A Picture Update

Its been a few weeks since I have posted pictures of my men, the hubby and the baby boy... I can't believe how big Ethan is getting,9 months, and getting cuter by the day! Have I ever mentioned how much this kid eats? He is literally eating more than me at this point. As he has started to eat more of what we are eating, I've been sharing my plate with him. He ate most of my plate at Easter and at a funeral dinner on Saturday... which leaves me super hungry just an hour or so after dinner time, I guess I'll have to make him his own plate from now on...

So, in my last post, I asked you all about your feelings about dogs. I should have made it more clear, but we watched my mom's beagle for about a week. We have watched him a few times for her, and she is wanting is to keep him because he won't stay around at her house (no fence, couple acres of land)... and we have a fenced in yard. Well, the little beagle dug under our fence and was scrapping with the neighbors 2 labs and boxer dog... We are getting our garden prepped and put down the compost on Friday, and the beagle went nuts, he was digging and having a great time in our garden... Needles to say, we are going to wait, we are also putting in our back yard this year, so maybe next year will be a good time to get a dog, after the grass is in and such. My parents took him home yesterday, and Ethan keeps standing at the back glass sliding door saying his version of doggie, its pretty cute and a little sad, I guess his little stuffed animals will have to do for now :)

Ethan has bacterial conjunctivitis in both eyes, poor little guy, but lots of other kids in our neighborhood have it too... so I guess its going around. We are enjoying the outdoors, and I'm really excited about doing a garden with Tyson. We work really well together, and the past few nights after Ethan goes down, we have been outdoors working together, and I love it! My mom watched Ethan for us Saturday night, and we went to Noodles and Company, Whole Foods (old Wild Oats) to get organic ice cream, YUM! and then to Target to look for Blindside, we seriously cannot find this movie anywhere, everyone says its really good, we are anxious to watch it! We ended up in the kiddie area and bought a bunch of clothes for Ethan bug... he is wearing 18 - 24 month size and we are just about out of stuff that fits these days. But it was still good to get out and spend time with my honey. We want to be better about having a consistent date night, do you all have a date night? Do you trade babysitting, what do you go and do? Hope you all are having a great week!


Ethan, clapping and so happy to be out in the sun!


Our little fam at our Great Aunt Sherry's graveside service


Ethan making a cute face at me, what a little ham!


Ethan smiling at me, cute little bug!


Ethan watching Elmo in the car ride to Vernal, he loves Elmo!


Up at Chocolate Rock, rolling Easter Eggs in the blustery wind!


Ethan all bundled up!


Tyson and Ethan on Chocolate Rock, my handsome men!

Another Cold Easter, Some Fun, and a Dog Gone Question

Could it be any colder in Vernal? Hackings have a tradition to go to Chocolate Rock (mouth of Dry Fork) and roll our nicely decorated Easter eggs down the hill. The Hackings that originally settled Vernal started doing this, and each year, the week before Easter is fairly nice, and then Easter weekend hits, and brrr... I don't remember in the last 6 years that I have joined in on the Hacking tradition fun that we have had a warm day on Chocolate Rock, and why would this year be any different?

Its so funny because my parents want us to move to Vernal so badly, but they themselves ask why they even live in such a cold climate??? Salt Lake still has it fair share of winter, but we've had green grass pretty much all year long, so I can't really complain.

So even though it was very windy and chilly, even snowy at times, we had a nice Easter weekend with both Nebekers and Hackings. We watched a little conference, but its kind of hard to watch with a busy 9 month old, so we are watching 2 or 3 talks each night.

Our company has a side by side ATV, a Razor, and we brought that out with us and had a ball riding it around in the hills. We are looking forward to riding it and getting out a lot more this year.

Tys was sick for about 4 months last year about this time, and I was pregnant and then on bed rest, so we are really looking forward to not being cooped up this year. We have plans to go to Yellowstone twice, Hacking Reunion and then the Nebeker Reunion, riding to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on the Razor, Camping at Topaz Mountain, behind Strawberry Reservoir, and possibly Bear Lake. Plus I have Girl’s Camp, Tys has Scout Camp and for Youth Conference, we are going to the pageant at Castle Dale and river rafting in Moab… yeah, our summer is pretty much planned already.

