Customize Your Blog

To customize your blog here's the easiest way I've found. These instructions (along with other templates) are from matiekay.blogspot.com. Just follow these instructions for a 3 column blog. It's really fast and easy. Then after you've done this when you view your layout in the html you can find the 4 url picture links (background, post background, and 2 header backgrounds) and change them to whatever you want. (I upload what I want to photobucket and use the Direct link) The best website for paper/embellishments for me is shabbyprincess.com and they have a bunch of kits to download for free.

*Remember you can change the font colors to your liking by clicking template then click the tab font and colors.
* Also I added a bunch of page elements hoping to cover every ones wide range of sidebar elements. You might notice when you sign in blogger and click on dashboard that there is a lot of elements. You can edit or delete those if you want (at least the ones you aren't using:) Sorry for the inconvenience it may cause some of you but hopefully it will help. One more thing it will most likely rearrange the way you had your elements so just rearrange them and you'll be good to go.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLY LAYOUT:

Log into your blogger account and go to your dashboard.
Click on Layout in the right hand corner of the blog which you want to apply the template.
Go to Pick New Template
Choose Minima
Click Save Template
Go to Edit HTML
Delete all of the HTML
Go to: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dk8xhn3_62d7qrkq
Copy all of the HTML (don't copy the small blue text at the bottom under the line)
Paste the HTML
Click Save Template
That's it!

To do the custom header it gets a little more complicated but not much. I just use Roxio (a photo editing software) but you can also use Adobephotoshop. I create a "picture" using all of the papers, photos, embellishments and then add that picture to the top of my blog, not as a header but as a picture.

Bath Time and 2 Month Appointment

Ashton loves taking a bath. Today Matt took him to his 2 month appointment and he has gone from weighing 6lbs. 8oz. at his 1 month appointment to 12lbs. 4oz. today. So he's not under the 5th percentile anymore he's right at the 50th percentile. Although Ashton only weighs 1/3 of what Kaleb does he looks really big when sitting on his lap.

Easter and Ashton's Blessing

The day started with Kaleb hunting for easter eggs. Not much of a challenge in our small apartment but he had a lot of fun. He calls it the Bunny Easter.

Ashton was also blessed on Easter. Between Ashton's blessing, all of our family and friends that were there and all of the musical numbers I really enjoyed Sacrament meeting. And it was a beautiful sunny day on top of that. (as you can see by all of us squinting)

Then off to Sunday dinner. I made orange rolls for dessert and we had tons of yummy food. There were about 200 plastic candy-filled eggs (no joke) for everyone to find. Kaleb found most of them because there aren't any other little kids. He didn't mind, more candy for him.

This was the basket that held all 200 of the eggs. I think Ashton looks better in it than the eggs did though.

He's always so content after eating. And I love his old man wrinkles.

This picture makes me laugh. Kaleb wanted me to take of picture of him in his McQueen vest. Lately instead of smiling for pictures he rolls is eyes and makes a weird face thinking he's being funny. So the only way to get him to smile is to make him laugh by doing silly stuff back. He was getting so mad at me for making him laugh because he couldn't do his "silly face" so seeing this picture I think of how happy he looks and yet how mad he actually was.

This is Ashton with his great-grandma at Sunday dinner. I love his "ooo" face.

Ashton still isn't sure what to think of the camera. This picture only shows 2 chins but I swear he's got a couple more hiding under there.

New Food Blog!

I've decided to start a food blog where I can post some of my favorite recipes and also new recipes that I try. Check it out here!

I was switching laundry and when I came back into the living room Kaleb was reading to Ashton.

Photography 101

So the picture of the airplanes is what my husband has been playing with all week. Chris was nice enough to give all of these airplanes and some motorcycles to Kaleb and I think Matt's having just as much fun as Kaleb. He lined them all up and took pictures and he's already been to Wal-mart to see if they have any new ones available. Thanks Chris!

Matt has been taking a digital photography class to finish off his fine arts credits and here are some of his recent assignments. He's definitely improving and who knows, maybe I'll turn the camera over to him more often so that I can be in some of the pictures.

Ashton is growing fast. Although he's eating more he doesn't seem to want to sleep more just yet. He only is fussy when he's hungry and he loves taking a bath. Kaleb loves talking to Ashton although I think there are times when Kaleb wouldn't mind if we gave him away for awhile. But he's been a lot better than I had expected on the jealousy issue.

Saturday we went to the The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. Kaleb had so much fun looking at everything. He wouldn't touch the sting rays and so I bribed him with the puzzle he wanted in the gift shop. He had his hand in the water for almost an hour before he was able to touch one. Unless they came up by the surface he couldn't reach them. Thanks Matt and Melanie!

