks so cute. When I finally went outside Chris said that Tristan was a little Obi Wan Kenobi. With that hood he could pull it off. Though he doesn't have the facial hair yet. And Dallin couldn't wait to run around the yard!

Mr. Dallin running around the yard! He knows that the yard is his to run around in so we will be in one area and all of a sudden he will take off for the bottom of the hill. He is learning how to run so fast on that downhill! Sometimes he won't even fall!

Chris and I love to throw the frisbee around and so anytime Chris takes Dallin out he will take the frisbees because he know I will come out eventually and Dallin loves to watch us throw them around. He will go pick them up for us and will bring them back for us to throw again and again and again!

Dallin's other favorite past time outside in the yard is sticks. He will find a stick and whack the tree with the stick or he will rake leaves with a stick or he will just run around waving it. He is such a cutie, but very dangerous too!

Tristan using "The Force". "You want to snuggle me Mommy". "You will snuggle me Mommy". He is such a cutie.

I love being outside and my boys love it too. I can't wait to have more warmth and sun and be out every day!

6 Months Already!

2011-03-01T18:21:00.003-07:00

My little Tristan turned 6 months old on the 22 of February. He has become such a joy in our lives and it is hard to believe how fast the time has gone. As so many people have said every child is different and it is so very true for my boys. Tristan and Dallin have many similarities but at the same time they are so very different.

This is Tristan at one month. See how slim he is, with those little legs?

Almost the same pose at 6 months. Some big legs!

My little boy is growing up so fast and I love him oodles. I love both of them. I do wish we could focus on him a bit more but that is the curse of subsequent children. He is becoming so much more interactive and we enjoy playing with him so much these days! His giggles are bright lights in my day and him falling asleep in my arms in the evenings with his last bottle is a wonderful way to end a hard day of being a mommy. I am so glad we were blessed with this little guy.

Maryland Winter

2011-02-25T18:28:00.004-07:00

I know it sounds silly but here in Maryland it feels like the winter just drags on and on. As I said, I know it sounds silly, being from Alaska and all where the winters are months long, but here I have been enjoying cold days that are below freezing and no snow and then it snows and then it is above freezing and makes me think spring is here and then the next week it snows and starts to melt the snow once again and then it freezes into this miserable icy snow that you can't play in and then after a few days of this miserable cold it gets nice and warm and sunny and then all of a sudden the snow melts within a day or two and we have sun and it gets my hopes up again and then the cycle starts all over again. At least in Alaska I know where I stand. I don't get spring till later, March at the earliest and I would have snow for months and it wouldn't always melt and come back 10 times during the course of the winter.

Anyway, on one of the nice times with some snow, we went out sledding with Peggy! She came over and we all went out to go sledding. Tristan stayed inside and slept but Chris, Dallin, Peggy and I went out.

This is Peggy carrying Dallin up the hill. I don't remember sledding being so exhausting when I was a kid but I think it has to do with the fact that I didn't have to carry an extra 25 pounds up the hill!

This is my wonderful husband. He has always been so willing to take Dallin out to play in the snow or just to wander around a few minutes before dinner.

Me and Dallin. I didn't want to go sledding because I don't like being cold and wet when I go back inside we didn't have another pair of snow pants that fit me.

We all had a great time playing outside for a little bit. Dallin would say wheeee every time he went down the hill. Then we made snow angels and we threw snow balls and had a grand ol' time. I do enjoy our times being out like that but I will admit I am itching for spring and warm days and being outside, where both my little boys love to be!

Happiness

2011-02-25T16:34:00.005-07:00

Do you want to know what the sound of pure joy is?

It is the sound of my husband and my two adorable boys laughing. I was doing the dishes after dinner and while I was doing them Dallin was climbing into a cabinet and hiding and Chris would say "Where's Dallin?" from the dining room and Tristan thought it was hilarious and so I could hear Dallin laughing in the cabinet, Tristan laughing at Chris and Chris was a little giggly himself. I just stood there doing the dishes thinking how lucky I am. I have the best husband in all the world (in my opinion) and he is such a great father to our kids and then I have two wonderful little boys who can sometimes make me oh-so frustrated but at the end of the day when Dallin gives me kisses good night and Tristan falls asleep in my arms while drinking his last bottle of the night, I know that I am so blessed and couldn't ask for more when it comes to our current life. I do look forward to our next one, whenever that is, but for now I am so very happy with the way life is.

Mean People

2011-02-08T19:11:00.002-07:00

Today our trash can was stolen. Its a very sad day. I was putting Dallin down for a nap when the trash guys came by and after I left his room I saw our trash can leaning against the snow bank. I saw it there and thought, man, those guys were rude today, not standing my trash can upright. About 2 hours later I think it was I went upstairs to get Dallin and I noticed that our trash can wasn't there anymore! It was windy today I will admit so I ran outside for a moment to look in the road and it wasn't anywhere! Some jerk came and took our awesome trash can! It makes me sad that there are people like that who would steal someones trash can... I mean, come on! Its where we put poopy diapers and our trash! Why would someone want it? I just can't believe there are people that mean around. It makes me sad for the state of the world.

What a week.

2011-01-23T18:29:00.002-07:00

I have been very lax in keeping people updated. I just hope that if you care enough about us and notice that we had fallen off the face of the earth that you would be welcome to call us. We have not been up to much lately, especially this last week. It was a TOUGH week! I learned that there is nothing more miserable, more humbling, and more scary than having a little boy being sick with a high fever who won't eat or drink anything for 2 days. I am talking about Dallin. Poor little boy woke up last Sunday night and was crying, because he didn't feel well I guess. Then when we put him back in his bed, he threw up all over it! Then Monday when we woke up he was hot and we wondered if he had what Tristan had from Saturday and Sunday. Tristan was just fussy and tired and had a high fever but ate his milk just fine and never threw up and didn't have diarrhea. Poor Dallin did though.

From the time he woke up Monday morning to Tuesday night, he did not take a single step. Tuesday night we ~~forced~~ got Dallin to take some Tylenol and he perked up a bit and drank a bit but didn't eat anything. He didn't throw up though, so that was good. Then he all of a sudden got up off the couch, where he had slept, drank and watched tv for 2 days.

Then Wednesday he played a bit more but threw up and wouldn't drink at all really. He would take about 8-10 hours to have a wet diaper so I was starting to get paranoid. Thankfully that evening he drank juice boxes but just one and that was it and then to bed where he slept all night.

Then on Thursday he drank and drank and drank! I think he had 5 juice boxes all day along with water and a very small amount of milk. He also got a slushie, which was his 3rd one of the week. He loves the slushies from Royal Farms and drank a lot of it where as the two previous ones Chris and I had drunk most of them. So I wasn't as worried about him. Dallin was very clingy all day though and in the morning he wouldn't let me go and so I called our friend Kaylene if she would watch Tristan for a few hours. It was nice to not worry about him, especially since about an hour after he got home he slept for 2 hours. He likes his bed a lot and sleeps best when in his own bed.

Friday though I started feeling quite ill. My ear had stayed plugged all night with both Tristan and Dallin waking up during the night crying and my mood was not the best and being cold hurt and I just wanted to sleep. Chris wasn't feeling very good either but he was better than I and took care of the boys while I slept and recouped. Dallin finally ate a real meal and didn't throw it up and drank lots. Unfortunately Tristan started to act up and wouldn't sleep very long and decided he wouldn't eat more than 4 ounces at a time, which is saying something because he will usually eat 10 ounces and still be able to fit more in that belly of his.

Saturday, we were all still sick and Chris was feeling worse off so I did a lot of boy watching as well as going out and finally getting rid of Slick, the cat. I took her back to Peggy's house and I am so happy to be rid of her! Yay! Dallin played a lot more but was still pretty fussy. But we were able to enjoy him more and remember that we do love him. And as I said before, Tristan was not the happiest of babies. He did so great all week, playing by himself and then right around dinner time he had eaten about 8 ounces and was playing on the ground with me when all of a sudden a huge gusher of milk came out of his mouth. Had he been sitting up it would have traveled. But since he was laying down it just poured all over his face and into his nose and eyes and all over his clothes. He quickly went into the bath. But after that he was just fine but didn't seem like he wanted to eat at all for the rest of the night. I wonder why... He did sleep okay, waking up only once during the night though.

Sunday, we stayed home from church. I didn't think we were good company at this time. Dallin was acting better but still has his nose and cough and this evening right before bed he threw up everything in his tummy. It was a lot of food. Tristan seems like his tummy has settled down but he hasn't wanted to eat all day. He has only finished one bottle all day I think. I did get him to eat some banana so I hope he will keep that down. I am feeling better today. My ears will finally pop when I want them to and my nose is drying up a bit I think. I am still really congested though. Chris has felt queasy all day and is very tired of blowing his nose and coughing. He is afraid they will send him home from work again tomorrow if he can't stop coughing magically through the night.

So, as you can see, it was a long week. I am tired and worn out and just want a break from my boys but at night when Tristan falls asleep on me when I am burping him and Dallin gives me a kiss and as I turn out his light and he says night-night and kisses the air back at me, I remember how much I love them. I just hope I can make it through this next week and I hope and pray we all get healthy overnight!

I'm so lucky.

2010-12-16T18:54:00.005-07:00

Every morning sometime after Dallin has politely knocked upon his door to be let out, I hear noises coming from Tristan's room. I am sure he talks so quietly so that he does not bring his brother to his room, just Mommy. I am so lucky though to have something like this to go look at every morning.

"Come here Mommy, I have missed you all night long, I was a good boy and slept all night just for you and now come pick me up!"

"Oh, Mommy, while I was in here all alone all night long I think I made a stinky."

"Come just a bit close Mommy, I want to show you something!"

"I LOVE YOU MOMMY! I am SO happy to see you!"

Tristan is one of the best babies ever. He wakes up on his own and talks to himself, or me in this case, until I come in and get him. When I do finally get into his room he has lots of big smiles for me in the mornings. It helps start my day out right, reminding me why I love to be a mommy.

Moods

2010-12-10T18:03:00.002-07:00

Have you ever noticed how one thing can just shatter your good mood for the rest of the day? Yesterday it was when Chris and I were talking and I was telling him my genius idea for a Christmas present for Jonathon and Lauren and he said he didn't like the idea completely because he felt we shouldn't dictate what they do... Not that I would be dictating or anything, just a helpful guide if they needed a last minute idea. I can't say more since I still think I am going to do that for their Christmas present and if they happen to follow my blog I don't want them to know! Anyway, after that minor disagreement my mood was shot for the rest of the evening. I couldn't come up and be happy. I kept getting irritated by the smallest things and was not all that nice to my husband. The sad thing is that I want him around because it makes me feel better but I just don't want to interact with him because I am sure there is something he will do or say that will bug me.

Today the same thing happened. I was happy, I went outside today and played in the snow, the boys were good all day and I was in a good mood. Then Dallin threw a mirror we have for babies because it can stand on its own so baby can stare into it (Dallin loved it when he was itsy bitsy) and he threw it against a wall and broke the mirror! Of course I became agitated because I didn't want Dallin grabbing the broken glass or getting too close to the few small pieces that needed to be vacuumed. But I was reprimanded by Chris who told me that I was being too harsh. I don't feel I was but he apparently did. And that shot my mood for the evening. We were even going to work in our bedroom, painting it tonight but I am not in a mood that Chris wants to work with me. I agree... We wouldn't be very nice to each other but at the same time he has been putting of working on our room all week and so we still sleep in the living room...

I don't know what is going on. Those are just two experiences in the last two days but this has been going on the last 4 or 5 days. I think I am becoming a girl again and there fore am really moody but I don't ever remember being this bad. Then again, last time I actually was a "regular girl" (thats what we call it here in our house) was August of 2008. Its hard to remember back that far. I do hope that is the reason for all my foul moods and that it will go away and I can be happy again and nice to my husband and kids...

Dallin's second hair cut!

2010-11-07T09:38:00.004-07:00

I decided that last night Chris and Dallin needed hair cuts. Chris's was getting long and over his ears and just didn't look good for work, not that there is a strict dress code there or anything but he still likes to look nice. And Dallin just had long hair. The hair on the top of his head was almost reaching the bottom of his hair line in the back so it was time for a drastic hair cut. I was very nervous about it because when I got my hair cut there was a little boy who kept screaming and moving way too much and didn't get a very good cut and was almost skewered with the scissors a couple of times. I was afraid that would be Dallin as well.

This is a good picture of Dallin from earlier in the day. I decided I should try to have a before and after picture.

This is the first picture of Dallin getting his hair cut. I decided to use the razor I got for Christmas a few years back. I will admit that I was not very appreciative of it when I got it because I didn't want to cut hair but it has come in handy and since I got it I have been the only person to cut Chris's hair. And now I will be the only one to cut Dallin's hair.

As you can see there was no screaming and fidgeting. Dallin thought it was so much fun and that it tickled him as I was doing the back of his head.

He kept leaning forward, trying to get away from me because I was tickling him. So cute!

For the top of his head I used scissors to make it look nice and blended from the buzzed part to the scissored part. He did so well and this was him right after he got off the stool. He went straight for my spray bottle.

This is all of his hair. He had so much. I can't believe he is so grown up now and getting hair cuts!

