Montana Trip Part 1

We're back from the Big Sky Country and boy was it great. We got in Sunday evening, then Kanyon and I headed to Dallas Monday evening to be there for an early appointment Tuesday morning and then our regular appointments Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. NEEDLESS TO SAY...we were happy to be home in our own beds last night! Thankfully, my kan man is a trooper. So....on to the good stuff!

We were up at 4:00 am on Friday morning to catch our plane. Despite his minimal sleep that night, klp slept MAYBE 30 min. on the plane rides. Oh well. Here is the big boy in his very own seat. We had to buy him a ticket since he's over 2! UGHH! It was annoying from the $$$$ standpoint, but nice to have the space. Can you tell he's a little sleepy???!!

He traveled pretty well. We had just enough layover in Denver to walk to our next gate, so it was nice. Its for sure a stressful thing traveling with a little one, but its totally worth it to be there in 5 hours!

On the 4th, the boys were of course busy at work (hay, hay, hay, hay and more hay) but Gram took Kanyon and I to the Lewistown parade. It was fun til the muzzle loader club came by and shot off their loud guns. Not so fun for klp. But he recovered and enjoyed the AWESOME weather and the fun crowd.

That night we drove in to town to watch the fireworks. It was late because it doesn't get dark until SOOO late, so we klp was in his PJ's for the event. Yes, it was cold enough for hoods and fleece. How fun is that!? Kanyon enjoyed "his" fireworks and we're always thankful to have him with US on the 4th of July when we remember what a fight it took to get him to our house 2 years ago! :)

I know this is blurry, but I LOVE klp's face!

Gram and the KLP's watching the firecrackers.

Daddy took klp for a ride on the 4 wheeler.

Watching Chief in the baler

KLP and klp checking the windrows to see if they're ready to rake or bale....and Cooper the dog helping as usual.

There were machines busy running non stop (until it rained) so the fuel was being delivered! Kory and Tye filling up the tank.

Kory and his mom baling

klp is quite bossy these days, pointing his hand ever-which way he wants to go. Or sometimes he just does it, I don't think he even knows what he wants! Here he is trying to convince Gram to go somewhere.

Kan made a short trip with Daddy in the tractor.

Being the control freak that he is, he wanted to DRIVE!

So, he got his wish! :)

Doesn't it look like he's on a joy ride!!!!

"driving" Chief around

And no drive on the tractor is complete with out licking the steering wheel. nice.

This picture is appropriately blurry. The boy never stops moving!

This is Bruce the cat. I think it was klp's first real interaction with a cat. He of course liked it and squealed with excitement when it was near.

We took walks to get out and enjoy the fresh air. Despite what it looks like, I'm not about to jump out from behind the stroller and pounce something . Why did I pose like that??! oh well

It was such 10 days. The beginning of the week the boys got a lot of haying work done, but after the first few days, it rained quite a bit so that would put work with the hay at a stand still. They usally found other things to work on, but it wasn't quite as hectic and busy as it is when they're out ALL DAY and ALL EVENING. The rain was bad for the work, but good for the fun because we were able to spend more time all together. And it would rain and then clear up so it never ruined a whole day! Stay tuned for more of pics!

See ya later Texas Heat!

We are leaving tonight to go to Dallas to spend the night. Our plane leaves for Montana tomorrow morning at 6:30. We are excited for many many reasons, but one of them is the fact that the lows are in the 50's and highs are in the 70's and 80's. I think we can handle that!!!!!

We can't wait to see our MT family and friends! There will be lots of playing cards, LOTS of laughing, lots of visiting, and LOTS AND LOTS of hay cutting. I'll hopefully have lots of pics to post when we get back.

This was the Phillips boys last year at the fireworks show....all bundled up!! Lewistown was so sweet to have a fireworks show just for our Grand Kanyon's Coming Home Birthday!!! :)

Saturday, we'll be celebrating....

this prayer of Thanksgiving......

this moment of showing off our boy to our friends and family after 100 days....

his first peek inside his real home...

our tears of joy for our Independence Day.....

overflowing hearts of thankfulness for our friends and family that celebrated this day with us (at our home and all over the country....well, the world, really.)

Hopefully Kanyon will behave on the plane. Its been a year since he's flown and he's MUCH more mobile than he was last time! BUT last year we had the NG tube to keep in so maybe it will all balance out!! Please keep us in your prayers for safe travel. Happy 4th of July!!!

