Family Photo's!

Well, a lot has happened in the month since I've had surgery. I'm all healed up and have started exercising again in hopes to lose the baby weight from two children with a lapse of Postpartum Depression in the middle. I have about 50-60 pounds to lose to be back down to a much more healthy weight so that's at the top of my to do list every day. I am also working at two different junior high's this year! The new theatre teacher at North Davis Junior High asked me to come help with their musical this year; they are doing Aladdin and so I knew that I could work it into my schedule so I accepted. It's really fun working on this show again and working with different kids. Already, it's a different show that the two other times I've worked on it. It's been really fun working with Brittany and getting to know her! I've also started back up at Syracuse Jr. High and love it. This will be my third year working with them and I seriously love being there! We are doing a play right now called "A Nuther Thing" and next semester we are going to be putting on Once on This Island. I love working with the kids and they seriously have so much talent! 

The past couple weeks, everyone in my family has been sick. Except for me! Liam started out with it, and then gave it to my mom, and then to Jon and then to my dad, and then to Duncan. Watching everyone around me get sick was like waiting for my execution! But I never got whatever bug was going around. Thankfully! Because I had stuff I had to do!! Everyone has slowly gotten better, but it was a strong virus! At first I thought that it was that Entovirus or whatever it's called that had people on high alert for a couple weeks, but Liam never had trouble breathing so I wasn't worried. Lots of fluids and baths and "rest"- which for Liam is a minute long nap- he got that from me. 

Liam has a new friend! His name is Jackson and he lives in my parents ward! They had a play date the other day which had to be postponed because of Liam's illness and recovery. Because even though he wasn't sick anymore, his nose was still runny and he would wipe it all up his arm. It was truly disgusting. Anyway, so we had a playdate with them last week and Liam had so much fun! He and Jackson played for a good two hours! But finally, Liam was tired and was starting to get a little grouchy, so it was time to go back to nana's house and he actually took a nap! 

Duncan turned six months old yesterday and I honestly cannot believe that he has been in our lives for that long! He was such a trying baby for the longest time and I was seriously just trying to keep my head above water with him. Countless prayers were offered in hopes that I would be able to cope. Then when he turned four months old, it was like a switch flipped and he became the happiest baby, rarely cries, smiles at everyone, giggles like crazy... I was very grateful because life for me had become very strained. I loved him because he was mine, but after four months I really liked him! He has been mobile for the past month. Which is a lot faster than Liam! Liam started crawling a week before six months and Duncan started right at five months! Every morning has become a "hurry and make sure everything is picked up off the floor" type of morning because this kid is a cruiser. We have his six month check up on Wednesday so we'll see how much he's grown!

Liam is learning to share, now with his new friend and his mobile little brother. And he doesn't like it all that much. Last night, we were with Duncan and Liam and Liam would rather put his toys away than to have Duncan play with them, and when we got toys out for Duncan to play with Liam would scream "NO!" and run to take it away. But it's good for him to learn that we share with others. Jon took Liam to the treehouse on Saturday and Liam pushed two kids out of his way, so we are still working on him. 

About two weeks before I had surgery, we had had family pictures taken and when I was recovering our photographer emailed me telling me that they were done. So I'll post my favourites here!

This is the beginning of a series of photo's that shows just what Liam looks like while running away from us!

It's ridiculous how excited he is...

(To find out more about our photographer you can find him here on Facebook!)

We had a fun time getting pictures taken! Our little Mr. Liam was quite the model, and it was basically a photo shoot for him. Haha, but we loved it! We needed updated photo's and I need to remember to get it done more often! At least once a year! It's amazing how much change happens in just a short amount of time!

What instrument can skeletons NOT play?

