Baby Liam {newborn}

I had a newborn shoot last weekend with cute baby Liam. He was a little older than the preferred age for newborns (3-7 days), so he was pretty much wide awake for the entire shoot. I keep hoping for that one shoot with a super sleepy baby who I can put into all of those cute poses. One day!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Vern!

Today is my Grandma's 82nd birthday.  We all gathered at her new "home" yesterday afternoon.  She sat by the fireplace while the kids rode around in the wheelchair, and others played several games of pool. It was a nice afternoon and great to visit with family. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

 

Excuse the crappy cell phone picture - the lighting from the window behind the chair really threw off the white balance.

 

 

This picture makes me so happy for the simple reason that Carter went over on his own and got up on her lap. No one asked him to do it. He just moved her tray and climbed on up. I could tell it really made her day. He may run around like a wild child 90% of the time, but moments like this make me proud.

How She Rolls

She certainly doesn't lack for personality

The Braces Adventure - Records and Impressions

Today I went back in to the orthodontist for my records and impressions appointment.  They took several x-rays, numerous pictures, and then the fun part - the impressions.  If you have never had impressions done before, it really isn't that bad. Of course, as an information person, I needed to Google the process to see what was involved. And of course, there are a million people out there freaking out about the impression process - will they gag, will they drool, will they puke, etc. Yes, it is uncomfortable. In all honesty, just breathe through your nose and you will be fine. One tip, however: don't choose a fruity "flavor" to the goop. It drove my glands nuts. Next time, I will go with a minty flavor.

 

 

This is what the tray looks like.  They do one for the top and one for the bottom, one at a time. Hold for a minute apiece, and you're done. Piece of cake.

 

Now, back to the waiting game. In the next two weeks, the orthodontist will call me back with a game plan.

 

Hurry up and wait.

Carter's Ski Lessons - Second Year, Week Three

Today was Carter's third lesson this year. Since I had the day off, I decided to join the boys up on the mountain for a day in the snow. It was windy and pretty damn cold. I stayed in the lodge, got myself a warm window seat, and read a book while Carter had class. Eric went on more advanced runs, and then when class was over, we took Carter on more runs so I could grab some pictures and video. 

 

Getting ready in the rental shop. Someone forgot his coat, so we had to rent him a coat for the day. Good thing they have that service!

 

 

 

My handsome guys!

 

 

 Getting on the small chairlift.

 

 

 

 Hey mom!

 

 

 This run is just on the bunny hill, but in Carter's class, they are going on other, more advanced runs. But for the sake of grabbing some pictures, the bunny hill is definitely easier for me to get into position without getting mowed over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Carter does this exact thing on his bike - which results in wrecks. Look FORWARD buddy!

 Guess the kid can do the splits.

 

 

 

 

 I also grabbed this picture on the way home. Not the best, lots of noise. But there was a ton of traffic and I needed to grab something and get back on the road. Definitely doesn't do tonight's sunset justice.

 

 

Here is the video of Carter - the laughing at the beginning was from a little girl who crashed and slid under the fence right into my feet. Glad I kept my balance because she really could have wiped me out!

I Have Met My Match

....in the form of a 5.5 year old.  And I swear, he is winning.  Kids aren't supposed to win these battles.

 

This dental "adventure" with Carter has gotten the best of me. As a recap, we first started taking Carter to THE.BEST pediatric dentist in the valley. Or so we were told. He got through his cleanings with flying colors. Then, at one of the visits, they took updated x-rays and dropped a bomb on us:  he needed some serious work done to all of the molars in his mouth. Because little kids can only tolerate so much, they had to work in quadrants. This dentist was able to get all of the work on the bottom portion of Carter's mouth done (one crown, one baby root canal, and one extraction with a spacer) before Carter caught on to the game. He then wouldn't go a single step out of the waiting room.

 

So the plan at that point was either: (a) take him to the hospital and pay a HUGE amount of cash out of pocket....because, you know, dental insurance doesn't cover shit; or (b) take him to an out-patient facility and have them do the work. For $1,500. Not exactly an option either.

 

At that point, I put my foot down and decided to try a different pediatric dentist. Another one highly recommended by my friends. I actually fired the other one simply because they told us they weren't going to try again with Carter, "but let's schedule the next cleaning!" Uh, no. Plus, here's my other issue.  They do x-rays with Carter at the very first session. The next x-rays done suddenly reveal all of these issues in his mouth? We did the brushing and the flossing. So what caused this? Or did they just not read the x-rays correctly the first time?  Either way, time to move on from these people. So, we get Carter in to the new dentist and the first session on the top of his mouth goes wonderfully. Another crown under his belt and another baby root canal.

 

Since that time, we have had, yet again, two failed appointments. Carter basically has a meltdown the second that dentist walks in. If the assistant could administer the shot, we would be golden. But for some reason, that dentist totally freaks him out.  And let me tell you, there was some major bribery in full force this time around - we had the Big Al's card all loaded with money to go play games, and there was a surprise present waiting for Carter in the car after the dental appointment. He held that Big Al's card the entire appointment. So excited to go play games and win prizes.

