St. George Trip

Our first family vacation was so much fun! Kade did really well and loved all the attention he got. It was SO nice to hang out with family, and see a bunch of friends that I haven't seen in a while. The drive was really long and Kade is not a big fan of his car seat...as long as he was feed, and the car didn't stop moving then he did awesome.

We did a fun little hike, my legs were sore the next day and we didn't even do much. Man 9 months really takes it out of you. This was marathon weekend in St. George. My dad has run 14 of them, so it is a tradition to have a little get away in st. g with the fam. The last few years Nate and I have run them too. This year Nate got hoaxed and didn't get drawn in the lottery. I didn't even sign up because I new I wouldn't have time to get in shape. My dad was originally planning on doing it but he hurt his foot really bad in his softball league this summer. He decided right before that it wouldn't be smart to gut it out. I am so glad my parents decided to go anyways. It was fun to have all of us in good moods instead of nervous or dying.

We missed the M and Nat a ton. The boys wore their "B Creek" shirts that Mark designed to represent.

Kade has started smiling so much. It just melts my heart every time!!! If you rub his head you can get a grin out of him for sure. Things have gotten a lot better too. I didn't look at the clock once the whole trip and I didn't care about a schedule and Kade did so much better with that. Sometimes he wants to eat every two hours.. sometimes he'll go four (rarely though, he loves his milk) sometimes he takes a long nap, sometimes he doesn't take one at all. He was so much happier. I think schedules are nice to make things predictable...but when have I ever liked predictable. Schedules stress me out and they don't work for Kade. Now I just read his cues and it's great not knowing when he is "supposed" to be hungry again. Also Brandi told me to try supplementing formula maybe once a day. This has made the world of difference. This little piggy has a few feeds a day where he wants to eat more than usual and my supply doesn't give him what he wants. If he still needs more I will top him off 1-2 more ounces with formula. This has helped him become a lot less fussy and sleep longer.

Of course Nate and Jeff were so happy to be fishing buddies. It's so funny how both of them love fishing SO MUCH! They went about every morning at 5 am. They both caught a bunch of fish and had a blast fishing together.

Grandma Davis is a crack up. She got Dylan and Kade matching outfits for everyday. In fact they had about 3 or 4 per day and we had to change them quite a few times to get their pics. We loved it and thought they looked so cute! Dylan didn't like the photo shoots as much as Kade did. I loved playing with Dylan. I couldn't believe how grown up he is! He took 13 steps to me when Brandi and I where practicing with him. It makes me tear up thinking about how far he has come this past few months. I have never seen him really want to eat so much food. He couldn't get enough of his chocolate chips and would say, "Yumm" at every bite. He is like a little parrot and echos almost every word.

We loved the BYU shirt from Grandpa. We didn't think it would fit him because it was 6 months and Kade is only 7 1/2 weeks. But his Buddha belly filled it in perfect. It was just a little long. He is my chunker munker.

Kade thinks Dylan is so funny and wants to learn all his tricks.

D kept trying to sit with Kader in his little bath holder.

Grandpa couldn't get enough of his boys. It was so funny that your vacations become so much different with babies around. All we wanted to do was take pictures of the boys and play with them. It was so much fun, I don't remember what we did before they were in our lives. My parents stayed the first 3 nights but then had to go back to work. The rest of us got another hotel to stay another 2 nights.

Best Buddies!

It was great having my Mom and Dad their to watch Kade. I was able to relax a ton. We got to do a lot of shopping and went out to eat with no stress at all from all the helping hands. Brandi and Jeff were very helpful too. I got to visit my old school that I taught at, it was great to see my old friends I taught with. We also got together with my old roommates that I love and miss, Mari Jo and Jalene and their husbands. Des and Kylee stopped by our hotel to visit and I was glad to see them too. We loved seeing Sam and Kendra and their kids. And Grandma Moore and the Behymers. Nate and I really like AZ and have met some great friends here. But St. George is one of our favorite places and hope to maybe end up there one day.

