Kaleb is 3 Months OLD!!!

Kaleb is now three months old! We didn't have a doctors appointment this month, so I don't know how much bigger he has gotten. According to our measurements (home scale and Ammon's tape measure) he has actually shrunk... Hmmmm. So if there is anyone out there that has an accurate meat scale or whatever those are called, let me know. Oh, well. Here are some fun photos:

Below is Kaleb at two months:

And three months in the same outfit. He looks as though he just filled out a bit. Nothing major, but definitely doesn't look as though he has shrunk any, so we are safe there!!

We have the dillema of Kaleb growing out of his bath tub. Now that he likes to kick his legs, he often pushes his head into walls, which doesn't seem to bother him. I would just use the bathtub with the ramp, but our faucets are notorious for quickly getting to the scalding point so I have been delaying taking him out of it... Plus then I would have to admit he's growing up.

Ammon and I have decided to accept the "yo baby jus' aint brown" fact and enjoy Kaleb's beautiful blue eyes. I just hope the poor kid can tan. Plus this photo just has a cute face!

I have had requests to get a photo of da baby butt, so here you go, Liz!


Kaleb has been getting much more active and he thankfully doesn't mind being alone when he first wakes up for a nap. I came into his bedroom to the scene below which told me that he is past the age of swaddling and that we needed some other way to
keep him comfy (and warm at night):

So Gramma Lynn bought him a set of Bear footy pajamas (thank you!). Don't you love

his bear feet. Get it? Bare FEET!! PWA! Good times!!!!

Like I said, he has been getting more active, especially exploring with his hands. Lately he has become particularly interested in his hair. Sometimes his hands will wander around his face like someone else is controlling them. He almost gets mad at them. Makes me laugh!! The photo below just looks like he's practicing for his "I'm not listening" phase.

Kaleb's feet can now reach his face with my help, and the first time I heard him laugh was when I made his feet 'kick' his hands out of his mouth. Of course I haven't heard him laugh since, but he is figuring out he can pull his legs toward him and play with his knees.

He now has almost full control of his head, and the other day we put him in the Bumbo. He likes to sit in it for about five minutes to watch tv (or dad playing video games). Then he realizes he can't move his legs like that and he starts going a little ballistic.

Kaleb has also discovered how much he loves to stand and will make it known to you if he's ever in your lap sitting too long. He can hold his own weight with his legs already, but has serious balance issues (like his mom still does). Below is a photo I got. I took videos as well, but like a total moron I got them with the camera on the side not realizing that you would have to watch them whilst lying on your side. I will get a better one soon. Well, guess that's all for now!!!

Chicken Coop Craziness

Ammon finally got the chance to work on our new chicken coop. We still had all of our chickens in our small little chick coop and the birds were starting to mutiny. Below is a picture of the space on which Ammon started the coop. We had a shed there and a wooden fence (see it leaning on the left there).

Ammon got the fence back up and then framed up the structure.

He also decided to build a larger feeder so we wouldn't have to feed the chickens twice a day.

Here are the nesting boxes he made to encourage them to lay eggs. We put old golf balls in there to show them where to lay and to discourage them from pecking at the eggs. So far its working!!

Apparently chickens are supposed to like sleeping high. Ammon built this roost for them... but they prefer to dig holes in the dirt. Silly birdies!!

Here is the finished coop. It is huge and Ammon got it done in less than a week!

I was so proud of him!!





Here's the interior of the coop before the roost and nesting boxes were put in. The rooster is standing in their old coop. Imagine eight chickens in that little spot.

Here's a photo of our first egg. It's much smaller than it looks in this photo. Our chickens started laying within a few days of moving into the coop. It was so EXCITING!!!

Here's a photo of our first dozen!!! It took about a week since only three of the chickens are currently laying. Lok at that little tiny little one on the right. Ammon thought it was a poop since it was so small and brown, but NO there was a yolk in it!

Well, we were so thrilled to have everything all organized with our new coop. The chickens really liked it and were starting to lay... then one of our chickens died. Dont know why. Kinda creepy. SO we were down to eight hens and a rooster. Then our rooster died, probably of heat stroke. Wasn't a terrible loss since we didn't want a rooster in the first place. Then, the next day, a friend of ours decided to move and she couldn't take her chickens with her. Ammon had three days to make our one coop into two. (Chickens will fight to the death if they are defending the territory of the flock so we couldn't put them together). SO now we have seventeen hens and get 6-8 eggs a day. It's so awesome to see all of the work finally bring fruit... or EGGS!!

Photo Shoot - Kaleb... in Brown

I thought Kaleb looked good in his brown outfit, so I decided to do another random photo shoot with him. Enjoy!!

Well, you said "cheese" and I got hungry!!

"Re-assemble, Stephanie! Re-assemble!!" (Short Circuit)

No, I don't have anything in my cheeks. Why do you ask?

Pictures are hard work!!!

Financial Options - Advice? Experience? Anyone?

Okay, so as most of you know, I was laid off from my job in November. Ammon was laid off in December and ever since has only had six weeks worth of work until he got his current job a month ago. Both of us have been receiving unemployment payments, which admittedly have helped us keep our head above water. However, because of the debts we accrued earlier, we are now in the unpleasant position of picking our financial battles. We have tried to get a mortgage modification from our bank, but they only offered to lower our payments $110 a month for the next four months to help us 'get back on our feet'. Then we are required to pay all of our back payments (currently four months worth). Sound a little ridiculous? Yeah, we thought so. We make barely too much to qualify for the "Making Homes Affordable" program until my unemployment payments run out in five weeks. However, according to our lender, once I stop receiving that money, we will not be making enough to qualify for any of their modifications due to our 'debt-to-income ratio'. You still with me?

