A Case of Flat Head

Okay when I took Logan to his 2 month appointment the doctor noticed one side of his head was getting FLAT. I was like I know this isn’t news to me. Just look at Carter, I noticed too late with him as a baby and now he is STUCK with a misshapen head. I’m hoping I’m the only one who notices it cause I’m his mother but who knows maybe he’ll be the kid in school with the nickname “Misshapen Man” or just “Flat Head” (maybe kids in school will be more clever than me though) I don’t know. So when Logan was born I was like I’m NOT gonna let that happen with him! But alas I started noticing he only turns his head to the right when he sleeps. I try to turn it the other way but he just flips it right back. So I wondered what the doctor would say and yep it’s the first thing he saw. Well, apparently there’s this thing called Congenital Muscular Torticollis where when they’re born one side of their neck gets kinda kinked and that’s why they favor one side.

Woulda been nice to know with Carter!

Anyway he told me I need to roll up a towel or something and make him lay on his side… to give his flat side a rest… and I need to stretch out his neck and try to get that kink out.

I asked him if Logan’s head still had a chance to be normal. Yeah I’m vain I want my kid to have a normal, round head!

Once again, I'm so sorry, Carter.

He said yeah Logan's head still has a fighting chance.

Except I’m getting sick of FORCING his head to go the other way!!! He doesn’t like it and it makes me feel bad! I lay him on his side at night with something behind his back, too, and he’ll sleep that way for awhile and then wiggle around till he’s laying flat and can turn his head the way he likes it. Then I think, look at him, sleeping all peacefully on his flat head, I don’t want to move him!

But I don’t want him to have a deformed head either! And the doctor said if it gets REAL bad it can even affect his face!

Anyway, the doctor said he’ll check at his 4 month appointment and if it’s still getting flat we may have to look into getting Logan one of those helmets! Yesterday at Walmart I saw a mom with her little baby who had a helmet on. And I thought, huh that’s not too bad. I will keep working on it, but if it resorts to a helmet, I could handle that. Sure it draws attention but it’s no biggie.

And maybe no one will even look at the back of his head when he has a face like this!!



Is Carter wearing pink pajamas in that picture? yes. Yes, he is. One word: jenna.

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day we went with my family to visit my dear oma and opa's graves, as well as my great grandma, too (Oma-oma). It's been 10 years but I sure miss oma and opa. I still remember coming home from school the day my oma died. My mom said, "My mommy's gone." And she cried and cried in my arms. Then my opa lived with us for awhile after that, and he had Alzheimer's. So he'd often ask us, "Where is meine Frau?" It broke my heart every time. It wasn't fun telling him over and over that she had passed away and was in heaven. I miss both of them so much. They were so special to me and I loved them so much.

We also visited Nate's grandparents' graves. Nate's grandma died in 2007 and his grandpa died last year. I loved them so much, too. They were a perfect example of love. I'm glad they're together now.

Anyway, here's some pictures. It was a good weekend.

Happy things

I was watching my kids get sprayed in the face with the neighbor's sprinklers today and thinking about all the little things that make me happy.

Things like watching my kids get sprayed in the face with water.






Things like noticing Carter is dressed like a little German boy.



Things like watching Jenna dress Carter up like a girl.



Things like waiting to see what Jenna’s going to dress herself in next.



Things like little snuggles.


Things like little smiles.


Things like checking for new eyelashes on Logan every day.


Things like kids fresh out of the bathtub.

Things like eating peanut butter sandwiches outside on a blanket.

Things like pipe cleaner crowns and wands.

Things like Jenna eagerly waiting for me to finish changing a diaper so she can toss it in the garage.

Things like watching Carter go down the BIG slide and land on his bum at the bottom.

Things like Jenna’s face when I show her the princess books at the library.

Things like the smell of baby. Sometimes I even think spit-up smells good, just cause it smells like baby.

Things like Jenna fetching me the newspaper. Then throwing the newspaper back onto the driveway cause Carter wants to fetch it for me too.

Things like cheerio necklaces. Delicious.

Things like Carter saying every noisy sound outside is the garbage man.

