The Big 28

Sadly, I didn't take one pic my whole birthday. BUT, I'm happy to say it was a great day. That morning my friends made pancakes and hot chocolate for me. We then watched a movie and lounged until it was lunch time and I had to pick up Dawson. I went to pick him up and J.D. was home from work! He got home early that day! He watched the kids while my friends took me out for lunch. After that I got to spend quality time with J.D. and the kids. It was a much needed day and much needed time. 

We went to the movies that night and ended the day off with a pepsi. :-)

All throughout the day I had lots of birthday messages, phone calls, and texts. Thank you to everyone! I received lots of cards which made me feel so special. J.D. got me my first pair of snow boots (since I was born! I've never bought snow boots in my life), crest whitening strips since Dawson noticed my bottom teeth were a little yellow, new razors, and a new shirt. 

Thank you to everyone for making it a special day for me! 

The Shed

Since we moved up here, we had to rent out a storage unit for most of our stuff. Unfortunately everything up here is extremely expensive. Finally we were fed up with paying so much for a storage unit. SO, we built a shed. We planned and planned, and then one day we just went to Dickinson and decided to buy everything. 

Every weekend J.D. built more and more. Finally we had most of it done. 

Then I spent a week painting every day trying to get it done before it snowed. 

I had to get it painted before J.D. could add the trim, drip edge, and shingles...

We moved all of our stuff out the week of halloween, and it snowed the next week. Crazy right!? Just in the knick of time we got everything moved and we are saving ourselves so much money every month! I'd say for our first shed we did a pretty good job. 

Quick Trip to Utah

The weekend of general conference we headed to Utah for the annual Shelley Boys Spike Elk Hunt. I decided to tag along and go visit my mom and J.D.'s family. Getting started for the trip was almost a joke. Literally.

Friday- J.D. had to work... ALL DAY. The frustrating part about that was the fact that he had gotten off early almost every day that week. Of course they would work as long as possible the last day of the week, the one day we wanted him to get off early. He was told it was going to be an easy day and would probably get home around 4..... ya right. More like 10:30. Now, to make matters worse, J.D. took the truck keys with him. which have the storage keys. which meant I couldn't get him packed to go until I could get all the orange and hunting stuff out of the storage. Plus, my sister Jori needed all the maternity clothes back since she is starting to get a belly. SO I got as much packed as I could.

I had to get the truck a temporary registration sticker (THANK GOODNESS it was only $3.00)(More of a Thank GOODNESS as you will find out why later on in this post.)

J.D. gets home. Showers. Packs. We head to the storage unit. Digging through everything as fast as we can. Cop shows up, "It's too late to be cleaning out your storage unit." Well, we had to explain everything. Then show him we were really the owners of the storage unit. Then we had to show him that the truck was registered. Then he finally left and we found everything within the next 5 minutes, not even kidding. Had the cop not shown up, we probably would have been out of there much quicker, but he stalled us another half hour. UUGGGHH!

To the gas station to fill up. J.D. had to vacuum out the work truck really quick and wipe it down since some coworkers were coming to get it the next morning. We also wiped down our truck in the mean time. We take the work truck home and we are off.... at 12:30 am! We were really hoping to get most of the miles done in the night so the kids would sleep, but that didn't happen.

I took the first shift.... the dvd player and radio stop working. SO, no music or movies for 17 hours +. Perfect right. Everyone falls asleep as I try and make it to Billings without falling asleep. Driving without sound is soooo boring. HOWEVER, on my little drive I saw a shooting star! I thought, "Oh my! I've got to make a wish! I've got to be specific. If I could have 1, just 1 thing right now what would it be???" I put a lot of thought into this wish. Finally I figured out how to word it so I could get exactly what I wanted without wishing for 2 things by putting an 'and' in there. SO my wish....

"I wish my kids would be good on the road trip."

