The Kelly Family

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-08T22:15:00.001-06:00

Mini Me

2012-02-02T11:25:00.000-06:00

We've all heard the warnings about how our children repeat everything they see or hear. That's the main reason we started the "Swear Jar" when Brenden was still a baby, which went into his piggy bank and is still accumulating. (It's also why you'll hear me say "Poop!" if I stub my toe or slam my finger in a door.) I never realized that there was a good side to this as well.

I know Brenden has said and done things that I do that are funny. Just last night we were watching Kung Fu Panda, not sure where this new fascination came from, and there was a small crocodile marching around. He exclaimed, "Oh! Look at the cute little crocodile!" Yes, that definitely came from me.

It's become even more obvious with Lauren that they will do anything I do, bad and good, and lately it has been a lot of the latter. She likes to feed her babies and push them around in the little plastic car or her grocery cart. She tries to change their diapers, wash their hands, and once, even tried to wash her Boots "hair" by dunking his head in the toilet. (Boots is Dora's friend that is a monkey for those who are lucky enough not to know who I'm talking about.) My favorite by far is when one of her stuffed animals or babies falls down, either from being thrown by her brother or falling off of the couch where she has placed them, she immediately picks them up, cradles them, and asks, "What happened?" It is the most adorable, sweetest thing.

Sorry it's so long and for the loud background noises. I never know when she's going to do something adorable. :)

So many parts of parenting are difficult, draining, and downright make-you-want-to-pull-your-hair-out insane. Seeing these little things and realizing that, at least sometimes, I'm doing something right makes the rest of the day a little more manageable.

Lauren's New Room

2012-01-25T08:47:00.000-06:00

I picked out Lauren's bedding for her nursery the day before we found out she was, in fact, a girl. It was one of the first things I purchased for her and I still love it. Since we were only renting our last house I decided to use decals of a cherry tree to decorate her walls. Once we moved I wanted to find another decal, only bigger, for her new room and place the flowers on it myself. Unfortunately, every one I found that I thought might work was crazy expensive. I hated the idea of spending so much money on something I didn't think would look like I wanted.

Instead, after Tim explained that paint was easy to cover and that we'd be in this house for a long time, I decided to dive in and put paint on our brand new walls. I already had the brown and green paint and my friend Bre ended up providing the tissue paper for the flowers. (Thanks Bre!) I could not be happier with how it turned out. It's the first room in our house to feel finished.

Just to the left of the door. She loves hiding in her tent. :)

Tree is complete!

The extra girly, bow, purses and princess dress wall.

And, because I'm crazy, I did some close up shots of the things I love most in her room.

My favorite handle I found at Hobby Lobby.
Thanks for helping me make this work, Tim!

The little branch.

And the big branch.

Thank you Pinterest! You rock!

VII

2012-01-24T13:55:00.000-06:00

"Mommy, whose is this?" he asked, plucking the anniversary card off of the counter.

"That's a card wishing mommy and daddy Happy Anniversary. An anniversary is when we celebrate the day something special happened. Mommy and daddy are celebrating getting married 7 years ago."

"Oh!" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting lighting up. "When I get bigger, I can get married."

"Oh yes," I replied. "You can definitely get married if you want."

"Mommy, I wanna get married with you." The look on his face was both completely serious and totally excited.

"Oh honey, I'm already married. You'll find someone super special to marry when you're older."

The happy lines of his smile fell. "No! I wanna be married with you!"

"Okay buddy. But you'll have to check with daddy."

**********

Seven years ago, we signed papers that legally bound us together. Today, we're tied by much more important things than lines of ink. A home, two little faces that we can't imagine our life without, and a love that's stronger than ever.

I Love You, Tim! Happy Anniversary!

Brenden's New Room

2012-01-16T13:38:00.002-06:00

From the moment we told Brenden we were building a house he was obsessed with the idea of a new bedroom. Any time we came to see the progress he focused on where his room would be, where his bed would be placed, and what would be on the walls.

He always liked his Cars themed bedroom, but his interests have expanded since then to include trains, especially Thomas (hello 3rd birthday party!), and most recently anything and everything to do with space. Rockets, planets, stars...you name it, he wants to know about it. So when I asked what he would like his room to be decorated with, he begged for spaceships and stars, anything to do with the big sky above.

My research started on Pinterest, of course. I've been all over the internet searching for different ideas and things that I thought he would like. I think we did okay for our little boy who loves blue and anything with his name on it.

(Disclaimer: I'm not an interior designer, so far from it, and I know this isn't the most amazing thing ever, but I'm proud of it nonetheless. Brenden is pretty happy and that's what matters, right?)

"Look mommy, it's Saturn by my door!"
(Dog booties courtesy of grandma Karen and Grandpa Rick. Oh, and Ikea.) :)

The wall tracks have survived...so far.

Looking in from the door. I'm not the best photographer, either. :)

His awesome rocket decal and glow in the dark planets. He knows most of them, now!

He loves pictures of himself with his friends and family.

So there you have it! Someday I hope to have bedding that matches, but it's not something I'm concerned about right now. So far, so good. On to the next room!

The Chore Jar

2012-01-13T09:58:00.000-06:00

The idea of an allowance is not something I'm completely knowledgeable about since my brother and I never received one. That's not to say we never got anything or never did any chores, just that we didn't have a set amount of money given to us every week. It wasn't something that bothered me, at least that I can remember. Tim and I have bounced ideas around about what we want to do with Brenden and Lauren and recently, after a trip to the store when Brenden asked us for money to buy something, we decided on a Chore Jar. It was inspired by something I read awhile ago on my friend Heather's blog where she rewarded her daughter for good behavior as well as chores, not on a weekly basis, but on a day to day basis.

Our new backyard isn't huge and our two little dogs can make a lot of messes in a small amount of time. Tim wanted to clean it up and offered Brenden the chance to earn $1.00 if he helped. Brenden was beyond excited. In the middle of scooping up dog poo, he squealed, "I'm gonna get LOTS of dollars!" When we reminded him that it was only one dollar this time his face fell, his arms dropped, and he told us he was done. Poor, spoiled rotten kid. :) With a little encouragement he finished the job and was extremely happy to deposit his first dollar bill.

He's rich!

He hasn't completed any chores since then (*light bulb!* Guess who will be helping me clean tomorrow!) but he's still earning quarters every day when I notice that he's doing something without being reminded (throwing away trash, picking up dirty clothes, taking a nap without a fight, etc.) or being especially kind (including Lauren when he plays or making her laugh when she's upset). I try not to bribe him with it, although I've definitely resorted to that when it comes to getting him dressed. Instead, I try to catch him doing different things on his own and then using that quarter as a pat on the back for just being his awesome self.

I'm not sure how long we will keep this up or if he'll even care about it next week. For now, the joy on his face when he realizes that he did something well is absolutely worth every cent.

Ninja Fighting!

2012-01-12T10:04:00.000-06:00

My new goal in life: To one day be in my eighties and still ninja fight with my great grandchildren. :)

Why yes, there IS video proof!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T12:47:00.002-06:00

Our Beautiful Mess

Friday Family Fun

2012-01-10T09:00:00.000-06:00

When Brenden was small, we started getting friends together to have Pizza and a Movie night. (I totally stole the idea from my friend, Amber.) We had a blast hanging out with our friends and laughing at some of the terrible movie choices. ("Balls Out" and the second "Crank" were both awful, no matter what Tim says.) Eventually, we stopped getting together for a number reasons. We moved, having two kids, getting busy with work, etc.

This past Friday I decided it was time to start our tradition back up, but just with our tiny family. (We hope to have some friends join us, too, sometime!) I thought it'd be fun to actually make our own pizzas, with the kids making "mini pizzas" on their own. It went even better than I had hoped. Brenden and Lauren loved "painting" their biscuits with sauce and the pizza dough mix I bought for Tim and I worked out well.

Brenden and his mounds of cheese.

Lauren decided to sample the sauce first.

Cook, pizza, cook!

Brenden received "Return to Neverland" for Christmas (Thanks great grandpa Ralph!) and it was the perfect movie to watch with both kids, especially since they decided to snuggle up to me, which is rare. It was, by far, my favorite family night to date. I hope to have many more very soon.

Oh Hi!

2012-01-08T08:49:00.001-06:00

Between Christmas with a ton of family, which was amazing, Brenden having tubes put in his ears, trying to push things around the house to make it look like a home, Lauren's 2 year molars popping through (Lord help us...and I mean that literally), and a million other things, I've barely had time to think about what to write on here. Several things have happened that are awesome, a few that were terrible (So sorry Meredith, Whitney, and family for the loss of your grandma.) and even thinking about sitting down sounds like a terrible idea because I might fall asleep on my keyboard.

So, to start back up, I thought pictures of the house would be in order since that's the biggest thing going on for us right now. The kids' rooms are coming along well, we just got all the pictures hung in the hallway, and our bedroom looks like an actual bedroom. We've even managed to move stuff around enough to get the cars parked in the garage. It's kind of crazy to think that less than a month ago there was absolutely nothing here at all. To say we love it here would be an understatement, although we both wish our cell phones had better reception, or any reception at all sometimes. (We did find two tiles that get decent reception in the kitchen, which is not saying much.)

So, here you go, the house so far.

Lauren's room

I love her flowers. Thanks Karen and Rick!

Brenden's room.

His solar system is awesome. He already knows most of the planets!

The hallway 'o pictures. Tim did a great job!

Our room.

Someday I'll show people our bathroom, but not yet!

That's where we're at. Not a bad start. We have so many ideas and we're so ready to get started. But first, a fence for the backyard. Hopefully next month!

2011 in Review, In Pictures!

2012-01-01T00:31:00.000-06:00

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Happy New Year!

May 2012 be filled with peace, joy, love and happiness.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:07:00.000-06:00

Pop Art Frames Christmas Card

Turn family photos into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Bits and Pieces

2011-12-18T23:32:00.001-06:00

We have been completely engrossed in moving, unpacking, meeting neighbors, etc and I have barely had time to blink, let alone the energy to type. Still, I wanted to share a few snippets of our life the past few weeks.

Out of nowhere, Lauren suddenly loves school. This is a huge step for her since she had been screaming at the top of her lungs every time I handed over to her lovely teacher. I was told that it didn't last long after I left, but I still felt terrible. Her screams are the most ear piercing thing I have ever heard. Now? She grabs her lunch box, walks from the front door to her classroom, and happily hugs her teacher ("Keeeem!" aka: Ms. Kim) and sometimes even spares a second to wave goodbye to me. She also loves to call out to her classmates. "Ink un!" (Lincoln) "Ay laa!" (Layla) "Dom ash!" (Thomas) It's super sweet.
One of the funniest things she has done lately, which is saying a lot because this child is hilarious, is telling us she has to go potty, running to the bathroom, and then pulling her shirt up while she stands facing the toilet, just like her brother. This is always followed by "wash hands?" and she skips on her merry way. She woke up dry from a nap one day so I put her on the toilet and she actually went, but I'm ~~hoping~~ guessing that was a complete fluke. I'm not ready to head down that road, yet, although I'm afraid she's going to force me. Sigh...
Brenden just finished a fourth round of antibiotics for double ear infections that just will not go away. I took him to see the doctor that placed Lauren's tubes and removed her cyst and he agreed that it was time for Brenden to have tubes as well. They scheduled us for Friday so we won't have to wait long. (Merry Christmas, Brenden...some tubes in your ears!) I'm not sure how it will go since he can understand so much more than Lauren, but I do know that he is very excited about the chocolate ice cream (his choice of rewards) for being brave and listening. I just hope he feels better soon. So hard to see him sick all the time.
Speaking of doctor's appointments, we've had several the last few weeks for both kids. I always dread taking them both into a waiting room because I end up chasing them, always going different directions, and looking like the crazy mom that can't control her children. Amazingly, they have both been rather well behaved, listened, and played well with each other at every appointment. Brenden sat quietly while Lauren's stitches were removed and Lauren sat in awe while Dr. Guy showed us Brenden's ears with a video camera. (It was pretty cool.) I know the awful 2's are coming and the horrendous 3's will follow, but right now I'm going to enjoy these happy sibling moments while they last!
They've become rather close, at least on occasion. Lauren is always anxious to pick Brenden up from school so she can give him a big hug. Brenden gets really concerned when Lauren is upset, especially while we're eating. He has started offering her food from his plate, making funny faces, and whispering to her to calm her down. (He also claims her screams hurt his ears, which I totally understand.) I just hope that the happy moments when they are laughing at each other greatly outnumber the arguments and spats.
December 9th was a huge day for us when it comes to the new house. (Pictures when we actually feel moved in!) We had the blinds installed, cable/internet/phone installed, and the refrigerator delivered. The funniest guy was the blinds installer. He sang to the kids, joked around with them, and even did a great job of putting up the blinds. The Cox guy was also really nice and felt REALLY bad when he managed to drill a hole through our wall (twice) instead of through the beam he was aiming at. I could not stop laughing when it happened because it was just so ridiculous to see a long orange wire sticking out of our wall and the look on his face was priceless. He even thanked me for not getting angry. It worked out in the end since they are going to repair it and we also got a free new wireless router. Score!
Remember when I said that Lauren was our "serious child"? Remember when I thought she'd be slightly outgoing, but not nearly as friendly as Brenden? Oh my gosh, was I ever wrong. She is the most friendly, outgoing, charming, energetic, comical, independent child I have ever met. She's talking up a storm and loves to interact with anyone and everyone. Just today she sat across from a couple at a birthday party and spent the entire lunch saying "Nice to meet you" and shaking their hands, talking to them about her pizza, and singing "Happy Birthday" as loud as possible. She has no problems tilting her head, smiling and turning her baby blues on anyone and more often than not it works.

