two

Weston is now 2!

Its hard for me to write about Weston without getting emotional. Its been a very emotional 2 years, yet its been the best two years! I have grown up so much! I feel like with Westy I truly became a Mom. I have never prayed so much, cried so hard and loved so unconditionally!

When Weston was 4 months old he started to hold his breath and pass out. By 6 months old he started to have seizures. By 8 months old he was passing out 6 times a day and having 1 major seizure a day. Everyday was such a battle. We could deal with the passing out and seizures, but dealing with the aftermath of those things was much much worse. He would cry and cry and cry and we just didn't know what to do to help him. The first 18 months of his life I was only able to leave him with 3 people (my Mom, Chris and a dear friend) I had people outright tell me they were uncomfortable watching him and I totally understood why. He would pass out in the bath tub, while eating his food, sitting in the grocery cart, and while playing outside. I couldn't leave him at the gym or babysitting co-op. You could never take your eyes off of him. It was hard on all of us!

We spent many hours/days at Dr's appt. we got 1st, 2nd and 3rd opinions. We switched his diet, tried medications, and avoided every kind of situation that could cause an episode.

In April while on the river for a family vacation I was holding Weston after one of his episodes and I had this crazy feeling come over me that I needed to stop working. I needed to put him and my other kids first. It was hard decision because i didn't work all that much, but life was stressful. I was always on the move and never relaxed. By June I was done working and by Aug his episodes became less and less.

Although we still see them from time to time they are becoming fewer and farther between.

The Dr's tell me he is completely normal and they believe it will be something he grows out of. They did warn us that with the new baby we might see a spark in episodes, but i think that is something we can deal with now.

NOW...

Weston is two! He is so full of life and he is such a HAPPY kid. His joker laugh gets everyone going and his smile is infectious.

He can drive a 4 wheeler like I have never seen, he gives loves better then any person I know. He loves me best!

There is never a dull moment with Weston

I am thankful for to Weston for making me a better Mom and wife. I think before I put everyone else first, even before my family. I said yes to everything and spread myself way too thin. Family is what is most important!

Love you Westy!

PS Wes is off the charts for his height and in 75th% for his weight. He is catching up to Everett very quickly!

Three

Everett turned 3 in September so I thought I would share a few pictures of his special day.

We had a great day!

All he wanted was some cowboy boots like Grandpa and he was super excited when he got them! Grandpa took him for ride on the horses with his new boots and he was in heaven!

He was able to have a little cousin party at Peter Piper pizza which he loved and keeps asking to go back. All and all it was a good day! He doesn't like being center of attention at all-Don't try to sing to him he HATES it!

We feel so blessed to have Everett as a son. He is such a sweetheart! Most of the time he has a huge smile on his face (unless you are taking his picture) but he is definitely stubborn. He actually reminds me so much of his Dad. Sweet as can be, but sooo stubborn!

We love you Everett!

Birthday Boy!!

Our sweet sweet Westy turned 1 Oct 29th (i am way behind)

We love this kid to pieces!!

He is close to walking

He loves to talk (uh oh!, mama, dada, more)

He loves food!

He is off the chart for his height and weighs the same as his big brother

His pass out spells are about once to twice a week (a lot better then 6x a day)

He hasn't had a seizure for a month and a half (longest he has gone)

he is off all medication and doing awesome

he is a charmer!

he is FAST!!

He really likes cars! he likes trains too but Everett won't let him near them so.... cars it is!

He loves me most!

When I lay down at night after a rough day. I sometimes picture Weston (and the other kids) laughing and it just makes all the hard work worth it! We didn't choose to have Weston when he came, but I am so glad he joined our family when he did. This has been the hardest yet BEST year of my life. I get to be a mom to the best little people I know.

I call this year my grow up year, and I have Weston to thank for that.

Love you little/BiG guy!

Thomas the train

Everett has this obsession with Thomas the train. Every morning when he wakes up he says, "Thomas the train". It was also his first sentence so of course we think its so cute. Anyway, we are able to watch it on netflix anytime he wants, but for his birthday I wanted to get him some actual train stuff. I have been researching, asking friends, searching craigslist etc. We were able to find a bunch of trains for a way good deal, but the table and tracks were still too expensive. On Monday i was doing my client, Jill's hair (who has all boys). She said she was getting rid of a bunch of toys. I asked if she has any Thomas the train stuff-The next day she showed up with this (below). I almost started to cry. I will be doing her hair for free the next time for sure :)

Thank you Jill!!

I can't even describe how much Everett loves it!!! below are some pictures to give you an idea.

1pm- happy birthday Everett!!

5:30pm- we had to peel him away for dinner. He didn't come downstairs for 4 straight hours.


