25 weeks...

So here's my belly at 25 weeks- I've had some people asking me the details (*gasp* your world isn't revolving around me??) I'm due February 28th, No, we don't know if the baby is a boy or girl *grin* Bryson's prediction changes daily- Even though I'm already pretty uncomfortable, I'm being very patient with this one because the thought of 3 is a liiiiittle overwhelming to me... No ideas on names... suggestions would be appreciated!!

Happy Birthday Karlie

*WARNING*WARNING* Karlie, I know you can't even read yet, but just in case, don't read below or you'll ruin your birthday surprise!!

Bryson and I went to Target to pick out a birthday present for his cousin Karlie's 4th birthday-- he finally decided on a Polly Pocket and was SOOOO excited to give it to her... unfortunately, her party wasn't for a few more days. Today though, Nathan and I were upstairs and when we came downstairs, this is what we found...


Bryson had gone down into the basement, found some cute wrapping paper, climbed on the counter (which is a no-no) to get his 'big boy scissors' and rummaged through the junk drawer to find tape and wrapped her present all by himself-- one of those moments that you just want to squeeze them cause they're so darn cute...

I love to sweep-

Ever since I posted about my sweet brother Dan surprising us with Christmas lights, I've been meaning to take a picture of this...


It's a vac-pan, and aside from indoor plumbing and electricity, it is the GREATEST invention EVER!! My oldest brother Perry insisted on installing central vac in my house as it was being built... it was his 'house warming' gift to us... pretty nice, considering that to have someone install it would have been 1000's of dollars and we NEVER would have done it... anyway, so I slide the little lever on it to the right with my foot and it turns on the suction and I sweep right into it.... handy when your three year old ends up with more crumbs from his pb&j on the floor than what ends up in his belly- that child is the messiest eater!! No matter, I just sweep those pesky crumbs right up, thanks to my vac-pan!! And my genius brother installed one on each side of the kitchen counter so I don't have to sweep a big pile around to the other side- and one in my bathroom to sweep up hair- I LOVE IT! THANKS PERRY!

Extreme Makeover-Cotton Home Edition

So in an effort to make the houses in our neighborhood 'more affordable' (*ha*ha*) the base price of our house did NOT include the 1/2 bath off the family room coming finished... of course we could have paid $3500 for the construction company to finish it for us, but we were cheap and knew we could do for a whole lot less AND Nathan wanted the experience (and power tools) needed to complete the job... There was a laundry list of more important things on Nathan's to do list when we first moved in, but over the last few months, the bathroom moved up in priority as I grew tired of hiking up the stairs every time I had to potty- which is becoming more and more frequent these days... I'll have to post a picture of my growing belly- later...


So unfortunately, I didn't get a true 'before' picture.... imagine white walls, concrete floor and pipes coming out of the wall. Initially when we went to Lowe's to buy everything, I distinctly remember us both asking what in the WORLD we were doing... especially when it came to all the plumbing fittings...


The finished product.... I am so proud of my husband! He did all the work (minus the painting and cutting the flooring- that was my contribution).


Doesn't it look amazing?? I am sure impressed with Nathan's abilities... it took less than two weeks from the time we actually got serious until we finished, and boy, my bladder is glad- actually, I guess it's my legs that are glad *grin*

Blue eyes... my baby's got blue eyes...

So the ongoing saga with Dallin... this kid is drama *grin*

So most kids are born with eyes that aren't coordinated, but after six months, he still had googlie (as we lovingly called it) eyes...

This picture was taken at Christmas, he was 6 1/2 months old.... eyes in full googlie action.


First, the ophthalmologist had us patch his eyes for a few hours each day....


Then we tried glasses... that was fun with an eight month old...


Finally, surgery when he was ten months old to correct the complete lack of coordination- these were his poor little post-op swollen eyes...

The surgery was so successful (in my opinion) that I hardly ever think about it anymore because his eyes look so good- I'd probably forget all together if it weren't for my family asking how he's doing or the periodic check-ups with the ophthalmologist- oh, or every time I get out my scrap booking stuff and look at any picture from the first ten months of his life... poor kid. Anywho, another check up last Thursday, and the doc was so pleased, we don't have to go back for TWO YEARS!!! WAHOO!!

Say Cheese!

Bryson loves to take pictures with our camera- he took these of Dallin the other day and I just had to post them...

Christmas in October

So last Monday night (October 29th), as we were headed off to a friends house, I could've sworn I saw my brother Dan's truck parked a block from my house.... his truck is pretty recognizable because he has a rack on the top with extension ladders- this time of the year he hangs Christmas lights as a side business, hence the ladders. Anyway, I thought maybe he was in the neighborhood doing a bid and was planning on stopping by our house after, so I called him, but he was at home... he joked that maybe he'd better check out front to make sure his truck was still there! Anyway, a few hours later, as we turned onto our little road, our house was lit up with Christmas lights! It is so beautiful! Bryson was amazed- he got out of the car and ran back out to the driveway jumping up and down he was SO excited-- he then started spinning around in circles with his arms stretched out singing a song about the lights. Obviously it had been Dan parked there, waiting for us to leave (he'd had my dad call earlier to see what our plans for the night were). My neighbor asked me what the 'deal' was with our lights, because she had seen him racing like mad, running up and down the ladder and such to get the lights done... what a great brother! He wanted it to be such a surprise- and it was! I just can't wait for a few more weeks so we can turn them on!

Update...

After several rechecks of Dallins hemoglobin, he's back to his normal (but still low *sigh*) levels... he's such a trooper- at the last blood draw he just played with his shoe the whole time. So for now, we're done with frequent checks... at least until he pulls another stunt like the other night!