The Proctor Post

December - so far!

2011-12-17T21:00:00.006-07:00

December has been so much fun this year! Little Man is at that magical age where he is really getting into things. When Mike pulled out the Christmas tree, Little Man was right there. He helped Mike (and got in Mike's way a lot) to pull the tree out of the bag and set it up. He was right there under the tree the whole time with Mike to make sure it was set up straight and tall.

Man, working on setting this tree up is tiring business! I better take a break and drink some eggnog! I cannot describe how happy I am that Little Man loves eggnog as much as Mike and I. In fact, he has been known to find it in the fridge and haul it all over the house with a cup until he finds one of us to open it for him. If the answer is no, we get a full blown temper tantrum. {sigh} He is getting too good at those tantrums. He hasn't learned yet that it is just a waste of time and energy.
After the tree got set up, Little Man got to put the first ornaments on the tree. Grandma Proctor has given him his very own ornaments for every year of his life. He got to put those on the tree first. He didn't quite get the concept of hanging them and wanted to just lay them on the branches, but with a little help, he did awesome!Of course, after you put an ornament on the tree, you have to stand back and admire your handiwork! Do you see that stool Little Man is standing on? It has become the bane of Mike's and I existence. That stool helps Little Man get into many things he couldn't before. He hauls that thing all over the house and uses it to his benefit! He has also discovered our kitchen stools can help him reach as high as the refrigerator. There goes that hiding place!After the tree was decorated, Mike helped Little Man put the star on the tree, or Little Man helped Mike. He loved it and can be found pointing at the star and jabbering away to whoever about Daddy and Star. If you are over to our house and he does this, ask back, "Did you help daddy put the star on the tree?" That is what he is trying to tell you!Can you see why this is such a magical age? He is so happy and excited about everything this year! Last year with the snow, he was fascinated, until he had to touch it, and then it was "Get me out of this!" This year, on the few times we have had snow, it is a fascination of, "Look Mom! I am making footprints in this stuff!" I love watching his discoveries!Since I am the one normally behind the camera, I wanted to have a picture to document that I was there with Little Man too! On Saturday, we went to see Santa Claus. We discovered Santa at the Riverwoods in Provo last year and we loved it! He is outside, so it gets a little cold, but he is so real! Not like these "fake" ones found in the malls nowdays. We met up with our friends, the Peacocks at 5, only to discover that Santa wasn't there until 6. No worries, we entertained ourselves!

The Riverwoods has an amazing light display. Not only that, but they have these warming stations! Little Man and his friend, Little Miss loved them! They would stand right by the pole and grab hold. Somebody made a joke about licking the pole and all of a sudden, that is all Little Man wanted to do. Heaven help me, I may be in trouble with this boy as he grows older! Little Man is such a daddy's boy! He loves his daddy and it is very rare indeed when he will choose his mommy over his daddy. The night wouldn't be complete without some silly shots with Daddy!If there is water, I can guarantee that is where you will find Little Man. The fountains at the Riverwoods are amazing and are a mixture of water and fire. Of course, Little Man and Little Miss were completely fascinated and would catch our gaze and shout, "Water! Mommy water!" We had a hard time keeping them away from the fountains, even though their gloves got soaked through from the water splashing up on the rims.

Here is an example of the fire/water fountain. If you have time, you should really go down and wander through here. It is pretty!Of course we had to take some pictures. Little Man sat himself right down and put his arm around Little Miss. Too bad he then appeared to ignore her!

All the kiddos! I can't tell you how awesome it is to have older kids to send off chasing the little ones. "Look Little Man is escaping again, can you go get him?" or "Look, Little Miss is getting away!" They were definately helpful and didn't complain whenever I sent them running!If you are going to sit on a concrete planter to take pictures on cold winter's night, bring something to sit on! Don't I have a cute little family though?

We only lasted about 30 minutes out in the cold and decided to check out this awesome toy store, Blickenstaffs. It was so crowded with all the families waiting to see Santa! They had a scavenger hunt that occupied the older kiddos and they had toys set up that you could play with. Leave it to Little Man to find the trains. They entertained him for quite a while and then I introduced him to Jack-in-the-box. He loved them! The best? Watching W turn his Jack-in-the-box and jump everytime it jumped out at him! Finally he put it back and said, "It scares me."We finally went out and joined the line that formed immediately upon Santa coming. It was cold! it was fun! Little Man can often be found with his mouth open. One of my friend's daughters refers to him as Napoleon. I have been amazed lately at how big my boy is getting. I often wonder who snuck into my house and replaced my baby with this big boy!When it was our turn to see Santa, Little Miss immediately started crying. While excited for it beforehand, it now scared her to see this big stranger all dressed in red. We were a little worried that Little Man would exhibit the same signs, but Mike put him down and gave him a nudge towards Santa, and this is what happened. He was shy, he didn't say a word, but he looked at us for pictures and was so excited about it after. If asked, "Did you see Santa?" he shouts, "Yea!"We hoped that if Little Miss sat on Santa's lap with Little Man she would calm down, but alas, it wasn't to be. She just didn't like being that close to the man in red. She was only ok once more when she was in her mom's arms. As we were walking back to our cars she was her happy, joyful self!I can't wait for the magic of Christmas morning this year as Little Man is starting to understand the concept of things. We have a little nativity that stays on his bedside table, or in his bed with him, or somewhere around. He knows which one is baby Jesus and Mommy and Daddy. He is a little confused by the angel, but all of them get a goodnight kiss from him.

While this season is fun and joyful, I want to always instill in my children what this season in really all about. While we should remember our Savior everyday, this is such a special time of the year when we can really focus our thoughts on Him.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Fall Happenings

2011-11-17T17:36:00.002-07:00

I have been absent lately. No excuse really, just haven't been feeling so hot and haven't been doing too much, but that seems to be changing (hopefully, it stays that way!)

We find out in 1 week (the day before Thanksgiving) if Little Man is going to get a baby brother or baby sister. That is, if baby is cooperative. I have felt this one much earlier than I felt Little Man and the other day, I felt the baby do what seemed to be a flip. It was fun!

Little Man had a busy day today. I raked the leaves in our front yard. Should I have raked them? Probably not. I am paying for it right now needing to take the rest of the evening easy. He has worn himself out and is laying on the rug trying to stay awake while crying because he wants to go play some more. Man, I love 2 year olds! Last year, Little Man played in the leaves but didn't fully enjoy it. This year? He had a blast!

One of our neighbors came by and played with Little Man in the leaves. He was awesome and kept piling the leaves up and then tossing Little Man into them. All you heard was, "More?" and "Pway?" I love that he is talking more and more! Unfortunately, we also have to deal with Little Man's frustrations when he is trying to tell us something and we just don't know what he is saying.

Enjoy the leaf playing pictures!

Mischief Maker

2011-09-20T09:06:00.002-06:00

Do you remember a few months ago when Little Man got into the vaseline? Well, he got into our almost brand new jar of bag balm too. When we thought he was taking a nice Sunday nap, he was making sure he was uber covered! He had soft skin!

The Cabin

2011-09-20T08:29:00.004-06:00

In August, Mike & I went up to our family cabin in Strawberry. We were supposed to have the whole weekend, Friday night through Sunday to spend up there relaxing, but Mike ended up having to go into work on Saturday morning. Bummer!
We spent Friday night just relaxing and went to bed really early. I haven't gone to bed that early in a very long time. We were all in bed by 8:30ish. It was nice. Mike then got up and left for work at 3 AM. Little Man and I enjoyed sleeping until we woke up.Little Man and I had a nice breakfast and then went on a walk. Somebody was running sheep up in the area and while they were stinky, it was fun to find them so that Little Man could be excited. He loved seeing them!We spent the day relaxing, going on a few walks, and generally just having a good time. Mike finally got back and then we really got into the relaxing. We roasted marshmallows. We went on lots of walks. We had fun.On Sunday, my cousin Valerie came up and we took some engagement pictures of her and her boy, Jeremy. They are a super cute couple and I am glad they found each other!
Little Man had a lot of fun playing up on the mountains and we had fun watching him pull his funny faces!

Fun Times

2011-07-06T22:51:00.009-06:00

I am just going to warn you that this post will be a picture overload of a very cute boy in my life. For Mike's class, he had to direct a photo shoot using a model. He then has to use those photos to create a spread selling a product.

Model: Little Man
Product: Hurley Little Boy Clothing Line
Photos: Lots of really cute ones {grin}

While all the photos I am posting would not work in an ad, I love them and think they showcase Little Man quite well. Can you believe he is almost 22 months old? I can't! These are pre-edit. Some of them need to be touched up a bit, but enjoy anyway. :)

This outfit is a 3T and the pants kept falling off. Mike was trying to pull them up far enough that they would stay on. They didn't. {grin}

This is one of my favorites. I am becoming a fan of the pictures with the light very bright behind. I think there is something magical about them.
This fence is technically somebodies yard fence, but we used it. It creates a nice border to the park.
The park we went to was way cool. It is south of Walmart in Orem on Sandhill road. There is playground equipment, a duck/fishing pond, (where we got pictures of this cool bird,) swings that circle around while swinging (think the ride at Lagoon that goes around) a reflecting pond, a fountain pond, and lots of open space. Plus a walkway/maze. Seriously, it is a cool park and we will be back.
The rocks are all around the duck/fising pond and E loved climbing all over them.
Notice the pants falling down?
There was this building that looks like a barn. I told E, "Lean against the door," and this is what I got!

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-06T22:44:00.004-06:00

The fourth of July weekend was a lot of fun for us. We kind of did our own thing, but it ended up being fun! Before I start, I must share this picture. Sometimes E likes to go to bed with his stuffed animals hugged tight to him. This was no exception.

On Saturday, Mike, E, and I drove to the SCERA Park to participate in their Colonial Days. It is the second year we have gone and we enjoyed it. We wandered around, saw some Revolutionary soldiers, E and I beat Mike in a Colonial game, we watched pottery being made and we tried to get Mike to sit in the stocks. He wouldn't. I think he knew we would have laughed and not let him out! It ended up being too hot to stay for long and we left to find somewhere to cool down.

After a nice nap, we had some friends in the neighborhood over for a BBQ and Fireworks show. It was fun. Good food, good company, and great fireworks! Because some of the kids had an early bedtime, we did some fireworks in the daylight. I looked up to see this view of my driveway.

The kids loved the fireworks! E would watch them, and then do his own thing. When he watched them, he was engrossed in them.
As a delay until dark we broke out the fixings for s'mores. We learned about smoreos, which, unfortunately, we didn't have the fixings for. You roast a marshmallow and put it between an oreo cookie. Definately something I will try later.

After it got dark we started with more fireworks. I got brave and gave E a sparkler, but wouldn't let go of his hand. He has already had a bad burn and I didn't want him to get another. I got even braver with the 2nd sparkler and let him hold it all by himself so I could get pictures. He loved it!
He held it all over, above him, in front of him, to the side, fascinated, watching it all over. Notice the PJs that E is wearing. He picks out his own jammies and he wanted to wear the Christmas Sponge Bob jammies.

In between riding his trike around, E would occasionally stop and watch the fireworks. He had fun.
One of our neighbor girls had wrapped Jake up in a blanket (he was LOVING all of the attention he got that night.) I knew it was bedtime when I looked over and E had lain down by Jake and fallen asleep.

On Sunday after church, we headed up to join Mark and Sue in camping. We spent the day 4-wheeling (which E LOVES) and E sweet talked Grandpa into giving him many rides. E was so tired that he was asleep before we got more than a 1/2 mile away from the trailor on the way home. {grin}

On Monday, Mike, E, and I woke up early and participated in the 5K for the Freedom Festival. We ended up being about a mile and a half away from the starting line with 15 minutes before the race started. All of my running happened before the race started just to get to the starting line. We ended up walking the rest. E even got out of the stroller and joined in the walking. I was super grumpy (trust me on that) but it was fun. Even though I told Mike (in all my grumpiness) that I would never do another 5K with him, I am sure that we will.

After we finished the race, we found our friends and watched the parade. Our friends got a rockin spot and we watched the parade with about 6-7 families from our ward. It was really a lot of fun.

After the parade all 3 of us took a long nap and then up for another bbq with my family and then over to watch the PG fireworks with Mike's family.

The fourth of July was fun. We are so thankful that we live in a land that allows us the freedoms that we have. Happy Birthday America!

Park Fun!!

2011-06-20T10:32:00.005-06:00

About a month ago, on a windy day, we decided to go to the park to fly kites. Once we got there, somebody else had other ideas.
"Kites?" he seemed to say? "They have no interest for me! Look at all of these slides to play on and things to climb on!"

While Mike and I were getting the kites ready to go, E actually took off and climbed up the ladder to the tallest slide. We watched him, not thinking he would go down once he got up there. We were wrong. He went down, and as the bottom of the slide ends at the middle of my thigh, he flew off and face planted it. Thankfully, it was full of soft wood chips. He still went down it again, this time with daddy up at the top and mamma down at the bottom to catch him.

After that, he stuck to the smaller slides. He climbed up and down every portion of the playground equipment. He fell down some, got dusted off and was off again. He went down more slides (shorter and closer to the ground this time.)

E followed me up the monkey bars and then we were stuck until Mike came and rescued us. We had fun! We explored every nook and cranny.

We had fun to our hearts content."shhh, don't tell Mom and Dad, I could have stayed there longer if they had let me, but the INSISTED we leave to go home. BOOO!"

Sometimes

2011-06-20T10:28:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I like to go to sleep with my trucks...And sometimes, I like to go to sleep with every stuffed animal I own.
Sometimes, I like to read with Grandpa Jack (Grandpa Great)...

and sometimes, I just like to sit with him and watch TV.

Lagoon

2011-06-20T10:11:00.010-06:00

On Saturday we had a mini Proctor Family reunion at Lagoon. Mark and Sue planned it and it was a TON of fun. They took their trailor and camped out at the KOA and then the Skinners, the Curtis', and Mike and I met them up their Saturday morning. Having the trailor up there was way nice because it gave us a place to go to eat lunch and dinner without having to eat the way overpriced, greasy food you normally find up at Lagoon.

We were at the gates right when they opened, and rather then heading to the popular rides (like Wicked) first off, we went on some rides the older boys would enjoy and they LOVED it! After 2 or 3 of these, we made our way to the kids area where there would be some rides that Little Man and his little cousins could enjoy. This is the first ride they went on. Little Man loved it! He loved the stearing wheel, the new experience, and then the ride started.

Once the ride started, Little Man wanted OFF! The whole time the ride was going around all you could hear was Little Man crying. Once the ride stopped, I was able to go into the gate to get him, but for the little kid rides, the seatbelts need to be unlocked with a key (which is good so that little kids don't unlock them up in the air! He didn't understand why I wasn't getting him out of the ride right away. :( Poor guy, he started off not having a good experience on the rides. He cried on the carousel when he was on the horse that moved up and down. Sue did find when she took him on the carousel later that he was ok if the horse didn't move up and down. He liked feeling in control.

If I was able to get him on rides, he was ok until they started, enjoying playing with whatever item they had on them. But once they started....By the time we went on the ferris wheel, Little Man was exhausted. He wouldn't sit in the seat next to either Mike or I. He wouldn't look out at the view (we did notice that there were so many people there that they were parking cars in the field to the north of Lagoon) and he just snuggled against me. I think it was around this time we decided to call a break for lunch. Seriously, having a place to go was NICE! As we were walking back into the park from lunch we stopped by the fence right under Wicked and watched a couple of the cars as the people took the plunge towards the earth. We all laughed. I am sure that when Amanda, Cameron, and I rode Wicked later, our faces had the same look on them! That look that says the person doesn't know whether or not to be thrilled or terrified for their life!
We truly enjoyed getting to hang out with family and see the older boys discover what Lagoon was all about. The older 2 joined us on the white roller coaster, and for those of you who don't know, it is an EXTREME ride! Just beware! After the white roller coaster there was no way that we could get them on Wicked with us, although, they did ride Spider and seemed to like it. It also was extreme! But the Centennial Screamer is not extreme. Just ask the older 2 boys if you want to know which rides are good to ride on. :)
Although it was fun going on rides and seeing the exploration, and seeing Rosie get soaking wet in Rattlesnake Rapids, one of my favorite moments? Watching all the little cousins play tag with each other while the older boys were riding the Bat! Why didn't I take a picture of it? I don't know, but I did snap this picture after the game of tag. You might ask if Little Man cried all day long? No, he really didn't. When he wasn't riding rides, he was fine and was having fun. But he didn't get a very long nap and it was a long day in the sun and he was tired! But, he is never too tired to steal Grandpas hat!
Lagoon was really a lot of fun. I hope that the next time we have the opportunity to go the rides will not scare Little Man as much and he will find it to be even a more enjoyable experience.

The Half Marathon

2011-06-14T22:59:00.006-06:00

A couple of months ago, Rosie told me she was doing the Utah Valley 1/2 Marathon and invited me to participate with her. I seriously thought about it for a few weeks, and then decided, why not? I had waited so long to register that it had sold out and I had to register by signing up for a team. I was a team of one. Yeah me!

As luck would have it, right before the marathon on Saturday, Rosie got sick and was unable to participate. Because of sickness, weather, and the fact that we both had small children, neither of us ended up getting much (OK none at all) training in. We had decided that we were going to go for it anyway and then Rosie had to bow out. The night before I was desperately trying to find somebody to walk that distance with me. My dad saved the day and decided to join me, although he was less than excited about the 3 AM wakeup call.

Saturday morning, June 11th, 3 am rolled around much faster than desirable. I rolled out of bed, got dressed, put on my 5 Fingers and headed out. My dad and I drove down to the Provo Mall where we got on one of many school buses and headed up the canyon. All you saw in front of our bus were more buses. Seriously, who else would be up at such a crazy time of day?

