Mother's Day, Aiden's 4 Month Appointment, Memorial Day Weekend & Potty Training

Mother's Day, the one day a year that I ask for a day off.  Kyle tried very hard to pull that off.  He was a total champ!  Every Sunday Kyle has to go to church meetings starting at 7 AM...so that leaves me to get myself, two boys and a diaper bag ready for church in the morning.  But for Mother's Day the meetings were canceled and Kyle got the boy's ready and I just had to worry about myself.  By the time we got to church, Kyle was sweating. haha When we came home Kyle had made an awesome dinner and cleaned it all up too!  I'm so grateful for a man like Kyle who really does appreciate me as a wife and mother.  His dream, as much as mine is for me to be a stay at home wife and mom.  He works so hard for that to happen. I truly am so grateful for him.  The other day at work he said he was having a conversation about how Mormon Men don't let women reach their full potential, because they want all the women at home and raising babies and taking care of the house.  Never have I felt more like I'm reaching my potential as when I am at home with my boys.  I am proud to say I stay at home and raise two boys.  I love my calling as a wife and mother, and I truly do feel like I could have no great effect on the world then right here in my own home.  I am trying to raise half decent beings, who will grow up and change the world by being good, hard working, kind men.
  

Right around the time Aiden turned 4 months, I got mastitis.  Never have I ever felt so terrible!  It was a serious hell.  I was too sick to take Aiden to his 4 month appointment so Kyle got to take him.  HE weighed 14 lbs and is 25 inches tall.  He's growing like a bean.  He's already scooting around the place and rolling over.  We started to feed him cereal and bananas.  Next is carrots.  When we feed him, Camden sits right next to me and tells Aiden to open his mouth, and then claps for him when he takes a bite! haha I think Camden thinks it's natural to clap for someone when they eat their food.  That is what happens I guess when your the oldest child and the only grandchild/nephew!
   

Memorial Day was so awesome!  My baby sisters graduated High School the Wednesday before Memorial Day.  So we all went home to celebrate her.  I'm so proud of her..she really is such a beautiful girl, inside and out!  She's going to conquer whatever comes her way!

   


The next day most of my sisters and I went to Boise to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Soul to Soul concert! Oh my gosh!  It was amazing! I mean they are classic country, what I grew up listening to!  I was so excited to see Tim McGraw  and he was good, but Faith!  She was amazing!! She sounds just as good live as she does recorded!  And she as all over the stage. I was amazed by her energy.  It was so fun! My sisters got to hold touch Faith's Hand.  One of their last songs they went through the crowd and they went right by Erica, Staci and Holli.
    

For the rest of the weekend, we striped by dad's roof.  I thought, okay, this will be hard...umm..I had no idea how hard it would be.  My dad hired all of us kids, and two local folks to take it all off...it took two days to strip that roof.  It was double layered.  It was some serious manual labor!  And I don't think there is an easier way to get it done. It is some serious labor!  I learned only buy a house with a new roof.  Kyle started on Thursday morning and worked all day, Friday at about 6AM I hear my mom and dad running around and I roll over to Kyle and said, "my dad is on the roof! can you go help him?" Kyle's eyes go wide open and he jumps out of bed and says, "IT'S RAINING" Long story short...my parents house was leaking majorly where Kyle had stripped the roof already. They hurried and put tarp and plastic down, but the damage had been done.  My parent's storage room was flooded!  Luckily it was just the storage room and not like the kitchen or a bedroom.  It was a crazy morning!  The roof got finished and it looks great!  Hopefully my parent's won't have to ever worry about it again!

So, for a few weeks.  Camden would wake up in the morning, ask to go potty, and then we'd get on the potty .5 seconds later...he would declare that he was done.  Having done nothing in the potty.  So, we get back from Memorial Day weekend, and I decide it was go time! I was seriously about to quit after two hours.  I didn't know that my toddler peed so frequently! He just peed all the time, all the time!! Being niave...only bought one pair of unders....and we went through all of them by noon! haha When people said potty training was hard...I just didn't get why!  But now I do!  Two weeks later, I think we have finally gotten it down.  I am so proud of him!  It took about a week for him to understand what we were really doing, but lately...He's been telling me every time he needs to go potty...even #2!!!  HaPpY DaNcE!!!!!

