Brand's Basketball & the Christmas Season Begin

Kason turned 17-months old this week! He is getting quite the personality.  He is still sleeping great, falling asleep in his crib by himself and sleeping from 9-6ish.  He takes about an 1 ½ nap in the afternoon and is quite ornery when he is shorted on his nap.  He eats all day, never a lot, but loves to take a bite, play and come back for more.  He is not very good at sitting and eating for a whole meal yet.  He loves to help Dad do homework on the computer and type when he’s not supposed to.  He likes to play the piano too; Kolt has been playing quite a bit more lately, and Kason loves to sit and play with him.  His new words are baby, hi, help, sorry, Santa, and Ho-Ho-Ho.  His favorite word is Uh-oh. He loves to throw things or knock things over and then say Uh-oh.  It’s turned into quite a fun game for him! He loves to give my belly hugs and kisses when we ask him where his baby sister is.  He loves playing with his trucks and animals and has enjoyed the nice weather, so he can play outside with Dad.

Baby girl is doing great! At our doctor’s appointment this week, I found out I am already dilated to a 3, almost 4 which is exciting! I am going to be induced on December 22^nd, if baby isn’t born before then.  We are so excited to have this baby girl here with us for Christmas.  She is growing like a weed, and his heartbeat sounds great.  She is quite wiggly, but is slowing down because there is just not enough room in my belly anymore! I’m also starting to feel better from my streak of morning sickness which is great news.  When I was pregnant with Kason, my craving was carrots, and I have found out that carrots are not the magic food for this little girl!

Monday was month end for me at work, so my mom and I spent the whole day in the office.  Kolt only has 1 class on Mondays, so he was able to have him all day, and I kept him with me at the office during his class.  After work, we decorated the house for Christmas including putting up 2 trees.  The next morning Kason woke up and walked over to the tree, held up his hand, and said “No-no”.  It was quite funny, and we really thought he learned his lesson.  However, over the week, it has turned into just saying “No-no” while swatting at one of the ornaments to knock it off. It could be a long December!

Kason and I were back at choir this week.  It has been fun practicing the Christmas songs.  I have turned into quite the acrobat, being ready to play while wrestling Kason or pulling out snacks for Kason between notes.  I am going to miss doing that after the baby is born.

Tuesday night we did Play-Dough Footprint ornaments with Nathan and Brooke.  The kids though it was pretty fun, although they might be heavy enough to pull over the Christmas tree.  It’s fun to try new things though. Those 3 kids have some big feet! Kolt played basketball with Rope in the evening out to the Milo church house.  Kolt has also been diligence about doing a T25 workout every day.  Kason thinks he’s pretty cool when he can jump around like Dad when he is working out.

 

In the evenings, we have been doing a Christmas advent calendar from Grandpa Piquet during our scripture study.  We started on the 3^rd, so that night we got to open 3 chocolates and eat them.  Kason can’t figure out why we don’t do 3 candies every night.  He loves it! I’ve also been working hard to get presents wrapped.  I am getting really close!

On Thursday, I gave my cousin Lacey a piano lesson. She is a great piano player and really motivated to keep moving along in her books.  After the lesson, Kolt and I went grocery shopping.  Kason spent the evening with Grandma & Grandpa Piquet.  He loves Grandma’s Day! On the way home from Grandma’s Day, we stopped by the Belnap Christmas Light Show.  He loved it!

Friday evening we went to Brand’s basketball game at Bonneville.  They played a tough game against Twin Falls.  It is amazing to me how much Brand and the rest of the team have improved since last year.  They played really well, but lost by 10ish.  Kason went with Grandpa & Grandma Lindley to the live nativity at the church by the temple.  They really enjoyed it.  Afterwards, they dropped Kason off at the school and the 3 of us went to the varsity game.  We had a blast sitting by Makayla and visiting with the Keck’s.  It’s always a good day when Makayla is in town!

