Thursday, April 29, 2010
Keaton's 16-month stats and other random updates
Thursday, April 22, 2010
A boy and his dog



Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Dear Keaton: 15 Months
A couple of weeks ago you turned 15 months old. When I first starting writing these letters I planned on doing them only once every three months for your second year, lately I’ve been wondering if that was a mistake. You have changed so much in the past three months that sitting down and writing this has felt like a daunting task, where do I even begin? I guess I’ll begin with this; three months ago you were a little boy quickly moving towards toddler hood, today you are a full-blown toddler, in every sense of the word.
Mother Nature blessed us with an early spring this year and this could not have made you happier. At 15 months I think it is safe to say you are an outdoorsman. You love to be outside and would spend the entire day there if possible, running around at top speed, picking up sticks, or “helping” daddy clean up the flower gardens. And by help I mean throw all the bark that belongs in the flower beds onto the lawn. Unfortunately it is still chilly in the mornings here so when you bring your hat and coat to us or Busha at 10 am and then walk to the door we have to figure out a way to distract you for a few hours. Luckily for you, Busha also loves being outside, so during the week the two of you frequently spend your afternoons in the yard. She showed you how to load up the yard trailer with sticks and leaves and you have become quite the little helper. Over Easter weekend we went to Papa and Busha’s so you could open your Easter gift (a wagon for their house!) and they hid it in the woods for you to find. As soon as we walked out the door you spotted it, ran to it, and lifted up the seat. But before you got your other gifts out you saw a leaf on the ground and you instantly abandoned the gifts to go pick up it up and walk it across the lawn to put it in the trailer.
You understand so much these days and even if you aren’t talking yet you are definitely communicating with us. There has been lots of pointing and grunting at things lately and you are pretty insistent until we figure out what it is you want. I recently read something online that said living with a 15 month old is like having a small caveman in your house and I thought, yes, that’s it exactly! You’ve also started mimicking everything we do. Although we’ve always prayed before dinner these days we ask you to pray with us. You put your hands together, usually holding your right fingers in the palm of your left hand, and look up at us with wide eyes as we begin, Bless us O Lord….. We finish the prayer with “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” and you have started pointing to your head and chest, for Father and Son. And then we usually clap and cheer before actually eating because it is so awesome to see you go through these motions.
Watching you morph into a full-blown toddler has been awesome in so many ways, but of course with the good comes the bad. You’ve mastered the tantrum, complete with screaming, crying, refusing to stand, throwing yourself on the floor, and my personal favorite, banging your head against anything and everything, including doors, the couch, the wall, you name it. Usually we know the cause of the outburst - making you come in from outside or closing the mud room door so you can no longer dig in the dog food or pull out all of the brooms/mops. This past weekend though we went to the water park with your cousins and after breakfast on Saturday morning we went back to the room to get changed before heading down to the pool. You didn’t quite understand the plan though, all you knew is that you wanted to be with the other kids and we took you away from them. Oh boy did you let us have it; you threw a tantrum of epic proportions. You have not been that inconsolable since you were an infant and honestly, your Daddy and I were dumbfounded. Nothing calmed you down and by the sounds of the howls coming from your mouth we thought for sure you were in pain (you’ve been teething again lately). We gave you a dose of Tylenol which seemed to work for a minute but as soon as I set you down you ran to the door and threw yourself on the floor, wailing at top volume. It was then that I put it all together and realized that you just wanted to be with your cousins. We opened the hotel room door and like magic your tears were gone and you were a happy, enjoyable kid again.
The thing is, I’ll totally put up with the occasional tantrum if it means you’re going to freely dole out hugs and kisses. You’ve been very lovey lately and will often lay your head on our shoulders, wrapping your arms around our necks. Sometimes it only lasts a second, but every time it melts my heart. At 15-months you like to look through books and point out items to us, you climb on everything, love to look out the windows and go for wagon rides, are learning your body parts, love brushing your teeth (you have all your molars now and are currently working on your eye teeth), your favorite treat is marshmallows (you shove them in your mouth by the handful), you’re just starting to get into watching cartoons/kids dvds, you like to help me clean by bringing me the dustpan or pulling all of the laundry out of the dryer (and then climbing in), and you’re very shy in front of new people. Every time we move into a new phase I fear I’m going to miss the previous one, but that never seems to be the case. You’re growing and changing and learning new things every day and instead I find myself falling in love with the exact stage you are in. Your Daddy and I talk frequently about how much our lives have changed since you arrived and how happy we are right here, right now. You make life even more enjoyable than we ever expected.
I love you Stink,
Mama
Thursday, April 15, 2010
24 weeks & an ultrasound update (finally!)
- I loved how Em did one covered and one bare belly shot during her pregnancy, so I thought I'd start doing that. I was hoping to get a good picture of Keaton and I together, but he had just woken up from a nap and wasn't really having it.
- Okay, go ahead, you can say it....holy cow, she's gotten big! I know. I know! This was my 20-week shot only 4 weeks ago.
- The other day I asked Collin: am I carrying this baby higher, lower, or the same as I did with Keaton? He looked at me, tilted his head, pursed his lips in contemplation and said: you're carrying it further out. And I guess he's right because check this out... here was my 26-week shot with Keaton (I didn't take a 24 week) - ummm, yeah, I could give that belly a serious run for its money.
- I thought this was all in my head but now that I look back at pictures, both from Keaton's pregnancy as well as ones from earlier in this pregnancy, I think I am carrying this baby differently. Not on a higher/lower basis, but this time around I feel like I'm carrying it everywhere. Like my whole mid section has just ballooned. I haven't gained as much weight as I did last time, so I really just think its different. If that makes sense.
- The baby has started moving alot more, but at this point I would still say it seems to be less active as Keaton. Maybe it is still just too early, but for now I'm standing by that.
- The Braxton Hicks have also started. Actually, I should have included this in my last update because I think they started around 18 weeks. They still aren't terribly frequent, but they are unmistakeably BH.
- My 24-week apt. was yesterday and things seem to be going well. As soon as he measured my fundal height I asked what I was measuring, worrying that I might be measuring ahead since I've gotten so big. But no, I was right on at 24 weeks. So that was a relief.
- The baby's heart rate was the highest it has ever been, in the 150's - at one point it was 157.
- The rest of the apt. was pretty routine, we talked about the ultrasound (more below) and (again) about the possibility of me going early. He said he was going to start checking me at 30 weeks. That made me happy to hear. As long as I make it 34 weeks they'll let me go if I go into labor.
- Of course you know what all of this talk means right?? I'm totally going full-term this time around :)
- As I'm sitting here typing I'm also watching my belly move. This baby must know I'm talking about him/her...all that crap about me not being active?? I'll show you MOM.
Okay, so, on to an ultrasound update!! Our ultrasound was two weeks ago now, but we were having some computer/scanner issues so I wasn't able to post the pictures.
- The ultrasound went great. Both of our moms came with us and I think they really enjoyed it.
- As soon as our tech set the wand down the baby was in full view and I couldn't believe how much bigger it was compared to our 16 week ultrasound, which was only 6 weeks earlier.
- During our ultrasound the baby was sitting breach. Collin is going to totally roll his eyes when he reads this...I know it has plenty of time to flip, I know it could be flipping on a daily basis, but I also know that the kicks I've been feeling are going straight down into my bladder/cervix...and it worries me a little. Of course when I brought this up at my apt. yesterday my Doc had the same reaction as Collin, he's not worried. We have plenty of time. Tonight, for the first time, I'm feeling some kicks up on my left side, it gives me hope. Please baby, turn for mama!
- Babe had his/her hands up my his/her face during much of the ultrasound. And after one of my bathroom breaks (I think I took 3!) s/he had his/her knees tucked into his/her chin.
- Blah. One good thing about finding out the sex is you don't have to type all this his/her stuff so much.
- As I'm guessing you've figured out, we didn't find out, we're keeping the surprise for game day.
- At the end of the exam I looked at the tech and said "should I even ask this??" and then asked if she knew. She said Yes, she knew what it was. My reaction was, well, that means its a boy and she said nooo, not necessarily, if it was a girl she said she'd know that too since she does this every day.
- I'll admit, it was really, really hard to not just have her tell us right there. But, now that it is over I'm happy we didn't. I really just love surprises...
- I had one gut reaction during the ultrasound. It was just for an instant and I haven't had one since, but during the exam for a moment I thought it was a boy. Of course as the exam went on I started to waiver and right now I have no idea whatsoever, but that was the one gut reaction I've had during this pregnancy.
- Okay, enough talk....on to pictures!!
Profile
Feet!
(Remember K's ultrasound?? This was the ONLY pic we got!)
This one is a little creepy, so maybe don't look too long. Or, look but maybe focus on the nose down.
This one isn't quite as clear, but it is my favorite of the 3-D pictures. It was at this point s/he had his/her legs up by his/her face. And do you see the cord sitting right below his/her chin?? The reason I love this one though is that I think s/he looks just like Keaton as an infant.
Monday, April 12, 2010
One in which I should not admit
The following conversation is one in which I probably should not admit to, but when has personal humiliation ever stopped me? I chapped my ass while training for the half marathon, if I can admit to that, this is nothing!
***
(while looking through my twitter stream) Who are the bucs?
The Milwaukee Bucks?
No, its spelled B.U.C.S.
Oh… (he smiles, knowing exactly where this is going) the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Well, that’s what I thought, but why do they call them the bucs?
Short for buccaneers. You know, because a buccaneer is a pirate.
Hmmm…
Like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one side of their stadium is a huge pirate ship.
Oh?
What did you think a buccaneer was?
A rodeo rider.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Easter 2010: Mr. Bunny

