Cora - Bath Time

We had some fun during bath time tonight...  it's usually fun, sometimes she has a fit during the entire process, you just never know how she'll be.  But tonight was fun.  I decided to take a few pictures of the process... 

Silly - wearing brother's goggles!

Such a nice smile.

Wet hair, while singing her ABCs.

Hair blown out...  looking beautiful.  Gosh, I love her.

This & That

• I failed to mention in our trip to KC -- that Ryan was diagnosed with Shingles last week.  Yes, shingles - and it's terrible for him.  I feel terrible... he's uncomfortable, and in pain.  We hope to see some much improvement by this weekend, but the doctor said it could be more than two weeks before he feels much relief.  :(  (he was a huge trooper this weekend while we were away, and in the car so much, and in uncomfortable bleachers!)
• It's cold here.  I mean, cold - no getting over freezing for weeks.  NO FUN!  We are supposed to get some snow tomorrow...  I'm so ready for Spring, and at least be outside a little! 
• I'm missing Martina, Blair and the kiddos.  Martina and I talk quite a bit still - almost daily and I love getting pics of the kids from her, etc.  Thank goodness for technology!  We hope to see them very soon.
• With the cold weather (and potentially not taking all that great care of myself... maybe?!?), my finger nails are SHOT.  Oh they are terrible, embarrassing.  I better do something about that!
• The kids are doing well...
• Cora has had a cough/snotty nose for about a week, and it seemed to be better last Friday, but man, this morning - she was hacking pretty good!  It's definitely 'loosened up', so maybe we are at the end.
• Kayson's good - no cold anymore, and no cough.  YEA! 
• They still are fighting over the iPad and now my Kindle.  (How in the world did they both figure out how to use that as well?!?!)  Amazing.  I do believe we may have to bite the bullet and get each of them something of their own someday... which I know is not ideal, and they can just live with how it is now... but...?
• We are officially in 'basement' talk!  FINALLY!  We have a couple contractors coming out in the next week or so to meet with us and give us some ideas/layouts/and of course, PRICES!  ha.  I'm excited though.  We are staying, so let's make this house more of a home and have more livable space.  It'll be great for us.   More to come on that!

KU Jayhawks - Get Away

One of Ryan's Christmas gifts from me was tickets to a KU Jayhawks BBall game.  Ryan's been a fan forever, as long as I've known him... and he's never been to a game in Lawrence.  I made it happen!  and was thrilled - especially since he was really looking forward to it!

Saturday morning, K and I got his hair cut first thing... then back to the house so the kids could hang with Papa Mike and Grandma JeanAnn for the day.  We got on the road by 10ish.  A smooth drive down... enjoying the music, conversation... and no "Mom" or "Dad" for 3.5 hours.  :)  

My sister, Trish, and niece, Hope, came and stayed with the kids later that afternoon.  They originally were going to have them the whole time, but Trish coaches AAU VB, and had a tournament, so she was busy most of the day... but it still worked out that she got to stay with them. 

Anyway, we made it the University...  got to utilize a Park and Ride shuttle to Allen Fieldhouse, which was perfect - so easy, so smooth!  Once inside Allen Fieldhouse, we just walked around...  this is where basketball started - it's SO popular there, so we enjoyed the scenery a little, then went into the stadium to find out seats.  Unfortunately, our seats were much further away than I thought.  (Hard to tell when I was buying them)... BUT - it was good too.  I mean, we didn't know what to expect, we were together and ready to enjoy the game!  We had a GREAT time...  I really enjoyed it, and so did Ryan.  We are already talking that we will try to make this a yearly thing, and bring Kayson next year!

Following the game, we took the shuttle back to the truck... and headed to our hotel, which was in KC (right in the Legend's area).  We got settled, and changed... then had a nice dinner out.  After that, we went to visit Ryan's Uncle Todd and his family - they live just about 10 miles from where our hotel was, so it was a quick drive.  We enjoyed about 3 hours with them and their great kids - just talking and laughing!  It was a great visit.  Then 11:00 hit... and man, I was WIPED OUT!  We headed back... and crashed!!!

We slept in today...  which was nice, a nice change.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast out, then we headed home.  I'm not going to lie - I was sleepy, so I snoozed quite a bit on the ride home... oops! 

Tricia and Hope had a great time with the kids... telling us some fun stories, which I love.  I love knowing the kids had fun and were comfortable with their grandparents and Aunt.  I also just love knowing everything they did...  it's just fun!

The rest of our Sunday was basketball for Kayson - I stayed home and started laundry...  got groceries, and ordered pizza.  It was a super weekend, and I'm very glad we made this happen.  

Waiting for the game to start!

The court...  awesome!

GO JAYHAWKS!

Cora - 2 1/2 Years Old

It's crazy to think how much Cora has changed over the past month... and then to think that she's already 'officially' 2 1/2 years old.  CRAZY! 

