Sickness...

Last Wednesday, Jonathan finally got his first cold. Not that I was waiting for it! He started getting a weird cough. I didn't actually know it was a cold till the next day when he had ALL the symptoms. I have felt so bad for him this past week. I'm grateful that he hasn't gotten sick before, but I also think that I could have handled it better if he had gotten his cold earlier. There were a couple nights when he didn't get much sleep and he just wanted to cuddle (yay!), except when we cuddled with him, he didn't actually sleep, so he was EXTREMELY tired. After a while I figured that cuddling wasn't helping him as much as sleep would, so I reluctantly put him back in his crib. Where he cried for awhile. Poor kid. There was another evening where he was tired but couldn't sleep and it seemed that for him NOTHING was going right! He just stood there bawling, and then he tried walking around at the same time. Of course he wasn't able to see well while crying and bumped his face on his toy box and bit his lip. After that he was really crying and needed some cuddling then too. He was just so miserable. And then I got the same cold, which I tried to avert by taking Zicam (which really works! As long as you start taking it as SOON as you get symptoms...). So lifes been fun lol. Anyways, I sure hope his cold goes away soon! I hate seeing him feeling miserable!

In the next post I will put up some recent pictures of Jonathan... I would now, but I don't have time since he just woke up! :)

One Month Later...

Wow, I can't believe its been over a month since I've blogged last. We've been so busy with things, blogging just hasn't been on my mind. Thinking back to the last time I blogged (Dec. 22nd), I look at Jonathan now and realize how much he's grown in just a month. He's walking very well now, only crawling a little bit. Almost running! Which is great when I'm carrying him in a store, and my arm needs a break from holding him! :) Not so great when I put him down, and he rushes off to see how many things he can find and knock off the shelf lol. Its just so weird to see him as he grows up, and somewhat sad.

He now is off formula and onto drinking whole milk in a sippy cup intsead of a bottle. He is eating lots of new different kinds of food for him, but his favorites still are cheese, graham crackers and goldfish. He loves bananas too. I keep wanting to try peanut butter, but I'm paranoid that he'll be allergic so I keep putting that off... He is continuing to develop his great personality; is always smiling at everyone and laughing all the time. He is a very good-natured little boy, and such a big flirt with all the ladies! :)

His favorite toy right now is a spray bottle. Yes, he LOVES spray bottles, unfortunately there is poison in almost all of them lol. So I got him a cheap empty spray bottle and he carries it everywhere with him. Its cute, but kind of weird, lol.

Right now, I don't like the stores that have balloons near the checkout. Because all I hear is "EEEEEEEE!" and "OHHHHHH!" because he has realized the fun of a balloon. :) My sister and I went to Trader Joe's in Portland a couple weeks ago and the cashier gave him a balloon. He walked around everywhere with it, and wouldn't let it out of his sight. I was glad it lasted until Jonathan went to bed; in the morning he had forgotten about it. But he still lets out excited screams and yells when he sees balloons in the store. :)

The only thing that Jonathan does that I don't like (right now lol) is he likes slapping me in the face. I don't know why he does it, but its usually only me that he slaps. Sometimes I think he is just playing, and that he doesn't know that it hurts people, and sometimes it seems like he's mad at me and slaps me then. We have tried all kinds of things get him to stop and nothing works. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I'd like to hear it. I just don't want him hitting me, or anyone else!

The last cuddle?

Last night I got to cuddle with my son. He woke up screaming and crying, so I went to see what was wrong; he was acting like he had a bad dream (I'm not sure if they can have dreams yet at their age-I've heard they have to be able to speak to dream, but thats what it seemed like). Nathan made him a bottle and I held and rocked him- he seemed like he just needed to be held for a while. I was all for that, since he never really wants to cuddle anymore. But last night he was content to just lay in my arms, and watched a little tv with me, and slept a little. :) I finally decided that he would sleep better if I put him back to bed, so as I walked up the stairs, carrying him close to me in my arms, I went as slowly as I could- trying to make the moment last a little longer. And as I'm writing this now, I want to cry because I've missed cuddling with him and I'm not sure if there will be many (or any) more chances to hold him like I did last night.

