Montana 1

I'm not sure how many installments there will be from our trip, but here is the first one.

I was beyond nervous about the flying part. I just didn't want the boys to freak out on the plane and make everyone around us miserable. I can handle being miserable, but I didn't want to ruin everyone else's trip. We decided to take klp's car seat and that is THE BEST thing we did. We had to buy him a ticket anyways so with the car seat he was strapped in and not climbing all over us. He sat in his seat and was contained and easier to entertain that way (and we thought the chances of him going to sleep might be better). We have to make a pit stop in Denver so the trip was broken up into 2 flights. klp was kinda wild on the first flight, but THANKFULLY he likes to eat now, so we could feed him crackers and apples to entertain him. And he drank about a gallon of water, but all in all he did pretty good.

Q mans' first flight was good, he just climbed all over me and drenched my hair in slobber. He's recently become very attached to my hair, but he's not sweet about it, he PULLS!
We made the first flight pretty good and walked quickly to our next gate to catch our plane to Billings. We got there and the area was FULL of people, lots of flights were delayed.....including ours. They just kept delaying and delaying. Both kids were DONE at this point and so were we!! We had already been traveling for 10 hours! UGHH!! We just kept pushing them around in the stroller trying to keep Q awake so he would sleep on the plane. FINALLY we got on the plane to head to Billings, Q was asleep, klp was being nice and quiet. ahhhhhh. We got about 20 min. in the air and they came over the speaker and said we had to go BACK to Denver because the a/c was broken on the plane. It was super hot, but SERIOUSLY, we'd all be OK, we just wanted to get there. The speaker woke q up and he started screaming. By the time we landed in Denver (again) everyone around us was saying, "just let her off with that baby!" They were really sweet, offering to help Kory carry the rest of the stuff so I could just get him off the plane. I was the first one off and fed Q and got him happy again. They ended up canceling our flight and there were no more flights to Billings that night and the next one was the next afternoon at 4:00. They did have a flight to Bozeman. SOOOOO Kory's mom (who had driven 2 hours to pick us up in Billings) stayed there in case our bags didn't make it with us to our new destination. We called Kory's brother who lives in Bozeman and he said he could pick us up. So, we waited about another 1 1/2 hrs and FINALLY got on a nice comfy flight to Bozeman. It wasn't crowded so we all had a row to ourselves. klp and KLP slept, and qsp decided to be a night owl and play, but he was good and quiet. We finally got to Bozeman and were so thankful Clint and Sydni let us crash at their house. They even provided toothbrushes and other necessities we didn't have since we didn't have our bags. It was a crazy trip, but the good thing was we got to see Clint, Sydni, Sayler, and Hayven sooner!!!

klp immediately attached himself to Sayler and followed her everywhere.
Kory's mom was able to get our bags the next morning and met us in some town (sorry, don't know all my MT towns) to take us home to Lewistown...FINALLY!!! The boys crashed in the car. But only with me holding their heads up!!! YIKES! qsp's car seat was with Susan, so he got to ride in a big boy forward facing one and he just couldn't keep his head up! Not sure how my arms got twisted, but oh well. They were sleeping!

Wes and Susan are remodeling their bathroom, so there was no bathtub. So, we used the big sink in the mud room! Kan loved it!
Gram scrubbing!
The first morning we were there, there was pretty fog. I couldn't get a good pic, but its the big white strip across the back of the picture.
What a cute window decoration!!!
Sunday morning church....matchy boys!
One of the highlights of the trip for me was getting to tag along with Tye elk hunting. Oh boy I loved it!! He never killed one, but he had some pretty close calls. One with a bear and one with an elk. Sheesh!!!!
These were taken on our first trip up the mountains behind their house.



The Aspen trees were particularly beautiful and Fallish!
We got in that night and saw this: A pantsless boy learning how to roll dice. I LOVE this picture.
We went with Dad one morning to do a few little jobs. klp helped the fences. "Helped".
Just about every afternoon, he had his snack in the shop while the guys worked. Gram had a tomato plant and he ate at least one a day along with some crackers. FYI we packed light so we pretty much wore the same "play clothes" and sweatshirts the whole time. So don't judge.
These were his "work" jeans after the first day. He scooted all over the place. His jeans may never be the same, but I'm glad!
A little cuddle time with Chief
Tye and Kory moving a couple of horses to the corrals.

KLP and klp on a 4 wheeler ride with Chief and qsp
Uncle Tye and Kanyon saying hi to Rocky the horse.....
and feeding him.
I have MANY MANY MORE pics to come!!!

Montana!

We just spent 10 days in Montana, Kory's home. We love going there and always have a great time. We usually go in the Summer to help with haying, but this year we went in the fall. I'd never been that time of year and Kory wanted me to see 3 things. Until I get around to posting more, here are the 3 things we wanted to do/see.

Fall Colors! We were there to catch the beginning of leaves changing. So beautiful, a picture just doesn't do it justice.

Elk! We saw lots of elk. Some at this viewing area (no hunting).

Gathering! It's time to bring the cows out of the mountains and back to house, so we cowboy'd up and had us a good ol' cattle drive. Sorta...more on that later.
It was a great time full of beautiful weather, work, laughing, games, and our great family!!! I'll be posting (and posting and posting) about the trip soon!

Freedom

There are lots of things going on around here, but I've got a blog in my bones, so I'm gonna blog instead of do something off of the mile long list of things that need to be done before Friday.

