Week in Review 1-9/1-15 2012

Monday-Don and I took Connor to St. George to celebrate his birthday.   Kyle and Cayden stayed with Grandma. After we got back from St. George we to grandpa's house for birthday cake. 

Tuesday-Kyle had a bad night.  He was ake at 9:30, 12,  2 and 5.  Don left for San Antonio early.  I cleaned, made Owie's rice cozy for his birthday present on my new sewing machine, made corn chowder and chocolate chip cookies,.  I found out Michelle, my neighbor had been in the hospital over the weekend so I took her the corn chowder.  Kyle and I walked around the block a few times.  Caleb stayed late and had Dylan come over.  Dylan did not stay very long because Caleb was feeling sick.  Caleb went to take a bath and did not make it to the toilet in time and puked all over the tub.  The little stink left it until I told him it was too darn bad and I was not cleaning that up.  I must be a terrible mom to make my sick son clean up his own puke but I totally would have puked myself if I would have done it.  I worked on our Christmas Jeopardy game and this blog.


Wednesday-Cayden was up at 5am because he was low. He ate cereal and toast and came back to my room.  Kyle woke up at 5 as well and got to eat too.  Caleb was still sick so he missed another day of school.  Since Cayden's blood sugar was a little wonky and he had bee up so early he stayed home from school too.  Grandpa made pasta for lunch for Connor's birthday.  Cayden and I went over for that.  Laura came too.  I took a baby gift to my vt partner and had flowers delivered to Michelle my neighbor who had been in the hospital.  Jim Davis brought Connor a present for his birthday because they have the same birthday.  Connor wasn't home because he was sweeping at a basketball game.  Cayden was starving and ate a whole box of Special K.  His blood sugar was horrible-472.

Thursday-Caleb was still sick and stayed home.  Cayden was late-10:30.  Connor came home at 10 because his blood sugar was over 300 which is when they send him home even if he feels ok or wants to stay.  I walked 4 laps around the block at 12 while Kyle was asleep.  Caleb listened for him.  Don got home at 4.  Kyle rolled to the middle of the floor in our room.  I transferred all my Itunes music that Cody put on my computer onto my new phone.  Connor made tacos for dinner and I packed and did laundry to get ready for Utah.

Friday-Kyle was up at 2, 4:30 and 7:30.  Caleb got up at 6:30 because he said he was going to school but he got dressed and crawled back into bed.  I got up around 9 and finished packing.  Connor was a bit stir crazy and vacuumed out the car, emptied the garbages and tried to stay busy.  Don had some phone calls to make.  We got out of here around 12 and had to run to Overton.  We stopped at Wendy's in St. George  and then stopped in Fillmore for a potty break.  We made it to the Yuba exit where we pulled over so I could change Kyle and then I put him back in his seat and fed him.  We stopped again at the last Nephi exit to burp him.  We got to grandma's house where she had white chili for dinner.  We opened our Gessel family Christmas presents and sat around and talked until 10:15.  Chris and Anne had to leave though because they had to work the next day.  Cayden watched his new Mr. Popper's Penguins movie.  We had a Wendy's craving and Cody and Calley went for food at midnight.

Saturday-Kyle slept in the crib from 12:00-7:30 which was great.  We got up around 9:30.  The girls and Cayden went to lunch out in AF at Applebee's with Mawmaw and the family girls.  Then we went to the new U-swirl and Big Lots.  After lunch we went back home and me and the boys-except Kyle and Don who stayed and watched football-went to Deseret Book for Cody's birthday present, The Honey Baked Ham Store, Old Navy for pants for Caleb, Target and Taco bell for dinner for the boys.  Don and I took Cody to Happy Sumo for his birthday dinner and to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Sweet Tooth Fairy and Deseret Book to pick up Cody's scriptures that they put his name on. 

Sunday-We stayed home from church to help with Lexi and Cam.  I made cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, and 2 Snow Tunnel cakes for Cody.  The family came over for dinner-we had the honey baked ham and turkey and grandma made frozen rolls.  Dinner was at 5 and Chris and Anne got back from work around 7 and we played our Christmas Jeopardy finally.  Chris and Anne won Gnomeholio back. 