So, this week has been kind of a whirl wind, and I know that I need to write it all down so that I will be able to remember it.
All month long I have been having some stomach pain, it wasn't nearly as bad at the beginning of the month and then it slowly started getting worse and worse. By Thursday of last week, the pain had localised into my right lower abdomen, and then it started wrapping around my back. By Saturday I was afraid that I had a kidney infection. On Sunday I was in lots of pain, we went to church and by the time Relief Society had come around the pain was starting to escalate. My visiting teacher came over and sat next to me and held onto Duncan for the whole lesson, which I was very grateful for, because I was feeling pretty bad. About ten minutes before church was over, I took the baby and left. Jon had been teaching that day and he had gotten done early, I carried the baby to him and handing him over and told him that we needed to go. I got to the car and just started crying because of how much pain was emanating from my side.
Jon got me home and put me in bed with another Motrin, and I slept until 5 pm. When I woke up, I had the dull aching, but it was nothing compared to how it was earlier. We went down to Salt Lake to go to my cousins viewing and on the way home I was starting to feel sick again. By 10 pm, I was in a lot of pain- so much so that we called my mom and had her come to sit with the children and Jon took me to the ER. I went in and they started doing a bunch of tests, they did two ultrasounds and then the pain started getting worse and so they gave me some Morphine. Then they took me in for a CT scan and determined that I had gall stones, but the doctor said that where I was describing the pain wasn't a normal cause for gall bladder problems. So the ER sent me home basically telling me it was in my head.
The next morning I woke up and I had the worst headache and I felt horrible. I had a doctor appointment with my OB later that day, so I was just waiting until I could go there. My mother came over and cleaned the kitchen and then she took me to the doctor. My OB asked how I was doing so I told him about the pain and whatnot and he took note that I felt a bit warm, so the nurse came in with the thermometer. I registered a 101.4 fever and so he did another ultrasound and had my blood drawn, while they were waiting for the test results of the blood they had me wait. I was texting my mum who was out in the parking lot with my children, my husband who was at school, and my brother giving them updates on what was going on. Dr. Johnson told me that they were waiting for the white blood count to see if it was elevated and if so then they would send me to the surgeon to talk about getting my appendix out. My brother was texting me quotes from Spies Like Us from the scene where they are doing the appendectomy. My WBC came back normal but my doctor felt uneasy about it, so he sent me to the surgeon anyway. This entire time I was getting more and more nervous and just wishing that Jon were there with me.
My dad had been called and came to the clinic and so we went over to the general surgeons office together and then I went back to visit with the surgeon. After the surgeon came in there was a knock at the door and he opened it and it was my sweet husband. I almost started crying! I was so happy to see Jon! The surgeon had me get on the table and felt my stomach and did some things that hurt and then he said that he felt it was my gall bladder and that it would be best to get it taken out. So we planned for the next day for me to go in and have surgery. I was instructed not to eat after midnight and that they would either call me or for me to call in the morning to see when they wanted me to come in. I had a bowl of cereal that night and then Jon and I went to sleep, at 6:30 Duncan woke up and nursed and then at 8:30 my mother woke us up so I could call the hospital. No sooner had I come up the stairs my phone started ringing and it was the hospital asking if I could go in right then! I told them I would be there in fifteen minutes. Mum rushed and got my dad who was half shaven and he and Jon gave me a blessing before Jon and I left.
We got to the hospital and signed in and they rushed me back to get me prepped for surgery, the nurse asked a bunch of questions and then had me get dressed into the gown. They then put in my IV in my wrist- a new place for me! And they put these massaging things on my calves so that it would push the blood back up to my heart, let me tell you, those were wonderful! It was a fantastic leg massage! Then Jon and I were just waiting for a little bit and the anesthesiologist came and talked to me about what would happen when they took me back. Soon a nurse came and it was time to take me back into surgery. I remember saying goodbye to Jon and telling him I loved him and then the next thing I remember was becoming coherent and two nurses were talking, one of them said that they could go get the husband so I told them ok, she then said that I got to stay there and someone else would do it so I told her ok again. Jon came in and held my hand and then I proceeded to become more aware of what was going on. He told me that the surgeon had taken out my gall bladder and that it looked pretty diseased, he then said that he went and looked at my appendix and said that it looked inflamed, so he took it out so that I didn't have to come back in a month after it had burst. I could hear burping from all around me and I was so confused as to what type of surgery they all got to cause burping. It did not occur to me that that was them vomiting coming out of the anesthesia until Jon told me that I took anesthesia like a champ and thanked me for not throwing up. I don't know how long I was in and out of it for, but I went in around nine in the morning and didn't get home til 5:30. When it was time to go home the nurse asked Jon if he could help me get dressed which he could, so she left and then I took off the apron so that I could put on my clothes and I heard Jon say, "ew". I looked down and saw that I had truly been worked on, I have five incisions: three right down the center of my belly and two on my right side. I finished getting dressed with help and then was helped to a wheelchair. Jon went ahead of us to bring the car around and the nurse wheeled me out. Jon helped me into the car and then we drove to my mothers house. It is amazing just how many bumps are in the road when they are trying to be avoided.
We got home and I was helped inside and just as I sat down Duncan saw me and he just lunged for me. You see, Duncan was quite hungry because he absolutely refused a bottle while I was undergoing surgery. My mother tried to get him to eat and he would just scream and kick his little legs and she just could not get him to eat. So when I got home he knew just who I was and that I was the one to have the food. Thankfully, the anesthesiologist said that as long as I was able to hold the baby I was able to nurse him. So I fed my baby and then I went and slept.
It's been four days since having surgery and things are going well! I can walk unassisted now and am getting better every day. It used to be that I could walk from the couch to the bed, from the bed to the bathroom, but I had to get a break. Now I can walk all over the house, although I still haven't tried-nor am I going to- the stairs. I feel really good and I feel like I am recovering.

