Tyson, Alycia, Brenna and Easton

About Time!!!

2012-01-18T16:09:00.005-07:00

There are smoe of you that are thinkinging I'm crazy, including my wife, but what a beautiful forecast!

-Tyson

We're BACK!!!!

2011-06-28T23:40:00.004-06:00

I hope you realized we were even gone:)

Well, I've finally figured out how to outsmart Blogger and not have to pay to post pictures again - YAY!!! My sister Heidi is such a genius - she said, "just sign in under a new email address and you're good"! Duh!! So we're back and boy do I have a lot to add... again!

Cabin Fever

2011-03-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

Way back at the end of January, we were able to go to our friends (Amy and Ken Johnson) cabin again! We had tons of fun playing - here are about a thousand pictures for you to enjoy:)

Easton didn't seem to excited to wear an awesome vintage snow suit - we LOVED it!

in the crib...

2011-02-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

Easton is a fan of hanging out in Brenna's crib. Brenna likes to hang out in Easton's crib. The funny thing is they are EXACTLY the same. Silly kids.

more for Nana...

2011-02-23T14:09:00.002-07:00

What can you get for just $13.89????

2011-02-08T14:24:00.001-07:00

a DOUBLE JOGGING STROLLER!!!!

I have wanted a double stroller SO BADLY and thanks to my sister Heidi (who got one too) I was able to find out about this INSANE deal. It was brand new on Babies R Us' Ebay page - the price was ENTERED WRONG instead of $129.99 they listed it as $12.99 - OOPS!! But they honored the listed price and now I won't have to wait for Brenna as she pushes her toy stroller with her doll on our walks:) It's not the one I would have gotten if I had paid full price for one, but at this price it was a no brainer!! NOW all we need is some nicer weather!

8 Months in January!

2011-02-08T12:18:00.006-07:00

Easton turned eight months old on January 6th. He was still 22 pounds but he now knows how to wave, give five and clap. He says "Mama" when he's sad or wants to be held. He has his two bottom TEETH, will pull himself up to standing and he can now CRAWL!! Well, he has his own version of crawling - he'll get on all fours, then stretch out on his toes with his arms straight then fling himself forward without moving his legs - it's awesome! He's very glad he figured out how to move forward instead of moving backwards cuz that just made him angry. I'll try to post viedos of it later because I can't get ANY videos to upload right now - does this happen to anyone else on blogger??? Anyway...

These pictures are all of outfits my DAD wore back in the 50's when he was a baby. My brothers and all the grandsons have taken pictures in them - pretty stylish huh?

this yellow one is a new one to the bunch - my Grandma just found it with her stuff - Easton didn't know what to think of it - he thought he looked like a girl (sorry Dad). And it was the HARDEST thing to put on a baby I've ever seen - with all the buttons that thing's NEVER coming off!

By the time I got to his "real" clothes - he had pretty much had it...

I gave him a treat after cuz he endured a lot sweet boy!!

Just Relaxing

2011-02-08T11:16:00.005-07:00

After Christmas - we just kind of hung out around the house - relaxing

Brenna loves this tent - because it has princesses on it - she also thinks it's hilarious to peek out the top

This is one of Brenna's favorite "jammies" combo. These pants can ONLY be worn with a PINK shirt (this shade only - not light pink, she wont go for that) and they HAVE to be worn with THESE SANDALS. It is so funny. Notice the silly bands on her wrists - she got them from Santa and she ALWAYS wears the pink and blue on one and the purple on the other. Don't mess with her and her systems or you'll be sorry :)

also notice the lip gloss in her lap - it's now all over her favorite "jammies combo" and I get to figure out how to get it out!

Danielson Christmas

2011-02-08T10:46:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning, we went to church and my sisters Serena and Heidi & her family went with us. Theresa and her fam came later.

We tried to get some cute pictures of the kids together before they changed out of their church clothes...

didn't happen.

They were much happier in their comfy clothes

We watched Despicable Me and ate way to much food.

I made this tile for Theresa's family with my Silhouette and Scott did a wonderful job displaying it with it's stand...

but the stand works for chocolate as well:)

Hillers had our family and we got this

Thanks! Brenna has watched the movie THOUSANDS of times already!

Nelson Christmas

2011-02-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

Later on Christmas Day, we went down to Tyson's sisters house

We had drawn names and Brenna had Alex - she was SO excited to give him the jammies she picked for him. Brenna would live in jammies all day long every day (oh wait she already does) and thinks everyone else should too.

Easton loved all the access to paper and cardboard...

and all the slobber on his shirt prooved it!

Tyson playing with the camera

Brenna got a princess tent from Grandma and Grandpa - it was a few weeks before she finally let me put it downstairs (but don't worry, it's still set up).

Christmas in July... oh wait, it's February.

2011-02-08T09:53:00.002-07:00

Well, I'm behind on blogging again. I just talked to my Mom on the phone and she said she keeps checking for something new and is sick of seeing pictures of our camera instead of pictures of her grand kids. So I guess I need to get going -Again and since I pretty much do this blog for out of state family - here ya go:).

Here's our tree - cute but I'd have to say not a favorite. We usually cut one down up in the mountains, but this year there was to much snow so we had to settle for one from a lot. We did get a good deal though.

Christmas morning, we just hung around the house in our jammies. I think Easton enjoyed his first Christmas even though he didn't really know what was going on. Brenna was SO fun this year - she really scored because she got everything she wanted and more - plus she thinks all of Easton's toys are hers too.

These cars were some of Easton's all time favorites - he LOVES them and will "drive" them all by himself.

and of course the paper was another favorite

Sadly Brenna will only let him play with like three of these bath toys - all the other ones are closely guarded on her "side" of the tub!

