Here come the Holidays!

Everyone is having a pretty good december so far. Kyle is starting his second month of eating solid foods. He had his first yams today and seemed to like it. He eats pretty good, but sticks his tongue out to swallow which pushes most of the food back out. He is getting more active and can sit up on his own for about 10 seconds. He can move around a little on his belly, but can't get up on hands and knees. He rolls over easily now and prefers to be on his belly. He's putting everything in his mouth now (his lab is up and running). He seems frustrated that he can't move around more. Bryson is playing well with him and brings him his doggie toy. He always seems to remember where it was left and brings it over when we move to other rooms of the house, it's very sweet. We converted the back room into a playroom for the boys and they both love it, Bryson plays in there most of the day and Kyle enjoys being in there too. Kyle is cooing more and the other day while I was singing him to sleep he was cooing with me like he was singing too, it was so cute.

Bryson is talking more and is getting better at singing songs. He can sing parts of the ABC song pretty well (see his videos). He helped me make cookies a few weeks ago and did a great job. He really enjoyed it and pretends to make cookies in his playroom with his rolling pin and cookie cutters. St. Nick came a few weeks ago, I don't think Bryson quite got the idea, but was happy to have a new Thomas movie and some fruit snacks(see videos). He knows who Santa is and we went to get a picture with Santa but he wanted to look out the window at the cars and didn't want anything to do with Santa. He cried the whole time, the elf just grabbed him for a quick shot and then put him down(see picture above). Kyle didn't seem to care much at all. Bryson had a great time decorating the tree (even though he put all the decorations on the same branch). I thought he would get bored, but he kept up until they were all on the tree. He likes looking at all the santa trinkets on the stockings and tries to guess whose is whose. I finally found a video other than Thomas that he enjoys, Frog and Toad. I'm not sure why, but he just loves it. He smiles and claps along with the stories, he may even like it better than Thomas! We tried to get some nice Christmas pictures of the boys together, but Bryson was not cooperating despite cookie bribes(note the cookie in his mouth for most of the pics). Kyle was easy to photograph, but it was nearly impossible to get one of Bryson or the two of them together, but all you can do is try.(see animoto above)

Mara and John will be coming for christmas this year and friends of ours will be coming for a christmas eve dinner. I'm looking forward to christmas at home, but will miss everyone back in WI.

Wisconsin Trip

Well, we had a great visit in Green Bay and Madison. Bryson had a Thomas the Train birthday party at Gramma Bonnie's and got lots of Thomas stuff. He had a good time playing with his cousins Skye and Vincent. He loved playing with all Vincent's Thomas toys. Skye helped change the boys diapers (not the poopie ones). And even fed a bottle to Kyle. My mom watched the boys overnight so Ken and I could get away to door county for a night. We had a wonderful time, I haven't had such freedom for 2 years! (It was the first time we were away from Bryson overnight since he was born-not counting when Kyle was born). I thought we might be too late, but the colors were beautiful! I miss the fall in the Midwest, it is so much prettier than in the northwest. We stayed at Steve's cottage in Sturgeon bay and drove up to Penninsula State Park. I had fried cheese curds for the first time in YEARS- they were great! The boys did wonderful with gramma and grampa, we'll have to do it again sometime.

On thurs. we went to the children's museum in Appleton with Scott and the kids. They had alot of fun! Bryson got a little overzealous in the water area and needed a change of clothes though. On Fri. we went to the Zoo Boo. Bryson went as James and Kyle was a monkey(thanks Skye). Bryson was mostly interested in running through the puddles(water again). Ken missed him by inches running into a giant one and he was wet to his thighs, but he didn't seem to care. He got to feed the giraffe, but was a little scared of it. We went out for a fish fry that night, it was great I hadn't had perch in years, it tasted great! (I also loved the apples, they reminded me of apple picking when I was a kid- the apples out here taste so different)

On sat. morning we headed back to Madison for Halloween. Mara made a cute cat costume for Bryson to wear. Bryson did a little trick or treating but was more interested in playing on the playground. Ken and I were looking forward to going out to state street, but apparently they had to discontinue the usual event due to rioting and such. Now you have to pay to get in and it's roped off and they have bands and stuff for 35,000 people. So, we went out with Ken's friends to a bar (Mickey's). Ken was Jerry Garcia and I was the cat in the hat. We stayed out till bar time and boy was I tired the next day!(I usually go to bed by 9:00). Bryson had fun feeding the chickens with Mara, going the zoo and he got three more Thomas trains! I put a few more videos on his website, so check it out!

