The Damm Family

Cinnamon Rolls

2012-02-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

I have four days off this week and took the opportunity while LT is at daycare to try out Grandma Selma Damm's cinnamon roll recipe. I've had several batches that my father-in-law Randy has made and we really enjoy them. My batch was edible, but not the same quality. Greg came home for lunch and gave me some pointers for next time.

I forgot that it makes a whole bunch of them. I used all four of my glass pans. Here are the results:

Cat's Bed

2012-02-14T12:09:00.001-07:00

We sometimes wonder why LT does not sleep in his own bed. It's because it's taken times 3.

Watch Out Ladies

2012-02-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

Valentine's Day

The Smoulder

Kisses

Just plain cute.

Heart Wrenching

2012-02-14T09:16:00.002-07:00

The women who run our daycare were preschool teachers for a little boy named Jacob Ahrens. Here is his story.

The neat thing is that the Colorado Avalanche treated him extra special right before he passed away.

Click the links to read the stories on the sites.

Daycare will be closed on Friday for his teachers to attend his funeral. I can't help but feel a well of emotions for this family, and for the lives this little boy has touched. R.I.P. little Jacob.

Meh Whatever

2012-02-01T14:50:00.003-07:00

Not a whole lot is going on around here. We've all been sick. LT has some nasty cough, and in the course of crawling into our bed in the middle of the night and coughing in my face and all over my pillow, he gave me bronchitis. I got him checked out first and he's been treated for an ear infection. I went to the doctor and was given a note to stay home from work for two days and an antibiotic for my impending ear infections. My hearing is still really tin-ny, but I can usually conjure what's being talked about.
Greg had a case of food poisoning and was home for three days.

No snow here still. Just brown, nasty grass and ice patches everywhere from what used to be snow. Nice temps into the 40's and 50's too.

On another topic, one of my New Year's resolutions is complete. Greg and I now have a more encompassing life insurance. If something happens to one or both of us, then our house and all of our bills will not burden our loved ones. When we figure out some sort of living will for who LT will be with if we both kick off, then that person(s) won't struggle to take care of him either.

My other resolution was "Do Not start any more craft projects or buy any more supplies for craft projects until the ones I've already started are completed." I'm not overburdened by undone projects, this is just better motivation to get them done and do something with them. There are three that immediately come to mind. The Saturday morning hoodie I just need to pick up stitches around the edge and knit a three inch edging. The American flag afghan I'm sewing stars onto. And an empbroidered mother goose crib cover. I started working on a feather in her cap and have been back to it only a couple of times. The afghan and the crib cover were started before LT was born, so I'm anxious to put those in the completed category.
Now that I work days and have to have LT in daycare on one of my days off, I'm getting more accomplished around the house. Greg and I have been able to do more organization in the basement. He bought some shelving and I got plastic totes. I organize stuff into the totes and he organizes it on the shelves. So all of LT's toys and baby clothes are organized and labeled by size. We also got our guns into the gun safe, Greg's tools into a tool box, and all the holiday decorations put away neatly. Our fridge in the basement went out this summer so Greg got that out of the way.
Our plans are to eventually finish the basement and move LT down there. We are slowly getting there. He loves going down there, so I hope he will like sleeping down there.

I've been looking into this thing called a Roku to help us save money on our cable bill. So I would love to know if anyone has one and can give me the low down on it.
I guess I just felt like rambling today. Thanks for always reading. Have a wonderful day.

Steamed Milk

2012-01-19T14:07:00.004-07:00

Mmmm. It's good.

Find A Need

2012-01-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

All great inventors have a mantra. Find and need and fill it. Well, some genius filled my need. How do I keep my hands warm while I am outside and use the touchscreen on my phone at the same time. I found these gloves at Walmart.

The tips on the thumb and first two fingers are specially designed so that the touchscreen on my phone will react to them. Awesome.

Jelly Bottom

2012-01-19T13:59:00.001-07:00

LT's Aunt Staci stopped by on her way to Billings and took us out to lunch. LT proceeded to grab and open jelly packets and eat them with a spoon. Except for the one whose contents he dropped in his lap. Oh, and the one he left full on the table and sat in. We should be a little better about strict nap time schedule in the future, but it is always nice to see Aunt Staci.

Missing:

2012-01-19T13:51:00.003-07:00

Farmer and Brown Cow.

Suspected to be in the basement, but have not been seen since this photograph was taken on 1/3/11.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of these two, please let us know so we can reunite them with the tractor. Thank you.

Icicle

2012-01-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

An icicle hanging from the cable wire off the corner of the house and swaying in the wind.

So tired

2012-01-11T14:54:00.001-07:00

He propped himself up in the corner by the door and fell asleep.

LT is 2

2012-01-11T14:52:00.003-07:00

LT is one of those poor unfortunate souls that has their birthday within a week of Christmas.

It wasn't a bust. He got a few things from us and from family. Greg's boss gave him a present for both his birthday and Christmas too.

We made it a small family affair with just the three of us. McDonald's for dinner. LT loves their fries. Then he learned what ice cream is and says "cream" or "I cream" a lot.

New PF hat and set of Dr. Suess books.

Learning turtle from Zowada's

Trying to blow out his candle.

Loving ice cream.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-11T14:46:00.002-07:00

I was able to take off Christmas Eve. Greg's parents and brother were able to come up to open presents with us. LT made out like a bandit. I wish we could have reciprocated all of the generous gifts we all got, but we are extremely grateful that they made such an effort to make our Christmas special.

LT checking out the lights on the deck a few days before.

Actually got to be outside for a bit and insisted on playing with his lawnmower and train.

Our Christmas card photo.

LT didn't really understand the idea of opening presents, but he was excited to play with each toy for a while before we coaxed him into opening another one. He loved all of his toys and presents.

Uncle Andy gave him Tonka trucks

C'mon Grandma get it out.

Patiently waiting for Andy to open another truck.

We love "Petey" and have to sleep with him. Thanks Aunt Staci

Uncle Andy assembling the Sit N Spin from Grandma and Grandpa. Again patiently waiting.

Dad and Grandpa making Christmas dinner. Dad pointing out where Grandpa can take a nap.

Gifts from Great-Grandma

Stole Dad's hat from Great-Grandma "cheese"

Dishwasher

2011-12-22T10:55:00.001-07:00

Greg's black Friday was for solely our new dishwasher, since our old one went out right before Thanksgiving. It was installed a week ago. Who knew that you could run the dishwasher and watch TV at the same time and be able to hear the TV and each other talk. As I was reading the manual I learned there were a few mistakes I was making with the old one. First, was I was putting tin cans in it to wash for recycling. Apparently, the glue from the labels can clog up your machine pretty bad. Second, was that there is a little airvent up on the kitchen sink that is supposed to be taken off and cleaned occasionally. Oops. Never did that.

There is so much more space is unbelieveable. It washes everything with no problems. All I have to do anymore is scrape the chunky parts into the garbage and the dishwasher does the rest. The top rack has its own water sprayer. Awesome. I was living in the past. Good job, Greg.

Now, I just have to figure up all my overtime from November and December and hope it's enough to pay it off.

Remote Limit

2011-12-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

Last year sometime I bought some super clearanced Christmas socks, thinking they would make good Christmas gifts for friends for future Christmases. So they were stashed in the Walmart bag downstairs with all the Christmas stuff.

That day the remote to my Explorer also went missing. After a fruitless search, it was assumed that it went to the landfill to join all the other things LT threw away without us knowing. We bought a new one thinking I could program it, but you have to take it to a dealer and it's kind of expensive so I just had it laying around for a while. For the longest time I was just using the keypad on the door and occasionally the key to unlock my car.

A couple of weeks ago I was going through all of the Christmas stuff and found the bag of socks and pulled them all out so I could remember what they looked like. Lo and behold, my Explorer remote was in the bag with the socks. I have a habit of throwing everything, like my purse, phone, and keys, into my shopping bags in order to haul everything in from the car without dropping anything.

This was totally my Christmas present this year.

The funny thing was that shortly after I found my car remote Greg wanted to watch a movie on Blu-Ray. You can play a movie if you have a remote due to the fact that the player only has two buttons: power and eject.

We spent a while digging through all of LT's stuff and all through the couch to no avail. I was telling Greg that we must have a limit on how many remotes we can have, since I found my car remote then the Blu-ray remote disappears. He commented that he would rather have the Blu-ray remote.

Turns out LT had stashed it on the shelf below the Blu-Ray next to the cable box.

A Month's Worth

2011-12-07T14:31:00.001-07:00

Here's a month's worth of what we've been up to.