Kade Kade Bo Bade

Kade loves watching fishing shows with his daddy! You have to check out his old man hair. It's bald around the sides and right on top, but he's got hair over his ears, the bottom of his head, and his spike on top. I can't get enough of it. His belly is sure getting bigger, this boy loves his milk! A fast feed for him is 45 min. he really likes to take his time

I read back on some my older post and it makes me nervous just reading it! Wow, I really sound crazy...I am luckily calming down quite a bit. Things are a little better with the feedings so we celebrate the improvements. Kade still just loves to be held every second of the day. He sat in his swing alone for 5 min. today and I couldn't believe it! I have been given great advice from you guys so thank you so much. One thing that Megan Chase told me that has helped is to only try to do one thing a day. Maybe you make dinner and that's it...Or one day do your hair or makeup but don't worry about doing both. That has been great advice because I thought I needed to be a super mom and do it all and that was making me crazy. So now my house is messy, I don't smell to good, but I am a lot nicer to my husband :) I still don't really sleep at all, but you kinda get used to getting by off of little sleep.

I wish I could say I made this, but we all know the box of Betty Crocker is pushing it for me! Some friends from school came over to visit and bring presents. It was so nice to see them!

I LOVE stuffed animals, and so my goal is to get Kade to love them too (I really think he already does!) My mom always loves anything fluffy. I called to tell her I bought Kade this and she actually bought the exact same thing for him the same day up in Utah. Great minds think alike :) Kade is going to get made at me when he realises that I buy him the stuffed animals and then I am the one that sleeps with them! Last night I fell asleep with Gordy (that's the Gorilla's name) in my arms and I woke up freaking out screaming because I was on top of Gordy but I thought it was Kade. Nate woke up to me throwing blankets around saying, "were is he!..." Nate had to point out to me that Kade was sleeping in his bouncer.

PS...Update on the Mountain Lion I saw fishing. Gma Sager babysat one night so Nate and I could go to Lake by ourselves. When we got there a girl came running to our car and said.. "Did you just see that??!!" she showed us her camera and she had just barley taken pictures of a bobcat. I had proof!!!!!!!!! It was the same thing I saw and in the same spot! ?

Ode to the Single Mothers

I think it’s so funny how I totally thought I was going to know what I was doing when this little man got here. I mean why not…I read every book, bought every baby item, taught school (so maybe thought I had a niche with kids)…and then you throw it all out the window the day the stark drops your little bundle off! J I think that Heavenly Father has a special line in Heaven and gives medals to all the mamas out there, and I think Kade is going to make sure I work for mine. The first week of his life we totally thought that he was the easiest baby ever. Well, I forgot to knock on my 2X4. We were for sure that he had Nate’s personality traits; such as calm, laid back, easy going. And then I think he tricked us…he waited for Grandma Davis to go home and Nate to go back to work. He is a crack up..this child is very strong willed and stubborn. He knows what he wants and won’t stop till he gets it. Heaven forbid he doesn't get his way…hmmm, I wonder where he gets these traits from??? :) He has colic and wants to be moving to sleep. He sleeps so good on our nightly walks in his front back. Everyone says that you have to sleep when they are sleeping...so if I could just master sleeping while walking around I would be set. My heart just tears to pieces when he is crying so hard and when he throws up. I feel so bad for him and want to do ANYTHING to make it go away. I sometimes feel like I am doing something wrong and that's why he's screaming. I always swore that I wouldn't do this and that as a parent... and now I will do whatever it takes. It turns me into a frazzled mother because I don't' sleep at all, but this guy has me wrapped around every little finger.

Now I don't want anyone to think that I am complaining about being a mother. I love Kade more than I ever even knew was possible. He makes me so incredibly happy. He is SUCH a blessing to our lives. I just have to journal how it's going so I can one day and look back and laugh what a crazy mother I was! First, I am sure many of you can relate with this with your husbands working, and/or in school. But Nate works nights at the hospital. So before he starts a shift he has to get a nap in so he can last the 13 hour night. When he gets home he has to sleep...he'll wake up just in enough time to shower, eat, and get ready to go back to work. So I maybe see him 2 hours a day. Just enough time for me to take out my frustrations on him. Lucky man! :) I can survive with my two hours of sleep a night just fine, but around 5 o'clock I start wearing down, and that's right when he wakes up to get ready to leave again. I tried to be a good wife last night and make him dinner before he left. While I was feeding Kade, the water boiled over from the corn on the cob and about lit the house on fire...I dropped a pork chop on the ground...old me probably would've laughed so hard...new, anxiety me, says mean things to my husband like it was all his fault. I really don't know how single mothers do it. I give them such mad props. I give props to every parent out there. I know that there are a lot of people that have much harder issues with their kids, and it really could be a lot worse. Tonight has been SO nice because Nate has the evening off. I feel like a normal couple that can spend the evening together and he can help change a diaper. Kade does so much better when his dad is home. I guess it's true that babies read your stress. I just don't want to do anything wrong, or screw up. This is funny coming from a person that can show up to teach school one minute before the bell rings and not have any lessons planned, and can sneak out of meetings, and do homework on the way to class. But other things in my life I am such a perfection-ist with...and I guess this is one of them.

