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.

Computers A OK!!

Well, Ben got around to checking out the computer and it's good as new. Not sure what was wrong as we have yet to get around to that but he said it's good as new so were are back!!!

Happy Easter!!!

It's been awhile since I've last posted as my home computer needs some daddy attention (IE... I think we have a virus-so I wont turn it on till Ben looks at it and he seems not to think this is a priority). I grabbed his laptop and thought I would check my e-mail and do a quick update so people don't think I have given up totally on my blog.

Happy Easter to all. We had a really nice Easter this year. Very different as we have always been with Ben's family on Easter and this year we were home. We had yummy sticky buns that were not part of my diet and exercise I have worked hard on the last month but boy were they yummy. The Easter bunny visited and the boys did a Easter egg hunt and found their baskets. Both boys were SO much fun. Ryan really got into it this year and loved finding the eggs, especially if they had candy or something fun inside!!!! We headed over to my brothers for Easter lunch and had a massive egg hunt with all the kids. We had dyed 4 dozen eggs and they went crazy finding them. We had 3 egg hunts as they had so much fun. I really seem to enjoy holidays more and more as both boys are getting older. They just get it now and are SO excited and seeing the faces of pure joy on their sweet faces so priceless.

I have adorable pics of Easter to come so check back. Not sure when or how to upload as the computer situation leaves me in a spot but I think with a little prodding Ben might help me out.

Growing and Changing

Spring is near and boy do we all have Springs fever. Lots of growing and changing going on in this household.
Keaton just turned four and is just an amazing little man. At his Four year appt. he was 43 1/2 inches tall and 38 1/2 lbs. As you can see his is growing fast and showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. I was so relieved to finally find a great pediatrician!! I have been to several and wasn't happy until now. She felt Keaton looked very healthy and was well ahead of the game for just turning four and didn't see anything to be concerned about health wise but she is going to go thru all test results with fine tooth comb to be sure. This of course makes me feel much better after our scares.
I just registered Keaton for another year of preschool next year since his birthday starts to late to go to kindergarten next fall. He will go three days next year as the boy loves going to school!! He is really come into his own over the last few months. He of course is still the independent, headstrong child he has always been with a side of non-stop energy but at least he is at a stage now where he is accepting (for the most part) that not everything is going to go is way, you can reason some with him and he is coming to grips with the fact that he has a brother who he has too share with and tolerate!! Three's were a very trying age in our home, so I am blessed to see that so far the fours are going pretty well, mind you were only a month in!!!! Keaton is very interested in dinosaurs and loves to read any and everything about them, he loves using his imagination and tells great stories and my most favorite is he is a great singer. Ben and I love to listen to the songs he comes up with daily. Climbing is also a great past time of Keaton's. He loves to go to his favorite park called "The Rock park", this is Keaton's name for the park as it has huge boulder all over the huge park area. He runs from boulder to boulder scaling them and flying his wind gliders off them. Overall I just want to squeeze Keaton and love him to death because he is just a great gift.

I don't even know where to start on what Ryan is doing as it's more what Ryan is not doing!!! Ryan is growing by the minute. Ryan is my little baby but sadly he is far from a baby now a days. He is almost two and showing all the wonderful gifts of a two year old. His latest is to share when he is not happy by blessing us with a mind numbing scream that makes you want to invest in ear plugs. Thankfully it's not to often or Ben and I would be insane!!! Ryan loves and adores his big brother so you shouldn't be surprised when I say that he too loves dinosaurs. He also loves Bee's. It's his favorite word to say and he just saw the Bee movie and didn't move the entire time as he was so beside himself with all those BEES! He is finally getting around to talking more these days. I have called him the man of few words as he just does his thing and could care less chatting about it. He finally has had more to say to all of us as he is learning or at least sharing new things everyday. His new thing is jumping and it's the cutes darn thing to watch as he is so proud of himself. He loves to play outside,digging, playing with balls, hide and seek and has mastered most playground equipment we have come across. There is little that scares the little guy. He jumps into most anything with two feet and doesn't look back. He is working on riding his tricycle and he's pretty darn good at it, play dough, puzzles and coloring is a big hit around our house these days. We have had a few drawings on the walls with crayons (thank god it washes off!), Ryan has also taken to collecting and carrying around all his favorite toys no matter if he has the hands to or not. He has really come into his own the last months and is such a happy go lucky kid.
Overall my two precious sons are growing up and blessing me with wonderful memories to treasure. Children truly are a blessing and a gift.

Peace and Quiet

Sometimes in life you recognize that your having a monumental moment and this afternoon is my moment. Many days as a stay at home mom I am consumed with my children's constant needs and have little down time but after a rocky start of both kids up before 6am (what is going on there????) and Keaton spilling my coffee all over, right as we were leaving to drop him at preschool, I have been given a gift. What is it you may wonder, well.......... PEACE and QUIET!!!! You read it right, my house is peaceful and has been for over close to 2 hours. The boys have been playing together and separate for awhile and I just realized that I haven't had to referee any sharing issues or spatial issues!!! No one is whining or crying it's just a wonderful chatter amongst brothers and mommy that is wonderful tranquility to my ears. It's a moment that could change any second so I better go and continue to enjoy!!! Oh the moments that get you through another day!!

My baby is 4 years old!!

I am having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that my baby is actually 4 years old. We had a big Dino-mite party this past Saturday with family and 9 other neighbor and school friends and boy did we have a houseful and alot of fun. We got wise this year and had a plan of attack as with all these kids letting them run wild was not an option , so we did a sticker foam craft, daddy and mommy made a dinosaur bean bag throw, and we had pin the nose on Triceratops. Overall, I think things went well, the kids seemed to have a great time and Keaton was on top of the world the entire day. It was weird for Ben and I, as it was our first Birthday for Keat here in Colorado, but we couldnt have asked for a better day and a better group of people to share the day with. It was 60 degrees out and sunny and everyone was in good spirits and we had ourselves one dino-riffic day!

Party Party!!

Keaton had his first Valentines party /class birthday party yesterday. I was lucky enough to be the class mom for the morning and boy did we have fun. Daddy then came home and we had a wonderful lobster and New York Strip steak dinner, we then topped off are already full bellies with cake. We had a great night, no meltdowns and lots of laughing.
We are now preparing for the big Dinosaur birthday party tom morning. We are expecting 13 kids and boy are we going to have fun. I hopefully have prepared enough games and crafts to keep all these kids busy or this place will be nuts. Pictures will be coming after the big event. I still am in shock that my little baby is going to be 4 years old tomorrow. Where time has gone I have NOOOOOOO idea. He is such a little man now, and become so independent and grown up. The year should be interesting as the 3's were trying and I've heard and felt already that 4's are going to be even worse. I guess we'll see hugh.

Babies come by Mail !

Keaton has been asking for a baby sister for a few months now!!! Yes, you read that right. Ever since Amelia visited us last month has has been asking even more now for a baby sister to keep. He wants a baby brother Ryan and a baby sister too. Today he asked again for a baby sister and I told him he would have to ask daddy about that and he stated " No mommy, we don't need to talk to daddy about that, we need to talk to the mail carrier about it, daddy has nothing to do with it!!" So folks, as you can see we have not had the birds and the bees chat and my sweet boy thinks babies come in the mail. Sure would be easier than 9months of pregnancy hugh. Thought this was tooooooo cute and others may get a laugh. I am not laughing to hard as he still wants the sister no matter how it gets here.Hmmmm, not sure about that yet.

