Baby Blessing

Jasons cousin Karla blessed their beautiful baby girl today and we got to go down to Bountiful for it. It really was a beautiful blessing and we are so glad we were able to go. Thanks Karla for inviting us, its always good to see family and be part of these special events!

Temple Square

Today was just beatiful, the weather was perfect and for once no wind. So we took advantage of the fact that we were heading to Bountiful for a baby blessing and stopped by Temple Square on our way. Daniel just loved the reflection pond, everytime we tried to take pictures by it he would hardly look at the camera, he just wanted to play in the water, but really what toddler wouldn't want to. So we took what we could get. It was really peaceful walking around and they had the grounds looking good already with all the flowers. It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The Zoo

With the weather finally making a turn for the better we decided we needed to get out of the house, and since Daniel had never been to the Zoo we thought it would be a great time to take him. He had such a blast, a lot of the exhibits and shows were still closed from winter, but we still had a great time and really enjoyed being able to spend time together! It was also a great way to teach Daniel more about animals, and to know that they do exist and they are not just pictures in his books.

Spina Bifida Clinic

After being at the hospital for 3 1/2 hours, he found ways to entertain himself
Daniel has to get a renal ultrasound (where they check the kidneys and bladder) once a year, and it was that time of year again for us, everything went really well, no infections, everything looked to be growing well and looked very healthy!
We had our annual trip up to PCMC this last Friday, it was a long visit, but completely worth it when you look at the fact that we get about 6 doctors visits done in one day. And for being at the hospital for 3 1/2 hours he did really well, considering how many people were poking at him. A lot of the visit was routine, nothing new, just checking on his progress, and making sure things are moving along the way they should be. The only thing that they really want to push is the walking, so the Physical Therapist ordered a medical walker for him and were hoping once we get that going and get him use to using it, we can then move onto walking independently. So we'll keep our finders crossed!

Date Night

Sorry no pictures on this post, it seems these don't happen that often and I didn't want to worry about carrying around a camera, I just wanted to enjoy the night! So earlier last week I was having one of those days, you know one of those days where you feel like your going to rip out your hair and well....you just need a break. So I called my mom and asked if she would take Daniel for a night for me, so Jason and I could do a date night and just relax. Of course being the wonderful mother she is, she said absolutley. So Friday afternoon I dropped Daniel off at my moms at about 1:00, and of course as usual its at the moment I'm leaving him I wonder if I really should, but I knew I needed to do it for myself and Jason. So I just got in my car and drove away, but knowing my little guy was in good hands. Well I had a few hours to spare before picking up Jason from work, so I decided to some shopping, I have to admit is was kinda weird shopping by myself, but at the same time it was nice to be able to just get in and out of the car and make all the stops I wanted without worrying, or going through the hassle of getting Daniel in and out of the car seat. So then I was on my way to pick up Jason from work, he works in some office buidings right by Boondocks in Draper, so we decided to go play a game of mini golf, which it seems everytime we have a date night thats what we do, but I think it makes it that much more special because it our thing that we do, we have done it ever since we started dating, of course I let Jason win (ha ha, who am I kidding). But none the less we had a good time. Then we headed just down the street to Cafe Rio(my mouth is getting watery as I talk about it) we had one of our cards filled up so we got a free dinner, which made it even better. And of course I got the pork salad. mmmmmm so good! Then we just headed home to lounge and watch movies, stay up late(considering I don't have to get up early!) So when all said an done it was a good night out, a chance for me and Jason to get out and just enjoy ourselves and spend time as just a couple. So thanks babe for a great night out and again Thank you so much Mom for taking such good care of Daniel! It was a much needed night for both of us!

First Bath

Its been almost 8 weeks since I have been able to give Daniel a full bath, and lets just say its been hard on both of us. So the moment he saw the tub and I put him in, he was grinning ear to ear, I ended up just as wet as he was from all the splashing!

Cast free!

Its been about 8 weeks since his surgery and we are finally cast free! YEAH! An exciting day for both me and Daniel! This is what his foot looked like before I gave him a bath. Not a pretty sight, but as far as how his foot is doing and the way it healed it looks amazing!

