Dayton is Crawling

Dayton started crawling last week!! Wow, our baby is getting so big! 

Pictures are worth 1000 words...

We are pretty slow at our updates.  Here is what's been going on resently in picture form.

Dayton and I stayed the night with Blaine in the semi.

This is why I am a worry wart and a stresser...Blaine drives the tractor on by himself and sometimes unloads it by himself too, and then he drives the semi to its destination.  It's best that I NOT see the dangerous things he does for work.

Dayton on Daddy's lap eating his toes.

Dayton eating his toes!!

Dayton's new hat.  This is the only hat he will not take off...go figure only because it's a tractor hat. We got it when we went to the parts store a month ago.

Daddy and Dayton's game.  Daddy growls and Dayton growls back.

Blaine cutting our wheat.  

 

It yielded about 40 bushels to the acre...that is fair.

A visit to see cousin Carson.

Grandma Connie made Dayton this very cute froggy quilt.

Blaine's elk hunt was successful.  He got this one October 9th.

The Hunting Crew...(left to right)

Trevor, Blaine, Dusty, Mitchell, and Jedd.

They did well to have this huge elk shot at 5:00 pm, loaded, in the freezer and home by midnight! Good Job! 

Dayton is 9 months and growing fast as a very cute weed! He does some of the cutest things now. On the 4th weighed 17 lbs and 14 oz and was almost 28 inches. He is in the 15% for his age still on the smaller side. He is so much fun and does some of the funniest and cutest things now. He can sit up all by himself. This last week he finished getting his 2 top teeth in. He scoots and rolls around everywhere! He babbles and gabbers. It is so cute and my favorite thing...he says dadda amongst other things in his little conversations. He gets up on his hands and knees and he even can do downward dog yoga style. We are getting really close to having a crawler. He hums and kind of growls when he is tired, we call it his tired song. He loves kids and wants to get down and play whenever we see them. Our Dayton is such a good little boy. He plays on the floor by himself for several hours at a time and hardly complains. He loves his mommy and daddy and grandmas and grandpas all his aunts, uncles and cousins. We are so privileged to have such a special sweet little boy.
I worked in the potatoes driving truck for nearly 3 weeks. While I was working Mandy watched Dayton and my mom also came and watched him for a week. It was so wonderful to have him in good hands. Yes, it was hard on me but I made it through.

The first snow fall this season October 26th. This is my beautiful view from my front door!

2ooth or teeth

         Dayton is in such a fun stage! I wish I could freeze time for a while. He is discovering so much in the world around him. He can sit up pretty well on his own now with a little help from mom and dad or the pillow. One day I thought he could do it all by him self so I put him down with no support and away I went to the kitchen. I heard a thud, he started to cry and I went running. He hit his head on the wood leg of our couch and I felt so bad. I was afraid that he might have a concussion but I watched him closely the rest of the day. I will not trust his progress as much next time. Dayton is so busy. He is learning fun things his mouth can do, learning to sit up, playing with his toes and keeping his mommy very busy. Dayton got 2 teeth this month. The first cut through Aug. 1st and the second Aug. 14th, exactly 2 weeks apart. His gross motor skills are really beginning to develop and it is just a fun for us to watch him grow as it is for him to discover what he can do.

Dayton officailly has 2 teeth! I can't believe our baby is growing so fast. He even looks older now. I tried to get a picture of the teeth and this is the best he could do.  His tongue is right in the way but they really are there.

 

Dayton's giggle is so contagious!  I snapped this on Aug.13th. Sorry it is kind of wiggly because I am terrible with the camera.

Our Dayton just being himself...

Dayton blowing raspberries. Watch this it is so cute!

Dayton loves to play and splash in the tub!

I since have turned his bath seat around the opposite direction so he doesn't do any damage to the wall.

I like to eat, eat, eat...

Wow Dayton is getting so BIG!! I can't believe he is sitting up in a booster now!

I was feeding him cereal and he sneezed and it went everywhere.

Dayton loves vegetables but he has a hard time with fruits...silly boy.

Dayton is 6 Months!!

