just talk

Hello! I feel like I haven't blogged forever (maybe because I haven't). Luckily my camera re-appeared so as soon as I get around to uploading the latest pictures you will get some recent updates from the last few months. A lot has been going on around here, we have kept busy this summer between parks, pools, splash parks, the zoo, soccer games, baseball games, and picnics! I love summertime, I just wish it weren't so flamin hot all the time. Being outside becomes almost unbearable, which makes for long days inside. Dallin needs to be entertained 24/7, which drains the heck out of me. I feel like his toys just sit on his toy box and he his nagging me all day to "play with him". I cant wait for school to start so he can have something to entertain him a few hours a week! Claire on the other hand is loving discovering everything, and she is FEARLESS. I thought girls were supposed to be less active, well she has proven me wrong. She is busy busy busy and climbs on absolutely everything. But, she is still the sweetest most easy going girl ever, and I love her. Not sure what I did to create such busy creatures, but man, they are sure cute!

So Dallin turns 4 on Monday, big kid. We are having an awesome birthday party for him, combined with my neice (and Dallin's sidekick) Lyla who will be turning 3. We rented out Murray Outdoor Pool, and the kids can just go crazy and have fun! It is going to be awesome! More details on that to come soon!

Lastly, for those who dont know, some big changes are potentially in store for our family. I will give more details when we get them next week so stay tuned to learn more (I know you are all intrigued).

I cant seem to find my camera... anyone know where it could be? Blogging is no fun without it.

My baby is 1!

I think most parents naturally get a bit sad when their "baby" turns 1. Well, I am no exception. Claire had her 1st birthday (pictures coming soon) on June 11. I cannot believe how fast this past year has gone, and I am so happy for the joy that she brings to our little family each day. She has been such a good baby so far, and I hope that pattern continues into her toddler years! Here are a few things to know about Claire at 1:

* 20 lbs exactly
* 29 inches
* 10 teeth (2-3 more cutting through soon)
* She started walking on her birthday!!!
* She babbles a lot, but loves saying "da da" "hi" "weee" "dog dog" and her version of "Dallin"
* Sleeps through the night consistently now (this just happened last week since I stopped nursing)
* Loves almost any food
* Drinks only whole milk in a bottle and water, doesn't really like any other liquid
* She is a MONKEY... climbs onto anything she can, chairs, beds, stools and stairs
* She loves putting things where they go, like lids on pans or cup, straws in the lids, electrical plugs in their proper outlet etc.
* She is the biggest Mama's Girl around!
* She is our tan girl, with huge dark dark eyes
* She has the happiest disposition, is hardly ever sad
* She talks herself to sleep for about 15 minutes every time
* Bath time is pure heaven
* Bows are basically non existant in our lives, she REFUSES to keep one in
* She is very giving, anytime she finds something on the floor she brings it right over to me. Or, when she is eating she takes pieces out of her mouth to "Share"
* She has given me more than one heart attack, one ER visit, one surgery, and multiple doctor visits! Second Child Syndrome I guess.
* She is very smart, I can tell
* She is brave, but cautious and very aware of her surroundings
* She is my sweet angel and I am so blessed to have her as my daughter

Love you baby Claire!