1st birthday party!

Jonathan had a great party yesterday! He seemed to have a lot of fun, even though he was a little tired (he wouldn't nap before the party). It was mostly family (My mom and dad, Rachel, Matt, Ron and Linda), and my friend Vanessa came too! It was nice because there was a lot of visiting as well as being there for Jonathan! Nathan helped Jonathan open presents first, and everyone gave him some really cute toys, books and clothes. Then we sang happy birthday to him, and my mom helped him blow out his candle. I had made Jonathan a bear cake (which didn't turn out to be up to my standards, haha. I'm not the best at decorating cakes...) Then we cut the cake... and gave Jonathan his frosted cupcake (the real cake had chocolate and butterscotch chips that I didn't want him to choke on). He LOVED it! And he made a mess, but it wasn't as big of a mess as I thought it would be.

The Bear cake. Not the best cake I've ever seen HAHA!

The table decorated for the party...

His highchair ready for the mess!

His banner....

The party hat that came with his kit... I didn't make him wear it for the party :)

People! Dad, Linda, Matt and Nathan

Vanessa- I caught her off guard lol :)

Matt and Rachel....

Mom, Rachel, Vanessa, Dad, Matt, Linda and Ron

I don't know who took this but me and Jonathan....

Nathan and Jonathan opening presents!

Toys and clothes!

And a bag!

Ribbon and more toys!

A book!

Matt playing with one of Jonathans toys :)

A winter hat!

Linda and Vanessa watching Jonathan


Playing with his toys...

Jonathan, Rachel and Mom

Nathan and Jonathan, and Linda, Vanessa, Dad, Ron and Matt

Singing Happy Birthday to Jonathan!

Mmm a cupcake!

He LOVES the frosting!

Savoring the taste! One of my favorite pictures!

He has a hold of his cupcake :)


Trying out the ice cream as well as the cake!

I think everyone had a great time and I was glad that they came to help Jonathan celebrate his 1st birthday! :)

A month gone by...

I can't believe its almost a whole month since I've written last. I was trying to wait till we got highspeed internet back, because dial-up internet stinks- anyways, it doesn't look like we're going to get it for awhile, so I figured I would just write. It has been a busy month. Before she passed away, my Grandma asked Nathan and I if we would live in their house- to keep it in the family. The rest of the family (immediate and extended) were ok with it, so we have been in the process of moving. We are mostly moved in now. There are still a couple of rooms that still need a lot of work (We are needing to clean out the house as well as move our stuff in) but thats okay. It is a bit hard living here, I will look in a room and imagine my Grandparents here and what they would be doing if they were still living, such as my Grandpa sitting at his kitchen table looking through all his mail... my Grandma working on her latest Jigsaw puzzle... or them both sitting in the living room watching the Lawrence Welk Show. I miss them a lot, sometimes I wish I could go back in time and just give them one more hug and tell them I love them just one more time...

On another note, I hosted Thanksgiving this year. My parents have been off on a cruise- in fact they will just be getting back in a couple of days. So they missed Thanksgiving this year, but I'm sure they needed a vacation more. Anyways, my sister and brother came over and I made turkey (for the first time!), mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, corn and rolls for dinner. I also made a fruit dip and fruit tray, and made a cheeseball (homemade, NOT storebought!) to eat with crackers. Dinner was so good- if I do say so myself lol. I know i'm bragging a little bit, but I'm meaning too! lol. But seriously, I was kinda doubting that I could pull it off, but I did pretty good for the first time.

Jonathans birthday is coming up, or rather his birthday party. His 1 year birthday is on the 18th, but we are celebrating it on the 13th. I'm going to try to make a bear cake for it, unless I chicken out and just buy a cake... :) I think I'm going to try though. I'm very much excited to celebrate his birthday and then Christmas soon after!

I think I have rambled on for long enough! For those of you who have blogs that I usually read, I am sorry to have missed so much of yours. When I get highspeed internet I will try to catch up as quickly as I can! I am looking forward to reading all that I have missed!

Grandparents' obits...

I basically just wanted to save these so I'm putting them in here.

