Cousins!

Last week the boys and I headed over to Billings to visit Shelly and her kids plus Grandma and Grandpa Bassett and Jacque and her boys. Getting over there was trickier than usual -floods closed my normal route so we had to take a slightly longer way. At one point we came to a part where water was flowing over the road. There were guys there flagging the traffic through so I started to drive through it. As I approached it Alan suddenly blurted out in a very nervous voice "What are you doing?!?!" As we drove through, sheets of water splashed up to the top of the van and the boys thought that was pretty cool. We made it safe and sound and had a very fun time visiting with cousins. Here are the highlights:
1. Hiking - at least that is what Alan called it. The kids all collected walking sticks and then we would walk down the hill in the back of the house and cut over to the road. Then we would walk down to the swampy area and beyond. We did this all 3 days that we were there. One day we walked down to the bridge just before the turn off to the Bassett's house. The creek was running pretty high and we let the kids throw rocks in and have stick races.

playing in the swampy area (you can see all the walking sticks)

Our 6 hikers - Chase, Alan, Jordan, Caden, Kailyn and Conner. I should have taken a picture of Shelly and I and the hitch hikers (Ava and Micah).

2. Making cookies with Grandma - each of the kids was given an ingredient to be in charge of

Grandma, Chase, Kailyn and Jordan
Grandma helping Caden measure his ingredient while Alan guards his egg

Grandma helping Conner and Chase measure their ingredients

Micah maneuvered his way around the floor by pushing with his hands so he slid backward. Here he pushed himself under a chair:

3. A girl's night out. Mom Bassett, Shelly, Jacque and I went to town one evening and got dessert and just chatted. We got babysitters and I was surprised by how well the kids did (we put them all to bed before we left but I was surprised that they actually stayed there).

4. A wiener roast. The last night we were there we started a fire and cooked hot dogs for the kids and chicken packets for the adults. Jacque, James and Baer came out to join us. The kids had fun helping me start the fire and cook their food. Then everyone got a smore - what a yummy, sticky mess:

Micah enjoying a back pat by Grandpa
Alan trying to cook his hot dog over the coals.

I also enjoyed staying up late and just chatting although Conner and Micah didn't sleep very well (one of them always woke me up between 3 am and 4 am and then we were up and down the rest of the night) so I ended up quite tired.
On Thursday morning we said our good byes. It was so fun to see Shelly and watch my kids play with their cousins. I wish we lived closer together so that we could do it more often.

Caden and Alan

I thought this was a fun comparison. I took this picture 2 years ago of the same kids. Here are the kids in the summer of 2009:
And here are the same kids (plus 2) now:
l-r: Micah (8 months), Chase (2), Conner (3), Caden (4), Alan (5), Jordan (6), Kailyn (7), Ava (3 months). Amazing how time flies!
Thanks for the visit!

Alan's Preschool Graduation

Alan had his last day of preschool on Friday. They had a cute little program at a local park. Too bad it was so cold and windy but at least it wasn't raining. Alan has really loved going to preschool. His favorite parts are the snacks and the crafts.

Here is Alan's class: Miss Carmen in the back, front row left to right Jaiden, Alan, Alex, June, Chris (Henry, June and Chris are Miss Carmen's children),Teagan, Henry, and Kutter

They learned the Pledge of Allegiance

We finally got to hear the broccoli song. Alan has told us about this song and Miss Carmen said that she introduced this song in January and that the kids have begged to listen to it every day since then. It is about a guy saying he doesn't like broccoli and then at the end of the song he tries some and likes it. The kids all went crazy and started to running and jumping around.

Alan dancing to the broccoli song (so cute!)

Then the kids made their own band and marched around. Kutter, Alex and Alan played the recorders.

All the kids marching in a circle with different instruments

Alan doing the actions for the Going on a Bear Hunt song

Alan walking across the stage to receive his diploma

Miss Carmen presented the class as the class of 2024. That was so weird to hear - it is hard to imagine Alan graduating from high school, that seems so far away. The kids were all holding their hats on because the wind was really blowing.
l-r Kutter, Alex, Henry, Jaiden, Alan, Teagan

Alan with his teacher, Miss Carmen

Alan has told me numerous times now that he is sad that he doesn't have preschool anymore, but he is also really excited to start kindergarten and he wanted to know why he couldn't start right now. I told him he has to wait until September. I'm glad we did preschool for him, he had a lot of fun.