Things like a bouquet of weeds from Jenna.

Things like waking up to Carter sitting on my bed singing me songs and giving me kisses on the lips.

Sometimes I think to myself: Do I really have THREE kids??? And the oldest JUST turned three??? Like, what the heck was I thinking? Am I crazy?

Yeah. I'm crazy. Luckily the little things keep me sane. And happy. And crazy in love with my kids.

Gu, Golf and GREAT BIG BOYS

I am falling behind in my blogging so here is the ultra convenient THREE POSTS IN ONE!

NUMBER ONE: GU!

If you know what Gu is you've probably done some serious running. Or some not so serious running... like my hubby Nate.

So the Ogden marathon and half marathon were last weekend. Like half my family participated. My parents and brother-in-law did the full marathon. My other brother-in-law and sister-in-law and NATE did the half marathon. I did the half last year and was really sad not to do it this year, but I figured having a baby 2 months ago was a good enough excuse. After all I'd have no time to train!

UNLESS I WERE A FREAK OF NATURE. LIKE NATE.

So Nate ran a total of three times before the half marathon of 13.1 miles. That's right, THREE TIMES. The first time he ran 5 miles. (And who does that anyway????? Just go run 5 miles without building up to it? Yeah I've been on the treadmill for 3 or 4 weeks now and am finally up to 3 miles.) The next two times he ran 3 miles each. He knew he wasn't prepared for the half. He was pretty nervous about it AS HE SHOULD'VE BEEN. Last year he trained and ran it in 2:06 which is pretty darn good. This year he was hoping for around a 2:30 but figured it'd be more like 2:45.

I trained last year and I did it in 2:23. I'm not thrilled about that time but it's decent.

Guess what Nate ran it in this year. 2:14.

MAKES ME SICK!!!!!! Yeah I was ecstatic to see him come in at that time, and yeah I am truly happy for him. BUT IT MAKES ME SICK!

He BEAT my time! Without training! It is sooooo not fair!!! He is definitely special, my Nate is, definitely freakish. But when he sets his mind to something he always comes through. Wow. Really. I'm still floored. And super jealous.

Here's Nate and his sister Kellie, she did awesome at the half, too, beating Nate by only a couple minutes.


Here we are acting sad cause I didn't do it with them this year.


But I'm excited for them anyway.


This was my dad's 11th full marathon and my mom's 19th. Cool huh!


Ohhhh, Nate. He never ceases to amaze me.


I LOVED being at the finish line watching everyone come in. I just love the race atmosphere it's so much fun, there is electricity in the air. It's so inspiring. So now more than ever I'm committed to the Top of Utah half marathon in August. I haven't signed up yet but I will soon. I'm kind of waiting till I can run 5 miles, then I'll sign up. And if I'm Nate, I won't have to run again after that and I'll do just fine. Ha ha.

OKAY POST NUMBER TWO: GOLF!

Here we go again about my sweetie NATE! Yesterday was his 27th birthday (DANG he is OLD. hee hee.) When I asked him what he wanted he only had two requests. One, a bunch of pens. Cause whenever he needs one around here he can never find one. DONE. And two, he wanted to go golfing... WITH ME. Okay so I've only been real golfing once or twice. The first time I was in high school and Nate took me. We had rented a cart and he thought he'd show off and drive all crazy. He thought it'd be funny to take a sharp turn, which, in his mind, would get me to "fall" into him. Kind of a cute plan indeed, when you KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. Yeah he turned the WRONG way, ejecting me out of the cart onto the grass. I flew throught the air. I remember rolling a few times. Good thing I already liked him... we laughed and laughed. Back to the point: I am a TERRIBLE GOLFER.

But of course I said YES it is YOUR BIRTHDAY let's go! And you know what it was fun!! I hit a few good shots. And a lot of bad ones. Yet I may go again if he asks me.




Happy birthday Nate!!!!!







POST NUMBER THREE: GREAT BIG BOYS!

