The Newly-West's

A Superhero Halloween!

2011-11-07T14:12:00.008-07:00

Oh, what a wonderful Halloween we had this year! The boys were so excited to be a family of Superheros! James was Batman (although we missed the photo op), Keri was Super Mom, David was Iron Man, Steven was Spiderman and Jared was Captain America! Good times! Throughout the month of October, we celebrated Halloween quite a bit. We attended 2 Trunk or Treats, a neighborhood after-school party, David's preschool party and classroom trick or treat, even Keri got involved with an all-girl Halloween party with friends. What a fun holiday!

Our superheros

Our sweet baby Jared

David's Preschool Class

Story time in class

Trick or treating in the high school

Keri's girlfriend party

Lots of fun girls!

Mommy & David

Captain America Jared

Best Buddies

After school neighborhood Halloween party

Our 5th Anniversary

2011-10-02T11:11:00.000-06:00

So for the last week I have been planning a surprise for my wonderful wife of five years. Keri has been in Salt Lake with her family with the last week and with our up coming 5th anniversary I thought I would take advantage of the situation and surprise her with a little get away.

It started with Keri going shopping with her parents in Park City. I was already in town so as they were shopping I surprised her in the shops. After continuing the shopping we enjoyed a nice dinner with her parents at Redrock Junction, which was awesome and I would recommend to anyone. After that Keri's parents left to go watch our 3 boys for the night so I could continue in the anniversary surprise. We then went to the movies together. Something that we haven't been able to do in a year or so. I then took her to the Grand Summit lodge for the night and we will leave that at that. The next morning I had scheduled a Fishing guide to meet us and take us out and teach Keri how to fly fish. It was amazing, and she was a trooper. Such beautiful country and the leaves are beginning to change. Our guide was very informative and patient. Keri caught the first fish, a nice size 8 incher, at least that's what I thought since that's what i am used to in the northern Idaho mtns. I had several hit I was having a hard time setting the hook at first then i got my first one a 12 incher. Then later I had a big hit, it took 10 or 15 min to get the fish warn out with help from our guide we got him in the net. A 21 inch brown trout. biggest trout I have ever caught it was amazing. Keri and I finished our 12 hour date with lunch and then headed down the mountain. What a great celebration of 5 years. If eternity is as fun and adventurous as the last 5 years then I am glad I am doing it with Keri!!

Here are some pictures to show the fun!!

Kanab City Council

2011-09-14T15:17:00.003-06:00

Politics in a small town sure are crazy! For those of you that didn't know, James ran for City Council this month. There were a total of 8 people running with only 3 spots to fill. It was definitely competitive. James knew he was the underdog, going against people who have raised their kids here and have been residents for 30+ years. But he got his name out there. The primary election was yesterday and he unfortunately didn't make the cut. He still got 200+ votes though. Not bad for the "new guy" in town. Even though he didn't make it this year, it sure was fun to be a part of the process. He ran a good campaign. We put signs up all over town, went door to door, was interviewed for the newspaper and participated in 2 public forums to get his ideas heard. I'm very proud of my man and the boys are very proud of their daddy! :)

Preschool!!!

2011-09-07T17:17:00.004-06:00

Preschool already? It seems like yesterday I was being rushed into surgery to meet my first baby boy. Now he is a confident, cute 3 1/2 year old! David was so excited to start preschool yesterday morning. He is going to Kanab Preschool, which is located in the high school. He goes 4 days/week for 3 hours a day. And because it is a state sponsored program, he gets to ride a bus to and from school! It's great! They pick him up and drop him off right in front of our house. They have a preschool aide that rides with him too. That's reassuring. I thought David would be a little hesitant yesterday when the bus showed up, but he walked right over and hopped in. He didn't even turn around and wave. So quick in fact, that I didn't even have time to snap a picture. I did get one of him getting off on his way home. :)

It's only his first week, but I already love the program and his teacher. He has a page of homework each night and a letter to learn each week. He starts practicing writing his name tomorrow. They also send a book home each night for him to read. Then he takes it back the next day and gets another one. Sure does beat buying new books all the time. :)

David waiting for the bus on his first day!

Steven was just as excited as David

David & Mommy

Getting off the bus

"Bye yellow bus!"

Steven was "snoring" waiting for David to come home. Hilarious!

Jared Duncan West

2011-07-12T21:25:00.003-06:00

Today Keri and I were blessed to receive Jared D. West in to our lives. He was born at 8am and was 6lb 1oz.

Jared, you are a wonderful child. Your mother and I look at you with aw and wounder of all the wonderful accomplishments you have in store. You came to us early but the time was right. You are healthy and strong! Your not even a day old and there are more people that love you that can be counted. I know that we will have our great days and our good days, but for now you sure are a quiet baby that has been a joy to be around.

Antimony Creek Adventure

2011-07-09T16:16:00.004-06:00

Yesterday at 6am Steve, Cameron, Blaine, and Myself set out of a fishing trip of a lifetime. We loaded up the back of my truck with all the needed gear and coolers and through on a trailer with 4 ATV's. We set out for Antimony Creek. Still being fairly new to the fishing scene in Utah I was excited to get some time out with my fly-rod. We reached our ATV drop point at about 8am at which time the real adventure began. Going from about 8000 ft above sea level to about 1250 in an hour on ATV's, on trails that are just wide enough for the ATV and have boulders everywhere to clime over. The trails were "gnarly," as one of my cohorts put it. We arrived at our destination around 9:30am, we had no sooner gotten off our rides scoped the place out and the heavens opened their wrath upon us with penny sized drops of rain and nickle sized hail. If that wasn't enough there was lighting so load and close that it caused grown men to cower and scramble. One strike was so close there was no delay in the crack of thunder from the flash. One of the other guys said he saw it hit about 200 yards away from us. The storm eventually calmed down enough that we all felt like getting our gear out and seeing what we could catch. Antimony Creek is a typical mountain creek crystal clear water and it is stocked full of native broke trout and brown trout, so much so that at any point along the creek you can see a dozen or so swimming along. Fishing started off slow for some, Cameron started hitting them as soon as his line hit the water. This was Blaine's first time fly fishing so we tutored him at first but he was quick to pick it up and Steve, well this was his spot so he went right to work catching them as well. I had a slow start on the upper side of our camp, but as soon as we moved to the lower side and I switch to a better fly I started slaying them. So much so I put an 8 fish per hole limit on my self before moving along the creek. It was a blast. After fishing the creek for a good 4 hours, all this time being rained on mind you, we headed back to were we had parked the ATV's and Cameron our outdoorsman had built us a little fire under a pine tree away from the rain. It was dry and warm!! We stay under that tree for probably an hour and the storm finally broke at which time we decided to make a break for our next fishing spot Antimony Lake. Now never being in this area I made some assumptions about what Lake ment. So when we pulled up to it and it was not much larger than Kanab Creek Pond I was a little surprised and worried about the fishing potential. The creek didn't even run in to it. It was a snow run off pond. But I was assured that the DWR stocked it every spring. We all pulled out our fly rods and began to fish this pond, I had a fish on my first time in the water and a few missed hits after that but it was really slow after that. They just weren't hitting the surface. Fortunately Blaine and I had packed our spinning rods. As soon as I pulled out my favorite trout lure I was hitting them again. About every other cast I had a fish on. It was awesome! As the sun began to dip down past the mountains to the west we began to realize that if we wanted to get off the mountain before we lost light we had better move quick. Just as we packed up our things the rain came again which made for a very muddy very slippery ride down the rocky trails. We made it back to the trucks just as dusk was settling in loaded up the trailer and began our trip home.

Here are a few pictures to tell the story;

Thanks Blaine for not making me ride this one!

The end of a beautiful adventure!

The boys!

Warming our self's up under a tree, Thank Cameron for the fire, I am glad one us brought a lighter.

Cameron and Steve consult a map to find our way, Blaine supervises!

Herding cattle along the trails, yeeha!!

Ready to Go!

Ward Campout!

2011-07-02T22:20:00.005-06:00

We had the opportunity a few weeks ago to go camping with a few other families in our ward. We are so lucky to live in such beautiful country! To be surrounded by so many beautiful landscapes only 30 minutes from our home! This was the first time we have taken the boys camping in a while and they absolutely loved it! That was obvious by the brown color of their bath water after we got home. :) They had so much fun just running around getting dirty, playing with bugs, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows and sleeping in the tent. It was nice for all of us to get away from our cell phones and just spend time together and with great friends. Although I will admit, camping and sleeping on an air mattress probably isn't the smartest thing to do while you're 8 months pregnant. Oh well, I survived... and so did my back. :)

David driving with Daddy down the dirt road

James playing a little horseshoes

Mommy & Steven

Dirty boys!

Playing in the back of Daddy's truck

Silly Steven... this kid cracks me up!

Family pic by our tent

David LOVES his Daddy!

Roasting dinner

You can't tell, but David was having a blast

Fishing with the Boys!

2011-05-31T17:11:00.007-06:00

We've been waiting (and waiting...) for the weather to get warmer so we could finally take the boys fishing. We figured Memorial Day weekend would be perfect. The temperature was fine, but the wind just about killed us! The boys had so much fun throwing rocks in the water and just holding the fishing pole, neither of them cared that we didn't even catch a fish. :)

Mommy fishing with the boys

David sure was concentrating on that fishing pole

The boys thought the worms were pretty funny!

David thought the salmon eggs were pretty cool though.