As I mentioned a few months ago, we had to surrender our Silverado, so we are looking at having to pay the deficit after they sell it. Plus we have three almost maxed out credit cards and our one vehicle (on which we owe about $6000 more than its worth). Our credit prevents us from qualifying for a refinance, so now we are thinking of filing for bankruptcy. Other than our mortgage and the Silverado, we have been able to pay everything on time (yippee for us?). I'm not posting this for a pity party. We made our bed (and then someone wet in it, ripped the sheets and pulled all the stuffing out of it!!...), so we need to accept responsibility. BUT we also know that we can't continue like this unless we somehow find more money. Something's gotta give.

I'm posting this to reach out for any advice or experiences that may be helpful for us in this situation. We aren't exactly proud of the decisions we made to get us into this mess, but I feel we are doing the best we can now with what we still have. So please, any help would be... helpful! ;-)

Our Future Singer!!

I was asked to sing a song in Relief Society next week, so last Saturday I spent a few hours working through a song with my mom playing the piano. While we were practicing it became very obvious Kaleb wanted to be a part of it. Every time I'd start singing, he would start wailing right along with me. It was the funniest thing I have seen him do yet!! We were able to get a video of it, so the link is below. It takes about 30 seconds for him to really get going. Ammon's favorite part is when his little fists go up to his mouth like he's holding a microphone. I'm so proud of my baby's budding talents!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXHSq_beIoE

Update... Kaleb the cutey

Just some fun little tidbits about Kaleb. Ammon decided Kaleb just needed headware to get any cooler! So here he is:


Kaleb has been getting more aware and has gotten the use of his hands lately, like grabbing aunts' hair and whatever (sorry, Kelli). We got a cute picture of him holding his clothes for us while we were changing him.

We also think Kaleb is teething, mouthing everything he can get his hands on, like stuffed ducks and daddy's finger!!

Also, Kaleb has been a lot more active and talkative. Below is the link to a fun video of him doing his favorite thing, lying on the couch, talking to the fan. Sorry its so dim, but he stops talking when i put the overhead light on. Silly BABY!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsCGywH0JGQ

Update...Stupid Summer

We caught another mouse, so I reloaded the trap with more peanut butter... which disappeared within 24 hours. So I reloaded the trap. It's been 48 hours and there is still all that peanut butter in the trap... do you think their getting smarter OR the mouse ran back outside OR I'm gonna find a dead rodent behind something in the back room? Usually when I post something about the mice, we catch one, so.. here's hopin'!!

Stupid Summer Continued... Go Figure

*************WARNING********************

Due to the kinda sick nature of this blog, reader discression is advised!!

So a few days ago, I blogged that we had not caught a mouse, even though we had set the traps a week ago and the peanut butter had disappeared from them... well I spoke too soon. That night, before I had 'reloaded the traps', we did catch a mouse in the back room. The weird thing about this was not that the mouse was caught when there was no peanut butter in the trap, but that the mouse was caught on the rear end. Now... what do you suppose the mouse was doing with his butt near an empty mouse trap? Anywho, I dumped the mouse and reloaded both traps. THEN, when we got home last night from an evening out, we had caught another mouse in the trap beside the stove. Another wierd incident... the mouse wasn't dead (See picture below). The mouse had apparently tried to run through the trap or something so the back half of him was completely smashed (we saw fur and stuff coming out the bottom hatch), but the front half was doing 'just fine'. Well, I don't know what you would do in a situation like this, but Ammon sighed and said, "Ah, man!! Now I have to kill him!!" So he took the trap outside and basically chopped the head off and broke the trap in the process, which was totally fine with me cuz I wasn't gonna clean that sucker off to use it again. You would think, or at least hope that would be the end of it, but not so much! Last night, all the lights in the house were out except the kitchen where I was sitting at the table reading, and I heard a mouse scurry across a piece of metal in the back room, and there are nibbles taken out of the new peanut butter (sigh). Hopefully that sneaky little critter will be caught soon cuz this is just gettin old!!

Stupid Summer!!!

As if the heat isn't bad enough around here, we have had three cockroaches in our house within the last week. PLUS we have a mouse again. We set up traps next to the stove (since they usually live in the hole behind the stove) and in the back room next to the bucket of dog food. Exterminators recommend peanut butter, so that's what we used... well, after a few days, the peanut butter is gone, but the traps haven't snapped. NOW WHAT?!!

Kaleb at 2 Months

Kaleb is now 2 MONTHS OLD!! At his doctor's appointment today, he weighed 15 lbs, 1.5 oz. and measured 24.75 inches. Both of these are above the 95th percentile... which basically means that he is ALWAYS having a growth spurt and gains 3 pounds a month. I'm just so glad he didn't grow like that in the womb!! Ammon has joked that my milk is actually Miracle Grow. Anywho, below is a picture of him in his adorable sailor outfit... thanks to my Navy-wife-sis-in-law Liz. You can tell he is thinking to himself, "I make this look GOOD!!"


Below are comparison pictures again between Kaleb at 1 month and 2 months. It shows just how much he grew:

ONE MONTH:

TWO MONTHS: