The year 2009 in review!

The Year 2009

I thought I would write a letter of what we were up to in 2009 mostly for my records. I want to remember it as best as possible.

In January Joshua and I made a trip to Texas traveling through Colorado visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Springfield then ending in Amarillo for the first night to see my cousins and Auntie. Joshua had a wonderful time visiting with them, running around their house, and being silly, my cousins loved having us there too. The second day of our travels to Texas we drove a long way to Dallas where we stayed with our good friends Katrina, Ryan, Kyle, and Hannah. They used to live here and moved a few years ago so this trip was wonderful. We also visited with my cousin Stefanie and her family, Joshua loved playing with her children, playing games, dress up, and dancing it was such a wonderful trip I wish I could do it many times a year or at least once! After Dallas we drove on to Temple to visit my Aunt for about 5 days. She is taking care of my Grandad at her house; it was great being able to see him as well. We were gone for about 13 days, it was such a wonderful vacation and Joshua did well. We didn’t hit any problems until Fort Worth on the way home where my tire blew. It was difficult finding help and me being pregnant I had a break down moment with tears but it worked out in the end. Joshua was completely potty trained this month with just went nights!

The Month of February came and went. We had a Spiderman party for Joshua’s third birthday, it is so hard to believe he is already three! I missed my two year old but was looking forward to the future as well.

In April we celebrated Michael’s birthday and later he flew to Boise to spend the weekend with a great friend Chris. They went to a concert and had a party with no children, not really a party but they did have fun. I also visited the Hospital as I was experiencing some preterm labor on the 21st, all was well and we went home. Joshua was night time potty trained in this month, we were very happy to no longer have to buy diapers or pull-up.

In May we were able to meet our second boy, Will, on May 5th at 10:25pm. He came 10 days early, which made me extremely happy! My sister Wendee was able to drive down for the birth of Will. It was so nice for her to come since she was unable to when Joshua was born. My mother-in-law was able to come over to watch Joshua for us! It is so great having family who cares for us and is willing to help us out; thank you Maxine for helping us when we really needed it and thank you Wendee for making the trip just for the day. Our good friends from Gillette made the trip down later that month to meet him, Thank you for coming!

The month of June I met a lady at Gym Jam and our children LOVE to play with each other. We would walk to the Rec-Center together and now try to get together once every other week or so. I am so thankful I have her in my life. We also decided to make a trip to Idaho and Oregon to see our friends Chris and Sandy and so my parents could meet Will. We also vacationed in Idaho with Michael’s parents for a bit too. Both boys traveled so well!

In July we met our friends Danielle, with her two kids and Shannon with her daughter in Denver. We went to the Children’s museum for the first time and with now be making frequent travels to Denver just so our boys can play there. It is really a neat place. Michael, Will and I flew to Texas for my cousin Jayson’s wedding. Will did great on the flight there even after we missed our original flight out of Denver! My sister Wendee has a badge that can get her to the gates so we were able to spend some more time with her at our gate! It was so much fun, what a great way to wait for a flight. At the end of the month we bought our first Van. It is shorter than a van and not as wide so it drives like a car. We have had a few problems with it but are very blessed to have it.

In August Will was able to meet his Aunt Misty, Uncle Greg and family. IT was great being able to see them again. We cannot wait for them to live closer to us soon we hope!!! Michael and I also celebrated our 5th year wedding anniversary and my 26th birthday! I am so glad I have him in my life and cannot imagine life without him.

In the month of September Michael made a special trip to Denver so he could see his great friend Chris at the Denver International Airport. They were able to spend almost the entire day together as Chris had a layover. I am so glad Michael was able to see Chris a few times a year this year and pray the year of 2010 is like that as well. I also started going to the monthly meetings for the La Leche League and have received tons of support for nursing Will. I am so glad we have programs like that one.

In October we made it to Gillette once again. For January- April we made it to Gillette once a month then once Will was born we hadn’t made it back until October. It was great being able to go see our friends and family again. We had a fun Halloween carving a pumpkin and having our children dress up as a Cowboy (Joshua) and a little cow (Will). Michael’s work was having a trick-or-treat time so we drove up there and Joshua got a lot of candy, later we went to the Children’s Clinic where he got even more candy.

