Life Since August

Life has been treating us well. My sister is coming to visit for a long layover early next week which I'm very excited about. The boys had surgery which you can read about at the bottom. They're both doing well and getting so big. Carter weighs just over 16 pounds and Weston weighs 17.5 pounds. They can both sit up for a little while when they're leaning over on their hands and they need to be eating solids but they're not yet. They won't open their mouths which makes it kind of difficult, and feeding two babies with spoons takes FOREVER. Weston sticks his tongue out a lot and his hair is growing long. He is getting a sweet double chin, Mr. Fatty Cakes! Carter cracks up when you dance for him or fake a sneeze or when we do pretty much anything silly. Basically, he makes us feel like comedians, which we are. We're pretty hilarious. I read the Percy Jackson series in about a week which kept me busy. It was entertaining but only for someone to read when they've got a fair amount of time on their hands. I did P90x for a solid month then got burnt out for a week or two. I've started back up again though and it's good to be exercising again. I think I'll only do it three or four days a week instead of six. It just was taking up a ton of time. Ryan got second in his state bagging competition which was so fun to go to. He's planning to win it next year! He'll be reffing high school basketball starting in a few months and I'll start coaching club at about the same time. We'll be busy! Picture time? I think so...

Just sitting out on the lawn. (Weston left, Carter right)

I came home to my son looking like this. Hobo, rockstar, gentleman, or Daddy's little all-star? (Weston)

He didn't like the glasses so much. 

Weston left, Carter right. 

Just laying on our bed after waking up. (Carter then Weston)

We tried to have Ryan's mom take some photos for us, but taking photos with babies sure isn't easy. So we have one with Carter smiling. 

And one with Weston smiling. 

With Grandma and Grandpa! 

Carter can hold his head up now!

Carter then Weston. Love these boys! 

They like each other. (Carter left)

I was changing Weston and Carter got hold of his brother's shorts. Tasty. 

Carter told Ryan he wanted shorts on his head. We sure do miss Chief Red Face. Wait...that resulted in his hernias. So no, we don't. 

We went to Cafe Rio with Terra a few weeks ago. We're so glad she got an awesome job with Walmart but so sad she'll be leaving us! 

Weston loves playing with his cousin, Bella. 

Weston loves football.

Weston acted like he knew what he was doing with this cup of water. But he grabs everything and shoves it in his mouth so that's not too surprising. 

Our boys had some pretty minor surgery this week. Both of them were circumcised and Carter had a hernia to be fixed. My three favorite boys.

Carter with Daddy. 

Weston's surgery was first and it took him over an hour to come out of the anesthesia. Carter went in after and they told us they gave him more anesthesia so it would take him longer to wake up. We tried to wake him but the poor kid was zonked.

Thanks for reading! 

July and August!

My long time friend, Shelbe, came to visit from Washington. She feel asleep with Carter. I can't even do that! 

I got to go to my cousin Amber's wedding a few days ago.  It was so good to see a lot of my dad's family.  The bottom picture is my dad's twin sisters, my twin cousins, and then my boys. 

Blessing day pictures. Don't they look so much alike in the upper right picture?

Just some cuteness.

Pictures from my mom's visit. So fun. 

Fun with Momma!

Here are a ton more pictures of the boys. My mom is here to visit and it has been so fun!

My mom's first time seeing the boys in a few months. She's not excited, is she? And don't you love Weston's grin? Poor boy won't be able to find shoes when he's twelve! 

This is how we found Weston one night after putting them to bed.  Maybe he feels our parenting style is too oppressive?  

Superhero outfits from Aunt Jenny! So cute...

Weston fell asleep on his tummy and then curled his knees up under him. He may or may not be wearing a Christmas outfit. Don't elves have to work all year round anyway? And he's sleeping on the job!!

My three boys. (Carter then Weston. Oh, and Ryan) 

I need more pictures with my boys. 

Weston says, "Hey, check out my scars!" You can barely see the third one to the upper right and parallel to the bigger one.  

After bath time. (Weston) 

So solemn. (Carter)

Horrible picture but cute baby, right? (Weston) 

Playing with Daddy today at the International Peace Gardens.  (Weston)

In Other News

I don't have much experience with babies but I think my boys are pretty good at it. Being babies, that is. I wish they would both stop throwing up and they do cry every once in a while for apparently no reason, but generally, they're pretty good. It's so different every time but they normally sleep from 7-12 hours every night. Weston has been such a spaz the last few days. He will sit in his swing, perfectly content, and kick his legs and throw his arms around for an hour. Silly boy. Carter gets these huge open mouthed grins that just crack me up. And he likes to do it when his bottle is still in his mouth so he spills all over his chin. And it looks like he has a white beard. 

I need to be eating better and working out more. But when I don't work out, I don't feel like eating well. And then when I don't work out I feel worse which makes me not want to work out. Sound familiar, anyone? 


I've been trying to make dinner more because it's better for us and saves us money. I enjoy it too. Also, Ryan would rather feed a baby than make dinner and since I have been feeding babies all day, I'd rather make dinner. 


