Pumpkin Hunting

This morning we bundled Jonathen and Wesley up and went hunting for pumpkins.  Wesley was really excited to pick out his pumpkin.  We went to a pumpkin farm outside of Rupert and started looking for a pumpkin.  Wesley at first said he wanted a giant pumpkin, but as we kept looking he decided he wanted a tiny pumpkin.  We compromised and got a tiny one for Wesley, a tiny one for Jon, a small one for Mommy, and Daddy got a big pumpkin.  Wesley really enjoyed going out and looking for his pumpkin.  He thought it was great that you could walk out in a field and decide which pumpkin you wanted.  As Daddy went to pay, I convinced Wesley that I needed a picture so here is our day. 

Six months old.

Jonathen just had his six month check up.  The little guy is getting so big.  He now weighs 18 lbs 8 oz (75th percentile), has a head circumference of 17 1/2 inches (75th percentile) and is 28 1/2 inches long (off the chart, about 97th percentile).  No wonder his clothes don't fit very well.  He is getting super excited to start moving.  He is able to get up on his hands and knees and he goes backwards really well.  He is still working on going forward.  He just started his second feeding of cereal and he absolutely loves it.  He really likes eating things off of his mommy and daddy's plates also.  He loves his brother very much and will get into a growling/yelling war with Wesley.  He loves to play with any type of ball and enjoys rolling a ball back and forth with either Mommy or Wesley.  He has been constipated and when I mentioned it to the doctor he recommended a laxative for Jon.  During the examination Dr. Graham checked Jon's bum and found he had a fissure in his anus that was causing him to hold his bowel movements and therefore making them very hard.  He is now taking miralax and having huge blow outs.  Oh well, the price of healing his fissure.  The doctor says the fissure will heal by itself as long as we keep Jon's bowel movements very soft.  Hopefully we will be able to get him healed up.  He is a very happy baby and loves to laugh and play.  We love him very much and enjoy his happy spirit. 

I Got Tagged!

Crystal tagged me to answer these questions.  They may have seemed like easy questions at first, but I had to spend quite a bit of time thinking of my answers.  So here goes:

1.Who is someone who has been very influential in your life and why?


My father. I know, that is what you are supposed to say, but it is true. My dad always pushed me to try my hardest in everything I tried. He always encouraged me to not be held back by what others thought I should do. He originally suggested the idea of getting as many college credits as I could in high school and helped me to realize the dream of getting my associates degree at the same time as graduating from high school. The other person who was very influential in my life is Wes Schow. He originally introduced me to pharmacy and allowed me to learn more about the profession that would lead me to my future career.

2.What is one of your most embarassing moments?

Funny thing: I don’t remember many embarrassing moments from high school. I know, everyone of you thinks I am lying, but really. I spent a lot of years trying to be weird and stand out in a crowd. So doing something that would embarrass others was pretty much my goal. I have found now that I get most embarrassed by compliments. I have no idea how to respond to such comments and struggle finding something to say. It is not that I do not believe them, but that I am not sure how to responds to nice comments. I am really used to obnoxious comments and sarcasm, but not very good with compliments. Isn’t that strange. If you want one specific moment though, I think one of my more embarrassing moments happened in junior high school when I ran for student body council. I have no idea what possessed me to even run let alone sing the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” in front of the entire 7th grade, but there it is. That song to this day still makes me turn red and try to hide. I am not very good in front of large groups of people.

3. What is your favorite book, why?

This is a loaded question Crystal. How am I supposed to choose just one? I love my books. All of my books. I love to read and will reread my books often. I am afraid that some of my books will start to fall apart on me sooner or later from overuse. I guess my favorite story right now would have to be the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare or The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Any fantasy or sci-fi book that finds its way into my possession will be read and probably reread with extreme enthusiasm. I do, however, dislike sad stories so don’t send any of those my way.

