A sad story

Monday was very sensitive for me as a mother.
We took Zoey to her first doctor's appointment here in ID. I randomly chose a doctor based on location and really regret it. The doctor was horrible and Zoey was screaming bloody murder the whole time he was near her. On top of that she was shaking uncontrollably, I wanted to cry. Zoey had a male doctor in UT and did great with him so it wasn't that. The difference between him and this doctor was that her old doctor was actually friendly and good with children. This new doctor obviously is not the best fit for pediatrician. Zoey could sense that something wasn't right as soon as he approached her. She is normally a very social little girl and NOT scared of strangers. This man scared her. Even after she started screaming he proceeded to force her to lay down and made no change to his normal routine to accomodate a terrified little girl. Our old doctor let me hold Zoey if she showed any sign of hesitation (which only happened once) and he did his exam with her in my arms. Personally I don't see that as a very hard accomodation. This man was just not caring enough. So, needless to say we will be changing doctors. I never want to have to live through that again.

Halloweeny

This year Zoey was a ladybug thanks to my mom for the shirt and pants which inspired it all. She was pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. We had fun at our ward halloween party on Fri. and then dressed up on Sat. too. We didn't go trick or treating which I was fine with but we did go and visit Andrew's grandma to show off Zoey's costume and we also went to Andrew's cousins for a relaxing halloween dinner/party. It was great to relax on halloween after the crazy church party. Not saying I don't like to party but one night was enough :) Enjoy the pictures.

I was a monarch butterfly. Very easy and fun. I think the wings turned out pretty cool.

Zoey with Grandma Higham. Grandma Higham actually won the costume contest the day before halloween at the senior living center where she lives. I was bummed we didn't get to see her in costume but we were told by the front desk that she was dressed as a man from the 1920's (Charlie Chaplin look). She apparently played the part as well and wouldn't tell anyone who she was. She didn't even let her husband accompany her so she could stay in her secret character. She's such a funny lady. We love her.

Face painting at the Halloween party.

Eating a powdered dohnut

These are the wings I made five minutes before the party. I used leftover scraps from my fabric box and hot glue. I think they turned out pretty good for how quickly I worked.

She won her only candy from this game. Two pieces :) I ate them :)

These are some goodies that Grammy gave Zoey. A pumpkin sippy and Bisquits pet and play halloween book. Thank you grammy!

We can't forget Andrew's costume. We couldn't figure out a good enough bug themed costume so he did what he knows best....painted his face and wore his trenchcoat :) He was going for a swamp monster....ahhH! Zoey watched him put the makeup on so she wasn't scared of him. I was surprised.

I didn't really give Zoey any halloween candy but she had found a lolipop at the party and I let her hold it. By the time we got home, I turned around to find this...it was a mess :(

Zoey with all the other bugs at the halloween party..pretty cute

A Little Bit of Luck

I looked out my window in the morning and saw this really pretty red bush. Later that day when it was cloudy, I took Zoey out and had a little bit of luck. No huge smiles, mostly because it was too cold, but still some cute pictures. Enjoy!

Just can't keep up

I have not been the best about blogging. Partly because Andrew takes his computer to school (I need my own) and partly because I have been lazy. I keep expecting everyone else to update their blogs while mine just sits. Sorry!

Zoey's update:

Here are some recent pictures of Zoey. My baby girl is almost 16 months old!!! I can't believe it. She is saying so many words that I think I'm taking her "word count" off before it takes up the whole blog. Her most complex words are "cracker" "apple" and "flower". She is so polite and also says thank you (the word and the sign) almost anytime you do something she wants. I weighed her yesterday and she weighs 19.8 lbs...We finally bought her a big girl carseat (the poor thing has been stuffed into newborn position for way too long), I hope no one minds that I am .2 lbs off. She really was illegally tall for her infant carrier and it's so much nicer to look back and see her sitting up instead of laying down crying because the sun is right in her eyes and she can't move her head...poor girl :( She is so fun all the time. She is so social. After the initial "getting used to you" phase she is very good about always saying "hi, hi, hi" to you the moment she sees you. I could go on and on about all her achievements but I won't. She really is the best baby and we love her!

Zoey #2 update:

This is Dustin's (Elder Kenyon's) name for our baby #2. She seems to be doing fine. She is definitely a girl and everything has been great. What a blessing this pregnancy has been. It is nothing like Zoey's (which makes it a blessing). With Zoey, I was either at the toilet or in my bed with a bowl in arms reach for over 27 weeks. I would get light headed and even after 27 weeks, I still had that annoying lingering nausea in the pit of my stomach.... thankfully those days are gone...for now. This time around I have had more energy and did not get AS sick. I still had a bowl by my bed but just didn't get as comfortable with it. Plus, that sickness only lasted until about 20 weeks and now I am 27 weeks and it is long gone (no lingering)! It has been wonderful.

