Easter/Camping

Kayson had his FIRST camping experience.... and where better to start than one of our favorite destinations.... The West Desert!

The first night out there we slept in our tent, including our little Kayson! Thanks to his Grandma Madsen, he slept warmer than the rest of us in his very own sleeping bag! He slept the whole night and was so good in the tent. We had him bundled so good and tight!

Our first ventures took us touring around the North side of the Desert and our first stop was "Name-Rock" ( I don't know if these names are politically correct, but that's what my dad calls it, so that is what we all go by)
It's this big random rock/cave, kind of in the middle of nowhere, that has past sheepherder's names inside, engraved in rock!


It really is neat and means a lot to our family or any other sheepherding family!
You can't see it well, but this is my dad's rock carved in 1984. We also found my Grandpa Aagard's and Uncle Scott's names carved in various rocks.

Kayson had a grand time touring around the desert.

Most of my family was able to come, aside from Alyson (who was home with her sick baby Christian) and Benji, Kaden, and Rebekah.

Here is Jenny with her two cute boys Josh and Jake! They were so cute and fun and couldn't of enjoyed anything more than catching their horney toad!

Here we all are, getting ready to hike to the Hermit's Cave!

In one of the canyons, inside one of the rock walls, a Hermit built himself a little hut! It was really cool and quite the cool sleeping quarters.

Brandon, Dad, Coby, and Kays

Me and my beautiful sister Jenny!

Kenzington and Kayson were the best little traveling buddies!

Although this time of year is typically really hot out on the desert, it was kind of cold and windy most of the time. We still had a great time and once again, thanks to Grandma Madsen for making Kayson this little 'Snuggie/Hoodie' ensemble. He stayed warm and loved being in it!

Kayson loved sitting by the fire, watching it burn.

Here's grandma and grandpa with some of the kids coloring Easter eggs.

We were also able to celebrate Coby's 27th birthday out there! We had cupcakes out by 'Sand-Mountain'

I can't believe he is already 27! Man, are we getting up there. I love you though Cob and hope you had a great great birthday!

Blowing out the candles on his cupcakes!

The second and third nights we slept in the sheep camp with Amanda and Kenzi!

Although we were nervous that the Easter Bunny wouldn't find us clear out on the desert, he did and we had a fabulous Easter!!

Kayson got some books, socks, teething rings, a new church outfit, a little bunny, and lots of clothes.

Kayson sportin' his new Easter outfit!

Love the bunny on the bum!
Aside from the 3 flat tires, broken down truck, and cold/windy weather.... we had a GREAT time and have found ourselves a new camping buddy!! Kayson was golden! He takes after his mommy and daddy for their love of the outdoors and camping. We had such a great time and can't wait to go again!

Catch-Up!

I can't believe how much time has passed since I last blogged!! So much has changed and happened, so I am afraid this might be a little bit of a blog overload... with pictures and info!

Kayson is growing and changing so much everyday! It baffles me to look back at baby pictures and see how much he has changed.

He still loves getting in the tub. His eyes light up everytime we start the water for his bath.

Coby is the best daddy and Kayson loves spending time with him!

I had to post these pictures because they make me laugh. We got this cute little outfit from Hal Pickett (Grandpa K's boss). Kayson looks like a little Easter egg :)

Other news: Kayson has started eating rice cereal and he LOVES it!!

We started him right before he turned 5 months and he has done so good! After about a week of cereal, we stopped feeding him because he suddenly stopped sleeping through the night and something seemed to be wrong. We also noticed a little rash slowly developing on his body. We didn't know if it was allergies or something else. We also went through a bought of Kayson having really bad 'toots' and I mean bad. They were so stinky and you could tell his little tummy was hurting. So I tried not eating any dairy, because both my sister and I had read somewhere once, that dairy can sometimes be hard for babies and they can be somewhat lactose intolerant, even through breast milk. Come to find out, Kayson had developed ECZEMA! It must have bothered him really bad because he went from sleeping through the night to waking up 4-5 times for about a month. I felt horrible that my baby had to go through this. He was prescribed some betamethasone cream (absolute best thing) which cleared up his skin in just a few applications. He still has a few spots on his legs and back that we put it on, but after the first night of cream, he is back to sleeping through the night (hallelujah) :)

This isn't the best picture of his skin and doesn't do it nearly enough justice to really show what it looked like, but this is the only picture I had of it. You can see a few blotches on his chest/belly, but it was on his legs, arms, and back.

We are back to rice cereal again and he can't get enough. He has the cutest little expression when he eats. I can't wait to start the other cereals, vegetables, and fruits!!

And as always, we thoroughly enjoyed Conference weekend! I always love listening to our dear prophet and apostles. Coby and Kayson didn't quite make it through all the sessions! :)

I also realized that I never talked about or put pictures of the little cradle Kayson slept in for the first 3 months. My sister-in-law Shanell let us borrow her cute cute cradle, and Kayson absolutely loved it! It was so nice having him right next to us and being able to rock the cradle at times.

We tried switching him to his crib at 3 months and after a week of getting up numerous times, we gave up for a little while. He was off and on between his crib, cradle, and swing from 3-4 1/2 months, but we have now successfully made the transition to his own room and in his crib! :)

I just had to post a few pictures of him in his crib.

Kayson's Room

I also realized that I never posted pictures of Kayson's cute room.... so here you go!

Thanks to my fabulous sister Amanda for.... well, mostly helping with everything. She made the bedding and helped with decorating and painting/doing everything else. I love it!

Kayson is also getting so good at sitting up! He is getting so big and is so ready to start moving.

We do have our occasional tips though :)

Kayson and I were also able to celebrate my cute niece Brooklyn's birthday in April too! We all went out to Chucky Cheese and had a great time. I can't believe how much our family has grown in the last 2 years. We added 6 new grandkids! And here are Alyson, Amanda, and I with the three newest! It's gonna be so fun to watch them grow up together.

I also finally got some pictures of Kayson and Chrisitan together. It seems like we never have our cameras when we get these two together. They are both so fun and so chubby! And have so much fun when they are together. I think Kayson is gaining on Christian, and they will soon be the same size. I think they are going to be the best little buddies (or trouble-makers)

And here is my little Kays at 5 months old! Boy does time fly!

When we took him to get the eczema checked he weighed 19lbs 14oz.

He loves being read to

And kissing his mom and dad! He gives the best slobbery kisses!

Coby and I also went to a BBQ and finally got together with our friends Justin and Tauna, along with some others. We finally got Luke and Kayson together for some pictures. They are about the same size and Kayson is 4 months younger... he's such a solid little guy!

We so love our little man and are so blessed to have him in our lives!

Here is Kayson helping daddy study and do homework during finals!

Sorry for the long post and load of pictures. I'll try to stay updated!
All in all, things are going good. Stressful at times, but good. Coby is done with the spring semester and is starting his summer semester, with only one more semester til graduating with his Bachelor's and having his MRI/CT license. (He technically should have his Master's, but like most medical professions, you first earn a second Associates degree and then a Bachelor's, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to go another 2 years for a Master's!) ... actually I'm pretty sure, I don't want him to go another two years :)

We are both staying busy with work, school, our church callings of playing piano and Sunday school teachers, various sporting events (me-basketball and soon co-ed softball season starts for us both), Coby is starting to work the night shift at the hospital... which, although is great for him and for us, will take more time away from us being together. It has been so hard lately. I swear, I'm home, he's gone, he's home, I'm gone, I'm on call, then he's on call.... it feels like we can never just have time together. I can't wait til I can just be a stay at home mom! It will happen... someday! I'm keeping my hopes up.