The DeBoefs

Life Lately

2012-01-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Here are a few snapshots into our life lately:

Busted!

I am watching my 3 month old nephew on Mondays and Tuesdays now and it is so sweet to see the boys interact with their new baby cousin.

Kallen is super protective of baby Cru and suprisingly he is a HUGE help!

He really does spend most of his day checking on him and informing me of what "baby coo" needs. :)

Here is a close up of this sweet little guy.

He is such a good boy!

And while I am at it here are a couple shots of my boys.

Yesterday was a Big day for Kallen!

He Finally got to hold Cru. (he has been dying to hold him- I think he asks me at least 5x a day)

He did a Really good job! He was very calm and gentle. :)

It really hit me today that Kallen will be 3 years old in less than 3 months. (tear)

When did my baby get so big?

A little Park time in October....er I mean January.

2012-01-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a little at the park in January in 50 degree weather photo dump:

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

New Years Eve....

...I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with New Years Eve.

We are not heavy drinkers, so celebrating with a bunch of friends who drink way too much and finishing the night as the only sober ones in the room has never been much fun.

I do, however, love the celebration of closing out a year of ups, downs, and so-sos to begin a new year of unknowns!

New Years with children definitely adds a new flavor to the mix.

No matter how late you stay up, you will still be getting up at 6am the next morning when those little feet come waddling into your bedroom. And when you get to that point in life- staying up late is just not worth it.

So what did we do on New Years eve?

Well we hired a couple of Shawn's swimmers to watch the boys (these girls are seriously the best babysitters EVER!!) and caught an early movie. (the new Mission Impossible- I highly recommend it!)

Then came home in time to grab the boys and head downtown to ImaginEve at Hy-Vee Hall.

(it is a free event put on by GuideOne insurance- we really had no idea what we would be walking in to)

Kallen had decided not to take a nap that day so he immediately passed out in the car.

And remained asleep all the way into HyVee Hall.

But once we were inside it only took one look around and he snapped up ready to play!

Now, if we did not have toddlers, then my review of this event would be: An entire night of standing in long lines to play on gross, germ filled bounce houses.

But, because we have toddlers we were able to stick to the toddler area (a section of about 5 germ filled bounce houses) and the lines were really not too bad!

One of us would stand in line, while the other would follow the boys around until it was their turn.

They had a Blast!!!

Lincoln was content to just run around and watch Kallen, until we finally persuaded him to try this one in which he just sat there afraid to move. :)

Kallen, on the other hand, was so brave! Running around, trying everything, and before we left we even let him try out one of the big slides. (I was proud of him- even the big kids were struggling to climb the big ladder that led to the top)

A couple carnival games- rewarded by a couple fish tattoos and our night was complete!

I am not sure if we will try this event next year. We all came down with the 24-hour flu which I am blaming entirely on that night.

I read a cute idea in a magazine about having a kids new years party, complete with setting the clocks ahead so that midnight just happens to fall at bedtime. :P Then the kids go to bed, and the adults can have some fun!

We did have a great New Years though- and I hope you all did too!

Oh Boys!

2011-12-16T21:37:00.000-08:00

Do you journal?

Do you blog?

Seriously- are you writing these things down?

These are the questions I constantly get asked when I tell people about my day. I never imagined how fun, challenging, and utterly exhausting raising 2 and 1 year old boys could be.

From Kallen peeing in random places (like yesterday when he was sitting on the heat vent in our kitchen and said "mommy- I peed down there!") to Lincoln constantly trying to throw things in the toilet or trash (like the TV remotes) I am on my toes all day.

But despite the tears, frustration, and exhaustion I can honestly say that the chaos is fun!

I LOVE my boys! I LOVE that their little minds are constantly thinking! I feel blessed beyond words that I have two healthy children, an amazing husband, and a roof over our heads.

I do NOT love that my boys feed off of each other and gang up on me. (like the other day when Kallen started to break something and while I was disciplining him Lincoln finished it off) I do NOT love that my house is NEVER clean. I do NOT love that most days my frustration (or exhaustion) gets the best of me. I do NOT love having my lines used back on me. (like when we were in target and I was ignoring Kallen to focus on my grocery list so Kallen said "mommy I need you to look into my eyes") But I really do love the chaos! I would be lying if I didn't say that there are days when I long for the simplicity of life before kids, but I have been blown away by the way raising children has brought my relationship with God to a whole new level!

Kallen is at such a fun age! He is often naughty around Lincoln - I think it's an attention thing- but if you get him by himself he is such a fun, tender hearted boy! He is at that age where most of the things that come out of his mouth keep me laughing all day.

Like today alone:

"Mommy what this is?"

When I told him we were going to run to Target real quick his response was "No mommy I walk!".

Or while we were at Target and he wanted to leave so he said "mommy you need to go home and make supper".

While I was changing Lincoln's diaper, Kallen walked up and said "whoa mommy, Winken's wiener is big!" then proceeded to drop his drawers, check out his own wiener and say "mommy, Kawen's wiener bigger than winken's?" (seriously I can't believe it starts that young!!)

In the car on the way home he threw his car and said "whoa, that car does NOT fly!"

"mommy wike my hat!?"

Just to name a few. :)

Lincoln is also at a fun age, although he tends to be very whiny (could be due to cutting 4 molars at the same time!) and needy. He copies everything he hears and is talking Much sooner than Kallen did. He gives kisses and hugs to all stuffed/toy animals and Kallen, but rarely gives them to adults. :'(

Kissing the animals at Bass Pro Shops tonight.

The highlight of our day is when Daddy gets home! I would say that both boys have a Very special bond with their daddy.

And despite alot of fighting, the boys are really starting to become good friends!

I may have my moments but I LOVE my boys! I thank God for them every day!

Our home is filled with constant growling, wrestling, destruction beyond belief, motor sounds, shooting....

...and I would not have it any other way!

And to answer my first questions: no I do not journal, and I really stink at blogging, but I write when I can. (or when my brain has not been turned into complete mush from the chaos of the day) And I know that someday I will look back at these blog posts and long to be back in this phase of life. (although that is hard to believe right now)

Another month, another lack of blogging

2011-11-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, I realize that it has been almost an entire month since I have blogged, but I have been trying to stay on top of my house a little better which means very little computer time.

That and my children are needy. It is a rare moment that they are playing by themselves and when those moments occur I am usually scrambling to get something done. (you know like cook super, or clean something, or ~~get on facebook~~ get some work done on the computer)

I still have not blogged about my baby turning 1. That or maybe I am just still trying to process it.

I could probably blog every day about this guy. The words that come out of his mouth and the things that he comes up with keep me laughing all day.

We tried letting him stay up a little later the other night to watch Cars 2. He didn't make it very far. :)

My boys have moments when they get along great and play well together...

...and I know that someday they will be best friends...

....but oh boy do they fight! Lincoln screams the minute Kallen touches him, which makes Kallen mad, and I'm pretty sure his thought process is "I'll give you something to scream about", which leads to me coming in to save the day. Sometimes I sit back and let it happen- just hoping that they will learn to work it out on their own- but we are just not quite there yet. By 4pm everyday- this gets pretty old.

We have learned recently that all you have to do is take the boys to Bass Pro Shops and they are in heaven! We met Shawn's family there last week for dinner

(Faith is looking at me like "why won't your son hold my hand?")

Thank goodness for Shawn's cousin Alexis who was so patient and great at entertaining the kids while we finished dinner.

and while the guys went bowling, and the ladies shopped, my mother-in-law and I tried to keep up with 2- 2year olds and Lincoln as they were turned loose in the store.

My kids wanted nothing to do with Santa, but here their cousins Faith and CJ being very brave!

These boys would spend hours on the four wheelers if we'd let them.

Typical kids- I hold up the camera and Faith smiles and poses, while Kallen starts moving uncontrolably while making engine noises.

They had a blast racing these little cars!

Exploring the ice fishing huts

And watching the fish!

I am pretty sure this will be our go to place this winter. There are not the crowds of the mall playplace, my husband is also in heaven, and I am not tempted to spend any money, and Shawn actually controls himself very well despite the hundreds of things he would probably love to buy!

I will try to catch up on blogging soon. Although I am not going to make any promises. :)

A photo dump

2011-10-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a little photo dump of what we have been up to lately:

For each meal I cook- I pay a price. (meaning that while I am cooking Kallen is doing something naughty)

Here is the price I paid yesterday:

He filled up the bathroom sink, added some hand soap, and washed his toys.

It didn't get too out of hand until I was just finishing up, and heard water splashing onto the bathroom floor as Kallen overflowed the sink.

We went to our 3rd and final pumpkin patch of the season with my family.

Howell's Tree Farm just 15 min. south of DesMoines- it was really fun!

We attempted a picture of the boys

Oh wait, we forgot Lincoln!

Ok, everyone look this way and smile!

.....Nevermind

A new development: my boys are Finally starting to play well together!!!

We took a little wagon ride out to the corn maze.

Doesn't Steph look great?! It was sad to not have Cru with us- but next year will be Awesome!!

Kallen hangin with Aunt Karlee!

"Hey Winken, look at that!"

I didn't get any good pictures because it was so dark, but Saturday night we went to Living History Farms with Shawn's family.

Isn't this just the cutest little tiger you have ever seen!?

Kallen being a vampire.

Catching a ride on Papa's shoulders :)

Kallen just walked up and started hugging this ghost. haha

Kallen has been making some Great progress with potty training!!

He has been doing a lot of this:

And this little boy has me completely wrapped around his little finger.

We had a few rare cuddling moments:

And for the most part we have just been trying to get outside as much as we can while it is still warm!

Check out the snot mixed with drool on this kid!

"I don't want to go inside!"

2011-10-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

I Am Learning.

I am learning that 1 lb. of hamburger does not last 2 meals anymore- it is gone at the end of 1.

I am learning that sometimes it takes a child almost a year to get jealous of his baby brother, so that when you think you are in the clear it catches you completely off guard.

I am learning that I cannot do this on my own and am a Much better person when I take time to spend with my heavenly father.

I am learning that anyone who has more than 2 children is a rockstar in my eyes. :)

I am learning that I really stink at potty training.

I am learning that one of the hardest things about having 2 boys 19 months apart is having energy for your husband when he gets home. (And I don't even necessarily mean in the bedroom- I mean even having the energy to have a conversation)

I am learning that my house will probably be a pit for the next 6-10 years and for the first time- that does not even bother me.

I am learning that I am not capable of giving up pop, sugar, or coffee. (one or all of these three is what gets me through the day)

I am learning that I will fail as a mother, but thank goodness 2year olds have a short memory.

I am learning that Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson may be a book I read every single year.

I am learning to let things go. (some of those things being shopping, voluteer opps, selfishness, pedicures, a clean home)

I am learning how to better handle my time.

I am learning that although my boys, right now, daily push me past my breaking point- the good moments truly do make up for the bad.

I Am Learning.