Well folks, my wish was granted. The boys did PHENOMENAL! We drove and drove and drove for 4-5 hours at a time. Then we'd stop and play at a church or Mcdonalds for 1 hour, then drive again for 4-5 hours. It was unreal. I couldn't believe it, but my wish seriously came true.

We got to Highway 20 at 7:30. Jori picked me up and drove me and Monty to St. George. J.D. and Dawson headed over to the east side of Escalante to hunt and camp.

I didn't hear from the boys for a couple of days. I had the grandest time with my mom. We crafted. We talked. We listened to conference. We went for walks. We lounged and I got to nap. We ate lunch together. It was so nice!

We spent a ton of time lounging in the back yard in the beautiful warm sun!

Monty LOVED it! Jori had to cut my hair outside and I laid Monty in the grass. He laid there the whole time and then some! He just relaxed completely and didn't move. He was so content.

He is so cute!!

He crawled around a bit afterwards and he wouldn't let his knees touch the grass. It was so funny!

We played at the park and just enjoyed the time we had together since it was so short. 

AND THEN...... 11:30 pm on Monday night I get a call from J.D. The 4 wheel drive won't work. We already knew the engine would have to be replaced soon, but now the 4 wheel drive, and electrical for the dvd/cd player. SO J.D. explained that he didn't think we'd make it back to Montana with the truck..... So he hustled down the mountain the next morning and we went shopping for a new truck in St. George. We couldn't find anything. We headed to Holden. On our way we looked in Cedar City and Fillmore. No luck. We called Delta... no luck. So we enjoyed our 1 1/2 days in Holden.

We got lots of cuddles in with Grandma ...

and Grandpa!

                                  

The last night we were there we got to see Aunt Loni and her girls! Monty was loving Collins and Destry. Dawson got to play with all the cousins and was too fast to catch any pictures. Therefore, most pics I have are of Monty and the family.

Big loves with Loni.

Big loves with Destry.

And big loves with Collins.... except by this point Monty had enough loves. :-)

On our way up to American Fork to see Chet and Bobi Sue, we kinda had some more issues with the truck. We pretty much had to buy a new truck to get home, or walk..... I wasn't walking that's for sure! 

We stopped at 4 dealerships and no luck. We had decided that we could probably make it home at least if we had to... even if it meant going 40 mph the whole way. However, the last dealership in American Fork that we went to had exactly what we were looking for. In fact, they had a whole lot to choose from. We immediately walked up to this one and we were sold. We test drove it to Chet and Bobi Sue's since there house was 5 minutes away. J.D. dropped me and kids off and I left our fate up to him. Around 2 o clock he pulled up with this and all of our crap in it. lol!

We had to have a step installed and a dvd player. So we got to stay the night at Chet and Bobi Sue's! Which was SO nice. We needed that time with them since we haven't got to spend hardly anytime with them since we moved. Our kids played and played! 

Monty learned how to crawl up the stairs!

He ate so good too! 

Then sadly, it was time to go. 

Dawson was excited to try out the new dvd player....

J.D. was looking mighty fine in his new ride. (He was the most excited because he can now start his hot shot business. I think he is definitely hot enough to be a hot shot driver.... haha)

On the way home we saw more bucks than we have ever seen before! It was absolutely crazy! We made it home at 7:30 Saturday morning and had to get ready for Dawson's soccer game. Short, but sweet! We miss our family so much and can't wait until it's time for us to move back.

We are sad that we didn't have time to visit any friends, but next time! 

Sleeping Through the Night...??? JINX!

The sleep training began months ago..... but we have failed and failed and failed. Finally about 1 month ago I couldn't take it anymore. Neither could J.D.. Monty had been waking up every 1-2 hours. He was throwing fits every time he woke up and would get frustrated with nursing. His two bottom teeth had just come in and needless to say, we weren't functioning because of lack of sleep. Someone even asked me if Monty had allergies because of the puffiness under his eyes.... no allergies, just no sleep. I was done. No more. 

SO it began... with batman pi's... 

We bot him some new pi's that were more breathable and didn't make him sweat so much. Also, changing him was much easier than unbuttoning a one piece pj suit. 