2AM- This is NO joke i swear. At 2 am i heard something so I went to check on it. It was Everett playing with his trains AT 2AM!! i ran for my phone to take a pictures. The bad thing was he wouldn't go back down until 5am. It was a rough night!!

8am-bedhead and all. He didn't want to come down for breakfast.

12pm fed and changed but still playing with the trains!


as you can see i think he likes his trains!

could there be anything more cute then a 2 year old boy playing with trains?!?

Fall

We have had a very fun/busy fall

Last week we took the kids to a pumpkin patch and had a blast!

Hay ride. London was very protective of Rett.



decorating pumpkins-this saved us from having to carve them this year :)

London and Rett were invited to a fun birthday party. London wouldn't get near the horses, but all the other kids would.

Chris's birthday wrapped up our birthday season for the fall (until next week that is)

We tried to make it special and I think we did.

All his favorite people and all his favorite food.

Happy birthday Chris-WE LOVE YOU!

I'm Three!!

Today London turned three!

We love her!

She has a mind of her own.

I think 3 will be harder then 2, but we still love her!

(pictures by Corie Lamb-thank you!)

She loves her Dad. She loves him more then she loves me. I have come to terms with it.
I love him, too!

These need their own post

A couple months ago I started looking for ideas for London's birthday. I came across a head cut out that was in the shape of a cupcake. I thought it was such a cute idea! London loves Tinker Bell so I ran the idea across my very talented SIL, Katie and she had it done in nothing flat. Didn't it turn out cute?!? Chris and I did the head cut out (with wood scraps from the garage) and Katie did all the painting. London LOVED IT!

You're Awesome Katie Thank you!

London has been very excited about her birthday cake and blowing out all the candles. She and I would look online at different cakes and this is what she wanted. Luckily my friend, Erin has a friend who had this mold and let me borrow it. To tell you the truth it was kind of a pain and it took a long time, but I think worth it after London's reaction. I could NOT have done it with out the help of my Mom. She actually did most of it. Big thanks to my sister, Ali who had lots of helpful tips (she is a cake expert)

Happy Birthday Trip

The first time I saw Trip (hubby) it was in a darken theater. He walked in late and up the isle he came. I couldn’t see much, but what I did see was enough for my heart to take a giant leap. I couldn’t wait for the lights to come back on so I could see this beautiful creature in all his glory. I think my exact words to me friend, Jayne were, “he is so cute who is that?” her response went something like this, “don’t go there, he is weird!” Turns out she was right, and I couldn’t be happier!
Today is Trips birthday so I thought I would dedicate this entire post to him. If you don’t like this kind of sappy dappy stuff feel free to scroll on by

Trip has always been a mystery to me. I never really got him, and I tend to think I will spend the rest of my life trying to figure him out. I love this about him. That first time I met him (after the movie) we were all talking in the parking lot and he just ending up walking away, getting in his car and driving off. He wasn’t about small talk-movie was over, time to go home. Little did he know he left a little lady behind breathless! A couple months went by and I pretty much gave up hope of ever seeing my tall/ weird/ mysterious/beautiful guy again. It wasn’t until a drive home from Vegas with a group of my guy friends that my life changed forever. They started asking questions like, “what kind of guys I am attracted to?” I told them, "someone who doesn’t shave their chest, someone who is NOT a pretty boy, and someone who can fix anything! I wanted a man’s man" I told them. Then one of them said, “Do you know TRIPLE?” I said no I don’t think so. They went on to tell me “he would be perfect for you”- I told them to “set me up!” The problem with that was, Triple didn’t have a cell phone, not even a house phone. Every time I asked them about my “perfect guy” they said he is just really hard to get a hold of him. I think finally Larry (the guy to set us up) dropped a note at his apartment, told him where they would be and to meet up with them. After my roommate, Jayne and I ditched our other dates we met our friends for dinner and to my surprise my tall/weird/mysterious/beautiful man was sitting at the table. I had no idea my "perfect guy" was going to be the same guy from the darken theater months before. Instantly we were playing footsie under the table and instantly I was in love! He said he would call and he did. I think we were engaged 6 months later.

Just a few reasons why I love Trip…
What you see is what you get
He is so compassionate
He loves me more then anything. He tells me everyday
He loves the hugs and kisses as much as I do
He is the best dad!
He loves thoughtful gifts ( you know the ones that don't cost anything)
He is very handy
He loves spending time with us
He lets me talk his ear off even if it’s at midnight because he just knows I need it.
When he walks through the door he takes over because he knows I need that, too!
He is a hard worker and a great provider
He knows my moods and will secretly try to get me to eat something (apparently I am happier on a full stomach)

Trip- I love you so much! I have no idea what I would do without you. You make me so happy and I feel blessed that I get to share this life with you. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Now if we could get you to stop losing everything you touch you would be absolutely perfect wink wink.