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.

Fall pics and Halloween

 We didn't really do any trick or treating this year but we did dress up. I also got some pics of the boys playing in the leaves.

I was a black cat, Shem was (is) a biker, Shawn was superman, and William was a vampire.

Teething...

Both boys are teething at the same time. So it's been a stressful couple weeks around here. I do not recommend having a toddler and infant teething at the same time. It means momma goes to bed with a headache about every night. Shawn is getting is 2 year molars in, so far the top and bottom left and the bottom right have broke through the skin so all we have left is the top right. I think this is also where his double ear infection came from a couple weeks ago. William is working on all 4 of his front teeth. So far the bottom left has broken through and the bottom right isn't far behind. Where his top front teeth will be breaking through is all swollen and he has white bulges. Which means that they will not be far behind. Yep lots of fussing and crying and screaming and yelling and...... Good thing there is something I can give them to help with the pain sense neither one really like cold things, Hyland teething tablets and Motrin have been my crutch to get through this. Though I do try to only give it to them once during the day and at bed time but when it gets bad I have to do something.

I've decided that if I can skip one thing with the whole baby/ toddler stage it would totally be the teething. Nothing else that happens during the teething stage JUST the teething.

A lot on my mind

Lately I have had a lot on my mind about several different subjects. Like what's happening with President Packer and his talk in conference, what I could do to help out finances, kids, next baby, etc. These are just listing a few.

I'm amazed and appalled at how people can demand respect and being treated equal and demand their freedom of speech but then turn around and deny those exact same rights to another group. The church and the members put up with a lot from those that are of different beliefs. We are constantly ridiculed and called names. Some members in other states, and countries are even abused and martyred for following the LDS church. But we keep to ourselves, we don't go around protesting and demanding we be treated equally. We sit back live our lives and every 6 months are taught by our apostles and prophet. Then one apostle of the Lord says one simple phrase that a group doesn't like, which in my opinion if they don't agree with our beliefs they needn't be listening, and it's all over the news, there are protests on our sacred grounds, rude demoralizing letters being sent to our leaders. We are now labeled as racists and hateful people for standing up for our beliefs. But just a few months ago THEY were the ones crying for people to just let them have their beliefs and treat them as equals. THEY demanded people to stop calling them names and be understanding of them then immediately turn around and doing the exact thing to others.

Autn:reference - http://scriptures.lds.org/3_ne/14/5#5

Autn:reference - http://scriptures.lds.org/2_ne/19/17#17

2 Nephi 19:17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for every one of them is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly.

Those with a guilty heart will be the ones that lash out in anger.



Anyway, on another note. We are doing fine financially but i'm always thinking that I should be able to do something more to help. I don't want to give up my  blessing of being home with my kids though so I come up with crazy ideas to do here at home to make a little money. So far none have really worked that well though. But like I said we are fine financial, a little tight but we are not under.

As for my other thoughts with kids and the next baby. Yeah I know I just had a baby in February but hey i'm a planner. Some days I think just my 2 boys will be enough for me but then I get a feeling that there are more spirits waiting to join this family so then I start getting baby hungry, and then I rationalize my hunger and realize that it's just not time yet. I don't know when the next baby will be in the works but it wont be till next February or March. Though I have had some good calm conversations with Shem and we have looked into a home birth and have prayed about it a lot. We are not going into this blindly and with out spiritual guidance. We both feel that that is the way we should go. There's nothing written in stone but it just feels right when everything else we think about gives us an unease and sick feeling. I know there are many family members that don't support such things and would like to tell us of all the dangers of doing such a thing but to be honest we know how we feel and we have prayed about it a lot and to be completely honest know of the risks and dangerous associated with both a home birth and a hospital birth and we don't want to here how stupid we are being for doing what feels right for us and our family. We live with in 10 minutes of a hospital, which by the way would be how long it takes, if not longer to get things ready even if I were in a hospital, and if something goes wrong we can head straight in. We feel very comfortable and at peace with things. The only issue we are running into right now is how to pay for a home birth. Out of pocket it will be around $2,000. When it comes time for #3 we will re-asses things and make sure we truly are making the right decision though. The Lord will bless us with the right path when the time comes. If a home birth is not the right path I have some excellent nurse midwives in mind for a hospital birth.

 

How time flys!

