This is how John plays with his toys.










He climbed in and got stuck.

The movies

I really haven't been taking many pictures of the kids lately, so not like me. In fact I think I've only taken one picture of Isabella in the past two weeks. I guess I'll make an effort to have the camera out more this week.

John had therapy on Friday, it was at 1:30pm though which is during his normal nap time so he wasn't that into it. I put him down for an early nap and he slept good but by the time 1pm rolled around he was ready for his normal nap. He kept rolling over and sucking his thumb all through his session and spent a lot of time flirting with his therapist (he loves her.) But he's doing well, he's really mastered commando crawling and he's fast. I left him in the living room for a few minutes the other day and when I got back he was on the other side of the dining room, under the table. We're working on getting him to get up on his knees now (well trying to.) So he'll have to spend a lot of time playing with the little musical table we have, it's the perfect hight for him to kneel at. He still can't bare any weight on his legs so we're working with just kneeling for now, hopefully that will help him ease into using his legs. His hips are very loose, and his lower back is too.

He still can't sit up by himself yet, he has the skills to do it but won't. A big problem we're having with that is that he likes to lean back, so if he sitting he just throws himself backward. And it's not that he doesn't have the balance to sit, he actually pushes back if you try to sit him up. We're working on it, but for now he won't be sitting until he's ready too. It really could be anytime though, he's just super stubborn (I have no idea where he gets that.)

Today we went to the movies!!!!!!!! I was soooo excited. Corey and I used to go to the movies all the time while we were dating and before we had kids. We love the movies. But after kids that changed. Well we were at the mall last night for dinner and they have a theatre there and I found out it's a dollar theatre. I decided it was worth the chance because it the kids get fussy and we have to leave early we're only out a couple buck, not 20. So we planned that for our Saturday activity. We saw RV which I had been wanting to see (good thing the movies are old at the dollar theatre.) I figured Isabella would be the one to scream and need to leave so Corey agreed to take her out if need be. Turns out John had to leave. Not because he was crying though, because he's such a wild man. He was so excited and squirmy, making loud happy noises. So Corey went out to the acrade and played games till he fell asleep. Isabella did so much better than I expected, she was a bit fussy but evetually fell asleep in my arms. So I'm hoping to go back soon, I'd like to get the kids used to going to the movies. Of course I was really bummed that they didn't have hot dogs there, it's just not a movie without hot dogs. I had to settle to nachos, they turned out pretty good though.

Well my cold is gone and I feel much better. I actually was feeling better Monday but was so tired I decided to stay home. I was so looking forward to getting out but the thought of actually going was to tiring for me. So we stayed home and cleaned the house, it was pretty in need of it. So we all had a pretty lazy three day weekend. I think Corey enjoyed that, he got plenty of computer time. He "watched" the kids for me, well as I got better I realized that he had turned on a Baby Einstein DVD and put it on repeat play. The kids watched the exact same DVD over and over ALL weekend long. 3 days of the same thing. I'm gonna have to get rid of that one now. I never let the kids watch tv with me though (their shows drive me nuts) so I really don't mind when they watch with him.

Isabella is in the worst mood today. I gave her a banana (which she loves) and she started screaming half way through eating it and wouldn't finish. I have no idea what her problem is but she's been screaming for an hour now. I'm trying so hard to keep my cool but it gets really hard after awhile.

We don't have anything planned this week, I'm just being sort of lazy. John was supposed to have physical therapy yesterday but it got rescheduled for Friday. We sure do have a boring life when PT is the highlight of our week.

I couldn't get my other pictures to upload last night so I'm doing that now. Plus I got a couple cute pictures of John today. He was in a good mood this afternoon. Isabella on the other hand was in the worst mood ever. She just screamed and screamed all evening. I really hope she's not getting sick too, that would be no fun. I'm still not feeling too great but I'm still holding out hope that we can go do something fun tomorrow. Being couped up in the house all weekend isn't fun, and laying in bed so much is seriously giving my flashbacks of pregnancy and bedrest.

You can really see his new teeth in this picture.

















Loving on his daddy. Isn't he cute?

10 Months

I honestly cannot believe that John is 10 months old. Isabella getting older month to month isn't so shocking anymore (although it certainly will be when she hits 2) but every month with John is so hard. Maybe because he's had such a rough year, I don't know. I think his first birthday is going to be really emotional (okay as I type I'm starting to cry so I know it'll be emotional.) 10 months ago he sat in the hospital on CPAP struggling to breath, he really has come a long way but at the same time he isn't doing nearly as well as I would have liked.

He's actually had a really good two days which is great. I've come down with an awful cold and my throat is killing me so Corey watched the kids today while I rested. Luckily they were both really good. I was quite bummed that we had to cancel family day, but as luck would have it Monday is a holiday (Pioneer Day) so we've rescheduled our activities for then. I'm just hoping I'll feel better by then, I feel a lot worse this evening than I did this morning though. And I'm really hoping no one else comes down with it, especially Corey since he has to work and he's a total wimp when he gets sick.

I had something exciting happen this past week that is my own weird little milestone. I've always felt John got a bit overlooked with things. There's tons of pictures of Isabella and just not quite as much of John, but the past two times I took pictures off my camera there were a bunch of John and none of Isabella. It's weird I know but it makes me feel good. I think it's because we haven't gone anywhere, John picture gets taken at home and Isabella's when we go out and do stuff. Which reminds me I really need to take the kids to Sears to have portraits taken, it has been WAY too long. Maybe I'll do that when my sister comes to visit next month. She's coming to visit for a week and I'm so excited. I get plenty bored alone all day and I'm really looking forward to some company. Plus I haven't seen her since Isabella was 2 months old and she's never met John.


