San Diego

I'm blogging this a month late, but lately my little two boys have kept me going! I even have to do this fast because Parker is waking up.  So as I mentioned in other posts I'm sure, Andrew has been working crazy hours at work for the past few months. I think he averaged about 18+ hours a day. FINALLY he has slowed down and we get to enjoy his company once again and we love every second of it! Anyway, when it started slowing down he was able to take a Friday off and we decided to go ahead and do what we've wanted to do for a very long time.  We headed down to San Diego and visited the zoo.  It was amazing, that zoo is HUGE! I had no idea there were so many animals! Parker of course didn't care much, but Colby loved seeing the animals, although not nearly as much as he loved seeing all the BUSES!!  We went on bus rides around the park for his enjoyment.  That's all he wanted to do.  They even have this skyfari thing there that takes you from the bottom of the park to the top,  he loved it, but we couldn't see much.  We asked him how he wanted to get back down and of course he said...BUS.

This trip is kind of a big deal, it was our first trip that WE paid for, with absolutely no help. I can't believe we've been married for almost 5 years and this is our first official family trip, then again we don't go on many trips without either his family around or my family around and they are both just so generous.  ANYWAY, it was a great time.  We had planned to go to an aircraft carrier museum on Saturday, but both kids woke up Saturday morning sick, so we went to breakfast instead and then checked out mission beach.  It was then that I realized I LOVED San Diego.  I didn't see much of it, but what I did see what so fun and amazing.  and it wasn't over 100 degrees like Bakersfield, that might have a lot to do with it.

San Luis Obispo

Andrew had a recruiting event at the college in San Luis Obispo on Saturday.  We decided to make a little trip out of it, and I'm so glad we did.  It was such a nice weekend to get away and enjoy a little time at the beach. 

 

We hung out at Pismo beach while Andrew was away for a couple hours at his recruiting event

 

When Andrew got back, we rented an awesome bike and strolled around town, despite what you may think from this picture, the boys actually had a great time.  Colby kept saying how fun it was, and parker kept banging his helmet against the bike, clearly out of excitement.

 

 Then we made the crazy walk up to the end of the pier.  It was so windy and cold, but we couldn't give up!

 

Loved this weekend. Andrew has been working insane hours the last few months, it was nice to get away, even if he was still gone for part of it!

Parkers 12 month check-up

On the 13th Parker had his one year check up, a month late.  For my records, here are his stats:

Weight: 17 lb 10.5 oz
Height: 29 in

He's a tiny boy.  Dropped below the 5th percentile.  The doctor is a little concerned, but since i told her how much he eats she seems ok with it, but how my goal is to fatten this little boy up.  I looked back at what Colby was at this age and he had dropped below the 5th percentile at some point as well, so I think it'll all be ok!

Parker is so much fun.  He isn't using any words, just dadadada, but he talks ALL the time. Always babbling something.  every now and then i'll get a mamama or nanana in there but he has no idea what he's saying.

He is such a trooper and doesn't even cry much when Colby pushes him down.

He tried to climb on everything.

He wants whatever colby has.

He thinks whats mine is his.

Still taking two naps, but soon will probably be down to one.

Smiles so so easily.

Loves his daddy more than anything.

Drools more than you could ever imagine.

Never stops moving.

I love that little boy :)

potty training

I believe the first attempt to potty training Colby started sometime in January.  I went into it with little research and being completely naive to how hard this process was actually going to be.  I guess my thought process was along the lines of if you stick to it, your child will learn to potty train in a week, and after the first day he'll start to figure out what was happening.  I guess I was thinking I had a miracle child that would figure it out fast.  He didn't.  We tried for a week straight, i went straight to underwear so that he would feel he was wet, not like it, and soon start going in the potty so he wouldn't get wet.  Well, I spent that entire first week cleaning up mess after mess after mess after mess.  It was awful.  I gave up after a week.  I tried again a few weeks later, and had about the same sucess as before, so again, i gave up.  I tried again and this time I went to pull-ups so I wouldn't have to keep chasing him around with a towel to clean up his messes.  It was FOREVER before he started to understand.  I want to say it was a few weeks, and he finally started to go on the toilet all by himself, but would still have a few accidents.  Then, we went on vacation. oh goodness.  it was all out the window, i even brought his little potty on vacation with us, so he would go every now and then, but was having messes for the most part (we were at the pool/ocean most the day, so accidents just happened). So after a week on vacation we basically started over.  LUCKILY he picked it up faster this time around and didn't take months to accomplish it.  I don't know if I can even say he is fully potty trained (it's been about 5 months of trying by  now).  He will pee in the toilet, but pooping is hit or miss.  If he is outside, forget it, he wont come in to go.  His naps he stays dry, but not nighttime.  It's a work in progress.  I take him on quick trips with his big boy undies. we go to the park and the grocery store without having accidents (he even told me at walmart that he had to use the potty - which he didn't, i guess he just thought it would be fun to sit on the store toilets. gross). I cannot believe we are finally near the end of this potty training process with him!  it's such a huge relief. Of course next comes teaching him to stand up instead of sit, and to actually use the big boy potty instead of his little one, but he's too small to get up on it by himself, so it'll just be a work in progress...and then the night time wetting. goodness now that i realize this list still to do, is there an end to potty training?? well, at least we are down to having one kid in diapers. that's a relief!

