November Update

Here is how last month went!

Adam and Ashley: We had a bit of a scare last month when Adam started getting pain in his leg that was very similar to when he had his blood clots last year. Luckily, he got an appointment as soon as possible and they scheduled an ultrasound. It turns out he did have a blood clot but it was a lot more superficial than the other ones he had that were deep vein thrombosis. So he is back on blood thinners for a month but that should be all. He is going to see if he can get an adjustable desk that he can stand while working too to see if that will help. But at least he wasn't laid up in pain as long as we was last time. I have been juggling the kids as always and dealing with something new with Eli which has kept me very busy and stressed out and you will read about it below.

Eli: The biggest thing this month is that we began potty training! This is one step of parenting that I had been DREADING! We probably put it off too long but we finally started. We had been reading a book (Oh Crap Potty Training) on potty training that we had for while to give us some kind of framework to work through. So we started with barricading the kitchen for a couple days and doing naked time. That worked for a bit until the novelty wore off for Eli. He got pretty good at pee but hadn't pooped at all. We decided to move onto the next step the book recommended which was commando time. Meanwhile, we put him in diapers for nap and bedtime. The book was so adamant about what you should and shouldn't do that it was starting to stress me out. Also, Eli would throw a fit every time we took the diaper off, plus he didn't like going commando. So we decided to look into other methods. A friend sent me information about a 3 Day potty training method, so we kinda switched gears. Instead what we did was put him in underwear, got rid of all diapers, bought some m&ms for rewards (the first book said no rewards), and hoped for the best. I definitely had to prepare myself mentally that there was going to be a ton of accidents and just have the carpet cleaner at the ready and keep trying. This seemed to click for him and he loved the underwear. He got pretty good at self-prompting whenever he had to go pee and accidents became fewer and fewer. The first book recommended waking him up to pee in the middle of the night and I am SO glad we didn't. Instead we just put him in underwear and expected to wake up to an accident. Instead, he kept dry the whole night but only had an accident when he first woke up and we didn't get him fast enough. We keep him in his room using a door knob cover because otherwise he'd never stay in his room and he calls for us through the vent because our room is below his. So I knew the accident was after he woke up because of where it was on the carpet. But every day he got better and better and now rarely has an pee accident. Poop however is 0% still. I don't know what to do to get him to poop on the potty and I'm so sick of rinsing his underwear but we are just trying to keep going with it. If anyone has suggestions, let me know! Sorry if this was all TMI but I'm also recording this for my memory and use for future kids. We are so proud of Eli and how he has transitioned to peeing in the potty though. On another note, he is also SUPER excited for Christmas and finally understands traditions and Santa which has been fun :)

Wesley: is 5 1/2 months old! He frequently rolls from back to tummy and desperately wants to crawl. He can scoot a little bit but mostly backwards and he pivots or rolls around a bit. It is just not enough for him to not get frustrated. We're thinking he will start crawling by Christmas. He has also begun the glorious and seemingly never ending stage of teething. He is constantly biting on everything, drooling a ton, and getting more fussy. Towards the end of the month we saw a little white corner of a tooth that has not broken through yet. Poor guy is so miserable sometimes :( But when he is happy, his smiles and laughs are magical. He LOVES Eli and constantly watches him while laughing and smiling. And Eli does great with it about 90% of the time haha. It is so hard to believe that we're coming up to half of a year that he's been outside of me! I definitely can't imagine our family without him.

Cat sitting: The first week of the month we took care of a friend's cat while they were out of town. I have never lived with a cat or dog so it was definitely a learning experience haha. Eli was OBSESSED and still talks about him. Luckily the cat was used to little kids so he was a good sport. He was a very social cat as well and loved following us around the house. The first night, we let him sleep with us and he decided to shove in between Adam and I or sit on my head and paw at my hair haha. Needless to say, we closed our door the other nights haha. But it was fun to have a cute kitty around for a bit!

Thanksgiving: We spent this year with my aunts and grandpa that live in Blackfoot! It was so nice to be around my family and the food was delicious. We played games, tried to keep track of Eli's potty training, and had fun watching my little cousin who is about 9 months older than Wesley walk around and wonder what this strange little baby was haha.

September and October Update

Last year I did this same thing. Procrastinated my September post until we were over halfway done with October haha. So here’s a combination of what’s been going on in the last two months!

