My sweet baby Boy

Milk Comma! We have a thumb sucker :(

Christmas Time

A couple of my favorite traditions we do at Christmas time are write a Christmas letter and mail it to all our friends and family and make a bunch of cookies and other Christmas goodies to deliver to neighbors. I like writting the letter because it makes me relive the year and remember how God has blessed us and been faithful. I like baking and I'm a giver. It's one of my love languages (gifts). So taking goodies to neighbors brings me such joy! I never expect anything in return other than a thank you.

This year has been no exception. I got my baking done and delivered the plates of goodies to the neighbors on Sunday. It has been fun getting to know them and the community here is so friendly. Everyone helps each other and looks out for one another. We don't own a shovel and someone came by and shoveled the sidewalk along our house. I still don't know who did it but I was grateful.
Anyway.. back to the cookies. What turned out to just be for fun has become a surprised cookie exchange as each of the neighbors have brought US a plateful of goodies and Christmas wishes. I love it! Now I just have a small problem.. I have Christmas goodies coming out my ears and a toddler asking for "cookie" everytime he goes by the kitchen or it's time to eat!!!

This doesn't even include the plate of fudge I still have in the fridge!

Fun in the Snow

Since we don't own a sled the OT in me created one. All we need is a jumprope, a lego bin and a snowy driveway. :) The boys and I had fun and came in with little red noses and numb faces.....but boy was that some good 20 min of fun!

Thoughts and pix

My computer is totally fried by trojans and what not so I have moved over to share Jim's. I'm frustrated because all my stuff is on that computer and so I feel lost without it. :(
Things are going alright here. We had our first snow of the season and Bryce thought it was great although refused to touch it. He would rather watch it and catch the snow flakes on his nose. Grant thinks it's funny to have snow fall on his face. He grins and giggles. We only got about 2 in and it is slowly melting away already. They say though tonight it should get into single digits so maybe we'll get more.

Grant has become my mystery child in that I have been totally confused with him. He refuses to sleep at night and is a screamer unless I feed him 2-3 times at night.( At this age (4 months) Bryce was sleeping through the night.) He also doesn't like to take naps and in the middle of the afternoon will go 5-6 hours without eating. He refuses formula. It's very frustrating for me. I'm thinking of taking my friend's suggestion of starting cereal and giving it to him at night to tank him up. Hopefully that will help as I am soooo exhausted all day long.

Bryce has been so cute these days. He is fascinated by all the Christmas lights and was thrilled to help daddy hang them up outside. I think I have more lights up inside the house then I have had in years! First thing when Bryce gets up he wants the lights turned on and says "ooooo Pretty!" Super cute! Both boys enjoy watching me cook and reading my cook books.

Random thoughts

I know I have not updated the blog in a while. My computer got full of bugs or viruses and Jim is trying to get it fixed..which he did but now it does not know how to get connected to internet...gotta love technology!

Thanksgiving for us was pretty quiet. My parents went to Oklahoma to my grandmas so we took care of the dogs. Jim was busy at work and could not get time off so his parents and sister came to visit us from Washington. It was a good visit. We enjoyed thanksgiving day at my parents house where there was more oven and space (and that's where the in laws were staying . we don't have enough room at our house).

Now we are getting ready for Christmas. My favorite time of year. I just love the lights, carols, food, and snow. This year I am wishing for a white Christmas. I love snow!! I'm a skier and wish for snow every year. One day I hope to take the boys up and teach them to ski.

I can't believe it is only 14 days to my birthday. Jim is already up to something as he asked me to get a baby sitter for that night. I have one all lined up and am curious to know his plans. (he won't share them with me though.) Each year I have to do the math to figure out my age. Does anyone else forget how old they are?? I lost track after 25. :(

Well the boys are up and I need to get them ready to go out to do errands.

here's a couple pics for your enjoyment.

More fun with Bryce

Bryce is growing so much these days I have been busy trying to capture each sweet moment. He loves to read his Bible and talk to Jesus. So precious!
Sometimes I find it hard to balance encouraging him to pray and yet not allowing him to use it as a way of getting out of eating his vegetables.


We also enjoyed one of my favorite fall childhood activities. :)

Having fun

I've been delayed in updating our blog as the boys have both come down with a cold and not sleeping well. Then out of the blue my entire body was aching and I felt sick but after 12 hours of sleep( thanks to a wonderful husband who took care of everything so I could sleep), some Tylenol and water I seem to have fought and won. Now we are all doing well again.