An eventful night

2011-09-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

My sweet Lincoln scared the crap out of me today. The boys and I had run to Target and I promised Kallen that we could have pizza for supper if he was good and stayed dry (almost potty trained!) the entire time. He did awesome so around 5:30 we headed on over to the food court, ordered our pizza, and sat down to eat it. I was feeding Lincoln bites of pepperoni pizza, and trying to keep Kallen in one spot so he could eat his, when Lincoln let out a terrible scream. I thought maybe he was trying to pass some gas or something so I grabbed him and started patting his back. He continued to scream uncontrolably (this is a child who Rarely cries and has Never screamed like this) so I loaded Kallen and our dinner up in the cart and started heading to the van. Lincoln screamed the entire way home and, I suppose it was my imagination, but I could have swore his lips were starting to swell. We got home, and Lincoln did not calm down at all so I decided it was time to take action. I called our clinic and told them I was coming in, then called my sister in Polk City to come get Kallen (Shawn had an away meet in Ames tonight), then ran Kallen over to the neighbors to hang out until Steph could get here.
By the time we got to the clinic, Lincoln had been screaming for an entire hour. (you know, that painful scream that kids make when you know something is wrong) I guess my mind just kept going to "allergic reaction" for some reason. None of us have allergies so I am not really sure why I even thought that is what it could be. After what seemed like forever, but in reality was probably only 5 minutes, the nurse took us back and started the usual routine. ( undress them down to the diaper, listen to their heart, take their temp, etc..) Lincoln began to calm down and as I layed him on the scale to be weighed he started giggling. (At this point I am thinking "You have got to be kidding me!")
As we waited for the doctor to come in (not our usual doctor whom I love) Lincoln began to explore the room, and by the time she came in he was smiling, jabbering, and dancing. She checked him over, glanced in his ears, and quickly said "Oh, he has a double ear infection". I asked how bad and her words were "Just your typical infection, not too bad!" She called in a prescription for amoxicillin and we were on our way back home. (Now- my opinion on doctors (especially any doctor besides our usual one who is basically the only one I trust), anti-biotics, and ear infection diagnosis's would lead into an entire new blog post....and a long one at that. Let's just say I have no plans to fill that perscription)
While I am very relieved that Lincoln is fine and that he was not, in fact, having an allergic reaction of any sort- it does really bother me that my child would cry- that painful, "mommy please make it stop"-cry for an entire hour and then just suddenly stop. And it especially bothers me to not have an answer as to what it could have been. (Kallen had at least 15 ear infections in his first 2 years of life, so I know what an ear infection looks like. And I really do not feel that Lincoln's crying had anything to do with his ears.) I suppose I may never know what was going on with my little boy- but lets just hope it never happens again! I am not a mother who freaks out easily, and i must say, Lincoln had me freaking out a little.
I guess when it is all said and done, I can only thank God for great neighbors, and awesome sister and b.i.l., hug my babies a little tighter tonight, and be thankful it was nothing serious!

Naptime Please!!!

2011-09-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

"I don't care what you do as long as you stay in this room until I tell you that it's time to come out!"

These were my words to Kallen when he decided to come downstairs after a short 20 minute nap.

I NEED NAPTIME!!!

I have found that it is absolutely crucial that I get at least an hour to myself to do the things that I need to do, or the rest of my day just spirals out of control. And when that happens, I loose all patience with my children, I find myself storming around the house frusterated at the chaos, and by the time my poor husband gets home from a long day at work....Watch Out!!!

Luckily Kallen plays pretty well in his room by himself.

Although today perhaps I should have been a little more specific on what I meant by "I don't care what you do". I do care when you hammer the walls with your plastic hammer (this kid swings a mean hammer- his room has many dents to prove it :/ ), throw books in the air and say "it's raining", and empty out all of your drawers, pull them out, then proceed to stack them saying "I built a tower!" - All of these things I have found him doing in the last 30 minutes.

Ah Kallen, I pray that someday you are able to put all of your energy, ingenuity, and mad hammer skills to good use!!

Center Grove Orchard

2011-09-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

My sister and I made a last minute decision today to head up to Center Grove Orchard.

It is located near Cambridge and if you have not been there- it is Totally worth the drive!!

"I push Winken mommy!"

Little Stinker

They have a huge corn pit to play in and my boys LOVED it!!

Lincoln may have consumed some corn :P

"Mom- I want to walk like Kallen!"

They also have tons of animals! Goats, pigs, horses, chickens, turkeys, ducks- I'm probably forgetting some.

The goats were a big hit with my boys.

And TONS of these paintings (what is the official name for these anyways?) to put your face in.

The tractor course was also a big hit.

And leave it to Kallen to spot, and get excited about the lawnmower.

We went on a wagon ride:

Jumped on a giant trampoline:

Practiced our bullriding:

And ended with a couple rides down the giant slide!

I did not get any pictures, but perhaps the best part of Center Grove Orchard is the fresh apple cider, and amazing caramel apples that call your name as you leave.

My boys must have had fun, because they both passed out as soon as we got in the car.

We had Perfect weather and it was a Great day!!

2011-09-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Just for fun here are the first 10 months of Lincoln's life:

And here are the first 10 months of Kallen's life. :)

"Dear Jesus..."

2011-09-19T04:15:00.000-07:00

There is nothing sweeter, right now, than Kallen's prayers!

There is something so special about catching that little glimpse into your childs mind- and oh how I savor his childhood innocence.

The fun part is- you just never know what he is going to say!

There are the usuals like: Mahma, Bampa, Jacob, Cole (Aunt Nichole), A-ee-a ( his cousin Alydia), Brant, Essie (Aunt Stephy), Karlee, and Uncle Casey. He NEVER forgets any of these!

And then there are random things: like last night when Shawn ask him if there was anything else he wanted to pray for and he said "Yes, this wall" and pointed to the wall beside him.

Or a couple nights ago when his prayer included "Happy GeeGay (Birthday) Casey" (who's birthday was in August)

Then there are the sweet prayers: like the other day after we finished watching Rio and he prayed for birds,

Or a month ago, when my sister had surgery and he prayed "Karlee all better" even weeks after her surgery!

And finally there are the strategic prayers: like the time that he sat in bed praying "Jesus, Mo (no) night night" over and over.

I just LOVE Kallen's prayers!

And I pray that he always talks to Jesus with the open mind and heart he has now!!

Clifford's- ahem- weiner?

2011-09-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Today is one of those days that you dread as a parent, when your child will not take a nap.

Luckily those days are pretty rare around here, but when they do happen I usually make Kallen sit in his room and read books.

We have a video monitor in his room so I am usually able to work in my kitchen and keep an eye on what Kallen is up to.

I was doing dishes, and listening to Kallen read this page of his Clifford book when I heard this:

"The guy said Help! Help! Then Fifford (Clifford) came and the guy slid down his weiner"

I just burst out laughing!

I guess to a 2 year old who does not have a tail- that might, in fact, look like Cliffords weiner.

Ah, the joys of 2 year olds!

Lake Weekend

2011-08-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

Every year around the end of August, my family has one last hoorah at the lake.

We ski, tube, knee board, jet ski, play games, swim, and make great memories year after year ever since I was a little kid!

It makes me so happy that, with my parents generosity, we can carry on this tradition with our children!

Much to their father's delight, our children LOVE the water!!!

They LOVE being outside!

(even when the sun is too bright)

And Kallen LOVES to tube!

(Lincoln was only on it for the picture)

Riding in the boat instantly lures them to sleep, and when the sun gets too hot- we just dip them in the water to cool off!!

We have already made some great memories at the lake with the boys and I am so excited when I think about the years to come!

I can't wait for the year Kallen learns to waterski, or the year Lincoln learns to knee board!

And more than anything- a weekend at the lake leads to some Great quality time!!

This is a horrible picture of me, but my boys were smiling so good I just had to post it!

* A completely random side note: the shirts we are wearing are the girls swim team shirts for this year. They say "Built DeBoef Tough" - we are all ready to cheer on the Valley Tigers!!

Lincoln

2011-08-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

I have not done a Lincoln update in quite awhile.

Here is our attempt at a 9month picture:

Remember that laid back child that I bragged about? Well he is gone. :)

Last week Lincoln started army crawling, then he started pulling up to stand, 2 days ago he learned to sit up by himself, yesterday he started crawling on his hands and knees, and today he started climbing.

So tomorrow he will probably be walking. :P

He has his 9 month check up tomorrow so I don't know what he weighs or his stats, but I can tell you that compared to Kallen he is big!

Lincoln is wearing clothes at 9months that Kallen wore at 20-24months.

I swear that all this child thinks about is food! It starts when he wakes up in the morning whining for a bottle, then he spends the rest of the morning crawling around behind Kallen eating every little crumb he leaves behind. (which is usually alot) Anytime he lets out so much as a whimper, Kallen runs to the cupboard to get him a snack saying "here ya go inken, don't cry!". You don't dare eat something in front of him or he will stare you down until you finally give in and share. :) We are totally over baby food- he wants to be able to feed himself so anything you have to feed him, he is usually not a fan of. He has had a TON of foods that he is probably not suppose to be eating at his age, but I guess that's what happens with your second child. Then he finishes the day wolfing down an 8oz bottle then begging for more. (he usually gets a few more ounces)

Lincoln is a Great little sleeper! He usually sleeps from 8pm-7am, takes a morning nap around 9 for about 45min, then goes back down with his brother at 11:30 for 2-3 hours, and there are days when he will take another 45min nap around 4:30!

That is pretty much Lincoln in a nutshell. He is still a big momma's boy (which secretely I don't mind) and he is so happy! His smile melts my heart and it is probably going to get him out of a lot of trouble over the years! ;) If you tell him to jump or dance, he will get up on his knees and start bouncing. (it is so cute!) And he is ALWAYS watching his brother- it's a little scary how intently he watches him....I haven't decided if it is a good thing or a bad thing.

2011-08-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

So I used to blog, and I really enjoyed it, but then my computer got knocked off the couch and it had to go live with the geek squad for a month. And while my computer was gone I had to borrow Shawn's, and then my blog started having issues and I could not post anything, so I blamed it on my husbands computer. Then the month of July turned into something I just tried to survive between a teething baby and a potty training toddler. (blog post on this coming soon) Then we took an amazing family vacation to Cozumel (possible post coming on this too?), then we got back and realized we only had 3 weeks left to accomplish all of our summer goals before we lose Shawn to swim season again. And so here we are- I finally picked up my laptop today and realize it was not Shawn's computer that was the problem but I figured it out!

So here is a quick photo dump of what we have been up to in the last 3 weeks!

(and perhaps someday I will have the ~~energy~~ time to recap the rest of our summer)

Hanging out with the neighbors!

A family trip to the zoo

Ever wonder how an ostrich sits down?

I just thought it was interesting.

The zoo has a way of wearing our boys out.

We have LOVED trading date nights with another couple that goes to our church. We have kids within a month of each other, and they all play so well together!

On Friday we headed to the state fair and the highlight for us:

Little Hands on the Farm!

It is Perfect for small kids and Kallen just Loved it!

Can you tell it was popular?

Stroller Parking

My little buddy :)

(No matter how much I tried to darken this picture, Kallen's hair still blended into the sky....it is just that white. haha)

After they got done "farming" both boys passed out! (if you know my kids you know how rare this is)

Shawn and I both laughed, looked at each other, and said "now what do we do?"

So we walked around the 4-H exhibit building, bought a cup of cookies, and sat down to cool off in the beer tent while the kids slept.

Saturday we headed back to my home town. They have a celebration called Old Settlers- it was my first time going to it in 10 years.

This is my grandpa Dave teasing Lincoln.

Kallen and Aunt "Essie" watching the parade.

My little shadow

(such a momma's boy)

My Grandma Mary is the one in black on the left. Doesn't she look great?!?

My parents have chocolate lab puppies right now, and boy did Kallen fall in love!

Here is just a little video that shows how excited he was. :)

Notice both of my children require extra hands to help save the puppy? :P

We have had such a great summer! Of course it always goes way too fast, but I am ready for fall! I'm not ready for Shawn to go back to school and head back into swim season for the next 6 months, but that's ok. We are going to have lots of free time on our hands this fall- let us know if you want to hang out!!

2011-08-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

Just checking to see if this is working yet.

Testing

I am having some major blogging issues

Father's Day!

2011-06-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

My boys have an Amazing Father!!

He puts in long days at work, comes home exhausted, walks in the door, and is bombarded by the demands of 2 little boys who adore him! And while a lot of guys might find this annoying and wish they could have some time to just sit on the couch and unwind- Shawn never hesitates to get right down on the floor and start wrestling around!

He is slow to anger, wise in his instruction, and has an amount of patience that I only dream of having.

"Fathers, don't stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." -Ephesians 6:4

He never turns Kallen away (no matter how "helpful" Kallen is being) and many times finds a way to teach Kallen through things- rather than just get angry with him.
For Father's Day this year we all went fishing! Kallen LOVED exploring the water and learning about fish with his Dad!!

"Can we use that one Daddy?"

And while the big boys were fishing, Lincoln and I had a great time relaxing in the sun!

Happy Belated Fathers Day Shawn!

We LOVE you!!!