And so it begins

I thought I should document this so I can look back and keep track of how often this happens. In the middle of May we put Micah to bed but he woke up shortly afterward. We would go in and hold him and he would go back to sleep but then he would wake up with in 20 or 30 minutes. I gave him some tylenol but that didn't seem to help. I went to the store around midnight and got some ibuprofen and gave him some around 2 am. Then he slept until 6 but he woke up with a fever. I took him to the walk-in clinic and they checked his ears. He had a double ear infection - one ear was so infected that it was bulging and the doctor warned me that it might break before the antibiotics could take affect. Thankfully it didn't.

Micah's feelings about ear infections:

So that night I was fully expecting to get more sleep since the antibiotics were starting to work. Just as we were getting ready for bed Conner woke up screaming. He was burning hot and was shaking. So I stayed up till midnight with him and then he fell asleep until 2 am and then he threw up. I started to wonder if I was ever going to get a decent night's sleep. After we got that cleaned up and him settled down he slept till morning and didn't throw up again - hooray! The next night everyone slept better, including me.
All of my kids are cursed with ear infections so we will see if Micah is the same.

Here is how Micah usually sleeps - he puts himself to sleep by sucking the 3 middle fingers on his right hand.

Happy Mother's Day!

We celebrated Mother's Day up in Canada. That morning I woke up to feed Micah but then I went back to sleep until 8:30. It was so nice!!!! I can't remember the last time I slept in that late. Then the boys all gave me cards that they had made. Alan made a card and a bracelet for me at preschool. He was so excited to give it to me - he told everyone else about it but he kept it a secret from me. I love how excited he gets to give gifts, especially things that he has made.

My bracelet that Alan gave me

My dad bought flowers for my mom and me. We all went to church that afternoon and then we came home for dinner. We had steak and salads and baked potatoes - yum! My grandpa came over for dinner and it was really good to see him. Also my brother Reed surprised my mom by showing up at the house after church (he has been fighting fires up north and they weren't expecting to see him for a few more days).

I sure love these adorable, silly, energetic, loving boys! I am so glad and thankful to be their mom!!

It was nice to spend the day with my mom - she is awesome. She is a great example to me and the older I get the more and more I realize what a great mom she is.

Conner's Well Child Check

Conner loves to dig in the dirt

I took Conner in for his 3 year check up last week and he is doing great. Here are his stats:
Height: 38 1/4 inches - 44th percentile
Weight: 31.2 lbs - 68th percentile

I talked with the doctor about Conner's speech. He is doing a lot better but I still struggle to understand about 1/2 of what he says. I might take him in the fall to get his hearing tested again but we will see how he is doing.

Conner likes to climb into Micah's standing toy and yell "Yook at me!" while grinning ear to ear.

Here are some facts about our newest 3 year old:
- he has a VERY strong will.
- I started potty training him at the beginning of February and we are still working on it. He figured out the peeing part relatively fast but he refuses to have his bowel movements in the toilet. I have tried a few different methods and nothing works. I talked with the doc about it and she suggested taking a break for a little while and then trying again. I got so frustrated with him so we are taking a break and we will try again in a couple of weeks.
- he loves to do what "Iyan" (Alan) does
- he likes to give hugs and kisses and snuggle. When Reed comes home from work Conner will sprint to the door and yell "Daddy, hug!" Reed will pick him up and Conner wraps his little arms around his neck and gives him a squeeze. Also, he seems to enjoy snuggling - he will climb on my lap to watch tv, or he will snuggle with me right after he wakes up, and he often wants to be held when he is sad, even if I am the one who is making him sad.
- he usually wakes up between 6 and 6:30. He lays down for a nap really well. Sometimes he even finds his dogs (stuffed animals that he sleeps with) and brings them to me and starts pulling me up to his room so that I will put him to bed. It is harder to put him to bed at night but he still does pretty good.
- favorite phrases right now:
"I yuff (love) ______" (He says this when he wants something, so he will pull me over to a cupboard and say "I yuff pay-do" and that means he wants me to get the play-doh down.)
"nakes (thanks)" has been saying this a lot lately and I never get tired of hearing it!
- he eats breakfast okay, but he doesn't eat lunch or dinner very well.

