Two of A Kind

I had fun today comparing pictures of Kason and Harley as babies. Kason is on the left, Harley on the right.

This is both of them in the hospital right after they were born.

Their first Sundays at Church (same shirt)

This is them at one month old

And at two months old

They do have differences, but you can definately tell they are brothers!

Swim!

Here is Kason showing off in his cute (he he) new swim floaty. Isn't such a good swimmer? The next Michael Phelps! And so pleased that he can do it all by himself. I am a proud mommy.

Yesterday was my birthday! It was great. I got lots of warm wishes. I also got a pasta maker from my folks and a nice dutch oven/roaster from my in-laws. From my dear sweet husband I got a night away from the kids. Harley and Kason stayed went Grammy and Grampy (and wore them out) and Reed and I went down to the beach. We stayed at a hotel right on the beach and had dinner at an Italian restaurant overlooking the Ocean. It was wonderful! Thanks Honey!!!

I also have a Harley update. Just over a week ago he had his 2 month check-up and weighed 13 lbs! He such a sweet baby and smiles and gooos and gaas all the time now. I love it!

Boy Crazy

Oh man! Life is busy and great. Warm weather is here to stay and my boys and I have definately been enjoying it (this is my excuse for how long this post has been in the making. I have sat down to work on it several times and been destracted by sunshine and boys). I have lots of pictures in this post because I know some people are dieing to see updates of Harley (yes, we have officially decided that Harley will be his name, it fits him so well!) These pictures are in no specific order because I uploaded them weird and it is too time consuming to fix. Enjoy!

Jeff, Tammy, and Eli came to visit at the end of April. It was so much fun having them here! We went to the beach, visited the aquarium, and strolled around the zoo, but most of all we enjoyed each others company. This is Harley enjoy the sun and sand. Well maybe not the sun in his eyes so much, or the sand in his diaper. It was his first time and he was a good sport, he will come to love it.

Here are Kason and Eli in front of the famous Neptune statue at VA Beach. I think it is a tradition to take a picture in front of it if you come to visit us and we go to the beach. Kason has issues with getting his picture taken, but aside from that this is a great picture. It will be fun to show them when they are older.

This weekend we enjoyed our first swim in Grammy and Grampy's pool. As expected Kason had a blast! I feel I must explain the pink and purpple. We got this great floaty innertube/swil shirt thingy at Babies 'R Us for only $1.50! We couldn't believe it when we saw the price, so we grabbed two and hurried to check out before they changed their minds. Apparently they were mismarked (supposed to be $17.99), but we got them for $1.50 anyway. Unfortunately they only had pink and purpple, but with a deal like that Kason (and Reed) can buck up and live with the girl colors, right?

This is what Harley did while we went swimming (the water is still a little cold for the babe). He is so big! He has his 2 month check-up tomorrow, but we are thinking he will weigh in somewhere between 11 and a half to 12 pounds.

Here is Harley enjoying the big weird fish and the aquarium. Kason and Eli were somewhere running a muck. Harley is a peacful baby and usually sleeps through all of the excitement

Awe.. Kason and Eli were so cute together. They were little buddies the whole time (well most of the time) We did kind of push it to the limit with Kason (no naps and four days of non-stop) so by Monday morning Kason was a little crazy, but for the most part he was enjoying having a friend around 24/7.

We got our garden all planted! We are so excited for our first real year as gardeners. If all goes well (which it may or may not) we will have quite a list of fresh produce to enjoy, including: asian pears, peaches, appricots, figs, strawberries, raspberries (probably next year), corn, peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash, watermelon, pumpkins, zuchini (of course), and cucumber. It's been fun planning and sewing and we look forward to reaping!

Kason has definately warmed up to bing a big brother and gets excited when Harley is awake and somewhat interactive. Although he is still pretty sure that Harley is Mommy's and Kason is Daddy's. Whenever Reed holds Harley Kason says, "Harley Mommy"

Kason just seems so big now that we have Harley. He is so much of little boy now rather than a baby and delights us with new words and even sentances every day. His first real sentance was, "Me eat hot dog" It was so cute.

Easter was fun. We dyed eggs and had an easter egg hunt in Grammy and Grampy's front yard while enjoying a wonderful session of Conference.

