Fun in March

March was uncharacteristically warm here!  And just in time too, so Van didn't lose his sanity completely.  We mostly spent it going outside when we could... and unpacking, of course.  :)

My parents came to town and we all went to the Quarry for some climbing fun! 

Buddy is getting a little bit more aggressive.  It's fun to watch him.  

My mom is rad and did a headstand during our Family Home Evening hand stand contests. 

Aaron built a chicken coop out of scrap wood and bent nails out of the construction dumpsters in our neighborhood.

And now we have 2 turkeys and 4 chickens.  Known respectively as "The Wenches" and "The Sweeties."  Turkeys are mean, in case you were wondering.  

Van had fun climbing the rafters of the one of the house with his dad.  

We went swimming with Bek and her boys.  Here's Russell holding Emery.  They love each other.  

And Emery holding Russell.  Ha.  

The dudes.  These two are hilarious together.  

And Izzy in her bikini.  Always say yes to 9 month olds in bikinis.   I mean, look at that belly!  

Ramped up bathing with all of the playing outside in the dirt.  There are 3 kids in my tub.   How did that happen anyway?

We had the Dutson cousins over for dinner.  

Grady and Izzy at McDonalds.  Izzy has an affinity for shoes.  Eating shoes, that is.  

Holy cute.  

Van loves to take Iz down the slide.  

Green oatmeal for St. Patricks Day.  And green toilet water.  Those darn leprechauns.    

And a green baby for St. Patty's day too. 

Iz loves her brother. 

Playing in window wells

This is how Van spent most of March.  He'd eat breakfast and then sprint outside  to play in the dirt.   He was a very happy dude.  

They wouldn't even come inside for lunch.  They eat it on the driveway now.  

Nice face, dude. 

Sometimes you fall in a puddle of melted snow at the park.  So you cry because you're freezing for a minute.  Then you take your pants off and keep playing.  

March was a hard month for Izzy - lots of teeth.  Poor baby.  She's my worst teether yet.  

Cute attempt to feed baby sister. 

Hanging out in Grandpa's letterman at the shop.  This kid LOVES Grandpa Kenney.  

Izzy's Helmet

 After Izzy was born, I remember thinking pretty quickly, "Wow!  This baby is so much more fragile than the other 2 were."  She didn't really try to hold up her head at all and sometimes she'd cry when I picked her up, like she was in pain.

After a few months I noticed that her head was REALLY crooked... and then all of the dots finally connected.  She WAS in pain - she probably strained her neck on her way into this world, so then she babied the one side of her neck, those muscles got tight and in turn the back of her head got flat because she was always laying on the one side to protect her neck.

We got her right into the doctor and started physical therapy (mostly just stretching!) for the torticollis (tight neck muscles) and repositioning for the plagiocephaly (flat head).  We had to try and get her to look the direction she didn't want to look all the time, have her sleep on her "bad side", etc.  She adjusted really great and her neck corrected pretty fast.  Her head self corrected a lot too - but not enough.

So... here comes the helmet!!  The helmet basically restricts anymore abnormal growth.  The helmet is the shape her head SHOULD be and her head grows to fit it.  In true Izzy form, she has been a trooper through the whole thing.  Here she is getting fitted for it.

Okay, I know I'm her mom, but really?  Is that not the cutest baby you've ever seen? 

And here she is in her 1st day wearing it.  Already happy as a clam again.

Our favorite thing about it is how it accentuates her little fat cheeks!  Though those have shrunk a lot since she started crawling.

 She wears it 23 hours a day, even sleeping in in.  We only take it off to give her a bath.

And for your enjoyment - Izzy's thighs.  They are a work of art!  (They haven't shrunk with the crawling, thank heavens.)

Izzy gets lots of attention with her helmet.  Lots of people comment on how cute she is - lots of Grandma-aged ladies stop us in the grocery store, though I think most of them think she's handicapped.  Ha.  :)

Some people have just asked, "If you don't mind me asking, why the helmet?", but some people are less tactful.  Some of our favorite questions/comments have been....

• "Does she hit her head a lot or something?"
• "Ahhh, I need one of those too."
• "That's a great idea!" (mostly while out hiking/climbing, etc.)
• "I'm in that club, too."
• Overheard the other day while in a slot canyon, "I think she just wears it to keep her head protected in case her dad falls while he's carrying her in that backpack."
• "Does she have Down Syndrome?"

Usually we explain but sometimes we just say, "She's really safe."  And she is!  It really has kept her safe in this funny crawling, exploring phase she's in.  It's pretty cute.  And kind of convenient, actually.  We can let her crawl around in rocks all the time and not worry about it.  It will be interesting when she gets it off though.  I think her spacial awareness is definitely off.  

She's had it on since end of February and her head is already within a "normal range" for her age.  Which is great!!  She'll probably be in it a few more months to get it as perfect as possible!  

February 2013

Baby discovered she likes food - as long as there is no spoon involved

Took our Sampson friends to the Quarry - here's Izzy and Chance

hung out at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa for the last time - here's Izzy retrieving us from our workout

Iz finally started doing normal baby things like rolling around

Play date with Em's cute friend Whitney from school

Valentines Day hair for her school party

Valentines Day complete with notes from mom each day from the 1st to the 14th, new stickers,  I <heart> U pancakes and pink smoothies for breakfast

the kids found a new favorite place to play - with Izzy in her crib

  

Van ate Taco Bell sauce - plain

more feeding herself

watching the big trucks dig next door

cute Iz in the new playroom

Funny Frank

cute girl and her mama painting our nails

cold walk - love our view!

I'm not sure there has ever been a cuter face

little cousins

she must be extra cute when she's eating becasuse i sure have a lot  of pictures of her doing it

1st decorations in the new house - pretty glass in my huge window.  you should see it shine when the sun comes up 

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

We didn't initially plan on building a house, but the decision came pretty easy when we found this location.  We back on a river and a 30+ mile bike trail.  Our neighborhood surrounds a protected bird sanctuary that is currently home to over 90 species of birds.  Below are the pelicans who visit us every year.  It's kind of amazing to be surrounded by such beauty every day!  And right now it's all dead from winter - imagine what it will look like in a few months!  And I'm so excited for all of the forts and secret missions my kids will go on in the swamp and the river as they get older.  It's that magical childhood I always dreamed of for them.

That's Emery and my dad on the trail - I took this picture from my back door.  :)

Our pelicans!  There were bird watchers and photographers parked all over our streets last week before they left.  I took these pics on a bike ride with my kids about 2 minutes from our house.  Pinch myself.  Nice mountain view, too, eh?

Trail behind my house.  Yes, I took them biking in the snow.  They  loved it.  We really needed to get out!