Rowdy Ken Gallup

ROWDY KEN GALLUP

Born: Oct. 30 2010

Weight: 7 lbs. 2 oz.

Length: 19"

10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 deep dimples and tons of black hair. He's been the perfect little baby so far. LOVES to sleep, eat and be cuddled, what baby doesn't?! :)

Sorry, don't have any newborn pictures on the laptop

Blessing Day: November 7, 2010

Siblings: Oakley's still deciding if he really likes "that baby". Actually I think he's growing more and more fond of "that baby", he just doesn't want everyone else knowing that. When he's by himself with Rowdy, he sneaks him little kisses on his forehead. I know, I've seen it! :)

As for Maverick and Harley, they adore their baby brother.

Again, no pics of Mav & Rowdy on this computer.

Where did July go and here comes August

Harley & Maverick got to spend a lot of time with friends during July & August. (BIG THANKS to all who helped us out with baby-sitting, meals, thoughts & prayers!) I think Harley & Maverick enjoyed their time with dad as well. Harley got spoiled and is now used to sleeping in bed with dad, she thinks it's "her spot" now and Maverick, just went with the flow. The weather was very cooperative and they spent almost every night outside playing!

Maverick loves pushing this little tractor around more than riding it, what a funny sight!

Harley being Harley... full of attitude! :)

Maverick became quite attached to his big sister during everything. He always needs to know where she is, but likes to keep her at a distance because she can be bossy! :)

Love this picture of the two of them snuggling with the horse. Oakley was pretty sad when he found out that David had switched the rooms around so he had his own room. What kid doesn't want his own room? Harley missed her buddy a little too so she spent almost every night sleeping on his floor with him.

Just a random picture David took of our Optimus Prime.

Maverick is such a character. We've been so blessed to have this little guy and his easy going personality. I know there's a reason he's our youngest right now. I don't know that we could have made it with any other personality. He loves to know where the party is but can easily entertain himself for hours in his bedroom by himself.

Hogle Zoo & Primary Children's Hospital

Okay, I'm playing catch-up as usual. I don't want the rest of my family to feel left out! These next few posts will cover the last few months...

While we were in Utah, we were able to take Harley & Maverick to Hogle Zoo. It was fun taking time away from the hospital to do something with the kids. They enjoyed being out and about though it was a really HOT day! I wish I had gotten more pictures or at least better pictures to show for our adventure.

We rode the train.

Harley bonded with the monkey :)

And of course, we couldn't leave without riding the carousel!

We spent a lot of time at Primary Children's Hospital in July. The kids all did so well. I bet they could ride the trip from Casper to Salt Lake with their eyes closed...David only wishes. I don't know how many trips they made back and forth but we're grateful they did! I think it helped Oakley feel more at home as well.

Harley always tried to get smiles out of Oakley when she was there, even when he wasn't very cooperative! She loved tickling him.

Maverick as you know is a very busy little boy. He loved taking Oakley for rides in the wagon.

Just a random picture. Oakley got a HUGE stuffed horse from his case worker at the hospital. It brightened Oakley's day and Maverick's even more. All the kids love snuggling with the horse.

What's been happening...

Wow, so much has happened over the last few weeks. It's seems like forever that we got the news that our little Oakley has a rare childhood cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma. He started chemo treatments 3 weeks ago and seems to be tolerating them so far. We're keeping our fingers crossed that he does this well through the entire year long regimen. He seems upbeat most days...considering what he's been through. I can't even imagine having to go through what he has been through already and being as young and in the dark as he is. What a trooper.

Harley and Maverick have been great through all of this as well. We're not sure how much they understand but they know that they miss Oakley and can't wait until he can come home.

We feel pretty blessed to have such a great family and extended family. We're also very thankful for all the thoughts and prayers on behalf of Oakley and our family. We couldn't have made it this far without them.

Please feel free to follow Oakley's progress at dogallup.blogspot.com!

By the way, we're excited to announce that baby Gallup #4 is a BOY and will hopefully be appearing sometime mid November!

Playing Catch up again: MAY

We're Making It A Family Tradition!

We live only 4 hours away from Mt. Rushmore so we decided to take a weekend trip to see the sites. (For those of you wondering, there is sooooo much to do in S.D., you can make it quick weekend trip or a week long visit) We started our journey in Hill City, SD. David had done his research and found an old 1880 Train Ride for us to take. The kids LOVED it. They were so excited to go for a ride on the Polar Express train. It was about a 2 hour ride round trip. The kids were soooo quiet. We plan on heading back there in December when they decorate the train like the PolaR ExpresS and you get to take a ride to the North Pole to see Santa.

Hanging out while we waited for the big train to be serviced

Checking out one of the older cabooses

Filling up & getting ready to let off some steam! :)

Getting ready to leave the train station

Next, we headed on over to those "guy's faces". I've never been to Mt. Rushmore before so this was exciting for me too. Harley loved seeing the "guy's faces" on the mountain.

