My little darling is 3....

Arden turned 3 Years Old today at 4:04am... I can't believe it has been that long. He is such an amazing little guy...

We had his birthday party today. Lot of friends, water, and fun. It really was a great time! Arden enjoyed it a lot.

When it was time to blow out the candles, we experienced something I had never seen before though... Arden got up while we were singing, and ran away! We all cheered and called for him, but I ended up letting all the kiddos have their cupcakes anyhow, without him blowing out the candles on the cake! (I did however get him to pretend to blow them out for me a little later for a photo...)



Arden got a very special gift this year too... We were looking/thinking about a fish tank for the boys, but when we went to price them, it was OUTRAGEOUS! For a kit, a few fish, and the rocks/decorations, it was going to be almost $100!!! So we changed our minds... when I got home, there was an email in my box from someone getting rid of a hamster... so... Houdini the Hamster is now a member of the Gittings Home. He is very sweet, nice, and adorable!


This is Asher. She is Sara's daughter, she actually attended Canyon's birth last year. Such a sweetie!



Asher and Sara brought me some beautiful flowers... only thing is, I didn't have a container for them... so... this is what I ended up with... I think they are pretty!

Our Trip Itinerary...

Ok, so this isn't how we planned it... but it is how it all went down...


Thursday:

Thursday Morning: I call to get a camp site, only "first come first serve" are available. I'm told that they will be full by afternoon.

Thursday Mid-day: Carl heads to Mills River National Forest area to claim a campsite. He gets a great one and sets up our tent.

Thursday Evening: We all arrive at the site, the boys are starving, but the rain is coming, so we need to hurry and get the screen tent over the table area... oh and it had apparently rained between setting up the tent and arriving.

We don't get done before the rain, the kids have to sit in the tent and wait while we get done. Positive thing was that the tree cover on our site kept the fire ring seating area fairly dry.
Negative, it was not dry around our tent.

Food is cooked over a SMOKEY fire, actually, it wasn't really a fire. There was no flame, just smoldering wood and ashes. Our wood was WET.

The boys go to bed, mom and dad sit by the smoke and chat for a while.

Late Thursday Night: The rain continues, we find out that our tent is no longer waterproof along the seams, neither is our screen tent. (Which after thinking, both are about 6+ years old and need some seaming). Beds and blankets are *mostly* dry.

Rory decided he wanted a drink, but that he didn't want to walk in the rain. When I refused to get up and go in the rain, he told me that he had to pee. He refused to pee in the woods. He would rather walk 1/4mile each way to the potty house. I wake Carl, let him know he needs to take Rory, and roll over and go back to bed. Rory again refuses to pee in the woods and claims he needs to poop.

Carl takes Rory to the potty. It isn't pleasant. Rory didn't need to poop. Dad is mad. mom is mad. Everyone is tired and wet.

Friday:

Friday Morning: Dad heads back to the house to work for the day. Mom and the kids sleep until 9. The rain continues.

Friday Mid Morning: Mom and the boys decide to head to the Biltmore Estates. It begins to pour. Mom changes her mind. Then it stops raining, so we go to the nature center instead.

Friday Mid-Day: We go to the nature center, find out Val the cougar died, have a snack, and play at the otter area. Arden proceeds to hit another friend's child in the head with a stick. That ended our time there.

Friday Night: Dad arrives with new fire wood, but mom already has a fire started. We cook food over the fire and chat with our camping neighbors that brought 8 kids!! The weather is clear and beautiful, we get everyone in bed at a decent time and pack for the EARLY morning we have planned.

Saturday:

5:30 AM: Alarm goes off. Mom and Dad get up, pack the car, use the potty and begin waking the monsters.

5:45 AM: Everyone is tired. Everyone gets into the car, and we head off to our "secret fishing spot".

6:00 AM: Our spot isn't so secret. All kinds of families are hiking out the road.

6:15 AM: After about a half mile, Mom realized she forgot her camera.

6:16AM: She heads back to the car for the camera and for something to wipe butts with.