Tyson's contribution to Easton's presents - he really needed some real boy toys.

Brenna is SUCH a Daddy's girl right now - they're best buds

I love her face on this one - we got a HUGE deal on seven princess dolls from Target - she about passed out with joy - and they are all she plays with now!

this is BY FAR the best Christmas picture we've EVER taken - LOVE IT!

SO EXCITED...

2011-01-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

because we got this for Christmas - the Canon Power Shot SX30IS - and we are in love.

We were using this...

I'll miss you because I love how you look and how tiny you are - but I HATE your pictures.

We tried...

2011-01-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

to get a good family picture on our own for Christmas - here's what we ended up with.

Maybe next year will be better.

SEVEN MONTHS!!!

2011-01-05T12:47:00.002-07:00

On December 6th Easton turned 7 months old - and he was 22POUNDS!!! He's just as sweet as can be, SO SO ticklish, and LOVES his sister. He's turned into quite the "mamma's boy" and only wants me most of the time, pretty flattering but it sure makes it hard sometimes. He started saying "DADDA" on his 7month birthday, he is scooting backwards on his tummy and getting really close to crawling! BUT this kid does NOT know how to sleep at night!!!!! He still gets up at least 2 times - on a good night. I guess I'll forgive him since he's so stinkin' cute and cuddly.

AND prunes DO work people!!

Siblings

2011-01-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

I love watching these two play together. Brenna loves to feed snacks to Easton, but I think she really does it so she can sneak a few for herself:)

Rope light...

2011-01-05T12:07:00.002-07:00

The kids had a blast helping put up the Christmas decorations. Brenna was SO excited to find out that we actually had all the wonderful decorations she had been admiring in all the stores we went to. Seriously, she clapped and exclaimed "WOW" or "PRETTY" every time something new was taken out of the boxes. The look on her face was priceless - it was like, "WHY did I not know we had all this stuff??!!" Their favorite decoration, however is this silly rope light that I've had since before I was married. I've only used it once, but I have a feeling it will get used more often now. They played with it for HOURS!

stickers!!!!

2011-01-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

Brenna is currently IN LOVE with stickers - and Band-Aids. She got these foam stickers for her birthday and she is obsessed with putting them all over her body - and I am constantly finding them all over the house, stuck together in globs in her purse or stuck to my socks. This girl makes me laugh!

Friends

2011-01-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

A few days after Thanksgiving, I was able to spend some time with my dear friend Leesa and her family. We grew up together, went to school together - we pretty much did everything together! She moved to New Mexico so we don't get to see each other very often anymore, and this trip I was finally able to meet her new little guy Andrew (who must love me already 'cuz he was born on my birthday).

I "love" how my kids refuse to smile on most pictures nowdays.

These two little guy are only about a month apart. I think Easton outweighs you a little Andrew!

Thanksgiving!

2011-01-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

Boy I'm really behind if I'm just now posting about Thanksgiving! This year we went up to my sister Theresa's house in Logan

Having a 9 year old cut the pies= Awesome!!

He said he would eat the tiny piece in the middle!

Thanks for having us Cooleys!!

Bubbles

2011-01-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

I was making dinner one night and the kids were playing together. The next thing I knew, Brenna had abandoned Easton so he tried to entertain himself by blowing raspberries on the kitchen floor - it was hilarious but I missed most of it on this video and of course, he stopped when he noticed I was there. He was COVERED in spit - so cute!

SONE!!!!

2011-01-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a LITTLE behind on blogging - I've been a bit lazy, so here goes!

Back in November, we finally got some snow and Brenna was just BESIDE herself and couldn't WAIT to get all bundled up and head outside.

Don't worry - she can now say snow correctly:)

this past week...

2010-11-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

Since nothing "really exciting" has happened around here, you get to enjoy some of my favorite pictures and videos of our everyday life from this past week...

All ready for church

If you can interpret what she's saying, please let us know:)

This one is kind of long, but you need to watch the end to see what Brenna does when she gets spit up on her hand:)

Tyson is going to kill me when he sees this on here - I couldn't help it - they look so much alike!

Easton is REALLY enjoying his new car seat - we find him like this all the time - I still need to eat those cheeks!

It has happened...

2010-11-08T13:54:00.001-07:00

She has discovered the world of Princesses. She wants to wear this ALL DAY EVERY DAY and she just can't seem to figure out why we won't let her wear it to church.

Happy Half Birthday!

2010-11-06T16:42:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that half a year has gone so fast! Easton turned 6 months old today and he's still just SO SO sweet. The poor little guy has been fighting colds, fevers and an ear infection for the past couple of weeks. Because of him being sick he STILL isn't sleeping through the night. There were a couple of nights that Tyson and I had to take shifts with him - he would sleep, but insist that we held him the WHOLE time. Other nights, he'll get up almost every hour, but the past few nights, he's only gotten up maybe twice. Needless to say, we're all still pretty tired around here. Brenna was such a good sleeper (she slept 11 hours consistently starting at 3 months) so this is new to us and we REALLY hope it changes for the better soon. He doesn't go in for his 6 month check up until Monday, but as of last Sat. when we took him for his ear - he weighs 20 pounds!!! Brenna was MAYBE that much at 12 months. He's not fat - he's just SOLID! He's started solid foods, but doesn't seem to care for them just yet (he is, however, very interested in food WE eat - none of this baby food stuff for him!) Since we have such a solid child, we had to go out last night and spend more money on ANOTHER car seat. This one should last him until he's 100 pounds - so I think we're set.

He's getting pretty good at sitting and he totally knows how to roll over, he simply chooses not do do it very often. He was in a silly mood this morning, so I thought I'd snap a few pictures, but of course, he decided to stop the smiling when he saw the camera - here are a few good ones. Happy Half Birthday Bud!!