Cheetos For going #2!!!! Every last crumb!

This last weekend Kyle and Camden went on their first father/son campout!  I was so excited for Kyle and Camden to be able to go! Camden didn't know what we were getting ready for, but when they got there Kyle said they had so much fun!  I was nervous about Camden going because he hasn't quite got #2 down, but I told Kyle he had to stay in unders because I didn't want him to regress. So Kyle got up to the campsite and started getting everything set up when he realized that Camden had yet to go potty since before we left.  So Kyle pulls down his pants and teaches him how to stand and hold "it" while trying to pee.  Camden only wanted to squat while he peed.  Which makes me laugh because Kyle always says that Camden needs more boys in his life, and this was a good example as to why that is true.   Kyle finally got Camden to do go to the bathroom and they made it the whole weekend.  They both loved it and had a great time.  They had hot dogs for dinner and then pancakes for breakfast.

   

Camden's 2.5, Harry Potter, and Haircut

People always told me not to compare the boys, but really it's so hard not to! I feel like Aiden is growing so much fast than Camden!  On 4/21 we heard sweet little Aiden's real giggle for the first time!  We were all sitting around reading scriptures, while I was changing Aiden's bum, and I tickled him and he LAUGHED! Oh, there is really nothing more awesome than a sweet baby's laugh!  Of course, that was the end of scriptures, because we all then had to make that sweet baby giggle and giggle again, and again, and again.  It never got old, and it still doesn't!

Camden has a few obsessions right now, and I find it so so so cute and annoying all in one emotion!  He's obsessed with 1- his church shoes, like he sleeps with them on! 2- Garbage days! 3- His purse! Kyle keeps hiding it, and Camden keeps finding it. 
 

Camden's Crying Face

Camden had his 2.5 year check up!  He's a solid 32 lbs. and 37 inches tall!  He's growing so big!! He's a solid kiddo! He had to get his flu booster shot.  If you'd seen him afterwards, you would've thought they chopped his whole leg off.  While walking to the car down the hall, he claimed he couldn't walk...until I got far enough away that he ran to catch up, and then couldn't walk again. He kept says, "mom, hold you! hold you!"  His way of saying he wants to be held!  I finally put the baby carrier down and held him, and then he did't want to be held anymore, but was still in some serious pain!  When we got home, all three of us took a serious nap. 




While I was teaching, I had made a goal to read more when I quit. I decided that I was going to start with the Harry Potter Series.  My sister Shawna is OBSESSED with them and Kyle has read it twice, so I figured it was a good place to start.  So in the Summer of 2017 I set out to read the series.  I had only seen like three of the movies, so I feel like there was a lot that I didn't know, that kept the book exciting.  I would read a book, watch the movie, read the next book then watch the movie!  Well, 4/21/2017...so about a year and a half plus some later, I finally finished Deathly Hallows and the movies...It felt really good to set and accomplish a goal!  Yay!  It was really hard, I'm not really a reader, growing up I was always told I wasn't good at it, so I decided that I didn't want to do it.  So for me to finish this series was a big accomplishment.  It took a while, but it was worth it.  Now, I'm looking for another book to read.  Gotten a few recommendations, but still sifting through.

The weather the last few weeks have been the absolute worst!!  We've been getting so much rain.  Which do not get me wrong, I grew up in a farming community, so I know how important it is for the rain, but when you have a two year old who is obsessed with being outside, rainy days are long!  but today! May 1 the weather was BEAUTIFUL! It honestly was not even windy so Aiden even really enjoyed it! Hallelujah!!






Today, I chopped off about 5 inches off my hair.  Kyle likes it long, so I've been growing it out.  I just couldn't do it any more, it needed a good chop! It short enough that I feel like I can manage it, but long enough to still have my glorious mom bun!!
  

Easter, Aiden's 2 month appointment

First off, coming up with post title names...is hard!

