On My Mind Lately...

So as of lately I have been thinking a lot about "The Mommy Wars." Some of you may have heard of them. For those that have not, "The Mommy Wars" was a term that was originally used to describe the controversy between working moms and stay-at-home moms. Lately, this term is being used to describe other parenting issues such as breast feeding vs. formula feeding.  This post is not to add to the "Mommy Wars," but it is my own personal thoughts over the last few weeks. I am not saying my way is best, I am just writing down my thoughts about how it is okay for every mom to raise their child differently. 

Moms are posting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. what they believe are the best ways to be raising children. My own social media feeds are blowing up with pictures, research, and links to articles that are supposed to be the best ways to be raising babies, and for some, it is exactly the right way, but for others, it may not be. 

After  reading the shared articles and realizing that I am not doing what the "experts" say I should be doing, I am left with a nagging thought in the back of mind, wondering if I am being the best mom I can be to my son. I quit nursing my son after two months, yep that is right he is 100% formula fed and has been since October. Now I know that "breast is best," but I was one of those women who had all different kinds of problems with nursing. It was one problem after another and I was completely miserable. I did do it for two months and I tried to keep an open mind, but in the end I just couldn't do it. Kason also preferred the bottle and nursing him was a battle. For the sake of my marriage and the relationship with my baby, I quit the nursing and moved to the bottle. It has been great, we are all happy. I am no longer miserable and crying to my husband every time I feed the baby, and the baby loves his bottles. 

 I started feeding him rice cereal at 3 1/2 months instead of waiting until 4-6 months. I started feeding him fruits and vegetables at 4 months. Guess what? He loves the cereal, fruits, and veggies. He hasn't developed any allergies and he is fuller longer. He is not screaming every hour and a half because he is hungry. He also sleeps through the night because those stay with him longer. 

 He has been sleeping in his own crib in his own room down the hall since he was 1 month old. Now I know that you are supposed to wait until they are 6 months old to move them into a crib in their own room, but we all sleep better with our rooms. When we go on trips, Kason sleeps in the same room as us, and he doesn't sleep as good as he does at home. When Kason shares a room with Jake and I, none of us get as much sleep. Our noises and movements wake him up, and vice versa. That first month when Kason was in our room I would hear every movement he made and would wake up and feed him. He wasn't always really awake, and we were waking up more than we probably had to. He would whimper a little and I would think he was awake and hungry and so I would flip on the light which would really wake him up. Now that  he is in his room I can't hear every little whimper and I only wake up when he cries and I know he is really awake. I walk down the hall and take care of things in his room. My husband who is in school and working also sleeps better because I am not flipping on the light and making noise. He sleeps so much better in his own room and so do I. 

 Dare I say it?  I put him to sleep on his belly. Yes, you read that right, I put my baby to bed on his belly. For the first 3 months I put him on his back which worked alright, but after Kason had his surgery and he had his helmet on, "Back to Bed" was not working for us. On the back of Kason's helmet there is a large strap that holds the two pieces of the helmet together, and every time I laid him down he would jolt awake because he was uncomfortable in the helmet. The large strap made it impossible for him to lay flat and the helmet would dig into his neck. After several nights of him being up every hour because he was uncomfortable, I finally put my fears aside and put him to bed on his belly. He slept so much better! I was so scared to do this because it is a big "no-no," but he was so uncomfortable and he was rolling to his belly by himself in his crib anyway so I decided to try it one night. I must have checked on him 30 times that night because I was so nervous, but he did just fine, he loved it. I was put to bed on my belly and I survived.

All of these "confessions" go against all of the expert articles that I have read. So is my baby not bonding with me like he should be because he isn't breast fed and he sleeps in his own room? I don't think so! We have plenty of play time and I enjoy looking and smiling at him when he drinks his bottle. For those that do choose to co-sleep, that is great! I just couldn't do it! 