Parker turns one!

On April 6th Parker turned one. I CANNOT believe how fast this year went. We had a rough start, but Parker is the best baby. We love him so much and are so blessed to have him in our family.

For his first birthday my parents, Andrews parents, and auntie boo (aka kami) came to visit and spend the weekend here. I'm so glad they were all able to come for his birthday, it was a blast having everyone in town.

 

 

This is also the day that he really started walking.  He had been taking steps and really trying, but all of a sudden he just got it!  He was walking all over! So much fun!

Easter

Easter kinda crept up on me this year.  Once i realized that easter was pretty much a day away, i got so excited for the things that colby would be able to do this year.  however it didn't turn out quite the way i had in mind, but it was still a lot of fun.  coloring eggs was almost a disaster.  we probably should have just let him go to town, but we weren't really prepared.  i guess the simple egg dying kits are Tara and Andrew proof.  we totally botched it.  the eggs hardly colored.  colby started getting a bit hyper about it and would pretty much chuck the eggs in the cups.  after doing that to a couple of them, we called it good. 

 

then we headed out for an easter egg hunt.  Parker had no idea what was going on, and colby found all the eggs (of course it rained for the 10 minutes we were outside and then stopped) so it was kinda rushed.  after he got all the eggs we told him to open it up, and his face was priceless when he found out that there was candy inside!

 

 

 

I absolutely love their easter outfits this year.  i can't get over how adorable they were!

 

 

 

and just another picture of the rare moment of colby sharing his truck with parker

 

picture overload time:

trying to get colby to pose

with daddy :)

 

so photogenic at this age

getting better at smiling for the camera!

 

cheeseball face. love it!

another pose

Bear

Before i really get into what happened, i feel i should say that i know my emotions on this issue were completely irrational and out of control.  I'm embarrassed about how emotional i was about this issue.  With that being said, this post is all about colby's Bear.

I had decided that i wanted to be a good mom and take my kids to the park.  There is a park about a mile down the road, so on that friday morning i loaded my kids in the stroller and ran to the park.  Colby doesn't go anywhere without his bear, so i didn't think anything of it when bear came along for the ride.  While at the park colby was pulling bear out of the stroller and taking him with him around everywhere, the sand pit, the slide, and the swings.  I thought i was keeping my eye out for that guy, colby would be a wreck if he was left behind.  well the time came for us to leave.  The last i remember seeing bear, colby was pushing him on the swing, and then grabbed him and took him somewhere (i had assumed the stroller but i wasn't quite sure).  I put colby in the stroller, and then i put parker in, kinda looked around and left for my mile run home.  we got home and i turned on cartoons for colby, put parker to sleep and then jumped in the shower.  soon colby comes in asking for bear. IMMEDIATELY i'm thinking "shoot we left him at the park".  i frantically looked around the house and couldn't find him ANYWHERE.  by this time parker was about to wake up, so i grabbed him and colby as fast as i could and strapped the back into the stroller and ran to the park again.  we looked around but couldn't find bear. we were only gone for 2 hours and he was already missing! i was FREAKING out! So, I ran another mile back home. (by the way, i should mention that the reason i'm RUNNING back to the park is because andrew took my car to work that day with the carseats in them. what luck!). so the whole way back to the park i'm trying to prepare colby that we may never see bear again.  i was telling him he was lost, and we can buy him a new one.  he just kept agreeing with me, so i don't think he quite understood what i was saying.  meanwhile i'm fighting back tears! i mean, this is Bear! He's been in our life since colby was born, this bear has been EVERYWHERE with us. he's like...part of the family! Colby amazingly goes to sleep without bear.  and that afternoon after naps i ran back to the park again and waited for an hour and a half hoping someone would come up to me with bear. didn't happen. so i ran home.  That night i begin crying like a baby! i know how much colby loves bear, and it was killing me that i couldn't do anything to make this better! On saturday we went to build-a-bear and got him a new bear. it was working! he loves Koda! but every once in a while he would mention that he wants his brown bear, and i'd start bawling again.  i struggled sleeping (i struggle anyway, but with bear missing thats all i would think about when i woke in the middle of the night and i'd start panicking.) i even put posters up at the park. yes, it's completely ridiculous! i know this! but i mean, if someone saw that we left bear and grabbed him, then they needed a way to get ahold of us right? i had someone prank me which led me going to the park for 45 minutes waiting for someone to come up to me with bear, never happened.  i finally lost hope, i was trying to come to terms with the fact that we will never see Bear again, and i was just hoping that soon colby would stop asking about him and we would all move on. we would just be left with the memories and the many many pictures. 

