Landon's Big Adventure

This was a very exciting weekend for Landon. Our ward was having their annual Father and Son Campout and Jason took Landon. We try to have the kids spend special one-on-one time with Daddy every once in a while and this was the perfect opportunity for Jason and Landon. Nathan would have loved to go as well but Jason had to help with cooking breakfast on Saturday morning and was afraid that it would be difficult to keep track of both boys. Nathan will get his Father and Son Campout with Jason at a later time.

Landon went to the grocery store with Jason on Thursday night to buy all of their food and the food that would be prepared for the Saturday morning breakfast. Jason said that Landon sat in the shopping cart, holding the list and talking the whole time. Landon was thrilled that Jason bought pancake mix (pancakes are his favorite food), orange chips (Doritos) and Twinkies (probably Landon's second favorite food), as well as some other things. Landon told the checker that he was buying food at the store to go camping.

The next day my sister and mom were at our house for a visit. Landon was so excited to go camping with Jason later that night. They asked Landon what you do when you go camping because they wondered if he really understood what camping was all about. His answer? "Eat! It makes sense doesn't it? He had just been at the grocery store buying all of this food. Camping must mean eating. Yeah!!!

At the actual campout Landon was a bit nervous. He was one of the youngest boys there, if not the youngest. When the older kids came around Landon would cover his eyes, hide behind Jason's legs or put his head in Jason's lap. For this reason Jason said he was very easy to keep track of. They slept in the back of Jason's new trailer. It's a Haulmark 6'x12' that he swears he'll use for his blind and shutter business. I'm sure it will be used for this purpose, but it conveniently has tie-downs inside so that a guy could put his new dirt bike in it as well. Anyway, it made a great trailer for camping and Landon slept great on the air mattress inside.

Landon loved fishing and swears he caught a fish. Jason said he loved reeling in the fishing pole when he would cast it out into the lake. Landon especially liked that Jason put a Sponge Bob fruit snack on the end of the hook to catch the fish with. Landon loves fruit snacks and is sure that fish would like them too. Maybe this is why he didn't actually catch anything????

The next morning Landon ate a few bites of breakfast and started saying, "I want to go to Mommy's house." They were home by 10:30 and Landon was hardly dirty (not what I expected) but he seemed to have had some fun. We're still not certain that he knows he's been camping because as Jason was driving home Landon asked if they were going camping. It was a big adventure but I think Landon was glad to be back at "Mommy's house" with Lauren and Nathan.

And now something funny about Nathan... While my Mom and sister were here Suzanne was playing heads and tails with the kids using a penny. She was showing Nathan the heads side of the penny and asking him whether it was heads or tails. He looked at it for a minute and said, "Is it Abraham Lincoln?" We laughed like crazy! He's just way beyond heads and tails, I guess.

Lauren's New Glasses

A few weeks ago we took Lauren to a new eye doctor in Salt Lake. She's been seeing an eye doctor in Pocatello since she came home from the hospital over 3 years ago. Lauren has had a condition called ROP or Retinopothy of Prematurity that she's been followed for. This is a condition related to being born so early where the blood vessels in the retina form abnormally. Often times babies are treated surgically to correct the problem and glasses are sometimes needed later. Lauren never had surgery but has had to be watched closely as blindness can result if the appropriate measures aren't taken as the eyes grow. The Pocatello doctor had given her a prescription for glasses about a year ago and said that she was getting increasingly farsighted. He said to have her wear the glasses, if possible. But, if she didn't want to wear them, we shouldn't force her and should try again in a month. The idea was that when she realized that they helped her she would want to wear them.

Well, we tried having her wear the glasses, but, of course, she didn't like them and didn't want to wear them. Throughout the course of the last year we'd try putting them on her and she'd break them because she wouldn't leave them on. We'd have them fixed and try again with the same results.

The doctor in Salt Lake agreed that she needed to wear glasses and said that she would need to wear them at all times. Once again, failure to wear them could result in a degree of blindness. And, most importantly, if she does wear her glasses her eye muscles will strengthen and she may actually grow out of this and not need glasses later on. So, here is our beautiful Lauren with her new "specs". She's done great with them this time around. I think the new pair fits her better than the last pair and that she's now old enough to realize that she can see better. We'll see the eye doctor again in 6 months.

One more happy note. . .Nathan also saw this same eye doctor in Salt Lake and we were told to discontinue having him wear his glasses for the time being. Yeah Nathan!!! Hopefully this will last. I guess we'll see. . .

Giddy Up!!!

Nathan, Lauren and Landon playing cowboy/cowgirl. . .

