assisted walking machine

kort loves to walk now...if he's holding or pushing something. still hasn't gone 

for the whole she-bang yet. 

family christmas card

We'll be in Idaho in one week!!! We're going to party it up...Christmas Eve, Christmas, Kort's birthday, New Year's Eve...woo hoo!
Hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season!

thanksgiving

i can't believe christmas is next week and i'm just barely posting about thanksgiving! we were very blessed to have some friends invite us over for dinner, otherwise we really would have had no place to go and would have either gone to a restaurant, or had a regular dinner. it kind of made us realize, and be truly thankful for, how many people really don't have a place to go for holidays, or be with family. so it may seem little, but i think we both agree that's what we were most thankful for this year, along with all the other things.

we were going to try and make a 100 gratitude list, but we only made it to 50 - we forgot to go back and add. there are really endless things to be thankful for anyway. 

Our Gratitude List

Temple marriage

Gospel of Jesus Christ

Kort

Loving parents

Families

Missionary work

Successful occupation

Clothes

Food

Shelter

Reliable transportation

Technology

Medicine

Insurance

Holidays

Plan of Salvation

Atonement

Church leaders

Prophet and apostles

Scriptures

Our Health

Gospel-related literature (ensign, etc.)

Martinelli’s

Sports

Music

TV

Pets and animals

Friends wherever we move

Education

Memories

Pictures/camera

Nature

Autumn leaves

Senses

Laughter (especially Kort’s)

Smiles

The human body

Warm showers

Toilet/indoor plumbing

Boots and coats

Hygiene products

Bed/warm blankets

Law officials

School Teachers

Freedom of religion

Priesthood power

Restored Gospel

Electricity

Kitchen appliances

Safety

not in any particular order. and some may seem ridiculous, but like i said, 

there's SO much to be thankful for!

como zoo

i'm really behind on some posts. kort and i joined jenna and clara practically a month ago to see some animals at the como zoo! the exhibits were all inside, good thing, 

since it's so cold!

can you see the turtle?!

kort got a kick out of these little monkeys!

enjoying the fishies

i think he had a good time :)

so i guess i didn't take too many pictures, or at least not many of them showed up very well. we saw a brown bear outside, some penguins, seals, orangutans, lots of pretty flowers, and other odd creatures. it was fun to get out of our cramped up hotel room and meet up with old friends!

peek-a-boo

I just have to document this or I think I'll forget forever :) Too bad I don't have any pictures, maybe soon. Anyway, Kort loves playing peek-a-boo. And today, I think he's caught the point of it all. He pulled my pants off the couch that were drying and tried putting them on his head. Once he pulled them off, I shouted peek-a-boo! After that, he continued for a few more minutes, pulling them in front of his face, and then down waiting for me to say it. It was the cutest thing. He is definitely showing off his personality a lot more lately, which I absolutely love! 

AND...the other day, he was standing in front of me and took ONE step :)...then fell in my arms. That happened twice, and like half-way again today. He's making progress! 

4 years

Four years ago I married this hunk. Never would I have thought that I'd be 25, married for four years, and have an almost one year old child. Time sure flies.

Well, we didn't get to exactly spend our actual anniversary day doing anything special, but when we went to Las Vegas, everyone was so kind to watch Kort overnight while we snuck away to a casino hotel and just enjoyed our night baby-less. :) It was really weird not having Kort there, but it was much needed! Hopefully we can actually plan a fun celebration for our 5 year ;) It seems like we always have something going on. I mean, it is fall time and everything starts getting busy that time of year. Anyway, here's the top 4 list (not in any particular order) of why I love this guy :)

1. He knows and gets me, (which means he's understanding women "lingo" more and more)

2. He loves the Lord and puts Him first.

3. He is very patient with me.

4. He is the best daddy to Kort :)

Here's to many more, babe!

Hope Caeli Fenton

This perfect little angel came into the world Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:20 p.m. I cannot describe in words what a fighter this little girl was. Her beautiful mother and father, Caeli and Tyler, found out the first ultrasound that she had encephalocele, 


"a neural tube defect characterized by sac-like protrusions of the brain and the membranes that cover it through openings in the skull. These defects are caused by failure of the neural tube to close completely during fetal development. Encephaloceles cause a groove down the middle of the skull, or between the forehead and nose, or on the back side of the skull. The severity of encephalocele varies, depending on its location." (wikipedia)

The location for Hope, was the back of the skull, and basically the sacs will be filled with brain tissue or brain fluid. With fluid, you have a better chance of survival, whereas with tissue, the baby isn't expected to survive even through delivery. This is where Hope was a fighter. Doctors suggested Caeli terminate the pregnancy, or that the baby wouldn't last many hours after delivery.