Adam and Ashley: we’ve just been keeping on and trying to get into a family of four swing. Adam has his student employees back which has helped decrease quite a bit of stress. Also he is officially blood clot free! I am honestly still struggling to balance two kids during the day. I get burnt out super easy and have been down more often recently. Hopefully it’ll get better.

Eli: has been super into creative play. He’s always wanting to play pretend and it is adorable to see his imagination at work. He loves to learn all sorts of new things and has a wonderful memory. He also loves to play with Wesley and make him laugh.

Wesley: is now four and a half months old! He can roll from tummy to back and has great head control. He LOVES his family and the three of us gets his biggest smiles. He is ticklish and laughs super hard when I kiss his cheeks and neck. He has found his voice and likes to squeal and scream SUPER loud haha. And more often than not it’s because he’s happy! He is a complete drool monster and is constantly drenched. He also sucks on his hands all the time. No teeth yet and no sleeping through the night. He’s about 15 pounds now and still growing! We love our little guy!

Highlights!

my nephew loving on Wesley

Utah Trip #1: For Labor Day weekend, we took a quick trip to Utah! We stayed with my sister and also went to a big get together with my Packard relatives because it was my great-aunt’s 100th birthday 😊

My birthday: The Saturday before my birthday, we got to go to the Eastern Idaho State Fair! My aunt and uncle came too and they were so sweet to watch the boys so Adam and I could indulge on rides. We had a ton of fun seeing animals, eating fried food, and taking Eli on some rides! Then on my actual birthday, we got a babysitter and went to Adam’s yearly employee banquet 😊

at the Eastern Idaho State Fair

second trip to UT

Utah Trip #2: The first weekend of October, we went back to Utah! We gave ourselves a couple more days to see more people. This time we stayed with Adam’s brother who is pretty much the coolest person in Eli’s eyes haha. We were able to visit campus and meet up with the office that we worked at as students. We also visited the mental health clinic that I worked at since they moved to a brand new building. My sister and husband were in Russia but my mom and aunt were watching my nephew so we were able to spend time with them and watch General Conference. The main reason for coming to Utah however was  that Adam’s mission president was holding a mission reunion and it was ten years since Adam had left for his church mission to Manchester England.

at the pumpkin patch

Visitors: My best friend Kayla was able to visit and spend a day in October with us which was so fun! Her little boy is 9 months younger than Eli and they love each other. We went to the zoo and to a pumpkin patch and the boys had a blast! Later that month, we were able to see Adam’s mom a couple times. Once on her birthday to have lunch and go get cookie dough at Soda Barn. Then again when she stayed a night with us before heading back to Colorado.

Halloween: Eli said that he wanted to be a superhero for Halloween but of course once we actually got the costume in the mail, he changed his mind. So he ended up being a lion again this year. Wesley was a cute chubby turtle. We went again to the building Adam works in at BYU-Idaho to go trick or treating. It’s the perfect amount for Eli and mostly indoors so we didn’t go out in our neighborhood. Eli did have fun handing out candy though :)

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August Update

Now that September is half over, I thought it was about time for me to do a quick update on our August haha

Adam and Ashley: nothing too new with us just getting more used to having to deal with two kids and less sleep haha. Adam has been quite busy at work to meet deadlines for the coming semester as well as BYU-Idaho’s big transition to a new Learning Management System. He has definitely gained a stronger appreciation for student employees as both of his left for summer break. As for me, I’ve mostly been trying to survive without too much TV for Eli (not always successful with that xP)

Eli: turned 3 this month!! Adam took the day off so we could do some fun things. We went to the zoo which Eli LOVED and we decided to get a membership so we can go more often. That evening we had a little party with some family and friends. Eli loves running around with his friends. As he requested, I made red monster truck cupcakes which he still mentions from time to time. I can’t believe how big he is! This month he’s been super excited to learn his letters! He can sing the song and identify most capital letters on sight. He can be a little scamp most of the time but he’s cute too :)

Wesley: turned two months old mid-month. At the very beginning of the month, he got his tongue and lip tie clipped so that was not fun. He had quite a rough time of it but I think it’s helped a little. I’m a little worried that it reattached a little but he still seems to be getting better at catching my fast flow. He is a happy smiley baby especially when he has people paying attention to him haha. His head control is getting less wobbly and he weighed in at 12.5 pounds at his two month appointment!