Next!  Aiden hit two month old on the 2nd of April.  He's growing so fast.  Camden being a preemie really did develop so much slower than Aiden is.  It's incredibly a different experience!  Fun to see though!  We took Aiden to his two month appointment and he weighed in at a whooping 11 lbs. 12 oz. and 23 inches tall!  Okay, that's 4.5 inches taller than when he was born and like 5 lbs bigger than his birth weight.  It's amazing! He's such a great miracle.  Dr. examined him and said that he's perfectly perfect!  I couldn't told her that.  I was wondering if we'd have to clip his tongue because he has a HARD time keeping his binki in his mouth, but she said when a baby is breast fed, it's normal because their tongue is a lot stronger than bottle fed babies.  One big thing Aiden started doing in his second month is grinning.  He commonly has a mile wide grin on his face! He's always grinning.  He's also starting to figure out his brother is pretty awesome, and get excited when Camden comes around, or if he's upset and I'm in the shower or busy, Aiden recognizes his brother and calms down a little bit.  It's a relationship that I am so excited to watch grow!

Minnie Mouse

Camden, knew exactly where we were when we pulled into the dr.'s parking lot.  He immediately get nervous and protective over his younger brother.  We get called back and we are sitting in the room when the dr.  walks in and Camden immediately buries his face into his elbow...(well back up!  We always end up waiting a while for the dr. so I told Camden he could bring in a toy with him and he chose to bring his cousin Rachel's Minnie Mouse doll that she left at our house) Dr. Sylvia says, "Hey Camden, don't worry I won't look at you! But I sure love your Minnie doll!"  Camden unburies his face and look at her with a scowl, covered up Minnie's eyes and the hides his face once again.  And  didn't unbury or uncover Minnie's eyes until she left the room. I love that Camden really thinks the theory if I can't see her she can't see me work.  My sister in law Lyssa has a couple of dogs and when Camden goes to get off her porch and the dogs are there...he'll stand super still and cover his eyes. Sometimes the dogs back off and let him leave...sometimes they don't.  But Camden's solution is unbelievably adorable!!


Easter was fun this year.  I was so excited to get the boys matching outfits, but it was not an easy task.  I found a jumper online that said its as blue, and I had already gotten Camden a blue shirt for church so I ordered it, and it was grey...like a grey blue, but definitely grey!  So they didn't match, but they looked cute.  Camden is really starting to get and understand things like holidays a lot more and it is so so so so fun!  Holidays are way more fun with little believers!  Saturday we died eggs and once they were dried, we hid them and put out the boys' easter basket.  Camden came out of the room and was so excited to see all the eggs "hidden" around the room.  We were at my mom's house and all of my sisters were there, so Camden "found" all 24 eggs and got an applause after each egg he put back in the carton.  He totally loved it!  It was awesome to get to spend time with my whole family.  I know that really we do see each other quite often, but to just be at my parent's house where we can be chilling and all hanging out together, it really is totally awesome!  And my parents and sisters are so amazing with the boys.  They absolutely love it! Camden loves going to grandma and grandpa's and hate when we have to go!  He just goes out in the backyard and runs around with my parent's dog, Sassy, chase the kitty, play on the swing set, play in the dirt.  There are a lot less rules in their backyard than when I take him out to our little play set to play.  I love that he loves being outdoors and I hope he always does!
        

 

