Summer baseball 2011

Another season of baseball has come and gone, and once again Bodin did great. His team only lost 3 out of 11 games. He is getting really good at hitting the ball. It is going a lot further now. He is not scared of the ball anymore either. Good Job Bodin!

Summer Vacation

We had a wonderful summer vacation this year. We started off driving to the Cabin. We could not have asked for more perfect weather. It would warm up to about 90 during the day, and then an afternoon storm would come through and the temps would drop to the low 70's. PERFECT!! Brie and Jason met us up there as well as Damon and Rachel, and Whitney and Tommy. We stayed up one night playing games and had a great time. The kids had a great time exploring in the woods.
From the cabin we went to Holbrook for the 4th. We had an awesome time there (so much fun it has its own post.)
We then drove down to the Valley. We did some playing at the Bounce House. We swam at Hamilton Pool, but we mostly just hung out with cousins. Bodin had a great time with Landon, Van, and Sutton. McKinna, Jaiden, and Gracen played and played. McKade and Tanner, and Journey, Gunner, and Roman had a lot of fun together. We even got to help celebrate Brie and Landons birthday.Next summer cannot come soon enough. (I am so mad at myself for the lack of pictures taken, but here are a few.)

4th of July 2011

This year for the 4th we got to spend it in Holbrook. We had to go down to Bucket of Blood Street and watch the train go by. It was a little worrisome being that close to a train. It was cruisin'. Honestly, the wind coming from the train was amazing. We took some pictures with the Holbrook sign. We also ate the delicious Holbrook firefighters barbecue. Grandma and Grandpa had the barbecue at their house this year and the kids loved exploring. It was fun to see them hike around the same rocks that we loved as a kid. Aunt Marlene then took out her motor home and set it up for the fireworks that night. Holbrook may be a small town, but they have the most spectacular fireworks show! We love going to it, and are hoping to make it a yearly tradition. Thanks for the BLAST of a time to all that joined us this year.

This one is for Landon

Putting Ben to Work

Ben has been busy since we got back from AZ. We brought a desk back from AZ for McKinna and it needed a new chair to go with it. Ben whipped one up for her. Of course this got Bodin jealous so we made him a magnet board for his bedroom. He quickly filled it with pictures of his cousins. I also had gotten a headboard that I had been bugging Ben to make into a bench for me. DONE!! He is very talented. I got to do the fun part, the painting. Thanks hun, I will be thinking of what I would like done next:).

The 2 Hour Optometry Visit

Since the day McKade was born I have noticed that something is "different" with his right eye. I always thought it to be a little lazy. I mentioned it to my mom not long ago and she said that she had not noticed, but they usually give patches for lazy eyes to make them stronger. I made him an appointment with the optometrist completely expecting to come home with an eye patch.
After explaining to the optometrist what I have noticed about his eye, he cannot look right with his right eye and he contracts it a bit (Like Popeye), she takes a quick look, and says, "Was he premature?"
"No".
"Were there any complications?"
"Nothing other than the cord wrapped around his neck".
"Okay, well you should not feel bad because this is nothing you did wrong or could have prevented."
Of course this prepares me for the worst and I immediately start to feel the guilt setting in.
She goes on to tell me he has Duane Syndrome and there is nothing that can be done about it. After doing some research on it I found out that it can either be environmental or genetic and actually happens during the 3rd to 8th week of pregnancy. The eye muscle does not form correctly. This is a rare condition, but she had someone in her optometry classes in college with it so she knows about it. She then went and got her optometry student to show it to him.
McKade will quickly turn his head if he looks right and his eye will contract. Being that he was born with it, they cannot fix it because his brain has compensated for it since birth. If they were to try to fix it now it would probably make things worse.
Anyway, they go on with the rest of the appointment to check his eyesight. He was so cute as they put different pictures on the wall and he was to name them. The first one was a wagon. He called it a tractor, but no one could understand him. I got to decipher his language. The next picture was the palm of a hand. He says hi pie. The assistant was so confused as I explained he said, High five". I thought that was so cute. He did very well and his eyesight is fine.
They then used some strong drops to dilate his eyes. He did great, but definitely did not like this. He kept telling me he couldn't see. When we left they gave him his cool glasses. I commented that he was not going to wear these, and I made a big deal out of them when I gave them to him. "These are so cool McKade. They are giving them to you for doing such a good job." The girls at the desk all got the cue and joined in about how awesome they are. I must say he proudfully wore them all the way home, including stopping at Kroger for a snack. He did take them off once we were in the house, but the lights hurt his eyes so he put them back on for another hour or so.
The optometrist did suggest getting his hearing checked as a precaution. I am going to wait as he has a speech evaluation in 1.5 weeks. I will decide after discussing some concerns with them to see if they think an audiologist visit is in order.

Journey made it to 18 months

Journey is 28 inches tall and weights in at a whopping 17 pounds. She is a very happy, active girl. She has recently discovered the toilet, as I found her and her accomplice, McKade, dipping their heads in and laughing hysterically the other day. DISGUSTING! She loves to sit on it and "try" to potty. Hopefully this is a sign that she will be easy. She loves to climb. She is constantly on top of the tables, and she recently found out that she can climb up the slide to get onto the trampoline. She is an absolute sweetheart. She is a cuddler and loves attention. Her hair is finally filling in, which we are VERY excited about. We have been more than a little worried about this.