I have to give some shout outs to all those that have helped me keep some sanity...Thanks to the Sager family, Gma Sager and Heidi for coming over some days to watch him so I can rest! Thanks to my family, Gma and Gpa Davis for sending him cute clothes and letting me call all the time to tell funny stories. Thanks to Brandi for our nightly phone calls...she is very supportive even though I know she had it 1,000 times harder than I do. Thanks to all my girlfriends for answering my texts and questions I have. Shout out to my hubster who still loves me even though I am a crazy, parinod mother. Thanks to those that have brought meals so we didn't have to eat pbj's again! I promise when things start to settle down I will be a better friend and return some of this service I have received.
This mister just doesn't want to sleep. I think he just likes to party and is afraid if he sleeps he'll miss out on something fun. I don't have it in me to let him cry it out. We play binki wars all night, he'll finally doze off but then his binki falls out and it wakes him back up again. He'll scream until I get up and put it back in his mouth. I am a sucker and get up every time to put it back in. I have started pumping and feeding him from bottles so that I can know how much he's taking in. This has helped a lot with his reflex because he loves to pig out and he ate too much while he nursed and then he'd projectile barf it all. The nights Nate works is tough because he will scream and while I try to hurry and pump after a feeding. Then I am up trying to wash the pump and get bottles ready while he sleeps...by the time I am done with that it's about time to eat again. It's been worth it though because he does much better with the bottle. I had to buy a bunch of them to see what he liked best.. I found the Dr. Brown ones help him the most.

Such a curious man!

This was just before his blow out. I was feeding him and I swear more poop ended up on my lap than in his diaper...all I could do was laugh my head off. It was some nasty business!

I love this Monkey boy! One of my favorite parts of the day are story time! He sits in his bumbo and loves me to read to him. He really looks at the pictures. He told me that so far his favorite book is, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" he can't wait to see the movie. I think he wishes he lived in a land that rained food all day :)

I also look forward to our nightly walks. He can't get enough of his snuggli backpack and his moby wrap so he can be bundled. I make up funny songs on our walks that have to dumbest lyrics ever. I just sing whatever comes to mind that rhymes...I love it so much!

Don't you just want to smooch those lips??!! Well, I am hoping next post I have taken a chill pill and am able to relax more. You know when you are a little kid and you think your parents knew everything...you all have to promise to not tell Kade that I don't know what I am doing...but just trying my best!

Lake Trip...

First Trip to the Lake!!! Okay...so this will be a story to remember for us. Nate and I started looking online for speciality life jackets for babies. We were disappointed to find out that they don't make them for 2 week old babies (I wonder why??) We decided that Kade and I would just hang out while Nate fished. It would be nice to have a little family adventure and get out of the house...or so I thought :) Our truck is tiny and with the car seat in there I had to straddled the stick shift and squeeze in the middle on the hour ride. It was still 108 in the evening so I thought me and the baby could sit in the car. I brought a book and some thank you cards to work on. Let's just say I read one page, and didn't complete any cards. Here are some of the things that happened that trip.
-I forgot my precious Boppy so I had to cover some life vests with a blanket to help me feed Kade.
-I haven't mastered changing a baby in a small truck yet without getting poop on everything (sorry Nate)
-The sun finally went down so I thought I'd take Kade on a walk
-The bats and bugs came out at night. A bat flew at into my head..Yes I freaked!
-I was trying to cover Kade but it was still so hot.
-So we get back into the truck for air conditioning. The truck wouldn't start
-I go sit in a camping chair on shore while trying to cover the baby from bugs but fan him from the heat, when I suddenly see a wild animal. I swear it was a bobcat or mountain lion. Nate says it was probably a bunny ;)
-I thought it would be safer to sit in the pickup of Nate's truck to put us on higher ground. We had to be out of reach of the ferocious animal that was lurking nearby! I had to balance holding Kade and throwing my chair in the back of the truck.
-I occasionally would yell Nate's name, thinking maybe somehow the wind would catch my voice right and he could hear me across the lake on his boat to come rescue us.
-Low and behold Nate finally came to check in. He was laughing to see us sitting on his truck. He fixed the car and we got to sit safe and sound in the truck while Nate finished fishing. Moral of the story...maybe we should wait till Kade is a little older before we take him to the lake agian. Or next time I will just make sure I am packing some heat to take care of the bats and mountain lions!

