Spring/Summer

Monday, January 9, 2012

December 25 - 21, 2011

This was a very different Christmas than normal, but with all the challenges, we still managed to have a very nice one. Eric and I are very lucky to have not only wonderful family and friends, who have helped out more than I can thank, but we have two, happy, healthy, beautiful children for which we are very thankful for as well. Enjoy!


Colton checking out his gifts from Santa on Christmas morning.
12-25-11


Kinley checking out her toys that Santa left.
12-25-11


Daddy helping Kinley open one of her gifts. Actually, Colton helped her out as well. He had a blast opening all of the presents.
12-25-11


The aftermath of opening all of their gifts. Colton received a lot of gifts from us and grandparents, but he has played with ALL of them. Kinley received some fun chew toys and new clothes.
12-25-11


Kinley hanging out on mommy's lap...her new favorite place.
12-27-11


Colton being his silly self.
12-28-11


Daddy showing Colton something on the iPad.
12-28-11


Kinley loves being on her belly because, although she can't crawl yet, she can get anywhere she wants by rolling around. She loves to get all of her brothers toys.
12-29-11


This is such a sweet picture. Colton has a child size chair that sits next to my recliner. One night he was looking at my leg, which he calls "Mommy's owie," and asked if he could kiss it better. Colton is very tenderhearted, especially towards me. This picture says it all.
12-31-11



Video of Colton seeing what Santa left him on Christmas morning, 2011.

Friday, January 6, 2012

December 18 - 24, 2011

What a fun week this was. Eric only worked a couple of days this week and normally, without the leg injury, we would've done a lot more, but we still made our sugar cookies and went to see some awesome Christmas lights. Enjoy!


Kinley in her cute dress.
12-18-12


Colton showing Kinley how he uses the iPad, but he's not sure he wants her to try it herself.
12-20-11


A couple days later, Kinley had a chance to play with the iPad herself. She enjoyed sucking on the headphones a little more than playing on the iPad.
12-22-11


One of our Christmas traditions is to make sugar cookies; some for us to eat and some for Santa. This is the first year that Colton was able to participate all the way. He did such a good job of cutting out ALL of the cookies himself and enjoyed eating the cookie dough as well :).
12-22-11


Here are some of the final products.
12-24-11


Happy Kinley all decked out in her cute Santa suit on Christmas Eve.
12-24-11


Eric doing some arm lifts with Kinley, she is clearly loving it!
12-24-11


Due to my injury I wasn't able to get our main tree up this year before it happened. Luckily, my dad and Ruby put it up when they came to help out the first week. It is such a pretty tree and they did a great job. Christmas Eve.
12-24-11

Colton hanging out Christmas Eve in his Christmas pj's.
12-24-11


Kinley also hanging out with Mommy, Daddy, and Colton on Christmas Eve in her holiday pj's.
12-24-11


Another Christmas tradition is to have the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve. Colton was so excited and happy to open his gift. He got a Thomas the Train set.
12-24-11


Kinley had more fun trying to eat the wrapping paper then opening the gift. She had fun playing with her new pink laptop.
12-24-11


One more Christmas tradition is to watch A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve. Here Colton is watching it with Mommy and Daddy. Kinley is sound asleep in her bed.
12-24-11



Video of Colton enjoying the Christmas lights around the neighborhood on Christmas Eve 2011.

Friday, December 23, 2011

December 11 - 17, 2011


This week we had Courtney, TJ and Paxten staying with us. Although it wasn't planned for me to be home from work when they were here, one good thing came from my injury, I was able to catch up with Courtney and spend some good time watching movies and just hanging out. I'm grateful for that. Enjoy!

Kinley sitting on my lap, enjoying some Mommy time.
12-12-11


Paxten and Kinley. Paxten enjoyed playing with both Colton and Kinley.
12-13-12


What a pretty girl! Kinley instantly knows to smile when she sees the camera. She is a very happy, content baby.
12-15-11


My good friend Autumn stopped by to visit and brought her two beautiful daughters who are the same ages as Colton and Kinley. Here, Emma and Kinley (they are 10 days apart) communicating in their own way.
12-15-11


Lillian, Emma and Kinley hanging out. Lillian and Colton play really well together and it's quite fun to watch them. I'm getting a glimpse of what it will be like to have a toddler girl....so much fun!
12-15-11


Sorry that most of Kinley's pictures are taken on my lap, but she loves sitting with me and I love having her hang out with me. By the way, why do all kids love playing with the remote?!
12-16-11


This girl loves to smile and always brings it when the camera comes out!
12-17-11

December 4 - 10, 2011

Kinley turned 7 months old this week! Unfortunately, due to my condition, I ended up taking her picture sitting on my lap instead of her chair in her room. We also had some good friends visiting us from Missouri. TJ, Courtney and Paxten stayed with us for a few days. Enjoy!


Kinley turned 7 months old on December 4th. She is getting so big and I absolutely love this age, she is just so dang cute!

Height: Not sure but last month she was 28 inches (95%+), so I'm guessing that she is at least an inch longer if she follows her past few months.

Weight: Again, not sure but last month she was 18.14 oz. (90-95%), so I'd guess at least a pound or two heavier this month.

Feeding: Kinley is still eating an 8 oz bottle every 5+ hours, three in a day. She also eats 3.5 oz. of 2nd stage baby food twice a day. Kinley still loves whatever we put in front of her and has yet to not eat anything.