Only within the last week or so have I realized that yes, I may be doing it differently than some, but I am not a bad mom. There is not a one size fits all for raising a baby. What is important is that as a mother I am listening to my baby and my instinct and I am doing what is best for us. I think each mom knows what is best when it comes to her child.  I have a happy, healthy, six month old who is thriving.  I have nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, I may not be doing the same thing as other moms, but that is okay. I love my son, and I am pretty sure he loves me, and that is what is important. 

I know that Kason came to our family because we are the best fit for him, and him for us. Babies go to the families that will be the best at raising them. Each mom raises their child differently, and it works for them. I know that now, I don't have to be doing it the same as everyone else. I just need to be me, and I am raising Kason in the best way for him. 

Craft-Menu Board

I have been wanting to make a menu board for months now, but just didn't know how to go about doing it. After getting a few ideas off of Pinterest, I combined things I liked and created my very own menu board. I made this craft for under $20 dollars.

Supplies:
insulated cookie sheet ( I chose one with a hole in the top, just to make it easier to hang)
coordinating paper
poster putty
velcro
magnetic pencil cup
small notepad
cheap magnets
hot glue gun
vinyl
ribbon

The most challenging part of this craft for me was figuring out how to get the paper to stick to the cookie sheet. I found that small amounts of poster putty worked great! I would just place small amounts around the edges. I would just make sure the pieces were pulled flat so that the paper wouldn't look bubbled. Maybe I did it the hard way? I don't know, as I said before, I didn't know how to go about this craft and so this craft was a lot of trial and error.

Once I got the paper to stick and look smooth, I cut the vinyl. I used my Cricut to cut the word the "Menu" and the days of the weeks for the magnets. If you don't have access to vinyl, paper will work just fine.

I then set about making the magnets for each day of the week. I just bought cheap magnets at Walmart. I cut seven 1 inch circles using my Cricut. I then pulled the clear bauble away from the magnet and stuck my own circles on top of the magnet. I then used a hot glue gun to glue the bauble back on.

For the grocery shopping list notebook I used velcro to adhere it to the board. I then made the dinner cards and placed them in the magnetic pencil cup.

I then threaded ribbon through the handy dandy hole at the top of the sheet and tied a knot. And tada! Menu board complete!

I am really excited with how this turned out. I got really frustrated trying to figure out how to make the paper stick,  but once that was solved I loved this project. I am so excited to begin using it. I am hoping that it will help me to get organized in my meal planning and shopping.

New Year....New Post

It has been quite some time since I lasted posted. I thought I would write a quick update on our lives for the last couple of months. We enjoyed the holiday season. We spent Thanksgiving with the Grants. All eight of Jake's siblings and their families were able to come to Cedar City for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed various activities such as movies, games, and of course....food! It was so fun to be able to be together with the entire family. Jake's parents have been called to serve a mission in Croatia starting on June 21, 2014. We are really excited for them and this opportunity. This past Thanksgiving was the last Thanksgiving everyone will spend together in quite some time. We then spent Christmas with the Garretts. Once again we enjoyed movies, parties, ice skating, and once again....food!  Jake spoiled me for Christmas, and of course we spoiled Kason. I know Kason was too young to appreciate any of the presents, we still had fun buying him things and setting them out on Christmas Eve. However, Kason did enjoy unwrapping presents, he enjoyed looking at and playing with all of the pretty paper and bows.

Jake finished up another semester at SUU in accounting. He did really well in all of classes even though we had quite a bit going on in our lives during the last semester. I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished! He worked hard to stay on top of his classes while we were up north for Kason's appointments and surgery. He has started a new semester and is getting closer to graduating next December. He also just accepted an eight week internship with Deloitte in Las Vegas, Nevada! We will be moving down there this summer. I am so proud of him! Jake was also released from his calling a week or so ago. He was released as the 2nd counselor in the YSA 13th ward. Jake did a great job in his calling and I think we are both going to miss the YSA ward a little bit. Although, we are excited to start attending our new ward next week.

I have been busy staying at home and taking care of Kason. He is definitely an energetic little guy. He already has so much personality.  He is not one for snuggling and cuddling anymore. When he is awake he wants to be looking around and seeing what is going on.  He takes quite a bit of entertaining. He is so interactive and happy, he just wants to be talked to and smiled at all of the time. It is hard to get anything done when a cute little guy such as himself wants my attention. During his naps I try to get some cleaning or laundry done, I also enjoy scrapbooking and crafting during that time as well.

