Vacation 2011

Sea World

Disneyland

Airport seeing Lianna!
Well, we went to California in August! It was a nice vacation and the main reason we went was to celebrate my sister Lianna's return home from her mission to Omaha, NE! It was so much fun to see her! We flew which was the best idea I've ever had! We arrived in CA on August 18th! Lianna arrived home on the 19th! We had a whirlwind of activities. We met Lianna at the airport with signs of love, went to her open house the following day, listened to her wonderful homecoming report on Sunday, ate dinner and celebrated Lianna's birthday at my moms on Sunday, Went to Disneyland on Monday, rested on Tuesday (ha ha), went to sea world on Wednesday and flew home on Thursday! PHEW I'm still exhausted thinking about it! It was a super fun trip! Oliver loved Disneyland and Sea World. Isaac LOVED Lianna! Which I'm so glad he did because she hadn't met him yet!

We also stayed the entire trip with our dear friends Greg and Carol Ann! They are so amazing to put up with us for so long! Our boys play so well together, 4 boys ages 5 years old down to 10 months and I think we had one little argument in an entire week! We are always so grateful for their welcome home!

So that was our vacation in a nutshell! Enjoy the pictures! I figure there isn't a whole lot to say! We barely blinked the whole week we were so busy with things to do! But it was a great time! I think two weeks later my kids are still recuperating! :)

5K

No, No we did not win $5,000! But on August 6th Berto and I ran a 5k! It was fun! I am still trying desperately to get rid of some of, any of this baby weight that will not fall off of my body from my dear sweet Isaac. I had only ONE goal for this race... it was TO NOT FINISH LAST! And I didn't so I was happy! We just did a fun run with the Salt Lake Running Company... the one thing we learned about doing a free 5k... You HAVE to wear their hideous free shirts WHILE you run! We also WON an awesome New Balance Backpack in their raffle! It was a great experience and Berto and I have decided to run the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in the spring! WOO!!!

The Dreaded Face Plant!

Sitting in the dentist chair waiting for the dentist to give me the verdict! Watching a movie!!

The teeth. This is after he pushed them forward a little with his tongue. (The discoloration has been there since his baby teeth grew in).

What a day! What started out as a promising day turned out to be one of the most traumatic days I've experienced this far in my parenting journey! I know I sound totally mellow dramatic... and I feel that way... and I'll probably feel really silly in a few days after I read this blog post... BUT I am still feeling the emotions of the day.

Ok, so today we decided to head up to the outlets in Park City. Berto and I have been in need of a few clothing items and are preparing for a trip to California. Also, Oliver has been needing new shoes... so our plans were made. After a quick and successful shopping trip I was sitting in the shade with the baby and Berto was letting Oliver test out his new Nike's at the playground. After about 15 minutes they came calmly walking over to me. I was surprised because Oliver doesn't typically leave a 3 year olds happy place (playground, park any where really) without a fight. Berto starts to tell me he tripped and fell and I suddenly realize there is blood coming out of Oliver's mouth. I hand off the baby to inspect the damage and find his right middle front tooth and the one next to it are severely pushed back and bleeding. PANIC. NAUSEA. DREAD. SORROW. Those are only a few of the emotions I felt. I get out my phone and start calling our dental insurance to see what our coverage is. THANKFULLY, I talked to a wonderful lady who suggested before I see our provider through our AETNA DMO, that I call our health insurance and see if they have accidental dental coverage! SCORE! I called and YES, he is covered 100% after a $50 copay which was a much better option for us than paying 20%! And they were amazing. They took the accident report, and helped me find a provider that could see him immidiately AND stayed on the phone while I made the appointment. They also told me EVERYTHING I needed to say so that they were billed properly. What a blessing!

So, we raced down the mountain. Oliver fell asleep so I called my mom and cried. I was trying so hard to keep it together for Oliver when ALL I wanted to do was morn for his poor front teeth.