Connor's Birthday

Connor's birthday was on a Wednesday this year and Don had to go out of town so we celebrated on Monday.  Connor wanted Texas Roadhouse and he needed some new clothes.  Don and I have decided that it is much better and easier to take the kids one on one for their birthdays and also to let them pick out their presents because we don't know what to get them half the time anyway.  They are much happier to pick out what they want anyway.  It is also a lot less stressful to take them one at a time and also it saves money since we aren't taking the whole family out to dinner.  With Aspberger's Syndrome it is hard for Connor to understand and not get super overexcited which leads to a meltdown and also the jealousy factor of attention not all being focused on him causes him problems too.  This way we get one on one time with each of the kids and avoid the potential problems that birthdays, holidays and any other days out of the ordinary cause.  We took Kyle to grandma's house and Cayden went there after school.  We got to Texas Roadhouse right when they opened so we were able to get in really quickly.  After dinner we went to Kohl's for some new clothes for Connor.  He needed some new pants and church pants.  Then we went to Sportsmen's Warehouse where he picked out a camoflauge BYU hat, a new long sleeve camo shirt and some targets to shoot at with his BB gun.  He also wants a new rope to practice his roping with but I have to order that online.  After our shopping we headed home so that we could have cake and ice cream at Grandpa's.  Grandpa made Connor his favorite cake-Skor cake.  We sang to Connor and he got his present from grandma and grandpa. Grandpa gave him an old gun that he has had for years.  It was Grandpa's brother's, named Mike, who died 40 years ago.  It was broken and needed to be fixed but that was part of the deal.  Grandpa had Aunt Amy's dad order the part and took it down to him.  They also gave him a new tennis racket and some tennis balls.  On Wednesday, Connor's actual birthday Grandpa and Grandma made pasta and bread for Connor at lunch. Cayden and Kyle and I went over and Laura came over too.  Connor got money and giftcards from his aunts and uncles and Grandma Penny and Granddaddy Larry.

Kyle Brandt is 4 Months Old

Our sweet baby boy is 4 months old today!!! I can hardly believe it! Being pregnant for 9 months seems like an eternity but it goes so fast once the baby is here.
Weight 15 lbs 2 oz
Height 25 inches
Eats 5 ounces about every 3 hours.
We still mix the Similac Sensitive orange can and green can.
Sleeps between 6-8 hours a night depending on what time he goes to bed. Sleeps mostly in the cradle at night in our room. We are debating what to do about putting him in his crib and where to put it.
Takes 3-4 naps a day still. Usually 45 minutes to an hour in the morning then again in the early afternoon. Usually in the late afternoon he will take a 1.5-2 hour nap and then another 45 minute nap in the evening.
He stays awake 1.5-2 hours at a time.
Kyle can roll over both ways.
He does not like tummy time and just in the last week he has immediately rolled over as soon as we put him on his belly.
Kyle is laughing out loud and is getting very ticklish right up under his neck, and along his ribs in the back. He is very drooly-no teeth coming through yet though.
He sucks on his hands alot.
He is starting put lots of things in his mouth-his blankets and burprags.
He reaches for his toys that hang from his carseat, bouncer and playmat.
He can see pretty far away and turns his head when people walk by.
He knows who his family is and loves to smile at his brothers.
He is wearing mostly 6 month clothes and has grown out of lots of the 3-6 month stuff.
He is wearing size 2 diapers.
He puts his hands together.
He tries holding his bottle.
It seems like he knows what his binky is because he turns his head to try and get it and almost tries to put it back in his mouth when it falls out.
He is getting much more interested in playing while he is eating-much to mommy's chagrin.
He started to smile and play more in his bath now.
His little nails get really sharp and he can pinch and scratch if mom does not keep them trimmed.
He has made it through all of church 3 times now.
We had to pull the baby set-in thing out of his car seat because he was too big for it.
He arches his back when he is mad and does not want to be in his carseat or swing.  
Mommy let him taste a teeny tiny bit of ice cream on Christmas day.
Everyone that sees him says he looks like Caleb.
Mommy is teaching him sign language a little like mommy, daddy, kiss, eat, happy and sleep.
Grandma and Grandpa are the only ones who have been allowed to babysit him for a long time.  
Mom usually is content to stay home and not go anywhere all day long because it is such a challenge with a baby.
Kyle has gone to dinner with mom and dad 3 times now.  PF Changs, Brio and Outback.
His eyes are still blue and his hair is still dark brown.  It seems to be not as dark as Connor's was though and may possibly be turning auburn or lighter.

Week In Review 1-2/1-8 2012

Monday- Don took down the outside lights and Cayden and I took down the inside decorations.  I also dusted and cleaned the floors.  We had potato cheese soup for dinner. Our neighbor Molly came over and got to witness the boys fighting.  It was lovely.  Around 3am Caleb came in to say that Cayden had puked on himself.  We got him cleaned up and moved to our room.  I could not sleep that night anyway so it was not fun when I had just fallen asleep at 2 and he woke up at 3.  I went ahead and fed Kyle at 3:30 when he started to wake up just to save myself a little stress when he fully woke up and I had fallen back asleep. Cayden puked about 5 times in about 2 hours time.