There is so many things to be grateful for within this week! The first being my family: when we went to the ER, my wonderful mother came and sat at my house while we went. I'm also grateful for Jon's dad and stepmom, they took Liam for three days so that my mom could focus on Duncan and me. I am grateful for Dr. Johnson for going the extra mile in my care and double checking everything and I'm grateful for the Surgeon for being able to squeeze me in and get me taken care of. And I'm so grateful for the wonderful nurses who took care of me while I was in the hospital. 

So to the question what instruments can skeletons NOT play? The answer is organs.... which I am down two from now- my gall bladder and appendix.

Jon got me to smile

To Denver and Back!

Well, my niece was getting baptised the first weekend of August. So we had all made plans to drive to Denver so that we could be in attendance. At the time of planning, Duncan was three months old and in the height of his colicky stage. He cried at anything and everything. All day. Every day. It was very hard to handle and made me grateful that I hadn't had him first when my PPD was raging on. One of the places that he had a special hatred of was the car. He could cry for hours! There was one day that I was driving home from my mums. Well, I had to stop by Walmart on the way home and then I found out that Jon had left his phone at my parents so I had to go back there and then drive all the way home. Duncan cried to walmart, he cried in walmart, he cried back to my mothers, then he cried all the way back to our home. And not just cute little baby cries. These were screaming, he was getting sweaty and red from crying so hard! I would complain to my mother pretty much every day, because it was so hard to handle such an angry baby. Driving to Denver is a 9 hour drive. And with two kiddo's it would be even longer! So 10 or 11 hours in the car with a screaming infant and a whiny two year old. Jon and I were so excited!
Mother decided to get us airplane tickets so that we could just fly and not have to worry about driving. So that added on a whole new stress. Let me tell you, flying with two kiddos is difficult stuff! I wrote up a checklist of everything that we would need for the flight and then for our short two day affair. Then Friday came and Jon went to school to take his test early, and the second he got home we rushed to the airport. It was so not busy! Apparently 1:35 pm is a really good time for travel. We were one of maybe 8 people in line for security. It was great! Well, we made it to the machine that you have to walk through, and for some reason they wanted Liam to go through first. I told her that she had to hold on to his hand because he's a runner. Well, she didn't believe me and as soon as he was through she let go. Liam saw this golden opportunity and was gearing up to run away and had actually made it a couple steps until she grabbed on to him. Then I walked through and held his hand again. Then they swabbed my hands and then we were good to go.We got to the terminal and I got our seats changed around so that we were sitting together and then finally it was time to board. I had Duncan in the MOBY and so we took Liam onto the plane and got his carseat all set up and then strapped him in. We gave him his iPod with Curious George episodes that we had purchased off of iTunes and then poured his juice into his sippy cup. Then, once everyone was seated and the door was shut it was time for take off. I got Duncan out a little bit and started to nurse him and we gave Liam is juice and told him to look out the window, we took off and Liam was thoroughly unimpressed. He even shut the window. We got to Denver and were gouged out of a lot of money from the car rental, even though I had already paid for the car- or so I thought- and we drove out to Colorado Springs to meet up with Carlos and family and my brother Paul and his wife, Andrea who had driven from Denver to see the family. We had a fun time chatting and Elise had made a wonderful dinner for everyone.
Saturday was the baptism. It was very sweet. My niece Jacquie gave a talk on baptism and then my mother gave the talk on The Holy Ghost. My niece Christie was baptised by her older brother Nate who just turned 16. It was very sweet to see such a wonderful ordinance be performed by my nephew. After she had been baptised, Liam threw a fit because he wanted to get in. I just told him that he had six more years! My brother, Carlos, confirmed Christie a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and my sweet husband got to be a part of the circle. It always makes me so happy that I married a worthy Priesthood Holder.
Later that night, we met up with our dear friend Matt who is in his graduate program at the University of Denver. It was great to see him again and we took him and Rachel who happened to be visiting Matt that same weekend out to dinner for his birthday the next day. Matt is Jon's best friend, and I cannot express how grateful I am for his role in Jon's life. They are as different as night and day, but they complement each other so well. They can debate and argue and fight about topics but then they are still the best of friends. I am grateful for the friendship that we have with him and Rachel.
Sunday morning we had to leave the hotel at 3 am to get to the airport so that we could get on our 6:30 am flight home! It was crazy, Liam slept on the plane ride home and then refused to sleep when we got home. Jon had driven all in Denver so I knew he was tired, and so at 10, I got in my church clothes and got Liam ready and then he and I went to church. He finally napped for the last ten minutes of Sacrament, and then I took him into Nursery and he played happily, but was also very willing to come with me when I picked him up. We went home and that's when I took a nap and Jon took over the boys. When I awoke from my nap, I went downstairs and Liam was curled up with Jon asleep. He's so stinkin cute when he's asleep. Finally, at about 7 I picked him up and took him upstairs to put him in his bed, he rolled over and slept until morning. He did so well on our trip and I'm very proud of him.

