A Fabulous day

Today was a good Fabulous (the capitol F is needed) day!! I thought it would be one of "those" days, other mom's know what I'm talking about. The ones that leave you wanting a glass of wine (sparkling cider in my case), a warm bubble bath, and a nap. But, no today turned out to be a Fabulous day, one that I will remember forever. Kevin woke up an hour early at 6. I was not ready to wake up but seeing how he is very into saying "momma" these days it's very hard to resist going into his room and just giving him a huge "good morning" hug. So hug I did. First of all the smile I received this morning when I opened his bedroom door was enough to brighten even the most hard core Scrooges day, but it gets better. We lay on the couch snuggling with milk and "nana" (banana) as we do every morning. An hour goes by just snuggling with my little boy and daddy joins us, but instead of just joining us he offers me a little piece of heaven, a chance to go back to bed. Of course being pregnant and tired I take the opportunity to catch a little extra sleep when I can. I fall asleep to the noises of Ken and Kevin laughing. I wake up to Kevin climbing in bed with me, giving me kisses as prompted by daddy, and Ken standing by the bed holding a cup and saying it's time for breakfast. I put my glasses on and realize it's not only time for breakfast it's time for OUR breakfast. Sundays are Waffle house days. But instead of foregoing it, Ken took Kevin and ordered, waited and brought it back to the house, all with Kevin in tow. Not only did the incredible man I married remember my order he remembered EXACTLY how I order it (dry wheat toast, extra crispy bacon...yum). As we were finishing eating Ken mentioned a park trip. I thought it was a fabulous idea since the weather was supposed to be great today (sunny and 60's). We cleaned up slightly, got dressed and went to the park. We took turns going down the double slide holding Kevin's hand, something we do more for us now than anything. Kevin is getting so independent he wants to do slides by himself, walk down stairs by himself, try to sit in the big people swings by himself. But he also still let's us help occasionally. Forty-five minutes later I was worn out, Ken was worn out and Kevin was getting tired. We waved goodbye to the park, and headed on a drive. We drove a while, not caring when we got lost, we ended up at a car dealership peeking in windows playing the "wouldn't it be nice game". One nice man even gave Kevin a balloon. When it was time to finally head home I tied the string very short so he could play with it in the car. I heard giggles all the way home from him pushing the balloon then catching it again. When we got home I told him it was time to send the balloon away, we were going to send it to Grandma Lori (Ken's mom) so she could play with it. He smiled at me and looked up when we stepped out of the car. My heart melted. We let him wave goodbye to the balloon and I handed it to him so he could decide when it was time to let it go. It didn't take him long and we watched as the balloon flew away. No cries, no fussing, just smiles. Today was a Fabulous day!

"Hopefully it's a girl this time"

My pregnancy is going great so far. I had some morning (evening) sickness in the beginning and was tired but it wasn't anything horrendous. We had our first ultrasound on Halloween and although Ken had originally taken the day off to come with me, he ended up getting the flu, which meant not attending the ultrasound or participating in Halloween activities. The ultrasound went great, everything looks good. The baby is measuring 2 days younger than originally thought so my due date has been moved from May 6th to May 8th. The woman I work for is due May 10th! We are going to have our hands full.

 We also recently scheduled the appointment to find out the sex on December 12th. We have tried to come up with a lot of cute ideas on how to announce the gender. Something we thought of doing was not finding out and scheduling a 3D ultrasound when we go home for Christmas, that we our family can attend and find out with us. However, we weren't able to find any inexpensive ultrasound places that cater to our budget. So now it's back to the drawing board.

One thing that has really been a pet peeve of mine during this pregnancy is when people make remarks like, "Hopefully it's a girl this time." This comment was made by someone who was an old acquaintance of mine and is a facebook friend. Although there have been other similar comments made by other family and friends. One reason it bugs me is because I really have no preference as to the sex of the baby. It would be nice to have a little girl but by insinuating that "hopefully it is one", makes it seem like it will be a disappointment if it's not.  I love the relationship I have with my little man and although the relationship with this baby will be different because, well, it's a different person I think there is something special about a Mommy and Son relationship. I know Ken would love to have a girl, and don't get me wrong I would to, but I won't be disappointed if it's another boy. A) we have a ton of clothes left over from Kevin. B) they will eventually share a room so it will be nice to not worry about having to incorporate both sexes into the decorating and not making it seem to girly or boyish. C) having already had a boy it will be familiar territory.

Another thing people say is well if it's a girl you can be done. Again, kind of another ignorant statement. This is again said by acquaintances or strangers. You don't know my husband and I enough to be forming your judgement on how many kids we will or should have. Sorry for the venting but I needed to get that out.