Kason is doing so great. He has adjusted to his helmet, and we discovered he is so used to it that he actually sleeps better with it on! He has started eating rice cereal as well as fruits and veggies. He enjoys those quite a bit! He has also started sleeping through the night consistently....hooray! We have also discovered that Kason is a water baby. We have taken him to the swimming pool twice now and both times he has loved it! He splashes and plays and cries when we get out. We are pretty excited that he likes the water, since both us enjoy it as well.  Kason is his usual happy, smiley self.  He loves to play and giggle. He is such a happy baby, I love it! I think I have one of the cutest kids around, I know, I know, I have to say that because I am his mom, but it is true!

Enjoying the swimming pool together

Enjoying ice skating as a family

Kason on November 22, 2013- One month Post-Op

I thought maybe it was time to sit down and write about Kason and his diagnosis of sagittal craniosynostosis. As a new mom I had a vision in my head of what everything would be like once my baby was born. Well that vision was shattered about six weeks after Kason was born. At six weeks old Kason was diagnosed with a condition called sagittal craniosynostosis. Unlike adults, babies have seven plates that make up their skulls. These plates are separated with sutures that eventually fuse together around age 2, to create the skull. Babies heads are made this way so that they can easily pass through the birth canal at birth and so that their brains can grow. The suture on the top of Kason's head had already begun to fuse.The fusion cannot happen this early because a baby's brain is rapidly growing. In the first 9 weeks their little brains double in size. If the plates are fused together, then it makes it difficult for the brain grow, causing pressure on the brain, and also causing the babies head to take on a deformed shape. When Kason was born his head looked perfectly normal, nobody noticed a thing. Fast forward six weeks (and remember the part about babies brain doubling in size in the first 9 weeks) and Kason had a very elongated head with a ridge running along the top. The top of his head was more of an oval than a circle. The back of Kason's head was longer than most babies (he looked like he had a permanent cone head.) Kason has so much thick blonde hair that it took us awhile to notice it, and even then we just thought he was still a bit cone-headed from the birth. We later found out that the fusion probably began to happen while in the womb.  My sweet mother-in-law who used to work as a Maternal Newborn Nurse noticed that something wasn't quite right with Kason's head. She thought we should have the baby's doctor check it out. When we took Kason to the doctor, he felt that something was off as well, but he had never had a patient with this kind of condition. He said he was going to get us a consult with Primary Children's Medical Center.  

We waited a few days and still we had not heard from him or the hospital. We were anxious to find out if Kason had craniosynostosis or not. We have a family friend who was able to put us in touch with the head of pediatrics at PCMC.  The doctor said he would be happy to diagnose Kason if he had x-rays of Kason's head. We decided not to wait around anymore and ended up ordering our own x-rays for Kason through Kason's primary care doctor. Within the hour of emailing the x-rays up to PCMC we got a phone call from the doctor saying Kason had sagittal craniosynostosis. That was the moment when my vision of how life would be with our sweet baby shattered. We knew from our own research that our baby would have to have head surgery and wear a helmet for months, or even up to a year. That day I felt so upset and sad, I just sat and snuggled Kason for hours and kissed his head. I was upset that in all of the babies born, it was me and my baby that had to go through this. I found myself angry that it was us that was given this trial. I was upset that Jake and I were first time parents, we have no clue what we are doing in raising a baby, let alone a baby who has craniosynostosis. I found myself looking a my friend's babies that were born around the same time that Kason was and envying their perfect round heads. I desperately wished that my baby had a round head like that. 