But she lived much longer than we all expected. She was a miracle. This song below, was a song Caeli would sing to her while in the womb, and even afterwards. Perfect lyrics.

Please watch the video below as it helps us overcome our sorrows and to look forward to the day that we can be with our loved ones once again.

Utah/Idaho trip

We made a last minute trip to Utah/Idaho the beginning of November. We flew out late Tuesday night so Kort got to sleep on the plane.

This is our little made-up bed - tray tables down with blanket across :) He slept most of the way.

Wednesday morning the guys went to cabela's and the girls checked out thanksgiving point (our hotel was in the same parking lot). We had to get those MASSIVE ice cream cones. Kort sure liked the taste of them as well :)

While we were waiting on the guys to get back, Kort enjoyed crawling into the dresser drawers.

That day we celebrated the life of Hope Caeli Fenton. It was a nice chance to really focus on family and enjoy our time together. Everyone went to do an endowment session in the Jordan Temple while I stayed at the hotel to put Kort to sleep and watch Leland.

We went to IKEA Thursday and headed to Rexburg. It was so nice to just relax and not worry about having to be anywhere. We were able to get together with our good friends, the Cope's, and catch up! It had been about 6 months since the last time and our babies were just that, so small :) It was short, but fun!

 We flew out Sunday and Kort didn't have a very great flight. He ended up sleeping in our bed that night and basically kept me up all night. The next day, he was so clingy and fussy. We decided to take him to urgent care that night and found out he had a double ear infection. He got prescribed some amoxicillin and things got better a couple days later and went back to sleeping through most of the night. Well, now that he was better, he started developing a weird rash on his thighs and calves. Back to bad sleep. Took him back the next Monday and discovered he was allergic to that amoxicillin, or any type of penicillin, and had the hives. Took care of things and finally the end of November he's back to sleeping through the night! Hallelujah!
Back in Rexburg, before we left, I knew something was up because he would just snuggle with me, which NEVER happens! He even laid on my stomach for a bit and then fell asleep. I'll say that I loved every minute of it, but hope it doesn't happen much because obviously he isn't feeling well then. Anyway, it was good to see family.

buddy

exactly a year ago, we were where we are now, in eden prairie, mn, but only across the street, in a different extended stay. i was fat. prego fat, that is. so i sat on my butt all day and watched tv. go figure. tlc to be exact. i fell in love with cake boss! i wanted to bake and decorate cakes like that. fast forward to present day. buddy aka the cake boss, was going to be at the mall of america. 10 minutes away! i had to see him. to make a story short, i didn't get there in time to get a wrist band in order to get in line to see him and get his book signed. oh well. clay and i were able to get some close pictures of him. looks just like he does on his show. it was just cool to be there and see him in person. 

this he-she was standing right next to us on the floor above everything and yelled out "buddyyyyy" and buddy looked up and was pointing and just laughing. everyone started taking pictures. it was hilarious. this he-she looked like one of the customers in an episode of cake boss. we were standing next to a star.

Good-bye Austin

I'd have to say, I thought it was going to be a long, boring summer living in Austin for a short 4 months. Boy was I wrong. From the day we moved in, we were instantly welcomed with open arms. We were already invited over for dinner the next day, had plans with our new friends the next week, and I found some jogging buddies a couple weeks later. So, needless to say, those 4 months went by in a flash, and it's sad that we're not there anymore. We made long-lasting friendships and Kort hit many milestones. 

It was Scott and Nathaniel's birthday right close to each other, so we made the drive back to Austin to celebrate their special days!

Nathaniel turned the big 1! He's only a month and half older than Kort. He is such a good and adorable baby! I think he's what got Kort motivated to start sitting up and crawling. Too bad he hadn't started walking, otherwise maybe Kort would be by now (insert hand in mouth - I'm sure once Kort starts walking, I'll wish he was still a newborn).

This is Kort and his buddy, Ian. He made Kort a "Squash Man". His mom, Brytnie, was telling me that Ian was always talking about Kort, at home and church, which is funny to me because they only played together a couple times and then at library story times :) 

It was too cute.