LT is staying active despite being cooped up inside most of the time. He gets into absolutely everything and anything, he's learning that there are some things in the drawers he can play with and others (like scissors) that are best left alone. Greg and I are losing the battle of keeping him out of the fridge, but he only usually wants his milk refilled or an apple. Since he was getting so much off of the counters we've been forced to tie the chairs to the table, ensuring that they stay by the table. The computer chair usually ends up behind the closed bedroom or bathroom door.

He just has to survive kisses from Mom.

And being forced to support the Cowboys.

And more love from Mom.

When we actually got a little bit of snow we bundled him all up. Did you ever realize how ridiculously hard it is to get snowboots onto someone else's feet. We got a shoe horn and that has helped minimally.

He also enjoys trying to bundle himself up.

He likes to settle into Dad's clothes basket with a good book. Percy Jackson here.

The oddity lately of Blue sleeping in his bed with him.

We got to go to Casper on Thanksgiving and spend it with the Damms. Staci got a bunch of pictures with LT playing with his Grandma and Grandpa's house toys. Like an ABC mat, a cars hut with tunnel, and foam blocks. She put them up on facebook and I haven't had the chance to pirate them yet. He had a lot of fun there. We all watched the Macy's parade and enjoyed a fantastic family meal. Everything was perfect.

Since our dishwasher bit the dust a few days earlier, Greg was sent out to Sears at 4 a.m. to on Black Friday to score a new one. We got a great deal on a new one, we are just surviving without one for a few weeks until it arrives in town and gets installed. I hate washing dishes by hand.

Lucky thing is that I was giving three days of overtime which is going to help out a ton when it is time to pay for the new dishwasher. 6 ten hour days in a row and then another 5 is hard work. So that dishwasher better be worth it.

To continue the month...The past few times I've picked him up from daycare, they have been sending him home with different toys. The one day they said he glommed onto these movie star glasses, a bracelet with pink beads, and a Spider-Man electronic web thrower with no webs to throw. The next time he was gathering up a bunch of plastic Easter eggs. I had to be the bad guy and put the kabosh on that. But he loves his glasses. He calls them his eyes.

We went to Greg's company Christmas party on the 3rd. We didn't really arrange a babysitter, so LT got to tag along. The other adults really included him and enjoyed having him there. He did really well sitting in a booster playing with his car while we waited for everyone to arrive. If you are ever going through Buffalo, Wyoming and want to enjoy a good sit down meal, then Winchester's is the place to go. Primo. Greg had the prime rib. I had the pepper steak with baked cauliflower. LT enjoyed chicken strips and fries. Even the leftovers a couple of days later were perfect.

As per my usual tradition, I've been the holiday confectioneer. So far I've messed up one batch of caramel and successfully made a batch of peanut brittle and two batches of dark chocolate pecan toffee. Yummy, yummy. Still have a batch of fudge, at least one more of peanut brittle, and two of almond toffee to go.

In this picture my helper is aiding me with the toffee.

Today I took pictures of LT for our Christmas card and ordered them. We still are unsure what we are doing for Christmas as I have to work, but for everyone else Have a Merry Christmas and I hope you are all able to enjoy your families that day.

One More

2011-11-08T22:19:00.002-07:00

Sorry about the blog-a-thon, but I got a bit behind and was only able to catch up in one setting. 30 pictures and a few good laughs later, and here's the end for today.

After spaghetti one night for dinner, it was decided that the collander is a fantastic hat. At one point my tennis shoes were recruited for the ensemble.

Who can resist Dad's big, heavy work boots.

As LT would say "Buh-bye"

Halloween 2011

2011-11-08T22:11:00.001-07:00

My mom sent this outfit for LT a while back. She thought it was cute and I agree. I also put it to use as his halloween costume. I found an orange sock and sharpie'd tigger stripes on it and bought some face paint. For one: LT didn't like the hood, and screamed bloody murder when I was trying to paint his face. I was just doing it lightly because this was just dress up for daycare anyway.

Halloween morning. Not posed. Mid-tantrum.

I picked him up from daycare and once we got home he just drooped on me all afternoon until Dad got home. He felt a bit warmer than usual too. We made the call not to go trunk-or-treating. We stayed home and watched Cars 2. Now LT's obsessed with Cars.

A fews days after Halloween for pictures.

Self posed.

Again a poser.

Then our pumpkins turned out to be perfect for some stencils I found online. I made Ferb, Perry, and Phineas.

HAHAHA

Spike and Noggin

2011-11-08T22:02:00.002-07:00

The sign that his hair is getting a bit too long.

Was climbing on a box when it tipped. I didn't see what he ate it into, but he had a nice goose-egg for a few days.

A little spicy

2011-11-08T21:59:00.001-07:00

LT has been in and out of the spice cupboard for ages. So I on days he would get into it I would say he's being (pisces) spicy that day. Until he started playing peek-a-boo with the doors.

A few days ago when he opened and dumped the garlic salt for a second time (this time on the couch) I decided to rearrange a couple of cupboards, so he won't be Pisces anymore.

Handed

2011-11-08T21:57:00.001-07:00

The debate still rages on around here as to whether LT will be left-handed like Mama and Grandpa Damm:

Or right-handed like Dad and everybody else:

Rock Pile

2011-11-08T21:54:00.001-07:00

Greg got a good deal from ICM on some rock for our driveway. It is crushed asphalt, cement, shale, and whatever else they had lying around I guess. He had a dump truck load of it delivered in the driveway and has been spreading it out one wheelbarrow full at a time. It's been fun to get LT's little shovel and dumptruck and watch him and Dad moving their rocks around. The best is when he yells "rock" and runs over the pile, climbs up, and slides down headfirst. It was a little alaraming to see all the rocks that ended up in his diaper.

His shirt says "Future Miner in Training"

Brought back good memories of our dirt pile we played in as kids back in SV.

Caught

2011-11-08T21:48:00.001-07:00

One night, LT just wasn't falling asleep and kept getting out of bed. We were both exhausted and just shut him out of our room, hoping he would give in and go to bed. There were a few different noises, then I was definitely sure I heard the fridge door swing open and bang into the vacuum. I got up to find LT dipping his hands into a freshly made pitcher of red kool-aid and sucking it off of his fingers. We had quite a good laugh about this.

I pushed the table in front of the fridge to at least keep him out of it for the rest of the night.

As I was going back to bed, I tripped over the milk jug of his milk and his milk cup. Seems that he brought it to our door hoping for a refill but the door was shut so he decided that kool-aid was a better option.

Priorities

2011-11-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Dental hygiene.

Then cookies.

Releasing the hounds

2011-11-08T21:40:00.002-07:00

Mouth full of flat marbles.

Playing chicken with the double team.

He looks like a coach in his hat, shorts, and vest.

Waving "hi" to his peeps passing by.

Another pumpkin

2011-11-08T21:37:00.002-07:00

My mom and dad decided to pay us another visit. They brought us a few things. Among them was a noisy phone for LT that won him over pretty quickly. Also, a succulent jar of Star Valley honey. I'm not really a honey eater, but I tried it and was pleasantly also won over. We all hung out, went shopping, eating, and for walks. Then too quickly the time came for them to go home again. On the last day they were here, LT went to daycare for most of the day. Daycare took all the kids out to the pumpkin patch that day, so he got another pumpkin. Yay. We didn't end up carving it, but it's still pretty cute.

Pampered Chef

2011-11-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

I went to a Pampered Chef party at Meg's house a while back. One of the things we ordered was an apple corer/peeler/slicer. It's pretty awesome. I'm unsure why we decided to test it out on the floor, but we have enjoyed a few apples prepared by it. LT especially. The cool thing was he was allowed to go with me to the party. When asked if anyone had hosted a party before, LT raised his hand. The boy is full of surprises.

And yes. His silly cat is eating apple peels.

More Team Support

2011-11-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

Totally styling

Babe

2011-10-04T11:45:00.001-07:00

Her name is really Saphira, but I call her Babe all the time.

Sometimes she is such a weird cat. Ever since the day we told her that she was LT's cat, she has really taken to him and claimed him and all of his things. Mostly his bed. Today he let her straddle him like a horse and just laid there while he pretended to ride her around.

Snuggling.

She has also been really strange about food lately. She has been like a vulture when I have been eating Greek yogurt or canteloupe. She has always begged for table scraps, but she's been going all out to get some yogurt or a little piece of canteloupe.

Pumpkins

2011-10-04T11:37:00.001-07:00

This year we decided to take the Koltiskas up on their offer and went to pick our own pumpkins.

It is about 6 miles out of Sheridan. Our LT reminded them of their own "round-faced" grandson.