Steven had a blast just throwing rocks in the lake

My Biker Boys

2011-05-09T10:32:00.003-06:00

All these 2 need are some leather jackets and they would rule Aspen Ave!

Easter Cookies!

2011-04-22T09:08:00.005-06:00

Happy Easter everyone! We got an awesome Easter cookie cutter set from Aunt Peggy this week, so we just had to make some Easter cookies! The boys had a blast making a mess and doing the decorations on the cookies. So fun! Thanks Aunt Peggy!

Spring Time Fun!!

2011-04-18T11:01:00.004-06:00

Just a couple of video's of the boys playing in the back yard, and yes Steven only has a tee shirt on!

Family Road Trip

2011-04-11T09:41:00.005-06:00

Last week brought weather that is, well not uncommon for April in Southern Utah. Towards the end of March we were seeing days with sun and temps near 80 here but las week brought us rain, cold and snow. I was so done with this weather come Saturday and wasn't going to let it keep me in doors so I told the family we were going for a road trip! We left the house not really sure where we were going, headed north and decided to head out toward the sand dunes. I was think Keri hadn't seen them and it would be cool to see. As we drove out there it became evident the all we were going to see is white, but I thought lets just enjoy the drive. I had heard that the road goes all the way through to 389, which is the road to St George, and I knew my pregnant wife would love a Jimmy Johns!! So we kept going all of a sudden the nice paved road turned to dirt, which in those weather conditions ment Mud!! We quickly pulled out the GPS and when it eventually loaded the maps it confirmed that yes that was indeed the road to 389. So I said lets go and I got cheers from Keri and David, Steven however wasn't quite sure he was comfortable with seeing walls of liquid mud flying 10ft in the air passed his window. He eventually warmed up to the idea and it was a fun family adventure. Here is the route we took:

View Larger Map

And here is a picture of the truck afterward;

Here we go again...

2011-03-23T16:14:00.005-06:00

Well, we are at it again. Steven has been informing us lately that he wants to go "potty". He'll run up to you and pat his diaper saying, "Potty! Diaper off!" Out of the 20 times I've entertained his idea, he has actually gone potty about 4 times! Yeah! When we get back from Salt Lake next week, I'll officially begin my Potty Training Boot Camp with him. :) Hopefully it'll really stick by the time the baby gets here! Wish us luck.

David Turns 3!!!

2011-03-07T09:14:00.007-07:00

Hello all! Our sweet little boy turned 3 years-old yesterday! I can hardly believe it! It seems like overnight that he has gone from my baby boy to my action-figure-playing little boy! He still finds time to snuggle with Mom & Dad though, so that helps with the growing pains. :)

We threw David a little birthday party at "Daddy's hotel" on Saturday. He had a good time swimming with friends and family and eating his train cake and green ice cream. He was so excited to get TWO Iron Man action figures for his birthday! He hasn't let them out of his sight in 2 days. I will say, even with all this Super Hero play he does during the day, he still goes to sleep every night with his Pooh Bear in his arms. Such a sweetheart!

David sporting his Muscle Speedo from Grandma!

Steven loved being thrown by Daddy!

David loved it too!

Steven's Muscle Suit

Daddy & his boys

Blowing out the candles

David's intense Iron Man

The Iron Man protectors before bed

Two handsome West boys!

Kindermusik!!!

2011-03-02T12:23:00.007-07:00

Hello all! I know it has been quite a while since my last post. Sorry. This pregnancy just swept me up and carried me away for a few months. I'm back now and so happy to write about David and Steven's new hobby... Kindermusik! I found this great class in town that the boys just love. Steven's class is a mommy & child class for 18 months-3 year olds. We go once a week for an hour and just have a ball. Steven gets to play instruments, we dance and listen to animal noises. By the end, he is so exhausted, he goes straight to sleep when we get home. (Which gets an A+ from Mommy!) David's class is a kid-only class for 3-5 year olds. I was a little nervous to see how he would listen to his teacher the first time, but he did great. He looks forward to music class every Wednesday. They play games with their instruments, dance, sing and learn about types of music and languages. They let the parents come for the last 10 minutes of class to watch. So cute! The video I have here is a game they play with different instruments. They listen to various sounds and music on a cd and try to figure out what instrument it is. David's still getting the hang of it. Oh, and sorry it's a little bouncy. It was the best I could do with Steven on my lap. :)

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-04T21:50:00.005-06:00

What a fun holiday! This year, we decided to have a little fun with our costumes. Instead of having the same costumes as all the other little boys, we were a family of clowns! I bought mine and David's, but my wonderful mother made Steven's in just a few hours! Amazing! My aunt and uncle had an awesome Halloween Party at their house in Alpine. They even set up a kiddie pool in the garage full of dried corn kernels and candy. The kids got to collect the candy, but Steven just enjoyed throwing the corn kernels. James had to stay in Kanab, so he got out of his dressing up obligation. Bummer! But the boys and I had a blast clowning around! Hehe!

Our littlest clown

David LOVED his clown hat

My parents, the pirates

Just a few of my nieces and nephews

Steven throwing the corn kernels

One of the kid tables at the party

Mommy & boy clowns

Big hat, Big wig

We celebrated Halloween on Saturday night with my brothers' families. Even though it was quite a cold and rainy evening, the kids still had a blast Trick or Treating! David did his best to keep up with his older cousins. And I was so proud to hear him say, "Tweet Treat" and "Thank You" all by himself. He's growing up so fast!

David Trick or Treating with his cousins

Clown David with cousin, Dr. Rylen

Go David Go!

Summer in September

2010-10-07T11:26:00.006-06:00

This year, the month of September felt more like summer than fall. We decided to take a hike in Zions National Park to enjoy the weather. It was a 2.2 mile hike along the river and was just beautiful! James carried Steven in the backpack and David walked the whole thing (besides the last 5 minutes, when he was exhausted and practically sleep-walking) by himself. When we got to the top, we were able to let the boys play in the river for a while. Of course they enjoyed that! And David was fascinated by all the friendly critters that came out to say hello. It was so nice to get out and enjoy God's handiwork as a family. We are so grateful to live in such beautiful country. Enjoy the pics!

Surprise for Papa & G-G!

2010-09-08T21:00:00.006-06:00

Good times! Papa & G-G came out to Salt Lake City last weekend to visit Papa's family for Labor Day. At the last minute, James & I decided to drive up and surprise them! Even though we were up there for less than 48 hours, it was worth it! We got to visit with them Saturday night at The Chocolate, my sister's fabulous dessert bakery in Orem. Then we had lunch and playtime at Nana & Papa West's house in downtown SLC. It was a wonderful weekend!
The boys loved playing with Papa & G-G!

A duet

James' cousin Dawn & her husband Craig

David loves his Papa!

Handsome Papa & Beautiful Nana

Silly West's :)

Papa & Nana with 6 of their great-grandchildren

We love Family!

4 Generations of West Men!

Ensign Peak & Utah State Capitol

David wrestling with Papa

David learned to tickle feet

Tickling G-G

Playing with Papa

Papa, G-G, Keri, David, James & Steven West

Heavenly Idaho

2010-08-18T21:42:00.006-06:00

James' bridge jump!

David LOVES the water!

Hilarious! Cousins Rylen & David sportin' goggles (and underoos)

The men replacing broken boards on the dock

David loves Daddy's pancakes

Mommy & Steven going for a ride

James & I loved our tube ride

Captain Steven

David's favorite thing... pushing Mom & Dad off the dock

Sisters... Ange & I

David & Daddy going for a ride

Sweet Steven

Not a good idea to wait until naptime for a family picture

My parents with my nieces and nephews

Oh, what a wonderful trip to Idaho we had! Our family was able to go for 10 days, and it was so worth it. This year, we were able to introduce my family to beautiful Coeur d'Alene! It was so fun to share what has become such a special place for James & I, with my family. My parents were able to relax more than I have seen them in years! And it was so nice to watch all my nieces and nephews enjoy each other's company, without the distraction of facebook, cell phones and other forms of communication with the outside world. It was an exciting (yet relaxing) week of wakeboarding, kayaking, waverunning, jumping off the dock, reading in the hammock, night boat rides, bridge jumping, too much eating, game-playing, visiting and loving. We even did our share of maintenance at the house and everyone had a great attitude. We replaced boards on the dock, bought & replaced the dock stairs, pulled weeds, swept stairs, cleaned windows, gutters... all in 2 hours! It's amazing what you can do when you've got the man-power with happy hearts! :) We also got to visit with James' Nana & Papa, The Old Man (love you Grandpa Warren) and Grandma Ann, Grandmama Mary, Aunt Peggy & Uncle Neil. We definitely made the most of our 10 days. We have tons of pictures, so enjoy!

A big thanks to James' dad & Gloria for letting us take over the lakehouse for the week. It is such a beautiful home filled with breathtaking views and wonderful memories. It truly is heaven on Earth.

Independence Day

2010-07-17T13:38:00.010-06:00

Oh, what a great time we had this 4th of July. (Even though we actually celebrated it on the 3rd) Here's our timeline of the day...

7:00am- My niece, Kylie, and I ran in the Kanab Fun Run 5k! This was my first run of any kind and it was actually fun! It meant a lot to me to have James & the boys waiting for us at the finish line. :)

8:00am- Breakfast following the run provided by The Lions Club.

