Cousin Rhiley

Shalum's sister, Tammy, and her family are here visiting from Montana and we finally got to meet her son, Rhiley, for the first time, and they got to meet Jax for the first time! Now the only cousin Jax has left to meet is Tallin, who will be coming home from his mission August 16th! Mine and Shalum's anniversary I might add. :) But anyway, back to the babies. We of course got pictures of Rhiley and Jax together, and they are so cute.

Hey, what are you doing? 

 Hi friend.

 See, this is my friend.

 Uh....that's my foot.

Don't mess with the foot. Now get outta here.

Cuteness in a hat!

When we were in Utah on Tuesday, we stopped at The Gateway mall to do a little shopping, and we got the most adorable hat for Jared. Well we actually got a few adorable hats for him, but this one is our favorite.

Sad face

Jared gets quite sensitive sometimes. And sometimes scared. Sometimes strange people who hold him, you know like Uncle Tyler, Grandpa Dolney, or cousin Hyrum, for instance... you know, strange people...scares him. He will push out his lower lip and start crying. Or sometimes if he makes a noise and dad makes a noise right back, he'll look at dad as though he couldn't believe dad would copy him like that. And then mom laughs because of the look on his face and this will make that lower lip stick out which is then followed by the cry. We have found that he sometimes doesn't like being laughed at. Not that we're laughing at him, per se, it's just that he makes really cute faces. And I just so happened to capture a couple of those faces on camera. :) or I mean :(

Dr. appointments and traveling

Whew. This past week has been busy busy busy busy. Last Wednesday we took Jared in for his first eye exam. And guess what? I forgot my phone! So I couldn't take any pictures. :(  I don't know how I could have been so forgetful. But as it turns out, our little boy will need glasses, and soon. He is near sighted in his left eye. We are going back in 6 months for a check-up to see if he needs them then. His optometrist thinks he very likely might. Poor little boy. But I must say I think he will look darling in glasses.


And then over the weekend we made a trip down to Mesquite to visit his birth parents and other family members and friends. We had a great time with them! And of course Jared was the center of it all. Granted he was the reason for the visit, but doesn't matter, he would be the center no matter what. And yes my nose was stuck in the air as I typed that. :) And let me add, a 7 month old is no fun to travel with. Before, he would just zonk out in the car, wake up once to eat then go right back to sleep. Not anymore. It took us about 7 1/2 hours to get to Mesquite. And he screamed and he fussed the ENTIRE way, minus the couple times we stopped to get gas and snacks. We took him out of his car seat at each stop and instantly he was happy. Not just happy, but excited. He wouldn't stop smiling and talking and his arms would even shake he was so excited.

Then yesterday we took another trip to Salt Lake City, another unpleasant trip with a 7 month old. But who can blame him? I get restless sitting in the car for hours on end myself. The reason for this trip was a doctor appointment for Jared. His kidneys were slightly dilated back when he was in the NICU and though they found no infection or reflux, they put him on antibiotics to be proactive, and we went to a urologist for a check-up to see if they were still dilated. It was actually two appointments. First radiology then the urologist. Radiology was at 1:30 and the urologist at 3:30. They needed an hour between a test in radiology and the urologist appointment so they spaced them a bit apart. We were a half hour or so early to radiology, but they were able to get us in after about 5 minutes of waiting. They did an ultrasound on his kidneys and they found zero problems with them. So the doctor in radiology called the urologist to see if he thought it would be necessary to do the test that was scheduled to see about any reflux. The urologist didn't think it necessary considering the results from the ultrasound, so we were out of radiology and checking in for Jared's urology appointment by 1:45. We were told they would try to get us in early, but no guarantees. Remember his appointment wasn't til 3:30. They were able to get Jared in after waiting about 30 minutes. Talked to the urologist, he looked at the ultrasound that was done that day plus he looked at the images from when Jared was in the NICU that we brought with us, plus he did a quick physical examination, and told us we were good to go, that there was no problem, that we could take Jared off his meds, and we didn't have to come back unless he started having urinary tract infections. And we were out of there by 2:30. It was great! Jared is doing exceptionally well! He's healthy, his heart is functioning well, and he has no other problems, for which I am extremely grateful for. Heavenly Father has certainly blessed our little man.