Born to be Wild

2011-06-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

This year for Kallen's birthday we bought a zoo pass and it has been the best $70 I've ever spent! With 2 small children I love being able to move through the zoo at our own pace (which is pretty fast some days) and never feel guilty about skipping a few things.

And I must say I am excited about the new dinosaur exhibit because Kallen is a bit of a scaredy-cat so I think it is good for him to be forced to step out of his comfort zone.

This was an attempt at getting a "brothers" picture but I mainly posted it because- check out that color difference! Kallen tans super easy and Lincoln is the whitest baby ever. :)

If I were someone who read all the flyers that people hand me, I probably would have known this; but since I am not- I was totally suprised when we found out on Monday that it was "Member Monday" when all members get to ride the train for free!!

This was Kallen's face throughout the entire ride:

He was pretty serious the whole time, but he Loved it!

Let us know if you would ever like to join us at the zoo- I can get one other adult in for free!

Camping!

2011-06-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

I love holiday weekends!

(Actually we love any extra days we get to spend with Shawn!)

We spent memorial day weekend camping 10 minutes from home at Acorn Valley in Saylorville with my sisters and brother-in-law.

There are so many things I love about camping, I almost can't think of anything negative to say.

Here are some of the things I love:

Biking!!

I realize you don't have to go camping to bike, but that seems to be when we always do.

We weren't sure if Lincoln was old enough for the bike trailer yet so this was kind of a test run for him, but he did great! The only thing I wish I could change is that I wish the seats would recline...but oh well.
Despite being constantly elbowed by his big brother, Lincoln seemed to love the ride. And Kallen did not ever want to get out! :)

Being Outside!
There is something that is so refreshing about being outside for 48 hours.

Like our lopsided canopy tent? The slouching side would be the side that I put up. oops!

Lots of Quality Cuddle Time!!

Happy Children!!
My boys are happiest when they are outside. So despite the fact that they don't sleep the best, for the most part they are happy the entire time we are gone!!

Boys and their toys!
I'm pretty sure Shawn loves camping just as much as I do because he gets to spend lots of time fishing, playing with fire, and cutting wood to pieces with a hatchet.

Did I mention Happy Children!?

Improvising!
Can't get the fire going strong? Just use your "air mattress blower upper thingy".

The Food!!

Just kidding- this is not what our food looked like, this is just the pizza that Steph tried to make for poor Casey. :P

Perhaps I already mentioned this-

Happy Children!

Great Conversations and Card Playing!!

No Distractions!!

With no housework, tv, laptops, or work you have lots of time to focus on what is really important:

and spend lots of quiet time with God surrounded by his creation!

Almost makes you want to go camping too doesn't it!?

Smile!!

2011-05-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

These are the things that have made me Smile lately:

(meaning I don't have anything specific to blog about so I'll just do a big photo dump)

We popped our pool last summer, so Daddy and the boys went to Walmart and got a bigger and better one!

Lincoln is not so much a fan of the heat.

(either that or he's just not a fan of his dorky mis-matched hat)
This boy is obsessed with dumping water on his head!

This is what Daddy gets for lying on the couch.

Our neighbor gave us 2 free tickets to Sesame Street Live so Kallen and I went on a little date!

I thought since the tickets were free, that I could splurge and get him a little souvenir....that was until I saw the price of the "little souvenirs". I'm sorry but I am not paying $15 for a little elmo glow light, or $10 for a giant elmo balloon.

This was the cheapest thing I could find ($4) and since he never gets popcorn Kallen was pretty excited!

(sorry buddy- you have a cheapo mommy)

For being free, I thought we got Great seats!!

Gotta love sugar-free popsicles on a hot summer day!!

Kallen's "cheese" face

Ah yes, and then there is this always happy boy!

That is Always happy when he is around his mommy.

(we are having some issues with separation anxiety- not something we ever had to deal with when Kallen was a baby.)

My boys were made to be outside! If we are having a rough day- we all just head outside and both boys are entertained for hours! This is going to be a fun summer! :)

Lincoln's Dedication

2011-05-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday our church had a baby dedication and it made for such a special mothers day!

What a special gift to be able to stand before our church family and commit to raising our child to love God.

We are SO blessed to have such an amazing family.

Our children will grow up surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who love God and I hope they will realize what a special gift that is.

Family photo opp!

Thanks to everyone who came to support us on such a special day!

We Love you guys!!

In my dreams...

2011-05-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

I am in LOVE with this duvet cover:

In fact, I have been for almost 2 years now.

The problem: it costs $280

It is online only at Dwell Studio and they do not have sales. :(

I just cannot justify spending that much on something like that.

Ah, duvet cover, perhaps someday we will finally be together...

...until then I will just keep dreaming about you!

6 months

2011-05-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

Lincoln turned 6 months on May 1st, but we just had his check up today so I have been stalling his 6 month post.

Height: 27 1/2" (85%)

Weight: 18# 11oz (72%)

Head Cir: 17 1/2" (70%)

Eats: 100% breastmilk - I have started trying cereal/babyfood but he gags when the spoon even touches his mouth. I think he is going to be a little slow in the transition from milk to solids.

Sleeps: pretty good at night! He usually goes to bed at 9:00pm, wakes up briefly to eat around 5am, then sleeps until 7-8. Naps are something we are working on. If I would stay home all the time and keep him on a solid schedule he would probaby do great, but I have Kallen who just takes 1 nap/day and I really want to be able to go places in the morning and afternoon this summer. So Lincoln kind of just gets thrown into whatever we have planned for the day and if he naps- he naps. (it's bad I know :S )

Talks: he babbles off and on, he squeals when he gets excited, his new favorite thing is to suck on his bottom lip and spit, and he has the best belly laugh I have ever heard!! Occasionally Kallen gets him to laugh like no one else can and it is the sweetest thing ever!!

Moves: not at all!! Lincoln seems to have 0 interest in rolling. He sits up on his own very well and I really think he will skip rolling and just go straight to crawling. (which I don't think will be anytime soon) I am totally fine with him not being mobile- keeping track of 1 moving child is crazy enough!

Lincoln is still a very happy and smiley baby!

And although he is still somewhat laid-back, he is also starting to be kind of finicky. He HATES the heat! He spent every hot day this week crying and whining until I would strip him down and stick him under the fan (that is something we will be working on), also if you do not do things the way he wants- he will whine until you do. (another thing we will work on)

He is in that grabby stage where he will grab at anything he can get his hands on, and then of course it goes straight to his mouth! He eyes our food to the point where you almost feel guilty eating in front of him. haha He is definately going to be our little tank.

We love you so much Lincoln! You are such a joy in our lives!!

"If ya ain't Dutch, ya ain't Much"

2011-05-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have not been to Tulip Time since I was a little kid, but I married "one of those dutch guys from Pella/Osky" and I figured it was about time we went to see what it was all about.

We headed down Friday morning, picked up Shawn's mom, and started our day at the What Cheer fleamarket. (an Awesome flea market that they have twice a year. Lots of antiques for a fairly reasonable price!)

Then we swung back by the house to meet Shawn's Dad and pulled into Pella just in time to catch the 2:30 parade!

Kallen is in that wonderful phase where he insists on walking instead of riding as much as possible:

Apparently one of the best things about Tulip Time is the food
(although it all just seemed like fair food to me)

I am usually not a fan of funnel cake, but my m.i.l. introduced us to this funnel cake topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream and I have to say it was pretty good!
Kallen has always had a special bond with his "Papa" and he was in heaven all day- having Papa's undivided attention. :)
Lincoln got lots of cuddle time with Grandma! :)

At one point during the parade Kallen looked back, spotted this man, pointed, and said "Uh Oh!"

You can't go to tulip time without getting a picture in front of the tulips!

I'm not sure why I thought this would be possible with a 2 year old and a 6 month old.
Most of our attempts ended up like this:

(Lincoln was mesmerized by the tulips and would not take his eyes off of them)

I guess in Pella there is a $100 fine for each tulip that you break.

In my attempt to get a decent picture, I asked Kallen to give Lincoln a hug.

He, ever so sweetly, hugged his little brother then quickly let go, knocking Lincoln off balance and sending him backwards into the flowers.

Oops! Please don't tell anyone!

After that we high tailed it out of there to go visit Shawn grandparents who live a few blocks away from all of the action.

It has been so cold lately, it was really nice to get out and go for a walk!

Kallen spent most of the time turned around, playing with his brother.

I just LOVE that Lincoln is getting old enough now to interact!

I'd say our first family Tulip Time was a success!

It was SO good to spend time with family, and see a part of Shawn's dutch heritage.

An overall review: it was very crowded, and the parade was close to 2 hours long, but Pella has such neat little shops and the tulips were all beautiful!!!

I'd say, if you are not a fan of big crowds, you could just head to Pella the week before or after and get pretty much the same experience! (plus you can go to Jaarsma without having to stand in a ridiculously long line. And no we did not even bother.)

Smoothie Anyone??

2011-04-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Kallen has become a typical toddler in that you just never know if he will choose to eat his food or not.

The other night we were having a very healthy (NOT!!), last-minute meal of brats, cottage cheese and applesauce. ( I know- lots of gourmet meals going on over here lately)

Kallen would not eat anything and our rule is that if he chooses not to eat what I made for supper, then he still has to sit at the table until we are all done.

I had given up on him eating anything when he reached over, grabbed Shawn's glass of water, and started spooning in his applesauce.

Instead of getting after him like we probably should have, we decided to just sit back and see what would happen.
After the applesauce, came the cottage cheese, and little chunks of brat, all held together with water. It was looking pretty nasty and I thought "surely he is not going to drink that".

Wrong!

He drank the entire thing! And then proceeded to fill up his cup again. Gross!

He ended up devouring his entire meal in liquid form. (I guess that's I one way to get him to eat)

Apparently we need to just start feeding him smoothies for every meal.

P.S. I have no idea why his hood is up in all of these pictures. He probably put it up and didn't want to take it off. :P

A GREAT post!!

2011-04-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know this woman, but I have been reading her blog for a while now and this post was really powerful to me.

I would highly recommend taking the time to click over and read it!

You won't regret it!!!

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2011/04/better-me-than-you.html

"Pssshhhht"

2011-04-16T01:34:00.001-07:00

So a while back I blogged that I was thinking about starting to potty train Kallen......

...yeah, that did not really happen.

I put underwear on him for a couple days, then he did not want to wear it anymore.

I did not want underwear and the pottychair to become a negative thing so I just kind of dropped it. (he seemed a little young anyways) I will occasionally ask him if he would like to "wear underwear today?" but his answer is always "Mo" (no).

I keep the potty chair in our main level bathroom just incase he ever decides he is ready to try it, and we have been reading our potty book quite often lately!

Today my sister and I were in the living room, and Kallen was messing around in the bathroom when we heard him saying "pssshhhht".

He loves to pretend to wash his hands so I told her that was probably what was going on, but when she went to go check on him she burst out laughing.

He was sitting on his potty chair (with diaper and pants still on) pretending to go potty.

"Pssshhhht" "Pssshhht"

He also did some other stinky business in his diaper while he was in there. (lucky me)

I am going to take all of this as a sign that maybe we are one step closer to Kallen being ready to potty train!!

And this is exciting to me because, frankly, only 1 child in diapers sounds A-mazing!!!

And just so this is not a post without pics- here is a random picture of Kallen sporting his new shades from "Aunt Cole" (nichole)

Smile!!

2011-04-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

These are things that have made me smile this week:

* Lincoln's 5 month picture

When you ask Kallen how old he is, he will hold up 1 finger and say "three"

Kallen spends a majority of his day watching for puppies out the front window.

I guess he was feeling a little lazy this day:

Kallen's obsession with screwdrivers (and tools in general). If he hears you even mention that something may be broke or need batteries- he will run to get the screwdriver so he can "fix it"

A table full of toddlers- yay for friends!! *

The fact that when Kallen decides to hide from us, he runs to his hiding spot and yells "Kallen!"

These ornery little stinkers-

my boys have really been bonding lately and it has been so fun to watch!!

Animal Party!

2011-04-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today my "baby boy" turned 2 years old! I still cannot believe it!!

