Shopping Day!

Today has been a planned shopping day with my Mom and sisters for a couple weeks... the plan was to get my nieces & nephew done... and a few other things off the list... and maybe a few things for myself... The day was a great success!!! We had such a great time... I met my Mom & sisters in Ankeny around 9:30 this morning... we shopped til about 3 pm and everything is off the list for my nieces & nephew. I'm so glad!!! We had a nice break - doing lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Just an overall great day.

This morning before meeting up with them, Ryan and I took Kayson to consult with an ENT. The results from that are.................... tubes will be going in next Wednesday! YEA! It's the best choice for Kayson and for us. More to come on that.

We got our holiday cards today too, so I'll be mailing those out shortly... and I even am throwing around the idea of putting together a holiday letter. We get some great holiday letters each year, and I'd really like to try it. So it might be a surprise to some of you! ;) I got some more Christmas decorations up at the house this afternoon too... the house looks really nice! It'll be very festive for our company on Friday night!!

Back to work tomorrow!

More...

We had a great time with the Taylor side for Thanksgiving on Saturday... we spent the day with Ryan's family - aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents and even Great-Grandma Ann. Always nice to see them, great food... and the house is full and loud!! Kayson had a good time too...

All and all, we've had a super nice holiday weekend... it's been wonderful having a couple extra days at home and just doing whatever. We've kept busy enough, but not too crazy, so that's awesome!

Here are a few snapshots of our Kayson lookin' so snazzy in his vest. ;) and notice his red mark on his cheek --- it's a pimple!! I'm not lying... full blown pimple with a little whitehead on it. REALLY!? Today it wasn't a whitehead, it was just red. Weird if you ask me! Maybe WE stress him out! haha. ;) (I thought about 'fixing' it in Photoshop, but figured I had better leave it... for proof!)



Speaking of stressing people out... Kayson's been doing that to Ryan and I today! Boy - he's pushed our buttons today and just been naughty all day... here are a few examples - throwing his fit (hitting his head on the floor), pulling decorations off the Xmas tree, pulled a stocking off the mantle, swinging his blanket enough to hit me... and the dogs too at one point... we've had a rough day!!! (that's just a short list!) And all of those things happened while he gives us that evil look in his eyes with a grin and just does it, knowing he shouldn't. Knowing how much I hate getting back to work after a long break, we need the routine. I'm surprised we don't have more pimples to show for it! Gotta love the little guy. ;)

We hope you all had a great holiday break. Now... moving on to shopping!! YUK!

Great Holiday & 23 Months

So far, the long, holiday weekend has been awesome. We headed up to Clarion Wednesday afternoon... just in time to beat the freezing rain and slick roads... I was very thankful for getting there safely and being in the warm house with my parents. Thanksgiving Day we celebrated with my sisters and their families... having a great time. Playing, eating WAY too much, spending some alone time with my sisters and two oldest nieces and eating some more. It was a great day... and Kayson had a blast with his cousins.

This morning we lounged around at the farm for awhile, had lunch and then headed back to DSM. Kayson had a nice long nap, which he needed (since he didn't sleep well at all at the farm)... Tonight after bed, we put up the Christmas decorations... our brand new pre-lit tree is up and beautiful. I HEART IT!! We didn't finish everything, as I'd like to do some other holiday type stuff around the house... but it's a start and I love it thus far! It's great knowing we have another two days for our weekend... tomorrow we head to Diagonal to celebrate with the Taylor side. (I didn't take many pictures the last couple days... but here are a few.)

My boys. Aren't they handsome!?

With Cousins Lindsay & Eden


In the midst of eating so much, Kayson turned 23 months on Thursday. 1 more month and he's 2. It's crazy... but also so realistic... and sad! Our baby will be 2 - he'll be a toddler!!! and man oh man... he is all trouble and naughty! Here are somethings our 'baby' is doing:

• Repeating EVERYTHING. Including the word shit which was accidently said a couple weeks ago. ;)
• Putting 3 words together now... it's awesome... conversations go so much smoother now!
  With the conversations going so well - he can tell us what he's going to do next... so we have a little better warning as to what he's going to do! ha.
• Starting to count...
• Really starting to know his colors... (each week gets easier and easier for him)
• Wearing 2T stuff... still has shorter legs, but long torso...
• Wearing size 7 shoes.
• Loves putting his hat and gloves on when we leave...
• Loves his 'softies', however, really grabbing on to the larger recieving blankets from the baby days... still so sweet.
• Climbs onto everything... but still not clued on to how to climb out of his crib. THANK GOODNESS!
• When he's mad, he bangs his head on the wall or floor... (this is the terrible 2 coming out of him). It's not a fun sight... hopefully he'll figure out that it hurts and he won't do it again!
• Loves to give hugs/lovin's and kisses. Scratch that --- not liking the hugs & kisses lately!!!
• Loves to HIDE with Dadda... Dadda hides and Kayson finds him... it's hilarious!

