Some of this....some of that....

So I haven't really been in the writing mood the past couple of weeks. You might have noticed. Partly because I've been T I R E D. Partly because we've been busy. But I thought I should try and get a little caught up because we have had some exciting things happen in our family.

Babies Born!

Nephew and Cousin Cohen John Russel was born February 9th to Cliff's sister Rikki and boyfriend Cory! 8lbs 1 0z and 20 inches long. He and Brock are a year and a day apart and he was only 1 ounce bigger than Brock. He has TONS of black hair that goes everywhere and is just soooooo sweet. We took a trip down to Taber over the teacher's convention weekend to meet him and hang out with family. It was a terrific trip and we had lots time to just hang out and relax with everyone. Didn't get to see Uncle Jamie and Amber because he was flying home and his flight was re-routed, cancelled and all that jazz...but hopefully next time. The boys thought Cohen was pretty neat. Brock always wanted to be with me or Grandma if we were holding him - maybe a little worried about his spot? And Brock kept us VERY busy going up and down the stairs. He's great at going up....and still gave me a heart attack every time he attempted down.

Cousin Caley Jackson had a baby girl yesterday February 26th. Finally a girl in the family! She and her boyfriend Cathal named her Harper Nally and she was 6 lbs 10 or 11 oz....can't remember! Have seen a few pictures and she looks like a little doll! So fun to have a little pink person in the family!

Because of the new babies I spent the week before we left hemming and sewing blankets and burp rags...the boys loved it because they got lots of picnics in the living room. I'm now trying to accomplish Zane's quilt for his birthday without him knowing I'm working on it.

Dog Update

For those that don't know, I let Cliff talk me into a getting a dog in October....and not just a dog but a 10 month old puppy. After 4 long months I finally convinced HIM that we were not ready for a dog right now. And so the search for a new home for Vato commenced. After a couple of weeks we finally found a family who fell in love with him and he seemed very taken with them, so Vato no longer resides here. Cliff is the saddest of us all, the boys don't seem to be phased at all - when I told them Vato was going to live somewhere else all I got was "oh, OK". And I'm mostly relieved. Vato was a big amount of stress in my life and it's been nice not to worry about him, or feel guilty about him etc. It's hard to admit defeat and give up on something. Neither one of us likes to do that. But we weren't giving him the love and attention and time that a puppy needs and deserves, so it was better for him to go live somewhere else.

Other Happenings...

We finally made it to the temple on the 12th. It's been a very long time since we had been and it felt so good to be back. We did a session and ended up meeting some friends from our ward there. We all went out to the Olive Garden afterwards and called that our Valentine's Day date.

On Valentine's day I made the boys pink pancakes. They were very worried about them until they tasted them. Then they decided that colored pancakes were just fine with them and Zane suggested that maybe we should have blue pancakes one day! I took a picture but you can't really tell that they were pink after they were cooked...more food coloring next time I guess!

The elders in our ward held a family tobogganing day on Family Day. It was the perfect weather - just below zero, no wind, nice and sunny and had snowed about 2 inches the night before. Cliff had to work but it was here in Sylvan so I took the kids and went. Zane LOVED it, Rhett was whiny and wanted to go home after 5 minutes and Brock was tired and cranky. Zane convinced Rhett to go down the hill with him once but that was it. He would go about half way up the hill and then run or walk down and just hung out with Zane and a bunch of kids. He is so my son - not a winter sports kind of kid. After much fussing Brock finally gave up and went to sleep and slept almost the whole time. It was a lot of fun for most everyone - a couple of little kids got ran over and one ended up with a bloody nose and cheek - but all in all a great day.

The Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver this year. Zane's really been into the Olympics because of school and it's sports - do I need to say more? We watched the opening ceremonies as a family and it was fun and really cool. Rhett crashed an hour in and Brock about half an hour later. Zane was determined to make it to see the torch lit at the very end and although he struggled he made it. I thought it was really cool that we have such great technology available that he could witness that. Wayne Gretzky lit the torch and Zane declared that he was going to bed. I think he was asleep before his head settled on the pillow!
Of course with the Olympics on we've been watching a lot of sports - I mean more sports than is usual in this house -and a lot of hockey. Zane has learned the guy "I'm zoned in on the game and block everything else out" look and has really been into the games. Rhett gets excited when they score and they both just don't understand how mom isn't quite as pumped about this sport as they are. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the play off games, I just don't get really emotionally invested into them.

The boys have also learned with Brock being super mobile these days that they have to do some things behind closed bedroom door. I've nicknamed him Babyzilla because he likes to destroy their train tracks and poor Rhett gets so upset and takes it very personally. He doesn't understand why Brock would do that to him. Poor kiddo. Maybe I should show him pics of when he did the same to Zane?!

Life is just thundering along and blasting through days and weeks. I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day of February. One day closer to spring!

Brock is One!

Can you believe that my baby is 1! I can't either! But I thought I'd take a quick picture trip down memory lane from the last year....


This was the first time I got a good look at Brock. I got a quick kiss before they took him from the delivery room to the SCN. It was really hard to see another baby hooked up to all the tubes and wires again but I was so happy that he was here. And sooooo cute! (Click here for all the details if you want.)This was my second or third hold. Because he needed high oxygen sats we didn't get to take him out of his isolate very often for the first 5 days or so. It was hard to remember that such a healthy looking baby could be so sick...but we knew he would be OK....just took a few extra days!Finally home! He was still pretty jaundiced so we had to sun bake him every day! The big boys would sit on either side of his chair and just stare at him. He just looks soooo small here!One month old....still has the dark hair and still tiny!

2 months old....not so sure about what mom's telling him...



Learning new tricks at 3 months old....enough pillows around means no toppling over while mom folds laundry!Oh so clever at 4 months! Showing off new favorite thing to do!Standing on Grandpa Dooley's hand - youngest one to do it so far at 5 months6 months old and not quite mobile yet...I miss these days!7 months old and insisting on feeding himself yogurt. Not so sure how much actually made it in!8 months old...getting good at pulling himself up on stuff and cruising around9 months old and getting ready for those first steps...if it didn't move he would grab it and use it for cruising!10 months old...fascinated by wheels that spin!11 months old...walking kiddo! Watch out world - here I come!One year old and the shirt says it all!Not so sure about all the "help" from his big brothersWhat good is a toy if it's in a box?Yummy lemon tarts to celebrate with!
He definitely knew what to do with the whip creme!Showing off for mom!

Gottcha mom!



At 1 year old Brock is:

- walking everywhere! He can't get up straight from the floor quite yet but can bend down and pick something up and keep going.
- has 8 teeth
- weighs 23.6 lbs
- is 30.5 inches tall
- LOVES to play hide-and-seek with Rhett
- is constantly moving or being busy
- has thrown his first toy in the toilet and is now banned from the bathroom
- can't wait to get into the bath tub but thinks he should be able to stand up
- has tried to drown himself after falling while standing in the tub and has flipped face first out of the tub because of standing up. I foresee many ER visits with this child
- loves the musical moving car we have

- gives Fives

- says "uh-oh" if you say it first

- is sad that all the kitchen cabinets are now child-locked. He keeps going around and pulling on them to double check

- is always moving around doing something

- didn't really care about he presents

- LOVED the whip cream

- a couple days before his birthday Auntie Kizzy was here and we had cake for her birthday - I gave Brock the beaters with whip cream on them - tried to shove both in his mouth at the same time and then cried when it was all gone.

- will finally hold his own bottle

- doesn't like apple juice

- has had his first bout of the stomach flu

- has big smiles when he hears Grammie S and Grandpa Dooley on the phone

- squirms to get down and go

- loves peanut butter and jam sandwiches

- loves taco soup

- eats pretty much whatever we are now days

- wears mostly 12-18 month clothes

- is so excited when Daddy gets home from work

- is starting to want to hang out with Daddy more often

- brings us joy every day!