At about 4:40ish AM, we got off the bus to a nice little area with fires lit all over. Let me just say that the amount of fires they had did not match for the thousands of people that were there and it was COLD!
I have to admit, I am a people watcher and I love watching large gatherings of people. I tried to keep myself warm and watched all the people around us. After I got tired of standing, and not about to sit in the weeds, I made my way over to the guard rail and continued my people watching as I played Angry Birds. Seriously, why is that game so addicting?

This is me trying to stay warm before the start of the race

About 30 minutes to the start of the race there was a mass exodus down toward the starting line. There were so many people. There were volunteers reminding everybody that the race was going to start on time and to please make your way to the starting line. When the race started I would hazard to guess that we were about 1/8 - 1/4th of a mile from the actual starting line, in the mass of people moving forward. My favorite part of the start? The volunteer stating, "Please make sure that you get credit for this race, make sure your racing bibs are exposed, whatever you have to do to do that," over and over again as everybody crossed over the starting line. I crossed over at 6:03 AM.

Photo courtesy of the Daily Herald

As we started, my dad and I were making pretty good time. We were averaging about 4 miles an hour and we were staying up with all of the other walkers. Not so bad. Then, my shoes started giving out. Not good. Meaning that my feet were not as broken into my Vibrams as I thought they were. By about a mile and a 1/2 the balls of my feet started to burn. Oh pain. I started to walk on the outside of my feet just to give the balls a little bit of a break. By mile 3 I didn't know how I was going to finish the next 10 miles. I tried to call Mike to see if he would bring me some different shoes. No answer. I got a hold of my sister who met me at Canyon Glen (mile 5ish) where I changed my Vibrams for my good ol' broken in Merrils (also not walking shoes really) and I was good to start again. My feet still hurt, but not as bad as before. That would change, trust me.

Mile 3 was the first time I wanted to quit. Mile 5, the marathoners started to pass me. Mile 8, I wanted to quit, but just kept telling myself, it is only 5 more miles. Mile 9, my dad started stopping a lot to stretch his legs. He was having a hard time. I would stop with him, but it was so painful to start walking again. Mike and Little Man drove past me. They stopped with traffic, I passed them, they passed me. I spent about 5 minutes almost catching up to them as they inched their way forward, then they were gone. I guess the whole time, Little Man was yelling at Mike to stop because they just drove past me.

Mile 9 1/2, I tried jogging, but my feet seriously felt like they were just wooden blocks attached to the end of my legs. Mile 10, my dad stopped but told me to keep going. I kept turning around and watching for him (I was a bit worried about him.) I would see him walking behind me, then stopping, then walking until I couldn't see him anymore.

I called my dad at about mile 10 1/2 and asked him how he was doing. I was willing to stop and wait for him if needed, but he told my that my mom was on her way to pick him up. I stopped worrying and kept walking. Mile 12 (only 1.1 miles left!) I seriously wanted to stop. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of how much I would regret it if I got so close and didn't finish. I kept moving. I was seriously hobbling at this point. I called my mom to see if she had my dad yet. Nope, she didn't anticipate the horrible traffic situation and was seriously a couple of miles away. I tried calling my dad, his phone had died and it went straight to voicemail.

At 500 North (only 5 more blocks, I can DO this!) Mike called me. He and Little Man were parked and working their way toward me. We met up at 200 North. Mike and Little Man joined me to walk to the end until the crowd at the finish line got way to big and they dropped off. Here are a couple of pictures of me as I am coming up on the finish line. I don't know if you can tell how tired I am. Training would have been smart. I don't know if I would have made a good pioneer. :)

In the act of finishing the race, we lost my dad. He apparently finished as I was working my way out of the crowed to try to see if I could find him in the racers that were still coming in. We passed like ships in the night and didn't even see each other. We spent about an hour and a half looking for him (mostly Mike because the longer I went without moving a ton the less I was able to move) and never found him. In the meantime, he was passed out on the County Courthouse stairs with a dead phone. We are glad he was ok, but sad he had to walk a couple of blocks further to find somebody to drive him to his car.

I am glad I finished this race. I might have been one of the very last people to come in from the 1/2 marathon and about half of the marathoners finished before me, but I FINISHED! It was such a feeling of accomplishement walking over that finishing line. I don't know if I could have done it if it hadn't been for the following:

1 - All the people sitting along the route watching for their loved ones and shouting encouragement (You're doing good! You're Almost done!)

2 - All the marathoners who would encourage me as they passed me. Seriously, they were running further than I was walking and they took the time to encourage me. It was greatly appreciated and greatly needed.

3 - Mike & Little Man walking the last 2 blocks with me. Seriously needed that.

4 - The emotion of all the people at the finishing line cheering everybody in. Having some friends there also that called out to me by name. Awesome.

5 - Sheer determination and will power, coupled with the thought that I would be SO disappointed in myself if I didn't finish.

I paid the price. I hobbled Sunday but my body has forgiven me (except for the numerous blisters that abound on my feet, they are still there) and for the most part I feel back to my normal self. If, and that is a big IF, I ever do a half marathon again, I will train for it. Even if I only plan on walking, I have learned that I need to be training to walk that far. Our bodies are amazing gifts and can do amazing things, but would do better with a little more preperation. :)

Even though Rosie wasn't able to do the race with me, I thank her for asking me so many months ago if I wanted to do it with her. Now I know I can. :)

How many...

2011-04-05T20:26:00.004-06:00

...shampoos does it take to get Vaseline out hair?Ten wasn't enough. Somebody sported the slicked back hair style that was popular in the 30's all day today. The 11th shampoo (with liquid dish soap) appears to have done the job!

Wow, I should have learned from other people's experiences that when Little Man is quiet, I should investigate. The best part? I was 7 feet away with my back turned, washing dishes. Yep. He did this all where if I had just turned around I could have stopped it sooner!

Just in Case...

2011-04-03T10:08:00.004-06:00

...You thought April Fool's Day was on Friday, Mother Nature proved you wrong today. This is what we woke up to in Utah. It is really pretty, but I am missing the 60 degree weather that we had last week where I was mostly at work and cooped up on a building.
On the bright side, my plants are doing wonderful! I have moved my lettuce, spinach, and onions out to the green house to toughen up a little bit before I put them in the garden. After seeing outside this morning, I am glad that I didn't put them in the garden yesterday like I had wanted to. If I hadn't had to work, they probably would have gone in! So, be thankful I had to work on a Saturday. :) The plants that I still have inside are doing great! Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. {grin}

I love spring! It is seriously my favorite time of the year!

Big Happenings

2011-04-02T20:51:00.004-06:00

The last 2 weeks has been quite the adventure around here. It started off some trauma. E got a little bit of a diaper rash. I was in a rush as E was not having a good night and after his bath, in desperation because I couldn't find my bag balm (seriously the best for diaper rash) I used Vaseline. The next morning, everywhere I had put the Vaseline was bright red. It was 100 times worse than the diaper rash the night before. On the bright side, it didn't appear to hurt Little Man but it looked horrible. After a few days, it was not getting any better. I finally found my bag balm (we had purchased another product to use in the meantime.

After the weekend, it appeared to be getting better, ever so slowly, but there was improvement, until one day it was worse again. I called my doctor and got an appointment to take Little Man in. They thought it might be a yeast infection so we picked up a prescription and applied it for the next couple of days. No such luck. Instead of getting better, it got worse. After a call to the doctor they sent a prescription for a diaper rash ointment. This is an ointment put together by one of the doctors in the office and everybody swears by it. I guess there are mothers that ask for it and use it for any diaper rash. Well, we got it for Little Man and used it Friday night and Saturday morning. Did it make him better? No. It got much worse.

Poor little man got blisters on his behind. We don't know what caused it, we just know that diaper changes got very traumatic for him and diaper wipes went by the wayside for a little bit. I hope to never see anything that horrible again. It looked painful and Little Man started to freak out if he thought you were going to change his diaper. It was awful. We are so thankful that it is so much better now. In the last week there has been much needed healing that has happened on his little bottom.

Somewhere in the midst of this trauma, bedtime became a fight. Anytime we put Little Man to bed there was kicking and screaming, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. However, if we took his mattress out of the crib and laid it on the floor, he did fine. We were on the lookout for a toddler bed that wouldn't cost very much when our good Sis Rosie suggested we just convert the crib. Miracle of miracles. We took the drop side off and wala, a toddler bed! Little Man loved it! He loves running and climbing up on his very own bed, and for the most part, has done very good. He has only fallen out of the bed once (at 2:30 in the AM) and with a little comfort and love from Momma was good to go back to sleep.

However, our bedtime ritual has changed dramatically. We used to get ready for bed, read a story, lay down, hug glow-worm or sprocket (his teddy bear) roll over and go to sleep (until the kicking and screaming that happened earlier that is.) Now, we have the same routine, but it has stretched out, because instead of actually going to sleep, once we leave the room, somebody quietly slips out of bed and follows us. E has figured out that he would rather have Daddy find him first because Daddy will let him crawl up into our bed to fall asleep. This doesn't fly for me because I don't want to have my little toddler think it is ok for him to sleep in our bed. He knows that if Daddy isn't near and I see him, he has to turn around and run back to his bed. If he doesn't get into it first, Momma will pick him up and put him in.I really try the Super Nanny trick where the first 2 times you will talk and say, "E, it is time for bed. Let us go back to bed," as you take the hand and lead the little one back to bed. After that, you don't speak and just lead them back to bed. Well, somebody is still testing after almost a week how serious Momma is. Just tonight I think I have gotten up about 40-50 times while writing this post to lead (or most times) follow E back to bed. It makes for a long evening. I am smiling right now because it has been almost a minute since I have hear E slowly tiptoeing out of his room, or sliding with his tummy across the floor to see how long until Mom notices. Ah, spoke too soon, here are the whispers of slippered feet on the wood floor.I am loving to see my Little Man grow up, but it leaves an anxious pang in my heart. I remember him being so small and 100% dependent on me, but at the same time, I have trouble looking at him and thinking he was really that small. It is fun and exciting, all this watching as he explores his world and discovers fun things to do. But it is all a reminder that he is growing up. Everybody says how fast time flies when you have children and I never believed it until now. Time does fly. Yes, yes it really does.

Its about time...

2011-03-02T23:23:00.009-07:00

...for an update. It has been way too long since I have paid any attention to this little blog of mine. Since I want it to be a record for myself, I better update it more often. Seriously! There has been a lot that has happened since I last updated. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years have all come and gone and life goes on. We had a lot of fun, and I do have pictures that documented the fun we had, but some of them are still on my other camera. Besides, with the pictures that I have right now, it may be a picture overload, but I hope you enjoy!

For Christmas, E made his presents for Grandma & Grandpa Proctor and Granny & Pappa Lewis. We got these little picture frames from one of the kid activities at Home Depot (seriously, I love them! First Sat of every month!) and E hammered on them with his toy hammer while Mike hammered on them with the real hammer. E LOVED it! Then, one night while Mike was at school, E and I painted them and E applied stickers. I learned that painting with a 15 month old is not the best idea as paint started to go into his mouth, and all over him instead of the frames. He was mad when I took the paint brush away. He was having fun! I loved that E could give presents that he made and that he had fun making them.
We went up to Temple Square twice to see the lights. The first time we went the week of Thanksgiving with my family when my sister was in town from Elko. It was COLD! We visited the planitarium and then Mike & I walked over to the Temple while everybody else rode Trax. Seriously, we got there about the same time and we didn't need to deal with taking a stroller down for the ride. A few weeks later we went back up with Amanda, Cameron, and the boys. This trip was so much fun! First, it was a lot warmer. Relief! Second, we walked down to the 2 News studio and Lyndsi Storrs gave us a tour. She used to live near Amanda and they are good friends. It was fun to see inside the studio and all the inner workings. I was glad it was warmer so we could really enjoy the lights and not be hurrying because we were freezing.

Little man loved getting out of the stroller and running around with his cousins. I love when E is able to get together with his cousins. He loves running around after them and loves watching them. This might not always be a good thing since he is into trying everything out and if he sees a cousin do something he will be trying it himself before too long. He is growing too fast!

On many mornings, you can find E and I crouched in front of my bedroom window watching this. We have a few bird feeders on our back patio and when E discovered the birds were there he LOVES watching them. I made the mistake of opening the window one day to try to get a picture and ever since then, the window has to be open for E to really enjoy his birdwatching. But look how beautiful these birds are! I love that spring is on the way!!

We have had some snafus with babysitting this week. There was sickness at the babysitter's house that we didn't want to spread. On Monday, Mike missed school and I went to work. We thought contagious periods were over by Tuesday, so we planned our normal day, but another outbreak caused me to get to stay home with Little Man a little longer. Mike has morning classes this term and so I was home with E until he got home from school. We went on a walk and had fun playing outside. I love the look he is giving in this next picture. He is so intent on whatever he is looking at.

I love it when my little guy smiles. He has such sparkle in his eyes and so much personality! Plus, he is just stinken cute! He can also be such a stinker!

E has taken to carrying our phones around saying, "Do?" That is his Hello. It is also sometimes accompanied by babble and I yearn to know what he is talking about. I love the face I captured here as he is in the middle of having his important conversation with the phone!

Somebody has learned to spit. He learned this by watching Mom & Dad spit toothpaste out into the sink when they brushed their teeth. He now has to "spit" into the sink when he brushes his teeth. He has now taken to spitting at other times also. It is something we try to stop and remind E, "We only spit into the sink," but I have to admit, it is also cute.

I cannot even tell you how happy I am to still see my baby have some baby fat cheeks. He is growing so big and so fast that he no longer looks like a baby. He looks like a little boy. I relish these chubby cheeks and can't help but to kiss them! It doesn't help that E is going through a stage where he thinks it is funny not to give you kisses anymore. If you ask for a kiss, he shakes his head no and laughs. But no worries, if he sees a dog, any dog, they get a kiss blown in their direction.

To be so young and so fascinated with this wierd flat thing coming out of the ground. He even forgot about his ball for the moment. This is the ball that he insisted on walking around the block carrying.

"Hi Mom. Whatcha doin'? I am glad you brought me outside to play! Can you put that camera thing down and come play with me?"

E loves 3 things. Balls, cars, and dogs. It doesn't matter the size of the ball, he will play with it, throw it, and carry it around. Cars, he is getting his "vroom" down. Really, it sounds more like an "mmmm" but the cars can go really fast when he makes the sound. Dogs, where do you even start. They get an automatic kiss, the finger pointing, "Do?" lean over, blow the kiss in the direction of the dog, and a squeal of laughter. He also loves his little buggy, which is a "bigger car" for him. It is a car he can sit on and scoot around rather than push around. And it sings "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," and "Do You Know the Muffin Man?"

Somebody is trying to get into the backyard to get their best friend, Jake. Jake got left home on our walk around the block and spent the time laying in the sun out in the backyard.

Here E is on his walk around our block. He is such a big boy, carrying that ball by himself. Heaven forbid Mom take it from him to help him out, then it is tantrum time. E is getting too good at throwing these tantrums.

At the top of our stairs we have some boxes that are waiting to go into the attic. E likes to play in these boxes, looking for treasures that will make cool toys. Last night, I heard him playing here and didn't think anything of it, until I decided to check on him to make sure he wasn't getting into mischief. Nope, he wasn't getting into mischief, he already was in mischief! Our storage flour bucket is also here. He got the lid off and there was flour everywhere! On Mike's bowling ball bag, in our box of picture frames, on our wreath from Christmas, and in our pine cones. I vacuumed about 7 cups of flour off the floor. That doesn't even cover what was on E!

E was covered! He had the little finger-sized flour patch going across his eye, flour caked onto his fingers, flour in his hair, on his clothes. He definately had fun!

"Am I in trouble?" E was trying to figure out why I was taking pictures of him. He sure made a mess for me to clean up. Listening to the vacuum, which he is scared of, was enough of a punishment for him.

After all that trouble he took to getting the flour just right, Mamma through E into the tub. But that is ok, E loves bath time! He had every single bath toy in the tub with him. He loves putting his letters on his tummy and seeing them stick! I wonder where he got that little trick from {grin}

I love my happy little boy!

And what could be better after a day of playing and mischief to see such peace? Seriously, he is the most precious blessing in our lives. Mike and I do love him a lot!

Love these!

2010-12-01T15:04:00.003-07:00

So, 4 little men is a fun blog to read. Seriously, fun! Anyway, she is doing a give away on her blog today for some beautiful Amber jewelry. (I love amber!) If you want to check out her giveaway, go here.

Long Lost Pictures

2010-11-17T21:19:00.001-07:00

I had made the goal to break out my camera more often. Not just my regular camera, but my good one. Yeah, it is heavier and bulkier, but it takes amazing pictures. Only problem? I couldn't download the pictures. Sadness. The reason? Well, my program was on my computer that refuses to start up.

I have been looking all over for the stupid cd that came with my camera when I bought it over 5 years ago. That was 5 moves ago to be exact, plus a trip to London. I should note that the cd didn't go with me to London, but that trip did cause a move.

Tonight, I got to thinking about where else it could possibly be...and there it was! Yeah! So, here is a little highlight of some of the pictures that I pulled off of my camera.

E loves the bathroom. Why? I cannot figure it out. If you do not make sure the door is firmly closed behind you, little feet are sure to follow you in. Even if you are not in the bathroom, if the door is open or the gate is down, you are sure to find him in there if he is missing. I heard a noise, I followed it, and this is what I found. Somebody was climbing into the tub, made it, and spent some time playing. Water? Don't need it! At least the brand new roll of toilet paper stayed on the roll this time!E inherited a toy zebra. It is really cool. It is just the perfect size to climb aboard twist and spin and bounce. He loves it! I love his wild eyes as he bounces and spins and laughs. Do you think this little man has a future as a rodeo cowboy? Possibly, after all, the zebra has bucked him off and without complaint, he climbed back on and kept bouncing and spinning!Before it got too cold, we took E to Adventure Park. In the beginning, he was overwhelmed. But, he warmed up and decided he loved it! He chilled in the swing. He just hunched over and spent the time checking out the ground as it flew underneath him. He decided he loved the park, and the blocks he could spin, and the swings, and the slide, but not the beehive you could climb in. That E decided he would have nothing to do with.

