Zoo

Last night we talked about what we were going to do this weekend... I enjoy not having plans, and I know Ryan loves just to relax and be at home (since he travels a lot), but with Kayson it's hard to just stay inside a lot. I suggested the zoo. It wouldn't be an all day thing - maybe a couple hours and would be good for Kayson.

We did that this morning... and it was perfect for Kayson. The weather was good... a tad warm at times, but overall, a very good choice for a last minute thing. We think Kayson enjoyed it.

Taking a 2 second break - he was looking at the monkeys.


One big a## bull/cow... or something. Kayson says "Moo Moo"


Petting a Goat

Requesting a Routine - CHECK

We are on a routine now with naps. Seems like forever, but really only about 3 weeks... Daycare is doing one nap a day, and we are too. It's going well... Kayson's doing great actually. I know I said that I didn't think he was ready... and I still think if we gave him the opportunity to lay down in the morning, he would snooze for at least an hour, but we are scratching that (unless we feel he really needs it - We'll be flexible). I'm pleased with how well it's going. So we can check that off the list of milestones. (Maybe that's not a milestone, but it's definately a big step for a little boy!)

Ryan is home this week... it's been great. I love having him home. I just feel safer and more at ease. We have meals and sit at the dinner table... it's just so much better with him home. I look ahead at his 'long-term' schedule for work and it's ugly... he's gone a lot. We do well, we've done this for years now... and now that Kayson's here, the weeks do go by fast, so that's always nice.

Time Out

I'm just getting around to posting this:

I use to wonder how Ryan and I would discipline our kids long before having Kayson... and now that we have our little wild man, we've done well, I think. Our problem these days is mostly hitting... he really likes to hit me. (what the heck!?!?) He'll more 'tap' Ryan, but full-blown hit me. Well, it's been several months since this has started... and we started doing "Time Out" by the front door. The first couple times hurt Kayson's feelings... well, that soon died off. (Perfectly normal for a boy, I would think!) ha. Last Monday when Ryan was gone, Kayson hit me... we typically give him warning telling him that "We don't hit", then we follow through with a Time Out if he hits again. Well after I told him that we don't hit (in a stern voice) - he pouted a little and then went over to the front door and sat in his Time Out spot. I couldn't help but laugh. I know... so much for discipline on that day! So I went over to him and giggled a little and we talked about him hitting me... we got up and played some more... and he hit me again!!! haha. Of course, now I can laugh about it even more...

Again, Ryan and I encounter challenges each day with Kayson... he keeps us on our toes!

Clarion

We went up to Clarion Saturday morning... we hadn't been up there for quite a long time. We made plans to see everyone, so Saturday was jam-packed with stuff.

First thing I took some family pictures for some family friends... it went well - 6 grandkids were involved and they did great. After pictures, we talked of going to the pool - but the weather was nice, but not nice enough for the pool, so we played at the park for awhile... then Kayson took a nice long nap. While he napped, Ryan, Dad & I went down to my Grandpa's farm. A nice young couple has been living there for years, and bought the house several years ago... they have added on and done some updating, so we got the tour. It was nice to see the old house again... it brought back some great memories of my grandparents... it touched my heart. Saturday night everyone came out to the farm - it was nice to have Kayson play with all his cousins... Ryan, Trish & I played volleyball with the older girls... while Eden, Lindsay and Little Ryan (who's not so little anymore!) kept Kayson busy. We just had a nice visit. As the night progressed, the older kids wanted to see the movie "Grown Ups". After Kayson was in bed, Ryan and I joined Ash & Hope for a movie... it was a good flick.

Today we played at Trish & Greg's for most of the morning, grilled out, then went to the pool. Each time, Kayson gets more and more comfortable with the water, it's great. We stayed about an hour, then headed home... he crashed (I snoozed for about 15 minutes), and we put him back into his crib to get another 30 minutes or so. It was a nice weekend... busy, but super nice to be home.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:



Kayson LOVES water hoses... and Trish & Greg have a sump-pump hose running out of their house, and Kayson thought it was hilarious when it would 'spit' out the water...

