The Heber Creeper

Last week, I took the kids and met my family up in Heber to take a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad. A.K.A. the Heber Creeper. Savannah LOVES trains (and firetrucks, and garbage trucks, and airplanes...) and so I was really looking forward to taking her on it.

She thought the best part was getting a train ticket, and seeing all the horses and cows along the way.

Savannah would not sit down and hold still and she ended up hitting her head on the seat during the last few minutes of the ride and gave herself a bloody nose. That wasn't fun, but it didn't last long thank goodness!

^^So Sawyer and Kenna were standing in front of the train to get a picture of themselves, and Savannah runs up, and poses right next to them. But when I try go get a picture of myself with my kids, this is what happens...

 

 ^^Yeah, I'm hanging onto her coat's hood to try and at least keep her next to me. It didn't work.^^

They had a small pumpkin patch at the station that we were able to go and pick out a couple of pumpkins for the kids. And if you remember from last Halloween, Savannah is kind of obsessed with pumpkins and Halloween in general. 

And of course, we spent a little time taking more photos around the train yard.

 

It was a really short ride, Maybe only 30-45 minutes round trip and I wish it had been a lot longer. It was really fun and it was so pretty along the way. Bryant wasn't able to come because he was at work, but Savannah told him all about it for the next few days. Specifically, about how neat it was that she got a train ticket.

4 Months

How is it already they 15th? And how have I not blogged in forever?

It was supposed to be fall break for me this last week, however, one of my professors quadrupled our normal homework load because, as she put it, we have "all this free time". So I've been busy studying and writing and trying to keep 2 small tornadoes I call my kids entertained.

Anyways, onto a little Deagan update! 

DJ is now 4 months old! (well, nearly 4 1/2 since its been a couple of weeks) Which means, we went to the doctors for his 4 month checkup. As always, he is right on track with all his developmental milestones. He started rolling from his front to his back last month, he grabs at everything, which means everything goes in his mouth, and he's a smiley little guy! He LOVES his jumper, and bounces like a mad man all day long. When he's not jumping in his jumper, he tries to jump while you hold him, which wears me out. He's turning into a chatterbox, and babbles continuously. And he is super ticklish. His laugh kills me because he will giggle while I'm tickling him, and then he eventually just starts yelling this silly yell. It's hilarious! 

He sleeps decently well. He's not a good nap-taker though. His naps only last about 20 minutes tops because he's a light sleeper and so he wakes up at the slightest noise. He goes down for the night around midnight or 1am. He will then sleep in his bassinet until 6:30, when the people downstairs get up. They are kind of noisy in the kitchen, which is right below our room, and it wakes him (and me) up, so I'll bring him in bed with me, nurse him until he falls back asleep, and I let him just sleep in my bed until we get up around 8:30-9:00ish. We hopefully will be painting Savannah's new room this week, and then get him moved into his own room next week (who am I kidding? I don't have time to do all that, do I???) and the hope is that it will be quieter in there and he will start sleeping completely through the night. Hopefully.

 

He adores Savannah still, and smiles whenever she enters the room. And she loves being the big sister and helps change his diapers, sings to him, and shares her toys.

His stats for 4 months are:

Weight: 13lbs 10oz (13th percentile)

Length: 24.5 inches (20th percentile)

Head circumference: 40.75cm (22nd percentile)

He is a whole lot smaller than I had thought he would be. I mean, he was 9lbs when he was born for crying out loud! The doctor wasn't worried, he said that he is still following his growth curve, which I guess means everything is ok. I asked about his spitting-up-every-ounce-of-food issue to see if maybe that was why he isn't very big, and he said that as long as he has consistently wet and dirty diapers, that it means he is getting enough food. He ruled out food allergy, because he's not throwing up any blood, or having any in his diapers. He also ruled out excess stomach acid because it doesn't seem to be hurting him when he does spit up. And he ruled out a problem with his GI tract because it's just spit-up and not bile.

I nurse him the majority of the time, but I do supplement with formula when I'm out and about and can't really sit down to nurse, or if I have someone babysitting him. He spits up whether I feed him or he's drinking formula, and so the doctor recommended formula that has added rice starch to it, or mixing a tiny bit of rice cereal in his regular formula. 

So far, he is doing a whole lot better. He still spits up quite a bit, but it's not nearly as much as he used too, and it's not after every meal like it was before. Hopefully, that will help him continue to grow now that he's keeping more of it down. I've noticed that he eats less often now too. He used to want to eat every hour to every 2 hours. Now, he will go quite a while without needing to nurse. Which definitely makes running errands a lot easier. Last week, I went down to the park for a bit, then Provo, went to lunch with Bryant and some friends, and got all the way home, and not ONCE did he get fussy and need to eat. This was like a 3 hour total outing, and I didn't have to worry about him!

