To whom it may concern...

To whom it may concern in the medical profession:

Please stop poking my son full of holes. I understand that he will occasionally have to get his blood drawn for medically necessary purposes, but do it all at once! I don't really enjoying holding my son down and listening to him cry time after time as you stick him with a needle. I'd prefer to keep these occurrences to a minimum.

Please collaborate with the other doctors so you don't order the same tests. I appreciate that the doctor of genetics ordered blood work and tests to check Dallin's kidney function and calcium levels. However, after being referred to the kidney specialist, why did Dallin have to get more blood drawn to check his calcium levels? Oh, it's a different test? Sure...

In case you weren't aware, getting a urine sample from a baby who isn't potty trained yet is not an easy task. I don't enjoy taping a little bag to my baby and then waiting around for hours until he "goes." Doing 2 of these samples just a few weeks apart: not fun. For the comfort of future babies, you might consider using an adhesive that is less, well, adhesive. Those sensitive parts of the human body were not designed to have duct tape strength tape peeled from them. Nor is a 14 month old baby equipped to handle the resulting pain.

After all the work put into getting the blood from a young child, do not tell me that there was not enough blood for the lab to do all the tests. You drew enough blood. You told me it was enough blood. Why as I am about to leave the building do you tell me that I need to come back again to get enough for one more test. No, I don't want to come back today! My son needs a few days to recover from this ordeal. When we come back this time, it had better be the last test for a LONG time. And you will not get another urine sample.

My best friend's wedding

My college roommate, Janae, got married last weekend in Portland, Oregon. We were roommates for 3 years and became really good friends. It's been a few years since we've lived together and been able to hang out, so I was really glad that I got to go to her wedding. Another roommate Jen got to come to the wedding too. It was just like old times with the 3 of us hanging out again. Except I had a baby with me.

Me, Janae, and Jen

Dallin, of course, came with me. (Mckay couldn't come. he stayed home to work and earn money so I could have fun.)

He did really well on the flight there and put up with me dragging him everywhere. Everyone at the wedding thought he was the cutest thing and wanted to hold him. And he loved being the center of attention (second to Janae, of course).

This wedding was especially fun for me because I've known the guy she married as long as she has. Janae met Seth through a friend of mine and they dated while we were in college together. So it was really exciting to have seen them dating at the very beginning and to now be married.

He's a great person and I'm so happy for them.

Jen and Dallin really bonded.

I hadn't seen Jen since before Dallin was born, so this was the first time she met Dallin. Jen and I had adventures driving all over Oregon and getting lost downtown in some rather sketchy areas.

The actual wedding was in Portland and the reception was in Newport, 2.5 hours away. It was quite a drive for a 2 hour reception, but it was so worth it. For part of the ride, we drove along the Oregon coast highway, and we had the most beautiful views of the ocean from the car.

I'm really glad that I got to go. It was great to see friends again and see some amazing sights. Funny story: When we landed in Portland and met up with friends, we wanted to get some food. Because of a misunderstanding with a GPS phone, we were led to a restaurant in Washington, just across the bridge from Portland. So Dallin got to add Oregon and Washington to his list of states he's been in, bringing the total to 8. What a little traveler!

That's what trucks are for.

Yesterday we sat outside and played in the grass. Dallin thought it would be fun to start picking the grass, flowers, anything nearby, and put it in the back of his truck.

What a smart boy.

Odds and Ends

Over the past few weeks I've taken a few random pictures. None of them have seemed substantial enough to be their own blog post so I kept putting off posting. But now, I think there are enough random little shots to make this worth reading.

This one kinda speaks for itself. He was just being goofy with pants on his head.

I think he looks like a court jester.

On Memorial Day, we went with Mckay's aunt and uncle to take flowers to the graves of relatives. This is Grandpa Whetton's (Mckay's mom's dad) grave.

I had never done that before, so it was a really neat experience and I got to learn a lot about Mckay's family history. One of the cemetery's we went to had a lot of important LDS church leaders buried there. We saw the graves of Gordon B. Hinckley, David O. McKay, and James E. Talmage.

The company Mckay works for had a family day last week. We went to Boondocks, a mini golf/go carts/arcade fun center. Dallin enjoyed mini golf.

Lastly, we have a video. Dallin has really been working on getting closer to crawling. He will start in a sitting position, and then lean forward onto his belly. I tried to get a video of him doing it, but of course he wouldn't perform for me. He looks pretty darn cute when he gives up though.