The Entrance

We pulled up and parked and were directed onto a wagon for the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. It is quite a pumpkin patch too. I admire them for dedicating a field to this. It was $6/pumpkin. It was worth it to get out as a family and walk through the patch together. To look for pumpkins in such a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

The patch looking one direction.

LT with two of our pumpkins.

Dad and LT bringing another pumpkin to meet up with the hayride back to the barn.

Back at the bar they had refreshments of kool-aid and cookies, which LT spilled on my shirt. They even had a nice area setup for photo ops.

Mom and LT photo op.

They have a lot of smaller animals that we could go around and look at. LT was surprisingly gentle when he petted the goats. He loved checking out the chickens. He kept jumping when one of the roosters would crow, and kept sticking his fingers through the wire which one chicken thought was fun to peck at. They also had tons of ducks waddling around and playing in the sprinkler. As we were leaving we had to wait for the row of ducks to cross in front of us.
All-in-all quite an eventful evening for us.

Salamander

2011-10-04T11:18:00.004-07:00

I haven't seen a salamander in the wild since I was young and would find them in the old water well. I found this guy in a chopped off bucket that was marking a spot where a tulip bulb was.

We took him to Mavrakis Pond and released him into a more salamander friendly environment. He didn't move very much. He was still alive, but wasn't really thrilled with our choice.

Live long and prosper, Salamander.

Bridge

2011-10-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

We found a park in Sheridan towards the beginning of September that was completely fenced in, so our young daredevil wouldn't be able to run into the street like he did at the park across the street.

We went to Thorne-Rider Park on the 20th to find that they had taken the fence down. Very disappointing. We drove around by the tennis courts in the same area where there was another playground and discovered this bridge nearby.

We crossed it and took a small hike up the hill. Which led us to Madia field. It was a nice mini hike for the both of us that helped wear out this youngin' to take a good nap.

Fall Is Upon Us

2011-09-20T14:44:00.001-07:00

The first trees I've seen completely turned are in the empty lot behind the house.

Daycare Drama

2011-09-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

I wish that I could write about something trivial like him catching a cold or something silly, but we got a call on the 12th that our daycare lady was going to have to close. She had a lot of family drama that poured over into her daycare and a lot of other events happened after that. I find it all pretty ridiculous, not on the part of my daycare lady, but it just seems like all the trouble and drama was drawn to her all at once.

This is something I struggled with before LT was even born, having to reach out and ask for help and immediately trust someone to watch my son, while I'm gone to work. It's unnerving and I try to avoid it and put it off as much as possible (like 10 months the first time around). This time is a little more dire, since I have to find it by this Friday, because this time around I can't just stay awake after work, I'm physically gone from the house for work now. I also have to take into consideration that Greg has to drop him off and still be able to make it to work on time.

I've been given tons of leads by friends, my boss, and the child care finder network, and I've made a few phone calls. I also have one visit set up, but this whole process is still unnerving for me.

Fort Union and Devil's Tower

2011-09-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Bourgeois House

Running back to Montana

Coming around behind Devil's Tower

LT in front of Devil's Tower

A stranger offered to take a family picture

Dad pushing LT around the inner hiking trail

LT's idea of a picture on the bench with Mom

Mom empty handed

Captured

Oh Hi

Speed bumps on the trail marked with paw prints

Going home

Montana Trip 2011

2011-09-20T12:09:00.001-07:00

We took a little jaunt to Sidney and Fairview again for Bob and Arlene Bieber's 40 wedding anniversary. I got to meet them in Billings when I was pregnant with LT and they have been friends with Greg's parents for many years. It was a nice trip and we got to see a lot of relatives (we missed a few though) Bob and Arlene's get together was laid back and sweet almost like a wedding reception. She looked positively lovely and he was looking the best I've ever seen him. He's notorious for giving ultra strong handshakes and I think Greg was a little tentative to shake his hand.

I know that pictures were taken of LT with relatives, but I didn't take any of them. The afternoon when we got there, there was a Lorenz get together. It was also Greg's dad's birthday, so he spent it chasing LT around the park and pushing him on the swing. After being cooped up in the car for 5 hours LT had a lot of energy to burn. It seemed like he needed to burn off energy the whole time we were there. He was restless and bored a lot when we were visiting people. When we visited Grandma Damm we was either squirming and whining to get out of our arms or running off.

Chilling for literally a second in the common area where Grandma Damm lives.

We visited Grandma Meehan with about the same results: crying, whining and getting into everything. She was pretty patient with him though.

We finally got him to crash out at Uncle Marvin's before the anniversary party.

After the party wolfing down a ton of leftover popcorn at Uncle Marvin's.

In the car on the way home.

We stayed with Greg's Uncle and Aunt again. They have all the stuff needed for tykes his size. He still would get bored and get into trouble. He is so used to running outside. He seemed really happy when we visited Aunt Kathy. She had a little car that he could scoot around on. He loved it so much that he didn't want to leave.

Team Spirit

2011-09-20T11:43:00.001-07:00

I got him this Wyoming T-shirt a while ago and now it's starting to get small.

So Greg got him this jersey, a hoodie and some sweatpants. Talk about a spirited kid.

Crooks

2011-09-20T11:37:00.001-07:00

At the end of August my parents made a long trek around Wyoming and made it here to visit us for a couple of days. We had a good visit and rode the trolley around Sheridan to sight-see.

Then we went to Kendrick Park and had ice cream together.

My mom found something pretty neat. There was a book lying on the bench at the rest stop at Kaycee. It's a Garfield book so she brought it to us. It is a neat program that I would like to contribute to. It is called Book Crossing. Click on the link to go to their site.

I'm really glad that my parents were able to come and see us and create some good memories with us.

Biting

2011-09-20T11:27:00.002-07:00

While LT was in a headbutting phase, a kid at his daycare was in a biting phase. While we are not sure who was antagonizing who, Lukas came home with bite marks more often than a red mark on his head from butting the kid with it. This one was the most worrisome as it was on his face. There was at least one everyday. Mostly on his arms, but one on his nose and once on his calf.

This is the day he got it on the nose.

It was also the day he found out that dandelions don't taste real good.

The Young Trampolini

2011-08-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

It was because of this jumping off of the couch and hopping all around the house,

that this trampoline happened.

I found out recently that toddlers start to really show their personalities around this time. I read the first description of the "Active Child" and generally wasted my time reading the rest. LT starts running before he is even fully awake in the morning or after nap. It takes a firm hand to keep him laying down long enough to calm down and fall asleep. Several people have told Greg that he acts like a three-year-old. He saw someone from our childbirth class with her son, and while her son was walking around commented that "he's just lulling you to sleep so he can jet off, huh?" She replied that that's as fast as he goes.
Greg dressed LT in his Taz shirt for daycare the other day and Mandy laughed and said that he while he didn't tear anything apart or get into trouble, he was like Taz when he takes off all over the place.
So far the trampoline has been helping to wear him down a bit, so bedtime takes less time. He enjoys jumping on it for a bit, but also loves to escape from it. It's good exercise for Mom and Dad too. It was complete coincidence that the colors match the house.

The Post Office

2011-08-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Recently, the post office in my hometown was on the list to be shut down. Due to budget cuts or whatever. In light of that, and the insane amount of credit card offers Greg and I have been receiving. I decided to let the credit card companies help the USPS, without much effort on my part. I take the prepaid envelope out of the credit card offer, make sure it is empty, seal it, mail it back and shred whatever is left behind.
This is my stack of them from the other day.

We received all of those in one day. Credit card companies are rolling in an insane amount of dough, and the government is in financial chaos. I figure it is ok to let them pay out for bothering me.

Roses

2011-08-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

When we got our house and started messing with it. I yanked a rosebush from the southside in order to put our air conditioner there. The next year, a little sprout popped up from where the rose bush was. I dug it up and moved it to the garden area. Even though I'm not giddy over pink roses, and that I couldn't kill the thing that I would make it useful. It took a few years for it to get established, and a deer ate a few buds off of it, but this year it exploded. And I didn't get any pictures of it, because it happened in the messed up month of July. Then a couple of weeks ago, my Mother's Day/Birthday rosebush from last year bloomed again. Covered in just as many roses as my pink one. Both had beautiful flowers on them. My Mother's Day/Birthday one:

More of July

2011-08-09T21:26:00.000-07:00

July ended much more mildly than it started. We finished up our swimming lessons pretty well. I found if I got us there with just enough time for me to change and walk to the pool, so that we didn't have to wait, he took it in stride a little better. I also had to let him pick out one of their toys to cling to in the pool for a while. He would start to get upset with about 5 minutes left in the class and absolutely hated being on his back. I would take that over his second class. Then earlier this week we got to go to my friends house. She has a pretty good sized above ground pool. So I visited with her mom for a little while and she chased LT around her yard. Then we took a short dip in her pool when Greg got there. It was a good change of pace for us.