Requesting a Routine

From my previous postings, daycare first told me 2 naps for Kayson's room, then we went to talk of doing just 1 again... 2 weeks went by and each child was really struggling with the 'new' routine. I could see a difference in Kayson as well. So yesterday Kayson took a nice long afternoon nap (I'm thinking to myself - 'Perfect, shouldn't be too bad'). Today, he took a MORNING nap and no afternoon nap. I was frustrated. All Ryan and I want is the best for Kayson... and to get into a routine again. We feel like the past 3 weeks have been all over the place with his new room. I spoke with the owner of daycare today and she's told me by Thursday the routine will be 1 afternoon nap. I'm sure hoping to see that happen.

On Wednesday's in the summer, Martina watches Kayson... so we are going to try the 1 nap tomorrow, I sure hope it goes well for them!

So in spite of having an off routine and couple of weeks, here's a recent picture of Kayson. That cheesy smile! I love it!!!

Hot Day!

My sister, Trish, and her two girls, Hope & Eden made a quick trip to see us today... quick lunch, then headed to the West Des Moines aquatic center. Ryan and the girls enjoyed actual swimming and the slides... while Kayson, Trish & I played in the shallow end. We had such a great time!!!

Trying to stay busy!

That seems like an odd title to this blog. I feel that we are always busy... especially Kayson. I think that's a perfect word for him - "Busy Boy". Ryan is travelling this week (and next week as well), so we have kept busy the last two evenings.

Last night - play date at the outside park with Colleen & Cali... then back to their place for some dinner and more playing.

Tonight - Kayson and I met my good friend Melissa at Jordan Creek so he could play at the inside park! It was brutally hot today, so indoor fun was had! He enjoyed it, as always.

Tomorrow evening we'll stay in... as I'm exhausted already! ;)

Before bed tonight, Kayson felt warm... so I gave him some Motrin (that he fought hard to take), and once he was asleep, I checked his temp - 101. MAN!!! This stinks. I sure hope it's teeth and not ears... Poor thing, I feel like we can't catch a break (or at least longer than 4 weeks!) ha. I pray he sleeps tonight (he didn't sleep well last night).

Like I said - always busy!

Happy Birthday Ryan

Ryan turned the big 31 today... We had a nice weekend thus far. My Mom & Dad visited Friday evening, Ryan's family visited Saturday. Today we've done a lot of nothing... which is what we had wanted, but now that it's evening time, I think Ryan was bored! ;) We've had a nice day... Kayson's been great, he's funnier than ever - saying "NO" to everything. At some point, it just gets funny! ha.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband... to many many more!! Kayson & I love you!

Much better this time around...

We got Kayson's pool out again today... it went much better then the time before!! He enjoyed it! ;) Here are some of the fun shots we got!





He also liked to have water dumped on him or tossed at him... too funny!


It was a great day for the pool!

Scratch that... and I Cubs

Ignore half of my previous post. Kayson still is moving to a different POD at daycare, however, his "schedule" will be very similar to what he's doing now... he will still have 2 naps a day, but will just be doing more learning and developmental things. I'm pleased. ha. Mostly because Momma is not ready for him to grow up! ha. I talked with the Owner at daycare today, just to get a better idea of what we should expect with the POD change, etc... and I mentioned the 1 nap thing and she looked at me like I was crazy! So that's all settled!

Tonight we went to an I Cubs game for Ryan's work. We had a great time... good food, actually I ate WAY TOO MUCH. I was hungry when we got there, so I pretty much inhaled everything in sight. Now I'm miserable! But overall we had a good time. We scooted out early, but I believe it was going to be a win. Miss Meghan watched Kayson tonight for us. He could have cared less when we walked out the door tonight... sad, but really good that he's that comfortable with Miss Meghan (even for only seeing her a hand full of times over the past 3 months or so). What a good boy.

