The Dike Family

Not a chicken any more!

2009-11-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

Forrest finally overcame his fear of the slide on his swing set. Today my mom asked him if he was going to go down the slide again and he said, "Yes! I'm not a chicken any more! I'm a boy!"

Halloween!

2009-11-06T10:19:00.001-08:00

I have more pictures of Halloween coming, but I thought I should post these while I'm on a roll.This is my little monkey. He wouldn't stand still for the picture so it is blurry. I have another, but it is on a different computer and will have to wait for another day.

Forrest carved a jack-o-lantern (or jack in the lantern as Forrest said) with Gramps. We took off his shirt so he wouldn't get all messy cleaning it out, but Forrest wouldn't even attempt to touch the yucky stuff in the pumpkin. It was too gross!

I have more pictures with Madeline and I will post them later.

Holidays are so much more fun now that Forrest understands what is going on. He keeps asking about Christmas. Every morning when he wakes up he says "Is it Christmas today?" and he keeps asking me to sing the Christmas song which is "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Yesterday, after I sang, he made claws with his hands and said, "These are claws! Like Santa Claws!" It was so funny!

Some pictures of Madeline

2009-11-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

I realized that I hadn't put many pictures of Madeline up...so here you go!
This is one of my favorite outfits she has. You can't really see in the picture, but it is embroidered with Winnie the Pooh designs.

This is another beautiful dress knitted by my aunt Joyce. I am continually amazed at her talent!

Can you believe the belly on this little girl??

This was a cute sun dress from Great Aunt Dolly that she only got to wear once because of the weather. Sometime she looks so darn serious!

This is a recent picture. She is growing so very fast!

The Paterpillar

2009-11-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

Forrest found a caterpillar on the porch this afternoon. He carefully played with it and then showed it to Madeline. He told her, "Do you like the paterpillar, Madeline? Do you like it? Don't eat it. Don't eat it. DON'T EAT IT! Paterpillars are yucky!"

He played with it some more and then gave it a ride on his lawn mower. He stopped after a few yards and said "Do you like it, paterpillar?" After we thought it was dead, it started to move again and we convinced him to put it in the flower pot where it would be safe. "So I don't drive on it with my big lawn mower wheels," he said.

Catching up...

2009-09-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't been a faithful blogger this summer. I discovered the addicting nature of Facebook and it has monopolized my free time at work. So, here is an effort to catch up on the summer.

The end of June we went to Yellowstone with my very good friend Tamara and her family. Tamara and I worked together at Cathedral Home a long time ago. We went through grad school together. She moved away from Wyoming a long time ago so we haven't spent much time together for a very long time. It was awesome to go to Yellowstone together. Forrest loved playing with Kayna and Kordell, Tamara's kids.

I posted pictures from the 4th of July. It was awesome, as it always is in Lander.

Madeline continues to grow and grow. She was so little and skinny when she was born, now she is chubby! My mom says my milk must be more like cream...she thinks it is 99% fat! Madeline laughed out loud for the first time while she was awake over the weekend. Daddy was tickling her neck.

Forrest has had a big summer. He is learning to play with other kids more. My parents bought him an awesome swing set that he loves to play on. He is helping in the garden and he mows the lawn. He has learned to sleep in his own bed, although the mattress is in the living room. He is potty trained and can sing the ABCs. This Tuesday he started preschool! Wow, what an amazing summer he has had.

Forrest also says the cutest things. Yesterday he started saying "Hello, Gorgeous" when he enters a room. Apparently it is a quote from the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. He also told me this morning that Gramps is really old and he is new. Then he asked me where I bought him.

I'm making an end of the year resolution to be better at posting things...it helps me remember things that have happened. It is like my journal...without an up to date blog, I have no way to remember the events of our lives!

Forrest's Big Day

2009-08-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day for my little boy. We have been working hard on potty training. He has been so good at getting up every morning and using the potty, which he did yesterday with no problems. But then, as he was getting ready to take a shower, he said he wanted to use the potty... and he did! All by himself with no prompting from Mommy.

Then, he picked out his own clothes for the first time. Isn't he handsome?

