Kanyon goes to Camp

Kanyon's actual age has dictated very few things in our life.  From the beginning, his "real" age was almost a non factor.  He had separate growth charts, developmental expectations, and he never wore clothes sizes that went with his age.  He just recently left the nursery at church and joined a bigger class.....but still younger than his real age.  We've just kind of done what worked for him wherever he was in his little world.  Even our school decisions haven't depended on his age, we've just done what seemed to fit him.  BUT you get to go to Day Camp at Camp Deer Run when you turn 5 and all of a sudden, I played the "He's 5" card!! :)  So, last week, Kanyon had his first real CDR experience.  We went the same week Roselyn and Avery went and while we "did" Pee Wees we did it with our own little flair.  For starters, we only did 2 days.  All 4 would've been too much or him.  And I was at camp all day to help change clothes, etc. and he had his own designated staff member to help him do the things he needed help with (and carry him around).  He stayed with the group all day minus the time I would take him to change him or whatever. He did great playing with everyone and had fun.  He hasn't said a whole lot about it and we aren't sure if because we made such a big deal about it, he is playing it cool (which he's been known to do) or if he was just a tad bit overwhelmed by the whole thing.  Either way, he did great and had fun and we are so glad he got to enjoy camp with other kids.  I managed to snap a few pictures when I saw them around camp, but I didn't get a ton because I know from experience the last thing those staff members need is the Pee Wee's PARENTS following them everywhere! Haha!

Here he is with Paden, his go-to guy.  He is actually our cousins cousin (got that?) and he was so sweet to us and Kanyon.  (When will klp stop closing his eyes when he tries to smile??)

Lucky for me and Quinn, Janelle and Drayton let us hang out with them all day (Janelle and her husband are the directors so they live there all summer).  Q and Drayton are only 6 weeks apart so they had big fun playing all day together.  


Cousin Blake had a break from his group and spent it feeding the boys peaches!!  They were proud of their peaches.

Though it looks like they are ignoring each other in this pic, they really did have fun together.  

They even tried to steal the old antique car. 

This is Chaney, she grew up in our youth group in Longview and is working at CDR this summer. We were so excited to hear that she was working Pee Wee's while klp was there.  She was a huge help too!  

She even let Q in on the fun for a minute.  They loved watching the bigger kids play ping pong 

One day, Rachel came out for part of the day since Roselyn was there.  We told Nolan and Q to show us their teeth for a picture (trying to get a smile) and this is what we got....oh dear. 

But then Q got this sweet look on his face.....

 This was supposed to be a SILLY PICTURE.  Q flashed a great smile and Nolan shot us the bird.  We're gonna have to keep an eye on that kid.  

Q and Drayton taking a rest break.  Again, we said "show us your teeth" and Q opens wide and D sticks his tongue out.  I guess I need to come up with something new to say.

 I had to take klp up to the cookout so I snapped a few pics of our kids. Most of these other kids are from my church back home so its my friends' kids.  Fun to see them all having fun together.  


Here they are listening to the story

Must've been a good story to keep klp occupied enough to stay away from the fire.

I looked up a couple of minutes later and this is how klp and Roselyn were sitting.  He loves her so much and she is so sweet to just let him fall all over her.  

....and even lets him smell her hair.

 Payden Daniels let the SWEETEST prayer for the food. I'd like to point out that Roselyn was not in proper prayer posture.  

 I tried to get these 3 with their hot dogs and this was the best I got. Avery was the only one that would cooperate.  

Before changing for swim time klp and Nolan gazed out the mess hall window for a while

 Rachel took these of swim time.  klp, of course, loved swim time.  Especially the slide! 

Here are the cousins with Tyler (and I'm not sure who the girl in pink is???)

And again with Paden....

It was a fun couple of days for klp and we look forward to many more years of CDR fun!!!

Baby Phillips so far

***my last post had some Kanyon greatness on it, so don't miss it if you're seeing this!**

My great friend Mindi took some pictures of us a couple of weeks ago. I was mad at myself for not planning outfits sooner than 1 hour before pictures, but oh well.  As you can see, I'm growing and growing!  I am 31 weeks so I'm nearing the end of the time when I'm paranoid 24/7.  I've seen my Dr. every week since 24 which gets kinda old, but what doesn't get old is sonograms every other week!  Of course the baby has had its hand in front of its face almost every time, so we don't have a ton of good pics.  Its also breach which, since I have to have Csection, doesn't really matter to me.  I have 5 more weeks of shots and I'm looking forward to that being over.  YOOOOOUUUUUCH!!!  