First ER trip

You got it, we had our first EVER ER trip. It happened Sunday when little miss Claire decided to give us a small heart attack. You see, she has started walking but is still a bit unsteady on her feet. She was trying to step out onto my in-law's deck so I grabbed her hand to help her down. She stepped out onto the deck but sort of "spun" as she brought her leg around. I lost my grip and she fell totally sideways as if her legs got swiped out from under her and landed right on the side of her head. I thought, ouch that had to hurt, but didn't think much of it. She started crying and I picked her up to comfort her. She was sooooooo mad, and did that thing that babies do... how they cry out for a long time and then you are waiting for them to breath.. well I waited and then suddenly she went totally limp and her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she was totally unresponsive. I freaked and yelled down to my family "she just went unconcious". She snapped back into it after just a few seconds and seemed alright, she was just really upset. I was so scared and all I knew was that I wanted to take her to the hospital. At work I see so many head injuries and I didn't want to be that mother who waits days to bring their child in and they end up having a brain bleed or a skull fracture. I called up to the hospital and talked to one of the Radiologists I work with, and he told me it sounded like Claire had a post concussive seizure and that I better bring her up. So, around 7:45 we headed up to Primary's (by the way for you parents out there, seriously dont ever take your child anywhere else, this hospital is the best!) Once there, the doctors checked Claire out. She didn't have any huge goose eggs or anything, so they didnt seem too worried. They just wanted to monitor her for a few hours to make sure she didn't show signs of a brain injury. We stayed in the ER until 11:00 or so, which was sure fun with a 1 year old who's bedtime is around 7:45. She actually did pretty well, I kept her busy and we walked the halls and visited some of my co-workers. She would NOT let Andy even touch her, she was still scared, and just wanted her Mama. So it was a long 3 hours but everything checked out okay so we were discharged and we headed home (Claire lasted to about the exit of the parking lot before falling asleep, poor thing).

So we went to a follow up with her pediatrician yesterday and Claire is doing fine! After telling the Doctor the history, she thinks she had what they call a "Breath Holding Spell". I had never heard of this.

A breath-holding spell is an episode in which the child stops breathing and loses consciousness for a short period immediately after a frightening or emotionally upsetting event or a painful experience.

It is heredetary and she says it's likely that Claire will do it again, maybe multiple times. Some kids even do it while throwing tantrums. She said it's nothing to be worried about, and that it's good we figured it out so if it happens again we dont need to be alarmed. Wow!

So, we aren't 100% sure what happened. Was it a seizure, was it just a loss of conciousness or was it a breath holding spell? I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as Claire is okay the rest is irrelevant!

My sweet little Claire is sure giving us a run for our money these days!

Ensign Peak

We took a little hike on Memorial day to Ensign Peak! We had a great time, Dallin did well and Claire LOVED being in the backpack carrier. I am excited I invested in this carrier, I think we will get good use out of it this summer!

My silly kids

Dallin is all about being goofy and wanting me to take his picture.. these about sum it up.



Claire is my meticulous child, always trying to put things where they go, and I often find her wearing my scarves, headbands, etc. Little smarty pants.



Claire is all about climbing thigs lately. She discovered how to climb into this cute little chair, and now she spends lots of her time over there just climbing on, then getting down, and climbing on... you get the idea.

Megan's Wedding

One of my girlfriends from high school, Megan, got married last week! Most of us girls have been friend since middle school, and although lots of us have gone our own ways we still get together often and laugh at old times! Love you girls!

Claire's 1 year pictures

Check out Claire's adorable 1 year pictures

Visit this website:
www.cliquephoto.webs.com

click on portfolio and find her name

Enjoy!

FREEDOM

I have officially weaned Claire. I am not really emotional about it, she could really care less, which is a bonus. I still give her a few bottles of formula a day, until she is 1 in a few weeks when I can really start the "whole milk" fiasco. Not too excited about that, so far the times I have tried giving it to her she just lets it run right out of her mouth and stares at me like, "what the he*% is this mom?" Oh well, I guess we will figure it out eventually. All I can say is, I wont be sad to throw this sucker right in the G A R B A G E

Yeah, I pumped for a whole year with this manual pump. I know it was only 2-3 times a week but I think I developed arthritis in my hand as a result. We were too poor at the time to invest in a nice double electric pump (wish I would have looking back) so I settled for the manual. Oh well, it served it's purpose and now I am free!

Overall, I loved nursing. I wasn't able to with Dallin, so it was a nice experience! I had no problems what so ever, and it was sure a good way to save some $$$! I am not a huge "pro nurser" because I know it is not for everyone, but I will say it was amazing and I am glad it worked out for me and my little Claire!

