Killpack Reunion 2010

Every year the Killpack's have a reunion, and this year it took place on July 1st through July 5th. We went camping in Huntington Canyon in Utah. I have to recall last years reunion...we went camping at Ferron Reservior. Grant was about 15 months old. He had just learned to walk, and he was everywhere. This year, being one year older, things were not too much different. Oh wait...I guess things were different... he was much faster this year than he was last. James and I were busy keeping track of him pretty much the whole time we were there. Relaxing in chairs while surrounded by trees, and chatting with family? Didn't happen too often. If one of us wasn't chasing after Grant, we were caring for Audrey! The Killpack's were so nice and let us stay in their trailer. If it weren't for that, I don't know that we would have gone!
Anyway, the ride down was interesting for the first few hours. The kids were ornery that first little bit. I moved to the back to entertain them, and that seemed to help. After that, they were just fine! Grant's really easy to entertain in the car. And Audrey is loving her frog toy these days. We stayed our first night at James' brothers house in Lindon. So glad we got to break up the trip a little, and stay there. And their kids were super cute with Grant and Audrey. It was so cute to see them try to entertain my babies! Such cute kids!
We woke up as early as we could, and packed up the car. I'm always amazed at how much STUFF we have to cart around for just one night. James ends up unpacking and packing it all. It is a job! The ride up was fine, and then we got there and things got interesting! Grant was so hard to manage. He just wants to run! He's not really one to do what he is told yet...it's that communication thing. He ran everywhere. James and I were exhausted chasing after him. The first night there was interesting as well. Grant usually has a bath, vitamins, milk and has a story read to him, and then he goes to bed. Well....Grant really wanted nothing to do with the routine. James and I had the toughest time getting that kiddo to go to sleep. James and I were so tired chasing after him... James mentioned later that we almost went home after that first night. For James to say this, he must have really been done!Grant was everywhere. Robert volunteered to walk after him, so James and I could sit and enjoy the mountains for a bit. Needless to say, this only lasted for about 5 minutes, before it started to rain. Oh well...
Of all the places Grant wanted to walk, he picked the bathrooms. Yuck...
One of the ways we survived being up there was taking long car trips in the day. This was our only time for James and I to relax. We had sleepless nights up there, and chasing after Grant was tiring to say the least. So...we packed up the kids and drove. One of the places we went to was this lake. I had James get in there with Audrey.
When we first arrived, I grabbed the camera and had Audrey sit with practically everyone. I love her bald head. She wore a hat most of the time.
Our trip wouldn't be complete without Grant's first ride on the four wheeler. James just went around our campsite. I think Grant enjoyed it...He pretty much looked the same the whole ride! Oh well...many more four wheeling rides to come.

Audrey has a cousin who is her age. She's a month older, and my goodness! I loved taking pictures of the two of them. Sooo cute! Her name is Madison and she is James' sister Julie's little girl. Two sweet girls! We had fun on this reunion even though we didn't get much sleep. Word to the wise next time...we are only camping for two nights. That's about all we can last!

A Good Kind of Hard

Grant is getting along much better with Audrey these days. I wonder if he can remember what life was like without her...hmmm. I have been trying really hard to include him in every aspect dealing with Audrey. Diaper changes, bath time, reading time, tummy time. He has been a part of it all. It seems to be working. The other day he gave Audrey a kiss! Having two young kids right now at this point in time has been fun. It has been hard, but a good kind of hard. It has tested my patience, made me exhausted, and is having me do things that I never thought I would do. I love it. I love looking around my living room and seeing toys everywhere. I love the hugs that I get around my legs at any random part of the day. I love the sticky wet kisses. I love the smiles first thing in the morning. There are things about this time that are not so appealing, but right now, I am truly happy being a mom to two awesome young spirits. It has been amazing so far!
I will try to remember this moment when we are camping this weekend...heaven help us! :)

Robbed

So it happened too fast...my Audrey cut her first teeth on her five month birthday. I can hardly believe it! Grant was seven months before his first tooth popped up-I feel a little robbed. I feel like I didn't get to enjoy her toothless grin for very long. So I took some pics of her while she still has toothless smile.

First of all, Audrey has the best smile! She can smile with her eyes-her whole face just lights up, like she can hardly contain herself. It makes my heart sing whenever I see it! It honestly is soooo cute. I can't explain it! She also is really easy to get to smile. All anyone has to do is say hello to her, and she can turn on the charm in a heartbeat! I love it!

Since she is teething, she has been drooling a lot! I feel glad that so far for getting teeth, both of my kids have been pretty easy. Both have drooled incessantly but that has been all. We just have to keep putting bibs on her! That's what we had to do with Grant!Too help with Audrey's teething, she has been gnawing on this star on her Baby Einstein saucer.