And proof to show we were there! :)

There really were so many different kinds of attractions to see. The kids chose to see Old McDonald's Farm. This was the Goat Bridge you could see from the highway. We thought it was pretty cool. Just some hanging bridges and some daring goats. There was nothing below the bridge so you could walk under it and get a good look at the goats above.

The kids were so excited to see all the baby animals.

Mav met Harley the bunny. I'm not sure what he thought,

but I'm pretty sure he knew he wasn't petting Harley!

We couldn't leave without seeing the pig races. It was hilarious watching those pigs scurry around the race track. And what did they race for, cherry cool-aid! :)

Let's not forget the horsey ride... Okay we got a picture of each of them on a horse but Harley was the only brave one who actually rode the horse.

Yep, we enjoyed trying new restaurants, swimming at the hotel and of course, spending some quality time with the FAMILY!

Oakley Visits The Hospital

Don't worry yet, we're not... I think. So, quick update: A couple months ago I found a bump on Oakley's cheek. Had it checked out by a friend, nothing serious. It went away on its own after about 3 weeks. No side effects. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, while we're on vacation... Oakley starts complaining about his legs hurting. We think it's probably growing pains. We find the bump on his cheek has returned. We see no correlation between the two. (Sightseeing and and things not the best when we had to be in the car or walking. Oakley complained of being in pain) Home for a couple day and he's not getting better. Starts limping so off to the Dr. we go. The Dr. is more concerned about the bump in his cheek than the legs hurting. He orders tests and sends Oakley to the hospital, for quicker results he says. A quick in and out visit turns into one over night and then another. More testing. More Dr.'s. No Answers. Three days later, a very CRANKY little boy and no answers, we get to go home. SERIOUSLY?! OH and I forgot to mention that we are in between insurances to who knows if any further treatments will be covered and so on... enough complaining. We have been blessed with good health thus far to which we are grateful!

Sorry that wasn't very quick

Before they start poking and prodding

An I.V. 3 blood draws and much medication later

And an hour before he gets to go home! YEAH!!!!

The bump really is BIG!

Harley's First Dance Recital

Yep, my little girl had her very first dance recital and we missed it... Seriously, we have had so much going on this past month it's ridiculous. We were going to be out of town during the recital so I wanted to make sure she at least made it to the dress rehearsal. This way she got to wear the costume & make up and get to dance on the big stage. I wanted cute pictures and a video but I was stuck in the hospital with Oakley. Thanks to a great friend who picked her up and took her. Thus only hospital pictures and no video. :(

Isn't she so dang cute? She wasn't fond of the costume at first.

She asked if next time she could get a costume that was a little longer!

She's all girl. She was so excited about wearing the make-up!

Oakley's Birthday

We also celebrated Oakley's 3rd birthday the end of the month. We had a birthday party for him in Idaho. I forgot my camera so no pictures. He wasn't feeling the greatest so He had been telling us for weeks that all he wanted for his birthday was a Tractor. " The big tractor from the store!" He told the nurses watching over him that he was getting a tractor for his birthday. We couldn't disappoint and so...

Yep, he got his tractor.

(You'll have to excuse the pouty face. We had just gotten back from Idaho and his legs were hurting. )

Honestly, at this point I think Harley & Maverick were more excited about Oakley's present than he was. He climbed in, pushed the gas, it jerked, he cried (not unusual for him by now), climbed out and said he didn't like it because it scared him. What a great present... for Harley. She's lived in that gator since we got it. She keeps telling us it's the best present EVER! She's not a bad driver either. She gives the kids a ride when we go for walks now. I love that we can make it around the block in record time now, I'm even willing to go around 2 blocks! :)

My baby turned ONE!

Yep, my baby just turned ONE! What a loveable guy. We can't ever get enough of his smiles, giggles and cheeses. My sister-in-law made these way cute cards for me to send out... nope still haven't gotten them out...

Mav. seemed to grow up over night. He turned one and was a suddenly a big boy.

* He is now walking all over the place without assistance. (He insists on doing most things himself because that's how brother and sister roll.)

* He's got 9 or more teeth.

* Oh how he LOVES to eat anything that will fit in his mouth. His favorite place to hang out is the pantry. Favorites: french fries, rolls,... really, anything edible... or not

*Waves bye-bye. He probably should have been doing this awhile ago.

* Says da-da the minute he thinks his dad is near.

* Loves to read/listen to books. One past time I enjoy with the kids.

* He slept through the night again last night, this is after I told David it was his turn to get up with Mav... I think they're conspiring against me.

* LOVES, LOVES to be wherever his brother and sister are. Up, down and all around the house! He especially loves playing games with them.

We had a small party for Mav. He loved the attention, the balloons,

and the frosting on the cake.

Happy Birthday Little Buddy!

EASTER!!!

We enjoyed a nice quiet easter weekend. David's family came for a visit. We had the kids best little friends come over and hunt eggs with them on Saturday.

The Easter Bunny thought that was PLENTY of candy for the kiddos so he filled their basket with other fun things. We laugh, the Easter bunny wasn't as generous this year as he was last year. For those of you who don't remember, I had just had Maverick so the Easter Bunny SPOILED the kids.

this Year

last Year