Our Yard in Progress

When we moved into this house, our yard was a complete mess. we couldn't even see to the back wall because of the weeds. Alot of them were over 7 feet tall in both the front and back yard. That was one of Crispin's first tasks when we moved here. After removing the weeds, we had a back yard of gravel to work with. It was an ugly yard!!! Then crispin cleared out a little area for grass and that suited us for about a year. Then he realized he wanted alot of grass!! This is what the yard looked like the first time he did it! It was suffiecent but he wanted more grass and I'm glad he did! The yard looks way better. here are some pictures of his and his dads hard work!

We had help from our ward with clearing out the gravel and boy was it appreciated!!

You can see Marcus always has to be helping!!! I helped a little too

This project was a huge one for Crispin!! Ha ha, I dont think he knew what he was getting himself into! But I sure do love all the grass and it adds alot to our back yard!

My horse, I mean, my dog Scooter!

Ok, so most of you know that we bought a great dane last march! He is quite the handful, but I still can not get over how big he has gotten. and as sad as this sounds, I hope he gets bigger! He is really skinney and I want him to fill out and maybe get a little taller. For those of you who have never seen Scooter, here is a picture of him from when we got him!! He was such a cute little puppy!!!! He is such a mischevious dog! i thought we would be getting a dog that laid around and did absolutely nothing, I was wrong!!!! He is mischevious like Rocco was but, worse! With his size, he is way more destructive than I could have imaged!We took this picture a couple weeks ago, please excuse my messy self! But as you can see, Scooter has grown quite a bit these past couple months we have had him, not to mention he his a whole 105 lbs!!!! only 50 more to reach his dad's weight!!
With all the frustrations I get with these dogs, I sure do love them! Yes, even Rocco! I really couldnt imagine not having them (ok maybe I could- My house would be soo much cleaner!!) But there is something about opening the back door and seeing them outside playing together! I never thought I would own 2 dogs but they sure do fit in our family!!

Merry Christmas!!

Well we have had a pretty good christmas this yr!!! I am updating my blog from my new laptop!!! I just LOVE it!!!!! I am excited to have it and thought I wasn't going to get it but my wonderful husband got it for me and surprised me!!!! so hopefully I will update my blog more :) We had such a wonderful christmas! It was defiantly fun this yr with Marcus being a little older. He still didnt quite grasp the Santa idea but Roughy ( that is how Marcus says Rusty's name) did a great job of helping Marcus out with what he was suppose to do. He stayed with Marcus in the back bedroom till we were ready for him to come out and see what Santa brought him, and then Roughy tought him how to run down the hall all excited, i tried to get a picture but they just ran too fast and Marcus ran right past his toys anyways!

He was so funny while opening presents! He really was into opening them, we think he was afraid to get into trouble, and then he wanted to decide whose present went to who.. Macki ended up opening one of moms, but it was funny!

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Well not outside it doesn't, but in the Pixley home, we are taking every attempt to bring the Holiday cheer in! We got our Christmas Tree purchased and put up! I insisted we buy a real tree because I wanted the smell of the tree to fill my house. Not that I thought i would smell it everywhere in my house.... but I must say, my ENTIRE house smells like Christmas

We bought a 7 foot tree and I LOVE it!!!! I told Crispin to not be surprised if he caught asleep one morning next to the tree because I love that smell soooooo much!!!!

Marcus was a great help as usual with getting the tree in the house and getting it decorated.... He had to take a bath in the middle of it, which would explain his nakedness

Ok, I decided you all didnt want to see his butt, so you get the picture with his eyes half shut! We are getting excited for Christmas and experiencing it with Marcus!!

Do you know where your kid is asleep????

So on Sunday when we got home from church, Marcus was CRANKY, usually I will watch a movie with him and take a nap but he wouldn't lay still so I put him in his room to take a nap! He has had a hard time lately falling asleep in his room, but after about 10 minutes, he was out!!!! and this is where I found him!!




In his on his closet floor!!! He was out cold and did not move his entire nap!!!!!

Grandpa and Grandma Campout

Last weekend my dad had wanted to go camping and wanted me and Marcus to come along, so we decided since Crispin was busy that weekend, we might as well go have fun with Grandma and Grandpa. I dont know if all kids are like Marcus but he LOVES his grandparents!!!!! He gets SOOOO excited when we tell him that they are coming over or if we are going to see them or if they are going to babysit him! He knows what we mean when we tell them and there is NOTHING that can bring that kid down when he knows he is going to spend time with them! So I knew he was in for a treat when my dad wanted to take the trailer out. This is at dinner time, we had hot dogs (one of Marcus's new favorite foods and baked beans)

Marcus actually slept good in the trailer that night! He was able to stay up past his bed time and he even got up early. I was NOT in the mood to get up with him at 5:00 am since he had gone to bed so late so I laid there threatening him to go back to sleep, after about 10 minutes my dad either got tired of listening to me get after him or he was just ready to get up, but my dad got up and got Marcus and took him for a walk to go watch the sunrise. after they left the trailer, I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldnt. so I snuck around I took pictures of them!

as you can see in this picture, Marcus took over in where they were going!!!