Claire's Surgery

After 5 ear infections, and 4 different types of antibiotics in less than 3 months, the doctors decided it would be best to put typanostomy tubes in Claire's ears. I didn't hesitate for one second... my poor baby has been suffering for months now. Plus with all the fluid built up behind the ears, it tends to muffle sounds, delay speech and affect the equilibrium. Oh great, that is just what my 11 month old needs to be experiencing right now during probably one of the most crucial developmental times in her life.... no brainer. Anyway, we got the surgery scheduled right away and we went in on Friday. We had to be there at 6:30, Claire was a bit sleepy but cute and content as usual. She got checked out by the nurse practitioner (by the way Claire is traumatized for life after going to the doctor so often and needing wax dug out of her ear, antibiotic shots, etc.) and then we waited in the waiting room for a bit to see the doctor and the anestesiologist. They called her name about 7:45 and I walked her back to the "red line" and handed her off. She was so good, went right to the anestesiologist no problem. So I was just getting comfortable eating my donut in the waiting room when they came out to say they were almost finsished. Huh? It's only been like 15 minutues. It was true, they were in and out of there, super fast. The Doctor came out a few minutes later to tell me the surgery went great. They drained the fluid that was there and she was good to go! Yeah!! I know it was a minor surgery, but that doesn't make it any easier on mom! A few minutes later they let me go back to see her in recovery. She was just chillin with the nurse, no big deal.. it's not like she didn't just come out of anestesia!! The nurse couldn't believe how quickly she came out of it and just sat up in the crib and started babbling. That's my Claire for ya! We hung out in recovery for about an hour, made sure she could drink and hold it down and then we were out of there. 9:00 baby! It was smooth sailing, and I am grateful for that!! She has been overall pretty good since, the nights have been a bit rough, she has woken up in the night screaming, so she must still be in a bit of pain. Hopefully a few more days and she will be 100%!

She looked so cute in her little hospital garb. (minus the fact she could so pass for a boy here)

Waiting for her turn to go back... looking a little sleepy wouldn't ya say?

All fixed up!! This was later on in the day, and is probably the cutest picture ever. She was so proud cuz she was able to get my necklace around her neck! Love this girl.

Two toddlers + feeding hungry ducks =

... the need to stand on the table so you dont get mobbed. Pretty darn cute if you ask me!

Pre School Program

A few weeks ago Dallin's preschool put on an end of the year program at Wheeler Farm They presented lots of cute songs and dances that they learned throughout the year. Dallin was so proud, he was up front and center the whole time dancing and singing his little heart out! We are so proud of all that he has accomplished this year in preschool. He is still our little smarty pants, and I am looking forward to next year of preschool while he prepares to enter kindergarten. We decided that we would start Dallin in kindergarten early (he just barely makes the deadline) mainly because he is so bright, and I dont want him to get too bored in school. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the program!

The scariest day of my life

This morning I had a horrible experience that will stay with me forever. I decided to go out on the Jordan River Parkway trail this morning with Claire in the stroller and Dallin on his bike. Since we live so close, we walked over. When you get to the entrance of the parking lot there is a HUGE hill that takes you down into the parking lot. I went first with the stroller and when I got to the bottom of the hill (this was the first of two hills) I noticed Dallin was struggling while trying to walk his bike down the hill. I set the stroller into a little divit and turned to go walk up the hill to help Dallin. Well, that was the biggest mistake of my life, and I cant believe I did that. YOu always hear of stupid mistakes that change a life forever, well this almost did just that. Anyway, as I reached Dallin he screamed "MOM LOOK". I turned around to see the stroller 30 feet away from me going full throttle down steelply sloped parking lot. I screamed and screamed, and started booking it. All these horrible thoughts went through my mind in the few seconds I was running (okay sprinting). THe stroller was heading right for a trailer with it's ramp down, oh my gosh is this really happening. People say that when you have an adrenaline rush that miracles can occur... well I am a believer now. I dont know how on earth I was able to run fast enough to catch the stroller carrying my precious little girl that was going faster than I knew a stroller could go and was already a good 50 feet ahead of me. But I did. I caught up. When my hand touched that stroller my life changed in that instant. It was inches (no exaggeration) from that trailer, and I turned my hand so the stroller would swerve out of the way. THe only thing I could do in that moment was fall to the ground and just cry. I cried for a good couple of minutes, poor Dallin was still at the top of the hill with his bike wondering what the heck just happened. My little hero. I dont know what I would have done if he hadn't seen the stroller take off.