Enjoy some additional pictures of E with the ducks from a couple of weeks ago!When we went to pick pumpkins at Grandma & Grandpa Proctor's, the corn stalks were covered with grasshoppers. It was cool looking. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this. Now, I must go and put somebody to bed as Mike is sure E should fall asleep in our bed rather than his own. I gotta make sure that doesn't happen. Night all!

kjh

This is Love

2010-11-05T15:25:00.002-06:00

Seriously, this is love. My sweet little family that is so dear to me. My husband, who I am thankful for. My little guy who is so adorable. We are good together. We are happy together. We laugh together. We play together. We work together. We love each other.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T20:10:00.010-06:00

I never realized how much more fun Halloween can be when you have a little one to dress up. Last year, E was so tiny, barely coming in at 6 weeks, and with going back to work just that week and closing on a house, Halloween snuck up on us. This year, oh, we had FUN!

I think we should have purchased stock in pumpkins this year. We had so many! And carving them turned out to be so much fun! We used 2 pumpkins to carve one, a waste you say? Wait until you see the results. We had parents of trick-or-treaters coming back with cameras to take pictures of it. We had a traditional carved pumpkin that may or may not have resembled Mater and then E's pumpkin was...a rubber ducky! This seems to be the running theme around here after all.

For work, we had a cubicle decorating contest. I went all out and made brick walls and, geez, if they did a better job at cleaning, I wouldn't have had so many spiders! Seriously though, standing on the desk of the cubicle to put spider web on the ceiling, kinda scary, but I won first place!
I dressed up as a ghost. Not as cool as when you see the Red Queen that came to work also! Her costume was SWEET! And, as I was not a traditional ghost, people seemed to not always know what I was supposed to be. But it was fun.The best costume? A pirate! We had a rascally pirate with a hoop earring and a patch over the eye (yeah, for about 2 seconds for each.) E really showed that R.E.A.L. men can wear ruffles. He was freaking adorable! (I know, I may be biased, but he was!)Due to the unfortunate situation of E getting sick on Halloween, our day's festivities changed drastically. They got way toned down and ended up trick-or-treating at Grandma Proctor's house, Granny Lew's house, Aunt Beth's house (gotta get the play-doh she handed out after all) and then the evening consisted of getting poked in the eye by a little girl's umbrella, seriously ouch, and trying to keep a little one from escaping when we handed out candy. Despite the sickness that hit, Halloween ended up being fun!

Just a few more pictures of a cute little guy to enjoy. Mike introduced E to a favorite...bread and ranch dressing. I am not sure if E like the ranch more or the bread. He has discovered that he really loves dipping things, sucking off the dip, and redipping. Gotta love his little ranch beard here.
I still think there is nothing more precious than watching a sleeping baby. I have a hard time not thinking of my little man as a baby, even though he is most definitely no longer a baby. I love going in and smoothing his hair (and yes, checking to make sure he is breathing) while he sleeps. I love when I go in and he has forgone his warm blanket to snuggle with the soft blanket he got from his aunty. It gives me a chance to re-tuck him in.
What else do you do with pumpkin stickers that you got for Halloween? Put them all over you! E has decided he really likes stickers. He will put them on and pull them off and put them on me and pull them off and they get crumpled but he still tries to get them to stick to things. I love watching him play with stickers. They can most definitely entertain him.

Whew

2010-10-20T16:27:00.012-06:00

We have been busy. We have done a lot and my blog has fallen behind. Way behind.

I have been inspired. I need to take more pictures. With BOTH of my cameras. Since I got my little point and shoot digital that fits so nicely in my purse/diaper bag, I don't take my SLR out very much. Well, go here to see somebody who does. She takes pictures of EVERYTHING! So, I have carted both of my cameras with me over the weekend. Sadly, my computer that has my software to download my SLR is broken, as in it turns on, but doesn't start up. So, while I have a TON of awesomely, cool pictures, I can't share them currently. But, I will figure it out (I also need to figure out how to get the 48 scrap book pages I have done off the broken computer...)

First, I want to show this video. Mike's mom saved some of Mike's old cowboy boots. She gave them to E. I tried them on the other day. They are still too big, and he really struggled in walking in them, but this video is just way too much fun. He was so proud of himself!

E loves tomatoes. He has been caught stealing them directly out of the bowl when we make tacos, stealing them off plants if he sees them, and making himself comfortable in our garden eating a slightly green tomato. Notice his totally cute outfit that Aunt Amy gave him for his birthday covered in tomato guts from the tomato he is thoroughly enjoying? I am already finding my little man making mischief. E was enjoying his breakfast. He LOVES cereal. I ate with him and he was still eating, so I started doing some other things. I heard him start playing with his bowl against the table, signaling that he is done. I delayed. I figured he could stay in his highchair for a moment while I finished what I was doing. Well, I discovered I can no longer just leave him in his highchair. This is where I found him. I had to get my camera to document this. E decided he wanted more cereal and climbed out of his highchair, onto the table to get it. He is turning into a little monkey!Gotta see how my little baby boy no longer looks like a baby but a little boy? Here is the proof as he is totally lounging, just chillaxing. Gosh, does time ever slow down? I thought time went fast before, but when you have kids, I swear it speeds up. We are pretty lucky to have had access to LOTS of pumpkins this year. Grandma Proctor, in addition to her LOTS of patty-pan squash (which E does not like,) zucchini (which E does like if it is baked in the oven with Parmesan cheese,) summer squash, peas, tomatoes and green beans, there were lots of pumpkins. Unfortunately, somebody forgot (oops) E's shoes and so he couldn't go into the garden and actually pick out his own pumpkin. He had to deal with the one mommy and daddy picked out and held up to him. He was ok with it though. He was more fascinated with the stem than the actual pumpkin. E's favorite thing to do? Play with daddy. When he isn't playing with daddy, he is chillaxing with daddy on the bed. Seriously so cute. He cuddles right up to Mike and is perfectly content to stay there, for a couple of minutes at least. Then, he decides to play and will crawl up on Mike's stomach and bounce up and down.So, a little bit ago, we took the Proctor Family pictures. Maria is an awesome photographer and has taken all of our family pictures since E joined our family. While she was snapping away at groups, E and J were hanging out. E was fascinated over J's hair/head, which J did not appreciate. It led to a breakdown and if J could talk, I am sure it would have sounded something like this, "Mo-om, E is touching me! Please make him stop touching me!" I am sure that having cousins so close in age, this is something we may hear often as they are growing up. Hopefully, we will hear more laughter and giggles, hoping that they are best of friends.

Here is a pic that I snapped of E. He was hanging out on this cool, old firetruck and he just looked up at me and smiled. Man, I love my handsome little man! I can't wait until we get the pictures from Maria. She was getting a cousin picture and we were all jumping up and down, screaming and clapping, trying to get all the kids looking at us and smiling. E just couldn't stay where he was. He had to jump up and run toward us, laughing and clapping. I think I spent more time running to put him back. I can't wait to see them!E is generally pretty happy. Yes, he does have his moments when he isn't, but he is a HAPPY little boy. He loves getting into his pajamas and then playing with mommy and daddy. We love getting him to laugh by getting all his ticklish spots. Moments before the finger attack comes on.......moments after the finger attack. Love, Love, Love his belly laugh, his squeals of delight, and his smile!
Saturday, we went to the Red Barn down in Santaquin. They offer a hayride for $3 a person (under 2 ride free.) The hay ride ends at a pumpkin patch with a maze and lots of cool picture opportunity places. E wasn't too sure about the hayride in the beginning. He was in this wagon that had a TON of strangers and it moved. This is the look I kept getting as it started. "Mom, what are you making me do?"By the time we neared the pumpkin patch, E was totally into it. We were supposed to sit during the ride, but I figured it was OK for E to stand. He decided he LOVED looking out the wagon watching everything go past.
This time, the shoes were not forgotten and E got to actually wander around in the pumpkin patch. He had issues with the rough terrain and kept falling, but he loved seeing the pumpkins so close up. We let him pick a pumpkin (carefully guided by mom and dad) and he left with a pumpkin that he could carry all by himself (if only for about 10 seconds.) He did try to eat the stem, so his fascination with stems did not go away.E really liked the maze. He walked all the way through it. Whenever he walked into a dead-end, he kept looking for the hole in the wall that would let him keep going. He loved chasing Mike around and I loved that he could walk freely with limited options on where to go.

E really liked the John Deere tractor they had. He was a bit far from the steering wheel, but that didn't stop him from trying to drive it. The only thing missing? E's John Deere blanket that his Grandma Proctor made him! I definitely have a through and through boy. We have had fun doing all of our little activities lately. We have truly been blessed in this last year having our little man join our family. Seriously, what did we do for fun before we had E? He keeps us entertained and running around.

First Birthday

2010-09-26T16:20:00.004-06:00

It is Sunday afternoon. I wish I were sleeping. That is what Mike and E are doing. But I can't. I have a visiting teaching appointment and if I fall asleep, I will sleep right through it.

So, I have some time to spend. I should do a load of dishes and straighten up my house that got a little destroyed with 3 extra boys last night. That is what I should do, nut I'm not going to.

I am going to finally blog about E's first birthday. At 8:10 PM on September 14th, my little guy turned 1. I don't ever think I blogged about his birth story, but I was in labor for 23 hours. It didn't get intense until they started me on pitocin (sp?) at 7:30 in the AM, but it was a long 23 hours. I begged for the epidural at 10:00 AM. It didn't take. I finally got one that took around 12:40. Blessed epidural, why did I want to try labor without you? At 6 PM, they told me not to expect my little guy until after 10 PM (yes, it was discouraging) but then things kicked into high gear and at 7 PM I was suddenly ready to push. Well, they tried to get me to wait an hour, but I couldn't. So, I pushed for an hour. It was exhausting. But, when they put E on my stomach, those 23 hours (and the 41 weeks prior) were like they went by in the blink of an eye. I remember seeing my little guy, running my fingers over his hands, his face, his arms, his hair. I was so overwhelmed by the feelings of joy and gratitude and love (did I ever realize love could be that overpowering?) that I forgot to count his fingers and toes. When I looked at my little E all I saw was perfection. Preciousness. Mike and I relished in the 30-40 minutes we had with just us and our new little bundle before they had to rush him to the nursery. (I had a fever when E was born and as a result, he was born hot, and his body temperature wasn't going down so they had to rush him to get him a bath to get his temperature back to normal.)

All of this seems like it was yesterday. In the blink of an eye, all of a sudden my little guy has turned 1. He is walking. He is trying to run. He has learned that when you crouch down and say, "I'm gonna get you," he is supposed to run away, not toward you, and that it is much more fun. He loves grapes and yogurt, and eating mommy and daddy's cereal. No more baby food for him. He won't touch it. He loves eating spaghetti. Actually, he picks the noodles up and sucks the sauce off of them and puts the noodles either in his lap or back on the plate. He says mamma and dadda. He screams DaDa until Mike pays attention to him. He LOVES his dad. He says "bye-bye" but not if you want him too. He loves cars, trucks and balls. If it is a ball, it is his preferred toy of choice. He loves books and pointing at everything. He loves watching bigger kids to see what they are doing. He loves his puppies, Jake and Abby. He plays ball with Abby. She will plop on the ground with a ball in her mouth and he will grab it and try to pull it out. It is a game both of them love. He also loves the road, which has created a whole new level of angst.

My favorite thing about my little boy (and sad that he is no longer my baby, but my little boy?) His laugh. I LOVE his laugh. I will do about anything to get it. You don't even have to do anything to him to get him to laugh. All you have to do is laugh yourself and he laughs with you. I love his smile. The sparkle in his eyes. I love his hugs and kisses. Yes, his wide open mouthed kisses. Even the really slobbery ones. I can't even narrow down one favorite thing from my little E.

I started this post because I was going to blog about E's birthday party. Wow, I got sidetracked. Welcome to the story of my life.

E got spiffied up with a faux-hawk for his birthday. I don't generally do his hair, so it was fun to make it different for his party. We had our families there and some close friends who are like family to us. We got together and had a bbq. Ummm...hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad (although Mike reminded me it wasn't Grandma Proctor's potato salad, which is good, and I guess by comparison, mine doesn't measure up,) baked beans and some other sides.
We had a chili pepper pinata for all of the kiddos at the party and I almost got hit numerous times by the stick. Good thing I can move quickly. E had no interest in the pinata, but I figured it would be for his older cousins anyway.

We also had a cake. I like decorating cakes, but haven't done it too often and am by no means professional. Very amateurish actually. I was trying to decide what to do for E's cake when I saw a friend of mine (she really does have talent in the cake decorating area) who did a duck cake for her little girl's birthday. I stole the idea. Made few changes and this is what I ended up with.
I forgot to practice blowing with my little guy before his party. As a result, he made no effort to blow out his candle. Who wants to blow out a candle when you have all these duckies you can steal off the cake? The ducks were a definite hit. I also discovered that I do not have enough hot air (or air period) in me to blow out a candle less than 3 feet away from me. Yep, pretty sad, but in my defense, it has been YEARS since I have blown out the candle of a birthday cake. In fact, the last time I did was probably my 16th or 17th birthday when my friends made me a cake.
If you notice the picture at the beginning of the post, that is E enjoying his cake. While he did use his hands, he generally has to have some type of utensil to help him eat. I LOVE watching him pick his food up, put it on the fork or spoon, and then try to put it in his mouth. A.d.o.r.a.b.l.e.

After cake and ice cream, E got to open some presents. His cousins were much more excited about opening his presents than E was himself and he had LOTS of little helpers ready to lend a hand. E was spoiled and got some awesome gifts. He got some books, an outfit, some blocks, some balls, some cars, and a little pop up toy. He got a really cool plush tool set. He carries the hammer around and tries to hammer everything in our house. He also got a little cart that he can sit on and push. He hasn't quite figured that out but if you push buttons on it you will hear one of two songs. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," or "Do You Know the Muffin Man." I have heard these songs constantly since his birthday. E loves standing next to the cart, sometimes actually sitting on it and pushing those buttons. I may or may not be secretly hoping the batteries run out soon. Even when they do finally wind their way down to empty, I will probably replace the batteries just because it makes my little guy happy.

It was a good day surrounded by loved ones, celebrating the fact that my little guy has been with us for 1 year. While there are some things that I miss in my little baby (the constant cuddling) I am excited when E moves into a new stage. I love seeing him learn things and figure out how to do lots of stuff.

A Lot of Firsts

2010-09-15T14:22:00.007-06:00

It has been awhile since I have posted. In that time, my little man has experienced a TON of firsts. Here are some of the pictures of his firsts. In another post, I will also post about his First Birthday (has it been a year already? Really? REALLY? My little man is really becoming a little man, much to quickly for my taste.)

First (but not the last) time he crawled under the stools in our kitchen and stood up, thus finding himself stuck. It was really kind of funny. He thought it was funny because we laughed, until he found he really couldn't go anywhere, then he wasn't as amused.
First time getting off the bed by himself. (When did he start doing all of these things on his own?) I should say, this is the first time getting off the bed by himself on purpose. He had fallen off it previously. Good thing it was close to the floor.First time being locked in his room (but out of the crib) while I was in the shower. He was NOT pleased. Notice all of the diapers taken out of the basket and spread all over for me. He definitely let me know he was not happy about the situation.

First time camping. E loved crawling around and getting dirty. He loved being with mommy and daddy (and because it was so cold at night, he LOVED sleeping in bed with us. He was the only one that stayed warm that night.) He got to be on the 4-wheeler for the second time. He did not like it the first time, but thought he was something special the second time. The difference might be that the second time, he was on it with daddy.

E had his first trip to Seven Peaks. He wasn't too sure what to think of it at first, but he ended up loving it. He decided after the second time around that he LOVED the Lazy River. He LOVED the Wave Pool so much that he crawled into it (his walking skills were nill in the water) until he completely covered his face. I kept thinking he would stop and sit up to get his face out of the water, nope, he kept going. He had to be rescued by mom. He also enjoyed his first nachos at Seven Peaks, which he definitely loved.

Poor Keys

2010-08-07T10:49:00.002-06:00

Keys. You don't realize how much you depend on them until you cannot find them.

Thursday night, Mike and I went out together. When we go in the car, Mike drives because he cannot stand sitting in the passenger seat with it so far forward (due to the car seat.) We got home and decided to go on a walk, so we got the stroller out got the puppies and took about an hour to walk around the little block by our house. That is what happens when you see neighbors and friends and stop to talk. It was enjoyable.

Mike got put on graveyard for Friday, so Friday morning, he was home. He hates driving the car, so I thought, "I will get the car seat out and leave the truck for him." Only problem? No keys. I looked all over the counter, unfortunately, it isn't spotless to make the looking easier. I looked on the key rack, where they should have been placed. I went outside, discovered the car was unlocked and looked in the ignition, around the driver's seat, around the car seat, in the stroller. No keys. I looked on the porch.

I went into the house, woke Mike up, "Where are the keys?" I got the shoulder shrug. When you wake him up, Mike is not too alert. I went back on the search. By this time, instead of having 10 minutes to leave, I now had about a minute. I go back out, look around inside the car again. Back inside, looking around. By this time, Mike was up and looking in his pants pockets. No luck. No keys. Mike took the spare key off his keys and gave it to me. I said goodbye and ran out the door, grabbed the car seat so Mike would have it, and was off.

