Kate's Hospital Visit

Our baby girl had to get tubes in her ears this past winter. It was a hard decision to make since we didn't want to see our sweet little 9 month old have to undergo surgery. After a long three months of constant fluid and continual ear infections we and the doctors decided it was the best decision. She had been in so much pain because of the ear infections. 

The procedure took place at the hospital's outpatient facility. Everyone was very nice. I don't think they see many babies so the nurses were all over Katelyn:). She got a cute little teddy bear and got to ride in a little radio flyer while we were waiting for surgery. Katelyn of course had no idea what was going on so she was having fun just exploring everything. When the doctor came she said it will be really quick (10 minutes) and that nothing will hurt Kate. However, she did mention the side effects of the anestheia will make her very upset when she wakes up. She prepared us for screaming and crying. So we waited and waited and sure enough about 10 minutes later I could hear my little Kate screaming. That moment felt like eternity. I wanted to run back there and hold her. They finally let us go back to be reunited. She was being a calmed by a sweet nurse who was rocking her. 

We are so happy we decided to go through with the surgery. Everything went perfect afterwards. She hasn't had a single ear infection since. I'm praying this winter they either stay in or we won't have any ear infection problems. It was worth it but I'd rather not have her go through surgery again:)

Here are some pictures from the event. She was a real trooper.

It's a Boy!

So.....we're pregnant and happy to shout it from the roof tops! We found out a while ago (back in May) but I'm just now finding the time to sit down and write about it:). We are so very excited and are enjoying the excitement of this pregnancy maybe as much as the first pregnancy.

This time we have a kid that is old enough to know what's going on. He's excited. When we told him at first a baby was growing inside my belly he had an inquisitive look on his face. Obviously he doesn't fully get the idea but we asked if he wanted a boy (brother) or a girl (sister). He first said sister and it was a sister he wanted for a couple of weeks. I was kind of surprised but then I thought maybe he just doesn't know any different since that's what he has already. I asked again another time and he said a boy and this time he was very persistent that the baby was a boy and had to be a boy.

Along came the day we would go in for our 8 week ultrasound. We brought the kids along. We thought it would be fun for them to get in on the excitement. So we're in the ultrasound room and since I'm not very far along they use the Transvaginal ultrasound. So I'm exposed waste down with just a thin paper sheet covering the top of me, Dave is holding Kate and not paying attention to where Luke is standing when the sonographer says, "Um, not sure you want your son to have the front view, you may want to move him." So Dave, quickly grabs Luke as he is curious to what is going on and Luke doesn't want to move! So embarrassing.

At this point the pregnancy is going as well as it goes in the first trimester. The usual all day nausea, hating all foods healthy and only eating carbs, to extreme tiredness. I felt so useless for those several several weeks. Thank goodness my kids both take a two hour nap at the same time. I got to take one with them pretty much everyday:). I gained my first 20 pounds as usual during the first trimester.

The entire pregnancy I had a gut feeling it was a boy. My symptoms were too eerily close to the same as when I was pregnant with Luke. I was very excited to find out whether I was right or wrong because this was going to help me determine whether or not I could ever trust my gut again (usually my gut is always wrong).

So the day came for us to find out the sex. We were running pretty late for the appointment because I have pregnant brain and thought my appointment was a later time. Dave ended up having to take Luke to preschool and drive separately to meet me at the appointment. I called the office on my way and they said I could be a little late so I decided to meet Dave at a parking lot so we could ride together the rest of the way. We're five minutes to the appointment and I hear a strange sound in the backseat {it sounded like water pouring}. I turn back to look and see Katelyn puking all over herself. I couldn't help but laugh so hard that I was crying. Then the overwhelming smell came and I had to roll the window down while still continuing to laugh tears. She looked so cute and so pathetic just sitting in her own vomit. And then...she pukes again! Again, laughter, uncontrollable laughter. I gave her an adult sized breakfast of bananas, oatmeal and milk and she literally threw the entire meal up! So, again, we're running late to the appointment and I was to scared for us to pull over because I thought the doctor's office would cancel our appointment {and there was no way I was going to reschedule the babies anatomy scan and miss out on knowing the sex another day!}. I had Dave keep driving until we got to the office. At that point I get to go inside and get started with the appointment while poor Dave has to clean up the horrible mess {now, you see why I could laugh the entire time she was puking instead of cry}. Dave makes it back with Kate with her smell of puke lingering. We make it to the ultrasound and as soon as the sonographer flashes the baby on the screen I immediately see 'it'. She said, "Would you like me to confirm?" And she did. It's a BOY! We're excited and can't wait to meet the little guy. We had a very eventful day that would never be forgotten.

Now we can start the baby planning and room planning. The nursery is pretty much set. It'll be Luke's room. Katelyn and Luke will now share a room.

Now, I'm passed the 1st trimester (whew) and well into the 2nd trimester, in fact, just 6 more weeks until I'm in the third trimester!! It's going SO fast. I'm not sure I have any real cravings, just want very specific things sometimes. I am on a kick for trail mix and make up my own version almost everyday. It's nice because it sustains, plus Luke and Katelyn like eating it too.