Elmo and the frog...

2010-11-02T23:24:00.008-06:00

Halloween was pretty fun this year - I don't think the kids know why we did what we did, but they had fun anyway:)

Here is Easton's best scared face

Here's a really good cute one:)

Brenna was VERY excited about the whole pumpkin carving idea. She is still very into Elmo, but since she got Finding Nemo for her birthday (and wants to watch it several times everyday) she's also very into Nemo. Tyson printed off a few ideas for her pumpkin and we let her pick. She finally decided on Nemo AND Elmo. So we did Nemo for hers and Elmo for Easton (since he really doesn't care).

she really liked playing with the "guts" but only when they were outside of the pumpkin.

Easton wanted to play with them really bad and tried and tried to get them - he actually succeeded a few times and thanks to my fast catching skills, they didn't end up on the floor.

Of course, Brenna lost interest after the guts were taken out, and Easton got fussy, so Tyson ended up carving all three. He'll tell you he hated doing it, but I know he really liked it. Can you tell which one is his????

And which one is mine??

Sadly, Tyson's died a few days later

Our little frog - I'm SO glad it still fit (it's a size 0-3months and he's currently wearing 9months). It was a tiny bit short, but he didn't mind.

Here he is showing off his awesome sitting skills

Brenna was VERY excited to wear her Elmo costume. But I could NOT get a good picture of her for the life of me. She is so busy, every time I try to take a picture, I get the head turned or the eyes shut, or the "I'm mad because you're making me stop what I'm doing" look. Oh well, she still looked cute.

Of course it was raining that night. Brenna wanted to go out SO bad and we kept telling her we had to wait until the rain stopped, so she sad on the door step and watched until it did.

there was finally a break in the storm, so we decided to walk around the block for Trick-or-Treating.

we found out the little frog had an ear infection earlier that day, but he didn't seem to mind following Elmo around in his stroller.

we ended up being babies and got cold after a few houses and Brenna kept getting freaked out at every house, so we came home early. Don't worry, Brenna thinks she scored big time with the candy and we're letting her think she really did!

What's in her purse you ask???

2010-10-21T13:39:00.000-06:00

Well, as of 1:30 today - it's all of this. My personal favorite is the screw - because you never know when you'll have to fix something. ??

Pretty Pretty...

2010-10-20T14:12:00.002-06:00

Brenna is really into "pretty things" now days - she has to take at least two purses everywhere we go. I LOVE looking in her purses to see what she thinks she needs in them - it makes me laugh so hard! (note, she picked out her own clothes the day these pictures were taken - quite the combo huh?)

Rice Rice Baby...

2010-10-19T10:59:00.000-06:00

We finally gave in and gave Easton rice cereal after church on Sunday. He was pretty mellow about the whole thing - he didn't love it but he didn't hate it either. I think he was disappointed it didn't taste like the popcorn he tried to munch on a few weeks ago...

Chop Chop

2010-10-10T18:07:00.000-06:00

I was DONE with the post baby HANDFULS of HAIR falling out and LITTLE SWEATY HANDS PULLING what didn't fall out, so I did this - a little shorter than I had planned, but it's SO much easier - bye bye ponytails!

5 Months!

2010-10-10T17:59:00.002-06:00

Time is sure flying by around here - Easton turned 5 months old on the 6th! This little boy sure loves to suck on his fists and fingers. We also found out that he likes popcorn - yes we're waiting until he's 6 months for solid foods, but I guess he had different plans because the other night he reached into the popcorn bowl I was holding, grabbed a handful and shoved it into his mouth!! He's sure quick! He also likes popsicles - Brenna likes to share them with him when we're not looking:)

He loves taking baths, and laughing. He's about 18 pounds and we've just had to switch him to size 3 diapers. The crazy thing is Brenna wears size 4's! He's still NOT sleeping through the night - some nights I swear he's up once an hour. I'd love to try letting him "cry it out" but Brenna isn't sleeping well either and she usually wakes up when he does. Yeah, we're a little tired - it's a good thing he's so sweet!

These last two videos are kind of old, but Blogger is just now letting me upload them

Oh DEER!

2010-10-09T16:05:00.000-06:00

The night before we went camping, Tyson and Brenna decided to go to Sam's for some stuff we needed for the trip. A few minutes after they left, I got a call from a pretty shaken Tyson asking me to come get Brenna because they just got hit by a deer! Yes, he said the deer hit them. The crazy thing is they were in the middle of town! He thinks the deer tried to jump over the car - poor thing REALLY overestimated his ability! Tyson's window was open, and he said he instinctly ducked and said he could see feet and antlers out of the corner of his eye. There was glass from the mirror EVERYWHERE! It landed on the floor on the front passenger side. There was also deer hair all over too, and I even found some underneath Easton's car seat base - I'm SO glad they're ok.

My poor car was a little dented, but...

thanks to Tyson and his Dad, about $30 and a little muscle, it now looks pretty good huh?!

A few days later, I asked Brenna what happened to the car, she excitingly went off for a good ten minutes about the deer and how the car now has "owies"! She knows exactly what happened - it's a good thing she thought it was neat!

Camping...

2010-10-09T15:45:00.001-06:00

We went camping last weekend for (probably) the last time of the season...

We're looking forward to next summer already!!!

More birthday fun...

2010-09-28T10:35:00.000-06:00

We celebrated some more at Tyson's parents on Sunday since some of his family weren't able to make it on Thursday.

Her favorite part was taking all the stickers off of this box!

Brenna and Easton had fun hanging out together later that evening - I love it when she wants to hold him and how they laugh together...

and I love how it always ends like this:)

ZOO!!!