The doctor also asked if he had been excessively fussy. When I said no, he pointed out that his gums were a little swollen, which meant he could be getting teeth a little early. It could still be another couple of months, but those teeth were getting ready to work their way up. 

The doctor also said he was impressed that his legs were really strong for a baby his age. As soon as he laid him on the table, Deagan kicked his legs and pushed himself backwards a bit. When he asked if there was anything we were doing to strengthen his legs so well, I just told him that he's a little obsessed with his jumper. 

Savannah thought going to the doctors was the best thing ever. Lately, when she's not Pirate Savy, she's Doctor Savannah. Can you guess what she will be getting for Christmas? Yup, a pretend doctor kit! Anyways, as soon as the doctor walked in, Savannah said "Oh, hi Doctor! My name is Sanna Peter Pan. Are you going to check Deagan's heart beeps with your stethoscope?" (I'll never understand why she can't say "Sa-VAN-ah", but she can say "stethoscope"...)

And she was directing the doctor on how to conduct the exam "Oh, Doctor, you check his eyes ok? And check his ears and his tummy. Then he needs a shot, but I don't want a shot ok?"

Smarty pants

So yeah, that was a little longer than I thought it would be. I guess I'm just stretching out these old blogging fingers since it's been a while.

Healthy, happy kids. What more could a mom ask for?

(This is the 4 month update I wrote about Savannah. It's fun to see the similarities!)

All You Need is Fath, Trust, and Pixie Dust

I've been thinking a lot about Peter Pan lately. Peter, the Lost Boys, Captain Hook and his sidekick Mr. Smee consume a large part of our day to day life. 

We watch Peter Pan at LEAST a million times a week. We watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates, we watch Tinkerbell movies. And lets not forget one of my favorite movies, Hook, the one with Robin Williams. (Rufio! Rufio! Ru-fi-oooooo!)
 

 And we play. We pretend. Sometimes, Savannah is Peter and I'm that dastardly Hook. Other times, when she's feeling a little mischievous, she will be Hook and I'm Tigerlilly and she's trying to capture me. We chase our shadows, and one time, I even caught her scrubbing her feet furiously with a bar of soap, and when I asked what she was doing, she said "I'm trying to get my shadow back on!" She asks to wear her Tinkerbell costume everywhere. And she talks like a pirate constantly. I'll ask her to go grab Deagan and diaper, and she will salute me and sharply reply "Aye, aye sir!"

She will fill her backpack with snacks and toys, then march into whatever room I'm in and say "Hey Mom, I'm going to Neverland ok? I'll see you later!" and then runs off into another room.

And her grandpa Peacock bought her a Jake, Hook and crocodile figures, and her Grandma Stokes bought her the Jolly Roger ship. Oh boy, she's in heaven!

^Playing with Jake and Hook while waiting for our food, then carrying them in her pockets^

And these last couple of weeks when I tuck my little pirate in bed to dream of mermaids and Indians, I sit down to catch up on Once Upon a Time (I have to say, Hook is much more handsome than he is in the cartoon... Juuuuussssttt sayin'.)

So as you can see, we are kind of Peter Pan experts around here. 

Today, I was thinking about that saying "little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, and little boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dog tails." And as I watched Savannah wave her fake hook in Deagan's face and watched him giggle and try to grab for it, I thought "My children are made of faith, trust, and pixie dust."

The last several months have been a bit of a roller coaster for me. Between having a baby and adjusting to two babies (going from one to two is SO much harder than going from zero to one, just FYI) And then trying to keep up on housework, then school started and I'm battling the financial aid office to get my grant sorted out. Then the fact that I no longer have health insurance and I've got to get that all figured out. And trying to make friends in my ward and volunteering for events, and trying my best to be a good mom, and trying not to ask my parents for too much help, and being a supportive wife. And bills, and obligations, and stress and, and, and...

Well, some days I just feel like crawling under my blanket and never moving. It took all I had to get out of my sweats and into real pants to run to the bank today. I was not going to even think about washing my hair or put on makeup.

Some days I wish I really was in Neverland. Always being a child and never growing up, with no responsibility and no hardships and adventure at every turn. With fairies and pirates, and mermaids and Indians. Not testing center clerks who don't know what they are doing, or financial aid bureaucracy hoops to jump through, or how about door-to-door salesmen? I'd take a pirate over a salesman any day.

And then bedtime came and neither kid wanted to go to bed. My dad came over to grab something he had left here and ended up helping me put Savannah to bed, with no meltdowns from her, and I stuck Deagan in the jumper until he wore himself out.

But when I went to go check on the both of them later, I could see in their sleepy faces everything that I need to get me through the stressful times.

Faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust.

 

And it's because of them, that I don't every truly have to grow up. I can play and be a kid right there with them. And that's when I realized that my home is it's own special version of Neverland. Pirates and pixies and all.