Since it was Saturday night I had both boys take a bath, granted, Dallin needed one since his hairs were cut but I have started holding Tristan in the tub with Dallin when he is in there because Tristan can use a good soaking once in a while. Plus, his little baby tub doesn't allow him to be as submersed as holding him in the tub does and so he gets cold. I didn't get to see what his hair finally ended up like because right after the tub he went to bed with his hair wet.

This morning we decided to not go to church since Dallin and I keep coughing and don't feel so well and Chris said that his tummy has a rumbly in a bad way. But I woke up this morning with Dallin on top of me and woah was he lookin' different!

He is very cute though and even though he isn't feeling well he is still doing okay and let me get some cute pictures of him.

A Beautiful Fall Day

2010-11-06T19:11:00.003-06:00

Today after we got up and ready for the day I noticed it was beautiful outside and that in the sun it was pretty warm. We went out and tossed a frisbee around, me and Dallin. He was so cute. We had two frisbees and I would throw them and I would get one and he would get the other and run to me and I would throw them both. It was fun. Then Chris came out after his little cub scout planning meeting and we raked some leaves and took some pictures and videos. Our video camera was FULL for the last month and we finally took all the videos off and so we started to tape again.

Everyone needs family pictures so we took one and we look wonderful! Granted, you can't really see Tristan in it because he is washed out but he is there!

Dallin loved walking around our yard with us. He loves to be outside and it is just so hard to get out sometimes with Tristan now. Dallin and I usually go out when he is asleep and take the baby monitor but today we took him out!

Chris and Dallin. I love his face. He looks so unhappy but I think it is just the sun in his eyes.

Here is Tristan all bundled up in his little fleece sleeper thingy and the hat Dallin got from the hospital when he was born. He was nice and warm and eventually he even fell asleep in the stroller.

Isn't this like the best picture of Dallin ever? I think it is. He looks happy to be sitting in the leaves.

Dallin let me throw the leaves on him and he thought it was fun but he wouldn't throw them.

Chris even mowed the lawn today! It needed it at least one last time and it was also good because I am going to start a compost pile so he chopped up the piles of leaves pretty good so that I could rake them up and make a good pile to start composting!

And guess who got to ride on the mower with Daddy? Dallin! He had so much fun and when Chris got to the front yard when he was almost done, Chris brought Dallin into the house which was really funny because Dallin had fallen asleep while Chris was mowing! He was so mad when Chris brought him in and wanted to go back out. But instead I got him lunch and put him to bed!

It was so nice outside and I am really glad we were able to go and spend some time outside before it gets too cold to go outside without a coat on. Though Dallin needs a coat and if you notice on the lawn mower Chris had put socks on his hands to keep them warm because they were so cold. Ahhh it was very nice to play as a family outside.

Its about time

2010-10-17T10:16:00.002-06:00

For the first time since June, Chris and I were able to go out on a long 5 hour date... I helped Peggy two weeks ago and she said she owed us one and so I said she could watch Dallin sometime for a night and we would be even. So Peggy said that she would take him last night. We really liked that idea because we don't get Dallin-free nights and more importantly, Dallin-free mornings very often!
We wound up asking Peggy to take Tristan for a few hours too. Due to the fact that my milk is drying up again and he is becoming a mostly bottle fed baby, we could be away from him for a few hours. I will admit, I felt guilty leaving him behind because I haven't ever left Tristan with someone other than my mom or Chris and I NEVER would have left Dallin alone for so long at 2 months. Mostly because I would have needed to nurse him but still, I was very attached. The second child doesn't get nearly as much attention as the first I guess.

Anyway, it has been some time since Chris and I have been able to go to the temple and I decided that was what I wanted to do with our date time. It was a wonderful experience. We went and did initiatorys for the first time since we went for ourselves and it was a wonderful experience to hear those blessings that we receive at the temple. I really enjoyed it. I believe next time we will do sealings and that way we can have done everything at least once and then I think we are going to start going through for family.

It was a wonderful time, being child free and going to the temple, doing a service to others. I hope that we will be able to go to the temple regularly now that I am not stuck so closely to Tristan with nursing. I will miss nursing and the closeness that I feel to Tristan when I nurse but I will enjoy the opportunity to start going to the temple already!

Corn Maze

2010-10-10T20:07:00.004-06:00

Chris and I wanted to do something fun as a family yesterday and so we decided to go to a corn maze! I have never been to one so I didn't know what to expect but we had a good time. It was very corny, the whole time! Tristan just slept in the front pack the whole time and Dallin was our fearless leader. And we braved the ravages of corn for a whole hour or so. I am glad that we were able to get out and do something fun since we really don't get out anymore.

Here we are just before with the maze in the background. And the map in my hand.

Chris and Dallin on their way down to the entrance.

At this point Chris started to film our adventures in the maze. He was ridiculous, saying the natives might get us and we would never survive. He was entertaining.

This is an areal view of the maze. It was pretty neat that they cut it out of the corn. I could always tell when we were in the N's but that was about it. It was lots of fun though. They had signs for us to read silly facts on but we didn't see all that many of them. If we walked the entire thing, even the dead ends it is 2 miles long.

This is how Tristan was the whole time. Sleeping!

Our little group. Since Chris was doing the camera the whole time Peggy carried Dallin and I had Tristan.

Dallin had picked up a corn stalk so that he could "kill his food" as Chris like to tell us. Or to defend himself from the natives.

Here we are on the outside of the maze! We were victorious. It was so nice to get out and do something with our family.

My baby boys

2010-09-23T10:44:00.003-06:00

Well it has been almost a month since I posted last and I was bugging Becca about making a post so I guess I should also do one. We have been a little busy in the last month. Or I just haven't found or made the time to do a blog post.

One month ago yesterday Tristan joined our family and it has been so wonderful to have him around. I count my blessings every day. 1 - Chris 2 - Dallin 3 - Tristan. I have more blessings but those are the three biggest I think. Today I was sitting on the ground, next to Tristan (to protect him from his loving brother who doesn't understand to be gentle all the time) and Dallin was playing in the corner with his shapes. And they were just so happy and peaceful on their own at the time and I was able to take a moment and realize how much I truly love them both.

It has been a rough adjustment. I don't know why people have more than one child... Just kidding! I will admit that some days I have a rough time with the boys but in the end I love them oodles and I look forward to when they are older and we can all play together. But Dallin has been sick for the vast majority of Tristan's life so far which has made him a bit more dependent upon me than I had originally thought he would have when Tristan was born. It has made for some very long days and I love it when Chris gets home and I get some help. I would have a very hard time taking care of both boys all by myself all day long. You are amazing Jennifer. I know you do what you have to do but golly jeepers that would be hard.

Anyway, I wanted to post some pictures of us and the boys and let everyone see how much Dallin loves his little brother.

Dallin loves to hold Tristan and comes up to me and sits on the ground and grabs Tristan out of my lap. It is oh so cute.

You can see Chris stopping Dallin and his love from hurting Tristan. Dallin has recently learned how to kiss and so he kisses Tristan on his head and face all the time now and Chris didn't know what Dallin was trying to do because it was the first time he had seen Dallin try to kiss Tristan. Sooo cute!

I always look forward to when Dallin goes to bed and it is just me and Chris and Tristan. We had Dallin all by himself and so he got all our attention and so I like the evenings when we can give Tristan all our attention as well. We love him lots but now we have other things like our house and Dallin that take our attention away from him.

Chris likes to pace and carry Tristan around, which always makes him fall asleep. At this point Dallin was a spotted mess and we were trying so hard to keep Dallin away from Tristan but he wanted to be up with Chris and see Tristan so Chris got to carry both boys around for a while.

This was on the day or the day after we got home from the hospital. Tristan is wearing that outfit right now and when he stretches his legs he is pushing the limits of that sleeper. He is a tall boy! Skinny, but tall. But this was the first time Dallin got to hold Tristan and he has grown to love his brother so much. Every morning after I get Dallin out of his bed he goes immediately to my room and climbs on the side of the bassinet to see Tristan and any time Tristan cries Dallin is right there to see if he is okay. I hope that they are always good friends and I love them both so much and am so grateful for my family!

Tristan Finn

2010-08-26T08:22:00.004-06:00

I wanted to get the labor and delivery story down before I forgot any more and so while Tristan is happy and fed and sleeping and Dallin and my mom are out, I am going to take a few minutes and type up what happened to us this last weekend. I am a wordy person though so I am sure it will be longer than I originally planned! And detailed too, to a point.

Saturday the 21st began as the last few Saturdays have. I woke up wishing I didn't have a huge belly that restricted my movements and Chris got up and got Dallin ready and then mowed the lawn. Because we knew Tristan would be coming soon we were trying to be motivated and get lots done. So after Chris had mowed the lawn we hung around the house a bit with my mom and Dallin and then Chris and I went and got Rogers truck so we could empty out our breezeway of trash and debris. Unfortunately Rogers truck was full so we had to take that to the dump and then we had to come home and get our trash and take that to the dump. It took a long time. I didn't help too much because Chris didn't want me to and I was okay with that because bending over and picking the trash up out of the bed of the truck would have been a lot for my back I think.

After we finished at the dump we went up to Lowes where we picked out the baseboard and molding and trim for Tristan's room. It still had to be textured but we didn't know when I would get back there so we figured it was a good idea to get it now while we didn't have Dallin and Tristan both. The whole process took forever. I was dying. My poor knees and feet were killing me after about 20 minutes of being there. But we had to walk up and down and compare prices and all that jazz. Every so often I would bend over because my belly was hurting. At the time I thought it was just the muscles but now I know that it was the start of labor!

When we finally got home from Lowes I was sitting down and relaxing but my poor belly was still hurting every so often. So about two hours later I decided that they were contractions and they were getting longer and closer. So my mom timed them for me and they were 6-8 minutes apart for about 30 seconds. Not anything to worry about. But since they didn't go away we decided we should get ready for the hospital, grab the car seat, finish packing our bag, get some food. We did all that and my mom and Dallin went to bed and I was uncomfortable but nothing that I couldn't handle.

We were expecting to go to the hospital that night but it never happened. We went up to bed so I could get some sleep while the contractions were still irregular and weak enough for me to sleep. I didn't get much sleep. They were strong enough that I couldn't sleep through them so I would doze for a few minutes and then wake up and then doze. It went that way all night and I would time them ever few hours but nothing.

In the morning (now Sunday the 22nd) we got up and got Dallin and my mom ready for church. My contractions were about 4-6 minutes apart for about 45 seconds and were really uncomfortable but not too painful yet. So we ate and sat around and sent my mom off to church. At about 10 I got in the shower and had the hot water on my belly which felt really nice and I was relaxing. We had called the midwife on call, which just happened to be my midwife that day! She said to take it easy and labor at home for a while but don't wait too long since we did have a 40 minute drive. So that was what we did. And I wasn't hurting all that much so it wasn't a problem.

At 10:45 though we started packing the car because even though my contractions weren't following the 5-1-1 rule, they were getting stronger. I knew it was going to be a long car ride. And it was. Just for fun I would sing and yell really loud during a contraction to help me focus on that. It was hurting by the time we got to the hospital but nothing some hand squeezing with Chris didn't fix.

We got to the hospital at about 11:55 and were in our delivery room by Noon and I was hooked up to monitors and stuck in a bed for 20 minutes upon arrival. The contractions weren't too bad though so I didn't mind doing the 20 minutes of monitoring. After my 20 minutes were up, Kay (my midwife) came in and checked me and we were all surprised to find out that I was already at 9 cm. I wasn't writhing in pain or anything like I thought I would be... But my water hadn't broken yet and she said it probably would soon and the baby wasn't quite down far enough to push but he would be ready when my water broke. So she said I could go labor any way I wanted to. I decided for another shower.

While in the shower my contractions started to get stronger but still 3-5 minutes apart I think and so I would suffer for a minute and have a few minutes to recoup and so Chris and I would talk and were generally enjoying ourselves. Chris was very sweet and helpful. He had his arms in the shower so he could hold my hand and rub my back when the contractions were going and would talk to me of silly things to keep me focused somewhere. It seemed to do the trick because I was still doing okay.

After about 30 minutes or so in the shower I got out and had to sign my consent form to be treated at the hospital and other fun things. So I did that and then laid in bed for a while and realized it was very uncomfortable to be laying so I was kneeling or on my side or on all fours, just trying to get comfortable. And lots of hand squeezing.

This is me at one point of lying in bed. A few times the contractions were strong enough that I needed a little bucket to throw up in but for the most part I was still doing okay. The nurse, Elayne, was very friendly and stayed with us the whole time and kept talking to us. She said that I was doing very well with my focus and that between contractions I didn't really act like I was in labor. I think that means I am awesome. We just kept plugging along, waiting for my water to break.

Probably around 2 is when my contractions started to pick up in strength a lot. As I said, we were waiting for my water to break but it was being very stubborn. So she said when I had a contraction to go ahead and bear down a little and that might help break it. During this time though my contractions really did pick up and I was squeezing saying to Chris "It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts" and then I would lay there between saying I am so tired and start to close my eyes when another contraction would start.

