Life lately {January 25, 2014}

I haven't done a very good job lately of documenting what's been going on with us lately. It seems like that days and weeks are just going by faster and faster. It's like I wake up and another week has already gone by. It's strange really.

Our weeks are finally starting to get into a better routine. I think it's good for Hayes to have a good schedule. He kind of goes to the beat of his own drum. The weather has been getting warmer and warmer, and we are loving being able to go out on walks again. I know Gator really loves it. Hayes is pretty scared to go down slides, so the park by our house isn't too much fun for him. We love to get out and sit on the grass though and let Gator run. I have taken him to Vernon Worthen to play on the swings, he's not quite to the stage where that is fun yet. I am excited for it though.

He is doing much better at the baby sitters too. He only goes to her house from 12:30 to about 4. Ash has been picking him up at 4, and then Sam meets up with Ash and gets him after he gets off. I try to work until 6 on Wednesdays. So far, its been working out well. After a few weeks, Hayes will stay until Sam gets off work. It breaks my heart to leave him, but I have to tell myself its good for him too.

Work has been absolutely crazy for me. We are so busy and I am only there for 2 and half days, but I am still doing the job of a full time worker. It stresses me out a lot, but I can make it through. I like my job, and I like making a pay check. I have been thinking a lot about law school lately. I am pretty tired of making my bosses really rich. I feel like I do all the work, and they make all the money. I would like to work hard, and actually reap the full benefit of it. It's still just a thought, but I really think that once my kids are in school, I think I might just do it. It's fun to think about future goals, and make plans.

Sam works so hard. His work has been crazy busy, and I think he likes it when it is really busy. He feels more secure in his work when the weeks are jam packed. It makes for a long work week, but its nice to know there is work.

Today we went to lunch at Durangos (shocking, I know) and then we headed out to Sandhollow (the lake) and walked on the beach. Sam said it was just the lake fix he needed. It was so fun to be out there as family, and I think Gator thought he died and went to Heaven. Hayes loved it too. We talked about how fun things will be once we get a boat, and how much time we will spend out there a family. It felt so good to be there together, and to really see our family having fun. It's a little strange to realize that we are family and that we are responsible for Hayes. Its a terrifying, exciting, and overwhelming thought.

 

9 Months {January 13, 2014}

I can't believe it, another month is gone and my baby is 9 months old! What a crazy whirlwind its been, and the best 9 months of my entire life. I would be lying if I said he wasn't a lot of work, or if I said we didn't have hard days, but to be honest, even the hardest day with Hayes is 100 times better than the best day without him. He is such a sweet heart. He is spunky and curious. He is loud and silly. He is shy. He lights up every room and draws attention from perfect strangers with his contagious smile.

Some of my favorite things about Hayes right now:

He is a big scaredy cat. He is scared of the vacuum, toilets, and public restrooms. He FREAKS if we are in the bath room somewhere and someone flushes the toilet. He freaks when I turn the vacuum on- unless of course I let him push it, then its the best thing in the whole world.

He love balloons.

He loves to watch Gator.

He LOVES to eat. He is sick of baby food and I basically have to force it down his throat, but he loves regular food. His favorite things are spaghetti oh's, beans, bread, avocados, berries, water, gold fish, and nilla wafers.

At his appointment he weighed 20.5 pounds and was 28 inches long. (both 50%) his head however, measures in the 90% percentile.

He hasn't wore jeans or regular pants since he broke his leg, and I kind of miss him being in jeans (weird, I know).

He yells at people (aka Me) when he gets mad.

He has started to sing a long with me when I sing to him in the car (90% of the time I have to sing primary songs to him while we are in the car or he screams his guts out).

He's a blanket boy

He loves the ring toy and to put blocks in bucket and take them out.

He likes to go to the park and play on the grass- he is scared of slide.

He laughs at me when I wear sunglasses or hats.

