This is what a perfect Sunday looks like.....

The view from my back door. Photos taken only minutes apart. They had eaten until their bellies were full.
To me, this is happiness.

Nursing.Sucks.

Did I mention how much nursing sucks? So when I had Madi she had absolutely zero interest in nursing and so we ended up just feeding her formula. That ended up being a better route for us since I still work full time and all. This time around Bryon and I thought we would try the nursing route to try to keep costs down since we learned last time that formula is incredibly expensive, especially when you have to feed specialized formula. So in the Hospital we gave it a go and Eastyn seemed to pick it up ok and we were excited to see that it was going to actually work. I was diligent in making sure E ate every 3-4 hours but I thought it sucked that he was nursing for an hour each time. It seemed like that was all we were doing! He was so small and frail and he just never really looked like he was growing. We took him in to his 2 week check up and our pediatrician about freaked out when he hit the scales at 6 lbs 11 oz. We didn't know why he had dropped SO much weight. Hopefully this isn't too much information but apparently I wasn't making milk. Since I never nursed Madi I had no idea that I didn't have milk come in. He was getting a little bit of something but obviously he wasn't getting fed. Bryon and I were devistated as you can imagine! Here we are 2 weeks later finding out that our son hadn't been fed for that whole time. We imediately got him on some fatty formula and 2 days later he weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz. - luckily the formula is working. Looking back there were so many signs that we should have picked up on, but we just didn't know! This is weighing down on my heart pretty darn hard! My poor son. If we learned anything though, it is how resilient this little guy is! He hardly fussed at all especially considering he was literally starving to death! I guess we have started him off as one tough little cookie! So, watch out world ~ He's here!

Hello World....

On March 18, 2010 at 8:15 am Eastyn Grant joined our little family. He weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long. He was a little bit early but not nearly as big as we were expecting. In our Doctor's own words, genetically, Bryon and I make large babies..... We were expecting another almost 9 pound baby and were shocked to see how little this one was. I delivered at the new hospital and the help there was sub-par to say the least. One of Bryon's best friends wife delivered a week before I did at the same hospital and they went on and on about how great their nurses were and all the swag they picked up on the last day of their visit. I didn't even get a water bottle. Seriously??? I would hope we weren't so awful to take care of that they all hated us. I sincerely can't imagine that being the case. I mean look at us, we are both so easy going..... Ü We were told several times that we had the new nurses so I am sure that was the problem, but it still sucks to wait 30 minutes after you call for a nurse and miss out on free stuff when all this baby crap gets SO expensive!!! Have I complained enough yet? Well, unfortunately I am just getting started. My pregnancy this time around was pretty easy if I do say so myself. I never had morning sickness, I didn't start swelling up until the last month or so. The delivery itself was fine.

We were at the hospital at 6:00 am for my C-section and all went smooth. However, I have had more complications with this one that I thought were possible. I have had an embedded and twisted staple that had to be removed by my doctor, susequently a re-opened incision, an infection in said open incision and a pinched nerve in my incision. Seriously? What wrong have I done in my life to jusify all of this? I seriously wish I knew.... It sucks! But, at the end of the day when all is said and done I have a beautiful baby boy to show for all of this!

He is such a little angel! We love him so much and get such a kick out of how much Madi loves him too.

She has been such a great helper with him and tells him how much she loves him all the time. We don't have a ton of pictures of him...yet. But I promise to get some good pictures and get the posted ASAP. Welcome to the world Little One!

Bryon's Christmas Miracle...

How was that for a title? It didn't so much happen on Christmas and it really wasn't so much a miracle as it was a heart-breaking story of a boys love for his best buddy and the little pup with some big paw prints to fill. On November 3rd 2009 Bryon experienced a loss of epic proportions. His favorite hunting partner, Buddy went missing. We have only lived in our new house for about 5 months but the dogs have a great sense of direction and home that when they occasionally felt the need to make a break from the fenced in yard it wasn't long before they found their way back. Talon, my old lab is notorious for making a break for it at any opportunity given. Buddy was a follower and just wanted to run. Anytime Talon got out you knew Buddy was right behind him. On November 3rd, we were going to be out all day and completely spaced securing Talon in the back yard. When we came home neither Talon nor Buddy were anywhere to be seen. At first we didn't panic because we knew where they usually ran off to so we got in the truck and went looking. When we didn't see them we still tried not to panic because there are a lot of big open fields they play in and we hoped they were just on their way home. The next morning there was still no sign of the dogs. As I was packing up Madi in the car I saw a very weak and trembling old Talon dog making his way around the front of the house. He looked horrible! I immediately ran to the side of the house to get Buddy but he wasn't there. My heart sank! I knew that wasn't a good sign. We didn't know what happened to Talon but whatever it was didn't play out so favorably for Buddy. That afternoon Bryon ran into our horse shoer who was in the area checking on some horses that had been attacked by what they thought was a cougar. The horses just so happened to be in a pasture really close to our house. We don't want to even verbalize what one would deduce as the reason our poor dog didn't come home that day. We hold out hope that someone has him. We have posted on KSL for him and we check the shelters regularly, but still no sign of Buddy. Bryon was having a really hard time with the loss of his dog and even Madi would talk about Buddy on a daily basis. I decided that it was time for Bryon to get a new puppy to help him get over his loss. I know Sadie won't replace Buddy and that we will always be reminded of Buddy and miss him everyday, but hopefully Sadie will help heal our hearts and help us to move on. I had really hoped to surprise Bryon on Christmas but I thought it would be better if he picked his own dog out. On Thanksgiving weekend we found some puppies that we thought would be a great fit. We went and picked Sadie out and have enjoyed her ever since.
Here are a few pics of Buddy, the man, the myth, the legend.... and here are some of the pictures we have of the new addition....