At about 2:25 I said I wanted Kay to come in and break my water. I had been nervous about this because everyone says it is more painful to labor while your water is broken and so I was scared. I didn't want to hurt more. But I finally hit the point where I wanted it over and so I told my nurse to call Kay and break my water. So at 2:30 Kay came in and broke my water. When she did that she said that the baby was in position for pushing and I was all ready so I could roll over after it was broken and start to push. So that was what I did. I got caught up in some cords since they had to monitor Tristan after my water was broken but once I was kneeling against the back of the bed I started to push. My nurse had told me that it was going to hurt more and it was going to burn but its the one time in life to embrace that pain. So I waited for a contraction and pushed but nothing really happened and it was a wussy contraction anyway. The next one though was a good one so I started to push.

I don't know what was going on behind me since my face was in a pillow and I was squeezing Chris's hand really hard, focusing on that. Then I realized it was starting to hurt but I remembered what my nurse had said, to embrace it so I thought I want it over so I kept pushing. So that was the second contraction. And once I started to push with that contraction I just kept pushing and pushing. So as I said, I didn't know what was going on behind me but I am pretty sure that Kay hadn't expected things to go so fast. Because once I started to push she didn't have time to get all dressed up for delivery after breaking my water. She had gotten her smock on her arms and then Elayne said here he comes! So Kay ran over and caught Tristan's head, not having time to tie up her smock or put gloves on. I wonder how many babies get delivered without gloves... Anyway, so time of birth was 2:35 p.m. I only pushed for 3 minutes they said. It felt a lot shorter, mostly because I know I didn't take that many breaths during that time. But I think 3 minutes is pretty good.

So then I got to hold Tristan immediately and cut the cord because Chris was busy filming because the nurse told him to. haha. So they dried him off on my chest and put blankets on us and it was wonderful. When Dallin was born I got to touch his head and then 45 minutes later I got to hold him. I liked this much better, being able to hold Tristan immediately.

Once they did take him I got stitched up and a meal and he was weighed and measured. He was 9 pounds 3.4 ounces and 21 inches long. Chris was over with Tristan the whole time watching him get measured and weighed and cleaned and all the fun things they do to new babies. Tristan wound up having low blood sugar though so the nursery brought over some formula and Chris got to feed Tristan while I was recouping. I think he really enjoyed that.

He was all nice and pink after he was rubbed down and not crying at all once he was on my chest. He has so far been an amazing baby. He nurses really well, even though my milk still hasn't come in. He gets bottles as well because of that and he does so well nursing as well as bottle feeding. Though I do wish I could just nurse exclusively.

Tristan is a nice filled out baby in the face and his legs are so skinny. By the time we had left the hospital he weighed 8 lb 12 oz so he did good and the next day he weighed 8 lb 10oz so he is good at regulating his food, as well as his temperature since he is a bigger baby. Becca and Remi still beat us though!

Once we got to the recovery room we had to wait forever before Tristan was brought to us. They had to wait to take his blood sugar again and then after that a bath and then time after his bath so we didn't get Tristan back to us until like 3 hours after he was born. I was missing him.

Here is the proud Daddy! Chris has been so good with Tristan. He feels much more confidant in taking care of Dallin though. Probably because he isn't nearly so fragile.

Sitting in the horrible bed in the recovery room. I was so ready to go home. I was in pain from my stitches and my cramps were horrible and the bed was hot and made me sweat and I just wanted to be home.

To keep Tristan out of Dallins reach we put him on the table lots. We have a lot of work to do with Dallin regarding Tristan but for the most part Dallin has done really well. He quickly learned how to be "gentle". He pets Tristan's head and will play with his toes but he doesn't understand his strength so he will grab and squeeze and pull if we aren't watching. Lots to teach!

And here is the close up of the little guy. He is such a good baby so far. Very easy. He sleeps so well at night and eats so well and loves to be held but also does really well just sitting on his own. Granted he is crying next to me right now and I am about to pick him up but I wanted to get this post done first. Its been going on for a few hours.

We are so happy to have Tristan in our home. We also love having Dallin in our home. I can't do much with Dallin right now since I can't pick him up and so he has been becoming very attached to my mom but I hope that soon I will be healed so I can take care of Dallin and Tristan. I love them both and can't wait for the days when they are the best of friends, hopefully not the worst of friends very often. So much to look forward to.

Potty Training

2010-08-02T17:45:00.003-06:00

So a while back I went to a consignment sale that I could get in early since I was a new mom. This meant I got the pick of the litter and I got a bunch of great clothes for Dallin at that time. And shoes. Aside from clothes though I got a potty training toilet for Dallin. We are thinking that if he acts like he is ready for it, at 18 months we will be starting to potty train Dallin. Having two babies in diapers isn't going to be all that much fun...

Dallin brings his potty out to where ever I am and pushes it around and tries to get me to help him sit on it.

Still carrying it around.

Trying to see his toy that he had dropped into the hole.

Doesn't my little boy look ready to be potty trained?

Bubbles!

2010-07-19T10:17:00.003-06:00

I don't really have anything post worthy but it has been a while since I posted last so I thought I should go ahead and post something! We still aren't in our house yet but we will be this weekend! The installation of the HVAC is taking longer than we were originally told. I don't know why, it just is. But they have all the duc twork in and it really seems like the last little bit they have to do is put in the vent registers and the thermostats. So here is hoping for this weekend!

Even though we aren't in our house we do visit it often. And when we do, one of Dallin's favorite past times is to watch us blow bubbles. He likes to chase them too but he isn't all that great at running around on our lawn so he usually just sits and we blow bubbles to him. So here are some cute pictures of my baby boy, enjoying the bubbles we have at our house.

Look at that smile of pure delight. Some days when it is nice enough to actually be in the house, we do bubbles in the kitchen. But that usually only happens when we accidentally leave the bubble bottle out where Dallin can find it and he then brings it to us and waits somewhat patiently for us to open it and blow bubbles for him. It is so cute how he knows what is in the bottle and he can't wait for us to blow bubbles!

Then here is my cool little boy with Chris's sun glasses on him. Dallin never gets to play with glasses and when Dallin and I wait in the car for long periods of time, we try on Daddy's sun glasses. He has fun and he looks so cute. I mean cool...

Otherwise, not much is going on for us. We will be moving the rest of our stuff here at Peggy's to our house when the HVAC is all done. Probably not until Friday night though. Maybe Thursday. Then I can finally get settled in a bit more. Granted, Tristan's room is still in shambles but us actually being at the house will give us more time to work on it and I don't think it will take us too much longer! Here is hoping.

My house!

2010-07-01T18:23:00.004-06:00

I finally remembered to take my camera to the house and get some pictures of the outside. I will get pictures of the inside this week if I can find batteries. I have been taking some pictures today but they are more to document the work that is going into the house currently. And let me tell you... there is a lot of work! But that is for a different post. This post is to show my house from all angles!

From the driveway this is the view of the house. We have bushes that line the road and then the garage is to the right of the giant bush in front of the house and behind the dark green pine tree is the corner of the house.

This is down on the front left corner of the house looking straight back to the fence separating our yard from our neighbors pasture. There are horsies and cows back there! Some day I will talk to the owner of the animals and find out if Dallin can feed the horses. I think he would enjoy that.

This is the back left corner of the house. Lots of bushes. If you notice, the bushes in the left of the picture are actually covering up our deck so you can't even see it. They are some intense trees.

This is where there once was a pool. I don't think we will ever get a pool since I would feel I would have to watch our very young children every time they go outside. Maybe if they were older but since they are babies I don't want to chance it. Instead we have an awesome blow up pool that was wonderful to go sit in today! As for the pool area though, we are going to put in a nice little patio where we could grill or have a fire pit. I think it all depends on how many rocks I have.

This is next to the pool area looking up the hill at the impenetrable jungle that has grown up around the house since it has been untended. It is amazing how things grow here. Ridiculous, actually. One big tree has put these tiny saplings EVERYWHERE. We are going to have our work cut out for us this fall when the leaves fall off and we can see what we are tearing up.

This is the back of the house. The door leads to the basement and there is a deck somewhere in the left of the picture, but you can't see it because of the jungle.

Here is the deck! It is very over grown and scary to me. I don't like to be out there. You can also see the garage and the walkway that you can go back around the house to the front.

This is the deck still but it has the mudroom door in the picture. Everyone else calls it a breeze way but I had never heard of one of those until I came to Maryland so it is a mudroom to me. You can see how incredible all those trees and bushes are. It is so close on the deck that it really does creep me out to be on it because I don't know what can be lurking in the bushes and underneath the deck.

This weekend we put in a lot of hours over at the house. Cousin Laura came up and we enjoyed her company a lot but she was also a huge help to us getting stuff done at the house. While Chris and his brother installed a light in Tristan's room, Laura and Carter were out back trimming the jungle and it looks SO much better. I wound up feeling really sick while I was outside. It was way too hot for me and I just couldn't handle it. But now I have a decent deck that doesn't scare me and a bedroom that is unliveable. I will take the pictures off of my camera soon so you can see the difference some pruning does and also what we have done to Tristan's room.

Nothing specific

2010-06-24T13:49:00.002-06:00

So, I finally found my adapter for my camera so I don't have to rely on Chris to get the pictures off of my camera any more! Yay! So I finally have a post with pictures. We all know reading is fun, but pictures are more fun. At least that is usually how I feel, I don't know if anyone else does.

Lots going on for us right now. Our house is being worked on as I type! We are getting the HVAC installed and I am looking forward to moving into my house in the next 3 weeks or so. It might even be less! I can't wait. It will be so nice for Dallin to have more space to run around in and also we bought a pool for his birthday and I am looking forward to having that around when we go outside!

This is Dallin's Cozy Coupe that we got from Katie and Roger and Natalie and Anthony and Riley for his birthday. He hasn't been exposed to it all that much yet since it is over at the house but when we go over there and we sit him in it and push him around he thinks it is the neatest thing, as you can tell by his big smile. He also likes to push it around. When he gets a bit bigger and learns how to sit inside and make it go he is going to have a great time. Thanks for the Coupe again Katie!

While at the house we also had some left over ice cream that I was sharing with Dallin and he is definitely a boy who likes his sugar and ice cream is one of those sugars he loves. Any time I am eating anything he is like a dog and comes and begs for it. I don't always share but ice cream is one thing I will give him a couple bites of. Plus it is fun to watch his face as he gets brain freeze.

This is his neat little train set that he got from Rogers family as well. I think he is going to have a lot of fun with it when we get to the point of having it around! For now though he enjoys it when we visit the house. And its good for him to have toys that are different and a place to run around. He loves having so much space and so do I!

I never really get pictures of me because it is "my job" to take pictures and Chris's job to take video. He isn't all that great at his job lately but neither have I been so I guess we are even. This was just a nice evening at home for us and I love my boy so much! I can't wait for Tristan to come along and be able to play with us too.

This is my unsightly pregnant picture but I haven't posted one of my belly in a while so I thought I should go ahead and post one! Chris and I left Dallin for the weekend with Peggy and went down to Virginia to his grandparents lake. It was so wonderful to not have to worry about Dallin and cut short our games because he wanted some attention. Dallin had a good time with Peggy though and I had a nice break before Tristan comes.

This is me and my good lookin' husband who needed to shave. All spiky and not fun to kiss. We got some much needed sun though. I am looking darker while Chris just looks like Chris.

This is a picture frame that Peggy gave us a while ago and I thought it would be nice for Chris's desk but it was a black and boring. So I decided to redo it! I have been looking at craft blogs for quite some time and decided that I wanted to try my hand at refinishing something and I think it turned out really well. The paint actually isn't so light but the flash made it seem lighter than it really was.

And here is some more of Dallin. He has been quite frustrating to change for a couple of months and we don't know what to do. Any helpful ideas on how to make him stay on his back while getting a diaper change would be great! Our current method that doesn't always work is to give him a toy and one toy he likes is The Tick! He has a button on his back that makes him say things like "naughty spawn, you face The Tick!" or "Spoon!". Dallin can't press the button himself but he does love it when we press it for him!

And this is the last picture of the day. We have been getting more adventurous in our eating habits lately and I decided that I would trust him with a peach. He eats it pretty well from my hand when I share it but today I decided to give him the whole thing and he did really well with it! About 3/4 of the way through it I took the pit out and he ate the rest of it and he loved it! Man... I don't even remember the last time I gave him baby food... Which is good because he likes to eat what we eat!

Before I forget, I am now 34 weeks along in my pregnancy. Tristan is still due August 5th but I think he will be a few days late since we don't know what day I actually ovulated and got pregnant. Everything is going fine except Tristan's head is up on my hip instead of down in my pelvis. We still have a few more weeks before any major problems could arise from that. I am uncomfortable and would love to have him out already but I know it isn't his time yet so I don't mind waiting. I do look forward to having another child. I love Dallin so much and I can't wait to have lots of love for the next one!

Birthday Party!

2010-06-12T18:41:00.004-06:00

As I said previously in a post, May 17th was Dallin's birthday but he also shares his birthday with Peggy, my mother in law and then Chris's birthday is on June 1st. Since I left for Alaska 2 days after his birthday and wanted to have the party at our house but hadn't settled in time, we just had the birthday party last weekend and it was lots of fun but instead of just Dallin's party it was for him, Peggy and Chris!

