Happy Half

The boys' friend Tristan celebrated his half birthday today! His birthday is December 26th and since it is so close to the holidays, his parents have started celebrating half birthdays, which is such a cool idea! We got to go to his party and play in his new sandbox (well, pea gravel box, but I've decided that Mike and Tiff are totally onto something...I am loving pea gravel vs. the sand).

And of course, they had to help Tristan open his presents!

Thanks Tristan for inviting us over for your half birthday! Happy one and a half!

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And changing the subject entirely.....why is my little boy so fascinated with my bras? He loves to get them out and play with them! And of course he has to drag them all out and drape them around his neck and swing them around. I have to say, it is somewhat embarrassing, especially when company is over! I know that one of these days, I'll be entertaining new friends or something, and down will come Tyler with all of my bras around his neck, and I will be mortified. So tonight, he gets into my drawer. And I say 'Tyler, please put the bras away and close the drawer'. (And while I'm saying this, I am of course reaching for my camera because it is one of those moments that must be photographed for later embarrassment)

And you can see him thinking 'Mom....do I really have to?' To which I say 'Yes Tyler, please put them away and close the drawer'. And see what he does?

Oh what a sweet child I have.

Dance Team

Oh my, summer is proving interesting. It's amazing what kids come up with when they have LOTS of time during the day to scheme. Tyler has figured out all sorts of tricks to 'hide' from mommy to avoid naptime and bedtime. He burrows under the sheets in our bed or goes into a bedroom and closes the door. Oh, and today, a new one....under his crib with his blankie and milk. And Zachary loves that Kathryn is home all day and drags her around constantly. Tonight the boys got into a food fight, throwing one stupid onion ring (yes, fried food....we had a fast food night....I feel like all I've done this week is cook!!!) back and forth to each other's trays. Finally I had to intervene and take away the darn thing!

Anyway....I had to get a recording of the boys dancing. Well, Zachary anyway. Tyler was in charge of keeping the music playing on the control panel (he loves any sort of buttons). And you can hear Kathryn singing in the background. We should take our show on the road!

A Fish Out Of Water

Tyler thinks he's a fish. He loves the water. Absolutely loves it. So he was very excited when we headed to the Y this morning for the start of swim lessons. Both boys stood and watched the class before us, standing at the ready.

Don't you love the Hawaiian shorts? (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!)
Aunt Trish got to go in the pool today as I couldn't due to having eye surgery again this week. But next week I'll get to go in. Aunt Trish and Tyler had a fantastic time!

Lets all blow bubbles!

And ya gotta have some lovin'!

Notice the new haircuts???

Awww, Zachary needed some lovin' too!

Little Personalities

Boy, over the past few months, the boys' different personalities have really emerged. Zachary is such a little grown-up. He idolizes Kathryn and would spend every second dragging her around if he could. He screams when he sees her walking towards the car after school. And she made up a game similar to 'ring around the rosie' that he just absolutely adores. He never tires of it. He also is my little talker. Oh boy, are we in trouble with this one. He will repeat anything so we really have to be careful now! His new favorite word as of yesterday: 'oops' which he actually pronounces 'opps'. I think he just loves the 'ps' sound together. He also loves to say 'duck quack quack quack' which sounds like 'duckackackack'. I love it!

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And then there's Tyler. He is my cantankerous child. Is that how you spell it? Anyway, he creates mischief all day long. He is the poster child of ornery. The other day he knew it was bedtime. I was putting Zach to bed and Tyler was sitting on our bed. About one minute later I come back to fetch him, and he's nowhere to be found. I seriously was looking around the room, thinking 'what the heck?' Then I see this little tiny elbow sticking out from underneath a pile of pillows on my bed. He had hidden himself under two giant pillows and was laying perfectly still so that I wouldn't see him. Once I realized where he was, I could see him barely peeking through watching me. Little brat! He's very smart. Now his goal in life seems to be to find all of the possible hiding spots in the house. What this tells me though is that the kid can sit still when he sees that it accomplishes his goal!

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And here is just another example of the boys' personalities. Tyler has discovered how things sound so differently when his ears are under water. So now for bathtime he lays and does this:

And Zachary takes advantage every time and dumps water on him, hits his tummy, pokes his belly button....
....plays with the toys floating around him.....
....but as you can see, it does not deter Tyler's game. Oh, what fun we have ahead of us!!!

Creeping up on the big 3-0

I am now one year away from being 'over the hill'. Well, one of many hills that I will creep over, I suppose. It was such a beautiful day and I could not have asked for anything better. I spent the day with my family and friends and it was wonderful! I got to open one present this morning and it was this really cool Alligator pool which the boys and Kathryn spent 3 hours in. I had to drag the boys out of the water at 2pm to make them go down for a nap!

Last year I bought this and we finally got to use it for the first time today! It's a little toddler pool with sprinklers! The boys absolutely loved it!
They even brought their chairs into the pool!

And of course they had to enjoy a little lunch at their picnic table!
Tonight we had a fantastic BBQ with some friends. The best part - Mike planned it and did all of the work! He did all of the cooking and everything. Thank you hubby for making my day special!
My parents got me the most phenomenal chocolate cake from Costco. It was pure heaven. I have decided to start a new tradition and I think I'll get that cake every year for my birthday. Tyler helped me blow out the candles.

