FUN to be ONE!

Is there anything sweeter then a first birthday? Probably lots of things, but Little D's first birthday yesterday was pretty sweet. We were going to have his party at the playground behind our house but we had to switch it to my mom's house at the last minute because of inclement weather. All of his cousins on my side were there and Jake's parents also came. My brother's and Dad couldn't get away from the grain harvest that early in the evening so they weren't able to make it, but it's OK and totally understandable. We had cake and opened presents. Pretty low key but it was still fun. The perfect way to spend his first birthday. I'm just going to say, like all parents usually do, that I can't believe a year has gone by since he was born. It just doesn't seem like he's been around for that long. I'm so glad we have our little Buddy in our lives. He's so sweet and cuddly. He is a total mama's boy and I love it. He has put us through some tough days during this first year but I wouldn't trade him, or the time we've had, for anything. We love him SO much!!!
We got him a balloon bouquet but he wasn't too sure about that. As soon as we took it apart and gave him the football balloon he was happy. The whole bouquet was just too scary!

Can you tell what his theme was? Jake was beaming with pride. His future quarterback.

Buddy got tons of awesome present from everyone. Thanks for all of those who came, it was so fun.

He couldn't decide what to play with first!

And of course, eating his cake. I can't say this is the first time he had cake but it's the first time we just gave him a piece and let him go at it. He loved it!!!

It was weird to see him dig in and enjoy it. Chels wanted nothing to do with her cake on her first birthday, it was too messy for her. But little D loved it.

Such a cute picture I caught. This is the car Grandma Evans got him. He has already gotten on and off it probably 100 times. Jake and his dad put it together and gave him his first ride.

On the Move!

Soooo, just like his sister before him, Little D started walking about 10 days-1 week before his birthday. What a little stinker. But unlike Chels he's still very cautious. She just took off and never looked back no matter how many times she fell. D will walk a little and then sit down cause he gets scared. He's so sweet. And I included some pictures of his new favorite trick, which sister helps him out with. She opens his closet and he climbs in and throws all his clothes out, uggghhh!

Ear tubes for little D.

What a looooong morning we had on July 21. After poor Little has suffered through ear infection after ear infection since he was 5 months old he finally got tubes placed in his eardrums. It was by no means a serious or complicated surgery and I'm so thankful for that. It was sad to see our little guy all doped up and to have to watch the Dr. carry him off to some unknown place that we weren't allowed to go. I can't imagine having a baby with health problems and sending them off for major surgery where you don't know the outcome. I am truely thankful that my children are healthy.

We had to be at EIRMC in Idaho Falls at 5:45 am (I didn't know this time existed!). They admitted our little guy and got his vitals and things like that. After 2 or 3 more nurses came in to do their parts and ask their questions D had had it. And he fell asleep. The anesthesiologist came in to describe how they'd be putting him under and to ask if we thought he'd have separation problems when it was time to take him and I said "yes" because he's such a mama's boy, hehe. So they brought in some meds for him and we had to wake him up. We gave him the medicine and started to walk down to pre-op. During this 3 minute walk his head started bobbing, the meds were taking effect....so sad! I hated to see my little buddy like this. His eyes and head were rolling around and his body was totally limp. SCARY! The Dr. came to pre-op and talked to us. Then the anethesiologist came and took him. We walked down the hall behind him watching him take our baby and this is when the tears came. I knew he'd be fine, and I knew we'd see him again in less then an hour but this was still one of the hardest things I've done. He was just looking back at me with those droopy eyes and I wanted to run up and grab him and say "never mind! we don't want the tubes!!!" and take him home. But the Dr. turned to go to surgery and we had to walk on to the waiting room. The LONGEST 45 minutes ever!!! The Dr. came in to talk to us after about 30 and said things went perfectly and gave us instructions for afterwards and later that day. I guess while we were in the room talking to the Dr. they paged us to come to recovery so we didn't hear it. They called Jake's cell and we left the waiting room. As soon as I opened the door I could hear D crying. So we walked faster. Poor little guy was scared to death with two nurses he'd never seen before, and he was starving (we weren't allowed to feed him after midnight). We fed him a bottle and he downed it so fast and then was mad that is was gone. He cried for about an hour straight while the nurse kept coming in to monitor him and was doing his check-out papers. We could tell he didn't feel right and this was making him mad. He wouldn't really open his eyes and he didn't even stop crying when we'd walk around with him. He was just mad! As soon as we got in the car he feel asleep. We were out of there by 9 am. We came home and he slept until noon...and so did we! Overall it wasn't bad and I'm hoping this will help him. We haven't noticed much of a difference yet. He still has his cranky times and he still pulls at his ears a lot. I'm hoping that after they heal he'll be more comfortable and happy!
Before surgery when we were doing tons of vitals and waiting.

Such a tired boy with his bear the hospital gave him.

Looking a little out of it after they gave him his medicine in pre-op.

