happy birthday steve!

Christmas!

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I started potty training Bryson when we got back from our vacation and he is finally going pee on the potty consistently (it took 6 weeks!). However, he has yet to go number two on the potty. He has really improved with dressing himself and can get his underwear and pants on all by himself. We had a nice Thanksgiving at our friend's Cory and Melissa. Ken and the boys stayed up late watching Toy Story 3.

Bryson loves to sing songs and it surprises me how many of the words he actually knows. St. Nick came on the 6th and the boys got some candy and little gifts. Bryson got the movie Polar Express and really likes it. I'm hoping to take him on a real steam train ride this christmas season. (They have a "Polar Express" train in Hood River.) Bryson sat on Santa's lap, but was so shy he kept his head down and didn't say anything to him. Our neighbor dressed up as Santa a couple nights ago and stopped by with presents for Bryson and Kyle. Now Bryson thinks Santa is going to come over every night. I tried to show him on a calendar when Christmas was, but I don't think he understood.

Kyle is able to "run" now and is even trying to jump. I've seen him get a little air a couple times now. He is talking more and puts a couple words together. He is doing better at daycare, no more reports of him getting picked on. He has been sick (vomitting) all day today, unfortunately. He hasn't been able to keep anything down. Hopefully we all don't get sick. Mara is supposed to come for a visit tomorrow. I had to put gates up around the Christmas tree and nativity scene this year because Kyle undecorates the tree and thinks the ornaments are balls. Bryson also has a few favorite ornaments and likes to take them to bed with him. They seem to think the nativity characters are action figures of some kind and I find them all over the house.

Ken was in a car accident the day before Thanksgiving and the Mazda was totaled. Ken has more neck pain now and is seeing a specialist next week. We bought a 2007 Honda Oddesy last week and we really like it. I think it will come in handy when we go camping and we'll be able to take one car when visitors come. Bryson, Kyle and Keb seem to like the extra room too, they aren't all squished together like they were in the vibe. Keb gets the whole back seat. Looking forward to Christmas this year, it should be fun!

Happy Halloween!

Both boys had a checkup at the doctor today. Despite Kyle's significant increase in appetite he still hasn't made it onto the normal growth curve yet. He is still under 20lbs! His development is right on track though. Bryson is in the normal range for all his development, but is on the low end for speech and fine motor skills. The doctor said it wouldn't hurt to try potty training the boys at the same time, so I think I'll at least try it. I really started working on potty training with Bryson this weekend. It didn't go as well as I thought is could, but he's had multiple successful events and is still interested in trying. He has been wearing underwear at daycare too.

We had a short visit with my sister and parents the end of oct. It was nice to have some of the family together. We even stayed up late one night and played sheep's head, it was really fun! The boys really enjoyed having the company too. Kyle is a little more shy than Bryson and it took him a little while to warm up. My parents stayed with the kids for almost a week while Ken and I went on a short vacation.

We flew into Fresno, CA (you're right Jess, it is a pretty crappy town) and drove to Kings Canyon and Sequioa Natl Parks. Kings Canyon was very similar to Yosemite and Ken had a hard time driving on the steep winding roads. The trees in Sequioa park were amazing, they were huge. It was different from the Redwoods because you could see the whole tree. The were not as tall, but they were so wide! What as most amazing to me was how the giant trees could be burnt out up to 15 ft at the bottom and still survive and support the giant trunk above it! It was common to use fallen trees as homes or even hotels, they were so big inside.

Then we drove th Monterey Bay. It was a long ride but it was interesting to see all the agriculture. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was amazing. They had huge two story aquariums with schools of fish. The sardines were so beautiful to watch it was mezmorizing. The jelly fish exibits were beautiful as well. There was a lot of hands on stuff too and tons of kids activities. I'd love to take the boys there in a few years. I am so thankful to my parents for giving us the opportunity to get away for a while. I was surprised how much I missed the kids we called everyday to see how they were. I confess I was a little disappionted that they didn't even ask about us. Ken and I even walked to a nearby park and played on the playground (it was the coolest playground ever, Bryson woulda loved it!). It even had a real steam engine the kids could play on.

