The Killpack Clan: February 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Bummer Times Three and Snippets

Waving Training:

Grant is doing something new this week (it seems like this is always the case.) He's starting to wave hello and good bye to people. I had Grant in my lap this past Tuesday, and our laptop was right by us. I have our screen saver set up so it flashes our pictures, kind of like a long slide show. I held Grant's arm, and we would wave hello to all the pictures that flashed on the screen. We did a lot of pics! He would giggle, and have the hugest smile! It was so fun! So now when someone enters a room or leaves, I say, "let's wave hello (or good-bye) and Grant will wave his chubby baby hand. So fun!

Bummer #1:

This Tuesday, I was so looking forward to going to my fourth graders music program. It was being held on Tuesday afternoon at 2:45. I had planned that I would take Grant, since I haven't brought him to school in a while, so I was planning on killing two birds with one stone. Well, at about 10:30 that morning, one of my colleagues reminded me that we have a tutoring meeting that goes from 2:00-5:00. So not only could I not go to the music program, I also had to spend a long afternoon in a meeting. I was so bugged, and bummed, and every other disappointed word that you can think of. My kids totally asked if I went, and I hated saying I didn't come.

Bummer #2:

I love our ward for many reasons, but one of the reasons why I love it so much, is they give us the opportunity to serve dinner to the missionaries. I usually like to do it once a month. The Relief Society will pass around the calendar at the beginning of each month, and ward members can just pick a day. I love it! I wish our wards that we had been in Utah provided this opportunity. Anyway, James and I had planned our meal, and I started to get it ready at about 5 so I could be ready for them at 6. At about quarter till 6, James called and said that he really had to stay late at work and couldn't come home at 6. I was so disappointed. We made sure the missionaries got their dinner, but I so love having them in our home. They bring such an awesome spirit with them every time they come, I was sorry we had to miss them this month!

Bummer #3:

The same night as the missionary dinner (Thursday) I had planned on going visiting teaching. The lady we were going to visit is really hard to get a hold of, but we found a time that worked for all of us. I called my partner late that afternoon, when she informed me that the lady we were going to visit had to cancel and set up a different time. My Thursday night totally freed itself up in a matter of minutes, but I was left feeling disappointed.

Phe-NO-barb:

Phenobarb is the seizure medicine that Grant has been taking every day since he was 7 days old. As he has been growing up the first nine months of his life he has been on the same dose, eventually outgrowing it. We started weening him off of his medicine when he turned 9 months. The doctor told us how to lessen the dose, and tonight (Friday) was his last time ever having to take it! I am so happy that I no longer have to worry about whether or not he has had his phenobarb. Once, I completely forgot, and had to give it to him in the morning when he woke up. What a sleepless night that was! He hasn't shown any more signs of having seizures, so hopefully we can put this all behind us. We will be going back to Denver though, in April, just to see if he is still doing okay.

Grant's Physical therapy went well this week. He is standing up next to things, and is taking steps. Crawling is going a lot better, although he tends to alternate with the army crawl and actually crawling. Something to work on this is week is Grant tends to straighten his legs A LOT! When he sits down, it's with straight legs, and getting them to bend is so hard. He has great tone in his legs, he just prefers to have them straight! One thing the PT suggested I do is play with him while he is in a squat. So that will be practiced this week!

Grant loves to stand against his Stand and Learn table. Now he is starting to scoot the table and take a few steps. What happened to my baby? He's getting so big!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Wahoo! Exciting News!

Such and exciting time in Grant's life! He actually learned to crawl on Wednesday. It happened during a physical therapy session (of course). Grant really works so hard for her! She had a nifty vibrating toy that was new and exciting to him, and he really wanted it. She worked his legs with him, and he took two crawls all by himself. He's not all over the place yet, but he will take about two crawls everytime he tries. The physical therapist gave me some techniques to help him, the only thing with that is he doesn't want help! As soon as I try to move those legs (she wants me to get behind him and move his legs, while he moves his hands) he gets frustrated, and sits up and won't want to. He did that with rolling too. Everytime I tried to assist him, he wouldn't do it, but he did finally do it when my back would be turned, or I'd have my mind on something else. Same thing with crawling. I just put him down on the floor and he ends up doing it on his own. I did manage to get his first crawls on video:

It's not much yet, but we are so proud of him!
Hugs and giggles:

Wednesday morning at about 6 :00 I went to get Grant out of his bed. He usually is so observant of his room, and will look around at everything. But this morning, he gave me the sweetest hug! It was like he was saying, "I'm so glad to see you!" He never does that, and it got my day off to a great start!