We were put in touch with Dr. Faizi Siddiqi who specializes in cleft pallets and craniosynostosis. Once again, within the hour, Dr. Siddiqi got in touch with us and set up a consult with him for the following week.
The next Tuesday we met with Dr. Siddiqi and Dr. Riva-Cambrin who is a neurosurgeon. They explained Kason's condition  and told us that we caught it in perfect time. With Kason being only 7 weeks old, they could perform an endoscopic surgery that would be less invasive and a quicker recovery time. They explained that the ideal time to perform this surgery would be when Kason is 8-10 weeks old. They said if he was older than that, they would have had to wait until he was 9 months old and perform a total skull reconstruction surgery that would take 5-6 hours. We were extremely blessed in that we discovered in time and Kason would be able to have the endoscopic surgery. They scheduled surgery for two weeks later on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Through those two weeks I was anxious and nervous for Kason to have to go through such a major surgery at such a young age. Two weeks later we headed back up north for the surgery. 

On Monday morning we drove to PCMC so that Kason could have some blood work done before the surgery. Afterwards we had an appointment with the company that would make Kason's helmet that he would have to wear called Shields. They scanned Kason's head so they could see the dimensions before the surgery. By the time Kason is completely done with wearing the helmet the width of his head should be 80% of it's length. The scan showed Kason's percentage at 70%.  That night we had to quit feeding Kason at midnight and by 5:00 the next morning he was starving. We had to be to PCMC on Tuesday morning by 6:00 so we could get registered for the surgery that would take place at 7:30. It was hard because Kason was hungry and screaming and we couldn't do anything about it. About 7:00 I was able to get Kason to fall asleep. We met with the two surgeons who would perform the surgery at 7:20. We then met with the anesthesiologist who would be putting Kason to sleep. While visiting with the anesthesiologist we found out that this was not a routine procedure, like we had thought. We were told that this was major brain surgery. Kason would have an IV in his foot and in his head. He would also have one in his artery on his wrist. He was also going to have a nose tube and a mouth tube. All of these tubes were for "just in case" something went wrong. It was then that I realized that we were sending our baby in for a major surgery that he may not come back from.

 At exactly 7:30 we walked with the anesthesiologist down a hallway and he stopped at a set of double doors and he told us that this is where he would take the baby with him and we would go to the waiting room. I handed my sweet baby boy over and began walking to the waiting room with Jake. It was hard to stop the tears that began to come after handing him over. It was hard not knowing if everything would be okay and if we would see Kason again. It was then that I remembered Kason's blessing and that Jake had blessed him to be healthy so that he could accomplish the things in this life that he needed to. I also remembered the blessing Jake had given the night before, and I was comforted knowing that Kason had two priesthood blessings, as well as many prayers from family. I knew that he would be okay and we would see him again. We sat in the waiting room for two hours while the surgery was performed. At 9:00 we received an update from the operating room telling us that everything was going well and he would be done in 45 mins. At 9:30 Dr. Siddiqi and Dr. Riva-Cambrin came and told us that Kason was out of surgery and that he did great. They said out of the 200 surgeries they have performed of this nature, there was less blood than there had ever been. They said Kason had hardly bled at all! Also, the material that covers his brain was not ripped at all either. Usually that is ripped and the neurosurgeon has to fix it, but not on Kason! I knew that Kason was being watched over. 

At 10:15 I was allowed to go and see Kason in the recovery room. (They only allowed one parent to be with him at the time.) I knew that this was going to be another hard part for me. I didn't want to see my baby in pain with a bunch of monitors and tubes hooked up to him. I thought I was prepared for what I was going to see, but I wasn't. Once again, I couldn't stop the tears as I looked at Kason in the bed with all of the tubes and monitors. His eyes were glazed over from the anesthesia and I could tell he was in pain and wondering why he was suddenly in pain. His head was orange from the iodine and he had dried blood on his face from the nose tube that they had pulled out after surgery. He suddenly began to scream and cry. His little cry was so hoarse from the throat tube they had pulled out that I hardly recognized his cry. The pain medication they gave him wasn't working and he was crying out in pain, I tried to hold him and feed him, but that did little to comfort him. Eventually, they ordered stronger pain killers for him and that settled him down enough so he could sleep. We then met Jake in the hallway and together we walked up to a private room we would be staying in. I was so glad to have Jake at my side again to help me through the rough time. When Jake saw Kason for the first time, I could tell he was struggling as well. As parents, we never expected to have to see our baby like that. Once we were in the room, I sat and held Kason for an hour or so while he slept, I eventually put him in his bed because every move I made would wake him up and he would cry in pain. Kason slept most of that day and night. 