I drive down my road, turn onto a busier road. Drive to the freeway. I get on the freeway at 8th North. I pass Center St. I am in the far left lane, I happen to look in the rear view mirror just in time to see my keys flying off the top of the car. I am pretty sure I swore. I debated for a second (maybe two.) I pulled off onto the shoulder, got out and ran back. I was hoping that because they fell off on the left side, and I was in the left lane, they would be on the shoulder (or fairly close.) No. Such. Luck. Stupid Keys. They were in the second lane over. I looked at them. I am sure they looked at me. I racked my brain to try to remember everything I had on those keys. Our keyless entry (which was no longer part of the keys. I am sure it was smashed to smitherines.) Our house key. Our garage key. Our back door key. My fingernail clippers. (really, they have to be part of every key chain I carry around.) My key ring I got when I graduated, the cool one that said 09 and spun around. E loved that key ring. It could entertain him for minutes.

I looked down the freeway, trying to see if there was a break in the traffic. There wasn't. Too many cars. Going too fast. I am pretty sure I stood there for 2-3 minutes debating. Should I try to get them? There was a slight bend that would make it more difficult for cars to see me. It wasn't worth it. I couldn't value those stupid keys more than my life. I called Mike and let him know I found the keys and where they were. Because of the traffic, I couldn't hear him and said goodbye.

I ran back to my car. I called Mike and let him know I was leaving. Mike was a bit incredulous that I left them there. I reminded him it was the freeway. I wasn't about to run onto the freeway to get them. He was then incredulous (and a bit upset) that I hadn't looked on the roof of the car for the keys in my search. I reminded him that people don't generally put their keys on the roof of the car. (I should remember that Mike has a tendency to put things on the roof of the car. We have found his phone there, and the keys for another vehicle before. Hopefully, that habit will now stop.)

It is debatable about who lost the keys. Mike maintains I did because I was driving the car when they flew off the roof. I maintain he did, because he was the last one to touch them, and if they hadn't been "lost" in the first place, I would have been using them to drive the car and wouldn't have had the opportunity to fly off the roof. I think I am using my persuasive arguments to bring him around to my way of thinking. At least, he has started to reply that he isn't the last one to touch them, the freeway was.

We drove by the area again at 6 PM during rush hour, stop. and. go. We thought, maybe we will see them again and because traffic is moving so slowly, we could just reach out and grab them. No. Such. Luck. They were gone. We don't know if they have just been smashed to smitherines by this point, or if somebody working on the freeway saw them and picked them up. Maybe the highway patrol picked them up? Maybe another motorist saw them in the stop and go traffic, got curious and picked them up. Regardless, they were gone. My poor keys. I hope they enjoy their new home, wherever it may be. (hopefully smashed to bits on the side of the freeway so somebody doesn't have a cool set of keys they found, that happen to belong to my car and home.)

The Crying Game

2010-07-28T22:57:00.004-06:00

First, I would like to know what happened to my blog background? Man, I will have to check it on another computer to see if it has really disappeared.

We (meaning I) have decided that it is time for E to sleep through the night. He used to, until February when he got RSV. Since February, he wakes up at least once, normally anywhere between 3-5, sometimes if we are lucky 6 or 7 and sometimes earlier. He wakes up, I would go in. Sometimes, I would halfheartedly try not to nurse him, but found it easier to just give in. But he didn't need it. It was a comfort thing.

Last Monday, I decided that it was now or never. (really never? I cannot imagine never sleeping through the night again.) I had talked to one of my friends and said that it would be hard because when I picked E up, he got mad if I didn't nurse him. Her response? Don't pick him up. Pat him on the back, let him know you are there etc. OK, game plan in mind, I put E to bed. 4 AM he wakes up. With my mind set, I go in by his crib and start patting him on the back. "It is ok, mommy is here." Well, heaven forbid Mommy is in the room and not picking him up. E gave it his all and let me know he was definitely not happy about this. So, I picked him up. Then the fight really began. He just couldn't understand why I had picked him up but wasn't nursing him. It took an hour for him to calm down again and drift off to sleep enough that I could put him down without him waking up screaming. Score, Mommy 0, E 1.

When discussing the disaster the previous night, another friend tells me, "don't go into his room. He will cry himself back to sleep." OK, game plan changes for the second night. Tuesday night, I put E down to bed. At 4 AM he is awake again, fussing, but I refuse to get out of bed. I look at my phone. It is now 4:03 AM. Has it really only been 3 minutes? Again, 4:07, 4:10, 4:13. I swear, my phone is broken and giving me the wrong time. 4:15 AM, Mike kicks me and says, "Go get him." No. I am not going in there. I am not going to nurse him and it will make it worse. So, Mike went and got him. He stopped crying the minute Mike picked him up. Mike held him for a couple of minutes and then put him back down. It was no longer crying, it was now screaming. Mike picked him back up. No crying. Mike comes in the bedroom. E sees me, he starts crying again. Mike puts him on our bed, he stops. He is happy. He is in bed with mommy and daddy. Great. This is not what I want. I do not want a little guy who will learn to only sleep in bed with mommy and daddy. I cuddle for a sec, then get up, pick up the little guy and start back to his bedroom. E knew right away what I was doing and started crying again. Again, it took about an hour to get him calmed down and back to bed. But, second night no nursing. Second night score. Mommy 0, E 2.

Wednesday, we put E down and he slept like magic until 6 AM, right in time to wake up and go right into the stroller for our early morning walk. Sweet! Hopefully this means it is near an end. Third night score, Mommy 1, E 2.

Thursday night, we put E down. I had told Mike if he couldn't ignore E and went to get him, that he would be the one to deal with him until he went back to sleep. Well, at 4:22 AM, he wakes up. He cries. Mike's alarm goes off at 4:30 (don't ask my why, he didn't have to work.) 4:32, Mike can't take it anymore and starts to his room. He ignores my, "listen to him. He is drifting off. If you leave him, he will go back to sleep." He picks E up. The crying doesn't stop. It gets worse. It goes on and on and gets louder and louder. I hear Mike talking to him. I get up and see Mike rocking him. Still, getting louder. I start to hear our tenants doors shutting downstairs. Great, the last thing I want to do is have my baby's screaming waking up my tenants. I go in and take him and get him calmed down and asleep. I put him down, but he wakes up sceaming. 5:22 AM, I finally get him asleep and staying asleep. Knowing that my alarm goes off at 5:30, what is the point of trying to go back to bed? Fourth night score, Mommy 1, E 3.

Saturday and Sunday, E sleeps late. Saturday he slept until 8, which was greatly appreciated by a very tired mommy and daddy. Sunday, he slept until 7:30. Score is now even, Mommy 3, E 3.

Monday, it has been a week. We are getting more sleep. I am relieved. E wakes up at 1:30 AM. He cries. I ignore him. Mike stirs. I mutter, "put the pillow over your head." Miracle of miracles, we are both able to ignore him. At least we pretend to. I had to plug my ears with my fingers. It was so hard for me not to get up and go to him and comfort him. I don't know how long it was, probably about 15-20 minutes total when I realized that he wasn't crying anymore. We did it! E went back to sleep on his own! It didn't even take very long. Score, Mommy 4, E 3.

This morning, E woke up at 5:20. I listened to him for 10 min and then my alarm went off. I couldn't get up and do my thing listening to him cry, so I went and got him. Instead of cuddling him, which is what he wanted, he got to help me make daddy's sandwich for lunch. He enjoyed that. We kept him occupied until it was time to go into the stroller for our walk. We then ended up seeing a beautiful sunrise and E went right back to bed when we got home and slept until 9. It was nice.

Let us hope that the nights of crying are over, and if not, that at least they will pass quickly. It has now been a week since E nursed at night and he is learning that he doesn't need it for comfort, and he is slowly learning that he can comfort himself back to sleep when he wakes up. Hopefully, he will soon not be waking up in the middle of the night.

On the one hand, I am glad to see my little guy growing up. On the other, it makes me sad. It makes me sad to realize that I am not the sole nourishment for my little guy anymore. It makes me happy/sad that he is learning to be independent. People always talk about how quickly their babies grew up and I secretly, in my mind, scoffed at them. They grow just as slowly/quickly as any other baby. Well, now I know exactly what they meant. Time flies. I have to enjoy every minute that I can because E changes every single day. Every day he becomes just a little more independent. Every day, he gets just a little less cuddly (unless he is tired) and wants to be down on the ground exploring on his own just a little more. My little baby is slowly being replaced by a toddler (trust me, he is gong to be walking way sooner than I think I am ready for.) Already, he likes to hold my finger with one hand and walk around. I am not ready for my baby to grow up. That is where the happy/sad comes from.

Happy Fourth (Really 3-5) of July!

2010-07-06T22:19:00.006-06:00

I have decided the 4th of July should be on a Sunday every year! This meant that instead of 1 day of festivities, we had 3!

Saturday, we wandered around downtown Provo. We checked out some awesome booths, found some things we would like to eventually buy when we redecorate our upstairs. By redecorate, I mean when it stops being the dumping ground for everything we are not 100% sure what to do with. We saw a possible future president..E also saw his very first snake! This was a boa constrictor that was seriously HUGE! This is down by the tail. The thing was big. E loved it. Mike was a little grossed out by the fact his son was so fascinated by the snake. After wandering around Provo, we headed over to the Proctor home for some good ol' bbq & fireworks. They live in the perfect spot for PG fireworks, and yes, we saw them going off in the crowd. I saw a Proctor activity for the first time. They take a tire tube, cut it up, close it off with wire, stick a hose in it and fill it up until it bursts. It looks like a giant sausage and is fun to bounce on and play with. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of it bursting because all of the photographers were occupied when it went off, but it was fun!Sunday was relaxing. We needed it. We spent some time after church doing some genealogy. Mike & I have started getting into it, Mike more so than me, but we both have an interest in doing it. We then built a fire and roasted some huge mallows. They were delish!
Monday started out early! We were up by 6 and out the door by 6:25 to head to the parade. After a stop to get some donuts & muffins, we staked out an awesome spot on the road. Somebody came along about 20-30 minutes later and tried to kick us out, claiming they had reserved it...sorry, there were no blankets. We squished a little, but I refused to move. The guy was a jerk about the whole thing. Whatev, we knew we didn't steal his seats. The parade was awesome! E slept through the highway patrol bikes and the firetrucks but woke up when somebody whistled at the war veterans. Amanda & Cameron joined us. It was fun and we even caught M licking frosting off their cinnamon rolls!After the parade, we headed home, tried to catch some zzzzzs (didn't really happen) and then headed over to the Lewis home for a bbq. Another good thing about the 4th on a Sunday? Lots of bbqs! We all then headed over the the SCERA for colonial days. They had a bunch of canvas tents set up and lots of different displays from how things would have been in the 1600s. They had a blacksmith, cooper, games that would have been played, a doctor...it was lots of fun! If they have this again next year, I would highly suggest you check it out. While we were there, E joined in Colonial school. He also joined the army, but didn't last very long. :)After all of the festivities, no wonder E was exhausted. He crashed and had a mini nap, and then woke up but ended up crashing again by about 8:30 and slept through the remaining fireworks. Man, after a weekend like that, we need a day to recover! But it was a lot of time. We spent time with both families and truly could not find anything to complain about. It was a good weekend. I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank all of our soldiers, then and now, who fought (and are fighting) for the freedoms we enjoy today. How grateful I am to have been born in this choice land our Heavenly Father set aside. Yes, we are truly blessed.

Family Pictures

2010-07-02T13:22:00.014-06:00

We got our family pictures back. YEAH! My sister, Jennie, came into town the beginning of June. We took the opportunity to get family pictures taken. Seriously, the last time our family had nice pictures that didn't involve wedding attire was before my mission. You don't want to know how long ago that was...if you do know how long ago that was, let's keep that a little secret, eh? I like people to think I am younger than I really am!

We went to the ampitheater across from Timpanogos Temple. There was a concert (oops) so we couldn't really go into the ampitheater, but there was a beautiful lawn surrounded by green bushes and trees that we used.

Sidenote: Maria is an amazing photographer. You can check out her site here.

Here are some of my favorites!

Can you believe how big this little guy is getting?!?

This is my sister, Jennie's family.

This is my brother...yes, he was spoiled being the only boy AND the youngest!

Papa (Grandpa) seems to be a magnent for the grandkids to pile on top of.

My sister Beth.

This is my sister Amy and her family.

My cute little family. I LOVE this picture!

Again, with my family...

I love this picture too!

Mi mama & papa (Ai nohno oh pahpa)

Here are a few of us all together. We sure have grown from the family of 7!

The sibs. My dad always said he wasn't going to fill up his

backyard with girls to get his boy...but...he loves everyone

of us girls!

Look What E Learned!

2010-06-21T16:40:00.005-06:00

It is official...my baby is growing up.

E has been crawling for about a month now. He has been fascinated by the stairs in our home (which, by the way are steep, narrow stairs,) and it has worried me.

Saturday, we stopped by to visit with Grandpa Jack. We were sitting on the back lawn/porch, chatting, and eating a few strawberries. Sidenote: Grandpa Jack's strawberries are WAY better than store bought and E LOVED them! Anyway, E was crawling around and used one of Grandpa's stairs to pull himself of to standing. This is what followed:Yep, once he tried, those stairs were easy for him! Shoot, now I really have to watch him inside the house to keep him away from our stairs until he learns to go down.

You can't visit Grandpa Jack without getting a picture with him! Aren't they a cute pair?Saturday, E went to the Freedom Festival Baby contest. By the time I got him judged, E was tired, rubbing his eyes and not as happy as he normally is. While he smiled at the judges and didn't have a meltdown, he didn't laugh at them, as he is known to do. That is ok, I know my little guy is a cutie and he has a smile to melt your heart. Here are some pictures from the event.
Lately, E has decided to be independent. That includes feeding himself. Most of the time, I can trick him into thinking he is feeding himself while I help out. Others, I am not so lucky. The picture below is when I was mostly lucky and E didn't insist on feeding himself until there was not much left. It resulted in him not being as messy.Yesterday was Father's Day. I just have to say that I am lucky my little guy has such an AMAZING dad. E loves his daddy! Sometimes, I think Mike is E's favorite. Occasionally, I may get a teensy bit jealous that E saves his biggest smiles and laughs for his daddy, but that jealousy goes away quickly when I realize how lucky I am they are such buddies. Yep, I am pretty sure that E is going to be following his daddy around everywhere and then I am going to have two power tool junkies on my hands. Oh, what is a girl to do?

Thanks Mike for being such an amazing, awesome, spectacular dad!

Does this fit?

2010-06-14T11:58:00.002-06:00

Does this not fit the wonderful weather we have been having so far into June?

Camera Cord

2010-06-03T21:11:00.007-06:00

I have found the camera cord! (YEAH!!) Now you will inundated with adorable pictures of a cute little guy.

E loves bath time. Anywhere he is in the house, when he hears the
bath start running, he comes a-crawlin'. He loves playing with his
bath letters. We have discovered they stick to him when he is wet...

E also loves his little red whale. It is always one of the first
toys he grabs in the bath. Hmmm....the red letters are the second
thing he goes for...maybe it is the color red?

This is the picture of all cute baby pictures. It is one of my
favorite pics.

E LOVES his grandpa. Mike & his grandpa are able to get
the biggest laughs out of E. I wish I had gotten a picture
of the kiss that E gave his grandpa, along with the long
drool line connecting them afterwards!

If you want to get a laugh, toss E up in the air. It is 100% guaranteed.

E does NOT like grass. Occasionally we can trick him and if
he sees something he is very interested in, he will crawl over the grass
to get to it. On Sunday, we visited graves. At the first one, I put him
down on the grass. This is how he sat until his little abs couldn't
take the workout any longer. It was a good couple of minutes.

Now that E is crawling, he loves to get into things I didn't have to
worry about before. He especially loves getting into the baby food
we keep in his closet. He tries to eat them.

Sometimes, it is really fun to just let E go when we feed him.
It is also generally easier if he is distracted and thinking he
is feeding himself to get him to eat. He is definitely asserting his
independence early. You might not want to kiss this messy face,
but can you deny the cuteness of it?

I love sleeping babies. There is something so innocent and sweet
about watching them sleep.

Do you remember the post where I talked about E eating different things?
This is the picture of the clementine orange he ate. He loved it!

Daddy likes to give E different things to eat. E likes it when daddy gives him
different things to eat. E really loves it when daddy gives him Oreos.

I may be biased, but I think I definitely have a cutie on my hands!

My New Life

2010-06-02T12:21:00.000-06:00

Is there no greater message than this?

My New Life

Blessings

2010-05-04T19:23:00.002-06:00

I have always known about tithing, paying 10% to the Lord. Growing up, this wasn't a hard concept for me. The Lord gave you everything, so why should it be hard to return 10% to Him? While I have known this, I haven't always been the most faithful in paying my tithes. There have been a few years here and there that I let myself falter.

The last 2 years, I have had the blessings of paying our tithing paid out. These last two winters, Mike has been laid off. Last year, I had mostly quit my job to student teach. That left neither of us really working. I have never been so poor in my life. It was scary. But we made an effort to pay our tithing faithfully. It amazed me that even though we didn't have any extra, we had enough money to meet our basic needs and my parents were able to help us out in other areas.

This year, I was working while Mike wasn't. We were blessed to not need to rely on family to help us through this winter. Again, things were very tight, but we had enough for what we needed. It always seemed that if something came up, such as having no food in the house, or needing a bigger car seat for our fast growing boy, something happened. I got a bonus at work that paid for the car seat we needed and helped us stock up on some much needed food supplies.

We have truly been blessed and taken care of. It would seem that our needs have been met at every turn. I will admit it is hard to write out that check for tithing when in the back of your mind you are thinking of things your family needs. These are not wants, but needs. Yet, the check is written and paid, and the needs are met. How can you deny the hand of the Lord in that? He blesses those who do as he asks.

We were blessed again last night. Between E being born, my prenatal care, and having no insurance this winter, we have racked up quite the bill at the doctor's office. We have been lucky to have my mom be the billing supervisor at this office, and while we have been slowly but surely (ever so slowly it seemed) paying off this bill, it seemed to always grow with needing to go in for this or that. Yesterday, our doctor was talking to my mom, asking us how we have been. She told him we have been fine. He asked if Mike was back to work.