Later that day, I made dinner. James wasn't home yet, and I was starving, so I decided to eat. Grant was in his high chair, and he had just eaten. I didn't want to go hunting around the house to find toys to play with, so I gave him the first thing I saw on the kitchen table. The cover to James' phone. I started to eat, and Grant would just break out laughing while he was playing with this cover! I have no clue what was so funny about it, but he sure thought something was! I didn't get it on camera, but I hope by writing it down I will remember. So funny, I love hearing his laugh! Isn't that the cutest sound in the world, little baby laughs? I love it!

Kay, our vacuum that we have had since we lived in Cedar seven years ago, finally gave out on us a few weeks ago. We ordered a new one from Wal-Mart, but we had it delivered from site to store, so we wouldn't have to pay shipping. It finally arrived this week, and not a moment too soon! Our floor was so filthy. We got a bagless one. I know people have to told me that bagless really isn't the way to go, since when you empty it, it all goes up in your face. But on the flip side, how motivating is it to see all the dirt and grossness you pick up? We vacuumed our floor twice the day after we recieved it, and were amazed with how much it picked up. Well, since it did take such long time for it to get here, we had a lot of vacuuming to do! We did the office, Grant's bedroom, and our bedroom then the fuse in our outlets went out! We didn't know what was wrong for few moments, we just knew our vacuum wouldn't work. Who knew you could blow a fuse just from a vacuum?

A few weeks ago I got some pics of Grant at ten months. They turned out pretty cute, but I really had to work to get them! Here are a few of them:

I had a place called Steed's Photography do Grant's pictures, and I am so pleased with the results. Jennifer Steed is so talented and did a great job! She took such great pics it was hard to choose!

Have a great week!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Valentines, Blessings, and Begging

If you have been keeping up with our blog, you know that James had his rear tire fall off of his truck while he was driving in town last Thursday. The guy we have fix our vehicles whenever something goes wrong, had it fixed by Saturday. The fee? Well, James just said to "call it another medical bill." We had an extra expense this month, but our awesome Heavenly Father who watches out for us in our time of need (and any time for that matter), definitely came through ten fold this week. On Monday, James went to work and discovered that his company had given him a profit disbursement check. After we paid off our shares in his company, we had a pretty good extra chunk of change left over that we hadn't even counted on. Total surprise. Of course, this will pay off our "medical bill" from last Thursday, but we also can put the rest on our car! Hallelujah! As if this weren't enough, we are actually trying to sell a car that we bought when I went part time. I was just asking James on Tuesday, "what about the Buick, have they sold it yet?" And...that night he came home with the awesome news that they had sold the car. Pretty amazing how things just work out. Huge testimony in the law of tithing. This is only the beginning of the stories we have experienced about tithing. So thrilled!

After much anticipation (from James) Grant is finally saying "Da-da." This is a new sound for him, so we are as excited as we can be. Secretly glad though, that he did say,"Mama" first. :)

Grant also learned how to hold the bottle by himself which has already been a huge help:

I can't help feel but a little sad, that he is getting more independent. James is way excited, but I just want him to be little forever!

We are loving 9:00 church. That is the BEST time ever! I think Grant likes it too. He is so much more happier during this time, and he gets pretty tired by the time we are done. He just goes right for his nap when we get home. We are so loving this.

Physical therapy didn't go quite as well this week. Kind of funny how it got started. I had put Grant down for a nap at 2:00 but of course he didn't fall asleep until 2:30. And then, something that never happens! I fell asleep too! Usually, I just sort of rest my eyes, but I never really make it to the full fledged sleep mode, but I actually did! I was watching an old movie and just dozed off, and the next thing I know the physical therapist is at the door calling, "Jaime, Jaime!" I dashed out of the chair and let her in, and got up Groggy Grant who could've used the extra sleep, apologized for having her wait at the door. Crazy. I must have needed it. Yea, things did not go well. She only stayed for 25 minutes this time. Grant usually works pretty hard, but on this day he really could have slept longer. Whenever she comes, she really gives him a workout, and then he's pretty tired by the time she leaves. Not this time! Hopefully next week will be better! He did color for the first time though:

The little scribbles in the bottom middle of the heart are actually Grant's little marks. He did it though, and held the marker all by himself. Good job, Buddy! That was pretty much it. She taught me a song to sing to him to help him to help him get up and crawl. We have been practicing in between sessions. Now he starts to do it when I sing the song:

