Weekend at a Random Farm

Before I talk about our weekend at the random farm...I present to you and assortment of random Easter photographs. 

This is a recreation of a photo of Chris in the same outfit with his Dad.  I need to get my hands on that photo so I can put them side by side.

 Little man on Easter in his wee little bow tie that used to be Chris's.

The Easter Eggs that Chris and I made.  Including the broken crackled number.  I spy with my little eye a Charlie Brown egg.  I also spy a lion egg.  And lastly, an I Love Jack egg.  Did you find them all?  (Insert awkward Dora pause, where I am just staring at you expectantly, everything frozen, except I am blinking.)  Hooray! You did it! You are AWESOME!  (also said in a Dora voice).

Why is Chris making such a face?

Because...I accidentally murdered his little yellow egg.  I dropped it between the chair and the table...it was a very somber occasion.  

Now onto the Random Farm.  Chris's family decided to meet halfway between Springville and Seattle (where Chris's sister Ashley lives) for General Conference Weekend.  This ended up being a small town just over the Idaho border into Oregon.  Chris's mom rented a small house on a bunch of land.  There was a barn, a corral, sheds and many a field and mountain.  

Here have a list.  Since I love lists.

Top 5 Things of note from the Farm Va-cay:

1.  We heard coyotes while we were out roasting some mallows.  They were very close and their howls were high-pitched squeals.  Creepy.

2.  We found a coyote skeleton in one of the fields.  Chris and I did a Bones like analysis of it.  "You can tell from the iliac crest that this coyote was a female...about 3 years old.  Small pelvic bones suggest she's never born a child.  Traces of calcium in the bones indicate she was raised in Holland and then later moved to Canada.  Occupational markers on her phalanges suggest she was a violinist."  

3.  The house we stayed in had the creepiest nook of a bedroom in the basement.  Complete with curtain doors, a hidden closet that housed an old cassette boom box, lavender furnishings, howling wolf posters, and a general unpleasant musk hanging in the air.  I am so glad we slept upstairs.

4.  One night we went around and talked about how we met our spouses and our first impressions of them.  We recorded it.  It was very interesting to hear everyone's stories and the different ways people remembered things.

5.  Jack spent time with his cousin Laila.  My favorite was when he would grab Laila and give her kisses.  So cute!  I'm not sure she liked it.  But, SO cute.

Cousins giving each other sort-of-hugs.

We found this little park in town that had old tractors, a log cabin, and a wagon.  I call this photo, "We done had a hard time."

This one is called, "Ma hit the bottle. Again."

All of us in the wagon. Note Jack is only wearing one sock.  He has taken to eating them off.  Oh and the braid I am wearing was unplanned, but perfect.  I unknowingly got my Laura Ingalls on.

Both of our wee families.  Melani, Chris, Jack (what is he looking at?), Laila, Ashley and Cameron. 

We spent one afternoon taking pictures in and around the barn that was on the land.

Chris and I both took the most artistic shots of the barn that we could come up with. This is Chris's.

Nice Form!

And here is mine.

Another random shot I took.

My favorite family picture we took. Don't we look lovely?! Oh what's that? You noticed something amiss?  Let's take a closer look.

Good heavens Jack! You look like a bloated raspberry!  This ladies and gentleman, is Jack's official
                                                   Pooping Face.  And it cracks me up.

This one is much more family-friendly. 

Every time we parked at the farm Chris dutifully tied our car to the hitching post.  We didn't want that scalawag to run off. 

I call this one Koala-Chris.  I looked out the window and saw Chris just standing there like this.

And lastly...here is the farm. 

It was a wonderful trip and we hope to do something similar once a year.  Next time I hope we make it to the beach!

Jack's Head and AAAAAH!

So we got an ultrasound of Jack's head yesterday.  The ultrasound tech said that his sagittal suture was partially fused.  On the monitor we could see his brain through the open suture and then halfway back on his head you couldn't see the brain anymore....meaning it was fused.  The radiologist came in and confirmed what the tech thought.

The radiologist said that our doctor would probably want X-rays done, so we should just stick around. We were in Payson so we waited for about 45 minutes.  Then the doctor's office called and said the doctor looked over the ultrasound report and did want X-rays done.

