Noah - 8 Months

To Sum up April

I was off to a good start this month with blogging. But, then I really slacked off. I guess nothing exceptional has happened, so I thought I would catch everyone up with what we've been up to.
Noah is sitting really well on his own, but that's about it. He doesn't seem to have much of a desire to get moving. Which is mostly fine with me. I wouldn't be surprised if he walked before crawling. He loves standing up on his legs. Earlier this month we had to take him in for Physical Therapy because he had some tightness in his neck muscles that were causing him to favor looking in just one direction, which was resulting in a little flatness on one side of his head. Luckily we were able to stop the problem and fix most of the flatness by positioning and stretching the muscles. He's got 5 teeth already! Noah has also found an immense love for Graham Crackers. If nothing else will soothe him, we just sit him in a chair with his crackers and he's happy as long as we keep supplying them. He's still waking me up 2-4 times during the night, but I love him so much it's not usually too big of a deal.
Lexi has become such a fun and crazy little girl. First, we are had to say that she is completely potty-trained, even at night! You know how they call it the terrible two's? Well now, we are on to the terrifying 3's! She can be such an emotional child. And she has developed the funniest idiosyncrasies. For example, she doesn't like to wear pants. If I put pants on her, she will usually cry for up to an hour after wards. If she is wearing pants, she walks around holding them up because she doesn't like them to touch her socks. She wears nightgowns on her head constantly so she'll have long hair. She has to wear a nightgown every night and if not, it's the same reaction to the pants. If she gets any water on her clothes, even just a tiny drop, it's the end of the world. And if Myra makes her mad, watch out! It's kind of scary! Despite all her craziness, she is still such a sweet little girl. She loves to climb into my lap and snuggle with me. She's always giving kisses and telling me that she loves me. What a fun little girl!
Myra is close to finishing up her year of preschool. Just a few more weeks left. She has grown and changed so much this past year. I can't believe my baby is going to Kindergarten this year! She's very excited. One of her friends that's older than her told her that all they do in Kindergarten is play. I hope she's not too disappointed. Myra is such a fantastic helper to all of us. She loves entertaining Noah and bossing Lexi around. She's very quick to help out her mom and dad and will often clean her whole room all by herself. She is constantly hungry, always asking about the next meal or if she can have a treat. She's also started piano lessons and seems to really be enjoying them. For some reason, she has started getting really scared at night because she thinks someone is going to climb in her window and steal her. Poor girl, we're not really sure where this has come from, so we have to do a lot of comforting at night. And Myra continues to astound us with her wild imagination. (She's wearing 8 dresses in this picture.)
Chad has finished up everything he needed to do in order to graduate and is set to graduate on May 7th! We are so excited and happy for him! I'm so proud of all the hard work he has put in to his education. He has been looking for jobs diligently and we are hoping something will come up soon. He's also looking forward to starting a community chess club after graduation and hopes to get in some golfing this summer. Chad just barely celebrated his 31st birthday. It was a nice quiet day. We attended church, watched a movie together, bbq'd steaks and had strawberry shortcake for dessert.

I don't have much exciting going on in my life right now, except taking care of the kids, which is always exciting! We have a lot of fun together! I'm still running my business and hope to sell a few things at the Gardener's Market this summer. I was called in about 2 weeks ago and released from my calling as Primary Pianist. I have to admit that I was pretty surprised. I'd only been in there for about 2 years and I've been the ward choir pianist for almost 4! I thought I'd be released from that way before primary. Needless to say, I've really struggled with it. I loved being in primary and have had a hard time understanding why they would release me from it. (I didn't receive another calling either.) Anyway, Myra and I had a good cry about it that afternoon and I still become a little emotional thinking about it still. Sunday was particularly hard. It was the first time I didn't go to primary. I could hear the kids singing and it was really sad not being in there with them. And honestly, Relief Society is so boring after being in primary with all the crazy kids! Anyway, I know I'll get over it, but it has been very hard for me.
Right now, Myra and Lexi are currently staying with their Grandma and Grandpa so that Chad and I can get the house painted. We are going to get it all fixed up and put up for sale! We thought we would just stay here until Chad found a job, but with no current prospects, we figured we should try to sell the house and rent someplace locally until Chad finds a job. Let's face it, 5 people in a 2-bedroom, 954 square foot apartment has really lost is luster. Noah is still in our bedroom and we are always waking each other up during the night. Last night, with the girls gone, we put him in there room and he slept 9 hours! It'll be sad to put him back in our room when the girls come home. The past couple of months, I've really struggled with living here. The walls have just closed in around me. I've tried to be a good sport about it, but the girls are constantly waking Noah up when he's sleeping and I just feel that we are on top of each other. It makes me grumpy. =) It's been so nice having warmer weather and being able to spend a lot of time outside. I really shouldn't complain. We have it much better than so many other people, but I am certainly looking forward to a move, that involves 3+ bedrooms! =) So, keep your fingers crossed that the place will sell quickly.
Anyway, I had no intention of this post being so long. Sorry!