Christmas Eve Jammers

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents house for the annual Christmas Eve dinner and Chime Fest. That's right, my mom has a set of chimes and she makes us all play songs. Can I just state for the record that we suck??? It gets frustrating but I think that is when it gets fun. Inevitable there is always one important chime that doesn't get handed out and it ruins the whole song. There is always some one that needs to "tune" their chime constantly. Oh for you non-family members to be a fly on the wall. I'm sure we are pure comedy gold to the outside eye. This year we didn't stay too late. We knew Santa was going to be coming and we wanted to make sure we were home and in bed in time. Most people that we know have a little tradition of giving their kids new jammies to wear on Christmas Eve. We have never done this before but thought it was a great tradition to start. When we got home we found the present marked for Christmas Eve and let Madi go to town. We were worried she was going to be mean when she opened it and found it wasn't a toy but rather new Jammers to sleep in, but we were pleasantly surprised when she opened them up and loved them immediately. Here is the magic as it unfolded.....It took her a minute to decide if she wanted to open it. Dad had to get her started.....
Ah, here we go, now she started to tear in to it! (nice socks B)Now she was back to being silly and opening a little bit at a time. Heaven forbid she put down her doll and use two hands to open it!
Not quite sure if she should be happy about jammers......
Inspection time... jury is still out on excitement level to be shown......
Ahhh, there it is. The excitement you hope to see on something as un-fun as Jammies.

Red Ginger House

So the Holidays have come and gone and they went WAY too fast if you ask me!!! We weren't sure how Madi was going to like Christmas, Santa, etc. At the beginning of December we had a family party with Bryon's side and they had a surprise visitor. I thought for sure Madi would refuse to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wanted. I didn't even know if she KNEW what she wanted. As soon as Santa and Mrs. Claus walked in, Madi ran up to Santa and shouted that she wanted a train set! Ok, so we all knew Madi had no chance at being a girly-girl with us as her parents, but even I was caught off-guard at her request. Oh well, they make girly trains now days. So after that party we knew Madi was going to be some-what fun for the holiday. A few days later, when we were at "the local Walmart" we saw some gingerbread house kits. We thought it would be fun to get one and let Madi go to town! Little did we know how obsessed she would get over that thing. We wanted it to be a family activity and with Bryon's crazy work schedule, there sat the box on the counter as a torturous reminder to Madi what fun she had yet to behold! Every day she would ask me if we could make the "Red Ginger House". Day after day I kept breaking her wee little heart. Until one early Saturday morning when Daddy was actually home. FINALLY!!! We all got up early (as can be seen in the photos, it was maybe too early) and we began. Daddy and I helped frost the roof and Madi went to town with the decorations. I think she might have a hint of OCD going on or something. Notice how she decorates......She was color coordinating the decorations and lining them up according to type of candy. Who is this kid????Ta da!!! All done! Madi was SO proud of her house. It is still up in our front room as we speak. I am not sure I have the heart to throw away her work of art! I keep thinking the puppy will get into it and I can blame it on her, alas, the only good thing the puppy does is stay out of food and treats on the end tables. Stinkin' dog! She's a whole nother post all together though. (be sure to tell Bryon how much you appreciated his pillow hair in the photos)!

An Evening with the Hales.....

The Hales and us have been trying to work out a dinner/bowling night for quite a while now. We hadn't been able to make it happen for various reasons but we finally accomplished our task a few weeks ago. We started off the evening at Texas Roadhouse. Delish!!!

Here is Kevin and Tenille...Bryon, Madster and I....After dinner we were off to Shepard's All-Star. Check out Madi's tiny bowling shoes. So precious!Be warned the rest of this post is incredibly picture heavy!
Madi started us off... In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea. She had a hard time grasping the concept of taking turns. So she pouted! After a stern talking to in the arcade room (not very effective, here's a bit of advise, if you are disciplining a child, try not to do it in a room full of games and blinking lights!) She finally settled down enough to let us all play. She managed to entertain herself. Here she is singing and dancing all in her own little world. Can ya tell I like to take pictures of my cute kiddo?

We all took our turns....I swear we ALL took turns. I just mostly took pictures of Madi's turn. It was just too cute.

we played 3 grueling games of heated bowling. You can't tell who is who really because of the "funny" bowling names. Lets just say even Madi beat me.... We took a few pics just at random. Here is Kevin and Tenille....Tenille and Madi posed, sort of. Madi may or may not be acting like a brat in the picture. I don't really remember.
Here too....As the night wound down, Madi started getting bored and wanted to color. She also found the fan on the ball return. She liked how it felt on her face. We MUST do this again! Soon!