There's much more I'm sure... but I'm realizing it's 11:30 pm and I'm pooped! I hope everyone has had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday.

Yet... another one.

The 6th ear infection has arrived in a matter of 12 months... Unfortunately, I don't think Kayson even got over the one he had 2 weeks ago! So... we will be consulting with an ENT soon - we'll hopefully get a call and an appointment set up in the next week or so...

I have no mixed feelings about this - tubes will be the best option for us and for Kayson. It's time.

..............................................

I hope everyone has a safe and very happy Thanksgiving holiday. I'm thankful for many things this year - the same things each year and a few new ones too.

• My wonderful husband, Ryan
• My beautiful son, Kayson
• Our awesome families - parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins...
• Our amazing friends - old and new
• Our jobs
• Our home that keeps us safe (we've been in for 1 year now!)

I could list the silly things, but that's not necessary this year! Blessings to you all!

Footed PJs

We did footed PJs for Kayson when he was little last winter... then it got warm and the shorts and t's came out... now that it's getting cold again, we pulled out the warmer PJs. I thought I'd try the footed ones again... man, I love them!!! PJs are my "weakness" when it comes to buying for Kayson. He's just so damn cute! Here are a couple pics.



and you may notice a scrape on Kayson's nose... he fell at daycare last Friday... it started as just a little red/brown spot, just looked like it was going to heal really nice... well, now it's a scab. Poor little thing! and of course this would happen when I'm planning family pictures this weekend!! ha. That's ok - those blue eyes make up for it. ;)

"Dadda... Dadda..."

I heard a lot of that this weekend... "Dadda... football... Dadda... work... Dadda... John... Rust... Dadda... Papa... truck... work... Dadda" It went on and on. This little boy LOVES his Dadda. ;)

We had a good weekend... even tho Ryan wasn't around much at all. Saturday, Ryan and Mike made the last trip to Iowa City for the season... disappointing loss for the Hawks. That just stinks. While they were gone Saturday, Kayson, JeanAnn and I headed up to Nevada to spend the day with Martina. She's at about 33 weeks and is getting ready to have Baby Boy Taylor here. (I am too!... anxious!) We played a little and then while Kayson was napping, we organized baby clothes and unloaded stuff, did some laundry and just got her a little more prepped. It was fun... and nice to be with her for a day. She'll be a great mom! We got home late - nearly 7:30 and Ryan and Mike got back around 8:30... so Kayson saw Dadda for about 45 minutes (keeping him up late so they could play and talk).

Today, was another day without Dadda around. Him, John & Rusty (two neighbors) installed insulation in the garages and the north walls... great idea, but super long process!!! Ryan felt bad for being gone literally 12 hours... YUK. It's done and hopefully will help a ton this winter! That's key! When Ryan walked in the door tonight (around 8), Kayson was excited! They talked and read books, it was so nice to see... I think Kayson had had enough of me! ha. ;)

Now the weekend is over... big bummer, but it's a short week ahead of us. We are looking forward to the holiday this week... I'm ready for a little break and ready to be with my family.

.... couch, here I come. ;)

Five Question Friday

1. What Christmas song do you loathe?
I don't have one in particular - but I don't like the fast ones, for some reason... I really like the slow songs. My favorite is "Oh Holy Night".

2. Do you and your significant other cuddle at night or sleep on complete opposite sides of the bed?
Hmmm... Ryan's not a big cuddler, but once in awhile we'll lay in bed and just be quiet and watch TV... then I'll snuggle up to him... otherwise, we are separate.

3. Have you ever had surgery?
Just oral surgery - wisdom teeth out. I've been very lucky!!

4. When do you typically have your Christmas shopping done?
Typically I try to be done by the first of December... but it rarely happens. I'm doing pretty well this year so far - just need to finish up my nieces and nephew, which I'll do on the 30th and then get a few more items for some others... I am doing well!