Actually I have one great big boy and one itty bitty boy. And a pretty average girl. All three kids were due in for doctor's appointments so I took 'em in today. Here are their stats:

Jenna's three year stats:
Weight: 31 lbs 45th percentile
Height: 38 inches 60th percentile

Carter's two year stats:
Weight: 24 lbs 10th percentile
Height: 33.5 inches 20th percentile

Still a little guy!!!

Logan's two month stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 3 oz 90th percentile!!!
Height: 23.5 inches 65th percentile

I KNEW HE WAS A BIG BOY!!!!! Especially when his 0-3 month onesies started looking like muscle shirts, like the buttons would bust open every time he stretched.


I love that big belly and those chunky thighs.

My Momma

So I was going to post this for Mother’s Day... so it’s a little late, oh, well. This is one of my favorite memories of my mommy...

Okay this is one of those stories that is great NOW but definitely NOT at the time. SO, my mom, her friend Ramona and I were training for the Salt Lake City marathon of ’04… my FIRST full marathon. I loved our long runs because it felt so good to push further and further each time. We were SO dedicated, rain or shine we were out there running. SO when I woke up the Saturday morning of our 18 mile run to heavy snow I knew the RUN MUST GO ON. No excuses with us. Well, I had plenty, but I knew my mom would be out there and if SHE could do it, I could do it.

When I say heavy snow, I mean HEAVY, it was snowing like CRAZY! Nevertheless, we pulled on some smokin’ hot ponchos and were on our way. I admit, from the very beginning I sorta hoped my mom would come to her senses and be like, “We shouldn’t run in THIS let’s reschedule!” But nope, she and Ramona were serious. So I was a little cranky from the start. 18 miles in HORRIBLE weather! I just knew it was going to be bad.

And guess what. IT WAS. It was MISERABLE. I could NOT believe we were out there in the blizzard running mile after mile! I STILL kept waiting for my mom and Ramona to say “OKAY that’s enough for today, this is ridiculous” NO THEY KEPT GOING and of course I did, too. I don’t remember even TRYING to have a positive attitude, I was so grouchy. BUT COME ON! I was FREEZING! And I was DRENCHED! Cars were constantly spraying us with slush AND to make matters worse I totally biffed it in front of a bunch of cars! It hurt! I was not a happy camper and I didn’t try to hide it either.

So there I am, Miss Bad Attitude, wanting to quit, and there is my MOTHER. CHIPPER than a chipmunk. Laughing and giggling. SINGING and being silly. Playfully teasing me about my moodiness therefore making me MORE MOODY. It was so irritating! I was like WHY is she so HAPPY this is a HORRIBLE RUN! (IN MY DEFENSE, again, I usually loved our long runs I don’t know what my problem was, oh yeah, it was a BLIZZARD.) HER eyelashes were frozen just like mine. HER feet were soaked just like mine. And yet she had a much better run than me. Cause THAT is so my mom. Always positive. Always funny. Always supporting me, helping me, pushing me, even when it is hard. When I don’t think I can. She just doesn’t let things stop her. She’s motivated and committed and enthusiastic. She’s tough. All the things I want to be.

BUT I DID IT. All 18 miles. I’m still embarrassed at how negative I was! My mom and Ramona still laugh about it. But I would have NEVER completed all 18 miles if it weren’t for my mom. Just like I would have never completed the marathons I’ve run if it weren’t for my mom. Just like I would not be the same person I am today if it weren’t for my mom.

I LOVE YOU, MOM.

Ramona, my mom, and me. Believe me, behind that smile I am thinking some nasty thoughts.

Pictures

I finally did it. And there was no looking back. Good riddance, really.

I went from this...


To this.


I totally love it, thanks Kellie! I was so ready for a change, I'd had long hair for awhile! Anyway, I felt dumb taking pictures of myself so I made my kids pose with me. Also you can see Jenna's bangs have grown a little!

She wasn't too keen on taking pictures at first.


Then she got better.






And then yesterday Carter kept kissing Logan on the lips so I told Nate to grab the camera!





And these are just funny. Here is Jenna trying to lift Carter onto the couch.


Hm let's try this way.


It's just too hard.


A stool! What a great idea!


Hurray!


Personally I think it would have been easier to get on from the front, but whatever!