Lastly, we are thinking about getting a dog... my mom has a beagle that just won't stick around their property, and we have a fenced in yard. We have watched him when my parents go out of town. He is adorable, Ethan loves him, and the dog is good with Ethan, but I kind of just feel like it is one more thing to do, and I already feel like each day is crammed... what are your thoughts, do you have a dog? Hope you are all enjoying Spring!

Whats This, WHAT IS THIS?

Sorry, the songs from the Nightmare Before Christmas get stuck in my head very easily, and Jack's "What's This" song has been a theme this week!

For the first time in nearly a year, I have had the opportunity of sleeping through the night completely undisturbed for the last few nights!

Nearing the end of pregnancy, there are few positions that one can find to actually get comfortable and then fall asleep. Then, with a newborn, sleeping at night is a rarity indeed... Ethan has woken up at 5 AM to eat since he was about 4 months old. So, now Ethan will be 9 months old next week, and all of my sleep books have said that at 9 months the morning feeding should disappear, and POOF! It's gone! Now, if I can only kick this never ending spring cold, I'll get my butt out of bed at 5 or so and work out! I have forgotten how wonderful it can be to sleep a straight 7 or 8 hours, Ahh!

Ethan started the Your Baby Can Read program a few weeks ago, and is literally saying and acting out several words, it is so incredible! He is so curious about EVERYTHING, and it is just adorable! We are now realizing what it means to "baby proof" the house ;)

In a way, I am more than excited for warmer weather, but I also can not believe that we are nearing the end of March, it seriously feels like the time goes by so quickly! My husband's mission president told him the the days will feel like months and the months like days, it is so true!

I really am super excited for Spring though, Spring and Fall are my favorite, and they are the shortest in Utah, so we really have to enjoy them! Oh, and I got the funnest floral print purse yesterday, normally a $70 bag, and I got it for $25, it is so not a typical purchase for me, but just looking at it makes me feel like putting on capris and sandals and going outside! Hope you are all doing well and enjoying life!

Update on Previous Post

Well, I need to write this to update on my dad's well being... his second blood test came back and his PSA was NOT elevated... sigh of relief! They are going to do another test in 6 months, but so far, Prostate Cancer is not an issue!

Second, my dad had an MRI at the University of Utah Hospital last week, and it didn't show ANY DAMAGE to his heart whatsoever, and the issues they thought were there, are not there... they are doing an echo in 6 months, and will just watch him, but heart surgeries are down the road now...

Now my poor dad is having a serious reaction to the meds they put him on, and is one huge hive... but thanks for reading, and for your comments... I appreciate them so much! Here's to another snowy day! Love, Dani

The Degree of Separation

You know how people say that the degree of separation between you and some famous person is like 5... you know someone who knows someone who knows someone... etc???

It seemed like that is how it used to be when it came to cancer... you knew someone who knew someone who had it... now, it seems like the degree of separation is 0, like everyone knows someone with cancer.

My dad will be so mad if he reads this, but I don't think he looks at my blog too often, just when I put cute pics of Ethan bug on here, but... he had a doctor's appointment and he has an elevated PSA level, which indicates Prostrate Cancer... he came out to SL to meet with a Urologist, and they did another blood test to confirm the PSA reading... and now we are waiting on that test. But can I just say, that CANCER SUCKS! It just seems like so many people are suffering, and two words, cancer sucks.

I'm not writing this for sympathy, or to complain, by no means are my problems huge, and its not for certain yet if anything is even wrong, but there is this concern that until 2 weeks ago, didn't exist in my family, and it really puts things into perspective. The doc also took a good look at my dad's heart. He had heart surgery when he was four, in 1960, and has never had ANY follow up care since. Well, turns out that he has exactly the same issues as my little sis Jacky, genetics are so fascinating... Again, its not life threatening today, but a heart surgery or two is looming in our future now, and again, my perspective is changing too.

I truly believe that FAMILY is the most important thing we've got... and I feel like I've been so blessed in that respect. The not knowing, the unknown, its just darn scary at times, but we are holding on as a FAMILY and will get through whatever is thrown at us, my philosophy is holding true, TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME... Thanks for reading, Dani

Continued...

