tuckered out

Carter’s only 6 days out from surgery, but he wanted to come to church. He made it through some of sacrament meeting and then he told Laun he wanted to go home and lay in bed. So home he went.

Sydney has a long tongue and loves sticking it out.

date night

Lucy is in town, so she babysat, which is nice for the older boys to have some help. First we went to IFA’s work Christmas party at Ruby River, which was delicious and we got some fun gifts. I can’t wait to try out my new coated cast iron pot. Then we had Jazz basketball tickets from one of Laun’s dairies. We only made half the game, but we got to snack some and had pretty good seats. It was such a fun night together.

love my family

I’m so glad I got a picture with my mom holding Carter, it’s not the first time she’s held a kid in a body cast!

It’s crazy how much time goes in to caring for little ones. Sydney has started eating solids and loving it! She didn’t love the texture of pear, but she loves rice cereal, which will really help when she is being babysat. She still won’t take a bottle, but there's formula in the cereal, so hopefully she’ll get used to the taste.

Bath time- body cast style…

Reminded me of this picture of my mom bathing me the same way in my cast.

Drove my mom to the airport today, I’m sure going to miss her. She is such a steady calm in my unsteady world right now. Sure wish I could see her more.

Porter is loving his woodworking class and has made some cool things- pens, HUNT sign and this-

With Carter in a cast, he sure watches a lot of movies and his siblings gladly join him.

We don’t normally allow a TV in our children’s rooms, but we put ours in Carter’s room while he’s in his body casts. He’s more comfortable on his bed, then the couch and we don’t really want the living room TV on that much. The kids have loved it. I love Sydney lying next to Porter.

I love watching babies discover things, like their hands and feet or knees!

I love how she’s cracking up with Porter kissing her.

She’s waiting for it…

More loves from Porter. This girl is adored.

5 months old

Monthly pictures with lamb…

Sydney Rose, only weighing in at 11.5 pounds (she weighed 11.2 pounds last month), still trying to get her to gain weight! She’s still in the brace for 18 hours a day, which I’m still wondering if that contributes to her lack of weight gain? The doctor is having me track her feeding, so that I’m nursing her enough. She’s so happy when she is brace free that she won’t put her legs down. We love our happy girl.

another hospital visit

Laun getting in snuggles with Carter.

Laun went back in for another scope today after a month since his 1st scope. He’s been taking some medicine since then to help with acid (unfortunately, it has some side effects, including back pain) and the ulcers look better. Laun’s acid reflux had gotten so bad and his stomach hole so small, so they put a balloon in to stretch it out, it’s crazy what they can do now. The doctor says this usually helps the issue for about 5 years.

Marlee came home with another cute art piece. She is a great artist. I love this scarecrow she drew.

cutest babies

Carter and his side kick bear chilling in bed.

Clayton and Porter used to have this massive set of dinosaurs when they were little boys. When they out grew them, I handed them over to my brother Andy, who had two younger boys. Recently, his kids have gotten older and outgrew them, so he gave them back for Carter to have. I put them away and was saving them for Carter. I’m so glad I thought of busting them out for him today. He seemed pretty glum and it was the perfect surprise to lift his spirits. Plus, he had never seen them before, so it was really fun for him. I can’t believe how many dinos lasted, some are gone, but a lot made it through all these years! Carter especially loved the gorilla and elephant.

He’s drugged with pain meds and tired, he hasn’t been napping that well since surgery. I love how sometimes he’d lay his sleepy head down while playing.

Look how cute this boy is!

And it did the trick, he fell right asleep. It’s very rare for him to nap on the couch.

Sydney is the perfect baby for us. It’s been so nice having the easiest baby during a time where Carter is going through so much. Just look how happy she is!!

The kids were all excited to come home to the dinos. Clayton and Porter hadn’t seen their toys for years and it was fun for them to be reminded of their childhood. It’s fun to have another one of our boys play with them, especially since Cooper never got to.

He’s thinking the dragons are pretty cool, too.

Daddy’s little girl!