Sleeping: I can't stress enough what a great sleeper our little Kinley is. She still sleeps anywhere between 10-12 straight a night. Her naps are more consistent, taking a longer nap in the morning (1.5-2.5 hours), and a shorter nap in the afternoon (1-2 hours).

Size: Kinley wears size two diapers but as soon as they run out she will be moving into size 3 and is wearing 9 month or 6-12 month clothes. I have even put her in some 12 month outfits for the length and they fit her well.

Milestones: Kinley loves to be apart of whatever is going on so she will roll around the floor or sit up to see what is going on. I'm afraid that she is close to crawling, which I'm not quite ready for. I'd like to have my leg healed before that happens so I can get her if I need to. Kinley had another tooth pop through on the bottom,her third tooth. Kinley LOVES playing with her brother and he LOVES making her laugh and smile. It warms my heart to see these two together. You can tell how much they both enjoy being around each other, which I hope lasts the rest of their lives.

4 Months old
09-04-11


5 Months old
10-04-11


6 Months old
11-04-11


Our beautiful, adventurous, charming daughter, 7 months old!
12-04-11


Colton and his big beautiful blue eyes.
12-05-11


Colton showing some love to "sister" with Grandma watching.
12-05-11


Kinley perched on my lap. She ends up on my lap often and, surprisingly, enjoys sitting with me. I love it!
12-09-11


Colton loves playing with his "letters" and he is getting really good at recognizing them and putting them in their proper place.
12-09-11


One of my dearest friends, Courtney, returned to Vegas with her family for a vacation. We were lucky to be able to host them for a few days. Colton loved playing with Paxten. Eric and TJ catching up with Paxten checking things out.
12-10-11


Colton hanging out with Kinley before she goes down for the night.
12-10-11

I thought I would update you on how my progress is going with the injury. I had surgery on December 6 and was able to come home on December 8. The surgery went very well, yet I was in some pain but the physical therapist got me up and walking on crutches the following day as well as rehabbing my leg in a CPM machine which bends it back and forth. The first time we did this I could only get to 45 degrees but after being home for a couple of days I can now get it to 60+.

This is basically my life right now. I'm propped in a reclining chair with my leg in a brace and ice is on it almost 24/7. I get up with the help of my awesome hubby and crutches to go to the bathroom, but that is about it. We have rented a wheelchair is helps when we need to go to appointments, etc.


I have this table next to my chair and everything that I need is right there. My pain meds (very important), phone, lotion, monitor and the lovely shot on the right. I have to give myself a shot in the morning and at night in the stomach to help with blood clots that can be common after leg surgery.

Even though our life has completely changed, I cannot express how grateful I am for the all the thoughts and prayers that have come our way. We are blessed that we have family who dropped everything to come help us out. My dad and Ruby were the first to come and they came at the most difficult time, before I had surgery and I was in horrible pain. Yet, through their caring and support helped make it better by doing whatever was needed, from cleaning to laundry to putting up our big tree and helping me wrap gifts. Barb and Dave were the next to come and were a huge help because they were here when I went in for surgery and were able to be with the kids while Eric was with me in the hospital. It was a huge relief knowing that they were caring for them. They also helped out with cleaning, etc. My sister will be coming the first weekend in January and David and Deb will be with us the end of January. We are very lucky to have such great people in our lives!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

November 27 - December 3, 2011

This week we have been adjusting to our new life...one where I am laid up in a chair all day and Eric has become Mr. Mom. We've also been lucky enough to have family (my dad and Ruby) to help us and great friends willing to do whatever we need, including washing my hair and bringing us dinner (thanks Michelle and Alisa:). As you may notice, all of the pictures will be from one angle, the angle of my chair. There may also be several pictures with my foot in it, however, I'll try to crop it when possible. Enjoy!


Both of our kiddos have beautiful blue eyes. Here's Kinley's sparklers.
11-27-11


Kinley all bathed and ready for bed. Giving mommy a good night snuggle and kiss.
11-29-11


Even though I was laid up 24 hours a day, I still wanted to make sure that the kids were able to do some of the same stuff we do every year, including visiting with Santa.
12-01-11


Thankfully my dad and Ruby where here to help and we were able to rent me a wheelchair and decided to take it out for the first time for the excursion. Unfortunately, I overdid it and was in great pain for most of the night.Kinley was absolutely fascinated with Santa and continued to stare at him and his beard.
12-01-11


Kinley getting some love from Grandpa. I can't express how grateful we are for my Dad and Ruby who dropped what they were doing and came right away. Not only did they help with the kids, but they made sure we had a clean house once again. They also helped to put up the rest of our Christmas, including our main tree. I don't know what we would've done without their love, support and help.
12-02-11


Ruby brought Kinley down to see me after her bath to show me how cute and happy she was in her towel.
12-02-11


Colton and Grandma Ruby playing "Ring Around the Rosies." Colton kept saying, "again, again!!"
12-03-11


Here Colton is doing his best impression of "falling down."
12-03-11


Kinley playing with her toys while Grandpa watches her.
12-03-11


My friend Alisa dropped some yummy dinner by and brought her son Nolan. Colton had so much fun playing with Nolan, even if it was only for a few minutes. I see another play date sometime in their near future. Here they're hugging to say good-bye.
12-03-11


Kinley was playing in her exersaucer when Colton thought it would be fun to put all of her toys on there for her to play with. She didn't know what to do with all the fun toys.
12-03-11