Maternity Photos

This last weekend my little family went to my parents for their farwell Mission address. I was looking at our calendar and this last weekend was the only guaranteed time we really had open.  So I took the chance and did some maternity photos!!!

There are quite a lot that I love!!! I just posted some of my Favs....which are many :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sickness and Apple Turnovers

Big T has been grumpy for a little over a week, and it has been wearing on me, goodness.  Last Monday is when he started to whine a lot more and stopped eating.  When we went in for his doc. appointment he had a 100 degree temp. Aww the beginning.  He then received his MMR shot.  The next couple of days he had diarreah, a rising temp., still whiny and a runny/stuffy nose.  Friday his temperature continued to rise but he actually ate lunch, it was a hot dog so I'm not surprised, but then at dinner he randomly threw up his hot dog.  He didn't cry or anything, just held his hands up and gave me the "Gross get this off me" face.  That was his first time throwing up so it scared me and got me worried. Saturday no eating again and a very high temperature through out the day. Sunday the temperature went down in the morning and then rose again in the evening.  This Monday he started to really drool so I'm thinking maybe all of this is due to teething. Teething seems to also have all these symptoms.  I then noticed a rash behind his ears, weird but maybe it will go away.  Then today my son has that rash all over his body!!!

Finally called the doctor. I thought he may have ended up getting the measles, but apparently the rash is just a reaction to the shot, which reactions don't show up until around a week later (which today is exactly a week).  Everything else could be teething, a bug, fever..all of it at once.  I really think it is a little of everything, which has been very overwhelming.   I hope that he will start eating soon, I know a child won't starve them self, but I still am worried that he won't eat.  It is all so frustrating and tiring.

Last night I decided to shake things up a bit and bake!!  I found a fairly easy treat I thought to try out in my pile of recipes. Apple Turnovers!!!

Before the oven:

 After the oven:  (yeah they aren't as pretty as the picture on the recipe, but they were yummy!!!)

A Moment

We are back home for awhile and I know Big T is missing his Grandparents, the animals, and the snowmobile!! 
I can't believe how much he has grown since we've been home last.  He is getting into drawers that he couldn't reach last time and reaching other places I wasn't prepared for him to reach.  AHHH!!

Just thinking of how much he is changing makes my eyes fill up with tears and my heart ache!!!  Not only because he is growing soo fast, but mostly because his dad, Coach, truly is missing out on so much!!  I know that he is doing a job, a job that alot of people won't or can't do, and somebody has to do it.  A job that is constantly criticized more and more, and a job where he is paid less than minimal wage.  He has truly sacrificed so much for a job that has to be done, no matter what others may think, it has to be done. 
I miss him more than words can express.  He is my best friend, and a lot of times it feels like he is my only friend.  It has been tough with out him here.  He hasn't been there to hold me and tell me I'm a good person and I'm raising our son fine. (which I worry that I'm not doing a good enough job being both parents or even just the mom.)  He hasn't been there to just hang out with me when I need an adult to talk to. He speaks Cami and I swear he is one of the few people I'm not awkward around, and even if I am he gets it.  Coach is not here to pick me up and telling me to keep going and telling me I can do it, and that I matter.  And he is there on Sunday's which truly seem to be the hardest day for me. I think it is because I feel the most alone when I'm surrounded by people, and yet am alone.  I'm in the dreary world with out my help meet.
I knew that it was going to be hard with out him here, I just didn't realize how hard emotionally it would be. How could I have?  How can you prepare for it?
Coach is not being able to chase Big T around and show him the world that is before him.  He isn't able to teach him new words or get to watch Big T try to calculate how to climb up this chair before him. Big T is constantly learning how things work and how to put things together.  It is such an incredible time, and Coach only gets to see him maybe once a week for 5-10 minutes and just his face, not him experiencing life. 

I know that this is but a moment in the grand scheme of things, but it is one of the toughest moments I've experienced thus far. 

Milestones

Big T is hitting so many milestones!  It is so crazy that they have been coming all at once.  It feels like that as he started to really crawl the next day he stands all by himself!  He is also getting his first teeth, the bottom front two, and Coach swears up and down that when he jabbers he is saying Dada and knows what it means.  He probably does, but most of the time I doubt it. 

It is such a bittersweet experience.   I'm so proud of him and excited to see him learn and develop. I then can't wait to see him at the next stage or do his next big accomplishment, but then I realize that he is growing too fast and he is not my little baby anymore.  Man being a mother is tough!

A cute photo of Big T eating his first ice cream cone from Softies in Billings.

By the end of the cone his shirt was covered and a lot more of his face was white!

Dogs & Big T

When I found out I was pregnant I was nervous about having a baby around our dog Spartacus.  Not because he is vicious or mean, but because he is stupid and overly excited.  I was scared he would not pay attention at all and sit or knock Big T down.  I wasn't nervous about Lucius, our husky, because he loved babies and is much more aware of his surroundings.

Big T came home and Lucius was as I suspected, curious.  He was gentle with him and somewhat protective.  Spartacus surprised me, he pretty much ignored Big T and when he did check him out it was one huge kiss and then he walked away.  We did have to teach both dogs some boundries but I figured we would.

As Big T got older Lucius wasn't as curious about him or as protective, he stills "drops by" to say hello though.  Spartacus has been the most surprising for me. He lets Big T climb all over him and pull on his tail, and when he has had enough he just simply leaves and lays down somewhere else. Of course sometimes Big T crawls to Spartacus and then Spartacus has to move again, usually by that time Big T gives up.  Lucius doesn't stay put and allow Big T that much play time with him.  He will  let him for a short while, but not nearly as much as Spartacus and definitely not with the face.

I am very, very pleased that both my dogs are good with Big T and with other children.  There have been some knock downs , but I have also knocked down Big T and other children, so I can't complain.

There are lots of people who don't like dogs around their children, and I respect their views, but for me personally I want my children to be around dogs.  When they start walking and playing outside I know that my dogs will be perfect companions and will protect and watch over my children, like my childhood dogs did.

Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend we went to my parents in Idaho for Mother's Day. I wanted to surprise my mom, but Coach slipped-up on facebook. :-(  No worries though, we still had a great time and got to enjoy being there!
Coach was able to get his bike up and running and the oil changed in both of ours.  They are now home with us for the summer...yeah! Hopefully I will get a chance to ride.  Coach also helped feed the cows with my dad and grandpa, his overalls were a little short. He finally got to experience the itchy feeling of the hay all over in your shirt.
We got to see some of Big T while we were there.  Grandma just loved him and they had lots of fun together.  He took to grandpa better, but that is because they have a special bond.

I love the spring when there are baby animals everywhere! This weekend Big T and Coach were introduced to baby lambs!! I just loved them, they were so small and a hoot to watch. They would jump up and kick their back legs and jump on each other. Such young spirits!

I was a huge fan of these twins they were the smallest ones in the bunch.

We caught, well my mom (Grandma) caught the black twin so Big T could pet him. Coach and I wanted to as well.

The little guy was such a big sport for letting us hold him!

Coach and I fed the yearlings on Sunday, well Coach fed and I did other things.

As a little girl I would wait until all the cows were eating and then i would run by them and scare them all away.  It was cool to see them all jump back and I loved the sound of them pulling their heads out of the gate and running through the muck all at once.

 I thought I needed to give it another try to see if I still enjoyed it. 

                                 I did :-)


 Big T and I checking things out and getting some exercise