Then on the 6th, it was time for Duncan's four month check up! I took him in and he got weighed and measured! He now weighs 14.8 pounds and is 25.7 inches long. He's a big boy! He got his shots and did very well with them! He only cried for a minute and then he was smiling again. I am so grateful that he is getting out of his colicky stage. He used to be so hard to handle because he would just cry and cry. But now he doesn't cry that often and when he does it's because he's either hungry or over tired.

I love my boys to death! They are so cute and I love being their mommy!

Last of July!

Well, lots of things have happened just in this month. I feel as though this month whizzed by, but then I look back and wonder how everything happened in just this one month.



LIAM:
Liam's birthday was at the beginning of the month and I already covered that, but then we had his 2 year wellness visit. It went pretty well, we got in there and he got measured and weighed. He weighs 27 pounds and is 36 inches tall. He grew four inches in the past six months! He is in the 90th percentile for height and the 40th for weight. He's my tall skinny red head! He had to have a shot at his appointment, which I had completely forgotten about, and so the nurse came in and had me hold him down and she gave him his shot. She left and we got him redressed and as we left he still waved to her and blew her a kiss and said bye. She was so touched, because she said that most kids won't even look at her after their shots. But not my Mr. Liam! He is the most tenderhearted child ever and he has no malice toward anyone and he never holds a grudge. It was very sweet.
His vocabulary is expanding exponentially every day! He will have little conversations with you and he is just so sweet. His voice is adorable. He loves to say daddy, but still refuses to say mommy. I'm trying really hard to teach him how to say, "not the mama" to people from the tv show Dinosaurs. It's on Netflix and I had forgotten how much I loved it!
Liam is doing really well at listening. Some days are better than others, but for the most part he is doing a good job. I usually have to tell him twice and then if he still doesn't listen I will tell him that I've already asked him twice and then he finally follows directions. Some days are still a battle of wills with him, and I've gotten really good at learning when to pick my battles, but he's such a sweet spirit that he usually does really well.
The inevitable finally happened this week though. On Sunday we were at my parents house and we put Liam down in the pack and play so that he could take a nap. Well, about ten minutes into his "nap" the door opened and he came running out, just beaming! My little monkey learned how to climb out of his pack and play and so nap time is a thing of the past now. He rarely takes a nap nowadays and so naptime has turned into quiet time. We will sit on the couch or on my bed and just read stories during Duncan's afternoon nap. I'm pretty sure that I read through every Dr. Seuss book I have in my house, but we didn't read it all the way through... oh no.... we would get about half way and then he would take it from me and hand me a new book. The only one he sat through was "Oh the Places You'll Go".
Quiet time happens to be one of the ways that he gets punished now too. If he does something that is wrong I usually give him a warning, and then if he does it two more times he gets put in quiet time. So he has to sit on the couch and read through a book. However, he accidentally dropped it and I told him that he could get down to pick up his book so he could read it. Give an inch they take a mile. He will now throw his book on the floor so that he can get down. So that practice had to be given up quick, so now, if he throws it, it stays put and he doesn't have anything to keep him entertained.
He really is such a good little boy, and I am constantly in awe of just how smart he is and how fast he picks up on things. He is the type of kid where he doesn't need to practice anything over and over. He watches how others do it and then he follows suit.