I surprised how different Kyle looked when we got home, he looked bigger! (We were only gone 5 days!) I was sad for my parents to leave, it was fun having them here spending time with the boys. We all got dressed up and went trick or treating in our neighborhood. There was only one other group that went out in our neighborhood, but everybody was ready with candy. We even scored a basketball hoop out of it! Bryson, of course, wanted to eat all the candy as he got it. The candy has come in pretty handy for potty training purposes.

Bryson had a small birthday party. It was Thomas themed, he got all sorts of Thomas stuff (books, backpack, lunch box, tent), I even made him a book
(about Thomas trains preparing his birthday party)by taking pictures of his trains. It turned out cute, he loves to read it and even knows alot of the words. His articulation is still pretty bad, but he is getting better. He loves to sing songs and surprises me how many of the words he knows. His favorite toys are his lego trains and cars. He is quite athletic and can keep up with us on our long walks.

Kyle is still not on the normal growth curve and is just under 20lbs at 18 months. He is talking more and seems to be putting two words together. He "runs" now and moves pretty fast. HE just learned how to open the doors and will head outside any chance he gets. He loves to play with cars and is getting more interested in the movies that Bryson watches. He loves the cat and tackles her and lays on her just like Bryson used to. He can follow some simple directions like "throw that in the garbage". He moved into a new class at daycare and seems to be adjusting well. He started throwing tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. I'm going to try to potty train him the same time as Bryson. So far he's only had one successful try and it's pretty hard to keep him sitting on the potty.

Happy Brithday Grandma Mara!

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Happy Harvest!

We had a harvest party on Saturday to celebrate this years local harvest. We had all locally grown food and I put on a farm-themed puppet show for the kids. We had Mara and John visit us the first week in September. Scott, Terri and Shawna also came to visit on the weekend. Bryson got to take his first ride in a convertible car. Bryson really enjoyed having the company and was particularly attatched to John. (He'd say: Grampa John, where are you?) Both Kyle and Bryson had a good time at the OMSI (it's like the children's museum) with Mara as well.

Kyle is walking much better now, he won't hold my hand anymore. He goes pretty fast too. Now that he's more confident he's also falling alot too. He's got lots of bumps and bruises. He's working on talking quite a bit too. He can say lots of things now: dog, bye bye, shoe, truck , car, ball, mama, more, no and outside, to name some. He seems more interested in cummunicating than Bryson was. He's more interested in books as well. I think he's starting to put on some weight, he's been eating really good and feels much heavier. He loves to pet the dog and cat and is able to do some simple puzzles. He loves to put toys in and out of a container over and over again.

Bryson has improved with his speech and has even worked with me a little on his articulation. He can count to eight now and does so often. He loves to run, jump, ride bikes and climb. Unfortunately he can climb over our fence and most of our child gates, he also has shown an interest in climbing trees, it's probably good he can't reach to get into the trees. He loves to play with his lego thomas toys. He likes to sing and is pretty good at happy birthday. His behavior is overall much better, but he still has some bad days (today is a pretty bad day actually). I'm trying to get both boys sleeping in the same room. It's more of a challenge than I first thought. Bryson wants to sleep in the crib again despite his new Bob the Builder sheets.

Ken and I are doing well. Ken has been having stomach troubles, but so far all the tests haven't found a cause. We celebrated my birthday with a pizza dinner (my favorite) and cake. Both the boys were bouncing off the walls all night on a sugar high! I posted some new videos on the video website, so check it out!

Happy Birthday Grandma Bonnie!

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No more Nuks!

Well, the big news this month is Bryson has given up his nuks. He gave them away to the babies at daycare and did so much better than I ever expected without it. He had a little more difficulty falling asleep, but didn't throw any big fits or anything. Now I'm thinking, why did we wait so long? His behavior has been great lately, he has shown more interest in using the potty (probably because of the suckers)and is speaking much better (although we did make an appointment to see a speech therapist in a couple weeks). He is now obsessed with the movie Cars (a present for good behavior at Kathleen and Matt's wedding) and wants to watch it all the time.

