A Little Bit of Everything...

So, this post is going to be a little out of order but hey, at least it's here, right?. First of all, I love this weather! Doesn't everyone? It's so great to go on a walk at sunset in a short sleeve shirt! Love it. Anyway, unfortunately Easton and I haven't been able to enjoy the weather as much as I'd like because we've been a couple of invalids the last few days. Easton started being really fussy and clingy on Saturday and in the afternoon I took his temperature and it was 102. From then until Monday it never went below 101 and even got up to 104.6. He was in a lot of pain and looked miserable, so I took him in Monday night. The doctor looked in his throat and found a bunch of ulcers (ouch!). He said he thought it was the Herpes Simplex Virus that 25% of little kids get and if it was we would have to give him really strong meds for a week and there was a possibility he would have to be hospitalized if he didn't eat enough(at the time we couldn't get him to eat much). Well, he wanted to me to bring him back in today to make sure it really was the herpes. Easton was so miserable all day, and then a little bit before his appointment he started acting fine. I took him in and he just sat and played and acted like he felt fine, a complete turnaround from the night before! The doctor looked in his throat and said if it was herpes it would have spread to his gums but since it hadn't, it was just a regular ole virus! Yeah, such good news! The funny thing is, as soon as we got home Easton got all fussy again and started screaming in pain and there wasn't much I could do to make it better. :( So I guess this little virus has a few more days up it's sleeve. Well, the doctor told me the ulcers were really painful, so I should give him benedryl at night to reduce the swelling and help him sleep better. So tonight I gave it to him and then he was screaming and hurting and I was doing everything to try and help him and then all of a sudden he stopped and looked at me and his eyes were all droopy so I picked him up to take him to bed and he basically collapsed on my shoulder and was asleep before we got to his room! It was pretty funny, but it was also good that he could sleep so he wouldn't be in pain. Monday morning I woke up with a bad cold, sore throat, and headache and I've just been really tired with it (especially since Easton's temperature jumps over 104 every night so i spend the night trying to cool him off without him getting chilled) so we brought our mattress out to the living room and Easton and I have been on the mattress and Jonathan has been on the couch next to us. Well, enough of the whining about me and our poor little Eastie, on to the fun stuff and pictures!

First, Christmas! For the first week of Christmas break we went up to Coalville and stayed with Jonathan's parents. It was soooo so much fun! We played games, ate way too much, and just hung out and enjoyed each other's company. We got to be there Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and it was fun to share Easton's first Christmas with them. Here's Easton with Aunt Jocelyn-
Here's Easton's very first Christmas present he ever opened! It was from his Virginia cousins and he didn't put it down all night! He still loves it and plays with it all the time. He didn't really like opening presents, though. I think he just didn't quite get it. Oh well, there's always next year!
Easton's cute Christmas outfit
Family Christmas Picture
We tried to take Easton sledding. First Jonathan tried...
... then Grandpa Dave tried...
...and this was the result of everyone's hard work. Not a happy camper! Luckily he's over that now and doesn't mind if we lay him in a sled and let him go down the little hill in front of our house.
We had such a blast up in Coalville! On Christmas Day we left and went to meet my parents and then start driving for California. We stayed there for the next week of Christmas break but I'm going to have to do an entirely different post for all of those pictures! We had a blast in both places and it was probably the best Christmas break ever!

Next, at the end of last year, I got a new sister! My brother David married Robin! It was a beautiful wedding and we had a luncheon here and then a reception a few weeks later in California. I just have a few pics of the reception, but I'll post more when I get them off my parents computer. I'll also put on a video of my brother singing! He played the guitar and sang "I can't help falling in love with you" for her and it was the most adorable thing ever! We were all crying! And the best part is he is not exactly the most amazing singer or guitarist in the world, so that made it that much cuter! I thought he did pretty good, though. Anyway, here's some pics from the reception:




If you can't tell, I couldn't quit taking pics of Easton in his cute tux! My camera died pretty quick so I didn't get many pics of David and Robin so I'll have to get some from my parents and post them later.

Next, Valentine's Day was a blast! During the day we went and did sealings at the temple, then at night my sister came over and watched Easton while we went to dinner. We went to this AMAZING place called The Tango House off of State Street/500 w in Provo. Jonathan went to Argentina on his mission and this is the first time we've been to an Argentine restaurant together and I absolutely LOVED it! Here's my crazy date-
Isn't he hot? Here I am eating my favorite part : Dessert! We got Dulce de Leche crepes and they're amazing! The owners are from Argentina and his wife makes all the food from scratch and it really is incredible!