 

Didn't work. You could not pry that child's mouth open.

 

So again, we were referred to out-patient. All that is left is ONE FILLING. How much are those total - $200?  I simply refuse to pay $1,500 for something that only costs $200 in the dentist office. I REFUSE. It's not happening. So I set up the next cleaning 6 months out, and we will be brushing and flossing big time between now and then. And maybe we can get Carter to establish some sort of rapport with the dentist at the cleaning that will allow him to be okay with that shot.

 

In the meantime, the punishment has been dealt. Every single toy in Carter's room has been "thrown away".  They are actually out in the shed. But what he doesn't know.......  I handed him the trash bags and made him dump all the toys in the bags. Let me tell you, he was NOT a happy kid. I wasn't a happy mom either.

 

In hindsight, the second those x-rays were done and revealed the massive work that needed to be done, I should have just jumped all over the out-patient option. I have pretty much paid that much with each individual appointment and failed appointment. I guess I would rather just go in one time, put him under (though that does scare me), and have it done and over with. Would have saved me a lot of missed time at work, even more ass-chewings for Carter, pulling my own hair out, trying to figure out bribes, and then dealing out the punishments when he didn't hold up his end of the deal.

 

Parenting SUCKS.

Movie Review: The Hobbit

Eric and I had date night on Friday, so we decided to see The Hobbit since I think this is the last weekend it's in Regal theaters, and I needed to use my passes.

The Hobbit is a story that is near and dear to my heart. Back in my freshman year of high school, my family got stranded at our cabin in Lowman. Some serious snow had come down, followed by a crazy amount of rain. Rain on top of snow in the mountains is not a good mix. There were some crazy mud slides, which wiped out some main roads. We were literally stranded. With limited entertainment, and no power or running water, one of the things we chose to do was read The Hobbit out loud every evening.  I remember some of the details, mostly the spiders.

I recently re-read The Hobbit in preparation for the movie.  I love the adventure.  The movie was a long one, that's for sure, and in the name of adventure, certainly took some liberties in adding scenes that were not in the book. I don't know if this was meant to elaborate on the (lacking) details of the author from the book, or just to stretch this into a trilogy to make some money in Hollywood....you be the judge. The beginning of the movie is quite slow. For a brief moment, near the end, I forgot that this was going to be a trilogy and wondered how long the movie was going to last! There was still so much from the book that hadn't even been shown. But then I remembered that parts two and three were still coming.  Overall, it really was a good movie. The details are fantastic - I would expect nothing less from this director.

Potty Training Adventure - Kendall

This week, we started on the potty training adventure with Kendall. Seems a little early, but I went back to posts from when we were doing this with Carter, and we are about in the same time-frame.

What prompted this adventure, you ask? Let me tell you.......Monday, I worked from home. I went in to get Kendall because I heard her babbling away in her room. I walked in to her pajamas off, the diaper off, and she had pooped in the middle of the floor. Then walked around in it. Then climbed back into her bed. What a wonderful way to start a Monday morning, right?

No.

The very next day, Eric was giving the kids a bath and she pooped in the bath tub. 

She would also announce every time she would pee or poo in her diaper. So clearly some of the dots where there in her mind. We just need her to connect those dots.

I went and grabbed her a potty chair from the store - something basic. Holy crap there are some fancy potty chairs out there. Ones that will sing little tunes when you pee, ones that have flashing lights, etc. Seriously? Talk about distractions. Get to your main goal: the kid needs to pee or poo. If there is singing or flashing lights, how the heck can they concentrate? I mean come on, the attention span of a toddler is weak, at best. Let's not throw in a million distractions. I understand the motivational factor, really, I do. But I also understand "sit down, go potty, hi-five!" 

If that last picture looks familiar, this is why: Carter's Potty Training

Carter's Ski School - Year 2

Carter started up his second year of ski school yesterday. He will attend each Monday afternoon in February. Fortunately, this year we have plenty of snow! Last year's lessons were pushed out a bit because Bogus didn't have enough snow to open. Boise has had plenty of snow this year! 

Eric said the lesson went great. After the lessons are over, Eric will usually take Carter on a couple of the bigger runs before coming home. Apparently Carter had a bad crash on the very last run, so he was pretty bummed when he got home. But other than the crash, he had a great time!

I plan to go up for the graduation lesson again this year, to grab more pictures. Until then, phone pictures from Eric will have to suffice.

Snuggles

Vintage

Early in December, when we had a girls' day and attended various holiday bazaars and antique shops, I found a really cute wall decoration that I wanted for Kendall. I showed my mother in law and suggested she add it to Kendall's Christmas wish list. She took one look and told me that she thought she had the kit to actually MAKE it. Score! So she's been working on it ever since, and just dropped off the finished product yesterday. I hung it in Kendall's room this morning, and it's so cute! I just love the fun theme.  Here are some pictures.

Here is a link to Michelle's blog in case you want to see how she made it:  Michelle