Kason's Famous!!

Kason is growing and growing.  As we were delivering gifts one night this week, our neighbor held him and said that he must have lead in his behind.  He is a pretty solid baby! He is eating lots of rice cereal and has been doing well with sweet potatoes this week.  He is growing into 12 month clothes. They seem like they will be huge when you look at the clothes, but they fit just right.  He is getting vocal and likes to talk.  He is still trying to crawl, but just rocks on his hands and knees and then flops in different directions.  He started sitting in a highchair this week that sits on the table.  I think he appreciates us not squishing him chunky legs in that little bumbo! He is a great kisser—likes to grab mommy’s face with both hands and kiss it (and sometimes he prefers pinching your neck and then kissing you which doesn’t make his mom happy!) He loves grabbing hair too! Kason seems to be teething as he likes to gnaw on your fingers and other teething toys; Tylenol is our best friend! He learned a new little quirk this week—he now turns his head to the side to look at things.  Grandpa Lindley teases him by turning his head to the side to look at Kason, and Kason loves doing it back at him.  We have been thinking that might be his way of saying he wants to go to someone or get out of a chair or something.  It is pretty darn cute, and we laugh at Kason and Grandpa a lot! 

We have had a great week this week, finishing school and finally getting things done that we have been wanting to do! The big news of the week is that Kason is famous.  He is going to be on the Post Register Born in 2013 Baby Parade magazine flyer and on the cover, coming in March.  His mom is pretty proud.  They picked one of Kason’s picture to go on the flyer that will be distributed to many businesses and inserted in every newspaper.  We think that is pretty cool!

On Monday my mom and I went visiting teaching to our sisters and delivered some dipped pretzels and other goodies.  I sure enjoy this time of year, and it was nice to teach about the birth of our Savior.  Kolt finished his last finals on Monday.  I finished my last finals on Thursday and Tuesday.  I am excited to be done and really nervous about one of my finals.  I am crossing my fingers that I did well on my Accounting final!

We spent a lot of time this week finishing Christmas shopping, delivering neighborhood gifts, and wrapping presents.  On Wednesday, I had my Office Christmas party.  We did our annual Christmas gift exchange and ate some great food! We even had enough to have it for lunch the rest of the week! At the gift exchange, I got a popcorn bowl, popcorn and a movie! We are looking forward to a movie night!

Kolt has been riding his horses all week.  JJ is doing great with his first rides.  Nathan even got to ride JJ this week which he was thrilled about.  Dev (the new horse) has been improving in her ground work.  Kolt is realizing how lucky he is to have JJ, with such a quiet disposition, where Dev is a little more anxious. 

We also spent a couple nights this week going to Brand’s basketball tryouts and practices.  We are beyond excited for his games this season.  We have missed watching basketball games and looking forward to watching him play basketball at Rocky Mountain Middle School.

Kolt and I set a goal this holiday season to get back to pre-baby weight.  Yeah, not a great time of year to set that goal, but it’s when we have the most time!  We have done P90X the past 3 nights and are a little sore, to say the least.  It has been feeling good to finally get going after having Kason.

On Saturday we spent some time redecorating the living room. We almost finished it all except we need one more 5X7 frame on the bottom.  Over the years, I have collected a lot of frames, and lots of black frames.  I painted some additional ones black and decided to make a wall collage that I saw on Pinterest.  I love it! I just need to get a few more recent pictures, but I just love looking and seeing our life on the wall.  We had lunch at Scotty’s. Then we came home and decided to ruin our Christmas, and mount our new TV in our bedroom. We love it!

Sunday we went out to Milo for church at 11 to listen Rope sing in Sacrament Meeting and attend Brand’s advancement to a teacher. We hurried back to our ward at 1 to play the organ and teach Sunday school. We were very excited to listen to Tanner Roberts report his mission. After church we lent our computer to a family in our ward who was talking to their daughter who is serving a mission in the Philippines. 

We are really excited to talk to Tyler in Italy on Christmas day. We are grateful for this time of year to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and we are excited to start Christmas traditions with our new family.

On the Homestretch

Kason is growing at lot at the 5 month stage! He is starting to sleep better at nights.  We have had 3 9-5 nights in a row, thanks to a little delay in responding to his fussiness and lots of bananas and rice cereal! He sure seems like he is close to crawling because he always rolls to his belly and then gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth until he lunges forward.  He rocks just like that when he sits on your lap now and likes to be moving! He also loves to bridge on his toes and hands and slides backwards on his head. No wonder he is balding so much!! He is still vocal and loves to jabber.  He loves riding in the car and still always falls asleep in the car.  We haven’t progressed much on food, but we are okay with that as he is definitely growing and still very happy! He officially doesn’t sit on my lap when I play the piano like he used.  He is very intrigued with my hands and loves to grab them when I am playing! He is also a great kisser and often grabs your cheeks and slobbers all over your mouth! It is pretty cute!