In the afternoon he went to McDonalds for some special time with Gramps. They had ice cream and played on the playground. We haven't ever gone inside McDonalds, so he told me with amazement "We went INSIDE Mommy!!"

Recently I bought him a dry erase activity book with some markers. He colored so quietly for a while; I should have known something was amiss. He had colored all over his face and legs. Luckily, dry erase markers come off fairly easily.

Then, the night ended with a bang. He used the potty again, without any prompting from me, and then he POOPED in the potty for the very first time! Yea!!! He came out of the bathroom and said "I want to go to preschool now." I have been telling him for weeks that if he can learn to use the potty all the time and wear big boy underwear he can go to preschool. We are so excited!

Here is a picture of Forrest opening his new potty chair. He already had one but he wouldn't use it, so I found this truck potty chair at Wal-Mart. It makes truck noises when he goes in it.

Beautiful Knitting

2009-07-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

My aunt Joyce (my dad's sister) knitted this beautiful dress and blanket for Madeline. The dress even has little daisy buttons on the back. They are really spectacular. Aunt Joyce also made her a little pink sweater that is going to fit perfect this winter.

Visiting in Rock Springs

2009-07-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday my mom, Forrest, Madeline and I went to Rock Springs. We did some shopping (Herbergers had a fantastic sale and I got heaps of clothes for the kids...I even bought some for next summer for Madeline!) and then we went to the park to spend some time with my cousin Kathy and her little girl, Shyanne.

Doesn't Shyanne have the most beautiful smile?

Shyanne liked going down the big slide.

Forrest prefers the little one, but he can do it all by himself.

Shyanne is such a cutie! Forrest loves planning with her...I wish we saw them more often!

Fourth of July

2009-07-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July is awesome in Lander. We had breakfast and then went to the parade. They throw lots and lots of candy. Forrest was very aggressive when it came to getting candy...he actually growled at some kids. We are going to have to work on that. This picture is Forrest saluting the flag at the beginning of the parade.

After the parade, the whole town goes to the park for a barbeque. After we ate, Forrest played on the playground.

Madeline slept.

After that we went back to the house and had a great steak dinner and set off fireworks. The next day we went to the carnival. Forrest rode on the train with his cousin Allison.

Madeline had another cute outfit that she had to wear the next day for pictures.

Another Forrest Quote

2009-07-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the conversation between Forrest and the barber today.

Barber: "Hi Forrest, what have you been up to?"
Forrest: "Me busy!"
Barber: "Really? What have you been doing?"
Forrest: "Mowing the lawn." (said with an exhausted voice, like we work him to death!)

Yesterday when he got to work he told Grandma Rea. "That grass grow fast. It really long. I need to mow it. AGAIN!" Again, like we work him to death.

Forrest Quotes

2009-07-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Forrest says the funniest things sometimes.

While driving on the highway, we came to an intersection that had rumble strips on the road to warn drivers to slow down. As we drove over them, Forrest asked "What that noise is?" I told him they were rumble strips to tell us to slow down. A few minutes later he starts yelling from the backseat, "Rumble strips, where are you? Where are you, rumble strips? Where aaarrreee yyyooouuu???"

Yesterday Grandma Sherry brought us doughnuts for breakfast, but Bill and Forrest didn't come to get theirs until later. Forrest was eating his doughnut when Bill reached to get one. Forrest said to him, "No Daddy!! No!! After lunch, after lunch Daddy, you have to wait until after lunch!" Bill dutifully was a good example and waited until after lunch to eat his doughnut. Forrest had already eaten his lunch, so he kept munching!

Visiting Family

2009-07-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

We went to Colorado the weekend of Jun 27th to visit family. We went to Denver and stopped by my Grandma Criswell's. She is 91 years old and lives in a nice assisted living center. Grandma was very excited to meet her new great-grandbaby. She walked us all over her floor to introduce Madeline to her many friends.

We left Denver and headed up the mountains to my other grandma's house. The 29th of June was her 81st birthday. I planned a big birthday party so the whole family could get together. It was amazing. Everyone was there except Aunt Toni (who lives down the street from Grandma) and Toni's two kids. Kathy was in Nevada with her boyfriend's family and Jeff couldn't leave Rock Springs.