This year we had an ANIMAL PARTY!!

I don't go out and buy a bunch of stuff for my kid's birthday parties....I just raid their toy box!

Lincoln dressed for the occasion! Kallen had been dying to eat a cupcake and was very excited to finally get his hands on one!

He LOVED opening presents! He just started in and went to town! :P

Got some cool new shades from Aunt "Cole".

And wrapped up the day playing outside!

It was a great day!

2011-03-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

Just for fun- the top one is Kallen and the bottom one is Lincoln.

I don't think they look all that much alike but maybe that's just because I'm the mom. :)

Cereal!

2011-03-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

Lincoln had his first bite of cereal tonight:

I don't think he was very impressed.

That's soo 2010

2011-03-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

Feeling like a frumpy mom lately

a salon in my home

(instant access to scissors and color at all times- not good)

a rare moment when both boys are sleeping

BANGS!

(or fringe as we were taught to call them in cosmo. school)

What?! That's so last year?

(or actually 2009 but Iowa always seems to be a year behind)

I know, but what can I say I needed a change!

And what does my home look like while I am cutting my hair and taking pictures of myself?
Priorities messed up? Probably so.
Just keeping it real ya'll!

Honey Creek

2011-03-19T02:53:00.000-07:00

We decided to end our spring break with something fun (and after last week- we ALL needed out of the house!) so yesterday we headed down to the waterpark at the Honey Creek Resort. It was super cheap ($12 for our entire family!) and the perfect size for Kallen!

Last summer Kallen was still a little hesitant around water- but yesterday he just dove right in.

Shawn was pretty excited to see how much both of his boys Loved the water!

Little Lincoln passed out half way through.

My parents only live about 5 minutes away from the resort so while we were down we headed over to Grandpa Rody's house to see the cows!

And check out the tractors!

And of course- to play with Uncle Jacob!

It was an Awesome day! And the perfect end to our week!

And it made me realize that I'm pretty sure this summer is going to require a pool pass.

Lincoln Update

2011-03-14T03:05:00.000-07:00

I never did find the time to do a Lincoln update last week:

He really does have that smile on his face all the time! Lincoln is the happiest little baby!!!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 16lbs 3 oz (77%)

Height: 25 1/2 inches (73%)

Head Circ: 16 1/2 (42%)

So... big body little head. :)

Diapers: Size 3

Kallen is in size 4

Clothes: 6-9 months, mostly 9 months

He has recently discovered his voice, and spends most of his day lying around squealing and experimenting with new sounds. (I love it!!) Remember when I told you he is a super laid-back baby?....Not so much anymore. He is beginning to act exactly like his big brother did at that age- constantly needing a change of scenery (so I just rotate him around between his swing, activity gym, bouncy seat, and the floor), never wanting to sit and always feeling the need to stand, will Never lay his head down while being held- he feels the need to look around (he might miss something you know), and he fights going to sleep with all his might.

He is definately 100% boy in that the rougher you play with him- the better! He gets alot of comments from strangers like "that boy is going to be a line backer" and "wow you could put him in a pink dress and he'd still look like a boy!".

He is waayyy to much of a momma's boy. My biggest struggle lately is that anytime I am gone, he seems to be fussy for whoever is watching him. He takes a bottle just fine for me but struggles to take them from other people. I am determined to get him over this one, because I do NOT want a baby that I cannot leave for a little bit. (this momma needs her freedom!)

Here he is practicing his favorite thing to do right now:

He has really started to watch Kallen closely and take in everything he is doing. Sometimes I can almost see the look of determination in his eyes telling himself "I think I can do that!".

If I could predict what our future holds, right now I would say Kallen= instigator Lincoln= follower that will probably take it to the next level.

And that is Lincoln in a nutshell! I just love my little butterball!!

Completely Drained

2011-03-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

The past 4 days have been 4 of the most physically and emotionally draining days of my life.

Wednesday night around midnight Kallen woke up with a 103 fever. Shawn and I took shifts holding him (it was the only way he would calm down) and trying to keep him comfortable.

I called our pediatrician first thing on Thursday morning and they worked us right in with their "floating doctor" (our regular doctor was booked). She took one look at his ears and confirmed what I was already suspecting.....Double Ear Infection. She quickly subscribed some antibiotics (something I normally fight- but with a crazy weekend ahead I was ready for the "quick fix") and sent us on our way. After an entire night and day of Kallen crying constantly I called our chiropractor who worked us in around 3:30pm. She applied some kinesio tape (which usually works wonders on Kallen's ears!) and did her best to adjust Kallen. (At this point he was screaming and kicking and it was hard for us to hold him down) We made another appointment for the next morning and headed home. Thursday night he actually slept pretty well, but still had a fever of 101.

Friday morning he woke up and seemed to be doing better! I played the piano for a wedding this weekend and had a friend lined up to watch Kallen for me during rehearsal on Friday at 3pm. I kept a close eye on him all day and was feeling pretty good about taking him to my friends house. (he was running around, didn't seem to have a fever, and had the energy to get into trouble so he must be fine!) Shawn picked him up and I got home around 5:00. As soon as I walked in the door- I knew he was Not fine. :( His fever had gone back up to 103 and Friday night was a pretty rough night. Again Shawn and I took shifts with Kallen, but I don't think either one of us really got much sleep.
Saturday was probably the worst day. Kallen just sat around the house, clinging to whoever would hold him (mostly me), and constantly crying "owie". It seemed like there was nothing we could do to ease his discomfort and he still had a fever of 102. I called our pediatrician just to make sure things were ok- and they said to give the antibiotics a good 3 days to kick in. Shawn was gone all day on Saturday, and I played for the wedding at 3. My sister and b.i.l. were sweet enough to come hang out with our boys for us and I'm sure they got more than they bargained for. Kallen just looked so miserable and it broke my heart to see him in such a bad state.

Saturday night he slept very well (which was great considering naps have been non-existent) and this morning he woke up without a fever! I got excited at first, but it didn't take long after getting him out of bed to realize that he was far from feeling good. I was on to play the piano for church this week so poor Shawn had to stay home with the boys while I got out of the house for a while. By the time I got home, Kallen's fever had returned -100 this time- and he was back to sitting around and crying. After shoving some tylenol down his throat, he did perk up enough to play with some toys this afternoon, but by 5 he was back to laying on the couch whining to be held.
I am actually leaving out quite a few symptoms and details for the sake of this post getting too long, but lets just say the past 4 days have not been pretty....at all.
Please pray for our little boy!
Pray that he will wake up in the morning and his fever will be gone! Or if it's not pray that we will have wisdom in knowing where to go from here. We are ready to have our happy little Kallen back and it is breaking my heart to see him this miserable for this long. (Dare I say, that I even kind of miss his little messes all over the house!?) And please pray that I will have the patience to keep nurturing my sick, needy child! (I totally was not cut out to have a collicky baby- God knew I could not handle constant crying!)

Potty Training???

2011-03-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Do you see what my child is wearing on his cute little bum?!?

On Tuesday morning Kallen told me "Potty" as he was wetting his diaper and I decided it was time to make a Walmart run! My son is obsessed with stickers right now so I let him pick out a big pack of those, then I made a big deal out of him picking out some underwear too!!

I wish I were one of those parents who researches everything and has an awesome strategy for every new phase of life. Unfortunately I am more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of parent. So when it comes to potty training- we are totally winging it! I am not ready to commit 100% to this potty thing yet- but I did want to have the supplies ready to go so that when Kallen decides it is time- I will be ready too!

So here is what happened on Tuesday when we got home from Walmart:

Kallen was super excited about his new underwear and wanted to put it on right away! I thought "What the heck! We aren't going anywhere tonight so why not?!"- knowing full well that I would probably be cleaning up some messes. We had a big discussion about what we do when we wear "big boy pants" and Kallen seemed to be understanding pretty well so I turned him loose- asking every 20 min. or so "Do you have to go potty?". Luckily Kallen was outside on the back deck with Shawn when accident #1 happened. Shawn had just asked him if he needed to go potty when a puddle began to form around his little feet- so we brought him inside, sat him down on his potty chair and began clean up- explaining the whole time what he should have done. - a side note: I was totally not mentally prepared for this cleaning up urine thing. GROSS! I gave him the option of putting a new pair of underwear on or a diaper and of course he chose the underwear! So we started over.

We had a friend coming over to talk to us that night, and we were all in the living room when accident #2 happened. Kallen was standing by the couch when all of a sudden he just froze, looked at me, and said "Uh Oh!". I quickly grabbed him and ran to the bathroom to clean up the urine running down his legs. This is when I remembered I had forgotten the stickers- so I explained to him that every time he goes potty in his potty chair he will get a sticker!! Again I gave him the option of putting clean underwear back on or a diaper, but this time he chose the diaper.

I am not ready to force him into anything yet - he is still pretty young- so I am going to leave it up to him whether or not he wants to wear underwear or not. But I am all for giving it a try! I do think it was a good sign that he recognized he had messed up the second time when he said "uh oh"! I had to work all day Wednesday, and yesterday was a pretty busy day, so maybe this afternoon we will try underwear again. Who knows- maybe this won't go anywhere and we'll just try again in a few months- all I know is that I saw the signs that he may be ready so I jumped on it!

4 months

2011-03-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

This little boy turned 4 months old today! I'll post stats and more about him next week after we go to the doctor.

Deer Classic

2011-02-26T03:03:00.000-08:00

I knew as soon as we found out Lincoln was a boy (or perhaps it was the minute I married Shawn) that camo, guns, and hunting were going to become a permanent part of my life. (this is also when I gave up the fight and bought a camo diaper bag) Of course I can totally understand men's need to kill animals, bring them home, and cut them up to pieces- NOT!! But, all sarcasm aside, I do love the fact that this is something that boys and their Dads can bond over.

Kallen - without much training- seems to love deer hunting about as much as his Dad. Several times a day he will bring me one of Shawn's hunting magazines and we have to sit down and look at every single page. (shooting all the deer and screaming "boom boom") Often times our afternoons consist of hiding little deer all over our house, putting on Kallen's boots, and hunting for them. And the other day Shawn and my brother-in-law Casey spent hours down in our basement working up deer meat, so guess who needed to spend most of his day down there too? ( I tried really hard not to think about all of the things Kallen was probably getting into/ doing down there)

It is because of all of these things that something happened yesterday that I never thought would happen in my entire life...... I actually got excited to go to the Deer Classic. I could not wait to see Kallen's reaction to all of the deer and other random dead animals hanging everywhere.

(plus is does make for some good people watching. Not quite as good as the state fair but not too far behind)

(does that make me sound like a snob? Sorry)

Here are my boys all camoed out and ready to go!

Kallen was soo excited, and spent most of his time pointing to deer and saying "boom boom!"

Lincoln just chilled in his carseat.

I just love this picture!

Kallen wants to do everything Shawn does and it is so special to just sit back and watch the strong bond forming between these two!
Will I be attending every single Deer Classic? Lets hope not!
But I love seeing my boys share a love for something and I am thinking in the future the Deer Classic will mean a boys day for them and a shopping day for Mommy!!! :D

2011-02-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

I haven't had much to blog about lately-

So I just thought I'd post a couple pictures I snapped today!

There is just something about a baby in overalls!!

So far these boys are different in every way:

Kallen is high strung- Lincoln is super laid back

Kallen has always been small for his age- Lincoln is huge

Kallen NEVER stops talking- Lincoln rarely makes a peep

Even their skin tones are different!

I just love these little boys to pieces!!!
Hope you all have a great weekend!

Brotherly Love

2011-02-15T04:57:00.000-08:00

Kallen has been such a sweet brother to Lincoln lately. (or at least he starts out being sweet) He is constantly bringing Lincoln his cars and toys, trying to get him to hold them, and play with him. The other morning Kallen was sitting on the top of our couch looking out the front window and he came over to me, grabbed my hand, brought me to Lincoln, and pointed to the window. He wanted his brother to come sit with him! So I propped Lincoln up on the couch beside his big brother and Kallen proceeded to hold Lincoln's hand and point out the window, telling him everything he saw. "Puppy! Ouse! (house) No! (snow) Tee! (tree)" It was such a sweet moment!