Will had his first Thanksgiving in November and cut two teeth, one on Thanksgiving Day and the other the day after. We drove to Cheyenne to spend the Holiday with Michael’s family. We had a great time and shared a wonderful meal together, thank you Maxine and Todd for your hospitality and thank you for loving us all so much.

We wrapped up the year with a wonderful Christmas season. It is always so wonderful spending Christmas with family and being able to watch your children fully enjoy the holiday! We did end the year getting sick, but we are on the mend! We have also spent many Thursday mornings at the Library for story time, which Joshua loves. This fall we started book babies for Will and have enjoyed that as well. Thank you everyone for being a part of our lives this year. It was truly an amazing year being able to watch our family grow!

Nursing Musings

Well I have been successfully nursing Will for almost 8 months now. That is 5 months longer than I pumped milk for Joshua! I am so glad we nursed that long and are still at it. It has been a very long and hard road but I am very glad we stuck with it. I have delt with Mastitis, and engorgement and still deal with engorgement every now and then. I cannot tell you how many nursing strikes I have made it through. Every time we travel he decides he isn't going to nurse for at least 12 hours. There were many times I wanted to throw in the towel. When he was three months old I wanted to quit, tried giving him a bottle and he wouldn't have it. Will has decided that he doesn't like eating on the right and almost made my milk supply vanish on that side, thank you Will for deciding the right is okay once again! For some reason he doesn't care to drink during the day so we have a party at night!! haha...

Thank you Allison, and Cynthia for providing me with the support I needed and everyone else at the La Leche League! Thank you family members of mine who have supported me along the way.

I am so glad I am nursing my son and will stand by anyone who wants to nurse their children. Besides the health benefits for him (immune-support) and me (decreasing my chances of breast cancer)I love nursing and hope to continue to do so (I don't know for how long). I love watching his eyes roll to the back of his head in happiness, his eye brows raise and jaw starts moving up and down. I love watching that cute little pink tongue peak out of the corner of his mouth as milk dribbles down his chin. I love how he rubs my side as he drinks and frantically grabs his blanket with the other hand. I love how when he is really hungry he will curl his body towards me into a little ball, becoming every so tiny once again. I LOVE nursing my son. I love knowing that I am giving him the best food out there, and that I am helping him grow.

Thank you Will for being a nurser!

Funny stuff

So this morning I took Joshua to the eye doctors for a regularly scheduled appointment and everything went great! Joshua said some very funny things and I wanted to share.

The Doctor had to dilate his eyes. I'm not sure why but that is what happened. He was not a fan of getting the drops in his eyes but once they were in he was fine. The Doctor said we could go run an errand while waiting for his eyes to dilate so we ran to Albertsons. We got our three items and went to the check out stand. As we were standing in line Joshua was eating his free cookie...
Joshua said "Mom, I see two cookies!"
Me "What! Let me see your eyes."

This was followed with a lot of laughing on my part then Joshua joined me. One pupil was so big you couldn't really see any more of his blue eye and the other one was so small. Like so... o O It took a while for me to stop laughing. I then carried him back to the eye doctors since he wasn't seeing well, they put more stuff in his eyes so the other one would dilate. It worked and everything went well.

Just before we left ...
The Doctor "So is Santa coming to your house tonight?"
Joshua "Ha... Noooooooo!"

He thought it was funny that Santa would come to his house. I think he doesn't know Santa could be real or that he could believe in him if he wanted to. He was cute.

I have tried to put pictures on our blog of us making gingerbread houses but it isn't working. I'll try again later.

Will is 7 months old!!!

Will is now 7 months old. Boy is it hard to believe. He is turing into quite the character. He loves saying 'Dada' over and over again, although he doesn't know who Dada is yet. He also says 'lala' and grumbles a lot. He now has two teeth, he got one on Thanksgiving day and the next one the day after. They are popping up a lot now and boy is he cute with his little white nubs!