Here are a few of our favorite activities. :)

Baking with Mama

Cuddling with Mama

Playing with Daddy

Talking to Mama or anyone who's holding him.

Anyone need a Handyman?

We serve a God of healing!

So, for those of you who have asked here is the update on my oldest son Bryce. I took him to the doctor for his 18 month check up and the doctor was very concerned about this "dense spot" on his right abdomen. He requested we get an ultrasound and if that didn't show anything we'd need to get a CT scan. This kinda freaked us out so we asked for prayer. Prayer works!

Today I took Bryce in for his follow up visit with his pediatrician. He told us the ultrasound was normal and so was his urine test. This was hard for him to believe but at the same time he was glad there was nothing wrong. He examined Bryce and determined it was just stool traveling through his colon and as he got rid of it the dense spot got lower. So he got a clean bill of health and we were told no other tests were needed. Yeah! Praise the Lord!

Now we just need to get passed the teething! He's getting 4 teeth now 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Then we should be done until his 2 year molars. For the first time Bryce has accepted the frozen teething rings and has been chomping vigorously on it!

For other news, we had a fun playgroup at my fiend Heather's house on Tuesday. She has them every Tuesday but the was the first time we were able to attend. It was nice to get out of the house and visit with other moms, however I felt bad for Bryce. He wanted to play with the other kids but couldn't do the stairs fast enough. There was a 4 year old and a 2 year old. Then Grant and another girl the same age as him. So Bryce got frustrated a lot. Poor guy.

Well, the cinnamon rolls are done I better get them put away before I eat them all! I've been having a terrible sweets craving!

I know Grandma and Debbie.. I'll put pictures up next time! I got a great one of Bryce helping make brownies and one of Grant cooing at his image in the mirror. TOO CUTE!

Well Baby checks and Prayer request

Today we took both boys in for their well baby checks. Grant is now 12.2 lbs! That's double the birth weight. The dr. says he is growing well and doing just fine. He got his first three shots and some sweet nectar like vaccine for Rotavirus. That was a new one to me.
Bryce is 23 lbs now and growing fine. When the doctor was checking his abdomen though he noticed a dense spot on the left side which concerned him. He wants to get an ultra sound this Friday and a urine sample. He thinks that it might be his colon is turned the wrong way as it is suppose to be on the right. He didn't seem real concerned about it but said we need to get it checked out. If the ultra sound shows nothing he wants a CT scan. Please pray for the little guy that it won't be a serious problem but something easily resolved. I am relieved to know my mother instincts were not off base. I had a feeling something was wrong as he cries when he has to go to the bathroom and has been holding his front saying "owie".

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I've been Tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend Angel...

Here are 7 random/weird facts about me. I found this very difficult!!

1)I have been to 4 of the 7 continents. I have yet to go to South America, Africa and Antartica.

2)I've almost been to the north pole : Barrow Alaska. I was visiting my friend Shiloh there. She has since moved to Salcha. :)

3)I was hit by a car in Austria in 1994 or 1995 the week before finals and end of school. I spent some days in the hospital and had surgery to fix my broken jaw... still made it to the awards ceremony at school though. :)My jaw is the only bone I've ever broken.

4) I've been to east Germany before and after the Berlin wall came down. I have family that live on both sides.

5)I can speak a little Chinese,Spanish, Arabic,Russian,Sign language and a lot of German. I learned the little of Arabic, Russian, and Chinese from patients I've had. Spanish,sign language and German I learned from family and school.

6) I was the trophy queen at the State line Speedway in Spokane Wa. My mom's cousins own it. I rode in the pace car and handed the winners their trophies. I even got a few kisses from the drivers. (I was in JH or HS)

7)I am related to the author Francine Rivers and have almost all of her books. Three of which I have her autographed. She's something like my third cousin.


I now tag Shiloh, Emily, Jim, and Talisha.

Pumpkin Patch

There seems to be a theme in the blog world...good Autumn activity though.
My friend Tiffany came for a visit this past weekend and to meet Grant. WE had a great visit and went to Cracker Barrel, downtown Boise and to the pumpkin patch.
Thanks Tiffany for a great visit. We look forward to the next one!

The rocking horse is from the Cracker barrel store. He loved it!






It's hard work picking out your first pumpkin.


Bryce liked the big ones..but mostly to sit on.