"Yes, but he doesn't generally work if it rains, and it has been raining quite a bit lately."

He then asked how our bill was doing.

"Well, they are paying it off, slowly, but they are working on it."

The doctor than looked at my mom and said, "Why don't you just make their bill disappear."

Words cannot even express the gratitude we feel. While we have been able to pay a little towards it each month, it sometimes seemed like it would never be paid off. This is another blessing, that I feel, is directly related to us doing as the Lord asks us. The next time I am asked if it is worth it to pay tithing, I can honestly respond, Is it worth it to not pay?

What?!?

2010-05-03T14:08:00.007-06:00

I know babies like to eat everything. I am learning just how true this is. In the past weeks, I have caught E eating; paper, dirt, cinderblocks, dog bone, whole clementines.

The paper is normal. Who hasn't heard of a baby that doesn't like to crinkle, crumple, and taste paper? We are learning that we have got to place all paper up higher than we think E can reach, and since E is learning to pull himself up, this is getting higher and higher every day.

The dirt, I guess that could be considered normal also, especially if you spend a lot of time outdoors or have plants in your house. E isn't quite crawling yet, but he has definitely learned to get around. I put him down the other day, he is playing quietly. Next thing I know, he has moved 3-4 feet to our plant and is eating the dirt out of it. The plant is now on a chair, where the dirt will hopefully be safely out of reach for the next little bit.

Cinderblocks. This is a new one. I have never heard of any baby eating a cinderblock. Maybe E is sharpening his teeth? When Mike and I put a loveseat upstairs, we had to cut the legs off to get it through the tight spaces. Even then, it was difficult to get up the stairs. Once up, because it didn't have legs, Mike felt it was too low to the ground and put the loveseat up on cinderblocks to raise it up. Yesterday, Mike and I were up watching a show. E was squirmy and kept wanting down, so I put him down on the floor. He entertained himself and then all of a sudden, I heard a scraping sound. What the...? I look down and E is trying to bite the cinderblock! By the time a got him, I think he managed 3-4 tries. Hope it tasted good.
When I am doing anything, I generally put E on his floor in his bedroom to play with his toys. Well, this also happens to be where Jake takes his rawhide bones to chew. Don't ask my why he loves to be in E's room. A couple of weeks ago, E was playing and every 5-10 minutes, I would check on him and he would be happily playing with his blocks. Well, one time, I walked in and E is happily chewing on Jake's rawhide. DISGUSTING! I snatched the bone away and threw it away. I didn't even give Jake a chance to take his bone anywhere else. I guess E is just doing his best to build a strong immune system in his first year.

Clementine oranges happen to be everywhere right now. I splurged the other day and bought some (mostly a splurge because Mike doesn't generally eat any of this yummy food I buy, so if I buy it, it is for me, and lately E.) I had been taking sections of the clementines and cutting them up and giving them to E. He thoroughly enjoys them. Well, on Saturday, Mike gave E a whole clementine to play with. He didn't think that E would break into it. Well, he did. It is a good thing he was sitting on the wood floor and not the carpet. This is the result:

(Note: I was going to post pictures of the clementine that E demolished, but I cannot find my camera cord. Pictures will come soon. Hopefully.)

(Note 2: I always thought, "How can you lose your camera cord?" whenever somebody posted that they couldn't post pictures because they had...now I understand.)

(Note 3: If I don't post the pictures of the clementine, please remind me, cause they are just too cute.)

Relaxing Sundays

2010-04-20T23:26:00.003-06:00

I love Sundays. I love it when we have nowhere to go and we can do our own thing. We get up, go to church and then relax. I love it. We met my friend to take her family pictures. She has given me some much needed massages and I owed her. She has such a cute little family and taking their pictures was fun. After wards, we ended up heading up the canyon. We stopped by Bridal Veil Falls. There were so many people there! But it was nice. It was cooler up the canyon and we enjoyed our little stroll up the path. Mike loved showing E the ducks in the river (I don't think E saw them, he was fascinated by all the running water 20 feet below him.) I loved getting the chance to take some pics of my little guy.

I was told today that this picture makes my little guy look like a toddler! He no longer looks like my little baby. He is growing just way too fast.Can you believe he is 7 months already! I cannot. Time has FLOWN by. He is sitting up, and has been for 3 months. About a month and a half ago, he had rolled over multiple times in a 20 minute period, and then he stopped. I thought he had forgotten how. I now realize he just didn't want to. He is now rolling over all the time! A rolling baby in the middle of a diaper change presents a new set of challenges.

E is starting to get on his hands and knees. He hasn't figured it out yet that he can use this as a method to propel himself forward. He is generally doing it to allow himself to reach further when he is trying to get a toy. He usually ends up plopping onto his stomach, but a few times has used this as a precursor to taking a nose dive onto a hard surface. When he is on his stomach, he is all over the place. He moves anywhere within a 2-4 foot space and is good at turning in circles on the ground. Part of me can't wait to see him mobile and exploring more of his world and the other part of me dreads what he can get into when he becomes mobile! Now, I can put him down and know he will be mostly in the same place!

If E finds himself next to a low surface while on the ground, he has started trying to pull himself up. A few times, this has resulted in a fall backwards. Except for the falls, he loves being able to reach up and peep over the edge of a coffee table, footstool, or whatever happens to be nearby. It is also hilarious to think he is on the floor in front of the coffee table and you are on the couch and the next thing you see are these eyes peeking over the top, between little fingers holding on for dear life as little legs are trying to get up past the knees to get higher. I think I may need to watch him in the future. He may turn into a little climber!

April Fool's Day and other things...

2010-04-04T17:08:00.002-06:00

OK, is it totally lame that I went private and now I feel that nobody is reading my blog because nobody ever leaves comments? I know, if you go private, your readership goes down...I guess it means that it is true that I do this blog mostly for myself.

I always forget April Fool's day. I would love to remember it and every year, I think, "I need to remember that to try on someone next year," but then I forget. It always seems to surprise me, so I love hearing when somebody else is made the "fool." Here is my mom's experience.

She works in a doctors office. On Thursday, she was given a phone # to call and told to ask for Myra Mains. (Say it out loud if you have any questions.) She called.

"Hello Olphins" (for those of you who don't know, this is a funeral home)

"Yes, I need to speak to Myra Mains."

"There is nobody here by that name."

"No, this is P from (name of doctor's office) I was told this was the number where I could reach Myra Mains."

"No, I am sorry, there is nobody here by that name."

She then got off the phone, went up front and asked the receptionists if they were sure they had given her the correct number because there was nobody by the name of Myra Mains at the number she had called. They got her good. I wonder how many people called funeral homes on Thursday asking to speak to Myra Mains. The best part? My mom still didn't get it until everybody started laughing. So, hint, if you ever play Mad Gab, you want mom on the other team.

Today is Easter. It has been pretty laid back and relaxing. But, for Mike and I, Easter has really been happening all week. With Grandma Winnie dying, we had her funeral yesterday. Mike said to me, "You know, it is kinda cool that this is Easter weekend, and everybody is focusing on the resurrection of our Savior. At this same time, when it is so fresh, Grandma has her funeral." I think that it really helped to be able to remember the eternal perspective.

Grandma has died, but she is not gone. She is having a joyful reunion with her sweetheart. As Mike reminded me, she is also stretching and being able to move with her spirit in ways that her body hasn't allowed for many years.

Because of our Savior's sacrifice, we know that we will one day be reunited with our bodies. How great that at that time, grandma will be able to run and jump. It makes me so thankful to remember Alma's words that, "not a hair on our head will be lost." It is good to remember this all during Easter week. I should be better and remember it all year long. I guess that is why we have days to celebrate, so that we do remember.

Thoughts

2010-03-31T09:28:00.004-06:00

I seem to have a lot of posts lately titled, "Thoughts." Oh well. You get to see some of the things that I am thinking.

Early this morning, Mike's grandma died. Mike has been very close to this grandma and has done a lot for her and with her in the past. It was a wonderful experience to gather with the family yesterday and visit. We are sure that Grandma knew we were there and felt the love we all had for her. She was an amazing, strong willed woman. She has left behind an amazing legacy. I am so thankful that she got an opportunity to meet little E. She loved his smile. She loved that he was Mike's son. Even the last time we saw her, before yesterday, she wanted to hold him. It was difficult for her, but she loved it. She has a beautiful picture with all of her great-grandchildren, holding them and just smiling down at them. She loved them all. She will be missed.
On another note, I took some more pictures of E. Look how adorable he is! Normally I think I am just prejudiced when I think he is the cutest little guy, but you have to agree, he is, isn't he?

Has it really been 6 months?

2010-03-16T23:03:00.005-06:00

These past 6 months have gone fast. They have literally flown by. Mike asked me if I would rather have my little guy small or the way he is now. Honestly, I cannot remember him being small. I love E's smile. It lights up his whole face. I love his laugh (being tickled at night, being tossed up in the air, getting funny looks from daddy.) I love most of all, the joy little E has brought into our little family. I cannot imagine our life before him.

I have been working on making some scrapbook pages for E's book, which I will get around to buying one day and then I will get around to printing the pages off. It has been amazing to me how much he has changed. It is hard to believe!Here are some pictures of how much he has changed so you can see for yourself!

Minutes after birth

2 Days Old1 Week Old
3 Weeks Old
5 Weeks Old9 Weeks Old2 1/2 Months Old (Don't I look like a football player?)3 Months Old (Really Momma? I am trying to sleep!)First Christmas!4 1/2 Months Old (Sitting up? Really?)5 Months Old (First Basketball Game)5 1/2 Months Old

We need to do another photo shoot and get some 6 month pictures. This little guy is just the cutest! We are so lucky to have him in our family. It is only the beginning!

Teeth & Lost Phones

2010-03-11T20:38:00.002-07:00

E now has 2 teeth. Yep, the little guy is getting too big way too fast! Here is how it went down.

Sunday night, E goes to bed way early, around 8:40 PM. Since he normally isn't ready for bed until 9 or 10, I was loving life. Around 10:30, he started to whimper, but it quickly stopped. Around 11:20, he started to cry. I figured it would stop quickly, as it had before, but instead, it quickly rose in crescendo until it was a scream.

One thing you should know about E, he doesn't scream unless he hurts, such as when he falls over and hits his head on our wood floor, narrowly missing the rug.

Not thinking anything about it, I decided he was hungry. I fed him a little, he fell back asleep. I laid him down in his crib, he woke up screaming. OK, he wants more to eat. I picked him up, fed him some more.

In the meantime, Mike had decided he was sleeping on the couch because he didn't feel good and just couldn't get comfortable in the bed. I decided that I could just leave E on the bed, set up some pillows to avoid rolling off, and laid E down. After about 5 minutes, he started screaming again. Have you ever seen a baby scream while still sleeping, or rather trying to sleep? So sad!

This proceeded to be the pattern until 1:30 AM. Fall asleep, wake up after 5-10 minutes screaming, comforted by mom, fall asleep. At wits end, wondering what was up with my little guy, I took his temperature. Trust me, E did not appreciate the thermometer held under his arm. I can't make myself do the rectal...even though I know it is WAY more accurate. His temp was a little higher than normal, so I gave him some baby Tylenol. In about 10 minutes, he was happy and smiling.

What the? That Tylenol did something. I started checking all around my now happy little guy. Because I just had my lamp on, I pulled out my flashlight and looked in his mouth. There was another tooth coming through! His poor gums looks so red and sore! I put a little Orajel on to help him sleep, and E, now being perfectly happy, decided to play until about 2:30 AM. I couldn't be happier, it was much better than him being miserable!

When he woke up at 7, it was to the screaming. This time, I knew what to look for. I didn't even have to touch his gums...I put my finger up to his lip and the screaming intensified. I quickly dosed him up again with both the Orajel and the Tylenol and he was again his happy little self. It ended up being a miserable 24 hours for him though. We thought, or rather hoped, he would be an easy teether since we had no idea the first tooth had come in. Our hopes have been crushed. Now, if he has this same pattern, I will know to check for new teeth first!

On Saturday, Mike & I went to Ikea. We just went for fun, to look around and make a wish list (a long far off wish list most likely.) We decided we needed pictures of our wish list items, so I pulled out my phone and started snapping away. We were just plain old having fun. Well, we get down to the basement and while standing in line to buy our new dish scrub brush, I couldn't find my phone. I grabbed Mike's and called to see if I could hear it. Nothing.

Crap.

What was I going to do?

I looked at Mike, told him I would find him and took off, retracing my steps. I had Mike's phone still and called, got voicemail, hung up, called again...over and over. I was getting frantic. Finally, somebody answered my phone, "Draper Ikea, this phone is lost..."

Yes! An answer, now to find it...upon inquiring, still a bit frantically, as to the whereabouts of my phone, I was directed to the employee lounge. I found Mike, found my phone, discovered I couldn't rejoin Mike through the same door as it was locked from the inside. Really? You have to have an employee badge to get onto the sales floor, but not into the employee area? Strange...but I reunited, and all was good. I had my phone.

I never knew I was so dependent on a phone before. What does that say about me? I would rather not know.

Private

2010-03-08T18:42:00.002-07:00

This is a little something that I discovered from my friend Mindy, who also went private. When I read blogs, I go through Google Reader, and private blogs never show up as being updated. When I post on my blog when I go private, I will add an update here:

http://theproctorposttest1.blogspot.com

The update will not be my blog update, but rather, just an update letting you know that I posted on my blog.

If you go through Google Reader, add this link to your subscription list and you will always know when I have updated. Otherwise, you can go through the general, click the link to check updates.

I will probably be going private by Wednesday (but definitely by Sunday) so don't forget to request!

Reminder

2010-03-03T20:11:00.006-07:00

Just a reminder that I am going private and if you want to continue following, you gotta drop a comment with your e-mail. Don't worry that you don't see past comments showing up, I am not publishing the comments that have e-mail addresses so that they aren't out there for everyone to see. Just a quick note, dlh129, I have no idea who you are! If you could send me another comment letting me know who you are, that would be awesome!

I know you want to continue seeing awesome pictures like:

E hangin out at the Utah Flash Game
E with his best buddy
E getting daddy's drink (mommy doesn't want E
picking up daddy's bad habit)
Mike rocking E when he was sick.

Or E in his favorite (or really daddy's) pajamas.

Or E playing with his toys

Private

2010-02-27T18:24:00.003-07:00

The decision has been made.

We are going private.

If you want to continue seeing this cute little guy
please leave your e-mail (if you haven't already.)

Quick update - This past month has been crazy!

1st, little E was diagnosed with croup. A few days later, it was
RSV. That was HARD! But he is doing so much better now!
Yeah!!

E is sitting up! He started sitting up at 4 months, and he
is really good at it now. He still takes dives every now
and then, but he LOVES sitting up!

A week ago, mommy found a tooth! This means that
little guy is growing up too quickly! A tooth already?
E likes to use it to BITE so beware of anything
you put in his mouth.

We know you want to keep up with the cutie.
Leave your e-mail!

Awesome Baby Clothes

2010-01-26T09:13:00.002-07:00

So, big E has something I have never had. He has 2 designer shirts.

A friend of mine in my ward gave them to us. They are ADORABLE!! I think they are my new favorite clothes to put Big E in. My friend's daughter started this company in California in an effort to stay at home with her little baby.

Check them out. The company is called Rocker Roos Clothing and she has cute little baby boy and baby girl outfits. If you look at the boy clothes, Big E has the Bennett and the John shirts. Seriously, I may need to buy them in bigger sizes and Big E grows out of the ones he has.

Private

2010-01-22T23:20:00.003-07:00

I have been thinking of going private for some time now. In the past, I have had some very random, and very unappreciated, comments on my blog from people I don't know. This is one of the reasons I moderate my comments now. I am concerned about the safety of my little guy and this would be the main reason I would go private.

I still am not 100% sure if it will happen, but if I do, and you would like to be invited to view my blog, drop me a line at travelingbeula at gmail dot com or leave me a comment.

Thoughts

2010-01-17T08:12:00.003-07:00

Last Sunday, our home teachers came. I love that we now have regular home teachers. In the 2 1/2 years we have lived in our ward, we were visited twice before our new home teachers. Anyway, back to their visit. The lesson was on our Celestial lineage. This started me thinking and I got a little worried. There is so much that I feel responsible for teaching E! After all, our Heavenly Father trusted this little guy to me and I need to raise him so he will be a well adjusted adult. I need to raise him so that he knows his Heavenly Father and Savior. It started to worry me a little, all this responsibility.

I voiced this concern to our home teachers. This is what they replied.

C - (Who has teenagers) Whenever I left my home, my mom would say, "Remember who you are and what you are to be." I hated it when I was growing up. Looking back though, I know by her saying this, it kept me out of trouble. It really made me remember.

M (who has a little baby himself) I haven't been worried about the responsiblity because of something Boyd K. Packer once said in a sealing he was performing. He asked the bride and groom what their responsibilities were going to be as parents. After a bit of discussion, he answered them. A mother's responsibility is to love and nurture her children. They should never not know that their mother loves them. A father's responsibility is to play and praise his children. If both parents do this, their children will grow up well. The gospel teaching moments will fall into place. Your children will be happy and well adjusted and will grow up knowing the things they need to know.

I loved these little thoughts! I have continued to think on them all week long. I have shared them here and there, but decided I needed to write them down so that I always have the record of them.

2010-01-10T09:16:00.010-07:00

It has been a long time since I have posted. I am very sorry about that. With me working full time, I tend to be a little selfish when I get home and spend my time with my big E. Right now, he is helping me type. Big E is growing by leaps and bounds! He is over 16 pounds now and wearing anywhere from 6-12 month outfits (depending on the outfit.) Nobody ever told me they grew up so fast! Well, I guess they tried, but I didn't believe them.