Waiting for the Urologist

New Things

Jared has learned a few things in the last couple days.

First, he realized that he can move around the room by rolling! This is very exciting for him. Of course, he's been rolling for quite a while, but he never went any where by this means.

Second, he can now sit on his own! Granted he doesn't sit for very long, he ends up falling over eventually. But he has caught himself from falling over a couple times. But he's often too busy to remember to catch himself when he starts to tilt.

I can't believe how fast he's growing up!

Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?

One of Life's awesome moments...

Have you ever had one of those moments where you felt one with the Universe? I had one of those moments when I was about 14. My sister, Lacey, and I were sitting in our stepdad's trophy room (our first stepdad), which also was the tv room and the informal dining room. It was the trophy room because our stepdad liked to hunt and it showcased a lot of the animals that he had killed, stuffed of course. There were a couple of mountain lions, an elk head, a moose head, and a grizzly bear. I think there were a couple others but these are the ones I remember. Well Lacey and I were sitting at the table, I think we were eating lunch or something, and the tv was on. Lacey, for whatever reason, tossed the remote control at me. I didn't bother trying to catch it and it fell to the floor next to me. Lacey, in joking seriousness, said, "Pick that up!" In which I promptly replied, "No." And not even kidding, the very next beat some guy on the tv said, "What do you mean 'No'?!" Lacey and I looked at each other, looked at the tv, and then back at each other, completely stunned. 


It was awesome.

Esseditzae

Warning: This post has some spoilers to the true character of Candice Stone. If you do not wish for your perception of Candice to be ruined, discontinue reading.


I don't remember how I got to thinking about certain momentous moments in my past...haha ok they weren't exactly momentous but they have sure stayed with me. When I was 11 or 12 I had gone into town with my dad and my sisters. We went to Wal-Mart and my older sister, Lacey, got a day planner. Although she's not exactly the most organized person, she sure likes to try, or pretend to be, I don't know. In the planner it had the months of the year, days of the weeks, and even the alphabet. On the way back home she started making up an additional month, an additional day of the week, and an additional letter; and she was telling our dad all about it. Well I was in my own little world and not paying attention. I started listening in when she was talking about the 'new' letter. I didn't hear the whole 'making it up' so I was getting really perplexed. And I finally asked "Really? They made a new letter?" And of course my sister and my dad, being them and knowing how gullible I am, went right along with it telling me "Yeah, it's been all over the news. It's a new letter that now comes after Z" and so on and so on. And I was like "How is this going to work? They're going to have to come up with new words to fit it. How are they going to do that? How will the new words fit in with our sentences? It doesn't make any sense. What's wrong with what we already have? Why did they add a new letter? I don't get it. It's going to be so confusing." They had me convinced that there really was a new letter and I was so completely baffled by it. Eventually they filled me in on the joke and I was like 'well that's not very nice, you had me completely fooled.' And, of course, they got a good laugh over it.


And then there was a moment when I was 19 and I was staying with Lacey for a week, who was living in Reno at the time. One morning we're both in the bathroom getting ready for the day and she starts talking to me. Exasperated, I say, "Lacey! You know I don't speak French!" She looks at me and says, "That was English." Oh. But for the record she was speaking with a French accent and I was concentrating on my make-up, and really, I'm not a multi-tasker in any way, shape, or form. When I'm focused on something I can't do anything else, including listening.


Some of you might be shocked to learn that I have a ditzy side to me. It is a very shocking matter, to be sure. I probably need therapy, you might now, too. However, I am not willing to pay for said therapy and so I must live with this condition/curse for the rest of my life. Life is cruel. Fortunately, I am not in this alone. My sisters also suffer with Esseditzae; it's a word, and it's latin, look it up. But I won't go into their ditzy moments....actually you know what? If I'm bringing myself down, I'm taking them with me. Mwahahahaha.