4. What is something you swore you would never do before you became a mom and now *gasp* you do?

Convince my son to keep eating even after he says he is done. I always thought it was just my mother being mean. I now watch my son eat two bites and tell me he is finished. Then I have to find a way to get him to eat a little bit more so he will have the energy to play as he wants.

5. What is YOUR guilty pleasure (I had to tell mine, now you all have to share)?

1-Popcorn – I love home popped popcorn with butter and salt. I would eat it for lunch if I thought it was evenly slightly healthy

2-Reading – No seriously. I love to read. I can disappear inside a book and stay up to all hours of the night reading.

6. I find smells bring back memories - What is one of your nostalgic smells?

Fresh cut grass. It always reminds me of warm summer days outside. Matt has just mown the grass and we are playing on the swing set in our backyard.

Sugar Factory – always reminds of early mornings at Minico High School. Running early morning practices, first day of school sitting next to the kid wearing way to much cologne, and good friends: even though it stinks.

7. We all have miracles in our lives, whether big or small - what are your miracle(s)?

Wesley and Jonathen. The minds of those two little boys continue to amaze me. Every day one or both of them teach me something new about children, about Heavenly Father, or about patience. Wesley amazes me with his memory. He constantly surprises me with things he remembers. Jonathen continues to grow so quickly and learn so much.

8. Since we have building on the brain, what does your dream house look like, and where would it be?

This is funny. My dream house is pale stucco and stone on the outside with two floors above ground and a red tile roof. It will have arched windows and doorways and there will be many windows allowing the sun and nature to come into our home. My dream home has a curved staircase in the foyer and an interior courtyard. The master suite is on the upper floor with the other bedrooms and looks out over the interior courtyard. The living room and kitchen has exposed beams in cherry finish and the cupboards in the kitchen match the beams. The colors in the home are Tuscan in style and are very warm and welcoming. The front living room is pale in color and centers around the piano. The kitchen is open to large family gatherings and allows for a larger family with plenty of cupboard space and an island to gather around while food is being prepared. The family room is large and allows the family to gather together to watch movies and enjoy each other’s company. The house will have a basement that will have a large storage area and a recreation room to allow my children to bring their friends into our home and play games without feeling they are in the way. There will be a library/study to allow my books a home. The house will be very open with large areas. There will be 4-5 bedrooms to allow my family to grow and live comfortably with each other.

There you go Crys. 

Fun with the boys!

It is wonderful playing with my two boys and watching them play with each other.  Jonathen thinks Wesley is the most amazing thing around.  He loves to grab his shoulders and pull him close to slobber all over his head.  Wesley, in turn, thinks this activity is pretty dang funny.  Last week Wesley really wanted to play with bubbles so we pulled out the automatic bubble machine and stripped Jon down.  We played in the kitchen since it was pretty chilly outside.  This, of course, makes a huge mess all over my kitchen floor.  I guess it needed cleaned anyway.  Wesley started out with his clothes on, but after biffing it a couple times because the floor was too slick for socks or shoes we stripped him down also.  The two of them had a great time popping bubbles.  Afterwards, since they were both completely covered in soap I put them both in the bathtub.  This was the first time they have shared the bathtub with each other.  It went pretty well.  Wesley thought it was funny that Jon was in the bath with him and Jon didn't care one way or the other.  Jonathen is still getting used to the big boy bath since he has only been bathing in there for a little over a week.  They are so much fun.  Here are the boys playing together.

And their bath afterwards.

And Jon's first bath in the big bathtub.

