Cool giveaways

I saw Give Away Today on Good Things Utah today. They have a ton of great giveaways. Check them out here.

PS I'll do some real posts soon.

Chaetun's Kindergarten Program

Chaetun had his Kindergarten program this week. It was very cute and very well put together. It looked like his teach, Mrs. Kimber, may have had a lot to do with it as I watched her lead the kids. She did a GREAT job!! They sang lots of songs, many of them with sign language. I took one little section out because I thought it was so funny. I wish you could see the whole thing, but I'm sure you all don't want to sit around for the next half hour :)

Xadun's Birthday

We let Xadun decide what he wanted to do for his birthday. He decided he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese since there's now one near by (if you call Layton nearby to Willard). The boys loved it and didn't want to leave. Xadun had a great birthday. He was even so excited that he got the same gifts as his brother (just in different colors). I'm taking advantage of that now because I know as they get older they won't want anything like the other.

Chaetun's Birthday

Chaetun turned 6 this year. He's getting so big! This is the first year we've had a friend party for him. He decided that he wanted to go bowling again for his birthday, so that's what we did. I think everyone had a lot of fun. A couple of the moms told me how excited the boys were when they got home because they got to go "real bowling". I decided to make the cake myself. I realize that the transformer isn't usually sky blue, but I kept trying to make the frosting darker, but it was late, and honestly, I didn't want to try anymore. Regardless, I was pretty proud of the cake considering I'm no Martha in the kitchen.

RSV strikes again

We were almost out of this cold winter season that often brings respiratory illnesses to our home without much more than a cold. But, alas, we couldn't escape. I think all the boys had RSV, their bodies could just deal with it. Kilun's still young lungs couldn't fight it off as well. He started with a nasty cough and I knew it was more than just a cough. I watched him, knowing it would likely develop into wheezing. After 4 or 5 days the wheezing started. Luckily my doctor knows that I know the signs and was able to get me in right away. He got us a nebulizer and told me about the new RSV clinic they're doing this year. They haven't had this for any of the other boys, so it was new. It was really nice! I only took him twice, but it definitely made a difference. Had I known about it earlier in his illness, I'm sure I would have taken him more, but since he was already 4 or 5 days in, he seemed to be on the end of the illness. He's still got snot and a nasty cough, but it's not as bad. He's able to breathe through his nose and the wheezing is gone. I'm grateful for medical advances that can help us through these rough sick seasons!! We couldn't escape the RSV, but at least we were able to treat it pretty quickly!!

This cleaned out the stuff that was right in the nose. There was some powerful, constant sucking so it worked much better than the bulb sucker.

This was like a g-tube that they stuck a little further down into the sinuses to get the thicker stuff. The nurse and I commented that this is something they should send home with all new moms. It would be a lot easier than the bulb!

Getting a nebulizer treatment.

Chaetun & Xadun say...

I've seen lots of people do this and wondered what the boys' responses would be, so we did it today.

Chaetun says...

1. What is something mom always says to you?
"Come read" or the first one "Don't hold Kilun" haha

2. What makes mom happy?
"When we clean up stuff."

3. What makes mom sad?
"When I don't want to be in this family anymore." He told me he wanted a new family once. I cried. It made an impact :)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
"I don't know"

5. What was your mom like as a child?
"having kids" ???

6. How old is your mom?
"29"

7. How tall is your mom?
raises his hand above his head

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
"Help people at the gym"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
"Calls me"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
"doing tricks"

11. What is your mom really good at?
"The drums on Rock Band"

12. What is your mom not very good at?
"Boxing" do you see a Wii trend?

13. What does your mom do for her job?
"The gym"

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
"Taco, when we go to Taco Del Mar"

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
"Helping me"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"I don't know."

17. What do you and your mom do together?
"Play games"

18. How are you and your mom the same?
"Being white on our body" haha

19. How are you and your mom different?
"We have different hair. Yours is brown, mine is gray."

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
"Because you like me to do good things.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
"At a eating place"

22. What was your mom response to most of these questions?
"Some things"

Xadun says...