We did the X-Rays and a few hours later I got a phone call from a nurse at the doctor's office.  All she said was, "The X-rays look fine, and the doctor would like to get Jack fitted for a helmet."  I was so confused...and still am.  How did we go from clearly fused to everything is fine.  I voiced my concerns to the nurse and she said she would get clarification from the doctor.

When she called back she said that the ultrasound was done so that they didn't expose Jack to radiation from the X-rays unnecessarily.  But when the ultrasound came back "inconclusive" they decided it was worth the risk.  This made sense but didn't really answer my question.

I asked the nurse if we could be referred to a specialist for a second opinion or at least get an appointment with the doctor so he could explain everything better.  She called back and told me we could set up an appointment with the doctor, but not with the specialist "without cause".  I've worked at a doctor's office with specialists and I know you have to have a referral so this made sense, but I'm still left with so many worries.

This isn't a small thing that will go away if we ignore it.  If he needs surgery and doesn't get it, it could cause very serious problems.  For some reason I just can't stop worrying about this...I just can't feel at peace.  In the past when I've felt like this, it has usually meant there was a problem that needed to be fixed.  Like when the nurses said my water hadn't broken but it had or when they said Jack didn't have an infection and he really did.

I just have so many questions:
-Did the ultrasound tech just not do the ultrasound right?
-If by some chance it was really fused, would the helmet make everything worse?
-Am I just worrying for no reason?
-If the doctor shows us the X-rays, how will I know what to look for?
-What if the X-rays got mixed up?
-The doctor is fairly young...does he even know enough about this for us to trust him
exclusively?
-What if I was just so convinced there was a problem, that now I can't except that there isn't?
-and many, many more questions.

To add to all of this...we are planning on leaving for California, for Chris's summer job, this Saturday.  So we will need to figure out how to get Jack and I back and forth from Utah for upcoming appointments.  Even if he just needs a helmet, Jack still needs to come back to Utah a few more times for appointments.

As of now, we have a helmet appointment and an appointment with the Pediatrician on Thursday.

I just don't know what to think!  Being a grown up and a parent is stressful!  Loving some one as much as I love Jack is hard work!

Jack at 5 Months

Little Jack O' is now 5 months old.  Five and half if we're getting technical about it.  But we're not.  

Onto Jack's top 3's. 

Top 3 Likes:

1.  Being "ROARED" at.  I realized the other day that I have never played Peek-a-Boo with Jack.  The person I told this to was shocked.  Chris and I just growl at our child instead.

2.  Getting raspberries.  Is that what it is called when you blow on their tummy?  Well he likes that thing.  I've done this for a while but he used to just stare at me like I was crazy.  He's finally gotten into the spirit of the thing.

3.  When he gets picked up out of his bed in the morning and after naps.  He always seems so thrilled that he wasn't forgotten.  

Top 3 Dislikes:

1.  Being in his car seat.  He has learned how to arch his back so he can get out.

2.  Being hungry.  The worst is when he sees the bottle being made.  It taunts his very being.

3.  Getting his boagies picked out of his nose.  It is a necessary evil.  He flails his head back and forth to try and get away from the nose pickers (that would be my pinkie fingernail.  I keep it long for this very purpose.  I promise I'm not a crack addict.) 

Top 3 Cutest Things He Does:

1. Giggles.

2. He has taken to talking to himself.  Quite loudly too.  Sometimes I have to turn the subtitles on when I'm watching TV, just so I can hear over his symphony.  Still cute though.

3.  He gives me kisses.  He opens his mouth, leans in and smacks them on me.  It's a very slobbery ordeal, but so cute.  Sometimes he kisses me without even being asked to.

Top 3 Least Cute Things He Does:

1.  He drools like a rabid pit bull. 

2.  He gets mad if I don't stand him up.  He used to want to sit up and not lay down.  Now he wants to stand up and not sit down.

3.  I'm still not a fan big fan of his hair pulling thing.

Here are his early 6 month stats:

Head size: 16.9 inches or 47th percentile.  As always they had to measure his head twice because they thought it was too small.  The first time they measured it he was in the 18th percentile.  I wonder if the nurse fudged the numbers the second time around?