5. If money was not an issue (and you HAD to choose something), what would your ultimate luxury item be?
That's a good question! I could choose a lot of things... a new luxury car... or a luxury home... but I'd probably choose a new SLR Nikon camera. That's some big bucks, so that's what I would choose (plus it's cheaper than the car or the house!)

Counting

We've been working with Kayson on counting... I know daycare works a lot with him too. Over the past few evenings, he's been doing really well and repeating the numbers... this morning, he was counting and it sounded something like this:

"Wonnnn, Toooooo, Fiiiiive, Niiiieeen." haha... not too shabby with no help from us! ha. The "9" is hilarious, he really drags it out! We'll keep working on it!!!

He also knows that he will be Tooooo, which is a ton of fun!

Our Monster & Weekend

I attempted a photo shoot of our monster Saturday evening... with the great help of my niece Hope. As you can tell from the pics - he's wild. You can just see it in his face... naughty!

We had a nice weekend... Saturday I went Christmas (and just general) shopping with my neighbor (and new friend!). Moving into this neighborhood has been great - for both Ryan and I. We just both feel very comfortable with all the people around us, that's such a nice feeling. Anyway, Nikki & I shopped for about 5 hours... and had a great time! Saturday evening my Mom & Dad and niece, Hope visited. We had a ton of fun... Kayson just loves Hope and Hope loves the fact that he loves her! ;) Sunday we did a lot of nothin! I had a short photo shoot in the afternoon... between some laundry and even a nap, we just lounged around... which was nice. I think we all needed it.

It's Monday night already... crazy how fast the days and weekends go by... Ryan and I have some fun shows to watch on Monday nights. One of them is "Mike & Molly" - hilarious, if you haven't seen it yet... and while we were watching, I said "Doesn't it feel like we JUST watched this?!?" Ryan agreed... time flies.

Ryan has taught Kayson something funny... "Kayson - what does Momma say?" and Kayson responds with "Blah blah blah" haha... I'm sure you all are laughing. Naughty Dadda and Kayson! That's my monster... ;)

Five Question Friday

1. What is the most physically painful thing that's ever happened to you?
This is kind of funny to me... simply because I've had a baby (with an epidural), but the labor part BEFORE the epidural --- that would be by far the most painful thing. I had back labor... and that hurt, but the pain I experienced in my 'bottom/crotch' area before the epidural was unbearable. I don't wish that upon anyone and can't imagine pushing my son out WITHOUT the epidural. I can only hope that I can experience the love of epidural again when we have another child. ;)

Another thing that's painful was my sprained ankles I would get in volleyball in HS. Ouch.

2. How much sleep did you get last night?
Not much - and not because of Kayson! YEA! However, I had VB last night at 9:30... getting me home around 10:45... and then giving me at least 45 minutes to "wind-down"... I think I finally fell asleep around midnight - so about 6 hours last night. Yawn.

3. What is the last movie you saw in the theater?
I have no idea. Pathetic huh?! Um... let me think really hard here... ... ... yeah, I got nothing. I know we've been to one, but I just can't remember... it's been TOO long! We have a couple movies sitting at home that I'd love to watch, but we just don't!

4. What do you wear to bed?
Wow that's personal... what if I told you I wore a nighty every night?? That would obviously be a lie. ;) I wear shorts and a t-shirt every night. I go comfy.

5. Do you return your shopping cart to the corral or leave it wherever in the parking lot?
I return it to the corral.

Just a little of this... and little of that...