We are almost done with school! We have been finishing the last of our projects and papers.  Kolt and I have both taken about half of our finals this week.  Kolt reached his goal this semester of getting 100% on one of his exams.  He got 100% of the last exam in his Anatomy and Physiology class.   He is a great student and is expecting A’s in his five classes.  I have 2 more exams this week including a difficult main accounting class.  I am not quite the “studier” Kolt is, but I’m okay with that! Being a mom is much more fun, and I’m very lucky to have great classmates this semester who help me all the time! I am so grateful for all of the many people who have helped us with Kason this semester especially my mom and my mother-in-law who watched in regularly each week! It is so nice to have family close by and know that Kason is taken care of.  I am looking forward to my last semester of classes which is all online!

Tuesday evening I accompanied a lady in our ward sing with her 2 sisters in her sister’s ward in Ammon.  We only practiced 15 minutes before. They are very talented singers and sounded beautiful.  I told Kolt in my next life, I would love to be able to sing on the spot like that.  After I got home, Kolt went to go play basketball with Brand at the Milo building.  He has been playing basketball with Brand early in the mornings to work on individuals and then playing at the church when the ward gets together.  Brand has 8^th grade basketball tryouts today, and we are excited for him to play basketball this year!

Kolt put together an ISU LDSSA Appreciation Lunch for the custodians at the ISU University Place campus.  He has been planning this event for weeks including arranging food and scheduling a room.  It went really smoothly and his wife is still very impressed that he “planned” all it so well all by himself! He ordered the perfect amount of food and the custodians were very happy.  One of the men there actually told Kolt it was the first time anyone had done something like that since he’d gotten there 13 years ago.  Kolt definitely felt good about that!

Saturday we spent the day doing laundry and watching Brand’s basketball games.  He won them both pretty easily and some scored some big points.  On Saturday morning we also got a new horse.  A family in our neighborhood gave Kolt a horse they needed to get rid of immediately. She is a 3-year old sorrel filly.  She will be APHA registered very shortly.  She doesn’t have a name at the moment, but she is a sweet thing and seems to like JJ too.  Kolt is going to busy during the break riding both of these horses and getting them ready to be sold in the spring.  

Sunday we sang two choir numbers in Sacrament Meeting.  I played the piano for the choir and played the organ.  It was a busy Sunday, but I love doing it.  Grandpa Lindley got to hold Kason up on the stand while we sang.  He was pretty hungry by the end, and Grandpa was a good sport! I took a turn teaching the Sunday school lesson.  We learned about serving more effectively in the church.  Each of the kids read a talk by President Monson and then took a turn teaching us about a quote in the talk, sharing an example, and bearing their testimonies.  We have tried to help the kids learn to teach this year, and it is really rewarding to listen to them at the end of the year and see how far they have come.  I even had Christmas Tree Rice Krispies for them when they finished.  

After church we went out to celebrate Brand’s 14^th birthday! We had yummy ham and potatoes for dinner and then had red velvet cake for dessert! We gave Brand an ISU t-shirt and water bottle with a gift certificate to go to an ISU Men’s Basketball game with us over the break.  We are excited to take him to a college game, and I think he is excited too! After the party, Kolt took Mint Brownies to his home teaching families, and I dipped pretzels for my visiting teaching sisters.  It was a good and busy Sunday!

More From the Piquet's

Kason is 5 months old this week! He has gotten quite vocal this week, learning that he can make a lot of noises all by himself.  He hasn’t screamed quite as much this week, but he has a pretty constant babble that has become a consistent sound at this house.  We have had a sick week with all the cold and flu symptoms.  Luckily Kason mainly had the cold symptoms while I had the flu symptoms.  Thursday and Friday we stayed home and got well.  He is still fighting a running nose and cough, but he is much happier and doesn’t seem like he is miserable.  Kason has gotten really good at pushing up on his hands and knees, but keeps scooting backwards.  He will be a happy boy when he realizes he can go forward!

Despite the sicknesses, we have had a pretty normal week of school and work with a couple of highlights.  In my little over a year of “trying” to write a weekly family letter, I have learned that I am much more grateful for the little things and the big things that happen each week.  It has definitely been a blessing for me!