Saturday was a pretty uneventful day full of playing outside in the sunshine and doing some things around the house.  This Sunday was my first day of my “maternity leave” from playing the organ.  I’m very grateful for an awesome sub, who’s going to play the next few months for me.  It was nice to sit by Kolt and Kason during Sacrament Meeting.   Kason attempted nursery again yesterday.  He made it 5 minutes before he noticed I was gone.  He plays great as long as I sit in the corner.  We had a great Relief Society lesson about Selective Obedience.  It was even better with Makayla there also! We had a good dinner with the Lindley’s and enjoyed watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  Kason thought he was pretty cool riding on the back of the rocking horse with Nathan. 

November Update

Wow! How did 3 weeks fly by already? Here are Kason’s updates for November: Kason is 16-months old and is learning lots! He talks all the time.  He says lots of new words including help, stinky (while plugging his nose), I love you, Choo Choo, Brand, baby, stuck, thank you (for any reason), fit it, Ooh Ooh for a monkey sound, quack quack for duck, roar, cheese, and Amen. He is in a fun stage where he wants to try to repeat lots of sounds and remembers quite a few and how to use them. He tries to dance and sing as of late. He loves singing the Primary songs and sings “Earthly home” throughout the day. He likes to sing along with you.  He has started doing actions for Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Popcorn Popping during our nightly scripture study. He also learned to fold his arms and more importantly has a definite head bow during prayers. Both only last for about 10 seconds, so we have learned to pray fast.  It is awfully cute! He is starting to look like a big boy, not a baby anymore! He is getting good at using his fingers.  He matches all 9 shapes correctly in his quiet book. He is starting to give a few closed-mouth kisses.  He has grown up a lot during the last few weeks.  After our scripture study and prayer, he lies down in his crib all by himself with his Primary songs and falls asleep on his own.  He sleeps from 9-7 more consistently than he ever has.  He doesn’t fall asleep to milk in sippy cup anymore, only with his horse blanket and binky.  He also doesn’t have his binky in the day anymore.  It is almost gone during naps too which is awesome.  He has made so much progress lately! I think that means it is about time for his little sister to get here.  He is a pretty happy boy and likes cuddling.  He likes following his older cousins around.   He loves to play with his trucks and tractors and trailers.  He always wants his trailers hooked up to his truck.  His favorite word is “Uh oh” for everything! He is getting adventurous and wants to try new things, like jumping off the couch.  Kason hardly has time to sit and eat anymore, but he will always snack and eat what you are eating.

Baby girl is healthy and growing.  I have been sick lately which is new for this pregnancy.  I feel like Jerry on Seinfeld when he throws up after 9 years.  I have thrown up nearly 15 times in the last few weeks, saying good bye to my almost 3 month stretch since August 4^th.  Yes, when you’re pregnant, you remember dates like that! I think I got some kind of flu bug a couple weeks ago which has made the nausea come back and stay for a few weeks, but I’m still thankful for every day that I haven’t been sick this pregnancy.  When I am sick, Kason loves to cry at the bathroom door and stick his hands underneath the door until I acknowledge that I see them! At our last appointment, the doctor actually said I was measuring small which I think is partly due to my being sick.  It is hard to believe this girl will be here in 3 weeks! We are getting very excited.

Here’s some highlights from our past 3 weeks:

On the 10^th, Kolt had his interview at ISU.  It was pretty much what he had expected.  ISU prides themselves on drilling interviewees with ethical questions during the interview and making the students feel very uncomfortable.  They did a good job of that! He got to meet with several current students during the interview day which was nice. We celebrated in the evening with a family dinner to Red Robin.  They should be calling for early interview offers this week, so we are hoping to get a call. 

On the 11^th, I played at the RMMS Veterans Day assembly.  Kolt and Kason came to listen. It was fun to sit by Rope as well.  In the evening, I accompanied a lady in our ward sing at the Veterans Day City Council Meeting like I did last year.  She is a great singer and makes it easy to follow along. 

