18 months old!

I had to post some pictures of Nathan with his new haircut!  He looks like such a big boy to me.  I can't believe he's 18 months old.   I wanted to share some pics of him eating cereal like a BIG BOY!  He is doing pretty good with the spoon.  All the milk just runs down his chin, but he'll eat a whole bowl of Cherrios.  You can see the remains of about 3 bruises across his forehead- they have a green tint to them now.  He's been quite the head-banger these days.  He went to the DR yesterday for a check-up and he weighs 30 lbs and is 33 inches tall!  I've really been able to see the change in height lately.  We've had to move his basketball goal up three notches since we got it.  Well, I'll quit bragging about my baby and tell you all that Chris is feeling much better.  Thank you for all your well-wishes.  We really appreciate it.  

ER

Well some of you know this story, but for those of you who don't I'll fill you in.  On Sat. morning when Chris came home from the Caucus, he started feeling like he was getting a migraine.  I guess he got them pretty bad when he was a kid, but he hasn't had one in over 10 years.  The first thing he said was he couldn't see and his vision was all blurry and his hands were going numb and so was his face.  This kind of freaked me out cause that also sounds like a stroke or something really serious.  He mentioned that this was something he's felt before.  I told him to go lay down and rest.  Well, it got worse and worse and he started throwing up.  I asked him if I could do anything and he was pretty willing to do ANYTHING to help him feel better.  I called some guys in the ward to give him a blessing- thanks Brian and Nate.  Then I decided to take him to Quick Care.  Thanks to my wonderful and sweet friend Emily for coming over to take care of Nathan all night! We got to Quick Care and Chris threw up about 10 more times in the parking lot before we got in. We didn't have to wait too long to get in, but Chris was getting worse by the min.  He was miserable.  He was getting so mad at the nurse when she was taking his blood pressure.  Everyone was asking him questions and he couldn't even understand them or talk.  I was trying to answer for him, but he seriously couldn't even think.  Finally they gave him a shot for the pain and one for the nausea, cause by this time he was just dry heaving.  They said the meds should take about 30 min to kick in.  Well, after over an hour, they still weren't helping and he was no better.  They decided to transport him to the ER in an ambulance.  I was kind of freaking out by this time.  I felt so helpless.  So, I followed them to UMC hospital and then it was another waiting game.  They got him in a bed right away, but we were sitting in a hallway waiting for a room to wait for a DR.  That place was a mad house!  I am so mad at myself for not taking him to the ER at the brand new, nice hospital right down the street from our house!  We sat in the hall for 4 hours before we got a room.  He started feeling a little better and tried to sleep but it was pretty noisy and busy.  The DR finally came in around 10:00 and asked the same questions and said they were going to run some tests.  It was another 4 hours before we heard from him or anyone else for that matter.  Oh, except for the drunk guys they put right next to us!  They found this guy on some street corner and he was so intoxicated that he didn't even know his name or anything!  He was screaming and shouting obscenities at the nurses and he was fighting them so bad they had to restrain him.  He continued yelling and cussing for several hours.  It was just what Chris needed right next door. Around 2:30 AM they took a CAT scan of Chris' head and about 1 1/2 hours later we got the results back that it was normal.  They wanted to do another test, but we decided not to do it, cause Chris was feeling better and ready to go home.  They wrote him a prescription for Migraines and said we could go soon.  That was the longest wait and I was about to have a Meltdown cause I was so tired and uncomfortable and so was Chris.  We finally got out at 4:00AM.  Luckily Chris' parents drove 3 hours from Panaca to see him and help out with Nathan, so Emily could go home.  Long story and long night.  Chris is much better now, we just hope that he doesn't have to go through that again.  I learned my lesson about ER's and how I never want to go to that one again.   I just don't understand how the DR's and Nurses can be so not-helpful.  They don't even act sympathetic or try to be helpful.  Some of them don't even treat you like a human being.  They paid more attention to the drunk guy than someone who was not being obnoxious!  I was pretty upset and emotional and about to go off on someone!  Anyways, thanks to Emily, Steve and Easton for taking such good care of Nathan.  Thanks Sarah and Preston for all your support and for coming to see us at UMC.  Thanks for all your prayers and love and to Chris' parents for coming down to help us out!  We love you all and hope we can repay you someday!   