2010-09-28T10:22:00.000-06:00

We took the kids to the ZOO last Saturday as part of Brenna's birthday celebration. She loved it! Easton wasn't to impressed.

Brenna's favorites were the giraffes and the tigers. She also really liked the train that we were to cheap to let her ride:)

Brenna went crazy in the gift shop - she wanted to hug everything!

On the ride home, Brenna studied the zoo map - I think she was planning her next trip!

We have a TWO year old!

2010-09-27T18:29:00.002-06:00

Brenna turned TWO on the 23rd! (I don't know why it's called the "terrible two's" it should be called the "terrible 1 1/2's") She's still as sweet as can be, but boy you don't want to get on her bad side or catch her while she's sleepy because BOY DOES THIS KID HAVE A TEMPER!! Yep, the tantrums are still in full force, especially in the nursery at church.

I think the paper they gave me at the Dr.'s office pretty much sums her up. "Is always in motion, tires easily, runs & climbs, may have trouble settling down at bedtime, gets upset and impatient easily, shows anger by crying or striking out, gets frustrated when not understood, wants own way, may assert self by saying "no",goes back to acting like a baby at times, is upset when daily routine changes, has sharp mood changes, likes to imitate others, enjoys playing among, not with, other children, does not share, may not eat well, claims everything is "mine", may scratch, hit, bite, and push other children, cannot be reasoned with much of the time, etc.etc. etc. It really made me laugh because they pretty much described our little Brenna bug.

BUT she's SO much more! She says Thank You ALL the time, she loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses and "bonk heads" with you. Her "Lambie", blanket and pacifier still go everywhere she does (we're trying to work on the pacifier thing). She dances automatically when she hears any music, loves to jump and play with her stuffed animals. She loves to play in the dirt and thankfully she LOVES bubbles and taking baths:) She LOVES Elmo, Curious George, Arthur, Super Why, Word World and Dinosaur Train. She would live on strawberries, grapes, ice, Popsicles, popcorn and candy if we let her! She LOVES her baby Easton. We are SO blessed to be her parents - she's (usually) such a joy to be around. I LOVE how the tiniest things are so exciting to her and seemingly ordinary things can become magical in her big beautiful blue eyes. We sure love her and are so happy she's ours! Happy Birthday Brenna!

We celebrated that night with family and had Elmo cake of course.

This girl LOVES her jammies - so she celebrated by wearing them almost all day:)

Easton wasn't to impressed with the party - he got pretty bored:)

I wanted a cute "mother/daughter" picture - she didn't.

This was after everyone left - I think she had a good day!

Thanks for the gifts everyone! She LOVES them.

Randomness...

2010-09-27T17:02:00.000-06:00

My brother Jesse finally took a break from eating bacon in Arkansas and decided to come visit us to meet Easton - we're sure glad you were able to come!

Brenna does this EVERYDAY - she sure loves her Elmo

Sweet smiley boy

Pasta with Tomato and Almond Pesto (Pesto Alla Trapanese)

2010-09-20T17:52:00.004-06:00

Do you have 3 million extra cherry tomatoes from your garden that you can't seem to use up fast enough??? If you do, you NEED to try this recipe from America's Test Kitchen! It's SO good - easy and fresh - try it tonight! I've even made the pesto without the pasta and put it in the freezer for later:)

1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 1/2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
2 medium garlic cloves (pressed)
2 pepperoncini (hot peppers in vinegar), stemmed, seeded, and minced (similar to the pickled banana peppers)
1 tsp. salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
1 pound pasta, preferably linguine or spaghetti
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra for serving (I've been leaving this out since I can't eat dairy and you can't even tell - seriously)

1. Toast almonds in small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

2. Process cooled almonds, tomatoes, basil, garlic, pepperoncini, salt and red pepper flakes in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. With machine running, slowly drizzle in oil, about 30 seconds.

3. Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to a boil in large pot. Add pasta and i tablespoon salt and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water; drain pasta and transfer back to cooking pot.

4. Add pesto and 1/2 cup Parmesan to cooked pasta, adjusting consistency with reserved pasta cooking water so that pesto coats pasta. (sometimes I have to use all the water, sometimes I don't use any of it). Serve immediately.

4 Months!

2010-09-15T09:43:00.010-06:00

Easton is four months old already!! He is SUCH a good baby and just SO SO sweet.

his stats:
17lbs. 5oz. - 86%
26 inches - 80%
head 17 inches - 70%

Brenna cried more than he did when he got his shots - she's VERY protective of him and she hates doctors! (boy I can't wait until HER 2year apt. in a few weeks!)

I'm still not eating any dairy and he's doing great - the Dr. said I could try to eat something to see how he does, but I don't know if I'm brave enough yet! He's sleeping in his crib now and tricked us and slept through the night three nights in a row - but he's now back to eating about twice a night - c'mon buddy - we're tired!

Brenna has LOVED showing Easton her old exersaucer. He's still trying to figure out if he likes it or not.

Well, if he doesn't - Brenna still does:)

"WHAT??!!! I could be eating solid foods but you're going to make me wait until I'm 6 months old???!!! C'mon I can handle it!!" Sorry Buddy, I don't want to play that game quite yet.

Family Time

2010-09-15T09:27:00.004-06:00

On Labor Day, Tyson, my Dad and Stuart ended up going fishing and "the girls" ended up hanging out at Heidi's old house (that is since then now being rented).

Brenna LOVED all the empty cupboards - she spent quite a bit of time opening all of them and each time she did she'd say "nope" like she just might find something in one of them:)

Our ND friend LaRae came to play too

These three loved being able to see each other again. A few days after they left, the kids and I went over there again to pick some raspberries and Brenna was so sad that they were gone and she searched the whole house just in case they were there saying, "Ete, Katy, areju??" (I Love how she says their names!)