I feel so blessed to be able to be home with my boys and catch all of those little moments.

Yesterday morning Kallen was loving on his brother, so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots. This is the typical order of events with these two:

-Sitting sweetly beside each other

- Then Kallen has to hold Lincoln

- Lots of kisses

(I like how Lincoln is looking at me out of the corner of his eye like "Mom, are you watching Kallen? I'm getting a little nervous!")

-Then Kallen decides that Lincoln should hold Him.

- And things usually result in this.

(notice the smile of satisfaction on Kallen face like "Yes! I got him to cry!" )

Rolling Stairs and Flying Chopsticks

2011-02-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I go- chaos seems to follow. (could have something to do with the fact that, these days, everywhere I go 2 little boys go also) Yesterday was a pretty busy day for us, and although we had an awesome day we did have a few moments as well.
Event #1: Swim season is coming to an end (Hallelujah!!) (oops did I say that out loud?) and yesterday was districts in Johnston. The Johnston pool is literally 1 minute from our house, and my family was in town for the meet so we packed up the boys and headed over! The pool area was pretty hot and Kallen was rather irritable but all things considered he did pretty well. I was focusing on Lincoln and Kallen was playing with my sister when all of a sudden I hear the crowd around us gasp and I look up to see Kallen falling down the cement stairs. (Yikes!) The good news is he mostly rolled down in slow motion and came out without even a scratch- but oh boy did he give his mom a heart attack! I'm pretty sure I practically threw Lincoln into my Mom's arms to rush to Kallen's side. (that mother's instinct I guess) We recovered from "the fall" and decided to box Kallen in the bleachers next to the wall to play with my brother Jacob. Kallen insisted on sitting on the metal bleachers like a big boy, and I again was focusing on Lincoln when I caught a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head just in time to see Kallen hit the cement floor- don't worry his head broke his fall. He came up screaming and, again, poor Lincoln got thrown into my Mom's arms. This time he had a nice goose egg on his forehead- and I spent the rest of the swim meet smiling and explaining it to kind people who would walk up and say "oh my gosh, poor baby! What happened!?" We made it to the end of the swim meet and Shawn's boys did great! (Ok, so maybe I didn't learn they did great until I talked to Shawn later last night. I wonder when I will ever actually Watch a swim meet again?)

Event #2: After the meet my family decided to go out for supper at Bang Bang (the new restaurant on Mills Civic that is just like Hu Hot. Very good! But a little pricey) Kallen was sitting across the table from me in between my sister and Jacob. (in retrospect, perhaps setting him by Jacob was not the best idea but they entertain each other so well!) The meal was going great and Kallen and Jacob were eating with chopsticks. Jacob set his chopsticks down, hanging halfway off the table, and Kallen saw them- raised his little hand, and brought it down hitting the end of the chopsticks. This sent them flying across the restaurant landing on the poor innocent father and daughters' table behind us. Luckily, no one was injured by the flying chopsticks and we all shared a few giggles and apologies. Jacob, who had not seen what happened to his chopsticks, saw us talking to the man, and noticing "his chopsticks" lying on the bench beside him decides to get up, pick up the chopsticks, then place them on the man's table for him. He then returns to our table and realizes his chopsticks are missing- so my mom explains that those were his chopsticks. Jacob proceeds to go back over to the mans table and grab his chopsticks practically out of the man's hand, and bring them back to our table. And here I'm sure that guy thought he was going to have a nice calm dinner with his daughter. :)

Event #3: After Bang Bang we headed over to the mall to do some quick shopping and let the boys play in the play place. I do realize that at this point my son is exhausted and it is getting close to bedtime, but I figured he could run out the rest of his energy and be completely ready for bed by the time we left the mall. I was enjoying hanging out with my Mom and sister when I look over to see Kallen shove this kid, who is twice his size, off of the ship. Luckily the kid just hit the floor, bounced back up, and went on his way but it is moments like that- that make me wish the kid would have turned around and given Kallen a taste of his own medicine. Kallen spent most of the time in the play place shoving and hitting other kids. None of them ever hit back- they just took the abuse. I, of course, ran in to talk to him but at this phase in our life it doesn't seem to do any good. I really think that if one of these days another child would fight back, and show Kallen how it feels, then perhaps he would realize what he is doing. Until then- I have the big bully that runs around the play place looking for trouble. I am determined that we will get through this phase, and no matter how badly I want to just keep my child at home where I know he will not bother anyone, he is never going to learn if we don't just keep at it.

We ended the day with Kallen falling asleep the minute I put him in his car seat. All in all we had a really GREAT day- but boy could I do without the drama!

Big Boy!

2011-02-03T02:22:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my baby is 3 months old!?!!

Time really does fly with your second child! Lincoln is still the easiest baby EVER!! He just lies around happily sleeping or gazing at whatever he can see.

I don't have stats on him this month, but I would guess he weighs around 15-16 lbs.

He is just moving up to 6 month clothes (Kallen was only wearing 3 mth clothes when he was 5 months old) and we just bought our last box of size 1-2 diapers.

He still eats every 3 hours during the day and at night goes about 7-8 hours!

He has not gone to a single day of daycare, but he is starting to be awake alot more so his time is coming soon.

He still will not take a pacifier and I am finally deciding maybe this is a good thing. (we still need to take Kallen's away :S )

He is not very good at taking bottles but this is something I am going to start working on. (no baby of mine is going to refuse a bottle- mama needs her freedom!)

There is a nice big bald spot rubbed into the back of his head because my poor neglected child does not get very much tummy time. (also something I'm working on)

He smiles very easily and has the cutest little giggles- they are 100% boy and sound mostly like a lot of grunting.

That is the low-down on Lincoln- not too much to tell at this age.

His dimples are going to have his Mama wrapped around his little finger. :)

Got Milk?

2011-01-25T09:48:00.001-08:00

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

2011-01-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-20T11:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

Ok time for this week's

Things that have made me smile!

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 ?!?)

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!

2011-01-05T20:17:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

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!!

update

2010-12-30T04:51:00.000-08:00

I was a bad mom and totally forgot my camera last weekend so I do not have a christmas post, but I will say that we had a GREAT christmas!! Aside from Kallen and I being sick, we had a blast spending time with our families!

Kallen will be waking up any minute and I can hear Lincoln in his crib starting to cry so I am just going to leave you with some pics that I have snapped in the last couple of weeks:

Here is "Kallen the Great Hunter"

- his hat will spotlight a deer from miles away and those bear slippers can run as fast as lightening

This is where Kallen spends a lot of downtime these days. It is amazing to me how long my little busy-body will sit in this carseat.

We find Lincoln sleeping like this quite often....perhaps he is dreaming about riding motorcycles??

Daddy's little UNI fans

(thanks Katie for the awesome matching shirts!!)

This is how I forsee A LOT of future "nice" pictures going.

Kallen loving on his brother a little too much and Lincoln saying "get off me!"

Smile!

2010-12-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

These are things that have made me smile this week:

While I was making supper the other night, I gave Kallen his own pan so he could make supper too (and stop whining at my feet). Here is what he managed to find around the kitchen.

(notice how proud he is of himself)

Great Grandpa Dave and his Great Grandsons!

(so special!)

This picture of the boys in their hats that Aunt Stephy made for them.

It's like Lincoln is saying "Not another picture! Tell me when they're done Kallen"

A little brotherly love in their matching pajamas. :)

Santa Baby

2010-12-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

I did not grow up believing in Santa- my Mom always felt like he took away from the true meaning of Christmas and I agree. So we have decided that we are not going to teach our kids to believe in Santa either. We will tell them the story of Santa, but we won't pretend like he is real today.

I do, however, still think it is fun to get that yearly photo of them sitting on Santa's lap.

(mostly just to see their reaction)

Here is Kallen last year:

He sat on Santa's lap like he was another member of our family- no big deal! He was roughly 7 months in that picture.

Then there was this years attempt at a picture with Santa.

This is as close as Kallen would get:

he was handing Santa books.

This was on Monday (yes the same day of all the events in my last blog post) and Kallen was in quite the mood. My sister came down for the afternoon to help me get some christmas shopping done. We knew we wanted to try the whole Santa thing and there was absolutely no one in line so we went on in. I knew Kallen would probably have some hesitation this year, but I never fathomed it would go as bad as it did.

As soon as I pulled Kallen out of the stroller he started throwing a fit. I tried to coax him over to santa which resulted in kallen seriously on the ground kicking and screaming (he has never done this to me EVER). I was soo embarrased and thankful that there were not any other people standing in line to witness my childs behavior. I quickly gave up on the Santa idea (thus the above picture- I figured it was as good as it was going to get) and began trying to wrap things up and get us out of there before Kallen made any more of a scene. That is about the time that my sister looked at me and pointed to Kallen who was standing there, looking at the reindeer with his little pointer finger out, saying "boom boom". (his daddy taught him to shoot deer and in his defense what 1 year old would know the difference?) I about died! I'm pretty sure Santa looked at me like I was the worse mother in the world. He was probably thinking "what is wrong with these people!?" I quickly grabbed my boys and we high-talied it out of there!

Of course Lincoln was perfect:

Maybe next years Santa visit will go a little better. :S

It's chaos around here!

2010-12-06T09:01:00.001-08:00

Sorry- this is another post without a picture but I just thought I'd give you a glimpse into my life.These are the events that have already happened today and it is only 11:00am.

I could not find my phone charger and my phone was going to die any minute so I ran upstairs with Kallen to look. He quickly tore apart our entire room while I was searching through our suitcase (we were gone over the weekend) looking for it. I turned around and could not believe (ok actually with this child I can but he never ceases to amaze me) what I saw. Clothes strung everywhere, magazines/books all over the place, a huge smile on his face. Ok, I'll clean this up during his nap.
I still hadn't found my charger and I had a feeling it was in the car so I began to weigh my options. Lincoln was safely sleeping in his pack-n-play, I would just run out to the car real quick, what's the worse that can happen? I had a little talk with Kallen, then ran out to the car and began searching as fast as I could....found it! As I reached the front door I had a moment of panic as I realized it was locked! then I remembered our garage door is currently broken so I slid it open and hurried inside. I walked into our kitchen to see my towel drawer (luckily the bottom drawer) completely emptied out, with Kallen standing inside it, holding the bag of cheetos that was sitting on the counter, happily chomping away. At least he hadn't dumped them!.....oops shouldn't have thought that- just as I reached Kallen he turned the bag upside down. :(
With my phone charging, lunch warming up, and naptime just a few moments away Lincoln woke up completely soaked (time for bigger diapers). Kallen has been such a sweet brother today that I decided to change Lincoln on the floor so Kallen could "help" me. He was sitting by Lincoln's head giving him a hug when I slid Lincoln's diaper off and then it happened.....Licoln felt that fresh air and just couldn't help himself- he started peeing- and of course it shot straight up into Kallen's face. Kallen gave me a shocked look at first, then I watched it turn to anger but I was too slow to react- he spit on Lincoln, then (I hope accidentally) kicked his head as he was getting up. Now I had 2 screaming boys. :S
At the moment their bellies are both full, they are both down for naps, and I just had to sit down for a moment before I start doing damage control on my house.

And this is why- if you ever just stop by my house- I am usually not showered and my house is not clean. :)

What Happened??

2010-12-02T05:26:00.000-08:00

Where did the month of November go?

I feel like it was just yesterday that we came home with our new little baby- not sure how Kallen would react or what the next few weeks would bring. It is amazing how quickly you adapt to having a new baby around and next thing you know- you cannot imagine life without them!

Lincoln is already such a blessing to our lives! I prayed for a layed back baby and so far it seems that is just what he is! Poor little guy spends most of his days lying in the pack-n-play because his mommy is busy with his big brother who seems to demand ALOT of attention. But he doesn't seem to mind at all- he is perfectly content to just hang out wherever!

We do have a few challenges though: Lincoln is a spitter. You have to watch out because you just never know when that lovely white stuff will come shooting out of his mouth and nose. Kallen never really spit up so this is new territory for me.