We wanted to have the party at our awesome new house that I still don't have pictures of the outside of. We really like our house and can't wait to move in but we decided to tough it out for one evening with everyone there. Chris helped out a lot that day since I was cooking and so he decorated and he put balloons out and Dallin loves playing with them!

It is an easy house to ignore rambunctious kids in because I just told them if they were going to be loud they had to go downstairs so we grown ups could talk... I remember those days when I was the kid who had to go downstairs... but not anymore! We also bought a pool that I think will be really nice for me and Dallin to play in once we finally get into the house. Dallin LOVES bath time and so what could be better than a pool where he gets to play but has enough room for mommy to comfortably sit in as well! We also had dinner and cake and ice cream and presents. It was the first time I had seen anyone since some time before I went to Alaska so it was nice to talk to everyone and see what was going on in their lives.

We started the evening with sending the kids downstairs, as I mentioned already and then us grown ups sat down and ate dinner on our awesome new dinner table! One day Peggy and I were driving home from the house and saw a sign in front of a house just down the street from my house and it said free and it had a "nice" table and 3 chairs so I called Chris and he went and got it. It is a great sized table because it fits 8 chairs around it with hardly any squishing so that is really nice for when we have people over! We also got a high chair at the free sign too so that is what Dallin sat in while we ate dinner. He isn't quite old enough yet to be told to go downstairs, even though he can go up and down the stairs without any worry. So, for dinner we had shrimp scampi, which turned out funky (or so I thought, and was the only one who thought that) due to the flavored shrimp. Next time I will get the frozen shrimp from Sams. And we had a salad and some yummy zucchini/squash/onion fry that was really tasty. Once we finished eating we got the kids back up to eat and then we went out to the pool!

We have a well and so the water that comes out is like 54 degrees and is quite chilly, especially on a cloudy evening with no sun so the kids were all cold but we wanted to let Dallin play too. So Chris would stick his feet in and let him kick and then pick him up and Dallin loved it, even though he didn't like being in the water all the way since it was quite chilly. But he looked cute! He didn't have a swim suit so he got to go naked and Chris edited the picture for us!

After the pool we opened presents. We had given our presents to Dallin a few weeks ago since he would enjoy playing with them around the house and he does! He likes to push his trucks around, he stacks the rings on the pole with no problem and with a little bit of guidance he can put the shapes in the right holes. He knows that they go in but he doesn't realize yet that they have to go in a certain way. But He got an awesome train, a whale that goes along with Dr. Seuss's circus book and a cute outfit... I think I am forgetting something but I can't remember. Chris got presents, mostly cards since he isn't much of a toy person anymore and Peggy got some things as well, like flowers!

After we finished opening presents we went back upstairs and had cake and ice cream! Dallin has quite the sweet tooth and enjoyed the cake a lot. He liked the ice cream but only if I fed it to him since it was cold to the touch.

He ate a huge chunk of cake and made such a mess. But I am glad he liked it so much! It was healthy because it had half the fat it usually would and also had carrots in it! I love carrot cake and didn't know if Chris's family did but since it is something that my family does, to have carrot cake, I decided that my little family was going to as well!

And here is a cute picture of the three of us (four if you count my big belly). We had a great time and were really happy that we could have family around for a little party, even if Dallin won't remember it. I can't wait until next year when he understands a bit better that May 17th is all about him!

The month of May

2010-06-10T20:15:00.003-06:00

It has been quite some time since I last posted. A lot has happened since then too! I will try to go chronologically so that way I can have it all written down somewhere for future reference.

So, back to May. Sometime in May I FINALLY went to see the doctors! Go me! It wasn't actually a doctor, but a midwife, and I loved her! She was very very very friendly and treated me as though I actually knew what was going on inside of my body and also had a lot of the same views on child birth as I do. Needless to say, we got along very well. I have not been back since then, it has been about a month, but that is because I went up to Alaska and then when I got home Chris's job had switched insurances and so I now have to wait until I have the card in my hand before I make the appt. because the front desk people weren't all that happy that I hadn't brought my real card in last time. But my midwife was very understanding of my situation and knew I wouldn't be coming back until I had my card, even though we really thought I would have had it by now. It is in the mail though, according to some insurance guru Chris talked to today. Anyway, when I had my appointment my midwife had me go do the routine blood work, the glucose test and get an ultra sound! Yay! It was so nice to finally be able to see the baby! And I am too impatient so we found out the gender and we are having another little boy. I will admit I would have loved to have a little girl but there is no reason I won't love having another little boy too. I just don't want to have all boys... I would like a girl... Some time... Anyway, we have decided on the name Tristan Finn Davenport! Isn't that cute? I think it is. So, now we are waiting until my appointment which should hopefully be next week to see if the due date moved at all. I think I will be a bit after August 5th but we shall see! You never know when the Lord is gonna drop a baby on you.

The next big thing was that it was Dallins first birthday! We didn't really do anything on his birthday because we wanted to have a party at our house but we didn't settle in time to have a party so we just decided we would go out to eat that night. So he got a free sundae at Red Robins! He loved it.

Then Dallin and I hopped on a plane and went to Alaska. The flights to and from Alaska were the worst experiences of my life. Being pregnant, not being able to recline, not having enough room on my lap for Dallin to sleep, missing flights and delayed flights... I have decided that I am never traveling on a plane again without Chris. I was so tired and frustrated by the time I got to my destinations that I usually was close to a break down. When we got home and we saw Chris I had one because I was sooo happy to have the worst day of my life over and so he could take care of me.

Anyway, back to Alaska! We went up there for Jonathon's wedding. I didn't have any batteries and my dad only has rechargeable AA batteries so I didn't ever get pictures on my own but I did take some with my parents camera and those are on my dads facebook page! It was a nice, small wedding though and reminded me of my wedding a few years ago. It hasn't been that long and some days it feels that way and other days it feels like it has been forever. Good thing I love Chris oodles so that we can get to the forever part some day! After the wedding I just hung out around my parents house and got to see my family every day. I have really missed them since moving to Maryland, probably because I see Chris's family almost every weekend or day (since we live with Peggy) and it makes me want to see my family. So it was really nice to sit and talk with them. I even got to see Becca, who is quite pregnant these days. Due any day now. It was a wonderful trip, and worth the traveling but as I said, I won't be flying without Chris again.

While I was up in Alaska Chris settled on our house! There had been something wrong with the title work so we didn't get to do it before I left. But when I got home it was wonderful to know I had a house and all of our stuff had been moved out of storage and into the house! We are so excited to finally move in. I will do another post in a couple of days with pictures of our house in it but this post is getting a bit long so I shouldn't over burden you all who decide to read it.

So that was our month of May. Lots of good things happened to us and I look forward to what the rest of June has to offer!

The last week

2010-04-29T18:02:00.003-06:00

Well, it has been a while since I posted last so I thought I should take a minute to write up a quick something. There won't be any pictures because we don't have any AA batteries for the camera and I always forget to pick some up at the store, plus since Chris started working I haven't been to a store... It kinda stinks only having one car some days but really, where would I go if I had one? Grocery shopping without Chris? No... We decided long ago that Chris and I aren't allowed to show by ourselves because we always buy too much that isn't on the list and it can become dangerous to our health and our budget!

Anyways, I digress. Chris is upstairs right now putting the munchkin to sleep so I should make this somewhat fast so I can have some nice quiet time before my bed time.

Chris started his job last Monday so tomorrow he will have been working for two weeks. It's payday! We haven't had one of those since October so it will be really nice to finally have an income again. Chris is enjoying his job so far. He has been given a project to do that will keep him occupied for a long time so he is happy. He likes to have a job and I have noticed an improvement in his disposition since he started. I don't think he enjoyed being a bum like me as much as I do. Granted, now that he works, I can't be a bum as much as I used to. I do have to take care of Dallin after all!

Dallin and I play all day. We have had some odd days lately due to his nap schedule. We had switched him to one nap a day and he would sleep for 2.5 to 3 hours but he can't seem to handle that right now so he has 2 naps a day for almost 2 hours each. I am not complaining because it gives me time to myself but I will admit that some days I get bored when he isn't around. But he is so much fun to play with most days when he isn't fussy and stuffed up with this head cold he has right now. He is walking really well these days. He will sometimes surprise us and let go of us and take a few steps on his own. When he knows we are behind him he will walk all the way across the room! He learned about his shadow today and he will open and close his hand and watch his shadow. He likes to feed himself but since it isn't my house to stain and get food everywhere, I don't really let him do it unless it is animal crackers or something dry. He no longer drinks formula, but that was his own choice and he loves his sippy cups but he won't drink water so we always have juice for him. He is pretty much weaned from his pacifier but when we are out and it is time for him to get some rest I will give it to him to help him fall asleep in a loud environment, like church. He is oh so happy and loves to read his books, with us or by himself. Today I taught Dallin when I put a rag to his nose to blow (he has had a horribly runny nose the last two days) and he is so cute when he does it. Not as cute as my niece Catheryn was when she was blowing her "nose" but still very cute.

As for me, I am 26 weeks today. I didn't know how far along I was so I had to go find a pregnancy calculator to find it out! Our insurance starts May 1st and so I need to contact them and see if I will be covered and then get a list of midwives and start calling, mostly to see who is accepting patients. I have been trying to be good on my own and work out and keep track of my weight and my moods and all those routine questions a doctor would ask. The one thing I can't wait to do is find out if we are having an Addie Mae or a boy. I don't know what the name for the boy would be since Chris is picking it this time around so if it is a boy, Chris is going to have to come up with a name quickly so I can get familiarized with it! I do my wii fit somewhat regularly, depending on Dallin's mood. It is how I keep track of how much weight I have gained. Does that make me silly? Anyway, I enjoy the hula hoop and the step aerobics and the yoga. I do the jog too and have Dallin chase me around the room. I have also started sewing again. I don't have many ideas of what I can sew but I did decide I wanted to make me some light cotton shirts that I can wear this summer as it gets hot out. I have also been working on some skirts and I finished one today and I will have to get a picture of it because I think it turned out really well but as I said, our camera is dead. I also made a cover for Dallin's table chair so that it is easily washable. I love my snap press... Expensive but way worth it when you want things that are easy to wash with a muchkin like mine.

So as you can see, life is good and we are looking forward to settling on our house on May 14th and then Dallin turns 1 year old on the 17th and then I leave for Alaska on the 19th to go to Jonathon's wedding on the 21st. It is a busy month next month but we are looking forward to it all!

Busy times

2010-04-11T17:48:00.004-06:00

So, Chris got a job, again! It is somewhat funny because he was supposed to start working at Under Armour on Monday... and we snubbed them! haha! Chris doesn't feel very happy about the fact that after we had accepted the offer we told them that Chris wouldn't be able to work there. It all happened so fast last week!

As I had said in my previous post we were going to go look at a house in Finksburg, which would ultimately have been a shorter commute for Chris when he was working in Baltimore at Under Armour. We had seen some pictures online and thought it was a decent looking house with acreage, which we loved the idea of! The listing is here. So, Chris Cull with Coldwell Banker, who has worked with all of the Davenports, took us out to look at the house on Tuesday. We really liked it. And we felt really good about the house. It had been recently redone, new kitchen appliances, new counter tops, new carpeting in the whole house, repainted. Anyway, they made the house look nice. Realtor Chris told us that it has already had a lot of showings on the property and that it had been listed in January and almost was sold but something happened with the listing or something so it had to be taken off the market and then re-listed. Anyway, it was very popular. The next day (Thursday) Realtor Chris called us and told us that the house had an offer and Chris and I had already been talking about how we liked the house and had started praying about it already. We knew we had to move fast with all those people who were looking at it! So we go out and see it again with Chris's family and look at all of the things that need work on it and trying to decide if it was an investment or something else. In the end Chris and I decided that we still liked it a lot and really wanted it so we put an offer in on the house. Then we waited.

While we were waiting, Chris got a phone call from this other company that he had started applying for before we had even heard about the Under Armour position. The boss guy asked Chris to come in and be shown around the next day so Chris said yes! This was on Thursday at the time so Chris was going to go in on Friday. We didn't know if we our offer had been accepted and Chris didn't start with Under Armour until Monday so we decided he should go. But we had a thought, he should take his offer to the meeting and say "make me an offer today or else I start another job on Monday". It sounds pushy of Chris to do that but we wanted this job because it is so much closer to home so a much shorter commute. 15-20 minutes compared to over an hour.

So Chris went in to see the company and as he was there, Realtor Chris called to say no changes, we haven't heard anything about an offer being accepted yet. So Chris looks at the company, decides he would like to work there and shows the boss guy the offer because we have set our finances and needed a certain amount to be able to buy this house with and have a baby in August and still have some money left over to save. The boss guy said at first that he couldn't match it but he came back later after talking to their parent company and said that they couldn't make Chris an offer of $62K a year like Under Armour was, but he could offer $55K and then 3 months later after a performance review it could be bumped up to $60K. That sounded like a pretty good deal. Anyway, Chris finished up there and on the car ride home Realtor Chris called him and said that our offer was accepted!