A Family Trip

This past weekend, James and I took the kids to meet my family in Salt Lake. I have to gush for a moment and say what wonderful travelers my kids are. Audrey was a typical baby...she'd cry, and I feed her, and then she'd go to sleep for a long stretch. Grant was great. Just give him his Leap Frog Learning pad, and he was content for the whole trip. Really amazing! James and I packed up the car with every intention on leaving first thing in the morning. We didn't actually get out of Casper until about quarter to 10! Too funny. We tried though! We met Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa and Kirk at Cafe Rio in downtown Salt Lake. So excited to see my family and have them love on my babies! If you happen to live close to family, don't take for granted this luxury. I sure wish we did! We like Casper, but I love every moment my mom gets to hug my babies! Anyway, we walked around Temple Square, and took a tour of the conference center. Well...all that the kids would allow was the main conference area and the roof! We learned a lot though and managed to get a few pics!

The day was gorgeous! Clear and sunny, a little chilly. I was fine in my sweatshirt. This picture with James and Audrey, we actually learned about the landscaping. The landscaper wanted each person to have a pioneer experience, so on one side is trees to represent the woods, wilderness and all that the pioneers left behind. The water represents all the rivers and streams crossed a long the way. On the other side of the trees, its the view of Salt Lake, and their is a field of flowers and vegetation.

The next day was Sunday. We decided to meet my family in Tooele to visit my grandma. since we weren't going to see them until the afternoon, James and I took the kids to Liberty Park. Grant had a great time running around:

I love this picture! James took it. I asked him about it, and he said that Grant was to running so fast he was too quick for the camera! So this is where Grant used to be.


We got a chance to see my Grandma early Sunday afternoon. She will be 95 this year, and she is not doing so great. Seeing her is really hard for me. I visited her last year when Grant was just a year old, and she didn't recognize me. It makes me sad, because she knew how hard it was for us to have kids, and I know she would be SO excited to see them and love on them. This time, when we saw her, she managed a smile, and she could not get enough of Audrey. I LOVE that Audrey got to see her, and we got some pics:



One I never thought I would get is the four generation picture. I have been to see my Grandma but never with my mom there. I love how my Grandma is looking at Audrey. She did that pretty much the whole time we were there.

Afterward, we went to my uncle Gary's house in Grantsville for a barbeque. It was way fun, and reminded me a little of when my Grandpa used to have barbeques for us. Thanks Gary and Colleen! We loved it!

That night we got back to our hotel, we decided to take the kids swimming. Getting them ready is quite the project. It reminded me of how hard it is going to be to take both of them swimming at the same time without James there. (I shudder at the thought!) We ended up staying in the pool for a whopping 20 minutes, before the kids decided that they had had enough. The water was warm, but not warm enough for Grant to want to stay. I think Audrey enjoyed it more than Grant did. On the way back, James said, "Well, at least he looks cute in his suit." It's true. Both babies looked pretty cute!

The last leg of our trip was Hogle Zoo. James and I were excited to take Grant.

The carousel was kind of fun for Grant. At first he was scared, but by the end of the ride, I think he kind of liked it. I say kind of, because look at the look on his face:
I felt bad we couldn't take Audrey out of the stroller for very long to see all the animals, so we got her out to see the giraffes. She looks thrilled.


This ostrich came right up to Grant like he knew him! WE had a pretty good trip to the zoo, but I have to say, the Denver Zoo still ranks as the top that we have been to so far. Well, we have only been to three, but we really did see a lot of animals at Denver Zoo, and we could see every animal in their exhibits. We had a great time on this little vacation, and still two more to go this summer. We have camping with the Killpack's and a trip to Canada planned. We will have more soon!

Feverish...