It started with me on the couch, and Monty in a pack n play since we don't have room for a crib. J.D. and Dawson were sent to our bedroom to shut the doors and get a good night's rest. For 2 weeks, I would lay Monty down with a binkie and walk away after one late night feeding. I would wait 2 minutes, go back and lay him down, and walk away for 3 minutes... I would add a minute each time. I wouldn't feed him if he woke up, I'd just lay him back down and walk away. 

WELL, this was exhausting after 2 weeks. BUT it was good because I was able to come to terms with the fact that he really was okay without eating and he wasn't hurting himself. SO then I just started to lay him down, walk away until he went to sleep. If he woke up, then I would lay him down and walk away without going back in. He CRIED and CRIED, but after 1 week of this he did it! He slept through the night!! I didn't, but he did! 

This was the morning after he slept through the night! 

He did it again and again.... Then after 4 straight days, my mom came into town and we had a chaotic weekend. He only woke up once or twice, but still.... my hard work and long nights were reversed. THEN we had to get 2 immunization shots. That blew it all! He screamed and whined for 2 days straight. LITERALLY with no exaggerations. He screamed unless I was holding him... but still even then. Since then, (a week ago) he has had  a constant runny nose, red eyes, diarrhea, stuffiness, and aches. 

He has also started throwing these fits about going to sleep. He will toss and turn and whine and scream when he is so tired and refuses to go to sleep. This got so bad yesterday, I finally put him in the high chair with a little food and I turned around to finish making dinner.... 

2 minutes later I found this. 

He is this exhausted. So I'm going to return back to letting him cry it out once he gets feeling better. We have accomplished a lot even though we've regressed a bit. He isn't eating through the night and sustains himself for a good 8-10 hours. He isn't waking up as much as he was... and he is becoming better with self soothing through out the whole day. I also can just give him his binkie and he lays right back down by himself. I don't have to do anything but put the binkie in. 

Other than that, he is such a cute little boy. He loves Dawson and loves Dawson's approval (laughter) over anything he does. He giggles right along with him. Dawson has taught him how to 'mark it with an M' on Dawson's hand for the Patty Cake song. It's amazing! Dawson also taught him how to motion 'bye bye." 

Dawson loves to have Monty use his stuff. Above Monty is sitting in Dawson's chair eating a sausage pancake corn dog.... Dawson loved it so much he took the picture. 

Monty loves to pull out the dvd's, crawl like a stink bug, and pull on my hair. He is very persistent and can hold a straight face longer than anyone I know. 

He is standing on his own and can stand from a sitting position. It's so neat to see him grow and develop. He is SO strong. He has a deep crispy voice which is crazy for this little baby. Everyone comments on how his voice is already deep... lol! He is the ward's favorite baby and buddy. He is passed around while I teach my 6-7 year olds. The last thing I want to mention is that how much he loves the outdoors. Monty begs to go outside. He will stand next to the door and bang and bang and yell and yell. He will crawl outside so fast if the door opens for just a second. If the door gets shut before he makes it outside he cries with anger. 

It's the funniest thing to see how smart he is at 9 months. 

He is such a cute baby and we love him so much! 

Our Little Man is 6!!

This year was such a big hit for Dawson. Turning 6 is such a big deal apparently. :-) Dawson's birthday fell on a Thursday and since J.D. was going to leave at 3:30 thursday morning and not get home until extremely late, we decided to let Dawson open 2 gifts from us Wednesday night. Dawson had been asking every day for the last week if he could open these presents. The time was finally here! The big one first.....

He was SO excited!! A reversible camp/hunting orange coat. This was a much needed gift because this kid has grown so much since last year, he didn't have a coat that was long enough for his arms. 