So now we had some important questions. With a decreased income would we still be able to qualify for our mortgage? Would we be able to pay our mortgage? Would the bigger commute be better for us in the long run? I can honestly tell you I have never prayed so much in a 4 hour time period. We called around talked to people to make sure we were seeing all sides of this decision. In then end though, we said some prayers and then had 10 minutes of quiet pondering. After it was up, we both said on the count of three the job that we felt was the right one. We both said the one in Westminster! We went back and forth, back and forth a few times, trying to figure out what to do and when we finally did figure it out, we felt so much better. Sort of... Now we had to get a signed offer in our hands so that it couldn't be retracted later. Once we had that in our hands Chris had to call the recruiter who had been working with him to get the job at Under Armour the whole time. This was the worst part of the whole day... The recruiter was not happy at all and for good reason, it means he wasn't getting a big pay check! Thankfully, the one that mattered, the guy who was going to be Chris's boss responded in an email saying he was disappointed but he understood that family came first. It was so nice of him and it made us feel soooo much better!

So now instead of Monday Chris starting a job, he starts next Monday, at decreased pay but sooo much closer so that he will still be able to see our kids grow up during the week, not just on the weekends. We know we did what was right in the long run, even if we did snub a very large company... But we are so happy that Chris has a job starting in a week and we get to sign for our house in 4 weeks! I am so glad that we are able to have the Lord on our side, providing for us and helping us in so many ways. All it takes is some intense praying and faith.

New news!

2010-04-06T12:25:00.004-06:00

Chris has a job! I haven't posted in a while to tell everyone so I thought I should do that now while Dallin is napping. We are really happy about this job and it feels like it is what the Lord wants us to do for our family right now, even though it is a bit longer of a commute than we originally hoped for. But, such is life!

-Our little family at a picnic with Katie, Roger, Natalie and Anthony

Last Monday we got a call from a recruiter that Chris has been working with for a while and he asked if Chris could do a phone interview in 2 hours and Chris said yes. The phone interview went really well. Chris answered all of the questions in such a way that the interviewer told him that he wanted Chris to come in for an in-person interview that week. The recruiter told him that Chris is the first person that they have found that they truly liked.

So on Wednesday Chris went in for an in-person interview with Under Armour. They really liked him and they told him that they would be contacting him shortly about the job. So on Thursday morning, they called and they offered him the job at $10,000 more than we originally asked for! We were so happy about it. It sounds like a great job that will be beneficial for our family and seems like Chris will really get some job satisfaction this time around. It is so important to have a happy husband so I really wanted him to have a job that he liked and was happy at. He has had a few other interviews since we accepted the job but none of them have felt right or better than this one and it is something that we have prayed about for a while!

So now we are going to start looking for a house. We have found one that will be closer than that Taneytown house that we liked, which will cut the commute in half almost. We are going out there with a realtor today to look at it. It is a 3 bedroom house but square footage wise is larger than the other house we were looking at so we are going to look at it with the idea in mind that we will be adding another room or two into the family room. We are really happy about this though and are looking forward to moving on and maybe moving out soon! As wonderful as Peggy as, I want my own house with all of my things that I miss. The one item that Chris makes fun of me for always commenting on is my masher. I know it is silly but when I make chili or mashed potatoes or I just want something mushed up, I would use my masher, and Peggy doesn't have one so I feel the lack. haha. I know it is so silly, but it just makes me feel like it isn't my house so I look forward to getting a house so that I can have my masher back! haha.

Dallin is almost 11 months now. He is getting so big. He is crawling everywhere now. He can go upstairs and he has learned that if he wants to get off of my bed, he needs to go feet first. For a while he had a hard time getting down from stuff that he was leaning against but he is so good at it now that it is automatic or just gives him pause for a few seconds. He has also finally learned how to sit as of 3 days ago! I know that sounds silly but the silly munchkin wouldn't sit, he would just lean and so ne could never go from crawling to sitting until 3 days ago! It was exciting because now he likes to sit and read books by himself. He is quite the reader! When my dad gave him a name and a blessing he said that Dallin would have a love of reading and that has definitely already manifested itself. It is amazing to see how the Lord blesses our little people! Anyway, he is great but he is going to have a shock next week, just like me, when Daddy is no longer around during the days. I haven't had Dallin all by myself in about 5 and a half months! Soooo that should be exciting.

I finally got Chris to take the pictures off of the camera and on the network so I could upload them so here are a bunch of recent pictures! By the way, I am now 23 weeks along and looking quite large (I think). Still don't have a midwife or insurance, and Chris's work insurance doesn't start until August 1st so we are trying to make alternate arrangements. But life is great and we are happy here!

My two guys, both being happy and cute. We are so blessed to have a happy baby. I think it will make it so much easier to have this baby and Dallin so close in age. Only one school year apart!

My big belly. I feel huge some days, that was one of them.

I made this dress for Jillian, our niece and I wanted to see how it fit and Dallin is still small and she is bigger than Dallin at that age so I thought it was a good way to see what she could be looking like at the end of the summer, when she might fit the dress really well! It still looks good on her now, just really long on her but I like this picture of Dallin in it! haha.

A recent picture of the three of us when we went outside to the park. It was cold out and misting that day but we enjoyed our time out there! And it was nice to get a family picture.

Here is acute picture of Dallin and Chris. I got the walker thingy at a consignment sale a week or so ago and Dallin loves it. It doesn't work so well inside the house but when we go outside he has a ball with it, walking all on his own except that he veers towards one side or the other after a while so we have to correct his course. But he is very cute in his happiness.

Dallin absolutely loves the swings. He sits in it and laughs so much and always looks so happy in the swing, if you couldn't tell.

My baby boy getting ready for bed or a bath or something. He just looks very cute in his cloth diapers. They make him look 5 pounds heavier.

We love to make home made ice cream and I made some this night and Dallin wanted to share but he had to give me a kiss. Isn't he cute?

Delayed Post

2010-03-22T11:05:00.002-06:00

Man, it has been over a month since I have posted! The biggest reason why is because I have lots of pictures, but no way to take the pictures off of my camera, so I just keep putting off posting. I have also been somewhat busy since I got here to Maryland, if you can believe that. I also seem to have an over abundance of time some days, but then I get lazy and don't want to post. Anyway, I am finally going to type up a quick summary of what has been going on for my little family for the last month.

First off, Dallin and I got here to Maryland and waited for Chris and Peggy to arrive with all of our worldly possessions. Thankfully they arrived safe and sound and only a day late, due to leaving really late the first day and weather. Once they got here we got a storage unit and shoved everything in there and took a good amount to Peggy's house as well, like our bed and some clothes and, of course, Dallin's toys! Then for the next little while we just settled in and made ourselves comfortable.

Chris started to apply for jobs in earnest and has been working on some programming stuff so that he could show it to potential employers but unfortunately we have still had no luck finding a job. But Chris did a second round of applying for jobs last week and are hoping to hear back from someone, like the N.S.A. or someone! Who knows when someone will finally find Chris perfect for their job. Anyway, so, still no job but he keeps applying and we keep praying for one.

We had a wonderful experience of being able to go to the D.C. temple and be there when Jess, my sister in law received her endowments and then she and Russ and their baby, Jillian, were sealed. It was very sweet and I was glad to be there. It was nice to see it all happen since we went through the same thing back in November and now I get to have my Love and my sweet baby boy forever.

A bit later we went down to the Lake (Grandma and Grandad White in Virginia) and had a good time visiting with them. They are doing great and they had a lot of fun playing with Dallin. We all had a good time, even though I had a hard time sleeping on the hard bed, which caused me to have head aches almost all day, every day. Then we came home and then Monday Jan (Chris's sister) and Alex (her fiance) and Jan's friend came to town for their spring break. They thankfully left the dog behind because with so many people here at the house and a dog, I think there would have been way too many people! They stayed for a week and looked for wedding stuff since Jan and Alex are getting married next spring but it was nice to see them, but it is also nice to have the house to myself during the day again!

My little brother Jonathon is now engaged and I don't know if they know the exact date, but she has a ring! I figure if she posts about it on face book that I can write about it on my blog. So, that means I will be coming up to Alaska sometime soon! And I am looking forward to it. I am feeling really home sick these days and would love to see my family, maybe some snow or some summer depending on when the wedding will be!

As for me and my pregnancy, we still haven't found a midwife. I found out that the traveling midwife won't come as far as the place we are hoping to buy a house and so I figure I should just find the midwife I am going to use the whole time. But that means that I will be delivering in the hospital. I think the hospital stay was what I didn't like last time and so I really wanted to not be in a hospital environment but I think that for this baby we will go to the hospital and have a midwife there. We will also not be going to the hospital nearly as soon as I did last time, I don't want to have to wait for forever there. Its not my happy place. Anyway, so I need to find one still, but just in case any one is curious, I am over half way at 21 weeks right now.

That is all that is going on for us right now. We have been cleaning the house and getting things back in order after Jan left and its raining so no walk today but we are enjoying life generally. I do love the spring warmth though!

3 Days to go

2010-02-16T09:59:00.003-07:00

This is it. This is our last week here in Colorado. Things are starting to stress me out more than they should, I don't sleep well, I'm not eating well (or at all) because we haven't gone shopping in a while in a valiant effort to get rid of all of our food. Needless to say, I have had a hard time being happy this week. There have been very good things that have happened too though, I just haven't been able to appreciate them for their greatness due to my stress level. So here is a list of some good things that have happened for us.

Dallin is now crawling! He learned how to go up on his hands and knees on Jan 22 and then on Jan 29 he was able to go across the whole room. He couldn't go into the kitchen because the floor was to slippery for him but he has gotten so good at crawling and now he pulls himself up on the furniture and on us and on chairs and has attempted the stairs a few times! So that is just peachy keen! It is so much fun to have him come to us and be able to come visit us. Being mobile has made him such a happy baby!

Next, I finally went to the OB and had my first prenatal appointment and figured out how close my estimated due date was and all that wonderful stuff. I didn't enjoy the doctor at all but she says that August 5th (day after my birthday) is very close to when I will be due. It might be anywhere up to a week after that! So now I just need to find a midwife in Maryland and I will be set to have this baby! We are thinking that if everything looks okay we will be doing a home birth, like my sister Carolyn. Of course that mainly depends on if I can find a midwife who covers my area. We shall see!

Chris still doesn't have a job lined up but he says that there are plenty of work opportunities for him there in Maryland, some only a half hour away from where we would like to live. So hopefully my husband will be employed in a week or two!

More good news, my sister in law, Bethany, had her baby on the 13th. Bobby! So that makes Canyon, that Carolyn had in January, Bobby in Feb, Becca in June, me in August and now Jennifer in September! The DeKay family is full of babies this year! Its sad because I won't get to meet them until Christmas since I won't really be much for flying this summer. Its so fun though!

We had an awesome snow a little while back and we got Dallin and Chris all dressed up to go play in the snow. Dallin definitely didn't know what to make of it and he thought we were crazy I am sure. But it was still fun to take him out there. Here are some pictures of that!

Dallin seriously contemplating what this cold white stuff is that his daddy is sticking him in.

Mommy and Dallin snuggling to get warm after being out in the cold. I didn't have snow pants on.

Dallin eating a snow ball we had brought in for him. I don't think he liked the cold of the snow...

Chris and I were finally able to go to the temple together. It was a nice outing for the two of us and its the first time we have made it since we were sealed in November. We are looking forward to going to the D.C. temple sometime next month now too.

I am sure there is other good news but I just can't think of it right now. I was taking a break from packing because Chris slept in so I was up with Dallin and he was just all over everything I was trying to pack. Maybe because it was his room I was packing... But now I should go find other things to pack and do.

Moving to Maryland

2010-01-26T22:18:00.002-07:00

So I guess I hadn't made it quite clear in the past but Chris, Dallin and I are moving to Maryland next month. We set the date about 2 weeks ago for February 20th and gave our 30 days notice with our land lord. So it is almost here!

Chris and I decided that to make life more pleasant for all involved that I would fly to Maryland with Dallin, rather than trying to keep him confined to a car seat all day long. It will be ever so much easier that way since it won't totally throw him off of a schedule. So, I will be flying out of Denver for the last time on February 19th. Chris's mom was nice enough to offer to fly out and drive back to Maryland with him so that he wouldn't be alone. I really didn't want him driving alone but he kept telling me he would be fine and then he talked to his mom and she weaseled him into letting her come out to drive with him. So she and I will meet in the BWI airport and switch parking info and I will drive to her house and stay there for the next two days and she will fly into Denver, get the car and drive back to Colorado Springs and the next day, Saturday, February 20th, she and Chris will drive out early in the morning.

I have so much to do before we leave and I don't even know where to start. There are sooo many things to pack but you never want to pack those things you might be using before you leave. I think that is the hardest part about moving. Where to start... We have lots and lots of stuff that I want to sell on Craigs list before we leave so I have to get that all situated so I can take pictures (I like it when people post pictures) and post them all. I have to return all of Dallins borrowed toys from Ben and then we have to get the U-haul and pack it up. Hopefully people from church will be willing to come help us out!

As for other things we have to do, Chris still needs to find a job. We feel safer moving to Maryland and living with Peggy than we do staying here. If we do that we won't have nearly as many expenses, especially the big one of rent and so we are moving even if Chris doesn't have a job by the time we ship out. He is starting to look and apply for jobs (finally!) and so hopefully that will all go well and we will have good news soon about a job or at least interviews for him!