Enjoying every minute of it!

I miss this! I miss having him fall asleep in my arms! So when this does happen I just take in every moment of it and enjoy the time with my little guy!

Standing!

STANDING ALL BY HIMSELF!

Well...we hit another milestone, he is standing by himself! I was holding his hands today at my moms and he just let go and the next thing I know he was balancing by himself, he stood there for quite awhile before falling to his butt or to his knees, he kept doing it all night and I loved the look on his face everytime he did it, he was just so proud of himself and we are so proud of him, and I can't wait to see what comes next (maybe walking???).

Private

Starting April 1st our blog will become private, there are still some e-mail addresses I haven't got, so if you are interested in continuing to check out our blog please e-mail me at carrollhl@gmail.com I still want to stay in touch with all our friends and family, and don't want to leave anyone out. Thanks again for understanding, I just will feel a lot safer once we do this.

Finally DONE!

Well we are finally moved and finally unpacked, I can't believe we did it this quick, but I just couldn't stand all the boxes, so my parents were nice enough to take Daniel for a night and we went to town on this place, but it finally feels like home! Moving day went very smoothly for the most part, we did have one little problem, once we got the truck all loaded up and were ready to head out, Jason got in the truck and it would'nt start. Just our luck, things were just going to well, so after being on the phone with what seemed forever with U-haul, I asked Jason what they said, and this was there response..."within a half hour someone will call you and let you know when a mechanic can come and check the truck out" seriously....thats all they had to say, so we decided to check around with our neighbors and see if anyone had any jumper cables, and hopefully that is all it needs, once we finally found some and tried it out, it worked! Thank goodness, because if we had to wait for U-haul, who knows how long we would have been sitting there. But I'm just glad the day is over and everything went smooth for the most part (and I am just loving our new place, and all the room we have!), and thank you so much to all of you who helped us out, it was such a big help, we couldn't have done it without you!

Well, it might be awhile before I post again, we move on Saturday and having no internet and house full of boxes, I'm going to have my hands full, but we hope everyone has a enjoyable Easter, and a wonderful weekend. Also, I'm still not sure exactly when I'll be going private, i'm just kinda watching things for now, but if you haven't sent me your e-mail address and you want to be added make sure you get it to me, my e-mail is posted below on my entry "going private".

Big Shout out for KARY and RYAN

I just wanted to give a big shou out to Kary and Ryan! They are having a BOY! We are so excited for them, and can't wait to meet the little guy! Congrats and we love you guys!

I just don't get it.

So as Jason and I were driving home from the new apartment the other day and Daniel was just in the back talking and making all kinds of sounds, when all of sudden he was quiet, as I looked back to see if maybe he had fallen asleep, I found this instead. I don't get it, but maybe I don't need to, but it was funny to look back and see this 2 year old with his sock in his mouth looking at me like "what". As if there was nothing strange about what he was doing.

Our new place

Kitchen

dining area
straight ahead is one of the bathrooms and the doors to the right lead to my bedroom.

I couldn't get a good picture of the rooms or the bathroom.

Living room, Daniel was a little worn out, as I was bringing things in he just layed there, I kept waiting for him to fall asleep, but he never did.

Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest, but here is just a idea of what our new place looks like, once we get moved in and things are put together I'll post more pics.

Speech Therapy

Daniel and his Speech Therapist Donna.
Working on oral stimulation, she has a few different techniques she would use, inside and outside the mouth, he usually was not a fan of this, but the more we did it, the more he would tolerate it.
Animal sounds!
This last week was our last session with Daniels Speech Therapist with the Kids who Count Program, with us moving we no longer will be able to have the same therapist :( I just feel so lucky that we were able to be involved in this program and get the right help for Daniel, and what made it even better is that they come to your home! We are sad to leave the Kids who Count, but excited for the transisition to the new program which will be with with Kids on the Move, lucky for us we will be able to have all the same services, just new therapist. Thanks Donna for all you have done for Daniel!

Blog Slacking!