My back is doing much better. It feels like I didn't even hurt it. I think about it everytime I bend over or lift stuff.
As our garden goes, our raspberries are having their best year so far. I've gotten about three butter tubs full so far.
Between LT and myself, we have no peas left. He was eating them like crazy. His diapers were ultimately stinky from them, but it's one of those fun things we will remember about his childhood. Several people I've talked to that say they would do the same thing in their families. Old Guy is pretty notorious for me when it comes to standing out in the garden and eating peas fresh from the plant.

Greg and I had our 5th anniversary on the 24th. His sister, Staci, came up from Casper to watch LT while we went to the movies. We ran out the door to the movies without saying bye to LT. We paid for it when we got home. He gave us some pretty dirty looks.

July So Far

2011-07-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

On June 30th, LT turned 18 months old. He is learning and making us laugh everyday. If we ask where different body parts are then he will point to them. Eyes, ears, head/hair, mouth/teeth, nose, fingers, toes and bellybutton. It's pretty cute and fun to show off. He goes up and down stairs (forward) like a pro and loves to jump (off one or both feet) or gallop. They say that at daycare, when he's outside he just runs laps around their backyard. He learned to climb onto chairs, the couch and the toilet, so everything is in his reach. He listens to commands pretty well, like getting a caprisun (we say juice) or his shoes, and will stop what he is doing when asked to (most of the time). I was feeling concerned about his verbal skills, so I'm trying to focus on listening to him when he's talking, so he's encouraged to speak more. The words are becoming more and more clear. He's a great boy and we love making him smile and laugh.

Now, some new happenings with me. I'm really enjoying my job. I get asked everyday if I like it, and it feels good to answer honestly and say that I do. I've been hearing a lot of positive reviews on my food, as long as I make sure there is dessert. I have a lot more energy and feel like a happier person. Greg has remarked that he has also noticed a difference. I like feeling like I can see the sun again.

In not-so-good news, on July 3rd, I was pulling some laundry out of the washing machine and strained a muscle in my back. It was so terrible. I was in the basement trying to cry out for Greg, but because the strain was close to my diaphram muscle, I wasn't able to yell loud enough for him to hear me. LT was running up and down the stairs yelling "Daaaa-deeee". I was bawling when Greg found me. It was probably less than 20 minutes kneeling down there, but in psychological time it felt like forever. He helped me onto my hands and knees and turned me around, so I was able to crawl up the stairs and lay on my bedroom floor. I texted my nurse buddy Amy and she recommended calling the Dr. or going to the ER. Greg took LT to our friend Cassandra's house and then I walked out to the truck bent over. On the way into the ER Greg made the comment that it was like he was walking with a grandma. The ER gave me some pills and sent me away to rest in my bed for four days. So no Independence Day activities for me. I had to postpone LT's 18 month checkup, because I wasn't able to lift him into the car to take him. He ended up going to an extra day of daycare on top of that. While I was confined to bed one day, LT crawled into our bed and we took a long nap. (Picture below)

It turned out that my muscle strain caused one of my disks to herniate. After a few visits to the chiropractor and doing squats and lunges like he recommended, I feel like I'm back to about 95%. Putting on my socks or bending my head all the way down still burns. That was the worst pain I've ever felt, including child birth. I couldn't move, sleep or doing anything without immense pain. Ridiculous.

Some adorable pictures of LT:

Being cute.

Going up the slide stairs.

Reached the top.

Swinging.

I signed LT and myself up for Parent/child swim classes at the YMCA. The first class was on July 11th. I found a really great skirtini at Walmart that covers me up well and doesn't ride up or make me look pudgy. At daycare they have a small kiddie pool and LT didn't want anything to do with it and cried whenever they were persuading him to play in it. So I was concerned about paying for swim lessons with someone who would just whine, cry and struggle the whole time. The first class went really well. He was checking things and people out and loved it when I blew bubbles in the water. I flash dunked him a couple of times and he was cool with it. That was encouraging. The second class was a complete 180. Whining, crying, kicking, squirming, and running away. I could get him laughing and cheered up for a couple of minutes, but most of it felt like torture for both of us and a complete waste of time and money. Then he was running in the locker room and slipped and bonked his head. We have about four more classes. I hope the one on Monday goes better.

In his cute Go Diego! Go! swim trunks.

July 14th was a cluster day. We signed up to feed the missionaries on the 13th and they didn't show. They called the next day saying we were signed up on the 14th. I promise you, we were not. I had made plans to go visit my friend with LT, so her mom could see him while she was in town. So I cancelled plans with her in order to feed the missionaries. I was not so nice to them about the mix-up and ended up apologizing later. To add to the fun, Greg's parents were in town and we had no idea they were going to be in town. LT's grandparents trump all, so we cancelled all the other plans and went to dinner with them, which put me completely at ease. Thank goodness for them passing through.

I'm hoping that the second half of July is smoother sailing.

Lawn Ornaments

2011-06-29T18:05:00.001-07:00

A Day At the Park

2011-06-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

We walked to Kendrick Park on Monday and decided to play for a bit. We went over to look at the big bull elk in the native animal preserve. Then went to the playground.

The Turtle For Tots

Wipe off my hand, please.

Like climbing on the benches better than the playground equipment.

The squirrel that followed us everywhere wanting us to feed it.

Big Bed

2011-06-28T18:34:00.003-07:00

LT's crib was a transitional bed, but we didn't have railings and he kept rolling out of it in the middle of the night. We had a couple of dorm mattresses in the basement so he's sleeping on one of those. In a way it feels like it's too soon, but he's reached the climbing phase and I didn't want to buy a crib tent. He has a little more trouble falling asleep unless one of us lays with him. I like being able to lay next to him while I read his bedtime stories. I've fallen asleep there on more than one occasion. We like that better than him sleeping in our bed every night because we were just to tired to do anything else. He's getting the hang of it. Now, he can grab his Pooh Bear blanket that Aunt Kathy made him and haul it around with him everywhere. I've taken to calling him Linus, because of his blankie lovey.

Housekeeping

2011-06-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

Watering the plants:

And dusting:

Weeding

2011-06-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

The growing gardener weeds his yard by meticulously plucking each head off of the dandelions. He quickly disposes of each head efficiently.

Memorial Day

2011-06-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

We went to Casper for Memorial Day and spent it with the Damms. Everyone was there including Grandma Meehan.

LT, Dad and Grandpa playing with bubbles.

We got a four generation picture this time around. Even though my best copy has everyone looking in a different direction.

Pathfinder

2011-06-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day weekend we went down to visit the Casper Damms while Grandma Meehan was visiting them. We took a little jaunt out to Pathfinder dam. They had been featuring it on the Casper news for several days. It was running high and fast. It was quite a sight to see.

From the bottom. Pelicans were gathered to snag any fish that came down the falls.

Here you can see the bridge that I was standing on to take the previous picture. Although it was pretty secured, it felt rickety at times and was quite a drop to the water.

From above the falls.

Once we got above the falls, there was a lot of noise from the water crashing down. It was really neat.

Another one from above.

How Greg chose to tote LT around.

It was pretty cute when Greg would get running up the trail and skip a little and LT would bounce and laugh and laugh. They both had a good time hanging out together.

Driveway

2011-06-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

So our driveway is not the most ideal place for all kinds of cars to drive. We both drive 4-whell drive vehicles that are up off the ground. So it's no big deal to go up and down our driveway. A few years ago we had a problem with deer poachers trying to go up our driveway, ripping it up and spraying our precious gravel into the street. We put up two "No Trespassing" signs. One from Sheridan Ave and one from the fire lane off of 1st street.
Today as I was getting the mail, I observed a little Ford car parked on the other side of Sheridan Ave turn and go up 1st street. It looked quite a bit like this one, but it had a WYDOT symbol on the driver's side door.

Notice how much space there is between the ground and the front bumper? Well, I thought to myself, "Surely, they wouldn't be so brazen as to go past our sign and try to come down our driveway." I wish I had my phone on me at that second.
They drove around past the dogs and down our driveway. I was glaring at them until they reached the bottom. That bumper hit Sheridan Ave. HARD. As they turned towards the North, it scraped the bumper the whole way along, until all of their wheels were on pavement. Little bit of karma there? If you are the person who just fouled up a nice new WYDOT car and you are reading this, No Trespassing signs are there for a reason.