10:00am- Kanab 4th of July Parade. This parade cracks me up. It reminds me just how small our town is. We have floats that say "Brown Family" with all the relatives on it. So cute. And the fire trucks always spray the spectators with tons of water. This year, the fire truck and forest service truck got in a big water fight. That was pretty entertaining. Although, David's favorite part of the parade was chasing after all the candy the people in the floats threw.

12:00pm- Boys' naptime! :)

3:00pm- BBQ with just our family, and that was actually quite nice. Then James & David got into a water fight in the backyard with the hose. So funny!

6:00pm- Head over to the park to get a good spot for the firework show. We just hung out with all our neighborhood friends and the boys got to play for a few hours. David especially liked the water fountains that all the kids play in. He got soaked! So much fun!

10:00pm- Firework Show! Steven didn't enjoy the first few minutes of this. He screamed, but Daddy stood up with him and called him down. He was fine about half-way through. David loved the fireworks. He kept his ears plugged, but he shouted out all the different colors of the fireworks. (Sorry I don't have any pictures of the actual fireworks) Good times!

Random Acts of Cuteness

2010-07-02T20:20:00.008-06:00

Just wanted to dive into my archived photos that I have yet to post on Blogger. There is always something going on at The West House! :) Enjoy!

Big boy fell asleep in Mommy & Daddy's bed

David had a blast with his cousins and his $5 Buzz Lightyear Slip 'N Slide

Cousin Kylie showing how it's done

Cousin Candice's turn

Steven didn't love it

Playing in the whale pool

Run David Run!

Our very own Woody & Buzz

David was trying to fill up the cup with water to drink... poor kid didn't realize there were 4 large holes on the bottom! :)

Playing in the mud, before we planted flowers.

Have you ever seen something so cute all covered in mud???

I walked in on David trying to go potty at my parent's house back in April. Hilarious! That was when I decided to try potty training. It just took me a couple months to prepare myself. :)

Pizza Night!

Peek-A-Boo

Caught red-handed!

David discovered the best part of the cereal... the milk at the end!

"Duck!!"

So innocent... looking! :)

POTTY TIME!!!

2010-06-17T10:41:00.005-06:00

Hello all! Just had to post about our latest exciting news at our house. David is potty training! And he is doing great! Despite being told we should wait until he is 3, we just felt like he may be ready now. We started last week and there have definitely been a few accidents. But yesterday, I think it actually clicked! Two different times he recognized that he had to go potty, ran to me and said, "PEE!" So we ran to the bathroom, and sure enough he went potty! He even went poop! I was so excited, but was hoping it wasn't a fluke. But this morning, he was so excited to put on his big boy underwear (Buzz was today's underwear of choice). After breakfast, I tried to get him to go, but he fought me on it. Although, 15 minutes later, he told me had to pee, so we went to the bathroom and he did his business. YEAH! I'm sure we'll still have accidents, but I feel like we are on the right track. Here are a few pictures of him showing off his underwear and his sucker (the prize he gets when he makes it to the toilet). Good job David!

Steven's Cake Fun

2010-06-16T21:09:00.007-06:00

Steven had so much at his 1st birthday party! We kept it a simple backyard BBQ with friends and family and a personal cake for Steven! He was so entertaining! Here is step by step of how Steven handled his 1st birthday cake! Enjoy!

Look, I'm 1!

Clapping when we sang Happy Birthday!

Planning his attack

Just getting a feel for it

Starts out slow...

ATTACK!!!

He even lets his big brother join in

Lovin' this!

Help! I'm stuck!

The aftermath

The birthday cake mohawk!

STEVEN'S ONE!!!!

2010-05-22T20:28:00.006-06:00

I just wanted to write a small post to say Happy Birthday to our sweet little Steven! We are not actually 'celebrating' his birthday for 2 more weeks, to include more family in the party! But with today being his BIG DAY, I wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday!

Steven, you are such a joy to our family! The funny faces you make always crack us up. And you are always ready to wrestle with your big brother and Daddy. You love to snuggle with me and I love it! I love hearing you talk to yourself when you wake up from your naps and get so excited when you stand all by yourself in the middle of the room. I'll be extra proud when you finally brave those first couple of steps. :) I love watching you play in the water, because you LOVE it so much! Hearing you say 'Maaa' and 'Daaaa' warms our hearts. I love how you smile when I sing my song to you, "Ste-ven, Watts-y West, You are the Best, Best, BEST!" Tickling you on your inner thighs makes you giggle and squeal and that cracks us up. We love you Steven! Thank you for choosing us to be your parents & friends!

FLORIDA! PART 2

2010-05-16T17:48:00.008-06:00

Wednesday was our family day at Magic Kingdom. The boys enjoyed riding all the rides and meeting new "friends". Papa spoiled us all with a Character Lunch at The Crystal Palace and we got to meet all the Winnie the Pooh characters. This was definitely David's favorite part of the trip. He loves Pooh, Tigger ("Ger-Ger") and Piglet ("Pig-Pig"), so when he got to hug them and give them all high fives, he was in heaven! :)

Thursday we all spent the day at Typhoon Lagoon water park. Just like the beach, the boys thoroughly enjoyed playing in the water. They had a whole kid area with slides and everything just right for David. He loved it! The hardest part was getting him to leave. Steven loved the water also and following his big brother around. After we got home, we enjoyed a yummy taco bar for dinner and family pictures. Cheese!

Friday was our last full day in Florida, so we spent half the day at Animal Kingdom and the other half at Epcot. We all had fun taking turns riding the big kid rides and watching the kids enjoy the animals. By 7pm, we were all exhausted. We went back to Papa & G-G's house and just chilled for the evening. Nice and relaxing.

We left on Saturday afternoon, after Papa whipped us up a wonderful breakfast, with a couple of 2-year old helpers. :) It was such a wonderful trip and we were so lucky to get to spend the whole week with our family. We love you all & can't wait to do it again!

FLORIDA! PART 1

2010-05-16T16:49:00.010-06:00

We recently had the wonderful opportunity to join James' family in the beautiful state of Florida! It was such a great vacation, full of family, Disney, food and fun! We packed a lot of entertainment into 1 week, but it was a blast!

We arrived on Saturday, May 1st. The 7 hours of traveling were definitely exhausting, but the boys did surprisingly good. David was so excited to look out the window and watch the "pane" take off. Although the squeezing of my hand and quiet "Whoa" he muttered as we climbed the skies showed that excitement was not his only emotion. :) He did enjoy being served his own pretzels and apple juice while he watched Winnie the Pooh in the comfort of his very own seat. He looked rather comfy.

Our first day was nice and relaxing. We went to church with Papa & G-G, and enjoyed a relaxing Sunday with family. And David & Will enjoyed storytime with G-G!

Monday, we were ready to go! James, David, Steven & I went to Disneyworld's Hollywood Studios. We had so much fun introducing the boys to Disneyworld. We watched tons of shows and David got to meet "Buzz" and Woody, Lightning McQueen or "Cars" as David calls him, and Mater. David was a little nervous when he saw Buzz, so Woody calmed him down with a big hug. So sweet!

Tuesday was our Beach Day!!! We journeyed out to New Smyrna Beach and had a blast! The boys absolutely loved playing in the water and the sand. It was so fun to watch them discover new things! This was both of their first trips to the ocean. So exciting!

After the beach, Papa & G-G were nice enough to babysit the boys for a little while so James & I could go out to dinner. We went to The Melting Pot for this first time and it was GOOD! So nice to enjoy a quiet evening together. Thanks Papa & G-G! :)

More pictures to come. Stay tuned. :)

Our Backyard Project

2010-04-29T10:55:00.006-06:00

Oh, what a project we have begun! When we bought our house in March of 2009, our backyard was a blank canvas. It's fun to make all the decisions, but it is A LOT of work. Good thing my hubby is such a hard worker & loves to get his hands dirty.

We began last summer by having all the weeds cleared out. It was pretty bad.

In December, we put in our fence. We paid someone else to do that. We debated doing it ourselves and it just seemed like way too much work and stress.

This month we hired someone to come in and extend our patio. It is wonderful! Steven loves it because he can finally come play outside without crawling through the dirt and rocks.

After the patio was finished, James & I began building our planter boxes. These were 100% James' idea and they look beautiful!

Our next step is to dig the trenches and begin the sprinkler system. Then lay the sod and plant our flowers, bushes and herbs. Can't wait until it's all done!

Easter

2010-04-29T10:29:00.005-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year at our house! We celebrate Easter on Saturday, to help keep the spirit of the Sabbath on Sunday. It was great! Saturday we were able to take David to his first Easter Egg Hunt, put on by the City of Kanab. He wasn't quite sure what to think of it, but he sure loved running around the golf course! But when he did get his first egg (after running past a ton), he was pretty excited about it. On Sunday, we were able to relax and enjoy General Conference for our church. What a wonderful weekend!

David's one & only egg :)

Steven enjoying an Easter tradition- Golden Rod Eggs

David enjoying the freedom to run

He spotted Buzz

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue

Steven's eggs

A Bright Visit

2010-04-29T10:02:00.007-06:00

I know it has been forever since I posted, so I decided to play a little catch up today. In March, we were so excited to have The Bright Family-Sam, Jenny, Will & Elena, come visit us for 4 days! Such a blessing to have them visit us, all the way from West Virginia! The weather didn't cooperate to do a lot outside, so we made our living room into a funhouse. :) Here are some pics of their visit...
Will & David swinging at the park

All the kids in their jammies from Papa & GG

Wrestling with James

So cute! David, Steven, Will & Elena

Boys' Bath Time

Will playing in David's new tunnel

David Loves Elena!