This is Marcus reading Harry Potter with Grandma,

and here is my classic little guy--- see how happy he is?!?!?!?!

Marcus is 2

Ok this is a little late, but I have been having computer problems, not fun!! But we had Marcus's 2nd birthday party and he was in a MUCH better mood than his first birthday party. We just had family over for it, and it was so much fun! We just had hamburgers and hotdogs and opened presents and then cake. It was simple and Marcus LOVED all the attention!! Here are a couple pictures from his party. they are REALLY crappy but when we went to open present I realized our camera was dead so these are from my phone, not the greatest!!!

I honestly can not believe how big and smart he is!!!!! I love this little guy to death!!!!!! He is getting this personality that I can not help but just sit and play with him!! He knows what he wants and isnt afraid to show it!!! ha ha, it can be embarressing at times!

Things that he likes doing:

*Praying every night at the side of his bed(he sometimes thinks it necessary to pray in the middle of play time, i dont stop him, its cute!!!)

*Peeing in the toilet and getting to flush it afterwards

*Riding in the bike trailer or on his tricycle

*watching movies!! This kid is honestly funny when it comes to movies!! it doesnt even have to be a cartoon!!! I have found he loves the 80's movies that i love( Uncle Buck, Labrynth, Great Outdoors, and the Hulk is his new favorite!!!)

*Trying to ride Scooter (Dont worry, Scooter isnt hurt during this process)

*Loves helping daddy with yard work and mom with gardening

*Leggos are a must

*dancing

*Cooking!!!! He is always by my side in the kitchen getting me the utensil I need

*Cleaning!!!! He cries if I dont let him Vacuum for a little bit when it is out

*BEING SILLY!!!

her is Marcus in a nut shell. he is full of life and energy and enjoys almost everything he does!!

Marcus's EEG

So we had Marcus's EEG last week, and I am so horrible at updating this quickly, so its a week late, but better than nothing! I was soooo nervous going into this. I'm not nervous about the results, whatever they are-we deal with them. we live in a priveleged time where things can be controlled with medicine and if Marcus does have epilepsy, then we treat it. I was nervous cause the test needed to be done with him sleeping. they told me to bring him in sleep deprived to where he can fall asleep during the appt. I am thinking, YA RIGHT. I have such an active kid, regardless of how tired he is, when he is somewhere where he can get into trouble, he will be into everything!!!! So we woke him up early last Thursday, he started getting cranky around 6:00am and I started getting nervous that he wouldnt make it to the appt, especially since we had a 30 minute drive to keep him awake during... we went about 20 minutes and stopped at my old job to stop by and say hi and keep marcus awake. He had fun there terrorizing the office like usual, I think Tammy hates when we stop by ;) jk!!! After we left there we realized we still had some time before the appt, so we went to a park close to the hospital to get the last bit of energy out of Marcus. So we get to the appt. and right off the bat, i LOVED the nurse that we had!!!! we had such a horrible experience at Phoenix Childrens that I think that is why I was dreading this test sooo much. But no, everything went SMOOTH!!! we got Marcus on the hospital bed, i laid down with him (crispin did for a little bit cause marcus needed his Dad to calm him down). as the Nurse was putting the electrodes on she gave Marcus a portable DVD player to watch a movie on, she didnt have all of them on before Marcus had dozed off!!! I could NOT believe it!!!! This was a piece of cake!!!! Here are some pictures from Marcus sleeping during the study

Towards the end of the exam we had to wake him up and put this strobe light type thing above him, I guess seizures can be trigured with flashing lights and that is why they do that. I learned alot from this nurse and felt so good about the exam when it was done. Here are the electodes getting removed and Marcus acting pretty upset cause we woke him up :(

Labor Day Camping

So this year Macki, Crispin, Marcus and I went camping. It was a little weird for all of us because my dad has always brought all of the kitchen stuff. We went to cook pancakes on Saturday Morning and realized we didnt have a mixing bowl, measuring cups or spoons.. Needless to say our pancakes were a little tough, but with enough syrup, we were good to go! Here is Marcus with his buddy, Aunt Macki. I think he was attached to her hip the entire time!!! Every year when my family goes camping the boys always chop down a tree. Crispin decided to keep the tradition alive!Marcus had a blast playing in the sleeping bags hanging out to dry.
It was a fun trip and enjoyed our relaxing time outside!! The weather was suppose to be bad, but surprisingly it only sprinkled half the morning on Saturday. We were happy to have Macki there with us, and hope she enjoyed her time with us!!

