Amsterdam

We are so blessed to be able to fly, to see so many different parts of the world.  Amsterdam has been on Jason and I bucket list for a while.  My Grandpa Don and Jason's Grandpa Visser both served their missions in Holland.  We were there just for a weekend.  It's exhausting to travel so fast, but honestly for us the vacation starts in the air.  We are spoiled that we get first class if it's open, so Jason will stock the flights to make sure we get first class.  They are pods where you lay all the way down.  You watch new release movies, food and drinks are constantly being served to you.  So you get waited on hand and foot.  You can take a nap with no kids.  After flying for about 9 hours we landed at 9am in Amsterdam and seriously went strong all day long.  My Mom has United Airlines travel benefits so she was able to come with us.  

Our first stop was the tulips.  

Then we stopped for lunch.  It was their daily special.  Meat, potatoes and cabbage.

 

Then we hit up the Anne Frank home.  I can't even begin to understand what they went through.  Living in such small living space, without any windows open, they were not even able to flush the toilet so no one would hear them.  Pictures were not allowed in the home.  Very humbling experience.

 

It just happened to be "King's Day" the weekend we went to Amsterdam.  They have had a Queen for the last 60 years, and they just got a King.  So everyone was dressed up wearing Orange, (Their Country color) running around, drunk, and partying up.  Amsterdam was really dirty.  Not sure if it was because of King's Day or if they are just dirty.  Trash lined the streets.  Everyone is smoking outside.  I was so sick of smelling the smoke.  Marijuana is legal.  Prostitution is legal.  The people were very friendly.  In fact, where we bought our orange shirts and cowboy hat they were so nice we invited them to come stay with us if they ever made it to Utah.  We will see.  The desserts were amazing.  The canal ride was way fun to see the city by boat in about an hour.  Glad we crossed it off our bucket list but not sure if we will go back.

King's Day

 Crepes with strawberries, banana and chocolate sauce

Jason out ordered us.  His lasagna was so delicious.

Probably just 48 hours later and we were headed back to the states.

 

 

Easter 2014

We spent Easter with the Trask's this year.  Pretty simple fun.  Barbecue, egg hunt, family fun.  It was so fun watching Crew find the eggs.  Just some snap shots from the day...

Crew is 2...

Two Years ago this happened...

Becoming parents has been the best thing that has ever happened to us.  It is the hardest thing I have ever done, but the most rewarding too.  I think how Heavenly Father trusts me with his little boys, and I feel so blessed to be their mom.

I love the picture of Jason holding Crew for the first time, his face says it all.  

I don't know which is crazier, that Crew is now 2, or the fact that we had two babies under 2

Birthday Cupcakes.  Triple Chocolate.  Crew is obsessed with chocolate. 

Most of the cousins came to Grandma's that day so we sang to him and he and Evalyn ate their cupcakes first.  Crew and Evalyn are one day apart.

The joy this kid brings into our home is unreal.  He is so funny and so lovable.  I am loving this age.  He is speaking more and more.  He is just starting the "No" stage, and the "Mine" stage.  He loves his brother.  He is not a morning person.  He can't go to long without his Binky.  He could live off milk and yogurt.  He loves pizza and black beans.  He loves horses, cows, chickens, tractors, airplanes and the moon.

Surgery for Kade

It was a hard winter.  Lots of sickness going around.  January Kade got RSV and had to be suctioned at the hospital a few times.  We just went into our scheduled 6 month check up, and our pediatrician didn't like the way Kade was breathing, and she almost admitted him then.  We had a few really rocky days getting him better.

February 20, 2014 Kade had a scheduled surgery as well.  When he was born we learned he had hypospadias.  It's where his penis didn't seal all the way up inside me.  So he never peed out the top, which was nice in the fact that I never got peed on while changing his diaper.  Once he was 6 months old they could fix it.  They prefer him to be that old because it requires 90 minutes under general anesthesia.  A pediatric urologist from Primary Children's Hospital comes down every other month just to do these procedures.  I guess 1 in 200 are born with it.  So Dr Brent Snow came down and did an amazing job on our Kade.  I hated the fact that he had to be put under for 90 minutes, but just had to trust everything would be okay.  When the anesthesiologist came to get Kade, we realized it was the same Doctor who did my epidural with Crew, and it didn't work and I ended up being put under general anesthesia for my c-section.  So I got really nervous for a few minutes, but then realized it had been over two years.  Maybe it was just my body that reacted weird, and not even him.  Needless to say Kade did great.  Both Doctors did great.  Now we have a happy new little man with a penis that now pees on me while I change his diaper or in the bathtub at night.

Waiting for surgery

Just after

Home sleeping with Mom

Kaden's 6 Months Old

Thanks to my sister in law Heather for taking these amazing pictures of Kade for his 6 month photo shoot.  He is getting so much personality.  I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to love my second baby as much as my first, it's funny how your heart just grows.