Boy's ready for the walk to the park

Sweet Elena

David's 2nd Birthday

2010-03-11T21:58:00.006-07:00

Can you believe our little David James is 2? I myself, cannot believe it. Time has flown by so fast already and I know it will continue to do so. I love my little guy and enjoy every moment I spend with him. Watching him learn and try new things makes my heart smile. I love watching the love he has for his parents, his brother and his extended family grow daily. Nothing beats the tight hugs he gives me in the morning or watching him fold his arms and bow his head for our nightly family prayers. I'm pretty sure he knows that he already has 'Mama' wrapped around his finger, but oh well. I love you David! I am so proud to be your Mommy and anxiously await watching you learn and grow everyday! :)

Here are a few pictures of the birthday party we threw for David. We were lucky to have the Bright Family visit all the way from West Virginia, and were so happy they could be here to celebrate. We spent the evening swimming, pizza & cake eating, and just having a blast at James' hotel with famiy and friends to celebrate David's big day. It was a blast! Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes! :)

David loved the Car on his cake!

His new chair from Mom & Dad, and awesome Cars blanket from Grandma Vicki!

Mmmm, cake!

The Cars cake James & I made!!!

So excited to blow out the candles!

Lil' bro Steven discovered Doritos!

Papa's Visit

2010-03-01T14:53:00.004-07:00

We had so much fun having James' dad, or as David says, "Papa", visit us this past weekend! David certainly learned quickly that Papa was at his beck and call and he took full advantage of it. David would call out 'Papa' until he would answer, then repeat it over and over again. So cute! He especially loved it when Papa took him for a ride on the 4-wheeler (the real one, sorry no pictures). We are so glad he took time out of his busy schedule to come see our family in our little red rock paradise. :) Here are a few pictures of his visit...

Papa and the boys

Handsome boys going to church

David loves Papa's Donald Duck voice

Papa & David doing a little wheeling

Leap of Faith

2010-02-24T10:34:00.003-07:00

Hello all! Well, I finally did it! I took a giant leap of faith and put in my 2 weeks notice at my job to be a stay-at-home mom! James & I are very excited and nervous about our new adventure. Even after looking over our budget and realizing that we will need to cut back on some "extras", we both decided our family will be blessed if my time is spent at home. It was a hard decision to come to, but after a few months of battling it out in my head, I finally gave in to the promptings I've been having to put my faith in the Lord. I have been very blessed to have a great job and even now they are being great! They have offered to let me take a Personal Leave for 3 months to decide if we can make it without my extra income. So, my trial run starts in 2 weeks! Although I'm nervous, I'm excited to be home with my family and have dinner together on a daily basis. :) I know there will be sacrifices, but these boys are worth it!

STEVEN'S CRAWLING!!!!!

2010-01-30T19:25:00.002-07:00

Hello all! I am so happy to say that Steven is officially crawling! Yeah! He has been army crawling & scooting his way around the house for a few months now, but tonight he finally crawled! He's finally strong enough to move those chubby legs around. :) Can't wait to see how much trouble he & his big brother can get into now.

Love you all! Enjoy the video of our precious little monsters. :)

Random David stuff

2010-01-30T18:53:00.006-07:00

Just thought it was time to add some stuff!!

Davids latest haircut. The girl doing his hair was very impressed that he didn't wiggle once during his or while I got mine! He's a stud!! Already impressing the ladies!!!

David was having a dinner party

David doing a little wheeling in the back yard!!

'Tis the Season

2009-12-13T21:38:00.012-07:00

Lil' David

Sweet Steven

The new "hang out". The boys love staring at the lights!

Merry Christmas from our family! Just thought I'd share a few (ok, a LOT of) pictures of the boys enjoying this wonderful Christmas season (and a few random ones too... just because they are so darn cute!). We love you!

Thanks for the book Aunt Jenny! He loves it!

BEST FRIENDS!

Yes, that is a BYU hat! This picture is dedicated to Grandpa Steve, Uncle Sam & Aunt Jenny!

Happy 6 Months Steven!

2009-11-24T12:12:00.005-07:00

I can't believe our baby boy is already 6 months old! I just wanted to post a few pictures and write a couple things about our little chubby-cheeked boy! :)

10 Things You May Not Know About Me (if Steven could talk)

1) I share my birthday, May 22nd, with my Grandpa Ping-Ping Christiansen (that is the nickname for my mom's dad that has been around for years) and my Great-Grandpa Warren Watts.

2) I slept in a Pack-N-Play for the first 5+ months of my life. Mom & Dad finally got my big brother a toddler bed & I got his crib. I love it!

3) I love to eat! I much prefer veggies, fruit or oatmeal over my boring bottle now.

4) I love to sleep! I go to bed with my brother around 8pm & we wake up together around 7am. Then, I get so pooped out playing all day that I usually take 2-3 naps during the day!

5) I love holding my own bottle! I feel so independent when I can do it all by myself.

6) Even though I am 14 months younger than my older brother, we weigh about the same!

7) It took me a while to learn to roll all the way over. I blame it on my chubby thighs. But now I am good at it! My next adventure... CRAWLING! :)

8) I REALLY love my big brother! He always plays with me & I just beam with excitement whenever he does!

9) I am a pretty calm baby, except around 5pm. That is my designated crabby time. I do that just to give my parents a little excitement. :)

10) I am the apple of my parents' eye! They may not know it yet, but I have them wrapped around my chubby little finger! :)

Our sweet boys

2009-10-16T10:16:00.006-06:00

No, there is nothing wrong with your screen, Steven really is that big. :)

Aahh, kisses!

Chef David

So cute Steven

If I made a list of all my blessings, these 2 little angels would definitely be at the top (right along side their handsome father of course)! I just wanted to post some recent pictures of our goofy boys. They are both developing such funny personalities. We took them to the doctor a few weeks ago, David for his 18 month appointment & Steven for his 4 month appointment. David weighs 22 pounds, which is in the lower 6% for his weight. Skinny kid! Steven weighed 18 pounds, which is in the upper 90% for his weight! Can you believe they are only 4 pounds apart? It's so funny to see them together. Nonetheless, they certainly love each other. David has learned how to give good kisses & loves to share those with his brother. And Steven just smiles whenever David talks to him or kisses him. So cute!

Before the much needed haircut

After the haircut... isn't he handsome?

Our little thumb sucker!

David can't wait to play with his lil' bro

Playing with Daddy

James may kill me for posting this picture, but I couldn't help it! He's so dang cute!

Such posers!

New York, NEW YORK!

2009-10-09T10:26:00.008-06:00

Keri, James & Lady Liberty

New York Stock Exchange

Manhattan Skyline

Enjoying Liberty Island

Amazing

Chrysler Building

The fam from the top of The Empire State Building

My sweetheart

Beautiful view of the city

Busy Times Square

Oh, what a weekend! James & I had so much fun on our short anniversary trip to New York City! The fun started when we arrived at the Salt Lake Airport to catch our plane and I realized that we didn't have a stroller or carseat or two little munchkins to chase around the airport. Now, you all know how much I love my boys, but it sure was relaxing to just travel and spend the weekend with my wonderful husband! :) When we arrived at LaGuardia Airport in New York, James had surprised me with a personal driver to take us to our hotel. Then when we got to our hotel room, they had delivered flowers to me along with chocolate-dipped strawberries from my sweetheart. I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

We enjoyed many activities while we hung out in the Big Apple! We saw two musicals on Broadway, including Mary Poppins & West Side Story. I personally liked Mary Poppins better. It was awesome! The sets were amazing and the actors were great! We also were able to visit the top of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Times Square, Little Italy, SoHo, New York Stock Exchange... and lots of great stores and neighborhoods. It was fabulous to see so much culture & so many different types of people. It was so much fun to spend the weekend with my sister & her husband, and my brother & his wife... and especially with my hubby.

A big giant thanks to my parents & nieces for watching our boys for the weekend. I'm glad they were so good for you. Love you!

Waiting for Mary Poppins

The show was SO good!

From the top of our double-decker tour bus

Random Update

2009-09-12T14:02:00.005-06:00

Hi all! I just thought I'd sit for a moment and give a brief update on our lil' family. Things are so busy, good busy, that I feel it difficult to keep in touch with everyone individually. Sorry. I figured a one-way conversation would have to do for now. :)

For starters, James & I are doing great! Really! We officially started a healthier lifestyle together on August 3rd. So in the past 6 weeks, James has lost 23 pounds & I have lost 14! It feels great! We are both eating way less calories & just being smarter about what we put in our mouths. It sounds easy, and it really is, once you get used to it. The first 2 weeks was pretty tough on both of us. Poor James felt like he was starving for the first week. But once we learned how to eat healthier, it really did get easier. I am using an awesome website called, myfooddiary.com, to help me count calories & I have been exercising every morning to burn even more. We both believe this healthy lifestyle (not a diet) is here to stay!

On another note, both of our jobs are going great. James' hotel is still in their busy summer season & he loves it. I went back to work on August 10th, and it hasn't been too bad. Although I hate being away from the boys, I forgot how much I enjoy adult conversations. :) Another big thing on the agenda is our trip next month to New York City to celebrate our 3rd Anniversary! My Mom and Dad have been so wonderful to offer a weekend daycare for us so that we can travel to The Big Apple with no babies in tow. We can't wait!

