In December, Keaton celebrated his first Christmas! We had a great one. We spent Christmas eve at the Kundis House, and did our traditional German dinner. I love the many traditions that we do at their house. This year we wore ugly sweaters. Christmas morning we headed to my parents house, and opened our gifts! We are so fortunate to have 2 sets of parents who spoil us rotten. We love you, and thank you for another Christmas for the books!! Keaton got a "big boy carseat" for Christmas. It is a graco 4 ever car seat and we love it! It converts down all the way to a booster seat, so we won't have to buy another car seat for a long long time!
Keaton turned one year old on January 22nd, 2017. We had our immediate family over to our condo for a fun little party. He loves dogs, so the party was a dog theme. We enjoyed hot "dogs" "pawsta" salad, "toilet water" (which was ocean water from sonic) and puuupcakes. We had a great time doing a cake smash, opening gifts and visiting. I still can't believe my baby is now a toddler! The first year of his life was the hardest and greatest year of mine. I learned what true unconditional love is, and I grew to have a greater appreciation for all mothers. I love you, my little one year old!!!
February We celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been 4 years! We got to get away for a night, and stayed at the anniversary inn. My parents watched Keaton. Thank you mom and dad! I love my husband so much. Over the past 4 years he has been my strength. He knows me very well, he can read me like a book. I know my Heavenly Father placed him in my life for a reason. It takes a special kind of person to put up with my crazy ;)
March we had our fundraiser for my Aunt Rachel. In December, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. This was a shock to our whole family. My mom organized a fundraiser for her as many medical expenses are expected. We did a silent auction and many items were donated. I believe we raised roughly $9,000! It was a huge success. I am so grateful for my Aunt and her wonderful example. Although she has cancer, she is often the one comforting us, when it should be us comforting her. She smiles through her pain, and she has persevered through so many horrific days as chemo has taken a huge toll on her body. I believe God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. Rachel is the STRONGEST! I love you forever!!
April we celebrated Easter. We spent time at the Kundis house and grandma put an easter egg hunt together for Keaton. We enjoyed funeral potatoes (one of gar's favorites) and ham. Keaton loved spending time with his cousins. I can tell he is going to look up to them so much in his life! We spent some time at my parents as well, dyed easter eggs and ate lots of food. I'm so grateful for the Savior's resurrection!
So far this month we traveled to Zion's national park and celebrated Rachel's birthday. It is so beautiful there! It was nice to have a change of scenery. We woke up to buffalo right on the other side of the fence from our cabin. Thank you to my great Aunt Shari and Uncle Bruce for allowing us to stay in your beautiful cabin! We loved every minute of it.
I have had a few people ask me about Keaton's hearing aids. Recently we got them and so far he has been doing great with them! He pulls them out occasionally but it's to be expected. For those of you who don't know, Keaton was born with a mild hearing loss. He can hear everything you say without hearing aids, but has trouble hearing certain consonants, such as "sss" or "ccc". We chose to get him hearing aids so that he can develop his speech well. His hearing aids now are noticeable, which is just fine, but eventually when he gets older he will be able to wear a pair that is more discrete. As Keaton's parents we want him to be proud of his hearing aids, so that he is not embarrassed to wear them. We will let him pick out his own colors when he is old enough, and we hope that he will be proud to wear them. As a mom you wish you could take away your child's trials, but unfortunately that's just not how it works. I will always do my best to help Keaton through his trials and help him to know he is PERFECT just as he is! Plus, he looks soo cute in his little blue hearing aids.
Keaton is growing more and more each day. He loves to walk, he loves bob the builder (He sings the theme song). His favorite food at the moment is goldfish, he says ball, dog, baba, dada, mama, dandad (grandad), and bob. He loves to throw his ball, likes being outside, likes to chase people, loves to wave, and loves to stack his blocks. He makes us so happy!