I can't believe we are in October already. Before we know it we will be celebrating William's first birthday! Today William decided he would sit himself up all on his own, it was great watching him do it with such ease. It's like he had been doing it forever. Now he can do about everything but walk!

Shem and I have also set up different blogs. Mine is a business for crocheted items and Shem's his just his thoughts.
 Here are the blog addresses if anyone is interested.
 Crocheted beanies
For those who care what I have to say

Life is too short just to let it fly by like this. Today my goal is to try and enjoy the simple things.

All in one day...

William started crawling up on all fours, pulling himself up into a standing position, and standing un assisted for a few seconds yesterday. Yep yesterday was a busy day for him. About the only thing that didn't happen was having a tooth cut through. I know they aren't far off but for now he is still toothless but has swollen gums about every other day.

William's new challenge

William has figured out a new challenge. Learning to crawl, he has the army crawl down to a T but is having a harder time figuring out the real crawl. Well last night and today he has actually moved while up on all fours. Here is a video of it for your viewing pleasure. He doesn't really crawl on all fours till the very end so you will have to suffer through his cuteness. ;)

That year was quick!

Last year at the beginning of September we bought and moved into our own house! That year went by really quick! Thanks to a wonderful Realtor, Heather Dorious, who was very tenacious, patient, and bubbly. She made the house hunting experience fun, believe it or not, and she was honestly as happy and excited as we were when we got our house. We couldn't have asked for a better Realtor!

Making my own baby food!

I decided that I would make my own baby food rather than buy the jars when I looked at cost of produce vs jars. I thought I would save a little money but I didn't really realize how much.

This is a approximate run down of cost. Making 1 weeks worth of food i've spent about $2.83. Right now the gerber baby food is about $.60, which is the closest to real tasting that i've found, and I would be spending about $6.00 a week buying the jars. Getting the cheap stuff isn't worth the money as baby wont eat it because it's nasty!
SO i am saving $3.17 a week by making my own food. :)

 Banana and Pear ready to freeze

Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, Apples, and Zucchini Squash all frozen.

Apples waiting to become puree.

Bananas and a pear also waiting

I'm thinking of turning a Spaghetti Squash into food as well. :) These are out of our garden.

William eating his breakfast this morning.

Bananas, apple cinnamon, and pears with some mixed cereal.

6 month compare

William is the top left and Shawn is the bottom right.

6 months old

William is half a year old today. *sniff, tear* They grow so fast.

Has it really been 3 years?

To those of you that have been married longer it may not seem like much but to us it has. Tomorrow we are celebrating our 3rd year anniversary. It doesn't seem like it has really been 3 years, though we have 2 boys to prove it has. 3 years ago today I was at the Manti temple receiving my endowment and getting some pre wedding photos taken sense our wedding day was super busy. It was a beautiful experience! I'm so glad to be married to Shem! He has been so good to me! I love him with all my heart! 3 years ago I pledged my heart and soul to him in front of many guests/witnesses and to the Lord in his magnificent house. I remember that day as if it had just happened last week. I'm so glad we both kept ourselves clean and pure and worthy to be sealed together for time and all eternity. The greatest gift we could give each other and our kids was at that moment we said "yes".   I love you so much Shem! You are my life!

Shawn's 2 year appointment

We had Shawn's 2 year appointment last week. He is still measuring 1st percentile but where he has a steady growth and climb they aren't too worried about it. If he stops growing or is still small when he is a little older they "might" start him on growth hormones. I think he will just be a late bloomer like his dad. He is perfectly healthy! He is very smart too. ;) He ended up getting 1 shot and cried until the nurse brought him a sucker. He was great after that! I wish I could remember his measurements but I can't sadly enough. :( I know he wasn't quite 23 pounds and he was around 33 1/2 inches long (i think). I guess we'll wait and see what happens with him. As long as he is healthy I'm fine with that. 

We have a mover!

William has now figured out how to roll from back to front and is rolling around my house. He hasn't quite figured out how to steer just yet but he knows he gets some where by rolling. He is also trying to pull his knees up under him already and is trying to push himself with his feet but he doesn't move his arms too so he ends up face planting it into the floor. :( We believe he is working on getting his teeth in as well.  It's amazing how fast they grow and how much they learn in the first year of their life! He has started belly laughing, rather than just squeaking or snorting because he is trying to hold it back. He is such a smiley boy! He smiles at about anyone that will smile at him or talk to him. I can't believe he is already working on his 6 month of life. :(

Here is a video of his belly laugh. This was right after he was really laughing but he still laughs. Sorry it's blurry it's with my phone and I'm trying to take it and play with him at the same time.