As for David, he's a doll! Although he is only 18 months, he's definitely nearing the 'Terrible Twos", where whining and pushing the envelope are his everyday missions. He is beginning to talk more, which is fun to hear. He still doesn't have very defined words, but his annunciations have definitely improved. He loves his little brother & is very eager for him to keep growing & be big enough to really play with. He loves to help me do laundry and puts things in the garbage for us. He is becoming a very good helper. I sure hope he keeps that up!

Steven is our "lil" chunk! He is so easy going, as long as he's fed! :) We have a jumper thing that he loves to play in. He just bounces until his little heart is content. And he smiles at everything! His face just lights up when anyone talks to him, especially his big brother. It's so cute to watch! I can't believe he is almost 4 months old! Time certainly does fly.

Well, that's our family update for now. Hope it wasn't too boring. Have a great day!

Marysvale

2009-08-29T11:32:00.007-06:00

Even cute covered in dirt!

Dad driving the "taxi" four-wheeler

A view from the top

An old mine shaft in the mountain

Mom & Dad on the trail

Nieces, Candice & Kylie a bit dirty

A little dirt never hurt anyone

My brother Nate & his beautiful family

Did I mention it was a dusty ride?

David loves to help Daddy drive

Our little family was able to join Keri's not-so-little family in Marysvale last Saturday to enjoy some great 4-wheel riding. It was a blast, besides the fact that we got a ticket for not having a helmet on David while riding on a dirt road. Grrr! The whole family went on a 4 hour ride, up the mountain & back down. It was beautiful!

My niece Kinzy ready for her ride

Craig & Ange showing their tough side

The boys ready for their rides

Grand Canyon

2009-08-14T09:17:00.004-06:00

As part of our new healthy lifestyle, which is going great by the way, James & I decided to have an adventure last Saturday instead of just staying around the house. We drove the hour south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful! The weather was perfect, only about 65 degrees and sunny. I strapped Steven in his snugglie on my chest and James strapped David into his backpack and away we went. We went on 2 short hikes and drove around to various viewpoints. What a beautiful scene! The only sad thing was to see all the damage recent fires have caused around the canyon. They have the fires contained, so they let you drive right by. However, we saw a handful of spots that were still burning. We could see the flames. Anyway, here are just a few pictures of our wonderful day in nature. :)

Lake Powell & Blessing Pictures

2009-08-13T12:30:00.005-06:00

Our boys!

Our guests in the garage

My beautiful Mom and boys!

Baby Steven wore the same outfit James did 28 years ago

Aunt Ange & Steven

Mom & Steven

The West Family

Grandma & Grandpa Watts with the boys

Our family!!!

David driving the waverunner

My cliff jump

James' cliff jumping cannonball

Cliff jumping, waverunning & a blessing

2009-08-05T13:45:00.006-06:00

Oh, what a weekend! This past weekend, Steven was blessed in our home ward here in Kanab. It was a beautiful blessing and we were so lucky to have so many friends and family there to be a part of it. Since it is such a long drive (and flight) for relatives to come visit, we tried to make it a really fun weekend. And it was! We journeyed out to Lake Powell, which is only about an hour away, on Friday night & camped. Even though everything didn't go according to plan, it was still a fun night. David woke up on Saturday morning at 6:10am, with a beautiful view of the lake from our tent... and he was ready to go! Once he started talking, everyone else slowly started waking up too. So, we spent the next 9 hours playing on the lake! We rented a boat, did some tubing, cliff jumping, rode our waverunner... it was awesome! Definitely enough things to do to keep all of us entertained!

We are both very grateful for all of our friends and family that were able to spend the weekend with us. We feel so loved. We had visitors from all over Utah, Idaho & Florida! Steven sure is a lucky kid to be so loved! Thanks again! We love you all!

My nephews, Logan, Kamdyn & Nashton

James' dad doing a little cliff jumping

My niece Kylie enjoying the boat ride

Captain James

David loved playing in the sand

More pictures still to come. Blogger is being a bit temper mental. Sorry. :)

Lots & Lots of Vacation Pics

2009-07-25T06:50:00.014-06:00

Our Summer Vacation

2009-07-19T21:45:00.003-06:00

We spent 11 days on vacation this month and oh, what a vacation it was! We kind of split the trip in 3, spending 3 days in Salt Lake City, 3 days in Clarkston, Washington/Lewiston, Idaho, and 5 days in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho at James' family lakehouse. We don't leave our little nest here in Kanab too often anymore, so we crammed as much visiting as we could into our 11 days! It was great to see so much of our family in one trip.First, we spent the 4th of July weekend with my family in Salt Lake City. We thoroughly enjoyed the Riverton City fireworks and were both impressed at how David handled them. I was definitely nervous because he isn't a fan of loud noises. But instead of crying, he just layed his head on Daddy's shoulder and peeked every now and then. He even gave Grandpa his turn at playing the hero and sat on his lap for the second half of the 30 minute show. The next day while in Salt Lake, we journeyed the 20 minute drive to Pleasant Grove to visit my grandparents. It was such a good visit!

The next morning we made the 10 hour drive (with a brief stop in Boise to visit James' cousin, Dawn) to Clarkston, Washington (and right across the river to Lewiston, Idaho) to spend the next 3 days with James' grandparents. It was so great to just sit and visit, telling stories of James when he was little, looking through photo albums and reminising about James' mom, Becky. She was such a wonderful mother & I hope our boys will always know their Grandma Becky.

The next 5 days we journeyed further north to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and spent time with James' immediate family at the lakehouse. Because of the weather, we were only able to spend 1 day on the lake. Bummer! But we were able to spend quality time with the family, visit Becky's gravesite, and get to know the new members of his family. What a memorable vacation it was!

I have many more pictures to post... they are coming shortly.

Pool Time & Tummy Time

2009-06-27T14:25:00.006-06:00

What a fun week we had as a family. Thursday afternoon we all journeyed to the city pool for the first time. David loved it! He treated it like a giant bathtub. This pool has a whole "kiddy" area with a padded floor and shallow enough for David to walk around. He wasn't scared at all, which scared me a bit. :)

The next day, we let Steven have some good tummy time. Or at least, that was the intention. Steven's tummy time kind of turned into David's wrestling time. Ah, just the beginning of having 2 little boys! :)This is actually David giving Steven "loves", but it may as well be wrestling.
Just random pics from this week...

Photo Shoot with Mommy

2009-06-17T18:00:00.002-06:00

Random Pics

2009-06-15T18:00:00.006-06:00

Hello all. I just thought I'd post some random pictures of our silly family. No long stories to go along with these, just illustrations of everyday life in our family. Enjoy. :)

David sure loves apples!

David & Grandpa

Steven sleeping with Mommy

David wrestling with Daddy

David playing on Grandma Becky's bench

Day with the Doctors

2009-06-05T21:58:00.004-06:00

So today our family traveled to Cedar City to spend a day in doctor's offices. No fun! David, Steven & I all had appointments with our doctors today. Steven's visit was relatively easy. He just had his 2 week check-up. And he is doing great! He's growing like a champ. He has grown 1/2" since he was born and has gained 7 ounces! They did have to do his PKU test too, where they have to prick his heel, then sit and squeeze the blood out. I hate that darn test! So, Steven is doing well.

My appointment was easy too. I just had to have my stitches taken out, then lots of talking with our doctor about the boys and our future plans. Easiest visit I've had in a while. :)

David's visit was our sad one. He had his 15 month check-up today. He is doing really well too. He has gained 2 pounds since his birthday and has definitely grown in the height department. He had to have a shot in the arm, which he really didn't like. He almost had a look of betrayal when the "nice" nurse put the needle in his arm. The sad part was when I brought up David's tongue to the doctor. Over the past month, James & I have noticed that David's tongue is a little funny. When he sticks it out, it always goes out to the left and has a really deep line down the middle. It also only sticks out a shortway out of his mouth. The doctor looked at it and said he is "tongue-tied"... meaning that the web looking thing under his tongue was too tight and was prohibiting his tongue to fully extend. This could be a large reason that he hasn't really started talking yet and most likely why he had such a hard time breastfeeding when he was a baby. So, he suggested that we let him snip it. It's a very minor procedure, only lasting about 30 seconds. We agreed. The nurse brought in a little kid backboard with straps on it to hold him down. How sad! As soon as they started to strap him in, he started screaming. Of course! The doctor did hurry and snip his tongue. (I couldn't watch, so James had to fill me in) When I saw him, the poor kid was sucking on his pacifier, with blood drips all over his shirt and a blood ring around his mouth. The good news, he was his normal self in less than 5 minutes and we can already see a difference when he sticks his tongue out.

So, that's our day in a nutshell. Lots accomplished, along with lots of tears shed. :( Staying healthy is a full-time job when you've got kids!

Here are some pics of our boys. They have nothing to do with this post, but who doesn't want to see more pictures of cute kids? :)

Happy Birthday Grandma Becky!!!

2009-05-28T21:12:00.004-06:00

Happy 50th Birthday Grandma Becky! Thank you for playing with us in heaven & watching over us now. We love you & miss you! xoxo

Love Always,

David & Steven

Steven Watts West

2009-05-22T19:37:00.010-06:00

Steven Watts west was born on May 22, 2009 at 7:38am. He was 7lbs 13oz and 20 inches in length. Enjoy these pics from his first day..............

The Nursery

2009-05-03T12:33:00.003-06:00

It is finally Done!! Enjoy the Pics!

2009-05-02T16:04:00.003-06:00

What Did I Do Today?