DUNCAN:
Oh man, I don't even know where to start with this child. He is such a difficult baby. I am practicing being patient every single day with him. He used to cry all the time, it's gotten much better within the past couple weeks, but it's so stressful and frustrating to have your child just cry and you not know what else to do for them. I go through my checklist of things on a daily basis. There is rarely a day where he doesn't cry and he is just content. I love him to death, but he really is the absolute best birth control anyone could have. I am so grateful that I am a SAHM because I would not trust anyone else to be with him all day long. He is very hard to handle some times and there are days when after I've done all I can do, I just put him in his crib and turn on the vacuum so that he goes to sleep.
He is very difficult to read his cues. Liam would sleep anywhere if he was tired, Duncan is different and will only go to sleep if you catch him right when he's ready to sleep and put him down specifically for a nap. He only likes to sleep on his belly and hates laying on his back. He used to cry all the time in the car but we got him those toys to put on the carseat and he has been much better. It's amazing to see just how different siblings can be, Liam was seriously content wherever we went, Duncan is a bit harder. He loves to be held and doesn't like being put down for anything. He also doesn't like it when he is wet for too long. It seems like every time he pees he needs to be changed right then! He doesn't like being messy. He is also a stealth spitter! You don't realize that he needs to spit up until all of a sudden it's down your shoulder. Our friends JD and Amanda came over the other day with their little one and after she ate there were barely burps that were emitted from her tiny frame. Duncan can challenge anyone in a belching contest. His literally shake his whole body, and then the spit up just flows out. Thankfully, since changing up my diet he doesn't projectile his spit up anymore.
He is a giant kid. He is tall and he is chunky. Our friends' baby was 9.1 at three months old. Duncan was that at three weeks! He was 12 pounds at his last appointment and his next one isn't until next week, so we'll see how much he weighs then. 3 month clothing is tight on him, and so we've been in 3-6 month clothing for the past couple weeks. He is a big boy!
He can roll over from back to front and front to back now, although he doesn't do it all the time. He's more relaxed than Liam was and isn't as big of a mover as him. He is getting really good at grabbing things and pulling them to him now. He loves the toys that go on the carseats and will grab at those to play with now, we have this one butterfly one that the wings crinkle when he grabs it and he loves hearing it!


 JON
We also celebrated Jon's birthday on the 12th! We had a little barbeque with some friends and cooked flank steak, peppers, asparagus and we had lots of little treats while we watched a movie later. We really did have quite a fun time and I think that Jon had fun. He is doing well in school and even though he is a little nervous about his Calc 2 class, he is doing really well on his quizzes and did very well on his last test. He is working as a computer tech at Weber State and is enjoying it very much! He has really awesome co-workers and he gets along great with his supervisor.

ME:
Well, this past week has been crazy! I was really ill all last week and felt like death warmed over, and then Liam managed to get a cold somewhere and then the little stinker got me sick. It was awful! I didn't even remember what day it was. Jon was an amazing husband and took care of the kids while I slept, rested and watched Netflix all week. The cold Liam gave me turned into a sinus infection, so then on top of having a sore throat and runny nose, I also had sinus pressure! Who knew you could have a runny AND stuffy nose at the same time. The worst part was everytime I turned in bed it was like all the snot would run from one side of my nose to the other causing me not to breathe again. Jon was awesome and went and got spicy food and hot and sour soup from Dragon Hill in Clearfield and that cleared out my sinuses pretty quickly! Two days after that my sinus infection cleared up and I just had a runny nose, sore throat, and a major cough. These past ten days have been a complete blur of Pretty Little Liars, tissues, bed and breastfeeding. I really didn't do much else. I did finish the four seasons of PLL on Netflix and then the seven episodes of this season, and now I have to wait for one a week! Who came up with that idea?
Last night, I was feeling much better!! As was Liam, and so after I had finished feeding Duncan I put him in his bed and came out of his room. Liam was still awake and sitting in front of his gate fighting going to bed. So I told him to go get his shoes. His eyes lit up and he ran to grab his shoes, I changed his pants and then put his shoes on him and then we went to the Farmington Station movie theatre and caught the last showing of How to Train Your Dragon 2. We got popcorn and a drink to share and went into the theatre. Thankfully, there was only six other people in the theatre and so I wasn't super nervous to have Liam be there. He only spoke out a couple times and he tried to move seats, but he did really well! He finally climbed into my lap and I scratched his back and he fell asleep on my shoulder, but he did really good for our first time alone together. However, his late night didn't stop him from waking up right on schedule. My silly little boy.

Liam and Duncan with their Great Grandparents

this is Duncan's toy, but Liam loves playing with it. This reminded me of Schroeder from Charlie Brown

Liam's favourite part of me baking is licking the spoon!

Nap time for two of my boys!

the watermelon we had for the fourth of July. It was bigger than Duncan and oh so sweet!

Liam got a water table for his birthday from Nana, and he absolutely loves playing with it!

Duncan hanging out with our friend Katie!

I love how he sleeps with his little bum in the air!

I was doing laundry and Liam decided that that pile of clothes was the best one to pretend to be asleep on.

Duncan cries.... a lot.... and so this was my last resort the other day. And he loved being on top of the dryer.

Duncan and me!