Here's Jonathan eating the ribs we got. Wow these were good! I'm not a rib fan, but these were so good we were literally sucking on the bones! Embarrassing, I know!We were planning on going to Jump On It after, but Easton was ready for bed so we went and put him to sleep and just watched a movie at home. It was a very fun night!

But our Valentine's Day really started on Friday night. We went to a dance at the Orem Institute and it was a dream come true for me! I have always been obsessed with old musicals (Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelley, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, etc.) and I've always thought it would be so fun to own a club with a live band and play all the old songs. Well, that's exactly what this dance was! They had all these old men(and some young) playing and even had some crooners. Jonathan and I were able to do the waltz, tango, cha cha, and swing. It was such a blast!



Me and my love...Well, we've had a pretty exciting last month! I'm sure the next one will be even better!

My First Year

In Easton's first year of life he has...

- Been to the top of the Washington Monument
- Walked
- Eaten artichoke hearts
- Rode fourwheelers, boats, motorcycles, bikes, and soon snowmobiles!
- Been to both coasts
- Flown on 7 airplanes! (cross-country 4 times!)
- Been to the beach
- Said mama, dada, kitty cat, dog, look, vroom-vroom, cockadoodledoo (okay, maybe it was more like babble-babble-ooo, but he's trying :)) and attempted other words
- Hugged Winnie the Pooh
- Been everywhere in DC! And loved the Air and Space Museum
- Had a conversation with Beetle Juice
- Watched Enchanted a billion times
- Found his first love, Carrie Underwood, and watched her music videos ten billion times
- Been to Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, and Fish Lake
- Caused a security breach at the Holocaust museum when he left his diaper bag on a bench and they had to clear the area and call in the dogs to sniff it! Silly Easton! :)
- Been Christmas Tree hunting
- Ate cake, and didn't really like it, but loved ice cream!
- Watched Fourth of July fireworks on the lawn of the Lincoln Memorial
- Stayed in a casino (don't worry, non-smoking)
- Cut at least ten teeth, including a few huge molars
- Been to Disneyland, Sea World, and Universal Studios
- Been sledding
- Hiked Bridal Veil Falls and Mossy Caves in Bryce Canyon
- Been to the temple for 3 weddings
- Figured out what "Let's go" means and immediately waves good-bye and says "vroom-vroom"
- Fallen in love with basketball
- Been in the ICU
- Played with all of his cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents many times and loves them!
- Had a flight canceled and got stuck in JFK airport
- Seen a shark
- Been to several basketball and football games and even a cheer competition
- Moved twice
- Played in sewer water
- Started biting when he wants to go to bed
- Charmed his parents into complete and total devotion!
Easton we love you so much and we are so glad you joined our family! This past year has been the best and we never knew we could be so happy! We love you!

Wow! Floods, Birthdays, and Everything Else!

My word, I don't even know where to start! I'm not going to lie, I've kind of been putting off updating the blog because so much has happened and it's going to take a while, but I think I'll just start throwing stuff on here and hopefully get enough out of the way that I won't put it off so long next time!
Everything is good at the Peck household right now! One fun change is that we got new carpet! Ha, that's because out apartment flooded with sewer water! It was pretty gross, but we were able to stay at my parent's house a half hour away and we got new carpet out of the ordeal(ours was gross so this was awesome!), so it was okay! Now we're back in and back to school school school! Jonathan and I are both in this semester so it's been a little crazy. Jonathan has his capstone class and an internship and I have two classes and three online. What's funny is the added stress has actually made my life better! I look back at my stressed out blogs and I realize that what I really needed was an out. Everyone told me that I needed to get out and do things myself but I thought, "No, I'm fine, I love being home all the time," which I do, but going back to school has made me so much happier! I have always loved school and it makes me so much happier and get less stressed at home. I highly recommend to any new mom that we all need to have somewhere to go do something on our own! It's also been nice because Easton gets a lot more daddy time and I love having Jonathan home because he accomplishes so much! I'm amazed every day when I come home by how much he cleaned and did while playing with Easton the whole time! I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband!
Speaking of Easton... He is now a one-year-old! I'll have to post pictures of his party later, but he had such a fun birthday! And not only is he one, he is also a toddler! He's been walking between Jonathan and I for months but just wouldn't go farther than a few feet, but as soon as we got back from Christmas break he started taking off and by the time he had his birthday he was walking more than crawling! Now he rarely crawls and instead walks around with his arms straight out in front of him like a zombie! It's the cutest! Lately he loves taking his clothes off and like to walk around in his diaper with his hands on his belly. I don't know why he does it, but it's sure funny! He just entertains himself by walking from room to room(which is really nice for me!). It's amazing how much more interactive he is now and how much more fun! Today Jonathan was singing "76 Trombones" and marching and Easton was trying to march with him! It was so cute! Well, I think that is long enough for now, but I hope there will be many more posts!