Ok, so we made it to the dentist. They took an x-ray and thankfully there was no damage done to his permanent teeth which are just chillin up there waiting to come down. The dentist cautioned us not to have him numb Oliver up and try pushing the teeth forward. Oliver had already pushed them back up pretty far with his tongue and the Dentist didn't feel that he'd be able to do much more and it would be more traumatic than necessary for Oliver. So, basically they want to see him for a re-evaluation in 2 weeks as I guess it can take some time to really see the damage with dental trauma's. We just have to watch him for any absesses or anything like that or if he's in extreme pain then we have to bring him back in. The dentist doesn't think they'll fall out or anything like that at this point. So really it could have been much worse. I know that it's not the end of the world, they're just baby teeth... but I'm sad. The poor kid already had discolored baby teeth from who knows what reason... and now they're all wonky (for lack of a better term).

I am relieved that he's ok... but I'm sad. My Oliver doesn't look quite the same when he smiles. And he's been so subdued today. I think he got really scared and I think he's in some pain... and that breaks my heart.

Playing Catch Up!

My pictures uploaded in the wrong order... but I'm too tired to fix them!


At the legacy field museum with Grandpa and Anna! I think they both have a way to grow before they're basketball players! :)

Isaac with Grandpa Rick at the Thanksgiving Point Dino Museum!


With Tita in our front yard!


Both boys with Tito and Tita at the BYU Dino museum!



Isaac... I'm telling you I have my hands FULL!!!


Well, I'm playing catch up again! Once again I've been gone WAY too long! Geesh! Ok, so as far as Isaac goes... On April 26th he had his 6 month check up. He weighed in at 19.38 lbs in the 79th percentile and was 28.0 inches long in the 91st percentile! At about 8 months he started crawling. He is into EVERYTHING!! He's so much fun though! Such a happy, fun and smiling baby. His first tooth poked through right at 6 months and he now has 6 teeth. All four top front teeth and two bottom ones!
On July 21st Isaac had his 9 month check up. He weighed in at 21.1 lbs in the 61st percentile and 29.27 lbs in the 83rd percentile! Isaac is such a joy in our family!

Oliver is just a funny kid. He makes us laugh everyday. We love the funny things he comes up with all the time. He continues to LOVE trains, cars and dinosaurs! He is ALL boy! He is a great big brother. He loves Isaac so much. He's always concerned when he cries, and does his best to keep Isaac happy and laughing by doing goofy things to make him smile! Their favorite game right now is a little game of chase where Oliver runs around like a maniac and Isaac does his best to keep up. They both laugh their heads off the whole time!

In June Berto's parents made a quick visit. We took them to Temple Square and down to the BYU Dino museum. They also got lucky and they and Berto were able to go to a free Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert!

In July my Dad and Anna came for a four day weekend! We packed it full of eating, visiting, a trip to the Thanksgiving Point Dino museum, and a trip to the BYU Legacy Field Museum, oh and swimming, swimming, swimming at their hotel! It was a blast! We did learn that Isaac does NOT like the swimming pool!

Isaac's 4 Month well visit

I've been a bad, bad mom! Isaac is almost 6 months and I am just getting around to this post! It's been crazy around here! ;)

Weight: 16.9 lbs
Height: 26 inches
he's in the 82 percentile!

And just because I know I won't be on here for a while yesterday April 7, 2011 at 5 months old Isaac started SAYING MAMA!!! Oh yeah! What a little smarty! I was so excited! He's so cute when he says it! Oliver said it at 7 months.. I guess Isaac felt he needed to one up his big bro! So fun! Love my boys so much!!

Growing Boys!

My boys are growing WAY too fast! I can't keep up with it! Oliver is such a chatter box! he is so fun to be around! He LOVES sunbeams. He doesn't ever say a word but he loves it! On Sunday they learned about the Holy Ghost and when I picked him up from class he said "Mama, the Holy Ghost is going to save me!" It made my day! That was one of those blessed parent moments. I was so happy that he told me that!

