Ready, Set.....

After the boys go to bed, Kaylee and Daddy get some one on one time.

Dear Kaylee,
You are growing so fast! Your cheeks keep getting chubbier and you have a double chin now! I personally love your little neck roll. You still sleep most of the day and when you wake up you just want to eat so that you can go back to sleep. However, your little tummy can't handle the amount of milk that you are convinced you need so we're having that battle a lot. I try to play with you to distract you and you just get super mad. Sometimes against my better judgement I give in and I give you some more milk. Within ten minutes I'm normally wearing it.
You have started smiling more and more. The other day I had my first Scentsy party. I needed to get the house cleaned and the party set up so I sent you with your Daddy to Grandma Karens. I didn't get to see you all day long! I was missing you, but I think you missed me more because when Grandma Karen brought you back over for the party she handed you to me and you smiled so big! That moment made me so happy. Sometimes I feel like since all you do is eat and sleep that maybe you don't really care who's holding and feeding you. But... it looks like you do!
Your brothers love on you so much and I have to keep a close eye on them. They don't realize that you don't know how to play with them yet, or that you are too little to do anything that they deem fun. I normally don't get out of a few feet range when you're in your swing or on the ground with your toys. Yesterday I was helping Connor get into a buzz pull up and I heard Hunter say, "Ready, Set". I didn't know what he was going to do but I cringed as I hurried over to save you. I didn't make it. When Hunter said, "GO!" He took your swing and gave it a mighty push. It was rocking so hard the legs were coming off the floor. Your eyes were giant! I can only imagine what you were thinking. Hunter got a well deserved time out and you got to come out of the swing for more snuggle time with Mommy.
You have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. We'll get to see how much you weigh and no doubt hear about how cute you are!
I love you little girl. I love dressing you up, I love snuggling you all night long (yes, I still sleep in the recliner with you!), and I love those new smiles.
Mommy

I don't know what she was looking at, but it really captured her attention. She held this pose for almost two minutes. That's a long time for a little girl to hold her head up!

Poop or Brownie?

No letter- just a funny story. It happened almost an hour ago and I can't fall asleep because I'm still laughing over it. Having kids is so fun!

We've been talking about poop a lot at our house lately. Do you have to go poop? Yes Kaylee poops. Good job you pooped! Wash your hands after you poop.

Connor is very interested in poop. Rightly so as hard as he's working to potty train. When he sees Missy poop he says "UGGGHHHH."

Ben was going to bed and he decided to give the boys one last tuck. He kissed Connor and woke him up. So Ben took Connor into our bedroom to read him to sleep so he wouldn't wake up Hunter too. Not knowing this I walked into the bedroom eating a brownie. Connor half asleep looked at me, makes a disgusted face, and says, "UGGHHHH!"

Connor was sure I was eating poop. I was laughing too hard to convince him otherwise and Ben was worried that unless we gave him a brownie and showed him it wasn't poop that Connor would try to eat poop. So... Connor got a midnight brownie and a lesson between the difference in Brownies and Poop.

The things you have to teach your kids. haha.

A fun picture of the boys making a mess in Kaylee's room. One day she's going to put a stop to that!

Yes...probably

Growing up my favorite part about the holidays was baking or cooking with mom. When I say that I mean she baked and cooked and I either ate it or tried hard to decorate it and then I ate it. And even though I still can't cook (and I don't really desire to learn how) I still have strong urges come the holidays to decorate and eat something. Last year I had the kids make heart shaped rice krispy treats. This year, we did cupcakes. Are they too young to participate in these activities? Yes, probably. We used two whole bottles of sprinkles, one whole can of frosting, and about 10 mini bags of MnM's for a dozen cupcakes; but we make a good mess, we eat lots of yummy treats, and we have a good time. It's about making memories. And maybe one day my kids will decorate and eat with their kids too!

Hunter- very serious trying to spread frosting.

Connor- absolutely thrilled he has a whole jar of sprinkles to himself.

He's placing an MnM in just the right spot.

Having a taste...Mmmm Good!

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY...

I can't believe how fast the time goes...

Look at what a chubby monkey!

Now we see why they are chubby monkeys...

I love this picture!

Let's not forget Baby Kaylee..

She slept through the whole cupcake fest.

I miss sleep!

