Superbowl XLV

I'm a Steelers fan. Christy's a Rams fan. Easton's a Bears fan (not really, but we bought him a shirt in Chicago in memory of my friend Mary Cay). Ry could care less. I'm bummed the Steelers lost, but hey we won $25 on the square game.

1st Haircut

Easton gets his first haircut 2 days before his 1st birthday. We took him to a place called Cookie Cutters. He got to sit in a car, watch a movie, blow bubbles, and leave with a sucker and balloon. What a deal. Ry didn't want to miss out on the action, so we cut her hair as well.

Side view of near mullet

Yuck Mom, hair in my mouth

February Catch Up

Tubby Pics
Little did we know this would be the last time for awhile that Easton was able sit up and enjoy his tubby time with big sister Ryley. Explanation to follow.

Every Mother's Worst Nightmare

As much as you try to "baby proof" your home, all it takes is a split second and something can happen, and it surely did on Thursday Feb 3rd. Christy was at home with the kids and had just set Easton down so she could put up the baby gates on our 2 sets of stairs. Little E-man, the lightning quick crawler that he is, managed to tumble down the entire flight of stairs to the basement in a split second as Christy's back was turned. It can happen to anyone, but let me just put it on record, I'm glad I wasn't the one who it happened to. Christy did not witness the fall, but just heard Easton at the bottom of the stairs crying. She was able to comfort him and he appeared to be fine, no obvious head or neck injury, which is what our immediate concern was. The next day I was snowboarding at Snowbasin with some friends when I received a call from Christy telling me she had made an appointment with the pediatrician because Easton was being fussy and crying each time she touched his leg. He's the happiest baby on the planet so this behavior was not typical for him. I told her to hold off and I would take a look when I got home. I could take him to the doctor the next day if necessary. When I got home and examined him he would cry if I touched his leg and would not put any weight on it. Crap, of course it was now past office hours and after a quick call to the pediatrician we were stuck with the only option....Primary Children's ER.

I can't tell you the thoughts running through our head. We were both worried that they were going to call the DCFS (Department of Child and Family Services). I mean how many times do you think the "My kid fell down the stairs" story. And, to make matters worse we had waited a day. Our fears were a little dramatic. The staff was great and Easton was a trooper. After an x-ray and a complete examination it was determined he had a "Toddler's Fracture". At first I was like, what?, I think that's a made up term for "We don't know what happened". However it is a true diagnosis. Basically the x-ray does not show a fracture, but the child demonstrates all the signs and symptoms of one i.e. tenderness over the area and avoidance of weightbearing. Here's a link to more info if you are interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toddler's_fracture

So they put a splint on and gave us a referral to follow-up with the fracture clinic at Primary's in a couple of days. Here's E the night he got the splint on. Isn't he the cutest thing ever? So happy. FYI this happened exactly 1 week before his 1st BD. 

"I'm too sexy for my cast"

Go Lakers!

Cutest splint ever

CHEESE!

So guess what we did that weekend?

Yep, that's right, a swinging gate was installed. Much quicker and easier than the wooden baby gate. 

I took E to the fracture clinic the following Wed Feb. 9th, 1 day before his 1st BD. The x-ray again didn't show an obvious fracture, but he was still tender and not putting weight on it so they decided to put him in a cast for 1 month. Ryley got to choose the color: Neon Green. But after bribery, I was able to get her to change her decision to red, Go Utes!.  He was an angel getting this thing put on. 

Hate to say it, but it's kind of cute

The cast did not slow Easton down. He crawled, pulled himself to stand and cruised along furniture. The only tortuous task was taking a bath, for all people involved. I mean who likes to have a plastic bag on their leg while bathing, and it has to be held in the air. Kids this age want to splash. I was avoiding splashing at all costs. Do you know what these things smell like if they get wet?

Wed March 9th couldn't come fast enough. Easton's cast was removed and the x-ray showed healing, at least that's what the doctor said. I looked at the x-ray and I'm no radiologist but I think she told me that so we wouldn't feel so horrible about spending nearly a thousand dollars to treat this "fracture". 

January 2011

Nicole turns 33
Christy decided to surprise me for my birthday and took me the Huka Bar, where friends were waiting to surprise me. We had a great time. I won't' post any pictures since we all know what happened to Michael Phelps. It's just Huka, people.

Nicole, Christy and friends relive the 80s for Ashlee Smith's 30th BD Party
We got to blast to the past and relive the 80s for a night. Picking our outfits was surprisingly not hard. Claire's Boutique in the local mall had nearly everything we needed since apparently this stuff is back in style. They had an 80s cover band play in the garage and everyone had a great time dancing.

Ry sees her Moms and decides she too must dress from the 80s

November and December 2010

So I've been horrible and haven't posted anything since Oct of last year. So much has gone on, so I'll try to catch you up Month by Month. But first a quick update on Christy's knee after the surgery drama. No good news here. Still painful and worse than before original surgery. Had an MRI last Tue 3/8 but M.D. isn't back into office until March 28th to read it, so life goes on, with a sore knee.

November 2010

We went on a family trip to Orlando, FL. I made a Shutterfly book with pics so I'll post a link to it. We went to Islands of Adventure, Gatorland, Universal Studios, Datyona International Speedway and Daytona Beach. My mom went as well as our friends Sun and Lissa. We rented a wheelchair to push Christy around in since she was limping around after knee surgery, but it worked in our favor, front of the line here we come.

After we got home from 70 degree weather in Florida I went to visit my brother Michael in Minot, North Dakota, where one day it was -1 degree. Brrrrr. I learned a new word.....trestle....below is a picture of the Gassman Coulee Trestle in Minot.

December

We went to the annual Festival of Trees and had the kids pictures taken with Santa.

And we made our annual trip to Hogle Zoo Lights as well.

Ryley participated in her first school program, the Christmas program and was a star.

We rode the Polar Express train, which we conveniently caught in Heber City, UT, to the North Pole to see Santa.

We had Maurice the Elf come to visit for a couple weeks before Christmas and the holiday came and went as it always does. This was Easton's first Christmas and he made his debut in the Navity Scene as The Angel Gabriel. Ry wanted to be a "Dad Wiseman".