                                 

Next was the small present. I took a video and no pictures.... but I wrapped it in a small vanilla imitation flavoring box. So when Dawson opened the present he looked at it and said, "What is it? Is this a medicine or something?" He was so confused. He kept opening and he got his very own personalize pocket knife! FINALLY!! HE is old enough to have one. He has asked for one for over a year now. The responsibility of owning a knife came with some strict rules that Dawson gladly accepted and continues to repeat to everyone. He is so amazing. He tells everyone, "I got a pocket knife!!! But it's special and only used for survival and hunting. I can't show my friends unless my mom or dad is there. I can't use it unless my mom and dad are there. AND I have to keep it in a special place that I can't tell anyone." This 6 year old definitely is proud to take on this huge responsibility. We are so proud of him. 

The next day was THURSDAY, September 18th, 2014. I woke Dawson up at 7:30 and he immediately jumped out of bed and said, "MOM! I'm 6!!" It was so cute and funny. He got all ready was excited to go to school. It was homecoming week for the high school here, and every day that week was designated to a way to dress up and have school spirit. This day was 'hat' day. Dawson wore his Disney land Mickey Mouse Wizard hat. I made a start crown to go over it that said, "Birthday Boy". We had also made cupcakes the day before for his class. So we got to school, and took the cupcakes in. When I picked Dawson up he had a crown, a card, a birthday certificate and a BIG SMILE. It was such a great day! 

It was Saturday the 20th that we held the BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY. This year's theme that Dawson chose was 'Police Party."' I was pretty grateful for this theme when comparing it to last year's root beer theme. This year was definitely easier to be creative with. We'd been planning and preparing for this for over a month. The day was here and so was Grandma!

Side note: My mom came for the weekend! We drove to Billings and picked her up friday. Then she was able to be here for Dawson's party, first soccer game, and primary program! It was the perfect weekend. 

Back to the party day...... We reserved the library basement for FREE!!! And the decorating began. Dawson had some specific requests at this party and I hope I delivered... It was to be a police training party. 

#1- Mug shots.... I made the measurement poster. Then put black paper over a dry erase board. This way everyone could erase the name and write their own for each individual mug shot. I cut out each number and letter to paste onto the black... I was pretty proud of this one. Dawson took many mug shots, side shots, backward shots.... we had to get the full effect. 

                                 

As each recruit came to the party they put on a mustache or glasses and took we took their personal mug shot. It was SOOO FUNNY! 

Here's a couple guests...

We practiced shooting at balloon criminal faces with a dart gun....

We practiced lining up for exercises to perfect our skills of jumping, running, rolling, tossing, etc.

 We practiced kicking a bomb (pinyata) around. 

We defused the bomb in a fast manner and saved the city. 

We had a badge ceremony as each recruit finished their training ready to go out and protect the civilians of our city. 

THEN we had to have to celebrate with a cake.... Specially requested by Dawson, we had a doughnut cake "because that's what police men like on all the movies." 

Afterwards, the kids played around until their parents came. It was so much fun! 

Happy Birthday Dawson! We are so proud of who you are and so grateful for the joy and happiness you bring into our lives. 

After the party, literally right after, Dawson had his first soccer game of the season. We were excited to see how things went this year because last year he was kind of just running around.... 

What do ya know.... he was AMAZING! This boy runs hard and scored 4 our of the 7 goals for his team "The Bandits". 

We were totally impressed. He defended so well, could dribble, 

and worked with his teammates in passing. 

There were so many parents that kept saying how good Dawson was and how fast he was. It's amazing how much he learned from last year and now he is able to actually do the things he learned this year. He loves soccer and loves being a part of a team. 

After the game it was time to open up all the gifts and play. He played and played for hours with all of his new toys. Even Monty had fun! Monty didn't really understand that sitting on the track isn't what its for, but he was happy.

Thank you to everyone who remembered our little man's birthday and for all the fun gifts. 

He really was happy and loves being 6. 

We have a Kindergartener!

Dawson started school this last Wednesday. He has been waiting for this day for over a year now... possibly longer. He was up before I even had a chance to wake him up. He showered willingly, got ready, got his lunch packed, and put on his back pack. 

