Thank you Daniel!

Daniel slept for 7.5 hours straight last night!! That means that last night was the first time he officially slept through the night! YAY!

I'm really trying to find the determination to start exercising again. I know the hard part is getting started, but it feels especially hard to me right now. Maybe because I have two kids this time to juggle a schedule around (just one is a lot easier to manage). My back still isn't all the way better from the accident and I don't think it will get better until I start being more active and strengthening my dormant ab muscles. Wish me luck and happy thoughts.. maybe even a few prayers for motivation.

My first cake job

I was commissioned to make this cake by a lady in my ward for her daughters 6th birthday. She even paid me.. making the first cake I've been paid to create (the others have all been gifts). If I could I would like to attend a cake decorating class at my local cake shop so I can get better at this and really make it a side job, that would be awesome.

Big news in my little world

Tonight Jacob went pee pee in his potty chair for the very first time! Brent and I made a big deal of it and I hope it encourages him to do it again. He often tells me "potty" and wants to sit on his chair but until now he has never done anything. YAY - I am so excited for him!

update on me and Jacob

I'm doing just o-k right now. I have a serious pain in my neck that is giving me heck and that is affecting every area of my life. It started on Sunday and is just awful, I have a marble sized "knot" in my neck to the right of my spine (creepy really). On Monday I couldn't even look side to side without pain so I went in to see my chiropractor, he said it is an inflamed nerve. I asked my doctor about it today and she said it is a swollen lymph node.. whatever it is it sucks big time and I'm hurting a lot because of it. It hurts so bad that I can't even to simple stuff and it's really getting to me. Ugh.

I took Jacob in for his 2 year check up today. J-man is 32.5 pounds (90%) and 36.5 inches tall (75%), he is right on target in all other developmental levels and is an overall healthy, busy little boy. Gotta love him.

catchup - Daniel

Daniel has been doing so well. He has adjusted to his shoes and his sleeping has gone back to normal. He is just the best baby in the world (to me) and I wouldn't mind having 8 kids if they were all like him. My friend Angela took this picture of Daniel when he wasn't even two weeks old yet. I just thought it was a cool perspective shot. He is in his bouncy seat with Brent's foot next to him.



- All swaddled up and sleeping -

Here is a picture of my boys before church one day. (Daniel still had his casts)


A cute picture of Daniel sleeping on Brent's shoulder


The journey we have had with treating his clubfeet was an interesting one. We had some very hard days but overall it wasn't as difficult as I had expected. He is all fixed now and his shoes/braces keep his feet from relapsing. Clubfeet is so treatable and I am so grateful that we had access to good medical care to take care of him. He is just fine now and will be as "normal" as anybody else soon enough. It is unimaginable to me that anyone would abort a baby just because of a clubfoot ultrasound diagnosis (yet many do). These babies just need a little extra attention and then they will be "perfect". I am so grateful that God gave me Daniel. He can give me those special spirits anytime.

I saw this video on utube a while ago and it just broke my heart. Clubfoot, if left untreated, is a hard thing to live with. It is only 3 minutes long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfgiG2YJJdw

catchup - Jacob turns 2!

On November 6th Jacob turned 2. We had a nice day together and he was so well behaved which made it easier for me to have a good day with him. I made homemade pizza and a dinosaur cake (he blew out both candles with one blow!). We had our friend's the Cole's over to help us celebrate. Here are a few things I love about Jacob and things he can do...
* says "mourning" really loud each time he wakes up
* says "ready? two, four, go!"
* he loves to help us do anything
* he is my baby monitor and always knows when Daniel is awake or crying (even if I can't hear)
* loves his routine. Loves his baths and brushing his teeth. He really loves his books and even sleeps with them
* he loves to dance and listen to music. we rock it out together in the car all the time.
* has a beautiful smile.

I love you J-man!





One of our presents to him was a big boy bed. I think he really likes it. His transition from a crib to a bed has been so easy. I was dreading it and it turned out to be smooth and pretty painless. We only had a few 3 am moments with him right next to us saying "hi mom" or "hi dad". He is such a good and delightful little boy. He is learning new things constantly which keeps me on my toes and is just so much fun to watch.

catchup - Halloween 2008

Thursday October 30th was our ward's trunk-or-treat. For that night we dressed up Jacob as a dinosaur and Daniel as a GI Joe. They looked adorable and we all had a really fun time at the event (well... Daniel slept through most of it). I taught Jacob to say "treat" and then "thank you" and we went from car to car and he did very well.



On October 31st we invited several couples over for a halloween party at our house. We had lots of food and played games while the children played or watched baby einstein. It was a very fun evening. For that event we had Jacob dressed as Prince Ali Ababua (an outfit John brought back for him from Iraq). Here is a picture of Jacob and my graveyard cake.