Finally eating afterwards, he was starving!!!!


We love our little D so much and we feel bad he had to go through this. But, if it helps it will all be worth it.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Have you seen any of these Mormon Messages? I'm sure all of you have. I've been meaning to post one of them because I love them all but when I saw this one I just HAD to post it today! So thanks ML for sharing it. It made me feel uplifted and hopeful. So all you mothers, just take 3 minutes and watch it, I promise you won't regret it.

Lots of Firsts!

Just a quick post since I haven't posted forever and because today was a big day for little D. Today he figured out how to sit up from a laying down position, crawl, and pull himself up to standing. HOLY COW! I can't believe it. We have waited so long for him to any of the above and then today he does everything, it was amazing! I haven't witnessed him pulling himself up but Jacob and Kirsten (his grandma Davies) both did. His crawling is still slow but he can definitely do it and he crawled all over this evening just looking at everything from his new perspective, so cute! I am just realizing we might need to change our whole night-time routine. We've always just layed him on the floor and he falls asleep but right now it's 10:00 and everytime I lay him down he just flips over and sits back up, hmmm.

We also got his ears checked yesterday since his pediatrician thought we should tubes and they looked great (which I suspected since he's slept through the night for two nights in a row now). So she's giving him one more chance. One more ear infection and we're off to the Ear Nose and Throat Dr. for our consultaion. Hopefully since it's summer time now he won't get sick anymore, hopefully.

In this picture I was trying to get a shot of his two little baby teeth on the bottom. Of course he eluded me. But it's cute so I posted it anyways.

He loves to kneel up next to things and play, he'll sit in this position forever.

This was how I tested him tonight to see if he really could crawl. I put the number two forbidden object on the floor (number one being the cell phones) and sure enough he crawled right over to them. What a rascal!

In other news Leah and I took a mom's only (plus baby Stella) trip to Salt Lake City. We planned on taking pictures everywhere we went but we only ended up with one picture at PF Changs. We also went to IKEA, the Cheesecake Factory, the Fashion Place and Layton Hills malls, and we stayed in the Hilton in downtown SLC. It was so much fun and is now going to be an annual or semi-annual event!!!

This last weekend we had our Landon Family Reunion at Cherry Hill. Once again I didn't take as many pictures as I planned on taking but here are a couple. Chels loved it and talks about "Cherry Mountain" everyday.

She thinks she can swim now that I bought her this little floating donut. She's so funny.

First (of many) haircuts

Just a quick post here. We cut D's hair for the first time last night. What a difference it makes! He looks like a big boy now, even though I know he's not. He's such a cutie.

This is how he feel asleep one night. This does not happen often. It was a once in a blue moon thing.

MAMAMAMA

Little D is getting so big. He nows babbles Mama over and over and over again. It's still a debate over if he really knows what it means or not. But I can tell you that he definitely knows it gets him attention. He also says it in the middle of the night when he wakes up. Then Jake tells me "He wants his Mama", nice cop out right!

Little D also just got his first tooth. He's been working on it for a couple weeks now and yesterday I noticed that it had finally broken through. He's been a pretty good little trooper. When he first got the bump he was fussy but he either got used to or it stopped bothering him because he's been a happy little camper lately.

Poor sick baby.

What a crazy last couple weeks! D has been sick for a good 10 days now. It started with an ear infection and ended with RSV. He has been suprisingly happy through everything though. We've had some long nights but after he would wake up and eat he'd go back to sleep so that was good. He's such a stinkin' cutie and we love him so much. Chels is a wonderful big sister. She entertains him while I'm showering and she cleans up his toys and takes his diapers out for him. I have to admit I have some pretty amazing kids, and I love them. We're very blessed.

D loves his walker. He can make it go pretty much anywhere, with teeny tiny steps.

We are still giving him albuterol treatments with a nebulizer (sp?). He's still very weezy but we've been taking him in to get his oxygen levels checked and he's back up to 97 so that is very good. We'll just keep giving him his treatments and hopefully he'll be back to health soon!

One day, while I was at work, D fell asleep like this. Jake quickly took his picture. So cute.

Our kids have many Care Bears. D's was given to him for Christmas and it fits him perfectly, Grumpy Bear, haha.

Easter 2010

Chels had had it by the end of the day, so she was throwing a fit about something. I was able to get a sort of smile out of her.

She loved her Easter dress, and so did I! It all came together so perfectly. Thanks to Grandma Davies for getting the yellow shoes to complete the outfit!

Little D playing in the saucer, he loves that thing.

The kids watching the babies do their egg hunt. They were trying to be so patient.

Dying eggs the night before after we went swimming for Luke's birthday. That was a lot of fun.