Birthday & mission reunion

We've had a great week!  Mostly because Camden and I spent a lot of time planning for our favorite guy's birthday!  Kyle's Birthday was on Saturday and we loved getting to spend the whole entire day as a family with him!  Kyle's genuinely the greatest person I've ever met!  I told him we could do anything for his birthday, and after thinking about it for a few minutes he replied he wanted to go out and fly kites.  How cute is that?  Saturday morning I woke up and decorated the house and told Kyle he couldn't come out of the bedroom until Camden has come and gotten him.  Camden woke up just a few minutes after I told Kyle and after convincing Camden it was a good idea to go get daddy and bring him to his own party, we put on our party hats and went and got daddy and invited him!  Camden's "party" sounds a lot like "potty" so there was much confusion throughout of the day of what he was saying.  Kyle came out, saw the decorations and the party began!  I told Kyle he should open presents, and he said he would wait a little bit, but then Camden started opening his presents and Kyle decided that it was time, and he and Camden opened presents.  Aiden just sits sweetly in his swing and observed it all. We then ate crepes for breakfast and watched the first session of general conference. After conference we hurried cleaned up a bit, got ready and went to Target to go and get the kites.  Kyle's sister Lyssa invited us to lunch at a restaurant named Tucanos.  It's a Brazilian restaurant with lots of different meats....SO YUMMY...then we went to the park and flew kites. The weather was actually really perfect for flying kites, Camden loved it, Aiden hated it.  Lyssa's kids had a great time too! I am pretty sure Kyle did more chasing of loose kites than actual flying, but that's the kind of guy he is.  After Flying kites, Kyle ran home and got ready togo to the priesthood session of General conference.  Before he could go his sisters Brooke and Lyssa wanted to give him their presents...which was the announcement of two more babies joining the family in November.  We're both very excited for the two of them.  Aiden is especially excited to have two cousins the same age as him.  When Kyle got home we had his requested carrot cake, (which I knocked out of the park....taste wise....and totally blew presentation wise!) and Ice cream.  Lyssa and her family went home and Kyle and I attempted to put the boys to bed, and to start a movie...by 10:00 we'd finally got the boys to bed, but had about 2% energy to watch a movie...so we were in bed shortly after the boys...such is parenthood.  I hope Kyle has a fantastic birthday, he really deserves the world!
  
 

Friday, I also go to go to my mission reunion.  March 30th marked 6 years since I've been home from LA.  My mission honestly seems like it was a dream, a great dream.  But sometimes I have to remind myself that I really left my family, and lived the crazy missionary life in the crazy city of LA for 18 months.  I had gone to one mission reunion before when I first got home.  IT was hosted by my first mission president, President Blackburn and his wife.  This one was hosted by President Baker and his wife.  Great to see them.  Iw as also able to see a few of the sister who I served with...Sisters Brinkerhoff, Ashby, Schumacher and Tittle...now all known as Bailee, Marilee Gaby and Elisa! Fun to catch up for a minute.  The experiences I'd experienced with a few of those sisters brought us together as old friends who hadn't missed a beat.  What a privilege it was to serve with so many remarkable women in faith.  I had a minute to talk with President Baker and he said a few things that I needed to hear, mainly he told me that it was impressive for him to arrive in the mission and see the older sisters who were serving and they knew why they were there, and they were focused.  I did know why I was serving, I knew who I was serving and I was focused.  I cried when I came home harder than the day I left for the mission field.  I needed to hear that because I don't think I can say the same about myself now.  I sometimes feel as if my life is together as a plate of scrambled eggs. I'm everywhere.  Right now, I'm serving a different kind of mission, I often forget why I'm here and what I should be doing, I try, really, I do. But I often feel as if I come up so short.  In my nightly prayers, I pray that Heavenly Father will bless me to be a kind, patient and encouraging wife and mother, daughter, sister, friend....etc Grateful for new days.


General Conference was this weekend as well!  I remember the days of getting to just sit and be a complete sponge and soak up every word that was being spoken, those days are long gone.  It was fun though as our leaders stood up to talk Camden would periodically point to the TV, and say "Mom, prophet!" in a very proud voice. As the prophet spoke Camden again, pointed out, "mom, Prophet!" the continued to complain the whole time the prophet was speaking that Aiden was hurting him and I need to use my magical kisses to make them all better.  Love that I have magical kisses, hate the I didn't get to listen our dear prophet as intently as I would have liked to.  The over all message I got from the past two days was....we live in an amazing time, we are so incredibly  rich in blessings, but one thing that is the same, is that faith, prayer and studying of God's words are a sure problem fixer.  No matter how unique our problems are, those basic church answers are what we need to fix them and to help answer our prayers.