He is becoming more mobile. He likes to roll places but doesn't like it once he is there. He usually gets stuck and then starts to cry or whine. He love jumping in his jumper-roo. He sure can bounce high. He can now sit with the assistance of the boppy pillow. He won't throw him self forward any more so I can leave him to play sitting up more than I used to.

He really likes going to book babies on Friday mornings. We sing songs, say poems and read books. He really likes the peek-a-boo song. It goes like this...
Peek-a-boo I see you won't you share a book with me.
Peek-a-boo I see you won't you share a book with me.
I say Peek you say boo readings what we love to do.
I say Peek you say boo readings what we love to do. Then repeat.
We cover our faces when we say peek-a-boo and he smiles so big.

He loves baby food. I have made him almost all of the baby food he has eaten.
Sweet potatoes, harvest squash, green beans/carrots/harvest squash, pears/avocados, peaches/avocados, pumpkin/banana/peaches, pears, carrots, peas. I think that is it.

He is still not sleeping great at night but I am fine with that. He has stopped needing us to walk him around for hours at night to get him back to sleep so I am very thankful of that.



If you click on the pic you can see his teeth.


Sitting up.


My guys!


Will is 7 months old!!!

Christmas Tree

We put up our tree the weekend before Thanksgiving. We were having a play date and they were talking about putting up their tree. Joshua thought it was a good idea too, so we did it. I really like our little fake tree. Someday it might be nice to get a real tree but for now this one is perfect for our little apartment. Our snowflake ornaments from our wedding fits great on the tree. Will even liked it too.

Just like after Easter Joshua can't stop hiding Easter eggs. Yes we still hid and find them and it has been many months since Easter. Now he cannot stop putting candy canes on and off the tree. It is quite cute watching him decorate it over and over again.

Here are some pictures of us putting the tree up. Sorry the pictures are in reverse order.




Joshua decorating the tree


Assembly




He can't wait to get started!

Will's first Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year in Cheyenne. We drove over Thursday morning and spent the day with Michael's Dad, Mom, and Sister. Will had a fun time soaking in all the attention. Joshua did too!

We had a wonderful spread of food. Sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, turkey, rolls, and pies. Yum. Joshua actually ate most of the meal and really enjoyed the sweet potatoes. Who wouldn't?

Will got his first tooth on Thanksgiving!! It was very exciting. I was playing 'Peek-a-boo' with him on the ground and discovered the tooth.


First tooth. His left front tooth, it is very tiny but it's there.




What a cutie!


Joshua doesn't like getting his picture taken so this was the best one I got.


Turkey name cards Joshua made.


Sitting up




Michael and Will

6 months old already!

I cannot believe Will turned 6 months old on the 5th! We went to his 6 month check up on the 11th. Here are his stats: Head 45 1/2 85th percentile Weight: 15 lb 15 oz 20th percentile (I thought he was over 16 pounds the last time, but he was weighed on a different scale then. Length: 26 1/2 50th percentile.

Will can now roll over both ways he just rolled over from his back to his tummy on his 6 month birthday and hasn't done it since. He rolls over instantly from his tummy to his back. He loves playing with toys, looking around, and when the TV is on and he is turned away from it he cranks his head around so he can. He talks a lot saying 'dadada' mostly, although he doesn't know who dada is he loves to say those sounds. The other day Will was saying dada and Joshua said 'Mommy, Will wants daddy'. Will is loving baby food, sweet potato, squash, applesauce, pears, bananas, peas (not a big fan of these but he will eat them when they are mixed with a fruit), and prunes. I try to give him mostly rice cereal (with breast milk) then add a little fruit for flavor. He isn't a big nurser and hasn't really ever been. He nurses every 4 hours for about 5 to 10 mins and it is usually a struggle to get him there. So yesterday I gave him some expressed milk in a bottle and he didn't suck on it just chewed it. I'm just concerned about him dropping on the curve in weight. I pray he does better soon.

Will has dry patches of skin all over so now we have to lather him up good every day. And he had a rash on his genitals with, Praise the Lord!! is going away. We have to plow dry it every time we change him and then put some good lotion on it after that.

Well Here are some pictures of Will at 6 months.









Joshua at 6 months old