Kanyon's Famous Peeps

Remember this guy at Halloween??

Well, our friend Cassi called one day a few weeks after Halloween and said she had the most random and cool thing to tell me. It went something like this: (It has been a while, so Cass, if I don't get all the details right, feel free to correct me!) Cassi works with some guy who was an Olympic swimmer back in the day and now works with the US Swim Team in some way, maybe like marketing or something...can't remember exactly. Anyways, Cassi saw our Halloween pictures and thought they were funny and thought her friend at work would appreciate it since he was a former swimmer and just the kind of person who would get a kick out of a baby in a speedo. So she emailed him the picture. THEN he called her back and said that he loved it so much he sent it to Michael Phelps!!! SOOOO Michael Phelps got a big enough kick out of it that he sent Kanyon an autographed poster! In all honesty, we're not 100% on the authenticity of the autograph, but who cares! He sent him the poster!!! So, thanks to Cassi we have a great new poster!!! We've actually had it for a while, I just keep forgetting to blog about it. And could you please pretend you're reading this BEFORE the whole Phelps with the bong pictures emerged on TMZ!! Thanks.

OK the next one actually started back when the twins were born. My cousin Julie is a news anchor in Waco, so she got to do a lot of coverage of President Bush since his ranch is right outside of Waco. Anyways, Julie eventually got to be friends with people close to the prez and when our babies were born, she told them about their birth. We got a part hand written/part typed official for real signed letter from President Bush sending his condolences on the loss of Jayde. THEN a few days after his 2nd birthday, we receive an envelope addressed to Master Kanyon Phillips. From none other than George W. himself. Another hand written/typed letter wishing Kanyon a happy 2nd birthday.

No way I was letting him touch the real letter, but this is the envelope.

So, pretty much Kanyon is famous. If you'd like a play date or a chance to hang out with him, Have your people call his people. Ha ha.

Video

I meant to add this to the post I did this morning. We will do ANYTHING to keep klp happy during the last few minutes of his time in the standing frame. Last night, KLP decided to teach him how to juggle.

Little Bit of Everything

klp loves my orange folder. My orange folder is precious to me. I keep all of his paperwork, info, insurance stuff, etc. that I need at appointments and stuff. It fills up in no time and I have to thin it out and file it in the filing cabinet, but on any given day there are HUNDREDS of papers in that folder......or on my floor if I leave it in a low place!


I really want a picture of what his diaper looks like when his pants come down. This doesn't speak highly of my housekeeping, but i PROMISE i sweep and mop on a very regular basis!!! SHEESH!!! This pic doesn't do it justice, but I tried. Ollie was jealous he wasn't in the picture.

So I put him in this one. They really do love to be around each other.

Remember those drawers I talked about in a previous post. The ones in the living room where there is one he can get in (with the pens and stuff...i had a pic of him playing in it) and one he's not supposed to get in. He's done pretty good with it, but the other day I was gone to a wedding shower and when I got in, Kory said, "you know how sometimes I turn my back and Kanyon does stuff......" and he held up this candle. He bit it!!!!!! If you look closely you can see the perfect mold of his 4 front teeth! It looks like a bunny or a beaver took a nibble. Of course he went into a major gagging fit (as he does if ANYTHING with texture touches his tongue) but he made it through Ok. I just can't throw this candle away. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

We were getting ready for church Sunday and KLP went to put some flip flops on klp. When he came back in the room, he had on this!!!! Uncle Clint and Aunt Sydni gave it to him a while back and we've been WAITING for it to fit his teeny tiny little head!! Aunt Sydni...do you like him better in the MSU BLUE??!!!! :) He looked so cute and even left it on for a little bit before he took it off. Its a little big, but not too bad, now we just have to teach him to leave it on!

On Friday, our great friend Terri Lee came through. She is a friend from CDR and we don't get to see her near enough. Of course klp LOVED her!!! Thanks for stopping by Terri!

Last week in Dallas we got to eat dinner with Auntie Ali. Afterwards, we went to her apartment so the two of them could play the guitar!! Kanyon LOVED it and Ali was a great teacher!

Yeah for Auntie Ali!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Tuesday!