Here is Grandma holding Madeline. Madeline is her 9th and most recent great grandbaby.

This is my cousin Renee with her little boy, Van Alan, who was born in the middle of February.

This is my cousin Rachelle's fiance, Allan, walking with my cousin Cori's two oldest girls Emily (5) and Charlie Anne (almost 4) and my Aunt Greta's little girl, Lacy (almost 5). Allan is a great uncle...he even carried those girls, sometimes two at a time, for a while. Notice their cute dresses...my mom made dresses for all six little girls...these three and Cori's youngest, Breezy, Madeline and Kathy's Shyanne.

This is Aunt Dolly with her newest grandbaby, Nate. He is Jolene's 2nd little boy who was born the end of January. Jolene and her kids live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and came the farthest for the party. A BIG thanks to Aunt Dolly for buying them plane tickets so they could come!

This is my cousin, Ben, Aunt Greta's oldest kid. He is 16 and is a great kid. He was helpful with the little ones AND he played us awesome music from his I-POD. I liked all his music...he had the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, and other classics!

Renee took family pictures of us all and one big picture with everyone. She is going to send me a disk with all the pictures...when she does I will post the big one on here.

Another Tractor Video

2009-07-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

I thought this video was hilarious.

Forrest's Lawn Mower

2009-07-06T12:01:00.001-07:00

Before my dad left he and my mom bought Forrest his own John Deere riding lawn mower. Daddy and Gramps both have one just like it except his has a trailer!

He was a little unsure how to drive it initially...

...But he caught on quickily. He even gave his cousin Tyler a ride in the trailer...

My Dad

2009-07-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

My dad has worked in the oil field my whole life. Actually, it was because I was born that he missed an interview with the international part of a company and ended up interviewing with the Rocky Mountain division which is how we ended up in Rock Springs. He has worked out of town a lot...sometimes in Wyoming, other times in different places in the US (including Alaska!). Starting when I was a senior in high school, he traveled to places outside the US including Nigeria and Azerbaijan. Starting just a few weeks ago he took a "live there" job in Oman. Oman is a small country on the Arabian penninsula; a stone's throw across the water from Iran.

Since he is out of the country and won't be seeing the kids much, I'm going to do my very best to post lots of pictures and videos for him. Hopefully others out there will enjoy the *hopefully* frequent updates from our little family. I may also post some of the pictures that he sends us from Oman because I think you may find them interesting.

Madeline and Tyler

2009-06-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

It is so neat that we have cousins who are so close in age in the same town. I loved spending time with my cousins when I was growing up and I know that Forrest, Madeline and Tyler will to. Tyler spent the day with us on Saturday. Here is a video of Madeline and Tyler playing on the floor. Madeline is 3 1/2 weeks old and Tyler is 3 months old.

Forrest Dancing...again!

2009-06-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Forrest loves to dance to television music. Here he is dancing to the song for the "Big Bang Theory". He also has a little Elmo book with buttons that you can push. One button is "music" that Elmo dances to. He calls it his "dancing book" and will push it over and over and over again while dancing around the living room.

Forrest's haircut

2009-05-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

After many tears and much bribing, Forrest finally got his hair cut.

Forrest pictures

2009-05-27T13:08:00.001-07:00

Forrest desperately needs a haircut. This picutre doesn't quite do his hair justice. It is REALLY long!

On Sunday we had a big family dinner at Bill's mom's house. Forrest played really hard with his cousins and didn't take a nap. He was so tired he fell asleep at the dinner table.

More Madeline pictures

2009-05-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here is Madeline with her cousin, Tyler. Tyler was born on March 11th and until last week, I thought he was tiny! But just look at him next to Madeline!

It is so sweet how much Forrest loves his baby sister. This morning he was going to stay at Grandma Sherry's and before he left, he went over to her crib and said "bye, Madeline, love you!"

This was Madeline's first bath at home.

Another bath picture...she was so good! She didn't really get fussy at all.

This is my cousin Kathy's little girl, Shyanne. They came to visit when we were still in the hospital. Shyanne loved Madeline and wanted to hold her.