Kolt has been working 2 evenings a week as of late.  It works pretty good to coordinate our schedules.  They recently made a change in the scheduling policy at his work starting January.  As part of the policy, they took away the 8-hour shifts which Kolt primarily works.  We are hoping that they will continue to work with Kolt, so he can keep working during the next semester.  They are being good to give Kolt lots of time off this month with this new baby on the way. 

On the 14^th and 15^th, Kolt went hunting with his family up to Gaylen Stucki’s cabin.  They didn’t shoot anything, but had a great time.  While they were gone, Kason and I went to the YW Fundraiser Dinner and Silent Auction.  I learned that Silent Auctions are way too easy, and we won a few things including a cut and color, singing lessons and babysitting.  I’m pretty excited about that!

On the 16^th, we sang with the choir in Sacrament Meeting. Kason didn’t cooperate much with Grandpa Lindley on the stand.  We are a little out of practice without choir this summer.

Work at the Post Register has been busy lately.  My mom and I are working hard to clean up accounts which has made it busy although we are making a lot of progress.  I am looking forward to a break with this new baby.

On the 22^nd, Kolt and I had a huge day of Christmas shopping.  We are about 2 gifts away from being done! I have lots of wrapping still to do, but we are close! Neighborhood gifts are ready, and we are going to do a New Year’s card once we get this baby here. I am so excited to almost be done! I don’t last very long walking around town.  In the evening, we went to the ISU Big Sky Conference volleyball game with my parents. We met up with Kristi’s family at the game. ISU lost, but it was a good match.  After the game, we enjoyed ice cream at Arctic Circle.

On the 23^rd, we had tithing settlement and then went out to Grandpa & Grandma Piquet’s for a lasagna dinner after church.  We a good time visiting with family, and Kason liked playing with Paisley in Grandma’s toy car (his favorite!).

This past week we had several days off for Thanksgiving.  Kolt didn’t work much and had school off which was nice.  Rope spent most of the week with us.  Kolt started working out with T25 every morning, so Rope joined in on that, and then most mornings, they went to the church to play basketball for a few hours.  He was good help with Kason too!  Kason got used to having Rope to play with all day long!

On Tuesday, Rope, Kolt, my mom and I went to Mockingjay Part I.  My dad took Kason which was awesome! He is not a movie-goer anymore. We enjoyed the movie.  After the movie, we went straight to Brand’s jamboree.  They beat Aberdeen and Teton.  Brand started and did well considering he was sick that day. We are excited to watch him this season!

On Wednesday evening, we had the Annual Dalling Thanksgiving Dinner.  Rope couldn’t miss out on the basketball, so he came with us too! Kolt looks forward to this day through the whole year.  It is always fun to see family, eat yummy food, and play in the gym.  It’s a great place to have kids.  We had a great turnout with over 120 people this year.

On Thursday morning, Kolt went duck hunting with Landon, Rope & Brand.  They had a good time all morning, and even brought home a few ducks.  At noon, we had dinner at Grandpa & Grandma Piquet’s.  I brought 2 pans of yams and Raspberry Pretzel Salad.  We had a great dinner! I ate so much that I could hardly move.  Rope put Kason to sleep on a 4-wheeler ride, so we all had a nice nap.  Kolt was scheduled to work from 3-11, and we were glad that they didn’t have him come in ‘til around 5.  Rope came home with us that evening because he wanted to experience Black Friday sock shopping at Fred Meyer’s the next morning.  My dad, Kolt, Rope and I left at 4:40 to get our socks. It was a very successful trip, and I think Rope enjoyed the experience!  We were home as usual at about 5:30 to go back to sleep.  We back later in the morning to hit Rapunzel’s Boutique, Porter’s, and the Dollar Tree for a few other things.

On Saturday morning, Kolt and I went with my dad to an early morning temple session.  Kason stayed with my mom.  It is great to attend the temple, although it is physically hard for me to go through.  I always have a good feeling when I go there, and it seems like life gets a little easier and clearer for me when I attend.  Kolt got called off for his shift, so it was nice to have the day and evening together.  Kamrie and Kylen came to visit, and Kason had a blast playing with them.  He was tired last night!