Sorry for the lack of posts, or any internet activity at all (facebook, emails, blog comments). We have not subscribed to the internet yet in our new place, and I don't know if we will. I need to take some pics of our apartment and post them though. We quite like it. It's 3 bedrooms and we have all new carpets and flooring. It's small, but it's enough for us. I am currently "borrowing" ineternet from someone in our neighborhood. It's a weak connection that's never been available before so I'm trying to hurry because I suspect that it will disappear at any moment! So anyways, here's some pics from Easter.

Cabin trip and other happenings.

We were finally able to attend my family's yearly get-away to the cabin! We have never been before since we've always been gone but this year we went and had lots of fun. The cabin we rented this year was in Ashton and it was so beautiful. It makes me remember why I always claim that winter in my favorite season. The cabin was soooo nice. Jake really, really liked it and vowed to someday own a house identical to it. Most of the weekend was spent sledding down the big hill in the backyard. It was really fun. We would all sled down and then someone would stay at the top to come down and give us all a ride back up with the snowmobile. That's the best kind of sledding!!!
The drive up to the cabin. So pretty!

The cabin with my dad out front.

One evening Jake got the laptop out meaning to teach my nephews Jake and Braxton this hunting game. He didn't know that all the kids would love it! They each took turns picking which animal to hunt and then shooting it.

The Sunday while we were there was Valentine's Day so my mom made this nice dinner and had the kids all be "servers" and take our orders and serve the food to us. It was really cute. They even made us invitations the night before and hid them under our pillows. Chels loved it, and then she feel asleep right before the dinner so she missed serving us, hehe.

The view of the Tetons out the front window. Is it any question why Jake loved this place?!?!

My dad holding D and Kaymn.

D and Kaymn playing. They are the closest in age, maybe they'll be good friends someday.

Jake just chillin'. Being out of the Air Force has been good to him :)

Playing Pictionary Man, that game is a lot harder then you would think!

I would have to hold the sled while the rider climbed in. Only once did I let the sled fall over the back and it was when my brother Doug was climbing in. He fell, but I got smushed!

Me and Chels watching the sledders. Chels did not love it like I thought she would. It scared her to be in the sled and she didn't like walking in the deep snow. She'll probably move back to CA when she's older!

My mom did a birthday dinner for me and my nephew Jake. So this is us singing Happy Birthday.

In baby D news. He is now almost sitting up. He only tips over if he gets excited about something and forgets what he's doing. He'll be 6 months on Sunday, crazy! We tried to switch him to regular milk based formula this last weekend since his pediatrician told us to try it around 6 months. So I mixed milk based formula with his normal soy based stuff. Huge mistake! He was so fussy and uncomfortable. It reminded me of when he was 6 weeks old all over agian. He kept squirming and arching his back and just crying and crying. I called his Dr. yesterday evening and told her what was going on and she told me to go back to soy based. So I will be going to the store today to buy that! Poor kid, I guess he hasn't grow out of his milk allergy yet.

Chels is having a blast being at Grandma Davies house everday with the daycare kids. Even on the days she doesn't have to go she asks if we can go to Grandma Davies' house. She can now write her whole name (not just Chels anymore). She is such a good kid. She can be really whiney lately though and I know it's because she is getting spoild rotten by Grandmas. We'll have to figure out how to mellow her out.

Jake is doing really well in school. He keeps stressing about all his tests but then he comes home with a 93% on it, makes me sick how smart he is. He finally got his hunting license last weekend so I have a feeling I will never see him on a Saturday again. But, it makes him happy so whatever!

I'm still working my two jobs. I like dressing up and being professional one day and then throwing my hair in a ponytail and having fun at Winger's the next. It's a nice variation. I'm having major issues with feeling guilty that I'm not with my kids all day everyday but I just keep reminding myself that this is what my family needs right now. I was feeling really run down and wiped out but I thought it was just because I'm working two jobs. Come to find out I'm still low on iron like I was when I was preggo so I started taking Prenatals and iron supplements again and I'm starting to feel a lot better, phew!

Well this turned into a novel! Can you tell D is napping, haha.

Quarter of a Century

That's right, I am now 25 years old. It seems sort of weird. I suppose I am now closer to 30 then 20, but oh well! I'm looking forward to what the next 5 years will bring. Who knows where we'll be living or what we'll be doing!
D-man just chilling out. I love this little shirt!

I cut Chels' hair about a week ago. It's a little shorter then I meant for it to be, but it's cute. And so much easier to manage!

Me and Chels on my birthday (Feb. 1). I actually had the day off from both my jobs (which was strange because I didn't even request it off). It was an awesome day. I went and spent time with my bestest friend Leah and had lunch with her. Then that evening we just hung around the house. It was a great day!

We had this balloon floating around and the baby thought it was hilarious when you'd bump it around. He laughed and laughed. I got a video of it. Maybe I'll try downloading it someday.

D loves his blankie. More specifically, his soft football blankie.

One late afternoon Jacob and I were sitting around and he asked me "where's Chels?" I realized I hadn't heard from her in a while so I went looking. She had crawled under the table and fallen asleep like this. What a silly kid.

Another view.