Here are some pics from the ultrasound and of course Kate wearing her puke:)

Kate is 1-1/2

Katelyn, where to begin my dear. Since you turned one you have transformed into a spunky, uniquely crazy, wild, sweet girl. Sometimes it's hard to describe just how you are, but I love every bit of it. You have grown up so much since one. From walking at 13 months, talking and speaking more clearly then Luke did at 2-1/2 years old, to having no fear for things most babies should fear {i.e. water, bugs, loud noises, etc (you are drawn to them)}. You love to get down and dirty too. Just lay right down and roll in the dirt kind of dirty. Your little waddle cracks us up and how you swing your arms forward and back with your head up.

• You love ants and bugs when you find them on the ground you get flat on your belly and point to them saying, "ewe, ewe!"
• You love to dance, whether there is music playing or not. You like to also do hand motions to songs.
• You're a biter. When someone {Luke} takes something you've been playing with you go in for the bite. It's happened several times. And you know how we know Luke is telling the truth? He's got the bite marks to prove it. Poor guy. We're working on it with Kate. Feisty!!
• You are a very affectionate little girl. She loves to give out hugs and kisses. She will just randomly look at you while you're holding her and when you make eye contact she leans in for the kiss. Or you'll be just laying on the floor and she'll hover over to give a kiss or hug. She really knows how to make someone feel special.
• You love to play with your dolls and stuffed animals and will hold on a conversation with them. You'll rock them, hug them and kiss them.
• You are fascinated with babies and always wants to go up to them and touch them.
• You are a Daddy's girl and love him so much. When he comes in the house from work you run yelling, "Daddy Daddy"!!
• You and your brother have the sweetest relationship together. Luke likes to wrestle and tickle you. I like to hear him ask you questions like, "Kate, do you wanna play with me?" and always say, "yea!" My most favorite is to hear you two play when you have no idea I'm listening. You two really have quite an imagination.
• You are very very mischievous. We have a video Uncle Bo took to prove it. 
• As of now you are not a fan of Mommy or Daddy holding other people's babies. You get very jealous and start crying. We'll have to work on this one before the next baby comes along!
• Your tantrums are pretty dramatic. I like how you gracefully fall to the floor and roll around. It's quite comical.
• All four of your molars have come in but you are still missing a few more.
• You do very well going up and down the stairs on your own.
• You are LOUD! When you get hurt or upset you express it loudly. Or when Luke takes something you were playing with, you scream!
• You like to say "I do that, I do that" when you don't want mommy to help you with something.
• When we pray as a family before our meals and at night you like to say "amen" at the end. You also look really cute bowing your head, squinting your eyes and holding our hands.
• You LOVE to put clothes on or at least try too. Most the time I catch you in the laundry room sifting through clothes and trying to find what you want to put on. It's usually Luke's underwear;). The same goes for shoes. You like to try on everyone's shoes.
• You've gotten a good amount of mouth wounds. I'm praying you'll keep your cute little teeth!
• You don't like when your hair gets in your eyes and when they do, you say, "eyes, eyes!" Which means, Mommy put a bow in my hair so it will stay out of my eyes! She'll even point to her bows and say eyes. I try to tell her they're bows but she's made up her own name, 'eyes'. ;)
• You don't sit very still for long. You're always on the move. You won't even sit still for a show or movie! The same goes for coloring and reading. You're not yet a fan but I'm really hoping you will be!!

Katelyn you are a crazy girl and we love you so much. We'd be missing so much excitement without you.

And it's meltdown time. She wanted me to hold her at this point.

Luke's back to Preschool!

Our little guy is over 3 years old {free}! This guy stole our hearts from the moment he entered this world. His big heart and personality inspire us to strive to be the best parents we can. He is a fun, energetic, funny, outgoing, big hearted, God loving, kind, athletic, artistic, handsome little guy! This year we got to see Luke become a sweet big brother and his love for Jesus grow.

It amazes me to see just how big his heart is and how tender-hearted he is. He's super sensitive to the needs of others and when someone hurts him it breaks his heart {and my heart too}. His relationship with his sister is a perfect example. If she gets hurt, he's right beside her making sure she's okay saying things like, "poor baby." Most the time he is great about helping me with chores and getting things for me. He is so great at helping others. At night time we pray that God will help give us opportunities to serve and help others. A couple times after he has helped someone or me he has followed up with saying "Mommy, this makes God very happy." It just melts my heart to see that he's already understanding God's love and showing it to others while starting to understand it all the same.

Luke has also been insanely good at memorizing and is up to 11 verses from memorization. He also has several of his picture books memorized and will read them to me at night! Just the other day he read Kate's favorite book, "The Biggest Kiss" from memory. It was so cute to see the two of them sitting in her chair and reading together.

He is quite the adventurer too. Just when I thought he was more on the timid side I find him outside with Daddy repelling from a tree. He also tried wake boarding for the first time last week. All on his own with no encouragement from us, he begged to go with Daddy. So off they went and he had a blast. Luke also learned to swim this summer and hasn't looked back. He dives for the sinking toys and all.