          Dayton turned 6 months old this month! Oh, how fast time flies. He weighs 15 lbs 12 oz and is 26 inches long. He has doubled his birth weight and is growing just perfect. He started eating baby fruits and vegetables. He likes his rice cereal when he is not too sleepy to eat it. He is slowly discovering his toes and can sit up with a little help. He still loves toys, baths, tv, chewing on hands and another new love is tractors...go figure! He fights tremendously to take naps and go to bed, Well I guess he is a normal kid.  He hates the vaccum, blowdryer and blender they scare him so I have to hold him when loud noises are around. He officially rolled over from his tummy to his back on the 12th. I put him on his tummy and then turned around to fold some laundry then I turned back around to check on him and he was on his back playing with his toys. I feel bad I missed it but I am sure this is the beginning of a fun stage and it will happen again soon now that he knows how to roll over. He kind of gives kisses now too. We love our little boy. He makes our little family look good! We have a lot of smiles and giggles with him around.

Playing with his easter tractor daddy decided it was time to get acquainted with it!

First ride in the swather!

We are lucky that we can go to work with daddy whenever we want!

He was being so cute watching tv and playing toys this day.  He was smiling alot too so I pulled the camera out to get a picture of him smiling but he was more interested in the camera and stopped smiling to stare at the camera.  But he sure is a cute boy...if I say so myself.

Eating peas and playing with toes!

Happy Father's Day

         Blaine had to work Father's Day morning and by the time Dayton and I got home from church daddy was home!  Hooray!  We went to Malad and celebrated with Blaine's family for the afternoon and evening.  We always have a good time and good food.

Happy Father's Day Blaine/Daddy!!

This is the onesie Dayton wore for Father's Day.

Alicia came to visit that Friday, Saturday and left Sunday morning to be home with Andrew for his first Father's Day.  The onesies and T-shirt below we made for the Blaine and Andrew.

Alicia and I got up Saturday morning and went to Malad to get the supplies needed to make these gifts.  I had iron-on printer paper and so we just needed the shirts.  We told Blaine we were going to yard sales...which is true and that will be another sweet post...but we also needed the shirts.  We got bck to my house later than we thought which pushed Alicia to stay an extra night.  It took us an hour and a half to figure out how to mirror image an object so we could do the iron-on the shirts.  Me the computer dummy searched and finally figured it out...thank goodness.  We were happy to have auntie Alicia and cousin Carson come and visit.  We had a fun night before at our Fancy Nancy ward girls party, sorry no pictures of that I forgot my camera, we had girlie things like necklace making, bow making for the little girls and yummy chocolate fountain with strawberries and chicken salad sandwhiches.

Here are the boys before we dunked their feet in the paint.  Thanks Alicia I couldn't have done it with out you. Carson 2 months Dayton 5 months.

Redneck Mobile

The other day I found a mobile I bought a while ago but I didn't have a way to hang it up so Dayton could look at it. As you all know Blaine works from sun up to way after sun down so I can't always sit around waiting for him to complete my honey dos. I constructed a wreath hanger and I fastened it to his crib with some non-stick drawer liner underneath so it wont fall on him. Now he can look at the cute animals and pretty colors while he lays there! I know pretty REDNECK but at least it works (for now). Once he can reach it I will have to take it down because the entire thing might fall on little Dayton.

Notice the cute John Deere Bumper thanks Becky for letting our "Little Farmer" barrow it from Kimball.

This picture is for Alicia and Andrew they love when he does this.

Too little for a walker still but it is fun to try anything new just to entertain him for even if it is for 20 minutes.

His feet don't touch the floor yet...thank goodness, but he is getting so big.  He is starting to recognize when we leave a room and he is alone. 

Home Sweet Home!!!