Just a thought

Somewhere amidst the many "special offers" you get in the hospital/mail/email/Motherhood Maternity store I signed up for Parenting magazine. I don't remember doing this at all and I'm not really into getting magazines, but Jonathan insists that since I get that he gets to sign up for ESPN magazine (even though he reads every Parenting issue I get from cover to cover :) ). Still, I also devour them every month during my random spare minutes during the day and this month I read one of the most heartwarming things I've ever heard on parenting. It may just be touching to me because of the whole tantrum issue and the fact that Easton has been really sick for over a week and now I'm also sick, the house is a mess, and I'm going nuts not being able to go out because of the cold and now being able to play with friends because of those darn germs, but I thought I would share it anyway in case it might brighten someone else's day. The article is called "Learning from Liam" and is about a mother who was 41, already had 4 kids, and found out she was (suprise!) pregnant again. She talked about how she sobbed and didn't want to have another since her youngest was finally in preschool and she was actually getting time to herself to do things like volunteering, yoga classes, and swimming laps. She also knew how crazy people would think she was for having so many and for having a 15-year gap between her first and last (she should come to Utah) and so at first it was hard to accept. Well, a few things happened to help her put things into perspective and she talked about how now when her 14-year-old gives her trouble about curfews she remembers her as a little girl and knows it's just a stage, and also how when her new baby keeps her up all night she remembers how "the baby time of total contact is gone like a blink forever -- and I snuggle in and enjoy it." (Since the last two months have been a marathon of sleepless nights and sometimes days I really appreciated that.) Easton hasn't been too difficult and has really mostly been a lot of fun, but there are just some things I miss like sleep, getting to rest when I'm sick instead of still needing to take care of him, actually getting to read a whole book, and getting to run as long as I want instead of just until he decides he's done with the stroller. So what really touched me and helped me put my life into perspective is what she said at the end of her article: "I know that there is nothing better than being a mom. There will be time for myself later, when my children are grown. Right now, I'm busy having a wonderful time." From now on, when I'm playing with Easton, I'm going to forget all the really unimportant things that seem to fill my day and just enjoy having a really, truly, wonderful time.

Football and Food!

A few weeks ago we got to go to the state championships for football because Jonathan's alma mater, North Summit High, was playing. And what do ya know? They won! On a field goal with 3 seconds left in the game! It was pretty awesome! We also got to go to the semi-finals with Jonathan's sister Whitney and here we are with Easton.After the game we met up with Jonathan's brother and his wife and their kids and went and got some dinner. It was a blast and Easton loved playing with his cousins!
Here's Aunt Whit and the kids being crazy!
Our sister-in-law is pregnant and due in a few weeks! What's even cooler is that Jonathan's other brother's wife is also pregnant and due in March, so they'll be pretty close!
At this point Jonathan was still sporting the Fu Manchu, but don't worry, after a little encouragement he's decided to put those days behind him. ;)

It was such a fun day and so fun to see family!

Way Behind! (So this is waaaaay too long!)