First parent teacher conference

Today was my first Parent teachers conference for Keaton. It was a new role for me as usually I would be the one giving the conference so this was different, and thank goodness it went well. I cant believe how grown he is and how far he had come over the last few years. The teachers are smitten by him and love his very descriptive and animated stories he loves to tell. I have to take a moment to brag as I feel the need, so bare with me. The teachers said he knows all his letters from A to Z by sight and sound, along with numbers to 20, he can write his name by himself, he knows his shapes and how to draw the shapes by himself. He is very good at following directions and solving problems,escpecially when it comes to working with friends. Of course I could go on but I should stop as not to bore you all. I am a proud mommy as you never know what you may hear and after all he's been through this last year with all the changes I wasnt sure how it would all affect him but overall he seems to be doing great. He is going to go 3 days a week next year with the same teacher (I hope) as he loves school so much. He is growing up fast and I am trying to cherish each and everyday.

We weathered the storm!

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated but boy things have been insane at our house. Last Thursday Keaton came down with a minor cough and didnt think much of it until late Friday afternoon when that little cough turned into a 102 degree fever and a very sick boy. We fought a fever of 102 to 103 for 5 straight days. We headed to the doctor on the 3rd day and found out thru a chest X-ray he had pneumonia in his lungs and the doc also said he felt he had another virus he was fighting. Yikes. May I add that by Sunday night Ryan had a fever and horrible cold too so not only was I dealing with one but two very sick children and on top of that company (Aunt katie , Uncle Ron and Uncle Andy) flying in to see us for a long weekend. May I say, I was put to the test last week. I was really worried about Keaton as his cough was horrible and his fever just wouldnt let up even with meds. Needless to say we weathered the sick storm, had a great visit with family who we pray we didnt infect but will be suprised if we didnt and are looking forward to a healthy week! Oh I forgot to mention that I got a cold and have been fight it but no rest for the weary ya, know!!!

New Photos are posted --Check them out!!

Good times, Great friends, sad goodbyes!!

We were blessed with a long weekend visit from the Mc Cormack family. Mo, Dave and Amelia flew in on Thursday nite and stayed until Monday morning. It was so nice to see friends from Raleigh. It made me feel somewhat normal you could say. Ben and i had to laugh as each time someone has visited us we have gotten a blast of very cold winter weather which seems to make it much harder to entertain as alot of Colorado activities are outside activities. On the brighter side our heater didn't decide to have problems so at least we had heat this time around.

Ben, Dave and my brother Brandon headed to Copper Mountain to ski on Friday and had a great time. Mo and I hung out with the kids and went a little crazy but it was so darn cold out there wasn't alot of options. By the evening on Friday we had gotten about 2 to 3inches of snow which made Sat. morning slow going as the roads needed time to be cleared and now that we have the van we aren't so confident driving in the snow.

We did get a chance to drive by the Garden of the Gods, play at Mr. Biggs which is a kids play land, and have date night (thanks to mom who babysat) at a Sports bar named Frankie's where we watched the playoff game in peace. To bad the Packer lost!!! I wish we could have gotten more activities and sightseeing in but it just didn't work out this time however I know I really enjoyed just spending time with great friends and watching the kids play. Amelia is so sweet and It was fun to get to know her again. I was sad to say good bye when Monday came but I now look forward to the next visit which I hope will be us heading back East soon!!

My Ryan is BACK and so am I!!!!

I don't even know how to express my week last week other than saying CHALLENGING!! I was seriously thinking about heading back to work as it would be much easier than staying home and losing my mind. Ryan has had a cold for a good two weeks and on top of that he was getting his last bottom eye tooth. My normally easy going good natured child was a bear to deal with and it tested every bit of patience I had. He wanted to be held, but didn't want to be held, he wouldn't eat much of anything all of last week which of course as a parent disturbed and frustrated me, he wouldn't play for more than one second without running to me and clinging to my leg and whining. I felt bad for the little guy as his nose was runny, he was sneezy and just didn't feel well but I am human although my children and sometimes my husband think I have an endless ability to tolerate insanity. I felt I was becoming insane so thankfully Ryan awoke on Monday morning to his usual cheerful,funny self. The last few days have been so peaceful (I am comparing it to last we so that doesn't say much) and I actually am enjoying being stay at home mommy again. It was a close one though I have to say, working at McDonald's was sounding pretty good at one point so you know I was close to losing my mind!!!!