It was a fun and lazy day (and the guys got some fish too - well Tyson and Stuart did - sorry Dad, hope you had fun anyway) - I sure miss that house and the people in it!

Baby Blessing for Mr. Easton

2010-09-14T16:45:00.007-06:00

Sunday May 5th Tyson blessed Easton in church - it was a beautiful blessing and he did such a great job. It was a big day for the little guy and he was sleepy before all the action even started!
This was taken before church - he had a huge diaper blow out and I didn't want to have to dress him in his outfit to early so he fell asleep wrapped in a blanket and squirmed his way out.

We had a nice lunch outside in our backyard after with family and friends - we sure lucked out to have such a beautiful day! (do you like our neighbor's yellow lawn? yeah that's what happens when no one lives there to take care of the grass - Tyson finally gave in and cut down the forest of weeds) and notice all the olives on Stuart's plate - some things never change:)

Thanks Mom for making his cute outfit! He looked so sweet in it but the poor thing did get hit by spit-up a few times - even with a bib! He sure looked nice, but this little boy would rather be naked than have nice clothes on - so we didn't get any good smiley pictures. I'll have to try to get some better ones on a day when he's in a SUPER good mood!

Heaven forbid Brenna had to stop playing for 2 seconds to get a family picture - no smiles here either. Oh well.

Sweet little boy

this Silly Putty is a hit - every time these two are around

Poor Stuart - sorry you were so sleepy - maybe you should have gotten home earlier instead of flirting all night with cute girls!

ahh comfy clothes - so much better!

Easton LOVED Uncle Stuart!!! (notice he's in a different outfit AGAIN - due to spit-up!)

Kahlan and Heidi

Thanks for coming!!!

Surprise!!

2010-09-14T16:25:00.003-06:00

Labor Day weekend was pretty fun here - we Blessed Easton in church that Sunday and almost all of my family was able to be here for it. My sneaky sister Heidi said all along that she probably wouldn't be able to come because plane tickets were to spendy - well, she ended up surprising us and showed up at our door a few days before! I kept joking with her and telling her to send Kahlan by herself 'cuz she's still free, so when they rang the doorbell, it was just her standing there alone then the rest of them jumped out:)

Brenna, Ethan and Kahlan waisted no time "getting to know one another again" and they kissed and hugged eachother all night long.

and played so hard, they simply needed to take a bath

Brenna and Serena trying out my new sling baby carrier

A few days later, my parents and brother Stuart drove here from North Dakota - we met for dinner and Grandma still has the touch with Mr. Easton.

Thanks for the fun surprise Hillers!!!!

Everyday Life...

2010-09-14T16:02:00.005-06:00

Here's a look into what our life lookes like - everyday...

Easton's first morning waking up in his crib:)

it may not look very exciting to other people, but we sure like it:)

WET

2010-08-26T16:19:00.006-06:00

Brenna had fun with water the other night...

She had a blast and was SOAKED!!! The good news is the brown spot in our yard that she was standing in has greened up very nicely:)

Laugh

2010-08-19T10:17:00.002-06:00

Just for fun. The last one's the best - I finally got him laughing for the camera

F-O-U-R

2010-08-18T13:12:00.005-06:00

Four years and counting - I sure love you Tyson!!

The Newest Addition

2010-08-14T20:14:00.003-06:00

It was bound to happen. We needed to add another member to the family. Luckily this one doesn't require diapers. That's right Alycia let me purchase another snowmobile. After having sold my Polaris over a year and a half ago, and having sat out last winter, I was itching to see if the "Sled Budget" would come through this season. I started looking off and on in mid May. I contemplated an Artic Cat M7. Every thing I have heard about them is impressive. I talked a lot to two guys at work who have one. This is the one I was looking at. But I kept wondering if there was any replacement for displacement?

Then on the Friday before the week of the 24th I came across one that shifted my focus. A 2007 Summit Adrenaline 800 by Ski-Doo. See, I had been thinking about one of those sleds for a while. A good friend of mine knows them inside and out. And having ridden his '05, and loving it, I was pretty sure I would be happy on one of them. The problem was that everything I was finding was pretty beat up for the year. This one was different. and '07, same chassi as the '05, but with more power and a better track. The motor only has 300 miles on itand is still under waranty throught December. Long story short I eneded up going up the following week and paid off the guys loan on it and came home with it.

Say Hi to ??????, still trying to figure out a good name for her.

This past month...

2010-08-08T16:18:00.006-06:00

We finally got our computer up and running again. For those of you who haven't heard, Brenna thought it would be fun to have our laptop go for a swim in apple juice. We ended up having to replace the hard drive since laptops don't like to go swimming in apple juice:)

We've been having a fun summer enjoying the air conditioning in our house:) Easton is getting SO big!! He just turned three months old and he's about 15ish pounds. He's such a sweet little guy. I've been avoiding dairy for about a month now and he hasn't had any more blood in his diapers (unless I accidentally eat something with dairy). I can't tell you how much I want ice cream. So far, it hasn't been so bad, but cheese is the hard one - that stuff is in everything!! We're hoping he grows out of it soon:)

Brenna is really into coloring right now - she'll do it for HOURS!

She really likes her swimming suit - but refuses to run through the sprinklers - they are very scary as you know! She would rather play with sticks and dirt.

Here's our garden with the lovely zucchini bush - good thing we only planted one this year!

Easton's eyelashes are longer than my hair!

Sometimes Brenna's crayons go crazy and draw on the walls. Thank goodness for washable crayons!! I make Brenna clean it up - and she loves it!