Cars and phones

This is a picture of Nathan a the new Town Square park when we took him on Sat.  He loves cars and anything with a steering wheel.  This picture was taken right before he tripped while he was running and fell head first into the slide.  It made a loud thump and he was pretty sad.  He had a big indentation in his forehead and then a bruise pretty soon after.  It's kind of purple and blue today, but he bounced right back.  He was ready to get down and play again.  He's got a thick head, just like his mom.  A little history on that.  When I was in high school I played basketball and I had a few collisions with other players and they always came out on the losing end and I would be fine.  Once I collided with my own teammate going after the ball.  She had a huge cut above her eye and had to get a bunch of stitches and her eye was swollen shut.  I was fine!  Then, I collided with another girl and she had a concussion and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance.  I was fine again!  I do have a very hard head I guess.  Hopefully Nathan inherited that from me.  

Nathan is OBSESSED with phones and just yesterday I called my mom and let him "talk" to her.  He usually just listens and then either hangs up or hands me the phone.  Well, he has finally started saying a few words so I tried to get him to say them to my mom.  He did it!  He says "cheese, cracker, shoes, go, and car".  My Mom just loved it and can't wait for him to really talk to her.  I took this picture while he was talking to her.  The other phone was Chris' and he HAD to have it too.  

Nursery

Nathan is 18 months old now and we took him to the Nursery last week and he stayed in there the whole time and did O.K. for his first time.  I thought we could only go up from there.  Well, today when I took him, he started crying as soon as I walked in with him.  He didn't want to let go of me.  Our Bishop's wife had to pry him from me and I walked out wanting to cry as much as he did.  She said they'd come get me if he cried more than 15 min.  Well, we made it through Sunday School and they never came, so I thought we were going to make it.  Relief Society had barely started and I hear this SCREAMING out in the hallway.  I turned around and they motioned that it was for me.  The poor kid was all beet red and tears were streaming down his face.  I felt so bad, for the Nursery leaders who had to try to make him happy and for him.  He just wanted me, which kind of made me feel special, but at the same time, how long am I going to have to deal with this every Sunday.  Is it just easier to stay in there with him, or am I prolonging the inevitable?  I need some advice from you Moms.  I want him to love Nursery.  I think he's traumatized.  I had to go back in there after church and take this toy back and he started freaking out as soon as I walked in there with him.  He thought I was going to leave him again.  I'm really concerned about this attachment issue, cause Chris and I have not been on a date in a LONG time and we have tickets to a concert in a few weeks and I don't know what we're going to do with him.  I know I will not enjoy myself if I know he's screaming the whole time I'm gone.  HELP!  

Christmas in Colorado

We spent a week with my family in Colorado for Christmas and we had lots of fun.  Nathan was so fun opening presents this year and playing with all his new toys.  He is SO SPOILED!  Thanks Mom and Dad for EVERYTHING and thanks EVERYONE for making it a memorable and great Christmas.  It was fun to see all the family and a little snow.  It was SO cold- the temp was never above freezing.  Chris was able to go deer hunting with my dad and brothers and ice fishing.  He got a deer, but no fish!  We got kind of sick at the end and barely made it home, but we're home now and feeling a lot better.  Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Family Pictures

We took a few family pictures right before Christmas for our Christmas cards.  Maybe I'll get Christmas cards out by Valentine's Day.  Anyway, here's a little preview.  The girl that took our pictures brought this tractor for Nathan to sit on.  He LOVED it!  Once we decided to take some family pictures, he got pretty upset that we took the tractor away.  He wasn't very happy for the rest of the pictures.  I guess we should have taken them all with the tractor.