Weight: 17.2 pounds or 56th percentile.

Height: 27.5 inches or 95th percentile. 

We went to the doctor's today to see about Jack's head.  It is very long and thin.  And small.  We are worried he might have a fused sagittal suture.  So the bones in your skull aren't supposed to fully fuse until a child is a couple of years old, so that there is room for a baby's brain to grow.  When it fuses early it can cause blindness, brain damage and other crazy things.  To prevent this a surgery is performed where the skin is pulled off the scalp and the bones are sawed into pieces and then put back on the brain.  Jack get's an ultrasound on Monday to find out if this is the case.  

Or...Little Man could just have a funky shaped head.  In which case, he will become a helmet child.  I never wanted a helmet child, but I have been told it is worth it for boys.  They won't have enough hair to cover up their lumpy noggins.  Either way....changes are a comin'.

And now for pictures:

Jack and his daddy.

 Jack being a crazed driver.  Chris thinks he looks like a chauffeur with his little bow-tie.  A very enthusiastic chauffeur.

 Jack and his La-La.

Jack contemplating the weeds.

His typical pug face.

He can be found doing this quite often.  Trying to eat his hands.

And playing with his feet.

We just love our little man so much.  There is a Winnie the Pooh quote which describes my feelings perfectly..."Sometimes the smallest things, take up the most room in your heart."

Jack at 4 Months

Jack is now officially 4 months old!  He had his 4 month appointment.  He is in the 95 percentile for height, 75 percentile for weight, and 15 percentile for head size.  So not much has changed...little man is still a giant pin-head.  He was so cute at the doctor's office.  He was just smiling at all of the nurses and doctors.  He would crank his head around and smile at them until they noticed him.  He was also smiling at the nurses right before they gave him his shots.  It soon disappeared.  I have never heard him scream that loud.  It was ear piercing.  It took him a long time to calm down.  But he finally did when I gave him food.  I didn't even know he had that much volume in him.  It makes me appreciate the restraint he shows with his normal crying.

Top 3 Likes:

1. He LOVES getting dressed and undressed.  Especially the shirt going over his face.  He just grabs on to it and giggles.  I think he thinks it's a game.

2.  When people smile at him.  If you smile at him he will smile back.  The doctor was asking how he was doing interacting with other people.  At that moment he was laughing and smiling at the other doctor in the room and she just said, "Obviously he's doing good with that."

3.  Eating.  I think this will continue to be one of his top 3 likes for a long time.

Top 3 Dislikes:

1.  Being hungry.  We've started him on baby food because he just wasn't staying full enough with formula.

2.  Not getting enough attention.  Sometimes when I leave the room he starts to cry, but as soon as I walk back in he stops.

3.  Getting the bogies suctioned out of his nose.  He has learned to grab the bulb syringe and pull it away from his face.

Top 3 Cutest Things he does:

1.  Sometimes when Chris and I are in the car, we will look back and Jack will have his head twisted around so he can look at us.  We just look over and he is smiling at us.  Chris said one time Jack was on his lap and he arched his back as far as he could so he could smile at his daddy.

2.  He has started talking to himself and making all of these adorable noises.

3.  When you go into his room when he wakes up he looks up and smiles and giggles.  This can be a little annoying when I go to put his pacifier back in and he won't stop smiling and his pacifier won't stay in when he smiling that big.

Top 3 Least Cute Things he Does:

1.  Randomly starts screaming when he realizes he is hungry.

2.  Cries when being put into his car seat.

3.  Spits Up.

Top 3 Things People Say About Him:

1.  People comment on how big he is.

2.  How happy he is.

3.  And how much he eats.

Onto the photo shoot:

The many faces of Jack.

So happy his tongue sticks out.

"Oh Hey!"

Wide eyed.

With his friend Albert.

Big Cheeks.

So a couple of weeks ago at church I might have drawn eyes and a nose over Jack's belly button.  His belly button looked like a little frowny face.  The little girl sitting next to us asked her mom for a marker so she could draw on her stomach too.  Oops.

Chris later put lips on the face with a red marker.  And this was after he reprimanded me for being irreverent in church.

