Got Milk?

The boys and I ran to Walmart this morning to grab some groceries and Kallen actually did great!! (he has been having major meltdowns while I'm shopping lately) We got back to the house, pulled into the garage, and I opened the door to get Lincoln out when I noticed a white liquid dripping from under the seat. I leaned down a little closer to figure out what it was and it hit me- MILK! I quickly put Lincoln in the house, got Kallen out of his carseat, took a deep breath, and opened the back door......my entire gallon of milk was floating around the trunk of our Santa Fe. Luckily we have a plastic liner (is that what you call those things?) which seems to have caught most of it, so things definately could have been worse.
I let Kallen play around outside while I started doing some damage control on our poor trunk (the culprit- our ice scraper! The milk had fallen over and landed right on the corner of the metal scraper part). I had just pulled out the liner and was getting ready to start soaking up milk out of the carpet when Kallen started screaming. His little hands were bright red and full of snow (mother of the year award) and he was in pain. So I tried to remember what you are suppose to do- and I ran them under cool water then wrapped them in a towel.
Meanwhile, deciding he was hungry, Lincoln started crying so now I had 2 little boys screaming at the top of their lungs. I got Kallen's lunch ready (opted for the fastest thing I could think of= a cheese quesadilla) and got him situated while I sat down to feed Lincoln with the neglected milk still dripping out of our car. I so badly wanted to sit there and feel frusterated and angry but I had this little baby that kept looking up at me and smiling from ear to ear and cooing at me. How can I stay angry when those innocent blue eyes are staring at me saying "lets play mommy!"
All of a sudden the milk seemed like no big deal at all! I got Kallen down for a nap, (he hugged me, kissed me, and said "luh u mommy, nigh nigh!" without me proding him at all!) sat down to finish feeding Lincoln, and found myself sitting there thinking about what a blessing children really are! They flash these beautiful smiles that seriously make everything else seem very small. Their little voices drown out all of the sounds around you and their giggles will put an instant smile on anyone's face!
I am SOO blessed with these two beautiful boys God has given us and I find myself learning so much from them every single day!
Well, I am headed back out to do some more damage control- thank God it is cold outside and not 90 degrees where the milk would instantly start to spoil. If any of you have tips on how to clean milk out of your car- let me know!

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest, if you must- but don't you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you mustn't quit.

-Author Unknown

I found this on a bookmark (who even has bookmarks anymore?) in a pile of papers this morning and it was exactly what I needed to hear. So I thought I would share it with you guys too!
Can post-partum depression come 2 1/2 months after you have the baby? Because if it can, I think I am dealing with it a little bit. But I am doing my best to focus on this verse:

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble,whatever things are just....meditate on these things" -Philippians 4:8

Kallen

I haven't done a Kallen update in a while- so I figured it's about time!

Kallen is quickly heading into the "terrible two's" I'm afraid., but despite the recent temper tantrums he is so much fun! He is definitely my little helper, following me around the house and copying everything I do. This includes: folding laundry(he wads clothes up in a ball and puts them in a pile), washing dishes, cooking (I give him his own little pan and spoon and he cooks his toys while I am cooking), burping Lincoln, sweeping the floor (which is why I have switched to vacuuming my kitchen floor because sweeping just does not work with a little boy constantly in your dirt pile), and his favorite is switching the laundry from the washer to the dryer (for this one I actually love his help!).

He has become quite the little climber- nothing is safe anymore no matter where you put it he will find a way to get to it. He is a VERY social child- we can't go anywhere without him say "hi" and "bye bye" to everyone he sees. He also has been known to play peek-a-boo with anyone sitting close by when we got out to eat.....whether they participate or not.

We are working on our "playing with others" skills. Kallen tends to be a bit of a bully- pushing other kids, and ripping toys out of their hands. Most of this happens when I am not around, which leaves me at a loss in knowing how to correct his behavior. :S

He has learned to take FULL advantage of the times when I am nursing Lincoln. He knows that I will be tied down for at least 30min and he heads straight for trouble. Here is the result of me nursing around the corner where I could not see him the other day:

Yes, that is life cereal Everywhere! And look at how proud he is of himself. Little stinker!

Shawn and I are both pretty laid-back people so I am not sure how this happened but we ended up with a strong-willed little boy. He is going to give us a run for our money that's for sure! But as much as I am ready to pull my hair out some days- I love his personality and I would not change it for the world!

He is an AWESOME sleeper! He goes to bed around 7pm (he chose that bedtime we tried to get him to 8) and most mornings sleeps until 7-7:30am. Then he goes down for a good 2-3 hour nap every day around 11. It's wonderful!