The inside of our house

Here are a few pictures of the inside of our house here in Idaho.
I had fun going to thrift stores and consignment shops for the furniture. :)

2 months old

I can't believe Grant is already 2 months old! He is growing so fast. He has started to sleep 5 hours at night and is awake more during the day. He is cooing and babbling now and has the most adorable smile that lights up his entire face. He doesn't have a dimple like Bryce but has more of a crooked smile. I tried getting a picture of it but every time he saw the camera it disappeared. My mom got one though so I'll have to get it from her and post it.
Grant also is rolling tummy to back and is working hard at rolling back to tummy. He loves watching his big brother and smiles when he hears or sees him. It's adorable. Yesterday I was doing laundry and Bryce found a clean wash cloth which he took over to Grant. Then he pretended to "wash" his little brother. Again I missed a good picture. I'm thinking I need to wear the camera around my neck so I can catch these pictures. :)

Today the boys are over at their Oma and Opa's house for a few hours so I could get my hair cut. The hairdresser I want though is not working today and my other hair dresser I've been recommended doesn't come in until 1 which is too late for me. Oh well....I'm using the time to get other things done. It is so nice to have my parents close by and them asking to take the boys for me. Thanks mom and dad!!

Fireproof

Last night Jim and I went out on a date for the first time since Grant was born. It was so nice to get out of the house and be childless. A friend from church came and watched the boys. Grant even took his first bottle from her! Yippee!!
We went to see the movie Fireproof. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it! It is a very good movie. Kirk Cameron plays a fire captain who is a hero every day at work but struggles to keep his marriage alive. It's not until his dad gives him a challenge that things turn around. I really liked the way the movie portrays marriage based on Christ. The challenge the father gives is a forty day love dare in which the Kirk learns about marriage and unconditional love. I got the book that he does and have been challenging myself. It has been a good challenge and not just for people who are struggling with a possible divorce but for anyone.

I look forward to the DVD of the movie. GO check it out! http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/main.php

Gotta Love Playdates

Today we had a play date with my friend Heather and her girls. I first met Heather at Bryce's swim lessons this summer. She was pregnant with her third and I was pregnant with Grant. We discovered we were due about the same time and lived a block away from each other.(when we were living at my folks)We quickly became friends and found many other things in common; ie type of hair, parenting styles,hobbies, and loneliness.

Heather has three girls: Lydia 6, Eden 2, and Boston 7weeks. Eden and Bryce are good friends and were in the same swim class. Grant is 2 hours older than Boston! That's right Heather and I both had our babies the same day and get this! We were discharged the same day too! lol

Back to today.. Heather came over with the two younger ones and we got to visit and watch the kids play. Grant and Boston's schedules were a little off so they didn't get to play much. Grant slept when Boston was awake and vice versa. unfortunately I wasn't able to get pictures....next time though!!

The things I like about play dates is a chance to visit with another mom, another set of eyes and hands, and the kids take really good naps!

Heather told me she is starting a play group at her house every tuesday morning. She has been feeling lonely and out of touch with adults. I feel the same way and so I plan to go to as many of her play groups as possible..maybe even start one here as well. :)

Monday Monday can't trust that day..

Have you ever had one of those days you wish you could just redo? Today is my day. It started off good. Bryce woke up happy and rested. We enjoyed a nice breakfast together. Then Grant woke up happy and for once didn't spit up everywhere after I him. I thought hmm.. this is going to be a good day. Then every thing went sour. Bryce dumped out every toy he has, got into the cables (again), the phone kept ringing, Grant spat up every where and I ran out of cloths to catch it, and then the icing on my cake.... I ran an entire box of kleenex through the wash! You know how annoying it is when you don't catch a kleenex in a pocket and find bits all over the clothes? Well imagine that ten times worse and also finding bits of wet cardboard everywhere! I'm scared to open the dryer and see what I missed there.

So you are probably wondering how I didn't see the kleenex box. Well...it fell in the washer last night..I'm not in the habit of looking in the washer before putting clothes in because it is rarely left open! So there you have it. My day and it's only 2 pm!

I need a nap or a nice grande Mocha!

This weekend

This weekend we had a great visit from our friends from WA. John and Katie came with their son Jamie to see Grant and our new house. It was a great visit but much too short! Thanks for coming to see us! Here's the pictures of the fun we had. It was fun craming all of us in our van carseats and all.

Pictures pictures pictures!

Here's the picture update!


Auntie M and Uncle D's visit: Aug. 17-21st





Our new house we are renting. We moved Aug 30th




If you look closely you can see the playground in the back. Bryce loves the little orange car swing. I can hardly get him to come inside!