Today we had a good block of meetings.  I have been subbing a lot in the sunbeams class, and today I was glad to help conduct Primary.  Kason stayed in Kolt’s Sunday school class for a little while, and I was able to trade him for a little while.  We had a nice combined meeting about indexing.  I am excited to set a goal for indexing this next year.

Hope you all had a good November.  We are sure thankful for the many things we are blessed with each day.

Kason's Sick--Grandpa P's Birthday--Family Weekend

Kason turned 16-months old this week! His new words are cheese, thank you, Roar, and snorts for a pig sound. He is learning so much each week. He likes to try to draw with cousin Brooke, and he is particular to hold the pencil just like he sees us do. He loves playing with his cousins. This week he has been pretty sick getting more teeth and started a cough and runny nose. It’s the time of year! Last week at church he also took a header on the Hymnbook holder on the church bench.  He got a nice black eye and then an infection in that eye on Tuesday.  We took him in on Wednesday to see if it was anything more. He didn’t eat anything besides milk for about 18 hours.  He has been glued to his binky for the last week. He tested negative for strep, and we were relieved to find out that although he hadn’t eaten anything, he was 28 pounds.  The doctor said he is just fighting through a bug, and he is already on the mend!

Baby girl is doing great! We listened to the heart beat this week at our appointment. She has a fast heartbeat, much faster than Kason’s ever was.  The doctor said with the way things are looking we can expect this baby at 39 weeks! It is hard to believe we will have a baby in our house in 6 weeks.

Monday Kolt and I alternated watching Evan and Saydie. Kason liked playing with them.  Kolt worked in the evening. Tuesday we voted on our way out to Grandpa Piquet’s birthday party. We had Taco Salad and yummy birthday cake! We got Grandpa a DVD holder to hold all of his DVDs. It was a hit! Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Wednesday Kason and I played the piano at choir to help them get ready for their concert on Friday. We had doctor’s appointments, and I printed checks at work.  Kolt played basketball at the church on Tuesday and Wednesday night. He is really missed it!

Thursday I had an early morning work meeting.  Kolt went to class after the meeting, and then my mom took Kason with her to pick up Saydie.  Kason spent the evening with Grandma Piquet.  Over the weekend, Kolt and I spent a few days housesitting at a ranch in Swan Valley.  Kolt went up early on Thursday to check on the animals, and Kason and I came up later in the evening.  On Friday, Kolt was gone most of the day for class and work.  Kason and I stayed at the house and checked on animals throughout the day. Kason loved being out there.  He soaked in every minute! On Saturday, we had a great day together as a family.  It was so nice to not have a schedule and just spend time together. We explored the area and enjoyed the valley.  I even planned meals and had groceries to cook which I was pretty proud of! We are so glad we had the opportunity to do that. We had a great time and felt like we were living the life.

Sunday morning we drove in to church. I played the organ in Sacrament Meeting. Kason made progress on whispering today! We had a lot of work to do in that department. Kolt taught the Sunday school lesson, and I taught the sunbeams. I’m grateful for Grandpa & Grandma Lindley for taking Kason.  I was glad when Kolt could join me for the class half of Primary.  After church, we went back to check on cows and pack up.  We got home in time for dinner with the Lindley’s.  It has been a great week.

This is a picture at Twin Falls last week that I forgot to include!

Twin Falls--Halloween--Horseback Ride

Kason’s Updates: Kason will be 16-months old tomorrow! His new words this week are “Saydie” and “Baa” for a sheep sound.  He is really good about trying to repeat lots of words, although some don’t sound at all close to the actual word, and he doesn’t usually say many words to others except for Mom and Dad.  He loves animal books and knows lots of animal sounds by heart.  Teeth #13 and #14 broke through last night which explains his fussiness! He has had a rough time sleeping at nights lately!

Baby girl is also doing really well. It hit me this week that we will have a baby in our home in 8 short weeks. That’s going to fly by for us!