It feels like we are re-living the same couple of weeks over and over... Monday morning, Ethan sounded really raspy, and had a very wet cough. Tyson had officially caught what I had about a week and a half prior, so he was also down for the count. I was super worried about our little guy, so I took him to his doc. The doc said that his lungs sounded good, but that we really needed to watch for RSV amongst many other things... But its been a good 7 days, and Ethan is much better, even made it to church today, and Tyson still has no voice and some serious congestion, but its about a 10 day cold, so he's got another few days till he gets better...

Then there is the weather. It was sunny and beautiful again, and we ventured outdoors again, even after weatherbug threatened snow storms all week. But then Saturday came, and yet again, we have about 4 inches on the ground again... silly Utah spring weather! We are growing a garden this year, first place that we will have the space and time to accomplish such a feat... and peas are supposed to be in the ground today, March 15th, how am I supposed to plant peas with 4 inches of snow on the ground??? Still working on that one :)

But I also got to go to the Relief Society Birthday Social, they served dinner and it was nice to visit with the ladies in my ward. Thursday, Lehi City has a Gala every year, and this is the 4th year our boss has bought us tickets. John Schmidt played the piano and it was awesome! We couldn't find a babysitter, so little Ethan bug came with us, and he was clapping, laughing, and smiling, it was a fun time!

Saturday, I threw a little "sprinkle" (babyshower) for Lib, and it was so fun, my mom helped me pick out some fabric to do a tie quilt for her, so the pictures are mainly for my mom, it turned out so cute, and had to get a little pink outfit to match!





Tys more than sweet enough to watch Ethan while I was at the sprinkle, he even cleaned both bathrooms and vacuumed! How nice to come home to a clean house, and a happy and full baby! We got a little bit of a while hair last night and went and had Indian food at Bombay House, can I just say yum! Driving in the snow bad, food good, oh so good!

I want to ask you all some questions, and get some advice/suggestions... how do you fit it "all" in? How do you be a good mommy and wife first and foremost, a devout daughter of God, a good daughter/sister/neighbor/friend, do a budget, pay the bills, clean, cook, do the shopping, exercise, read, scrapbook, sew, whatever... how do you fit it "all" in? This last week was so busy, but I felt like even though the toilets weren't scrubbed till Saturday (and not even by me, thanks again Tys) it was a pretty good week... I guess it just comes down to priorities, but I just am curious to hear your thoughts, thanks! Dani

In Like a Lamb, Lion, Lamb... ???

Well, is anyone else ready for spring??? Silly question right? It has been really beautiful, and since Ethan has dropped the 3rd nap, we have had some time to actually go and do things. Just as we were starting to really enjoy our play time outside in the yard, bam... 6 inches of snow later... and Ethan is crying at the door wanting to play outside and we are stuck indoors. But now its nice again, there are even stars out tonight, just might have to go out and do a little stargazing in the 50 something degree weather...

As I mentioned, the 3rd nap is a gonner... which I am actually happy about in a way. We now have a few hours to go and run a few errands, enjoy some time outside, playing with new things, its been fun! It seems like every two hours, it was nap time, which doesn't leave a lot of time to accomplish much. Then Saturdays come around and it becomes errand day, when we really want to go do something fun as a family... so I've been able to run errands here and there with little Ethan, and then Saturday can be our fun day with daddy!

Other news this week, my boss wants me to take on a whole heap load of more responsibility... and I'm a little unsure of how exactly that would work! I work from 9-2, Ethan sleeps from 9-10:30 ish, plays in my office for about an hour, he drinks his juice, eats his lunch, I read to him, nurse him, and then he takes another nap till about 2. While he sleeps, I do my work. It works out alright, Ethan loves everyone in the office, plus he gets to hang out with daddy a little here and there when Tys is in the office and not out with clients. I realize that it isn't ideal, but we still are paying on some hospital bills from Tys being so sick last year and then having Ethan, and my little morsel of a paycheck really does help. I don't honestly feel like it hurts Ethan in any way, its probably hardest on me, just balancing my workload/deadlines/task list and most importantly, being a mommy to little Ethan bug. But, for now, its working, and I have a good life, and nothing to complain about. I'm grateful that I at least get to be with my baby boy all day, that my boss is generous enough to let him come with me. I'm realistic that this situation won't work with 2, but we're not there yet, so I'll worry about it when it comes.

Oh, thank you all for the well wishes, I think we are just getting over the past cold, and hoping to stay healthy here for awhile! Here's to hoping that spring gets here fast, and just lamb mode would suit me great ;)