Madeline at the hospital

2009-05-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

Finally, some pictures of our beautiful little girl! I was scheduled to have a c-section on May 28th, but apparently Madeline wanted to come early! On the morning of Tuesday, May 19th I started having some contractions. They were actually pretty close together and pretty strong. I went to see my doctor and he sent me up to the hospital, saying we would probably do the c-section after 5 that afternoon. Then, when I laid down at the hospital with the monitors on, the contractions stopped. I was so bummed! I figured he wouldn't do the c-section! But, I still had a few contractions...one or two an hour, and the monitor showed that her heart rate may have dipped a little with at least a couple of the contractions. Because of that, because I didn't object, and also for convience I think, he decided to do it that afternoon. So, shortly before 5 they took me to the operating room. Bill was in there with me (luckily not seated by the blood bucket this time around!) and thankfully it went much more smoothly this time. Last time, with Forrest, the epidural didn't work all the way and I could feel them cutting...this time I couldn't feel much of anything, certainly no pain. She was breech...which we didn't know...so I guess she probably would have come c-section anyway. I was excited to have a little girl! She was born at 5:23 pm and weighed 6 lbs 12.7 oz and was 18.5 inches long.

She lost some weight at the hospital...as all babies do. She was 6 lbs 4 oz when we left the hospital and the next day at the pediatrician's office she was only 6 lbs. She nursed very well the first time, but then she had a hard time after that. We stuck with it though and thankfully we got the hang of it. I'm SO excited to not have to buy formula or wash bottles! At least we won't be washing bottles yet...I'm guessing I will eventually have to pump and let other people feed her...but not any time soon!

The first night the nurse said she was going to take Madeline for her hearing screening. Much to her surprise, I asked her to wait until I could go along, because I wanted to be there. She hadn't ever had someone who wanted to watch it before, but I explained that I'm a teacher for the deaf and wanted to take pictures while she got her hearing screened. So, we didn't do it until we were almost ready to go. She was very fussy in the beginning and it took a while to get the sensors on in the right place, but eventually it worked and she passed....as we knew she would. We could tell she could hear before she was born because she would jump when her daddy blew raspberries on my belly!

Finally, after being in the hospital for 48 hours, they let us go home. She was so very tiny that she didn't seem to fit in the car seat!

Forrest loves his new baby sister. Before she was born we told him he was going to be a big brother. He said "No, me a big boy!" But now he says he is a big brother and "that baby is pretty, pretty precious!" He wants to hold her all the time and he gives her hugs and kisses. He is still learning to be gentle...but he will get there!

She's Here!

2009-05-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Our little girl, Madeline Elizabeth, was born at 5:23 pm on Tuesday, May 19th. I was scheduled for a c-section on the 28th but went into labor, so she came early! She was 6 lbs 12.7 oz and 18.5 inches long. We are both slowly recovering. I'm exhausted and sore from the surgery. She is a little jaundiced and so she is hanging out in the sun. Forrest loves her and is doing really well. He has accepted that he is a big brother and that she is "our baby". He isn't as gentle as I would like, but he is learning. I will post more with pictures later...right now I'm going to take a nap!

Celia's New Baby

2009-05-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

My friend Celia just had another baby. She had her first baby, Brian, three weeks before Forrest was born. She had her little girl, Tegan, on April 30th, four weeks before our baby should be born! Celia lives in Green River, which is only about 2 1/2 hours from Lander, but we don't get to see each other too often. Below are some pictures of Forrest and Brian when they played together last April. Then, there are two pictures of Celia's beautiful little girl. She looks so perfect!

Visiting Family

2009-05-08T09:22:00.001-07:00

The weekend of April 24th my mom, Forrest and I were in Laramie. I was presenting at a conference and my mom was there to help with Forrest. My cousin Cori and her three little girls live in Laramie so we were able to go and play at their house on Friday and Saturday night. Forrest was in 7th heaven! He doesn't have much opportunity to play with other kids, so doing it two nights in a row with three kids was awesome.

This is Cori's youngest daughter, Breezy. She is a sweet little angel! She is a little over 1 1/2 years old.
Here is Forrest with Cori's other two girls, Emily who will be 5 next week and Charlie Anne who will be 4 in July.