I feel pretty good.  My back has hurt more this time, but something tells me that has as much (or more) to do with the 30 lb. boys I already have than the bundle I'm carrying inside me! :)  I still haven't completely lost the nausea. Not sure what the deal is. I still have days where I feel yucky, can't eat certain things, and even gag for no reason.  Nice.  I'm beginning to wonder if I will ever go back to normal! This baby is CRAZY. I don't remember my others moving this much, maybe they did and I just forgot, but this thing is WILD! My tummy is visibly moving all over the place all the time.   I really love it and it just never gets old.  This has been a very different pregnancy in a lot of ways which, if you believe the theory, means its a girl.  But I don't think I really buy any theories. I sort of just think its 50/50 no matter what. 

The boys have changed their tune a little on the gender. Up until a couple of weeks ago, Kanyon always said GIRL and Quinn always said BOY.  They usually stick to those predictions, but a few times, they've switched it up on me. hmmmmmmm.  What do I think it is?  I think I think its a boy (does that makes sense???).  With Quinn I really had a strong feeling he was a boy. I don't have a strong feeling, but I leaning towards boy.  I don't know if its because its just my default guess or if its because everyone else is convinced its a girl.  I would love to have a girl, but I also think there is something kind of charming about 3 boys.  And cheaper.  However, as I packed up clothes and stuff, I'm beginning to wonder if some of these clothes can make it through another boy! :)  We are nowhere close to having names.  Oh dear. 

The boys' room is coming together and I'm hoping to have Q in his big boy bed in the next week or two.  I'm nervous to say the least. Not so much about the beds, but about the room sharing part. Yikes. Nothin' like TONS of changes right before a new baby.  All of their stuff is already in one room and I love having one place to go to put up their clothes and stuff. 

We are nearing the home stretch with this baby and feeling soooo excited. It seemed so far off for so long and all of a sudden I realize how close it is.  I think the boys will do fine with the addition and other than dreading the surgery, I'm looking so forward to doing the newborn thing again.  So here are a few pics of "all of us".....

I mean really...REALLY? Is this not the best picture?? It wasn't even on purpose. I got up because my booty was tired of sitting on the bumpy rock concrete. I'm glad I did!!!  I don't belong in this blue eyed picture anyways.  

We were just planning on getting boots....bad idea by me.  But we all agree that this picture is pretty hilarious.  

Luckily Mindi's brain is better than mine and she suggested taking them off.  Haha. Cute.  Its so fun to wonder if those little boots will be worn with little hand me down Wranglers, or a new denim skirt!!!!

Big Boy Kanyon

Sunday night/Monday turned out to be a real BIG 24 hours for Kanyon Luke.  First of all, my SIL Mo came to town Saturday to help me transition all the boys stuff into one room.  It has been klp's room since Q was born, but the boys are both about to be in there, so I had some major moving/reorganizing to do.  Mo is a pro, so she came and worked way too hard helping me get things done.  We did pretty good and even managed to get one of the big boy beds ready to go.  I wasn't planning on using it yet, so klp's crib is still in there. But he was SOOOOO excited about his bed that we decided to let him go ahead and try it out.  We just put a mattress and box spring on the floor because rolling off of a higher bed is not a good option for my little shunt boy.  :)

Here he is laying on his big bed.....the blue pillows were from the old bed that was in the room, they don't really look that great with the boys' quilts, but they are perfect to lay beside the bed in case of roll off! :)  When we got the sheets on, he couldn't WAIT to lay down on it!



He was squealing and curling up in a ball of excitement as I was trying to get his picture....thats why he's all blurry!

I made him sit up on the bed and "show me his teeth".  It just cracks me up...