Tuesday evening Kolt, Kason and I went out to my cousin Jason Dalling’s house to babysit for their 4 kids while Jason, Marie and Jessica were out for the evening.  Kolt was the best babysitter by playing every game in the book with the kids.  They played freeze tag, hide-n-seek, 4 corners, Simon says, airplane, bucking bull, and even Caleb’s favorite game “Dragon Fire”. Sarah, Caleb, and Valerie had a great time with him, and Justin tried to keep up with the other kids!  You could tell Kason is an only child—He just stared at all the kids running around and held on tight! We had a great time helping family and even got to read the Book of Mormon when the kids when to bed.

Friday morning Kolt watched Paisley while Kason and I stayed in the bedroom, so we wouldn’t get her sick! Paisley is growing up so quickly, and she and Kolt seemed to have a good time! Friday evening while Kolt was in Pocatello, we went to dinner and did some shopping at Fred Meyer.

The biggest news of the week is that Kolt is now a Course-Trained Phlebotomist.  He took a 3-session course in Pocatello through Bingham Memorial Hospital.  Thank you to Kristi and Bryant for letting him stay with them on Friday evening to avoid the snowy roads! He brought home a kit to keep practicing, and I’m afraid I may have to face my fear of needles and let him practice on me soon.

Saturday we watched Brand’s basketball game against Hillcrest.  They lost by 2 in a close game! After the game, Kolt and I went to Red Robin for dinner.  It is nice to get a little break away from the daily routine. 

Saturday we watched Brand’s basketball game against Hillcrest.  They lost by 2 in a close game! After the game, Kolt and I went to Red Robin for dinner.  It is nice to get a little break away from the daily routine. 

Sunday was the normal routine with a good block of meetings and then dinner with my parents, and Kevin and Natalie’s family.  We also watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  I always enjoy the music. We are looking forward to the holiday season.

5 MONTHS

 

-Around 21 pounds and 30 inches long

-Officially SIZE 4 diapers as of today (Thank goodness we just finished a box of 3's!)

-Can almost sit up all by himself (He can sit up for a minute or two without support!)

-Has taken a few nose dives when he too tired to hold himself up :) 

-Started eating rice cereal at nights and loves it mixed with bananas

-Has tried yams, potatoes, beans, and peaches, but likes bananas best

-Finally learned to roll from his belly to his back, but only does it when he puts his mind to it

-Wears mostly 9 month clothes and some 12 month clothes

-Loves books and toys, especially his new toy horse from Aunt Janis

-Sleeps in his crib most nights, but still wakes up about 2-3 times a night 

-Must be getting teeth--drools and chews on any fingers he can find (including his own!)

-Prefers being around people and definitely likes being part of the action

-Learned to scream this week and seems pretty proud of himself that he can make noise!

-Rolls from back to belly all the time

-Always wants to sit up, especially when his cousins are playing around him 

-Definitely prefers those he recognizes

-Lifts himself up on his arms (and sometimes his knees) and scoots himself backwards when he is on his belly

-Can now move around in his walker, jump in the johnny jumper, and sit up in the boppy pillow

-Still happy most of the time!!

-Loved by his mom and dad :)

Thanksgiving Week

It is certainly starting to get colder here in Idaho. Kason is starting to get a bit of a cold, so we are trying to keep him bundled up better with a coat, hat, socks, blankets, and a cover over his car seat.  He is almost grown out of his car seat weight-wise, which is sad, but it is a little bit exciting that we don’t have to carry around the pound of bricks with us everywhere we go.  Kason just keeps growing and growing.  We unofficially weighed him, and he weighed 22 ½ pounds.  He eats bananas every night with his rice cereal. We tried yams this week, but he seemed to have a little problem digesting them, so we will wait a little longer for those.  He is starting to put more weight on his hands and knees when he is on his belly.  He scoots and scoots, but doesn’t realize he is moving himself backwards.  He is also interested in sitting up.  He sat up by himself for long periods of time this week, watching and playing with his cousins.  If he is sitting alone though, he usually tries to grab a toy on the floor and tumbles onto his head.  He is also getting more vocal and learned how to scream…loud.  Our efforts to get him to sleep through the night are unpredictable; sometimes he sleeps 6-8 hours and sometimes Kason makes us so happy he sleeps 2 hours at a time.  He seems to not have much of a routine except his faithful morning nap from about 8-10.  It is sure fun to watch him grow and learn.

This week has been a great break away from school! We have been shopping, putting up Christmas lights, and running errands.  Kolt watched Kason on Monday and Wednesday while I went into work.  On Tuesday, we went out to Piquet’s to help them with some projects, and then we hit dinner in Ririe. 