Also- I am still having a lot of trouble getting Lincoln to burp after he eats. This results in lots of gas and some tummy aches. I am up for any suggestions you guys may have! I have tried burping him on my shoulder, rubbing his back, face down over my legs, and rotating his little legs while he lays on his back. We occasionally get a burp but not very often. I have also eliminated dairy from my diet which does seem to have helped with the upset tummy. Bummer for me but worth it for now. :)

We did get some GREAT news this week! Lincoln had his cardiology appointment on Tuesday and THEY DID NOT FIND A HEART MURMUR!!! This was exactly what we were praying for and I was so excited to hear the doctor say he was just fine!! They weighed him while we were there and my tiny little boy who started out at 5lbs 12oz a few weeks ago weighed 8lbs 4 oz! I think we may have a little chunker on our hands...his brother did not gain quite that fast. :)

All in all things are going really well around our house! I am LOVING life with 2 boys! And although it presents its challenges- the good far outweighs the bad! Yes there are days when I am completely exhausted, yes I am sleep deprived, yes there may be times when I go a little too long without a shower, yes there are days where I really have no recollection of what I ate (if I ate anything) the entire day, but then there are the sweet moments like when Kallen thinks Lincoln needs to kiss his finger whenever it is hurt, or the countless times throughout the day that Kallen wants to hold his brother and then he just sits there stroking his head. (I'm pretty sure that is the biggest run-on sentence ever) I love watching my boys bond already and I can't wait to see what the next few months will bring as Lincoln becomes more alert and able to respond!!!

Twins

2010-11-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

Here are both of my boys at 1 month old:

I think seeing this really put into perspective for me how much they really do look alike.
I know people kept telling me that- and I agreed they looked similar- but WOW does this picture show how "similar" they really are!
I think the only way I would know who was who (aside from the clothes) is that Kallen had an almost perfect complexion and Lincoln has some baby acne.
It will be interesting to see how Lincoln changes here in the next few months!

Smile!!

2010-11-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

These are things that made me smile over the weekend:

Ok, this first one seems strange because this is a picture of the huge goose-egg that Kallen got right before I sent him home with Grandma Tammy. He was running into the kitchen and tripped and fell right into the corner of the chair. It was one of those injuries that swelled up instantly- poor little boy. But it made me smile because he only cried for about 2 seconds and then was over it- but for the next hour he would randomly look at me and carefully put his hand on his forehead and say "ouch". I just thought it was cute. :)

This one makes me smile because of the context of the book (read the title) and how tuned in Kallen was to what his daddy was saying. What can I say- we teach 'em young around here. :P

I just LOVE this picture of Aunt Stephy and her nephews!

Matching Brothers Shirts!!!

2 week checkup

2010-11-18T08:24:00.001-08:00

This sweet little boy had his 2 week check up yesterday.

Because of his time in the NICU they had us do a 1 week weight check last Monday. I still couldn't drive so my Mom drove us to the doctor (that brought back memories :P) and kept Kallen entertained for me while we headed into the clinic. Lincoln was back up to birthweight which was 5lbs 12oz (I think we left the hospital at 5.6).

I knew over the course of this past week Lincoln had started to outgrow his preemie clothes so as we headed to the doctor yesterday I was just hoping for maybe 6 lbs. Well, this little guy shocked his momma when he weighed in at 6lbs 12oz!! His length was 201/2 inches (he was born at 18") which put him in the 78th percentile for height and the 20th percentile for weight.

We did receive some bad news though.... our pediatrician detected a heart murmer. :( He wasn't too concerned about it and said most of the time they correct themselves, but we have an appointment with the cardiologist on the 30th just to make sure nothing major is going on. My mother-in-law told me that Shawn actually had one when he was born and it just fixed itself over time so that was encouraging to hear!! I think maybe because of his time in the NICU I seem to be a little more on edge with Lincoln than I was with Kallen. Lincoln still just seems so small and fragile to me so when I hear about little things I find myself getting worried. (not a problem I usually have) But that is something I am just going to have to hand over to God!

All in all things are going really well around here! Kallen seems to have gotten through the rough patch and is now adjusting really well to having Lincoln around. I'll have to do another post to tell you about some of the funny things that have happened already! :)

No Brain

2010-11-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

There are alot of things I would like to blog about: Lincoln's Birth Story, so far what life is like with 2 boys, some of the never ending thoughts and emotions going on in my head; but lately I barely have time to lift my computer, let alone blog about anything. That and I have been so exhausted I can't even seem to finish a thought in my head these days. So I'll just give you a couple pictures for now- and hopefully soon I will get some of my brain back.

Change of Plans

2010-10-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

I think that alot of times when we think that we have things all figured- God sits up there and smirks at us because He knows that is not at all how it will go. I honestly don't know why we spend so much time stressing about things (it's because we think we need to feel in control).

This was a hard lesson for me this week.

You all know that we have spent the last few months adding on a salon to our house, and all along we have roughly had the goal of getting it done by November 1st. Well, November 1st was coming alot faster than we wanted it to and things were starting to get pretty stressful around the DeBoef household. My lease for my current salon is up as of the 1st so putting things off was not really much of an option. Last Friday Shawn and I sat down and made ourselves a schedule of what would need to happen on what day to have things ready to go. We thought we had things all planned out and were starting to feel pretty good about where we were setting. We have the BEST family in the world and over the weekend/Monday almost everyone was pitching in to help us out any way they could. An added bonus was that Kallen got some great cousin time out of it!!

Here was my attempt at putting in a movie to keep the kids occupied for a little bit. (it didn't last very long)

Lots and Lots of painting!!

The guys were filling in the dirt around the posts and the kids felt the need to "help". :)

Just look at those ornery kids. :P

By Monday Shawn and I were soo thankful for everything that was accomplished over the weekend, but still feeling VERY overwhelmed by everything that still needed to happen this week. (plumbers, electricians, inspectors, cleaning, moving stuff in, etc..)
On top of all of it- Shawn's girls swim team has their big Regional swim meet this Saturday with State following right behind next Saturday. My poor husband could not possible have anything else hit him....right?

Then came my doctors appointment on Tuesday.

I was just going in for a regular 37 week OB checkup and ultrasound. (they have been monitoring the baby pretty close because of some medication I am having to take) I had Kallen with me because normally they are pretty quick and we are just in and out of there- but this time we had been sitting in the exam room for 30min, Kallen had enough, and I was starting to get a little irritated. My regular doctor is on vacation this week, and finally the Dr. we were seeing came in and instead of pulling out the doppler like normal- he pulled up a stool. (uh oh) He informed me that instead of growing like he should, our baby had actually dropped down on the percentage chart. This told them that something is not right. (I am thinking- oh ok they are going to make me wait longer that our scheduled c-section on November 16th) Instead- the words out of his mouth were "we are going to deliver him on Monday". To be honest at this point I almost laughed out loud- he said "lets see here...what is the date?" and before he could look it up I said "November 1st". Basically- they think my placenta has stopped doing it's job and is no longer nourishing the baby. Because of this, they can do more for our baby on the outside than they can on the inside. In the ultrasound he measured around 5 lbs so he is at a good weight to be born. We talked over a few more details and then Kallen and I headed out- me thinking "how am I going to tell Shawn?"

I called him on the way home to say "Well, we are having a baby on Monday!" and the first words out of his mouth were "Are you kidding me?". (poor guy)

So I guess instead of opening a salon on Monday we will be having a baby on Monday! Not quite what we had planned, but that's ok!

And don't worry- Shawn is just fine. After taking about a day to get over the shock, he is excited to meet our little guy. We put a hold on the construction so that Shawn could catch up on some things at school and get ready for a sub next week. Is this ideal timing? not exactly Did we ever think we would be having a baby the week of girls state? not really But is God's timing always perfect? Absolutely

Next week is going to be a crazy week with Shawn needing to run practices in preparation for their biggest meet of the year; but we will get to meet our new little boy, and Kallen will become a big brother, and we will become a family of 4, and for all of that I am soo excited!!
We did finally come up with a name! But I am not telling- you'll have to wait until Monday. :)

Think about it..

2010-10-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

I am not very good when it comes to computers, but hopefully I at least figured this one out. Here is a link to my friend Janel's webiste: http://team-sullivan.blogspot.com/ . She posted this today and I think that everyone needs to see it and at least think about it. This is something that has been very heavy on my heart lately and even though we are not all called to adopt, we Should all be praying for God's orphans. There is not a single morning that I don't wake up and thank God for everything he has blessed us with! And lately there is not a single morning where I don't wake up and shed a little tear (I am also super duper pregnant and emotional right now) for the starving children out there who are just waiting to be loved. If nothing else- just take time to read this, say a little prayer, and just think about it!

A day on the farm

2010-10-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

There are several things I love about fall! But this is what I love most:

Harvest season! It's probably because I grew up on the farm, but I just LOVE seeing all of those combines in the fields. That is one of the things I miss the most about living in the country- you just don't see any combines around here.

Today Kallen and I drove down to my parents to ride in Grandpa's combine and see my sister Karlee who is back in town for the week.

Kallen LOVED riding in the combine with grandpa! He just sat perfectly still on his lap the entire time- it was like he was an entirely different kid.

We spent most of the day hanging out with Grandma and Aunt Karlee! I didn't get a picture of Kallen with Grandma Tammy but here he is with my youngest sister Karlee!

Karlee is in a program called Fusion which is in Kansas City so we went ahead and celebrated her October birthday while she was up here. We are so blessed to have both sets of our grandparents living close by, so they all came over to my Mom's for a delicious supper!!
Kallen's Great Grandpa Dave even got down on the floor to play with him.

Quite a pile of boys huh!? :P

Once Uncle Jacob got home from school, Kallen was his little shadow. He just followed Jake around and literally did everything that Jacob did.

It had been a while since we had made it down to the farm and boy were we needing it!! Sometimes you just have to get out of the city! I loved growing up on the farm and I plan on taking my boys down there as much as possible!!

Salon Update

2010-10-04T06:10:00.000-07:00

I have not posted pictures of the salon progress in a while.

Here is a view from our back yard. We will eventually extend our deck over to the new addition.

This is the main salon entrance that clients will use on the east side of the house. We are going to build a small little deck so that the steps down will line up with the sidewalk.

A view from the inside! The door on the left will go into a closet/storage area and there will be an entryway into our house. The door on the right is the bathroom.

This is the view coming in from our deck. So the door you see is the main entrance and my station will be there in the corner on the right where you see the green sheetrock!

And here is the view when you walk in the front door. That back corner on the left will be a little kids corner and we will have a few waiting chairs along the wall with the windows.

Most of the sheet rock is up! Shawn has just a little bit to finish and then we can get it all taped and mudded. Then I think we are either ready to lay tile, or texture the walls. (I don't remember what comes next) As far as I know we are still aiming for it to be open in November, but we'll see!

A little "artwork"

2010-10-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight Kallen decided that our walls were lacking a little pizzaz. Shawn and I were literally just around the corner in Kallen's room and he ran out and did this in a matter of two seconds.

Such a talented artist our son is. Let's just say he got in BIG trouble!!

Big Boy Update!

2010-09-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is a "big boy bed" update:

Night #1 Put him to bed in his crib and transferred him over once he fell asleep, he slept until 4am then cried until I put him back in his crib.

Night #2 We transferred him again and he slept until 7:15 the next morning!!

Night #3 We transferred him and he slept until 6am (up 1 hour too early)

Night #4 We decided to put him to bed in his big boy bed to see how it would go, Shawn and I both stalled upstairs thinking we may have to put him back in bed a few times, Shawn put him in bed and he went right to sleep without a sound!

Could it really be this easy!?! I am almost scared to post any of this on here out of fear of jinxing myself. :)

So tomorrow will begin the feat of naptime in our big boy bed. I have not really tried naptime yet because we have had so much going on this week that I did not want to risk him not getting a good nap. We don't really have anything going on tomorrow so I figured it would be a good day to start. His nursery has a roman shade which blocks out most of the sun during the day, but his new room does not have anything on the windows yet so we'll see if that affects us.