The best story lately: We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for grandpa Mike's birthday. (Happy birthday, Mike!) She was sitting on her grandma Connie's lap, playing on her phone when she suddenly looked up and whined, "Awww, it's chicken!" Everyone, including the guy who was waiting for a to-go order, busted up laughing. She then proceeded to stand as close to his phone as possible with a questioning look on her face. To my surprise, he locked it, and handed it right over. Of course, she knows how iPhones work so she had it unlocked and was playing Angry Birds in about 3 seconds.

She spent dinner alternating between shoving as many boneless chicken wings dipped in ketchup in her mouth as possible and dancing with her grandma. We are never lacking for entertainment around here.

Ours!

2011-12-06T12:22:00.001-06:00

Completely, 100%, for better or worse, our house. It only took 129 days between deciding this was what we wanted to do and signing all 124,209,574 papers that legally made us the owners. In all honesty, this whole process was MUCH easier than I expected. We had very few issues and have been extremely happy with how it has turned out.

I still cannot believe we'll be moved in before Christmas. Merry Christmas to us!

A few pictures I took yesterday of OUR house. Insane. :)

Playing in Lauren's closet.

Lauren's room.

Brenden's room.

Kid's bathroom.

Laundry room.

Dining room.

Living room.

KITCHEN! :)

Towards the nook.

And now, the fun part. Moving! *sarcasm, so much sarcasm*

Dear Santa....

2011-12-05T21:09:00.001-06:00

Brenden is getting better and better at his handwriting, but he's still not quite up to writing an entire letter to Santa, even if it's only just a few words. Instead, we decided to have him draw what he'd like Santa to bring him and when we mentioned that Lauren wasn't big enough to draw her own pictures he happily drew some for her as well. He told me how he would like them labeled and then I helped him spell "Dear Santa".

He needed help spelling Lauren's name, but he signed his name all on his own.

You better believe these are going in a memory book. :)

"Dear Santa"
The left one says "Brenden" and the right is "Lauren".

"Big Pillow Pet with Thomas on it."

Top: "Light Saber with Blue"
Bottom left: "Little Pillow Pet with Thomas on it."

Center: "Dora Pillow Pet"
Top right: "Boots Pillow Pet"

Bye, bye knot!

2011-12-02T21:42:00.001-06:00

First off, I just have to say THANK YOU to everyone that had us in their thoughts and prayers today. I had no idea how very anxious I was about the whole thing and it really calmed me down knowing there were so many people with Lauren on their mind. We are all relieved to have the hardest part, the surgery, behind us and I think she's well on her way to recovering nicely.

******************

(All sorts of words about how we found out about the knot, the first results, realizing that the first diagnosis probably wasn't right, pictures of the crazy knot, the cat scan, and the final results that led to her surgery today.)

Once again we found ourselves up bright and early headed to Hillcrest with Lauren. As usual, she was her happy bubbly self, singing and laughing all the way there. Checking in was quick and the pre-op was easy since it was exactly the same as the pre-op for her tubes. The main difference was the fact that she can walk now, but she surprised me by staying very close to us and not freaking out about being there again. She calmly went to one of the nurses and waved bye bye to us without any tears.

That's when the weight of all the worrying really hit me. It was terrifying to think about what they were going to have to do to remove that knot. I expected it to feel like the minutes were barely creeping by, but the hour and a half went very quickly. Dr. Guy came out to get us himself and said that it went about as well as it could. The cyst was completely removed, as well as her hyoid bone, which will all be biopsied. There was very little bleeding, a very small incision, so she didn't need a drain, which would have meant she was going to be admitted to the hospital at least overnight.

She wasn't completely awake when we went back and they had just given her some more medicine so she could relax. She was moaning a bit in her sleep but that was much easier to deal with than the ear piercing screams after her tubes and cat scan. It took about an hour before she really started waking up and she stayed drowsy all morning.

I'm still surprised at how small the bandage is and that it doesn't seem to bother her as much as I expected. She's asked us to take the tape off several times, which really just breaks my heart. She was also starving but we were told she was only allowed liquids and pureed food, and the packets of applesauce and smooshed bananas really weren't cutting it. I imagine she'll jump up and down tomorrow when she's allowed a cracker.

We had a very relaxed day and Lauren and I are going to take it easy tomorrow and Sunday, as well. I expect we will watch Pocoyo, Little Einsteins, and Elmo at least 294 more times, but as long as she's calm, I'm happy!

Daddy makes a good footrest.

I'm so thankful that everything went so well and that it's over. Now to focus on all the happy things. New House! (Closing scheduled for Tuesday!) Christmas! A new (to us) car!

Oh, you didn't know we got a different car? Guess I'll have to write about that later. :)

Brenden-isms/Lauren-isms

2011-12-01T17:31:00.001-06:00

These children...they slay me. :)

*****************

Lauren: *opens lunchbox that I told her not to*

Me: *snatches lunchbox*

Lauren: *cries* "NO! That's MINE! Not nice!"

Me: "I told you not to open it. Sorry."

Lauren: "Give it back!"

Me: "Sorry, kiddo." *thinks: Did I seriously just get into an argument with my 19 month old?!*

(On one hand, I'm super impressed that she has the vocabulary to have a conversation with us. And on the other, I just do not even want to be around when she's a teenager arguing with me.)

*****************

Brenden's new favorite saying has become, "Hey you guuuuuys!" It's equally funny and annoying at the same time. I thought for sure it was from The Goonies, although I have no idea why I thought that since he's never seen it. He's also taught Lauren to say it, which is actually pretty cute as long as I'm not on the phone or trying to order food at a drive thru.

It has also morphed into new phrases, said with just as much enthusiasm and volume. They include, but are not limited to:

"Hey you gorillaaaaas!"

"Hey you mommy/daddy/Brenden/Lauren!"

"Hey you sillyyyy!"

"Hey you ________!" (Insert word that Brenden knows he's not supposed to say so he whispers it and possibly get in trouble.)

He's been playing the Electric Company on pbs.org (I thought it was pbs.com and he quickly informed me that, "No, mommy. Not .com, pbs.org. Again, the teenage years are going to be...interesting.) Apparently, they totally stole "Hey you guuuuys!" and have been teaching it to the children of children of the 80's, totally confusing us as well as driving us crazy.

*****************

Lauren's new found obsession is ketchup, which cracks me up. I finally had to move it to the top shelf of the refrigerator because she kept grabbing it and dragging it around with her.

She will dip anything into it, which is why the other night she had rice and vegetables with ketchup for dipping.

I cannot get enough of her little personality.

*****************

Brenden, used to being our main performer and center of attention, could not be outdone. So, while we were driving home talking about school he started singing, which is not out of the ordinary. However, his choice of song was so out of left field that I called Tim and made Brenden sing it to him. Then I made it sing it again when we got home:

Oh. My. GOOOSH. I think we need to talk to his teachers about their taste in music. ;)

Brenden-isms

2011-11-22T13:00:00.001-06:00

Brenden has become obsessed with the idea of "being bigger." He's anxious to be able to do all the things that we've told him he's not old enough or not big enough to do. If I want him to eat something or to go to bed all I have to do is remind him that he has to eat his veggies and get lots of rest if he wants to be like daddy.

He likes to tell me all the things he'll be able to do when he's bigger. "Mommy, when I get bigger I'll be able to lift heavy things for you." "When I get bigger I can drive the car." "When I get bigger you'll let me drink pop." This morning, we were driving to school and once again, he piped up from the backseat.

"Mommy, when I get bigger I'm gonna be in the Army."

And then my heart skipped a beat. Would I be upset if my son decided to serve his country like his dad, grandpas, uncles, great grandpas, cousins, etc? No. But the idea of where our country could be at that time, what war we could be fighting, scares me to death.

"What would you do in the Army, bud?"

"I'd go to college!"

"That's awesome! What would you do after college?"

"I'd get out of college."

I guess I need to explain the whole purpose of college a little better.

"What do you want to do when you grow up?"

I thought he'd tell me he wanted to drive a tank, like daddy, or wear Army clothes.

*whispers* "I'm gonna be the Blue Power Ranger."

And then all was right in the world again.

We're both going to enjoy him being little for as long as possible.

We're Off To See the Wizard!

2011-11-18T09:23:00.000-06:00

I don't get much one on one time with Brenden anymore, so when Lauren won tickets to see The Wizard of Oz in Bartlesville on Tuesday (Thank you everyone!) I was excited to take him to his very first musical. We talked about what we would see, how the wicked witch wasn't really wicked, she was just pretending, and that it was like watching a movie with real people.

In the days before the show if he wasn't acting right I would just say "Wizard of Oz..." and he would immediately straighten up. He was just as excited to go as I was! I will admit that I was a little nervous about how he would behave but I figured since the tickets were free and we got fantastic seats that it was worth a shot.

My handsome little man and me.

As soon as we walked in he was ready to find his seat. You would think I was handing him a $100 bill and not just a ticket. Waiting for the ropes to open almost had him jumping out of his shoes. When we finally got settled in, luckily next to some very nice people who did not seem at all concerned about sitting by a 4 year old, he was upset because the show hadn't started. Of course this gave him plenty of time to ask me about every little thing in the theater... "Why do we have assigned seats? Why does that little girl have a wand and I don't? What is up in the ceiling? Where is my wand? Why do the seats move when I stand up? Mommy, I need a wand. When is the show going to start? Where is my costume? I don't think I can watch this without a wand." And on and on...

It only took 5 minutes once the show started before he was hooked. During the very first song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", he looked at me with eyes as big as saucers and said in an awed whisper, "This is my favorite!"

There were a few iffy moments, like when the wicked witch was announced with a bright flash and loud bang (even I was startled!) or when a creepy new character walked on stage. I tried to let him know when something was coming on, like the lion or the tin man, so he wouldn't be surprised, and that helped a lot.

During intermission I had to promise him more than once that no one would take our seats if we got up. He was not ready to go yet! It took one of the nice guys sitting next to us telling him he would save our seats before he would agree to take a bathroom break. The entire way down the hall he skipped and sang, "We're off to see the Wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!" I could not stop smiling. :)

The show started at 7:30 pm so I knew he would be tired, but he was a trooper. Only once or twice he asked me if I had a pillow so he could lay down and when he said he was ready to go home he admitted it was only because he was scared of the witch.

I'm very happy that we made it through the entire show. He hugged my legs and beamed at me in between clapping and cheering for the actors taking their bows. He excitedly told my parents all about the mean witch and the funny little dog and the tornado and the Wizard and Dorothy and the lion. I never thought he was going to go to sleep!

It was a wonderful night and something I will never forget. I'll definitely be taking him to another play, hopefully soon.