On Wednesday we had Thanksgiving dinner with the Dalling family in Sugar City.  Kolt was just a little excited to finally make it to a Dalling Thanksgiving dinner after 3 years of not being there.  We usually have dinner and then the whole family goes to the gym to play basketball and other sports.  The kids always have a fun time playing with their cousins.  Kolt played basketball a few games with Jeremy, Dayle, Jared, Scott, Wyatt, Craig, Shelby, Bryant, Kristi, and Mom.  I played volleyball with Kamrie and Lindsey.  Lacey was a great babysitter!  I sure love visiting with my cousins, aunts and uncles and am grateful that we can get together with my grandparents a couple times a year.  We have great family!

On Thursday we had dinner with our immediate Lindley family.  We missed Natalie’s family and Tyler.  We had a great dinner and yummy pies.  Kason fell asleep sitting up during dinner; it was a great excuse to get a good Thanksgiving nap in too!  Kolt always loves watching football over the break, and there were even a couple exciting games. 

On Friday we went with my parents up to Uncle Corey and Aunt Janis’ cabin in Bear Lake.  It is definitely one of my favorite places in the world, and it is even more special being visiting with our family.  Janis made us delicious soup for lunch, and then we made gingerbread houses in the afternoon. Kolt played ping pong with the cousins, went 4-wheeler riding with the boys, and then made an awesome gingerbread house with a real window.  Kason loved playing with Cousin Blake.  Aunt Janis got Kason his first toy horse. It is just like his daddy’s horse, and he loves it! In the evening we hit dinner at The Bear Trapper which was delicious! We had a great visit with Megan and Matt at dinner.  It was awesome to talk to Matt about public accounting, and I even got some help on my auditing project this semester.  We sure have great family and it great to visit them whenever we can.

On Saturday we went to the Institute temple day at 6 AM.  They had a great turnout; we were so impressed with how many recent converts brought their own family names to be baptized for.  After the temple, the group went to Smitty’s for breakfast.  There are some neat kids with great testimonies taking institute, and it is nice to see obedient and righteous kids.  Kolt and my mom went on a horseback ride with JJ and Kate.  JJ continues to impress Kolt on each ride.  We also babysat Evan, Saydie, Charlie, Kamrie and Kylen for a few hours while they went to watch The Hunger Games.  We sure love our nieces and nephews, and they certainly kept us busy! After dinner, we watched Polar Express and had caramel popcorn. 

On Sunday we drove up to Salem to watch Paxton Owen Hobbs be blessed by his father, Mark.  I sure love seeing Jocelyn and can’t wait until we live a little closer someday.  We saw my cousins Shane and Mandy and Bill and Heidi in their ward.  We also visited by Crystal Spackman who used to do my hair growing up! After Paxton’s blessing, we drove up to Rodek’s, who is Tavann and Jessica Young’s son.  Jessica is Kolt cousin.  It was a great meeting, and we had a yummy dinner at Alan & Terri Beck’s home following the meeting.  I made my favorite cheesecake, and it sounds like it was a hit too!  I found out I am distantly related to my third grade teacher, Miss Young, and also Kelsey Smith’s older brother Casey was also at the blessing.  It is fun to see people we know and make connections.

We are grateful for the gospel and for our families.  I am more and more grateful for my family each day and so grateful that we can be together forever.

Thanksgiving Break Begins with The Book of Mormon Challenge

Kason keeps growing and learning new things! He is almost 5 months old now. Thanks to his dad and Grandma Lindley, he has learned to put his tongue between his lips and blow and spitting all over.  He thinks he is pretty funny when he does that even though most times he just makes drool run down his face.  Kason has been spending more time in the jumper that hangs in the doorway.  On Saturday he bounced around for 30 minutes until he about fell asleep standing up.  He has a cute little giggle and has started liking peek-a-boo.  Yesterday he also pulled his belly completely off the floor by extending his arms when he is having tummy time.  Although he still has some time before he really starts crawling, he is learning that his arms and legs can be good for something.  He is also learning that things are much more fun in the action.  He doesn’t enjoy playing by himself quite as much as he used to.  He really likes his rice cereal, and we have started mixing it with bananas, which he loves.  In the past week, Kason has tried bananas, beans, potatoes, and mangos.  He is still only eating solids once a day in the evenings though.  The other exciting thing of the week is that Kason rolled from his belly to his back twice.  It will be a great day when he learns he can roll back and forth by himself.

Monday morning started with going visiting teaching to 2 of our sisters.  I enjoy going with my mom; she is a great visiting teaching and helps motivate me and schedule visits at times I can make it.  I also had my visiting teachers visit me on Thursday this week.  I have some great visiting teachers who always share a great message with me.  I am grateful for the church and for the Relief Society.