I'm off to bed - TIRED!

Growing up

It's obvious when you have a baby, he or she will grow to be a toddler, and then will grow up to be a little girl or boy, and then move on to being a teenager and so on. It's obvious. But when it's happening to YOU, it's hard to soak in from time to time. We hit another milestone at daycare today... Kayson and his friends will be moving up to POD 3 next Monday. Basically that means the 'big boy & girl' rooms (to me!) I don't know the details yet, but one main thing is the 2 nap thing will get bumped to 1 nap. Wow. We are curious how that's going to go!! Kayson has hardly ever fought us on naps... he goes down easily (always has) and sleeps for a good hour and 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon... now, Ryan and I will need to make some adjustments. We aren't going to jump right into the same thing that daycare will be doing... we're just going to take our time and see how things go.

Like I said, it's just another sign that he's growing up so fast. He's talking more, he's running, he's trying new things, he listens to us (and we can see him learning so much), he's funny and light-hearted... we are all getting the hang of it! ha. (at least for this week!) ;) I've realized it's week by week with being a parent!

Anyway, I personally think this is a big deal... and Ryan agrees... and so did all the other mothers that got the news today too... even though we KNEW it was coming, it's still big... it's still another adjustment. Being a parent we definately have learned to roll with the punches.

Lazy Day!

We've had a GREAT, long weekend... we've done a little of this and a little of that... and a lot of nothing today! Love that!

Saturday we went to the West Des Moines Aquatic center and enjoyed the water and sun. Kayson did GREAT - loved it... I know Ryan was very proud of him. I'm not a water person AT ALL, so I know Ryan gets concerned that Kayson will hate the water too... but he did well. If we just keep him use to it, I think he'll do well! Saturday afternoon we all took naps, much needed for all of us. Saturday evening our good friends, Clay, Holly & Gillian visited... the kids played really well and we had great food and conversation. We always say when they leave "We sure wish we lived closer". They are just good people.

Sunday we didn't do much of anything... pretty much due to the rain. It was pretty disappointing that it rained off and on all day... ruining a lot of parties and plans for people. That stinks! However, we enjoyed being at home and relaxing. I honestly can't say we've done that too much lately... and it's just continued into today... another extremely lazy day!!! It's 2:00 in the afternoon and we haven't even showered yet!! WOW. ha. Kayson is napping, so I'm catching up on emails, blogging, uploading pictures and will soon take a shower, as I have dinner plans with Lacey tonight.

Here's a picture of our happy boy today!

It's been a great weekend... I love the long weekends!

Mish-Mosh of Stuff!

1. Kayson is funny... he's at that age where he just plain makes us laugh! Example: My car door creaks really bad... Friday afternoon when I picked him up from daycare, I opened the door ('eeer-eerrh')... and here comes our little repeater "EEer EEerr". It was priceless! And he continues to do it each time we open the door. Too funny!


2. Speaking of repeating - He's really repeating a lot, better watch what we say! ha. If we ask him to say something, he tries... sometimes it's a mess, sometimes it's clear as day! Such a big boy! This is a fun age!


3. I'm really looking forward to a long weekend with Ryan and Kayson. We have some great plans for the weekend - seeing some friends we haven't seen in awhile, and just having some time with just the 3 of us. It's needed!


4. The laundry is caught up (as of tonight)... I wish the baskets could stay empty for more than a day!


5. Great news to Ryan's brother, Blair, & Martina (Aunt Tina) --- they are expecting their first bundle of joy in January. Wow - we are SO excited to have another baby in the family... that might fill my 'urge' to have another one! ha. I know Ryan is excited to be an Uncle!! We are so happy for them!!


6. I've been doing some basic exercises every night for 4 weeks now... sit-ups, curls, tri-ceps, leg lifts, etc... simple things... I spend about 15 minutes every night doing these things. I'm not sure if I'm seeing results... besides the exercises are getting easier. I suppose that's a result! I was hoping for those flat abs that I use to have! ;)