Look how big my little boy has gotten!! Ahhh! There are lots more Mr. Bunny photos (as well as some other Easter pictures) on Flickr because I couldn't decide, I love them all!
*****
This concludes my Easter 2010 posts. Hope you all had a lovely holiday.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Easter 2010: Easter Baskets & Egg Hunts


The Easter Bunny was pretty good to Keaton this year, but do you know what's even more fun that a basket full of gifts???


After looking through all of his new stuff it was bath time and then nap time (for a little boy who refused to go to bed for Grammy & Grandpa Grizz until 10 pm the night before).


Some were in trees....

And some were hidden up high where only Daddy's could reach.

The boys trotted around the yard for quite some time and found all of the eggs.



Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Easter 2010: Coloring eggs

And the coloring buckets full of the appropriate mixture of lemon juice and water.
Aaaaaaand....this would be where the battery in my camera decides to die!!! Dead camera battery, no case with extra battery or second camera on hand. So I was unable to document Keaton's first egg coloring adventure. Doh!
The boys spent the majority of the afternoon playing while us adults did the majority of the coloring, but they both threw an egg or two into a bucket and for (roughly) 12 and 15 months I suppose that's about all you can ask for.
The eggs turned out great and as tradition in our family each person present at Easter dinner had a personalized egg with their name on it. And most importantly the Easter Bunny had a basket full of eggs to hide for the hunt on Sunday afternoon.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Easter 2010: Breakfast with the Easter Bunny