Nanna came and stayed for two weeks after Harley was born. It was wonderful! All my meals made and cleaned up after, not to mention the wonderful company! It was sad to see her go. Thank goodness for Skype!!

We blessed Harley while my mom was here. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful blessing. Reed is such a great dad!

We took my mom to a great seafood resuraunt while she was here. This is everyone waiting for their fish.

Here is my sweet little Harley getting ready for his bath.

Awe!

Well if you made it all the way through, thanks. I love sharing, it's just that it's hard to find the time. I'm just not super woman like many bloggers are, but I will make a renewed effort to keep all of my blog readers (all 1 or is it 2 of you now?) updated.

Sweet Baby James

Harley James Sloat arrived a week ago today. He was about 11 days early, but there was no doubt he was ready to come. I went to the doctor the Thursday before for my regular appointment. The doctor was impressed that I was dilated to a four and 70% effaced. Just like with Kason I hadn't felt any painful contractions, but this time I did feel the pressure and hardening of my belly when I had a strong contraction, so i wasn't too surprised. She striped the membranes and predicted that we would be back in the hospital that weekend to deliver. Reed and I just smiled at each other knowingly. We thought we knew the drill and decided not to get our hopes up because we went through the same thing with Kason (I dilated slowly over about a month) and then ended up having to induce to get him that last little way. However, Harley decided to throw us a curve ball and come all by himself.

I woke up early (about 1:00) Sunday morning (March 7) with pain. I dismissed it as gas and tried to get back to sleep. Not long after I felt some more pain and noticed pressure and hardening of my belly. I thought this might be the real thing, so I decided to note the time and see if I get another one. Seven minutes later I did ... and seven minutes after that I did again. At this point I woke up Reed and he helped me time them for about an hour as they got stronger and closer together. We packed a bag for the hospital and got Kason out of bed and into the car (at this point I was stopping ever 3 minutes to breathe and stomp my way through the contractions). After an exciting ride to Grammy and Grampy's to drop off Kason I was contracting every minute and a half and it was now about 2:30 am.

We got to the hospital and I had to get down on all fours in the parking lot to make it through an extra strong contraction (Reed was pulling on my arm and telling me to get up and into the hospital). We finally made it to the hospital with no time to spare (and no time for an epidural..I kind of freaked out when I realized that). I was fully dilated, fully effaced, and fully ready to push, but we had to wait for the mid wife, so I bravely (don't ask Reed if that adjective is correct) breathed my way through the contraction until she arrived. Finally I pushed for what seemed like no time at all and Harley James made his appearance at 3:51 am. Wow! What a difference from Kason's delivery.



And now here he is, a perfect 6lb 6oz 19.5 inch baby boy. We still haven't decided whether to call him Harley or James. He is a "peacful" baby (that's how the lactation consultant put it when I expressed my worries about him not waking up long enough to eat). He doesn't like diaper changes or pooping, but other than that he doesn't cry much and sleeps all the time. We just love him!

Because of flu season and the H1N1 outbreak there had been a ban at the hospital on all visitors under the age of 18. This meant the Kason could not visit me and Harley at the hospital. On Monday they lifted the ban! I didn't know about it and I was sitting in my hospital room, waiting for Reed when I hear Kason out in the hall. I was so happy I cried! Reed and Kason surprised me with flowers (three roses, one from each of my boys) and a toy that Kason picked out for his baby brother. I am so blessed!!!

Kason and I took James for his first walk and to get some sunshine. Kason was so sweet picking flowers for his brother. It has taken him a little while to warm up to the baby, but he is going to be a GREAT big brother!

I love this picture. This is the first time that Kason was willing to hold James. I only had my cell phone close by and the moment was fleeting, so the quality isn't great, but the subject is beautiful!

My recovery is going great. It is amazing how much faster I have felt "myself" this time than with Kason. Part of it is not having a epidural I think. I could feel my legs and move around right after giving birth. I even walked myself from the delivery room into the recovery room. The other part is I only had to get one little stitch instead of nine, so there isn't as much healing to be done. I am so happy and so blessed by my Heavenly Father to have such a beautiful family!!!

...Maybe Not?