Isaac had a big milestone today... HE ROLLED OVER!!!!!! We were doing tummy time and I ran out of the room to get some water... and when I came back he was on his back!!! And so it begins! But I'm so proud of my little man!

Babies, babies and more babies!!

Yesterday was SUCH a fun day!! I went to Lehi and had lunch with two of my mission friends Allison (Rock) Provenza and Katrina (Nurnberg) Dansie! It was so fun! Alli, Katrina and I were all pregnant at the same time and were all due in November and we all had boys! It was so fun to see each others babies!! Katrina also has a cute little 4 year old daughter named Malia! Oliver LOVES her!! It was a great afternoon with good friends and yummy food! I loved it!


The Babies! (Left to right)
Isaac born October 21st, Samuel born October 31st (Katrina's baby)and Dominic born December 2nd (Allison's baby)

Oliver, Isaac, Samuel, Melia and Dominic

I love that our boys are just a few weeks apart in age! I hope they will all be forever friends the way we have become!

My Boys

I'm already a little behind on "keeping my journal!" Gosh the time just gets away from me! But here's an update on the boys!

Oliver is hilarious! He's a very reverent little sunbeam at church! He DOES NOT talk in primary AT ALL but we can't get him to shut up at home. His nursery leaders have always said the same thing. He just does not talk. Recently a girl at church was subbing in nursery. She told me she kept asking Oliver his name and he would NOT tell her. Finally she asked one of the other kids. I'm hoping that since sunbeams is more structured he'll start to warm up a little! This morning when he woke up (in my bed) I had turned on my bedroom light. He wined "the sssuuuunnn!!!" I told him it was the light and he said "I need you to tell me it's the sun!" I don't know where that came from! But it made me smile!

Isaac is as cute as ever! He's going through a VERY frustrating faze though. He wants ME to hold him 24/7. He's been taking 30 minute naps which is NOT working for me. I spend my whole day trying to get him to sleep. He's exhausted and cranky and will NOT let Berto hold him. He screams the minute Berto picks him up. I just don't know what to do. It's been going on this way for a couple of weeks already! I am exhausted. My house is a mess and I don't know what to do. I'm hoping he gets through this very, very soon.

Other than that there's not a whole lot to report! We saw tangled over the weekend! It was great! We all loved it! Even Isaac who was wide awake through the whole movie and only cried if I turned him away from the screen. I guess he must have liked the bright screen!

The Biggest Loser

Berto and I are joining with some friends in a friendly biggest loser competition! I need something to get me motivated and get this baby fat off! :) SO we're taking the plunge! For the next 12 weeks it's healthy eating and exercise to the finish! I think I'm going to win! :)

Oliverisms

I can't believe how fast Oliver is growing! Today was his first day as a SUNBEAM! This is the three year old Sunday school class at church! Up until now he's just been in the nursery! This is a big milestone! He did AMAZING! I was worried he wouldn't sit still or would cry and he did neither! I was so PROUD!

Earlier this week Oliver I had Issac sleeping in his bassinet and I was doing the dishes. Oliver comes in and says "Where's my baby brother??" It was too cute!

Yesterday we were having some friends over for cake and ice cream to celebrate Berto's birthday! Oliver was carrying around the paper plates and said "By mama, I'm going to school to eat cake!" I don't know where that came from but I want to go to his school! :)

Oliver is growing up SO Fast! It's bittersweet that's for sure!

Resolutions

I don't typically set New Year's Resolutions! I break them! But this year I have been feeling like I need to set goals and this was the time to do it! My BFF Heather and I decided that we'd help each other stay accountable so we might actually succeed with our goals!!