Kyle is growing up! He weighed almost 18 lbs at his last weight check and Dr. Speaker said he was back on the growth curve. He is starting to talk a little bit and says "Ball" or "ba" consistently. He sometimes says mama and no and seems to say other things too, but isn't consistent. He loves to throw his food to the dog and lets him lick his hands when he's in the high chair. He has finally started walking but still crawls about half the time. He can ride his little bike now too, forward and backward. He loves to play with Bryson and will go knock on Bryson's door when Bryson is napping.

We finally bought a double BOB (thanks to my mom for chipping in) and Bryson and Kyle really seem to enjoy it. I took them running on my first time out, but it was so hard! I've been walking with it a few times and I will work up to running more, I need to get back in shape! We've been getting alot of yardwork done this summer and Ken has replaced a couple windows upstairs. My garden is doing well, the beans are ripe now, I'm gonna have lots of squash next month. Ken had surgery last Fri. so we won't have any more kids. His recovery is going pretty well, but he was on his back for two days last weekend. We're hoping to go camping sometime this summer, but it seems like so much work!

WI trip!

Sorry I missed an entry last month, but we've been busy. We had a wonderful trip back to WI. Unfortunately both our flights were changed to red eye flights which isn't much fun with small children, but we survived. The boys loved having family to play with and stayed real busy. Here are a few higthlights of the trip:

Liza Zimmerman had a beautiful wedding and reception at Quivey's Grove. Ken got to visit with cousins he hasn't seen in years!

The boys had fun at Gramma Bonnie's feeding worms to the fish in the lake and riding on the bouncy horse (especially Kyle, see videos). Bryson loved all the rides at Bay Beach and Kyle was able to go on some too with Skye! Bryson had fun swimming in the pool at Skye and Vincents with Gramma. The boys had fun taking a Kayak ride at the cottage and Bryson had fun in the hammock too. We had a nice dinner for my parents 40th wedding anniversary, but had to leave early because Bryson was getting difficult. My mom watched the boys for us overnight and Ken and I went to Manitowoc for a night for Ken's birthday. We made a birthday cake before we left and Bryson had fun singing happy birthday.

At gramma Mara's the boys got to play with John's old trucks. Bryson loved going for a ride in the boat and liked to go "fast". They got to chase chickens at Ernie and Debbie's. Ken had some friends over for a cookout and we all went to the Union to watch some music afterward while Mara and John watched the boys. Bryson got to go for a ride on the tractor with John and picked raspberries (he didn't seem to enjoy that too much).

Things are starting to get back to normal now that we're home. The boys are in a new daycare (it's less than half the price of our last place) and they seem to like it, they didn't even cry when I dropped them off on the first day. Kyle is more intersted in walking and he'll walk while holding your hands and he can stand for a while without holding on. He said his first word: ball or 'ba". He sure is a little cutie pie!

Bryson has been very well behaved over the last few days and seems to be talking a little better. He is singing more to himself and even answered the phone the other day. His favorite movies are Toy Story and Monsters Inc. We finally bought a sandbox to keep them out of the garden and Bryson really loves it, he'll play in there by himself for quite a while.

I'm still working part time and Ken's still enjoying his new job. We still have many projects to complete around the house, it takes so long to get things done when you have two kids! I put more movies on our video site, so check it out!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Bryson has really turned into a good helper this month. He helps pick up his toys and throws things in the garbage for me. His behavior is much improved as well and he even shares with Kyle on his own without being asked. He is talking much more and is trying to talk in full sentences. I think he gets a little ahead of himself though and you can only understand a few words and the rest is babble. He seems to enjoy playing with Kyle and will ask me to bring Kyle into the playroom to play with him. Now that the weather has been nicer we are spending more time outside. He loves to ride his bike and can go FAST! I can hardly keep up with him. He is also helping with the gardening and loves to play in the dirt.







