Sunday, November 3, 2013

San Diego trip Day 1


James and I have gone on a cruise for the last 2 years but we decided this year that we wanted to take a family vacation and bring Jaxson with us. After doing a little research we (I) decided that San Diego and Seaworld would be really fun for our little family. And I am so glad because it was so much fun and Jaxson was absolutely amazing and loved every minute of it. **disclaimer for all the coming posts - massive picture and video overload! You have been warned

Our flight out Sunday night was delayed an hour which sucked, but we ended up only landing about 25 minutes later than scheduled so that wasn't too bad. We had a two hour drive from Long Beach to San Diego (because plane tickets were $200 cheaper) and Jaxson unfortunately threw up. We were blessed to see a rest stop right after though, and he only got it on himself and not the rental car, so we were definitely grateful for that. We got to our hotel room at 11pm which was midnight in Utah, but Jaxson was a freaking trooper. He slept about the last half hour of the drive and then was so good while we got into our room and stuff and we all went right to sleep.


 Jaxson is so obsessed with this monkey suitcase that we got him. He pulled it through every airport the whole time and absolutely loved it. We got so many comments on how adorable it was :)


 Getting ready for take off


He was a rockstar the entire flight, just watched shows on his Ipad

Conked out boys :) James was kind enough to sleep with Jax every night and let me have the other bed to myself. He loves me

We had already planned on taking Monday pretty easy because we knew we'd be tired from the night before and had a pretty busy week planned. So we woke up and went to a little diner right next to the hotel and had a nice big breakfast. Then we went to walmart to get some snacks and breakfast things for the week to save some money, got some lunch and came back and took a nice 3 hour family nap which was awesome.

We got up and got ready and then went to go see the temple and walk around the grounds. I've been to this temple before but James hadn't and was pretty impressed with it, but who wouldn't be. Jaxson kept going back and forth between calling it a temple and a castle :) It was a Monday so there was no one there and we just got to walk around the grounds and take pictures and just take it all in.

Our next stop was Sprinkles which I had looked forward to since... forever. They did not disappoint. I certainly wouldn't get one very often if I had the chance, but they were quite scrumptious. And it just so happened that we had a gorgeous view of the temple while we enjoyed our treat.

Sprinkles!





 Extremely unflattering picture, but one of the only ones of Jax and I





Next, we went down to La Jolla Cove. I had been before, but the area that I knew of had no parking and was just insanely crowded. So we ended up further up the coast than I wanted, but I'm so glad we did because we happened on a huge colony of seals and sea lions that we could've touched we were so close. It was awesome and amazingly gorgeous as we were there right at sunset.

We grabbed some dinner and went back to the hotel and all crashed yet again. We all got really good sleep this whole week :)



I don't know if you can tell how close they were from this, but it was awesome


Thursday, March 21, 2013

My boy is 2!


Jaxson's birthday celebrations started out the Saturday before his birthday. We had a little get together at mom and dad's since they were leaving to go out of town for the next couple weeks. I decided to try my hand at fondant because the cakes you can make are so stinking cute. Jaxson is beyond obsessed with the show Team Umizoomi right now. He will literally throw a fit if a different kids show comes on. So I decided to make Geo from the show for his cake. I couldn't have done it without a ton of help from Carrie, and I am so happy with how it turned out. It is soooooo cute! Jaxson could care less of course, but I loved it. And it was good practice for when he does care and I'll be able to make him something awesome :)

Geo cake


opening presents from grandma and grandpa


he is not a fan of pictures right now, and he HATED the candle being lit


playing with his presents



The next day (Sunday) we had a little party with James' family. I just made cupcakes and cookies for this one.

he absolutely hates attention, this is his face while we were singing to him


but then he gets to eat the cupcake and he's happy


opening presents




This present was by far his favorite. It's from his aunt and uncle and grandpa. He rides it daily at home, and it is so stinking cute


On his actual birthday, Wednesday Feb. 20, daddy took the day off work so we could spend the day together.