And yes...I did get him that wand...

Christmas Cards

2011-11-17T13:58:00.000-06:00

Like most parents, we realized very quickly that when we send out Christmas cards, people expect pictures of the kids to be included. One year I sent out a "Top Ten List" as an overview of our year and, while everyone appreciated it, many people told me they shook their letters and checked their envelopes, but couldn't find a single photograph. Since then I've made sure that the kids are front and center for everyone's viewing pleasure.

Unfortunately, that means I either end up spending hours trying to figure out which of the 7000 pictures I took of the kids throughout the year to use or figuring out a way to get new pictures taken that are more recent and holiday themed. Both of these options are difficult because:

1. I find my kids ridiculously cute. (Even if no one else does, although my mommy brain says, "How could that be possible?!) This means it is beyond difficult picking less than 10 pictures of them that I just have to include. Thankfully, Tim is a lot better at narrowing choices down.

2. Even with Tim's help, it takes for-EV-er. I have a lot of important things to do. Like watch Grey's Anatomy. And eat popcorn.

3. If we decide on doing something holiday themed, I have to figure out what clothes they will wear, how they will be posed (hahaha! Like I could ever get them to actually pose.), and find a time when they are both in a decent mood (again...HAHAHAHA).

4. If I can somehow achieve all of those things I then have to figure out a way to simultaneously:

a. Get them both to smile.

b. Get them both to look in the same direction.

(I can hear you laughing at me through my computer screen.)

I wanted to do something fun for their pictures this year and I asked for advice on Facebook, where I usually go to for inspiration/advice/commiseration. (I have some seriously smart and funny family and friends on there.) My friend Kristen suggested everyone in moving boxes, a sort of Merry Christmas/We Moved card and Tim and I loved that idea. (Thanks, Kristen!) I have a ton of ideas for next year, too! I wish I had had more time to set it all up this year, but I think what I got will work.

It took awhile, but I finally got a decent picture of both of them together and separately. It took about 50 pictures to get there. Thank goodness for digital cameras! You'll have to wait to see which pictures I chose to use, but please enjoy these not-exactly-card-worthy shots.

Brenden: Like this? Is this good? Not scary, right?
Lauren: I want out of this box!

Lauren: Hey, I look cute!
Brenden: Not so fast! I'm pulling my "fake laugh" face. Ha. Ha.

Me: Oh yes...perfect.

Box: IMMA BREAK NOW!

(No worries, they were fine.)

I didn't get any individual shots of Lauren, but Brenden is enough of a ham that he let me take a few more of him.

CRAZY EYES!!!!

How about no eyes?

Say, WHAT?

Mommmyyyyy....

And...we're done.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T09:17:00.000-06:00

"Coffee makes it possible to get out of bed.

Cupcakes make it worthwhile."

~Author Unknown

Cloud Watching

2011-11-12T11:11:00.000-06:00

A few days ago Brenden begged to go outside, which usually happens roughly every 5 minutes. The weather was warm and Lauren was napping so we grabbed our shoes and headed out.

He happily bounced around on the trampoline, throwing the big bouncy ball to me and laughing at Romeo playing fetch. Eventually he decided to lay on his back and be still for a bit, which is completely uncharacteristic.

"Mommy, come look at the clouds with me. I see Mickey Mouse's shoe!"

There is no way to say no to that.

We found a turtle, a chair, a "mad" face, and even a toilet.

Then, as randomly as he started, Brenden was done. "Let's go inside. I'm hungry." I know someday he'll be too busy to spend a lot of time with me. He's much too outgoing and friendly to want to sit around with his mom once he has more freedom. That's why I'm going to lock that afternoon, along with the other morning, up in my memory. I feel blessed that I have that picture, that feeling, that I shared with my son.

I can't wait for the next one.

Thank You

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-06:00

To all the men and women who have sacrificed for everything that we have, Thank You!

These are the moments...

2011-11-10T12:30:00.001-06:00

When we got home from dropping Brenden off from school this morning, instead of running inside, Lauren ran towards the sidewalk and yelled, "Walk!" After a quick change of shoes, I agreed that a walk would be wonderful.

The air was crisp, but not uncomfortable. The sun was playing with the branches on the trees. Piles of leaves greeted us at every turn. We were both in autumn heaven.

These moments, these images...this is what makes my life wonderful.

Routine

2011-11-03T23:13:00.001-05:00

From the beginning, we had a schedule with Brenden. (A bit strict...okay a lot strict, but we're better now!) There was a method to our madness and a goal: a happy baby. He was a good eater, a happy napper and slept through the night at 8 weeks.

Note: I don't think what we did is the end all, be all to raising a child. It won't help any kid sleep better or make a colicky baby happy. It just worked for Brenden and I'm grateful we figured him out.

I thought we would continue that with Lauren since we had such great results the first time around. Of course we didn't take into account the fact that there would be another child in the mix, which can throw even the easiest task into a tailspin.

What I've come to realize is that both of my children respond really well to routine. Brenden's bedtime routine, from the time he was little bitty, always included a book. It has evolved into something he really enjoys and the slightest variation gets a stern look and "Mommmmyyyy...." It consists of, in this order:

Potty.
Brush his teeth.
Change his clothes.
Read a book in our bed.
Tim picks him up, he grabs at me and pretends to be upset.
He hides under his comforter and then I pretend to not know where he is.
Prayers.
Stories.
He asks me to sleep with him for "just one minute".
He begs for Tim to come tell him a Power Rangers story. (Tim makes up a different one every night. I am impressed!)

Annnnnd we're done!

It took over a year for us to really establish a good routine that would help Lauren realize that it was time to sleep. It was long after the pacifier went away, well after her 1st birthday, and I'm realizing now that we are super lucky that she ever slept at all! Her's is much shorter than Brenden's - for now - but it makes her happy. It consists of:

Change diaper/clothes.
Put her down on the floor, hand her a cup of milk, and wait for her to sit on her rug.
Read 2 books (must be 2, and at least 1 must be Dora).
Grab her baby and push the hand on her lion that sings.
Dance and sing "Sunflower" by Glen Campbell.
Say goodnight, I love you, and lay her down.

She loves to sing with me and has recently started hugging me tightly, giving me her biggest smile and and planting huge kisses on my cheeks when there is a break in the song. This is my most favorite thing she has ever done...ever. :)

I know that in a few months they could both completely change their minds, hate all of these stories and songs, and spend the entire night kicking the wall. Still, I will always have these moments saved in my mind. Brenden saying, "Snuggle, mommy!" Lauren laughing and then laying her head on my shoulder while she pats my back.

This - these moments of complete happiness - is why having these kids is, and will always be, the most amazing thing I have done with my life.

<3 I love them. <3

House Update - 11-1-11

2011-11-01T22:37:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe that in less than 20 days our house will be finished. It feels like just yesterday we decided that building a house would be okay and then we went out and found the perfect spot. I'm just...wow.

This was our house today:

The driveway should be done soon!

The kids playing in our bathroom.

Counter tops!

So very very soon!

Halloween Through the Years

2011-11-01T15:05:00.000-05:00

2007:

Poor Brenden was sick. We spent the night in the ER. 1st of many ear infections!

2008:

Yep, he had 2 costumes. :)

2009:

He loved his cowboy costume!

2010:

Lauren's very first Halloween. So fun!

2011:
Pistol Pete and our little Dorothy. The best yet. :)

Happy Neewollah!

2011-10-31T15:33:00.001-05:00

Yes, I spelled Halloween backwards on purpose. :) Neewollah is a Kelly family tradition and has been around for longer than I ever realized....as in since 1919! (Fun fact: Tim's grandpa Dan was born the night of the Neewollah torchlight parade. His mom went into labor while she was there and went home and had him.) There are so many things to do, from a play, to the kiddie parade, to the carnival. It's a blast!

We were able to have the kids in the kiddie parade and then stayed overnight so we could go to the grand parade the next morning. (Thanks again for the hotel room, Dan and Ginny!) The kids weren't feeling so great, but they had fun walking the route. Brenden was even stopped for a picture and made sure to put his pistols up. :) Lauren smiled and waved, happy to see so many people.

Dorothy

Pistol Pete

We had a rough night at the hotel, which set us up for a rather rough morning. Our chairs were moved for the parade and I thought the ladies that were sitting in our spot were going to fight us. Then, when we found another spot (not marked or roped off) we were told to move, along with about 100 other people, because it was "reserved". That was definitely an oversight on the parade planners part. We found spots for our chairs but we weren't near the street, which is where they throw the candy. (Must. Have. Candy. Oy...) Tim asked a lady if we could use the spot next to her and she said no because she'd "been there since 6 am." Tim was not a happy camper. Another lady grabbed him and said she'd be more than happy to share her spot with us...right next to the lady that had told us no. In the end, it all worked out well. We were super close to the parade, the kids got lots of candy, and the lady that originally told us no apologized profusely and was really nice.

Lauren's favorite part: the marching bands. She stood up and marched with them, twirling her sucker wildly.

Brenden's favorite part: the candy, of course. :)

After a good rest at Gi Gi and Poppy's house, and watching our Oklahoma State Cowboys get a good lead on the Baylor Bears, we headed off to the carnival for some yummy fair food and rides.

Brenden, as usual, had a blast on the rides. Lauren, who we were not sure about, loved them! She was very unhappy to be taken out of her "Me-mo". (Aka: Nemo) Add in a few corndogs, a lemonade, and some extremely overpriced games and you have the recipe for an awesome night.

Sunday we were able to see Lou Lou's new apartment, move a piece of furniture for her and then head up to Dewey to visit Bell (my grandma Warehime). Then we headed back home to carve our pumpkins. Lauren picked a cat and Brenden picked a "mean" pumpkin face. (Yes, that's what he calls mean.)

It was a long, wonderful weekend and we already have reservations for next year. :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Now and Then

2011-10-26T11:37:00.000-05:00

Lauren and her baby, 4 months old:

Lauren and her baby, 18 months old:

Best $20 I've ever spent. :)

School Pictures - 2011

2011-10-25T08:30:00.003-05:00

School pictures are here! Brenden did fabulous and Lauren, who was still in her "don't leave me at this crazy place!" phase did not. We only got two decent pictures of her. I guess I should feel lucky that she took any at all. Just two days before this she fell, face first, onto the pavement outside our house. Could have been much worse! Still, I'm thankful we have years and years of school pictures to look forward to. :)

Results

2011-10-24T10:53:00.000-05:00

Finally had Lauren's appointment to find out the results of her cat scan. It's definitely a Thyroglossal Duct Cyst, which is thankfully never cancerous. It's about 2 cm, almost an inch, so it's considered small but on such a tiny person it seems huge. He actually said that it can get bigger or smaller throughout the day, but not noticeably from what I've seen.

When babies are growing in utero, their thyroid starts at the base of their tongue. As they get closer to their due date it moves down the neck, leaving a sort of tunnel that usually closes. On some people it doesn't close and can collect fluid, creating a knot, that can become infected if it's not treated. Once it's infected it is much more difficult to remove. They will end up removing her hyoid bone, which will not limit her in any way, and that should keep it from happening again. He said there is less than a 10% chance of re-occurrence by doing that.

We scheduled her surgery for December 2nd (that's going to be a busy month!) but we don't have a time yet. I'm not sure if she'll stay overnight or not yet, but I do know she'll have a drain. Hopefully someone can take Brenden that weekend so we can make sure he doesn't accidentally do anything to hurt her. Plus she'll need a lot of attention and that's hard to do with both of them.

We would do it sooner but her cat scan showed something that looked like pneumonia on her right lung. She's not showing any signs of being sick, but he wants to put her on antibiotics so they can be sure she's fine when they do surgery. Also, he'll be out of town right before Thanksgiving and he doesn't want to be gone while she's recovering. He doesn't believe waiting will hurt her at all.

So that's the plan! Not the most horrible thing ever but not fun.

Thank goodness for answers!

House Update 10-22-11

2011-10-23T22:16:00.002-05:00

First off, we got an email last week with a few solid dates in it, which we didn't expect. It looks like we'll have our first walk through November 21st, our second walk through on December 1st, and scheduled closing for December 6th. OH MY GOSH. It's really truly real! We had also decided to lock in our rate the day before, and we're very happy with that decision. Big thanks again to Steve at Swift Home Loans for that suggestion.