Big things have happened the last few weeks. The most gigantic of which is the all out eater I have in my house. I use the term "all out" a little loosely as we still have some kinks to work through, but they need time. Kanyon has done great. In fact, I just washed down 4 jars of prepared blended food down the sink. I always had a stash of it to grab and warm up for his next meal. We won't be needing that anymore. I'm pretty sure I still have some in my freezer that need throwing out. As I was throwing them out, I was thinking how even though its only been 3 weeks, I can't even IMAGINE feeding him that blended stuff and doing meals like we used to! It seems so far away! GOOD!

My counters are a little less cluttered now too. The magic bullet is no longer needed multiple times a day, so I actually take the time to unplug it and put it under the counter where it belongs. Another big thing is that for the first time 3 1/2 years, there aren't BOTTLES on my counter. Kanyon has been gradually working his way off of the bottle. He's been using a sippy cup for a long time, but we were still giving him his required pediasure at night with the bottle. He doesn't need the bottles anymore for anything! We just kind of looked up and realized we'd been giving him everything in his sippy cup and hadn't used a bottle in weeks. That means for the first time in 3 1/2 years I'm not washing bottles anymore!!! There were many many months (years, really) that I would stand over that sink multiple times a day scrubbing and rinsing and washing. It was always a job our moms did to help us and give us a break. Sunday afternoon I packed the bottles up (and all their parts.....remember we used those crazy ones with a billion peices) and the bottle dryer and all the other things that go with it! Now I need a kitchen make over!!!

It seems like it took us forever to get to the point where klp would drink his bottle on his own....even if it was in a bouncy seat when you're 3. He STILL loves that thing. These bottles really did save my life though. We couldn't find anything for him to use with his thickened milk and my mom found these and really really did SAVE us!

Now the big boy can handle the sippy cup on his own. I caught him in a rare moment where he is actually holding the cup with his hands. Usually he grips it with his mouth and then carries on about his business with the cup hanging out of his mouth. Whatever. This boy is getting every single bit of fluid he needs in a day and up until now that had been really hard! Way to go Kan!

We are also shedding a little more equipment. Our long time friend the standing frame has been with us for about 2 years. Is GONE! Kanyon goes over to where it used to "park" in the living room and points and makes all kinds of chatter noise...I think he's asking me where in the world that thing went! Its nice to have one less giant piece of equipment in our house. Now that Kanyon graduated to a walker, we also gave his gait trainer back. NICE!! Now I need a living room make over!!!

Here he is in his standing frame. I always thought it was extra cute from behind. We used it for a long time, this was right after we got it. He was about 18 months old.

I somehow don't have a picture of him in his gait trainer. But I know I have videos.

Each of these are little pieces of freedom that we are all enjoying. Obviously they make things easier for Kory and I, but I can't help but think Kanyon feels free too. Hopefully this independence that he is working so hard for and gaining a little at a time is giving him confidence and joy! This blog makes it seem like all of this just happened so fast, but this child has been working so hard for all of these things. As we've learned over and over, no transition or "milestone" happens quickly. Each one is HOURS AND HOURS (and sometimes years) of work for pretty much everyone involved. But no one works harder than Kanyon and that is what makes us so proud when he accomplishes something. Not a single one of these was a guarantee and we are not promised any more. We know it could be worse, harder, and slower. We are thankful for every single little thing, and some things may seem little that are really huge! :)

As for Quinn, he's making me realizing how fast babies really do grow out of things. No more baby stuff for him...he hasn't been in his swing or bouncy seat for months (which is probably good since he probably met the weight limit months ago!) and he's outgrowing clothes like crazy.

Reflecting is good for me, it reminds me that we aren't in fact standing still though it can feel like it. It reminds me that it does pay off, and it gives me a little burst of energy to keep going!

Quinn's 9 month pics

9 months. Sheesh!

Grumpy ...he wasn't feelin' the picture thing

But he was when he grabbed the 9 off the back of the chair!

Quinn......

is HUGE and he literally makes my back hurt.

still only has 2 bottom teeth.

enjoys his thumb more than anything else

can pick up his own food and put it in his mouth.

seems to think the exersaucer is a toilet. Seriously, what is it about that thing? Its like a laxative! Every. Single. Time.

is a mover!!! He army crawls and is trying to hard to crawl on his knees, but not there yet.

could care less about the bouncy seat. What??? It lasted 2 years with my last kid. Whats up with that? Same goes for the swing.

loves the muslin swaddling blankets I wrap him in. He grabs them and sucks his thumb to sleep. Speaking of, I finally stopped swaddling him. I was addicted to it, he wasn't anymore. His feet were popping out and getting cold, so I put his needs before my own and just cover him up now.

smiles at us from a mile away. All you have to do is look in his general direction.

has reached that annoying stage where he grabs at everything. Its causing a little trouble on stroller rides because he and klp are side by side. He reaches and grabs at everything in Kanyon's hands or just grabs at his hair, shirt, arm, anything. Kanyon is actually pretty patient with it, but its pretty annoying.

has successfully sucked on a sippy cup 3 times. The rest of the time its just a cool rattle toy.

kicks as he's falling asleep. If he's somewhere besides the bed and starts doing that, that's my clue to go put him in bed!

9 Month Stats: 22 lbs. 12 oz. 80th%

30 3/4 in. 97th%

Kanyon's Treat and A VERY good Daddy

In celebration of A HUGE WEEK (start to school and EATING) we thought Kanyon deserved a little treat. So, we headed to TSC to pick out a new tractor. We showed him the tractors and he took it and immediately said, "BYE!" and headed out the door!!!

at home the next morning with his new tractor. Its already "scooted" many miles with klp!
philllips pham blog has been a little Kanyon heavy, so here's a little bit of Quinn! I may have already posted this picture, but I really love it!
klp's looks says it all. Sometimes this big brother thing is for the birds!

Not that you need proof, but here's proof again what a great Daddy these boys have! (and a bad mommy for not dressing her children!!)