We've noticed recently the dynamic has changed with Luke and "big kids'. Luke as always, loves to try and hang with the 'big kids'. It's always been great {I guess maybe because when he was a baby older kids didn't feel threatened} but now I've been noticing that the big kids haven't been so nice or keen on playing with Luke. Luke's had to deal with some meanness from the older kids and it just breaks my heart to see them taunt and tease him and see Luke have to deal with it. One time his feelings were so hurt he just kind of hung out on his own in the distance and didn't want to be bothered. My prayer is that Luke will always be the sweet one and that he will stand up for others who are treated unfairly.

Some funny things:

• I'm trying to swat flies with a hand towel in the kitchen one day and Luke is right beside me watching and saying - every time I swat and miss - "smack it Mommy, smack it. Just smack it Mommy. You got to smack it Mommy." His face was adorable just watching me swat and miss every time while throwing out 'encouraging' words.
• I'm upstairs with Kate while Luke is downstairs. Kate is asking for a drink and I'm to tired/lazy to get it. I holler for Luke to please get her cup and he says, "of what you say Mommy? I sorry I don't hear you!" He runs upstairs with the drink in hand. 
• As Dave is cooking pancakes one day and I am no where in sight Luke says, " Daddy, you're not pretty - Mommy's pretty - you're Daddy."
• Before I get Luke dressed before his first day of preschool Luke begs for me not to put him in the bear shirt. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about since he doesn't have a 'bear' shirt when all of a sudden I realized he was talking about the nice polo shirts I like to put him in for special occasions. When I asked Luke if that's what he was talking he said, "yes and that's for church and not for school!" Oh dear, we already have an opinionated little guy!
• Luke learned a phrase from a cartoon, he is no longer allowed to watch where the character yells, "I don't care!" I told him he was not allowed to say this phrase not realizing there are different contexts in where this phrase is okay to say. Such as, "Luke, I don't care if Jo is allowed to throw toys, we don't in our house." Luke immediately corrects me and says, "Mommy, you said I don't care and you need to say sorry!" 

Some annoying things: We are in the phase of, "But why?" for I feel like everything. It's driving me mad! Even when I explain why he says, "but why"? Whew, some patience is what I've been taught. Another is, asking the same thing over and over and over and over and over again! This is the worst. I have a broken record with me literally the entire day. It really does drive you crazy. We're working on trying to teach and correct but it's not going as quickly as I would like for it to go:)

Here is our big boy off to his first day...well, lets be honest his second day of school. Dave wasn't around the first day and I wasn't about trying to juggle first day jitters, Kate and trying to take pictures of a kid who doesn't like taking pictures:) of school. He was such a big boy, a little hesitant at first and then as soon as his foot hit the threshold of his class he was off and didn't turn back.

We love this little guy so much and smother him with kisses and hugs a million times a day. He is a one of a kind.

SIDE NOTE: I think it's pretty clear as to why I may not be the best teacher. I realized as I was uploading the photos I misspelled Preschool! How embarrassing. It never fails. Here they are anyways....:)

These pictures were from sneak-a-peak the week before school started.

 Kate was having so much fun too!

 This was Luke's very first day of preschool pic

And this is just a random day of walking to class. They like to hold hands and Kate likes to go into his class. They give each other hugs and kisses and say goodbye before they leave. It's too cute!

Hip Hip Hooray it's Kate's 1st Birthday!

We had Kate's big birthday celebration this past weekend and it was every bit girly. Our bright and cheery, full of life little girl needed a bright and cheery party that was sprinkled with love. We had lots of fun celebrating with friends and family.

I couldn't resist getting a 'little' carried away with decorating. Making it a brunch gave me a lot of fun and easy food ideas {ice cream cone yogurt parfaits and sprinkled donuts, being the favorites}. The sand box was a last minute idea and thank goodness, it was a huge hit for the toddlers.

Luke was really excited about the big day. He talked about it for several weeks, always mentioning the cupcakes of course;). I enjoyed watching him be a huge helper the night before. He helped with the party favors and setting up the utensils, plates and napkins. I could tell he was really proud of his work.

Katelyn greeted a lot of her guests with open mouth kisses, it's one of her favorite things to do. She had her first taste of cake. This is always the moment that most wonder if the kid will just dive in head first. Well, her reaction was just the same as Luke's first cake, no interest at all. It took me putting some on her lips for her to do a double take and go back for more. She only had a couple nibbles. Luke, on the other hand enjoyed smashing it for her;). She had a lot of fun opening presents and has been having so much fun playing with all of them.

Katelyn, you are spunky, sweet yet feisty, silly and giggly. You brighten each and every day. Our prayer for you is that you grow in God's truths and know that your true beauty and 'self worth' comes from Him and Him alone. That your rescuer is Jesus Christ. That you will shine so much light into this world that others will see the love of Christ in you. We pray the "truth will set you free" John 8:32 and that you will walk in delight and dignity in Him. That you will know you are perfect the way you are, in all your beauty and femininity, for that is how your Creator made you, in His Image. And most importantly, that you know how much we love you but how much more your heavenly Father loves you.