On to pictures!

Garage doors! Brick!

Tile!! We also have finished tile in the entryway, both bathrooms, and the laundry room.

A closer view at the brick, which I'm still super happy with.

We also peeked into the garage and found all of our cabinets, doors, and trim. We're really happy with those choices, too. Tim noticed that the design on the doors sort of match the design of the cabinet doors. Yay for unplanned coordination!

So, who's coming over to help us pack? :)

Dear Doctor...

2011-10-20T14:59:00.001-05:00

Dear Dr. [name redacted because I'm not that mean]:

It's been more than a year that you and I have been trying to solve my issues. It's been a long, painful, arduous journey that has effected several aspects of my life. I've done everything you've asked me to. Been to many appointments, tried all the remedies you've required, and even endured surgery, only to be left in pain.

I've felt as though you have not really listened to me when I explained my situation. I know that you blatantly ignored something that I asked you to address, actually telling me that you believed it was "much better now" after you "fixed" it. (I don't believe that for a second.) Many times you acted as though you were grasping at straws, just trying to placate me and expecting me to deal with it since I was just the dumb patient and you were the all powerful doctor. You never really seemed to know what you were doing and more than once caused me pain that I know was unnecessary.

And so, when I decided to seek a second opinion, I didn't think you'd be surprised. After all I have done, with very little relief, why would I continue to see you? I'm pretty sure it was Einstein that said "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity." Guess what, I'm not insane. (Although I will admit that I do have my crazy moments.)

So I asked my primary care physician for a referral. That very first appointment, without any prompting from me, the new doctor told me what he believed was my problem, which is exactly what I had been saying all along. Do I expect him to be able to fix all that I believe you screwed up? No. But I do expect to be in a lot less pain.

I find it ridiculous that your nurse called me to make me feel bad for seeing another doctor. I have no contract with you, verbal or otherwise, that says I have to continue to go to your office. I had no idea that this other doctor was in your "call group" or that they needed to call you before I had my first appointment. I told them that I had been your patient and, the last time I checked, I'm not his secretary. Yes, it may be awkward to run into you after this, but I'd rather take that slight risk if it means I could no longer be in pain.

If I felt any hesitation before today about seeking a second opinion, it is most definitely gone now. I'm very happy that I trusted my instincts and made a choice that I believe will help me. Could I be wrong? Of course. But I will no longer have to continue seeing a doctor who I do not trust and have lost respect for.

I'm doing what is right for me, and that is all you should be concerned with now.

Sincerely,

Amanda, a very unhappy patient

Cat Scan

2011-10-19T22:43:00.003-05:00

Bright and early this morning, as in 5:30 am, Tim and I rolled out of bed, made sure our coffee mugs were full and woke up a very sleepy Lauren to head to Hillcrest for her cat scan.

The entire trip there she was super happy, singing and laughing, excited to be going on an "adventure" with mommy and daddy. Her good mood continued through registration, where she waved at everyone that walked by. She was even fine when she met the anesthesiologist and had her vitals checked by the nurse.

Patiently waiting...

After another short wait, it was time to walk her back to start the anesthesia. I tried to keep her calm while she sat on a nurse's lap and had the mask placed over her nose and mouth. She was not happy, and made it very clear that she did not appreciate this invasion of her personal space. It felt like forever, but it was only about 30 seconds before her body went limp, which was one of the freakiest things I've ever seen.

I went back to wait with Tim and only about 15 minutes later the anesthesiologist came to tell us she was fine and that the test would only take another 10-15 minutes. He chatted with us for a few minutes, even talked a little college football. (He was a Sooner fan, but a really nice one.) :) He must have picked up on how uneasy I was feeling because he mentioned that he even gets concerned watching his own kids get anesthesia. That made me feel a little better.

Right on time, we heard a very loud screech from down the hall. We didn't even need someone to tell us she had woken up. We gathered our things and met her in the hallway to go to recovery. She screamed off and on for the next 45 minutes and I tried to apologize to everyone I could. She is loud when she gets going. Taking out the iv helped a little, but not much. Even her milk didn't improve her mood.

I tried to soothe her but she was having none of it...she only wanted her daddy. :)

Awww...poor baby.

Eventually we were wheeled back to the pediatrics' floor - she sat on my lap while I was in the wheelchair - and they checked her stats one more time. Thirty minutes later she was wandering around the room saying "knock knock", which we took to mean she was ready to leave.

On the way home she sang us a chorus of "Eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat" to the tune of Beyonce's Single Ladies. That's when I knew she was almost back to normal. After a 3 hour nap she was completely over the whole ordeal.

Our appointment with the ENT is on Monday so hopefully we'll know more then. I think we're all ready for this whole thing to be over.

One Step Forward, One Step Back

2011-10-17T21:41:00.001-05:00

Soccer has been interesting thus far. We've had crying, whining, sitting and refusing to budge, and all out tantrums. Part of that was the lovely double ear infection that Brenden was sporting for awhile. (This was the first time he told us his ears hurt and was right. His doctor said he was crazy tough because "most kids would be laying on the floor crying with that type of infection.") The rest was Brenden just not understanding the game. Four years of telling him to share and then expecting him to be okay with someone take a ball away from him was difficult. My bad!

He's had some good days since then, but we've been trying to get him to actually play for the past few weeks. Until now we've been happy if he makes it through a game without crying. Now, we'd like him to actually try to go for the ball instead of just running around staring at his shadow. We promised that we would let him play the Wii if he tried to score a goal. We even promised to buy him a blue slush, his favorite, if he tried really hard the whole game.

I know this may sound like a lot to ask of a 4-year-old, and sometimes I think it is, too. It's just hard to watch the other teams score goal after goal and then our team doesn't manage to score one, even when the other team backs off and lets them score. All of the other teams are so tall compared to the kids on his team and I know that makes a difference. Brenden is the only one that is 4. The rest are 3 years old and we have two that are actually 2. Truthfully, I don't think that's fair, but that's something we can't change.

Onto this past Saturday. We had high hopes since he seemed so excited to play. We cheered and pointed and flung ourselves around like crazy people trying to motivate him to just try his hardest. Eventually, he made a break for the goal and we were jumping up and down like fools...and then a kid from the other team kicked the ball out of bounds. Brenden's entire face fell and he ran off of the field sobbing. We never quite convinced him that it was okay, but we did manage to get him back on the field.

He stole the ball a second time and headed towards the goal...the wrong goal. We tried to tell him to turn around but it was too late. He happily kicked the ball squarely into the net and turned around beaming. We all laughed and cheered as he ran off of the field, pumping his fist in the air. He decided that he deserved a victory lap down the sideline and managed to give every single spectator a high-five.

After that, he was done. He had scored his one goal and was more than happy to sit and watch the rest of the game. I'm still not sure what will convince him to actually play, but we're going to keep trying.

Happy kid, running through the tunnel after the game. :)

We're really ready for him to be able to play football. If there's one thing that Brenden has always been good at, it's knocking people down.

Lauren-ism

2011-10-14T12:50:00.000-05:00

I've called Brenden our performer for a long time, but Lauren has started to surpass him. She's not quite the comedienne he is (yet) but she is most definitely a singer.

She sings in the car. She sings in the bathtub. She sings while she wanders around the house. I think I've even heard her singing in her sleep. Sometimes you can recognize the tune, like the ABCs, the Wheels On The Bus, or Row Row Row Your Boat. A lot of times it's a completely made up song with words like, "I love daddy. I love Brenden." She even does hand motions now.

This isn't the best video, but you can hear her mixing a few songs together and laughing at herself. She absolutely loves singing, and we love listening to her.

Yes...Another House Update

2011-10-13T21:13:00.001-05:00

We swung by the house on Tuesday just to see if anything new had happened. A lot had happened, but it wasn't really "photo" worthy. (Tim was super excited about the insulation and probably would have taken a ton of pictures of it. Just not my thing.)

We decided to stop by again tonight because we had the time and I'm so glad that we did.

It went from this:

Ready and waiting.

To this:

And it's not just this room...it's the entire house.

Whoa! WALLS!!

I cannot believe that someday I'll have a picture of them all grown up, sitting on these stairs.

Persistence

2011-10-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

From the moment Lauren was born, she made it clear that she was stubborn. Every day she finds a way to remind me that yes, she got that lovely trait from her dad and me. She throws things when she doesn't get her way. She screams her head off when I stand in the wrong place and has now started grabbing my hand and just moving me to where I "should" be. At least twice a day I leave her laying on the floor where she has flung herself in a fit of rage because I won't let her eat dirt or I grabbed the wrong cup. Drama queen? I'd say so.

The best way we've found to deal with this type of behavior is not to give in. It worked when we took away her pacifier and when we stopped giving her bottles. It helps when she starts to do things that could hurt her, like slamming doors or banging on the television. It's completely frustrating and absolutely tiring, but it's worth it. Allowing her to throw a fit to get what she wants, even once, makes it a hundred times more difficult to keep her from repeating that behavior again.

Just laying here, throwing a fit because mom wanted to take a picture.

Last night was one of the longest, loudest and most difficult standoffs to date. In one corner you have Lauren, sitting in her highchair, tired, with a bowl of her favorite food in front of her. (Rice, sweet corn, black beans, kale and squash...weird I know.) In the other corner you have Tim and me, scrambling to recook dinner because I managed to grill our brisket into something that resembled the charcoal on the bottom of the smoker.

To start it off, Lauren decided to dump her entire bowl of food on her head. When she's not interested in eating she either flings her food or plays with it, so this was not a surprise. It was, however, messy and not exactly appreciated in the middle of our rush to get something edible made for the rest of us to eat. I scooped everything back into the bowl, reminded her that we do not play with our food, and left her to continue feeding herself. She was not at all interested in doing that so she stood up in her highchair and proceeded to scream at me.

Tim wandered by about this time and asked what I was doing. "Teaching her that screaming and flinging her food is not the way to get what she wants." I replied. She continued to stand there and yell and I continued to calmly tell her to sit down. (Staying calm is the most important thing. If I start getting upset it just eggs her on.)

Cut to twenty minutes later...she is still screaming, begging to get up and refusing to eat the one bite that we were requesting. Just one bite of her favorite food and we would go take a bath, which she considers a reward. Back and forth we went, reminding her that one bite and she could get up. Did she want to take a bath? Yes. Then just take one bite. NO. (Go ahead and tell me not to reason with a toddler, especially an almost 18 month old. I know it sounds crazy. Even I think it's crazy.)

And then, something amazing happened. She calmed down, opened her mouth, and took that one little bite. We all clapped, jumped up and down, high-fived her, and made complete fools of ourselves. I let her play in the bathtub for an extra 5 minutes as a reward for following directions. Then we put on her pajamas, read a few books, and she happily went to bed. Success!

Do I think these tantrums are going to be better now? Heck no! We haven't hit the terrible twos and the horrendously awful threes yet. However, it did prove that she understood us and knows that when we make a rule that we expect it to be followed. It also showed that our persistence and staying calm actually works for her. (I know every kid is different. This just works the best for ours.)

Our next big hurdles: sleeping in a big kid bed and potty training. Could someone please pass the Tylenol and the ear plugs?

Lauren's Knot - x's 2

2011-10-12T13:30:00.002-05:00

This was Lauren's knot before:

It was roughly quarter sized.

This is Lauren's knot now:

The arrow is actually pointing to a second knot that now sticks out farther than the first knot, which is above it.

Terrifying. :(

Testing...Again

2011-10-11T17:05:00.000-05:00

It's been quite an eventful few weeks for us. Brenden went from having one ear infected to two, I've been sick off and on, Tim's had doctor's appointments for his knee, and Lauren was acting sick so I took her in, too.

It turns out all of her issues are allergy related (Thanks ragweed!) but that nasty knot on her neck has almost doubled in size. Her doctor agreed that we needed more testing so she told me we would schedule an MRI and then meet with Dr. Guy, the ENT. On our way home they called me and asked if we could come back for another x-ray. We live really close so it was no big deal to turn around and I'm glad we were able to do it that day.