Grant experienced his first Valentines Day. This year, we exchanged our gifts early. Grant's Valentines Day present was his giraffe, which he still plays with and loves every day. James and I both picked out our own gifts which included for me this fun apron:

and a Blackberry phone for James.(you can actually buy used ones for cheap. He was in desperate need for a new phone, since I dropped mine in water and he gave me his.) He is so sweet. When we were first going out, I had an absolute craving all the time for IBC creme soda and root beer, and he surprised me with that today. So cute. He also gave me red tulips which look beautiful adorning our table, and yummy chocolate cheese cake, and chocolates (can you tell I love chocolate? :) ) A few weeks ago, James found a recipe for frog eye salad, but we couldn't find the right kind of pasta at the store, so I went to another store, found the pasta and other ingredients, and I made it for him for his Valentine's Day gift. We had a great Valentines Day just being together and enjoying our baby. We had an early dinner of Red Lobster which we picked up. I love that Valentines fell on a Saturday this year. I had James take this picture so we can remember Grants first Valentines Day:

Begging...

Sometimes when I get home from work at 12:30 James will surprise me with lunch. On Friday, James brought home a baked potato and salad. Of course, I had to share with Grant since I am trying to get him used to other foods, but then there is also Cooper who just can't help himself:

K, I have a new respect for photographers everywhere. I went in on Thursday to get Grant's 10 month pics (I know I'm bad, I completely missed 6 months, and 9, so we're doing 10 and I will get his year picture taken) . Our appointment was in the afternoon to accommodate my work schedule, so Grant sort of wasn't in the mood. He usually has a nap in between 2 and 2:30. Oh my goodness, we were there until 3, and can I say how hard it is to get little babies to smile? It was such a workout! I found myself, screaming, jumping up and down, singing, making goofy faces, everything to get this little smile to come out of him! It worked, we got some cute ones, which I will be posting here soon (no worries, I have her permission), but I was so exhausted by the time we got home. I think I hit a new record of going to bed: 7:30. I don't know how photographers do it when there are family pictures and no one is there to make them smile!

Hope you had a great Valentines Day, and a wonderful week ahead!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

This Week...

...James went crazy over the Steelers winning the Superbowl! James is a HUGE Steelers fan, and as soon as they won, he ran out our sliding door, yelled, "Yes!"(I'm sure all of Casper heard him) accidentally stepped in one of Cooper's surprises, and tracked it on our carpet. It's kind of funny when you think about it now! (But it wasn't too funny at the time.)

...Grant woke up at 3am (he honestly is a wonderful sleeper, but once in a great while he decides to wake up), and cried for awhile. James gave him a bottle (thanks, Daddy!) and put him back, but he still cried, so I rocked him back to sleep. Loved the time I got to spend with him,(he nestles right into me, I love it!) even though it was so early in the morning. Then as a result of his hard night, he pretty much slept all afternoon, and is still sleeping even as we speak (it's Tuesday night at 6:10, and he went down at 4pm.)
Update...he slept till 4 in the morning. Extremely tired the next day!!! (I was, Grant was fine and had his usual naps throughout the day!)

...Grant can stand up next to things by himself.(To get to the standing position he needs a little help, but he can lean up against things and is fine.) The Physical Therapist told me a good spot to work with him would be next to the couch with one of the cushions off. She asked if she could work with him there for part of his session (yikes!) It wasn't so bad though. We found a ski cap and some of Grant's links. She told me she went to a house that had a half a sandwich in the cushions (gross!), so I feel pretty good about that. Although the entire couch will be cleaned by the next time she comes over! (Pics of this next week!)

...On Thursday, James was around town with Grant in his truck, when he felt a wobble. Then his left rear tire came sailing off just as he was turning off of a busy street. James said he saw the tire just roll right in front of him. Grant and James were fine, and the tire didn't hit anything or anyone, thank goodness, but it sure did a number to the truck's axle, and so now its getting fixed and we are down to one car. Completely grateful that my two boys are okay and nothing more happened. It was perfect timing for it to just come off just as he was getting off a busy street. And they were right next to a gas station, so James didn't have to carry Grant somewhere random. He also didn't have to wait very long for the tow truck to come and get the truck, so it wasn't as stressful as it could have been. This happened 10 minutes before I got off work for the day, so if that darn tire had to come off, I'm glad that it happened at the time that it did. I was able to come and rescue my two boys.

...Grant and Cooper are getting along better. Grant actually wants to be friends, but Cooper is a little slow to reciprocate. However, they do tend to bond whenever food is involved. Grant munches on Gerber Puffs these days, and Cooper can't help himself. He just has to have a few too. Here are few pics of the two of them sharing:

...I think Grant is getting more teeth since he is drooling way more often then he used to, and his appetite has also dropped. He used to eat anything and everything. I can't wait till he gets all his teeth so we can make sure he's getting what he needs. When he does eat adequately I feel it is picture worthy: