April updates

Letters and words....that is all the rage around our house when it comes to Keaton these days. The month of April has been an amazing month for the boys developmentally. I just am amazed each day by them. Keaton has learned how to write all his letters from A to Z in capitals and now he has mastered most of the lower case letters. Now that he knows how to write the letters he wants to spell words so he loves to sit with his Doodle and write letters and words. He is fascinated by spelling and it's so fun to watch this all happen and work out in his amazing mind. He graduates from his preschool class on May 20th so pics will come soon after. May will be a busy month as preschool as lots of end of the year events planned so we are really looking forward to all the fun. Hard to believe his first year of preschool is over.

Ryan too is growing leaps and bounds this month also. He is really trying to master talking and is adding new words or should I say sentences to is vocabulary each day. He is into puzzles, cars, trains and of course dinosaurs. He loves drawing and coloring on anything he can so I have to keep an eye on him just in case he finds a lone crayon as the wall can be his canvas without a thought!!! He is a fast runner and loves being outside and digging in the sand. Ryan is my doll baby as I just cant believe he is growing so fast these days. My baby is almost two !!!! Time is just going by to fast lately.

Spring has finally arrived at least I think so in Colorado. It's hard to tell around here as the weather has been very hard to figure out. One day it's 75 degrees and the next its 34 degrees. Thank goodness things have taken a turn for the better and we have been steady in the 60's and 70's for the last 2 weeks. Thank god as I am sooooooo done with winter and soooooo ready for summer. My grass is finally turning green (at least I think so), my trees(the few I have) are getting leaves and I am getting ready to plant flowers this weekend. I am sure my planting will bring on a Spring snow event!!! We are in the process of getting estimates on our second story deck so hopefully this summer we will get our deck built! I hope all friends and family will visit soon!!!

Ben is working alot as my dads company is merging with a Denver based company and my dear husband has taken on a new role which I guess it's called a promotion. With this comes more working hours and lots more responsibilities however he is gaining so much experience his head could spin off at any moment but he loves it. I love it as the pay raise makes him not so grumpy about money and finances!!!

As for me I am still a work in progress. I am continuing to work out 4 to 5 days a week and feel pretty good about my progress. I fit into a size 8 again for the first time since Keaton was born. I have lost a few inches around the waist but the most important things is I feel really good. I will never be bone skinny as that's not my body type or shape but I just want to be toned , feel good about myself and have energy to keep up with my kids and that is the most rewarding things of all!!!

Overall April has been a great month with once again lots of changes!

Another milestone

Keaton has been potty trained for over a year and a half but we have had no luck getting him to not wet the bed at night. The kid sleeps like a rock and just has no idea that he even has to go. We have been putting him in pull-ups for a while now and have been waiting for the day when this would also be over. For many weeks we tried to go with only underwear as Keaton hates the pull ups but when we try to go with out them I seem to be doing alot of extra laundry and making the bed way to much. I had to put my foot down and say enough. "Until you start waking up to go potty at night the pull ups stay!" Probably not what I'm suppose to do but d@@@@ I am tired of changing sheets EVERYDAY!! Well, I think we have finally reached the milestone we were hoping for, Only 2 weeks out and for about a week now he has started to get up at night and go potty by himself!!!!! Yippee!!! I started to notice that Keaton's bathroom light was on in the morning and we had a few visits in the middle of the night where I would wake up and I would see his little shadow standing next to Ben or I but he would then just scamper back to bed when I asked what was wrong. I asked him about it and he said he was going potty but wanted to check on us. I just hope he keeps it up as I am so proud of him. The pediatrician had said that it was difficult for heavy sleepers to know when they had to go while sleeping so just be patient and it would happen and of course it did and as with everything it was on his time table. I guess I should just accept I have little control of such things in life. Personally I'm just happy I'm not washing another load of pee pee sheets!!!!

Dar, Dar MaMa

One word to describe Ryan is AMAZING right now. He is growing, changing and learning new things each day. He and Keaton are so alike yet sooooooo different. Ryan is so laid back and observant. The reason I'm writing is to share that Ryan has such a kind sole in his own way and here's a perfect example. I am feeling lets just say "VERY UNDER the WEATHER!!" My throat hurts, I'm sneeze and I just feel pretty lousy to be honest. Ryan keeps coming up patting me on the shoulder and while I was sitting on the couch he grabbed some blankets and used one to cover me all up and the other to prop my head on!!! He then said "Dar MaMa, Dar, Dar" (there mama, there, there) in his sweet voice and then snuggled himself right on me and put a blanket on himself. We laid there for over 45min. together and watched Mrs. Spider's Sunny Patch in which he giggled alot and I just soaked up the moment as it was a sweet moment. Often now a days he isn't one to sit more than a second so I cherish the times when they come.

Yikes, where did I go wrong this morning?