Here are mine:
1. House of ORDER!
I have been completely overwhelmed since I became a mommy of two! My house has definitely been on the suffering end! My goal is to follow the FLYlady and spend 15 minutes a day tidying up a room. I love her way of doing things and I know my house will always look amazing and I won't feel like I'm neglecting my kids!
2. Study
I definitely need to spend more time strengthening myself spiritually! This is my year for that!
3. Journaling
I am going to "journal" twice a week. I'm not going to write in an actual journal. I'm going to use my blog for that purpose. But I want to remember all of the struggles and happy times and milestones our family has. So twice a week is my goal!
4. Exercise 3-4 times a week!
I have GOT to get this baby weight off! Enough said!
5. Date Berto
Berto and I don't spend enough time together! We're always so focused on the kiddos! We have met some amazing friends since we've been in our little house here and we are going to babysit swap! Even if all we do is go for a drive for and hour and talk just the two of us we are going to do it this year at least once a month!
6. QUALITY family time
We are busy and I feel like even though we're together a lot it's not always quality time. This year we are going to make it all quality time! These little ones are growing up too fast already! We need to make every minute count!
7. Family Home Evening
We haven't been the best at family home evening. But now that Oliver is a little bit older I think it is the perfect time to pick that up and run with it!
8. Meal Plan
I started this a couple of months ago but I want to make it a habbit for life. I am going to meal plan every Sunday and grocery shop every Monday. This has helped us stay within our grocery budget and helps me to stay organized. It's also helping us to make healthier choices!

So those are my resolutions! I'm excited for 2011! I know it's going to be a great year for our family! We are trying to be service minded and I know that many, many blessings will come our way!

Wishing you all the best year yet!

Our Christmas- 2010

We has a nice quiet Christmas here at home! It was a nice day just the four of us! We woke up early and opened presents and spent the day watching Oliver play with his toys! After Oliver took a short nap we headed out to the movies to see Yogi Bear! Oliver laughed and laughed! He really enjoyed it! We had a great day and hope you and your families enjoyed your Christmas too! We have been truly blessed this year and are so happy in our home here in Utah! We've made some great friends and although we missed our family we had a lovely day here just the four of us!

Merry Christmas!!

Isaac is 2 months old December 21, 2010

Issac turned two months old last week! He's growing so fast! He is such a sweet baby! He's been a little needy the past 3 weeks. He had a cold, ear infection and seems to be having some reflux issues. He is a trooper! I don't think I mentioned this before but Isaac was born with Pectus Excavatum (sunken chest). He will be able to lead a normal life but we did learn that we will always have to watch his weight to some extent. I'm not sure how you watch the weight of a breastfed infant but we'll see! He's smaller than Oliver was so that's a good thing!

Isaac's two month stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 12 ounces 75th percentile
Height: 23 inches long 75th percentile

We love our little peanut! He's brought so much joy to our little family!

Oliver's 3rd Birthday- November 4th 2010

Wow, time sure has gotten away from me. I am completely overwhelmed with two kids! So today I'm going to attempt to play catch up on my blog at least a little bit (just the big events not EVERY little thing)... and I'm even going to attempt to clean my house... wish me luck!

Oliver had his 3rd birthday on November 4th. He's such a big boy! I love my little man. He's becoming a good helper and is such a loving big brother. He loves baby Isaac! Since I was planning on having Isaac just three days before Oliver's birthday we didn't plan much. Which was good since I was still recovering when we did celebrate his birthday!

My mom was in town helping with the kids that week so it was nice that she was able to be here for Oliver's birthday! We picked up a Costco pizza and ate birthday cake! Then we decided at the spur of the moment to take a ride on the trax to temple square! Oliver loved it! We had a little train theme going because for his present he got a Chuggington train station and some trains! He had a very special day! We love our big boy!!

Halloween

Well, we didn't do much for Halloween this year. Since Isaac came early Berto took Oliver to the trunk or treat at the ward we had attended since June! (He went to ours but no one was there, weird!). They had fun. Oliver was super shy for some reason (So Berto tells me) Oliver was of course Harry Potter! I am so proud. I made his costume myself! Well, the robes I made anyway! I took Berto's gown from graduation and altered it to fit Oliver! He looked so stinking cute! Next year we're going to have much more Halloween fun!