This past weekend was crazy to say the least. I had a lot to think about as I headed into the weekend. Since we have had Audrey, it has been in the back of mind to do a new family picture with her in it. And of course, I can never decide what we are going to wear. So James and I planned an impromptu trip to the store to get everyone somewhat matching shirts/outfits for this photo session that we planned on Saturday. James thought maybe it would be a good idea to do it outside. So...Saturday arrived...a little dreary when I first woke up at 5:30 in the morning to get myself ready first, so then I could think about kids. Our photo shoot was at 9 a.m. And it turned out to be everything I thought it would be and more. CRAZY! First off, Grant just plain got up on the wrong side of the bed. He was acting strange. Not eating his morning banana/breakfast, and just being plain crabby. James and I in our frenzy to get ready just blamed it on his mood that morning. When we arrived at our destination, the park, Grant just wanted to move. He wanted to play on anything and everything while we waited for our photographer to set up her equipment. That's fine. He just wasn't quite ready to join us when the time came to actually shoot our pictures. We sat down on some rocks, and poor Grant. As our shoot was progressing his poor nose was getting runnier and runnier. Me and my thinking, is that he was running around in the not so warm weather and this was making his nose run. We managed to get some of James and Audrey, James and Grant, me and Audrey, and me and Grant. The whole family? Didn't happen! Grant's nose was just OUT OF CONTROL! We left about an hour and a half later, and right when we got home, we put Grant to bed. This is when things started to get interesting. When Grant got up from his nap, James went in to get him, and noticed that he didn't feel right. He started to take Grant's temperature, and while that digital thermometer kept going up, James kept saying, "Wow-he is really sick! Could this be right? 103.9. I called the doctor and of course got his answering service. Kay, before I go on, I have to say, that Grant getting a fever terrifies me. He has already had brain trauma and suffered seizures-anything to stop this temp. from going up has to be done immediately, and I wanted answers right then and there. So I chatted with the answering service person, who told me that they had to fax Denver, and did I really want to do this? Uh...Yeah-I do. I said, "yes, whatever, just tell me what I should do!" And she quite rudely told me to calm down. I just ignored this comment, while she told me that a nurse will get back to me in 30 minutes. The 30 minutes c ame and went. Meanwhile we put Grant in the tub, and got his temp to come down a few degrees. Forty minutes later, I was back on the phone with the same lady who said she would fax our info again. Frustrating. We finally got a nurse to tell us to give him some motrin, (which we already did) and she said that little toddlers if they still have a fever in three days to go to the doctor. Grant was feeling a little better by Monday, but the fever was still going strong. We took him to the doctor on Monday and found out he had coxiache virus, and a slight ear infection. Poor boy. I can't imagine having a 104 degree fever. He got some anitbiotics for his ear, and now he is so much better.

A Week in Our Life...

These past few weeks have been crazy. As you may have read in past posts, we have had sick kids, and doctors appointments till no end. Our afternoons have also filled up quite a bit. We have added speech therapy to our weekly physical therapy appointments. The speech therapist is named Casey and she comes once a week on Thursday at 1:00. She has had quite the time gaining Grant's trust, so her visits have consisted of playing with new toys and taking pictures of Grant's favorite things to hopefully help him communicate. He has a few words, but nothing like what a two-year-old should be saying. He needs some way to get his thoughts out, so we are thinking pictures might do the trick. (We have tried signing, but Grant has never seemed that interested in it.) I'm excited for the help, but a little impatient. It seems to be going slower than I thought.

I'm confident that Grant will get the help he needs. I just want to talk to my little guy to talk soon!

Also to throw into the mix-my aching back! What happened after Grant was born, is now happening after Audrey was born as well. My back has decided to take a vacation. It is getting better, but I am having to go to the chiropractor once a week, and it just adds to the confusion in our household. As long as I do my exercises, my back is okay. I just can't wait for it to be completely better, so I can enjoy my little ones more.

Both kids are doing great. Grant is not loving food these days. His diet consists of lasagna, cheese on bread, bananas, yogurt, and Nutri-Grain bars. Some days are better than others. He seems to go through phases.

Audrey seems to love what she is getting. She is all cheeks, and has rolls on her legs. She is super cute, and an absolute doll as far as disposition and personality goes. She is starting to laugh, and she LOVES to be spoken too. She is already cooing and babbling, and I can't wait until she starts talking to us for real. Truly, I am blessed to have such great kids, and a wonderful husband.

James is working so hard on finishing our basement. We are doing some of this ourselves (listen to me, I'm talking like I am also working on it), but it's James who does the work while I watch kids. He is doing drywall now, and is almost done with all of the walls. It looks great, and we are so excited for this project to be finished. He's down there most every night, so it's just me dealing with the little ones.

Audrey

Here is the latest on my sweet little Audrey:

She is a big eater-she loves what she gets and eats as often as she can

She is very observant-she loves to just look at all the things surrounding her

She's a smiley baby-seems to have a smile for anyone

She loves to be spoken too-as soon as you stop to do something else, she will cry

She has lost most of her hair-all that is left is a little patch toward the back

She can lift her head up really well-she's been doing that since she was about two months

She likes her Baby Einstein toy-she is occupied for a whole 20 minutes in it

She's a great sleeper-she's been sleeping through the night since she was two months

She has had one ear infection so far-but we managed to escape RSV

She loves motion-being rocked and body movements songs can really get her to smile

She adores her brown and pink polka dot blanket-she sleeps through the night with it

She's a great traveler-but when you stop at a light, things can get interesting

We are so lucky to have this precious spirit in our home. She is truly a blessing. I love being her mom and seeing her sweet little face when I come home from work. She can turn my day from cloudy to sunny in just one little twinkle of her eye. I can't wait to find out what her favorite things are, what can make her laugh, and to hear her speak. So looking forward to all these things.

Yes, my Audrey is one of a kind.