We sure loved Austin! We made some great friends, and wished we could have spent more time getting to know those we did right before our move. Definitely one of the friendliest places we've lived. I don't know if I could retire there...guess I'll find out 

after this Minnesota winter passes. :)

halloween

I decided now that Kort is a little older, I wanted to start really doing holidays. Halloween was probably the first one with him being old enough, so I decided that we were all going to dress up. Well, only half of that happened. With us moving that weekend of, I really didn't have time to get Clay's and my costume together. I had already ordered Kort's, so Clay and I just had the accessories :) Our friends invited us to their ward halloween party, so here we are!

 Can you guess what Clay and Kort are?!!

This is Sam, Mr. SPAM. Clara is the before product. Jenna (not pictured), was the butcher :)

 My two handsome boys.

Clara is now crawling so she obviously was wanting to do that more than take a picture :)

Maybe I'll get a picture of Princess Fiona in there, if I can find it. 

Ha Ha

las vegas

The middle of October we were able to fly out for Leland's baptism. I don't have pictures for that yet, but I'll get them up here soon. Anyway, it was a great and fun weekend! We flew in late Thursday night and headed to Hoover Dam (will get those pictures from Clay's phone soon also). We took a short tour and headed back to the city. Saturday was the big day for Leland. It was so wonderful. Back in Washington, Clay and I were part of a lot of baptisms, mainly adults, so it was great being a part of our nephew's. That evening we drove past the strip and went shopping at the mall :) 

On the way back, it was way past Kort's bedtime, so he was super cranky. I whipped out the camera and he instantly stopped and started smiling for me. That has never happened. These are the adorable pictures I caught of him!

You would have never known he was extremely crabby seconds before :)

Clay and I figured it was probably the only time we'd get to leave Kort with family, so we took advantage and stayed the night at a casino hotel 

for an early anniversary getaway :)

(our view from the hotel)

After church on Sunday, we took a drive out of the city for a short hike at 

Mount Charleston.

 (Kort loves his celery sticks)

 Kort got lots of time with grandpa and grandmacita, as well as being fed well by auntie Barbara and cousin Leland :)

9 months

wow. i can't believe our baby is 9 months! a year is right around the corner. i took kort in for his 9 month checkup, expecting more shots, but he was all caught up and just had to get half of his flu shot! he took it like a champ and the rest of the afternoon he was all smiles and laughs! here's his stats.

Weight: 18 lbs. 15 oz. = 20th percentile

Length: 31 inches = 97th percentile

Head circumference: 41 cm (i think)

Long and Lean!

his personality is really starting to show. 

he loves laughing at anything, especially when i get "mad" at him for spitting his food out, or when he knows it's wrong to bite when nursing (hence, i am starting to wean him off). 

he says "dadda" all the time!

he started clapping his hands a week ago.

starting to walk along furniture and standing up for a few seconds or more.

still a wiggle worm - doesn't like to snuggle.

sleeps 11-12 hours a night! 

naps are still a guess. goes from anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1.5 hour naps.

still hasn't had a haircut. clay won't let him get one until his birthday, so his hair is getting long and thick.

eating more solids.

has top and bottom front 2 teeth.

crawls around the house with toys hanging out of his mouth.

will drop everything once he hears a door, cupboard, fridge, or dishwasher open and go right to it.

spits all the time.

loves bath time. he crawls and splashes everywhere.

is finally taking the bottle!!!

i just can't believe how fast time goes. seems like yesterday i was just in the hospital. i'm so thankful for our little bundle of joy. well, not so little. he acts like a toddler, but i still love every minute i have with him. i'm thankful for clay's job that allows me to stay at home and raise him. 

we love you, kort!

farmer john's pumpkin patch

We headed out north of town to go to the pumpkin patch! I'd have to say this was our first time, and I hope not the last of a new tradition :)

Claire, Nathaniel and Sophie enjoying the ride

 Emily and Scott

 Farmer John!

(on his John Deere...how appropriate:)

 Kort showed no emotion going down the slide. ha ha

 Inside the silo. Farmer John built a platform (shown below) and then made 

a slide to come out of it.

Beautiful sunset on the way back.

We got a group picture, which I'll have to post later, once I get it. We had a lot of fun though, being with our friends! (We missed you, Weeks!) We all went out to dinner afterwards where the place we ate got to deal with 8 adults and 9 kids! There was rice all over the floor all because of Kort! ha ha It was a great night :)