Two years old!!!

Bryson turned two on Sunday. We had the Blickenstaffs over for dinner and cake. Bryson got a bunch of Thomas stuff and a mega blocks garage set up with a bunch of trucks(thanks vincent!)It was hard to get him to open all his gifts because he just wanted to play with everything. I made him a Henry (from Thomas the train) cake and he seemed to like it. I put his Thomas sheets on his big boy bed, but I still can't seem to get him to sleep in it. We went to the pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago and Bryson picked out his own pumpkin. He helped me carve and decorate the pumpkins and runs outside to see them everyday. Kyle is doing great he is almost rolling over now and can hold his head up when he's on his tummy. He likes to watch Bryson play and he laughs at him often. Our insurance issue is being appealed and it sounds like there's a good chance they will pay our hospital bill, so that is a great relief. We are getting excited for our trip home, now I need to get packing!

October already!

Mara and John were here for a visit recently. We went to the zoo for a day and Bryson got to ride the train again. Mara and John bought him some more Thomas trains and some track. He won't stop talking about Henry (one of the trains). It's the first thing he plays with in the morning when he gets up. His new favorite book is Green Eggs and Ham he calls it 'ham'. He really seems to like the Dr. Seuss books. He's been a little crabby lately cuz he's getting his upper canine teeth in. (He's getting up pretty much every night crying)He got sick yesterday morning and vomitted a bunch of times, I was worried he might have the flu and we all were gonna get it, but it must have been something he ate cuz he was fine by the afternoon. He loves to go for walks and doesn't want to ride in the BOB anymore. It's making it a little more difficult for me to get exercise cuz he goes so slow. We're down to his last nuk! I'm hoping we won't have to buy anymore, but I'm thinking we made need a couple just in case for our trip to WI.

Kyle is doing great, he's getting bigger all the time! He's a real happy baby and smiles and coos alot. He is so happy in the mornings! It makes it easier to get up because he is so cute. He has had a few big out loud laughs now, but it's mostly just giggles and stuff. He has his first cold (his nose is a little stuffy)but seems to be handling it very well. He is able to roll onto his side now but can't quite make it all the way over. He is grabbing at toys and tries to sit up when he's in his bouncer chair.

I got some bad news yesterday, our insurance company is refusing to pay for Kyle's hospital stay (we didn't precertify it??). what good is it to have insurance if they can find ways to get out of paying for your bills! I sure hope something can be done in this country about health care, because it is a ridiculous mess! We're going through an appeals process now so keep your fingers crossed. If this doesn't work we're gonna be bankrupt (three weeks in the NICU is expensive!)

Happy Birthday Mara!

Beach and zoo

We went to the zoo last friday and Bryson had a great time. He rode the train for the first time. He enjoyed watching the baby elephant play in the water with his mother and started crying when we were leaving the exhibit. He also liked the aquarium with the big fish and the sea lion exhibit. He made friends with a couple little girls. He would walk up to them and start laughing to get their attention. He sure enjoys being around other kids.

We went to the beach for the weekend and he loved playing in the sand. He didn't want to play with me or ken though, I brought all his sand toys, but he only wanted to play with other kids stuff.(see video) He just kept moving down the beach, he never even looked back to see if we were watching him and he cried when we brought him back and refused to play with us.

Bryson is talking more and is more articulate with his words. He is still obsessed with Thomas and we've been getting new videos from the library every couple weeks. His favorite toys are his trains, cars and trucks. He requested to sleep in his big boy bed last night (he usually wants to be in the crib) and I think he didn't know where he was when he got up (too early 5:30!)because he was crying.