He loves eating bread dough

Happy Birthday Conner!

We celebrated Conner's birthday up in Canada at Grandma and Grandpa Pitcher's house. Conner loves to visit either of his grandparents so he asked me if we were going there several times a day until we left. On Saturday morning we went to Toys R Us to get his birthday presents. I don't know why but Reed and I had a really hard time deciding on something for his birthday. He likes everything but doesn't really love anything. At this age Alan was slightly obsessed with trucks so we knew what to get him but Conner just likes everything. We finally decided on a a bunch of little presents instead of one big present. Anyway, we had tacos for his birthday dinner and then we went swimming. Conner LOVES to swim and we have been trying to go for the last month but something always happens and we don't do it. We almost didn't go this time because it was getting late but I am glad we decided to go because all of the kids had a blast.

Conner going down the big slide by himself. He did that once or twice and then he wanted to go down with me.

Here we are, ready to go!

Ready, Set.....Go!

Splash! We did this again and again and again....

My dad helped Conner shoot a few baskets

Micah enjoyed the water

Alan really liked finding different floaty toys/mats and climbing on them.

Conner liked climbing around on this airplane

Then we went home for cake and ice cream and presents. I showed Conner a picture of a dinosaur cake and he was excited so that is what I made.

Conner conducting us as we sing Happy Birthday to him (he likes to conduct music)

Make a wish! He was able to blow out one candle but he had a hard time with the other two. He was trying so hard that he got too close and singed his eyelashes. After that he figured out that if he kept his mouth shut he could blow air out his nose and direct it better than he could if he blew out his mouth. He did that to put out the last 2 candles (we got a good laugh, and that section of the cake was eaten last!)

Yum! Conner especially liked the chocolate pieces we used to decorate the cake with.

Then it was time to open presents. Conner was pretty excited about this shovel.

Alan was very eager to see what Conner got.

We gave Conner a Zhu-zhu pet. He saw Kelcie get one at Christmas and was really excited about it so we got him his own.

Squirt guns!

Then my parents told Conner to go look outside for his present:

When we went to Toys R Us he saw this bike as soon as he walked in the door. He climbed on and he stayed on the bike for most of the time in the store. He is still getting the hang of pedaling but I think with practice he will be chasing after Alan in no time.

I was very impressed that before he climbed on he wanted to know where his helmet was. We didn't have one for him so he wore one of my brother's helmets (which is why it is so big).

Practicing with Grandpa

I think Conner had a great day. Happy Birthday Conner boy!

Happy Anniversary!

I am SO far behind in my blogs, and I even typed this blog out but it got deleted so I am doing it over, although a little shorter. Reed and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last week. They have been 8 wonderful years! On our actual anniversary Reed had to work late so we decided to celebrate on the weekend while we were up in Canada. That night I made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. We had a birthday party for our family with the boys. They were really excited to blow out a candle and have cake. Then we looked though our wedding photo album.

The boys with their cupcakes, waiting to blow out the candles

We headed up to Canada on Thursday night. Too bad Micah doesn't travel as well anymore - he cried for the last hour of the trip. We decided to celebrate our anniversary on Friday, Conner's birthday on Saturday, and Mother's Day on Sunday. It was a whole lot of partying! So on Friday my dad took the day off of work and stayed home to watch the boys while we went to the temple. It was nice to go and think back eight years ago to that same spot. Then we went home for a little while and then we went out to dinner. We went to Luigi's Steakhouse and it was very tasty. It was really nice to spend time together. Thanks again Mom and Dad for watching the boys and putting them to bed while we out enjoying ourselves.