Little man

How cute is he, all ready for church? 

My little ray of sunshine

I realized that I haven't really posted pictures showing Jonathan's little personality that  has really developed over the last month or so. He smiles all the time at everyone. He is so happy and cute. He just coos and babbles and gives you these huge gummy grins. I love it. So I finally blew the dust off my camera and set about catching some smiles. It wasn't too hard... 

And what's not to love about these luscious shots?

Did I mention...

that this little dude is now three months old? 

(I totally didn't pose this like that, I just stuck the monkey next to him, lol)

and he is now rolling over onto his tummy and pushing his head up all proud?

So cute.

And this is my new favorite picture of Chris and Ben. They were laying on the bed and Ben was showing Chris stuff on the iPhone. He can totally work that thing.

Jake's Wedding... in Portland

Well, yes- I did just get out of the hospital on Sunday the 21st.... but I had a plane ticket to Portland for the 25th to attend my baby brother's wedding on Sunday the 28th. What a pickle. Honestly, all I could think of the whole time I was in the hospital was how much time I had before I was supposed to be on that plane. I couldn't miss Jakey's wedding! I hadn't seen my family since Christmas '06, and everyone was going to be there, minus a couple of spouses and a few of the kids..... It's not like I'm this huge traveler... what timing!

I wasn't sure if I'd make it, but crazy me, I went despite not feeling that great yet. It was awesome and hard and crazy, but worth it. The trip there and back was LONG. The flights and airports made me never want to fly again. Jonathan was pretty fussy on the way and I was not feeling well. Holding a baby for 4 1/2 hours on a plane with a backache is not that fun- then when he decides to wake up over and over....  Then I was finally there... the first night, I stayed at my sister-in-law, Keli's, aunt's house where they were staying (I got in really late and my brother came to get me) and I could NOT sleep and I was sick and the baby kept waking up and I was about dead the next morning. After that, things looked up. The rest of my nights (at a hotel) were better and my FABULOUS Auntie Jeanne let me stay with her and took care of Jonathan at night. She insisted that she was loving every minute of it- I think we wiped her out, but she was such a life saver. She made it so that I could make it through that weekend, and I am so incredibly grateful for everything she did for us on the trip. It was so awesome to see her, it had been way too long. Jonathan got spoiled!!

Jonathan also got to meet his Tutu. He was so dang cute. He just smiled and cooed at everyone, no problems. Went to anyone who wanted to hold him, wasn't too fussy, just had a good time...

And the man of the hour- this is who we were there for. My baby brother, who is such a grown-up now, I can't even believe it. But, he is the same old Jakey anyway. He's such a cute dad and just such a fun guy. I'm so proud of him =)

Mom and Doug were fun to hang around, even when Doug was going nutso in the car. I was just so so glad to be able to spend some time with my Mommy!

We had a fun birthday night for Jared and Keli at Chevy's (which was mmmmm...delicioso- someone find me some good Mexican food out here PLEASE!) Jared and Keli are always tons of fun (when Jared puts his phone/laptop down for a minute). I wish I could have had longer with them. But... did I mention, the food was awesome? Oh, and that I just love this girl?? 

I was sooooo happy to see so many of my little neices and nephews. Not all of them, bummer... but I got to finally meet my little sweeties.... this is Isabel. She and Lilly are Jared and Keli's foster daughters, and will be adopted in December!

This is Miss Lilly. She is so funny! She was everyone's best friend at the wedding-- all the girlsin Shannon's family just loved her.

And Brady... with his leaves.  He was doing the funniest stuff while we were waiting around before pictures. So cute, I love this kid.

And it was so awesome to be able to see my Nicky! He even let me cut his hair that was rather straggly the day before this...

Had to add this one... my Pops looked pretty debonair at the wedding.... I was a fan of the new short 'do.... it was more like the hair he always had growing up...

And of course...  Spencer, Mallory, and Cameron... They just moved up to Portland, so we got to see them. I couldn't believe how much they've all grown! 

Isabel was so cute- she loved to play with Jonathan...

And of course, I was so glad to hang out with my Sissy.... and hang out is pretty much what we did. We both spent most of Saturday... and Friday... on Jake's couch. We were both not feeling great, so we just vegged. Everyone was hanging out over there, but we just moved less. So fun anyway. This was my first time meeting Keaka... he is soooo cute and cuddly. I knew he looked just like Emmy, it's even more in real life.

My big brother... when he wasn't working. No, he was fun- he wasn't always on the phone. Always fun. And it was so fun watching him as the Daddy of their little girls. He is such a cute dad.

I have to mention right here that I was the worst photographer EVER on this trip. I didn't take nearly enough pictures and the ones I did take weren't so good- I screwed up settings and even the focus some of the time. I was just not in the zone really. I wasn't paying enough attention. BUT it's all good- at least I got pictures of everyone that I love. AND my Nicky took my camera at the reception and got me some priceless shots, like this one.