 

July Update

Here is how this past month went!

Adam: turned 29 this month!! We celebrated by having a get together with some family in the afternoon and then that evening we went to find a spot to watch the local fireworks show (while trying to avoid parking and traffic). The day after he got a special visit from his brother Seth and his family. That was probably his favorite birthday gift because we had someone to play games with haha. He also went back to work and has been amazing at balancing his work stresses, home stresses, and lack of sleep. He is a HUGE support for me breastfeeding as well. We kinda gave up on him taking a feeding since I'd have to wake up to pump anyways but he always gets Wesley and brings him to me and also settles him down if he needs it. He is the best husband and father.

Ashley: I spent the first half of the month trying to find a new normal with Adam at work while trying to prepare for family visiting. The second half of the month, I had to find a NEW new normal because my mom had left after staying with us for a month from when Wesley was born. It was kind of intimidating being home all day with the boys by myself at first but we're getting used to it haha. I am SOOOOO grateful that my mom could come and help for such a long time. It was such a sacrifice of her energy and time but made a huge difference in how my postpartum time went.

Eli: has LOVED having family visit. He enjoyed my mom being here and was ecstatic when all of his grandparents were here along with his aunts, uncles, and cousin on my side and two uncles and aunts and a cousin on Adam's side all came to visit this month. Honestly, I was expecting a full on meltdown when everyone left after the blessing but he did so well saying goodbye. He's definitely growing up in a lot of ways! He's especially gotten more into creative pretend play recently. He will often give me cars and have conversations between them and his cars haha. I love seeing his imagination grow and process things. He loves Wesley and hasn't been too jealous of him. More often than not, he gets mad because he wants to do things like hold and feed him but he can't. It will be fun to see if they'll play well once Wesley can actually play haha.

Wesley: turned 1 month old this month! His head control is getting better but still quite wobbly. He also started smiling this month! That of course is my favorite :) He's a good eater except when my milk comes out too fast. Then he unlatches and gets sprayed in the face haha. We're still troubleshooting how to help his perpetual gassiness but we're pretty sure its my overactive letdown. He has started balding on top and looks like an old man. His favorite thing is to sit on my lap with his back leaning against my thighs as I sit with my knees up. He loves to see our faces and that is how we get the most smiles. He still wakes up quite a few times at night but occasionally will go a 3 or 4 hour stretch! He is a super sweet baby and is now over 11 lbs already so he's quickly becoming a chunk!

Special Events This Month
Fourth of July and Adam's birthday as mentioned above :)
We had Wesley's baby blessing! We were so happy that so many family were able to travel to share it with us. We definitely had a packed house that weekend! It was also the first time my whole family had been together now that Jessica is married (and of course Wesley joining us). So we had to get a family photo which was interesting with a kindergartner and a toddler to try and contain haha. It was a fun, crazy, happy weekend!

June Update

So last month has been a whirlwind but here it is!

Adam and Ashley: We spent the first half of the month frantically preparing for baby. Adam has been super on top of organizing the tasks that needed to be done to help me feel less anxious. I mostly just tried to survive each day with how severely uncomfortable I was haha. As time got closer, I had more contractions off and on which were not fun and just made me wonder when Wesley was going to come out. My mom came to stay with us on the 13th and Wesley was born on the 16th! Birth story will be coming soon. The latter half of the month was a blur of anxiety (for me), breastfeeding, and adjusting to two kids. Adam has been a champ daddy taking at least one feeding a night and I am so grateful my mom has been here to help!

Eli: The first half of the month, he was super stir crazy. I struggled to do much so we had lots of cuddle time and Netflix. Then Grandma Debby came and spoiled him with treats and new toys. He has LOVED having her here and I’m kinda nervous about his reaction when she leaves. He has done really well with Wesley and he is always wanting to help or hold him. His favorite is to give him his pacifier and fetch mommy breast pads haha. He has struggled with going to sleep which has been stressful and has led to more tantrums during the day due to tiredness. Hopefully he’ll get used to a new routine or at least stop turning on his lights at bedtime xP.

Wesley: came out of me this month! He’s spent most of his time earthside trying to get the hang of nursing and struggling to figure out how to pass gas. He weaned off of the nipple shield a lot quicker and easier than I thought. However, he still struggles with mommy making too much milk for him and it coming out too fast. He is a very sweet baby and sounds like a squealy pig when he cries. He also looks vastly different than Eli which will be fun to watch as he grows!