This is Brenna's favorite - seriously - she wants ice ALL THE TIME! I shred it and she eats it plain and LOVES it. She will even ask for it for breakfast. Silly kid.

Good thing Easton is a tuff little guy - you have to be to live with Brenna. She sure loves kissing on him!

I'm going to eat their cheeks for breakfast tomorrow morning...

YUM!

Easton has to sneak and sit in the Bumbo chair when Brenna's not looking 'cuz she doesn't like it when he steals her chair (even though she hated it it when she was little).

These are Easton's three month pictures - he's SO Sweet - look at his tummy!!

This is our handsome three month old before church this morning. He looks so dang cute, but he hated the outfit and couldn't wait for church to be over to get out of it!

He's a lady killer. See ya!

2 Months and Primary Children's Hospital

2010-07-13T16:26:00.005-06:00

I can't believe Easton is 2 months old already!! He's getting SO big and now weighs 12 lbs. and 9 oz. He's such a happy smiley little guy.

Poor kid has had quite a time the last couple of weeks. On the 4th of July, he started having quite a bit of blood in his messy diapers - enough to totally freak me out! All day Sunday and then all day Monday he had quite a bit, but nothing else seemed to be wrong - he was still his normal smiley self. We were finally able to get him into the Dr. Tuesday the 6th (the day he turned 2 months old).

After checking him, the Dr. was pretty puzzled because normally he would have said he had a Cow's milk protein intolerance, but since he was such a happy baby he wanted to have him have a Meckles Scan just to rule out Meckles Diverticulum. Some babies have a finger like indentation in their small intestine where the umbilical cord was attached and didn't get totally cut off. This indentation is called a Meckles Diverticulum and it can make it's own stomach or even pancreatic fluid that can cause an irritation and in turn cause bleeding. If that's the case, it needs to be surgically removed.

So we set up an appointment at Primary Children's Hospital on the 9th. The poor little guy couldn't eat for four hours before the procedure and BOY WAS HE HUNGRY!!! I think that was actually the worst part for him.

They put an IV in his little hand, inserted some Zantac to keep the stomach fluids contained, then 20 min. later, they added Technetium-99m, a radioactive substance that will pick up any abnormalities during the scan.

Then, he was scanned for 30 minutes - and THANKFULLY nothing showed up!! In the picutre below, the two black boxes on the screen are of his little body. The top one is from the front and the bottom is his back. The two little white areas are his little tummy and his bladder. If there had been anything abnormal, it would have glowed as well.

I was SO proud of him - he did such a good job during the test. It seems crazy to feel proud of a 2 month old, but he really did a great job. And boy was he happy to eat after a five hour starvation:)

On one hand it would have been nice to see a positive so we would know for sure what it was, but on the other hand, we're so thankful he won't have to have surgery. After talking to his Dr., and doing some research online, we've decided to see if it really is the milk intolerance. SO, I have to stop eating dairy to see if it goes away. SO FAR, he hasn't had any blood since I stopped and everything seems to be getting better. It's probably a good thing I'm a milk hater - I really don't know how you could do it otherwise! So, bring on the soy milk - I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get our little guy healthy. Thanks for all the prayers!!!!!

Camping over the 4th

2010-07-13T15:16:00.005-06:00

We went camping for 4 days with Tyson's family over the 4th - yes camping with a baby. All I have to say is that I'm thankful for our trailer and the water it carries because holy cow did Brenna get DIRTY!!!

and YES M&M's DO melt in your hand!

we had a great time, but the kids were sure happy to be home. The first thing Brenna wanted to do when we walked in the door was to take a real bubble bath!

6 Weeks

2010-07-13T15:08:00.003-06:00

Every picture I take of Brenna lately looks like this 'cuz she wants to see the picture.

this is what happens when she helps weed the garden

SUCH a sweet little boy!!

Mom's little helper

2010-07-13T14:51:00.004-06:00

Every once in a while I give Easton a bottle and he doesn't seem to mind the little change of how his food gets into his tummy - he just likes to eat. Brenna is SO good with him and likes to help out when she can. She likes to burp him, give him a pacifyer (and doesn't seem to understand why he wouldn't want it all the time like she does hers), and she likes to try to feed him too. He drank a tiny bit for her and boy was she proud!!! It's so fun to watch them together.

Just Hangin' Out

2010-07-13T14:46:00.003-06:00

These were taken on my birthday so they're a little old. This little guy doesn't like to be by himself, so this is how he spends his time while Brenna takes her bath:)

BYE!

2010-06-17T13:57:00.005-06:00

My sister Heidi and her little family used to live just a mile away from us. But they decided to up and buy a dental practice in Vancouver Washington and move away. It really stinks - I won't be able to drive the stretch of road between our houses ever again because Brenna will think she's going to "Ete's" house. We went over to their house (that's still for sale (see here)) the night before they left to help clean up and say goodbye.

We had a little pizza

did a little yoga

and said our goodbyes :(

We'll miss you around these parts!!! Come back to visit soon! Love ya

Kissable

2010-06-17T13:55:00.000-06:00

I am IN LOVE with these lips!

Messy

2010-06-17T13:51:00.002-06:00

This is what Brenna calls a "meha" or mess. She says it anytime she sees a mess and it's so stinkin' cute.

This is also a mess - it happens every day during her nap:)

One Month!

2010-06-17T13:20:00.006-06:00

It's crazy how fast this first month went! Easton is SUCH a sweet little boy and he's a HUGE snuggler - he's definitely a shoulder boy.

On his one month birthday, we drove up to Logan with my sister Serena to have dinner at my sister Theresa's new house. They moved in the the DAY BEFORE! On the way, we took a little drive and had a picnic by a little stream.