Love Bites

2011-06-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

I don't think you can tell very well from the picture, but a little girl at LT's daycare bit him today. Didn't break the skin or anything, so it's going away pretty fast. I noticed it right away when I was picking him up. It's funny because we tease about her being his girlfriend.

New Lease on Life

2011-06-02T19:20:00.001-07:00

I'm happy to announce that applied for a different job where I work. I was interviewed and hired to be a cook. It is a promotion. I will be working during the day time. It will be four days for ten hours a day. I'm both excited and nervous for the change. I have worked on nights longer than I have worked at any other job in my short years. Almost 6 years. It will be so weird to sleep in the natural dark, and enjoy the sun again. I'm already getting my dark coloring back, and getting asked if I have Native blood in me.

Today was my first day. I really like it. I'm a little out of my element. For the longest time I have been an expert at my job, and now it seems like I'm starting all over again. There are many people that are extremely happy for me and have congratulated me. That's encouraging.

I've been at that job, longer than I've been married to Greg. So sleeping at the same time in the same bed every night might take some getting used to. Mostly on his part. He might freeze to death from having no covers.

Wish me luck and wish for everyone that eats my food to have good health.

Sometimes

2011-06-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

Naps just aren't long enough.

and your parents ruin you with a Happy Meal.

Joe Cool

2011-06-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

Someone stole Snoopy's glasses so he could be cool.

I Spy

2011-06-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Can you find both of the black socks in this picture?

I was looking for one of them for several days.

Water, Water, Water

2011-06-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

The next few pictures are from the 24th. We had 5 inches of rain within a few hours and it was like two creek running on either side of this little chunk of first street.

Sheridan Avenue looking North.

Sheridan Avenue looking South

The rest of the pictures are from just North of us on the Crow Agency Indian Reservation in Montana. It closed the interstate for several days.

Crow Agency in Montana. I-90

There were also a lot of coal trains from the mines that sat in Sheridan, because they couldn't go into Montana. The tracks were still there, just they were floating in air where the water washed away all of the earth.

Easter Curtains

2011-05-20T03:11:00.000-07:00

One morning, while dropping LT off at daycare, the lady that runs the daycare was excited to show me an experiment she had been working on that morning. There were some kind of dingy, white curtains hanging up in the laundry room that came with the house. She couldn't stand them anymore and decided to dye them using whatever she had on hand. At the time it happened to be Easter egg dye, but this Easter egg dye required the use of vinegar which she didn't have. So she figured pickle juice has a lot of vinegar in it. So she whipped it up using that.
She first tried it out on some wash cloths. They turned out ok, just a bright, light purple. She decided that color wouldn't work for those curtains so she poured some colors together, but they didn't mix. So they turned out somewhat purple with green and blue blotches.
She gave in and had her mom pick up some regular clothing dye. But I there is no way I can fault her for her ingenuity.

Blame Bill Cosby

2011-05-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

Today I asked LT if he wanted to share a pudding with me. He looked up and smiled, but then went back to playing with the DVD remote. Then I said, "Actually, how about if we share two puddings?" He tossed the remote aside, jumped up and ran over to me before I was even able to get the spoon.

Additionally

2011-05-13T18:53:00.001-07:00

In addition to growing a garden, we are growing a gardener.

Looking over his crops

And landscaper.

Weather

2011-05-02T19:53:00.001-07:00

I'm not complaining, because I know most of you reading this have had much more terrible weather than we have. I'm sorry.

Just for the sake of making a memory, I am posting this. I was talking to my mom on the phone on Wednesday, 4/28. In the conversation I mentioned how we haven't got much of the spring snow. Never more than an inch and it melts as soon as it hits the ground. The next morning it looked like this:

But because this is Sheridan, Wyoming, it looked like this by that same afternoon:

Inheritance

2011-05-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

This poor little angel inherited a medication allergy from his mother. He's had this medicine before, and was almost finished with it for this round, but his body said it was time. So Mom stayed awake all day in order to run him to the doctor's office then to Kmart for some benadryl, which I give him 4 times a day. The doctor said that day 1 was pretty bad, but day 2 is even worse.

Day 1

On day 2 it got to his face and puffed his eyes up. He looked terrible. Like a burn victim. Once it hit his diaper area we were all miserable.

Day 2

As with all Benadryl, it made his sleepy. When he wasn't sleeping, he just wanted to be held by his mom and snuggled. It was creepy watching him turn bright red, then this dark bruised looking brown all over his little body. Some areas like his hands, feet and face puffed up.
Today he is free and clear and is acting more like his normal active self. We were even able to get outside for a while today. The benadryl still makes him a little lethargic though.

Free Dog?

2011-05-02T18:27:00.001-07:00

So we are having problems with Tucker again. On and off throughout the winter when it would get particularly cold he would gimp around on the leg that he broke 3 years ago.
Then he was keeping weight off of it more and more frequently. Then a couple of weeks ago when it wasn't muddy, I let him out so Greg and I could pin him down and check it out. We maneuvered his leg around a bit and he whimpered a bit but it was not his previous injury. We originally thought he got a sliver in his paw, but upon spreading his toes out and poking around, we found it wasn't his paw. We assumed that since he is a larger breed dog it might be the hip dysplasia genetics kicking in.

I made an appointment and stayed up one morning to take him in. The vet poked a finger in Tucker's dog knee and said that he tore his cruciate ligament. He pulled out his diagram and showed me where it was and the function of it.

http://www.petsurgerytopics.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/normal-acl.jpg

The vet then started describing three surgeries. Two of which require manipulating the bones and the joint. Those two I would need to go to Billings or Denver to have done. The other my vet could do. It required snipping the frayed end off of the torn ligament and attaching a suture above and below the knee to perform the function that the torn ligament was for. All of the surgeries try to keep the femur bone from sliding forward and grinding against the tibia.
Anyway, the surgery that could be performed here cost at minimum $800. In 95+ percent of cases, the dog will end up injuring the ligament in the other knee and requiring surgery for it too. So any numbers in the end are essentially doubled. The more costly surgery ranged $2500 for one knee. He would have less down time, but the surgery has a shorter time of effectiveness than the 800 dollar one.
The doctor also said that Tucker's previous injury was not the cause of the injury but could have played a part in it. He made it adamantly clear that the procedure he performed before was not the cause of this injury. He stated that Tucker was 15 pounds heavier than 3 years ago and that his weight could have caused some problems.
He also mentioned several times that there is a library worth of information about this procedure online, and welcomed me to research it.

Before I did any research on it and went to Greg's work to discuss our options, we really didn't know what to do. We don't have 800 dollars to drop on a knee of a dog. Most likely to be doubled in a few years. We discussed euthanasia, amputation, or just letting him be in pain. It was quite a taxing discussion. We got this mutt dog for free 4 years ago, put over a 1000 dollars for surgery less than a year after that. We cannot put more money into a free dog. We should have been tipped off when the original owners named him Martin. Due to his first trip to the vet with a Martin fishing lure stuck in his nose.

Well, I did my research. There were quite a few sites, which were surgeons' sites, promoting all of the surgeries. Especially the 2500 dollar one. Then I stumbled upon several that made it clear that surgery was only required in very few cases. That it takes an MRI to adequately diagnose a torn ligament or an arthroscope of the knee. There were several stories of dogs with stretched or slightly torn or strained ligaments that only needed some time to rest or make scar tissue in order to solve the problem. At least 8 weeks of restricted activity.

We are obviously going to try the non-surgical method first. Starting off with the anti-inflammatories the vet sold us. We have not confined him yet, but he has been putting more weight on it and using it more. If we need to we will confine him in the carrier again and only let him out for potty breaks.

So much for a free dog.

Easter Egg Hunts

2011-04-27T16:20:00.003-07:00

There were four easter egg hunts that were scheduled in Sheridan. We did three of them. On Saturday Greg was working until noon, so I stayed up and took LT to Madia and Kendrick Park. When he is outside he is used to being able to run free and go where he wants. Before the egg hunts he had to be held or redirected from going out into the eggs. He was screaming and crying because I wouldn't let him do what he wanted. After a lot of patience on my part, he was allowed to hunt he did a great job and was having a lot of fun.

Madia eggs ages 0-3

Kendrick Eggs 6-9

I misread in the paper and thought that the Kendrick one started at 10 shortly after the Madia one ended. Turns out that the festivities (face painting, jousting, bounce house...) all were opened at 10 but the egg hunt didn't start until 11. I got a good parking spot and didn't want to leave for an hour. It was a miserable hour for both of us. He was given a balloon, but his interest in it was fleeting and he just wanted to be in the creek, the road or in the middle of the eggs.
They said that they stuffed over 18,000 eggs for the event. That's a lot of work.