May Update

I thought I should probably get on writing last month’s update before the craziness truly gets started so here it is!

 

Adam and Ashley: May was spent working on our super long list of things to do before baby Wesley comes. Since we were finally unpacked, it was definitely time to get on that. So we spent most of our time organizing, cleaning, planting our garden, painting Wesley’s room, moving all the baby stuff out of storage, and getting the birth prep finished (hypnobirthing practice, packing the labor bag, writing our birth preferences, etc). I have been feeling pretty good minus some hip pain but after seeing a chiropractor I’ve been doing a lot better! Wesley sure is a wiggle worm and loves to go nuts right as I’m trying to fall asleep haha.

 

Eli: has been handling the many transitions fairly well. This month he moved from a crib to a big boy race car bed! He still will fall asleep on the floor most nights but oh well. We’re still working on encouraging him not to play with the light, plugs, or curtains but we’ll get there. Thank goodness for video monitors! He is getting more and more excited for baby brother and will often talk about him or ask when he’s coming. He enjoys measuring my belly and even tried to share his toy cars with baby brother by driving them on my belly and pressing them in saying “share with baby brother?” Haha such a sweetheart. I am looking forward to having a bit more energy after the baby comes so I can play with him more because boy does that kid have some cabin fever! My mom will be coming to help so he’ll finally get to do more than Mommy has been able to do with him.

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Goofy boy decided to wear a top hat, even to dinner at a restaurant haha; again silly boy; he likes to bring books for me to read while I lay down; cute big boy!

April Update

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Here’s how April went!

 

Adam and Ashley: This month was mostly spent unpacking our house and getting settled. Luckily we are now unpacked and now moving on to baby prep. We have also got to experience some new joys of homeownership such as calling pest control for mice, a shower faucet breaking, and filing an insurance claim due to damage from a hail storm. There are definitely some different things to deal with that we haven’t had to before but we are grateful to be investing in our home. I’m definitely feeling very pregnant and sore so it is nice that we’re getting closer to the end. Next step is prep for baby brother!

 

Eli: has enjoyed trying to get into things as we unpacked and organized but now things are settled and toddler proofed (for the most part). As the weather has gotten nicer, we’ve been able to go out a bit more which he has enjoyed. He had also learned how to hold crayons and pencils a bit better and therefore has been coloring more often. He also enjoys us singing songs and likes to try to sing them as well. His range of song requests goes from nursery rhymes to primary songs to selections from the musical Hamilton hahaha. You can tell what he hears Mom sing along to haha. He has definitely become a little ham and enjoys trying to make us laugh. It’ll be fun to see him keep developing that 

Playing with his trains; daily watching of squirrels and birds in our tree; his little reading nook; enjoying sunshine at the park!

Easter: We watched General Conference and spent time with my family who live here. We ate yummy food and Eli got to participate in an Easter egg hunt!

March Update

This month has been more nuts than usual but here’s the recap! Better late than never haha

Adam: spent most of March doing all the physical work of packing and unpacking. We closed on our new house the 14th and officially moved in the 24th. He was a total super husband especially because he did move in day with Eli and without me (not that I would’ve been able to help much). His wonderful parents were great enough to come and help for move in day then stayed for about a week after. I seriously don’t know how we would’ve done it without them.

Ashley: I tried to help in other ways since I couldn’t do a lot of the physical parts of moving. So I was in charge of keeping track of all paperwork and utilities transfers. Unexpectedly early in the month, my dear great aunt Susie passed away from a sudden heart attack. My sisters and I were especially close to her and although she wasn’t exactly young, she didn’t have prior medical issues to make her death less of a shock. The funeral happened to be set on the same day as our move day so we made plans for me to go without Adam and Eli to Washington for the weekend. I drove with my aunt who lives near us and then stayed with my sister Jessica and her new husband. I missed Adam and Eli and definitely felt weird about not being apart of the big move but it was so nice to be with family. The memorial itself was not as sad as I thought as everyone shared their favorite memories of Susie. She was definitely an amazing lady. We didn’t stay long so I was back in Idaho by Monday. The rest of the week was spent unpacking and setting up cleaning of our old place. We were so blessed with the service of ladies in our old ward (church congregation) who basically did all the cleaning with minimal help from me. So by the close of March, we were no longer renters!