Poor Marcus

I just wanted to let eveyone know what is going on with Marcus. It started on Wednesday when he started running a fever.... He was kind of fussy all day so I decided that it would be best that I not go into work on Thursday. His fever was still there and his breathing got pretty bad and he sounded like a barking seal. So when Crispin got home he suggested I take him into the dr. When we got the the Dr's office I was standing probably 5 feet from the receptionist and she could hear him breathing so she told Crispin that they would get him back there ASAP. Once we got back the Dr came in immediately. He decided that Marcus had croup (not the first time we have dealt with this) so it was easy to hear that. He decided that Marcus needed a breathing treatment and needed to go onto a different steriod to help him breath. After the treatment he came back in to talk to us and said if Marcus started wheezing again that we needed to get him to a hospital.. I was thinking ok, I can handle this and then he pauses for a minute and I'm thinking GREAT!! Then he says: But if he does appear to be in distress like he was when you brought him into the office you need to just call an Ambulance!!! My mind instantly froze... I dont care who you are, but if a mother hears that there is a possibility of having to call an ambulance on your kid, YOUR GONNA FREAK OUT!!! and my Dr must of saw my mind trying comprehend this cause he then starts saying its probably not going to happen I just want you aware of what could happen.... RIGHT..... Of course I freaked out!! (you dont believe me, ask Crispin) So we went and got his Rx and came home. As our luck would have it, our house seemed unusually warm... yep!! the AC was not working!!! So we dealt with it... luckily it was only 84 degrees in the house.. once Marcus fell asleep The air started cooling down and I was able to fall asleep. I moved a twin matress in Marcus's room so i could check on his breathing through the night. Well once crispin got home I asked him to move marcus cause he had crawled into bed with me and it was just too hot. Well when he went to move him, Marcus had a seizure.... Crispin just started screaming my name and i think my mind went blank and my body went numb!!! I can not put down how it felt to see my kids eyes in the back of his head and just watch him shake like that. It only lasted for 5-10 seconds and then he was fine. We moved him into our room and he slept in the bed with crispin and i slept on the matress next to the bed. the next day his breathing started getting bad again so we called the dr and he decided we needed to bring him in because of the seizure.. He said Marcus is doing fine but he is going to have to fight this croup on his own, he doesnt want him getting anymore steroids- in fear it could trigger another seizure.. so in 2 weeks we will get some tests done on Marcus and follow up with a neurologist in 3 weeks. This wouldn't be of much concern since it was only 1 seizure but Crispins family has history of epilepsy... So we will take the steps to do what we need to do to help our little guy!

He has loved the time he has had in our room watchin whatever show he wants on our portable DVD player!!!!
This was taken last night, and in all honesty... this is the only time he hasn't just whined in the last couple of days!!!! He LOVED grandpa pushing him in the wheelbarrow!!!!

Idaho/Utah Trip

We had the chance to go to Idaho with my Dad this last trip. Next thing we knew Rachel and Mark were coming, and then Rusty and Macki decided to make the trip too. We were excited to have almost everyone up there. We left Friday after work and got to Jefff's house on Saturday Morning. We were in the car for 13 straight hours. Marcus did WONDERFUL!!!!! If he wasn't sleeping he was quitely watching his DVD's. When we got to Jeffs house Marcus found some doll shorts that fit him and he was trying to put them on over his Pj's. Jeff gladly helped him!!!

After a couple hours there we headed upto Jerome, ID for the Dean Bingham Family reunion!!! It was sooo weird to be up, Idaho has always been my "happy" place as a kid and I was just SOOO excited to finally be there and be able to show Crispin were alot of my childhood memories took place!

This is the water slide that is in my Uncle Elray's backyard. It was a hit and everyone had so much fun on it! Including my dad!!!!! He makes me laugh to the day!!! he was the first adult to go down it in his clothes!!!

Then my Aunt Nancy came down and my dad tried to dunk her in the water once she was down. When these 2 get together this is the "norm"!!!!! They act like 2 kids!!! I love to see the relationship that he has with his siblings and hope I have that with my family!!!

Crispin had a blast on it!!!! He brought Marcus down and ya, I dont think he liked the cold!! But that didnt stop Crispin, he spent most of the day playing with the kids on the slide, I can't help but love him for who he is!!!!

That night we went and stayed with Allison at my Uncle Roberts house. Marcus was in heaven!!! He was able to play outside and Uncle Robert had plenty of toys to keep him happy!!! Thanks Alison and Vaughn for letting us crash there!!!

We then Headed upto Meridian, ID to see Crispins biological parents. This was the first time me and marcus were able to meet them. And talk about people who give all they have to serve who they can. They honestly have some of the biggest hearts I have known people to have!!! I hope me and crispin can learn that from them :) We went upto some lake( I cant remember the name) and had a picknik, it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

When I saw his dad i was like HOLY CRAP!!!! He looks just like his dad!!!! It was sooo weird!!! but here is a picture of the 3 of them!! I just realized that the picture taken of all of us was taken on there camera :(

We then went to Weston, ID. It was just peaceful when I got there, Just like I remember. It all felt surreal to me. I felt like it was too good to be true to be there cause this is one of my most favorite places to be! THis is Marcus on my grandma's swing set

Macki was such a HUGE help with Marcus!!! Here are a couple of picture from the 2 days we were there

well here is half of my trip.... I have a child screaming and pulling on my pant leg so this blog is : STAY TUNED.... Until next time!