Logan Update: Continuing working at Zion's bank. We found out that his department is moving from the Zion's building in downtown Salt Lake to Midvale. We will be moving again to the Midvale/Sandy/Cottonwood Heights area in January.
Hanna Update: Continuing my photography class.
Connor Update: Connor went to the doctor for his 18 month checkup.
Weight: 25 pounds (45%)
Height: 33 inches (75%)
Head: 19 3/4 inches (94%)
After the doctor appointment I felt like such a bad mom. No one wants to hear "if your son isn't talking by his 24 month checkup we will start speech therapy". The doctor said he had fluid in his ears, and it was a possibility that Connor just couldn't hear; therefore, preventing him from speaking. I scheduled an appointment to come back in a few weeks to check his ear again and see if the fluid had drained out, if not then we would discuss the possibility of putting tubes in his ears. Immediately after leaving the doctors office I asked my parents when I started talking and as well as Logan's parents. My parents said I didn't start talking till later, and the same with Logan. However, for Logan it was different. He grew up having multiple ear infections that caused him to have similar, muffled hearing capabilities as a person trying to hear something while underwater. Logan eventually had tubes put in his ears.
Sherri said she could tell a huge difference in Logan's hearing and speech after the tubes were put in. She gave me some good advice and a few questions to ask the doctor. Sherri told me of a story of when she was getting the tubes put in Logan's ears at the doctor's office. A lady in the waiting room told her that she was glad Sherri was taking care of her son's ears because she didn't and now her son is deaf.
Immediately, I felt like I wasn't doing everything I could and called the doctor to further discuss Connor's ear situation. The final outcome was, if I really was worried then I need to take him to an E.N.T. (Ears, Nose & Throat) doctor. Immediately, I, went to the store and bought flashcards. Connor and I go through them daily. I payed closer attention to Connor's reactions when I talked to him to see if there were signs that he could hear me. I felt like he could hear just fine when I would ask him to do something and he would go and do it. I'm of the conclusion that Connor is picking up speech a little slower than the "average" 18 month old. No Big Deal. He still communicates through his signs to get what he wants/needs. He makes a lot of sounds of impersonating cars, airplanes, and animals. By the end of the month he began to say words: dog, shoes, eyes, light, and car (car is his favorite word, he repeats it over and over and over……and over).
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Grandpa visits:
For Thanksgiving, Jack (Grandpa) decided to come visit us for the Thanksgiving holiday. I love having family come and visit. It will be better when we have a bigger place to entertain guests. Grandpa and Connor had a great time spending time with each other. When we would go out driving, Grandpa would sit in the back with Connor and they would just have a good ol' time while I chauffeured them around. Since Grandpa likes to go for drives, I thought Connor could take his naps in the car while we all went driving. The first place we went to was Antelope Island, which is an desolate island in the Great Salt Lake with buffalo herds roaming.
In the winter, Utah gets what's called inversion. This causes the pollenates to get trap down in the valley causing a nasty haze throughout. The air quality is really bad and for those who have asthma and allergies usually have a hard time breathing. While my dad was here he got to experience the beginning of the "inversion season". Even though the air quality was bad, we still had fun getting out and exploring.
The next place we decided to go visit was the Hogle Zoo. We figured Connor would enjoy seeing all the animals. However, the day we went happened to be a free admissions day. Needless to say, EVERYONE seemed to be there. We decided it wouldn't be too fun to try fighting the crowds to see the animals. Instead, we found a museum called The Natural History Museum at the University of Utah; indoors and without the crowds. We had a great time!
Thanksgiving Day arrived and we all helped out in making a delicious dinner. Grandpa taught Logan how to cook a turkey and it turned out pretty tender. We just hung out and relaxed the rest of the day, enjoying each other's company. Later that evening we started craving something some hot chocolate. We thought we'd make a quick trip to Walmart, forgetting all about the pre-black friday sales. Never have I ever been, nor do I think I ever will go, black friday shopping. It is pure madness.
Of coarse, while Grandpa is out here he has to visit his best friend, Victor. When these two get together they act like kids (It's too funny). Just a bunch of joking around and picking on each other.
It was a short visit but we always enjoy it having Grandpa come visit us. We just wish family lived closer so the visits were more frequent.
This month, I made a thankful-tree. Each night we would write what we were thankful for on a paper leaf and tape it to the wall. I realized my days are much happier the more I look at what I am thankful for instead of concentrating on what I don't have. (I kept the thankful tree up past Christmas, whenever I would get down about things, I would look at the tree and think of all our many blessings. This helped me snap out of sadness).
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| The Thankful Tree & Connor being funny! |
Family Time:
We are all about having fun, but at a low cost. We have been getting together with some friends on the weekends to have game nights while our kids play and watch movies. We are so thankful to have friends. They make life more enjoyable.
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| Here we are with our first geocache find. An old Coffee can with little things inside. We signed our names to the list and added a golf ball to the can. |
We also have been doing geocaching. Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices, clues, and your observation skills. Particpants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates (coordinates only get you in the general area) and then attempt to find the geocache container at that location. Go to www.geocaching.com to hunt treasure in your area.
Temple Lights:
We were searching for a new place to live on the last day of the month in the mid vale/sandy/cottonwood heights area. While the Haslem family were driving back home to Idaho, from Thanksgiving vacation with family in Saint George. We met up for dinner, and then randomly decided to go see the temple lights. The first day of the temple lights turning on is chaos. I have never seen so many people at temple square at one time. We were literally shoulder to shoulder with total strangers. It was beautiful, none the less.We are happy that we got to spend some family time together before the Haslem's make their big move to Montana in a few weeks. Part of me is excited for their new adventure, but the selfish side of me is sad for them to move so far away.
(Thank you Jenee for bring your camera!)
I found getting the pictures in front of the temple to be funny. Further towards the top of the grass strip their is a polished stone that people usually stand on to take a picture with the temple. I saw the huge crowd of people swarming that particular spot. Instead of pushing our way through to get the perfect spot for our pictures. We just ran into the middle of the grass strip real quick and got our picture with the temple. I'm sure we photo bombed other people's pictures! Oops!
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| The Haslem Family |
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| Sisters |
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| Us |
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| See the silhouettes of all the people? |
Photo shot:
We volunteered to do take family pictures for our friends, the Henderson's, for their christmas cards.
We had a lot of fun taking their family pictures. Logan and Connor helped get the kids attention. Such a beautiful family.