Besides my spout about being sick, here are the major differences this time around....

-I am showing WAY more than with Zoey (hence, why there are no

pregnant pictures of me on this blog :)

-I am getting heartburn earlier

-I don't feel the baby move as strongly (doctor says my placenta being in front causes this)

-I am able to go longer periods without eating

-I have TONS of painless contractions

-I feel lots of pressure

I'm sure there are more but I don't want to bore anyone. I'll move on.

Andrew update:

Andrew started school at BYU-I in September and loves it. He is working hard and always studying. When he gets time he works on his cars that he likes to fix up and sell. Right now he is in ID and I'm at his parents in Lindon and I miss him tons! He's the best and I love him.

Other Updates:

Elder Kenyon is officially in Lubbock, TX as of Monday of this week. We got to speak with him as a family last Sat. night while we were together for my Grandmothers funeral. He sounds like he's doing great and is really excited to be out in the field.

As I mentioned we were at my grandmother's funeral. This was my grandma, Zoe Kenyon, the one we were able to visit while living in Ely at the beginning of the year. She was able to live with my grandpa in an assisted living center in Sandy, UT until she passed away on Oct. 9th. She was 93 years old. I am glad that we were able to spend so much time with her earlier this year. I am glad that Zoey was able to visit with her great grandmother and we will miss her. However, she suffered a lot these past few years and I am grateful she is in a much better place where she can use her mind. The funeral was very special for me.

Another unfortunate event was the passing of my grandpa (on the other side). This happened the day of my grandma's funeral and was a little unexpected. My mom's father had a stroke 4 years ago and has been bedridden ever since with a feeding tube and trach. However, he was only 75 and his mind was completely alive. It broke my heart every time we visited knowing that he wanted so badly to communicate but his body was holding him back. There were no other major health problems during these four years. A week ago he got some kind of virus/infection and it really caught up to him quickly. He only lived for a few more days. He passed away last Sat. and I will be going to CA tomorrow for his funeral. We will miss him a lot too. He had a great sense of humor and was always making us laugh.

I would say this picture looks EXACTLY like me when I was her age. She is squinting her eyes trying to make a funny face. Boy, did we ever laugh :)

Zoey's first concern in the morning is getting her shoes on.


Getting a couple fall pictures.


She had fun stomping through the leaves.


This was when I made sugar cookies. Zoey loved them, plus her face is just too dang cute.


Look at those beautiful eyes!

The Beach

I have been trying to get caught up on posting all the events that have taken place recently. As I am uploading these "recent" beach photos, I am thinking to myself "I am definitely not in Kansas anymore". You see here in Idaho they do things a little differently. So far, there has been no fall only summer and winter. Last week went from warm sunshine to snow the very next day. It has only gotten worse since. So, you can see my dilemna....it's just wrong to be going to the beach one week, then a few weeks later there's snow. I will definitely have to get used to this, but I think I will survive with the help of some warm jackets, mittens, and boots.

So here are the beach pictures. If you are experiencing this cold WINTER weather as am I, sorry for the tease :)

This was the same day we went to the temple where Zoey had gotten sunburnt under her eyes. You can see it in this picture, poor little girl.

Oh how I love my hubby


Beach Babe!

Just the girls!

Out small family

Birthdays

We have had a few birthday celebrations in the past month. One was Karlie's 17th!! I made her a "bomb" cake. It was a double fudge cake triple combo with moose tracks ice cream layered on top, topped with a light drizzle of chocolate, sprinkled with a huge load of butterfinger crunch......that was Andrew's interpretation as he is watching me type.
You get the idea, it was delicious.

The last one was Andrew's on Sept. 7th. We were in AZ visiting David and Maren and Maren made a very yummy pumpkin cheesecake! We also went to Texas roadhouse and had them do their birthday "holla." He had to sit on a saddle while our waitress hollered a bunch of shinannagins about his birthday....it was really funny.

Then there was my birthday on the 25th. We went out to eat at Olive garden, I got to go shopping and Andrew made me a delicious cake, funfetti my fav. with strawberry icing and sigar sprinkles...yum!

LA family temple trip

While in California last month we had the opportunity to go to the LA temple. I love this temple and it was only my second time through, the first being my very first temple experience. Karlie and Dallin watched Zoey outside while we were inside. Poor little girl got sunburnt pretty bad, that darn overcast! It was a great experience. We didn't have a picture taker so Scot and my mom switched off. The picture below is missing Scot...sorry :( The rest of the pictures are what went on while Zoey was being babysat...

I love this little girls profile, I think the new baby will have a similar one.

poor Zoey got attacked by cheez-its :)

The culprit...shoud've known something like this was bound to happen :)