6:30AM: Mom heads back towards Dad and the boys... but realized she remembered the wipes, and the cooler but not the camera.

6:32AM: Mom realizes that the keys are hooked to the camera bag in the front seat of the locked car. There is NO cell coverage for about 10 miles.

6:40AM: Mom tells dad what happened when she catches back up. It isn't good. Dad needs to work at 2, and we were meeting people at 11-12. Not good at all.

7:00AM: We warn some acquaintances that they are not supposed to fish until after 12. They don't listen.

7:15 AM: We (the boys) start fishing. We catch 6 fish in about 2 hours! Rory got 4 nice ones and Arden got 2~ All from the same fishing hole.

9:00AM: Our acquaintances got caught and told to go home. They got off with a warning (why in the world didn't they listen?).

9:05AM: Mom asked the Rangers for a ride to go get the other truck and cell phone use to call a lock smith. They poke fun at her, but oblige and give her a ride. Rory starts screaming.

9:45 AM: Rory is STILL screaming about mom and Arden riding in the Ranger's car when he didn't get to. Dad is MAD, Mom gets back to the locked van, Rory continued to scream, mom gets MAD, and Rory is punished by both mom and by dad.

10:15 AM: The car is unlocked, we get back to the campsite a bit later.

11:30 AM: Vince shows to go fishing.

12:00 PM: There isn't a rock to stand on. So Carl and Vince go work for a little bit.

12:45 PM: Carl and Vince try again.

2:00 PM: Vince caught his limit (or close to it) Carl caught one fish.

4:30 PM: Mom and Dad each catch a fish.

Saturday Evening: We head to dinner, b/c mom is too tired to cook over the fire.

Sunday:

Sunday Morning: We pack up and head to our fishing spot again. We want to get a few more fish for Arden's Party on Saturday.

Sunday Mid-Day: no bites yet.

Sunday Afternoon: Mom catches 3 fish, Dad gets 2. We kept 4.

Sunday about 7PM: We head towards home and decided to get a burrito for dinner. Mom hits dead stop traffic for almost an hour.

Sunday about 8:30PM: Mom's tread blows off the tire at the exit ramp. The spare won't drop. Dad cuts the loose tread off the tire, we get home. Mom will have to call in the morning to get someone to drive to the house and get the tire and fix it. Dad has to go out of town in the AM.

Sunday about midnight: Mom and Dad finally get to bed

Needless to say, we are all pooped! But we ended up with about 13 fish and had a great time. (Well over all it was a great time!)

Here are a few photos... I didn't get many since the camera was locked in the car all day Saturday.

Heading out...

to camp for a few days. It is opening day on Saturday for the delayed harvest streams, kids get to fish before the adults from 6am-12noon. So I hope to have some photos of my little guys catching some big fish!

Teeth, Teeth, and more Teeth!

We have cut 4 now, and 4 more are appearing through the gums! That is 8 teeth in just over a month!!! But the little guy is handling it like a champ, not complaining, no fever, just being his ornery little self.

With out further ado, here are our top teeth in their first photo appearances!

More sweetness from the garden...

Today we ate our first strawberries of the season! They were quite small, definitely from immature plants, but they were very sweet and a hit with the boys!

Here is a photo of a few:

Seedling Progression...

Well, the boys killed half my plants when I was getting them started, so we have quite a bit less than I had anticipated... They knocked the starts off the counter and killed all the lettuce and tomatoes. We did have our first produce of the year come from our garden today though! Check out these babies:

Yogi in the Smokies...

We had an awesome weekend with Grammy and DadDad in Cherokee; you can't get anymore exciting than Yogi Bear, 200ft waterfalls, and 18inch trout!

We started the weekend hanging out in our campsite, which was right on the Raven Fork River. There was a lot more water than there was last year, so the river was noisier, but it helped keep the sounds around us down. I have to say, I loved it. Here is a shot of the river running by the site at night:


Here is the CanMan hanging with his Grammy:


Another really cool thing about the Yogi Campground is the fishing access. We were able to fish from the campsite, and actually caught some really nice sized trout! I caught the first one, which was around 18inches:




Then a few minutes later, Carl caught another nice rainbow trout... not as nice as mine, but I guess it was still ok... ;o) I mean 16inches or so isn't that bad...