Kyle is growing fast, he's already to big for some of his 0-3 month clothes and I just got them out a couple weeks ago! He weighs about 12 lbs now and is in the 2% on the normal growth curve. He had his 4 month check up last week and he is developing on schedule and is even ahead (for his corrected age-2 months) with some things. He is smiling alot and has laughed a few times. He loves to look at himself in the mirror and is getting much better at lifting his head during tummy time. He likes to sit in his bouncer chair now, so I don't have to always rely on the swing. He likes to look at his toys and he swings at them with his arms. He's really getting cute now that he is so smiley, it is so sweet!

Before




After






Well, Ken has nearly completed the house painting. He just has a few touch ups to do and to put the gutters back on. I am very happy with how it turned out. We got Bryson a big boy bed. It also turns into bunk beds so we'll be able to use it later too. So far he's only napped in it once. I don't think he's ready for it just yet, but we have a month or two before Kyle will grow out of the cradle. Kyle is doing great, he smiles alot and you can tell he is looking at you. He has also started cooing. He weighs about 10 lbs now. Bryson likes to ride his bikes, read books (the same ones over and over and over....) and watch his Thomas the Train movie. He loves the swings at the park. We bought plane tickets to go home the end of October, it'll be great to see everyone again. Check out the new video on drop shots......

Hot summer!

Well, we've had some real hot days this summer and more to come (100's next week). Bryson and I have been spending some time at the fountain by the school to keep cool. He's still a little afraid of the water, I don't think he likes to get his face wet.

Ken and Sheila have been working hard getting our house painted. I think it looks great, I'll post some pics when they they finish (hopefully this weekend.) Kyle is getting much better head control and really looks around at his environment. His doesn't like to sit in is bouncer chair, but his likes his activity mat on the floor. Bryson likes it too, he points to the mat when he wants me to put Kyle on it. I have to watch him real close though, he can get too rough with him.

Bryson loves his Thomas the Train video. Every morning he wakes up and points to the TV and says 'train". He wants me to sing him songs when I feed the baby (he waves his arm up and down) and will only let me sing the Thomas songs, he cries when I sing anything else.

My garden is doing well. I posted a picture of a crazy carrot from my garden. It looks like a man running, he even has a penis!

Happy 4th!

Bryson and I had a little 4th of July parade down our street. We decorated his wagon and waved flags. Of course Bryson didn't want to ride in the wagon, he wanted to walk! It was a very hot weekend (90's), so we sat in the creek one afternoon to stay cool. Bryson had a great time, it was a good thing he had a life vest on, cuz he was being a little dare-devil. He's starting to enjoy the water more.

Kyle is two months old now! He had his checkup with the doctor yesterday and he is right on track with his growth, but his lab results for his growth panel were abnormal. So, I'm waiting to hear from the nutritionist, he may need to go back on some fortified milk because he's not getting enough vitamins and minerals from my breast milk. She also found a hernia below his bellybutton which is pretty common I guess.

Kyle's first outing

Well, things are going great! Kyle has mastered breastfeeding, no more bottles and I've tapered off my pumping to just 2x/day. By next week I should be finished with the pumping all together. Kyle has reached his "birthday" now and he's starting to really wake up. He is awake more and seems to be looking at you now. He is getting chubby cheeks, so I think he is still gaining weight. We went for our first family outing over the weekend to the Columbia Gorge with our friend Sheila. The trip went well, we just had a hard time fitting everybody in the car with the dog and the BOB. (we had to strap the BOB to the top of the car). We may need to get a bigger car!

Bryson had a little scare last week, he fell in the house (unfortunately no one saw him) and wouldn't put any weight on his left leg for almost a full day. When we brought him into the urgent care, he was finally starting to walk a little (but with a limp). They recommended just to keep an eye on him and get an x-ray if it wasn't better in a few days. He seems to be back to his old self now, running around as usual, so he must have just sprained his ankle or something. But it really slowed him down for a couple days. Bryson is showing more and more interest in Kyle. He likes to touch his hands and feet and point to his body parts and he loves to give him kisses!

Welcome Home Kyle!

