Missing brain cells

It's amazing what sleep deprivation can do to your mind. Sleep experts have said that lack of sleep is almost the same as being intoxicated. I find myself rambling in my conversations, putting things away in the wrong cupboards, finally starting my day at noon, and many other things that would normally seem crazy to me, but are starting to feel very normal. My husband can go hunting at 4:00 in the morning in the dead of winter, and have an early morning tee-time after two hours of sleep. I on the other hand thrive on a good nights sleep. I need it and crave it. I have to have it in order to be a pleasant, happy person. Ever since I was a small child, I loved to go to sleep and be tucked into my bed for some zzzzz's. I never cried or protested, it was a quick change into my pj's and lights out. So why, oh why, would I be sent children who do not value the night time hours? I understand that my little baby is only a little over two weeks old, but I can already tell he's got the super-charged energy battery pack like Kendle. When they sleep, they sleep hard, but it's few and far between. Oh, he almost had us fooled. Morgan's joke he likes to play on me is waking up at 2:00 am and staying awake for a good hour or more. I'm talking WIDE AWAKE. My dear husband has been taking the early morning shift as he's getting up for work, he takes pity on me and tries to let me get at least one hour of good sleep in, but by that time Kendle is awake and running around the house and I can hear everything! Quick fact: It only took 3 YEARS for Kendle to finally sleep through the night. Wish me luck on this one. So if I seem to be acting kind of quirky lately, no I have not suddenly turned to alcohol I'm just missing a few thousand brain cells.

Something to think about

First of all, I just have to clarify that I am not an earth-loving hippie muffin who goes around promoting world peace and conservation. But I have begun to notice how much my family wastes everyday that we take for granted, all of the "things" we have to have but don't really need. Anyways, we're going to be busy finishing our fence this weekend, (it's only taken us 2 years) and I thought this video would give everyone something interesting to think about. I wish they could have broken it down for more of what we could do in our own country, but it gets the ball rolling.

Getting back to normal?

Our little Morgan boy is now about a week old and we are starting to get back to "normal", whatever that is, around our home. Or I guess I should say that now I'm ready for things to be back to normal. Riley is back at work (and golfing), Kendle is busy playing with friends and getting dirty, and I'm bouncing back into my role as the coordinator of our busy little household. Being a mom is sure an extraordinary thing.

Morgan has been a dream baby so far, ( me knocking on wood) and we have enjoyed every minute of his presence. We have already come up with a couple of nicknames for the little guy - Starvin Marvin the little old man, and Jr., which is Kendle's contribution. The little old man nickname stemmed from how hungry he is when he wakes up and he wrinkles his forehead like a little old man. I put him on his tummy yesterday to get some exercise and he rolled over - twice! What is with my kids? It's like I took steroids or something while I was pregnant. It's got me a little scared now that he's saving up all of that sleep for something else?!

The fun of the baby has already started wearing off for Kendle and I am glad we have had so many friends and family members to make her feel special and take her to do fun things. I already feel the change in our relationship and it makes me sad and guilty. I know all of you mom's can understand what I mean. I don't want to miss out on anything with her either. Luckily Morgan has been sleeping so much that I have quite a bit of time in between feedings, and snuggles. If anyone has some good advice on how you handled the new baby thing with your older children, let me know.

Anyways, life is good for the Dodson fam. I hope to get back in the full swing of things soon. Back to juggling life as we know it.

Little Wonders

I thought I'd do just a quick little post while I had a quiet moment and let everyone get a looksie at our new little sweetheart - Morgan James Dodson.

He weighed in at 9 pounds 2 oz. and is 21 inches long. So far, he has been eating and sleeping like a champ and couldn't be sweeter. We can tell he is already a strong little guy and fights to get his head up for a look around.

My first thought when they laid him in my arms was, what a miracle we just witnessed. I know that's totally cliche, but it really truly hits you that this little person was sent from heaven and how lucky we are to be blessed with a healthy baby. Right away I could also see a family resemblance, he has tons of dark hair and Kendle's little mouth. The delivery went very smoothly and this was a much better experience than before. ( Yes, I got to have an epidural this time!!!)

Kendle could not wait to come to the hospital and hold her new little brother. She gave him lots of kisses and "soft" little pats and is already trying to teach him to say "ma, ma". He'll be a quick study with her around. She has already helped feed him and change him and he recognizes her voice when she comes around. I know they will have a special bond.

It's hard to believe that all of this started nine months ago, and in a matter of hours we were meeting him for the first time. We feel so thankful to have him in our family and can't wait to see what all of the little moments will bring. Morgan looks forward to meeting you soon.

Here's to the future

This will probably be my last post for a while until after the baby is born. I'm scheduled to be induced Tuesday afternoon, and I couldn't be more relieved. I'm still frustrated that I don't have my pictures of Kendle's graduation yet, but I decided to go ahead and post some of my little brother's graduation last weekend anyways. Other than it being a gazillion degrees in their high school gym it went really well. The speakers were excellent, the slide show was very cute and we were out of there in less than an hour. I wish I had taken more pictures or any pictures for that matter of the rest of my family, but as usual I am the worst event recorder ever. That is precisely why I do not scrapbook. I will say that it was very strange to be back in my old high school watching my little brother come down that aisle and walk on stage and receive his diploma. There were a couple of tears, I have to admit. All in all, it was a great weekend and our family partied like rock stars (well Mormon rock stars). I love my family! Take a look at these pic's. For all of the new graduates, or for those of you getting ready to head down a new path or start a new adventure in life, good luck!

This is Tucker and his friend Josie their class president

All of the Tovey women.....

Remembering summers past

I thought until I got pictures on here from last weekends graduations, I'd make a little post about some summer memories I have. Summer has always been somewhat of a magical time for me.

We used to camp out in the backyard, or sleep on the trampoline and look at the stars. When I was about Kendle's age our family used to play this game called "No Bears are out tonight". I can't remember the exact gist of it, but basically someone was the bear (usually my dad) and we'd end up getting scared silly and having a blast running around our big backyard from the "bear". Our family trip to visit our grandparents in Idaho, was always a summer adventure we couldn't wait for. We were always pretty free to roam around as kids during the summer. There were many times we'd still be out riding our bikes at ten o'clock because we could still barely see where we were going. As I got older there were always summer slumber parties and swim parties. BBQ's, picnic's, parades, the 4th of July and fireworks, the fair....there are so many things I love about this time of year. The smell of grilling food, and the sounds of children laughing and playing. Smelling the freshly cut grass, and hearing the spray of sprinklers. I played lots of summer softball in the hot heat, double headers in high humidity and I loved it. Now that I'm a parent I want to make sure my kids have as many fun summer memories as I have. Summertime gives us a chance to be kids again and make our own family traditions our children will look forward to every year.

This song, I put on here got me thinking about this topic in the first place. "Tim McGraw" by Taylor Swift makes me very reminiscent about being in high school and being young and in "love" and all of that good stuff. I just remember that feeling of not having a care in the world for three months straight. This summer make lots of memories with your family, and maybe even fall in love with your sweetie all over again.