and then, one day a miracle happened.  I never gave up looking, when i had a chance i'd continue to look around the house in the same places i had looked 20 times before, but my closet kept sticking out to me. i searched my closet more than any other place, but couldn't find him.  then i decided, this is it, i'm going to tear that closet apart so i know for a fact he's not in there and i can move on. well within two seconds, i find bear! i was looking through my shirts one by one and after the 5th one bear falls out! colby shoved him between the shirts and just forgot he was there! oh my goodness i couldn't be happier! i ran and showed colby and he was so excited! and now, bear continues to go everywhere with us, and koda isn't too far behind.

Parker's 10 month appointment

I took Parker to the doctors this morning for his 9 month appointment (or in his case his 10 month). He is just a growing boy! Here are his stats:

Weight: 16 lb 5 oz
Height: 27.5 in.

He's in the 5th percentile overall. He was under the 5th percentile before so he's improved! He's actually in the 25th percentile for his height and I think that's amazing! He's doing so well and he is the cutest. He was smiling the entire appointment, which makes the shots so hard, he didn't even see it coming! But he took it like a champ. I'm so proud of him.

The adults in the home

So like I said in my earlier post, I'm going to try and blog more about what andrew and I are doing. I'd thought I'd start with why I haven't been blogging about us much. I posted pics at the bottom of what andrew does when he gets home from work, and what I look like all day.

Andrew is working SO hard. He works about 10 hours a day, sometimes more, never less. He's also been trying to study for his CPA. He passed 3 tests the first try, but has been struggling with the last one due to lack of time to study. He has started studying again this past week for his test on the 9th. Lets hope and pray he passes! The man needs a break! I honestly don't know how he does it. He goes from working hard all day, comes home and plays with the kids, helps me put them to bed, and then either continues working or studies. I mean how thin can you stretch him? I think he gets a day off in... April?

As for myself, I'm definitely a stay at home mom. I'm in my pjs all day long and try my best to keep the house clean, laundry done, dinner cooked, and kids fed and bathed before andrew comes home so he doesn't have to do any of the work when he comes home. With the little time that he has with the kids, I try to make sure that time is spent playing, not forcing them to eat their food. I struggle with my sanity from time to time, but I try to enjoy the short time I have while these kids are so young. I can't wrap my mind around how fast they grow! Although I'm looking forward to when Parker is a little older and can do some of the crafts with us. It would make it easier to do fun crafts when he isn't trying to eat it all the time.

Our days are so full and busy, but not at all entertaining (which is why I don't blog much about it). But I wouldn't trade it for anything :)

kids

I realize that ever since having kids every picture i post and almost every blog is about them. I'm going to try and do better about putting up pictures of myself and blogging about what I'm doing more often.  However, this is not one of those times.  I feel the need to keep track of what my kids have been doing lately

Colby:

He is talking SOOOO so very much and is talking in crazy sentences.  It's the cutest thing ever to hear him say "i need to do this because of this" its adorable how he puts things together.

He is still taking naps every day, and if i let him he'd still sleep for 3 hours or so, but unfortunately I have to wake him up by about 2:30 every day so he will go to sleep better at night.

Speaking of nights, he struggles a bit at bedtime.  He has realized he can get out of bed and he tries to do that every night.  He'll cry and try to get out of going to bed, and then get out of his bed about 5-20 times depending on the night. (short stage hopefully?)

He's doing really well in nursury.  When I take him to nursury he doesn't even say goodbye, he just walks in like he owns the place and leaves me hanging at the door. (i hear he doesn't give the leaders the attitude he gives me, so happy to hear that!)