February 11, 2010
Dear Kaylee,
Today is your due date. I can't believe it! It's been 3 weeks already! You are already so strong. You lift your head so high and yesterday during tummy time you rolled over! You hate being on your tummy. Which is no surprise. Connor would just scream and scream. Hunter would get so frusterated he would just lay there on his face in defeat. You're a fighter though. You screamed a little, but then you just pushed off your elbows and rolled over! You are keeping me awake a lot lately. You sleep most of the day regardless of how hard I try to keep you awake. Then around 2am you wake up and you want to stay up for about three hours. Eventually you will figure it out but until then I think I'll be a bit sleep deprived. You're growing so fast! You're starting to fill out your newborn clothes. I hope you slow down a little bit, I sure do love a little baby!
I love you and love you. I'm glad you've been here for three weeks.
Mommy

You have the best Uncle in the world. He sure does love you!

You are such a sweet sleeper! I can't believe that you already look like such a little girl.

Your brothers love playing with you. You smiled at Hunter the other day, but most of the time they still scare you because they are pretty big and clumsy in your eyes! =0)

You're driving Mommy insane!

February 11, 2010

Dear Connor,

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve written you a letter! I’m sorry, I won’t ever do that again… I hope. First of all let me say that I love you so very much. With that said, you’ve been driving me to the brink of insanity! You’ve entered the terrible two’s a little early. In fact, the other day was so rough that during your nap time I ordered a book on two year olds. It started at bedtime. You decided that you were not going to go to bed on your own anymore. Daddy use to read you and Hunter several bedtime stories and then he’d give you kisses and let you read in the room by yourselves until you fell asleep. Not anymore. You scream so loud and you’re relentless! Your scream was so loud Daddy and I were both worried that the neighbors would hear and call CPS. We decided it was a battle we didn’t want to fight and now Daddy stays in the room with you until you fall asleep; Except that led to naptime issues. Now, I have to stay in the room with you until you fall asleep during nap time and that is really hard because I also have to take care of Kaylee, who often wants to eat when you’re supposed to be going down for a nap. You’ve also begun telling me no. You say it all the time. Every time you say it you have to spend two minutes in time out, but that doesn’t seem to change the fact that it’s still the word of the hour. I had to stop buying cereal. I’m tired of giving it to you. Every morning I would give you some dry cereal in a bowl to snack on while I got breakfast ready. Every morning you purposely dump it on the ground. It is very intentional and I can’t figure it out. Do you enjoy eating cereal off the ground? Regardless, I don’t enjoy cleaning it up so now you don’t get cereal. If I haven’t said it already, you’re relentless. For example, the rule of the house is one cup of juice when you wake up. One. You don’t get another cup of juice until after your nap. Daddy and I have very sound reasons for this. You won’t eat when I give you too much juice and you don’t sleep as well when you’re all sugared up. This morning you had your cup of juice. Then you asked for another. I said no. You asked again. I said no. You asked me for twenty minutes straight. Each time I said, “no, you can have water.” Each time you replied, “no, juice!”

Regardless of how crazy you can drive me, you are still the cutest, sweetest boy in the universe. You still love your sister. You kiss her constantly and you always try to play with her. You still give Mommy kisses. You are starting to talk a lot which is so fun. You say “monkey” all the time because I always tell you to go be a monkey on your bed, which means go jump on your bed. You are really into Horton and you always ask to watch or read, “ortn ea a whoooooo.” You have a really cute giggle these days. You’re always laughing at Hunter. You still show off. Whenever we have company you just walk around the house looking for props to entertain with. The coolest thing you’re doing right now is trying to use the potty. You tell me all the time that you have to “poop.” We bought you a potty and you think it is the coolest thing. You sit on it all the time and you potty in it about once a day. You’d be doing better but Mommy is still trying to figure out how to potty train twins with a newborn in the house! Everything always happens at once these days! I love you buddy. I know it must be hard to be two, and so I try to remind myself daily that soon you’ll be twenty two and I’ll be wishing for the days that you insisted I read you to sleep.

I love you!

Mommy

Connor pretending he's innocent! =0)

Who knew learning to potty was so funny?! I'm sure Connor will appreciate this picture when he's older. If only I knew how to sensor it. haha.

25 things about Hunter and Connor

No letter tonight...hopefully one for Connor boy tomorrow. I'm waiting for just the perfect picture in case you're wondering! =0) So here are 25 things about my boys...

1. They love Minute Maid Fruit Punch and they will not tolerate any other juice being in their cup.
2. Every night when they fall asleep, within 15 minutes they are snuggled up together as close as can be.
3. They love taking bubble baths! It's even better when there are crayons!
4. They still are scared of Spike, but have found a dinosaur friend at Toys R Us that is a little less scary.
5. Squirrel watching is one of their favorite things to do.
6. Their favorite movies this month are Up and Toy Story.