         My Birthday was on Friday the 7th.  I spent the day in the car going from Rexburg to Pocatello to take Dayton to his 4 month check up and shots. (Yuck)! He weighs 12 lbs 9 oz. and is 24 1/4 inches.  He is in the 25% for his height and 15% for weight...sorry little guy you are just tall and skinny just like your Daddy. Then from Pocatello I went to Malad hoping to sign our house papers but they weren't ready for us yet.  Then I drove out to Arbon to stay with Blaine and his parents for the weekend...I was going to return to Rexburg and wait to for the word on power...but I ended up staying with them the week which worked out even better.  When I got to Jeff and Irene's after my long day in the car and poor Dayton too, Blaine was still working late, I got a special Birthday dinner that Melanie and Irene made for me! YUMM! It was so thoughtful of them to do that for me and make me feel special.  Then on Sunday it was Mother's Day, my first, although last year I was pregnant on Mother's Day and didn't know yet.  We had a wonderful day with Blaine's family.  My exciting gift was Dayton's first time rolling over from his tummy to his back 3 times!  He timed that just perfect!
             During the week we kept hoping the papers would be ready to sign but we just waited and waited.  FINALLY we heard we were getting power hooked up and turned on Wednesday the 12th and we were able to spend our first night in the house that night. Hooray!!  I didn't have a hard time sleeping at the new house but it was a little bit weird for Blaine. It hit me the next day that 'this is our house ' while I was in the shower and then it was a little weird for me.  But we are very excited to have the big project come to an end. We finished signing the paperwork on Monday the 17th and now we get to start living "Real Life as Adults" paying a mortgage and property taxes. It is all so new to us but we are pretty excited to have a place we can call our own and a new chapter to add to our life.  Blaine and I looked around the house one evening and started taking about the memories we will get to have here with our children and it was really fun taking about it.  We have spent the last week getting everything set up and some what organized (it is an organized mess but nevertheless we are home!) We love having our little family gathered back together in our very own "nest". We got Dayton's crib and room set up last week. It is so nice that he has his own little space for growing and playing.
         We have so much to be grateful for and so many many blessings to count.  We both have such amazing families.  I personally would like to thank our parents for all the love and support they have given us.  I would like to thank them for letting us crash with them for the 2 weeks we had to finalize everything.  We seriously couldn't have done it with out everyones help!!  Melanie and Dusty dropped everything to come help us get packed and move everything out of the other house.  Jeff, Lance, Mitchell, and Brent come over the last night we were in the other house while Blaine was working late and finished getting us moved out just in time for our deadline.  Thanks to Lance, he was covering the trench (he and Blaine dug for the power cable to go through) the morning the power company was here to hook us up.  It had to be buried before they would turn on power and he had it nearly finished before we got here.  mandy has been my secretary, nanny, etc...you name it...thanks.  Family is EVERYTHING!  The older I am getting the more I come to understand our Heavenly Father's plan to be perfect.  Ask me as a teenager if I wanted to be with my family forever and my answer might have been different then the one I have today.  Now I want more than anything for that to happen.  I love to sing Dayton to sleep and one of my favorite songs to sing to him is 'Families can be Together Forever'.  Each time I sing it to him I feel the burning in my heart telling me that it is true. (Yes, we have to do our part in order for that to happen).  I am starting to gain a greater understanding of our Heavenly Fathers' love for me now that I am a parent.  I can only imagine how much love he must have for ALL of His children.  I only have Dayton and I didn't know you could have love like this.  I am grateful to have the knowledge that I do so we can one day be an Eternal Family. 
         We offically had our first visitors.  My parents came and stayed with us Saturday night and on Sunday we went arrowhead hunting.  We have turned that into an annual tradition to have them come out in the spring to go wandering, have a picnic, enjoy nature and we never miss out on letting a tick enjoy a ride on our jakets!  Which Blaine always loves to drive home singing the "Check you for ticks" song!  Dayton had a pretty fun time going along for the ride too although he might have had a little too much sun!
   
         Here are a few pictures and mile markers that have happened in the chaos of the last few weeks some are a little past due but fun to see anyway. 

Power is here!

Cousin Carson 1 month and Dayton 4 months

Friends or Foes?...They will probably be both over time but we hopefully Best Friends.

My younger sister Alicia and her baby came to visit while I was staying at my Mom and Dad's.

The Young Woman and Young Men came to help us move it was such a great help and service.

Dayton's first taste of rice cereal. (May 19th)  He didn't like it very much.  He just spit it out all over me and didn't know what to do with the texture. Oh and our little blue eyed boy is turning BROWN EYED!  Mommy won sorry Daddy for the recessive genes! I guess you will be full of "Crap" just like me too, in Daddy's words!

Ready for church.

Check out the cute mohawk! It's a little tricky to see. 

Out of the Tub at the old house (about a month ago but I forgot to post this cute picture).

So close but still SO FAR....

        Our home made rapid progress a couple of months ago and now we have to wait.  The power is still not connected to the house yet and our septic system is incomplete.  We had to move out of our old home because it was being rented out to someone else.  I know you are thinking, "Who in their right mind would want to live in Holbrook"?  I know I wonder that myself sometimes too but they moved in so that meant we moved out and because of that we have been homeless as of April 29th.  It is a terrible feeling having to move out of our old home and we have a brand new house that we can't even live in yet.  Most likely it will be next week.  Things can easily be moved back by the week(s) when we have to rely on other people to do the work.  Hopefully it will be soon, Dayton, Blaine and I need to get back on a regular routine together as a family.