Monday my mom, Kason and I went to Twin Falls to watch WWCC’s Volleyball team play CSI and mostly to visit with Makayla! Kolt stayed home for class and work. We got there around noon. My mom took Kason around Twin Falls with her, and I followed around on the bus with the team for the day. I loved every minute of being with Makayla, and it was fun to reminisce in the memories of playing for WWCC.  It was definitely worth the drive to see Makayla, and I’m so thankful for my mom for coming with us, so we weren’t alone! WWCC lost to CSI in a tough 4-set match. Kason liked playing with Bentley Bounds during the game. It was fun to also be Makayla’s family and Chantal’s family during the day and at the game.

Tuesday Kason and I went to choir. He loves to see Rope at Rocky Mountain. In the evening, we went to the Ward Halloween Party. There were tons of people there! Kason enjoyed walking the Primary parade with Kolt. He liked playing with the other kids and looking at the costumes.  After the party, we went out to Kolt’s parents to process the meat.  We all stayed up really late, which confirmed why Kason has an early bedtime, as he did not sleep well at all that night!

Wednesday we had the Annual Piquet Pumpkin Carving Party.  We had yummy Taco Soup for dinner and lots of other treats.  Paisley and Kason loved playing in the pumpkin guts with me on the floor.  Paisley tried to pull out each seed one-by-one, and Kason spent most of the time putting back all the guts we cleaned out.  They thought it was pretty fun! We sure love that Halloween tradition!

Thursday evening Kolt and I went to the temple while my mom and dad watched Kason.  We have been meaning to go to the temple for a long time and finally got there on Thursday.  I sure love going to the temple. It always seems like whatever things I am worrying about at the time go away when I am at the temple, and I am filled with peace.  After the temple, we stopped by the distribution center and met a girl who just returned from Italy a month ago. She knew Tyler very well, and it was great to visit with her!

On Friday, I spent the whole day closing the month at work. Natalie watched Kason while Kolt had class in the morning.  After I got home, we started our evening of trick-or-treating. We went to Klingler’s and Brammer’s next door first! Then we went out to Grandpa & Grandma Staker’s.  We were glad to see them just before they leave for Arizona next Wednesday.  Kason ate all of the cookies Grandma gave him almost before we left. Kason also loved Grandma’s rocking chair so much that he gave Kason one that he had made! He loves it and sits in it for quite a while each day so far. It is beautiful! Thanks for spoiling us, Grandpa Staker! Afterwards, we went out to Aunt Karla’s and enjoyed visiting with her.  We stopped at Great Grandpa & Grandma Piquet’s afterwards and met Shauna, Grandpa, Paisley, and Brand there.  Our final stop was out to Grandma Piquet’s. It was a great Halloween! Kason was such a cheese throughout the whole night. I think he caught on to the candy thing, and figured out if he smiled really big, he usually got something extra! He was an adorable horse for Halloween!

On Saturday morning, Kolt went out to work on his experiment for school with Rope. They ended up getting a flat tire, so Kason and I went to rescue them. In the afternoon, we went for a horseback ride with my mom, Brooke, Chantal, Alexis & Makayla Sorensen.  It was a great afternoon. I was worried about the weather, but it was perfect in the mountains except for wind at the top of the mountain.  Kason loved every minute of it. He rode with my mom, and I took Brooke because she sits a little better on her own.  Brooke soaked up every minute of the ride.  It was great to have our last horseback ride before winter and before this baby comes. Kolt picked up a 7-11 shift on Saturday night. It actually worked out great for us. His work often calls and “begs” for him to pick up shifts. When he told him what he could do, they took him up on it. It was a nice 4-hour shift!

On Sunday morning I played the organ, and Kolt taught the Sunday School lesson. During the first 10 seconds of Sacrament Meeting, Kason fell off the bench and hit his cheek on the Hymnbook holder. He has a nice shiner! He did pretty good during nursery.  They did come get me during Sunday school. He didn’t really like it much when they started the lesson and put away the toys.  I sat with him during the lesson, singing time, and snack time, then he did better when they started playing again.  After about 15 minutes, he started falling asleep on the leader’s lap, so he came with me to Relief Society for the last half hour. He must’ve been playing too hard! He just keeps getting better and better each week though which is exciting for us.