Me and my pregnancy are going okay. I have been feeling much sicker than I ever did with Dallin. I throw up more and I am exhausted and I don't have energy and the house reeks to me but it all makes me sick to touch (specifically the kitchen) so I don't clean it much. Some great news is that we finally received our medicaid cards so I can finally go to the doctors! I am going to call the medicaid people tomorrow and ask where I can go and then call and make an appt. Dallin's doctor said that he didn't mind accepting medicaid for him but my obgyn won't accept me, even though I just need the one appointment, in hopes of FINALLY determining my due date! We figure I am about 3 months pregnant and so the baby will be due end of July, beginning of August. I am still having a hard time finding a doctor in Maryland, mostly because I am looking for a midwife that is relatively close.

We are hoping to buy a house as soon as we possibly can when we get to Maryland and get a job. Mostly we are hoping to be in our house by the time summer hits, otherwise Peggy will freeze me with her air conditioning! haha. No, we just want a place of our own that is actually our own, not rented. We found a great house online that we are hoping is as wonderful in person as it is online. The link is here for the house we really like. We are hoping that it will still be available. Since the time we found it 4 weeks ago and Sunday, it has gone down in price by $20,000. Seems too good to be true!

Anyway, that is our lives. A lot is happening but we are still really happy and are enjoying life as it happens. Dallin is getting so big and is just a few weeks from finally crawling, Chris is still doing contractor work and I get to do whatever my little heart desires.

So lazy... Heres Christmas and beyond!

2010-01-07T20:31:00.007-07:00

So I am finally getting around to posting a blog. I have been very lazy and just don't like to sit down and update all my blog stuff. It takes me a long time some days but right now Dallin is sleeping and Chris is playing a game and I am watching him so I have lots of time!

Our month of December was wonderful. There was a lot going on but we survived and are looking forward to this new year!

One of the first things is that my really good friend Gaylene came to visit us. She is so much fun and I love talking to her and we did that for the majority of the time we spend together! We were even able to go to the temple together and that was a great experience to go with her. She also spent the night one night and that was a lot of fun. Its been a while since I had seen any old friends and its always fun to reminisce about days gone by!

I spent a good portion of the beginning of December working on Christmas gifts and one day I was busy and didn't want to deal with Dallins fussies and so I stuck him in his chair and gave him a banana to munch on for the first time. I have fed him real bananas before but he doesn't seem to like the flavor of them and so I got a picture of his cute little face as he tried to eat it. We are still working on it. I can get him to gnaw on apples and bell peppers but bananas just don't a"peel" to him for some reason. haha! I will post pictures later on of all the Christmas gifts I made but I figured this post was already long enough so I should just stick to the basics!

Can you guess what this is? It is a pregnancy test that is positive! It came as quite a surprise to us but we are really happy about it! It is funny because at Thanksgiving when we were in Alaska Chris and I had decided that once the holidays were over we were going to sit down and fast and pray about when we should have another child because I felt like we should start preparing for another one. A short time later I felt as though I should take a pregnancy test and voila! A positive test! Unfortunately because I had not settled into a schedule, we have no idea when I actually got pregnant so I could be anywhere from 10 to 6 weeks along already. We have not yet gone to the doctor because I need to call them and ask what to do if we are medicaid pending. I do really want to go in and talk to them and make sure everything is hunky-dory since Dallin and this baby will be so close together. About 15 months we figure! So, yeah! We are really happy about it and are looking forward to having a baby sister for Dallin! So I keep saying.

This is my Love and my baby. Chris's mom got Dallin a Santa suit and the hat was so adorable on him that I had him wear it almost all the time before we left for Maryland. It helped me to remember the Christmas season!

This is us at the Denver airport. We were dropped off and made it through security super fast and then stopped at the family bathroom. Those things are awesome! I love being able to have a place to stick Dallin while I go the bathroom. This was him rolling around on the counter while Chris threw away the diaper and he was just so happy sitting there with his leg stuck under the cold cold bar! He is such a cutie.

Unfortunately we didn't really take our camera anywhere so we don't have many pictures of our trip in Maryland. But we got lots of us at Peggy's house with Dallin. This is Dallins awesome new toy that we got him. Unfortunately we couldn't bring it home with us so it is sitting in Peggy's basement. We will be getting it back from her when we move there in about 2 months! He didn't like it at first because it was scary and he really wanted it to bounce like his jumper but after a while he started to realize that the music and the toys on it were awesome! It was his one big gift from me and Chris!

This is my adorable baby boy in his Santa suit! He got really hot in it so he kept losing pieces of it throughout the Christmas day but he was cute in it for pictures at first!

One day we went to the Baltimore Harbor with some our friends, Golden and Sonya, from Rexburg who happened to be visiting Golden's family for Christmas. It was great to see them and walk around with them even if it was for just an afternoon. It was a very very brisk and windy day at the harbor so I was bundled up as much as possible since I always get cold and Dallin was in the front pack, snuggled in Chris's coat with him, which was good because it helped Chris stay warmer too!

This is just a ships wheel they have at the harbor and we wanted a picture of the three of us and Dallin wanted to hold onto the wheel. It was very cute but very short lived since it was so cold I made him put his arms back into Chris's coat immediately after the picture was taken.

This is Chris and Golden showing off their manly physiques while Sonya and I caught our breaths at a stopping point. Those stairs were intense... Ahhh such a cute and funny husband I have!

This was on our walk in Baltimore, Dallin is asleep and warm in Chris's coat. And if you look closely in the back ground you can see a hand sticking out of the wall from that building! Its coming to get us all!!! This was some weird art building that had creepy looking "art" but some of it was neat. I wanted to get a picture of the cello-bird but I forgot. It was about 2 stories high and had the body of a cello.

This was Daalin at 5 Guys where we ate lunch. Dallin was so tired. He didn't have a very long nap in Chris's coat and so he was having a hard time waking up but he was hungry at the same time so I made him a bottle and stuck him in a high chair and he slouched there, drinking his bottle. Then we tried giving him fries but I think that gave him an upset tummy later on. But it was a lot of fun going to the harbor with Golden and Sonya.

On the plane ride home Dallin got diarrhea, and it was a constant thing. In a 4 hour plane ride he pooped 6 times but due to take off and landings and turbulence we only changed him 3 times. So when we got home we got him some pedialyte because he was pooping so much and he loved it and I finally got a great picture of him drinking from his bottle while rolling around on the ground.

This is Dallin right after we opened his present from my grandparents and it says something... nto quite sure what, baby or mama or dad but we can't quite tell but I think that Dallin believes it is a real baby and so he loves to touch its face and hands. And listen to it talk to him!

These are some blocks that Dallin loves to play with that our friend Jen got for him at a garage sale this summer. At first Dallin didn't care for them but lately he has enjoyed hitting them together to make noise and he really loves that there are lots of different pictures on them and then we make the noise that the animals do. Some blocks don't have animals that don't make noises, like the lady bug but he likes it when we make up noises too. He is such a cutie and seems to be very intelligent. In his baby blessing my dad said that he would have a love of reading and it definitely seems like that is already coming forth!

My sister Becca and her husband Shawn stopped by for New Years Eve but we didn't get any pictures. I was sick that day with throwing up and not enjoying life too much but I did enjoy the time I got to spend with them, even though it was just for about 18 hours.

It was a wonderful year for us and we have enjoyed the many, many blessings that the Lord has given to us through out the year. We had Dallin, we made some great friends here in Colorado, Chris finally graduated, we were sealed for all time and eternity as a family and we are expecting our second child. So many wonderful things have happened for us and I hope that the Lord continues to bless us throughout this next year!

Oh Christmas Tree

2009-12-13T13:22:00.004-07:00

We set up our Christmas tree last week and we love having it up. It feels a bit more like Christmas and our house is decorated and we are getting presents ready! its funny though because Dallin LOVES the Christmas tree! I can stick him under it and he will play for 45 minutes with the tree and all his toys hung up on it! It is so very cute!

This is after I had gotten the lights up on the tree. Chris was busy and the lights is a one person job on such a tiny tree so I did it! I had walked away from the tree and Dallin and then when I came back he had shimmied over to the tree and looked like I had caught him playing with it!

There is a specific branch that hangs down a bit lower than the others and so when Dallin can wiggle over to it he will put it in his mouth. Chris doesn't like that because he is afraid Dallin will eat the little needle pieces but they are just tiny plastic. I am sure he would live. And it is so cute to watch him!

We hang up toys for him on the tree and he goes around and takes them all off of the tree. He has a lot of fun and by the time he is done our living room is a mess!

This is my stocking. Chris's Mom makes these for everyone in the family and we don't have Dallins yet but we will soon so I stuck him in mine because he fit so well and took a picture! I thought it was really cute! You see my foot in the picture because he kept rolling over so I couldn't get the "Merry Christmas" so I had to hold him in place!

Here we are cutting fabric for Christmas presents. Dallin was so tired and fussy and hungry so Chris got him a bottle that he could eat while we kept on working! I was impressed. He drank the whole thing and never dropped it!

We gave Dallin a bath in the kitchen sink one night. He is too big for his baby tub and I don't like sticking him in the big tub on his back because I don't like the water in his ears so we tried this one night to see how it worked. He didn't really enjoy it. I think he felt that it was just a bit too cramped.

And this is one of my favorite pictures of all time with Dallin. He got a yeast infection on his booty again and so we were keeping him out of diapers and in pants all day and this is one of his pant changes. I just love how he is looking over his shoulder at Chris while he takes the picture. My baby has got a cute bum!

Things are going really well for us. Chris is very very positive about his project, that he will finish this week, by Wednesday it is due so it had better be done by then! He made a lot of progress last week though so that is good. He says he is pretty much done! Dallin is continuing to be a happiness and a frustration. He has decided that he doesn't like to be left alone in a room when he is on the ground and so he cries if I leave the living room while he is playing. But he has also been very interactive! Probably because he cries if we aren't around. We love him so much and even though his bum hurts a lot of the time he is still so happy! We are just getting ready for Christmas and really looking forward to going to Maryland!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-10T18:46:00.004-07:00

For Thanksgiving we went up to Alaska and it was wonderful! My entire family was there and it was the first time in forever that we have been all together at the same time. Unfortunately we forgot our video camera in Alaska and it has lots of pictures on it and so we really didn't have many pictures from our trip. So these are the pictures that I do have, in sequential order.

This is Chris and Dallin hanging out at the airport in Colorado Springs. Our friend dropped us off at the airport about two hours early so we just had to wander around and play with Dallin.

Dallin totally enjoyed being out and about. He is a people watcher and it was so cute to watch him stare at the people walking around. Unfortunately there wasn't enough traffic in the airport to interest him so he got fussy so Chris would walk him but before that Dallin was very happy to lay on the ground. It was in this airport that Dallin rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time. As Chris likes to say, that is where I terrified him! He was rolling onto his side and he was so close to rolling onto his tummy that I got frustrated and gave him a pat on the booty from behind him so it startled him and he rolled onto his tummy and after that he learned that he could do it so he did it over and over again the rest of the day and now he wiggles all over the living room and rolls over. It is so cute. Sometimes he even tries to drink his bottle while on his tummy. It doesn't work so well unless it is full but he loves to do it!

After having a wonderful few days in Alaska one night at my parents house, right before bed, we were feeding Dallin and my mom said to put him in the little table chair that she has for the grand kids. I have one just like it rather than a high chair because it isn't a huge piece of furniture to crowd my kitchen with and he was so cute that we had to take some pictures of him!

He got so messy but he loved it. I wish I had a picture of it but right after his meal we gave him a bath in the kitchen sink and he really enjoyed that since my parents have a huge sink for him to play in!

This is Mousse and was once my cat but is devoted to my mom and dad now. Dallin loved playing with her. He would bat at her front paws and she would bat back and Dallin found it to be so hilarious that he would laugh and laugh at her. And Mousse was so good about letting him touch her.

This is my Grandpa. We stopped in Phoenix for a few hours on our way home and they got to meet Dallin. They came to the airport and we sat and talked for the whole time and Grandpa was really good playing Dallin. It was very cute.

This is a nice little family picture of us. We don't get them very often due to the fact that one of us is usually taking the picture.

Now, it was very nice to go home because we were able to be there for Jonathon when he came home from his mission and see his slide show of mission photos. It was a really neat experience and it made me somewhat jealous of him, going to another country and learning the language and learning to serve and love the people. I will admit though that there was something that was just as nice, if not better than Jonathon coming home. Chris, Dallin and I went to the temple and were sealed for all time and eternity as a family unit. It was such a wonderful experience and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that I have my husband and baby forever is so wonderful. I love to not have to worry that I might lose them forever. Its a scary thing, being alone. Chris and I were also about to go and do our own endowments and though I felt overwhelmed and didn't understand much, I knew it was a good thing. I even got to go to the temple with my friend Gaylene today and that was a wonderful experience. All in all, our trip was wonderful with lots of time with our wonderful family and such a happy event with Jonathon coming home and us going to the temple.

Small miracles...