Big Boy

2010-09-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

Ready or not I put Kallen to bed in his new "big boy" bed tonight. Ok, actually I tried to put him to bed in his new bed and he just cried, so I put him to bed in his crib and once he fell asleep I moved him over. We'll see how our night goes....it makes me a little nervous to think of him wandering around in the dark but I am hoping he'll cry first before he tries to get out of bed.

I didn't really expect this to be an emotional transition, but I have to admit it kind of was. After I moved him over, I glanced back into his nursery and was so sad to see an empty crib. I still feel like it was yesterday that we brought home our tiny little baby and placed him in his crib for the first time! But I guess it really won't be empty for long and "little brother" will be in there....hopefully sleeping the night away!!

Our next step will be naptime tomorrow.....I'll let you know how that goes. :S

Naptime Battles

2010-09-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Kallen and I have recently hit a "rough patch" in our daily schedule. Up until recently his sleeping schedule has been:

wake up around 7am
morning nap from 9-11
afternoon nap from 12:30-3:30
go to bed anywhere from 7-8pm.

Do you see the, oh so very narrow, gap that left me to go anywhere outside of our house without a cranky child? Most mornings I would just risk it and run around anyways, but never without complete meltdowns at numerous locations. While this schedule made things inconvenient for me- I came to the conclusion that if my child needed that much sleep for a season in his life, then that was something I was willing to work around. So I run most of my errands in the afternoon, and sometimes do what I have to in the mornings.

Last week I started to notice a shift in Kallen's schedule. I knew we were probably at the age where he only needed one nap/day but he was always so cranky without that morning nap, that I just let him have it. Last week his morning naps started to get shorter, and shorter, and on top of that he began to fight his afternoon naps. I would try to put him down after lunch like I normally do but he would stand in his crib and cry and cry until finally after 45min-an hour I would finally go get him. The results were usually a very cranky boy and mommy for the rest of the afternoon. By 6:30 he would be ready for bed and it was all I could do to get him to make it to 7. I reached my limit when yesterday he decided he didn't need to nap at all. Our entire day yesterday was basically a battle of the wills- Mommy vs. Kallen- and unfortunately Kallen won. :S By the time I had to go to work last night I was completely exhausted, our house was a disaster (when Kallen is tired he gets super destructive), and by the time Shawn got him Kallen was so tired he was crying about everything. I spent most of last night thinking, and flipping through a couple parenting magazines and I came up with a game plan.

#1.) I absolutely will NOT go get Kallen in the mornings until he is happily jabbering in his crib. (usually he wakes up crying at 7 and I rush in to get him) This morning he cried from 7-7:30 and by the time I walked in to get him at 7:45 he was in the best mood, just talking to his fish by his bed and smiling!!

#2.) No matter how grouchy he is, I will not let him take a morning nap!! (This may mean a rather challenging morning for me, but I really think it will pay off in the end) I started this today, and our morning went suprisingly well and Kallen is happily snoozing in his crib right now!! :)

This is probably something I should have done a while ago, but I'll blame my pregnancy on the fact that recently I just have not had the energy to fight Kallen on things. This needs to end because he definitely does NOT need to be the one running this household!! Anyways- I am excited about our new schedule! Plus I think it will work out nicely when little brother gets here in just 8 more weeks!

Go Cyclones!!

2010-09-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

Little Gentleman

2010-09-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

We tried on Kallen's tux that he'll be wearing for my sister's wedding in a few weeks. I couldn't believe how old it made him look! And it's funny- we really didn't make a big deal about it but once we got all the layers on Kallen's entire demeanor changed. It's like he knew he was wearing something special.

Ok, tell me that's not ADORABLE!!!
He will be one of 3 little ringbears being pulled in a wagon right during naptime. Wish us luck!! :P

Bad Cook

2010-09-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

Do you cook for your family? This is something I am really struggling with. I actually really do like to cook- but I get so bored with cooking the same things all the time and lately I have absolutely no ambition to actually look up something new and different.
During swim season the only times we are together as a family is on the weekends (other than an occasional rare evening during the week). I think that is what is fueling my lack of motivation....what's the point in cooking when it is just Kallen and I?? That and the fact that all I ever want to eat these past few weeks is a bowl of cereal.
So I usually try to come up with something half way healthy for Kallen, I happily pour my bowl of cereal, and my poor husband is left taking hot pockets for lunch everyday and to be honest most of the time I have no idea what he does for supper.
I need a personal meal planner: someone who plans out my meals for the month, writes me a grocery list, and then all I have to do is follow the menu! Yes, I realize this is something I could easily do my self but let's face it- I'm just not going to. So until I find some motivation somewhere, I am going to keep on eating my bowls of cereal and my poor husband will still be fending for himself. (sorry honey :S )

Smile!

2010-08-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

These are things that have made me smile in the last few days::

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My son's love for dirt and rocks

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And his love for bath time when he is done playing in the dirt and rocks!
All you have to say is "Want to take a bath?" and Kallen will go running for the stairs saying "bath, bath, bath"

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And these matching pj's I found yesterday at Children's Place.
I can already picture the boys in them this winter.....I can't wait!!!

Have I mentioned lately that I just LOVE being a mom?!!!

Coco Keys

2010-08-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we went with Shawn's family to Omaha for a fun weekend filled with swimming and the zoo! We stayed at the Holiday Inn which has this amazing indoor waterpark!! (I think it was called coco keys) I would highly recommend it to anyone who has kids anywhere from age 1- maybe 12? (I don't think older kids would have quite as much fun)

Doesn't it just look like a great time!?

They had this area for the smaller children and Kallen had a blast!!! We sent him down the water slide that you see there in the back a few times, and although I wouldn't say he loved it- he didn't really complain!

He spent most of the time just running around! I think he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. :P

I didn't get very many pictures because we were having so much fun, but it was a great weekend!! The zoo was fun too- but I would definately say the highlight of our trip was the waterpark! I am thinking we may have to visit again this winter when we are all going stir crazy!!

I should also add, that it was great to just spend time with family!! I have been blessed with Amazing in-laws and I feel so lucky to have married into the DeBoef family!

Thanks Ken and Deb for a GREAT weekend!!!

We're getting there!

2010-08-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

The guys made a lot of progress over the weekend!

Shawn is working today on closing up this side.

They layed "felt paper" down, but unfortunately high winds + 5 inches of rain= this situation for our poor garage. :(

Yes that is drywall tape falling off of our ceiling, and if you look closely in the top left hand corner you can see where Shawn's foot went through this morning. (After he told me that I just looked at him.....didn't need any words) Guess we will have another project to work on once the salon is done. The bummer part is that it ruined our garage door opener. Anyone know if that is salvageable??

Up, Up, and Away!

2010-08-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

We met my family in Indianola last Tuesday night for the Balloon Classic. I hadn't been since I was a little kid and, to be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect but it was actually a lot of fun!! Kallen loved having a big open field to roam around and he loved pointing to the "big balloons"!

Aren't they soo pretty when they fill the sky like this!?

It was extremely HOT that night, so we kept Kallen cooled off with ice cubes. (one of his new favorite things this summer!)

It was past his bed time when we left, and I couldn't resist capturing this sweet moment when he layed down to watch the balloons with his Aunt Karlee!

2010-08-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

What's Kallen's favorite thing to do these days?

Help Daddy and Papa!!

A weekend away!!

2010-08-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Shawn and I decided that we needed to get away one more time before little DeBoef boy #2 gets here in the fall. We knew we needed to keep the cost low and I was dying to lay on a beach so we came up with an easy solution- we would head up to Chicago and the Indiana Sand Dunes where we got engaged. Definately not the ocean, but sand and a large body of water....close enough! So we booked a Bed & Breakfast in Valparaiso and our trip was planned! (Little did I know the chain of events that would lead up to this vacation.)

Shawn took the last 2 weeks of his summer break off to work on our addition, but all of the rain recently has put us over a month behind where we had hoped to be at this point. Last Tuesday night, Shawn's Dad came up to help him finally lay the floor so that they could start putting up some walls!! We think Shawn was working on putting down one of the last pieces of plywood to finish up the floor when the plywood gave way and Shawn fell into our concrete basement, hitting the rafters on the way down. He never did pass out, but after Shawn started asking questions like "what are we building" and when looking at me saying "apparently we're going to have a baby!" we decided a trip to the ER was necessary. Shawn ended up with a minor concussion, but it took him a good 3 days to get his short-term memory back and as of Thursday morning I still wasn't sure if we would be able to leave that afternoon for our trip like we had planned. Here are some of his "battle wounds":

He is going to kill me when he sees that I put this picture on here. :P
In the end we were able to take off on Thursday around noon (we decided a weekend of relaxation was MUCH needed for him!), and after dropping Kallen off at Grandma and Papa's house in Oskaloosa we were off to chicago!! Thursday night we ended up getting a hotel room in downtown chicago for the convenience, and Friday we spent the day walking!

(I almost didn't put this picture up because I look huge, but oh well. I'm over it. :P )
We decided to walk to the zoo (a total of 6 miles) and quickly realized that we had made a very poor decision in footwear....flip flops. By the time we were half way back to our hotel my feet were rubbed completely raw. :(
But we still had a great time at the zoo and despite our aching feet we were having a blast!!

That afternoon we headed to Indiana to check into our Bed & Breakfast which was AMAZING!! I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quiet weekend getaway! Plus, we are talking 3 course breakfasts here people! The two days we stayed there we were never hungry for lunch! :P

I actually took a ton of pictures of this place because it was all decorated so cute, but I knew they would get boring pretty fast so here are just a couple! ;)

My feet were still suffering on Saturday so our plans to climb the dunes and hike the trails turned into reading on the beach and people watching. Here is the beach where we got engaged!(insert awwwww here) We climbed a sand dune to the left that you can't really see, and Shawn popped the question just as the sun was setting with the silhouette of Chicago in the background. He did a great job...very romantic!! I can't believe that was 6 years ago!! Makes me feel old!

Here is what we spent most of the day Saturday doing! The perfect medicine for Shawn!!

We finished the day with a competitive game of miniature golf (Shawn beat me by 1 stinkin point) and by the time we woke up on Sunday we were ready to get home and see our little boy! It was an awesome weekend getaway and I am soo glad we had the chance to do it!!!

construction update

2010-07-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some updates on the construction around here:

The walls are poured and ready for dirt to be filled in.

This was right before they layed the concrete on the floor. The rain made us wait an entire week before they could come back and finish. :( This will be Shawn's room for meat processing and the shelf that you see is for storage!

The guys were finally able to come yesterday to pour concrete so Shawn spent a few hours last night getting things ready to lay the main floor today!

And here is what's left of our poor backyard after all of the trucks and skid loaders cleared out. My poor, poor yard. :'(

Racoons? Squirrels? Nope, Kallen!

2010-07-27T05:06:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend camping in Pella at Lake Red Rock with Shawn's family. His Dad is 1 of 12 kids and every year the whole family (or as many as can make it) gets together for a weekend of camping and reconnecting. It is an amazing family and I feel so blessed to have married into it!

Our first night started out a little rough with thunderstorms and rain basically all night, but we managed to stay dry in our little tent and, suprisingly, Kallen slept through all of it!! The next night was PERFECT!! It was not too hot, not too cool and we all slept great!

Kallen woke up a little bit early and we had just managed to get him back to sleep so I went back to bed and Shawn stepped out of the tent to have some quiet time to himself. We had Kallen in his pack-n-play for the weekend so we didn't really worry about checking on him....I guess we should have! I woke up to this chubby little hand pounding on my leg and thought- Oh, Shawn got him out and told him to go wake up Mommy! When I sat up- here is what I saw:

Kallen had somehow managed to get out of his pack-n-play and had gotten into everything! Our tent was a DISASTER!! It looked like a wild animal had gotten into our tent....nope just Kallen! It is still beyond me how he got out- and luckily it has not happend since then. Shawn said he had heard someone rummaging around in the tent, but he just figured I was up and getting ready. I still have no clue how much our little boy ate for breakfast that morning, but boy was he having the time of his life and just beeming from ear to ear. :P
The rest of our weekend went GREAT! Yes it was hot and muggy, and Yes I have bug bites all over my feet and legs despite ridiculous amounts of bug spray, but it was all worth it to just be outside and slow life down for a few days! Plus we were surrounded with amazing people (I think there were over 90 people there this year) whom all have great hearts and are just a ton of fun to be around!!

