Dentist

I finally got Kylee and Drew to the dentist. It was Drew's 3rd time and Kylee's 1st. Drew was awesome and passed with no cavities. Kylee was so excited and was doing well until they tried to clean her teeth. The noise freaked her out and she was done. Thank goodness we got x-rays first and examined her teeth and she passed too with no cavities. Hopefully next time she can get her teeth all shiny like Drew.

Kylee's 4!

I think it's about time I update my blog, don't you think? Kylee turned the big 4 on October 9th. She was so excited to finally be 4.

Her birthday fell on a Tuesday, so she celebrated it all week long. She really wanted a birthday party, but she has to wait till she is 5, so I promised her she could pick out any cake she wanted. Of course it had to be Little Mermaid and purple. Her 2 favorites. 

Here are her stats:

Weight 30 lbs 12 oz

Height 39 3/4 in tall

Kylee is still my sassy girl, very picky and opinionated. I guess that comes with the territory of a 4 year old girl. She is very girly and right now only wants to wear dresses and skirts. Now that it is cold in the morning I won't allow it. I make her wear pants in the morning. As soon as it warms up, she changes immediately into what she wants. She loves all the princesses and has quite the imagination. I love going into her room every night after she has fallen asleep to see what entertained her that night while trying to go to sleep. She likes to put her clips in her dolls' hair or decorate her care bears with her jewelry. I always find all kinds of toys in her bed with her. I swear she is going to be a vegetarian when she gets older. That girl can't stand any kind of beef. Occasionally I can get her to eat a hamburger or hotdog, but that's maybe once a week. Chicken is a hit and miss, depending on what kind. But oh does she love cheese and yogurt! One thing is for sure, our family would be quite boring without Kylee.

First Day of School 2012

Summer finally came to an end. I think everyone was happy to start school back up. The day before school started, I took Kylee and Drew out to lunch at Wendy's. It was a fun last hurrah!

 Drew started Kindergarten (all day) and is doing so well. He loves his teacher and I feel like I made the right decision in where I put him at.

 Kylee is in preschool and loves it. She is pretty smart but needs it more to teach her how to behave. She loves to talk too much when she is not suppose to.

 Bryce had to get in this last one. He was feeling left out. Ryan and I were talking the other day and it just dawned on us that Bryce could go to preschool next year if we wanted him to. Yikes, that is just crazy.

Bryce turns 2!

Bryce turned the big 2 on August 4th. It was a Saturday and we kept it pretty low-key. He loves getting his picture taken saying 'cheese'.

 

Because we were having his big cake the next day with family, we had cupcakes to celebrate on his actual birthday. My kids are so easy to please when it comes to sweets. Hostess strawberry cupcakes are a favorite around here. 

 

Playing around after eating his cupcakes. He was one happy boy. Don't know why I didn't get a picture with his new ride-on truck from Grandma and Grandpa. This is an old toy.

 

The next day, Sunday, we celebrated Bryce's birthday at Nana and Papa's with a big cake. Bryce loved the dinosaur, but didn't quite know how to blow out the candle. He opened presents from those that came. He loved all his new toys.

On Monday, he had his annual check up. Bryce was happy to get a sucker and sticker. He is now 28.4 lbs (55%) and 36 3/4 inches tall (98%). The doctor was impressed with his height but not so much his speech. So he referred us to get Bryce tested and possible therapy. Oh the joys, but I would rather get him all the help he needs now than have issues once he enters kindergarten. I predict Bryce will be taller than Ryan!

Summer 2012

We had a fun but more relaxed summer this year. With Ryan out of work, we couldn't spend money and go on road trips like we had wanted to. The end of May, the kids took swim lessons. Drew and Kylee have taken lessons before and have done really well, but it's been with a girl in our ward in her backyard pool. This year, we had to change and did them at Mesquite Jr. High. Drew had an awesome teacher, but I think the big pool made him nervous. He had a rough first day but then finished the rest of the week great. The 2nd week into his lessons, he freaked out. He didn't want to swim under water. For some reason, he has a phobia of going under water. So next year, we are going to work with him 2 weeks prior to help ease his fears. Kylee did great but wouldn't stop talking through out her lessons, and her teachers didn't quite know how to handle the situation. Good thing she likes the water and pretty much knows what to do, but I told her no swim lessons next year if she talks. Then there was Bryce. I made Ryan take him to the Parent/Tot class. He loves baths so we thought he would love the pool. Wrong! He was horrible and wouldn't do anything. Oh well. Maybe next year will be a better year for swim lessons. (Sorry no pics. I am horrible at documenting things with pictures)

Then in June, Drew and Kylee had an art class once a week, which they loved. It was a nice break to get them out of the house. Shortly after art classes started, my sister came to visit with her 3 kids from North Carolina. We had lots of fun hanging out and doing stuff with them and the other cousins here in AZ. We went to the train park and rode the trains, played at the splash pad, and ate out way too much but the play areas are great entertainment for AZ summers. We were sad to see them leave, but can't wait to play again next summer. Through out the summer, we also did the Summer Movies at Harkins. My neighbor got tickets with me so it was fun to go with her and her kids each week. Don't know if we will do it again. I think I would rather just rent a movie each week, rather than fight the crowds and not always have the most entertaining movies for my kids.