John watching tv, he scooted himself all the way up to the tv just to watch. It's his new thing, luckily he hardly watches television so his eyes will be spared.

Well it's been just another average evening, but I wanted to share a few pictures. We went to dinner at McDonald's, not exactly good food but I wasn't in the mood to cook and Isabella enjoys it. Then I had to run to Target and John got to ride up in the front of the cart like a big boy. He was so excited. I've really been looking forward to him being able to ride there since he outgrew his infant carseat. But since he can't sit up himself yet it's pretty difficult for him so the cart has to be just right and so the the seatbelt on it. It doesn't work with all carts but he did okay in this one.

And the tonight Isabella decided to feed John his bottle, she doesn't do this very often anymore so it's kind of special. And she was just so sweet tonight.

We have a scooter!!!

John is officially commando crawling (scooting.) It's adorable and Corey and I are so very proud of him. He's been working so hard at it recently. His biggest motivation to get across the room is Isabella's food, she usually eats lunch on the living room floor and I have to be careful or else John will scoot right over and help himself. Then Isabella stands up and starts freaking out and screaming, it's really quite cute. Also a can of Pepsi seems to motivate him quite well, I think he just likes the way it looks because one evening he wouldn't leave mine alone so I had Corey give him an unopened can and he played with it for almost an hour.

His physical therapist came this morning and he did very well. He was unusually sleepy though and yawned the whole time and towards the end just wanted to roll over and go to sleep. We're working on getting him to use his legs and hips, the muscles there are really weak and he prefers to not use them. We're also working on going from sitting up to on our tummy the proper way. John's way is to just fall over and then roll over but we want him to transition from sitting to on his tummy without falling. He still can't sit unassisted though, but is getting much better at propping himself on his hands.

His therapist also brought a super cool toy today, the Fisher Price IncrediBlock and Isabella is in love with it. Since the therapist is coming back next week she said we could borrow it this week so Isabella gets to enjoy it until then. She played with it for well over an hour after the therapist left. I'll have to take some pictures of that.

John

John sure doesn't seem to get much attention but I promise he's still around (and definitely makes his presence known.) He's been having a pretty rough few weeks and not feeling well at all. We tried peas and it turns out he's allergic to them, he ended up with bloody diarrhea and it burned all the skin of his butt. Poor thing was beyond miserable. He also ended up very congested from the allergic reaction and couldn't breath through his nose making it impossible to drink from his bottle. Then as that started clearing up he started teething and is getting 3 new teeth now so he's just not been himself lately. I really miss my happy boy, it's been like old times around here with John constantly crying. His reflux is really bothering him a lot still and he's just a mess. I keep trying to take more pictures when we do things but he usually just sleeps in the stroller when we go places. That's where he's happiest. He did have fun looking at dinosaur activities on the computers in the museum with his daddy and I wanted to take a picture but I had to watch Isabella at the sand tables. Everytime I tried to go grab my camera from the stroller she'd think I abandoned her and totally freaked out.

This is just a cute picture of him sleeping. We still haven't bought him a new crib, I'm planning on getting him one for his birthday. Not exactly a normal first birthday present but I'm sure he'll be in it for a while and we plan on having more kids anyway so it'll be used.

Back to Thanksgiving Point!!!

Well Saturday has become our official family day. Now that Corey has a new job and goes to work in an office we don't get out much during the week (other than to go to Wal-Mart) so we keep our Saturday's packed. I've been wanting to go back to Thanksgiving Point and Corey actually agreed, when we got there he suprised me by getting us season passes. So now we can go more often. We went back through the museum but didn't spend too long there, just enough time for Isabella to run around and play in the sand and water tables again. Then we went over to the Gardens since we hadn't been there before. We only saw the Children's Discovery Garden (we were pretty tired) and then let Isabella play in the water fountains they have there. We didn't get to spend long there because the water got dirty and they had to close it, I was kind of bummed but not too much because I plan to go back soon. So we headed back over to the farm since our garden time got cut short. Isabella went on another pony ride and then we went on a ride in a horse drawn carriage, it was so neat and Isabella loved it. I left my camera in the van at the farm though so no pictures of that. Bella was so tired from the day that she literally fell asleep within two minutes of getting in the van. Such a busy day, but so much fun.

Exploring the caves in the gardens.





Up on the children's stage (she's always the star.)



Inside the bug. she didn't really enjoy this but I had to get a picture and she actually looks happy in it.




Playing in the fountains, she looks worried because the water kept shooting up in her face and she never knew when it would come up. It was funny, I even got a video of it.

Liberty Park

Last weekend we went on a picnic to Liberty Park. It was nice, tons of ducks and birds to feed. Isabella really has a thing for birds so that was neat for her. The ducks weren't shy at all, they just walked right up and ate out of her hand. I love the way she giggles when she's around animals. Then she had fun playing in the water fountains on the other side of the park. A great way to spend a hot summer Saturday.

Feeding the ducks.



























Eating lunch, I love this face.













Playing with John John. He was stealing her goldfish crackers.










Playing in the water.

A lot has happened since my last entry, good stuff though. Let's see a few weeks ago we took the kids to Thanksgiving Point. I loved it there and so did Isabella. She had a blast exploring the museum and the petting zoo. I can't wait to take her back again.

Here's Isabella being eaten by a dinosaur. She thinks her silly daddy is the greatest.

Playing in the sand and water tables.

Digging up Dino bones.

Feeding the animals on the farm. She really enjoyed this part. Their tongues tickled her hand.

Riding the pony, she didn't seem too excited about this but I think she was just really hot and tired. It got a little more exciting near the end of the ride.