2009-11-16T17:50:00.002-07:00

So, as you all know because I have been saying it in the last few posts, we are going to the temple soon. There is a lot to do before you can go to the temple. Such as interviews with the bishop and the stake president. Then you also have to get the temple clothes and the appointment for the endowment and the sealing. Lots to do! Well, we have done almost all of that and it has gone off without a hitch. It's as though Heavenly Father wants us to get there! In my opinion he does. Anyway, I had a small miracle happen to me today and I wanted to share it because it just shows how the Lord works in small ways to get great things to happen.

I ordered my temple dress yesterday. I think it is cute and it looks comfortable and I really like it. I was reading and it said that it could take up to 5 days to be shipped due to the fact that they sew them and sometimes they don't have them in stock. So I ordered it and got my confirmation email and felt that I was all set for the temple. Well, Dallin decided that he wanted to get sick and not sleep almost all night so at about 5:30 this morning I woke up in bed. I had kicked Chris out of bed to the couch at 4:30 so that I could get some sleep in bed and Dallin was in bed with me. So, I woke up for no reason. Dallin was just fine. But I had this thought that I didn't order the right size of dress. I needed the large and I didn't remember ever putting in the size and I didn't want them to get it shipped out on the off chance they had my dress and order all ready to go in the morning. So I thought about it and decided that before I left for our medicaid application appointment I would call to get the dress size changed.

Well, 9:45 rolled around and I called the company and asked them if they could change the size to large and the lady was nice enough and she did it immediately. Then she thought to look at the availability for that dress and she told me that it could take up to two weeks to send out because they didn't have any currently and the seamstress had to make one. So she asked if that would be a problem and of course I said yes! We are going through on the 28th so I need it before Thanksgiving hopefully! So the lady said that she would call the seamstress and ask if she could put my order in first so that it could be there in time!

So I went to my appointment and came home and let Chris get some sleep and Dallin some sleep and cleaned some bottles and the house a little and was doing that when I got the phone call from the lady and she said that the seamstress just happened to have one for a different order that she could send out today so that I get it in time in Alaska.

Wow... Just think what would have happened if I hadn't woken up thinking that I didn't choose the right size? Just think what would have happened if I had seen the place where I put in the dress size... Just think how incredibly frustrated and upset I would be on Friday the 27th without a temple dress. It is my belief that the Lord helped me out by knowing that I needed to call them so that could they help me out to send the dress earlier than they would have if I hadn't of called. Sometimes it is amazing to see the way that the Lord works in our lives. Especially when we have something so important. It definitely makes me feel like the Lord wants us to go to the temple to be endowed and be sealed as a family. Its nice to know that I have divine help on my side.

Getting ready...

2009-11-15T21:25:00.003-07:00

We leave for Alaska this week! I am so excited for so many reasons! So thankful for so many reasons! It is a good season for being thankful. I think that the number one thing that I am thankful about is that it seems like the Lord is on our side right now and has caused it so that everything has been so perfect for us while getting everything ready to go to Alaska and go to the temple. It was the perfect time for our family to do this. The first step was to have Chris meet with the Bishop for the interview to get the Melchizedek Priesthood. That was last Sunday. Once his name was submitted to the high council, he had to be sustained and it just happened to be stake conference today so as soon as he was sustained and it was over, he was ordained and then we went and met with the bishop who that day had been called to be the 1st councilor to the new stake president and then after the three of us got our recommends from the bishop, we went back and met with the new stake president and were interviewed by him and got him to sign our recommends and then on Tuesday they will be scanned and then we will be ready! I still need to call and schedule our endowment and our sealing but the fact that everything has been working out so perfectly helps me know that the Lord really wants this to happen!

So we leave on Friday for Alaska, my parents and Jonathon get home on Sunday and it will be a nice home coming for him! Haven't seen him in over 2 years... Once he is home we will have Thanksgiving and we will have snow and winter! I am looking forward to that. And then on Sunday the 28th we will go to the temple. Chris's brother Russ is coming up to be with us for that and then we leave on Tuesday morning. We just bought our plane tickets to go visit Maryland for Christmas and are looking forward to that, especially meeting Russ and Jess's baby that will be born shortly before Christmas.

As for things that are coming up, lots has been going on. Chris got that part time job and are just waiting to hear back from them about work for Chris to do. Dallin is getting so big and strong and I am a happy mommy!

You can tell Dallin is gaining lots of weight now because his legs are finally starting to chunk up. It isn't a bad thing but I have noticed he is getting a lot heavier. Chris weighed him yesterday and we guesstimate that he is about 14 and a half pounds when he doesn't have his clothes or cloth diaper on. Such a big boy! He loves his jumper and will sit in it for 30-45 minutes at a time just jumping up and down and staring at us. And he smiles the whole time.

I like to have a fruit with breakfast so I had apples the other day and since I give Dallin apple sauce I figure I can give him apples so any time I eat an apple I give him a slice to gnaw on. He loves it even though we have tart apples.

This is Dallin being tired. We were out and about doing something that day and when we got home he was out and still drinking his apple juice. Chris always says that he would love to be able to eat while sleeping like Dallin.

You have to enlarge the photo but you can see his two teeth in this picture! He isn't a biter at all which is nice because I still nurse twice a day.

As for me, I decided that I didn't like my flat dead feeling hair! My friend Joyce permed it for me!

This is the best picture I have of my hair. I think it turned out really well and I love having it curly. I am still not used to it but I definitely like having the curl in my hair. I feel silly for saying it but in the back of my mind I ask myself who gets perms? Its what old ladies do... But I think it is because I don't know anyone who perms their hair. They all get body waves, which in the end is a perm. Anyway, I love my hair and so do Dallin and Chris.

The Second Biggest Event Our Year!

2009-11-08T21:23:00.003-07:00

I have great news! It is the best news I have had all year, except for the day Dallin was born. It is a close second to that news though because.... We are finally going to be sealed together as a family! I have had an underlying fear since Dallin was born that something would happen and he would die and I wouldn't get my little baby! And now I will always know that I have my sweet baby boy and my loving husband for eternity! It is such an event that it is comparable to my wedding day and Dallins birth! All great days, but this one event will unite our marriage and our baby forever.

It has been difficult for me since I knew I wanted to marry Chris that we wouldn't get married in the temple. I have cried over it many times and telling my family that I wasn't getting married in the temple was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to marry Chris and I knew that it was the right thing for me and I felt that we would go to the temple some day, I just didn't know when. I knew that it could take years and years for us to finally make it to the temple. I think though that having Dallin has helped Chris to increase his testimony. I know that Chris loves Dallin so much and I know he loves me so much, and I think he finally understands that he can have us forever.

This is almost the happiest news in my life. I can't wait until Thanksgiving!

Its smurftastic!

2009-10-31T20:19:00.005-06:00

It is Halloween! I have never really put much effort into having a halloween but this year, for Dallin's first, we decided to make it fun! It is always nice to have lots of pictures. So we bought pumpkins and we made costumes. We wanted something that would involve all three of us so we did our smurfiest and came up with the brilliant idea of being smurfs! We went shopping and bought some fabric and then I made the costumes. I am sure we won't wear them again any time soon, but it was really fun to have a real costume!

First though, we have some pictures to put up!

Dallin will get really tired some nights before it is time for him to finally go to bed and so he zonks out while I am feeding him or holding him and then I sit there and snuggle him. I love it and I always think of the little miracle he is when I hold him close.

This is the baby blanket that I made Dallin before he was born. I finished it a few days before he was born but I have never taken a picture of it. Right now it is a little big for his crib so it is actually folded up and acts as his pillow. I finally remembered to take a picture of it when I brought it downstairs to wash because Dallin threw up sweet potatoes on it while he was sleeping.

This is my sister in laws new diaper bag! I made it for her baby shower present. I am hoping that they don't look at this post before 2 tomorrow because that is when her shower is! Its just like mine except it has two extra pockets and has orange and purple instead of my blue and green. I also put some pellon stuff in the sides and so it will stand up on its own better. Mine always falls down and so I can't find what I am looking for so now I have taken mine apart and am going to add that stuff to the sides of mind to make it stiffer.

This was a momentous occasion for us. Dallin has never ever ever ever had a blow out down his legs before. Yes, sometimes he gets some poop out side of the diaper but the diaper cover catches it, but I was sitting there, holding Dallin and then I picked him up and as I did, my hand was all wet and I was like ewwwww icky! We still think it is funny.

And now for our smurfiful costumes! This is Dallins. He was baby smurf and so he had his white sleeper with a hat and a pacifier and a rattle. He was very good and he even got some candy while we were trick or treating around the church tonight.

At church we had the trick or treating around the building and there was also a chili cook off. I signed up about a month and a half ago to bring enough for 8 people and I didn't actually know that it was going to be a contest so I just made my usual chili and so we hung around and after everything was over and wanted to see if Chris's favorite chili won (it wasn't the stuff I made) and then they called me up! I had no idea! So, I won a piece of paper that lets every one know that I make rad red chili.

This is my costume! I was Smurfette (though some say I am the evil smurfette because I have dark hair). I thought it turned out okay. I did mine last so by that time I was getting tired and frustrated and running short on time so I tried to do mine as fast as possible.

This is Papa Smurf and Baby Smurf again. I like this picture because you can see their little tails. I don't know exactly what a smurf is, but they have tails!

These are our wonderful pumpkins. It goes Dallins, mine, Chris's from left to right. Chris does that one every year. He told me he was going to branch out this year but in the end he chickened out and did the same one. I tried to make a pumpkin who wasn't paying attention and then we modeled Dallins pumpkin after him. Can you see the little tooth on the bottom lip? That's because Dallin has a tooth! His first tooth! We first noticed it yesterday and decided to put it in the pumpkin.

And here is our family picture. We had to do the self timer and unfortunately we couldn't get Dallin to keep looking at the camera. We don't get many family pictures and so with such a great event as Halloween, we had to get a picture with the tree of us! It was a good night and we had lots of fun at the church activity and with our little family!

Time is flying by!

2009-10-18T19:33:00.006-06:00

I just realized that next month my baby boy is going to be 6 months old! Also, Thanksgiving is just around the corner! I love fall, as I said in my last blog post. I am really looking forward to it because we get to go home to Alaska! It feels like forever since I was there last even though it was only 4 months ago... It will be 5 months when we actually leave! And so much has happened! Such as:

-I made a friend! A neat friend named Nancy and she is really nice and I like her lots. She lives next door, has pink hair and she goes on walks with me and Dallin during the day because she stays at home and works on her art all day. She does some really neat things, especially scrap books. I have been watching her house for her while she and her husband are gone and I look at all her scrap books and they are amazing! I want to some day be able to do a book like that for Dallin but we shall see if I ever get to be that creative!

-Chris is quitting his job and his last day is on the 28th. He was so unhappy there that it was affecting our family life so we decided that the best thing for our family was for him to quit. He has an interview tomorrow for a part time job that he will actually be working at home from. Hopefully everything will go well because if he does work part time, he will have more time to work on his project and finish it!

-I have been sewing lots and have made Dallin lots of cute little outfits and shirts and I put some pictures of his two new shirts on here. I have also been sewing another diaper bag for my sister in law but I didn't put a picture on here because I want it to be a surprise. As soon as I finish that I plan on making a bunch of diaper covers and putting my etsy shop up. I know I have been saying that for a while but I like to do other projects as well!

-Dallin is finally gaining weight! I weighed him on our scale and he gained a pound and a half in a month, which is better than he had gained in two months! So, we are finally feeding him enough to give him the nutrition he needs. I can only breast feed 3 times a day and he gets about 20 ounces of milk a day and then 2 containers of baby food, so I think he is eating plenty! If he gets uber hungry I feed him more but usually he is just fine after eating only 4 ounces. And he is getting so cute and finally getting fleshed up so his arms and legs are FINALLY filling out!

I am sure there are lots of other things going on for us, like giving Dallin to baby sitters so we can go on a date once a month and going to the Y lots and plans for Halloween but I need to get this post finished because I need to go to bed soon! So here are some fun pictures! This is Dallin and Daddy after work. Chris will play the guitar for Dallin and he just loves to stare at Daddy while he plays. Its very cute to watch. Dallin seems to be taking more of an interest in Chris these days which is really nice for Chris. He even laughs for Chris now!

This is a Jumperoo we have borrowed from Joyce and Eddy. Dallin isn't the biggest fan of it yet but I am sure in time he will come to love it. For now, we can only get him to be happy in it for about 5 minutes. His feet don't touch the ground very well and he doesn't really like the toy in front of him because he gets frustrated and wants to put it in his mouth but he can't! So he cries and we take him out and then he is happy!

This is a good happy picture of him. He is one of the happiest babies and so when he is unhappy and crying, we find it very odd and we sometimes aren't even sure what to do because most days we get by with maybe 20 minutes total of crying because he is just so happy!

Dallin and I were sitting together and he kept leaning his head backwards until he had scooted off my lap and he enjoyed biting Donna the Duck for about 15 minutes in this awkward position.

Dallin still loves his mirror and so he will stare at himself but more often than not, he just wants to chew on it. It makes him very happy to chew on his mirror and then look at his slobbery reflection!

This is Dallin's good friend Ben. We babysat Ben and the two babies seemed really interested in each other. Ben likes to touch Dallin and Dallin likes to lick Ben. Its very cute to watch them interact and it makes me look forward to having another baby, in a long while still.