Since it has been so long since I posted, this post will have a TON of pictures. I apologize beforehand. I do hope you enjoy.

Here is a picture of big E wearing the hat that Grandma Winnie made. Isn't he handsome? It isn't the best picture. but he was having fun kicking and giggling in his crib as we were getting ready for bed.
This is big E showing how big he is! Look how good he is sitting up in the bumbo! He has now taken to chewing on his hands. He bites pretty good for not having any teeth. This is one of my favorite shirts that he has. M has taken to calling any plaid shirt a Bampa shirt, because that is all that Mike's dad wears. So here is big E wearing his Bamp shirt.
A while ago, I decided to try on the shoes that belong to Skooter, Big E's build-a-bear (that is really a wolf.) They fit! They did look rather funny though as they were much to wide and poor little E couldn't lift his legs. Who knew that a doll shoe was so heavy? Sorry that the picture is sideways. I always edited in photoshop, and that is on my computer that will not currently take a charge (or recognize that the plug is plugged in.) I need to figure out how to edit without photoshop. I am sure there are many ways, I just need to learn.
This year, we spent Christmas Eve with the Proctor family. It was a blast! We went to Rosie and Mark's new house and enjoyed yummy enchilada's and good times. Big E got a book from Santa that sings. (Trust me, there were 3 of them singing all at once.) Big E also got spoiled with new clothes and toys. Good times were had by all. The best? Mike and I got a beautiful picture of Timpanogos Temple from the Skinners. I love it! It got hung that night when we got home.

Big E and M got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. Big E LOVES Bampa!
Here are all the boys with their new jammies made by Grandma! You know how hard it is to get five boys (two of them babies) to look at the camera (or the 5 that were being used?) at the same time? But aren't they cute? T & B, I didn't call you cute! You two are handsome in those new jammies!Here is one of the outfits that Big E got. Again, sorry for the sideways picture. As you can see, Big E had to eat everything he got. That is how he knew if it was a great present or not. This one passed!
Here is Big E again in his Bampa shirt. I love this little guy! We have to put a bib on him if we want his shirt to remain dry. We have a BIG drooler!
Here is Big E with Grandma Winnie. We also went to see her on Christmas day. It was fun to see her two days in a row!
Here is E and Grandpa Jack on Christmas day. Don't you love the windswept look that E is going for with his hair? It is all the new style. Big E and Grandpa talked tractor talk with the John Deere blanket.
Christmas morning was so much fun with a baby! Even though E had no idea what was going on and was just along for the ride, it was fun. We would tear a little piece of the paper, get E to grab the paper and then we would pull the present away and it would "open." It made for a long time in opening presents, but it was fun!
For Christmas day, we started a new tradition. Because we have a little guy now, we wanted to start some traditions of our own that are important within our family. We decided that we would invite the grandparents of whichever family we didn't spend Christmas Eve with over for a Christmas dinner. It made for a fun day of going and seeing great grandparents and still knowing that we would get to spend some time with both of our families for the holidays. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this, because I was a bit busy and forgot.

This is how Big E welcomed the New Year. He completely slept through it! He did wake up shortly thereafter though when I put him in his pajamas and then kept both mommy and daddy awake into the new year. It was a fun evening.
Can you believe how big E is getting? You can see the little haircut I gave him. I trimmed the top so it wasn't so wild and crazy. It is a little difficult cutting the hair of a 3 1/2 month old, but I think it turned out pretty good. This is one of his 6 month onsies that if we had delayed anymore time, he wouldn't have gotten to use. He is just growing too fast. In the next few pictures, you can also see what a little drooler we have. Trust me, he can soak you if you aren't careful. If he keeps it up, we may need to invest in some rain slickers. :)
Last but not least, I wanted to show my new haircut. I was so tired of living in ponytail land (I think I have worn one almost everyday since June) that I chopped it. It is now too short (mostly) for a ponytail and I LOVE IT! Mike is trying to get used to my shorter hair. He better hurry, because it might be here to stay for a bit.

Pictures!

2009-12-18T16:18:00.005-07:00

In my last post, I talked about projects that Mike discovered took longer to do when watching an infant. One of those projects was our bathroom. Mike was laying linoleum (it looks like tile and looks AWESOME!) and this is where my toilet was for 2 days.

Mike did finish the project and my toilet is (thankfully) right back where it belongs. This is the finished product (now I just have to clean it, meaning the bathroom.)

I have to admit, with Mike home, my home is cleaner than it has been for a long time. All of our moving stuff is put away (please don't go upstairs) and the projects are getting done, if slowly but surely.

Last Saturday, we took E to see Santa Claus. E was less than impressed. He sat on Santa's lap just long for me to snap a picture, and looked a little bored. But, I am sure he had fun. (As the mom, I hereby declare that my little E-guy had fun sitting on Santa's lap.)

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures. I will have to take more of my new little home and post those. It is cute, and it is ours. Mike is most excited because I will let him plant rose bushes in the spring. I couldn't see paying to plant them in a rental, only to have to move and leave them. We did leave the Hibiscus...sadness. Have a most wonderful weekend!

New Things

2009-12-11T20:39:00.003-07:00

A week ago, Mike got laid off from work. Yeah...how excited are we? Not. Since then, he has become Mr. Mom and I was luckily able to get more hours at work. While it is hard to be away from my little E-guy (Big E as Mike calls him) it is necessary right now. Mike also gets the experience of becoming the sole caretaker during the day of a 3 month old.

Mike has learned that projects take longer to do and sometimes don't get done until somebody else comes home. He now gets the frustration I had when he would call me 3 hours before I went to work and give me a list of things he wanted me to accomplish. He gets how time consuming it is to take care of our little guy.

I have learned that I have to look in the diaper bag for things I never thought I would find in the diaper bag. Not diapers, or burp cloths, or toys. Nope, I have to get into the diaper bag to find Mike's tools. This is a conversation we had tonight.

"Honey, can you get my tape measure?"
"Sure, where is it?"
"In the diaper bag."
"Did I hear you right? Did you say the diaper bag?"
"Yes, the diaper bag."

Mike is learning how much fun taking care of our little E-guy is. I miss all the time we got to spend together before and now you may find me even more possessive of my little guy then I was before.

We hope that everybody is preparing to have a most wonderful Christmas. I personally am so grateful for this time to really remember and focus on the reason for the season. Isn't it so wonderful to remember that our Savior came to this earth for us? He died so that we can return to our Heavenly Father. I can't even tell you how excited I am to be able to create traditions with my little family that hopefully, our little E-guy will cherish and remember. I want him to grow up knowing that Christ is the focus of this time of year, not the presents we can get.

For me, I have already received the best present this year. I have my little E-guy. What a tremendous responsibility my Heavenly Father has entrusted me with. Yet, it is a responsibility that is full of joy. I love my little family.

Update

2009-12-02T22:18:00.004-07:00

I have been told that I need to seriously update my blog. Yes, I admit that I do. It has been a long time, but I have been BUSY! Don't ask me doing what, I have no idea. I know I spent the entire morning yesterday just watching my cute little guy sleeping until I had to get myself ready for work and E ready to go to the babysitter. While there was so much I needed to be doing, I felt that this was so much more important (and rewarding.)

So, I promised I would show a picture of E in his blessing outfit. Here it is! Isn't he cute? Although he is not loving the sun in his eyes. My mom buys little shoes for all her grand children's blessings. She was so worried that the 3-6 month shoes would be too large for E. She forgets that my little boy is huge and has his daddy's gynormous feet. They fit perfectly! The best memory about the blessing outfit? On the morning of the blessing, while I was getting ready for church, Mike decided to get E dressed. Mike spent 5 minutes trying to undo these little tiny buttons on the vest of the shirt. Poor Mike, it was a faux vest and didn't need to be unbuttoned to be put on!

So, when E was about a month old, we found this adorable little Sunday outfit in a 3-6 month size. Mike has been trying to get me to put E in it for awhile, but I have been stubborn and insisting that it was too big and that he keep wearing his little onsie with the tie that Aunt Amanda made for him. The onsie was getting to be quite the muscle shirt and was getting more and more difficult to put on, so I gave in and put this outfit on him, thinking it would be way to big. Wrong! I should have put him in it a long time ago. As it is, we cannot do up the top button (really we can but it is very uncomfortable for E ) which means that the cute little tie that came with the outfit doesn't look good. You can't really wear a tie with a shirt that isn't fully buttoned up now, can you? Here is a picture of E in this outfit. Notice how red his hair looks in this picture! I am sad to say that I will probably have to be extra diligent with the sunscreen the entire time E is growing up. I have a hard time being diligent for myself (which is why I look like a lobster at least once a year.)
This is one of the most recent pictures of my little guy. It was taken on Thanksgiving day. His daddy picked out this sweater for him. Mike does have good taste, doesn't he? But then, he married me! haha (Mike will say that is extremely cheesy.) How could you see this little guy and not fall in love? He is my little chunky monkey (nickname comes from the obvious fact that he is a good eater.)

Thanksgiving was quite fun for Mike and I. We were lucky to have two Thanksgiving dinners. We had one the Saturday before with the Proctors (I had my first taste of Kansas corn which I have heard about since Mike and I got married.) and then another dinner on Thanksgiving day with the Lewis'. It was fun to be able to spend time with both of our families. Mike and I tried the black Friday with E. He was so good he slept through the entire thing! We were bad though. Every year I have done black Friday, I have HATED the people who wait in their cars for the doors to open and then casually walk in past the people who stood in line freezing after the doors open. Well, this year, because we had E, Mike and I became those people. I have to admit, it was nice to sit in the car with the heater while we people watched all the people waiting in line. I did feel a little guilty as I heard people saying, "Hey, back of the line, we waited in the cold!" but I still kept going.

Mike and I are officially all moved into our new home. We are still trying to get the apartment rented, so if anyone knows of anyone looking to move, let us know. Now comes the fun of putting everything away. Yeah...our DI pile keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is a good time to clear everything out that we don't need or use. I have discovered that Mike and I have a lot of crap. I know, it isn't all crap, but man, we do have a lot of stuff! How much of it is really needed?

We hope that everybody enjoyed their Thanksgivings. We look forward to celebrating the Christmas season and remembering the sacrifice that our Savior made for us.

9 Weeks

2009-11-15T16:45:00.004-07:00

Tomorrow, E is 9 weeks old. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by, and he just won't stop growing! My little guy is getting so big so fast. Friday, he had his 2 month checkup. Beyond getting his shots, which he did NOT enjoy, he got his new weight and height measurements. At 2 months, he is 25 inches long and 13 lbs 12 oz. He is right above the 100 percentile for his weight and completely off the charts for his height. Wow, so BIG!!Since E was born, he has grown 4 1/2 inches and gained 5 lbs 7 oz. That is so close to doubling his birth weight. It must be his goal to do that within 3 months, because that seems to be when it will happen. Everybody promises me that he will slow down, I just don't know when.

Here are some of the latest pictures that I have taken of him. Since I went back to work, it doesn't seem like I get as many pictures, which makes me sad. I need keep getting them, because E changes every single day.

Look, my hands are getting to be cute little pudgy baby hands!
You wanna know what I am thinking? Too bad!!
I LOVE to smile at Mommy!
This is Mommy's favorite picture of me, so far, at 9 weeks.
Gosh, I don't know what I would do without a tongue.

Picture This

2009-11-12T13:56:00.003-07:00

Silly me. How could I possibly think that because most government agencies (and banks) had the day off yesterday for Vetran's Day, the garbage man would too? Was I correct? No! At 9 AM, I see the garbage man picking up green waste, so I knew that I had to kick my heiny into gear and get the garbage out on the street, not at 1 house, but 2!

Our old house was pretty easy. Grab it, roll it out to the street. I then went in, got E into the sling and headed over to our new house (across the street, I know, really far.) We have been putting in a new floor and for ease, Mike had moved the garbage can inside the house. OK, I just have to get it out. I looked at my options of the front door versus the back door. The heaviness of the garbage can made my decision. It was too heavy for me to get it over the threshold on my own by standing behind it (where it would have been easy to tip it back and slowly roll it down the stairs.) This meant that it needed to go out the back door, where I could manuver myself in front of it, and have a wall to help protect myself from having it knock me over. Trust me, there was a point where I was glad for this decision.

So that E wouldn't get squished between me and a heavy garbage can, I put him in his sling and got in front of the can on the stairs. I then proceeded to lift the can so that I could pull it over the threshold. The only thing that kept me from being splattered on the floor was the fact that I could push my back into the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Trust me, this garbage can was HEAVY! I will admit that I could just possibly be a wuss also...put the two together and it is not a pretty picture.

I get the garbage can to the bottom of the stairs and try to turn it so I can manuever it out the door. It turns, and then promptly stops. It is two stairs up from the bottom, wedged against the wall and refuses to move. I can't get up the stairs (remember, E is in the house) and I can't get the garbage can the rest of the way down the stairs. I should mention that I also don't have a key to the front door, Mike has that. So, I am stuck. I wrestle with this for about 5 minutes, and really roughed up the wall by the back door. Hopefully, a quick touchup will fix it.

I was at a loss. How can I get past this can that is now wedged in place? I can't get in the front door, and I can't just leave it, after all, my little baby is in the house! Shoot, what to do? I ended up running next door and my WONDERFUL neighbor, Gary, came to my rescue. I think he though I was crazy, but remember, it wasn't me who put the garbage can in the house. With a little maneuvering by both Gary and I, we were able to lift the can up so that we could get it all the way down the stairs and from there, it was very easy to get out the door. With Gary's help, it worked just like it had worked in my mind BEFORE the problems. The can got out on the street before the garbage man came, and I was able to get in the house to get my little guy. I am so glad he was patient and didn't cry during this process. That would have been miserable...for both of us.

Note to self, the outdoor garbage can doesn't go back in the house. Make sure that Mike knows, and if he puts it in, it is HIS responsibility to get out.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-03T10:14:00.005-07:00

This year, we debated whether or not to get E a costume, he was only 6 weeks old after all. We then found an adorable little pirate costume at Shopko for only $8! You can't beat that. So, Saturday, our little guy became a big tough pirate!

We had planned on going to grandparents houses and showing off his cute little costume, but things changed. On Wednesday night (really late,) Mike and I closed on a house. Trust me, we signed almost a ream of paper! It funded on Friday and starting Friday night, we started to paint the apartment in the basement. Yes, it has an apartment, so if anyone is looking for a place to live, we have a nice little two bedroom with fresh paint! Needless to say, we didn't make it to any grandparents houses. Mike's parents came over to see E, but my parents were quarantined from us as my mom had been diagnosed with H1N1 (sadness!)

Here is our cute little pirate. Enjoy!

Mobile Phone Pictures

2009-10-23T21:11:00.004-06:00

These are some pictures that I took with my phone, that I loved, but have been unable to share until now. I haven't been able to connect to my computer via blue tooth (something about having to verify passwords or pins...) and so Mike hooked up his phone and transferred them. These pictures range from a couple of weeks to today.

While these pictures don't look as god as they do on the little screen of my phone, I love them. Some of the pictures showcase E's first smiles (and how could you not just love that little toothless grin?) You can also see the progression of his little cheeks filling out. He is just our adorable little man.

Just Chillen'
First smile! Captured on Camera!!
I am not going to smile! Even though you are trying to make me :)
This is the smile that let mom know everything is ok with the world
(isn't it adorable?)
Just chillen' (at a couple of weeks old.)

More Pictures

2009-10-21T10:09:00.003-06:00

Here are more pictures of our cute little boy! I cannot believe how fast he is growing! He changes so much everyday.

Who do I look like?

2009-10-17T11:07:00.004-06:00

When E was born, all the nurses thought he looked like me. As he has gotten a bit older, we hear more and more people say he looks like Mike. So, we are going to ask everyone what they think? (I think E was most unfortunate to inherit the Lewis nose, it is rather large...) While E does have my hair color (with the reddish highlights and all,) the amount, he definitely got the amount of hair from Mike.

Mike at 1 month
Becky around 1 month And E...E again...

So, who do you think E looks like? Or is he just a good mixture of both of us?

4 weeks!

2009-10-15T17:50:00.003-06:00

I am 4 weeks old, can you believe how fast I am growing? It seems like just yesterday that I was born.

A weed?

2009-10-14T07:44:00.003-06:00

Seriously, a weed. That is what I am starting to think I gave birth too. Yesterday, E had his 1 month appointment to make sure that he is a well baby, and oh, he so is a well baby. He is now measuring 23 inches (seriously? My little guy grew 2 1/2 inches in a month???) and 11.2 lbs. This may explain why I had to finally put aside the newborn pajamas and move up to the 3 month. Poor little E couldn't stretch out his legs in them.

The nurse gave me a little chart of where E is with his height and weight and his age group. He is 100%. His weight was right at the top and his length was actually off the chart. Seriously, he is growing way too fast! But, I am so glad that he is a healthy little baby boy.

On a side note, there was a little baby girl at the doctors who was born on the same day as E. She was 4 weeks early, so for her to be smaller is to be expected, but E was seriously twice her size! She was just barely weighing in at over 6 lbs. That is smaller than E when he was born! She looked so tiny and fragile next to him. I just slightly wished that he had been that size when he was born (is it easier if they are smaller?) but am so glad that he is healthy.

E has earned or received quite a few nicknames. Here are a few, and the reasons why he has them...

Little Duke (Mike's dad loves John Wayne and has taken to calling E Little Duke. I am hoping that this doesn't mean E looks like John Wayne, but Mike's dad has a special nickname for each of his grandkids. It makes it fun for them, both the grandkids and grandpa. These nicknames have a tendency to be picked up by the rest of the family and used.)
Squealer (E has a tendency sometimes to squeal. That tendency, I think, is slowly being outgrown.)
Little Squirt (hahaha, guess how he got this one. It happened when he got Mike.)
Little Man (he doesn't look like a baby, but a little man. :( Should I be sad about that?
Chunky Monkey (this one is because of how fast he is growing! He is also starting to get the adorable baby rolls, slowly but surely.)