At first we were told we could head home when we were done and then changed their mind. We were put into an exam room and told to wait for Dr. Koul, her pediatrician, which really calms the nerves. *sarcasm* It's hard to be told that your child is fine and then a month later have everyone scrambling to get her into specialists because they aren't sure what is really going on.

I was assured me that the knot was not impeding on her airway and that at the moment it seemed to be a cyst. Dr. Guy, who she had talked to on the phone, explained that a midline swelling like this is usually a Thyroglossal Duct Cyst, which isn't uncommon and is very treatable. Instead of an MRI they are going to do a cat scan, which she will have to be sedated for, and if they confirm that it is that type of cyst she will have to have it removed.

The thought of surgery doesn't scare me, I just want that thing out of my daughter. I know the doctor said it isn't hurting her but I can't imagine that it feels good. Plus, I think if we have it done now while she is small then the scar is more likely to fade quickly and she won't remember it.

The cat scan is October 19th and the ENT appointment is October 24th. Hopefully the tests will show, clearly, what is going on. If I'm a bit testy for the next few weeks, please forgive me. It's just hard to look at my sweet, happy daughter and think that anything could be wrong with her.

Happiness Personified

Another House Update

2011-10-03T10:41:00.001-05:00

Will I ever stop talking/updating/obsessively taking pictures of our house? Probably not. Sorry!

We took another tour of the house on Friday and we were really excited to see that the roof is completely shingled (SHINGLES!) and they've started the plumbing and gas lines. Tim said that next will be the electrical and after that is inspected they'll start sheet rocking, which is when we'll try to lock in our rate for our mortgage.

No, we have not locked in a rate yet. When we signed the official documents with Swift Home Loans, we were encouraged to just wait and see what the rates looked like 60 days from the house being completed. He didn't think it would be worth it in the long run to pay the points when the rates could actually go down, which they have. Hopefully they will stay low. *fingers crossed!*

Front porch.

We have a master shower!

Side view.

Back porch and master windows.

Just for comparison:

This was the house 9-4-11

I'm sad that most of the outside progress is almost done because now I won't be able to ~~stalk~~ take pictures during the day while the workers are still there. I feel silly enough just stepping out of my car while they stare at me like I'm a weirdo.

We're already packing and starting to take bets on when it will be finished. Maybe the end of November or early December?

A new house for Christmas? I'll take it!

Soccer Progress!

2011-10-01T10:43:00.000-05:00

I was afraid this morning. After last weekend's cryfest, I just knew today was going to be awful.

I was completely, totally wrong. YAY!

Brenden very happily ran onto the field, tear free, telling everyone that he was going to get blue soccer socks. (His reward for an entire game without crying.) The only thing he even started to whine about was not getting to use his own ball, but that lasted maybe 2 seconds.

Did our team score a single goal? No. We have the most timid team ever. Did Brenden pay attention to where the ball was? No. He was more concerned with running with his "new best friend" Billy or watching his shadow. Did Lauren sit and watch the game? Heck no. She played in the car, which we learned was the easiest thing to do with her. We could still watch because we parked close to the field and we switched off so one of us was out there for Brenden.

Did we have fun? You better believe it! Little kid soccer is one of the funniest things ever.

Just watch:

Bunch Ball!

Love it!

Brenden's Annual Birthday Video for Tim

2011-09-30T08:53:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Daddy!

(FYI: It gets a little loud. He is very much a 4 year old boy.)

You can find last year's video here. :)

Happy Birthday, Tim!

2011-09-30T07:42:00.001-05:00

A very Happy Birthday to the most wonderful, caring, understanding, loving, supportive, and, oh yeah, totally hot, husband I could have ever dreamed of choosing me.

We love you, Tim!

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T09:14:00.000-05:00

When did this tiny baby...

This small bundle of joy...

Become this beautiful little girl???

First Soccer Game (AKA: DISASTER)

2011-09-24T10:25:00.000-05:00

You know those days when everyone wakes up happy and everything is sunshine and rainbows and oh-my-gosh-this-is-why-I-had-children? Today was not one of those days.

Having to set an alarm on a Saturday morning is never fun, but we didn't think we would need it. Brenden is usually up long before 7 am, which would have been just fine today. Oh no...not this morning. We had to open his door and make a ton of noise to finally wake him up closer to 7:30 am. (Yes, I know that is a weird way to wake him up. However, we've found it to be much easier than actually going in there and getting him up. No idea why.) We begged Brenden to eat a granola bar, shoved a banana at Lauren, grabbed our coffees, and headed out the door for Brenden's first soccer game.

I knew Lauren would be a problem. I expected her to freak out and be crazy because we wouldn't let her play. I did not expect Brenden to FREAK OUT the moment the game started because someone kicked the ball away from him. All of those lectures about sharing and taking turns really stuck in his head so he could not understand why suddenly it was okay for someone to kick the ball away from him. He spent most of the game crying, some of it sitting down with us, and a small percentage of it actually playing and having fun.

"But I want the ball!"

During all of this, Lauren managed to knock my coffee over onto my already malfunctioning camera. (Why, camera, why!?!) She screamed. She kicked. She threw banana everywhere. This led us to decide that, even though it stinks, to save our sanity one of us will stay at home with her for his games.

It wasn't all bad. For a few minutes Brenden decided to have fun and he scored the only goal for his team. He ran all the way back to Tim, fist pumping high in the air, with the biggest smile on his face. I thought he would enjoy the rest of the game, but he went right back to being upset over who knows what.

Getting ready to kick off.

And of course, no soccer game would be complete without someone making a spectacular dive out of a tiny bump. Brenden has mastered this and he did not disappoint. Another player brushed against him and he flung himself sideways like he had been punched. We couldn't help but laugh.

Brenden is at the front. Go Brenden!

We're going to watch as much soccer as possible and talk to him about how the game will be. I guess for his first game ever it wasn't completely terrible, but it was plenty stressful. Our fingers and toes are crossed for a lot more fun and a lot less tears next week.

The House - 9-23-11

2011-09-23T23:05:00.000-05:00

Remember yesterday when we had that rainy day that I was complaining about? How I figured it would mean the house would be delayed?

Yeah...they don't let a little sprinkle slow them down.

And BOOM...walls.

Welcome to our almost home!

Looking back out the front door.

Standing in the living room, looking through to the master.

Standing in the kitchen/nook, looking towards the bedrooms.

And my favorite picture of the day:

Love them. :)

Bring on the Clouds

2011-09-22T12:42:00.003-05:00

Rainy days have always been some of my favorites, especially when they are few and far between and not 12 straight days of no sunshine. (I'm hard to please, I know.) They always meant curling up under a blanket, reading a book, and relaxing.

Then I had kids.

And guess what...I still love them. Overcast days mean the kids usually sleep in. One day Lauren didn't get up until 11:30 am, and that was only because Tim finally woke her up. From what I saw on Facebook, a lot of kids slept in that day. Thank you children of Oklahoma!

The drizzle doesn't pull the kids to laze around all day, though. When Brenden awoke on his birthday last week I was worried that we would end up spending the entire day inside, which is most definitely not what my very active son wanted to do. Since the temperature was decent, and he begged enough, we happily went outside and played anyway.

Note: Bubbles and a wet driveway are actually a lot of fun!

Another note: My children are more than happy to dress themselves, quite interestingly, when I let them.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday night I was cleaning and walked back to check on Brenden. I stopped in the hallway, confused at what I was seeing.

No, the cat was not a surprise. The door being open, though...

I'm pretty sure that's not how he normally sleeps.

Hmmm...I'm thinking he was tired.

A Big, 4-year-old Sized Thank you!

2011-09-20T08:28:00.001-05:00

Brenden says, "Thank you! MUAH"

So much blue! So much fun!

Thank you so much to everyone that was able to make it to Brenden's birthday party on Sunday. We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends. I wish I had a chance to talk to everyone for longer than 3 seconds, but that's the problem with knowing so many great people. :)

Thank you to Tim who was up so late on Saturday but who got up early with me, cleaned, cooked, and everything else that we needed to do. We love you!

An extra big thank you to Mike and Connie for bringing food, helping set up and being all around awesome.

And a HUGE thank you to my mom. This party would not have happened without her. She watched the kids, cooked, cleaned, and kept me sane. Love you, mom!

Brenden at 4

2011-09-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th Birthday, Brenden!

2011-09-16T11:47:00.000-05:00

My dearest Brenden,

I am still amazed that this perfect bundle of tiny baby fingers, teeny baby toes, and adorably squishy cheeks...

...has become this fantastic little boy.

You wake up every morning with a smile on your face, ready to meet the world. You love unconditionally with every fiber of your being and can find joy in the smallest things.

You are the proof that every decision I have made in my life was absolutely the right one.

I love you to the moon and back my snuggle bunny.

Happy 4th birthday.

Love Always,

Mommy

Blue Cupcakes!

2011-09-15T13:13:00.000-05:00

Since Brenden doesn't have school tomorrow we decided to celebrate with his classmates today. He was more than a little excited, to say the least. He was excited about his eggo waffle, he was thrilled with the fact that his jacket had a hood, and he was ecstatic that he had blue cupcakes to take to school to share with his friends.

The very happy almost 4 year old.

FOUR?!? When, what, how?!? Just...crazy.

Lauren's First Day

2011-09-14T16:44:00.001-05:00

I had a really hard time sleeping last night. I kept having alternating nightmares about Lauren absolutely hating going to preschool and me forgetting to pick them up. I thought my dreams were coming true (in the worst way) when both Brenden and Lauren woke up in the type of moods that make me want to hide in the closet.

Somehow, we got out of the house and to school on time. Brenden happily plopped into his seat, but I warned his teacher about his whining so she could be prepared. I handed Lauren over to her teacher and it took about 0.7 seconds before she was screaming bloody murder. I smiled, said "Good luck!" and walked out of the school with my arms empty.

No, I didn't cry, but I sure felt weepy!

I spend the morning shopping for some last minute things for this weekend and then I did exactly what I told Tim I was going to do...I took a nap. It was fantastic. I woke up panicked that I had forgotten to pick the kids up, but I had plenty of time.

Brenden's teacher very happily told me that he was much calmer today and not at all whiny. Whew! Then it was off to find out how Lauren had fared. Not only did her teacher tell me that she did great, but she also took a nap! She did cry for 10 minutes but after that she was totally fine.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I think Lauren will come to love going to school just as much as Brenden does.

This was the best picture I could get. She was not in the mood to sit still and most definitely did not want to smile. That sums up my morning perfectly.

Let's home next week goes well, too!

Overnight...

2011-09-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went to look at the house to see if anything had changed. Mike was nice enough to send us a picture of the land that had been leveled and we were curious how quickly they would start.

Sept. 4th, 2011

Sept. 12,2011

Today:

Yes, sir!! :)

It was really dark, but obviously they were hard at work today pouring the footing. SO EXCITED!

We happened to meet the people who will be living behind us. I mistakenly called their fence "our" back fence. I think she was a little taken aback by that since it is totally not our fence until we pay them half. (Which is our plan.) She was very nice and has a little boy who is very close in age to Brenden and told me that the neighborhood has a lot of younger kids. I'm feeling more and more confident that we made the right decision.

(Her daughter and her daughter's friend ran around with Brenden while we were chatting. They were cracking me up, telling him that his name was cute and his haircut looked good and that they liked his shirt. If he were closer to their age, I think they were both 9, I think he would have been strutting a little. He didn't even notice, which was why I was doing my best not to laugh. So funny!)

I cannot wait to see actual walls! We're on our way

Preschool, Year Two

2011-09-13T15:16:00.000-05:00

Excited doesn't even begin to cover how Brenden felt about starting school again. (You could say the same for me!) He walked right in like he owned the place and never looked back at me. His teacher said his excitement didn't wane the entire day. Hopefully the newness wears off soon so he can sit still for a few minutes and maybe listen a little.

He walked in the door, went straight to his room and climbed into bed for his nap. I'd call that a successful day.

Way Back Wednesday

2011-09-08T06:44:00.000-05:00

2007:

2011:

2008:

2011:

Lauren-isms: Chatterbox

2011-09-05T23:05:00.002-05:00

Every day, Lauren says something new. Sometimes it's her parroting us, but often times it's not. It's been especially obvious since we've been in Colorado.