This is what happens when I try to get a picture of him in his birthday shirt


We started the day off at Kangaroo Zoo which he LOVED




And then we went to the Aquarium since it's less than a mile away and we have an annual pass


Then we came home and took a nice nap as a family and then we let him open his presents. (We are well aware that this boy is very spoiled, but that's what happens when you're an only child, right?)



He had some very anxious and willing helpers :)




Here he is pushing the cupcake away because the candle is lit and we are singing to him and that makes him very unhappy

and crying for the reasons above

but everything is all better when we stop and he just gets to eat it
Cheese!

We are so grateful for the 2 amazing, incredible, wonderful years we've been blessed with and can't wait for many more to come! Love you forever, Jaxson!

Monday, January 7, 2013

an overdue update

I think everyone that reads this blog is family, and you probably already know what's going on in our lives, but I'm still going to tell you anyway :)

James: Still working IT at Utah Imaging. He works for a small group of Radiologists fixing computer and network issues they may have. He is on call every other week and it can get pretty stressful and turn into long hours. The good news is that he loves it and they value him a lot, which is evident by the fact that he received 2 significant raises in 10 months. He just got a large raise and Christmas bonus and I couldn't be more proud of him and how hard he works. On top of his demanding job, he is also going to school M-Th nights until 10:30. We don't get to see him too much but we love when we do and are so grateful for the sacrifices he is making for our family. 

He had a couple of health scares this last year, one in June and then again in August. In June, we had just gotten back from camping on Saturday afternoon and he spent that night in the bathroom throwing up. By Sunday morning he figured out that his blood sugar was off the charts high so we went to the Emergency room. He had DKA which is pretty serious. A lot of times the ER can treat for a couple hours and let you go, but his was so bad that he was admitted and stayed in the hospital for 2 days. I had been trying to convince James for years to get an insulin pump and he just wasn't interested. After this incident he finally decided that it was probably smart to get that pump :) Since he was in the hospital for DKA there was a diabetic specialist that had to come talk to him for hospital protocol anyway, and she helped convince him too. 

Then in August, he had only had his pump for about a week. We were camping with my family and had been down at the beach and in the sun all day long. As we were riding the 4 wheeler back up to the campsite James told me that his sugars were low and he needed to eat something right away. We got to the site and jumped off and ran over and he started eating a ding dong and chugging one of Jax's juices. He started having little spasms and going in and out which has happened before so I wasn't too worried. He had already gotten the snacks down and I knew they would take affect soon. My dad had seen what was happening and at this point was standing behind James keeping him steady. All of a sudden James went into a full on seizure. To say I was shocked and hysterical would be an understatement. I had never seen him get like this before. Everyone was still coming back to the campsite so at this point it was still just dad and I (and a couple kids I think). I'm so grateful my dad was there cuz I was a mess and wasn't thinking clearly. He yelled at me to go grab his phone and call 911. I ran to get the phone and it was locked! I started screaming that I needed to password (which in hindsight now I realize it would've let me dial 911. again, I wasn't really thinking clearly). So I ran the phone back over to dad and he took over calling. By this point most everyone was back at the camp and all my brothers went over and were giving James a blessing (which I am so grateful for). My mom started yelling at me to calm down cuz I was freaking out all the kids, especially Jaxson. So she shook me back to reality, took me away and made me just sit and hold Jaxson to calm down. After what seemed like a year, but was really only about 2 minutes dad yelled that James was waking up. I ran over and he was "awake" but he was not there at all. It was actually pretty funny. Once he opened his eyes I felt so much peace that he was gonna make it. The ambulance showed up a bit later and started him on some fluids and stuff. When James started seizing, he nailed his head on the picnic table leg as he was going down. So we decided to have the ambulance take him to the hospital to get a CT scan and just watch him for a bit to make sure he was ok. I left Jaxson with the fam and drove in behind the ambulance. We were at the hospital for about 2 hours before James was cleared to go. His scans and things were fine. He got some pain meds for his massive headache and sore muscles (from seizing) and we went back to the camp. James assured us that he was fine. The Dr just told me to wake him up throughout the night just to make sure his head injury was ok, which I listened to religiously and didn't sleep much that night cuz I was so worried. 

