Jackson at 5

Wow! I can hardly believe that Jackson has turned 5 years old. It literally seems like just yesterday that he was a little toddler busying himself around the house all day long. Here are some of the things that he has learned to do at 5...he dresses himself(totally- even chooses his own clothes), brushes his teeth, puts his shoes and socks on, picks up his room, helps set the table, puts away laundry, rides his two wheel bike, drives his 4 wheeler by himself, does front flips and bumsies on the tramp, skiis without an edgie wedgie, goes to preschool, knows all of letters by site and their sound and he can also write them, can count to 100, plays soccer, cand do a headstand, can bat the ball from a pitcher, rides his scooter, gets himself a drink, showers himself, chooses healthy snacks from the pantry, uses pens pencils and markers responsibly, can cut with scissors in a straight line on a line... I know this isn't everything but I think it is a pretty big list and I am so proud of him everyday. He has such a great imagination... he loves building things with his legos and playing with them all day long. He can keep himself entertained for hours with just a couple of lego guys. It is so fun to hear him play. He also loves Harry Potter- and he made a really cute Harry Potter for Halloween...His costume suited him perfectly. He is also a great older brother to Rylan- he can help me hold her and he feeds her a bottle or gets her binky for her when we are riding in the car. He is really inquisitive- he is always asking me questions that seem to be way beyond what a 5 year old should be thinking about. And of course I cannot forget funny- he makes us laugh all of the time. He is so kind and caring- especially when any of us are hurt or sad. We are so thankful for him and the love that he gives to us everyday. To celebrate his birthday with friends we let him take some of his best buddies swimming at the clearfield aquatic center then out to eat at artic circle. They had so much fun. I am glad that he has such good friends. His birthday began with Mo taking him out to breakfast... which is still his very favorite meal of the day. In the afternoon he got to go birthday shopping with his grandpa Vogt... whom he absolutely adors and I know that the feeling is mutual. Then at night we went to eat at Mcgraths fish house because Jackson wanted to go eat seafood... yes he loves seafood... he ate his whole plate of shrimp...he even loves sushi if you can imagine that. He is actually a really good eater- he always eats whatever is on his plate as long as he is hungry- even his vegetables and he usually eats them first. After dinner he wanted to go to the Syracuse Fun Center bouncy house which is so fun...they also have an area with 6 trampolines hooked together. Jackson and Benton had so much fun there. Then it was home for cake and ice cream. We hope that Jackson had a great day- I know that we did... love ya Jacks

Rylan Ann Palmer

This post about Rylans birth is very long overdue seeing as how she is already 3 1/2 months old but better late than never right... After much contemplation I decided that getting started was the lesser of two evils. Having the doctor that gave me my epidurals for both Jackson and Benton really scared me. With Benton my right leg didn't have any feeling until 24 hours after I had had him and I can't imagine anything worse than having 3 kids and being paralyzed in one of my legs. When I talked to my doctor about my concern, he told me that the only way to get around not having Dr. Patel give me my epidral was to schedule my labor for a day that he was not on call. But, I was also very nervous to get started. Part of me always worried that maybe Rylan wouldnt be ready to come yet and that there could be some complications caused because of my decision. At my last appointment my doctor said that Rylan was ready to come and that I was already starting the labor process on my own and so we chose a date to have our baby. Mo and I dropped the boys off at my parents on Sunday night to go to our 9 o'clock PM appointment. It was kindof crazy just showing up to have our baby. I was actually really nervous- when you are already having contractions the pain counteracts the fear but because there was no pain for me there was lots of fear. For the most part everything went fine. The only scary part was that when they gave me my epidural my heart rate dropped and Rylans heart rate took a big dive which was a major concern to the labor and delivery nurses. Three of them ran in and one of them gave me a big shot in the arm to immediately stop the labor. I had a moment of panic that maybe there had been a reason for my hesitation to get started but very quickly Rylans heart rate was under control. I had to wait about an hour until they hooked me back up to the pitocin to help my contractions along. The only bad part about that was itching like crazy from the epidural. But, I would taked itching and being able to feel my legs any day over being scared that I wasnt going to be able to walk. The epidural was actually really cool- I could feel that I was having a contraction but there wasnt any pain until the very last couple of pushes as Rylans head came out. She was born at 3:09 AM... she was exactly 7 lbs and 20 inches long. She was a beautiful baby right from the beginning. We both thought that she looked just like Jackson but we are not so sure anymore. She was definitely really alert like he was where as Benton preffered to sleep. Mo was such a proud husband and daddy. After they hooked me back up to the pitocin she came so fast that my mom didnt have a chance to make it down before she was born. She was pretty shocked to come into the room to see that we had already had her. After about 10 minutes I started to feel really sick... I had to throw up a few times and I guess that is not uncommon? When they took me to my room all I wanted to do was sleep. And, they had actually changed a few things since I had had Benton- one of them being the skin to skin right after they are born which I chose not to do. And the other was that they gave Rylan her first bath right in my room. I feel really bad because I was so sick and so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep it off and I wasn't paying much attention to bath. Kathi and Gary came down at about 6? I think and my mom and dad brought the boys down about 9 or 10 after I had a chance to get a little rest... I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story as you can see from them how wonderful we all thought it was to finally have Rylan as a part of our family.