Today, while we were visiting Rick at the hospital, she and Brenden were trying to climb into the wheel chair so we could go on a walk. Lauren was struggling to get her knee up onto the seat. Brenden was getting bored waiting for her (all of 3 seconds) and whined, "She can't get up!'

Lauren replied loudly, and clearly, "I can get up!" It was hilarious!

Other things she likes to say:

"I did it!"

"Wow! What's that?"

"Wow! That's great!"

"Ready....GO!"

"I got a ball!"

"I gotta go potty!"

She's also starting to clearly say some new words like "Brenden", "mommy", "daddy", "up", "down", "Maverick", "Bailey", "button" and "book".

Maybe tomorrow she'll break out a new paragraph. With this kid, I never know.

Colorado So Far...

2011-09-04T22:30:00.004-05:00

A not-long-enough visit with grandpa, a day spent with friends, lots of grandma hugs and kisses. We are spoiled. :)

Goodbye, Roadrunner.

2011-09-01T16:24:00.001-05:00

Jim was Tim's grandma's boyfriend. He was a part of Tim mom's side of the family long before I was. He loved the kids and was one of the first to give them nicknames right after they were born. I'm not sure how Brenden became "Coyote" and Lauren became "Pistol", but I loved it. Brenden started calling him "Roadrunner" this past summer and they both thought it was hilarious.

Jim has been battling with several different kinds of cancer for awhile now. He did really well at first but eventually his body just couldn't handle it. His family moved him back to Colorado a few months ago so they could spend as much time as possible with him and today he passed away. My heart hurts for his family and Tim's grandma, Grace. We were so close to getting to see him this weekend and I know that Brenden was excited. (Jim always made sure he was stocked up on candy before we showed up.)

Goodbye, Roadrunner. We love and miss you.

A-OK!

2011-09-01T13:27:00.003-05:00

Thank God for answered prayers! Lauren's doctor called today and her x-ray showed that the knot is just a bony mass, not a cyst, lymph node or tumor, and that it's not bothering any other parts of her neck. I made her clarify, twice, that it wasn't life threatening and that we shouldn't be worried about it. She assured me that it was nothing to worry about right now, that we would watch it, and that she didn't expect it to cause any problems.

So, you know, she's starting the whole scaring-her-parents-over-nothing thing early. We knew she was smart, but this kind of advanced can wait. (hehe)

Relieved...so very very relieved. Thank you to everyone who sent a good thought or prayer our way. We really appreciate it!

I love her. :)

Lauren's Knot

2011-08-31T23:54:00.000-05:00

This is the bump that is causing us all so much concern. No word from the radiology department. Hopefully soon.

Knoted

2011-08-30T21:15:00.000-05:00

There's really not a better word to describe how I feel right now. I'm all tied up in knots, from my head, to my back. Even my legs are aching. I'm so on edge about everything and I'm sure it's driving Tim crazy. I had to hide out in our room last night just to cry it out and get over it. I felt so bad dropping everything in Tim's lap (dinner, playing with the kids, bedtimes) but I think I would have made things even harder. It seems like they all just wanted to make me feel better. Brenden added me to his prayers without being asked. ("And help my mommy feel better. Amen.") Lauren came in right before bed, helped me fold clothes, sang to me, and then grabbed my neck and wouldn't let go when she knew it was bedtime. Thank goodness for all of them.

My stress list (because getting it out always makes me feel better):

1. Lauren. Her blood work came back perfectly normal, which is good and bad. Good, because that means that she doesn't have some crazy infection. Bad, because that means it's probably something worse that will require a more invasive treatment. Like a cyst that will need draining, or worse. I don't even want to think about what may be coming. The waiting is eating me alive. My fears are too much to put into words, so all I can do is push them down, hold her close, and pray that the doctor will figure it out soon.

2. Our car. It is just one big mess. The front left wheel bearing is loose. Both the front and rear differential are leaking or making horrendous noises. The transfer case is borked. Total estimate? $4,400. I'm...still in shock. I seriously thought I might get sick. It has been to 3 different places so far and now we have to get it looked at a 4th time to see if it could be related to the wheel falling off way back in 2008. Best case scenario: Insurance decides it will be covered, it gets fixed and then we sell it. Worst case scenario: It's not covered and we sell it and get Tim a much cheaper car to drive back and forth to work. Either way, that car is gone.

3. Rick. I haven't mentioned much about Rick, which I feel awful about, because I've been so wrapped up in my head worrying about everything. He ended up back at the emergency room on Saturday because he started running a fever. He's been doing chemo and taking it rather well, but this round just really knocked him for a loop. He's been in ICU since that day and they are now moving him to the Oncology floor. He ended up testing positive for strep, which is not surprising with his immune system being so compromised, but it still sucks. Hopefully he'll be home before we make it out there on Saturday, but either way we'll be taking it easy on him. Any good thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to say they are thinking of us. Thank you to Tim and the kids for helping me smile.

It's hard to stay sad looking at this face! :)

Testing

2011-08-29T16:12:00.000-05:00

Today has been rough on my nerves and my anxiety. The car is something that I'm not even giving a second thought because I just don't have the energy. Instead, I'm worried about Lauren.

A few weeks ago I noticed a knot on her neck, almost like an Adam's apple. I didn't think much of it. She's been cranky and fighting sleep for awhile but I figured it was all part of teething. Then, on Friday, I realized that the knot looked bigger. It was much bigger than a pebble, a lot closer to golf ball sized than I originally thought. (Or it grew, I'm not sure.) It was constantly running through my mind all weekend and I was anxious to get her into her doctor today.

(The waiting room experience today was a mess. I think the appointment time was WAY too close to nap time. Neither kid would calm down and Lauren kept flinging herself on the floor while Brenden pouted at everyone. Ridiculous.)

Upon first examining it, her doctor didn't seem so concerned. When I finally leaned Lauren's head back and the knot became more prominent, she told me that it was good that I brought her in. She sent us downstairs to get x-rays and some blood drawn.

I'm not sure what planet my children come from, but I'm sure it's one of opposites. Where most kids are hesitant, my kids are fearless. It's rare for one of them to dislike someone. And where most kids are okay in the waiting room and then throw fits anytime a doctor gets near them, my kids are the crazy ones that won't sit still until they are having their temperature taken or have their ears examined.

I should have known, since they are from the land of whatever-you-think-we'll-do-we're-going-to-do-the-opposite, that Lauren would have no problem having her x-rays done. She wasn't bothered by the tiny lead apron she had to wear, she stood still, let us position her and even got mad when we were through. Camera hog, anyone? Next, we headed over to have her blood drawn. I expected a huge fight with tears and a runny nose and the worst scream you could ever imagine. Yes, she cried. Yes, there were tears and snot and screaming. It just wasn't nearly as loud or as long as I expected. As soon as they were done she calmed down, said thank you, and calmly walked out the door.

Hopefully we will have some answers, soon. So far the doctor mentioned that it could be a lymph node, a bony mass, or a tumor. The best case scenario would be a small infection (she doesn't have a fever, though) that would require some antibiotics. We're all praying that it's nothing more serious.

My brave girl with her x-ray sticker, her Thomas sticker that she chose for doing so well with the blood draw, and her poor bandaged elbow.

Why I May Be Late

2011-08-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

Last week we had to have tires replaced on the Expedition. This week the transfer case on the Explorer is jacked up. Both of these things are not nearly as frustrating as trying to get my kids out the door to go pick up Tim to take him to work.

THIS is why I am often late. (And why it takes me at least 20 minutes to leave the house. So yeah, this is going to be long.)

Me: Okay! Time to go pick up daddy!

Brenden: NOOOOO!!! I wanna watch Scooby Dooby DOOO!!!! *hugs television like I just told him we're throwing it away and moving into a tent in the back yard and not just leaving for 30 minutes*

Lauren: NOOOO!!! DOOOO!!! (because she repeats everything Brenden says)

Me: *sigh* Dude, it's not that big of a deal. You can finish watching it when we get back.

Brenden: NOOOO!!! You're so MEAN!!! It's not FAIR!!!

Me: *deep breath* That's 1....

Brenden: NOOOO!!!! I don't like yooooou!!!

Me: That's 2.... *walks around grabbing keys, diaper bag, shoes, sunglasses to hide the fact that I just woke up and am not bothering with looking decent.*

Lauren: Milk! MILK! I gotta go potty!

Me: Lauren you do not have to go potty and you just finished your milk. You're fine. *shuts off all the lights, locks back door*

Lauren: POTTY!!!

Brenden: WAAAHHHH!!!

Me: That's 3, Brenden. Take a break.

Brenden: *folds arms, pouts, sits in timeout while glaring at me*

Me: Lauren lets get you in the car. Oh my gosh you did have to go potty. *changes dirty diaper while dodging kicks at my face*

Lauren: Ewww! Yuck! Baby?

Me; No, you can't have your baby. You'll get it dirty.

Lauren: *pouts, throws shoes at me*

Brenden: I'm up! I'm not crying anymore!

Me: I didn't say you could get up, yet. Back in time out while I get Lauren in the car.

Brenden: *more pouting*

~~~I run out to the car and realize that Tim did leave Lauren's carseat but didn't have time to strap it down. I deposit Lauren back in the house and get it situated.~~~

Me: Alrighty! Brenden, you can get up now and no more whining. Where is your sister?

Brenden: In your room.

Lauren: Book! BOOK!

Me: You want to take a book? Okay, how about this one? *Lauren's shakes her head* This one?

Lauren: NO!

Me: Alright I'm just picking out two books and we're getting in the car.

Lauren: BOOOOOK!!!

Brenden: I don't like these shoes.

Me: Then put on different ones. Where is your other shoe, Lauren?

Lauren: SHOE! No.

Me: Fine, no shoes for Lauren. Brenden, I do not care if you have shoes on or not, we're getting in the car.

~~~ Eventually, we got into the car. Lauren is still yelling about having to go potty and Brenden is unhappy at the book I picked out for him. I'm just happy that it only took 15 minutes instead of 20.~~~

*end scene*

Brenden Batting

2011-08-26T21:08:00.000-05:00

He just randomly decided it was time to try to hit the ball like a big kid.

Park It!

2011-08-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

The other day Brenden told me he wanted to play soccer. After checking out all of our options, we decided to sign him up at the local YMCA. We're all very excited, especially since it has practices and real games. I'm curious to see how this goes. The last time he played soccer, he looked like this:

18 months old. Craziness!

We turned in our paperwork and were headed out the door when Brenden realized that we wouldn't be playing any soccer that day. Oh the wails! The crying! The "please, mommy, please!" I decided to surprise him with a trip to the park. He was more than happy.

Amazing Woman

2011-08-24T18:57:00.001-05:00

I never post on the blog, but I thought I might to let you know something.

I have the most amazing woman, wife, and mother to my children that any man can have. I have been working a lot lately and she handles all the stuff at home. From soothing screaming kids to planning for Brenden's birthday party to cleaning the house, she does it all. I love you Amanda.

Love, Tim

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T08:48:00.007-05:00

A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future.

~Author Unknown

Happy 44th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

2011-08-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my parents' 44th wedding anniversary. Just like Tim and I, they were married twice, although their locations were much more "exotic". The first was in Tijuana and I'm pretty sure there was a chicken in attendance. The 2nd was in a small chapel in Santa Barbara, which was beautiful. And they, just like us, celebrate their 1st wedding on August 21st, and not the 2nd, which was September 5th.

Our gift to them this year? We cleaned out and reorganized their shed. We swept out the large snake skin and Tim managed to squeal like a girl when a HUGE brown spider jumped on him. I just wish I had video of his crazy dance. (To be fair, I'm sure anyone would have done the same thing.) We also moved a bunch of things to my grandma's house and mowed the jungle that was supposed to be her yard.

We also got them a card that Brenden signed all by himself:

And a cake, which I'm pretty sure would have looked about the same if Brenden had signed it, too. (Seriously, we loved it.) :)

Happy anniversary mom and dad!

Brenden-isms

2011-08-20T08:50:00.043-05:00

I seem to be doing a lot of "Brenden-ism" posts. This kid gives me a lot of things that I want to remember!