I should tell you that before he started school we've had lots of conversations about school. He chose to go only half day (which I was SO grateful for). They don't offer it unless you request it as a parent. Only 6 kids out of the entire grade are half day kids. I love it! I love that he will ease his way into school. 

We also had a back to school night. Before we walked into the school, Dawson said, "I hope she isn't scary looking..." I didn't know what she looked like, so I could reassure him that she wasn't scary looking. We had only heard about how wonderful Mrs. Bunn was. It's the same teacher that my nephew Carson had last year. We walked into her classroom and were welcomed with love and happiness. I filled out lots of paperwork while Dawson did things with his teacher. It was so cool. After back to school night we left and once we got home I started to cry. Just thinking of Dawson not spending all day with me hit me hard. I am excited for him to learn and grow, but it was going to be a hard transition for me. 

Here is Dawson in front of his locker at back to school night. 

Dawson asked what was wrong and I said, "I'm just really going to miss you all day."

Dawson replied, "Mom, it's going to be okay. I'm only going to be gone for HALF DAY! ..... (pause)... but then when I graduate, I'm going to go on a mission and will be gone for lots of months. Then you will really miss me. But, I will talk to my missionary president and I bet he lets me see you. So it will be okay mom. And then I will go to college and you will miss me even MORE. But I can call you." He ended it with the sweetest hug and kiss. 

My reaction.... more tears. First, what 5 year old has their life planned out??? Second, what 5 year old fixes all my fears in one message? Third, I'm just beyond proud of him and his ability to solve problems and make me feel like the bestest mom. He is such a sweet kid. He reassures me he's only gone for HALF DAY. lol! 

Back to his first day of school........

I teared up on the way to school. Then we parked and I watched him play on the playground until the bell rang. Then it happened......the bell rang. Tears came again. I took him to his teacher and he lined up. All of the sudden, they all turned and waved goodbye. It was such a bitter sweet moment. 

 Dawson was searching for me.... 

 and then he looked right at me to wave. 

At 1:00 Monty and I were waiting by the front office for Dawson. He came around the corner and gave me the biggest hug. He said he had the best day ever. They learned sounds to the letters, went to the library, he ate lunch in the cafeteria, 25 kids got stung by bees (3 in his class), saw the computer lab and music room, and played a game. 

I'm so grateful that I get to be Dawson's mom and get to help him grow and learn. I want him to stay little, but at the same time I'm excited to see him grow up. He is the sweetest and most happy little boy. He is going to do so good in school. I'm so proud of you Dawson! I love you!

Monty is 8 Months

During this 8th month of life for Monty lots has happened. He started crawling about 11 days after we got back from Utah! 3 days after that his first tooth broke through! He is changing so much and is finally getting used to being back home and sleeping better. He has had it with baby food. He only wants the food we eat. SO, we are transitioning into theses types of food and he LOVES it!

Now that's its been a couple weeks of crawling, he is wicked fast. He hears my voice and follows me wherever I go. I love it! He tries to stink bug crawl across the laminate floors though. He doesn't like his knees touching the hard floor.

He is still a terrible sleeper. He wakes up so much. However, the last couple nights we have tried a different routine and it seems to be working out a little better. He isn't wanting to eat so much in the night. Hopefully we can get him sleeping through the night soon.

He still loves his bath time. He is an expert splasher, and loves to try and drink the water. His tongue just licks the water like a dog would... it's hilarious!

He loves to be outdoors, but with all the bee's and wasps, we've spent more time indoors recently. I am terrified of bees.

He is definitely a mama's boy as of now. He loves J.D. and Dawson, but he isn't a fan of strangers. He will scream and scream until he's in mom's arms.

He has become so much better at playing on the floor with toys. He is sitting for longer and not needing me to hold him every second of the day. I love to sit and play with him and give my arms a rest.

Monty is such a happy little boy. I love to watch him smile and laugh because he scrunches his little nose and opens his mouth so wide. His gummy smile is so sweet!