His amount of words is endless! Almost everything I say is echoed behind me. :) I have soo many funny stories about him talking, I could post one every day. The other day Shawn was working in the basement and Kallen started to head down to see him, so I hollered "Shawn!" down the stairs to get his attention and let him know Kallen was coming. It only happened once, yet now almost daily Kallen will randomly open the basement door and yell "awn!" then shut the door and go about his day. It is never ending little moments like these that make me LOVE this age!!!

He will eat just about anything- although you just never know what he will like from one day to the next. We only have pizza once a week in our house, yet his favorite thing to say when you ask if he's hungry is "Peepa!!". And if I let him- I do think he would eat pizza every day!

Sorry- this post is getting long. I could talk forever about Kallen. Another hot topic right now is DISCIPLINE but I will leave that for another post.

I will leave you with a picture Shawn snapped Sunday morning during breakfast. And a video of Kallen saying my favorite word right now- Granola Bar. :)

Another Smile!

Ok time for this week's

Things that have made me smile!

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My grandparents winter down in Texas and last weekend they stopped by one last time before they headed out! They brought the boys these adorable little puppies and Kallen has been pretty attached to his ever since. He has insisted on sleeping with it almost every night since he got it!

(I have never seen him attach himself to a stuffed animal like this one. It is so sweet)

(Don't they look amazing for being great grandparents ?!?)

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We have had lots of sweet moments like these:

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This past Sunday I was sick with the flu and Shawn had to help setup at our church. He was going to come home and grab Kallen for me but Kallen woke up sick too so I ended up keeping him home with me. He spent the entire morning cuddling on my lap and then fell asleep like this on the couch watching tv.
(Anyone who knows Kallen- knows that he has to be really sick to actually fall asleep on the couch!)

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I decided the other day that it was time to put away Kallen's highchair and start using his booster seat. I cleaned the highchair all up and sat it by the door to the basement to take down later. At lunchtime I got Kallen set up in his booster seat, placed his lunch on the table, and walked away to go switch the laundry. When I turned around this is what I saw:

Kallen had packed up some of his lunch, walked over to his beloved highchair, and climbed in. I guess old habits die hard. :P
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And this is a picture of by far my favorite moment as a parent so far! Today the boys were both playing under the little activity gym and I leaned over to talk to Lincoln. Lincoln started giggling which made Kallen giggle too. I wish I would have taken a video instead of a picture. It was the sweetest sound I have ever heard!!

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I don't have a picture for this last one but Lincoln seems to have something against anything that is baby blue. He only has a few shirts this color and he has had MAJOR blowouts in all of them!! Blowouts to the point where i am having a really hard time getting the stains out. This made me smile because when Kallen was born- I was determined that he would not wear anything baby blue. (it is just NOT one of my favorite colors) I am not too picky about what Lincoln wears, but maybe Lincoln has a bit of an opinion. :)

Guess!

Can you tell which one is which in this picture?

Lincoln is starting to get his own look. Different hair color, different personality it is so fun to watch him grow and become his own little person! :)

2 Months

This sweet little boy had his 2 month check up today.

Here are his stats:

Height: 23" (55%)

Weight: 12 # (59%)

Head Cir: 15 1/2 (37%)

This is the same little boy who was born at 5 lbs 12 oz just 9 weeks ago! (Kallen weighed 10 lbs at his 2 month appt. and his other stats were exactly the same.) I can't say it suprised me too much- this child LOVES to eat! It is actually one of our biggest struggles with him- he gets really fussy just 2 hours after I've fed him and then we battle it out for that next hour just trying to keep him on a 3 hour schedule. He is averaging about 6 hours at night (I'd love to see him get to 8 but I won't complain). Lincoln is such a good baby! There are times when he is so quiet and content that I completely forget about him. (does that make me a bad parent?) I'll be cleaning or playing with Kallen and hear these little sounds coming from somewhere, then it hits me "oh yeah- lincoln!". He does not take a pacifier very well (Kallen LOVED his from the very beginning and I still haven't gotten it away from him) but I am working on it- mostly for convenience so that when he gets fussy during church or wherever I can soothe him quickly with a paci. (or as Kallen calls it a "may-mo") He is a noisy little thing grunting Allll the time. I am still figuring out his personality but so far it seems like he is going to be a pretty laid-back little guy. Oh, and one of the things I am most excited about....he has Dimples!!! I have yet to capture them in a picture, but I just love them!

Lincoln, we love you sooo much and already can't imagine our family without you!!