The past Monday our Bunco group decided to have a small swimming party. At the last minute I realized that the kids and Tim were invited so we hurriedly packed and headed over to play. At the beginning of the summer, Brenden was really nervous about jumping into the lake or a pool, even with his life jacket on. During his 4 weeks of swimming lessons, I noticed he had become more and more confident. I didn't really just how confident until he started doggy paddling across the pool with just Tim's hand under his belly.

Then he went and surprised me again. In our haste, we forgot his life jacket. One of the other kids let him borrow one and once he got to jumping, he couldn't stop. Suddenly, he wanted to jump into the deeper part, sans life jacket. I wasn't sure what to think, but I figured I would just stand there and see what happened. With barely any hesitation, he jumped, went all the way under, and then bobbed back up.

So very proud of our little fish!

*****

I've heard many excuses from him about why he can't sleep. He's scared. He needs to use the bathroom. His head hurts. He's thirsty. He can't find that one toy that we haven't seen in years and is probably long gone but he neeeeds it.

During one of his longer efforts, he decided to try a different tactic. He started out with the old stand by, "I'm scared! I want my mommy!" I always ask what he's scared of, explain why he doesn't have to worry about it because it's scared of little boys, or Riley is there to protect him, or it's not real. As I began to leave, he begged for a hug.

Brenden: My arms need to hug you. I have to hold you for awhile.

Me: I love your hugs.

Brenden: Me, too. Hugging my mommy is my job.

I hope he never quits.

My Better Half

2011-08-19T09:48:00.049-05:00

Happy Anniversary! I love you!

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you simply, without problems or pride:

I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,

so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,

so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

~Pablo Neruda

Happy Anniversary, Tim!!! (This is your $5 gift)

2011-08-19T08:08:00.000-05:00

Hey honey...this is your crazy, $5.00 gift. I think it's awesome. :)

Listen closely. You may remember a few things. I love you!

If you can't see the video, click here.

(I think he did a great job! We were on a very limited budget, hence the $5.00 price tag. He does have a tip page, which I plan on contributing to. If you'd like to contribute to this awesome guy, here's the link!)

Hey...Future Me. About that Low Carb thing.

2011-08-18T10:14:00.034-05:00

Dear Future Me,

This low carb diet thing? It really works. Does it stink? Yes. Have you annoyed everyone with it? I'm sure. (I'm sorry everyone!) You've had great days, bad days, and days when you wanted to just give up and go back to eating anything you can get your hands on. This is a note to remind you why that's a bad idea.

Those headaches? They suck. And they last for DAYS. Isn't it nice to realize your head doesn't want to explode after years of a constant, nagging pain? Doesn't it feel nice to WANT to go outside, to WANT to go to a restaurant? A big piece of chocolate cake or those few days of stuffing yourself with pizza are just not worth it

How about the fact that you have energy? Yes, real energy. Which means cleaning the kitchen isn't that big of a deal. Vacuuming the floor doesn't seem so daunting. Oh yeah, and those two kids don't seem so overwhelming.

Don't forget that clothing fits again. And even if it doesn't yet, it will someday. It's not a constant struggle to find something to wear that doesn't make you want to cry or hide in the closet. You don't feel like your husband will be embarrassed to be seen with you. (He never did, but it felt that way.)

Isn't it nice to feel healthy? Like you're doing something good for your body? It's not just for you, either. It's for everyone in your house. You're all eating better, more vegetables, more fruit. It feels nice to know you're doing the right thing.

Also, this:

160:

140:

And that was in just a few months. It's not about being skinny. It's about feeling healthy. You've been skinny before, but you never felt this good.

Keep at it.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-17T10:54:00.000-05:00

2001:

2011:

"Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life."

~Unknown

Brenden-isms

2011-08-14T10:13:00.000-05:00

After an epic trip to the store that had me offering him to anyone that would take him, and then a nice long nap, Brenden managed to make us laugh a few times. Thank goodness, because sometimes parenting feels like I'm just banging my head against a wall.

******

We had a little bit of time before we had to leave to go to the restaurant for Meredith's birthday, so we headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. Brenden was standing in front of me, staring down at the concrete of the porch, and said, "Look mommy, a 2." It took me a little while to realize that he was pointing at a water mark that did indeed look like a 2.

I grabbed a stick that was sitting next to me that resembled a letter, held it up, and asked him what he thought it looked like. His response:

"It looks like a stick."

I'm going to call that a Brenden Burn. (He did tell me that it looked like an "r" eventually.)

******

We mentioned that we needed to go inside to get ready, and Brenden started whining about wanting it to be his birthday. To help him get past that moment, we asked him what he wanted on his cake in a few weeks.

"A boo bee" is what we both heard, which we took to mean a "boobie". We were...shocked. We kept asking him to explain what that was, exactly and suddenly, a light bulb went on over Tim's head.

"Oh! A blue B!" Yeah...that's a lot different.

Pinterest!

2011-08-13T10:08:00.017-05:00

Have you seen the website Pinterest.com? To put it mildly, I am obsessed. Every day I find something new that I am desperate to try or that I think might make my life easier. (Or save us money...whoo hoo!) There are ideas for the kids' new rooms, cleaning hints, recipes, crafts, work outs, inspirational quotes...you name it, it's on there. I've been so happy with everything that I've tried that I had to share.

Homemade Baby Wipes

This is really simple and inexpensive. The only thing I had to buy was the paper towels. Plus, they work great!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

This is actually from my friend Heather's blog, but it's too good not to put on here. I added OxyClean and used Ivory soap, used a big food processor with a shredding attachment, and made a double batch. It is AWESOME. It's removed stains that I thought for sure would ruin a few shirts. Again, simple, cheap and easy.

Mini Quiches

Tim and I have both been looking for something that's quick and easy to eat for breakfast that doesn't come frozen from the store. (Or for me, from a cereal box. Doesn't work on the low carb diet.) I was really happy with how these turned out on the first try and I plan on making them again when I have a wider variety of veggies to use. Yes, there are some in there, but yellow peppers and onions don't show up well. :)

Using Ammonia to Clean Drip Pans

No, the one on the right is not brand new, but it looks like it!

I cannot find the link for this anywhere, but believe me I'm going to be using this from now on. I'm sure it would also work great on cookie sheets and pans with baked on stains. You just put whatever you'd like to clean in a plastic bag, pour a little bit of ammonia in the bag (the fumes are what do the work, not the liquid itself), seal the bag and leave it alone for at least 12 hours. I grabbed a Magic Eraser to get the really tough bits off and was more than happy with the results.

There are a few other things I've tried that I don't have pictures of. This felt flower for Lauren's hair and an embroidery hoop plus a pillow case that we're using as a laundry basket in Lauren's room.

I'm super excited to see what else I can use this awesome website for!

Happy Birthday, Connie!

2011-08-12T08:22:00.001-05:00

Happy birthday to one of the kids' three awesome grandmas, and a fantastic mother-in-law! (Not many people can say that) :)

Hope it's wonderful!

Happy Birthday, Meredith!!

2011-08-11T12:04:00.005-05:00

A very happy birthday to my brother's wife, Meredith!

Brenden's House Song

2011-08-11T11:12:00.000-05:00

Translation: There's a new house, we going to get a new house. (Lauren: Ah, ah, ah, ah) And Brenden was a very nice boy. And Brenden got to be my home, in here. (Lauren: Ba, ba, ba, ba)

Not the most amazing song, but not too bad for a 3 year old! :)

Purple and Gray

2011-08-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

It's a dark, gloomy, gloriously cool morning. After days and days of intense, if you stand still too long it will scald your feet through your shoes heat, this is a very welcome change. I'm going to blame the joy I feel about this lovely stuff called rain for my decision making abilities, or lack there of, this morning.

First, I let Brenden call his grandma Karen, which was not the problem. The fact that it was 6:30 am her time...not nice. I'm pretty sure she was awake, but probably not prepared to have a long conversation with a 3 year old about how our Wii is suddenly not working and how it is not okay OMGWTHBBQ!!!1!

Next, I let Brenden water paint. Also not a problem. But to keep Lauren occupied while he was doing this I placed her in her highchair with a piece of paper and some crayons. For normal children this is probably just fine. For our daughter, not so much. It only took her a few seconds to consume part of the black crayon, which I'm sure to find in her diaper tonight. Soooo grooooossss.

Then came my biggest mistake. No, it wasn't painting Brenden's toenails gray and purple. (And Lauren's, too.) It wasn't letting Brenden paint my toenails, which was messy but that was okay because I made sure to lay down an old towel. Nope, my worst idea was not checking to make sure that the top of the purple fingernail polish was on tightly.

FYI: OxyClean, water, and a LOT of elbow grease will definitely get purple fingernail polish out of carpet...eventually.

A Thank You to Chili's

2011-08-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

After I commented on Chili's website and wrote this post, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was rather disappointed that I didn't receive an email in the next few days. It seemed to me that I would have at least gotten an automated response. Instead I found a letter in our mailbox about a week later. (I wish that I had known to look for a response by actual mail. Maybe I didn't read carefully enough, but I don't remember seeing anything explaining that. It would have made me feel better much sooner and I wouldn't have complained after just a few days.)

The letter thanked me for my comments, apologized for someone making me upset, and included some Chili's bucks that we can use for our next visit. I did appreciate that someone had gotten back to me, but it felt like a form letter that would be sent to anyone with drop down boxes to fill in certain parts. It seemed like I could have complained that the store was too cold and I would have received the same response. Not exactly comforting and it didn't make me feel as though my concerns were heard or that I should go back.

Then, this morning, I received a very nice email from Amy Taylor, the Area Director for Chili's. She apologized for what had happened, explained that the manager in question had actually relocated (completely separate from this incident) and that the way we were treated was embarrassing and not how they want to run their restaurant.

Her response to me made me feel much better. It's amazing what a difference a sincere apology can make. While I may not have any immediate plans to eat at Chili's, I will definitely take advantage of the coupons, which I had initially planned on giving away.

Thank you again, Amy. We really appreciate it.

Recipe: Banana Ice Cream

2011-08-04T09:51:00.019-05:00

It's been really sad this summer to watch Brenden chow down on some ice cream and have to see Lauren stare wistfully at him. Unfortunately, milk allergies and ice cream do not mix. I've had a really difficult time finding any type of desert that is dairy and lactose free...until today.

Do you like bananas? Do you like peanut butter? Chocolate? TRY THIS.

Banana Ice Cream

1 banana
1 spoonful of peanut butter (optional)
a handful of dark chocolate chips (optional)

Peel the banana. Slice. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours.
Place slices into blender. Blend until smooth.
Add in peanut butter and chocolate chips.
ENJOY!

This was so much better than I expected! It's refreshing and actually feels healthy, which is good for the crazy, carb obsessed types. (Ahem...me.) Lauren hasn't had a chance to try it yet, but I believe she'll love it. I may even throw some Nutella in there and see if Brenden might like it as well. Although he'll have to pry it out of my hands, first.

Inspiration from here.

About Tim

2011-08-02T13:12:00.000-05:00

Tim had to have an Esophagogastroduodenscopy (EGD) with a biopsy and dilation today. Which means he was given some nice drugs, had a camera stuck down his throat, and then they took a little bit of tissue to have tested. Oh, and they stretched it out (dilation). It's about as much fun as it sounds, although he didn't seem too bothered by it.

Diagnosis: Eosinophilic Esophagitis. His esophagus is inflamed due to an allergy (food, environmental or both), acid reflux, or a combination of the allergy and reflux. He's going to have two separate medicines to take, which I will probably have to remind him of all the time, which will work to help both of those issues. He'll still need to have more dilation done, but this treatment should help in the long run.

Tim has had a long history of getting food stuck while he's eating. It's not choking, he can still breathe, the food just gets stuck before it makes it's way into his stomach. It's terrifying to see and really annoying for him, especially since it often happens at restaurants. The worst was at a barbecue place in Colorado Springs. A piece of meat got so stuck that he had to have surgery to have it removed. Scary!

We also found out that he does not have Celiac Sprue, a gluten allergy, at least not yet. It seems to show up later in life for people in the Kelly family. Fingers crossed that he doesn't have to worry about that. He likes his beer!