Today I left some dishes dirty,
The bed got made around 3:30.
The diapers soaked a little longer,
The odor grew a little stronger.
The crumbs I spilled the day before
Are staring at me from the floor.
The fingerprints there on the wall
Will likely be there still next fall.
The dirty streaks on those windowpanes
Will still be there next time it rains.
Shame on you, you sit and say,
Just what did you do today?

I held a baby till he slept,
I held a toddler while he wept.
I played a game of hide and seek,
I squeezed a toy so it would squeak.
I pulled a wagon, sang a song,
Taught a child right from wrong.
What did I do this whole day through?
Not much that shows, I guess that's true.
Unless you think that what I've done,
Might be important to someone
With big brown eyes and light brown hair,
If that is true...I've done my share.

My friend Alyssa posted this poem on her blog yesterday & I just had to copy it to our blog as well. What a good reminder of the important role we play as parents and caregivers. I hope I can remember this everyday I feel not as productive as I would like.

2009-04-29T18:36:00.001-06:00

Our Yard/House

2009-04-29T17:11:00.004-06:00

Okay many of you know that I have been working on our front yard for the past few weeks. Well I finally finished yesterday!!! Not to toot my own horn but I did it all my self, with help from a neighbor when I couldn't move any more, the sprinkler system, the tilling, the leveling, and yes the sod. Anywase thanks to Jeremy and Travis for helping me cross the finish line and here are the pics. I believe this is the first posting with pics of the house too!!!

Enjoy...........

The Newly-Wests Home!!!!!!!!

David & Daddy

2009-04-11T08:54:00.004-06:00

This is just a random post to show how much David loves his Daddy! James loves to play and wrestle with David. David has already established his wants and needs from each parent... when he wants to play, he goes straight to Daddy. When he wants to cuddle, he runs to Mommy. Such a funny thing!

Keri's Pregnancy

2009-04-09T11:48:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted to post some cute maternity pictures I just had done by my great friend, Kristen Spencer! I am now 32 1/2 weeks along and am definitely showing more than I was with David. My c-section is scheduled for Friday, May 22nd, so we will be meeting our little Steven in just 6 short weeks! We can hardly wait!

The Nursery

2009-03-15T19:57:00.001-06:00

David's Cake Massacre!!!

2009-03-15T18:28:00.003-06:00

Birthday Pics

2009-03-15T17:26:00.000-06:00

David's 1st Birthday!

2009-03-15T15:43:00.002-06:00

Hello family, friends and other anxiously waiting blog followers. :) My sincerest apologies for our blog absence. This past month we have been super busy between homeownership, both working full time, David's 1st birthday, a cross country trip in a U-Haul truck and many other odds & ends activities. But this first blog back is a dedication to our son's first birthday! David James turned ONE on March 6th! Crazy how fast time really does fly! Because of our move last weekend, we decided to delay his birthday party for a week. Good thing. We were fortunate enough to have family come down just for the special occassion. It was such a fun day! We began the day with a swim at the hotel pool with our company from Cedar City and Salt Lake. We then had a great BBQ at our new house and began the party for David. We threw David a Winnie the Pooh birthday party, complete with Winnie the Pooh cake (decorated by my wonderful bakery-owner sister, Ange). We all watched as David did the traditional dive into the cake routine and he definitely made us proud! :) Enjoy the pictures of our little boy's first birthday party!

Las Vegas Trip

2009-02-14T19:51:00.004-07:00

Hello all. I know it has been awhile since we've written much. So I thought I would at least post a few pictures of our January trip to Las Vegas with my parents. It was a fast getaway, but very fun! David enjoyed the nighttime shows and all the music. Here are a few pics...

2009-01-09T22:21:00.006-07:00

Well Today was the day to find out (if keri would make up her mind), Lets see if we can't figure this out ourselves.........Thats a great picture of the head but it doesn't tell us anything...............

Lets try some video.............................

Close but its the wrong angle..........one more picture then I give up................

Say Hello to

Steven Watts West

To be born on

May 22nd, 2009!!!!!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T19:46:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all! We enjoyed a fabulous Christmas week with our families in Salt Lake. David had fun playing with his new toys and the wrapping paper they all came in. Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday! Here are a few pictures of our Christmas adventure!

Christmas morning in our PJ's

4 Generations

James enjoying his father-in-law's new ATV.

Dad's face when he saw his new ATV keys! Surprise!

David on his new walker/rider toy.

Proof that everyone loves Hannah Montana... even 2 year old boys. :)

David's new play table

Mom & Dad get Wicked tickets!

David & Mommy on Christmas morning!

Such a happy boy!

Our trip to Orlando!

2008-11-18T20:49:00.008-07:00

Thought I might post some pics from our trip this last weekend!!!

My 8 Month Old Tricks!

2008-11-08T11:01:00.007-07:00

Can you believe I am already 8 months old? I sure have enjoyed these past few months, learning all kinds of new things. My parents are getting more brave by feeding me real food now. I really enjoy biscuits and gravy for dinner... just like Mommy! And now that I can crawl, I am finding all sorts of places to play that I never even knew existed. I hear the term "no, no" a lot, but I still have no idea what it means. Oh well. Anyway, since we live so far away from all of you, I thought I'd help Mommy post some new pictures of me. Before you know it, I'll be walking and all this crawling stuff will be a thing of the past. :) I love you all!

Cute as ever,

David (DJ)

First Halloween!

2008-11-08T10:51:00.003-07:00

Hello all! Well, David thoroughly enjoyed his first Halloween as a pumpkin... courtesy of Nana & Papa West. :) We were able to make a quick trip to Salt Lake so we could spend Halloween weekend with the whole Christiansen clan. It was a fun, fast weekend! David showed off his new crawling speed by chasing my parents' dog all around the house. He loves dogs! We didn't take David Trick or Treating, but we did enjoy showing him off in his costume whenever the doorbell rang with other sugar craving kids. We then enjoyed a Halloween party at my brother Nate's house, complete with hyper kids, candy and Ange's Monster Mash compilation cd. Good times were had by all. Hope you all enjoyed your Halloween!

David's Crawling!!!

2008-10-21T19:37:00.004-06:00

Can you believe it? I know this video doesn't show much, but David is definitely crawling! After we turned the camera off, he started zooming around the living room. James & I realize we are in for some serious trouble! :)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABE!

2008-10-07T18:25:00.002-06:00

My dearest James-

I love you for so many reasons. To put them all down in writing would take a lifetime. I am so happy and lucky to call you my husband! I can honestly say, the past 2 years have been the happiest in my life. Thank you for just being you... and that makes you perfect for me! I love you honey!

My dearest Keri!!

What a lovely suprise to find a partially written post here this morning. I love you too and appreciate everything you do for me. We truely where blessed 2 years ago to become husband and wife and now we have David and (insert name). We are truely creating our own famly here in a little place called Kanab. Happy Anniversery!!

Fantabulous Weekend

2008-09-29T21:59:00.004-06:00

We had such a great time this past weekend! Thanks to Ange & Craig for coming to visit us in our wee-little town.

The five of us had a blast taking a warm September trip to Lake Powell on Saturday. Good times!

We kept smiles on our faces all day... despite running out of gas on the way home and having James & Craig syphon gas out of the wave runners! Yuck!

It was a weekend full of laughter and Ange getting her DJ fix in enough to last until Christmas. :)

Thanks Ange & Craig! We had a blast!

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

2008-09-23T20:43:00.005-06:00

It's TRUE! This is not an April Fool's Day (in September) or some cruel joke to our families and friends. James & I found out yesterday that yes... we are expecting our second child! Hooray! Despite the shock-and-awe factor, we are very excited to make David a big brother! And for all of you impatient people, no, we are not finding out the sex this time. I promised James last time that if he let me find out with David, that we would have the gender surprise for the second. So, we'll all just have to wait until the end of May to find out.

Thanks for everyone's continued love & support! And Steve, thank you so much for the flowers! They look beautiful on the table right next to the ones James gave me yesterday! :)

St. Louie Trip

2008-09-05T19:46:00.006-06:00

Oh, how nice a vacation is to the body! James, David & I had a great 10 day vacation in the big cities of Salt Lake and St. Louis! It began with a great football weekend in Salt Lake with my family, including our first experience of an unexpectedly intense 8 year-old football game. Craziness! My nephew Dayne is only 8 years old but has been begging his parents to let him play little league football for 2 years. This year, they finally gave in. We got to witness his first "professional" game. I say professional, because that is definitely how the atmosphere felt. I watched each of the SEVEN coaches yell at players and call out plays like they were fighting for the Superbowl. Whew. I felt like saying, "Hello! They're 8!" I asked my brother if it bothered him watching the coaches yell like that and he classically responded, "Nope. It's football." Okay, bro! The game was fun to watch, especially when Dayne ran for a 60(ish) yard touchdown, but I think I'll try to keep my kids off the football field until they are just a tad older. :)

Our next adventure was my family's annual (okay, this is only the second year, but it's quickly becoming a tradition) Fantasy Football Draft. This is my first year participating in the family league, cleverly called the West Christiansen Football League. My, my how intense this gets. I joined each of my 3 brothers, my dad, James & sister-in-law Audrey for a "friendly" draft in Nate's new house. Honestly, it was hilarious. There were a total of 5 laptops out in the living room as each of us eagerly awaited our next picks. I was so excited to have the second pick. Ironically, I think I ended up with the worst team. Rookie!