Oliverisms

I am going to have to post a lot of these now I think. Oliver is becoming such a big boy. Of course today I'm posting it to remember how much I adore my big boy... after an hour and a half long battle to get him to take a nap which ended in a complete sobbing meltdown I need this post! :)

It took him more than two weeks to warm up to his baby brother! But NOW he adores him!

On Sunday Isaac was crying (a rarity for our little baby) and Oliver said "Don't cry baby Isaac you're safe!"

This morning I was sitting down to nurse Isaac... and Oliver said "Mom, I think Isaac wants his milk in a cup!"

Those are the two things that are sticking out in my mind right now. I really should write things down!

Oliver has embraced big brotherhood. This morning when he woke up he came over and started rubbing Isaac's back! And he keeps trying to help him play with the toys on his bouncy seat! Also, last night I had Issac kind of sitting up in our boppy pillow and Oliver came over and laid his head down on the side of the pillow!

Isaac Reed is HERE!!!!!

Isaac Reed was born on October 21st 2010. He weighed 7 lbs 2 ounces, was 19 inches long and came into the world at 4:56 am. We are so happy to have him here... even if we do have to share our anniversary with his birthday! :)

Things did not go exactly according to plan. Oliver was a c-section because he was breach so we were all scheduled for a repeat section for November 1st. As you can see we didn't exactly make it that far.

Around 12:30 am on October 21st I awoke to a gush and somehow managed to JUMP out of my bed! I very quickly realized my water had just broken! Berto had fallen asleep in Oliver's room while putting him to sleep (I have a feeling Oliver could sense something was coming because he had only fallen asleep maybe 30 minutes before). I went and woke Berto up and told him what was going on. We were both very near panicking. You're supposed to be unprepared for your first baby... not your second one! :) Since we have so recently moved here we weren't sure what to do with Oliver. We don't have any family close by and we have friends but didn't want to bother anyone in the middle of the night... so we had tentatively decided that I would do the birthing alone and Berto would remain with Oliver. We got to the hospital and they told us that Oliver was allowed to stay all the way until I was either pushing or being wheeled into the operating room. That was a HUGE relief! So we hung out in the labor and delivery room for a couple of hours. After we had been in the delivery room for probably an hour and a half my contractions started coming extremely STRONG and very close together. They were trying to hold off as long as possible on the c-section because I had, had a snack at 10 pm. Their goal was to do my c-section at 6:00 am... that didn't happen either. Once my contractions started coming so quickly they got the anesthesiologist in to put in an epidural to try and hold thing off for a couple more ours. That was probably around 3:30 am... well it took him over an hour and multiple pokes in my spine to finally get the catheter in place. By that point my contractions were about a minute apart and the last three I felt I had the urge to push. It was VERY close. I was nervous to try a VBAC and that was why we were still going with a c-section (although the nurses were setting up the L&D room because it was going to be so close). We made it into the operating room. They let Berto watch this time. Something he was very disappointed not to be able to do when we had Oliver. (Eeewwww) But he said they really had to work hard to get him out of the birth canal. Isaac was just a little over three weeks early and a pretty decent size! He had some fluid in his lungs which I understand can be normal for c-section births. He did have to spend about an hour in the NICU while they observed him and made sure it was all aspirated.

I had a slight complication. On Friday evening I got this KILLER headache. It was the most intense pain I've ever felt in my life. I could not sit up, tolerate sound or light. It was due to the trouble with the epidural/spinal tap. They poked a little hole in my spine and spinal fluid was leaking out and pulling on my brain causing the headache. Saturday afternoon they did a procedure where they sterily draw blood from the arm and inject it into the site of the epidural to clot the hole. Within about two hours I was headache free!

We came home on Sunday afternoon. And are so happy to be home!

Isaac is a sweet little baby. He is easy going and such a joy in our home. He goes 3-4 hours in between feedings around the clock which has been so nice and he even lets me put him down! He is such a different baby then my sweet Oliver!