By the next day, he was beginning to be more like himself, he was smiling and cooing just like he used to. He was even eating the same amount that he used to as well. It was so good to see him smiling again. Babies are so resilient! Yesterday, we took him back to Shields so they could scan his head again, his percentage was up to 74%! The surgery had already improved the shape of his head. Earlier this week we picked up his helmet and we are now breaking it in. By Saturday he will have to wear 23/7 for six months. It is definitely an adjustment! We had just settled into our normal routine post-surgery, and now it is all upset again trying to get used to the helmet. It is so top heavy, Kason has a hard time holding his head up. (He was so close to being able to hold it on his own without it wobbling before the helmet!) Now it is like he is a little newborn again learning to hold it on his own. 

I am not going to say just yet that I am grateful for this trial in our lives. I haven't quite reached that point yet, as we are still making weekly trips up north, and adjusting to this helmet, but I do know that we were given this trial for reason. We are supposed to learn and grow from it, and I know that Heavenly Father has been with us every step of the way. There have been many prayers said in Kason's behalf in the last 5 weeks. I know that one day when I am sending Kason off to his first day of first grade, this will be a small bump in the road that is long gone, and hopefully long forgotten, Kason will have a perfectly shaped head, and he will be a perfectly normal boy. This trial is affecting our lives right now, but in six months we will be done with it, and life will keep going. In my eyes, even with a helmet on, Kason is perfect. He is still his happy, smiley, bright-eyed, interactive, talkative, strong interactive self. I love him so much and I am so grateful he was sent to our family. 

Kason a half an hour after surgery

He slept the day away

Mom holding him right after the surgery

Getting discharged from the hospital....yay!

Mom and Kason playing a few days after surgery. We had to keep his head elevated to help with the swelling.

First time wearing his helmet.

Kason Kyle Grant

Our sweet baby boy finally made his debut last week! He was actually right on time, he was born on his due date of August 19, 2013. My Dad jokes that he is just like me in that when I was in high school I was never a minute early or a minute late for curfew, I was always in right on time. So Kason takes after me in that he wasn't a day early or a day late, just right on time. We had a little family pool going as to when he would be born and how much he would weigh. It was fun to see which family members were the closest or right on the dot, and guess who won when he would be born? Yep, my Dad, he guessed the due date using the curfew logic. I thought I would take a minute and write down Kason's birth story, I want to record it while it is still fresh in mind.

On Sunday, August 18 I began having contractions around 3:00 pm. I knew I was already dilated to a 3 and 60% effaced, so I knew that I could go into labor at anytime. We went to Jake's parent's house for dinner around 4:00 and the contractions continued. They were not painful contractions, they just felt like Braxton Hicks to me so I didn't think much of them. After dinner Jake and I decided to time the contractions to just see how regular they were. After an hour of timing, they were coming every 4-5 minutes. Jake's parents convinced us we needed to go to the hospital because I was in labor. ( I didn't think I was because the contractions didn't hurt at all!) Around 8:00 we went to the hospital. I was dilated to a 4 and still 60% effaced. They hooked me to the monitors to monitor the contractions. After an hour of monitoring I was still at a 4. The nurse said she would need to call my doctor to see if I should be admitted or not because my cervix hadn't changed. She said she would be very surprised if he sent me home because I was at a 4 and having very regular contractions. After ten minutes or so she came back and said I was being sent home because my cervix hadn't changed and I wasn't in any pain. Jake and I were very discouraged, we were hoping to be having the baby that night. The nurse told us as we left that she was surprised I was being sent home and that her and the other nurses were taking bets as to when I would be back.