I like this picture of Little Man.  Notice the drool dribbling down his chin.

The other day, I came downstairs and saw Chris and Jack looking at each other like this.

I've just loved being a mother.  He is just so easy to love.  He is so happy and cute.  I feel like this is the best time of my life so far.

I Made One on My Pins!

I'm so proud of myself.  I actually attempted to hand craft one of my pins from Pinterest.  It didn't turn out amaze-balls or anything but at least I tried.

Here was the original pin:

This chica made a dolman tee from one of her hubby's old t-shirt.  I admit, I had I never heard of a dolman tee, but I liked the looks of it.  And I had a bunch of t-shirts Chris gave me when I was preggo and none of my own clothes fit anymore.  If you go to her website HERE you can see instructions and a video tutorial.

Here is the result:

A few things:

1. I had to make a pocket on mine to cover a scouting emblem that was on the shirt.

2.  I think she used a bigger shirt.

3.  I sewed my sides in too much.  I always get a little optimistic about my waste size.

I suppose I will get better as I try doing this sort of craftiness more.  But I just loved pulling out my sewing machine and experimenting. 

Puppy!? and Oregon

Let's get this post started with some random photos of Little Man.

Here he is rockin' his Bumbo.

BLUE EYES!

Jack and his daddy.  I still feel weird using the word "Daddy" as it was banned in my house growing up.  Every time I say it, I feel like a rebellious fiend.

 Moving on to Valintinians Tag, or Valentines Day in laymen terms.  Chris's cousin Dallan came over early in the day so that he and Chris could prepare the feast for later that night.  Dallan brought his girlfriend Kelsie.  They're our favorite married friends...except they're not married.  Details.

 They labored for hours making lasagna and Chris slaved away making this cake.  When Chris and I were at his friends wedding reception I fell in love with their wedding cake.  It was the best chocolate cake I had ever eaten.  Seriously, it was even better than that hefty Costco cake.  And that's saying something.  So Chris tracked down the recipe and made it for me.  He even decorated it.  Pretty sure I say this every post...but he is just so sexy.

I also got these flowers for V-day.

Are you ready for a story? If not skip this next few paragraphs.  So Chris told me about a week before Valentine's Day that he had a huge surprise present for me and that I was going to love it.  My mind raced and I decided I must be getting an iphone because he said it was something that I had wanted for a while.  One day I informed Chris that I thought I was getting an iphone, whereupon he told me that I wasn't.  Now, I'm not proud of this...but I might have thrown a baby fit when I realized I was going to be stuck with my archaic phone.  But Chris told me he got something he thought I would like better.  

I was baffled.  What could I like better than an iphone?  Then a few days later I was watching a commercial.  In this commercial the wife figure says, "My husband went out to get milk and came home with a puppy."  To  which I mused aloud, "I wish my husband would go out to buy milk and get me a puppy."  And then I knew it...I was getting a puppy for Valentines Day.  Chris's sly grin when I confronted him confirmed it.  A million thoughts raced through my head. Where would we put it?  How do you keep one of those things alive?  Would my house smell like dog urine?  How could I stand to wait til Valentines Day?  If I hugged a puppy too hard would it hate me?  Could I be any happier?  I hope it's a dog with pointy ears! I can't wait for it to come running into my arms when it meets me!  I bet it will have a bow tied around it's neck.  And then I'll hug him and cry tears of joy.  Jack would have a friend and then he can be like that kid in Marley and Me that cried when his dog died because he was his best friend...

Pretty much, I was a little anxious but mostly EXCITED!!!  I began planning things with Chris.  I did most of the talking and he just agreed with things.  He even showed me a text he sent his mom requesting she get a kennel.  You see my Valentine's Day present was waiting for me in Oregon at Chris's parent's house. 

One day I was telling Chris that I planned on going shopping for the puppy that day.  I was going to get food, a leash, and a gate to keep him contained.  I figured that we would keep him confined to the kitchen until he was potty trained.  I was a little concerned that Chris hadn't thought all of this out before hand.  Well, Chris told me not to go shopping and that I wasn't getting what I thought I was getting.  And everything that needed to be bought had been bought.  But, I'd seen Chris trick people many a time and I would not believe him.  I said, "I know I'm getting a puppy" about a thousand times.  I was so sure I even convinced Mandi, who knew what my real gift actually was.  