The only picture I got of LT at the egg hunts. Mostly so I could show Greg how he was acting.

After the egg hunts he crashed.

On Sunday, Greg was able to go with us to the one at Sheridan Manor. Not so long of a wait. There were a lot less kids for the amount of eggs. Greg took pictures while I went around with LT and gathered eggs into his basket and kept him from pulling eggs out of other kids' baskets. He was most interested in grabbing up the real eggs. Which was great so that we didn't have as much candy.
He was so happy and it was an absolutely beautiful day.

Right before the hunt a 8 or 9 year old ran smack into the fence and got a shiner. I guess it gave him some luck because he found one of the golden eggs and got a nice prize. A girl from LT's daycare rubbed his head right before the hunt. She found the golden egg in our age group. At the Westview egg hunt she also won a bike, so it was a great weekend for her.

We hung around for a little bit afterwards. While I was chatting with a coworker, LT was getting his picture taken by several of the residents. If we only go to one next year it will definitely be to one of the assisted living homes. We had the best experience there and I felt the best about being there and letting the residents enjoy watching him hunt for eggs too.

Engine-uity

2011-04-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Muffins

2011-04-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

I really love to use canned pumpkin to bake with. Usually, I just make pumpkin chocolate chips cookies and last time I made delicious bread. This time I used the bread recipe to make muffins. LT loves them enough that he snuck a fresh one while they were cooling and while I was breaking one into pieces onto his tray.

He was pretty funny with it walking around looking like he was biting big chunks off it. He's still only got two teeth mind you.

The recipe I used was from allrecipes.com

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans or muffin tins.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar untili well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes for bread in the preheated oven. 20-25 minutes for muffins. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Song and Dance

2011-04-27T07:50:00.001-07:00

I don't know what he says when he briefly stops dancing, but I'm sure it is not profanity.

So sad

2011-04-22T02:15:00.000-07:00

As LT and I were going for a walk yesterday, I noticed that there was a duck down in the spillway just sitting on the cement with his head under his wing. I thought it was strange and we continued on.

As we were heading home I saw the duck again and that he had moved a little and readjusted himself. Then I noticed that a short distance from him was a lifeless female duck. It appeared that his lifelong partner had perished somehow and was in the flood spillway and he refused to leave her side.

Vacuum

2011-04-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

I'm assuming that this will result in the need for therapy someday, but it was the third time he did it and it was hilarious every time.

Lost and Found

2011-04-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

Almost two weeks ago we had a lost day. It was supposed to be my day off, but we spent it at the doctor's office for LT's check-up, at the cell phone place getting our new stuff set-up, and running a few other errands around town. So I felt like I lost my day off. While going through our day, we lost one of LT's shoes and one of my hubcaps fell off.

A little back story...
Since I had an accident in my Explorer a few years ago, the inside of my passenger side tire gets worn before the rest of it does, so Greg had my tires turned around so the "white wall" was outward. Well, the tire place didn't get my hubcaps back on very tighly and one of them popped off somewhere around town. I didn't notice until we were at the Salvation Army, and by then we had literally been all over Sheridan. Luckily, I checked the others and saw another one that was coming off and was able to kick it back on.

Then we went to the cell place and I didn't notice we were missing a shoe until after we got home. By then, I was not in any frame of mind to go back out into the rain to the store and ask if they had seen it.

The shoe missing its match.

To top it all off, yesterday, while Lukas and I were walking in the glorious sunshine and 60 degree weather (plus wind, but I choose that over snow right now). LT pulled his hat off and dropped it. He's done it before when we've gone on our walks, but I usually hear it hit the ground or see it because it is bright red. I didn't notice it was missing until we were a few blocks from home.

BUT...
This was a good week for finding. I went to the cell place on Tuesday, asked about the shoe, they produced it from under the desk and actually thanked me for coming in to get it.
Yesterday, on our walk we went down to Greg's work and found my hubcap in a pothole, in seemingly good condition. It just had mud caked all over it.
Then when our walk was finished, we backtracked in the car and were able to see LT's bright red hat, immediately. It was lying in a nice, clean and dry gutter. No one had the chance to run over it either, and I did not run over it when I stopped to pick it up too. For which I'm quite impressed.

Hat back where it belongs.

It really made my day to have everything found. Now if I could only uncover some money to cover what I spent for new phones and service last week...just kidding.

Tech World

2011-04-13T01:47:00.000-07:00

When I switched to Verizon and kept my Cellular One number, I never had good reception on my cell phone. On the rare occasion that I did get reception I was getting really strange phone calls for a guy named Vern, and some older sounding lady. Greg and I got sick and tired of being charged for weird premium messages. When I asked them to shut them off, I quit getting any messages with pictures or videos. So we are now with AT&T and brand new numbers and new phones. His is black and mine is white. I'm hooked. I completely understand why they are called Crackberries. It does everything. It is amazing.

I have it set up to run off of my WiFi at home so I don't run up my data usage too high. I'm still trying to figure out which apps I want. Seems like everything (ringtones, wallpaper, apps, music) all cost at least a dollar each. Something I'm not willing to pay for right now. There are quite a few free things that I'm impressed with and enjoying. One of them I tried on the recommendation of a high school friend and I've been completely absorbed into is myfitnesspal. They have a regular free version online too, and everything you enter online is accessible mobile and vice versa.

I plug in what I've eaten, the exercise I've done, and water I've consumed and it tells me my caloric count and nutrition for the day. So it's easy to see when I'm going way over on my sugar and sodium or if I'm not getting enough potassium. If I'm tempted to just graze on my days off, I think about all of the stuff I will have to enter and the big red negative number that will come up when I've gone over my calories for the day.

I mean, I'm still eating a bunch of crap, like take out food. Just now I'm eating the correct portions. The important thing is that I'm more aware of what I'm eating, not just mindlessly throwing it in there.

Easter is Coming

2011-04-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

The chicks are hatching.

Our Usual March Snowstorm

2011-04-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

With it melting as it fell, I measured 5.5 inches. Greg is sure that overall we got 10 inches.

It was perfect snowball/snowman snow, and it fell straight down on top of the rain that started it all.

Getting Back to Monday Projects

2011-03-27T16:16:00.001-07:00

Monday is my day off to run errands and do things around the house. I started by taking my car to the car wash. I don't wash it very often, because I would go up my driveway and get it all muddy again. Everything was fairly dry on Monday, so it has stayed clean for almost a week. It's a pretty good looking car when it's clean. Greg got the pick-up cleaned a few days before, so now I just need to do the inside of both.

Our garden really, really needed some organic material added to it. Kmart had a good deal on Steer Manure/Compost Blend. $1.75 per bag and each bag is a cubic foot. I got ten bags and might have to get some more.

LT got to run around outside a good portion of the day and he loved it. He starts crying and carrying on when I take him in the house. So if he's not constantly eating then he has to be outside. He gained back the weight, plus a little, that he lost when he was sick.

He got to play while I raked the dead plants off of the garden and spread compost. He also got to play while I put together the wagon we got him for his birthday. He was having a good time grabbing tools and giving them to the dogs. Even with that I was able to put it together fairly quick.

On Wednesday, LT got the idea to start climbing up everything. More importantly he's been able to get down. He gets himself in and out of his rocking chair, up to sit on the couch and down to get off, he's even going up and down the deck stairs by himself.

Greg's parents got to come up yesterday and they also got to play outside with him. He walked up the hill to Maggie and she licked his hand like crazy. They all had a good time outside.

Bonk!

2011-03-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

He did it on Saturday. He caught his shoe on the step outside. He'd already gone up and down it a bunch of times, so I just let him wander around. One time and Bonk! He's got a nice scrape on his forehead. This is a couple of days later:

The nice lady at the bank gave him a SpongeBob sticker today. He's still got that cute, happy attitude though.

Sunny Day Tragedy

2011-03-10T16:46:00.003-07:00

We had an extremely nice day again today; melting off most of the snow and making us feel all spring-y. Our thermometer said a little over 60 degrees. But....

We've had to be inside because LT has the most terrible stomach bug. I let him peek out for a bit of fresh air this afternoon. It made him extremely happy.

This is how he has been a lot of the time lately.

We need to stay close to home for the exponential increase in diaper changes. On Wednesday the daycare ladies called and said he had no clothes and no diapers left so they asked if I could just come and get him. They has never seen anything like it before, and usually wouldn't send him home unless he was running a fever or throwing up, but this was the exception.

I took him to the doctor for the second time this week. Luckily, they gave us some ointment for his poor red bum. They suggested soy milk instead of regular milk for now, but after having his first bottle of it thrown up all over me and our bed, we decided that our home is going to be soy-free from now on. Now, he just gets to down as much Pedialyte as he can stand (which is a surprisingly large quantity), until we get culture results back to find out if it is bacterial or viral or other.