And this one.... This little dude... my newest nephew Keola, he's a month younger than Jonathan. He is so cute. 

And shots like this, which I love despite focus issues- they have JOY...

And this is how this one came out- upside down. Spencer maybe took this one...

And this awesome shot of the princess (Aliana- Jake and Shannon's little girl) getting down on the dance floor....
And Lilly, gettin' her groove on....
Josh too....

Another blur full of happy....
love this one....
Not happy, but sooo cute. haha....

You had to be there. I caught this one, it was my favorite dancing..... 

I didn't spend any time fussing over shots of the family and the bride and groom, or trying to get a picture in the dimly lit barn where they got married, because Jake and Shannon had a great photographer with much better equipment, and Jake said they're getting all the images and rights- so I'm just gonna get my hands on those. I'll be sure to post more when I have some. They looked so great - Shannon was just beautiful and Aliana was so cute. Jake looked so handsome, they were all just too cute. It was a gorgeous wedding and a beautiful location. I'm really glad I went. Because of how I'm still feeling (but better every day!) I am glad to be home with my guys. Rest, rest, rest... 

The story about me getting sick...

So, it's been a month since I blogged, and for good reason. It's been freaking insane! What a month we have had at our house... 

It all started with these random headaches that started coming every morning, more and more frequent until one just didn't go away for a few days and I was off to the doctor (well, Urgent Care since Dave and I are dumb and don't have a family doctor). UC Doctor did some bloodwork and a CT scan (lovely) and decided that the headache that went from my sinuses all the way over my head, down my neck and back.... was a really bad sinus infection. So he sent me home with prescriptions for antibiotics and painkillers. That was Thursday the 11th. Saturday morning I woke up so sick and spent almost 6 hours dizzy and barely able to move (among other things, but you don't want to know about that- TMI) before I could finally get myself into the car and we went to the ER. It took them forEVER to get to the point of medicating me so I wasn't hurting so much. They did more tests and admitted me with a kidney infection that they said was E. Coli.... which I never really got more information about, but whatever. Once I was admitted, I kept telling them, this headache is not normal- I don't get migraines- It's not going away... I couldn't handle even the little bit of light from behind the closed blinds in my hospital room... the on-call doctor at the hospital that I was assigned to (again, stupid us- no family doctor, bad idea!) finally listened and they started doing more tests- eventually a lumbar puncture- which determined that I had Viral Meningitis. Lovely. I spent the week in the hospital with IV's and lots of drugs, and finally got to come home on Sunday.

In the meantime, Dave was handling things at home... Three little boys, one just a couple months old... and I should mention that Dave's mom had recently broken her foot, so his usual first route for help was not available to him....  He was at the hospital most of the time (more on that later). Our ward was AMAZING. They really went above and beyond. I had been so sick that our house was falling apart, and several of the ladies came in and cleaned up. Others took care of the boys. They were shuffled around for a few days. Mariann (sister in law) took our boys on and off, including nights with the baby.  Jeanne (Dave's sister) decided to fly in to help and she took over my house and took care of my kids. She did so much, I can't even begin... she was our angel. Just having her come stay at the house so the boys could be home and have things sort of normal was so huge. She also stayed at the hospital with me so that Dave could be home with the boys...

Dave didn't want me alone after the first or second night, so that made things trickier...  He had gone home to take care of the boys and was going to come back in the morning. That was our plan- Dave would take care of the kids and the doctors and nurses would take care of me. Well, the doctor ordered a test (can't remember what it was) and they came to get me with a wheelchair, even though I was in bad shape and was on "fall alert", meaning I couldn't get up out of my bed alone because I was too shaky. I had no clue about this stuff- I haven't really ever been in the hospital besides a couple of surgeries and having babies. Never a week full of tests and unknowns...  so anyway, they took me in a wheelchair (apparently they should have wheeled me in a stretcher) and then left me sitting there in a room... where I either fell asleep or passed out (I think I just fell asleep) after a few minutes and fell out of the chair onto my head. Dave was so mad that they let that happen, he wouldn't leave me alone after that..

One of the hardest parts was not being able to take care of my baby. I mean, he was just over two months at this point, and suddenly I couldn't nurse him and he wasn't with me 24/7- that was the weirdest thing to get used to- and then to start all over with him when I got out... definitely an adjustment. Luckily, he is the happiest baby. He was a little out of sorts at first, but now he is back to his content self and we are doing good. I wish I would have been able keep nursing, but they made that pretty impossible for me. At least we're all healthy.

I felt a lot better by the time they let me out, but I realized after getting home that I still had a lot of recovering to do. I was really tired and weak, not really up to my normal energy levels. I'm still not 100%... but getting there! We are so thankful for all the help, and the wonderful family and friends who were praying for us, and for priesthood blessings. Thanks.