Sam always goes and gets Hayes's gray hat when Sam has his gray hat on- and Hayes LOVES that.

He likes books- sometimes. He still loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and A touch a feel book about animals.

He loves to pinch everything.

He has turned into quite a biter.


Dear Hayes:

When you broke your leg and we were in the ER, it was one of the scariest things of my entire life. The thought of you hurting or having a serious problem was overwhelming and hurt a part of my heart I have never hurt before. Its like having you and loving you has opened up a new part of my heart and I am now open to a whole new world of fear, worry, and the deepest love I have ever known.

You bring so much light into my life. Taking care of you is one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it is so rewarding. I love to pick you up in the morning and I love to rock you to sleep at night.  You make me so happy and I love you for all the joy you have brought into my life. I love you and your sweet smile. I love you and your wild hair. I love you and your pinching fingers. I love you and I can't wait to see who you become!

I love you forever! 

Love, Mom 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014- Enjoy Everything

I am notorious for setting all kinds of crazy goals and plans every year. This year, I decided to do things differently. I decided to set a motto for the year, and then change things as needed to follow that motto. My motto is "Enjoy Everything".  My mom has always said "change attitude, change everything" and I feel like this goes right along with that. Even if things are rough, if I can find the enjoyment in it, than it's still good.

So, already I have paid off my credit card, because I can't really enjoy things knowing I had that out there. I have done much better working out and jogging, because it's hard for me to enjoy things when I feel so overweight and gross. I feel like I have already made more progress towards the things I want than I have during any other year. I hope this year is is full of so many great things, but no matter what, I have decided to enjoy it anyways! 

Leg update {January 8, 2014}

We went to the doctor this past week to follow up on Hayes's broken leg. He had some  X-rays done that scared him (the machine was loud and I think it reminded him of the CT scan). He loved the x ray girls though and they loved him. 

The doc said he has lots of new bone growth and that he can have his cast removed on Jan 28th. He was really good at the doctor ( partially because we had a constant stream of nilla wafers in his hand). He loves those things, but he really was such a good boy!!

He is getting around really well with his cast now, and besides not being able to take a bath, we really don't notice it too much. He can't crawl very well, but he rolls around, gets up on his knees and goes backwards, and finds ways to get where he wants to go. I think once his cast is off, there will be no stopping him. 

We are so glad he is doing better and will be fine. What a blessing that is!!

He likes to see himself in the camera on my phone at the doctor, these selfies kept us entertained for a good 15 minutes. :) 

Year in Review {December 31, 2013}

What a whirlwind of year it has been. I think this has been our most eventful year to date. We welcomed the most amazing addition to our family and our life was changed forever. He has been such a blessing.

Ali got married
Brandi got married
Hayes was born
I went back to work, then cut back to part time
I turned 26
Sam turned 28
We celebrated 5 years
We went to Salt Lake a few times
We went to Vegas a few times
Hayes broke his leg

This is the first year in quite some time that we haven't traveled somewhere, but I am totally ok with that. Hayes has kept us pretty preoccupied. Our Hayesie has been growing like a weed and already changed so much.

I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us. Our motto for 2014- Enjoy everything!

Broken leg {December 27, 2013}

It started out like any other day off. Hayesie and I were getting ready and headed out the door. We had LOTS of errands to do and Hayes was particularly happy today. I set him down on the bed so I could put my shirt on. I turned around and grabbed, then turned back around just in time to see him roll from his tummy, onto his back, and off the bed. I ran over and grabbed him. I think the fall scared us both pretty bad and we both started crying. I felt TERRIBLE! He was hysterical for awhile, then calmed down, but never stopped crying. I could tell he was in pain, but I wasn't sure if it was more out of fear from falling or if something was really wrong.

 

We sat and I tried to nurse him, and he would just FREAK out if I moved him at all. I decided to try and get him in the bath (he LOVES the bath) and I was hoping I could distract him from the accident and get him to calm down. It didn't help. He was crying and I could tell he was hurting. I got him dressed and just held him and rocked him. He fell asleep, but woke up screaming crying if I moved him even a little.

