Happy face at the park tonight.



The boys are good buddies:

Ode to Lamb

When Kyle was a baby, Brian and I never really understood why stuffed animals were popular for babies. Kyle just wasn't interested in them. Then Blake was born. He loved everything soft. So for his 1st Christmas, we got him a big, soft, stuffed animal- Lamb. It was love at first sight.



Since then, Blake and Lamb have been pretty good friends. Lamb has been there when Blake has been sick-



For owies-



For snack time-



Playtime-



Naptime-



He has been there for trips to Star Valley-



Lamb has just plain been there-



Now that Blake is 3, Lamb has become rather annoying for mom and dad. Blake makes Lamb fart and do other irritating noises. It makes Blake laugh and love Lamb that much more. But it is a phase that we hope Blake AND Lamb outgrow fairly soon.



It makes me a little sad to see Lamb wearing out. He used to be so soft and fluffy. His many necessary trips through the washing machine have taken their toll. Lamb may be getting yucky and old, but I will never throw him away. It would be devastating for Blake. So even though his stuffing is almost all washed away, his fur is wearing off and he is going gray, Lamb will still be part of the family.

You just don't ever get rid of a friend like that.

Blessed

Dallin's blessing went really well.





I bought his blessing outfit a couple weeks ago. Since he is only 2 months old I figured a 3 month size should work. It didn't. His big belly was stretching out the fabric and I couldn't snap the bottom. So I had to get a 6 month size. What a big kid.

Brian asked me beforehand if there was anything I wanted him to say. I wanted Dallin to be blessed to be happy. He was also blessed to be a disciple, to look beyond himself and serve and that faith would come naturally.

Afterwards, I realized that Brian didn't bless him to go on a mission or get married. I asked Brian if he thought he would do those things. He said in his you're crazy voice, "Yeah." So hopefully he does. :)

We had a fun get together with the family afterwards. It is hard to travel with kids but I am so glad everyone came. It was a great day! Thanks!

Happy Hour

Can I just say I am loving the newborn phase? Dallin is an amazingly content baby. With my other two, even though I was still amazed by how perfectly they were formed, and awed at their sweet new little spirits, the screaming made the newborn phase somethimg I just survived. This time, I understand why people love this age. The days really are flying by.
Each morning, Dallin wakes up and has what I call happy hour. He is all smiles for the first hour of the day. Even though I am tired (he eats every two hours, even at night), I love waking up to happy hour. He doesn't just smile, he gives me the "full body smiles," where his legs are kicking and his arms are waving.





He had his 2 month check up and weighed over 14 pounds! That is the 94th percentile for babies his age. His legs are so chubby. He has been a wonderful baby. This has been the easiest transition by far.

Tee Ball

It is officially summer because Kyle is playing Tee Ball. I look forward to this all year.


He is doing so good this year! He totally hits the ball on the first try. I can't believe how grown up he is looking.

I am feeling a little sad since next year he can't do Tee Ball anymore, he will be SEVEN! But the year after that Blake will be old enough to play if he wants to. I am undecided on whether to get Kyle into the older baseball group. It starts to be more comepetitive and less fun. But we have a year to decide that. In the meantime, it is so fun to watch him be a 6 year old boy.

Butter

I have known for some time now that Blake loves to eat butter. But I did not know that he was sneaking it.
I ran a quick errand tonight and when I got home I came in through the laundry room which is apparently where Blake has taken to hiding to get away with things. Here is what I saw:



What I can't figure out is how this kid is only 10% on the weight charts.

Smiling!

I have been waiting for this! Dallin started smiling last Friday! When I was in the hospital I was so worried that I would miss it; it is one of my favorite milestones. But Dallin waited for me to get home and I finally caught in on camera this morning.



Last Thursday he turned 6 weeks old and, do I dare type this? He doesn't have colic! He definately has his fussy times in the evenings. But overall he is a calm baby, he sleeps well and is good natured.

I think of the first year with Blake and Kyle. It was so amazing to have them in our home, but they were both difficult babies. I don't ever remember having dinner together for months after Blake was born. One of us was always holding him while he screamed. Every video I have of Kyle had Blake's cry in the background. Sometimes I will just put Dallin in his bouncer and he just sits there, happy! While I rock Dallin, sometimes he will just drift off to sleep. I used to envy moms that had that experience. Now I have it and it is amazing.

It can still be difficult having three boys, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. They are awesome and I am blessed. Now if we could all stay healthy, that would be the icing on the cake.