He has more, I am just having momma brain right now and can't remember them. I just can't get over how much I love being with my little guy, and how cute he is. Gosh, I love being a mom!

Proctor Family Pictures

2009-10-05T16:06:00.006-06:00

Here are a few pictures from our family photo shoot on Saturday. To see more, go here.

3 Week Photo Shoot

2009-10-05T15:52:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures from my 3 week photo shoot with E...gosh, he is getting so big so fast...

Progression

2009-10-05T15:21:00.006-06:00

Today is my 3 week birthday. I just wanted to show some of the pictures chronicling my life so far. My mommy will probably be taking a lot of pictures since that is what she likes to do and all.

This is me just a few minutes after I was born.
This is me when I was 1 day old.
This is me when I was 2 days old (my doctor took this picture, cool, eh?)
This is me at 1 week old.

This is me around 2 weeks old.

This is me at 3 weeks old.

Crazy busy

2009-10-05T12:08:00.005-06:00

I never thought that taking care of a newborn would be so time consuming, but I am loving every minute of it...even though I suffer frequently from sleep deprivation. This weekend seemed especially busy.

Friday night, I enjoyed my first evening baby free since E was born. Mike stayed home with him (good thing we found out earlier in the day that he will take a bottle, if we are prepared) and I went shopping with Amanda, Rosie, and Mike's mom for something to wear for the Proctor family pictures Saturday morning. I was away from E for 3 hours, and because I hadn't been planning on going anywhere that night, I looked slightly worse for wear (really, it was slightly embarrassing how I looked,) but Rosie kindly stated, "We'll just tell people, new mom out of the house!" It was actually a fun evening, and I didn't stress like I thought I would being out without my little guy.

Saturday morning started early with family pictures. Let me tell you, with a newborn schedule, getting anywhere by 7:40 AM proved more work than I am used to, and all of us having to look nice! But we did it, and pictures were fun...so keep watching the blog for our cute little family pictures!

After pictures, we all drove the Alpine Loop. We stopped at Cascade Springs and was a lot of fun! M had to help "push" the stroller by holding onto the little leash that keeps the stroller with you if you fall while jogging. It was cute! M is a big help. E started fussing and M was right there patting him, and E calmed right down. So glad there are such cute cousins.
After getting some relaxing time on Sunday, we headed out to help celebrate B's 5th birthday and M 2nd. Wow, talk about cake that turned your teeth green! It was delish though, and lots of fun watching B and M play with their new toys.

Impossible

2009-09-24T13:25:00.004-06:00

How could you see this and not fall in love instantly? I find it to be rather impossible...

Thoughts...

2009-09-24T11:52:00.004-06:00

I was just looking at some of my blog posts of the past and remembered this one. This is where we thought that we had lost E and just found out that we hadn't. I remember being scared that after announcing it to EVERYONE, something would still happen and we would lose our little baby.

I can't even express the joy that I have that this did not happen. This little guy is such a miracle in our lives and I can't even tell you how many times Mike and I have expressed that we are soooo glad that we didn't lose Ethan when we thought we did.

Heavenly Father has blessed us so much. I may be an emotional roller coaster and find myself tearing up just thinking of what a little miracle we have been experiencing for the past week and a 1/2.

Great Grandprents

2009-09-23T18:26:00.005-06:00

Mike and I have been trying to get E over to meet great-grandparents. Trust me, not as easy a feat as I thought it would be. On Sunday, we made it over to Grandma Winnies house. She is Mike's grandma, and she was so excited to see E! We were going to try to see Grandpa Jack the same day, but ran out of time (mostly because I tend to be ready for bed by 7 or 8.)Monday, I was going to stop by Grandpa Jack's after the doctor, but E was so traumatized from his PKU test, I decided to put it off...well today was the day! Grandpa Jack was so cute with E and told me that he knows that Grandma Proctor would approve.I am just a little sad that none of my grandparents are alive to see E, but I know that because of eternal family units, there will be lots of time with them (and they probably took time with him before he came too.)

On a little side note, look how cute this little guy is with E. M loves his little cousin E.

Too Fast

2009-09-22T12:35:00.004-06:00

My baby is already growing too fast! We went to the Dr. yesterday for his 1 week checkup. He is thriving! He has already gained his birth weight back (plus an ounce,) which they say normally takes 2 weeks, and he is now 22 inches long! I have already used 1 full week of my maternity leave (so sad!) and think that time is flying by way too quickly.

E is starting to sleep more at night (at least until last night when he was awake for 3 hours and just couldn't settle down.) This makes me happy because I am getting more sleep and don't feel so sleep deprived. Gosh, why does time have to go so quickly? I wish he could stay little forever, but I also know that I will enjoy watching him grow and see the new things he will be able to do as he starts to explore this big new world he is in.

Pictures!!

2009-09-21T14:47:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures from the photo shoot I did with E. I hope you enjoy! Because I love black & white pictures of little babies, that is what you get to see. :)

The last few days....

2009-09-18T17:03:00.008-06:00

The last few days have been crazy, much more than I thought they would be. Who knew that bringing home a little baby would be so much work? (I know, every mother is thinking, "yeah, coulda told you that")

Wednesday morning, we found out that E had a high biliruben count, which meant that he got to be under lights at the hospital. It was a good thing that I had been planning on being there Wednesday until Mike got off work, because he spent ALL day under the lights. The only time he was off them was when they brought him to me to feed. I tried going to the nursery in the morning to be with him, but it was too hard when he started to fuss and I couldn't pick him up.

By the evening, his counts had come down enough that we didn't need to have the lights, at that time, so home we came. We had to go back to the hospital by the next morning though to get another biliruben test, only to find out his counts had gone back up, and yes, he needed to be under the lights. So, yesterday and today, he has spent most of his time in this little suitcase looking contraption, vegging out under some blue lights. I hope this doesn't turn him into a sun worshiper later in life. While it has been hard to not just be able to sit and cuddle with my little guy (it has been really hard for Mike too) we know that it is worth it. We want him to be better, and to good news is that he gets to come off the lights! We just have to keep him on until tomorrow morning.

This little guy has his days and nights mixed up. He is up every 2 hours to eat in the night, and thinks he can go 3-4 hours at a stretch during the day. This does not bode well for the amount of sleep that mommy gets. I find myself waking him up during the day to eat, and hoping that he will sleep just a bit longer between feedings at night. I find myself falling asleep if I am put on hold during a phone call, and wouldn't be surprised if soon, I couldn't tell you up from down, yet, I have to say, this is the best thing I have ever done in my life. I am enjoying every minute of it, and have even found myself praying for a poopy diaper (weird, I know, but it worked and he had one.) The things you find yourself wanting as a new mom, just to make sure that everything is working as it should.

Gosh, I love being a mom. I love sitting and cuddling with my little guy, watching him gaze up at me with his big eyes. I love feeling how soft his hair is. I love feeling how soft his skin is, and watching his fingers curl around mine. I love watching his daddy melt whenever he holds him and know that he already has his daddy wrapped around his little finger. Yeah, being a mom is fun.

Momma loves me, this I know.

Chillin' with mom.

Escaping the hospital!

What is the deal, why are we still here?
Just hanging out under the lights.

E has arrived!!

2009-09-15T12:54:00.009-06:00

E made his appearance Monday night at 8:10 PM. He came in at 8 lbs 5 oz (kinda big, eh?) and 20 1/2 inches long (I am thinking that he got his length from his daddy.) I wanted him to have a lot of hair, after all, I have had enough heart burn, and that is how the old wives tale goes. Sure enough, he has a head full. He is the talk of the nursery for how much hair he has!

Here are a few pictures. Once I get home and am hurting a bit less, I will take more pictures, I promise.

E's first head shot. He wasn't too happy.

E and his proud daddy. Mike quickly fell in love!
Here is E the next morning. Can you believe the hair? He is just the cutest (although I may be a bit biased, but I don't think so.)

More Pictures!

2009-09-07T21:36:00.008-06:00

Yesterday, I was chastised for not taking more pregnant pictures of myself (I know, I really should, and knowing that my time is coming to an end, I really should have taken more.) Today, while we were at Temple Square, I decided to have Amanda take a picture of Mike and I. I think it turned out really cute, so thanks Amanda!I also decided to take pictures of my feet. I have been talking about how swollen my feet have been. Really, sometimes it gets so bad that the flip flops I wear make indents into my feet. I haven't been able to wear regular shoes for weeks (and trust me, I have tried, it is just too miserable.) I decided to take a picture of my "sausages" as Mike likes to refer to them so that I can remember them. They are really bad because of all the walking I did today, but you can see the indents from my flip flops. If you look closely, you can even see the perma lines I am forming where my toes meet my feet. How sad is that? I really want my feet back. On the positive side, I can now look back and realize that I did not have Kankles before, I did have ankles before. It is just good to be able to remember that.

A funny thing happened on Saturday night. Mike and I were taking a quick walk and our neighbors dog was out. This dog, whenever it is out, has a tendency to go after Jake. It did not prove any different this night. Either Jake, or this neighbor dog, ran into the back of my calf as they were running in circles around me, and it HURT! I could not believe how badly it hurt, not anything that I expected, that is for sure! When we got home, I had an ugly bruise on my calf (below actually where I had been hit,) and another, lighter one where I got hit (you can barely see it to the bottom left of the darker bruise.) This is from a dog!

Labor Day Fun

2009-09-07T20:41:00.009-06:00

Mike has been asking me what we were going to do for Labor Day, specifically, Monday. Finally, yesterday, I told him that I had been avoiding making plans because I had hoped to be somewhere else, unable to make plans, such as a hospital? Or coming home with a new little bundle of joy? Obviously, it wasn't happening.

Playing in the fountain at the KSL 5 Studio

Mike suggested hiking Stewart Falls. I thought it sounded fun, and as I know it isn't too strenuous of a hike, and fairly short, I was game. (the short was for the benefit if I did happen to really go into labor it wouldn't seem too far to get back to the car and drive down the canyon.) We invited Mike's sister Amanda and her family to go with us. The plan was set, secretly I was hoping to have to call and cancel, but still looking forward to going. I know, kinda confusing.Miles playing Hide-&-Seek at the Temple

Well, this morning, Amanda called expressing her concern for actually going through with the hike. She suggested that we do something slightly safer, such as the zoo, This is the Place, or Temple Square. We decided to do Temple Square (can't beat free) and going to eat somewhere up in SLC. We called and asked Mike's parents if they wanted to go, and we set off.Four cute little boys (can't wait for their cousin to join them.)

We converged upon the Sandy Trax station and had fun watching the boys, who were so excited to be on the train. Miles was especially fun to watch as he insisted on standing whenever the train started or stopped. I think he liked the feeling of almost falling, but knowing that somebody had his back to keep him upright. When we got to downtown, we decided to find somewhere to eat first, since it was almost noon. We decided the Gateway sounded like a good plan and so walked from Temple Square up to the Gateway. We found a most awesome deal at Costa Vida (anyone going to the Gateway should pick up their map and find the coupon inside for a free entre with the purchase of another and 2 drinks. SWEET!) Plus, they gave us a free desert for doing a call in survey while we were there. Yumm, their key lime was DELISH!Cute little Jack (Not so little anymore)

We decided to head over to the CLARK (I keep calling it by the old name of Hansen) Planetarium to see if we could do anything without paying. FYI, you can do LOTS without paying. We spent a lot of time wandering around inside and playing with little displays. You gotta love the Lunar and Martian landscapes that you can wander in, and the weather station. It was fun!Tait, Blake, and Miles on the Martian Landscape

Tait, Blake, and Miles on the Lunar Landscape

We finally headed back to Temple Square, where we wandered, took some pictures, watched The Restoration, and decided we had been walking for most of 4 hours! We quickly decided that we were tired, and it was time to go home. Overall though, it was a blast and I am glad that we didn't have to unexpectedly cancel due to another "labor" day. While we are anxious for that event to happen, I am glad that we got to enjoy the full weekend with family and fun.After a long day, this is what tired boys do.

Beautiful Quilt

2009-09-02T06:05:00.005-06:00

My friend, Molly, made the most beautiful quilt for Ethan. She forgot to take a picture of it for her records, and I have taken a long time to take a picture of it for her, but I finally did this morning. I decided that I would post the pictures here so that people could see how talented she is!

Molly and I used to sit next to each other at work (until they made her department move to another building.) She would bring in quilts that she was working on, and I would bring in baby blankets that I was crocheting. We made the trade back then, she would make me a baby quilt when I had a baby if I made her a crocheted baby blanket.

When I found out that Ethan was a boy, Molly took me fabric shopping, and she went to work. Honestly, I think I am going to have to make her multiple baby blanets! The quilt is gorgeous, and I love it! Thanks Molly!

Not Yet

2009-08-29T21:32:00.003-06:00

I just wanted everybody to know that Ethan is not here yet. Tomorrow, I will be 39 weeks, and it appears Ethan is content as ever to stay just where he is. It doesn't matter that I am not, and that I want him to come (really, am I ready for that?)

At my last couple of appointments, the doctor has said, "Nope, he is not coming this week." I haven't had any contractions, nothing to signal that Ethan is ready for the big journey to come to this big, wide open world. Nope, he seems to like his squished environment.

Everybody tells me that I should enjoy it while it lasts, that I won't get any sleep once he is here, but really? I don't think I am getting much sleep as it is. If anybody has any suggestions for a (almost) 9 month pregnant woman to be comfortable enough to sleep at night, please share. I will be willing to take any suggestions!

Update!!

2009-08-21T22:03:00.005-06:00

I am told that I do not update my blog often enough. I know, I really don't. The reason that I started the blog is so that people I know (and love) can keep updated on my life, and then I don't update!

I decided that I really needed to take some preggo pictures of myself. Here I was at 37 weeks, and I didn't have any pictures! Here is one taken on Sunday (completely sad that it took me a week to post it.)I feel like I look huge! I didn't think I looked that big until I saw the picture, and then, wow. Yep, huge.

Over the 24th of July, Mike and I went camping with his Warenski cousins. It was fun! I actually found people to play games with me and I got to spend time with Mike's cousins and family that I hadn't really spent a lot of time with. We went up to Main Canyon (just past Daniel's Summit) and spent a couple of days. We had some "white man" fires, laughter, and a lot of fun. I thought I took pictures, but can't seem to find any.

We also went to the Proctor Family reunion. I always give Mike a hard time because his family doesn't seem to get together too often (beyond immediate.) I know mine doesn't either, but we have a summer bbq, usually sometime in July and a Christmas get together. While not everybody makes it, most try. Because of this, the two family events with the Warenski side and Proctor side were fun and gave me the opportunity to meet more of Mike's family. The Proctor reunion was the opportunity to celebrate Grandpa Jack's 85th birthday. He is an amazing man and it is so easy to love him (and his sense of humor!)

On Sunday, we went up to my families cabin by Strawberry Reservoir for the Lewis bbq. It was gorgeous, if a little chilly. Mike found a game he knows my dad can't "cheat" at and won. Horseshoes. Mike totally skunked my dad, but I am not sure if he beat Adam, my cousin's husband. I have never understood the allure of horseshoes. I guess I consider it the game all the "old men" played when we went up to the cabin. I was never allowed to play as a child. I would get in the way after all, so it is a game that has never interested me.I took my camera, but then had too much fun talking, that I didn't get too many pictures. I did go on a little walk (a little hard on dirt roads wearing flip flops.) Here is one of my favorite pics from this walk.If the above picture is dark, I am sorry...it wasn't dark on my computer, until I uploaded it. I am just too tired right now to fix it.

There are two reasons I wore flip flops up to the mountains.
Reason #1. I have pretty bad edema. My feet (especially my left) are swollen almost all the time with my pregnancy. I try to keep them elevated, but find myself sadly lacking in that aspect. Mike refers to them as my sausages. They are really that bad. I no longer have ankles...just big ol' cankles. I don't think that I want to take a picture of them, so you won't see them, unless you see me. :)
Reason #2. I have been a bed hog lately. I will admit it. It doesn't help that Mike and I have a full size bed, and that I sprawl, trying to get comfortable. Well, Sunday morning, my feet were on Mike's side of the bed, and his were hanging off. He swung his feet to get them back up on the bed, I guess he felt like he was falling off the bed or something, and his foot connected with my little toe just perfect. I woke up swearing. It hurt! By Sacrament meeting, I had a little bruise starting on my little toe, and by Sunday night, the whole thing was black and blue. Mike felt really bad and was extremely worried about my toe! I taped it (or tried to) throughout the week and on Thursday at my doctors appt. had my doctor check it. It isn't broken! (yeah!!) It was probably just sprained or jammed pretty good. It didn't help that Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Mike got it again. I am pretty protective of my feet lately in bed. hahaha.

Ethan seems to be in no hurry to get here. I have still not started dilating at all, which is ok I guess, considering I still have two weeks. I feel like I will probably go over the September 6th due date. I just hope it isn't too far over. On the other hand, I guess I can wait because we still don't know if Ethan is in the position he should be. While the doctor swears he feels head down, his heart beat is up by my ribs, which would indicate that his head is up in my ribs, not down, waiting to come. It doesn't calm my worries that this morning, Ethan had hiccups and they were coming through nice and strong, right under my ribs, right where the heart beat was. Hmmm....we really need him to turn because I do not want the automatic c-section that will happen if he is breech.

I hope that this was a wonderful update. I am sorry it is so long, but I did try to include some pictures (I know, not many) to help out. Just keep an eye out because when Ethan comes, there will be a TON of pictures.

Two weeks and counting!

Jake

2009-08-08T13:13:00.001-06:00

If you ever wonder why Jake has a sunburned belly, this is the reason! This is how we found Jake laying outside.

Just like his daddy...