We have had quite the week with my car.  On Friday, I decided to take it in to Sunnyside Auto to get some simple things done.  My dome light had gone out and the vents weren’t working right.  I was hoping to get it back quick, so I kept bugging them to finish it.  On Monday evening, the mechanic, who lives near us, offered to drop it off at our house.  I am so glad to have it back! Tuesday morning on my way to the bus stop, the oil light came on.  It had been leaking the past couple weeks, but a mechanic at Jiffy Lube said it was a minor leak for “a car with over 200,000 miles on it”. The lady didn’t seem to think very highly of my car, although it has been a great car for us.  I had Kolt take it back to Jiffy Lube on Tuesday afternoon to check it out.  They said that the leak was pretty serious now and recommended taking it to another mechanic shop in Idaho Falls.  Since Sunnyside had just returned my car the night before, I felt bad taking it back to them, so we used Jiffy Lube’s recommendation.  The other mechanics said that the oil pump had gone out in the car and it was a $1200 fix.  We immediately called Sunnyside, and they said to bring it over and they would fix it for a fraction of that cost.  So on Friday morning, we picked up the car and drove it over to Sunnyside.  Kolt had asked them if it had oil in it, and they assured him he would make it.  However, within a couple miles, the engine was smoking, and it didn’t have any oil in it.  After a lot of stressing and some more oil, we got it to Sunnyside, but it doesn’t look pretty.  We are praying that we didn’t burn up the engine and are anxiously awaiting a verdict from Sunnyside.  We have learned this week just how good Sunnyside Auto Repair has been to us.  In the meantime, we are grateful that we are on break and don’t have to go too many different directions, and we are also very grateful for Kolt’s parents letting us use their silver truck.

We are excited to start a much needed break of school this week.  We have taken at least 10 exams and written several papers combined in the last couple weeks.  I am so grateful for Grandma Piquet who took Kason on Thursday evening, so I could write a paper.  I have been learning just how difficult it is to do anything that requires a lot of focus with Kason around.

Friday evening Kolt had class in Pocatello, so I took Kason to the Bonneville vs. Hillcrest girls basketball game with my parents, Nathan and Brooke.  Nathan is at such a fun age; he is very smart and says some of the funniest things. Brooke really likes Kason and likes to keep an eye on him wherever he is.

Kolt has been working with JJ quite a bit that past couple weeks.  He has put on about 5 rides already.  I think Nathan technically rode him first. (Nathan told Kolt he wanted to ride JJ instead of Kate one day, so Kolt threw him up and let him sit on JJ for a minute).  JJ has done a great job, and Kolt is pretty proud.  He thinks that JJ would make a great horse for a younger kid, since he has a small frame.  JJ is really mild tempered and by the time next spring rolls around, he should be a great horse.

Saturday afternoon Kevin and Ashley watched Kason while Kolt and I went to the Hunger Games 2 with my mom.  We loved the movie and even Kolt, who hadn’t read the books, was pretty excited about it.  It is definitely one I want to go watch again soon!  I enjoy watching and reading the Hunger Games and comparing it to similarities in history. 

Sunday was a big day! Sunday morning we had tithing settlement, then I played the piano for the choir, then I played the organ in Sacrament Meeting.  Kolt taught the Sunday school lesson about Financial Self-Reliance.  He really does a good job teaching and has a passion for teaching about the gospel.  After church, we had dinner with the Lindley’s.  All of us were there except for Tyler.  It is fun to get together and see the kids grow and interact together.  It is also great to visit with my siblings.

We are excited for Thanksgiving this week.  I am especially grateful for the gospel. President Ames from the Stake Presidency spoke to us in Sacrament Meeting yesterday.  He spoke about gratitude and about the work of sealing individuals to their families.  He shared a story about his mission to a couple different cities to do work for his relatives.  I am excited to start doing family history work when I finish school.  It is definitely a goal I have for next May.

I am also grateful for the Book of Mormon.  We have started a 40-Day Book of Mormon Challenge with Kolt’s family.  Kolt and I have been reading the Book of Mormon for almost an hour the past 3 nights.  We have felt a big difference in our lives as we spend time studying the scriptures.  We are using The Book of Mormon for Families book that we got for our wedding and have been using the questions and study helps as we read.  We have felt a definite increase in the Spirit in our lives as we have diligently read from The Book of Mormon and been more diligent in our prayers.  I know The Book of Mormon is true, and we are blessed when we do the little daily things that bring us closer to the gospel.