Scott's Utah State Graduation

It's been a long road coming, but Scott graduated with his Bachelor's in Liberal Arts on Saturday, May 3, 2014! It is a huge accomplishment for Scott, and I couldn't be more proud of him.

For a lot of years, Scott has struggled over the future, and what route he wanted to take in school. He has never been afraid to set goals and reach them. He has worked so hard, and he has done it all while working at the hospital, and taking care of me and Kaiser. It was such a hard year for us--with Scott working and going to school full time, me working, and both of us taking care of Kaiser full time, we didn't get to see each other as often as we would have liked...and I know Scott could have always used more study time. But he did amazing, and ended up getting such great grades. I could not be more proud of him!

Before his graduation, Scott went on a motorcycle ride with a couple of friends up to Bear Lake and back. We then went over to his Mom and Chuck's house to brunch before heading over to the Spectrum for the commencement.

Kaiser and I were so proud of Daddy for all his accomplishments!

Scott looks pretty proud too :)

After graduation, our family met together at the park by my parents house for some dinner. Scott had so many people there who love and support him--we are so blessed! We had sweet pork sandwiches, salads, desserts, and all the goods! Thanks to our awesome family for helping us put it together. We are so lucky to have such supportive people in our lives. 

 

 

I love you Scott. I am so proud of you for all of your hard work. Congratulations!

Life changes and big decisions!

We have some scary yet exciting news!

We are MOVING to TEXAS!!

Yep! That's right! Pretty crazy! Let me explain...

Earlier this year, after a TON of thought and time, Scott decided what career path he would like to take. He is going to go to graduate school to get his Masters of Urban Planning. He most likely wants to study economic development and sustainability.

We looked into graduate programs in and around Utah and didn't find anywhere where we could apply and go to school this fall. Until February. Scott was researching more programs and found out that Texas A&M was still taking applications for fall 2014. Scott had about 3 weeks to apply, get letters of recommendation, and a bunch of other paperwork. The deadline was March 1st, but we figured we might as well try it and see what happens, but weren't expecting to get in.

We received an email of acceptance into Texas A&M's MUP program early in the morning on March 21st and were both shocked and didn't know what to think at first. Our thoughts were seriously just like, "huh..." So, we spent that day, and next few days thinking about it, and inside I think we both knew that it just felt so right to accept. But we just feel so right about it. Plus, now we don't have to wait one more year for Scott to finish, which is fabulous!

Scott begins classes on September 1st and has an orientation a couple days before that. So we are not sure of any details yet other than that. Graduate school for Scott will be 2 years--He will do his first year, and then find a summer internship, and then his last year.

As far as an apartment, jobs, etc...we aren't sure yet. But we are going to start looking soon--I'm starting to get anxiety over it!

Texas A&M is in College Station, TX. It's in the Southeast part of Texas so we are about 1.5 hours away from Houston AND Austin. From what we have heard, it's a very conservative, safe town--which is a huge relief. We have to think about these things now even more with Kaiser!

Here are a few things we are excited for:

*SUN

*No snow

*Warmer weather

*Beach within 2 hrs of us

*Experience of living outside of Utah for a while

*Texas culture

*Football games

*We will still be Aggies! (Just Maroon instead of Blue)

Obviously, the worst part is leaving family. I hate thinking about that part. This will be so hard on us as we are so close with them, and Kaiser's best friends are our family. I hope for the best and that he will adjust to the change!

Congrats to Scott for working so hard and furthering his education! 

GO AGGIES!

9 10 & 11 MONTHS!!

Kaiser turned 11 MONTHS today! I am so behind on blogging :( 

I have been meaning to write a post ever since his 9 month appointment but timing has been hard.

He is seriously growing like a weed.  He had his 9-month appointment with his pediatrician on April 4th. 

Here are his stats:

Height: 28 1/4 inches -- 50th percentile
Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz -- 40th percentile
Head: 46 cm -- 75th percentile

Scott took him to his appointment because I was too busy at work and didn't get away in time. Obviously I had a harder time with it than Kaiser did. He got one shot, and did fabulously with it! 

HERE ARE KAISER'S FIRSTS: (that I remember)

* First wave: February 18th
* Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth teeth: Upper left tooth--March 5th. Right after the third tooth popped through, three other teeth followed. He currently has 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth

* He got his first ear infection shortly after his 9 month mark. He was feverish, and having troubles sleeping at night, which is very unlike him. The doctor checked his ears and throat at his appointment and told us to come back if he has a fever for 5 days. So I took him in Monday April 7th and both of his ears were infected. So he got put on 10 days worth of antibiotics and after 24 hours he felt so much better!

*He is just finishing off another dose of antibiotics from another ear infection, and probably a sinus issue. Poor guy...

OTHER FUN THINGS ABOUT KAISER:

* The Dr. said he is rather advanced for his age (socially, motor skills, talking, etc.). Obviously we are happy to hear that he is learning so well. I hope he continues on that path as he grows.
* Stands alone and walks along the couch, or whatever he can

* Loves to walk--although he is still too nervous to walk or stand on his own without help. But he will walk with a one-hand assist

* Talks SO much--says mama, dada, mimi, baba, nana, papa, dance dance, whats that, bye bye, lots of random gibberish, and other things that I can't remember. He jabbers all the time

* Loves to crawl through and under things (chairs, tables, legs, etc.)

* He loves to clap! Every time we sing patty-cake, he will clap. He also will mimic others, or clap when we say "Yay!"

* Bites

* Pinches

* Loves to play "Peek-a-boo"

* He still shakes his head randomly and on command when we say "wiggle wiggle wiggle"

* He loves to climb on everything

* He is obsessed with the stairs

* Still clicks his tongue

* Snorts

* Started spitting and gurgling his spit

* Blows kisses

* Throws things and then looks at them and says the "Uh" part of "Uh-Oh"

* After anyone sneezes, he always says his Kaiser version of bless you. Usually that is "uh" too

* He has the cutest little cheesiest grin on the planet. When you tell him to say "cheese" he gives you a big toothy, squint-eyed grin

* He loves to dance--He will usually stand and bounce his legs and say "dance dance"

* He has a lot of different tones and inflections to his voice and will mimic us a lot. He is very smart with his words

* Loves kids--especially his cousin Boston

* He has begun to throw temper tantrums. He throws his hands on the floor and starts to cry

* He sleeps for about 10-12 hours a night

* He takes 2-3 naps a day from 45 minutes to 2 hours

* He plays with everything he shouldn't--TVs, electronics, remotes, etc...

* He wears some 9 month clothes still, and some 12 month clothes

* He has begun to laugh to get attention, or just fake laugh for fun--it's so cute

* He smiles at mostly everyone and is very social

* He doesn't use his jumper as much, but he still loves to jump

* He hates baby food now. He likes finger foods and whatever mommy and daddy are eating.

* Loves eating meat of any kind

* Gives high fives

* Loves to throw things

* Loves walks/being outside

* We bought a Kelty backpack and he loves to go on hikes with it

* Hates the grass--he crawls with his butt in the air using his hands and feet instead of his knees

* Loves the swings

* He loves knocking over block towers that we build for him

* He is so smart and I love to watch his brain work. It's always running one hundred miles per minute as he learns new things so quickly

* He's so happy-- I hope he always has such a chill personality!

Here are some photos:

I know that I say this a lot, but it's so great having Kaiser in our lives. He takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but he is the greatest blessing and we love him so so much!