Duncan and his Auntie Rachel

Duncan and Millie

So this is a funny story. The other day, Liam went downstairs and found an apple in Jon's office. Jon found him huddling in the corner eating his apple. So that has become Liam's new snack! He loves it!

Nana doing double duty!

Four months old!

Liam and I at the theatre late last night!

Happy Birthday Liam!

My heart is so full as I recap this past weeks events! July 3 was Liam's birthday! We were so lucky that Jon was able to get the day off so that he could spend this day with us! We had so much fun! For about five months now Liam has been in love with trains, Jon took him to the Treehouse in Ogden and Liam ran to the little wooden train set and started saying, "Choo Choo!" We don't know where he learned it, but it's adorable! Anyway, we went to the train store in Salt Lake and we weren't too sure of the place when we first walked in, but then we went into the back of the store where all the model trains were, and OH, MY! It was amazing! There was a giant enclosure of about three or four trains, and if you put in quarters they would run and we could control them. So we did that for awhile, and then we went into where there was more trains! These ones were smaller than the big ones out in the main area, but they were so cool to watch. Liam loved every moment of it! We got him a wooden train set and a conductors hat and a train whistle. After the train store, we went to the Aquarium. The parking lot was so incredibly full that we just turned around and left, if anyone knows Liam you know that a huge crowd is a recipe for disaster! We came back to Layton, and went to Chuck E. Cheeses and had a really fun time! We ended up getting 250 tickets! So that was fun! The giant mouse came out and did his little dance with all the kids and Liam ended up running up and hugging his legs. This kid is totally ready for Disneyland! Afterward we went to Petsmart to look at the Fish, since we didn't get to go to the Aquarium. I ended up taking Liam with me to go to the bathroom-and I wouldn't tell this story if it wasn't so funny- so, this was Liam's first time in a public bathroom. We went into the big stall, because it would be easier with Liam being as busy as he is. Well, this little kid was fascinated with everything! He kept asking, "Ooh, what's that?", well... eventually another woman came into the bathroom and went into the next stall and I could hear her chuckling everytime Liam would ask what something was. The next thing I know, Liam sees her feet from underneath the stall and immediately rushes over and bends down, I knew that he was going to try to escape from me to go say hello, so I had to awkwardly lean over to grab him before he invaded this poor woman's privacy. He was not very happy, but then the woman left without realizing that I had totally just saved her from a nosy two year old! After I was done, we went and looked at the fish, and Liam was doing really well at staying close to me, so I didn't bother holding his hand. That is a mistake that I will never do again.... he saw his opportunity for freedom and ran away from me. In the middle of petsmart. I was running down the main aisle chasing after him, and he is fast despite how short his legs are! I finally caught up to him and grabbed a hold of him and he was just laughing, the little snot! I held him close and told him that he cannot run away from mommy. We left promptly after that. We went and picked up some fireworks and got home. We cooked dinner and then I fed Duncan and then put him into his bed. And we went outside with our little two year old and Jon lit the fireworks. We had a lot of fun together! Liam got to hold a sparkler, and he got to throw the pop its. Finally, it was time for bed.
The next day was the 4th of July! We woke up late, and I made some blondies, and then we went over to my parents house for lunch. It was really good! And Liam had a fun time with my brother Timy, and Duncan loved spending time with Richard. Everybody loves Richard.... Later that night, we got some more fireworks and then went home, it was really nice because the Layton Fireworks were precariously placed in such the perfect position that we were able to watch those from the back of the truck in our front yard. It was pretty awesome, no crowds and we still got to see the fireworks! Liam loved them! Afterward, we set off some more of our fireworks and then it was time for bed.
All in all, we've had a really good weekend. It's been fun!

Terrible Two's!

This too shall pass right?

Please tell me that this phase will pass....

Liam is turning two on Thursday, and it is very apparent that yes... he is in fact going to be two. Complete with the terrible two tantrums pretty much every day, over everything.

"Liam, please use your fork to eat your food not scrape the table."
Tantrum
"Liam, it's time to pick up your books"
Tantrum
"Liam, please don't sit on Duncan"
Tantrum
"Liam, it's time for bed"
Tantrum