This one is a little blurry, but cute!

We left Laramie on Sunday afternoon and went to Denver to have graphics put on our work truck. While the truck was at the shop getting worked on, my aunt Cathy drove us all over Denver. We picked up my cousin Renee and her new baby, Van, and had breakfast with my brother. Then we did a little shopping and got Forrest a new carseat to use in the jeep. Then we went to visit my cousin Ashleigh. She is a nanny for two little kids. Forrest played with them in their toy room for a while and had a fantastic time. After that we went to visit my grandma Criswell at her apartment. The picture above is of me, Forrest, my mom and Grandma. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera with me every where we went, and then my battery went dead!

I hurt my little boy!

2009-05-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

I am clumsy. That is just a fact of life and it has been complicated because I'm gigantically pregnant. Last week I twisted my ankle when I was walking in my grandma's driveway. I didn't fall, thank goodness, but my ankle was swollen and it hurt. Then, exactly a week later, I was walking with Forrest, holding his hand, when I twisted the same ankle again. This time I fell, and since I was holding Forrest's hand, I dragged him down with me. It was awful! His little hand is all scraped up and he has a big scrape on his cheek. He was crying very hard and then I started to cry too. We made it into the house and were sitting on a chair, when he noticed that I was crying too. He said "Mommy no cry, me crying!" He is so adorable! We put band-aids on his scrapes and he is fine, although he won't let me hold that hand because it hurts. He tells me "hold this hand, this hand better".

Sending Off Our Soldiers

2009-05-08T08:42:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago the largest deployment of Wyoming National Guard in the history of our state was sent off to the Middle East. The Lander unit was one that was deployed. We had a big parade through downtown Lander to send them off.

Forrest liked the little American flags the Junior Naval ROTC program students were passing out.

Our niece, Allison, is a member of the Junior Naval ROTC. She, along with three other students, provided the color guard for the parade. Allison is on the far left carrying a rifle.

Here is the Lander National Guard unit. There are over 80 people in it, not all of them from our area.

Too Smart for His Own Good

2009-04-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Forrest is constantly surprising me, but the other night he really impressed me. As I've said before, Forrest has poor sleeping habits. He still drinks "little boy milk" (out of a sippy cup) at bedtime and at least once in the middle of the night. We are trying to stop this bad habit, though. The other night we were all laying in bed trying to go to sleep and Forrest wanted more milk. I told him no, that he'd had enough and he needed to go to sleep. He cried for a bit, but then rolled over and I thought he had fallen asleep. Then, about 10 minutes later, he said he needed his monkey, and it seemed to be an emergency. Being exhausted, I thought I would just get it for him so maybe we could go to sleep. As soon as I was out of the way, Forrest climbed over to the night stand to get his "little boy milk". What a stinker! He had obviously thought long and hard about how he could get me out of the way so he could get his milk!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

Easter is so much fun! Forrest has been talking about it for weeks. He would find pretend Easter eggs all over and bring them to you, telling you what color they were. Unfortunately, Forrest woke up Saturday morning with a hurt leg. We aren't sure what he did, but he wouldn't walk on it. He kept saying "Mommy carry me" and then later in the evening, he started crawling around. So, we missed out on the town Easter egg hunt, because he couldn't walk!

We woke up Easter morning completely unprepared. The eggs weren't even boiled, let alone dyed! But, after cleaning the living room (that was the requirement to be able to find eggs), we ate breakfast, dyed eggs, and then found them again and again and again. Forrest did a really good job dying the eggs. I covered the table and floor with plastic, just to be safe, but he was very careful and didn't make a mess at all. It was kind of sad watching Forrest crawl around on his knees, finding eggs. Later, luckily, he started to feel better and after using his toy chain saw as a crutch he was able to hobble around unassisted. By the evening, he was walking just fine. But, for some reason, it hurts again this morning.

He was so careful with the eggs!

I'm not sure why this is his smile for the camera...but it is!

Forrest even woke up this morning and said "Find Easter eggs?"

Crazy Hat Hair

2009-04-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Not sure how this happened, but the other day Forrest took off his hood and had some really awesome hat hair!

In his sleep...