At home I took shower and went to bed around 11:00. My contractions were still coming and they were becoming more painful. I was unable to sleep because every time I was about to relax, another contraction would hit. It wasn't too terribly painful, but just painful enough to keep me from sleeping. Around 1:30 I woke Jake up and told him I hadn't been to sleep because of the contractions. We called his Mom who used to be a maternal newborn nurse to see what she thought we should do. She said that my labor was progressing and that we should go back to the hospital. We headed back around 2:00 am. The nurses said they knew I would be back. They checked me again and this time I was dilated to a 5. I thought for sure I would be staying at the hospital this time. After an hour of monitoring I was still at a 5, but my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and they lasted a minute. As a side note: I think baby K knew what was coming because he was moving like crazy the entire night. The nurse laughed and told us she hoped he wasn't this hyper outside of the womb. Anyways around 3:30 she called my doctor and this time the doctor told us to stay! He said if I didn't dilate anymore by 5:00 to start me on Pitocin. Around 5:00 I had only dilated to a 5 1/2 so they started me on Pitocin. At that point the nurse told me I could get my epidural since I was at a 5. I told her I was doing okay and didn't need it yet. Well as soon as the Pitocin started going, the contractions got more painful. I thought I will tell her when she comes back. She didn't end up coming back until 6:00 with my doctor who wasn't supposed to show up until 7:00 to break my water. I told her I wanted the epidural and she said it would take the anesthesiologist a half an hour to get there. I told her that would be fine. The doctor broke my water and left the room. Well after that the contractions started coming hard and fast. I dilated from a 5 1/2 to a 9+ in half an hour. I was slightly freaking out that I wouldn't have enough time to get the epidural. The anesthesiologist showed up at 6:40 for the epidural, while he was giving it to me, I could tell the baby was coming. I told the nurse that and she hurried and got my doctor. After the epidural was in place, and the doctor rushed back to the room, I began pushing. I could still feel the contractions and the pushing because the epidural had not taken full effect yet. I pushed for half an hour and little Kason was born at 7:16 am on August 19, 2013. He weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 1/2 in. long. I was so glad that he only weighed about 8 lbs. I thought for sure he was going to be in the 9s. The women in Jake's family tend to have big babies, even the ones who marry into the family, so we thought for sure our baby would be big. The doctor even thought he would be in the 9s, but I had so much water, we were all wrong.

Baby Kason is now a little over a week and a half old. He is growing so much, and already looks so different from when he was born! He is such a sweet baby who has such a mild mannered personality. We love him so much!

Right after he was born in Grandpa Garrett's arms

First family picture....cute of the boys, yuck of me!

Dad's first time holding Kason, he was so excited to hold him!

Mom holding Kason

Dad and Kason watching the first Utah football game of the season

Kason's first real bath, after a week of sponge baths. He loved it! More than the sponge baths!

Little sweetheart sleeping

Sunshine and Summertime

Wow I have a lot of catching up to do since the last time I posted! Summer is flying by, Jake will be starting back to school in about another month and we have been doing so many fun things this summer! The summer started off with me graduating from SUU with my Bachelors degree in Elementary Education. It feels so good to be done with the student phase of life. I am looking forward to the next phase of my life of being a wife and a mother. Although I guess with Jake still having several more years of school, I still might feel like a student in some ways!

It was so fun to be friends with these girls during the block/student teaching.

About a month after graduation we went on vacation to Disneyland/California with my family. I loved being able to go on one last vacation with my family before the baby comes. We drove down to Anaheim, California on Tuesday after Memorial Day. That evening we got ice cream from Cold Stone (mmm....my favorite!) and walked around Disneyland. The next two days were spent inside the two parks, California Adventure and Disneyland. It was a little bit different experience for me. I was 28 weeks pregnant and was unable to ride a lot of the "fun" rides. I sat out during a lot of the rides. I think the most adventurous ride I was allowed to ride was "Pirates of the Caribbean." Even though I had to sit out on a lot of the rides, I still really enjoyed being in Disneyland and just enjoyed being with Jake and my family. On the third day we went to Huntington Beach and spent the afternoon playing in the ocean and laying out in the sand. I was a little bummed that I couldn't go out and play in the waves with Jake and my Dad. I love being at the ocean and it was hard to just sit on the beach. The next day my family left for Utah, and Jake and I headed to San Diego to visit Jake's brother and his family. We were able to go to the beach in San Diego and Jake got to kayak out in the ocean to see some sea lions. It was such a fun vacation, and a great way to start the summer.