James just wasn't quite pro with his pump at this point and since we were out all day in the heat and stuff, he just got dehydrated and hadn't checked his sugars and he just dropped really fast. It was absolutely the most terrifying experience of my life. My dad even said that night when we got back that he thought for a minute there we were going to lose James, and that's how I felt too. I'm crying just as I'm typing this and reliving it. I still have nightmares about it, it was really really traumatizing for me. I'm so grateful for the Priesthood, and my dad and brothers that were there to help in that time of need. I'm grateful that it wasn't James' time to go and that he's still here and doing better than ever. 

The good thing that happened from this is that James was approved for a continuous glucose monitor. When he originally got his pump he didn't qualify for it. But because this happened, he was then approved. The CGM is another attachment that he keeps in 24/7 along with his pump and it is constantly checking his sugars for him. So it is synced with the pump and lets him know if he is getting high or low. It's pretty awesome and I've noticed a significant difference in James since he got it. Since his sugars are much more regular now, so is he and his energy. Before, his sugars were so up and down all the time, so was he. In his energy, attitude, and just everything. So this has been a big blessing for him. We've talked about the fact that he wouldn't be able to handle the schedule he has right now if he didn't have his pump and cgm. So, everything happens for a reason, and even though it was absolutely terrifying, it had a good outcome :)

Kiley: There's not too much to update on me. I'm still just enjoying staying home with Jaxson and being a full time wife and mommy. It's also basketball season so I watch Kay and Dax everyday which has been extremely convenient since we live with them. James and I team teach primary and love our calling. We just got our new class list for this next year and Kayhlen is in our class so that will be fun. I just got a sewing machine for Christmas and I'm hoping to get more into that and make it a hobby. 

Jaxson: Oh my sweet, perfect, little boy. There is so so much to update on my babe. Jaxson is now 22 months, he will be 2 next month! My mind is blown about that one. At his 18 month appt he was in the 60th% for weight and the 80th% for height, so he has been getting much taller and leaner these days. In fact, in the last week I had 2 different people comment on how tall he is when they asked how old he is. 

We moved him to a big boy bed in September, so he was about 19 months and he was such a champ. We took him to Ikea and put him down in the toddler bed section and just figured we'd let him "decide" which bed he wanted. He was in Heaven running around and climbing all over all the different beds that were just his size. He found this one and then would run and climb on another, but then would run back to the other one every time. So we decided that was him choosing that one. I was terrified that first day when I put him down for a nap, but he stayed in bed and fell right to sleep. Then when I went to get him he was just sitting in his bed waiting for me. And it continued that way, he's been so good about it. Only recently has he decided he'd rather play at nap time and we've been working on that. He's been fighting his naps so badly the past couple weeks. 

 We had the bed out for a few days before we made the transition to get him used to it and he loved it. He would climb over it all day long

First night time in his big boy bed

This boy is such a good helper. If he sees me cleaning up he will stop whatever he's doing and come running to help me. Just this morning he saw me unloading the dishwasher and came over and started handing the dishes to me. He is really good about cleaning up his toys at the end of the day and grabbing us diapers and wipes and little things like that. 

He is addicted to his sippy. We literally need to wean him off of it. He's attached to it like most kids are to their bottles. He uses it to soothe himself which is of course our fault, and I'm hoping to get him off of it here soon. He's definitely interested in using a big boy cup anyway so it shouldn't be too hard.

He is OBSESSED with Team Umizoomi and Super Why. He never wants to watch anything else. Seriously. For a while he was really into Little Einsteins and Jungle Junction but now he isn't really interested in those. If you tell him we can watch a show and turn something on besides Umizoomi or Super Why he might just freak out and go turn the tv off. It's actually pretty funny, if it's something he doesn't want he'll just get mad and turn the tv right off. He is starting to interact a lot more with the shows and it's so cute.