I titled my last post "The Greatest Snow on Earth" referring to the snow we enjoyed while visiting in Utah. However, upon returning home, we have experienced some pretty impressive snow storms. They cancelled church for the biggest one as well as schools and everything else for about three days. Mostly that's because they aren't as prepared for snow here as in Utah, this being the most they have had since 1989, but it was still exciting. Kason enjoyed playing it. It doesn't matter how cold he gets he never wants to come inside. The snow has mostly melted now, but it's still cold. I'm ready for spring.



Remember the daffodils that made a surprise appearance early this winter? Well, I don't know if they are going to make it. We also have some strawberries that appear to mostly dead. I'm not a plant expert, but I don't think the perennials around here are liking the snow and consistently freezing temperatures. And don't tell Kason, but neither do I. I've been praying for an early spring.

We had a fun Valentines day. I enjoyed picking out gifts for both of my boys. I got Reed a set of cuff links to go with the french cuff shirts that he got for his birthday. All the other financial advisers wear them, and Reed looks very handsome in his! I got kason a heart full of chocolates and as you can see he enjoyed it very much. I even got a smile for the camera. Reed got me a Willow Tree figurine called Tender. It's a mom holding her little boy, I love it!

The Greatest Snow on Earth

Kason and I just spent a fun-filled two weeks in Utah! We had a great time with Nana and Grandpa. We did some shopping especially at fabric store (they have a better selection there than here), went swimming, played in the snow, and most of all enjoyed being with family.

We went swimming with Grandpa twice at the indoor pool. Kason loves swimming. He really liked walking around in the shallow end. He kept trying to sit down and most of the time the water was too deep and covered him right up. He also liked going down the alligator slide even though I was a little slow cathching him on the first time down and he went completely under the water. It hardly fazes him at all to go under water. He is our little fish!

One of the days that we were there we went up to Logan to visit my Grandparents (who live there) and my brother and sister (who go to school there). They had tons of snow! It snowed all of the way up and all of the way back home. We took the opportunity to play and take Kason sledding for the first time. He did great! He was so brave going down the hill and held on tight to the sled. We also built a snow man and threw snow balls. It was a great time!

We got to see all of our family out there. Mike and Becky came down the first weekend. Kason had so much fun with them. Kason loved all of the attention (which he really misses now that we are back at home, just me and him all day). We will miss everyone back there in Utah. Thanks for the great memories! But we also missed Reed. The trip was wonderful, but it is nice to be back with daddy/hubby.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Here are a few fun pictures from the last month...

Over Christmas all of Reed's brothers were in town. Kason had a great time playing with his uncles!

Doesn't he make a handsome fireman?

We were surprised with some daffodiles popping up ... in January!

Here is Kason being a cool dude on his tricycle.

I went grocery shopping and the boys made a fort in Kason't room. As you can see it was very exciting.

Here are a couple of Christmas pictures. Kason got this easle and has been quite an artist ever since. He can already draw circles! I am so proud :)

Down the Stairs to Take A Peek

We had a great Christmas! Kason was so cute coming out into the living room Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. I will post more about it later and more pictures, but I wanted to share this video (I warn you it's a little long...I don't know how to edit video yet). The best part is in the beginning when Kason is peeking around the corner. Enjoy!

Take a Picture It'll Last Longer

I have had this post written for quite a while, and have just now had the patients to get the pictures uploaded. Over Thanksgiving Reed's sister came down with her family from Ohio. Kason and his cousin had fun playing and running a muck together at Grammy and Grampy's. There was lots of great food and it was awesome having Reed home so much! Kason is such a daddy's boy that we had a hard time when Reed went back to work all day. But, we are adjusting.

We have kind of a tradition of taking family pictures on Thanksgiving, we did it last year and the year before, so we took the opportunity to take some family pictures this year as well. Kason does not pose willingly for pictures, and when we ask him to smile ... well you can tell from a couple of the pictures what we get. So we had a hard time getting a very good one of all of us, (one of the best ones looks like Kason is picking his nose).

I love this picture of Kason and Reed. Kason loves his Dad so much, it's so fun to watch. When Reed is home Kason follows him around like a little shadow, doing whatever dad does. When Reed is not home, everything is "Daddy's?"