Well, Kyle has been home for three weeks now. He is 38 weeks old and weighs 6 lbs! He is breast feeding some, but gets most from a bottle, so I am spending alot of time breast pumping. I have a great milk supply, I'm actually running out of room to store all the milk, I even have a freezer in the garage that is full! Kyle usually has a couple hours a day when he is awake and alert. He doesn't cry much, but when he does, he has a much stronger cry. He enjoys being held and likes to sleep in your arms. Bryson seems to be adjusting well. He shows some interest in the baby, but mostly doesn't pay him any mind. Bryson is obsessed with books. He reads books or wants you to read books to him all day! He carries them all over the house. He also loves to be outside and play in the dirt.

My mom came to help out for a little over a week and my dad came for a weekend. My mom was a great help and cooked and cleaned for us and watched Bryson so I could focus on breast-feeding with Kyle. It was sad to see her go. Steve, Jan and Anna were able to come by on the weekend to meet Kyle and visit with Bryson as well. Ken's friend Sheila is staying with us while she looks for a job in Portland. She is helping out with Bryson and some work around the house. I feel like things are under control now, I don't think I would be able to do it all on my own yet (Ken is working full time). I am thankful to all our friends and family who have helped us out in our time of need!

Welcome Kyle!

Well, it's been a crazy couple weeks! My water broke at work on 4/29/09, I went to the hospital and they verified it was amniotic fluid and they said I would be in the hospital until I had the baby. It was a pretty scary experience, I got steriod shots to help the baby's lungs develop. They said 75% of women go into labor within 72 hours of their water breaking. I made it one week. On May 6 the baby's heart rate dropped periodically and when they did an US they found he was in an unusual position. His "hand" (it turned out to be his foot) was over his head (he was head down) and the umbilical cord was next to his "hand". The doctors felt this was a bad position due to the posibility of cord compression and recommended a c-section. So I decided to go with the surgery and Kyle was born at 9: 56 that night. He had his foot up by his head. He weighed 3 lbs 14 oz and was 16 and 3/4 inches long. He was able to breathe on his own and had good color. He was crying vigorously (I took this as a good sign.) The surgery went much better than the first for me and I recovered much quicker. After a couple hours Kyle started to show signs of labored breathing and they put him on a c-pap machine. He was only on the c-pap for one day. I was glad, it was hard to see him with it on because his face swelled so much he couldn't even open his eyes. He had IV fluids for a couple days and he needed to be under lamps for a couple days due to jaundice. He has tried breast feeding twice a day to practice, he's done really well overall. I am so happy with how well he is doing. I got sent home from the hospital on saturday the 9th. I think it was very hard on Bryson, I sure did miss him. It's great to be home, but it is also difficult to juggle everything. I try to be at the hospital form Kyle from 9am to 4pm and then I come home to put Bryson to bed and then I go back to the hospital to "feed" Kyle at 9 pm. I am lucky because I am producing alot of milk for Kyle, he is eating through a naso-gastic tube, we practice breast feeding twice a day.

April

April has been a pretty good month for the Zimmermans. We've had a few really nice sunny days and had a picnic at the park one of those days. Ken had two weeks off work before starting his new job and he got alot of work done remodeling our bathroom. Bryson decorated easter eggs and had fun finding and opening the plastic ones with treats inside. We went to Cory and Melissa's for a little easter egg hunt, (the weather outside wasn't nice enough).

Bryson and I flew down to Sacramento to visit with my sister and parents. It was a little rough traveling pregnant with a little one, but it was a pretty easy flight. It went quite well overall. Bryson watched his first parade and had a great time. He also saw the doxen races which was quite funny. He had a good time visiting with his family and cried when his Aunt Jessie had to leave. Grandma and grandpa read him books and sang itsy bitsy spider. I put a new video on drop shots of him trying to sing itsy bitsy spider; he can do better, but that's all I was able to get.

He's talking a little more and tries to say bye bye to specific people/things, like bye bye mamma or bye bye gramma and grampa. Ken has just started his new job and it's going well so far. Unfortunately Bryson is sick again, he hasn't been sleeping well at night or for his naps and he has been very clingy, so I really haven't been able to get much done. And I really want to get my garden going!!!! Oh well, maybe next week.