He loves loves puzzles. Specifically this letter puzzle that he has which has been nice cuz it's also been teaching him letters. He likes to play with his activity table that Santa brought him. He likes to play with cars, his rocking horse, and blocks. He's lost interest in the Ipad lately, probably because I haven't really added anything new in months and he's bored of the few games he has. 

He is communicating really well. He can say plenty of things, he just chooses not to. He understands so much and James and I are always amazed at the little things he hears and picks up on. Just in the last few days he has started saying his own prayers (which is the absolute cutest thing I've EVER seen) he will just mumble and babble for a minute and then all of a sudden he'll say Amen and smile. Cutest thing ever! He will also "repeat" what we tell him to say, only about 25% is understandable though :) He has yes and no down really well. He knows what they mean and when to use them. A few things he will always say without prompt are: all done, no, yes, dadda, mom, E, S, M, T, please, thank you, drink, night night, kayhlen, eat, and that's all I can think of right now. Again, he can say a lot more, he just chooses not to. 

He is such a little sweetheart but he is also the most stubborn little thing in the world. He's extremely painfully shy which has made nursery not so fun. We live with Jodi and Mike, but if he's not in the mood he wants nothing to do with them and freaks out if they even talk to or look at him. It's quite ridiculous actually. We have learned that he isn't as bad if James or I aren't there, but when we are he sure is a stink. He loves other little kids and has no problem with them, he just doesn't like adults. He's bipolar even with James and I though. One minute he wants to cuddle and kiss and the next he'll freak out if we try. But, what toddler isn't like that.

I can't think of much else right now and I'm tired of typing. I'll probably have more to say next month when my baby turns TWO!
 

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Christmas time

I'm sitting here typing this as today is the first day that James has gone back to his regular work schedule and class every night until 10:30, and it just makes me realize how amazing this last month has been. He's been around so much and we have spent so much time with family and it has just been wonderful. I have been horrible at taking pictures with my camera since I have my Iphone, and I really need to figure out how to make those pictures look good on blogger. So, I wish I had more pictures to share, but it's just not gonna happen right now :)

We kicked off the season with the most amazing gift of having Troy and Missy come out and having Missy take her endowments out. What an amazing experience it was to have our (almost) entire family stand together in the Celestial room. Absolutely incredible. Congratulations again, Mick! So happy for you.

I was so happy that Troy was able to bring Blakey with him. Love that boy! And we were
able to get an updated picture of the 3 boys which was not easy with 3 almost 2 year olds :)


While they were here, we went down to Riverwoods to eat at Malawi's Pizza and see Santa which I guess is now a tradition since we have done it 2 years in a row. 
 




 haha, Blake was a little bit tired and he fell like this and didn't want to touch the grass to pick himself 
up so he just layed there whining and planking for a minute

all better :)



they kept wanting to play in the fountain

so excited to see Santa

 he was fairly ornery and was really sick of pictures


he wasn't interested in Santa

until Santa gave him a candy cane :P
 

we walked around Riverwoods for a bit and got to pet some llamas



 We had plenty of other festivities throughout the month, but I don't have those pictures right now. So, on to Christmas...
My Christmas Eve flowers :)
 

 we didn't get home from James' family party til almost 10 on Christmas Eve, so we tore open Jax's jammies and threw him in bed. But I did get a picture of my handsome man

Santa came! Since we share a house, this was our side of the tree :) and Santa may have spoiled
Jaxson just a little bit
 

Christmas morning, these are the best shots of his jammies and slippers


he absolutely LOVED opening presents. He had a really hard time waiting his turn and he wanted
to help everyone else open theirs



 


 

 
the kids were in heaven with the new tramp from gma and gpa



here he is with all his loot
 

(don't kill me mom) we went over to my parents' for the day on Christmas and ate way too much food, played lots of games, and just hung out.

It was such a wonderful Christmas season this year. I'm so grateful for the real reason for the season and for my amazing family who I love so very much!