Oliver is still adjusting to being a big brother but definitely loves little Isaac. If he doesn't know where Isaac is he asks "Where's baby Isaac?"

We are so grateful that Isaac is here healthy and happy! And next time I will be prepared for anything... I hope! :)

Which one will be bigger???

So today Lianna told me she thinks that this baby is going to be even bigger than Oliver was. All I have to say about that is YIKES. Oliver was 9 lbs 7 ounces. My belly was looking smaller for a while there... until the last couple of weeks it just popped out a ton. So today while Oliver was napping I decided to play around with photoshop and put these two pictures together. The one on the left is me at 39 weeks with Oliver. The one on the right is me at 37 weeks with Isaac.... which one do YOU think is going to be bigger???

I really need to remember to thank Berto for NOT telling me how big of a baby he was before we got married.... I sure am lucky to be the carrier of such HUGE babies! (Insert sarcasm here).

We are all still alive!

And just to prove it here's a picture of Oliver! We're getting nice and settled! I'll post a few pictures of our house soon! We're loving the space and the quiet pretty much just everything about where we are!

Here's a fun picture of Oliver. Him and I went to the free craft day at the Lakeshore Learning Center today! He had a ton of fun! Also, I finally made the blanket I've been itching to make! I've had the fabric for a couple of months... and yesterday I cut it, pinned it, tied it and finished it! YES!!!

PROGRESS

This is the front of the house!


This is the side yard! Check out the apple trees!


This is the kitchen!!

We moved to Utah just over two months ago. Since then we've felt kind of in LIMBO.. okay BIG TIME in limbo. Our very generous friend Alisa invited us to crash in her basement so we didn't have to add to our stress in finding a home before we moved. Since then it has felt as though one thing after another has happened. The BIGGEST thing is our car started acting up and it felt as though the transmission was going. We had already put one rebuilt transmission in it and decided it was NOT worth messing with again. So we sold it to Carmax just over two weeks ago. We acquired a rental car and the car searching began. We had one stipulation, the car had to paid for with the cash that we were given for our car as we do not want a car payment at this time. This did NOT leave very much room for choice AND it made car buying scarier than it has ever been for either of us. We didn't know who we could trust and felt like every car we looked at was junk and would fall apart in minutes after we bought it. After a lot of searching and a lot of prayer we were exasperated to say the least. I was feeling so discouraged. This was about a week after we sold the car. There was no turning back. That very evening Berto's mom called to tell us that his aunt decided she wanted to sell her low miles 1998 Honda Accord. We talked about it and with the price she was selling it for we could afford to fly Berto to AZ to pick up the car and drive it back. It was a major miracle for us. So we have a car that runs well and will be reliable and we are so grateful!

In the middle of all this we were still in our house/apartment search! Another thing that was adding to this pregnant chicks unwanted and unneeded stress. A couple of weeks ago I went to lunch with a friend from my mission. In passing she said she wished she knew a couple of months before we moved that we were moving because they had rented this great little old house in Murray for dirt cheap and it helped them save money to buy a house of their own. Well, I of course put that thought out of my mind thinking that there is no way such a great deal would still be around several months later.... well last week Katrina emailed me and told me that she had spoken to her father in law (who works for the landlords) and the house was still unoccupied. She put me in touch with the landlords and we are moving in on September 27th! We couldn't be more thrilled! The rent is inexpensive and we will have a 1900 square foot 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house to live in with a nice sized yard! It is going to be heaven!

We feel so blessed! On Friday I am meeting the landlord at the house to sign the lease and give them our deposit. They are giving us the keys that day so we can take our time moving in the little things before we need help with all of our bigger items!

It is so nice to feel like we're making progress! I was starting to feel like we weren't going to find the "right" place for our family before I have this baby and thankfully things are all falling into place! We will be moved in and settled with plenty of time to spare! I'm so happy!

Here are the three pictures we took of the house. For some reason we only took one inside of the kitchen! It's an older house but has been well taken care of!