Now on to the picture of our little one.

 Finger pointing to baby #2's head.

*If you have any suggestions on how to announce the gender please feel free to leave it in a comment!!

All his Children

I was having a hard time trying to figure out what to do for my Dad's birthday present this year. I didn't think I could top last year, flying Kevin and I back to Washington. So, I decided to do it again this year. I was able to book a flight on Southwest for pretty cheap and with only telling two people in Washington, was able to pull off a big surprise. Last year when I tried to surprise him he found out, people slipped accidentally which is fine, but this year I caught him completely off guard. My sister picked us up around 10:00 p.m Saturday night and we stopped at my Step-moms work where they were having drinks. I was able to sneak up behind him, put my arms around his eyes and say, "happy birthday Daddy." He turned around and had to take a triple take, he could not believe I was there. It turned out to be awesome. The next day we all celebrated his birthday and my Step-mom took this picture. My dad with ALL of his kids! (From top-left-to-right: Breanna, Tara, Me, Kindra, Dad, Kaleb, Danielle, Ashley, and Amanda.)

Pregnancy #2

Well I officially feel pregnant. I am EXHAUSTED, a little nauseous, not wanting to eat, and my boobs... well, they're not quite what they used to be (or are they?) When I was pregnant with Kevin the only difference in my boobs I noticed was that they were tender, then after he was born and when I stopped breastfeeding they felt completely different. They weren't as full as they once were and now that I'm pregnant again they feel even more full than before. Which I'm not complaining, no one is in fact ha ha. I think I feel more tired this pregnancy but I think it's more in part to having a toddler running around where as I didn't the first time. I'm still working so sometimes I have two toddlers running around. Which speaking of work, last week I posted on face book that I have a new pregnant friend. Well, Miss T (the woman I work for) when I told her we were pregnant told me that she and her husband are planning on a pregnancy before his next deployment possibly in the Spring. Her response was "wouldn't that be neat if we were pregnant at the same time?" I said YES! That was on Friday, the following Monday when she picked up her little guy she said "hey remember how I said it would be neat if we were both pregnant at the same time? Well guess who is pregnant?" I am so excited. I would have to say that we have grown pretty close, I find myself talking to her when I'm having a hard time. I consider her more of a friend than a boss. We are only about 1-2 weeks apart so it's going to be very fun to have someone on this entire journey with me. I'm excited about this pregnancy, but in a way it still hasn't quite hit me. I think Kevin is going to be a great big brother. Which we have already taught him where the baby is (he will point to my belly) although, once after he pointed to my booby and we told him it what that was and so sometimes he gets them confused. I'm interested to see how this pregnancy compares to Kevin's. I look forward to keeping everyone updated.

Where were you?

September 11th, 2001 was just another normal Tuesday school day for me. I was 13 years old and in 8th grade. I remember waking up at 6:30 and getting ready for school. I went upstairs and showered and returned to my basement bedroom to finish getting ready. As I turned on the radio to listen to the popular pop music station, they were talking about something happening in New York City. I lived in Idaho and had only seen NYC on T.V. But I still couldn't believe that something like this was happening to the Country that I live in. I hurried and finished getting ready and ran upstairs to turn the television on. It was then that I saw the second plane hit. I gasped and my Mom, who had fallen asleep on the chair, woke up and I remember her just staring blankly at the news and I could see the horror in her face as she asked "What the hell is going on?". I sat down and explained what I had heard on the radio, how they thought it might have been bombs but that they realized it was planes. We continued to watch the news together and cried each time we heard, and watched footage of the other planes that had hit The Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa. We just watched in silence until I realized my bus was almost there and I needed to leave. I gave my Mom a huge hug and told her I loved her and went out to my bus stop. When I walked on the bus everyone was silent and the bus driver was listening to the radio. I don't remember the ride to school but I do remember the feeling in the hallways and classrooms at school. Everyone was extremely saddened and full of emotion. It was hard to concentrate because every single classroom had the news turned on. It was in my first class we watched the towers collapse. At this point it was pretty obvious it was a terrorist attack. I remember being worried about the possibility of War and, if my Dad would have to go back to the Army. I was extremely scared. I don't remember the ride home from school but I do remember my Mom had freshly baked cookies waiting for us when we got there. I didn't know anyone who lived in New York City, worked at The Pentagon or who were on any of the planes, but I still felt like I had suffered a horrible loss. My Mom, sister and I held a candlelight vigile for 5 minutes that night in complete silence. I still remember where I was every single year on the anniversary of September 11th. I have watched numerous movies and television shows about the devastating events that took place that day and my heart still goes out to all the family and friends who lost loved ones that day. I do remember and I always will.