 We spent lots of days chilling and relaxing. The kids loved playing in the water in the backyard. Kylee refused to change out of her swimsuit. She has quite the imagination that made boring days more fun.

 This is Bryce on our 1 and only road trip we took this summer. We went to St. George toward the end of July. Thank heavens for DVD players in the car. That's the only way Bryce survived and lots of snacks and treats. Here, he is entertaining himself by sticking the marshmallows on his face. It was quite hilarious at the time. I wanted to go to San Diego this summer, but I guess there is always next year. And we never made it to the cabin but have that planned for October. I love summer but always happy when school starts back up.

Summer 2012 with Puppies

We started our summer off with a bit of craziness: PUPPIES! Man, puppies are a lot of work. The kids were all in heaven, however. By mid July, all the puppies were sold to new families, except one. We fell in love with them all, and even though I was adamant about not keeping one, we ended up keeping Chloe. She went on her first road trip to St. George and was spoiled rotten and loved by everyone she met. We were so glad we decided to keep her. Now she just needs to be house broken! That's the only thing I hate about new puppies.

 Kylee loved playing 'Mother Hen' and decided to dress up Chloe on this particular day.

 She loves to snuggle, one reason she melted our hearts.

Survived her first roadtrip.

Drew Graduates from Preschool

 Drew went to 2 preschools this past school year. He was at Playa for most of the school year, 6 weeks shy of completing the school year. The program he was in, they kick you out as soon as you master all your goals. Well, Drew mastered them all, but I wanted him to keep going to school the last 6 weeks, so we found another preschool for him to finish up the school year. In May, he had an official graduation from Preschool. We loved his teachers and were sad to only be there for such a short time.

Drew was very shy at first. He didn't want to put on his gown.

I think he was just intimidated by the stage.

He finally gets his 'diploma' and is starting to get more relaxed.

I had to include this picture. Totally Drew! He was goofing off.

By the end, he was comfortable and smiling.

Hello World!

Sorry, lots of puppy updates for the next month.

All the puppies opened their eyes this week. They are still so chill and the easiest things in the world. Easier than a newborn baby. Let's see if I am saying that later this week. All they do is eat, sleep, and poop. Sometimes I even forget they are in my closet. This little girl we call the Girl Runt. She was the original runt when born but decided to constantly eat the first 2 days and surpassed the boy. So she is the 2nd smallest.

They really are the cutest puppies. Do you spy all 5 puppies??

Puppies!!

WARNING: I wrote a novel. You don't have to read! :)

So, Mia went into heat the middle of March, and we tried really hard to prevent any funny business. Mia was in a diaper most days to make life easier for everyone. There was one slip-up and an OOPS occurred. We crossed our fingers that nothing would come of it. The end of April I remembered that Mia should be showing by now if she was indeed pregnant. So I googled the warning signs and checked her out. She didn't look pregnant to me, so we all sighed big sigh and felt relieved. Well, a week later, I get home from work, and Ryan tells me Mia can't jump on the bed and her tummy looks big. I check her out and sure enough, her tummy is pooching out. Wow, what a difference a week makes. Just over 3 weeks later, Mia is one proud Momma!

We thought we would have puppies by Sunday. Mia was restless Friday night and lost her appetite. By Saturday she had all the warning signs of delivering but the final one, the green discharge. I was crossing my fingers and praying the puppies would come by Monday, because Tuesday morning I was heading to California with my doTERRA partner to teach an essential oils class. Well, the weekend came and went with no puppies. Monday night, I was praying that the puppies would now wait till Wednesday afternoon to come. At least I got half my request.

I was kind of excited to have my first night away from my kids, have the best night sleep in such a long time, and no kids waking me up at 5 AM. Good thing my roommate for the night wears ear plugs to bed! Well, little did I know that at 1 AM Ryan would text me that Mia is in labor. YIKES! She was contracting, the green discharge came, and even pushing done by Mia. But then no puppies and by 2 AM, Mia is quiet and going to sleep. I finally get off the phone at 2:45 and try to sleep but I was so worried. So was Ryan. He didn't get any sleep. I check in at 3:45 and still nothing. Ryan demands I go to sleep, so I do. I get probably an hour of sleep and call Ryan again at 5 AM and still nothing. I am starting to freak out because I am worried something is wrong with the puppies. I tell Ryan he needs to call this lady in our ward for some help, but with it being 5 he didn't want to. He again demands I go to sleep, so I do and get another 2 hours of sleep. Just as Ryan was about to fall asleep, Bryce wakes up at 5:45. So he goes out in the family room and lays on the couch with Bryce watching cartoons. Around 7:30 Ryan awakes to some whimpering so he checks on Mia and there is one puppy out of Mia, all cleaned up, and another one about to make its debut. So Ryan calls me and I am so excited that all puppies and Mommy are OK. So by 9:45, all 5 puppies were born and Ryan was ready for a nap.