2009-04-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

Forrest has some pretty terrible sleeping habits... I know one kid who is worse, but Forrest is pretty bad. It is all my fault, and I know that, and I'm sure I have the power to change it, but I'm weak. Because of my lack on initiative, Forrest sleeps part, if not most, of every night in our bed. Bill and I both sleep horribly because of him, and as I get bigger and bigger, I sleep worse and worse, but still I deal with it because I don't like to hear him cry.

Anyway, last night I had one of those rare experiences that made me happy that Forrest is such a horrible sleeper and he was in my bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, closer to morning, Forrest started to laugh in his sleep. Not just a giggle, or a little laugh, but a full, hard belly laugh. Then he said "Daddy... Daddy!" in the adorable way he does when his dad is doing something outrageously funny. It was so sweet. I was so thankfuly that I was there and awake to hear it.

Licking the beaters

2009-03-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

Last night we made delicious home-made chocolate pudding and whip cream. Forrest licked the chocolate whisk and then moved on to the whip cream beaters. I'm not sure why he took his shirt off...but he does look adorable! And the pudding was awesome!

Forrest Dancing

2009-03-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at uploading a video! Forrest loves to dance, especially to the music on the TV. This video is of him dancing to the credits on "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". We had to rewind so he could do it a few times. He also likes to dance to opening credits on sitcoms.

Haircuts!

2009-03-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

This picture is from this fall, but I thought it was an awfully cute one of Forrest and my dad. They went to the barber together for haircuts. Forrest usually doesn't smile so sweetly for the camera!

More Pregnancy Info

2009-03-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

My due date is June 5th, but since Forrest was born by c-section the next baby has to be too...hospital rules. So, the baby should be born on May 28th barring any unforeseen complications. We don't know if we are having a boy or a girl and we don't want to know. I've actually only had one ultrasound at 9 weeks. We don't have any names picked out. It is funny how we are so much more relaxed this time! We only have nine weeks left and all I have done is picked out the "home from the hospital" outfits; one for a boy and one for a girl. There is still plenty of time.

My HUGE Pregnant Belly!

2009-03-27T13:31:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how big I am and I have 10 weeks to go! I'm bigger now than I was when Forrest was born!

Signs of Spring!

2009-03-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

These flowers didn't come out of a garden around here, of course, but they certainly are beautiful and "spring-like"!

But, this is a better picture of spring in Lander! It is difficult to see, but we have gotten about a foot of snow so far today and it is still snowing. We had about a foot on Monday and we are expecting a couple more storms in the next week.

Baking a Pie

2009-03-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last night Forrest and I were baking a chocolate chip pie for dessert. He loves to help in the kitchen! He decided it is his job to put the mixer down into the bowl and then, after I added a cup of flour, he turned the mixer on all by himself. Unfortunately, he turned it on so it went pretty fast and flour went everywhere! I thought it was funny, but poor Forrest was just stunned and then he started to cry. He was so mad that he was "yucky". He had to wash his hands and brush all the flour off his clothes and get a new chair to stand on (that didn't have flour on it) before he would help again. Then, when it was time to turn the mixer on again, he said "Mommy turn".

Jeeping!

2009-03-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Forrest and his daddy LOVE to go jeeping. Forrest gets really excited when we put the carseat in the jeep and head out "up, up, up" the mountain, as he says. We belong to the local 4x4 club and every month or so we all get together and go on an excursion outside of Lander. Last time it was up into the Wind River Mountains just south of Lander. One of the people we went with said he had just been up there and there was "just a skiff" of snow, so we didn't take our snowboots. Big mistake. Forrest and I just stayed in the jeep the whole time.

This time, we were prepared with snowpants, hats, gloves, boots... the WORKS! But, although there was some snow, we headed north and east out of town, so there wasn't much. We had a fantastic time and Forrest can't wait for the next adventure!
This is a beautiful view of the Wind River Mountains. It was a wonderfully warm spring day!

I liked this view of the jeeps on the horizon after the climb up the long hill.

The little jeep in front of us got high centered going through a hole so Bill and another guy tried to push/bounce it so that it could get two wheels on the ground and get a little traction. Forrest sat in our jeep saying "Push, Daddy, Push!"