Now onto St. Louis! We had such a good time. It was a week full of relaxing with each other, spending time with family, good ol' big city shopping and meeting new people. (Hi Gloria!) Not to mention all the time we got to spend at the dentist office. (Thanks again Steve!) The second day we were able to take David to his first St. Louis Cardinals game. We had fun, despite the rather bad loss to the Brewers. Oh well, maybe next year Cards. Jenny, Sam & Will were able to join us in St. Louis from West Virginia on Thursday. What a blast! David was excited to meet his Uncle Sam and spend more time with Aunt Jenny and his cousin Will. Will and David are only 6 months apart and you can tell they are eager to be able to play together really soon. David just isn't quite big enough yet. But it was cute watching Will give David hugs and kisses. We did celebrate Will's 1st Birthday! Hooray! He is such a cute & smiley little boy. Good work Sam & Jen! It sure was a good week to spend some good quality time with James' dad and the rest of the family. We feel very fortunate to be able to visit our families that live so far away. Thanks for your help to get us there Steve!

Our last adventure was the flight home. It started out great. In fact everything was going great until we were about to land in Salt Lake. The pilot announced that there was a storm in Salt Lake prohibiting us from landing. We didn't have enough gas to circle around until the storm cleared, so we had to detour to Provo for a "routine" fuel fill-up. Uh, ok. We landed and Provo and waited for an hour to get the okay to depart again. So, we refastened our seat belts and placed our tray tables in the upright positions, ready to take off. We felt the plane accelerate on the runway then immediately slow again and return to same place we had just been parked for an hour. What now? Apparently our anti-lock break system light came on, making it unsafe to take off on a wet runway. So, we sat for another 2 hours! Ugh! I will say, David did great. He just flirted with the flight attendants and other passengers. They finally gave anyone who was actually staying in Salt Lake the option to get off the plane if they had a ride home. And out my cell phone came. I was not interested in sitting for any longer on a parked plane. Especially since they had no idea how much longer it would be. Thank goodness my brother was able to come down to Provo and pick us up.

So, that was our 10 day vacation... in a nut shell. Sorry we didn't take more pictures. We were enjoying the relaxing aspect of our vacation a bit too much. :)

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

2008-08-20T10:59:00.003-06:00

Well I am the worst brother in the world. Justin's birthday is tomarrow and I didn't send him anything. So I thought to redeam myself that I would pro-nounce to the blogger nation that its JUSTIN'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!!!

Good Luck in your Last Year of School!!!

ps. tahsha could you please mention that this is here for him!!

Thank You!

2008-08-10T23:19:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to publicly thank all of you for your very helpful comments to my "poor me" dilemma. It was a rough night for me when I wrote that blog and you've all helped me realize that it's a normal thing for new moms. I am so lucky to have so many wonderful friends & family (I consider you part of the family now Tahsha... welcome!) who would take time out of their busy days to help me boost my self-esteem a bit. You helped me more than you know. To say thanks, I'm posting a few new pictures of David. He's so dang cute, who wouldn't consider seeing him a reward? :)

These are a few pictures to show off David's "domestic" side. He loves to mow the lawn with James & help me with the laundry. He started eating oatmeal & rice cereal a few weeks ago & we started him on vegetables last week. He loves them! He puts everything in his mouth! He's getting so big! Can't wait to see you all soon! Love you!

Self Reflection

2008-08-03T01:25:00.001-06:00

Hello to all of my diligent readers. Tonight is a night of serious self reflection. I don’t know what happened to me. As James & I were climbing into bed tonight, I was drowning in my own thoughts of inadequacy. Poor guy, he had no idea what was about to hit him. He tried to goof around and tickle me and I immediately began to cry. All of a sudden I had been blind-sighted by all of these thoughts that have now kept me up for hours. Why don’t I take better care of myself? Why don’t I love myself as much as I love James & David? I’m sorry to bore all of you and I will not at all be offended if you stop reading now. Writing is therapeutic for me, so I thought I would send these thoughts of mine into the blog world. I have been noticing things for a few days now and I think the gravity of them finally hit me like a ton of bricks tonight. I’m a people watcher. It is a wonderful habit that I am able to enjoy wherever I go. Lately I have been paying very close attention to those of my same gender. I see so many wonderful and amazing women every day. Mothers and wives who work hard at taking care of themselves and their families. They all have responsibilities and handle them with grace and beauty. Why can’t I? I’m not saying that I don’t take care of my family, because I do. I will admit that I am a pretty good wife and a very loving mother. But how great can I be if I don’t take time to care about myself? I always plan on getting out of bed early to go swim laps before James leaves for work, but I never do it. I always notice when I need to reshape my eyebrows, but I never get to it before it’s too late. I see the new gray hairs on my head every morning, but I still haven’t had my hair colored since last October. I have a full tube of mascara in my purse and another in my bathroom, but I can’t even remember the last time I wore it. I wear my hair the exact same way every day, a style that takes me a whole 5 minutes to do. But why? Is it laziness? Or do I really just not care about myself that much? I only have about 5 outfits that I wear, which I rotate every week. I use money as an excuse, and even though it is quite a good one, it is not the only valid excuse. I could try harder. I could maximize what I have. I just don’t know how. I am stuck in a rut. I don’t know exactly what kind of comments I am hoping to get from this blog. I just feel like I need some help. Maybe some tips on how to find some more “me” time and actually use it for myself. I’m not saying that I want to be unrealistically gorgeous, but maybe enough to sometimes make my husband take a second look at me or make myself smile in the mirror. Thanks for listening to me whine. Any comments would be appreciated.

Memories

2008-07-26T10:41:00.003-06:00

It's time to take a walk down Memory Lane! Leave a comment on our blog of a memory you have had with James, Keri, David, or all of us together. It doesn't matter if you've known us for a short time or you've known us forever... just let us know what you remember!! We can't wait to hear what kind of memories you will leave for us. Ready.... get set.... leave a memory!!!

P.S. For those of you that have never left a comment before... it's easy. Just click on 'comments' below this post. If you have a blog of your own, you can sign it with your username and password. If not, feel free to click on the 'Name/URL' tab and just enter your name along with your comment... no passwords needed. Thanks!

Marriage Tag

2008-07-19T18:38:00.003-06:00

How long have you been married? Almost 2 years... in October
How old is your spouse? 27
Who eats more? Definitely James
Who said I love you first? James did! On the phone... accidentally on purpose. :)
Who is taller? James, by like 10 inches!
Who sings better? James thinks he does, I think I do.
Who is smarter? Probably me. I only say that because I always have to proof read James' emails and school papers.
Who controls the T.V. remote? Always James. I don't even know what they look like. haha
Whose temper is worse? Definitely me. James is a softy.
Who does the laundry? Me
Who does the dishes? Both of us
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? James
Who cooks dinner? James! I cook about once a month... if that.
Who is more stubborn? I am.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? James, 'cuz I'm never wrong. :)
Whose parents do you see the most? Mine, despite Steve's valiant effort to visit us a lot. We are so loved!
Who has more friends? Same. We share friends now.
Who has more siblings? Me. I have 4 and he only has 2.
Who wears the pants in the family? I wear the right leg, he wears the left. :)

4 Months!!!

2008-07-18T22:02:00.003-06:00

Hello all! Our little man had his 4 month check up yesterday. We are pleased to relay the message that he is doing great! He weighs 13 lb, 4 oz and is 25 1/2" long. The doctor said he is in the 62% for his height and only 11% for his weight. Which is hilarious to me! I never thought I would have a kid that is considered tall and skinny. :) But he confirmed that David is in very good health and he is very active for a 4 month old. He is rolling all the way over now and is even trying to crawl. He lays on his belly and sticks his little bum in the air and tries to push his feet against the floor to move. It's so cute. Our internet isn't fast enough to download video, so sorry. So feel free to check out some pictures I just took of him tonight. As you can see, he has discovered his feet and loves to use his big toe as a new chew toy. :) Love you all!

A day at the lake

2008-07-15T20:20:00.008-06:00

I know this is a late entry, but I just had to post it. James' dad came and visited us in Kanab the first weekend in June. None of us had ever been to Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam, so Steve was nice enough to take us for the day. We went on a 3 hour tour (insert Gilligan's Island theme song here) of 2 canyons at Lake Powell. It was beautiful! It was a warm day, but David did really well. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!
Oh, David just loves his Grandpa West!

New Pics

2008-07-13T19:06:00.002-06:00

Our New Lives!

2008-07-12T17:19:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone! Well, we have officially begun our new small town lives here in Kanab. I know I am a little tardy in writing this post, but hey, better late than never. :) This is the official update of the West Family.

James is doing great! He is really enjoying his 40+ hour weeks as the Assistant Manager of the brand new Holiday Inn Express here. The hotel is doing very well. They are in the middle of their busy season, so they sell out almost every night. James is in charge of all group sales and he is doing great. They have at least 2 tour buses every week. I'm so proud. James has also recently been called as the Second Counselor in the Elder's Quorum Presidency in our new ward. They just called the entire presidency, so they are starting from scratch.

I am doing good also! Actually, I'm doing a lot better here than I ever thought I would. I just started my new job at Zions Bank. They have a Customer Service call center here and I started my training there last week. I wasn't too thrilled about being chained to a desk and phone again, but I have learned to enjoy the atmosphere again. I am in a training class with 3 other women, who happen to be quite a bit older than me. Two of which have no idea how to even turn on a computer. Well, we started our computer and phone call training this week and I picked it up pretty quick... unlike the other women. The trainer pulled me aside and asked me to help train one of them one on one. What a compliment! So she sat with me for 2 days while I took my first calls and tried teaching her how to navigate the computer. Tough job. I sure hope she gets it. Other than my job, my life is going great. I am loving the small town atmosphere and our new ward.