I had to call in sick to work with him screaming and crying in the background. It seemed my boss felt bad for me so she said she would get coverage of my shift taken care of.

Poor guy is trying to get a bunch of teeth in on top all at once too.

Thanks goes out to the creators of these two guys and their platypus.

Saving them on the DVR and playing them nearly constantly, has really been smoothing things over with LT and calming him down.

Cheap

2011-03-10T16:21:00.001-07:00

I bought this 3 section hamper over a year ago so that I could use my old laundry hamper for LT's clothes.

The original design had metal support rods and plastic joints attaching them all together. After a few times letting my laundry get a little out of hand, the plastic joints finally broke. Greg went to Home Depot and built this wooden frame to hold it. It looks really good and seems to be holding up better than the metal and plastic.

Hick

2011-03-10T16:02:00.001-07:00

Dad says I'm a hick because I have a piece of straw hanging out of my mouth.

Shhhh....

2011-03-10T15:58:00.001-07:00

We are reading.

We received a stack of books from my friend Lara and from Greg's boss Lori. LT has been much better about not tearing pages, but he got pretty rough with a Pterodactyl so it's no longer in its pop-up book.

Destroy, Build, Destroy

2011-03-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Classic

2011-03-04T04:10:00.003-07:00

I love this picture of him. Even though it isn't an adorable smile, it shows one of his varied facial expressions.

There's our happy smile.

I'm impressed with him at how much he loves letters and brushing his teeth. I got a couple of free kids toothbrushes. He's really good with him. It took a lot of training for him to let me brush his teeth without grabbing at it, then once I'm done I hand it over to him to practice.

We also got these bathtime letters for him. Obviously, I spelled out LT. It's really great that he has no repeating letters in his name so that we only need one set of letters for it. Whenever I point out an "L" in his alphabet book and say, "L is for LT" he gets a huge grin and chuckles. He's getting to the point that all I have to say is "L" and he smiles.

The ladies at daycare report that he loves to play with toys that have the alphabet on them, like the alphabet bus. They said he will pick one and haul it around with him all day. They also report that he doesn't like to take naps because he hates for the other kids to be awake without him. This way he can "tell" them what to do and point at them. I went to pick him up one day and observed him taunting a girl that was placed in time-out. She was loving it. They say he sure runs the show over there, but they all love him too.

Head

2011-03-04T03:58:00.001-07:00

Almost anything light and made of cloth LT wants to put on his head as a hat. It's great when he gets one of Greg's socks and drapes it over his head. This time it was a bib while I was on the phone with my parents. I would assume he's covering up how I butchered his hair.

We handed him his hat and he was having a good time putting it on. Even when I get his winter hat ready to put on him, he grabs it and wants to do it himself.

He is his father's son.

Using his hat to block photos.

Dr. Pepper

2011-03-04T03:48:00.000-07:00

We've gone from Mt. Dew to Dr. Pepper. Dad caught him hauling around this can of Dr. Pepper and attempting to drink out of it.

Dad says I can't open this case of Dr. Pepper because it has a better use right now as a tot footstool. I love the nonverbals in this picture. I wonder what they are thinking.

Dancin'

2011-02-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

His favorite song to dance to is the theme from Phineas and Ferb, by Bowling for Soup.

Cute Videos and Pics

2011-02-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

Baby Tai Chi: Do One Move then run around like usual.

Sledding down the driveway with Dad

Sledding when Dad gets home from work.

"No flash photography please"

"What did I just tell you?"

Being a race car

In warm-ups to go on a walk with Mom

For Hire

2011-01-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

The absolute best boy to have around when the telemarketers are calling. The entire conversation is drowned out by vocals of: "Laaaa, laaaa, laaaa, laaaa" and "yaaaa, yaaa, yaaa, yaaa, yaaa." Causing the one receiving the call to ask repeatedly, "What? what? Where did you say you were calling from?" Then finally to say, "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over my son. Have a good day. Bye."

Hamburger?

2011-01-22T17:35:00.001-07:00

According to LT's food book, this is a hamburger.

30

2011-01-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Greg turned 30 on Sunday. There was no big party and he got socks for his present. His cake wasn't even finished until Monday. We went to breakfast at JB's, had Papa Murphy's for dinner and went to bed early.
Every year I apologize to him for not making his birthday special and every year he says "It's just like any other day."

First Hair Cut

2011-01-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I took a pair of scissors and cut a curl off of the back of his head, but recently the hair right around his crown is growing like crazy. It stands on end quite often and looks pretty crazy.

Today I put the 1/2" attachment on the clippers and went after his hair. I gave him something to play with and he was actually quite well behaved. He looks bald again, but all of that hair in the back doesn't stand up all funny anymore.

If I gathered up all of the hair I cut off it would probably be about the size of a ping pong ball. So not a lot got cut off, but it still made a difference.

Quirks

2011-01-18T15:09:00.003-07:00

LT is getting to have a few personality quirks. He learned a cheesy grin from my friend Amy's three-year-old son. He does it a lot.
Sometimes when there is music playing that has a good beat, he will swing his right hand back and forth. It looks like he is snapping his fingers to the beat. This morning he was pointing one finger, so it looked like he was conducting.
He's our little Happy Feet. If he's not stomping, he's doing a cute little dance.
He absolutely loves for me to read to him. He brings me just about any of his books and screeches if I don't put him in my lap and read the story to him. He's learned what the words "The End" means, because he throws a tantrum until I start reading the story again. More recently, he's been remembering which words are at the end of the book and tries to flip it back to the beginning before I say "The End". He also likes to turn the pages himself.

"The End" face

"The End" Screech

He looks more and more like Greg everyday. He's always saying "Dada" and "Da'doe". Mondays are crazy after having Dad be here all weekend, then he goes back to work and LT doesn't understand yet why Daddy keeps leaving.

Looking like Dad

Watching TV with Dad

Everyone says that he is just the happiest baby. At daycare they say that he just smiles all the time.

Cute pic with a goofy hat

Now that he is able to eat more of the same stuff that we do, he doesn't like to eat in his chair. He would rather steal the food off of my tray. I have gotten to the point where I just put the food that I would have fed him on the edge of my tray. So he's eating his own food anyway.

Caught in the act.

He likes to walk around all day and graze instead of being put in his chair for meals. Leaving little crumbs everywhere of course.
At daycare, they said he likes to go into the room with the best echo and sing.
On a side note: Mom has jinxed NFL teams two weeks in a row, by dressing LT in that team's clothes.

Trying Out The Sled

2011-01-09T17:28:00.001-07:00

LT got this snow sled from Grandma and Grandpa Damm for Christmas. Although the picture on the box shows the little girls with a helmet and protective goggles on, we opted out of the extra safety measures. It snowed 5-6 inches overnight and we got out on the fresh powder while the sun was out and to give Dad a break from all the snow shoveling.

He had a great time. He smiled and laughed the whole time. When his nose got red, then we decided it was time to go inside.

Food Chain

2011-01-09T17:08:00.002-07:00

This is from Mom teaching LT how things are in the animal kingdom.

Out of all of the plastic dinosaurs in his basket, he keeps pullings out these two together. So I'm just showing him how they related when they were alive. When I make the one eat the other, with sound effects, it just makes LT laugh and laugh and laugh.

LT's Haul

2011-01-09T17:03:00.002-07:00

This is LT's haul between Christmas and his birthday.

I don't have included his "First Christmas" Bear, two books, a folding chair or his snow sled. I think he made out amazingly well. Thank you to all those people who really put in a lot of effort to make his birthday and first Christmas special! Now, we just have to find space for it all.

Birthdays

2011-01-09T16:58:00.001-07:00

LT had his 1st birthday celebrated 3 times. Aunt Staci's birthday is on the 23rd, so when we were in Casper he shared a cake with her. He didn't eat any of the cake, but he got the Lightning McQueen and Mater toys off the top.

LT was born on Dawn's birthday (my friend Amy's mom). So on the actual day we went to their house. This was his first experience with cake and ice cream. Chocolate with no bib and on my lap, because I'm silly like that. He loved the ice cream, but he was still recovering from the stomach bug and mostly just played with the cake. Then the next night he shared a birthday party with Grandpa Crook on Grandpa's birthday. I bought him what I thought was a cheap Happy Birthday Balloon. I'm posting about this over a week later and the thing is still floating just as well as ever right here.

He has had a lot of fun with it.

The two birthday boys.