Baby Animal Days - 2010

Yesterday, we had our annual outing to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center. It's one of my favorite events of the year and the kids really seem to love it. We met up with Janelle and her kids and started out the day at the Pony ride. While we were waiting in line, one of the horses started freaking out and if the mom hadn't been standing next to her child, I'm certain there is no way the little girl would have stayed on. As it was, it shifted the entire structure and all the kids were crying. It made me a little hesitant to put my girls on there, but we stayed to have our turn. So, I lifted Myra onto her horse with instructions to hold on really tight, then went to the next horse to put Lexi on. Just as she gets on, a cannon or gun or something goes off and spooks the horse. It calmed down right away, but Lexi was absolutely terrified. At this time, I look ahead of me and see that the horse Myra is on is starting to freak out. It had twisted all the way facing the opposite direction and you could tell it was upset. Luckily, Myra was being brave and hadn't fallen off or anything, but they took her off and I just decided to have her ride on Lexi's horse, since Lexi was so terrified. That way, I was able to walk next to Myra. Ultimately, we walked away from the ride unscathed. Funny that last year, the girls were exactly opposite. Lexi was brave and Myra was terrified. I still think Lexi would have been ok if the horse hadn't spooked. We then headed over to see all the baby animals, including pigs, shetland ponies, lambs, goats, rabbits, cows and ducks. Lexi was scared of the pigs because one of them had been squealing rather loudly. I eventually got her to pet one. I really enjoyed looking at the ponies. They were so cute! The kids all loved holding the baby ducks. They felt so fragile to hold and I'm sure they were terrified of all the kids touching them. The kids loved holding them though. We had to practically drag them away from there. After that, we headed over to the other side of the farm to do the Candy Cannon. Basically, they rope off a big area, shoot candy into it and then the kids go for it. After that we went to see the baby turtles. Both the girls enjoyed holding the babies. They were so tiny. At this point, Janelle and her kids had to head home, so I found a place to feed Noah and we ate yummy fresh-cooked donuts. Then we headed off to wait in the long line to see the Baby Bears. They were very cute. Unfortunately, I didn't get any great pictures. It was amazing how these baby bears were so cuddly and loving to their handlers. One woman was just sitting in a chair rocking the baby bear like you would cuddle with any baby. Very cute.

After this, I decided it was time to head home. But, as we left, the kids talked me into riding the train before we left. The line wasn't too long and we got on pretty quickly. I'm not sure why, but Myra was so ecstatic about the train ride. The entire time she kept saying, this is the most fun ever! Whatever. Silly girl. Anyway, we had a really fun day. We all got to see lots of cute and cuddly (not to mention stinky) baby animals. We got to eat some yummy treats. And no one broke any bones. (Yes, this is the same location that Myra broke her arm last October.) Although we all did end up with sunburns. Besides that, it sure was nice to enjoy a sunny day outside!

Easter 2010

For Easter this year, we just stayed at home and had a nice quiet time. We were able to watch Conference and just relax. During the break on Saturday, we ran out with the kids to go to a couple of Easter Egg Hunts around town. The first one we went to had been moved from outside to inside a tiny cramped building. We waited in line and got inside the building, then turned around and left. It was absolutely, utter chaos! Then we went to a local grocery store, Lee's, where we could go around the "Bunny trail" and pick up candy. I think we all enjoyed this infinitely much better! The kids even got to see the Easter Bunny. On Sunday, we woke up and had breakfast and while the kids were in the tub, the Easter Bunny came and hid candy and eggs all over our house. The girls were so excited and had a great time picking up all the goodies. For the rest of the day we watched conference, the kids ate an embarrassing amount of candy and we had a yummy ham for dinner. It was a nice weekend. The funny thing though, is now, Lexi blames EVERYTHING on the Easter Bunny. If we can't find something, the Easter Bunny took it, if something is broken, it's the Easter Bunny's fault, and one time, Chad asked who had pooped in the toilet without flushing it and Lexi said, "I didn't. Maybe the Easter Bunny did." That darn Easter Bunny!

Screaming Noah

When there are no words to really express how you feel...

Lexi and the Wii

With Lexi turning 3, she has graduated from "Baby Stats" to a full-fledged Wii Fit player. This is how she celebrated!

Our Newest Cousin - Jackson

Brandon and Allison had their first baby, Jackson on March 18th. They had a few problems during their pregnancy and he was born about 3 weeks early and weighed in at only 4lbs. 12oz.! He spent a little less than a week in the hospital and from what I hear he is home and doing well! It's sad that it'll be such a long time before we even get to see him! Out of the 3 married siblings on Chad side of the family, we all had a baby boy within the past year. In a couple of years, these little guys will be causing a lot of trouble, I'm sure!
Congratulations Brandon and Allie! And Welcome to the family Jackson!

Noah - 7 Months

McKenzie's Baby Blessing

On Sunday, my sister Breanne and her husband Danny blessed their first baby, McKenzie. We have been so excited for them to have this baby, since they've had a hard time trying for her to come. She's such a cute little thing, with all that crazy hair! The blessing went really nicely and then we had a luncheon at Bre's house after. Lots of yummy food and even a cake for Lexi's b-day. We hung out there for several hours just chatting and playing. Myra especially loved entertaining her cousin Kenzie. Kenzie just stared at her and smiled at her. Myra just loves babies! It's kind of funny that we have the only boy grandchild on my parent's side and we have the only girl grandkids on Chad's side of the family. I'm sure that'll change in the future. Anyway, we really enjoyed visiting with family and were sad to leave. Congratulations Bre!

Grandpa Keyser's B-day Party

Last Saturday, Chad's Grandpa had a birthday party. March has so many Keyser birthdays! Chad's mom and dad, his sister Natalie, his Grandpa, our new nephew, Jackson and Lexi. Whew! It's quite the month for celebrations! Anyway, we were glad that we were going to be down in Salt Lake for the weekend anyway, so that we were able to go. Chad's dad flew in and we were excited to be able to see him as well. Our kids were the little ones there, so they got a lot of attention from all of Chad's Aunts and Uncles. All of Chad's Grandparent's children were there.