Mia is such a great Mommy. She knew exactly what to do and still takes such perfect care of the little cuties. We are all loving these sweet little ones, but don't worry, we are not keeping any, because I can barely take care of my 3 kids and 2 dogs. We are not adding another dog to our craziness. I guess we need to find some names now!

So far I have been able to catch 3 different puppies chilling in Mia's favorite position! Click on the pictures to see the puppies better. The last picture has all 5 puppies in it with Mia.

T-BALL Picture

Ok, I am lazy and don't feel like scanning this picture, so I took a picture of a picture. Sorry not the best. I will fix it when I can. Drew had a lot of fun playing t-ball this year. He is kind of lazy, but it was good Ryan was is coach. So that was pretty much our life in April and beginning of May.

Easter 2012

The Easter Bunny found our house as usual.

She left the kids lots of fun stuff. Kylee and Drew each got a new shirt. Bryce got a huge bouncy ball. I couldn't wait for Drew to see his new Black Angry Bird.

We attempted pictures in their new outfits outside. Drew had a meltdown for some reason. He kept complaining the sun was in his eyes, even though he was in the shade and not even looking in the sun. It was pretty bad.

So then we took it inside and finally got a decent picture of the 2. Not the best, but I am not about to try for anymore.

Then we move on to the 3 kids. Ya, that was an even bigger mess. Yikes, Bryce is just plain awful.

We finally got him to stand still with Drew and Kylee, after giving him a marshmallow. We tried to hold it up as a bribe, but didn't work out as I had envisioned in my mind. So he got his picture with the dang marshmallow. Man, he is definitely getting his 2 year pictures done in a studio.
 So this was the best picture with the 3 kids. What I thought would be just simple Easter pictures, turned into a 30 min. nightmare.

My Free Oils

I have been saving my points since November and finally cashed them out last week. It felt like Christmas getting the mail today. I LOVE getting free oils.

Drew

I can't believe Drew will be in Kindergarten next year. We are both so excited, but I can't believe how fast he is growing. Drew is having a great year. He had an awesome preschool teacher, Mrs. Jackson, who worked so hard with him on his issues. April 5th was his last day of preschool at Playa because he mastered all his goals and no longer has an IEP. We were so excited but also sad he couldn't finish the school year with Mrs. Jackson. He truly loved her, but he will finish the school year at the same preschool as one of his best buds, so he wasn't sad for too long.

For his good behavior, Drew worked for a Dollar Store treat and he picked a package of bungee cords. That was the best dollar spent out of my wallet. He keeps himself busy with those things all day. This day, he hooked it to his drawer nobs, along with Kylee's jump rope. He loves building and creating things.

In March, Drew started T-Ball and was lucky to have his Dad as his coach. It will be interesting to see how far he goes in baseball because it's not his favorite thing to do. He has come a long way in running the bases to throwing, so maybe next year he will enjoy it more. I am just excited we only have 3 more games left. T-Ball games were just another thing to add to my to-do list. Now we are just counting the days to summer and swim lessons..

Pat's Run

On Saturday, I accomplished one of my goals for myself, I ran Pat's Run. It is 4.2 miles and boy was it hot. Good thing I practice my 4 miles in the afternoon, because it didn't effect me too much, just those dang hills thew me off. But I survived with a personal best. The rest of the day my legs were like jello. Ryan probably thought I was exaggerating, but I wasn't. I was just plain pooped, even into Sunday. Next goal, loose some weight and maybe shoot for a 10K this fall. We will see.

Almost 20 months

Bryce wanted his Daddy and was crying for him at the screen. It was the cutest thing. Ryan wasn't even in the backyard. He was and then went to the front yard with our neighbor.

I got the Worst Mom of the Year award a few Sundays ago when I dropped the iron on Bryce's back. Thankfully, lavender oil took the pain right out and healed pretty good after 1 week. He had 2nd degree burns on the bottom by his diaper. It was a tramatic day for both of us.

Bryce LOVES his cartoons and movies. He has quite a few favorites, and I am grateful because the hot weather is starting to come and Bryce won't be able to go outside as he wishes soon.

Man, do we love this boy so much. He is absolutely the sweetest thing, except when he is having a tantrum. He is starting to say more words, thank goodness. We went to the Easter pageant on Tuesday and right at the beginning, after the animals make noises, Bryce starts mooing. He did it loud and continuous. It was so cute, but we had to quiet him down so as to not disturb the other people around us. Then, Kylee pointed and said there's Jesus. Out of no where Bryce says Jesus. We had to pull our jaws off the grass after he said it. And then last night, Bryce got a pretend phone and pretended to call Nana and says, "Hi Nana!" It was adorable!