This last one is of my prego tummy (Kason felt that he needed to make a cameo, he already can't stand the spotlight on baby brother). I think the way my hands are makes it look more like a beer belly than a baby belly, but you get the idea. This was taken about a month ago and I have grown since then. I'm pretty sure I am bigger now than I was with Kason at six months...kind of a scary thought thinking back to how big I was with Kason at nine months. If I continue to grow at this rate I will need a wheel chair by then. I now have only 90 day left! And at the same time; I still have 90 days left! I have weird dreams about giving birth in bizarre places and under chaotic circumstances that just keep getting more vivid and unusual. With Kason I had lots of dreams about giving birth to a tiny little baby (like gummy bear size). Anyway, I love being pregnant and I love thinking about what my new little baby will be like. It's so exciting!

Nor'easter

Starting yesterday and continuing through the weekend we are experiencing a "Nor'easter." So named because the hurricane strength winds and heavy moisture come out of the North East. We are getting lots and lots of rain. It has rained pretty much non-stop since yesterday morning. The worst of it is supposed to be today, but I think all we have to worry about is losing power. I have filled every container I can with water (including the bath tub) in anticipation of losing power because we get our water from a well that is pumped with an electric pump, so no power means no water. I also have candles and flash lights at the ready. Kason would be thrilled if we had to use candles - he loves fire!

This is out on our back porch. Kason is pointing at either the rain or the swaying trees. It's all very interesting. He did not want to come back inside.

This is out on our front porch. Kason is sitting on the railing trying to feel the rain. Once again it was quite an ordeal getting him back inside the house.

Kason and I are hunkered down nice and cozy inside the house waiting it out. As you may or may not be able to tell from the pictures Kason would much rather be outside in the wind and rain than in here nice an cozy. He is really missing our morning walks and I'm afraid getting a little cabin fever from being couped up in here all day long, we'll see how long he lasts.

Snips and Snails

I thought I would seize this opportunity while everyone is sleeping and the internet is working great to do a nice long catch up post (even though I should be paying bills and balancing the budget...oh well that can wait). The latest and most exciting news is that we are going to be adding another boy to the family. We went in to the ultra sound on Monday absolutely sure it was a girl. Surprise! Now I am officially out numbered. I know that I was before (2 to 1), but I at least had a chance of making it a tie if this were a girl. Oh well, I am very very excited. My Kason is so much fun and can be so sweet that the idea of another boy brings nothing but joy. My only regret is no shopping spree to stock up on pink and dresses, we have everything we need for a boy (and then some).

At the end of September my parents came to visit. It was so much fun to have them here and be able to share our home and neighborhood with them. Kason had a wonderful time getting to know them. We went to historic James Town and to the Zoo. We also spent a very windy day at the beach and toured the naval base in Norfolk. It was sad to see them go, but Kason and I already have out tickets booked for a trip to Utah in January! We won't be able to be there for Christmas, but during this time Reed will be on a trip for work, so this worked out a little better. It will be fun to see everybody and for Kason to play in the snow (we don't get much of that around here, which I am grateful for).

We had a great Halloween. Kason dressed up as a pirate. He learned to say "Ahrg" and kept his hat on all night. He really got into the candy part of Halloween this year, but not so much the trick-or-treating. We hit a couple of houses in Grammy and Grampy's neighborhood and that was plenty. Kason was ready to stop and eat the candy after every house (the concept of delayed gratification is still beyond his grasp). Reed and I attended a Halloween party hosted by one of Reed's clients. They did a murder mystery and Reed guessed the murderer! Along with 20 other people, so they put names in a hat to choose the ultimate winner. It wasn't Reed, but I still think he is very clever. It was very well done, we talked to a lot of people and had a good time.

The beginning of November marked the end of our first year in Virginia. I can't believe it! Although it seems like we have been through quite a bit while here, I finally feel like we are getting settled and things are looking good. We are in our own place and loving it. We just pulled out the last of garden for this year. It will be fun to pick some things to plant for next year. We have quite a large space, so we are letting some other people plant things there too. It will be exciting whatching it grow and seeing everything turn out (or not). Reed's job is really starting to pick up. He has been enjoying the challenge of starting a new business and now seems to reeping more of the rewards of his hard work. And best of all we are expecting our second little bundle of joy. It's so exciting imagining what he will look like and how his personality will differ from Kason's. The hard part is waiting and deciding on a name. Luckily we had more ideas for a boy than a girl and we have time to decide which it will be. We are looking forward to a fun filled Holliday season and life is good! I will try to keep the posts coming, I know there are some far away friends and family that appritiate the pictures and updates.