I guess ET was there too :)

Just kidding - it was only Brenna!

Happy One Month Birthday Easton!

Siblings

2010-06-17T13:10:00.003-06:00

I can't believe how big he's getting! It's probably because he EATS ALL THE TIME!! :)

Brenna LOVES her baby - can you get to many kisses? Nope! One of her favorite things to do is point out all the parts of his body - poor kid, good thing he's a tough little guy!

Happy 27th Tyson!!!

2010-06-17T13:00:00.002-06:00

Tyson turned 27 on the 3rd! We celebrated (just the 4 of us) by going to Famous Dave's - great food but the kids didn't think it was very fun. (It was our first time out together with both kids and all I have to say about that is YIKES!!!!)

Somehow I don't have a b-day picture of him with anything but a silly face :)

We celebrated with his family in Bountiful a few days later

Happy Birthday Tyson!!! We sure love you!

"Sleep Eating"

2010-06-10T16:48:00.006-06:00

What's The Bug been up to this past month?? Well, she likes to sneak into the pantry to get snacks, her new favorite word is NO!! and she means it! Her scream has gotten REALLY loud and she's getting to be a pro at using stools to climb on stuff because I can't lift her yet. She's learned how to OPEN the freezer - but somehow forgets how to CLOSE it - for who knows how long!!! She's teething, not sleeping well and thinks popcorn or popsicles are perfectly fine to eat for breakfast.

She plays with her little dishes ALL DAY and loves to leave them ALL OVER the house

She's had quite a tough transition becoming a big sister, for the most part she's still being sweet

AND if you were wondering if you can SLEEP and EAT at THE SAME TIME - you can!!! This is probably the FUNNIEST video I've taken of Brenna - I could watch it all day!

Memorial Day weekend

2010-06-10T16:09:00.005-06:00

Memorial Day weekend was pretty relaxed for us. My Dad came Saturday. On Sunday, all my family (except for us who stayed home with baby) got to see Serena's first TV performance with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Music and the Spoken Word. Then we all hung out at Serena's house afterward. She has an awesome backyard my a stream and the kids had fun playing together outside. To bad her house sold - good thing we all got to see it one last time:)

Brenna was so stinkin' cute that day!!!

Mom and Dad wanted to get a picture with all their grandchildren - it was pretty funny to try to get all eight kids happy - Serena ended up throwing candy on the couch - haha!

Pretty little bug

Later that day then all day Monday, we were at Crystal Hot Springs hanging out with Tyson's family while they camped there. Why don't I have any pictures from there???!!! Hmm...

Dad comes to visit

2010-06-10T15:57:00.003-06:00

My dad was able to fly out here from North Dakota Memorial Day weekend!! I'm SO happy he was able to get away and come to meet Easton and to see everyone 'cuz he's so busy with their store. I'm also glad he got to drive home with Mom so she wouldn't have to do it by herself! Thanks SO MUCH Mom for the help you were to us while you were here!!!!

T-I-R-E-D

2010-06-10T15:42:00.004-06:00

All of us are lacking in the sleep department (well except for Easton) and it shows!!

Baby Shower

2010-06-10T15:24:00.005-06:00

My sister's threw me a baby shower on May 22! I wasn't expecting one but they wanted to since my Mom was here so I let them:) It was pretty last minute - so if you didn't get an invite, I'm REALLY sorry. It ended up being tons of people from ND and some old college roomies I haven't gotten to see for a while, so it was pretty fun.

Here are Brenna and my sister Theresa's little girl Kiera - they're looking at me like they were doing something wrong and got caught:)

Poor Brenna had a pretty high fever that day and did not feel well at all - sorry everyone who had to listen to her scream. I feel so bad for her - I can't pick her up because of the c-section and she's trying to deal with that, a new baby taking the attention away from her and being sick - poor girl. She's been pretty ornery with Tyson and me (she NEVER said the word NO before he was born, and now it comes out of her mouth every other word), but she has been SO GOOD to Easton and loves him to pieces.

Amy Tenney got to come! She's an old college roommate and I haven't gotten to see her since I got married - thanks for coming Amy!

Me, Brenna, Lisa and Amy - we were roommates off and on since 1996!

My childhood friend Amy pampered all of us - mani's and pedi's for everyone!!!

it was a HUGE HIT with all the toddlers - sorry about your table Heidi!

Thanks for coming everyone!!!!!!!

Random

2010-06-10T14:08:00.002-06:00

"I'm watching you"

This is my nephew Ethan the first time he met Easton - He's in LOVE!!

Here's Ethan's sister Kahlan - she loves to steal his pacifier:)

He lost his pants

she fits perfectly!

RV Pad

2010-06-09T13:32:00.006-06:00

We've been wanting to put an RV pad in ever since we move here and especially since we got the trailer - and it finally happened!!! Thanks to Tyson's work connections, we were able to get it done for a pretty cheap price. Tyson and his co-worker Shane did all the work and transported everything so it really helped with the cost.

this part made Brenna cry :)

Tyson's Dad put in the landscape border for the little flowerbed we left in the corner. THANKS!! It looks great!

this is what the kids did while their Dad worked and Mom walked around like a gimp

Finished!

Bath Time

2010-06-09T10:46:00.003-06:00

I was a chicken for Easton's first sponge bath (I didn't have to give any to Brenna cuz she was still in the hospital when her cord fell off) so I made my mom do it while I took pictures:) This kid HATES baths and HATES having his diaper changed.

Fuzzy hair

Brenna on the other hand LOVES baths and would take several in one day if we let her:)

All clean

Hanging out at home

2010-06-09T09:48:00.005-06:00

I love all his peach fuzz

Brenna loves to push all the buttons on the bassinet - I think we'll be going through a lot of batteries.