Ashton is doing great! I wish he would sleep for longer than 3 hours at a time but I'm sure it will happen eventually. He only weighs 6lbs 8oz and so he's under the 5th percentile for weight. Now that he is feeling better I'm sure he'll start to plump up.

6 Interesting Facts

I started typing this a couple days ago and I just don't have anything all that interesting to tell. So this is the best I could do.

1: In fourth grade I failed almost every subject and I received a "blue slip" for vandalizing the girl's bathroom. (long story)

2: I love to go to garage sales in the summer. Last summer Kaleb and I went out to garage sales almost every Saturday since Matt usually works. Although almost everything is useless junk I can usually find something I like or that is useful. You would be amazed what in my house I've gotten from garage sales for practically nothing.

3: I would love to be a photographer. Not necessarily for a job but more as a hobby. I love taking pictures and I would love to learn more about photography.

4: Most people I know already know this but I drive 99% of the time. Between car sickness and my backseat driving it's just easier if I drive. And as an added benefit Matt gets to deal with the kids in the car because I'm always driving.

5: We have moved 6 times since we were married in May of 2003.

6: I can't stand it when silverware touches my teeth. I cringe if I hear someone's silverware hit their teeth. It's hard to watch Kaleb eat because he practically bites the silverware as he scoops the food off.

The hospital called Matt while he was in class and said that we can take Ashton home! They weaned him off of the oxygen last night. Matt left class to pick him up and bring him home and they should be home anytime!

Ashton is still up at Primary Children's and he's on oxygen but they're hoping to wean him off of it today. It's hard to watch him struggle to breath. There are so many babies with RSV up at the hospital and there isn't much they can do for them except wait for them to get better. Kaleb was so excited to hold him the other night.

So, on a lighter note Kaleb has started calling Matt and I "honey". I usually call Matt honey when I'm talking to him and the last couple days Kaleb has started using honey also. Yesterday he asked Matt to get him something and when he didn't respond Kaleb said, "Honey, I'm talking to you." And today after I gave Kaleb his Valentine's Day candy he said, "Look honey, I have a push-pop." It's funny but weird to hear at the same time. I tried explaining to him that I'm mom or April. We'll see what he uses to call me the next time he needs something!

Unfortunately Ashton is up at Primary Children's Hospital with RSV. He started getting sick on Wednesday and Sunday we took him to the kidscare because it was getting worse. They said we needed to go up to Primary because he is still so young and they needed to do some tests. I feel bad for him because he had to have just about every test you can think of done on him. Hopefully it's just for 24-48 hours that he has to stay and then he can come home. We were just getting use to having him home. That is a picture of him sleeping in a laundry basket. Now he's sleeping in his crib in our room but the first couple of nights we had him sleep in the living room so that we could try to get some sleep.

He loves hearing Kaleb sing and Kaleb loves when Ashton stares at him. Matt was just called to be in the Sunday School Presidency and I was called to be in the Young Women's. We only have 3 girls and we only have activities twice a month. One is on a Tuesday and the other is on a weekend. Our ward is small right now with most of the apartments being remodeled into condos. On Sunday I took Kaleb to church and there were 12 of us in Relief Society. Saturday Kaleb went to zoo day at the community college with my mom and sister. He loved getting to pet the animals, although I hear he wouldn't touch the snake.

On Friday at about noon we were headed to the hospital with Kaleb in tow and the doctor called us and gave us the good news that we could take him home. We told them we were almost there and were excited to take him home. Since Kaleb can't go into the NICU Matt stayed outside with him while I got Ashton dressed and ready to leave. Kaleb ran down the hall when he saw Ashton in his car seat. On the way home Kaleb couldn't take his eyes off of Ashton. He started singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider to him. He has been a big helper and he loves holding his little brother.
We're happy to have him home. Just like all newborns he sleeps most of the time. He loves getting his hair washed and brushed. Ashton has brought us so much joy already and we can't wait to watch him grow.

Almost Home!

Ashton should be coming home tonight or tomorrow morning. He has to eat for 48 hours without any problems and he is clear to come home. The nurses feed him every 3 hours and so it's nice that he's already on a schedule for feedings. The only downside is they feed him every 3 hours even through the night so we're going to have to try to get him to sleep longer at night. He already loves his binky. He passed the car seat test and we're just waiting for them to tell us he's coming home. From what I hear they don't tell you until he can come home so we just have to be prepared to bring him home every time we visit. Last night they asked me if I had brought clothes for him to wear but I told them I didn't know I could. So he's in some clothes that they keep at the hospital and it makes him look so big being in normal clothes. I guess I need to start taking the diaper bag so he has something to wear when he comes home!