He's definitely going through terrible two's.  He tried to get everything and is testing to see what he can get away with.  I see his sweet and sensitive side a lot though, and see the way he treats his bear or parker. 

He loves to pretend to cook, make loud noises, hammer things, fix things, take care of bear like he's a baby, play in his little tikes car, crawl around with Parker, be chased, RUN, and he could swing FOREVER.

When daddy comes home he gets so crazy excited.

He is not potty trained yet.  I've tried and failed a few times with that one. hopefully soon?

He loves being tickled and doing any sort of rough housing.


Parker:

He finally got his two front teeth this morning! That makes six teeth! We're moving right along.

I'm pretty sure he thinks he's a toddler. He is crawling everywhere trying to keep up with Colby. He absolutely admires everything about him (he doesn't even get that mad when Colby knocks him over ).

He's my little cuddler, he is always laying his head on me.

He loves being tickled and having his bak tickled.

He loves being held.

He loves walking (of course it's with help)

He HATES eating his nasty veggies, but will eat anything else we put in front of his face.

He started saying "mama" on my birthday! He also started saying dada again.

When in the bathtub, he'll blow bubbles all the time. So cute.

Is almost impossible to get him dressed, he wants to move all the time.

His sleeping schedule needs adjusting, he's waking up before 7 way more than I would like (making everyone grumpy for waking up too soon).

He smiles all the time, he is such a happy and relaxed baby.

The big 2.7.

I'm beginning to enjoy my birthday each year more and more.  As the years went by, I wasn't a fan of getting older, birthdays were just another day to me. Now, I welcome by birthday with open arms.  Who wouldn't enjoy a day that is dedicated to you (and Ellen DeGeneres - whom I think should give me a birthday present).  I enjoy the "happy birthdays" i get, and people doing things for me.  Just this one day.

 

My parents drove the 8 hours up from Arizona for my birthday (or was it to see the grandkids? i can't remember - they did almost forget to give me a hug before they left).  They are so amazing and sacrificed their time to watch the kids for us while Andrew and I went out.  I had made plans to get a couples massage for both of us because I'm so stressed with the kids all the time and Andrew is so stressed with work and studying that I figured it would be wonderful for us to do this together.  I'm sure it would have been.  We showed up to get our massage right on time and the lady had completely forgotten about our appointment.  There was only one person there.  That just simply wont do for a couples massage.  She asked if we wanted to wait half an hour, but neither of us wanted to, so we left.  A little sad, but now i have extra money in my pocket :)  We just went out to lunch instead and walked around Target (funny we found ourselves looking at little kids clothes, you just can't get away from kids).

 

bonus:

because we didn't make it to our massage, we just happened to be on the street at the same time as this person. Andrew said he would buy this limo.  I sure hope he wouldn't spend our money on this. (note the bull horns on the front)

 

 

I had a fantastic birthday, thank you to everyone who helped make it special. Love you all!

 

Here's a little video clip for your enjoyment

 

 

My favorite week of the year

Christmas time is my favorite. I love the cold weather, the hustle and bustle of everyone shopping and buying gifts. And of course, I love the anticipation of Christmas morning and seeing family. This year was a little bitter/sweet because andrew took the week before Christmas off so we had to leave family the day after Christmas, but it was great being able to see both our families.

We left the warm weather of Bakersfield on a Friday after andrew got home from work, we did a night drive again (those are getting difficult). The kids were great though, they didn't sleep much, but for being in a carseat they did well. We got to Bend Saturday morning and we were able to spend a few days with Andrews parents. We were welcomed by a ton of snow, blizzard warnings and all. It was so beautiful. It was so fun watching Colby play in the snow, he loves it! We tried to take him sledding, it didn't go as well as we hoped. It could have been because we tried sledding in a blizzard. He wasn't enjoying it quite as much as we hoped.

Colby caught on to the whole present thing rather quickly. He decided he loved opening presents. He even helped himself to opening Parker's (just to help him of course).

We headed over to Sherwood on Tuesday afternoon. We took Colby and Parker to Omsi while we were there (a big science museum), there was a ton of stuff for little kids. It's definitely something we would do again, he loved it! Poor Parker sat in the stroller the whole time, but soon he'll be able to play along with Colby. We decorated sugar cookies, made foot and hand imprints, Santa came to visit and we played A LOT. It's so fun being able to see family and having Lea there playing with them.

 

 

I love this time of year, I'm so sad it's over, but there's always next year! I'm so grateful for the time we were able to spend with family. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season!