This is Chris feeding Ben and Dallin feeding himself! Dallin likes to hold his own bottle and he is really good at it. Towards the end of the bottle he gets fidgity and so he will get the nipple out of his mouth but other than that, he can feed himself 4 ounces. I don't do it very often because I like the bonding time while feeding him but Chris likes to have Dallin feed himself. We just thought it was funny because Ben wasn't feeding himself. I think it was because his mom wasn't there and he doesn't seem to like to eat if she isn't around. I hope Dallin doesn't get that way!

This picture is for Peggy because she got Dallin this onsie and he fits it so we thought he should wear it and we got a picture of it. He was in a good mood and liked to take pictures so we have a bunch of this shot!

This is a little book/tree thing I made to help decorate my house but Dallin likes to play with it too. It is an abbreviated version of some of the New Testament in Spanish and since I wasn't ever going to read it, I turned it into a decoration!

This is the beginning of diaper covers! It is a small pink one, for sale if anyone is interested! haha. It is all ready to be put online, I just need to start my etsy account!

Dallin doesn't have many long sleeve shirts so I bought some fleece fabric and have been starting to make some long sleeve shirts for him and this is just the beginning!

This is a cute little elephant that I appliqued onto the shirt and I added a button eye so that Dallinw ould have something to play with! I think it looks pretty cute! I am learning lots but am still not quite sure how to make it so that the fleece doesn't bunch when I sew it. This one looks better than some other experiments I have done but is still skewed because of the applique.

And this is Dalins football fleece! I underestimated how big his belly is and so it is snug on his belly and short for his torso but it keeps him warm in our chilly home!

Well,that is all for now! Life is good for us and we hope that it continues to be good, especially with Chris getting a new job this week (hopefully). Well, I see Dallin is almost out so I need to get him up to bed!

Its fall time

2009-10-01T20:01:00.002-06:00

I have recently decided that I love the fall time. I like the colors, I like the respite after the searing heat of the Colorado summers, I like that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner and this year it means Jonathon comes home and Gaylene comes and visits me here, and most of all hopefully Chris will finally get his senior project done and get his degree! Yay! Lots of neat things happening from how until the end of the year. It is also Halloween and this is the first time in many a year that I will actually be dressing up! Chris and I have decided that we are going to go as the smurfs! He will be Papa Smurf, I will be Smurfette and Dallin will be Baby Smurf! I am really looking forward to it. I need to make our costumes but I don't think that should be too hard. The hats will probably be the hardest part! We are also looking forward to watching Dallin get bigger. He has been soooo close to rolling over but I htink his diaper is keeping him from that last little bit of a roll onto his tummy. Chris has also been trying to get Dallin to sit up all the way and this is a picture of Chris working with him!

This is me cutting some flowers and stuff to make... (see below picture)

A wonderful fall bouquet to spruce up our home for the fall. We are trying to not buy decorations or stuff that will just take up space when we eventually move and so my house is ugly and doesn't change for the seasons even though I really want it to...

This is a close up of our little bouquet. It helps me feel more like the seasons are changing.

I keep looking at blogs that are all about doing things yourself without having to buy it and so this is one of the things I did! I just cut everything out of the trees in our driveway area and in a field near the church. I can't wait until I get my own house to make it look pretty!

It was a nice run...

2009-09-24T15:04:00.006-06:00

But its over! Breastfeeding is coming to a close in our home... Not because I want to give it up but because my body has decided to. Last week when Dallin and I went to the doctors he asked a bunch of questions and when he asked how much milk I got when I pumped, I said I don't know, about 3.5 ounces probably. So I started to pump once a day at different times to see how much milk I produced and learned that I can only pump 2 ounces ever 3 hours. That isn't much so even if I feed him every 2 hours, that is only about 14 ounces a day for Dallin... So I have come to the very very very difficult realization that it is in Dallins best interest to start feeding him formula and solid food. I will still try to breast feed him but he seems to prefer a bottle over me because he actually gets food out of a bottle... So it has been an emotional few days for me but as long as I can remember that my baby boy loves me, I should do a-okay, even though I am really upset that my milk is drying up.

So, on to things that make me happier! My baby boy! I took this picture today while I was rearranging Dallins room. He was happy to just sit there and play with his Mickey or his other toy. We bought a space heater for his room because he gets cold at night and in the mornings.

Chris loves to take pictures of Dallin when he is sleeping and Chris will go up to wake Dallin up or something and then come running down the stairs to get the camera to get his picture. I once had Dave, my old boss, say that he could tell we were first time parents because of all the pictures we take of Dallin and I guess its true! We do have the best intentions to take lots of pictures of all our kids though.

The other night we had a bottle of soda and Dallin wanted to hold the bottle, as he so frequently does when we eat or drink anything and he played happily with the bottle for like 20 minutes, trying to figure out how to get the liquid to come out. I can't drink my water bottle with Dallin in my arms anymore because he keeps grabbing my bottle and tries to drink out of it! Its very cute.

Before Jen and her family moved she found this chair for me at a garage sale and so now when we eat dinner we put Dallin in his big boy dinner chair so he can watch us eat and he loves it.

As usual, Dallin was enjoying bath time. He has recently figured out how to wiggle and squirm so that he sits side ways in the tub and he seems to enjoy it but it sure doesn't look comfy to me!

These are diaper covers! Lots of them! I had a friend who was willing to buy my "learning" diapers and so these are the finished products of that labor! I sent them out on Saturday and so hopefully she got them yesterday and she will be able to tell me how they fit her kids. I am going to start sewing them and stockpiling them and then open a shop online on etsy.com and so I have been busy cutting and sewing those diaper covers! So here is a question, would you pay $9.50 for the smalls and go up by a dollar for each? (or 75 cents, I just haven't decided which). It takes the same amount of time to make each size, just cost in materials and that is about a $7 profit on each diaper... I just need to know if people would actually buy them!

This is Dallins special football diaper cover. Chris really likes foot ball so I decided I would make him a special diaper cover. unfortunately I modified the pattern and so it is actually a little too big for Dallin but I think it is cute.

In addition to sewing diaper covers, I sewed Dallin a fleece sleeper. I even put the giraffe on it! I thought the giraffe added a lot to the overall look of the sleeper. Unfortunately my "pattern" was for 12 months and so I don't think he will be wearing it until the end of the winter so I need to make some smaller ones now!

So, that is my baby boy. I do love him lots even though I can't breast feed him very well anymore. He is growing up so fast and is so smart. I even got a membership to the YMCA here and we went swimming today and he loved it. He likes to be in the pool because he can splash and he rolls over so well and he grabs so well and he smiles at his mommy all the time and he is just the best baby anyone could ever ask for!

4 months already

2009-09-17T19:16:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it has been 4 months! It seems like just last week Dallin was brought into our lives and made us so happy! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful baby. We went to the doctors today for his 4 month check up and here are all of his stats since he was born!

Month 1 Weight - 8 pounds 8 ounces (18 %)
Month 2 Weight - 9 pounds 12.5 ounces (12 %)
Month 4 Weight - 10 pounds 15 ounces (1%)

Month 1 Head Size - 37 cm (25 %)
Month 2 Head Size - 38 cm (12 %)
Month 4 Head Size - 40 cm (7 %)

Month 1 Height - 21.5 inches (49 %)
Month 2 Height - 23.25 inches (64 %)
Month 4 Height - 24 inches (19 %)

As you can see, Dallin has not gained much weight in the last two months and so the doctor is a little concerned about him. He even told me that we should start Dallin on SOLID FOOD! How exciting! My baby boy is growing up! I will admit that I have been a little worried about him because he is still so skinny and didn't seem to be getting any heavier so I was glad that the doctor told us to feed him food! So today we did that and you can see our feeding experience! I uploaded a short video of his last spoonful and he did remarkably well while eating. We are hoping that he will start to gain weight quickly. I don't want him all pudgy but I do know he needs at least a little fat on him. I always felt like there wasn't enough milk for him when he ate and I guess I was right! But he never seemed fussy or hungry so I didn't know what to think!

One day when Chris came home there was a bunny sitting right outside of our door and so we were able to take Dallin out and stare at the bunny for a while! We do enjoy the local wild life here in Colorado Springs!

This is from yesterday when I was eating a graham cracker and Dallin was watching me and making smacking motions with his mouth so I decided to let him suck on part of my graham cracker and he LOVED it!

One of Dallins favorite toys is a mirror we bought him and he will grab it if we hold it in front of him and he will chew and suck on it. It is so cute to watch him with it!

Dallin likes to stare into the mirror and look for me in the reflection. He does it when we are in the bathroom too. He doesn't really care about looking at himself but he loves to look at me or Chris when he can see us in the mirror.

This is Dallin in the swing at the park. I pad it and put the blanket in the chains to prop him up and keep the sun off of him. He seems to enjoy sitting in the swing so anytime we are at a park I try to make sure I have the blankets so he can sit in the swing!

Chris and I have felt so blessed to have Dallin as a part of our lives and have enjoyed almost every minute of having our little miracle with us!

Colorado Balloon Classic!!!

2009-09-07T12:04:00.007-06:00

This morning we woke up early! At 6:15 to be exact. That is early for me and Dallin. Chris gets up early all the time to work on his project but Dallin and I sleep in until 8 or later, depending on how long Dallin sleeps in until. So we woke up! Anyway, we quickly ate something and then got into the car to go see.... BALLOONS! Chris's work hosts the website for this balloon classic and so they gave Infront VIP/Sponsor parking passes. Parking was crazy there but we got to park inside of the park so we didn't have to walk very far so Chris was more easy going about going more than once!

Here Dallin is all dressed up. Our room was freezing this morning so we bundled him up so he wouldn't get cold while we were out seeing balloons early in the morning!

We wanted to watch them set up a balloon so we chose a spot that we could see lots of balloons and also stand next to one as it was being set up! This is them unloading the basket from the trailer. It was funny, their trailer had a sticker on it that said "Caution Balloon Chase Vehicle". I thought it was funny.

This is the balloons inflating! It was so fun to watch all of the balloons blow up.

Here they are with a little more air in them!

And even more air in the balloons! They are staring to get full enough to float up!

This is me and Dallin standing in front of the Mayflower Balloon. We got to watch this one inflate from the beginning and take off!

As you can tell, we were right in the middle of a BUNCH of balloons. Chris is filming some behind me and I got a picture of him with a lot of balloons behind him!

A lady walked by and offered to take our picture as a family so we gladly accepted her offer because we don't get many pictures of the three of us!

After the first wave of balloons left we walked to the other side of the launch field to put the sun behind our backs and I took another family picture of us!

Here is another round of balloons inflating!

I like the colors of the balloons in this picture. It was so neat to watch them all inflate. The Balloon Glo was really neat but it was even neater to watch them blow up at night!

Here is my love and my baby! I think for taking pictures on our video camera that they turned out really well. It doesn't say much about our picture camera if it doesn't take all that high quality pictures! It is about 4 years old though...

Whenever a balloon was about to take off they would have people who would walk with them and tell people to move out of the way. Since they are at the mercy of the wind they can't just lift up straight off the ground, they kinda float for a while before they get enough lift off!

Here is that Mayflower Balloon from earlier and they had a flag on their basket and I thought it was neat so I took a picture. You could dry your laundry easy that way!

I really like this picture with the sun shining between the two of them. Ahhh what an awesome start to a great day!

I thought this was a neat picture too.

And then because we live in Colorado I thought I should post this balloon.

And the final picture is one that I really like. The sky is dotted with balloons all over! It was so neat to be able to experience this and I hope that I can always find amazing things like this to do where ever we live!

Balloon Glo!!!

2009-09-07T11:09:00.007-06:00

Saturday night they had an event called the Balloon Glo. I really wanted to go because I thought it sounded like fun to watch the balloons at night. We showed up around 5:30 in the evening because at 5 to 6 there was supposed to be a remote control air balloon show but we never found it so I guess they canceled it for that evening. So instead we walked around Prospect Lake while we were waiting. Once finished with our walk we went and claimed a spot on the side of a small hill so that we would have a good view.

This is me and Dallin, hanging out, waiting for the festivities to start! We had to wait for everyone to set up their balloons and then they adjusted the flame for maximum illumination!

This is the United van lines and it was in front of us and it was the first balloon blown up all the way! We kept waiting for it to lift off but I guess that they don't ever actually take off at night time, which is probably safest. So we got to sit there and watch all the balloons inflate and glo!

I kept trying to get a good picture of the actual flame of the balloon but it was really hard! They didn't always keep the flame on so I had to hurry if I wanted to get a good picture!

Here is another balloon that was blown up and illuminated!

This is my favorite picture. Because of all the open flames you could see a lot of color as well as all of the balloons being lighted up. It was so much fun! We were going to go again on Sunday night so that we could film more of it because the video camera battery died right after it got dark. So we didn't get any good shots of the actual lighting up but it was still a lot of fun.

I have never uploaded a video before so I am hoping that this one works! The announcer on the stage would start to count down and everyone would join in and the balloon people would all light up their balloons. It was really neat! This was on my picture camera but it doesn't really do it justice. It was still a lot of fun and I will always remember it!