I see other cute and creative blogs or else I see the ones that are updated almost daily and I constantly think, "I need to be more like them," and then... here we are almost a month since my last post and no, I haven't done any of the cute and creative things I've been dreaming about. I've decided I give up and I'll just be one of those occasional bloggers that does it whenever she's home from church sick and her little boy is actually napping (which is exactly what is going on today). In my defense, I did try a few times, but three sentences into a carefully thought out blog the computer would have issues or Easton would wake up from a nap. That's one thing I really don't understand. The second I quit cleaning and lay down to take a nap or hop on the computer or do something else relaxing, Easton's internal alarm goes off and he wakes up ready to run around some more. Lately he is becoming increasingly independent, at least as much as he can be for an 11-month old(which by the way is crazy! He'll be one year old next month!). My little baby was always so calm and easy-going and did whatever I wanted him to until a crazy thing happened: mobility. And we're not talking walking here, I mean the second he realized he could move at all on his own (beginning at rolling over) he turned into a much more demanding child that wanted to be moved all the time until he could do it on his own. Fast-forward to today and he is "on the verge" of walking and has been for months. Everyone keeps telling me how he's so close and it will be any day now, but he is completely content with holding mom or dad's hand and pulling us around the house all day(which is a bit painful on the back and more than a little time-consuming). He has his days when he'll walk around in his crib, let go of the coffee table and walk a little, and one day even walked all the way across the bedroom, but then for some reason he decides he doesn't want to do it by himself anymore and insists on being carried or hand-held to wherever he wants to go. Crawling has, unfortunately, completely lost it's appeal and walking is just not quite what he wants yet either, so we're stuck here in limbo. (By the way, I know this is quite long and probably pretty boring, but this is as close as I get to writing in his journal these days, so... you can just look at the pictures if you want. :) ) Anyway, back to the independence thing, does anyone have any advice for temper tantrums? If Easton doesn't get what he wants, and I mean just about ANYTHING he wants that he doesn't immediately get, he throws himself on the ground and cries till he gets it. If we're holding him he throws himself backward and arches his back and won't un-arch until he gets it. I know you're supposed to ignore their tantrums, but I'm having a hard time drawing the line between listening to what he wants and helping him learn to communicate and letting him think he should get whatever he wants, whenever. I try to only stop him if it's something dangerous, but I'm wondering if there are some more mom secrets I should know about this. Especially during church. Last Sunday he got to the point that every time I walked in the door of the Relief Society room he threw himself backward and screamed. The only reason we'd made it through Sunday School was because of a cute little girl that mesmerized him with her toys, but even then we were sitting in the doorway the whole time and we had to take him out a couple of times. By Relief Society the little girl's spell had worn off and there was no more keeping him in there. Granted he was tired and I'm sure a nap would have helped the situation, but I'm still struggling with the whole independence thing. So.... anybody have suggestions? I don't think Easton is terrible or anything, just very active and independent (sometimes stubborn... hmmm, wonder where he gets that) and probably pretty normal and so I'm wondering how other people taught their children about... well I'm not sure what you would call it, but basically how to teach him to not freak out if he doesn't get his way. If any of you have any advice, I would greatly appreciate it!
Even though I know I've already exceeded the maximum allowance for a single post, I have lots more to say! First off, I want to say Thank You Thank You THANK YOU Jonathan! While I've been sick he's been taking care of Easton, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and all that, even though he's doing finals right now. Mwah! I love you! I also want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I can't believe it's almost here! This year we're going to have a very busy and fun Christmas. David (my brother) and Robin (his soon-to-be-little-Mrs.) are getting married on Saturday, then we're going straight to Coalville to stay till Christmas, then we'll go to the Harward Christmas party and meet up with my family on Christmas Day and early the next morning we'll be leaving for California with them for David's reception and to go to Disneyland, Sea World, etc for a week and a half! Yay! It's all going to be so much fun! I'm sure we'll have tons of pictures of that and hopefully I'll post them soon!
Another exciting thing right now is that next semester is both mine and Jonathan's last! I'll have 2 classes and 3 online classes and he has 1 class and an internship and then we'll both graduate in April! I'm so excited! I'm really excited for Jonathan to get to have more Easton time. This semester has been pretty crazy and it's rare that he's actually home before Easton goes to bed so it will be a nice change. Easton loves his daddy so much still and is always crawling around the house saying "dada" and looking for him. Oh, and speaking of that, Easton's new tricks lately are waving, giving high fives, and pointing, all of which he does when he wants to, not when we're trying to show relatives. He also crawled in to me today, looked up and said "Hi" and then came up and grabbed me! It was probably pure coincidence, but I thought it was pretty cool. Anyway, I'm going to stop now in case Easton wakes up! I'll try to hurry and get some pics up since those are the most interesting parts of a blog anyway, but if I don't make it, I'm sure I'll try again in another month or so! :)

Another Tag!

Husband Tag
1. Where did you meet? At our ward when we lived in Raintree. He gave a great talk and I just had to go meet him.
2. How long did you date before you got married? 1 year and 1 month
3. How long have you been married? 1 year and 7 months
4. What does he do to surprise you? Flowers, cleans, comes home early
5. What is your favorite feature of his? his gorgeous face
6.What is your favorite quality? He has a good attitude about everything and is easy-going
7. Does he have a nickname for you? Usually sweetie, but lots of random things (cuddle ruckus, love chucks, that kind of stuff)
8. What is his favorite food? Fettucini and pretzels
9. What is his favorite sport? Football and Basketball
10. When and where did you first kiss? My apartment when we were country-swing dancing
11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? laugh
12.Do you have children? Easton who is ten months!
13. Does he have any hidden talents? Yes I learn new ones every day! He can fix anything mechanical and was a mathlete in high school.
14. How old is he? 25
15. Who said I love you first? He did, 2 minutes before leaving me for the summer to work.
16. What is his favorite music? Some hard rock, country, punk, rap, basically everything. Oh, and he knows all the words to and the artist of any really really old country song.
17. What do you admire most about him? He is always striving to be better spiritually and he lets me realize my own mistakes instead of telling me I'm wrong.
18. What is his favorite color? Blue
19. Which side of the bed does he sleep on? Left if you are looking at the bed
20. Will he read this? Yes