So recently I have been terrible at keeping my blog up to date. I wish I had a really good excuse or something but in reality we have just been really busy, we move next week into our new apartment and have just been packing like crazy. But we just went by the new place and are getting way excited, its weird to think we are going from a 3 bedroom to a 2 bedroom but we have twice the amount of space. It was just nice to see the apartment without the other tenants things in it and kind of figure out where our furniture will go. Plus I'm loving the fact that we have a garage to park in, a neighboorhood to take Daniel on walks and a yard to play in! Its going to be a much more enjoyable spring, knowing I won't be cooped up inside all the time! Daniel had his follow-up from his surgery this last week, they took out the pin(its huge, as soon as I get a chance I'll post a pic of it) and took off the cast, and then put a new cast on that he will have for 2 more weeks. And then we are done, well....for now. But his foot his healing very well, and lets just say when they took the pin out of his foot I almost passed out, thanks goodness my dad came with me and held Daniel, or we could of had a very bad situation. I don't know if its because I'm pregnant and he's my little boy and I hate seeing him pain, but for some reason I just didn't do well at this appointment, so Thanks a million Dad for coming and helping me out. But as always Daniel was a trooper and just cried a little bit when they were taking the pin out and taking off his cast, but once they were done he was just back to his happy little self. As for me I'm feeling good, she is kicking like crazy, i feel like I have a little gymnast in there! I love that I can "she", doesn't that sound so much better than saying "it". Anyways I'll have more soon about my pregnancy week soon on my other blog. And for Jason, he is trying to enjoy his spring break, but I ruin all the fun with making us pack(I'm such a mean wife, ha ha). But he has been great dealing with everything and handling his pregnant wife trying to pack. But hopefully once we get this move done with and life gets back to normal, I'll be able to get back to my regular blogging again, its funny I actually miss it, I guess I'm addicted.

Going Private

So after much debate I have decided to take my blog private. I just no longer feel safe having all my family information and pictures out there for everyone and anyone to see. I still would love all of our friends and family to continue checking out our blog! I hate that it has come down to this, but after some suspicious activity on my blog I feel it is neccesary. But before I do go private I'll need your e-mail addresses so I can add you onto our blog, so we can all continue to stay in touch. So if you would like to be added please e-mail me at carrollhl@gmail.com

Also, if you have us posted on your blogs links could you please erase our last name, we would appreciate it. Thanks for understanding and we hope we can continue to stay in touch with all of our family and friends!

Its a........

So we had our ultrasound today. And drum roll please........its a healthy baby girl! Yeah I'm pretty excited right about now. And its even cute because Jason is too, he was all giddy and already putting together a list of names he likes. So for now its baby girl, but I just love that I can refer to the baby as a she now instead of a "it". Well I'll have the whole story of how my appointment went on my prego blog, hopefully soon I'll get it all posted. And Thanks Mom for coming down and being a part of this with me and helping take care of Daniel! You were such a big help!

Remembering Mike

(click on the x in white box of the song to get rid of it to see the whole picture)


Heather is the one who usually posts here but I needed to do this one, and its long overdue. I originally wanted to do this around Mike's birthday but gathering my thoughts and pictures took awhile. It has only been a couple of months since Mike's passing but he is already greatly missed. I find myself remembering him often, usually when I'm driving or just by myself. I've told Heather many times since that whenever a particular movie comes out i say, "I would have gone with Mike to see that." Songs that I hear from their wedding to the smallest things remind me of what a great friend was. He was one of my closest friends and it saddens me that to think of the times that we will miss. All my memories of Mike are good ones. Late night Wendy's runs, paintballing, gaming it up, to the intellectual and spiritual conversations we had; just hanging out with him was always fun and interesting. My words cannot describe how much I miss him and respect him. He was a great father, husband, and a fierce friend. He always made me want to be better in life and with his passing has inspired me to continue on that path as he would expect his friends to do. Mike, I love you man, you will be missed and never forgotten.(Mike and I liked this band and i have always liked this song. I dont know why but when I thought of doing this post it came to mind)