And just as a nice payback for posting an awful picture of me drugged up on Facebook, here's Tim, post procedure:

So sleepy. :)

Brenden-isms

2011-08-02T07:45:00.000-05:00

Both of the kids enjoy their sleep, but unfortunately they are both morning people. Obviously, they take after their father. Brenden is our earliest riser at the moment. Most days he's peeling my eyelids open (No...really.) with a loud refrain of "Mommy it's wake up time!" at about 6:15 am. I've been racking my brain for something that would help, something to bribe him to not wake me before 7 am.

Sunday night, inspiration hit me. I swear there was a light bulb and everything. I ran back to the hall closet, grabbed an old alarm clock, and practically skipped back to Brenden's room. I explained that unless the first number was a 7, he was to stay in bed or play quietly in his room. He was even more excited than I was.

Tim and I were in the living room getting things ready for the Tulsa Just Between Friends sale when we heard his door open. I was prepared to get onto him when he called out, "It's okay! I have a SEVEN!!!"

After cracking up at his excitement I explained that the seven he saw was in the wrong place. I realized that it would make everyone's lives easier if I covered the minutes section. Problem solved!

A very happy Brenden came to wake me up this morning at 7:15 am. "Mommy! I really do have a SEVEN!!!"

Yes, yes he did. :)

Restaurants and I Don't Get Along

2011-08-01T10:47:00.048-05:00

The day after our wonderful day of eating sushi off of a train and deciding to build a house, we decided to meet Mike, Connie and the kids at the Chili's in Tulsa Hills. We figured we would grab lunch and then head over to show everyone where we were going to build the new house.

We were so excited to see the kids! We got big hugs from Brenden and Lauren was being her happy, loud self. Eventually, though, we had to put her in her highchair so that we could decide what we wanted to eat. Lauren was most definitely upset and it became obvious that she was tired. Not a good combination. The best thing to do with her in this situation is to let her be upset. She eventually calms down and everyone goes about their business. If we give in and take her out it just leads to longer, and somehow louder, screaming.

While I was trying to soothe her, a lady walked near us and shouted, "Let people eat in peace. She's being VERY loud. Take her to the bathroom. Please." (Although that please was most definitely snotty.) I was frozen. I could not believe that this lady had walked up from wherever she was sitting and yelled at us. I was upset because Lauren was screaming, and then I was embarrassed to be scolded by a perfect stranger. I wasn't just letting her go crazy and not trying to do anything about it. I was actively trying to calm her, and it had only been a minute or two.

A very nice lady sitting across from us, who was getting the loudest part of Lauren's screeches, leaned over and said, "Don't even worry. She's just fine and absolutely adorable." I'm sure she saw the look of pure horror on my face. When she got up to leave she left her glasses on accident. I ran them up to her near the door and thanked her.

At the same time we were being shouted at, a waitress came up and handed us some crackers. The change in Lauren was immediate. She wasn't exactly quiet for the rest of the meal, but she was happy. I, on the other hand, was not okay. I just could not let it go. I had this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach and wasn't able to excitedly talk about the new house or anything else that was even remotely happy. I didn't end up ordering anything. I couldn't look the waitress in the eye. I kept bringing it up, which I'm sure was super annoying, and then I learned that it wasn't another patron that had snapped at me, it was a manager.

That's when I started crying.

I felt like the worst mother ever. I let my daughter scream in a restaurant. I had someone who I was paying, although not directly, treating me like a child. I felt like everyone in the restaurant was staring at me, judging me, deciding that I wasn't fit to have children. It was one of the worst feelings ever.

When I got home I got on the Chili's website and sent them a message explaining what had happened and how I felt it was handled inappropriately. I completely understand her coming to talk to us; that was not the issue at all. I was just as annoyed, or more, with Lauren being upset and I'm sure other people were, too. However, I think it was completely out of line to so rudely confront us about it, when I was obviously trying to make the situation better.

I'm still not feeling any better, but at least I was able to tell someone about it, even if it's just an automated email address. I did learn three things, though. 1. Don't take Lauren out to eat when she's tired. 2. I won't be able to eat at Chili's, especially that one, for awhile. 3. You never know who is going to ruin your day. Be it your cranky child, an unpleasant restaurant manager, or a combination of both.

******

Update: Reply from Chili's here.

A New Adventure

2011-07-31T20:09:00.001-05:00

This weekend started out much the same as any weekend. Brenden woke us up super early, much coffee was consumed, and then we headed to a t-ball game. Mike and Connie had offered to have the kids spend the night with them on Saturday so Tim and I had some free time, which never happens.

Tim has been trying to convince me that we should buy a house before we buy a newer car. He's been researching houses online, different builders and real estate sites, and checking interest rates. Every day he mentions something else that he would like in a house...different cabinets, plush carpet, new appliances...anything to pique my interest and "win" at the house vs. car argument.

Since we were out and about, we decided to drive by and see the builder that we had agreed was our favorite. We stumbled upon some open houses in a different neighborhood and decided to look around. They were beautiful houses, but much too large and well beyond our price range. I was slightly worried that we wouldn't be able to find something we really liked that covered everything we wanted and was still affordable.

We drove down the road and found the community that included the builder we liked. Their office was open so again, we decided to have a look around. The gentleman and lady that helped us were both very knowledgeable, didn't make us feel as though we were wasting their time by asking a ton of questions on the first day that we were out looking, and never tried to up-sell us. (At least not obviously...ha!)

They offered to let us see a house that was almost exactly like what we had wanted, only it was in a gated community. As soon as we turned the corner, Tim said, "I love this neighborhood." It has some custom built homes that bring the property value up and you can tell that everyone that lives there right now really takes care of their homes.

Stepping through the door, we were both surprised that we liked it so much. They pointed out the different lots that were available and I immediately felt that pull in my chest. I wanted to live there. But I know that sometimes I can be impulsive and I know that Tim is good at pulling me back. After snagging a few print outs from the office, we headed out for lunch.

(Side note: Sushi Train in Tulsa is AWESOME. It's exactly what you might think. Sushi served on a toy train that drives around the building. We were slightly hesitant to choose anything but every waiter came over to help us at one point. I could not recommend them enough. Fun, good food, super nice people. Also, get the cheesecake roll. Delicious!)

All during lunch we were itching to talk to someone about a home loan. We ended up going through the pre-approval process online with USAA and after triple checking to make sure that our budget would work, our minds were made up.

We're building a house.

(Oh my gosh I'm so excited!!!)

We'll have 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a dining room, a nook, a living room, a utility room and an upstairs game room. Our yard will be smaller than the one we have now, but it's still plenty big. We get to design everything, from the wall colors, to the counter tops, to the light fixtures. There are a few upgrades we'd like to make and some wish list items that we may do if money allows, but no matter what, it's going to be awesome. (Pictures of a house that is very similar are here.)

I'm sure I'll be posting a lot about how the process is going, so I'll apologize in advance. We've never been on this particular type of adventure.

We're ready.

Our land! (That is so crazy to say!)

Unavoidable

2011-07-28T10:57:00.102-05:00

I know I've mentioned Brenden's aggression issues a time or two. It's something that we've been working on for quite a while, and we have had some success with focusing on positive reinforcement and a rewards system. I don't think his behavior is extreme. I think it's mostly his age, testing his boundaries, pushing for independence, and learning to voice his frustration.

So it's no surprise that our stomachs dropped yesterday when his swimming instructor came over to us and said, "There was an, um....incident today."

Our first thought was, "Oh no. Brenden has done something so awful that he won't be allowed back." Although I'm sure if that was the case then they would have come to get one of us before the lesson had finished.

"Did Brenden do something to someone?" I sputtered back to her.

"Oh no! Not him." she replied. "Hold on, I think I see the other little boy."

We had to stand there awkwardly as the little boy, who I know clawed at Brenden's face the second day of classes, walked past us with his mom. I'm not sure what that boy has against my son, but they just don't mesh well.

After a quick sigh of relief, she explained that the other little boy got angry when Brenden tried to hold onto the back of his life jacket, which is what they do to stay in line. Brenden was only following directions, but this little kid was not happy about it. He turned around and punched Brenden right in the face.

At this point, my mouth was hanging open.

Brenden never cried, never complained to us about the "incident", didn't even seem to remember it happening. He was so excited about wearing a life jacket and being able to jump into the pool and swim on his own that nothing was going to ruin his day.

After confirming that the instructor had already talked to the other mom, we felt comfortable that everything that needed to be done had been done. She did say that she planned on keeping them apart if she could, but that's hard to do in a class full of 3 and 4 year olds. We only have one more day so I'm not terribly worried.

I feel bad now that my main concern was making sure Brenden hadn't misbehaved, instead of worrying about his well being. However, I know him and I know if he was hurt then that would have been the very first thing he said to me and not, "Mommy, I wore a life jacket!"

Just another reminder that one of the most difficult things we have to face as parents is letting our kids go out into the world. To let them be hurt, literally and figuratively. To let them cause hurt, unintentionally or on purpose, and hope that we have taught them to do everything they can to make it right. To let them make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.

Knowing that Brenden shrugged this off, that he didn't retaliate or let it dampen his enthusiasm for his swimming class makes me feel like we're on the right track. Now to figure out how to keep on chugging.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-27T11:17:00.001-05:00

~click on picture to enlarge~

The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.

~Pablo Casals

(Inspiration from here)

Lauren-ism

2011-07-26T21:19:00.000-05:00

Today I put Lauren in her car seat to head to swimming just like I always do. No special magic tricks, no funny song, nothing to make this one time special.

She puckered her lips into her fishiest, "give me a smooch" face. Of course I gave her a kiss. I dare you to turn that down!

I turned to get into the front seat when I heard her little voice say, "Lub ewe!"

*heart melt!*

Guess who got another kiss.

Memories Monday

2011-07-25T10:13:00.009-05:00

My brain (and heart) are having a hard time realizing that this little guy:

Has grown into this:

Bye Bye, Sucker!

2011-07-25T08:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a long day in the land of Lauren and Tim. We had stopped by my mom's house to pick the dogs up (more on our trip to Independence later) and I realized that Lauren was tired and that I still needed to help my mom clean out my closest. Somehow I talked Tim into putting Lauren down for a nap in my parent's front bedroom while I enjoyed the peace and quiet in the other part of the house.

A few hours later, Tim came back to beg me to help him lay her down. I guess she had taken a really short nap and the rest of the time was screaming her head off. I felt terrible for both of them.

I relieved a very weary Tim of a very weary Lauren and went to try my luck at laying her down. I grabbed her baby, popped her pacifier in, and starting singing, just like I normally do. She immediately started batting at her face, and eventually threw her pacifier on the floor. You better believe I was going to capitalize on this new development. It took about 20 minutes, but she eventually calmed down and passed smooth out. A few hours later she was awake, a lot happier, but a little puffy. Screaming and crying for long periods of time will do that to you.

Tim was not as happy about this as I was. He knew that the screaming in our house would intensify before it was back down to the normal, migraine inducing level that we're used to. But the one thing I've learned with my kids is that if we give in once, trying to change something the next time is three times as bad. So last night we did the normal bedtime routine, minus the pacifier. And you know what? She not only fell asleep, but she also stayed asleep! She was ready.

I must admit, I'm a more than I little excited to throw those things away. I know that there will be some ~~really difficult~~ ~~omg my head is going to explode~~ ~~why did we do this again?~~ rough moments, but there's no going back now.

Asleep with no pacifier in sight.

Excitement!!!

2011-07-22T09:46:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty sure most people know that I'm adopted. It holds a special place in my heart and is something I'd love to be able to do, although I don't see it in our immediate future. (Don't get your hopes too high, grandmas! Haha!) I've been blessed to have an amazing experience, to have such a wonderful very extended family.

A few months ago I found out that a guy I went to high school with was in the process of adopting. I started following his wife's blog and contributed to their adoption puzzle. I've followed their progress, mostly on Twitter, and then today I saw this:

I'll admit it...I squealed, and then I bawled. I'm just so very happy for them! I may not have seen Mike since high school and I've never met Vanessa, but I know that they will be fantastic parents and that this little boy will be more loved that he can imagine.

The world is full of sad, disturbing news. I just had to share this one bit of happiness.

Congratulations, guys! Can't wait to see pictures!