2009-08-07T12:33:00.002-06:00

I have decided that this baby is going to be a jokester, just like his daddy. I had my doctors appointment yesterday and he kept playing hide and seek with the doctor when he was trying to get a heart beat reading. The second the doctor would start to keep track to see how fast the heart was, Ethan would move and the search would start over. You would think that there isn't that much room for him to move, but he kept it up. Dr. Liddle had to search and start over 4 times to get the reading!

We are still not sure if Ethan has turned at this point. Because of where we finally got the heart reading, statistically, that means he is still breech. However, the doctor swears he feels the head where it is supposed to be, so, I guess we'll find out one way or the other, right? Ethan just wants to keep us guessing. :)

The Demolition

2009-07-17T19:52:00.007-06:00

Some of you may know that Mike and I have not been living in our house for the last month. With all of the rain we had in early June, a leak in our roof got much worse, and we discovered mold. They came out and tested it, and it was Stachobotrius (sp?), in other words, the not good mold. Because of this, we have been living in Mike's parents camper trailer on our driveway or in the backyard.

The insurance finally decided they were going to cover the repairs (it seriously took them long enough) and last week, we had the containment go up. Mike refers to it as the CSI lab. Pretty much, we have floor to ceiling plastic with zippered doors around the area where the mold was found. The containment blocks off our bedroom, the bathroom, and the baby room. Until they started demolition, we were able to access our bedroom and bathroom, but seriously, because of all the zippered doors we had to go through, we just removed anything we would need from our bedroom. As a result, all of our clothes are currently in the living room. Convenient, eh?

Because the demo was started today, we no longer get to use the bathroom. Not too bad right now as we still have the bathroom in the trailer. How lucky are we that it was available for us to use? They will be coming back on Monday and doing a little bit more work, and then they will have to retest for mold to see if it is gone. (Let's hope it is.) If it is, the containment comes down and we have our house back! We just have to share it with the builders as they rebuild what they tore down.

Trust me, when I get back in, that house is getting a top to bottom scrubbing. I think I may wait until the rebuild is done so I don't have to clean it twice, but I don't know. We haven't been spending too much time inside and it got a little (LOT) neglected. I never thought I would look so forward to cleaning.

You can see here where they ripped off part of the ceiling. You
can also see down to where our bedroom is cut off. Right in
front is a huge heppa fan that runs all the air through it and
then through a plastic hose that goes out our bedroom window.
One of the reasons we took everything out of the bedroom we needed,
we didn't want to climb over the fan and the hose every time we
went into the bedroom.This is inside the actual containment. I promise, I just stuck my

camera in and snapped a few pictures. This covers a chunk of our
kitchen and blocks off our bedroom etc. You can see where they
pulled off a bunch of the pillar to repair.

This is the view from the kitchen. The red is where one

of the zippered doors is. You can go in that into a little
room where the guys doing the demo suited up in their little
hazmat suits. You then go into another zippered door into
the main containment area.

As you can see, everything in our house is pushed all together.

The table is pushed up right up against the stove and we have
quite a few things pushed in front of others. It makes for a
nice little mess.

The Grotto

2009-06-29T09:47:00.010-06:00

Yesterday, Mike and I went with our friends, the Peacocks, to The Grotto. We had been planning this for awhile, but had to keep putting it off because of the rain (seriously, is it supposed to rain this much in June?) On a side note, I didn't realize how welcome the cooler temperatures the rain brought were until it got really hot last week.

The Grotto is located up Payson canyon and before all of the runoff is gone, is beautiful. It isn't a bad hike (rather short actually) and when you get there, it has it's own little air conditioning unit. Quite handy I might say. :)

Here are some pictures:

Ella had fun splashing in the water and
was just a little sad that she wasn't the
one in charge of Jake. Wyatt was dang cute on the hike (although he may
not appreciate being called cute when he is older.)
He had to lead the way and was extremely adventurous
in all things.
Here are some of the red rocks for Amy.Jake had a blast, and Emary loved being in charge of him!

Even though he almost pulled her off a couple of logs in his
haste to smell even more of the canyon.

Don't you wish you had been with us to enjoy this beauty?

This is the old trail. It doesn't seem to do justice

to how beautiful it was up Payson Canyon.

This is Mike on the hike. Somebody kindly put logs over most of

the stream crossings. You just had to make sure not to fall off! :)

This is The Grotto. From what I understand,

the waterfall isn't nearly as big later in the year.

After the hike, we were invited to Jamie's parents for family dinner. It was fun. We had fun talking to Jamie's family and getting to know more Peacocks. Mike and I felt very welcomed and were put right to ease. It was definitely an enjoyable afternoon/evening!

On another note, we created the Proctor Drive-In in our backyard the other night. We set up the TV and brought out some camping chairs. It was fun (if only the mosquitoes had left us alone.) We got Inkheart from Redbox (something we totally love, cheap entertainment) and quite enjoyed it. Makes me want to read the book that the movie is based on. We will have to do it again and let people know. Come one, come all!

Air Show

2009-06-12T11:26:00.010-06:00

I have been extremely lax about updating my blog lately. This is probably because I feel that nothing is going on in the Proctor lives right now that is extremely exciting. I graduated, Mike is working, I am job searching (trust me, anything and everything and it gets extremely discouraging at times.) I hope to be able to blog about a new job soon. Trust me, I would be extremely excited to do that.

On Saturday, Mike and I took Tait and Blake to the Hill Air Force Air Show. I am almost convinced that Mike may never want to go with me again, as I ended up directing us on the longest walk/hike in the history of any 4 and 7 year old.

The last time I went to the air show was in 2006. I went with our friend Kevin, who happens to be in the reserve and works up at Hill. When we went, we parked at the high school about 1 1/2 miles down the road, walked up the hill to the base and then caught a shuttle to where the air show took place. Well, I convinced Mike that we didn't need to drive onto the base, that we could just walk on up and catch a shuttle. The climb up the hill is a lot of work for a 4 and 7 year old and Mike ended up doing this walk with one of them on his shoulders the whole entire time.

The best part was when we got to the base. Unlike last time, there were NO SHUTTLES!!! Well, there were shuttles, which we discovered when we go to where the air show was, but where they were picking up, we have no idea, not in the same place that we caught them before. We ended up walked for over an hour (honestly, I don't know how many miles, but it felt like 4 or 5 total) just to get to where the air show was. I know that Tait and Blake did not expect this, neither did Mike or I and I would NOT recommend doing this at 6 months pregnant. I was extremely sore/tired/worn out by the end of the day. The best part? We met Mike's parents there and guess where they parked? Right in the parking lot, next to the tarmac where the air show took place! Walking distance? Less than a mile. Trust me, if I get Mike to go again, that is where we will plan on parking.

Once we got to the air show, it was fun. There were things to look at in the sky, planes to go into, crowds of people to wade through, little boys to try to keep track of. A lesson for parenthood, I don't know if I am ready to deal with the stress of keeping track of little children in a crowd that the news estimated was 300.000 strong.

Here are some of the things we saw. Trust me, lots of fun, lots of noise, and something I want to take my little boy to in a couple of years (when ear plugs will fit in his ears and stay in.)

Weird Dreams...

2009-05-15T15:09:00.002-06:00

I don't normally remember my dreams, but I definitely have been having some lately. Let me share some of them with you.

This morning, I woke up, rolled over and asked Mike, "What makes you think you can buy a trailer for our new home?" Now, let me explain.

In my dream, Mike and I were looking at houses. We were joined with his parents and my parents. We were looking at all of these beautiful homes that were HUGE! Mike and his dad went off and came back a little later and said, "We found something that we can afford."

We went into a town home. This was a beautiful town home and for whatever reason, I kept thinking it was worth a couple hundred thousand (a very expensive town home.) We started walking through it and went through a door into another town home. For whatever reason, all these town homes were connected to each other and we kept walking through all of them, past families doing their things in their own homes. Yeah, kinda weird, I told ya! we finally walk out onto this deck and go down the stairs.

There it was. The home Mike bought for us. It was a trailer. Now, I am not talking about the kind of trailer that you find in a trailer park. I am not even talking about a 5th wheel or the kind of trailer that you pull behind a truck. It was the kind of trailer that you put ON THE BACK of the truck!!

I just remember going in and seeing it and thinking, "I cannot believe that this is what Mike bought for us to live in, permanently." To top it off, he bought it from my uncle who I haven't seen for about 5 years. So we are walking toward the trailer and he says to me, "You look really familiar to me," and all I could respond was, "Seriously? I am Terry's daughter!"

Mike better not buy me a trailer to live in.

My other really weird dream was the one where my baby was born. It was born at about 20 weeks but wasn't in the hospital. This was before we knew for sure that our baby was a little boy, so I didn't even see the baby, it was always just wrapped up in a blanket. Well, I carried my baby around with me everywhere, as a good mom should. Because we hadn't been prepared for this baby, (who is at 20 weeks?) we didn't have any car seat to put him in the car. Now this is the really weird part, the baby rode behind my rear view mirror. That is right, whenever I got into the car to go anywhere, this is where my baby rode. Don't ask me how he stayed there, he just did.

I have heard that you have weird dreams when you are pregnant, I just hope that they don't get any weirder than this. Although they do cause laughs when I tell people about them!

It is official...

2009-05-07T22:53:00.002-06:00

We got another ultra sound today and our baby is officially a BOY!!!

That means lots of blue, father and son outings, fishing (another fisher??) and lots of dirt, dog tails, snails, etc. We are excited!

I guess my cub scout calling is just preparing me for what I will need to know in 8 years. I will be a pro at getting boys through their wolf badge, hahaha. Mike is excited because he LOVES scouts and will love doing all the boy scout stuff with his son.

Now to decide a nursery theme...boys...hmmm.....cars and trucks? We will see.

We may have changed the name from Hayden Jack to Ethan Michael, there may still be some debate on that...we like them both...we will keep you updated.

Party

2009-05-05T12:49:00.010-06:00

After my graduation, my parents were awesome and helped us host a party to celebrate. Everybody pitched in and brought yummy things to share like, potato salads, green salads, yummy deserts, and fruity salads. My mom made some of her great southern bbq. Mmmmm, it was so yummy.

During the event, Mike wanted many pictures (he had since replaced the battery on our camera.) I was fully enjoying talking to everybody so he turned the camera over to our nephew, Tait. Tait loves the camera, but I told him that he needed to take pictures of everybody in the room if he was using my camera. These are the pictures that he felt were the most important to include. Prepare yourself for some fun pictures!

Little Jack

Of course, Tait's self-portrait
You can't have a party without lights, right?
And where would we be without the fire alarm?
The garbage can was the most important party element.
Can't have a party without funny faces, eh?
It is hard to take a 6 year old photographer seriously, so easy to interrupt his shots.Little Miles enjoying the yummy food.

And of course, Mike.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting home and seeing the pictures that Tait took for us. Quite enjoyable, although not all very flattering, must be the angle. I think Tait has some talent for photography, wouldn't you agree?

I want to thank my family and friends for the support they have given me throughout the years, and years, and years of my schooling. As my dad told me, "My eternal student can no longer be an eternal student..." We'll see, more schooling may be in my future, one day, in the maybe far future.

Graduation

2009-05-04T13:09:00.009-06:00

I must admit that I love my friends and family. They have supplied me with pictures of behind the scenes and of my graduation. I left my camera with Mike (a lot of good that did as the battery finally decided to give up the ghost and after being charged all night didn't even allow for one picture) and so I didn't have a camera in the back.

The event was bright and early on Friday, May 1, and I was so stinken excited! When I went to take my cap and gown out of the back seat of the car, I started tearing up (pregnancy hormones or normal tear fest?) but made it through without crying. I was mostly just excited. Yeah!!! I am done with school!

Here are some pictures of the grand event (I apologize in advance for ALL the pictures...)

At Last!!!

2009-04-30T12:56:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow, this is what I will be doing.

I seriously cannot wait, I am so excited!!! Mike and my sisters laugh at how long my "4" year degree took, but hey, I did it, right? I just remind him that my Bachelors came exactly 2 years after my Associates, so the Associates is the one that took forever to finish, hahaha.

I only look forward to this day for Mike. Our goal has been for Mike to start school when I was done and have us switch our salaries. It might take a little longer for this goal to realize (especially since we have a new little addition coming to our family) but it will happen. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it!

Now, maybe I may get an Masters degree down the road. Mike has begged me to at least wait for this portion. I know it won't happen any time soon but it is a goal. And, if I get a PhD, I can teach at a University. How cool would that be?

And the verdict is...

2009-04-16T18:10:00.004-06:00

Today was the big day. We went to get an ultrasound to find out if we were having a little boy or a little girl. We had some fun getting to see our little baby. We discovered that little baby Proctor likes to cross its arms in front of its face, just like mommy. (Mike says that I am being cheesy, but it is my little baby so I will be cheesy if I want to. It is my right to be so.)

When the tech went to get a shot of the gender, there were some things in the way, mainly the umbilical cord which was resting right there between the legs. The other issue is that its little bum was right in my pelvis and it was comfortable, so no matter how we tried to get it to move, it just stayed there. Could be stubborn like its daddy. I also have a little bit extra padding that distorts the image. (yeah, shouldn't have eaten those cookies last night. But they were soooo good.)

The tech finally gave this verdict.

"Well, it is a boy, maybe."
"Maybe? Can't you tell? Would it help if I got up and jumped a little?"
"Not really." (he then explained the issues.)
"So, are we telling people that it is a boy then?"
"Well, you can, just don't buy too many blue clothes at this point."

We are going to be able to go back in a month when the baby is a little bigger. So for right now, we are having a boy...maybe. So for right now, we are welcoming little Hayden Jack (a.k.a. Peanut) into our family. We anticipate having an adorable little baby boy. Mike is worried that it will get too many of its looks from his daddy, but I wouldn't have married him if I didn't think thing he was handsome. And if my little baby has his daddy's eyelashes, I will be happy.

I would upload the images from the ultrasound, but they look better on the VHS that we have and didn't print clearly at all. I may change my mind and upload them anyway.

You should watch this...

2009-04-14T19:39:00.005-06:00

This is a video from Britain's got talent. I saw this today and i cried. I really did. Mike would say that isn't something unusual, my tendency to cry was always fairly easy and it has gotten worse the last couple of months. It happens to be one of my favorite songs from my favorite musical and it s awesome!

Enjoy!

By the way, keep an eye on the blog. On Thursday (if the baby cooperates) we find out if we are having a little boy or a little girl!

The End of Things...

2009-03-29T13:46:00.003-06:00

Last week was my last week of student teaching. I found myself leaving the doors of AFHS with feelings of sadness, and I have to admit, joy.

I was sad because in the 10 weeks of student teaching, I have met many amazing students, many of whom are inspirations to me. There are many students that I want to keep in touch with, find out how they are doing and the many exciting opportunities they will have in their lives.

I was joyful because the end is in sight. I have to admit, there were some students that caused this joy also. Mostly though, the end is in sight, I have a few more things to finish up, and then I graduate. Wow, it has been a lot of work and a TON of time devoted to see this day coming.

If I discovered anything in my time of student teaching, it was that I chose the right profession. While teaching was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, it was also the most rewarding. I loved working with those students that were struggling and seeing their faces as they either got the concept, or they saw the ability they did have to do the work. That was the most amazing thing. I am hoping to be able to get a job teaching in the fall (although, things are definitely not looking up for the teaching profession right now, job wise.)

For all those that are as excited as me about my upcoming graduation, it will be happening on May 1st at 8 AM. All are welcome to attend. I will keep you updated on where the grand event will be happening.

We have been had...

2009-03-15T20:19:00.003-06:00

Mike's family all enjoyed a little joke they played on us. I am glad they enjoyed it. At the same time, I am glad it was a joke, although I was seriously looking at other options.

Here is the joke...

I have always wanted to have a little boy named Jack, after my grandpa. He was an amazing man. When my sister had her little boy (7 years ago) she gave him Jack as a middle name. I thought, OK, I can still use this name, it is OK, after all, it is only a middle name.

Then Mike and I got married and Mike's grandpa's name is also Jack. Perfect! I would not have to convince him to use the name! Yes! Then Amanda found out she was having a boy and was going to name her little one Jack. I had a little freak out, but decided, I could still use Jack as a middle name, if Mike and I ever had a boy.

Then, we found out we were pregnant. We were excited! While we both want a girl, we were looking for names for both and finally found the perfect one. Mike decided that he couldn't tell Amanda the rest of the boy name because he didn't want her to like it (after all, we both loved it) so it was kept a secret. Somebody slipped.

Amanda was told that Mike had a top secret name that she couldn't know about because she couldn't use it and they let her know what it was. So Amanda ran with it.

Last Sunday, we were all sitting around at Mark and Sue's house. We had just enjoyed a fantabulous dinner and were just chatting. Amanda is across the room and comments that she was still looking for a name to go with Jack (if anyone has suggestions, I am sure she will take them.) She commented that she had been on her friend's blog who had just posted about her little boy's birthday and he had a cool name that they were now thinking about. Hayden. My heart stopped. I shot a look at Mike. I didn't say anything.

I told Mike this, "I love the name Hayden Jack. But we didn't tell her that we were thinking of using it so we can't tell her she can't use it! But I love it!" Mike and I then started looking at other alternatives for names, just in case Amanda completely fell in love with the name Hayden and paired it in any way with her little Jack.

The family kept us in the dark for a week! Wow, at least they all had a fun laugh about it.

These are the names we are currently considering.

Aida Grace for a girl and Hayden Jack for a boy. At this time, they are the names we love, but they may change. We will let you know!

Thought this was pretty funny...

2009-03-13T21:27:00.002-06:00

Just so you know, I have a student who knows EVERYTHING, said student has informed me of this fact. This student also feels that it is not their fault they are failing (as they haven't turned anything in and refuses to do anything,) rather, it is the Utah State Educational systems fault.

If anyone has any suggestions to help said student, please let me know! I am at a complete loss.