Random thoughts

2010-07-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

Between construction workers needing in our house and Kallen waking up sick on Wednesday morning, I have been stuck in this house all week and I am about to go crazy!!

I love our house but I was not made to stay inside this much!
(ok, it's not really even that bad I worked on Monday from 5-8 and Wednesday from 3-6, had a photo session Tuesday night, and we did leave for a quick dr.'s appt on Wed. morning so it's not like I haven't left the house in days)

It has really made me think about those people who are not able to leave the house. I can't imagine what their lives must be like.

On a positive note- I have had lots of one-on-one time with my little boy! We have been reading books galore and working on our abc's.

(ok it's more just me trying to read Kallen a book and Kallen throwing abc magnets across the kitchen floor but hey- at least I'm trying!)

And slowly, but surely they are making progress on our house!

I am guessing this means we will be getting walls soon!

And this is a doorway cut into our basement wall.

(try getting your child to take a nap while that is happening)

Here we go!

2010-07-13T04:45:00.000-07:00

Things are going to start changing around here. We are adding on a salon to our house. I am soo excited to be able to work from home! Our goal is to have this all done by November- we'll see how it goes.

Here is our house before- Shawn had just finished tearing off some of the siding.

Kallen spent most of the day yesterday with his nose pressed against the sliding glass door. He LOVED watching them move the dirt around!

And here is what it looked like by the time the guys quit for the day. Now that is a big pile of dirt! - if Kallen were a little bit older he would be in heaven. :P

It's a boy!!

2010-07-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

This is our newest little Baby Boy DeBoef!

(I know this picture isn't very clear, but it's the best I could do for now.)

A lot of people have asked me if I was disappointed to find out we were going to have another boy and my answer is not at all!! I honestly went into our ultrasound appointment without a care at all as to the gender of our baby. I really was just praying that it would be healthy! I was so excited when the technician pointed to his little boy parts and said "can you tell what you're looking at?" My first thought was- "Yay a little buddy for Kallen to wrestle around with!"- then I started thinking about how much money this would save us! With Kallen being born in April, we will be dealing with opposite seasons, but for the first few months all we should need to buy is diapers!! I just love the thought of two little boys running around, catching frogs, and playing in the mud. I grew up in a house full of girls so this little boy thing is new to me, but I am quickly learning that if you are going to raise little boys you just have to relax a little and know that things are going to get messy. :P (That doesn't mean that I can't at least try to teach him to stay clean though.)

I am soo grateful that God has blessed me with two healthy boys and it is not something I take for granted!

Our Big Boy

2010-07-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

This sweet little boy had his 15 month check up today! While we were sitting in the waiting area a couple came in with their brand new baby girl for her first check-up and it almost made me cry! I feel like it was just yesterday that I brought Kallen in for his 1st appointment- but I guess I'll be doing all of that all over again soon enough!

Anyways, here are Kallen's stats:

Height: 30 3/4 in. (40%)

Weight: 21.6 (13%)

Head Cir: 18.5 (45%)

This was much better than his 12 month check up when he was only in the 1 percentile for weight! All in all he is just your average little boy! And he is definately 100% boy!! He spends his days throwing/kicking balls around, playing with rocks and sticks as much as possible, destroying anything he can get his hands on, and recently throwing EVERYTHING! (does anyone have any tricks to help with that last one? I can't get him to stop throwing things- so far I have tried time-outs and spankings and neither one has phased him. :S )

Aside from the throwing- Kallen has been soo much fun lately!! He is really picking up on following directions. Like if we ask him to go get his drink and set it on the table- he does it! I find myself telling him to do things just to see if he can figure it out! It also seems like he is much happier now that he can communicate with us- rather than getting frusterated and whining until we figure out what he wants. And the best part of all- he has been soo OBEDIENT!! Maybe all those months of discipline really did pay off! Last week he learned this fake little laugh which cracks me up! He will sit down to read books and just start laughing, or jabber something to me then laugh about it. I just LOVE it!!

2010-06-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Pool time!

2010-06-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today it was finally nice enough to play in the pool!! I tried to get it out last week- but by the time I blew it up, filled it with water, waited for it to warm up, and got Kallen all ready- we came outside only to find a dead bird floating in the water. (gross!) So today was take 2 and I'd say it was a success!

When I was little my parents always put our pool at the bottom of our slide, so of course we had to do that too!!

Here is how Kallen prepares to get in the water:

First you sit on the stairs and eat a snack.

Then you climb to the top and squeal in anticipation!
Then you slide on in!!

Then you stop to stare in awe at a plane flying by. :P

Sprinkler......fun?

2010-06-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

You may have to know these kids to find this funny- but I can't help but laugh every time I watch this! These are Kallen's cousins- Alydia is the one so innocently running the water, Brant is the one who is simply trying to launch his rocket but no one seems to be cooperating with him, and then of course there is Kallen who doesn't really have a clue what's going on- he just wants to play in the water! :P

Ride'm Cowboy

2010-06-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

I realize this is not a very good video, but Kallen found something new to do at our house!

Fun Sunday!

2010-05-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is how our Sunday afternoon started:

It was so gorgeous out, we just couldn't stay inside! So we headed down to Red Rock in Pella to meet Shawn's parents for some biking and canoeing! Kallen had not done either, and was running a fever, so we were not sure how our day was going to go- but I'd say all things considered he did pretty good!

This just made me smile:

I didn't get any pictures of us biking, but he loved hanging out in his little trailer and getting to go fast!!

What he did NOT like was his new life jacket. He has never really had a life jacket on, and it did not help that by the time we were ready to get in the water Kallen had gone all afternoon without a nap. :(

He cried most of the time in the canoe, but there were times when I would let him stand in the front and look over the edge that he was having a blast! I think he will do better next time, but this was a good practice run to see if canoeing with a toddler was doable!

Here are a few pictures of him in Grandma and Papa's Kayak before we forced him to wear the life jacket:

All in all it was a great day!! And I can't wait to do it all again!!!

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin....

2010-05-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

"Ok Mom, I'm ready to go! But I feel like something is missing.....like maybe a friend??"

This was our big purchase today! Now that the weather is finally nice, we are ready to get our bikes out and hit the trails! We have not officially taken Kallen out in this yet, but I think he will LOVE it! Let us know if you want to go biking! We have room for one more!!

SWAGGER WAGON

2010-05-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

Some friends sent this to me, and I just had to post it!

2010-04-19T11:12:00.001-07:00

As my son grows up, I am quickly realizing that I am more of a "toddler person" than a "baby person". Don't get me wrong, I loved the newborn phase- but even more I love watching my little boy learn to communicate and start putting things together in that little head of his. I love his VERY busy little personality and I suppose I even love the fact that he is not a "clingy" child. (even if that does mean that he will NOT cuddle at all)

Here are some little quirky things that Kallen does:

- When I vacuum he hides underneath the kitchen table, watching intently, and does not come out until the vacuum is put away.

- He thinks that all bracelets are made to go around your ankles/feet and whenever he finds one of my bracelets he will immediately put it on his foot and walk around the house, getting mad when it falls off.

- Some afternoons he spends 20-30 min just lying in bed with his blanket right by his face looking around and talking to himself. He never does fall asleep- it's like he just needs a little alone time- and when he's done, he will stand up and say "mamamama" until I come back up to get him. (that is usually in addition to his 2 daily naps)

- He is a typical boy in that he LOVES balls!! My mother-in-law came up on Friday and we took Kallen to Toys R Us. He spent almost the entire time pointing out every ball he saw, saying "ba ba!"

- It doesn't matter how cool the toy is, Kallen will spend all of his time outside playing with rocks and dead grass.

- And last but most certainly not least, Pacifiers might just be the greatest invention ever! I originally thought I would take away his paci when he turned one but that only lasted a day. What can I say- my child LOVES his pacifiers!

Kallen has an announcement...

2010-04-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

That's right! Baby DeBoef #2 is coming November 21st!!

Happy Birthday!!

2010-04-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

Our "baby boy" turned 1 on Saturday! I still can't believe it!! It is amazing how much life can change in a year, and what an amazing year it has been!! I cannot even begin to put into words the joy that this little boy has brought to our lives. We are so thankful for him each and every day and I cannot wait to see what new experiences this next year will bring!!

Slides + Recycled Rubber = a Good Day!

2010-03-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

Last year I was taking Kallen for a walk around our new neighborhood and I was really excited to discover a park just a few blocks from our house!! I spent the entire summer walking by that park and dreaming of the day that our kids would be running around, sliding down the slides, and screaming at the top of their lungs!!

All winter I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring....it has been a loooong winter and now that Kallen is older and walking I could NOT WAIT to get him outside again!! My sister was hanging out with our little brother Jacob (he's 9) today so they met us at our house and we all walked to the park! It was a little chilly but we had a GREAT time!

Kallen spent most of his time playing with the recycled rubber and I spent most of my time trying to keep it out of his mouth.

He LOVED sliding with his uncle Jacob!!

Hopefully this will be just the first of MANY more days at the park this summer!!

This is what Daddys are for.......

2010-03-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

.....to come home from work and do silly things that make your baby laugh the way that only Daddy can get him to laugh!!

Strange Obsession

2010-03-11T13:43:00.000-08:00

My son has a new obsession:

That's right...it's his Tylenol bottle. For the past 3 days he will freak out if he cannot find his Tylenol. To be honest I am not really sure how this even started, I hardly ever give him Tylenol. But the other day he found it while emptying his diaper bag (another thing he LOVES to do) and he has hardly let go of it since. He crawls around the house with it, sets it down right beside him so he can play, then picks it up and moves to his next location. Last night I finally just put him to bed and let him sleep with it because he freaked out every time I tried to take it away. It is the strangest thing! Today he even insists on eating with it:

The only good thing that has come out of this is that it has taken the place of his paci. (and if you know my son, you know that is a big deal!) Lets just hope I can break this habit by Sunday so that I am not the mom dropping her son off in the nursery with his beloved Tylenol bottle. :P

G.Grandpa's Glasses

2010-03-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

Future Valley Swimmer

2010-03-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

This is one of those things that Kallen will probably kill me for someday but you have to admit it is funny! With Shawn being a swim coach, we have recieved a lot of gifts that have to do with swimming. So I figured we may as well put them all to good use!! As I was watching my son crawl around in a speedo, I had to wonder if this is a glimpse into our future. It would be pretty cool to have Kallen swim for his Dad someday....I guess we'll see!!

11 Months

2010-03-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

This ornery little boy is 11 months today! I can't believe it! Here are some of the things Kallen is doing now:

- As of last week he only weighed 18 lbs (someday I will get this child fattened up)
- Eats almost anything that we eat (as long as he can chew it)
- Will not eat Avocado (it's the only thing he won't eat...wierdo :P )
- Climbs up and DOWN the stairs
- Claps when we say "Yay!!"
- Just got his 2 top teeth so we now have 4 (all of them are crooked :( )
- Will probably start walking any day now!
- In the last month has moved his bed time up to 7 but will still sleep until 7am
- Says "ma"(more), "ba ba"(bottle), "na na"(banana), "ba ba"(also can mean bye bye), and a bunch of jibberish
- Still LOVES his pacifier (I am planning on taking it away at 1)
- LOVES to destroy things (seriously anything he can get his hands on)
- Responds very well to "no no" (most of the time)
- And will randomly wave when he wants to (like all through Target the other day, but not to his daddy when he left for work....whatever)

So Close!!

2010-03-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

Kallen is sooo close to walking! The most he has taken is 4 steps and then it is like he realizes it would be faster to crawl. I would guess that any day now he will just take off!!

The Past 10 Months

2010-02-11T04:09:00.000-08:00

2010-02-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I buy things (as baby gifts) like this:

and this

I wish I had a little girl! But then I think about this:

and I thank God that I have a Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!