Kyle turned one this month! He is getting around crawling and can walk holding onto things. He has just started to stand holding my hands, but still won't try walking. He babbles alot and loves to laugh and play with Bryson. Unfortunately, he is not gaining weight. At his 1yr. appointment he only weighed a little over 15 pounds. His length is growing on track, but he is not putting on weight. It hasn't helped that he's been sick the last couple weeks. We have an appointment to see a nutritionist the end of the month to check if he's getting enough calories. If it turns out he's getting enough calories they will do blood work to check for any disease that may be causing him to loose weight. He doesn't act as though he is sick, so I'm pretty optimistic he's just small. He loves to play with cars and rolls them on the ground while he crawls, its so cute! He got a few of his very own cars for his birthday which he really likes.

We had a wonderful visit with my parents last weekend. We had a late Cinco de Mayo celebration on friday and went to the park with the boys. Kyle wasn't feeling well the first few days, but really perked up by the end of the visit. We had a birthday party for Kyle on Sat. And everyone decorated a car cake or two for his party. The most popular cakes were the police car, fire truck, race car (complete with spoiler) and the cement truck. I also made a pinata and put on a puppet show. The party was sponsered by the letter "C", so I made a cat pinata (filled with candy) and did a C for cookie puppet show and we ate car carrot cake, chicken, carrots, cellery, corn, cheese and crackers and chips for the meal. The older boys also tooks turns riding in Bryson's power wheels car. I made the pinata fairly indestructable and my mom had to step on it to get things going. Bryson cried all the way to school after we dropped my parents off at the airport. I'm not sure if he was crying because they left or because he wanted to go on the plane. But, we sure do miss them, I think both the boys really enjoyed playing with them and my dad was able to get Kyle to sleep better than anyone. Don't forget to check out the videos, I've got the puppet show and Kyle's birthday on there!

April

We took a trip to the Oregon coast last weekend and had a great time! Bryson loved playing in the sand and Kyle seemed to enjoy it as well. We got a hotel room right on the beach. It was beautiful weather even though it was a little cold and windy. Bryson tried salt water taffy for the first time and didn't like how chewey it was he spit it out and cried because he couldn't get it out of his teeth. Bryson enjoyed getting splashed by the seals at the seaside aquarium and looked at all the fish. He is talking more and can put three to four words together, but is still pretty hard to understand. He will be moving up a class at daycare and they work on potty training! I can't wait. Bryson is really starting to get jealous of Kyle and very possessive over his toys now that Kyle is mobile. We've been struggling with disciplining him, but things seem to be getting better. We hardly ever go out to eat because Bryson can't sit for more than 10 minutes. He is a very physically active kid and won't sit and color for more than a couple minutes. He loves to run, climb, and jump!

Kyle is crawling fast now and can pull himself up to stand and walk around the furniture. He likes to get into all Bryson's toys, especially the ones Bryson is playing with. He's not very interested in babyfood anymore and is eating table food really well. He's seems to be gaining weight, his face is looking more chubby. The teacher at daycare said they were going to keep him in the infant room an extra month because he is so small (and because she really likes him). He loves taking baths with Bryson and goes into the bathroom and stands at the tub whenever he gets a chance. He loves watching Bryson and they laugh and play peek-a-boo games together.

I'm keeping busy with my job, working two days a week and I've got my garden started with hopes to expand with more garden on the side of the house. Ken is liking his new job with SWMC doing home health and has been listening to books on tape while he's driving in the car. We're looking forward to my parents coming to visit next month for Kyle's birthday. I can't believe he's gonna be one already!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Jim!

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Healthy again!