Tuesday-Cayden was stopped puking around 10am but did not feel super good for another few days.  He was awake for a while so he watched TV in our room.  Don got the other boys up and to school while Cayden and me and Kyle slept.  I made chicken casserole for dinner.  Caleb stayed late at school, had Dylan over and Connor swept the floor at a basketball game. 

Wednesday-Cayden did not go to school again because he was still not feeling well enough.  Connor was late because he was high and did not want to get out of bed.  I did laundry.  Cayden listened to his book on CD for his book report and we videoed the report and made his poster.  We had the plumber over to look at the water softener and he did a plumbing check around the house.  I made Zuppa Toscana, rolls and orange rolls.  Molly came over and well as Dylan.  Don played basketball with the boys, Molly and Dylan.  Caleb and Dylan went to mutual where they made waffles. Cayden was quite stir crazy after being sick for 2 days and started his OCD cleaning routine.  He emptied the trashes, cleaned the family room and even eptied the dishwasher of the dirty dishes. 

Thursday-I took the boys to school and went to the store and the bank early.  I brought home McDonald's for Cayden since he loves their pancakes.  I did not have plans to get crazy in the office but once I got started it just kept going.  I cleaned out my craft closet and went through all my scrapbook stuff and through a bunch of it away just because I have been digi-scrapping as of late and some of the stuff was easily 10-12 years old.  I also paid the bills, and did laundry. Caleb went to Dylan's house after school.  Connor went toe Mesquite to clean windows and Cayden went to grandma's after school and had chicken potpie.  Molly came over after school.  After Mesquite Grandpa came over to visit and Kyle promptly puked all over him.  I got Kyle to laugh alot by kissing his neck and rolling him back and forth.  Cayden rode his bike for about 10 minutes with dad's help.  I contacted Joan about tutoring Cayden for math. 

Friday-I could not sleep for some reason so I got up at 4:30 and started working on our taxed and changing out our files for the new year.  Caleb cleaned the house after much stalling and pouting  on his bed because he owed us $60 for his phone bill.  He did baseboards and windowsills, bathrooms, floors and swept the porches.  He also vacuumed out our cars.

Saturday-Don got up and took the boys to clean the church and set up for Stake Conference.  Then he took them to McDonald's for breakfast. I did not feel good-maybe had a touch of what Cayden had.  I still made sliders and finally chocolate chip cookies that I had been craving for days and days.  The boys had  fire out back and roasted marshmellows.  I finally watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Sunday-No one made it to church that day-partly because it was Stake Conference and it was at 10am and partly because I did not feel well still.  Don and Caleb went to John Rockenbach's Eagle Court of Honor.  Connor had spent the night at grandma's and he went to stake conference and grandpa took him to the court of Honor.  I made roast and potatoes and then we watched the last Harry Potter.

New Year's Day

New Year's Day was on a Sunday this year just like Christmas was.  Our ward switched to 11am which was quite a change for us from 1pm.  We were sure rushing to get out the door on time. We got the boys up at 10 but it was not early enough because they did not actually get out of bed until 10:15.  We decided that if they wanted breakfast they would have to be up before 10 or they would not eat on Sunday mornings.  Kyle and I came home after Sunday School.  We had black eyed peas and cornbread to welcome in the new year and guarantee us good luck-haha.  We took naps and watched football.  There was also a Star Wars marathon on all day.  Laura and Taylor came over around 7 and played another rousing game of Phase 10 and we finished eating our New Year's Eve snacks.  We sure hope 2012 is a good one!

NewYear's Eve 2011

We had a busy New Year's Eve at our house this year.We did not go to Provo at all for Christmas this year because Grandma and Granddaddy were out of town.  It was quite a relaxing 2 weeks but it is almost over and it seems like it has gone too fast.  We started the day with a walk around the block a few times with me pushing Kyle in the stroller and Don helping Cayden ride his new bike.  Cayden only rode the bike around 1 time and it was with Don holding him up the whole time but it was a definite improvement from before when he would not even get on a bike at all.  It took us a while to do our exercise but we did it. After our walk we cancelled it out by making sliders and fries for lunch.  The diets will start on Tuesday!  After lunch I cleaned out the fridge and Caleb had a friend come over.  They played video games a while and I went and took a nap with Kyle.  Don watched football and Cayden played in his room.  After I got up I went to the store for a few items and Don made spinach artichoke dip. 