Some pics of the boys

    Shawn got stuck in the box his blocks go in.

It was rather funny watching him figure out how to get out.

He did eventually figure it out though.

Shawn found dad's safety glasses. Anything of dads is the coolest thing ever!

 Shawn also really enjoys his hats. The beenie in the right picture, if you believe it, use to be mine.

We went out shooting and William thought it was too loud.

He looks so cute with his cheekies all squashed!

William in his "cool" shirt.

Both of my boys have to cover their head when they sleep.

I'm always checking on him and he rarely has his nose and mouth

covered with the blanket.

I think his eyes look like the Laws. That may just be me though.

July already!!!

I can't believe it's July already! We have had a busy month already! William had his 4 month check up on the first and is doing well. He is ahead in his hand eye coordination and the dr was really impressed at his strength in his back and legs. He weighed 12 pounds 6ounces, he was 24 1/4 inches long, and his head circumference was between 41 and 42 cm. I didn't catch what it was for sure. Then we had the 4th of July and had a small bbq at my parents house on Saturday and then Sunday we did fireworks here at home. Shawn was fascinated for the first dozen then he was falling asleep in my lap while William sat mesmerized by them and would fuss while Shem was getting some more ready. Saturday we went to the Scottish Festival over in Payson and watch the Scottish games, that was pretty fun. The boys got bored after a bit so we decided to walk around and look at the booths a bit. On Sunday we had the Johnson family reunion. It was really fun. I hardly held William at all. People just passed him around. Then this coming Sunday will be Shawn's second birthday! It's hard to believe my little boy is 2 years old already! Where did the time go. I swear he was just a baby!  I can't believe how fast time goes when you have kids. And to think that next month Shem and I will be celebrating our 3rd year together. Crazy! 

Progress

Yes we have progress in the potty training!!!! I'm so excited! Shawn is now recognizing when he needs to go. He is still having a hard time getting to the potty on time but he is at least recognizing when he needs to go. He is even going poop in the potty as well! It's so fun to see how excited he gets over going to the potty. He is so funny. Every morning when he wakes up and I go in his room to get him the first thing he says to me is "potty." If I ask for a hug I get a "No. Potty" and he proceeds to make his way to the bathroom.

William can now roll to his left or right side when rolling over onto his back and is very close to rolling over from his back to his tummy. He can pick up toys and switch it between his hands as well. He is getting even closer to sitting up on his own and is lifting himself up with his arms while in tummy time and he pulls his knees up underneath him, not at the same time but he will pull his knees up and then switch and lift the front of his body up with his arms. When Shawn started that he was crawling with in a month. We have William's 4 month appointment on Thursday so we will find out how much he has grown then.

I can't believe how fast time has gone. Shawn's 2nd birthday is in a little under 3 weeks and a month later Shem and I will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary.

One year ago today...

We found out we were pregnant again. A little sooner than we had first initially planned but it was exciting none the less. It was my first month off birth control so we weren't expecting anything. In fact we were planning on it taking 2-3 months. lol. I decided to test that day because on the 18th we were heading to Idaho for a family reunion and I was supposed to start my period anytime around the 18th. I felt a little off on The 17th when I woke up so I decided to test just in case so I knew if I needed to prepare for other things if I wasn't pregnant. So I take the test, expecting it to say "not pregnant" and with in a minute it was positive. I was in shock! It was not really expected at all. I then proceeded to think of ways to tell Shem that we were once again pregnant. It was the week before father's day so I wrote on the mirror, "Happy early father's day! I have a present for you!" I then had an arrow pointing down at the positive test. He was excited too, though speechless for a few minutes. It's hard to believe that it's been a year sense then. But the proof is here in my lap. A now nearly 4 month old little boy.

Roller

Yep that's right, we now have a boy that has figured out how to roll from tummy to back. I had him on his little play mat on tummy time for about 10 seconds before he decided he was finished with tummy time and rolled over. He was so proud of himself too. He was wiggling and smiling until he found a toy to play with. 3 months old and now has figured out rolling.