Our 17th month old.

Kevin is 17 months old today. It's amazing to me how fast the time has flown, and how our baby is turning into a little boy. Here are some pictures of our adorable little boy and some of the things he has learned.

 We have been signing to him since he was about 8 months, and he started signing back at around 12 months. Here he is signing his version of "more".

 Signing "please".

 Showing us what a monkey does. He usually does this with both hands but as you can see the other one was busy. We are thinking about dressing him as a monkey for Halloween.

 Signing "bath". He also usually does this with two hands as well.

 Some of his favorite things to play with are his books, his blocks (he's able to stack up to 5), he Mickey Mouse block book set, he loves to play with cars or anything that resembles a car (like Daddy's computer mouse). He plays really well with the little boy I watch who is 4 1/2 months younger than Kevin. He actually gets really excited when he hears them knocking on the door in the morning to drop the little boy off. He will run to the door and sign please, waiting for me to open it. I think they are best friends.

 He is able to sign about 7 words which include; more, please, done, food, monkey and bath. He can "moo" and say "rough rough" and also "roar" when you ask him what a cow, dog or lion say. If you tell him he needs to be quiet or mention that someone is sleeping, he will put his index finger up to his lips and make a "shh" sound.

  He loves to play with shoes (definitely gets that from me). He doesn't discriminate either, everyone's shoes are up for grabs when it comes to trying them on. Here he is putting on one of his daddy's flip flops.

He also like to take my shoes out of my closet and put them all throughout the house.


He absolutely LOVES bananas. First thing in the morning when he wakes up he runs to the counter where we keep them and points to them. He eats about 2 a day. But he also loves just about any fruit.

He is still eating extremely well although he doesn't like any kind of pasta. Not spaghetti, macaroni and cheese or anything. He will occasionally eat rice but not very often.

 He still enjoys bath time and giggles whenever we mention it. He can nod yes or no and when he nods yes it cracks me up every time because they are these long, slow, over exaggerated nods. Sometimes to get his point across when he means No, he will take his index finger and shake it back and forth.

Daddy has taught him high fives and how to "pound it" with this fists (although Kevin is still learning and just mostly uses his index finger to pound). Daddy also has taught him where his nose, ears, belly, toes, hair and of course his "male part" is located. (A man thing I guess).

Something that still cracks me up every time he does it is when he tickles us. He will only do it on skin, so if we are getting dressed and are changing our shirts he will come up and tickle our bellies. His little fingers furiously moving back and forth trying to make sure it really tickles, just cracks me up. Even little kids aren't safe from being tickled.

Kevin plays really well with other kids, older, younger or the same age. I love getting compliments from the church daycare on how well he does with the other kids. This makes me really happy and excited because on Wednesday we found out that Kevin is going to be taking on a new role of Big Brother.

We found this super cute shirt at Gymboree on clearance and had to get it. We sized it just right so it should fit him when the new baby comes.

I am loving having a toddler around. It seems he is becoming more like a buddy to hang out with than an actual baby. He understands so much and can communicate so well. I'm going to try and finish his scrapbooks and baby books within the next couple of months. I also want to try to blog more (I know I always say this haha). I want to make sure I really capture these memories and special moments.

Beautiful

 I took these while in Idaho last month. I love them. I love the blue sky, white clouds, and just the hint of a summer storm. I love how the sun shines through onto the golden hay fields, highlighting the hills and dry farms.

 I love the two little boys playing together. I love how my nephew Adam absolutely adores Kevin.

I love how sweet they play together. I love how when Kevin picked up a long blade of hay, Adam softly said "You can play with it baby Kevin just don't eat it".

I love this picture. The snake river valley behind us, the field I remember playing in as a little girl, the fence I used to stand on and feed horses in. To me it's Beautiful and I love it. And most of all I love that Beautiful little boy.