Eli: He actually did pretty good with all of the transition of this month. He got a little confused as pictures disappeared off of our walls and things started looking sparser. He loved the new house and enjoyed trying to test boundaries of what he could get into as we tried to settle in. He only had one instance the first night where he woke up in the middle of the night asking for his old room. He has loved having more room to roam and spreading his toys across every square foot we have haha. As for development, he is still super chatty and loves to learn new things. He now knows how to count to ten and can identify some of the numbers on sight. He finally understands bargaining which has been super nice for us as parents haha. He also is obsessed with friends. He constantly asks to have friends over or to go out and see friends. He’s definitely a little social butterfly 😊

at the aquarium with cousins; for some reason, he kept wanting me to do this to his face haha; leading me around the house with his little cart; playing with toys I brought home from WA

February Update

So this month has had some definite ups and downs haha.

Adam and Ashley: We spent the first half of the month with all three of us catching yucky colds but the biggest thing that we have been working on this month was...home ownership!!! We are positive that we were pushed by the Spirit to start the process and every step of the way. In January we started seriously thinking and talking about our future plans to buy a house. Adam had the new hobby of checking Zillow to see what was out there. After awhile, we decided to meet with a lender which we did at the beginning of February. At first we went to just see what we needed to do to prepare financially to buy but after our meeting, we found out and felt that now might be the perfect time. Our lease was up at the end of March for our rental house so we decided to look seriously right now but if we couldn't find what we wanted in time, that we'd wait until next year. So we met with a realtor and started looking at houses! We looked at a couple houses before our realtor but then we spent a Saturday looking at a bunch of houses. Upon entering one house, I felt immediately really good about it. Logically it was great but this was some serious spiritual prompting. The more we looked around and saw that it had everything we needed and was a great price, I knew we found our house. The market in Idaho Falls was a bit crazy and so many houses we saw online for a day, would call, and was told they already had 1-2 offers. So we knew if we wanted this, we had to jump fast. Adam and I prayed in the car as we drove to the next house to confirm and by the end we were both nearly in tears. The Spirit was forcing us to jump. So we told our realtor (who had a feeling and called the seller on her way to the next house) and we put in an offer that afternoon. Our amazing negotiator of a realtor got it accepted that weekend for the exact offer we wanted!! So we got our offer accepted and the process started just a week after talking to the lender. It's been crazy ever since! The rest of the month we spent setting up the inspection and signing lots of papers. Now we are only two weeks from closing! We have both been amazed at how everything has fallen into place so perfectly within such a short amount of time. We will have a couple weeks to move in before we have to be out of here plus the price we got on the house will be having us pay less than what we've been paying for rent (taxes, insurance, etc included)! We are so excited to settle in our dream home in March!

20 week ultrasound! Baby is healthy, growing, and kicking up a storm. He especially enjoys kicking my bladder and pressing into my lungs haha.

Eli: has had an interesting month looking at houses, dealing with parents talking about stuff way over his head, and being sick xP. The first half of the month, he had a cold which he gave to the rest of us. Then in the last couple weeks he's had the weirdest stomach bug of life. It literally lasted a week and a half (as opposed to the normal 1-2 days) and only threw up at night. During the day, he was happy as can be and completely normal except some diaper located issues. But every night/morning, we had to clean up vomit and wash his sheets. Luckily after the first couple times, Adam did all he could to be available to clean it up so I wouldn't have to (pregnancy smelling ability was the devil here). After taking him to a doctor last week (and taking some probiotics), he suddenly decided to stop! So it's been a blessed vomit-free week and I think we are out of the woods now! Besides that craziness, Eli has enjoyed being thoroughly spoiled with loads of TV watching (for his tired parents' benefit) which we are now trying to wean him from. His favorite things are all of his trucks which he knows the name of every kind, stacking his blocks, video chatting literally everyone possible, and generally running around like crazy haha. He is constantly surprising us with things he says, knows, and does. He definitely enjoys making us laugh and we love it :)

Eli enjoys taking off his pjs every night and occasionally will try to put them back on. This time he put them on inside out and backwards haha; waiting at the OB with a sucker; CONSTANTLY talking about airplanes; Having fun trying on Mommy's hat haha