Some highlights from our trip!

I love this picture! The last night in Anaheim, we went to dinner
at the Cheesecake Factory. I wanted a picture of the two of us, and
classic Jake pulls a silly face. It is just classic Jake, I love it!

One thing I was able to do this summer was make my first quilt ever! I am so proud of myself for finishing it. I wasn't sure how I felt about quilting, I thought I wouldn't have the patience for it, but it turns out I really liked it, and I was a little sad when I finished it. My mother-in-law helped me to make a quilt for the baby. It turned out so cute and I am excited for him to use it!

At the end of June/first of July we were able to go on a couple of trips to Lake Powell with Jake's family before I got "too pregnant." We love being at Lake Powell and look forward to going every summer. We were excited to get a couple of trips in before the baby comes. I didn't get to participate in the water sports, but I did enjoy working on my quilt and swimming. Jake also took me on a slow jet ski ride, and a canoe ride. Jake was so great about being considerate of me and not being able to do everything we normally do. He sat out a lot on the water sports in order to swim with me or take me on rides. He was such a good sport, and I love him for that! Jake loves being at the lake more than anywhere else, and I know how hard it must have been for him to sit out on some of the activities such as wake surfing and wake boarding in order to spend time with me. I did not take any pictures at the lake because I looked terrible in my swim suit being pregnant. So unfortunately there are no pictures of our trips to the lake. 

A few weeks ago we attended a family reunion with the Garretts at Bryce Canyon. It was so fun to be with all of my aunts and uncles on that side. I had never been to Bryce Canyon before so it was fun to be able to see that. 

Bryce Canyon

And last, but not least, we have spent much of the summer preparing for baby boy. We are getting so excited for him to come. I am due in about 3 weeks, but I would okay if he decided to make his appearance earlier. Being pregnant in the summertime hasn't been as terrible as I thought it would be, but I am definitely feeling more uncomfortable and ready for this little guy to come. We have had a couple of baby showers which we are so grateful for, we are feeling more prepared for him to come. We have also spent some time setting up the nursery and getting things set up such as the crib, car seat, and stroller. I am really excited for how the nursery turned out, I painted the letters of his name and hung them up, which turned out really cute. I waited to post what his name will be just in case we changed our mind, but with only 3 weeks left, we are confident in the name we picked. The letters are hung in his room, and we along with our families have been calling him by the name we have decided on. His name will be Kason Kyle Grant. 

Everything kind of just came together and we ended up with a jungle theme for his room. 

The blanket/bedding, swing, and bouncer are all jungle themed. It was not even on purpose! It just sort of happened, and I am so excited about it!

Oh Boy!

We have had some excitement around our house in the last few weeks. We found out on March 19th what the gender of our baby is! Yep, you guessed it, probably from the title, it is a boy! We are so excited for this new little addition to our family in August. Jake was over the moon when he heard that it was a boy. He was completely convinced that we would be having a girl. I had a feeling that it was going to be a boy, so I guess it wasn't too big of a surprise for me. But it was still fun to have it confirmed. Our little baby has officially graduated from an "it" to a "he." It is so amazing the technology that is available to us these days. The ultrasounds (especially the 3-D) were incredible. It was so fun to see our little guy moving around in 3-D up on the big screen. 

As for a name, we have no clue yet! We have some ideas, but we haven't decided on anything definite yet. 
I have been thinking everything blue for the last few weeks. I have bought a few cute outfits for him and my sister-in-law took me to some garage sales in Las Vegas where I got a cute bouncer that looks brand new for super cheap! I have also been working on crocheting a cute receiving blanket for him as well. I have done a few of these before, but they have been baby girl ones and they usually take me a couple of years to finish because I forget about them. But once I found out I was having a boy I started working on a boy one I had, and I have been working on it a lot lately so that it will be done by the time he gets here in August. 

Isn't this just adorable?