Our Little Bouncing Tigger

Make sure to turn off the playlist to the right first so you can hear him laughing

Supermodels

Okay not really but would like to be. Dace and I are both featured on Suzanne's website. She did pregnancy, birth and baby photos for us and her work is truly amazing! Check out her site below. Dace is featured under Family, I am under Beauty and Dace's birth is the LIFE section. If you have the time, her Weddings are incredible too.

www.Soozstudio.com

Dace and Xavier

We finally went back to see how Emily and Xavier are doing while we were in savannah for Stake Conference. Both of our boys are so big! They are almost identical in weight and length and both have big adorable grins, although we couldn't get that on film yet. They looked at each other curiously while we held them next to each other and then cozzied up like best friends when we sat them on the couch. I have a blast with Emily and we hope to develop both friendships further. Frank is still in Iraq and we are praying for an early return this December.

Mornings with Daddy

Dallin has been great in getting up with Dace in the mornings and doing the breakfast feeding so that I can sleep a couple more hours while recovering from the surgery and everything else (including battling insomnia the last few weeks). I know they have a great time without me and sometimes I find pictures on my camera that proves it. Here is the latest...

Dace gets to be more fun every day. Last week he discovered his toes and is trying very hard to get them to his mouth. But I doubt they will ever make it over the buddha belly. He LOVES his new jolly jumper play chair and can entertain himself for close to 20 minutes at a time in it. His nighttime is almost exact clockwork, 9pm to 7am. He has put his toes in the ocean and loves watching the waves while snuggled up on mama's shoulder, smacking on his fist. He also has learned how to growl and that is his latest favorite noise to make.

The boy likes to be comfortable

I promise you - we didn't move him an inch to take this picture. Dace just likes to stretch out sometimes. This is the weirdest position he has done yet so I had to capture it. He sure looks content!

Until We Meet Again...

As some of you may know, we lost Randi this week- Dallin's older sister who was 36. She had been fighting breast cancer for a while now and passed away on Wedesday evening, September 10, 2008 at home with Krista and her parents. We have been preparing ourselves for months for this but it still came as slightly unexpected and is sad nonetheless. Randi requested that there be no funeral but the Portland fire department is hosting a memorial on Tuesday and the Dean family is having one in Utah next month when we will be out there. Despite geographical distance, Dallin remained close with Randi over the last several years through emails, phone calls and visits when possible. We have great, happy memories of her. My only regret is that I don't have more. Of the two and a half years I have known Randi, I have never seen her without a smile on her face. Even when talking on the phone, I could hear in her voice that she was smiling. She was a formidable woman who loved life and lived it to the fullest every minute of every day and I learned so much from her. She will always be in our thoughts and in our hearts. We are grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. We know we will see Randi again. Families are forever.

Rub a dub-dub, Dace in the tub

Well, not the tub- the sink actually. I wanted to enter Dace in a photo contest and the theme was to capture a moment of discovery. It took Dace almost 10 weeks to realize that a bath was a good thing, relaxing and calming and fun. So then we got to add toys and the first one was of course the classic rubber ducky. We'll see if this slippery cutie wins the big prize- a trip to NYC and a cover photo shoot for American Baby magazine. Fingers crossed!

Dace and Parker

My bestest girlfriend Kaelee got pregnant shortly after we did and had a boy too- Parker. We are so excited to pass our best friendship on to the next generation. This is their first meeting. Parker wasn't too happy about the photo shoot and his response was confusing Dace and then, well attitudes are contagious. The pictures speak for themselves- hilarious!

Dace: What is the deal with this kid? Dude, just give them what they want and they'll let us play.
Dace: "I know I'm a tank next to you but I don't bite, I promise."
Dace: "This is starting to get a little annoying"
Dace: "Fine, if that's the way you're going to be..."
Dace: "Now I've had it!"
"Ahh, that's better"

Dace's faces

Bumbo- my big boy chair

All my favorite men

Labor Day afternoon Nap
Drooly face!
Big Boy with the Bottle
Reverently, Quietly
Twins with Uncle Toben

We are back from Canada! I know, it has taken me forever to post a new blog but it has been crazy lately. Our trip to Canada was a blur- I did treatments with a naturopath 6 days of the 10 I was there. So that ate up a lot of my time and cut my potential visiting hours down alot. I have still been struggling with my skin and the treatments were a great help and desperately needed to be done. But that is another story.... Because of the treatments, Dace had to go on formula for a few weeks and Dallin took over mommy duties for the most part- feeding and a lot of babysitting while I was gone. But it was a great way for them to improve their bond even further so it worked out on both sides. Dace grew 2 inches the first week we were there! I guess it was that good ole Canadian air. He is currently 26 inches and around 15.13 lbs. He has discovered his own hands and loves to hold them together. He can do kisses- if you kiss him on the cheek close to his mouth he will turn in and kiss you back- so adorable! He is loving tummy time since his strength is getting better and can stay entertained with his toys for more than just a few minutes. He will stand up on his legs for 2-3 minutes and not even wobble and is trying so hard to crawl. His strength is astounding. His blessing was a great experience and I am glad that my dad and brother and the Konopelski men were able to stand in the circle. Dace was a great traveler- not a problem on the planes whatsoever but on the last flight into Atlanta coming back he learned how to yell and sat there for about half an hour gleefully yelling at the man across the aisle for his attention. But it seems he has forgotten how to do that and that is okay with me. He continues to sleep through the night (averageing 10 hours straight) and fill our lives with joy and happiness.