It was way past his bedtime; over three hours past by the the time I put him to bed. He kept coming to me and begging me to let him go to sleep.

I made him a banana-yogurt cake. It actually tasted very good. My 4-year-old nephew Brandon helped me put on the decorations. I think it's pretty cool.

They each got one candle. Here, Uncle Mike is showing Lukas what to do. LT actually looks like he's paying attention.

He had a few bites of cake and a little ice cream, but he was just so tired that I put him to bed.

I just thought this was a funny picture to make public of my younger siblings.

Katelyn and Alex enjoying the party.

LT had quite a few gifts to open as well. I bought him a few Christmas presents and just pulled one out and wrapped it in different paper for his birthday. On Christmas morning I grabbed the wrong one (there was some Christmas paper that was similar). So on his birthday he opened a present that said "To: LT, From: Santa". Whoops.

Brigham City and The Bug

2011-01-03T17:50:00.001-07:00

On Monday my sister invited us to go sledding, by the time we ate our lunch and got to my parents they were finished sledding and Greg did not bring any snow clothes.

So we hung out at Mom and Dad's and talked for a bit. Dad got home and went straight to bed with a stomach bug. After a bit we went back to Mike and Aimee's to get ready for our trip to Utah the next day.

We traveled around Bear Lake and down Logan Canyon to get to Brigham City where my maternal Grandparents live. LT is lucky to have three Great-Grandmas and one Great-Grandpa still alive. My Grandpa Waters is his only Great-Grandpa that's still alive. We got a four-generation picture with them. They look picture perfect.

They still get around great and seem so happy and vibrate. I had never been to the new house they are living in. So we got to take a tour. It's a beautiful house and they really seem to like it.

Then the stomach bug got me. At first I thought it was car sickness. The second time I threw up was in the Maverick parking lot in Afton. On my way to the bathroom my mom offered to take LT, but he needed his diaper changed. Big mistake. Besides there being no Koala Care station, he was bawling because I needed my turn and couldn't hold him. That was terrible. I was puny the next day too. Apparently, around the same time I had it, Mike and Aimee's son had it too. So several people was planning to visit did not get visited because I was not keen on spreading this nasty bug to them.

The worst thing ever is when your child is throwing up all over the place. So when LT got it within an hour of his birth time on his birthday, it was a miserable night. He was crying and Greg picked him up and got a load completely down his front. I hung out with him in the bathroom for a while. When it was his birth time, he seemed to be completely cleaned out and completely exhausted. He just drooped there in my arms while I kissed him and wished him happy birthday. Over the next few days his appetite was very minimal and he would throw up at least once a day. I just had to make sure he wasn't dehydrated. We haphazardly did the BRAT diet, but being away from home we weren't able to completely maintain it. It did help though.

The morning we were set to leave Greg has his turn with the bug too. So I got to drive on the snowpack over Togwotee and through blowing snow the rest of the way to Casper. We really debated about just going all the way home to Sheridan, but when we got back to the Damms, we just warmed Greg up and put him to bed. It seemed to be the best idea for all of us.

Stan Crook Family Reunion

2011-01-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

My brother, Loren, and his family were planning to spend Christmas in Star Valley, so I took the time off so we would overlap a little. This was the first time my entire family has been together with all the spouses and grandchildren. My mother arranged for us to have dinner in the Freedom Church cultural hall and wanted pictures with us all. We had a nice dinner and continually visited with each and of course teased each other. My niece used her nice camera to take pictures of each family, one of all of the kids, grandkids, and ALL of us. It was amazing and my parents were extremely happy to have us all in the same place at the same time for once.

Front Row: Jennifer, Jolene (Mom), Stan (Dad), and Katelyn. Back Row: Me (Ethne) Alex, Mike, Max, Chris, and Loren.

All of us. 23 total:

By the way, Dad once again pulled me aside and thanked me for nicknaming him "Old Guy" and for everyone else calling him that too now.

Trip to SV 2010

2011-01-03T16:56:00.001-07:00

For our trip LT got to switch to a front facing seat. Without it, it would have been a long and arduous drive. Mostly, he did this:

Or stared out the window. I kept telling Greg that we was behaving so well because he has respect for the "Mother"land.

It was pretty neat that we stopped at the Fast Lane in Shoshoni on the anniversary of the day we met there. A little funny that I was changing LT's diaper in the bathroom while Greg was getting us drinks. Who would have known that 6 years later we would be stopping at the same place at about the same time and have advanced so well in our lives.

I took a few more pictures going over Togwotee like I did last time. I decided not to take any Tetons pics to focus on trying to get wildlife pics. We saw a few moose but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.

I was trying to look at everything from LT's perspective and seeing everything for the first time. While they were too far from us to see, there were many elk in the National Elk Refuge outside of Jackson. I got this from the website.

http://www.dariusphotography.com/images/elk/NER5.jpg

They take people out into the middle of the elk on these sleds pulled by the big Clydesdales.
At the Elk Feedground in Alpine when I was younger, I went out into the middle of the elk for a fieldtrip. We got to help feed the elk. It was a really neat experience, so I can see the appeal for people to ride these sleighs in Jackson.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_AuqqJ1uwPj4/R9BRwoVeqrI/AAAAAAAAExY/uAG29ti7DIo/IMG_5805.JPG

We took the truck route through Jackson like my family has done for ages. If you go through the square you have to wait for all the pedestrians.

We got to Hoback and found that they had started work on the old Snake River bridge.

Crane working on the new bridge in Hoback Junction.

This is supposed to be what the new bridge will look like with the round-a-bout instead of the "Y".

http://www.dot.state.wy.us/webdav/site/wydot/shared/Public%20Affairs/News%20releases/Bridge%20Junction%20looking%20east%20small.jpg

This house in Hoback always reminded me of the big globe you see in the commericals for Disney World.

We made it to Mike and Aimee's house fine, then headed over to the church for the family reunion. The weather was surprisingly good and we made it from Casper to Etna in good time.

Christmas

2011-01-03T09:19:00.001-07:00

We spent LT's first Christmas with the Damms. It was a lot of fun and I was really happy with how special his first Christmas was. We arrived Christmas Eve, got up the next morning and opened presents. Greg was helping the others get up by putting Lukas in bed with them. As for opening presents, he wasn't really interested. I would hold him and lift a corner or a side, but he just squirmed out of my arms to go play. Once the paper was off, then it was tons of fun so were the bows. He got a lot of great stuff. I will take a picture later to show his haul from the entire trip.

Grandma reading to LT.

LT in his new rocking chair. He can get out of it himself.

Uncle Andy playing with LT.

Aunt Staci sharing her birthday cake with LT.

The Damms all together.

Our little family.

I'm really glad I was able to get the time off and enjoy a nice Christmas with our family.

Santa Claus

2010-12-19T15:59:00.002-07:00

We went to the Ward Christmas Party this year. LT was held by Santa for a few minutes. Santa asked him if he wanted a little red wagon for Christmas. Well Santa, if you are making a delivery a week late on his birthday, then yes he is getting a red wagon. Good call though. It was an hour past LT's bedtime by the time he got to see Santa. His eyes got pretty wide, like he was a little scared by what was going on, but he just reclined on Santa and sucked his fingers.

My feathers were ruffled while standing in line to see Santa. Our friend Cassandra and her husband Brandon are the Ward Activity Directors. You could tell that they put a lot of hard work into making it a pleasant evening for everyone. It was decorated nicely with good food and some Christmas music playing in the background. I was having a good time meeting people from my ward and receiving many compliments on how cute our son is.

There was one lady in line for Santa that saw the holders for the fake candles were made of glass and so were some vases. She made the comment that "Those are glass. These kids are going to break them." I was like ok. Then a little kid pulled on the cloth that the candles were on and several fell to the floor and broke. This lady extremely loundly and obnoxiously said, "I told you so, I said that these kids were going to break those things, and that glass was going to be everywhere. I told you. I told you."

My friend that put all this hard work into the evening was not far from us. She immediately made all of the children back off from the broken glass. I had no idea if these were some of her personal decorations she brought in, but she was clearly a little disappointed that they were broken. Add the obnoxious lady in front of me and all the stress of organizing the party and she could have easily lost it. I was so impressed with her class and cool head. She kept it together and enjoyed seeing her daughter sit on Santa's lap and ask him for something for Christmas. We made sure to thank her for inviting us and for putting so much work into everything and Greg texted her another thank you the next day.

We hope everyone is able to have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays. As for myself I have chosen to be more aware of the things I say, and not be critical of someone's hard work. To be grateful for all of the time and effort they put into making it nice for others. If I find myself in a situation like that again, try to remedy it before things get broken, even if I was not the one to notice it initially.