• My allergies are in an uproar tonight. WTF? It's almost mid-November and that's really irritating! My eyes and nose itch like CRAZY and I'm sneezing... OMG.
• I've had a couple good, but very busy days at work this week... actually pretty buried with work. I like being busy (as I hate twiddling my thumbs), but when "it rains, it pours"... that's what myself and some of my co-workers are dealing with lately!
• I got my flu shot today... it included the H1N1 part too. Kayson has his shot too... now, do we think Ryan will get his?? (My guess is no.)
• JeanAnn purchased the Hallmark gift for Kayson - you may have seen it on commercials - it's the santa coming out of the chimney and it counts down the days, minutes and even SECONDS til Christmas Day. 44 days til Christmas & Birthday. YUK. That's not much time!
• Speaking of Christmas - we've made our plans for the holidays. Where we will be, when we'll be home and who will be visiting. (We, the 3 of us, will be home on Christmas morning alone, exactly what I hoping to do). I'm thrilled that we got that part out of the way, now the weather just needs to corporate!
• My dogs need a bath and haircut bad. I need a haircut - oh - I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon! Whoo hoo!
• We tried some Pediasure Strawberry drink for Kayson - a little something extra (and 'special') for him... to give him some more nutrients... and he likes it. Whew!
• I'm still working out... however, I'm not seeing any more lbs coming off... it stopped after 2 pounds. REALLY? Seriously? Why does 5 pounds have to be nearly impossible!??!
• Kayson, Ryan and I played catch tonight (with his big bouncy ball)... he did really well!
• We removed the gate from the top of the stairs. That's big. Kayson's done really well with that as well... he knows to sit on his bottom when he/we go down... but tonight he wanted to "wal" (walk). He held the rail and my hand... did good. We just need to watch him and he'll really get the hang of it. But now my dogs really roam!! Guess I'll be doing some more training for them!
• My evenings seem to last forever now that it's dark at 5:30. Which isn't a bad thing.
• Ok, I'm done babbling!

Much Happier

We have a much happier little boy now... 4 full days into the medicine and he's better... happier... still not eating all that great, but much better.

In fact, last night he was wild. I was gone for about an hour or so, and when I came home, Ryan and him were laughing hard... Ryan was tickling him. It was hilarious... he was so lovin' it! Kayson and I then played pretty hard and took a bath and he literally talked the ENTIRE time. That is just amazing to me! When I was getting him dressed, he was trying to open the bottle of lotion saying "I do it, I do it!"... and when he did, he said "I did it!" so loud, it was awesome! He's putting 2 or 3 words together now and that's huge... I love it!

He also remembers SO much... last Friday night there was a kid movie on TV with a panda bear... and Ryan was watching it (thinking Kayson would sit and watch it)... he didn't... however, last night when we were looking at books, he pointed to the panda bear, said "Bear" and then "Dadda" and pointed to the TV. He KNEW exactly what he was saying... again, awesome!!!

Longest day!

Man... it was the longest day today. A great day, but LONG. This daylight saving thing really threw us for a loop... Ryan and I both didn't sleep well and were up early (because it felt like it was earlier than it was). And then it gets darker earlier, so our evening has felt like forever! ha.

Between morning and tonight, our house was full of guests. I hosted a baby shower for Martina today. Lots of prepping and planning, but it went so well - we had a great turnout - Martina & Blair got some wonderful gifts for the baby - lots of laughter - and just plain fun for everyone. I loved it - I loved hosting! Martina is doing great with her pregnancy and looks awesome... makes me want to be pregnant again... for just a little bit. ha. Then it goes away! ;) (Not ready for #2 yet)!

This afternoon after the guests left, Ryan took care of some 'winterizing' things around the house... he put away Kayson's outdoor toys, stored the bike that I never ride, covered up the mower for the season, and is planning on doing some other stuff in the coming weeks too. I hate to think about the cold weather, but it'll be here before we know it!

We picked up a winter coat and snow pants for Kayson this weekend. (It's cuter than ever!) We'll also try to find some snow boots soon too. This afternoon the weather was beautiful, so he was outside for nearly 2 hours straight... and I thought to myself - "What are we going to do when it's snowing and so cold!?" I guess we'll put the snow pants and all on and play in the snow! YIKES!

Kayson's ear infection seems to be doing better with the meds... however, this medicine makes his appetite non-existant and he has awful messy diapers. At least he doesn't mind taking the medicine, he'll say "MMmmmm" after taking it. :)

It was a great weekend... I'm wiped out and hoping to sleep better tonight!! I'm anxious for it to be lighter in the morning for us... but will be an adjustment for the 5:00 darkness. Have a great week!

1 Answer

We made a trip to the doctor this afternoon to get Kayson's flu shot. I had the doctor check his ears... ear infection. So... that's one answer to all the troubles we've had over the past week. Of course, I feel bad that I didn't take him earlier in the week... but I can't fuss over that now. Meds are in him and we hope he sleeps tonight...