1. What is something mom always says to you?
"Don't touch your things"

2. What makes mom happy?
"Cleaning up"

3. What makes mom sad?
"Going to the police car at jail" not that I've ever done that haha

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
"I don't know"

5. What was your mom like as a child?
"?"

6. How old is your mom?
"31'

7. How tall is your mom?
raised his hand

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
"like to play with me"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
"be sad"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
shrug shoulders

11. What is your mom really good at?
"Boxing" Apparently he sees things differently than Chaetun

12. What is your mom not very good at?
"Breaking the stool"

13. What does your mom do for his job?
"nothing. Help people

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
"Burger"

15. What makes you proud of your Mom?
"I don't know"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"Mad girl" lol

17. What do you and your mom do together?
"Play"

18. How are you and your mom the same?
"I look like you"

19. How are you and your mom different?
"Exercising" I'm not sure what that one means.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
"Because you like me to be here

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
"A eating place

22. What was your mom's response to most of these questions?
"Nothing"

Spaghetti & Gymnastics

On Friday we made a family night of spaghetti and gymnastics. Chaetun got a form for 6 free tickets to the U of U womens gymnastics. Friday was their last home meet, and Chaetun really wanted to be able to go watch them. We took the boys to the Spaghetti Factory first. I think they all had fun with all the food. Unfortunately we took to long to eat so we missed the first half of the meet, vault and uneven bars. Chaetun was pretty upset by that. We promised that next season we'll come again and we'll eat after :) We wish there was some mens gymnastics around for him to watch, but he was just has happy to watch the girls. I was amazed at how full that events center was. It was just as full for gymnastics as it is for basketball. We had a lot of fun and it was good to do something planned as a family.

Children's Treehouse Museum

Last month Xadun's preschool went on a field trip to the Children's Treehouse Museum in Ogden. This time I went with him since I figured Brekan would have a good time as well. This was the first time I have been there, but we should definitely go back. There was a lot for the kids to do and all of the kids had a great time. Here are some of the pictures I got with my phone. One of the other moms is a photographer, so I'll try to get some better ones from her. I'm also teaching Xadun's teacher how to blog this week, so maybe I'll link there later.

Other Miscellaneous Fun

Last month we had the opportunity to go to the open house for the new Draper Temple. I wanted to get a picture of us in front of the temple, but you never really get to see the outside during the tour, so we just did one in the church after our refreshments. I think the boys really enjoyed going to the temple. Last weekend Chris' parents came home from Washington DC and brought each of the boys bears with the Capital building on it. They think it's a temple and call them the bears with the temple on it. lol

Daddy and Brekan

I came home from grocery shopping yesterday and asked where Brekan was. Chris went looking and found this.

Chaetun's wacky hair for Dr Seuss' Birthday.

Kilun Growing Up

I know I've had other recent posts about Kilun, but he's just changing so much and it's such a fun age. On Valentine's Day my mom got all the boys a bouquet of balloons. Grandma was holding him and brought the balloons down for him. Kilun was loving them. All my boys LOVE balloons. It looks like it continues it down.

Playing in his toy box

Since becoming more interactive Kilun has really started to play more with his brothers. Obviously he can't run with them or anything, but he loves for them to come to him. He really loves Chaetun, though. Every time he sees Chaetun enter the room he makes happy noises. The funniest though is the laughing. No one can get Kilun to laugh like Chaetun. The love between the two is evident and so fun to watch. Here's a little video of it in action. I LOVE baby's first laughs.

Hip Hop Harry

Has anyone heard of Hip Hop Harry? I never had until a couple of days ago. The boys found it on TV and we've watched it hundreds of times since. The only problem is that we've been watching the same one over and over. I'm going to go add it to their DVR so they can watch it on their own tv in the playroom. As you might conclude from the title, Harry is a hip hop dancer as are the kids who hang out with him. It's been pretty funny to watch the boys dance along with them. Hopefully I'll be able to get it on video soon.

Gymnastics

We recently started Chaetun in gymnastics. So far he loves it. He takes at The Peak in Brigham. We chose it because it has all the apparatus' for a full gymnast, both boys and girls. There are about 4 or 5 classes all going at the same time, so they move around a lot. I think at this age, they are just trying to get them used to all the equipment. I hope by the fall, they will be a little bit more hands on in teaching them different things. For now, though, he loves it!

Last week was Parent Pride week and each of the kids got to bring a parent in to the class with them. We stretched with them and then helped them as they went to the different things. I didn't do any gymnastics myself, but I was able to take pictures, so here ya go...