This morning, she asked Ryan - "Am I your Princess?!?"  ha.  This cracks me up...  for several reasons.  She's a talker - I mean, this girl talks ALL THE TIME!  And second, she knows, I means KNOWS how to schmooze her Daddy.  ha.  It's hilarious.  (and she knows how to push my buttons).

• Wearing all 4T tops and mostly 3T bottoms.   She needs the bigger tops cuz she's got a long torso (so shirts sit short on her and don't cover her booty), and she's got short legs.  (Complete opposite of Kayson!)
• Shoes - she's in 8s I think.  We haven't had to buy shoes in awhile, but once it's warm - we are shoe shopping!  :)
• Daycare is working on potty training.  She's somewhat interested, but I think she just thinks it's 'fun' to sit on the potty.  We aren't pushing it, but I anticipate in the next month, we'll see more improvement and will get on it more.  (Diapers - size 5, but could easily wear 6). 
• She loves to have her hair blow dried after bath...  she hops up on her stool, turns the blow dryer on... and let's me 'play' with her hair.  It's so fun, and sweet.  And 90% of the time when we are done - she says, "I so pretty!" 
• Eating - still a rollercoaster diet, however, according to daycare, she eats every meal there (sometimes seconds) - minus veggies (doesn't eat ONE bite of veggies).  So it's hit or miss if she eats for us at night time.  Typical.
• She can be SO shy at times (with other people around - whether it's other family or sitters), but she's definitely not shy with us, in her own home. 
• Cora has gotten really good (which is not a good thing) at talking back... or more telling me/us "No" or "RIGHT NOW".  Those are her famous words lately.  I picked her up from daycare a couple weeks ago and another little girl was saying those same things...  hmmm... wonder where she gets it.  :)
• She still loves music...  loves to dance, loves to sing... and loves to tell us to "turn it up!"
• Back to talking all the time.  She's very clear at her words... she talks way better than Kayson ever did at this age, and better than some 3 1/2 year olds (I've noticed).  She talks the entire time she's at the table to eat (whether she's eating or not).  She's either singing, making fun of Kayson, or getting Kayson to laugh, or asking about what she can do next.  Her mind is always going!
• If she's tired and crabby, she wants her blanket. 
• She sleeps super well - asleep around 7:45 every night... and we wake her at 6:30.  On the weekends, she'll sometimes sleep til 7:30, but not always...  pretty inconsistent when she's used to being woke on the weekdays.  She does smash her face up against her crib bars, which I find funny.  (still in a crib... and will be for awhile!)
• "I do it myself" is another famous phrase for Cora.  And she will - or she will at least try.  She's stubborn, but also just independent. 

6 months old...  my, how much she has changed.

Weekend

I haven't been very good about getting on the computer lately!!!

It's Monday already.  I guess last night, the Bachelor was on, so I was all over that - while ironing at least 15 shirts of Ryan's... so that was my Sunday night!  No computer for me. 


Friday night - late, Nikki and I went to the movie - 50 Shades of Grey.  All the hipe, all the talk... and it was by far the corniest/cheesiest movie I've seen in a long time.  I was disappointed!!!  It was pretty comical that everyone in the theater giggled or plain laughed out loud at least 15 times... weird.  :)  I need to go back and read the first book, just because I don't remember it ending the way it did...  but overall, weird and just not very good.  :)

Saturday was a busy day...  Ryan got me a couple massages for my birthday, so I used one up Saturday morning.  Heavenly.  I can't wait to go back already.  Kayson had a birthday party to go to - bowling.  (He'll go back this coming weekend... and then again for Beyond the Bell in March!)  It's no wonder we don't do fun things with the kids - cuz they do all that fun stuff with school or daycare, or other friends!  Bad parents. 

Once he was home, we just hung out...  the kids got wild, but they were playing.  Saturday evening we went over to our neighbors, Jess and Lex's...  let the kids play and the adults attempt a conversation.  Again - (like with Heidi and Chris) - next time will be with no children.  :)

And Sunday we decided to do something...  shocking!  We went to the Home and Garden Show.  We were fully aware that this wouldn't be much fun for the kids, and there was a good chance for some meltdowns, but they amazingly did really well.  We were there just right at 2 hours, which was just enough time to see what we wanted to see...  we headed out for lunch, then home for C to nap.  I took Kayson to basketball...  and oh boy.  I'm not sure if I can go back!!  Talk about mass chaos.  :)  But I have to remind myself - they are only 6, they have NO idea how they need to stay away from the kid with the ball - and get open, they have not a clue how to dribble and go towards the basket.  OH BOY!  ha.  Kayson was pretty hyper too, so that was annoying.  Anyway... it was over, and we got home... 

I have no pictures...  I'll try to be better this week.  I'm looking forward to this coming weekend - Ryan and I are getting away!!!  So here's to a quick, smooth week!!

Weekend

Well the weekend is over... and so is Monday, pretty much.  Amazing how those few days fly by.