Sunday, Aiden hit his two month mark.  He's growing & developing so quickly. Honestly much quicker than Camden did.  Aiden is frequently smiling, and holding his head up like a champ.  He doesn't love being swaddled or sleeping on your chest.  He eats every three hours, even through the night.  Which hopefully, soon we'll be able to wean him off of. I cannot wait for the day when I get to sleep longer than 3 hours at a time!!!!!

2.5 Year Break

Well, that last time I posted was when I was in the hospital, still pregnant with my now almost 2 and half year old toddler.  You could say that life got a little busy, but since then so much has happened and I'm so sad that I didn't better document it all.  I keep a hand written journal, but one thing which I appreciate  about the blog is that I can better document moments with their pictures.  So I've decided to be better and pick back up!  Since I was last online a few big things have happened!  To name a few...

Camden Austin DeVaney was born on Oct. 27, 2014 at 4:03 AM 6 lbs 2 oz 19 inches long.  He was born 6 weeks early (yes, he was huge!) and spent 18 days in the NICU as a feeder and a grower.  Now, he's an adorable, energetic, hilarious, high tempered two year old who we absolutely adore!

I quit my job as a teacher in May 2015, and became a full time wife and mommy!  Which has been my dream job my whole life.

Kyle finished his degree in Civil Engineering from BYU-Idaho in July 2015.  After 2 months of job searching, Kyle began working for a Geotechnical Engineering Firm, Bingham Engineering, in September 2015 and we left the great state of Idaho, for the big city of Salt Lake City.  We moved to a smaller city outside called Magna.  We're grateful we found this hidden gem.

May 2016 we found out we were pregnant with our second baby, in July at our 16 week appointment, we found out it was another boy!  (Kyle was sure it was going to be a girl because he said I was much more moodier this time around...I am sure he doesn't want to see me pregnant with a girl.) On February 2, 2017 at 8:33 PM we welcomed Aiden Kyle DeVaney, weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz & 18 inches long, into our family and he is a perfect addition.

 This last week, Kyle and I celebrated 5 years of marriage!  Very crazy to me! It's flown by, but also at the same time, it's hard to believe there was ever a time he wasn't in my life

 Life has flown by, but I have a goal to be better! My new year's resolution this year is to be better at keeping goals! Ironic huh?

A Trick and A Treat from our little guy!

   Last spring Kyle and I decided that it was time for us to expand our little family.  When we found out that I was pregnant, we were thrilled, very scared, nervous and not really sure how it was all going to work out, but we've had faith we were doing what we need to be doing and our Heavenly Father has definitely shown his hand in this pregnancy.  When people would complain about how had pregnancy is, I never really understood, until I was actually living it.  I feel like everything about me had changed!  Obviously there are all that physical changes that come with pregnancy, but what I wasn't prepared for is how much I would change emotionally and mentally.  One thing that I am naturally good at is worrying.  I come from a long time of worriers and I carry the gene quite well!  Needless to say, bring pregnant I've gone from just a worrier, to one who worry about the smallest things, for example, crying and losing sleep over forgetting milk from the grocery store! ha!  So, you can imagine how concerned I've been over every single symptom I've had during pregnancy.  Last Monday I had woken up and had some spotting, which was something I haven't experienced my whole pregnancy, so naturally I freak out and make an appointment immediately with my Dr. to make sure that everything was okay.  Kyle and I went to the Dr. only to find out that our baby had finally flipped and was now in the position that he needed to be in and that in turn caused some more pressure, which caused some spotting.  I left that appointment actually feeling so relieved because I had been so worried that the baby was not going to flip.  I kept thinking, I'm 32 weeks, no way he's going to flip now, but he did and it was a huge sigh of relief.  Then Wednesday I woke up and my pants were wet, I figured it was one of two things, either I peed my pants or the baby's flipping had caused something to leak out.  I decided to go about my day like nothing was wrong and see what would happen.  I went to school, taught, did PTC, got home around 8 and told Kyle what had been happening all day and he had the same idea I did, that it was probably just from the baby flipping.  We went to bed that night and I honestly could not sleep a wink.  I was contemplating all night whether I was just freaking out and being my nervous self or if this was something I really needed to worry about and get checked out.  After an honest sleepless night, I decided that I would rather be safe than sorry.  Went to school again, got all my sub plans for the day done, expected to be back to school by lunch time I went to my Dr. as soon as possible,  After some test he told me that my water was leaking, we don't know why, but I needed to go straight to the hospital and was to be on bed rest until I deliver this baby.  My Dr.'s goal was to get me to 34 weeks, which was yesterday, and I'll be delivering this baby in a week.  WE WERE NOT PREPARED!  But I am grateful for my mom who has completely taken me under her wing and has been there making sure that this baby has every necessity he'll need when he arrives.  It's been hard for me going from go, go, go, go, go to a 15 minute standing time limit, but I am trying to be patience and be the best mom that I can be for my baby right now.  Kyle has been an amazing rock, and such a good dad and husband to me and this little one. Kyle's been able to give me blessings and reassure me that Heavenly Father has been completely aware of not only me, but also our little guy and that all things have a purpose.  If you are wondering if there is anything you can do to help, I say yes, just please keep my family in your prayers.  We just keep telling ourselves, Everything Is going to work out perfectly!  And I honestly believe they will!