Oh the life of a parent

Well we are working/were working on trying to potty train Shawn and lets just say he has decided he isn't ready yet. He has all the signs of being ready to potty train and even tried to go on the potty once but has decided that wasn't cool even though he got a sucker for trying. We were outside watering the flowers when I sprayed next to his feet to get his attention, he hates getting sprayed with water so it works really well to spray next to him to get his attention, and told him he needs to go pee on the toilet. Next thing I know he is headed into the house, I thought it was him throwing a fit. Well a few minutes later I go in to check on him and find him in the bathroom. He had tried making it to the toilet to go pee but didn't quite make it. He had peed all over his seat, the stool, and my rug. BUT the point was he tried to make it to the bathroom in time to go pee. Well a couple hours later i stick him on the toilet to pee and he actually peed. After that he decided it wasn't very cool and fussed every time he was stuck on the potty and by the end of the night he was screaming like he was being severely punished. He also had 3 accidents, luckily on my wood floor, that I had to clean up. Today I am taking a break and giving him a break from potty training. I just can't handle the screaming he was doing at the end and I don't want him to take peeing on the toilet as a punishment or something.

William is doing great! He is a happy boy for most of the day. The times he isn't happy is either when he has gas or he is on tummy time. This boy still hasn't rolled over yet. Though he can basically sit up on his own he refuses to roll over. Not from tummy to back, not from back to tummy. He will just scream into the blanket until Shawn rolls him over or mom picks him up. He loves to talk and is starting to giggle. Though what makes him giggle changes from hour to hour. He is doing much better with entertaining himself for a bit so I can actually get somethings done around the house. He is a really cute boy and if you want one of his really big grins just change his bum.

Wednesday another day....

that was spent at the doctors. I seriously think we go there at least once a month! The saddest part about that is it's always needed. Between ear infections, well baby check ups, pregnancy's, and now acid reflux I don't think we have missed a month in this entire year. So we found out Wednesday that William has silent reflux and a TON of gas. lol. We knew he was a really gassy baby but didn't realize how bad I guess. But even when I knew that he didn't have gas he would still scream out in pain and then the past week he started spitting up every time I feed him. I think Shawn may have had the same problem when he was a baby because he was really fussy. We just thought that's how HE was. Hopefully my 2 boys can stay healthy now. Shawn has had an ear infection probably every 2-3 months sense he was 6 months old and William has already started his. Other than the stupid ear infections, and now acid reflux for William, my boys are really healthy! William now weighs 10Ibs 12oz. That's 5 pounds exactly from his birth weight. Shawn sadly is still hanging out at around 20Ibs. Not really gaining much but he is really really active and eats almost as much as I do now. He just has a fast metabolism along with not being able to hold still. I don't think my kids have much of a choice in the skinny genes area though. ;)

Please let us stay out of the doctors until July for well baby check ups.  

Just thinking... and a little planning.

Well, lately I have really been thinking about the next baby, no nothing is in the plan for at least another year, but i'm a planner. My first birth was not what I had planned at all or what i thought a birth should be. I love LOVE my son but it just wasn't a pleasant experience to get him here. So with my second I did a lot of research and decided that i was going to go natural. I found a relaxation technique that would work for me and studied it. Not soon after I found out I was pregnant again. I was still not quite sure about a home birth but still had bad feelings towards the hospital, that I would have to go back to due to insurance. But went with a hospital birth. My doctor was supportive and the birth went really well. It was completely natural and most of labor was done at home and my hospital stay for the birth was very short. The only thing I didn't like is that I was basically stuck in the position of pushing on my back, I didn't want that. I also had a longer stay after baby due to loosing a lot of blood. So for the most part it was more my perfect birth. But there is still just something bugging me about a hospital birth, so I have come to the decision that I will be doing a home birth. Yes big step. Am I taking a huge risk? Some would say yes. I personally don't think I am as long as I get a midwife that is licensed, one that can give me the meds to slow down bleeding if that is a problem again, one that will catch a problem when it arises and if it's necessary will have me go to the hospital. But for the most part I think it's about the same, if not safer than laboring at home as long as possible, which is what i would do if I were to do another hospital birth. So I am now in the process of finding the RIGHT midwife and finishing letting the idea of a home birth settle in. I'm really happy and at peace with my decision to do this. It feels right! Like this is what is supposed to happen. So in a year or so we will be trying for another little baby and planning on our first home birth. Lots to plan for and get ready so when the time comes I can just enjoy the pregnancy and birth of a sweet baby. :)