By the way, Blake is awesome now. He sleeps good and is a happy boy. I just love this picture-

No More Kindergarten

Kyle graduated from kindergarten on Friday! Wow, he is going to be a first grader.
Time is flying by so fast! He is 6 years old, so he is 1/3 of the way grown. It doesn't feel like that to me.

He had so much fun in his class. I think he will be bored around here all the time. But we will have a fun summer.

My Husband Saved my Life

We had an eventful weekend around here. It has a good ending though.



All last week I was having bad headaches. So Brian took me in on Friday but we were told just home home and let me sleep it off. The next day, Saturday, I had trouble moving the left side of my body. I couldn't walk or use my left hand. Then, I couldn't see. I had white sopts in my vision, like I had been staring at the sun. Brian was worried and took me to the ER. What an andventure that turned into.

At the ER, the admitting nurse was asking me tons of questions. That is when I lose the ability to speak. I could not make the words. I could think them, but I could not form them and speak them. The nurse looked at Brian and said,"Don't be alarmed by what I am about to say," then she radioes for assistance, and says, "I need a consult for a possible stroke patient."

So the doctor comes, hears headache and assumes I am having complications for an epidural from baby a month ago. Only problem, I didn't have an epidural!! He gave me some sedatives and I was given migraine medications which didin't really help. He again told us to just go on home. By this point, Brian was over it. You don't just lose the ability to speak for no reason. He insisted the doctor run some more tests. The doctor told Brian it would be a waste of time. Brian said a few choice words to the doctor, who finally agreed to do the test, a spinal tap, while making sure that Brian knew he thought it was unnecessary.

I was given more sedatives which were supposed to help me with the pain and to help make me a more cooperative patient. Unfortunately all it really did was remove my censor. I was apparently not more cooperative. I was a good girl about having an MRI and CT Scan. I was not nice about the painful spinal tap. Can you blame me? However, Brian felt responsible to make me agree to it. So he balled me up on my side so that they could stick a NEEDLE between my vertebrae. Thank goodness they did that because I had VIRAL SPINAL MENINGITIS. The nurse who was with us heard the results and started bawling, saying to Brian, "You just saved her life." And she and the other nurses had a sideline conference and all were teary. Next thing I know, I am being admitted and taken to the ICU in the hospital. Apparently this was serious enough that they almost life flighted me to Salt Lake.

Two days of IV's poking out of me everywhere they realease me and I happily head home.

Sometimes when I am having a rough patch with the kids, or really lacking in sleep, I think of how nice it would be to just have no responsibilites for a while, a couple of days solid nights of sleep and someone else to cook and clean. I got exactly that, but I missed my family so much that all I could think about was coming home. Lucking Dallin took formula just great while I was there and has switched back without problem.

All of this has helped me feel so very grateful. I was so happy to see my boys, my healthy baby and my cute little house. I once again feel grateful to my husband for all he does for me. He is my hero. He ran the house perfectly and ALL the laundry was washed and put away. How does he do that? And I am grateful for my good neighbors, friends and family. I feel like I would have to cook dinners for each of them for a week to make up for it.

And of course gratitude for my Father in Heaven who gave me this life and who shows his love and patience.

THANK YOU!

Happy

I went to pick up Kyle from school this week, just waiting in my car like all the other moms. I see his teacher come out the door and behind her all the kids following like little duckies, single file on the sidewalk. All the kids that is, except Kyle. Kyle hits that door and says to himself, heck with single file. Running through the grass, jumping around the light pole and kicking rocks looks so much more fun. So while every other kid is waiting by the fence, Kyle is having fun. After a minute, he looks around, sees me waiting for him, and gets so excited to see me! I love it! He waves, big happy smile, and even though I can't hear him yet, I see him saying "HI MOM!" Then he says goodbye to his teacher and skips happily over and gets in the van.

Sometimes you appreciate your kids for things that are different that yourself. This is definately one of those times for me. I am very much a by the book person. But Kyle is an out of the box thinker and I just love it. Sometimes I let it frustrate me, but I can see that it is such a blessing and an amazing talent to have.

Kyle is also very sweet to his brothers, both of them. In fact, every day Blake's greeting to Kyle is, "Whatcha got Kyle?" because if Kyle ever gets a treat at school, he always saves it for his little brother. How sweet is that? And of course he is loving the new baby. What a wonderful big brother he is.

I love you Kyle!