I am still trying to wrap my brain around the whole event. I honestly think it should have been impossible for me to catch up to the stroller. I am not a fast runner, the hill was too steep, it was already 30 or so feet ahead of me... how did I do it? Why didn't I just put the brake on when I went to go get Dallin? What would have happend to Claire if she would have hit that trailer? I cant even begin to think about that. I am grateful I dont have to. Our family was truly blessed today. My little angel sleeps peacefully in her crib right now, instead of at the hospital. Wow.

Mother's Day Tribute

Motherhood...

... is the best thing that ever happened to me. I never loved so much, smiled so much, yearned so much, let alone FELT so much in my whole life. I have been truly blessed to be a mother, I know it is my calling in life.

Proud to be their Momma

Dallin. First born. Busy. Brilliant. Cuddly. Athletic. Hilarious. Curious. Momma's boy.


Claire. Little sister. Princess. Easy going. Loving. Smiley. Beautiful. Momma's girl

My mom is my inspiration. I know lots of kids say this about their parents, so maybe it sounds a little Cliche but oh well. It's the truth. She is that mom that never puts herself first. She loves her kids and grandkids more than anything, and she has been such a huge part of my kid's life so far. I hope I received her genes when it comes to parenting! We love you Nana!

Andy's mom (Grammy) is the sweetest, kindest most patient lady I know. I strive to be even half the mother she has to her three boys! Thanks for always being such an example and loving my kids like they were your own!


I wanted to include this picture of my sister-in-law Lacy because I feel she has played a huge part of being able to survive motherhood so far. We have really developed an amazing friendship over the years. Our kids are so close in age, and not a day goes by that we aren't talking to each other and asking eachother for advice! Thanks Auntie for everything you do!


This is my beautiful sister Sarah. She is not yet a mother, but I know that when that day comes she will be the most amazing mom. She has so much love to give, and I cant wait for her to experience the joy that I get to every day. Love ya sis!

Nightmares?

Last night we experienced a first.. Dallin had a horrible night terror. It was about 11:00 and I was just dozing off when I heard Dallin crying in his room. I thought this was strange, because he normally would just come into our room if he woke up. So, I went in and found him sitting up in his bed screaming histerically. I picked him up and tried cuddling him on my lap, only to find that he was extremely aggitated. It seemed like he was in pain, so I thought maybe he had a stomach ache or something. His eyes were open so I assumed he was awake and alert, but just upset. After my failed attempts to soothe him I brought him into our room to see if Andy could help. Again, inconsolable. He laid in our bed and was tossing around like he was in excruciating pain. I kept asking him if his belly hurt and he said "yes". My first thought for all you x-ray peeps was "He has intususseption". Then we asked if he had a bad dream he said, "yes". I began to wonder if he was even hearing me. Then it dawned on me. This kid is still asleep. He was totally 100% asleep, eyes open and in the middle of a night terror. I got some cold water and rubbed it on his face, which did nothing. He started talking more about something random, still crying and rolling around. I could not wake this kid up for the life of me. I turned on the light and said his name really loud, it seemed like he snapped out of it suddenly. Then he jumped out of my arms and ran into the corner of the bathroom, crying. Then suddenly he bolted to the toilet and went to the bathroom... FOREVER. After that... totally fine. His normal self. Seriously, did that just happen. Was my son just having a nightmare AND had to pee so bad that he was trembling and couldnt hold still. It was quite the experience I must say, and I hope we dont have to go through any more nights like that any time soon!