We were able to hold Ashton on Sunday. We haven't been able to hold him since he was born on Monday the 21st so we were really excited. Yesterday they took out his chest tube and all of the iv's except for one in his foot. They aren't doing the PIC line anymore because they're going to start bottle feeding him. We tried bottle feeding yesterday but he was sedated from getting the chest tube out so he wasn't awake enough to know what to do. He just needs to keep his oxygen levels up and learn how to eat and he can come home. We're still hoping that by this weekend we will be taking him home. Tuesday we will be taking his car seat in so that he can do the car seat test. Any baby that spends time in the nicu has to sit in a car seat for 2 hours. They will monitor him and make sure he is able to keep his oxygen levels up and stay stable. We also had to watch 2 videos on CPR and shaken baby syndrome before he can be discharged.

I can't believe Ashton is a week old already. It has been a long, crazy week but at the same time the time has gone by so fast. Matt took last week off of work and school and now he's back at school and work so it will be hard coordinating times to go and see Ashton. I also am back to managing the apartments. It's hard knowing we can't be at the hospital as much but we are excited to bring him home soon!

No more ventilator! Saturday morning we were shocked to hear they were going to take him off of the ventilator. When we came back at night it was gone. The sedation medications still haven't completely worn off and so he's on regular oxygen probably until Sunday morning. He just hasn't fully woken up yet. He's getting the tube out of his chest tomorrow and so we will finally be able to hold him. I'm so excited. He does have to get a PIC line put in tomorrow which is a small tube that goes through a vein in his arm up to his heart but it's just so that they don't have to continue putting in new iv's all the time and they can just use the one line.

Because he isn't eating formula or any real food other than the iv fluids his body can't flush out the belirubin so he has jaundice. That's the reason for the florescent light that has been on him for the last 2 days. He should only need it for another day. He gets to wear some foam sunglasses that cover most of his head. We are hoping that next weekend we will get to bring him home. It's hard coming home at night knowing he isn't there with us. But I've told Matt I'm sure I won't want to put him down once we do get to bring him home.

Ashton Connor Snell
6 lbs 5 oz 21 inches
January 21, 2008 8:55am

Ashton came into this world on Monday morning. He was born with a really bad infection and his lungs were a little underdeveloped and so he's currently in the NICU but he's improving everyday. After struggling to breath on his own he blew a hole in his right lung and so they are waiting for the hole to heal. After that they will slowly wean him off of the ventilator and see how he breaths on his own. Then they will have to reteach him to eat since he gets all of his nutrients through the iv. The biggest factor has been the infection which is like pneumonia. They don't know how he got it but they say some babies are just born with it and they don't understand why yet. Because of the antibiotics he's on he'll probably be in the NICU for a total of about 2 weeks. We're hoping that next weekend he might get to come home.
We weren't expecting anything like this and it has been really hard to deal with but it's getting easier everyday. Everyday we are falling more and more in love with Ashton. We are always over at the hospital visiting him and talking to him. Most of the time he's pretty sedated but he responds to us and our voices. He looks so perfect and is such a fighter. The ventilator he has been on is meant to take over his breathing but he keeps breathing on his own at a different pace than the ventilator. He wants to prove he can still breath on his own. Kaleb can't go into the NICU because of RSV season and he came to the hospital just as they were taking him away so the picture with him and Ashton is the only time he saw his little brother. There is a teddy bear that Kaleb gave to Ashton that sits by him and we show Kaleb the pictures of Ashton with the bear. We'll try to keep everyone updated. We know that everything will be fine and he just needs a little time to heal.

A New Year

This was taken a couple of days ago at 35 weeks. My last doctors appointment he said I was 1 cm and 50% effaced and just wants to make sure I make it to 37 weeks. It's crazy to think he could come in a couple of weeks but he could also wait another 5 weeks to make his entrance.

We always spend New Years up at Sherwood Hills Resort (about 10 miles outside of Logan) with my family. We had a lot of fun. We did a lot of swimming, watching movies and we even went bowling a couple of times. At the bowling place they had one of the tattoo machines and because my cousins were getting them Kaleb had to get some too. He had one on his arm and one on his back. As you can see he loved showing off his muscles and tattoos when he went swimming.

This is at Golden Corral. Kaleb loves the cupcakes and he made them look so good that even Matt had to try one.