So lets start with Tamra. When she was in high school, she was on the internet and reading a blonde joke. At the end of the joke it said to put the mouse on the blonde's ear in the corner to find out the answer. She sat there and read it a couple times, a little confused. She looked at the mouse and was all, ooookaaay...? So what did she do? She picked up the mouse and put it on her own ear. And yes, my little sister is blonde. I think we can all correctly assume that this did not work. So she puts the mouse back down and reads it again. And suddenly it clicked in her head! So she picked up the mouse again and put it against the screen where the blonde's ear was. Oh yes she did. Well for some reason, which I can't fathom why, that didn't work. When she put the mouse down the arrow went over the ear and the answer showed up. Suffice it to say, that when she realized what it meant, she felt like an idiot. Can you blame her?


Then there was this other time, while she was living in Reno, she took her car in to get the oil changed. When they were finished the guy was talking to her and told her he had spilt a little oil on the engine so if she starts smoking....in which Tamra quickly interrupts him at this point and assures him that she doesn't smoke. He looked at her and said "I meant the car." HAHAHAHA! I love this story, makes me laugh every time.


So now we will move on to Lacey. Lets see....Oh, there was this one time when we were down in Texas for a family reunion. Lacey and I were in our hotel room, fighting over something. She was getting so angry with me and she happened to have her deodorant stick in hand. So with all the anger she could muster, and not really thinking (clearly), she uncaps her deodorant, points it at me, and threatens (in all seriousness) "I'll deodorize you!" Let me tell you, it is not easy to remain angry at someone who wishes to deodorize you. Do I smell that badly?


Dang it all, I can't think of another Lacey moment. But I know, I KNOW, there are more, I just can't remember any at the moment. I don't know, maybe she's smarter than Tamra and me and keeps most of them to herself. But if you know Lacey, then you know there are plenty of ditzy moments for her. It just irks that I can't think of anymore right now.


But there you have it....The Dolney girls. My dad once asked "How did I raise such ditzy girls?" I think we have our mother to blame for that one. In fact, there was this one time (can't leave my mom out), Tamra and my mom were home (Lacey lived out of town and I was married at this time), they were in the kitchen, when all of a sudden they heard a knock.... from the closet in the front room. So quietly they walk to the closet and slowly open the door, and they are both a little freaked out at this point. Well there is nothing in the closet besides coats. Weird, huh? Then all of a sudden there comes another knock! On the front door immediately behind them. Because the closet door is directly in front of the front door with about 3 feet between the two doors. I seriously have no idea how it didn't occur to EITHER of them that the knock was from the front door. No, they both thought the closet. 

Things that are annoying....

ALLERGIES

Have you ever met an allergy that wasn't a nuisance? I sure haven't. For almost 28 years I was blessed with a non-allergic body....or so I had thought. For nearly 28 years I lived in ignorant bliss, and then WHAM 2011 hit. Apparently my allergies were just lying dormant and all the stressors of last year brought them to life. I had a body scan done last October and was quite surprised at all the foods that I'm allergic to, which was why I was feeling crummy most of the time. Some of them are some of my favorite foods. :( Poor me. Before, I never had any problems eating any of these foods....except chocolate. I don't care much for chocolate. We've never really had a good relationship. It always leaves me with a headache after eating it. So I was surprised to find out that I'm NOT allergic to chocolate. However the body scan showed that I had a sensitivity to it. And looking at couple of....properities? (is that the right word? I don't know)....of chocolate, it shares some of the properties with some of the foods I am allergic to. Hence the sensitivity. I find it odd that chocolate affects me more than any actually foods I'm allergic to, well I mean it used to affect me more. Now it's about the same.


And not only did food allergies surface but so did an allergy to pollen. Fortunately this allergy doesn't affect me as bad as it does to some of my friends, just a constant stuffy nose for me. I was also told that this year has been especially bad with the pollen. I also found out something that I hadn't known prior. There are male trees and there are female trees. I did not know this. Apparently fruit trees are female and non-fruit trees are male. And I live in an area where there aren't a lot of fruit trees so the pollen has no where to go but in the air, affecting all us innocent people. I thought that was a pretty interesting little tidbit. And I feel smarter now. :)