Midnight Snack --- Literally

We've had a rough couple weeks with our Buster. He's been a bear during the evenings - almost every day for two weeks. We finally figured out that he's hungry... he's growing... he's TIRED and just being a boy too! Our evenings consist of him whining and not playing... and going to the pantry door about every 20 minutes. That gets old! ha. He's been eating his dinners fairly well, but seems to be starving afterwards and especially right after daycare. After doing some talking with daycare and some re-arranging things at home... we've decided to give Kayson an additional snack at daycare around 4 pm. (The whole class gets their normal snack around 3 pm after naps). We are hoping that additional snack will hold off the crabbiness and wanting to eat the second we walk in the door at night. So far - so good... we've done this for 3 days now and it's going well... he's still hungry, but he actually sat and played the other night! (He hasn't done that in weeks)! Anyway, last night was a different story - he had his additional snack, then when it came time for dinner, he didn't want anything to do with it. Pretty much all he ate was a banana. I had VB, so Ryan was in charge... when I got home, Ryan said he was awful - crabby, whining, crying all the time... just not himself. Bed came early once again because he's exhausted...

12:30 am Kayson wakes... crying and kicking - he was mad. He didn't want to be rocked, didn't want anything to do with me... he was warm too, so went went to the kitchen and I gave him motrin... and he saw a cereal bar on the counter. "Bar bar... eat eat". Really!?!? I gave it to him... he ate the whole thing along with a sippy of milk. Poor kid was starving. And he went back to sleep and probably would have slept til after 7 this morning.

Once again, Kayson throws us for a loop from time to time... keeping us on our toes and trying to figure out what he needs. Being a parent is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but so rewarding too... cuz this morning he talked and talked about "Momma's coat... brown, Dadda's coat... black, Kssnn's hat, goves". All the tiredness and worries go away when I hear and see Kayson learn and grow like he is.

Five Question Friday

1. Take your pick --- date night, girls night out, or night out alone??
Date night with my husband. We don't get a lot of alone time... just because that's the way it goes right now... we are busy and tired... and that's ok. But if I had to choose, I would definiately want a date night... dinner and a movie would be great (a movie we could agree on!). ;)

2. Can you touch your nose with your tongue?
Not even close!!!

3. What is your favorite flower and why?
Gerber Daisy. It was the first flower that Ryan gave me way back when... he said it was HIS favorite and all of the sudden it became mine too. I don't think I've ever gotten roses from him... it's always gerber daisies.

4. Would you rather have a house on the beach or a cabin in the woods?
Wow - that's a tough decision... because there are pros to both! I would probably choose the house on the beach... even though I'm not a big water person, it still is beautiful and relaxing. I know Ryan and I LOVED being on our honeymoon, so that would be nice.

5. If you won the lottery, what is the very first thing you would do?
Pay off our house... and buy me a new car! I could go on and on with what I would do with that money... I would do some selfish things for myself and my family, but would also give some to charities and other needed places...

Do we have a temper??!

I may have pushed it tonight... but either way, Ryan and I saw a side of Kayson that was interesting to say the least!

After picking him up from daycare... we went to the grocery store. (We do this from time to time, and he typically does really well). We hit HyVee, I walked fast and talked and talked with him telling him everything we were picking up, etc... just like normal. Kayson wasn't having it - didn't really think it was cool today. I hurried along - I think the trip was about 20 minutes... if that, not too bad. Little did he know, we needed to make another stop! We headed to Fareway... why do you ask?! Why another grocery store?! Fareway has these amazing fajita mixes already put together, all you have to do is fry them up! That trip was quick, but when we went to get back in the car - I had a screaming child who didn't want in his carseat... didn't want anything to do with me or the car or the seat... if we could have walked home, that would have been what we would have done!!! After some quiet time on my end - just letting Kayson have his fit... I finally got him buckled. (Now I know what it feels like when I tend to stare at children who are having fits... how embarrassing.)

We got home... finally. Like I said, I know I probably pushed it... but unfortunately, there's only certain times that work to get things done... and today was the day we needed groceries and he was being dragged along! So... we are home... and the whining continues and the tempers and the screaming and the throwing himself on the ground and the crying. Wow... Ryan and I felt like we tried everything... what a stressful feeling and also sad. I felt bad - he was tired, he was rubbing his eyes while he cried... nothing really made him happy. Finally after dinner and some more crying... he sat with Ryan for a little bit and looked at some books... bath came early and so did bed. I sure hope he sleeps well. Ryan and I are wiped out!

Nighty night.