         Dayton is 4 months old tomorrow.  He is getting so big.  We love him so much.  While we have been "homeless" I have been staying at my mom's house and Blaine will call and check on us to see how we are doing.  I feel so bad that he has to stay back in Arbon (with his parents) and work so hard and miss out on our adorable son growing up...even if it is just for a week.  When he calls and asks how Dayton is doing, it is hard to believe what we use to talk about before we had him.  I am getting more and more remarks about how he is starting to look more like his mommy.  Although, I still look at him and think he is his daddy's boy through and through.  He is totally fascinated with his hands and he is becoming more interested in toys every day.   He giggles and laughs when we raise his arms above him head and say "big boy".  His big eyes sparkle and his smile widens lighting up my day when we do that.  He still loves his binki and still loves his baths kicking and playing vigorously.  His new thing is to hum when I rock him to sleep.  There are new discoveries daily.  He is also starting to teeter to his sides a little more when he is laying on his tummy, that means he will be a mover pretty soon and that gives me more to worry about.  I am grateful he is growing and developing perfectly normal.  There is a whole new side of worry when you are a parent.  But we do love our little boy he is the joy in our lives...and his grandparents too.  

       We are wishing all the moms a Happy Mother's Day on Sunday.

Everything happens at once!

         (I have listed what has been happening then the pictures follow).

         Well the long await for Elder Bird happened. He was suppose to fly in at 1:00 pm but his plane had problems so we had to wait even longer until 4:00 pm.  It's good to have him back! Welcome Home Mitchy!!
         Dayton's first Easter came and left so fast good thing we got pictures for the event.  We gave him his first tractor and the Easter bunny treated him well too with new toys he will soon one day appreciate. (He hasn't figured them out yet).
        Alicia and Andrew got their baby on April 7, 2010. (Exactly 3 months after Dayton was born).  His name is Carson Scott Archibald.  Weighing 8 lbs 8 oz with long BLOND hair. We are happy that after the fever scare and making a visit in the NICU for about 5 days, he was released to go home with his mommy and daddy last Sunday. 
         Dayton's Blessing and Mitchell's homecoming talk were both last sunday. I kept joking about "hitting two 'Birds' with one stone". It was a wonderful day.  It was so nice to have the love and support of all the family members who came the long distance to be here.  We know it is quite a drive to get here so we really appreciate and love you all. (And those who couldn't come...my immediate family we missed were; Shelley, Riley, Scott and Sophie because they live in Colorado.  And for more obvious reasons we missed Alica, Andrew and new little Carson.  (Great) Grandpa Bill also missed because he didn't feel well.  We know you all would have loved to come but we will see you all hopefully soon)!  Oh yeah the day before his blessing, Dayton gave us his first belly laugh. It was so cute.  Luckily Blaine and I were both around for it.  Blaine was singing for Dayton and I was holding him and he laughed pretty loud for his daddy.  He is also cooing for us alot more now that he can focus on us.  He loves to watch us move and walk acound.  He is starting to get a bald spot on the back of his head from looking back and forth.  He is the highlight of our lives. And rightly so!!
         The house is almost ready after a long time out.  The power is about all we are waiting on now.  I went to the house and started to clean all the counters and cupboards in preparation for the move. It will be so nice to finally be settled and relaxed in our new home.

Waiting for Uncle Mitch.

The hole crew waiting.

more waiting

Older brothers waiting.

He's HERE!!

(I was so excited the next pictures are blurry because I was shaking)

Dad's first hug, I missed mom's because she was to quick.

Blaine's hug.

Seeing his friend Levi.

The kids were so happy to see Mitchell again, they followed him all over.

Mitch with mom and dad.

All the boys...except Brandon he was on a business trip.

All the girls.

Mitch with his 9 neices and nephews. He is meeting Emma, Keathen, Paityn and Dayton for the first time.

Welcome Home Buddy!!

(It was snowing coming home from the airport)

Happy Easter Dayton!

Easter Sunday with cousins Madison and Keathen.  We had a fun time getting ALL the family together again for Easter and Confrence.

Dayton's blessing.

He did so good during the blessing, he didn't even cry.  Blaine and I expected him to cry but he did awesome.  Although right after the blessing during the sacrement Blaine was holding him and he had a massive blow out of the front and back.  Good thing for being a crazy over perpared person, I had a extra pair of pants and shirt for him.