Keyt, Evelyn V.
Evelyn V. Keyt October 30, 1919 - November 4, 2008 AMITY - Evelyn V. Keyt was born in Turner, Oregon to Warren and Anna Hatch Pitman. She was the fourth of five siblings. She grew up near Florence, Oregon. She graduated from Oregon Normal School (WOCS) and taught elementary school at Perrydale. Evelyn married Kenneth Keyt in Monmouth on May 30, 1943. She became a special education teacher and superintendent of Special Education for Yamhill County. She was a member of the Amity Church of Christ, Perrydale Goodwill Club, and Polk County Historical Society. Evelyn was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth on October 19, 2008. She is survived by her sons, Keith of Tacoma, Ron (Linda) of Salem; and daughter, Nadine (Tom) of Perrydale; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Viewing will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday, November 7 in the Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 8 in the Bethel Cemetery in Amity followed by a memorial service at the Amity Church of Christ at 12 p.m. Arrangements by Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center.
Published in the StatesmanJournal on 11/5/2008

Keyt, Kenneth Klinton
Kenneth Klinton Keyt November 25, 1915-October 19, 2008 AMITY - Kenneth Keyt was born November 25, 1915 to Henry and Lucia Keyt. He was born in the same house where he lived the rest of his life. Ken had three sisters, Frances, Lucille and Ruth. He began farming after his graduation from Perrydale High School and spent his life farming that land. In 1943, Ken was married to Evelyn Pitman and they had three children. Ken served as a member of the Perrydale School Board for a number of years, as well as several farm organizations during his life. He was a loving father and grandfather and a friend to many. Ken was well known for his honesty and integrity, and a longtime member of the Amity Church of Christ. Until just the last few years, Ken and Evelyn had the opportunity to travel to many different countries. Kenneth Keyt is survived by his wife, Evelyn V. Keyt; their three children, Keith of Tacoma, Wash., Nadine and her husband Tom of Perrydale, and Ronald and his wife Linda of Salem; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. Graveside services will be held on at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 25 in the Bethel Cemetery with a Memorial service to follow in the Amity Church of Christ. Service arrangements are under the direction of Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center in Dallas, Oregon.
Published in the StatesmanJournal from 10/22/2008 - 10/23/2008

Grandparents...

I'm not sure how this blog is going to turn out, but I will try it.

This last month has been a rough one. My grandparents were in a horrible car accident on October 10th. They were trying to cross a very dangerous highway near where they lived. They didn't see a car coming and tried to cross, and that car hit them. They both went to different hospitals. My grandpa went to the Dallas Hospital, and then to Corvallis Hospital. He was paralyzed from the neck down and had to be on a ventilator. My grandma was taken to the Salem Hospital with badly bruised ribs and a contusion on her heart. They both were in the hospitals for about a week and a half. My grandma had an angiogram done and we found out that she had just weeks to live. There was almost 100% blockage in her heart. My grandpa, who was able to mouth words after getting a trachea put in, asked and was told about how my grandma was. He asked to be taken off the ventilator after he found out she wouldn't live much longer. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life paralyzed anyways, that's not who he was. He was always a very active person. We all got to say our goodbyes and our "I love yous" and on October 19th they stopped the ventilator. He was 92 years old. By the time we had the service for him, my grandma was out of the hospital and in a private care facility. She would never be able to go back home, needing 24 hour medical care. Last weekend she started refusing to eat, and got really weak, and she had more and more problems. It seemed like she had given up. She had told me before that she just didn't want to live anymore. If I was 89 and my husband of 60+ years died, I would probably feel the same way. She died this last Tuesday, November 4th. The service will be this Saturday. I loved my grandparents very very much. They had good long lives, and they loved and helped many people. I have learned so much from them. They were the hardest-working people I knew, and devout Christians. They were the type of "Christian" that you don't see everyday anymore (unfortunately). They LIVED it. Its so hard to believe that they are gone, I miss them so much. I thought I would post some pictures of them as sort of a tribute, though they deserve much more.

My Grandparents:
Kenneth Keyt (1915-2008) and Evelyn Keyt (1919-2008)