New Words--Date Night--District VB--Primary Programs

Kason’s Updates: This week he has said tons of new words, including ears, “neigh”, walk, night night, Nay Nay (for Nathan), what’s this, bum, thank you, and ball. He is always saying “please” in sign language for anything and everything. He loves to use a spoon at meal times.  We always sing to him when we rock him to sleep at nights. His favorite songs are I am a Child of God, I Love to See the Temple, Families Can Be Together Forever, and I Hope They Call Me on a Mission.  He is active as always and hard to keep up with. His favorite thing to do is go for his evening walks with Grandpa & Grandma Lindley.  He also likes to brush his teeth in the bathtub.  Kason also grabbed an apple to feed Kate, like we have been teaching him. Poor kid forgot to hold his hand flat and got his finger bit this week.  He just loves to do anything with horses.  Kason’s rash got much worse this week. It spread to most every spot on his body, and the one on his belly was pretty itchy.  We took him in and did some tests at the doctor on Monday.  He didn’t have any infection, so they decided it was an allergic reaction to something. We got some intense medication to give him for a week, and it’s all, but gone now. We are super excited about that.

Baby girl is doing great. She is so active. I keep thinking she has been more active than Kason was, but Kolt doesn’t think so.  She feels like she is always moving.  I have had several contractions over the past couple weeks, but nothing a little rest doesn’t solve. We are getting excited to meet her and decide what her name will be.

Monday we had doctor’s appointments in the morning.  My mom and I also did our Relief Society night Tile Craft. They turned out awesome! In the afternoon, Kolt took Kason out to work on his experiment for school while I was at work. In the evening, we decided to cash in our babysitting coupon from the Iona 10^th Ward Service Auction this summer.  Andrew Hufford watched Kason while Kolt and I went to Meet the Mormons.  Kason did great with Andrew—thank you so much! We loved Meet the Mormons.  It was a great movie with a great Spirit. It was nice to spend some time with Kolt as well.

Tuesday evening my mom and I went to district volleyball at Idaho Falls High School.  Kason and Kolt went to get some things ready for hunting and met us there later. Kolt went hunting on Wednesday morning.  He left around 4 a.m. and went by himself, no thinking he would have much luck. I wasn’t too sure about him being alone, but he convinced me he would be careful.  To my surprise, he shot an elk which he was pretty excited about! He has been living the life of a hunter this past week. I think he has really enjoyed it.

Thursday evening my mom, Kolt, Natalie, and Lacey went to the last night of district volleyball.  Kason was at Grandma Piquet’s for Grandma’s Day. He had a great time playing! I think all 3 of us have missed Grandma’s Day! Kason isn’t so fun to wrestle at the games, so it was a great evening for us! We were sad to see Bonneville lose and not go to state. It will be an odd weekend without state volleyball.

Friday Lacey was a great help in the morning for Kason. She and Kason played dress up in the Halloween costumes. I think she was more excited than he was! I gave her a piano lesson as well. She has been practicing a lot and did awesome! Kason went with Grandma Lindley, Natalie, Nathan, Brooke, Saydie, Lacey and Easton on a hike to Cress Creek.  Both Kolt and I worked in the afternoon. Kolt helped his Grandpa Piquet for a little while in the afternoon before work.

Saturday we attend the ISU Halloween Carnival with Natalie, Brady, Nathan & Brooke. It was a great time. Kason loved the basketball shooting game and the cake walk.  Kason was a horse and Kolt and I were the cowboy and cowgirl to go with him.  Kolt even wore this awesome horse costume. He was a good sport!

Sunday we hit 3 Primary Programs, our ward, Evan & Saydie’s, and Nathan’s.  All of the kids did great. We sure love our nieces and nephews. It is always fun to watch them say their part and sing the songs.  It was a big day of church and Kason did great. He was entertained by the kids and always paid attention when they sang one of his favorite songs.  Kolt worked in the afternoon, and Kason and I went to choir practice.