David is such a sweetheart! He is growing bigger everyday and is becoming quite chatty these days. He rolled over for the first time a few weeks ago and still does it at least once a day. He has his 4 month check up on Thursday, so we'll see just how good we've been feeding him. The best part of my day is the morning with David. I get to wake up every morning to his babbling in my ear through the amazing invention of baby monitors. I walk into his room and peek over the side of his crib and watch him play for a minute. But the best part is when he catches me. He starts laughing and shows me that big gummy smile that melts my heart. Oh, he truly is a gift from heaven. :)

So that is a (not so) brief summary of our new lives. I'm sorry that we haven't been able to update our blog very regularly. But I am happy to say we now have Internet at home. So, for all you dedicated readers... stay tuned. :)

David James West

2008-06-21T13:33:00.005-06:00

Our adorable little boy was blessed on Sunday, May 4th. What a beautiful day! James & I were lucky enough to have David's blessing in West Jordan at my parents' ward. We were surrounded by so many family members and friends who shared in our excitement for his big day. Thank you all for coming! For those of you that weren't able to make it, here are a few pictures of the day. Enjoy!

James' Graduation

2008-06-21T13:19:00.004-06:00

Hip Hip HOORAY! My hubby graduated from Southern Utah University on May 3rd! I couldn't be more proud of my man! It was a wonderful weekend spent with lots of family members! Thank you to everyone who has supported him (us) these past few years and those of you that made the long trip to be with us on his special day! Thank you, thank you!

Worst Blogger Ever

2008-06-21T12:57:00.002-06:00

Hello our patient family members and friends. I have to issue a giant apology to all of you who have been eagerly awaiting our pictures from our most recent adventures. We don't have Internet at home, so I only get a chance to sneak on at the hotel every few minutes here and there. I will try to post them all as soon as possible. In the meantime, thanks for being patient with us! Love to all!

Keri, James & David

The WCFL Returns

2008-06-20T07:57:00.002-06:00

It is time once again for the West Christiansen Fantasy League. Come one come all and prove that your are the best fantasy manager in the family. Will Ping Ping be able to defend his title or will SG1 over through him. Anything is possilbe in the WCFL!!!!

If you wheren't apart of the league last year and would like to, join by following this link; WCFL.com Password: echaos

Our Draft is going to be online and live on Aug. 24 at 5pm!!

Good Luck and start studing up on players!

I'm IT!!!

2008-06-10T19:19:00.002-06:00

I've been tagged by pretty much everyone I know that blogs, so here goes:

Five things on my "to do" list this week:
1. The usual: laundry, dishes, clean up our trash... blah!
2. Watch Stargate episodes with my hubby (I made him watch Friends)
3. Work 6 days at the hotel
4. Watch my baby boy grow every single day
5. Finally hang up our pictures in the living room

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Quaker Mini Delights... they are GOOD!
2. Popcorn with LOTS of butter
3. Mountain Dew (I just can't hide it anymore! Yes, I drink it!)
4. Cheetos
5. Anything sweet!

Five things I would do if I suddenly became a billionaire:
1. Pay off our debt and our loved ones' debt.
2. Build a house on Lake Coeur d' Alene, Idaho so we can be closer to James' family. But what the heck, with a billion dollars we would buy lots of houses!
3. Travel the world. Just when I thought I had seen everything, I'd do it all again!
4. Build my mom her dream home! (And a Home Depot gift card so she could still change it when she gets bored. Love you Mom!)
5. Go back to school and finally get my degree!

Five places I've lived:
1. Phoenix, Arizona
2. West Jordan, Utah.
3. Cedar City, Utah
4. Kanab, Utah
5. Salt Lake City, Utah

Five jobs I've had:
1. Discover Card
2. Advanta Bank
3. Holiday Inn Express (with my sweetheart!)
4. Primary Children's Hospital
5. MOM :)

Five things people may not know about me:
1. I actually enjoy living in Kanab!
2. I love my son so much, I can't wait to have another baby!
3. We used to perm my hair when I was little... but I don't know why since I have naturally curly hair.
4. I actually enjoy working on our budget. (As long as we have the money to pay all the bills)
5. Like my sister, I am a grammar nut! I can't help but correct misspellings and punctuation errors in my head when I read something.

Five favorite musicians / bands:
1. Barenaked Ladies!
2. Carrie Underwood
3. Rascal Flatts
4. Nickelback
5. Anything that makes me dance!

Five tagged friends:
1. Anyone that hasn't already done it!
2.
3.
4.
5.

Quick Pics!!

2008-06-03T14:46:00.003-06:00

I know we haven't been the best of bloggers lately but we are still trying to settle in to our new lives in Kanab. Here are a few pics to tie you over till Keri can do a formal blog!

New Cute Pics

2008-04-23T20:14:00.004-06:00

Hello blog fans! We've been asked by some of you to keep the cute DJ pictures coming, so here you go. For those of you that don't get a kick out of our darling little boy, you're just going to have to suffer through yet another blog entry. :)

Stargate Continuum

2008-04-22T12:23:00.002-06:00

Yet another addition to the Stargate family. Stargate: Continuum is the next install ment of the direct to DVD movies being made. It stars all that have ever been apart of the SG-1 crew. Here is the trailer check it out:

Map

2008-04-17T21:13:00.002-06:00

Our Road Trip Pics

2008-04-17T20:13:00.002-06:00

Road Trip

2008-04-17T19:55:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone! My mom & I braved the open road with a 5 week old... and we survived! Actually, we had a blast! David did such a great job on his first road trip. I'm not saying we didn't have any baby blowouts on the side of the freeway requiring a change of diaper and clothes on a picnic table (yes, it happened), but it was a lot of fun! And thanks to my husband's wonderful employee hotel discounts, we got to stay in nice hotels for super cheap. Nice! We drove to Las Vegas then onto Phoenix and continued our circle onto Kanab. It wasn't a long trip, but it was nice to get away for a few days. We were able to visit my Grandma Huff who is currently in the hospital in Phoenix and she just adored David. She was able to hold him and enjoyed showing him off to the nurses. We also spent an evening with my Uncle Mel and Aunt Dian and their kids Micaila & Alyssa, and Micaila's husband Johnny. That was a fun night. They all took turns holding David and that was entertainment enough. We completed our trip in Kanab and that was a good ending. David & I missed James a lot!

New Pics

2008-04-09T23:27:00.000-06:00

David's First Trip To SLC

2008-04-09T17:51:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to write a quick note about David's first (of many) trip to Salt Lake City. We had such a great time seeing all of our family. He was able to meet his great-grandparents, Nana & Papa West. He also met his great-grandparents, Grandma & Grandpa "Chris", of which he is the 29th great-grandchild. What amazing legacies he is a part of. He also met his (second) cousin, McKay, who is 3 weeks younger than him. Good times!

His next adventure begins tomorrow when he takes a road trip with his mom and Grandma to Las Vegas and on to Phoenix for the weekend. And next month we will be taking another vacation to sunny Orlando, Florida. I'm passing my love for traveling on to my little boy. It's never too early to teach our kids to enjoy the world!

West Look-alike Meter

2008-04-01T15:41:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family heritage - Geneology

Easter Pics

2008-03-23T17:07:00.001-06:00

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T16:20:00.004-06:00

Hello friends & family! Warm wishes of a Happy Easter from Cedar City, Utah! James & I have had a wonderful Easter weekend! James' dad arrived on Thursday night from St. Louis & spent the whole weekend with us. We had a great time visiting with him & taking him to Kanab and St. George on Friday. And DJ loved spending time with his Grandpa West. We even took DJ to see the Easter Bunny for his very first Easter!

We began our beautiful Easter Sunday by watching the morning sunrise. What a great reminder of the fact that our Savior is risen also. What a blessing to know of the Resurrection of our Savior. After the sun had risen, James & I made my family's traditional Easter breakfast... Golden Rod Eggs. (Or Gold Rotten Eggs, as we called them when we were little.) We then enjoyed a late morning nap before attending our 1pm Sacrament Meeting. It was nice to sit in church as a family and listen to the words of our Heavenly Father. Such a great way to spend our Sabbath Day.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well! Enjoy the latest pics of our growing family. :)

Hooray!

2008-03-15T16:33:00.005-06:00

I am very happy to report that DJ no longer has to be "under the lights" for his jaundice. He still has a low level of jaundice, but we were able to take him off the lights on Thursday. It was so nice to be able to hold our baby again. James & I celebrated by taking him for his very first walk. He slept right through it, but we know he enjoyed it. :)

Our Poor Baby

2008-03-12T20:27:00.003-06:00

For those of you that don't know, our little David has jaundice. :( His levels started out pretty low, but when he had trouble eating this weekend, they jumped. We got the unfortunate news yesterday that his levels were high enough to require light treatment. So Praxair showed up last night and set up a baby-sized tanning bed in our crib. The doctor said for him to be in the bed at all times unless he's feeding. It was pretty heartbreaking last night to not be able to hold our little boy. We went back to the doctor today to find that his levels have dropped back down, but they want us to keep him under the lights for another night, just to be safe. Bummer. Hopefully just one more day and he'll be clear. In the meantime, we'll just hold the hand of our "Joe Cool" baby boy.

My Visitors

2008-03-09T18:13:00.001-06:00