M&M Follow-up

2009-03-16T09:56:00.001-07:00

I'm happy to report that Forrest is a fast learner. Now, when he talks about M&Ms he says "M&M mouth. Nose, ow!" Then he demonstrates how he blew the M&M out of his nose and says that Trish looked up his nose to make sure it was gone.

M&Ms don't go up your nose!

2009-03-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my dad gave me a ride to our local medical clinic so I could get some medicine for a horrible migraine. He and Forrest stayed in the car. As I was sitting down in the little exam room, my dad called to say that he had to bring Forrest into the clinic because he had put an M&M up his nose! Dad had tried to get it out, but it broke in half. The people at the clinic said they don't have the equipment needed to get things out of little noses and we would have to take him to the hospital. I still had to get my shot, so I took Forrest into the exam room and had him blow his nose, hoping the M&M would just come out. Thankfully it had started to melt and the chocolate and blue goo came out fairily easily with a few good blows. The doctor is a friend of ours, so she took a look up his nose to make sure it was all out. Thankfully it was!

Meet Forrest's New Cousin, Tyler!

2009-03-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Lisa had her baby last night just before 1 am. She had been induced yesterday morning at 8 so it was a very long labor. Tyler William was 7 lbs 3 oz and is absolutely beautiful! I took Forrest up to meet his this morning. Forrest was really excited to see him and said "Mine, baby!" and tried to take him! He gave Tyler sweet kisses and caressed his head. Forrest did that for a minute or so and then said "bye" and left the room to go for a walk. There is a tile on the floor a ways down the hall that has a big fish on it that he really likes. After saying hi to the baby, he was ready to visit the fish.

Having a baby!

2009-03-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my sister-in-law Lisa from yesterday. She was due on the 5th. She went into the hospital this morning to be induced...hopefully I will have a new nephew this afternoon!

Big Snow!

2009-03-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and last night we got a nice big snow. Forrest LOVES playing in the snow. Today he rode in his sled with his grandma Rea, he rode on the tractor with Daddy while they plowed the snow and he laughed like crazy when Daddy threw a snowball that hit Mommy in the back of the head. He cried like crazy when I finally made him go inside to eat lunch at 2!

Forrest was excited to put on his snow pants. He said "pants 1, 2!"

For some reason, he decided he doesn't like to have his picture taken so he refuses to smile for the camera.

One of Forrest's favorite things in life is to ride the tractor with Daddy!

Grandma Rea tried all morning to get Forrest to ride in the sled. He kept saying "brrrr!" and then, when she told him it was getting warmer outside (it was -4 at 9 this morning) he said "Rea a-boom". A-boom is what he said whne he falls down... the last time he went for a ride in the sled Grandma accidentally dumped him over.

My Friend, the Vacuum

2009-03-09T09:45:00.001-07:00

Forrest LOVES the vacuum. When he was a little baby I would hold him and vacuum to help him calm down. He went through a brief stage when it scared him, but it didn't last too long. For his 2nd birthday, we gave him a small, battery-powered vacuum that he could use himself. Of course, he still prefers Mommy's vacuum. Yesterday, after we finished cleaning up, he dragged the vacuum out and then laid underneath it in a small spot of sunshine.

Pudding for Breakfast

2009-03-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

This morning Forrest was watching TV while Bill and I were getting ready for the day. This is our normal morning routine... Forrest watches Sid the Science Kid and Clifford the Big Red Dog while we shower, get dressed, etc. This morning Bill was in the bathroom and I was in the kitchen getting dinner in the crockpot. Bill went into the living room and asked me if I knew what Forrest was doing. I went to check and I found him eating a pudding cup that he hadn't finished last night. He was sitting in the living room, pudding cup and spoon in hand, with his face covered in chocolate pudding!

Dog Show

2009-03-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Forrest LOVES dogs, so when we heard that there was going to be a dog show at the state winter fair, we had to go! It was bright and early on Saturday morning, but Forrest, my parents and I headed over to Riverton. There were so many dogs, Forrest didn't know what to do! He wanted to talk to them all, and pet as many as he could. When they barked, he barked with them. We stayed for over an hour and had a fantastic time!