Then it was back outside for more fun time. Mike helped Zachary ride the scooter while Tyler drove the Pooh car around and Matthew and Kathryn played catch. I am absolutely loving this summer weather! Although mid-80's is much nicer than the 99 degrees it was for a few days!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend too!

Chance of Snow?

Highly unlikely, since we've had record highs of 99 degrees the last two days in Salem! But my child, who is really developing and nurturing his independence, decided that snow boots complimented the scorching hot day. He insisted on wearing them all day long, and threw a fit if we tried to change him into his summer sandals. Oh what fun we have ahead of us!!!

Too Good To Be True

Sometimes I think that my life is too good to be true. But then one of my boys comes and gives me a kiss on the cheek and I realize that yes, it is in fact real. I am so lucky. This Mother's Day I have been giving my thanks to God that I have these two precious children that have changed my life in ways I can't even begin to describe. After years of struggling with infertility and feeling that emptiness and the longing for a child, I have been doubly blessed.

Even in the 'not so fun' times of the puking, the times when the boys are fighting with each other and all I want to do is get dinner made, and so on, I still just love them so much I can hardly even describe it. Motherhood is an amazing thing. As I was talking to my doctor this week on the phone about Tyler's allergic reaction to the medicine for his staph infection, he said slightly sarcastically, 'Welcome to parenthood! The fun never stops. Isn't it great?!?' And I said 'yes, it is. Every moment, believe it or not. I love it'. And it's true. Okay, maybe not every moment. But yes, I love being a parent. It is the greatest gift ever.
I am so thankful to my mother and my grandmothers who raised me to be the person that I am today. I am so lucky that my boys will have them in their lives to lead them and guide them into the men they will be someday.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! Thank you for being a part of our lives!

Medical Mystery

Ever seen the show 'House'? Well, I feel like my life has been an episode of House for about the last 3 weeks. We took Zachary into the doctor for a spot on his leg which turned out to be a little infection, but while there I showed the doctor this weird rash on Tyler and he said 'yeast'. So we started a cream for that. 7 days later, the rash was still there and spreading. Quickly. So, a phone call later, we had a second cream. Well, after 4 days of that, the rash was now up half of his tummy and back, and down to his knees. So, I called yet again and said 'Okay, I know I'm a first time mom, but I'm starting to freak out a little bit here'. So we got a third cream, a cortison one which I was told was the 'strongest'. So, we start on that. And the part around the diaper area seemed to improve, but the weird red spots that had spread were just not getting better. I just had this weird feeling and finally today said, 'we're going back'. So I haul the boys in myself this afternoon and the doctor takes one look and says 'staph infection.' So, we have now started oral antibiotics for the staph infection and still have the cream for the yeast infection. Thank goodness we caught the staph infection this early! Those can be very scary! So after two weeks of trying to figure out why the mystery rash was spreading and which cream is going to work, I think we finally have it under control. Thank goodness for doctors who know what they're doing!

Time Has Flown By....

Gosh, it's been quite a while since I posted anything new on here! We've been really busy lately! Lots of sports, lots of running around, lots of playing outside when we can.....last weekend we went to the Ag Fest and had a great time. The boys loved the animals! Everything that had 4 legs and was furry was 'Dogggggieeeeeee!' to Zachary. It was too cute. He'd squeal with delight every time he touched an animal.

Yesterday I came home from work and found out that while with Grandma, Zachary had learned a new phrase. Much to my dismay, it was not 'Mama, I missed you' or anything like that. He said 'Crap, crap, crap!' Hmmm. Apparently while the boys were playing the grand piano, one of my crystal pianos that sits on it for display got knocked over and broken and my mom said 'crap, crap, crap!' which Zachary instantly repeated. My innocent child has now been corrupted by potty language! ; )

Tonight we played in a Pampers box. Always entertaining.

Zachary loves to touch his nose and say 'noooosh'

Tonight I made hot dog wraps and french fries for dinner. The boys love mustard and ketchup, thanks to their father. I actually stripped Tyler before I put him in his chair because the results were bound to be messy otherwise, along with the shirt getting terribly stained.

Tyler decided to finger paint on his tummy with the condiments

Birthday Mayhem

We had a busy weekend! Mike's birthday was Saturday and Kathryn's birthday was Sunday. Mike's parents came to celebrate from Montana and we had a few get-togethers for Mike and Kathryn. Kathryn turned 9! It's hard to believe she's almost to double digits! Due to SNOW on her birthday, we had to cancel the bouncy castle that we had planned and improvised with arts and crafts. But the girls didn't care at all! They still had a ton of fun.

Kathryn is really into baseball right now and she got a new baseball bag for all her gear and a new helmet.
There were 5 or 6 girls here who of course were just smitten with Zachary and Tyler. Tyler was actually a bit shy, but Zachary was smitten right back. Look at this little ham - right in the middle of all these girls and LOVING the attention!


Matthew, Sandi and Irvin, Dave and Cherie (Mike's parents)
What a stud. So proud of himself wearing the bow on his chest.
And me too!
'I'll help!'
Why the child felt the need to put the bag on his head, I'm not sure. But it was cute.
Happy Birthdays Michael and Kathryn!

Reading Time

Gosh, I look at these pictures and I can't believe how big the boys are getting. So grown up! And Kathryn too. She was just this little tiny girl and now she's almost 9! Kathryn loves to read to the boys after their baths and tonight, each of them crawled into her lap as though posing so I had to grab the camera quick!