Friday evening we met up with our friends, Heidi & Chris and their little boy for supper... we hit up El Rodeo for some yummy food and lots of chaos from my kids.  Kayson was tired - he wanted to leave pretty much the second he was done eating (which he didn't eat that well).  Cora wouldn't sit still (does that surprise you?!)  She wanted to sit by Kayson, then she wanted to sit by me... or on my lap.  She was up and down off her chair at least 30 times.  Chris and Ryan sat at the end of the table not even noticing any of this!  haha.   :)  Anyway, we left there, then headed to their house.  I needed to actually have an adult conversation and we were hoping the kids would play.  And they did.  They did pretty darn well.  We had a nice time with them, and next time - no kids.  :)

Saturday we just hung out most of the day...  playing inside, even got outside in the snow and just hung out.  After Cora's nap, we headed to Pella to watch Colby play ball.  He did great and it was a good win to watch, I'm glad we've gotten to see him a couple times.  I like supporting him.  We did dinner out with some of the family, which was fun too.  It was a nice afternoon and evening.

Sunday Mike & JeanAnn visited for a bit - did lunch out, then they watched Kayson play basketball that afternoon.  I stayed home with Cora while she rested.  Basketball is a new session now - so it's mostly just scrimmaging, which from what I hear is - mass chaos.  Typical, and totally expected.  Again, Kayson likes it, so it's worth it in my eyes.  Hopefully he's learning something!

So it was a nice weekend...  I got my camera out too, so here are some pics.

Anywhere she can watch a movie... she's in.  Even if it does only last 2 minutes.

Cute Snow Bunny.

I'm not sure.  :)

We tried sledding...

Being a Parent

Being a Mom is by far the hardest "job" I have... will ever have.  I love my kids - like crazy.  Every night before I go to bed, I check on them...  I touch them, and say 'I love you'.  Every night.  I probably could stand and stare at them being so peaceful and sweet.  It's the best thing ever.  

Being a Mom, however, is not always peaceful and sweet.  :)  

We've had our struggles lately - anywhere from Kayson constantly talking back and constantly whining because he doesn't get his way.  Or from Cora throwing and hitting.  Or them both wanting the iPad at the same time to us taking it away from them both - the world is ending to them.  Or Kayson telling me that what I know isn't right (when it comes to school stuff).  Or them not eating what I put on their plate every night.  Or Kayson consistently worrying about who's going to put him to bed.  Or watching Cora play so nicely at daycare (I peek sometimes before she notices me), and the minute we are in the car, she's a different child. 

The list goes on and on.  

I ran across some neat Parent sayings, that I thought I would write down, just because.  I'm sure hoping others can relate to me/us.

I can only hope we are doing something right.

Right on.  

This is SO true.  Maybe not a snickers for me, but something else!

I catch Kayson doing the same things that Ryan and I do.  Not always good!  

Weekend - No Snow, Rain, then LOTS OF SNOW

We've had a good weekend... Friday Ryan got home from NE (about 7 hours away), so I know he was pleased to be home.  We stayed in... had supper, then really - relaxed and all were in bed fairly early.  (We are so exciting!)

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Clarion.  My nieces, Lindsay and Eden, were playing in a VB tourny there in Clarion, so it was a perfect time to get up there to see them play.  We got there around 9:30... and enjoyed the day at the high school.  The kids did ok... thankful for my nephew Ryan to keep them busy and run with them, etc.  Cora literally didn't sit still at all.  We got a couple comments from the people around us.  Nice.  At least she's cute.  :)   The girls did great at their games - finishing 1st place, so that was super exciting for them.  I'm glad we made the trip.   Around 2:00 it started to rain up there...  the tournament was wrapping up, so we headed out.  It rained the entire way home for us... getting back around 4:45.  Then as we were pulling in... some big fat, wet snowflakes started to fall... and those snowflakes haven't stopped!!  I did a super quick run to the store (cuz we had no milk!), then again, a night inside and to bed fairly early.  

Today we woke up to about 7 inches I think...  it sure is pretty, and as you know me - I'm super glad we don't have to go anywhere today!  Kayson and Ryan snow blowed out the driveway this morning to at least get through the first layer...  as it's already covered again!   Kayson absolutely loves doing that with his Dad.  Meanwhile, Cora and I hung out inside playing like crazy.  We've had lunch and have gotten out literally every toy I think...  (which seems to last only about 5 minutes each!), but we've stayed busy.   Basketball was cancelled, so we are just home.  Perfect.  Cora is resting now... Kayson's relaxing...  Ryan's shoveling off the deck...  

It's a good day to stay in...  it's been a nice end to the weekend.  
Here are some pics from the weekend.

Sporting a Dickies Hat and sticker.  Ha.  I can't stop laughing.

Taking pictures duh!

VB player #1 - Lindsay Lou Lou

VB player #2 - Ed

Some fun with Hopie.

Our little helper.

SNOW SNOW!

Some fun inside.

Kitchen time.

Love our new JayHawks T.