This dog licked him, which he thought was awesome!

I highlighted my hair!

2009-03-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

I got my hair trimmed about 1 1/2 months ago. The woman who cut it, Ali, said to me "Have you ever had your hair highlighted...because it needs it!" I was a little offended, but I know that I have a lot of gray, so I thought, what the heck! I went in last week and she highlighted it with "caramel" color. She only did the "halo" area, so it wouldn't be too much. I had Bill take "before" pictures, but after 3 hours at the salon and $105 later, I couldn't really tell a huge difference, so I haven't bothered to take the after pictures yet. Oh well. I guess I won't worry about highlighting my hair again!

Our New Camper!

2009-03-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

The other week we bought a new camper on E-bay. Bill drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan to pick it up since we figured that would cost less than having it delivered. The trip there was a little hairy for him in the beginning with snow around Rawlins and over Elk Mountain. The rest of the way there was good. Unfortunately, he got caught in one of those horrible lake snow storms where the snow comes down 3" an hour as he was leaving. He didn't make it very far on the first day, but did much better the next. He was in Rawlins at 3:30 am on Monday morning, ready to head home after a little nap in the truck, when his truck stopped working. He got some bad gas (that was actually about 1/2 water!) at the Rawlins Kum and Go and ended up staying in Rawlins. I had to drive there to get him that morning. Everything is okay now, the truck is fixed and home, and now we are ready to go camping! Check out the pictures!

Forrest & Shyanne

2009-02-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

My cousin Kathy lives in Rock Springs and she and her boyfriend have a beautiful baby girl named Shyanne. Shyanne turned one on January 1st, but because of snow, we couldn't make it to her birthday party. We made it to Rock Springs a week or two later and we went out to lunch with Kathy, Shyanne, Dan (Kathy's boyfriend), my mom, Aunt Dolly, my cousin Rocky and Forrest and I. Here are a couple of pictures of Forrest playing with his cousin. Forrest wanted to hold Shyanne's hand as we left the restaurant.

We have a tradition of pictures of "kissing cousins" in our family!

National Elk Refuge

2009-02-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend Bill, Forrest and I visited the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole. We told Forrest that we were going to see elk and moose and he was very excited. He slept part of the way there and when he woke up he pointed out the window and said "moose". He saw a lot of moose that day that we didn't see. He has quite the imagination! He enjoyed riding in the sleigh to see the elk, but he got a bit impatient when the driver stopped the sleigh so everyone could take pictures of the elk. He kept signing that he was all done and saying "go". But, as we were leaving, he wanted to see more elk. We also saw a coyote, which he howled at.

Visiting in Arizona

2009-02-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, January 25th Forrest, my mom and I began a long and difficult journey to Arizona to visit my grandma Kuehl. It had snowed in Lander but we were just sure that after we got over South Pass everything would be fine. We were wrong. After stopping for an hour on the interstate between Mt. View and Evanston because of an accident, we drove through a beautiful, heavy snow storm to Provo. Again, we were just sure that as soon as we got on I-15 in Provo, the weather would just be rainy and the going would be smooth. We were wrong, again. We stopped for the night in Beaver, Utah having averaged not quite 40 miles per hour for the 12 hours we were on the road. The next day we started out and things didn't look too bad, but we quickly drove into a white out. After about 100 miles we were finally at St. George, Utah (and practically the Arizona border) and the weather cleared and we had a smooth trip from there.

We had a fantastic visit to Arizona. Forrest had a good time harrassing Great-Grandma's cat, Kitty-bell. He picked oranges off the tree, met lots of new relatives, and got to ride home on an airplane! Because he signs so much, the other people at my grandma's complex had a difficult time understanding him. They would say, "Hi, little guy, what is your name?" and he would sign his name sign, "Forrest" and they would look at him confused. Oh well! As soon as my mom gets back, I will post some pictures of the trip.

Adding a picture!

2009-02-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

I'm figuring out how to add a picture. Here is one with Forrest and his daddy in their matching work shirts.

Getting Started

2009-02-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

This is my first try at a blog...we are going to see how it goes. This is my sample.