Just a little peanut

Kevin is allergic to peanuts. As I write that I'm having a hard time not crying, I've been trying not to cry all day. I never thought about him having the possibility of a food allergy. Ken and I don't have food allergies so I just assumed he wouldn't, it never crossed my mind. At his one year well baby check I asked the Doctor when we could introduce peanut butter and he gave us the go ahead. We did about 2 weeks later, just a small amount on a cracker. He developed a small rash around his lips. We didn't call the Doctor, we just decided maybe it was introduced too soon and we decided to wait a couple of more months and try again. So about a month ago, right after he turned 15 months, I tried again. It was just Kevin and I at home and he was eating lunch; mandarin oranges, a peas and carrots veggie mix and some peanut butter spread very thin on wheat crackers. At first he didn't want to eat the peanut butter crackers so I would give him bites with peas and carrots. Eventually he started coughing, then as he continued eating his coughing became worse. He started gagging and acted like he was having a hard time breathing. Then he stopped coughing and just acted like he couldn't breathe. My heart stopped and I immediately yanked him out of his chair and threw him over my legs and started doing palm thrusts on his back to get whatever was causing his choking to come up. He threw up everything he had just ate, took in a deep breath and starting screaming. The whole thing lasted about a minute but it was the scariest minute of my life. As soon as he started screaming I started crying. I couldn't believe that had just happened. I called his Doctor and set up an appointment for an allergy consult. My mommy instincts almost knew that's what it was that caused his reaction. Kevin is really great at being able to clear his airway if something is stuck, we have never had to intervene and help him. He almost immediately gags and is able to bring whatever is stuck back up. At the appointment his Doctor said it sounded more like a case of choking but because of the earlier lip rash decided it would be best to put in a consult to the allergist at the hospital. We had our appointment with the allergist today and I explained the same things I did with the Doctor, how Kevin has never had problems choking, the earlier rash and the horrible scary incident. He too thought the scary incident sounded like choking but decided it would be better to be safe and do some skin testing. He let me know that even if it was negative we could do blood testing to further make sure (I think he was convinced it would be negative). The skin testing was a little scary but the nurse was so nice. She turned on the t.v to Elmo and had a toy to keep Kevin distracted. I held him in my lap facing the t.v, his back facing the nurse, while she administered the scratch test. Kevin was a champ, even though he was pricked three times, a control, a histamine, and the peanut. I told myself I wasn't going to look until the required 15 minutes had passed, I didn't want to know until it was for sure. The nurse walked by and peeked at his back after about 5 minutes and said "Wow, that's a positive". I looked at Kevin's back and even though it confirmed my suspicions my heart still sank. Kevin's back was red and swollen. I wish my phone hadn't died and I could have snapped a picture. Where she had done the peanut prick there was a bump the size of a dime and the redness was about the radius of a dollar coin. Kevin started getting fussy and squirmy, and kept trying to rub his back against me. You could just tell his back was itching him. After the 15 minutes had passed the allergist came back in and asked how it was going, I turned Kevin's back toward him and he looked very surprised to see how bad the reaction was. He ordered some more testing of actual nuts (a peanut is actually a legume not a nut, guess who didn't know that?...me). The almond, walnut and pecan all came back negative thankfully. However, after the consultant with him we both decided that staying away from all nuts will be in Kevin's best interest. He also said that with Kevin's previous episode and with the way his skin reacted we should start carrying around epipens. He prescribed us two and showed me how to use it. Kevin is going to be that little boy, the one who can't have brownies made with nuts, will never be able to try peanut M & M's (my favorite), and will be the one who's allergy is the cause of the "peanut free room" signs in school and daycare at church. I don't know why it bothers me as much as it does. I guess it's knowing that such a small thing can harm my baby so much. It's knowing that from this point on it's constantly monitoring food wrappers and restaurant menus. Making sure everyone who watches him knows how to use the epipen, and knows not to give him peanuts or anything with them in it. It's knowing that his life is that much more precious and special.

Busch Gardens

Last weekend while my sister Bre was here we took a family trip to Busch Gardens which is about a 45 min drive. It is an amazingly beautiful park and has actually been voted America's most beautiful theme park for almost 20 years. They also have a great program called "Here's to the heroes" that allows military active duty and up to 3 dependents get into one of their parks for free once a year. (For more info check out this link here) I wondered how things would go with Kevin and if they would have age appropriate rides for him and they did, they also have a child measuring center at the beginning of the park where they measure them and issue a wristband that's color coded for specific rides, which they will give you a list of. My sister was amazing while she was here and without her we would not have been able to do as much fun things as we did. At Busch Gardens we all rotated turns spending time with Kevin while two of us would ride rides. Bre is a roller coaster fanatic so while she went off and rode some coasters Kevin, Ken and I went to one of the kid areas and rode some rides with him. It was so much fun!!!

 Going on his first ride with daddy.

 He liked the ride but he doesn't like being sprayed by water so I think he thought the water was going to get him.

 Bre snapped this while we were on a ride.

 Another ride with Daddy.

 Busch Gardens Williamsburg has a Europe them, it's great because they have so many different parts of the park; Italy, Germany; England; Ireland; Switzerland and France. Each part had their own themed rides plus eateries. The picture on the left is of Ken in Switzerland... I love my goofball husband and the things he does to make us laugh. While there we also saw Elmo and Cookie Monster. Kevin isn't a huge Sesame street watcher but that didn't matter he was still in love and intrigued at these huge overstuffed, fluffy things. Over all we had such an amazing time and it's something we will definitely have to do again in the future.