We put him to bed and he did great.  He always cries when we leave (not sure how this will work when he's SHARING a room with q) but after the usual cry, he went on to sleep and we never heard from him again.  I thought he was hanging off the bed at one point in the night (the video monitor was blury....and it was 3am) but he wasn't. He did wake up at 6 (thats about 2 hrs. early for him) but we were able to get him to go back to sleep.  Not without tears (again, this is gonna be a bigger problem when he's sharing a room and I can't let him cry), but he slept til 8 and woke up happy.  He never got out of the bed!  Yay!  Last night he did great. I heard a noise about 6 am and he was sitting on the floor (glad the pillows are there) so he had somehow fallen off. I was getting up to go in there and then I just kept watching the monitor and that sweet boy just climbed back up on his bed (another reason to keep it on the floor with no frame or anything) and laid back down and slept another 2+ hrs.  :)


So he sleeps in a big bed for the first time Sunday night and the next morning he had his weekly PT here at the house.  At the very end, they worked some with his forearm crutch.  We've had them for a while, but he still needs a lot of work before he's independent.  As for now, he will probably learn with just one.  His left arm has such a hard time keeping up with the rhythm and pace that it keeps him from walking.  So, we've been practicing with just one crutch.  A big part of the crutch (or "stick" as he calls it) is figuring out the timing and rhthym and he's been doing pretty good.  The balance and strength can only come with time.  To date, the most steps he'd ever taken were 2 stumbling, wobly, maybe even just momentum carrying steps.  Never much control.  Until Monday.....he was WALKING.  BY HIMSELF.  Back and forth from the back door to the front door. If we can keep him from trying to go "super fast", as he says, and not get him too excited about getting somewhere, he did awesome!!!!!!  Me and Celia (PT) were beside ourselves.  We cheered and clapped and had lots of fun letting him do it over and over.  As you'll see in the video, she is right there to catch him, but she only had to help him once and we were happy to see that when he did start to lean and fall, he caught himself with the crutch. Learning to fall is another lesson he has to learn with these puppies.  Anyways, enough chatter, check out the big boy walking!  

Big Boy Bed, Big Boy Walking......all in a day's work for the Grand Kanyon!

Phone Pics

Its been a while since I've downloaded my phone pics.....here we go....

This is our friend Micah.  He rides his horse right before Kanyon.  As soon as we get there, he's getting off his horse, so the boys help push him to his car.  Celia (Kanyon and Micah's PT) is helping too.  

This was Q's version of dressing the magnetic sports kid.  Less is more Q, less is more.  

I found these cheap little microphones and the boys LOOOOVE THEM. Its a non stop concert around here.  

Cool dude giving me the thumbs up on the way in to wal mart.  

Just a cute pic one morning before church.  

Making a birthday card for Gram

I get an ultrasound every other week, so I've had lots of fun seeing baby.  My mom was with me one day and took this pic.  So far all looks good and we are set for a BIRTHday on August 9! I'm thankful to be 29 weeks....and counting.  

reading with Gay Gay

I really look like chubby face in this pic and I like to think its just a bad angle.  Anyways, the point of the picture is, one day Q asked me if he could lay on my baby.  :)

We ate at this catfish place one night and Q had his first ice cream cone.  He was in heaven.  

klp isn't much of a sweet dessert kind of guy so he just wanted ANOTHER piece of fish for dessert.  He loved it! haha!! 

Totally cool.  

We picked K up from school one day and Q immediately wanted to hold his hand.  Sweet brothers.  Glad I was able to snap this pic at the stop light.  These sweet moments are sometimes outnumbered by the not-so-sweet ones.  

We borrowed the neighbors toy lawn mower one night while KLP mowed.  The boys LOVED IT! Q was pretty much way too scared to get close to the mower, but he was sure doin a good job on the driveway! 

klp's turn

And this is what it looked like when I told them we had to go in and eat supper.  Seriously.  Is that mower THAT cool and supper THAT bad???

First watermelon of the season.  They both gobble it up! 

klp and his teacher on the last day of school.  :)

We took this on klp's last day of school. It was "our" last day. I realized next year when klp goes to school, the baby will be here.  I have really enjoyed my 3 mornings with just Quinn.  He's been a GREAT errand runner since I would save most of my trips for mornings klp was at school.  It as also fun to just be home together and play and read. Good times.  

Trying on Daddy's shoes

Just a glimpse of what his feet look like after a few minutes of playing outside.  oh dear.  

SUMMER TIME popsicles!! 

Eventually klp took a bite or two. We were pleasantly surprised as we always are anytime he eats something new.....but the boys pretty much ate KLP's whole popsicle.  What a good Daddy to share.  I leave the room when I am eating something yummy so I don't have to share.  

Q has mustered up some courage and now helps Daddy push the mower.  He's SUCH a big help.  Do you like the socks with sandals look?  He had been with my parents and I accused my mom of having terrible taste.  Turns out Q was VERY sure he wanted socks AND sandals.  I apologized to my mom and enjoyed my stylish son the rest of the day.