That night when I went to pick up Chris from work he said he was going to show me what my gift really was because he was concerned I would be disappointed.  He pulled up a picture of a laptop.  "Here he goes again with his tricks," I thought to myself.  When I still didn't believe him he showed me the bank statement with the laptop purchase on it.  It was only then that a sliver of doubt entered my mind.

Maybe I wasn't getting a puppy.  A few conversations later I was 95 percent sure I wasn't getting a puppy.  After talking with Mandi who explained how Chris had been on the phone with her for days, worried that I would be distraught that I wasn't getting a puppy, I was 98 percent sure. 

When we got to Oregon and saw the laptop I was 100 percent sure.  Was I disappointed?   A little yes.  I don't care that people tell me dogs are hard work...I still want one.  I have a mini stroke every time I see a cute puppy.  But I was also immensely relieved.  Chris assured me that he would never get a small dog and I was worried for our small house and new couches and little yard.  And the extra responsibility would be overwhelming.  So in the end...a new laptop was the better choice for where we are in our lives right now.  As I sit here typing away on it...I am so grateful that my hubs got me the perfect gift.  

By the way,  Chris tells me he never once lied to me about getting a puppy.  And the crate was so that he could put the laptop in it and trick me a little further.  Which he decided not to do, once he realized how excited I was.

 Here is Jack on his first plane ride.  There were other pictures, but I looked nasty in them.  So we shall have to make due with this gem.  He did great on the plane.  We gave him some baby Tylenol and he slept the majority of the time, both ways.  You could see the fear in people's eyes as we carried him aboard, but he hardly made a peep.

This is in downtown Portland.  Cameron and their new baby Laila (she's the pile of blankets on Cameron's chest), Ashley (Chris's sister), Me, Jack, and Chris.

Bridges in Portland.

 While we were in downtown Portland, painted on a building were the words, "Keep Portland Weird." The building they were on was apparently a transvestite bar.  Then later, as we were waiting in a loooong line outside of Voodoo Donuts, some weird things did indeed occur.  A man kept driving by the hundreds of people in line at a slow crawl.  He was in a van that was painted metallic and had a bunch of monkey heads attached to it.  The song, "Strangers in the Night" was blaring and he was holding a little monkey puppet that was mouthing the words.  And he was singing along too, all the while he had this creepy grin on his face.  At one point he got out of his van and broke it down to a Lady Gaga song...with a matching monkey mask on his head.  Creepy!  And then there were about 20 bikers carrying full black garbage bags in and out of a near by building.  AND, a homeless man was yelling profanities and smacking a random U-Hahl with his bag. This was all within about 20 minutes.  I didn't wait around for the donuts, I was too afraid of being mugged, molested, or murdered.  So I think it is safe to say, Portland has been kept weird.  

 Me and Little Man.

Chris perfected his cake making skills with this cake for Laila's baby blessing.  It took some convincing for him not to write "Queen Poops" on top of the cake.

  

Chris is such a baker these days.  He has always done the majority of the cooking in our house but now he makes all of these extravagant recipes...like pretzels, cinnamon rolls, cookies and cake.  And he sews better than I do.  He's just so domesticated. 

 Here is Jack in one of Mom Albert's old hats.  This face cracks me up.

Here we are at OMSI.  This science center place.  

We went to a Mythbusters exhibit at OMSI.  They had these interactive experiments and items from the show.  And here are their outfits.  

Chris and I wrote down ideas for them to do on the show.  I wanted them to test and see if sharks are really attracted to girls if they are on their period. (Did anyone else get told this as they entered those sensitive puberty years?)  And Chris wanted to know if you could really bait a shark with fish on a line and then ride behind the shark holding on to the line.

Here we are. The whole fam.  Notice Jack's second mom is holding him.  Chris's parents took both kids every night and basically took Jack off our hands completely.  I love the little guy but it is nice to have a wee break from him sometimes.   

I loved our trip and can't wait to go back to land of green and fresh air!