Mexico

Well, we had a great time in Mexico! We met Mara, John, Scott and Terri in Isla Mujeres. (An island across from Cancun). It was beautiful there, the sand is white (it's made of broken up shells from the reefs) and doesn't get hot in the sun. The white sand makes the ocean a bright tourquoise blue color, it's beautiful. It was a nice place for Bryson to play in the ocean because the reefs around the island cut down the surf so there are hardly any waves. Bryson loved the beach and ocean, we couldn't get him to stop eating the sand (I can't imagine it tasted very good, go figure!). He was obsessed with the golf cart we traveled around in, he pointed at all the other cars and said "car" and he would wave at other people in the golf carts. One morning he woke up and got my hat, his hat and then headed to the door and pointed and said "car"! He met a little mexican girl about his age on the beach one day and they played together, she shared one of her cookies with him. Bryson of course practically shoved the whole thing in his mouth and then reached for her cookie! The weather was great and the food there was wonderful. At our hotel they gave us freshley sqeezed orange juice every morning. The trip home didn't go so smoothly, we were stuck on the airplane in Mexico for two hours before we took off, to have the airplane checked and Bryson had a bit of a melt down. The delay caused us to miss our connecting flight so we didn't get home until 1 AM (we left our hotel at 7:30 AM). So it was a long day especially for a little one. I think Bryson did a great job traveling overall, it certainly isn't easy with a 1 and a half year old. So, it's good to be home, but unfortunately I've caught another cold (I think I've only been healthy 2 weeks over the last three months!). I'll put a few videos of our trip on drop shots this week, so check it out!

Haircut

Ken cut Bryson's hair last week, it turned out much better than I expected considering how Bryson couldn't sit still for the haircut. the bangs got a little short, but I think he looks pretty cute. Bryson is talking more, he can say "bubble" and "car" and he can make a moo and barking sound. He loves to pat my big belly and point at my belly button and then look at his belly, it's cute. Ken has started remodeling our master bathroom and we are living downstairs in the guest bedroom until it is completed. The weather has been pretty nice here and Bryson and I have been spending more time outside. He loves to collect rocks, his fills both hands and holds the rocks until we go back in the house and he screams when I pry them out of his little fists. We're getting excited to go to Mexico in a couple weeks! We haven't been on a vacation in so long! I put a few more videos on Bryson's dropshots site.

It's a boy!

I had my US today and there's no doubt, it's a boy! I'm very excited, we won't have to buy much of anything and the boys can share a room, so I can keep my craft/misc/junk room! We will have to come up with a name however and I was thinking it would be fun to go shopping for girl stuff, but it'll be much less work this way. The baby yawned during the US, it was so cute. Ken and Bryson were there too, but Bryson is pretty oblivious to it all. I'm sure he won't have a clue until we bring the baby home.

It has been a crazy few weeks around here. Bryson and I are still getting over our colds and Ken just caught it. Bryson got the rotavirus at daycare and had vomitting and diarrhea for 5 days,it was awful! What a mess, we were doing about 4 loads of laundry a day, there was vomit everywhere! Unfortunately both Ken and I got it and all three of us were sick. I had a pretty hard time, being pregnant I usually need to eat every few hours, so the empty stomach was horrible.

The other pictures are of Bryson's first trip to Mt. Hood. We went sledding with the Blickenstaffs, it was fun!

We got a few new things for Christmas, so we did some re-arranging of the furniture. We got a lap top, so we were able to get rid of our huge desk in the office and put in our old entertainment center. We put the old computer in the music area and hung up the guitars so Bryson can't get at them. We changed the set up in the living room and got a new TV, the room seems so much bigger now!


Bryson likes to talk on the phone, we gave him one of our old cordless phones to play with. He definitely says "ball" now and seems to know "mama". I've noticed him trying to copy words after I say them as well. He is more difficult to watch now than ever before! He wants to do everything you are doing and is not very good with "no" yet. I bought him a cheap little guitar at goodwill to play with and he really likes it. He enjoys music and is getting more advanced dance moves. He used to just sway side to side, but he jumps around now too, I'll try to get it on camera. I've been feeling pretty good lately, I've even been able to stay up past 9:00! My US is scheduled for Feb. 10th, I'm very excited to find out the sex. I'm thinking it's a girl, but it'll be great either way.