Everything that this kid is asked to do, or told to do, or told to stop turns into an all out war. Holy Chalupa! Between him and Duncan being colic, there really isn't a time of day that is silent. I hear screaming constantly, whether it be from Liam throwing a fit or Duncan throwing a fit. I love my boys to death, I really do, but sometimes I want to just want to lock them in their rooms and take a breather. Today, I didn't even get a break with Liam, I put him down for his nap and instead of him taking a nap, he fussed and cried and screamed at me until I finally relented. I feel like my patience has grown exponentially with Liam, and then having Duncan be the colic child he is, makes me so grateful that I didn't have Duncan first. I know I've said it before, but God blessed me so much with Liam being our first. I could not have handled having a colicky baby while going through Postpartum Depression. I most definitely would have gone insane. Even now, hearing that constant screaming leaves ringing in my ears when they miraculously stop. I feel like a walking zombie most days trying to muddle through and get things done. I have so many people ask if I'm feeling ok and if I'm having the same "problem" as I did before, as if saying Postpartum Depression is a naughty word. Truth is, nope. I'm much better this time through. Exhausted, but that's to be expected, you know what Liam is like. I am able to get work done, even though it feels like it's NEVER done! I swear I cleaned my kitchen last week, and this week it looks like a hurricane blew through again. How does that even happen? Today, I cleaned my room and cleaned out a closet. Growing up, it never bothered me when my room wasn't clean, I'm becoming much more anal about my room and the constant flurry of clothes and Jon's endless number of socks was getting to me. It is most definitely not perfect, but I threw out two giant black garbage bags of crap and some boxes, and I have four or five bags to go to the DI now. It feels wonderful to dejunk your space and I honestly don't know how we've accumulated this much crap in our marriage. People! We've only been married three and a half years, and yet, we have so much stuff! I don't even know where half of it popped up!


I'm praying that Duncan will be my sweet toddler who will listen and follow directions and just be at my beck and call. Liam was such a sweet infant and then turned into a whirlwind of a toddler. Keeping this child contained is like an all out war, and I feel like I'm not even equipped to handle battle with him most days. I pick and choose what I will fight though, because honestly some things just aren't worth it. I've learned a lot in just two years of being a mom. This is seriously the hardest job I've ever done.

New Computer!

Well, I know that I will get in huge trouble if I don't let the whole world know that I now have my own computer. Cool huh? Complete with a 27" monitor. I'm almost as cool as Jon now! Basically, there was some super cool sale on some egg website (don't worry, I don't know what eggs have to do with computers either!) but this computer was on sale for a pretty good price. Jon told me about it and then asked if he could get it for me. I said sure, not really thinking that he would really go through with it. But he did. Apparently all the guys at work were jealous, but in the end I am now typing on my brand new keyboard that goes along with my very own computer. Who would have thought that I would be the one to have my own desktop.

Lots of other things to report! My kids are cute and I love them! In fact, if Duncan wasn't cute I don't know what I would do. You see, Duncan is quite the demanding child. Much more so than my dear Mr. Liam. Duncan loves to be held and snuggled, which I love-don't get me wrong- but it's hard to do things when he constantly wants to be held. Jon got me a MOBY wrap for my birthday a couple weeks ago, and it has been a sanity saver! When Duncan gets fussy, I just wrap him up to me and he immediately falls asleep for quite awhile. I can do dishes, and I can vaccuum, and I can do all sorts of things that I couldn't do without it. It's amazing! The other day, Duncan was very colicky and I was holding him and nothing I was doing was working. I had to go to the bathroom, so I decided that if he was going to cry whilst I held him and cry when he was put down, I would go to the bathroom and pee in peace! Then, I went into the room that had been designated as his, and I was fueled with energy to get the room finished. Up until then it had two coats of blue on three of the walls and I had painted the top six inches grey. I knew I still wanted to do a strip on the bottom, but there was so much to do! So I got my handy dandy vacuum and I vacuumed up the dust and then I taped up the bottom and painted that and the door. Then I moved furniture around that had all been put in the middle while we had taken off wallpaper and that nasty wallpaper glue, and then I washed the sheets for the crib and I moved the changing table into the room from my room and then we switched out the dressers from Duncan's room and Liam's room and then we moved the glider into Duncan's room. Then I vacuumed and got it all nice and now Duncan has his very own room! It's wonderful! And I have my room all to myself now!

Updates on the Mosher's and the Mosherlings!

DUNCAN- two days shy of 3 months old:

• holds his head up really well and can push himself up on his arms while on tummy time
• Loves. His. Thumb! Seriously, this kid is hilarious. He rolled over a couple weeks ago for the first time and it wasn't because he wanted to... oh no... it was because he was trying to find his thumb and kept pushing his body over and then he just kind of flipped. The look on his face was priceless. I have tried to push the binky over the thumb, but it doesn't work out. He will spit out the binky and immediately go for his thumb
• We've gotten into a good routine with him, I feed him at about 9 or 9:30 pm and then he will sleep til 8 or 8:30 depending on how loud Liam is when he wakes up, then he stays up and will coo and giggle until around 1 when he gets a little cranky and he'll go down for a nap from 1-5pm. I'd forgotten how wonderful schedules are!
• He smiles and giggles so cutely! Oh my goodness, my heart just tingles when I hear his sweet little giggle
• He still has his blue eyes! So happy about that! 
• His spitting up has gotten much better since I started eliminating things from my diet. I no longer drink milk or eat much cheese, nor do I drink caffeine, and I'm starting to eliminate bread out of my diet as well.