Little Aspyn Ivins was born a week after Kade. We can't wait for them to be best buddies. She is so darling. I am a little jealous because she sleeps through the night, and my chunky monkey is bitin at the bit to eat every 2 hours all day and all night.

We were laughing so hard at him in this chair. He looks like a little old man. I can't believe he already likes his Bumbo chair.

Lovin the double chin in this shot!

We are teaching him early which teams he is aloud to cheer for. He is going to half to cheer extra hard for the Broncos this year, because I think they are going to need all the help they can get. Kade told me he is already a die hard Dodger fan so we don't have to worry about that!

Sometime in the middle of the night...I think that he is afraid of the dark because he likes the lights to be on while he sleeps. Also he likes noise, last night we kept the TV on all night in our room. I was so tired that I was able to sleep through it. Sports Center all night baby!

We love this little man!

Our little Beeno!

That is the classic Kade face! He always gives us a look like, "What are you guys doing with me?" Kade LOVES to be swaddled and I think he looks like a Bean Burrito so I nicknamed him 'Beeno'. I have made up so many funny Beeno songs to him. I know everyone says that when babies smile that it's just like gas or something at this age...but I don't believe it ;)...every time I sing him a Beeno song he always smiles at me!

Kade's room...except we don't even use it for anything but sun tanning. His cradle and everything else is in our room. He loves to sun bathe, especially with Grandma Davis. He skin color looks a lot better now.

I always thought it was funny how mom's always thought their kid was smarter, cuter, stronger, and funnier than other kids....well, I am probably already WORSE than all those moms! Ha Ha, seriously this little guy is so dang funny. He likes to do tummy time and he has such a strong head. It's not a bobble head at all. I think he might start crawling next week!

My mom and I had to rush to the store to get him some preemie outfits to fit him because most his newborn ones were too big even. We were dying at this shirt because I always like to call him my hungry hippo. He eats like a champion now. I am anal mom and like to record every feeding time for when I start and end. And I record the times of his wet and dirty diapers. It helps me so much because if he starts to get fussy, I know if it's time to eat, or something else. I think that Heavenly Father knew that I needed a really good baby that I could handle because he truly is so darn easy (hope I am not jinxing myself...it's only been a week)...but he eats every 3 hours almost to do the dot. Now that we have a better schedule worked out and we are learning things about how to adjust to each other he really doesn't fuss at all.

This pic is my all time favorite. He is folding his arms ready to say a prayer.

He's not a big fan of his baths yet...we just LOVE his hair after the bath because it feels all fluffy like a duck and he smells so good! Nate loves to smooch him!

We had the funniest night the other night. Kade went through 3 PJ's in an hour!

1st...poop explosion out the sides of his diaper because we forgot to pull the little tabs on his legs out

2nd...he peed all over the night gown that we had sitting there ready to change him into...not to mention the pee that got all over my face. We were laughing so hard! We just bought a little pee guard thing from Babies R Us that is prevents that from happening again. It took us about 5 sprays in the face and his before we learned.

3rd...After I got done feeding him...some how he peed through the last diaper and jammies. We were almost crying laughing so hard.

Okay Nate...he's a keeper. We aren't throwing this one back!

Grandpa Davis gave Kade this dog right when we found out we were having a baby at Christmas time. He can't wait to meet the rest of his family. I am starting to calm down a little bit about everything. I kinda over did it a few of the days and just wanted to start getting back into the swing of things. Today I decided I'd be good and just try to relax!