Yes we're aware of the Easton brand name - sorry we did not name him after a arrow, baseball bat or a hockey stick - it's just a cool name:)

funny face

this outfit is already to small!

I love this picture - "Whatchu talkin' about Willis?"

He'll sleep for 4 or 5 hour stretches at night when he wears this hat

camo for Dad

Catching Up - from the hospital to home

2010-06-07T15:25:00.010-06:00

We're finally back!! Yeah, that whole virus thing was SUCH a pain and it still makes me mad when I think about it. Anyway, I thought I'd finally try to catch up with what's been going on around here. Sorry for all the pictures, but it's for the out of state family:)

This was me the night before Easton was born - I really didn't think I was that big but this picture makes me look HUGE!

Right before we went in for the c-section. Gotta love the outfits.

The c-section went really fast - we went in around 7:40, he was born at 8:02, and I was all stitched up and out of there by 8:30. To bad the recovery isn't that fast!

Easton's first picture and our first look at him:)

Proud Dad:)

It was about an hour before they let him come see me. I guess he looked a little blue around his mouth and he had swallowed a bit of fluid right before he came out so they decided to watch him a little closer. While I was waiting, I was SO HOT!!! Seriously, I was SO sweaty BUT when the nurses would take my temp., I was like 93 degrees. The same thing happened after I had Brenna. So they made me wrap up in a "bear hug" blanket (heated with water) for a few hours until my temp decided to return back to normal. They have no idea why it happens - yet another weird thing my body does I guess:)

Our first meeting:)

This kid HATES baths!

BUT, he loves getting his hair washed!

My Mom and Easton - she got to stay for three weeks to help out!! It was SO good to have here here. Thanks Mom!!!

Brenna meeting her little brother - she would kiss this little guy all day if we let her.

Our first picture as a family of four

Easton and his puffy mom

Sweet Sweet boy

All ready to go home - man I already looked tired:) I'll blame it on the drugs! I only had to stay in the hospital for 2 1/2 days (with Brenna I was in for 5 and she was there for almost three weeks) it was SO wonderful to be able to leave with him. This delivery was SO much easier than the first time around. I don't know if it was because I knew what to expect or because everything went so smoothly, but it was definitaly more stress free:)

Easton relaxing at home.

Brenna is always showing us the parts of his face - her favorite is poking his eyes

Tyson thought Brenna needed a big sister gift - so here's her new fish. She's decided to name him "fish" - how fitting right? :)

A 2 terabyte hard drive later

2010-05-26T22:57:00.003-06:00

Well, it took a total dump and reformat of the hard drive, but the computer is back up and running. Plus we now have a 2 terabyte external hard rive. Muy Bien Excelente!

Virus

2010-05-10T11:47:00.001-06:00

So our computer now has a virus. It might be a bit before this gets updated.

A couple more

2010-05-07T19:38:00.002-06:00

Easton Rocco Nelson

2010-05-06T21:53:00.005-06:00

We want to share the good news on the seemingly uneventful arrival of our boy. He was born on May 6th, at 8:02 AM. He weighs 7 lbs. 14 oz. and is 20.5 inches long. He has a blond hair and is adored by his older sister. We'll post more later.

6th

2010-05-04T07:06:00.002-06:00

My Dr. called me yesterday and asked if we could change the date to the 6th because she was having a hard time finding someone to assist her on the 7th. HMMM tough one - do I go in a day early or try to schedule something later... yeah we agreed to go in on the 6th:) Friday would have worked out better for Tyson and his work, but since when were babies convenient with their timing?? So baby boy will be here a day earlier!!

One week left!!!

2010-04-30T14:00:00.003-06:00

I made it to "full term"!!!! The baby is looking great. Since this was my last appointment, Brenna came with me today (since Dr. F. hints that she likes to see the kids she's delivered) and did fine until I had to lay down. I ended up having to hold her on my chest the whole time. It was so funny, she kept softly patting my belly and kept putting her finger in my belly button. She frowned at Dr. Fillerup the whole time. She's figured out the whole "Dr's office" thing and how you usually get shots while you're there. Good thing I had her protecting me today - no shots for me:) haha

I'm measuring right on and the heart beat sounded great - so it's set - we'll have this baby in ONE WEEK!!!!!!!! It's a good thing 'cuz I'm SO ready to be done with maternity pants!!!!
AND I think we might even have a name picked out this time - right Tyson???? :)

This kid needs a sandbox!

2010-04-26T14:18:00.002-06:00

My poor flowerbed!

Good bye beard!!

2010-04-26T14:10:00.002-06:00

So a few months ago, much to my dismay, Tyson decided to grow out a beard. I've been trying to convince him that he looks better without it for weeks. The other day, he finally got rid of it because he "didn't want silly tan lines" and thought it would be "to hot for the summer". YAY!!!!!!!!!!!. Brenna's sad - she loved to play with it. Don't worry, he still has his goatee:)

Outside!

2010-04-26T13:59:00.002-06:00

We've been enjoying the nice weather - this kid LOVES to be outside. This is her new favorite place to sit. (I was trying to get her to smile and she wouldn't do it - this is what I got when I said, "show me your teeth.")

I got these shades for 75 cents. They look silly, but she loves them and she really lives up to her nickname "the bug" when she has them on :)

I put her to work weeding the flower bed - hey, I can't bend over anymore to do it myself!

she still loves to eat ice and here she is after steeling some out of Tyson's water.

This kid LOVES dirt - and she LOVES her dad. She follows him everywhere:)

Yum!

2010-04-26T13:56:00.003-06:00