1 year older...

William had his first birthday on the 23rd. I can't believe that a year has gone by already. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I had a new born in my arms and he is now nearly walking, which i'm sure he would be if it weren't for this blasted ear infection he has had for over a month now. He has grown so much and is learning so quickly. He has such a cute character that you just have to laugh at and the biggest smile that you can't help but smile at. On Friday he had his one year check up and he is 1st percentile in weight 5th in height and 14th in head circumference. On Saturday we had his party and it was a blast! Thank you for all that was able to come. We had a great turn out and had fun. Though the food was not traditional at all I think it was a hit, at least with the adults, kids don't think too highly of a good healthy salad. ;) William loved his cake. I think he ate about half of it and had a sugar high to prove it. It was great having family here to celebrate William's birth. Though I'm thinking we may have to start doing separate party's for the family's. Having both the Whitehead's and Johnson's together feels slightly awkward. As I'm sure most already know family's seem to just talk amongst their own family so it's hard not to favor one more than the other. Live and learn right? Ha I think I should have learned by now sense I've done 3 party's. I guess I just want to have 1 party and I'm always hoping that they will just intermingle with each other.

On to other things. Shawn is doing great! He is doing well with potty training, though I haven't been brave enough to start with night training yet. He has really made good progress with communication as well. He is learning words like crazy and is starting to just chatter to you. He says sorry to everything if he feels he has done something wrong. He blesses everyone when they sneeze, including himself, and he will give anyone that asks for a hug, a hug, and while giving them a hug, says, "aww, loves." He is the sweets little boy. He is also a 2 1/2 year old so he is still a bit of a monster at times and can be mean but he almost always makes up for it by the end of the day with his sweetness.

Shem is doing well with work and is now trying to get over a nasty cold, sinus infection, and ear inflammation. I'm glad he seems to be getting better. Every time he misses work he finds out just how important and needed he is there though so that makes him feel good.

When it rains...

Been an interesting, stressful, tearful week. On the tenth I had my 23rd birthday. Shem's grandma was also pulled off of life support that day. On the 11th at 2:11 pm she passed away. We have her funeral on Saturday. Today I found out that my grandma Donna is also going to be taken off life support in 2 days. She is giving family 2 days to see her and then she will be taken off of it. I never really got the chance to get to know her. In fact I probably knew Shem's grandma a lot better than I knew my own grandma. She never really took the chance to get to know us. She expected my parents to go out of their way to make sure we knew her even though she came to the state at least once a month but she couldn't take the time to see us but she could to see other family members. I wish I knew her. I wish she had taken the time to get to know me and watch me grow up. I wish she would have remembered my birthday, even remembered my name. She didn't, in my eyes she never really cared. Even though I never knew her it still hurts to see her pass away. Especially with the knowledge that I now I will never get the chance to know her or she to know me and my family. Hardest part for me is seeing my dad loose his mom.

I hope in the next life that I will have the opportunity to get to know her. After fighting cancer for nearly 4 years i'm sure she will be much happier and finally free of her pain.

What a way to start February

With William getting an ear infection and then having a bad reaction to the antibiotic that was given to him. On Wednesday after 2 nights of hardly any sleep and a day and night of fever that wouldn't go below 100 even with Tylenol, we took William in to the doctors to find out he had a double ear infection. Well, Friday I noticed a rash pop up and that didn't seem right so I once again called the doctor up and got yet another appointment for William to have the rash looked at. The PAC we saw, I LOVE, she is awesome, very personal and she worked in a pediatrics office before going to the woman's children's clinic and she is wonderful with kids. She confirmed my suspicion that it was a reaction to the antibiotic. She also said that his right ear is still pretty infected and has fluid behind the ear drum. :( Worst part is is we can't put him on another antibiotic until the darned rash clears up because it would most likely just make the rash worse. She did give us some ear drops to put in but we still have to wait AT LEAST 24 hours before putting them in his ear, and because it was caused from a virus the ear drops wont clear it up they will just help it feel better and stop it from getting worse. So for now all I can do is give him Motrin and Tylenol, and put drops of garlic/tea tree oil I made in his ears. He's not the happiest camper and I really don't blame him. I just really hope the rash clears up quickly so we can get him started on another antibiotic.

Some more exciting news for this month is it's my 23rd birthday in 5 days and William will be turning 1 on the 23rd. :) I'm also planning a Valentine's Day surprise for Shem. He has kind of ruined my last surprises I had for him the past couple years so I warned him not to do anything this year so I can do a surprise for him. :) So he knows there's a surprise but that's it. I'm excited to be doing something for him because he is really stubborn and usually wont let me do anything for him. It's a fight just to get him pants or shirts when he needs them.

2011

It's a new year and there are many wonderful adventures to be had this year. William's 1st birthday is in less than 2 months, Shawn's 3rd birthday is in July, and there will be a big change with Shem and his job. Hopefully the job change will be good. Shem will most likely be going back to school part time and there are several fun things to look forward to this year, though I personally am not looking forward to basically being a single mom, but I know it will be for the better. Looking forward to the new year and memories that will be made.

O Christmas tree

 Every year, except the year we got married, we have went and cut down our own Christmas tree. My family has done it for several years and we have joined them in this tradition. 

This is this years tree. It is around 9 feet tall.

 Shawn in front of the tree. He has a hard time not clowning around for the camera.

 Both our boys in front of the tree.

William in front of the tree. If he was looking at me he wouldn't smile.

Yep it's December

I'm at awe of how fast this year has gone. I can't believe that 9 months ago I was very pregnant and anxiously waiting to me our second son and now that second son is trying to figure out how to walk. He cruises all over pushing his walker and boxes but hasn't gotten the courage to take off on his own yet. He is still pretty unstable though and is already accident prone as is. He doesn't go a week without a goose egg on his head from tipping over and hitting it on something. But he is super cute and loves to tease, hug, and play.
Shawn is growing as well. He has figured out how to say "no" and likes to tell us when he isn't happy about something. I know he seems a little later than most but he is just starting to get serious attitude problems. He was always fairly happy and listened very well before at most he would pout for about a minute and then he would be fine. Now it's the screaming, crying, mouthy little stink. But he usually makes up for it with his cuteness in the end. He always says sorry when he hurts you, he is always giving hugs and kisses to everyone, and he usually says thank you when you give him a treat. He kisses your owes better and usually plays really well with William. Their favorite game is, see who can scream the loudest. (Guess they got that from mom and aunt Angie). It's cute for the first couple minutes but that's about all I can handle. I love how well the interact with each other and William idolizes his older brother already.
Shem is doing well at work. Things are looking up for him and in the very near future there will be a huge change in position and finances for us. I'm thinking that may be when we will try getting pregnant again. I'm so proud of him and all he has accomplished in his life. He is such an amazing man. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or better father for my boys. I love watching him interact with our boys. He loves playing with him and love the attention they get. Bed time is when a lot of playing happens though. But he ends the play with Shawn by reading out of the scriptures or reading talks to him while I go feed William and get him settled down for bed. Once William is older he will be joining in on the reading, bedtime routine as well. It's Shem's and the boys father son time everyday.

William has learned how to walk with the walker and loves it! He also likes to scream as you can tell in the video. 9 months old and showing his stuff.

P.S. Sorry the video is poor it was taken with my phone as that was the closest thing to grab.