I found a website a little while ago. I think it's fascinating. He's a college student and has written a ton of articles and a few books. I don't agree with everything he's written but I found an article I liked about vertical and lateral types of learning. You can find it here. Vertical progress is about goals and accomplishing things. Lateral learning is about finding the value in life, about being spontaneous, spiritually minded, creative, and is "the expansion of experience." Everyone needs a balance of both. Before I got pregnant, my life was so centered on vertical growth. School and volleyball were such a huge part of my life. Now, I am no longer competing in every direction I turn. I am still working on school and still have goals, but in general, my life is much more about the experiences I have, rather than studying for an accounting test or improving my armswing and passing technique. 


In church today, the talks were about keeping a journal. It seems like printing out my blog is a good way to do more of that. Has anyone made a book from their blog? And do you get it done professionally or do it yourself? I love to go back and look through what I've written before. It gives me perspective with whatever I'm dealing with now. I was just looking at my friend Allie's blog and she posted the cutest idea for a journal right here. And if you're looking for her awesome blog, you can find it here. Thanks Allie! 


In other news, my mom will be here in a few weeks and I'M EXCITED! She's so fun. I know you all agree. 

Here's a video of my crazy Weston. 

One home last week, one in surgery this week

About two weeks ago Ryan's Grandpa Roth died pretty suddenly. He had been diagnosed about a week before with stage three leukemia and was being treated in the hospital. I didn't know him as well as I would have liked but I'll always remember he offered to come and teach me how to tat when I was on bed rest. I had a really hard time deciding whether I should go to the funeral, which was on Friday. The nurses and lactation consultants at Carter's hospital said they didn't think it would affect his breastfeeding too much for me to be gone and I knew that other than that, the boys didn't technically need me and I knew they would be well taken care of, so I decided to go. I'm glad that there were no problems while we were gone and I had a really good time out in California. I was able to meet a lot of Diane's family that I've never met and am so happy I was able to go.

Carter transitioned well to his crib and kept getting better and better at eating so we got to bring him home on the tenth. The first night was rough because he wouldn't eat! He got so hungry and frustrated that he wouldn't breastfeed. After a full day of him eating about half of his daily minimum, I figured out that the last good feeding he had was from a bottle that was unfortified. We are supposed to feed him bottles every other time with additional calories added to the milk. So, for some reason, he didn't like the fortifier we were using so I fed him with a bottle of just breast milk and he ate like a pig! Thank goodness we got that figured out! The last week has been good. The house wasn't near ready because we had been out of town for the funeral so I worked on that for a while. I also helped Ryan put together the dresser and crib so things are starting to settle down with that. He has been having a hard time breastfeeding and has started to bite :( He likes to throw tantrums and refuses to calm down but hopefully as he gets bigger it'll get easier for both of us. In terms of sleeping, as long as he eats like he should, he sleeps wonderfully besides lots of grunting. He seems to have quite a bit of gas and turns really red when he's working on something.

Carter is still on oxygen but on the smallest setting for the tank. He really only needs it when he eats because he forgets to breath but we leave it on him all the time. He's getting better too, so hopefully we won't have to deal with it for long. I took him to his eye appointment down in Riverton last week and his eyes are fully developed so we no longer have to have his oxygen monitor beeping when he isn't breathing AND when he's breathing too well. That thing sure is annoying in the middle of the night when there's nothing you can do to MAKE IT STOP!

Ryan has been doing an awesome job with Carter. It sure is fun to see him being a daddy. A while ago Carter wouldn't calm down in the middle of the night so Ryan took him out to the living room. I wake up to Ryan's alarm for work and go out to find Carter in the back crevice of the couch and Ryan on the outside curled around him. What a good dad :) Too bad I didn't take a picture!

Weston had a contrast enema done yesterday to make sure he had no strictures in his bowel so there would be no surprises for the surgeons on Thursday. They put some kind of fluid into his intestines that shows up on an x ray. It's pretty amazing what they can do! A few days ago, Weston weighed 7 lb 3 oz. After I had Carter home for a few days (he now weighs 5 lb 4 oz) I was finally able to go up and see Weston and he was an absolute giant compared to Carter!

Weston's surgery will be fairly similar to the last one in terms of recovery. They will have to put him on a ventilator because he'll be so sedated which he'll probably have a harder time with because he's been used to the freedom of breathing on his own. They'll keep him on pain and anxiety medications and eventually wean him off them. They'll start feeding him 7-10 days after the surgery and slowly work up to as much food as he can handle. Ryan took the day off and Diane is going to watch Carter so we can be up there with Weston. I'm glad it's finally time for his surgery even though it will set him back a lot for a while. I want that boy to come home!!!

I also wanted to mention that my grandparents came up from St. George for a few days so they could come and see the boys. My grandma came up a few weeks after they were born but my grandpa had open heart surgery and wasn't quite ready so they made a special trip before heading to Alaska for the summer. I'm so glad you came, Grandma and Grandpa!

Great Grandma Hanni with Carter

Carter coming home!!!! 

Carter likes to be helpful and hold his pacifier in :) 

Great Grandpa Hanni with Weston

Weston sleeping as is usual for him! He is a very calm baby. 

Though he did get a little upset about his cute neck rolls!