Zeke's 2 year check up

Zeke had his 2 year check up with the pediatrician and he has only gained 1/2 pound in 6 months! boo. We are going to wait another 6 months until we start worrying. I asked the amazing group of heart moms what they think it might be. There is talk of allergies even though he has never had an allergic reaction to anything. It might be an absorption issue. Who knows, that's just speculation. I hope all his other organs are functioning properly and that he's just small. Andelyn and Titan are small so I'm going with that for now. 

Happy Birthday Zeke!

Zeke turned 2 today! He is our little miracle and we are so happy to have him. We had a fabulous morning waiting for two hours to get the windshield wipers fixed on our car. Thankfully the dealership had slides, a water fountain, and a staircase to play on. I'm glad I had sanitizer wipes in my bag! And I'm glad 2 year olds can have fun just about anywhere. 

Zeke also got a hand written card from the Rainbow Kids Palliative Care Team from Primary's. They sent one last year too. It touches my heart to know they share the excitement of Zeke's life. 

This is the best picture I got today. We will do balloons and cupcakes soon. :)

Emergency Prepardness

Have you ever wondered how to prepare for an emergency without getting entirely overwhelmed? I do all the time. My friend Rachel wrote a short book on how to be prepared without being stressed out. And it's only 5 bucks! Check it out! You could even buy it for friends or family for Christmas.

http://emergencypreparednessbook.blogspot.com/

Andelyn's Haircut

Andelyn has such beautiful bright blonde baby hair I haven't been able to bring myself to have it cut. Her last hair cut was when she was 2...she is almost 6. I know that is way to long to go without a cut. Her hair is just getting darker and the bright blonde was such a good contrast. But, once your hair reaches your hiney it is time to say goodbye. So we did and she is so much happier. :)

before

after

My friend Amber gives the best haircuts. She has a salon in her house, my kids play with her kids, everyone has a great time, we get to visit and everyone leaves happy. Thanks Amber!

Excavator Adventure

Today (Dec 7. It's past midnight now) was so much fun. I took the kids for a bike ride in the cemetery this morning and it was warm enough! Titan is getting good on two wheels and doesn't like to be left behind so he pedals as fast as he can. When we made it to the back of the cemetery we stopped where there is construction going on to watch a huge excavator push dirt. Zeke's mouth was wide open dripping with drool, and Andelyn and Titan could care less about their bikes for the moment. All of the sudden the excavator got so close to us, stopped, and the driver jumped out and said, "do you guys want to drive?" The kids were so excited they screamed "I want to drive!!!" Andelyn went first and loved it. Titan went next and got to do all sorts of crazy backward driving and spinning in circles. The guy driving was a pro. You could tell he was having fun. Zeke was scared out of this mind and decided to stay in my arms. I asked the driver if he'd ever dug up anything interesting and come to find out he dug up an intact Woolly Mammoth head. Tusks and all from a site in Spanish Fork. He donated it to the Bean Museum. The museum is under construction right now, so when it is open I am going to take the kids to see it! This was seriously the best Christmas present ever.

After our ride we went to story time at the library. The kids love the library.

After stories my fabulous neighbor taught me a few things about sewing. I made Andelyn a skirt! So excited.

After sewing we played. Then our babysitter came over and we went out to dinner with said fabulous neighbors and had a fantastic time. It was a good day.

Random phone pics

My phone does not have a high quality camera and many of the pictures come out blurry. But it's better than nothing when I don't have my nice camera.

Giant machine of happiness in Blikenstaff's toy store.

My good little helpers. Cleaning days are pretty fun when they get excited about helping.

Baking soda can with a slit in the lid + 10 pennies = 30 straight minutes of baby happiness.

he can take the lid on and off all by himself.

Thanksgiving with cousins. They have cows behind their house. The kids spent about an hour staring at them and feeding them carrots.

Cousin Talon is a fun jungle gym!

Hanging out at daddy's work...they are well stocked with candy.

Letter puzzle fun

Zeke is in love with trains. He calls them "goo goos" and says, "ga ga ga ga, ga ga ga ga goooo goooo!!!" Oh it's melts my heart. This is a train set at our friends house and he played with it for 2 straight hours. Then he came and sat in my lap and fell asleep in 10 seconds.

I love staring at sleeping babies. :)

little Santa boy.

Shaving cream is the best bath toy ever. Hours of fun.

this kid likes to hold the cream and never touch it to his face.

We have the kids take baths in their swim suits now. They love it and feel like they are in the pool.

Fun at the car wash. Going through the car wash is seriously as good as any ride at Disneyland. :)

3 meals in two hours

Last night in two hours Royal and I ended up making 3 meals, ate one of them, did the dishes and put the kids to bed. It was a successful marathon. We made chicken salad, roast in the crockpot for another day, and butternut squash soup. Oh and pumpkin cookies. No mess tonight! We love good food. I love that he comes straight home from work to the chaos of kids and dinner. He doesn't want to be anywhere else. :)

Ode to the Nose Frida...aka snot sucker

Whenever Zeke's nose starts running, is congested, or he can't breathe, he comes to me with his finger in his nose and says, "no!" (nose). The he tries to sniff up the all the boogers. I ask him if he wants me to clean out his nose and he says "ya." So we go to the bathroom, I put saline in his nose and he laughs. Then I suck his brains out with the fabulous snot sucker and he screams and scream and screams like I am torturing him. But he asked for it! When I'm done we take it apart and wash the goobers down the drain while he says, "ewwww!!!!" And then I ask him if he feels better. He says, "YA!" Then I tell him to say thank you and he says, "dan do." We go on with our day until he comes to me with his finger in his nose again. So hilarious. He is a good little communicator for the few words he can say. I don't know whey hospitals waster their money on those useless blub syringes because they do not work at all. Every mom with a drippy nose baby needs one of these. :) And yes it is what it looks like. A straw for your mouth and a little tube for baby's nose. You use your own suction but there is filter and the goobers never make it that far anyway. Check out the site. Only 15 bucks for clear baby noses. http://www.fridababy.com/

Gingerbread Cookies

Who knew making ginger bread cookies could be so fun?! It is seriously like playing with play dough that you can eat! It was the perfect cookie making project for kids. They were so tasty and the kids had a fabulous time.

Zeke needed to be in on the cooking too. Silly kid.

Christmas Tree and Candy Canes

We don't really have room in our house for a Christmas tree. Luckily, my neighbor got into her attic and found this little one! It is perfect. We have decorated it with candy canes (which have all been eaten), and candy canes made out of pipe cleaners because the kids wanted to make sure there were pretend candy canes when all the real ones were gone. They are so funny.

Candy canes = Christmas = happy 4 year old.

Fall Leaves In the Canyon

The fall leaves in the canyon were too good to miss. We didn't get a good family photo because I took them. But it's okay. Next time. Here are a few of my favorites.

I took these in October.

"deese!!!"

"weeeeee!!!"

And photo shoot over. It was fun. :)