We made hot dogs for dinner and homemade salsa and I made the devil cake-Texas Sheet Cake and Caleb made vanilla ice cream.  Caleb and Dylan went outside with Don and he taught them how to make a fire with flint and steel.  They roasted a few marshmellows too. 

Cayden kept playing with Legos.  This one is where the townspeople hung a bad guy for saying there were aliens coming.  A little dark I know but atleast imaginative. 

Laura and Taylor came by around 6 or so because they had no plans for the night. They played with Kyle and the other boys and were espcially good at entertaining them all.  We ate our snackies and then played Phase 10 and then In a Pickle. 

Taylor ran home to get some party hats and stuff for the "party".

After the games they enteretained each other by dancing with Cayden in his room and rough housing a bit. 

Tackling Cayden on the ground.

This was the do-si-do move.

This was the traditional blowing of horns and banging pots and pans on the front porch at midnight.  We also had some of those popper things too.  We woke the neighbors I am sure because 3 of our 4 close neighbors are older but nothing beat the cannon that was being shot off all evening long not by us but somewhere else close by.  Connor stayed over at Grandma's playing games with her and Aunt Dawna and Grandpa.  Even Aunt Dena came over there for a few rounds.  Connor called us at midnight and said that there was a fire across the way and from what we could see it was pretty big so me and the 5 kids piled into Taylor's jeep and drove to where it was.  It looked pretty big but was just in an arena and was not threatening any structures. After our midnight drive we went back home where Don was making fries for the girls and keeping Kyle while he was asleep.  The girls went home around 1ish and we got Caleb's friend home soon after.  Cayden and Caleb still had to shower though so bedtime did not happen until around 1:30.  They were a little harder to get up this morning for 11:00 church.

Even Kyle partied with us a bit until I was able to get him down for bed around 11:30.  I went back out to the front room just in time for the count down and to hear the spectacle that was my front porch.  Caleb and Dylan sounded like dying geese honking and Cayden screamed a very high note while banging his pans.  It was quite an entertaining evening.

Week in Review 12/26-1/1

Monday-On the day after Christmas, we slept in, did not get to breakfast, so we made sliders on my new indoor grill/griddle, ice cream in the new ice cream maker. Connor and Cayden spent the night at grandma's and so Caleb went over there around 9 to have pancakes with them. The kids love love love grandma's pancakes. We cleaned up some from the Christmas since we just the house go. Connor and Cody went to Mesquite with grandpa to clean another carpet. Later in the evening we watched The Adjustment Bureau.

Tuesday-We did some more cleaning up around the house. Caleb had Connor Waite over to play. Don and I left at 4 to go to Vegas for Kyle's sleep study.

Wednesday-After Don slept some from being gone all night he took Cody, Cayden and Caleb to Vegas to see The Muppet Movie.  They went to Aliante Station and had lunch in the food court and then went to the show.  I stayed home and mostly slept with Kyle.  In the evening Teri Waite and her girls came over to visit.  I played with the Kindle app on my IPhone and downloaded some books to read, washed all the blankets and clothes from the sleep study and then the boys all watched X-men that night.

Thursday-Don took Cody to Vegas to the airport and then went golfing with his boss. The kids had friends over-Molly, Kaili and Linnea, Connor Waite.  I made chicken salad for lunch and Caleb and Connor Waite made paninis.  Connor helped grandpa with some carpets.  I really wanted to bake cookies but instead I cleaned toilets and did laundry instead.  In the early evening the kids went next door to Molly's to have a hot dog/marshmellow roast and play games with the neighborhood kids.  

Friday-As  part of Connor's Christmas present from grandma and grandpa he got some roping lessons from Micah next door.  He had fun learning to rope.  Then he cleaned carpets with grandpa and played with a friend-Austin Leavitt.  We took Caleb and Cayden to Lion King in Las Vegas and grandma kept Kyle.  We also had dinner with Don's boss and another guy he works with and their wives.  Caleb was in desperate need of some new pants so we went to Kohl's on the way in.  Cayden had a sick stomach toward the end of the day and I pumped him full of ammodium and even a very special Zofran.  

Saturday-We started a our New Year's eve with a walk around the block and and Cayden attempted to ride his bike with alot of help from us pushing and pulling.  To counteract any good that we did walking we made sliders and fries when we got home.  More football was on of course.  I went to the store for a few party essentials and made a bunch of treats.  For our evening events see that post.