4 month Check-up

Jonathen had his 4 month checkup today.  Wesley did not want to go into the doctors office until we explained that he did not have to get checked today.  He spent the entire visit telling us that it was not his turn.  Jonathen did not have any problem with the doctor.  He was happy to get weighed and measured and did not even cry when Dr. Graham examined him.  The only time he cried was when he got his second shot.  He only cried until we got him his pacifier.  Dr. Graham was really impressed with Jonathen.  He said he is a really mellow baby and has advanced motor skills.  He does not normally check if they can sit up until the 6 month checkup, but he did this time.  I am guessing that his nurse told him that I had Jon sitting up on the table.  So he sat Jon up to see if he could sit by himself and was impressed that he was staying up even if he was a little wobbly.  He said he is not suprised if some 6 month olds do not do even that well.  Jon weighed in at 16 lbs 7 oz (80th percentile) and 26 1/2 inches tall (95th percentile) with a head circuference of 17 inches(75th percentile).  Dr. Graham was just about to tell us that Jon should not get teeth for another 4 months when he opened Jon's mouth and saw that he already had two of them.  Oh well, Jon just got ahead of the curve on that one.  Jon had to get two shots today, but he seems to be doing okay.   

Jon has teeth.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Jon has teeth, as in two of them.  He now has both of his front bottom teeth.  He got the first tooth on July 13th and the second one on July 18th.  He is growing up so fast.  Wesley got his two front at about the same age.
Speaking of Wesley, I thought I would jot down some of the things Wesley says.  I will call them Wesleyisms.

Wesleyism #1 - in response to asking him what his name is.
"I not a tiger I'm Wesley Meyers."
Wesleyism #2 -
Dad -"Wesley are you addicted to chocolate milk?"
Wesley - "I not a dick, Dad."
Wesleyism #3
Poppa - "Are you OCD-man?"
Wesley - "I not a demon."
Wesleyism #4 - any time he feels like it
"I not Wesley Meyers I'm a tiger, ROOOOAAAARRRR!"
Wesleyism #5 - in response to Jon crying
"Its okay, baby, its okay."
Sometimes he is so funny.  He loves his brother very much and has apparently decided that he would like a little sister now.  He was watching Lion King and at the end they have the baby lion.  Wesley said that it was a baby like Jon and Kyle said "Except that it is a girl."  So Wesley said he would like a baby sister.  He is going to have to wait a little while, I am not getting pregnant again so quickly.

Matt's Family came to visit.

It was great to have Matt and Amelia come back to Idaho for a visit.  We really enjoyed having them here.  While they were here we did a number of fun things as a family.  There was the 4th of July.  All of the guys went golfing while all of the women took the kids and went to the parade.  The kids all seemed to enjoy the parade.  After the parade we went back to Mom and Dad's house and got dinner ready.  We were having a turkey fry with potatoe salad.  It ended up being a really good dinner.  While waiting for the turkey to fry a wiffle ball and bat were found and a game was started.  Most of the family played for a little while.  Wesley really wanted to bat so Jennifer helped as best she could considering Wes bats left-handed.  He got to run around the bases with Jennifer.  He preferred to bat though.  Dinner went really well and the turkey was absolutely great.  It is probably a good thing that we do not do that very often.  After dinner we all went down to try out Jennifer's new game, Just Dance.  Matt's family had never played before.  The kids really enjoyed it.  It was as much fun watching Stephen, Jack, Hallie and Wesley play as it is to play myself.  It was great watching them try to do the moves to songs that were popular when their parents were kids. 

On Monday we headed to Lava Hot Springs for camping and swimming.  We sat around the campfire had dutch oven one night and hotdogs the next and, of course, roasted marshmallows.  Jack really liked to roast the marshmallows, but preferred to have somebody else eat them.  The second night we were there we

needed to chop some firewood.  We had some fairly large logs that needed to be a little smaller.  Don got out his ax and Amelia went to work.  She did pretty well on the first log, but if the ax ever got stuck she had to have someone else pull it out since she was not wearing any shoes. 

It was pretty funny to watch her.  Swimming was great even though almost all of us ended up with sunburns.  It is nice to see that my boys did not inherit my tendency to burn.  Both Wesley and Jonathen ended up with nice little tans while Kyle and I both got sunburnt.  On Wednesday, we headed to Pocatello to get some family pictures done.  They turned out pretty well for a group so large with so many young children.  It is nice to have current pictures of everyone.  Overall it was a great visit and we were sad to see them leave.