First Belly Laughs

Maizee has learned to giggle!

Maizee turned 3 months old on Sunday. She is cooing, playing, and just started belly laughing today!

She had a 3 month check up and has grown so big. She is now 11 lbs 3 oz and 23 inches long. She has moved from the 9th percentile to the 26th! Still tiny but growing.
Her favorite game is "who has a tongue" just the word tongue gets her sticking hers out and thinking she is the star of the show!

First Snow and Christmas Party

Well, we got our first real snow storm this weekend. The kids loved it! They built snowmen and rode the snowmobile for hours.

It was the Karren family Christmas party on Sunday! Santa even came! It was great to see everyone and catch up on families!


Maizee and Jace with Grandma Karren. Maizee is 13 days older than Jace, but he is obviously much bigger than our little squirt!
Maizee has learned to coo and babble really well this weekend. And boy can she turn on the charm when she wants to. She has learned that her bright smile can melt the toughest of people.

Try saying no to that!

Novemberfest 2008

The girls danced at Novemberfest today. Taylor danced 2 dances. She did a jazz dance and a hip hop dance. As always she did a great job.

Dodee did her jazz dance. She has been dancing for so many years that the teacher moved her up into the 7 & 8 year old class even though she just turned 5. We were nervous that she wouldn't be able to keep up. But we were pleasantly surprised when she outshined the other girls and was the one the other girls followed. Great job girls!!

Why do the months go by so much faster once they are born?

Maizee turned 2 months old on the 21st. She had her well baby update on Monday. She now weighs 9 lbs 6 oz and is 21 1/4 inches long. This puts her in the less than 10th percentile for her age, so yes she is tiny. She had her 2 month shots and we were told that with the first set of shots there should be no reaction and she should act just as she did before the shots. Well, consistent with the way Maizee does everything, she was the exception to the rule. She had a terrible reaction. We woke up at midnight with her burning up with a fever. They had told us if she fevered to 100 degrees she needed to be seen. I took her temp. and she was 102.3, I ended up calling our doctor at home at 1:00 in the morning (I don't trust Logan Regional Hospital with my kids). We walked me through what to do to bring her fever down and we made it through the night. The next morning she started screaming in pain whenever anyone touched her or moved her at all. We doubled the tylenol and ibuprophen doses and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. The doctor wanted to see her the next morning, so we suffered through another night and took her in at 8:00 the next morning. There were no signs of anything wrong with her other than a reaction to the vaccines. The doctor turned her case into the manufacture and the CDC. Because of the unusual nature of her reaction the CDC will monitor her into adulthood to see what immunities she has and how she reacts to other vaccinations and medications. We haven't decided if we will continue with the vaccination routine or opt out. We have learned that Maizee will probably always be the exception to each rule. If they tell us 1 in a million chance that will probably be Maizee. As you can see, today she is not fevering anymore but still is not her happy self. Hopefully she will be back to normal soon.

Region Wrestling

The boys had region wrestling finals at Weber High School this weekend. Traeson wrestled on Friday night and J.R. on Saturday morning. This tournament is very stressful and the competition is very tough. They both wrestled really hard. They both placed 2nd for their weight categories. As you can see Traeson couldn't be more thrilled, J.R. however, felt differently. Our camera got left on and was out of batteries so I had to use my phone, sorry for the poor quality.

Super Saturday!

As usual, Saturday was full of running to the kids events. Unfortunately they are now getting old enough that they have to choose between activities and can't be in everything anymore.

Traeson had wrestling at Mountain Crest. He drew a boy who is the son of a friend of mine from high school. His dad is a high school and college wrestling referee so we were a bit nervous. But Traeson did a great job and pinned him in the first round. Traeson is really growing up. He has really made great strides this last few months. I am so proud of him, it is fun to watch him mature and develop.

J.R. chose to go to basketball instead of wrestling. J.R.'s team has a lot of under developed players.He played against a team that he had played earlier in the year and lost that game by almost 50 points. But boy have they improved. They won this week by a substantial amount! Great job boys!

Taylor had a basketball game too. Her gym is older and the lighting isn't very good. Sorry for the dark pictures. Well, Taylor's team is at a bit of a disadvantage. They have been through several coaches and haven't really gotten into the groove, but they are improving.

Dodee had the week off, but will be dancing in the November Fest on the 29th, so watch for pictures of her then.

Happy Birthday Maria!!

My good friend Maria's Birthday is Sunday! Be sure to let her know you are thinking about her! Have a great day, you deserve it!

Is she really 14 already?!

Taylor turned 14 this weekend. She took a group of friends over to the cabin in Bear Lake for a weekend get away. They stayed up all night talking and laughing, and had tons of fun. She is a great young lady. Love you, kiddo!

Crazy Hair Day

Today was crazy hair day in Traeson's school class. I'm fairly sure he was the only one with a 6 inch mohawk.

RIP Big Fella

Tiny

May 7, 2000 - Sept. 23, 2008

He was big in stature, standing 33 inches tall and weighing 185 lbs, but he was bigger in heart. He helped many children with disabilities as a therapy dog. His passing has left a hole in our lives that few people would understand. We will miss him very much.

Look over us big guy until we see you again.

We love you!

2008 Deer Hunt

Well after several years of unsuccessful hunts, J.R. finally hit the jackpot. J.R., Reggie, and Pops got 2 deer. J.R. couldn't have been more thrilled!

Maizee turns 6 weeks

A couple quick pics at 6 weeks :) She is now smiling and babbling, boy do they grow quick!

Welcome Miss Maizee

We wanted to introduce you to our little "miracle Maizee". Against all odds she arrived on September 21st weighing 7lbs 3 oz and 19 inches long. A HUGE thanks to Jared's niece Ashley for taking the darling pictures.