7. They cannot fall asleep without classical music and a bedtime story.
8. They are very protective of each other and will take on ANYONE who is treating brother unfair.
9. They love Yogos which they call Dodos.
10. They love their babysitter Beka.
11. They say goodbye to Missy as the car pulls out of the driveway when we leave the house.
12. They kiss their sister at least 20 times a day- sometimes when they think we're not looking!
13. They don't lie yet. In fact, they get themselves into trouble way more than I actually catch them just by     being honest!
14. They love to brush their teeth. They don't love it when Mommy or Daddy brushes their teeth.
15. They love to jump on the bed which we call "being monkeys"- No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
16. They love to play ring around the rosey! They love the fall down part.
17. They are strong!
18. They love to dance and they really know how to boogey!
19. They think milk is naturally chocolate and will gag or spit out regular milk.
20. They love to snuggle.
21. They have beautiful smiles and contagious laughs!
22. They will color on anything that doesn't move should they find a crayon on the ground.
23. They love hats. Especially Cowboy hats!
24. They are very fast runners- incredibly fast! I'm holding out hope for a gold medal one day!
25. They are absolutely perfect in every way!

Generation Teddy Bear

Hello! I don't have a letter for one of the kids right now, but I wanted to share these pictures. My Aunt Leanne bought me a teddy bear when I was born. When I was about ten days old (give or take a day or so) my Mom took my picture next to the bear. My Mom kept the bear until I was old enough to move out and I took it with me. Through some act of God (or my Mother's constant reminders) I was able to hold on to the bear. When Hunter and Connor were born we waited ten days and took their picture next to the bear. Then for Mothers Day two years ago my Mom made me a trilogy frame with my picture in the middle and one of the boys on each side of me. Last night was Kaylee's turn. I'll need a bigger frame now! I'm not sure which picture I'll use. I may even try to get a better one today, but they made me laugh looking at them so I decided to post them all. This bear is a trooper though. He's already been sewed back together once.... Hopefully he'll hang on until we're done having kids... whenever that is. =0)

One of the cuter ones...

This one is my favorite so far!

She was trying her hardest to squirm away!

Also a good one...

No More Kisses

February 1, 2010


Dear Hunter,

I’ve been having fun staying home with you over the last week. You sure are showing us more and more of your personality lately. You are a very picky eater. In fact, you literally have to be starving before you will eat anything of value. I say anything of value because you seem to always have room for sugar. Any food product that has a fair amount of sugar in it you call ‘cany’ Hunter speak for ‘candy’.

You still love your sister. At least once a day you ask to hold her. Last night you held her for almost fifteen minutes. Every now and then you would stroke her hair or touch her face. Each time you touched her she would grunt and you would quickly pull your hand away so you wouldn’t disturb her. When you’re done holding her you say done and we have to be on our toes because you will just pull your arms out from under her. We’ve always had our hands under her the entire time you’ve held her so you haven’t dropped her.

We’ve been contemplating if you’re ready to be potty trained. Today we showed you how the big potty works and we took your diaper off. As I lifted you up to put you on the potty you jumped out of my arms and ran naked down the hallway screaming, “NO, NO, NO!”

You’re obviously not ready!

Daddy has been playing a flash card game with you lately and you love it. Daddy puts three animal cards on the table and he asks you to identify a specific animal out of the three. You love the game and you are so cute when you are playing. You rest your elbows on the table and cup your hands around your face as you’re thinking and then you slowly point to the correct animal. You hardly ever get one wrong. It helps that sometimes Daddy lets you play for ‘cany’.

You’ve been testing us like crazy lately. Everything we tell you to do, you do the opposite. You even test us on things that you already know the answer to. You just seem to want to make sure that the boundaries are still in place. They are. I hope you get over this stage soon though because I’m tired of putting you in time out. I’m pretty sure you’re tired of going to time out too so it would really be a win for us both.

You love coloring lately. I was really impressed a couple weeks back because as you colored you told Daddy what you were coloring. You would make a mark and then tell Daddy that you just drew Daddy. Then you made another mark and said it was Mommy. You drew our whole family. You even drew baby Kaylee even though you hadn’t met her yet. You are so artistic. I think you’ll be a lot like your Dad in that area.

Your speech is getting really good. Every day you amaze us with a new statement or word. This week you added the word ‘dude’. You told me, “No Way Dude!”

I have no idea where you picked that word up. You also told Uncle Wade to “move your twuck!”

You’re still my snuggle bear although you won’t give me a kiss anymore. Ever since I went to the hospital you haven’t given me a kiss. I ask all the time and you always say no. I can snuggle with you and hug you but no kisses. One day I asked you and you were said no with such exasperation that I had to laugh.

I love you sweet boy! I hope one day soon I get to have kisses again, until then I’ll just settle for hugs!

Mommy

He doesn't want to give anyone a kiss!

 Hunter playing at Open Gym

Mommy needs a bigger chair!