Oh, did I mention that my son learned to ride his bike this weekend? AND he learned to swim this past week... yup, Rory actually rode his bike to the pool, went swimming, and rode it home! I can't believe how big he has gotten!



We got Arden into the pool too! He and Grammy had a blast!


Arden didn't want to do anything the whole weekend other than ride his bike! He is actually running, picking up his feet, and coasting without touching the ground! I am totally amazed at how fast he has picked this up... he will be riding a bike in no time at all.


After our bike ride and swimming, we decided to hike out to Mingo Falls, which is a little over 2 miles in each direction. It was a beautiful walk, but the end result was amazing, a 200ft waterfall that cascaded down to a little bridge.







The ride home was nice, the weather was pretty clear, and I had to stop and take a photo:


As we drove into the neighborhood, I noticed my neighbor trying to catch a HUGE snapping turtle and get it out of his garden... This guy was amazing; he was big, mean, and cranky:


I can't wait for our next trip to the Smokies... the mountains there really seem to call me; it seems like I want to return before we even leave...

Bike Riding Camera Hams...

Yup. I have 2 boys who are total camera hams.

Arden went from not wanting to be in a photo at all yesterday, to wanting to be in EVERY SINGLE shot today! Crazy little bugger!

Arden got his first bike this week and is doing awesome, he loves it... almost as much as he loves posing for the camera!



It is a Strider Balance Bike that we picked up at YoungBlood Bikes here in Asheville. The bike has no pedals and is easy for kids to learn to balance! In 2 days, Arden has gone from having to walk the bike with little tiny steps, to taking gliding strides while he is sitting on it! I bet he is coasting down hills in a few weeks!


Rory did great today too; he went 20feet or so before crashing! Here are a few photos of his progress, note Arden is trying to be in the photos too, lol.

He ate something!

So I was in the mood for a snack, and we really don't have much to snack on around the house... I found a bag of snacks and Canyon acted like he wanted to hold one... well to my surprise he ATE IT! He was putting it in and out of his mouth, tasting it and finally let it dissolve in his mouth~ Maybe this is a start?!


So what was it? Veggie Booty! A rice/corn puff snack with a kale/veggie coating on it.

Some photos and updates.

Canyon is now a year old (which if you look at the blog, you might have figured out, lol).

We took him to the pediatrician a few weeks ago b/c I decided that something was off, that he was too small. We found out some disturbing news. He is only 14lbs, and just barely that. He was 9lbs at birth, and 12 at 3 months. So that means in 9 months, he has gained 2 lbs.

His height is great, which is encouraging, but we need to find out what is wrong. He is too skinny. I know skinny. I have two other little boys who were skinny, like below the curve/chart skinny. Canyon is even skinny compared to them.

We have been seeing the breastfeeding center at the hospital, the hospital feeding specialists, nutritionists, and will see the GI doctors this coming week. One real concern with his symptoms (which are more than just weight) has been Cystic Fibrosis. We went in today for a CF test, and thank God it was negative. He does not have it! This means that we have ruled out one of the worst case scenarios and can breathe again. I think I stopped breathing about a week ago when we found out it was a real possibility.

Here is a photo of the little champ during the lab test. It really was a fairly simple test that was non-invasive. The worst part was holding him still long enough to wrap his little arms with gauze.


So, it seems like all things are pointing to gastro-intestinal issues that need figure out... I just figured everyone would like to know what we are doing and where we are going with everything. I just wish this guy would start gaining some weight.

On another note, Grammy and DadDad sent this wickedly awesome water table to Can-man for his birthday, and I got around to setting it up this evening, I think we are safe to say that it was a hit, with all 3 boys!



And here is a random photo of the Rory-meister:


Arden wasn't in the mood for photos, so maybe we can get a few of him tomorrow...