Well sometimes you just have those mornings where you wonder where and why it all is going wrong. This morning was one of them and I truly am exhausted from it! It was all going smoothly until Keaton attempted to shove a wooden train whistle down his throat while getting in the car to go to preschool. He was blowing that D*** thing all morning and driving me crazy and I told him to put it down and get into the car. Well, he went to get into the car but didn't leave the whistle and needless to say from what I could piece together he went to get into the car with the whistle still in his mouth and hit the seat with the whistle which proceed to go to the back of his throat and this did not feel good as he screamed bloody murder after. The kid is killing me with injuries this week! Yikes. We preceded to preschool after getting him calmed down and making sure he was OK. I then went on a much needed walk with my sister n law Jen and Ryan which was actually really nice, however after the walk Ryan decided it was his time to cause some mayhem. Ryan decided he didn't want to get into the car seat and screamed bloody murder all the way to get Keaton, when I tried to get him out once there he was then mad that I took him out. I couldn't win!!!! He thru his first real tantrum right there in front of the preschool entrance. Lots of moms going by feeling my pain but glad it wasn't them. Of course I was mortified by this melt down but we preceded on to get Keaton. Once back in the car he was fine!!! What the hell !!!! I still don't know what that was all about. Oh and I forgot to share that Keaton's art project that I picked up had green paint on it and Ryan happened to find the one little part that wasn't dry and got it on his fingers and painted the front of my New Shirt!!Ugh!
I had a all ready scheduled play date with Andon and his mom Stephanie so we marched on to the park and had Chic- fil -A picnic and let them run themselves ragged which worked well as Ryan is down and out and Keaton is on his way with mommy right behind him. I am not a napper but I may be today. Hopefully tomorrow morning we'll be back to normal!

Ouch!!!

Well we had a very big OUCH moment Friday night from my little guy Keaton and boy do I mean OUCH!!!! We went out to dinner Friday with my brother and his family at a really cool restaurant called Giuseppe's. This place had great food, and great atmosphere. It's built into the old train station and right next to the railroad tracks. It has old world charm mixed with high class dining but thankfully very family friendly! Trains go by as you eat and to our surprise you could barely hear them inside which amazed me really as we were so darn close the place should have been shaking. The boys loved the place and so did Ben and I. The dinner came to a close and on the way out Keaton had to use the potty. Ben had taken Ryan out already so this was my duty. Well, we are in the stage where he wants to go only in the BOYS bathroom not the GIRLS!! As to not fight the fight and ruin the nice evening I was willing to go get Ben and let him do bathroom duty. Well Keaton somehow in the 2 point 5 seconds that I had turned around and thought he was behind me go his fingers caught in the hinge part of the bathroom door. Needless to say one of the most painful moments in his little life. His finger didn't look pretty when removed and boy did he cry out in pain. Poor little guy is a trooper I tell you that. The end of his pointer finger is pretty nasty and he will most likely lose his nail but all in all he is back to normal. The funniest thing is that after he calmed down a bit he said " Mom, is that why you said not to put my fingers in that part of the door?" Hmmmmmm, I guess they do listen but he had to learn the hard way what I actually meant.

Babies, Babies Everywhere!!

Just a quick note to share that babies are being born one after another over this week. Deb and Wvlad had a boy on the 3rd (Thurs.), Katie and Ron (Ben's sister) had a baby boy on the 5th (Sat.) and Mo and Dave met their little girl (Morgan Rose) today the 7th (Mon.). Needless to say that's alot of babies being born!!!!

Have to share that Katie and Ron were expecting a girl and had a VERY big suprise when little Madeline came out a Connor!!! I have heard of this happening but never knew anyone that it has actually happened to but now I do!!! Our nephew Connor Adams Gambill was born on Sat. by C-section and is said to be a BIG, healthy boy. Havent heard much more but will share when I get more info.

Our first trip ALONE

I have to share that Ben and I spent four days together without the kids!! Yes, you read it right we were without our children. For the first time since Keaton was born we went on a trip with just the two of us and boy was it long overdue!!! We went to a wedding of a childhood friend of Ben's named Brad in Washington D.C. We took off on Thurs. and came home Sunday. We took full advantage of our freedom and hung out the very first night at a place called Kate's Irish Pub which was a place we would hang out at while we were dating many years ago. The next morning we slept in late and headed into Washington to see the Cherry Blossoms which were in bloom. It was a beautiful sight as the Cherry trees were in bloom along with tulips, daffodils and all the other gorgeous trees and flowers. We spent the day walking and taking in the monuments and all the bustle and bustle of D.C. I cant wait for the boys to get a little older so we can take them with us for our next trip to see the sights. The wedding was on Sat. and was a beautiful event. The best part of the long weekend was that Ben and I got to be alone and connect again. We truly had a wonderful time together.

By the way the boys had a great time at grandma and grandpas and were glad to see us upon our return. We missed them too but the time away always makes the heart grow fonder!!

Old fashion hard work!!

Well, after 2 children and neglecting my body for the last few years for the most part I have taken some action to get healthy and in some sort of shape seriously!! After Keaton the body seemed to bounce back pretty quick but after Ryan it just seemed harder to get active and stay active and my body seemed to show that every time I looked in the mirror. I am sharing because If I share what I am doing then I know others will support me, and be looking for some results and that folks is what I need. I am not a dieter so it's old fashion hard work that I am doing ........ That means good old fashion Exercise , that makes me sweat, feel out of breath, and feel pain after but in the end it feels darn good!!! I began my journey about 5 weeks ago and to be honest I am seeing results. My 10's are loose and for the first time in a while I need a belt. I am working off that baby belly which has hung on way to long.
The biggest thing of all of this is that I have taken time for myself . When Ryan naps, I get Keaton doing an activity and I move my butt to a circuit training video, yoga and cardio sculpting. I love yoga so it usually is my last workout as I love the stretch and peace I feel while doing it. Over all I want to be healthy and feel good about my body again. I hope I can make this a life style to keep moving and staying healthy. I will keep you posted on my results.