2 months old....

and growing too fast! I can't believe it has been 2 months already. Where did the time go? William had his 2 month check up today and he is doing well! He weighs 9Ibs 4oz, which puts him in the 6th percentile, and he is 21 3/4 inches long, which puts him in the 11th percentile. At his 3 week check up he was in the 1st percentile in both weight and height so he is growing! :) I don't remember his head measurement but i do remember that it was around the 17th percentile. So it's great to see that he is gaining. By Shawn's 2 month check up he was actually declining in the percentiles not rising. He smiles and coos and talks up a storm, or coos up a storm anyway. He can pick his head up and he is grasping things. He got 3 shots today and an oral vaccination. It was funny when they were giving him his oral because once it was gone he screamed at them for more, literally screamed at them. lol. He cried for about 1 minute after his shots and then stopped. He was so good. We ended up leaving the doctors office with Shawn crying because he hit his head. That was a little backwards. William is a nice healthy boy. Other than right now he isn't feeling very well thanks to the shots. :( I know they are needed though. I just hope he gets feeling better soon.

Whitehead Family

We lub each other!

Dad and William

Mom and William

Shawn being cute

Shawn kissing William

Giving Shawn a kiss

Trying to get Shawn to come back for pictures.

I like this one because i feel it has a lot of symbolism in it. The parents trying to call their child that has wondered, back to them. 

Sick....

We made it 6 weeks before William got sick. :( Yep i have sick boys. Shawn came down with a fever yesterday morning and it spiked to over 102 in the afternoon. Usually when Shawn has a fever there is an ear infection involved. So i get a doctors appointment and take him in. The doctor checks him over and can't seem to find anything wrong other than the fever so decided it was viral. I then explained that William had screamed for almost 3 hours straight for no apparent reason and nothing would consul him. So he checked his ears and low and behold William has an ear infection in his right ear. :( So he is on antibiotics to clear it up. The doctor then wants to check Shawn's ears again just in case and found that his right ear drum was red at the top concluding that it was the start of an ear infection. So both of my boys are antibiotics to clear up ear infections. I have to keep William away from Shawn as best i can because of the virus that is causing his fever which by the way is not easy. Shawn has probably had around a half dozen ear infections in his 20 1/2 months of life and William is now starting on the same path BUT much sooner than Shawn. I really hope my boys don't end up with tubes in their ears.

1 month old

William is now 1 month old and has grown so much. He picks his head up, smiles, and coo's.

3 weeks already?!?!?!?!

It has been 3 weeks sense William joined our family. It's hard to believe it has been that long. It seems like i was just pregnant yesterday. We had his 2 week appointment yesterday and he is doing well. He now weighs 6Ibs 8oz and is perfectly healthy. The doctor just kept repeating that he is healthy just small. Shawn was too though so we've decided it must be hereditary. He had his heal poked and milked of blood as well for the PKU test thing. He screamed through most of it and stopped when she got to the last dot. I think he decided the screaming wasn't doing any good so he stopped. I'm just glad he is healthy. :)

3 years....

It has been 3 years from mine and Shem's first date. It's hard to believe that it has been 3 years. For our first date we went out to eat and Subway and then went to institute where we had a very awkward situation happen. The gal that Shem was sort of dating before he started dating me thought that they were exclusive, Shem was going to tell her other wise that night after institute, so rather than me sitting by Shem while we watched "Charley" she sat between Shem and I and was all over Shem's arm. Yes this was our first date and yes we were watching a romance tear jerker movie. But Shem and I continued to text each other through the movie and as soon as it was over Shem took this gal out to the parking lot and let her know that they weren't a couple and he was no longer dating her. Saddest part is she still didn't get it. She still thought he was "cheating" on her with me when we went on our second date that Saturday. Only after we got engaged did she really get the picture that things were over.

It's been a good 3 years!

Family of 4

On February 23rd, 2010 we went from a family of 3 to a family of 4. William Michael Erastus Whitehead came into our family weighing 5 pounds 12 ounces and 20 inches long and a head full of hair. The labor and delivery was amazing! It went smoothly and I was able to go completely natural. No drugs no IV nothing until after he was born. He had the cord wrapped around his neck and chest but screamed as soon as his head came out. It was an amazing birth and i'm still in complete awe of this spirit that has joined our family!