 Baby's strong heartbeat and hiccups

IV=worst part!!!

Baby Boy Sucking on his hand
(The Ultra Sound Tech said he has hair!!!)

I'm a Bobcat!

It really happened all SO FAST!

    Every morning I get to school the first thing I do, is check for new job postings.  I started interviewing back in the middle of March, and to be honest, was starting to give up.  Super frustrating.  Well, last Tuesday I got to work, check the job postings, and there was a job posting at South Fork Elementary!  I was so excited!  I quickly applied and then went and found out why there was an opening. Well, then the next few days had passed and I just kept hoping, but was still pretty down on myself, and pretty sure I wasn't going to get the job.  One reason is because the district is averaging 45 applicants per job, totally crazy!.  I had actually already pursued another job in the district and was just focusing on that one.  When Friday morning, my principal comes in and starts talking to me about end of the year test scores, and then out of no where he pulls up a seat and sits on the other side of my desk and says,

"You know I need to be very unbiased about this whole interviewing process, but you need to know that I am very interested in hiring you, I would just love the input of the third grade team before I make a decision."

I immediately got butterflies in my stomach hurried and texted Kyle and then smiled for the next thirty minutes, then my principal comes back into my room, and says,

"Heidi, I wanted to interview on Monday, but can you be here at 2:30 today"

OF COURSE! I text Kyle, went home and paced around the house for a few hours, had to go and visit a friend because I was driving myself crazy, but still hadn't told a soul, because I didn't want to jinx my chance!  Finally, Kyle had come home from class and we were getting ready to go home for mother's day, so we threw all of our stuff in the car and then we were off to the interview.  I get there and my supervisor was sitting in the office waiting to come into my interview and me, we just casually talked until Mr. Carey (my principal) came into the office and then the third grade teacher who was going to be in the interview was came and we went into the conference room and interview #4 had begun.  This is how it went.....

Mr. Carey: "Well, I've already interviewed Heidi, anyone else have any questions?"
3rd Grade teacher: "How did you feel about collaboration in college?"
  I then gave my brilliant answer
3rd grade teacher: "Perfect"
Mr. Carey: "Well, Heidi we really just wanted to invite your in here to offer you a job teaching third grade!"

Tears of excitement, gratitude and relief ran down my cheek!  I have a job!  I am so excited about it.  To be working here in Rexburg, close to my home, a grade that I know i'm going to love teaching, with a 3rd grade team who I am going to learn so much from and from my opinion the best school in the district!  I could not be more happy.  Major thanks to my husband and all those other great people who kept telling me to keep trying and not to get discourage, I did get very discouraged, but I hadn't completely given up, and I think without the great people in my life and Heavenly Father, I would have been even more discouraged, and I probably would have given up after round one of interviews.

Go Bobcats!