 

I called Sam and told him what happened, but hoped that he was going to be ok, and that he was sleeping. Sam was pretty worried, but was happy he was sleeping now. I called my mom and talked to her about it too. They were headed to Cedar and said they would check back in with us when they got home. Well, since my mom is really so in tune with things, they decided to come over and check on us before they left. When they got to the house Hayes and I were both sitting on the couch crying. My dad took Hayes, and held him. They both said he just wasn't acting right and that I should call my doc.

 

I called the doc and they really were not helpful at all. They told me they couldn't get me in for about 4 hours and then got back on the phone and said they actually couldn't help me at all and that I just needed to go to the ER. I hung up and we started getting ready to go. My dad gave Hayes a blessing and I bawled my eyes out. I just felt so sad that he was hurting and that I didn't know what was wrong. He was so sweet and I just felt so helpless.

 

We headed to the ER and Sam met us there. They took us right back into triage and the nurse said she thought it was his leg. We headed back to the waiting room and waited for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, they called us back and we saw the doc. They talked to us for a little bit, then she asked me to lay Hayes down on the bed. The second I laid him down, he went ballistic! I have never seen anyone scream like that, it was the most horrific thing. I think it scared the doc too. She immediately got him strapped to a "papoose" or a baby back board. She said they need to do a full body CT scan, and that she didn't want him to move until they got the result back. They came in to the room to get an IV started and take his blood. Sam and I both had to leave the room for that. Sam was an absolute wreck. I have never seem him so upset. He cried a lot. I felt so torn because I couldn't help both him and Hayes, and unfortunately for Sam I stayed by Hayes's side, so there was no one to comfort him. He is so sympathetic, that he become empathetic and physically just hurt for Hayes. It was incredibly sweet, but also kind of scary because he was so upset.

 

The CT scan was pretty awful. I sang him primary songs the whole time. I have a terrible voice, but it was all I could think of to comfort him. He was terrified during the CT scan. Even after the scan was over, we couldn't take him out of the papoose. It was probably another hour before we heard back that the CT was clear and could pick him up. I took him out and nursed him for more than a half an hour. We were so relieved and grateful that the CT was clear. The only problem was that he was still in a lot of pain. The doc said a few different options they were considering, none of which we were very happy about. She decided to call Primary Children's and just see what they thought.

 

She came back in and said she would like to X ray his legs, and then go from there. So, that's what we did, and sure enough, the first X-ray should the crack in his leg. A friend of mine was the X-ray tech. I was SO glad to see a familiar face and she was so sweet and comforting to us. What a blessing that was. Once they saw the break they called the orthopedic to come see him and assess whether or not they could just cast him or if he would need surgery. After another hour or so the orthopedic came in and said that he was just going to cast it. They got the cast on, and you could tell Hayes instantly felt better.

 

The whole day after the fall, was pretty terrible. We were in the ER for about 8 hours and I hope we never have to go back there again.

 

I am so grateful for my family. They stayed at the hospital with us the whole time and were so supportive and sweet. I know we wouldn't have made it through the day without them. My dad stayed with Sam when he was struggling so much, and my mom stayed with me. Ash came and Hayes was so happy to see her.

 

Hayes is getting around really well on his cast, and is actually closer to crawling with the cast than he was without it. He is such a trooper. We are so grateful he is going to be ok.

 

Christmas {December 25, 2013}

We has such a fun Christmas. Hayes didn't really understand much, but he was pretty excited about opening presents. He would sit and tear at the paper, and look up to see if it was ok. We had to start "helping" him a lot more because it was taking so long. He was adorable and really loved the set of toys that "Santa" left out for him.

 

I think his most favorite part was the ribbon on the presents. He LOVED it.

 

 

 

We are looking forward to many more fun Christmases with this angel baby!