On Sunday Jason and I took the kids to my sister's house in Oakley (about 20 miles south of our house in Burley). We ate dinner and then Uncle Brent was kind enough to saddle up Cougar (the horse) so the kids could have their first "horsey" ride. They were all big talkers but Jason and I didn't think they'd all really get on for a ride. Boy were we wrong!!!

Landon, typically the nervous child in the bunch, was the first to ride. He liked it best when Brent made the horse trot. We heard lots of giggles from Landon as he rode.

Nathan was next to ride and he really liked it as well. I think he liked playing in the dirt and the hay stack just as much as riding the horse. When we were finished riding I found a whole bale of hay in his pants, not to mention the dirt. He's such a boy!!!Finally the little princess took her turn. The smile never left her face and we saw the dimple in her right cheek the entire time she rode. She was the last to ride (after each child had 3 or 4 turns) and was lucky enough to ride all by herself. She was so proud. I thought she looked so little on that big horse but very cute.

It was a great day and the weather was perfect. The kids had a really fun time and they're still talking about Cougar and their rides. Thanks to Brent and Suzanne for allowing city slickers like us to have this experience. One of the things Jason and I like best about parenting is introducing our kids to new things. It's always a gamble and we're never certain how it will go over, but riding a horse was definitely a hit. We look forward to doing it again soon!

Our Cookie Monster!!!

A few days ago I made cookies, which is a rarity at our house. I left them all cooling on the racks in the kitchen and went to help Lauren and Landon in the potty (which is a whole different story that I'll save for another time). When I came back to the kitchen a short time later, Nathan was holding onto the edge of the counter eating a cookie as fast as he possibly could. When I saw him I said, "Nathan, what are you doing!" He was startled and dropped to the floor on his back. On the way down he managed to grab one last cookie (I'm not sure if it was cookie #3 or #4??). He laid there on the floor (see first picture) and continued to scarf the cookie. I put him in his seat at the table and told him it was O.K. and that he could go ahead and finish. As you can see by the smile on his face, Nathan is a huge fan of chocolate chip cookies. He loved them!!!

A few minutes later I went to the laundry room briefly. When I came back he was sound asleep. As you can imagine, the cookies ruined Nathan's appetite for lunch, but he did take a really good nap that afternoon. . . I think cookies for lunch is a great idea, don't you??

Nathan's Big Week

This has been a big week for Nathan. On Monday morning he loaded the school bus for the first time to attend Special Needs preschool at our elementary school. Because Nathan is now 3 years old and is not yet walking without assistance from a walker, he qualifies for this wonderful program.

Nathan could go to the school 5 mornings per week but we're only sending him on M,W,F because he attends therapy at the hospital on T,Th mornings. The preschool has 3-5 year olds that have various developmental delays, although the majority of the kids have speech delays. Speech is definitely not a problem for Nathan and his teacher was happy to have him in the class so that he could be a good example for the other kids. In addition to all of the usual preschool activities like shapes, colors, drawing, snacks, etc., Nathan will receive physical therapy each day at school. His school therapist is wonderful and thinks he'll be walking on his own very soon.

Nathan is now doing well with his bus ride but was a little apprehensive the first day. He has to use his "ride" on the school bus because he's not completely adept at navigating stairs on his own. For safety reasons the school requires the "ride" which is strapped down once he gets on the bus. The first morning they put him on the lift he poked his bottom lip out, got sad and said, "I want Mommy." As you can imagine, it broke my heart and I was on the verge of tears. Jason and I got on the bus with him while they secured him and then, with our happiest faces, told him to have a great day at school. As soon as the bus drove off I looked at Jason and started crying. I was so worried about him and he's still such a little boy. Jason reassured me and took off quickly for work. A few minutes later Jason called to tell me that he had followed the bus to school and spied on Nathan while they were taking him off the bus. Jason said that Nathan seemed fine and that he had no more tears. I was so glad that Jason had done this and glad to know I wasn't the only one worried about him. When the bus dropped him off after school the driver said Nathan's morning tears lasted only about 15 seconds and that he'd done just fine. We also had a note from his teacher saying that he'd had a great day at school. Whew!

More Photos

O.K., so posting pictures has proven to be a bit difficult for me. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it though. . . The top photo is Lauren (of course). Next we have Landon and then Nathan. Enjoy!!

Our New Blog

For several months I've enjoyed keeping up with friends and family via their online blogs. I decided it's time for our family to participate as well and hope I can figure all of this out. It seems that since I had our triplets in 2005 I've lost a few brain cells (O.K., maybe LOTS of brain cells) and they've yet to return.

Recently we had the kids' 3-year-old pictures taken. It was the first time that they all cooperated and actually looked at the camera when directed by the photographer. In addition, we were lucky enough to catch them all smiling at the same time. I consider it to be a bit of a miracle and am really pleased with the pictures. Yeah!!!