This Time of Year

Since Jayde and Kanyon's birthday in March I am almost constantly thinking back to what we were doing this time 2 years ago. I have driven to the hospital several times in the past few weeks for appointments and stuff and it feels all to familiar. The weather is the same, the road is the same, I'm just so glad there's not a pump beside me in the car and a baby waiting for me in a NICU. As we near the coming home celebration time of year, I thought I'd post some pictures of specific things I've thought about and in a weird way missed this time of year. Not miss in the sense that you want to do it again or you wish it was still that way, but that WAS a time in our life that has made us who we are, so there is some sentimental feelings attached to it. Maybe that makes some sense. Just for the record, these first few pictures are taken off either my blog or my sis in laws. I obviously wasn't with it enough to have my camera the first few days so I have none on my own computer. Please excuse the poor quality, but enjoy the sweetness.

Kanyon on Day 1 with Kory's hand. The whole ring fitting on his arm (and being very loose by the way) gets more amazing to me as time goes on. He was covered in saran wrap because he couldn't stay warm.
Jayde holding my hand. I have very few vivid memories of those first couple of days, but this is one. I remember being so proud of her that she had the reflexes to grasp my finger.

Nurse Jim moving Jayde to the other side.

Even though the bruising looks worse in this picture (NICU lighting isn't always the best) this is one of my favorite pictures of Jayde.

Going to visit. The nurses were so great to let my brothers come in while Kory's parents were on their way (and then they let Kory's brothers come in too) Here we are looking at Jayde. As scary as it was, notice the smiles on our faces.

Holding Kanyon. I was 100% scared and 100% happy. He was 100% cute. This was also the intro to the plaid pearl snap shirt.

Kory's first hold. Unfortunately, that was at least a month later.

You're never too tiny to be cool.

Holds became a little more frequent and I became a little less nervous. Kanyon remained very comfy!

We looked forward to the notes "from Kanyon" the night nurses wrote to us. They weighed and measured at midnight so they always left us a report.

Trip to Children's. These were dark days. 2 weeks.

My first Mother's Day. I spent it at Children's in Dallas, then the next year I spent it at Baylor for Feeding Camp in Dallas, so this year was my FIRST Mother's Day NOT in a hospital!!!

Hitting milestones. He hit 4lbs. and got to move to an open crib and wear clothes!

I remember this day because it was the day I decided I liked baby blue. I thought I was anti-baby blue all preparing to have a boy, but then I walked in they had him all wrapped up in this blue and he looked so cute.

We miss his Nurses. This is Kathy. We miss them all, but don't get to see her since she moved hospitals.

This is a little out of order but I got REALLY good at doing things through the isolette. i used to watch the nurses take care of other babies through those holes and wonder how in the world they did it. You really do figure it out pretty fast.

Growing hands.

Diaper rash trouble. I walked in one night and they said "he's back on oxygen" and I was so disappointed! Then I walked over there and they had the oxygen mask on his little hiney so it could dry out the rash. hahaha!

Our anniversary. We also spent the next one at Baylor so this was our first in 3 years NOT in a hospital!

klp's first bottle! I'm still mad at him for tricking us into thinking he was going to be a pro eater. I also loved this outfit. Martha, its from you. It was actually a preemie outfit that fit. It was tiny and so cute.

My little joey kangaroo was outgrowing the shirt. By the way, I did WASH the shirt, I just took it right back so I always had a button up shirt there.

This was when things started to get a little more fun. We were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and things were moving smoothly.

VISITORS!!! When we moved to IMC our friends could actually SEE Kanyon! Here are the Pruitts!

Once the Oxygen was gone, we could hold him up on our shoulders like a big boy. I am also reminded of the bubble. That was the temporary shunt draining.

This was the first night we were in IMC and our friends jumped and ran to come see Kanyon!

One of my FAV pictures. This was also another favorite little outfit.

More fav outfits.

This is hard to see, but one day I came to visit and rang the doorbell and KANYON answered it. Look really closely and you can see Nurse Melissa holding him up. By this time we were days away from going home and the nurses just played with him all day!

We came in one evening to visit and they said, "Y'all need to go somewhere! He's about to come home!!! " so we went to Beaver's Bend for a short little get-away and enjoyed ourselves before bringing our baby home.

Well, that should about cover it. Just a few weeks we'll celebrate the Phillips Phamily Independence Day!!!!