It's been a while since I updated the site, we had a pretty crazy Feb! Kyle and Bryson started daycare again (I'm working 2 days a week now and a few hours on Fridays) and ken started a new job (Southwest Medical Center Home Health). After their first week in daycare both boys got sick. It seemed like just a cold at first, but after a few days Bryson was getting better and Kyle was getting worse. Kyle started having vomitting and diarrhea and after a few days of that I brought him in to see the doctor. They gave me some meds to stop the vomitting, but it didn't work and I had to take him to the ER the next day for dehydration. He got IV fluids and all the tests they did came back negative. They decided to keep him for observation and it was a good thing. That night he started having problems breathing. They repeated his lab work and x-ray and found he had pneumonia. He was in the hospital for four days. It was sad to see him so sick, he just slept most of the time. You could tell when he was feeling better because he wanted to play and started smiling again. The nurses told me he was their favorite (but I'm sure they say that to everyone.) He lost over two pounds and has been pretty slow gaining it back. He has finally started eating really good over the last few days. We have a follow visit march 17th to check his weight again. I've been mixing his food with cream to try and fatten him up. He is so skinny his head looks huge when he has all his clothes off!

We painted the shelving in the library white and made it into an office area. We also made my craft room into a playroom for the boys and my stuff is upstairs in our room. The boys really enjoy thier playroom. Bryson is talking more all the time. He is starting to put three words together now. He loves going outside and "riding bikes". He wants to go out even when its rainy. Kyle is crawling all over the house now and can move pretty fast! He just started to try pulling up to stand and enjoys walking while you hold him up. Kyle loves the playroom too, but tends to destroy Bryson's train tracks and stuff (we call him baby-zilla). Both the boys, the dog and the cat love to play with the lazer light. It's pretty funny to watch them all go after it. (see drop shots video).

My sister Jess came to visit for a long weekend. We went to the zoo and met up with the Cale's (with new baby Carter) and the Blickenstaff's all the boys had a good time, but we had to leave early with Bryson due to nap time crabbiness. The Blickenstaff's had us all over for dinner and all the boys played great together. On Sunday we went to the beach with Jess and Bryson got to play in the sand. (He loves to play in dirt and stuff and puts it in his hair- I figured I'd give him the chance to get real dirty!) The weather wasn't great, but that didn't stop Bryson. Kyle seemed a little unsure at first about the sand, but crawled all over after a while. Bryson had a great time with Aunt Jess, he had someone to play "cars" with and playdough and read books!

Happy New Year!

We had a nice Christmas this year. Mara and John came to visit and made a nice meal on Christmas eve and we had the Blickenstaffs over. I put on a puppet show for the boys and they had a good time. Bryson was happy to have new toys on Christmas morning, but didn't seem to surprised or excited about opening presents (we actually opened them for him). I think he'll get into it more next year, he's still a little young. We made the back room into a playroom and it turned out great, the boys love it! It's nice not to have toys all over the house. We went to the Blickenstaff's for new years and played the Wii fit, it was fun and I actually stayed up past midnight. However, Bryson had a hard time getting back to sleep after we got home and was up until 2:00 am.

Kyle is doing great! He's grabbing for anything in reach and puts it all in his mouth. I'm thinking he may get his first tooth soon. He eats solid foods three times a day and seems to be enjoying it. He has just started to commando crawl. He will pull himself forward two or three times to get a toy. I suppose it won't be long before he's really mobile. He can get on hands and knees and rock, but he doesn't crawl. He's a very happy little guy and is always smiling. He loves to laugh at Bryson and the two of them can sit and laugh at each other for quite a while. (See dropshot video)

Bryson is talking more, his favorite phrase is "doing there?" (What are you doing there?-I must say this alot). He loves music and likes to sing along now. He loved playing in the snow (we actually got some just before new years). We made a "Frosty" snowman, but he was melted by the next day. {He enjoyed watching Frosty the Snowman over the holidays). He is quite a daredevil and went down the big slides at the park before I could get there to catch him and he wants to climb ladders and stand on all the coffee tables and furniture,(I think he's contemplating how to jump off.) Scott and Terri gave us a book of our trip to Mexico for christmas and Bryson calls it his Gramma and Grampa book. He 'reads' it all the time.