LIAM- a week shy of 2 years old:

• Liam turns two next week! We've kept him alive for two years! It makes me cry thinking about it
• His vocabulary is just blossoming. I was really nervous about it for a little bit, but he is just like a sponge and is just soaking up everything that we say and do!
• He has his very own chore chart, which I need to get better at enforcing every night.He is supposed to pick up his books, blocks and laundry. Most of the time he does a pretty good job when I ask him to
• He's getting much better at listening and following directions. He will stay closer to me and not run off all the time now. Today, I had to clean out my van so we could get it inspected and registered and he stayed by me almost the whole time. He only ran off once!
• He loves to go outside, and every time that my dad comes home he will run to him and make him pick him up and then point to outside. We got him a trampoline, and we are going to get him a swingset and I want to get one of those water tables for him to play with too. 
• He is the sweetest little boy, who loves everyone! It's amazing to see him everywhere we go, he doesn't discriminate and he just loves everyone he sees. He's always willing to wave and say hello to anyone within earshot. 
• He is always wanting to help mommy! It is so sweet, even when he's a little more of a hinder than a help, I am grateful for his willingness
• He is able to take care of himself... the other day at the park, this little girl who was about a head taller than him took the toy he was playing with- and without hesitation he full on ran after her and tackled her to the ground. This same day he randomly sat down in some guys lap and was getting comfortable until his child became quite distraught that he'd taken over her daddy. So... if any of my single friends want to borrow him to meet people, go for it!
• I know I'm missing more of his hilariousness but I'll write another post some time for him

ME- just turned 24:

• I'm getting better at this whole being a mom of two kids thing and being an awesome wife! I pack lunches for Jon. I'm so awesome!
• This month was kind of crazy: at my 6 week postpartum checkup I had to have a pap-smear done, what I wasn't anticipating was that it would come back abnormal. So my doctor wanted me to go in and have a colposcopy done. I researched it and discovered that it could be either nothing or it could be pre-cancerous cells that caused the abnormality. After officially freaking myself out, lots of prayers, fasting and a Priesthood Blessing I went in to have a colposcopy done. There was some inflammation and so my doctor did two biopsies to send to the lab to have more testing done on. Thankfully, a week later, I got a call back saying that it wasn't pre-cancerous and that it was just an infection that could easily be cleared up. So yay for not having cancer!
• Last week I cleaned my kitchen, living room, dining room, got a bag ready to go to the DI, Duncan's room, Liam's room and the basement! Unfortunately life was lived and my kitchen, dining room and living room are now a mess again. I feel like I'm always cleaning something
• I am getting ready to do some small renovations in the house. Basically making it more aesthetically appealing! I am going to be painting my bathroom a light blue and sanding down the cabinets from the brown that they are and painting them a lighter colour, and I'll be doing the same to the cabinets in the kitchen and doing some work in there. I also am going to be doing some more work in my bedroom, I've found a nice bedroom bed set that I am going to get to update my bedroom a little more
• Like I said earlier I've had to give up several foods because I'm nursing. Through trial and error I've discovered that some things cause Duncan to have tummy issues- such as dairy and caffeine... so many things have milk and life is hardly bearable on tough days without my diet coke with lime. But nursing is so important to me and I would cut out anything to make sure that I could still do it
• Jon and I had a date night without our children! Holy cow, it was so weird but I was so grateful for it! We just went to dinner but it was wonderful to be able to just eat without having distractions of children

JONATHAN- two weeks away from 26:

•  still going strong in school, which I am SO proud of him
• he gave a beautiful blessing to Duncan
• we decided that because he will study until the wee hours of the morning that on those nights he will just stay downstairs and sleep in our guest room, because he doesn't want to wake me up and it's not good for him to be awakened by our children early in the morning when he went to bed sometimes only four hours before they wake up. Anyway, on those days he will always leave a note on the bed for me in the morning. Most mornings it makes me cry to think about how sweet he is
• he also got a "date box" subscription for us! It's this cool box that comes to us and it has a planned date for us all planned. Jon and I used to do special evenings but with hectic schedules and then children, it just hasn't happened. So it was really fun to get a cool date box... even though we haven't done it yet. Soon!

All in all, our little family is doing really well!