St George

Last weekend we took a little vacay and went down to St George. We met up with the Slaughters and Slaters since they had gone down to relax after Preston got home from his mission. It was a trip filled with a whole lot of nothing. I think the only exciting thing we did off of the condo resort was go to dinner one night with my friend Heather and her family and lunch at In-n-Out. Both were fun, though. Otherwise we spent time at the playground, the pool (I just sat on the side, it was still too cold to swim for me), and playing the Wii. We had a lot of fun haning out with the family! The boys loved playing with the girls and Rhett. We wished they lived closer. I made a slideshow of the few pictures I took (I think this is the first slide show I've ever made), and then, for your viewing entertainment, I have included a couple of videos of our Wii playing.

My Growing Baby

My Kilun is growing up too fast and I don't like it at all. I want him to stay my baby forever. I love this stage!! He's such a good and happy baby. Unless he's tired or hungry, he's always smiling. I love how he loves his brothers. Sometimes they come in the room to talk to me and he will just start laughing at them. Chaetun is so good with him. If he's crying, he'll sit down and talk to him to get him to stop. Chaetun is pretty good at getting Kilun to laugh and does it often. Xadun & Brekan also love Kilun and love to love on him as often as they can. I also love how Kilun loves me. He's really my only child that has constantly been with me. I take him everywhere with me. With the other boys, I had to leave them with a babysitter fairly early on, but now that we own the gym, I get to take him with me. If Kilun is crying, I can pick him up and he'll stop. Conversely, he can be sitting with his dad and if he sees me or hears me come in the room he'll get fussy. I'm sure he's spoiled at this point, but I don't care. I want to take in every moment of this time. It makes me sad that this could be my last baby, so I want to make sure it lasts as long as it can!

Kilun has been hitting some milestones in the last month. He finally started taking a bottle. I only started to try to give him a bottle when he was 4-5 months old. At first he wanted nothing to do with it. I bought a couple of different bottles, but he wouldn't have any of it. I decided to try a different type of formula. When I went to the store I was looking for one without iron in it because I know that must make it taste nasty. It definitely makes it smell nasty! Since all formulas have iron, I setteled on a soy. It worked! He still nurses 90% of the time, but I give him a bottle or two daily. I also finally started him on cereal (I put it off trying to make this time last longer.) He loves cereal and I know we'll have to start baby food soon.

From Growing Kilun

From Growing Kilun

This week he has also been a rolling machine. I can't put him on his back without him rolling over to his belly. It's fun to watch, but he gets so flustered that he doesn't know how to get back to his back. He CAN turn on his back, he has done it since he was 2 or 3 months old, but now he has to remember how to do it. This just means he will be rolling all over and then crawling all too soon :(

From Growing Kilun

Kilun got a bumbo for Christmas. While it's nice for me to be able to put him in whe I need to get something done, it's not really his favorite place. He likes to arch his back to try to get out of it. Just today he fell out twice while I was trying to clean up the kitchen :s Really, a lot of it is just that spoiled thing, and he just wants to be held. He doesn't like to lay down too much anymore and is really working on those stomach muscles to sit himself up. I don't think it will be too long until he can sit up on his own. Another :(

From Growing Kilun

Sorry about the red eye

From Growing Kilun

From Growing Kilun

Just another cute one.

Merry Christmas!

This year at for Christmas we had my mom and grandparents here (of course) and then Chris' parents and brother and his daughter came. We had a house full! The boys loved all of their gifts, especially the Wii.

Family Christmas Party

We had the Family Christmas Party at our church this year. We were very glad it was at ours because there ended up being a huge storm that day, causing a big accident on the freeway. The freeway was shut down causing all those people to be on Hwy 89. It took people 2 hours to get from Willard to Brigham, normally a 15 minute drive. We were happy to just drive across the street!Grandma & Grandpa eating soup with the Wellings and some Nicholas'

The kids got to play take their turn at the pinata

We played the reindeer balloon game. It was pretty funny.
The results
Brekan Reindeer
Chaetun got these head and wrist bands in his White Elephant present. Luckily there were three set so all the boys got them. They loved them as well as the Christmas picture frame with a picture of Grace and Jim in it. They even put the frame up (with the picture of Grace and Jim) in their room on their desk. Nothing is a white elephant to them! They love junk!

*UPDATE*
Here's their picture frame with Grace & Jim's picture proudly displayed on their desk.