Wordless Wednesday

Bowling

Ken and I really like to bowl but living in a bigger city in the south the smoking laws are not very strict and since we both can't stand cigarette smoke we have not ventured into any of the local bowling alleys. However, about a month ago Ken's command had a bowling day and the bowling alley on base is actually really family friendly, they have a built in smoking room, a nice inexpensive eatery and are overall actually really good on price. On memorial day their prices were down even farther so bowling we went. We went early enough in the morning to where it would be pretty empty and we wouldn't have to worry about Kevin bothering other patrons if he got fussy or adventurous. Kevin loved the bowling alley, he loved looking at tall the balls, he liked watching the pins fall down and he especially loved when we would all clap for him. Here are some pictures of our super fun bowling day!!

 (The only part he didn't like is when we wouldn't let him run after the ball) 

The only negative thing I can say about the bowling alley is that they don't allow bumpers for adults and if you have ever seen me bowl you would know why I like them. Overall though it what such a fun day.

Can you guess which one??

 "God creates twins whenever he makes a face he really likes"- The Family Circus

 Can you guess which one is Ken?

That's right my adorable husband is a twin. They don't look very much a like anymore but when I first met them they looked so similar, not as much though when they were little. I wish I had some pictures of the two of them but all I have our home movies and they melt my heart. They were the most adorable blonde haired blue eyed little boys I have ever seen.  Their Mom used to tell me it was so hard to tell them apart that she would have to look for Ken's birthmark. Their twin-ness fascinates me and even more so when they have eerily similar experiences. Case in point, when we were visiting in Idaho Eric (Kens twin brother) was showing us a recent scar on his hand that ran in between his thumb and index finger he received from work. Ken and I looked at each other and with what seemed like what should have had twilight zone music playing in the background we showed Eric Ken's scar he had recently received from work... in the exact same spot. Neither one of them had known about the others injury. I often wonder what it will be like for Kevin and Eric's daughter as they grow up and see someone who looks so similar to their father, or if they will even notice. Am I the only one who finds twins absolutely fascinating?

Sleeping Beauty

Is there anything more beautiful than a sleeping baby? His sweet little chubby baby hands holding his blanket, snuggling so fiercely. His cute baby lips sucking his thumb (which he only does when snuggling his blanket). I love this baby so much.

Baby Carson

Memorial day is a day to honor fallen veterans who have died fighting for our country. Some people including myself and my family would spend Memorial day placing flowers on graves of deceased family members and honoring their memories. Two years ago my family had a terrible loss. My nephew Carson passed away after just being with us here on earth for 76 days. I think about him often, especially on holidays. Today marks the 2 year anniversary of Carson's passing and being that it is also Memorial day,  I would like to honor and remember baby Carson with this post followed by a poem (revised) I wrote last year.

 

I was there the day you were born, my little Carson Lee.
I took your first pictures and held you tight, my heart was full of glee.

 

 

Such a beautiful and precious baby, a bundling gift from God.
So happy and content you were, and everyone was awed.

 

 

We knew you were amazing, you melted all our hearts.
We never could imagine we would ever be apart.

 

 

I remember when I heard the news, I fell to the ground and cried,
I couldn't even fathom someone so young had died.

 

 

You blessed us with your presence for exactly 76 days,
You blessed us with your presence in so many different ways.

 

 

We still can not believe you're gone, not even after two years,
and as I write this and think of you I wipe away the tears.

 

 

We hope you're looking down on us our angel from above.
We can still feel you all around, and hope you feel our love.

 

 

Please know how much we love you, and miss you every day.

                                         Look down on us from heaven and listen as we pray.

 

We may never know why, you were taken from us here,
But we find comfort in knowing you're with our Lord up there.

 

 

Your Auntie Shell loves and misses you very much Carson.

City boy with a country heart

Growing up in Idaho I always dreamed of what it would be like to live in a big city. Now that I know I have to admit although I do like living in the city I still miss country life. I'm hoping that eventually we can make it back and live somewhat close to the country once this military life is over until then I have to rub off a little country life on Kevin whenever I can. Last weekend we went to the Chesapeake Jubilee (very similar to a fair). We saw a ton of animals which Kevin absolutely LOVED and then I had to grab some pictures of Kevin on some John Deere tractors. As I saw him smiling on top of the tractors it made my heart melt and I couldn't help but think of my Grandfather.

 I was so happy when I saw him light up being on the tractor, he loved them.

The sun was in his eyes but I can't get enough of this smile.

He's so adorable I just can't stand it!!