Benton at 2

Benton turned 2 on May 31 and we had a lot of fun for his birthday. We went to the fish farm in North Ogden and Benton was so excited to go fishing. When we got there he picked out a pole and grabbed his cup of fish food just like he was a big boy. He loved seeing all of the fish in the water. He dropped his line in and caught a fish within a couple of seconds. Having a fish on his line really freaked him out and he didnt want to fish anymore. It was really quite funny. Jackson loved it and he caught 3 fish before we had to stop him as you have to pay for what you catch. Benton did like looking at the fish in the bucket and he liked Jackson to hold them but he didnt want to get close.

We also had a family birthday party for him at the park at trappers pointe. He was so cute. He had so much fun opening his gifts and celebrating his birthday with his family, singing, and his own birthday cake.

At 2 Benton couldnt be funner- He is a great little talker and he says the funniest things. He is also very nice...he has good manners, he always says please and thank you without being prompted. He also loves music and dancing... he has some great moves :) His favorite foods are milk and cucumbers... we can't figure out why he likes cucumbers so much but give him a choice between candy and cucumbers and he will take the cucumbers every time. He loves his brother and he is always trying to be just like him. He also loves teasing him. He also really loves Rylan and he is a great helper. He always gets whatever I need for her as soon as I ask him. When Benton is tired he wants milk and he drinks his milk and pulls on his ear... I am surprised that his ear has not fallen off because he actually pulls on it really hard. Benton got a bike and a scooter for his birthday and he can ride them both but his favorite thing to ride is a motorcycle or four wheeler. He just can't get enough of that. Benton also really likes jumping on the tramp- he has even learned to do a bumsy :) He is big for his age- I wouldn't be surprised if he has outgrown Jackson by next summer. He is as cute and funny as can be and we are so thankful to have him in our family. We love you Benton Boo.

Back to Blogging...

So it has been a long time since updating my blog as you can see by the pictures that are of when Benton was first born 2 years ago! Wow-how fast time flies. Since my last post was almost a year ago- I am going to hit on the highlights from each month this past year as a catch up. I originally started this blog as an attempt to document our lives in some way other than a journal. And, I am not really into scrapbooking but I wanted to incorporate pictures so this seemed like the perfect fit. I have again resolved to blog!

January
Mo turned 29 this year... I wish that I could say that I just turned 29 but I guess that someone needs to have the age and wisdom in this relationship right Mo :)
When I was growing up we always used to go to hardware ranch for my moms birthday and we thought the boys would really love it- and they did... I think we will go again next year.


February
Just some everyday stuff: Eating butter, getting hair cuts, playing dress up :)




March
What a big month- After many years of wanting to build a home in mountain green our dream was finally coming true and our hole was dug...the boys thought watching the tractor was pretty cool. We also sold our home. This brought both tears of joy and tears of sorrow. We were so excited to be moving to Mtn. Green but at the same time we were so sad to leave all of the really good friends that we had made the past 3 years. We celebrated with our last bonfire in the back yard where we made smores... something that we did quite often at our syracuse house.



April
We moved in with grandma and grandpa Vogt while our house was being built. We are so thankful for them. We celebrated Easter there, we flew kites, and Benton loved riding the motorcycle around the neighborhood... even when it was dark, or freezing cold outside.





May
We celebrated mothers day at the zoo- my mom, dad, and sister came with us. It was a great day. We also went to Thanksgiving Point in may so that my dad could try and sell some of my grandpas stuff... while they were selling things and looking at old cars, my mom and I took the boys to feed the animals and to ride the ponies. Benton also turned 2 on May 31st...which will be my next blog post :)





June
We were so happy that they weather was warm enough to swim... we spent lots of days swimming at aunt sha's pool and also at grandma and grandpa Palmers. We went to hear Down the Line play at the annual Bountiful car show. We also spent Fathers Day at Snowbird... it was a great weekend- my dad, colby, and Mo went skiing, and the rest of us met them later to swim, eat, and just enjoy the beautiful mountains. It was so fun and we have decided that it will definitely be a family Fathers Day tradition. The boys also enjoyed riding their new 4 wheeler.





July
Even though I was very pregnant in July- we still managed to have some fun. More swimming at grandma and grandpa Palmers, and lots of slip and slide at grandma and grandpa Vogts. We also celebrated my 33rd birthday- 33...wow! On July 27th we were able to close and move into our new home. Mo was a superstar- he had us all moved in and organized within a few days- just in time for our new baby. At the time I married Mo I didn't know that marrying a moving and storage guy would come in so handy. After moves from Clinton to Mtn. Green to Ogden to Clinton to Mtn. Green to Syracuse to Mtn. Green I can tell you that it certainly has :) But, I think we are finally home... I hope.





August
The boys and I had one last activity day at the childrens museum together before the baby came. And then Rylan was born... which deserves its own blog don't you think :)





Just 3 more months to go...