Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! The boys both had a great time and really got into celebrating the holidays. Payton is all about Santa and Easton loves the lights!! The weeks leading up to Christmas though seemed to be exhausting! The week before Christmas, Payton had a musical at school. It was called a Barnyard Moosical! It was pretty cute! It was just Kindergarten and First grade. Then, the next day he had a party at school that I attended and Easton had special treats at day care. I had signed up to bring sweet treats for each party, so I did lots of baking. Including baking treats to go along with all of the teacher gifts. It gets so exhausting because by the time we get home at night and do dinner, etc and the kids to bed. I can’t really start anything until around 8:30!! So lots of late night (or middle of the night) baking, wrapping, cleaning, online shopping, etc! Also a week or two before Christmas my mom and I drove the boys to a park in Missouri that does amazing Christmas lights and to see Santa. They lights were awesome, but we had to sit in our car in a line for two hours until we got to the lights! We learned our lesson for next year to not go on the weekend!!
On Christmas Eve I made a big dinner of turkey, etc. I have done this for a few years now and whomever is around is welcome to come! I think I would even go all out if it was just the four of us. If you can’t use your fancy dishes on Christmas, then when can you use them!! It was a good time and everyone stayed and played some games with Payton. Then we picked out some goodies for Santa and went on the internet to track him. When Payton saw that Santa had already done all of Europe and was in South America he decided that he better hurry up and go to bed!
Bright and early on Christmas we were up and went to see what Santa brought! Paytons big Santa gift was a telescope and a puppy pillow pet and Easton got a little kitchen and a cow pillow pet. They both were so excited! We then spent the morning opening all of the wonderful gifts. Later that afternoon we went to my moms and spent the rest of the day over there and opened more gifts! Payton told me he was so lucky to get presents. I have been telling him that the most important thing about Christmas is not getting gifts, but giving them, so I had him get a gift for Easton and daddy and he just told me the other day that he felt happy when he got them presents. (Melts my heart!!)
Many of Eastons gifts were Elmo related! He loves Elmo right now! He also got lots of books. (Books seemed to be a theme for everyone). He really likes playing with this soft roll up piano that my mom got him. That little boy loves any kind of music. He was a lot of fun this Christmas! He gets so excited when he sees something he likes. He has been playing with his kitchen constantly and likes to take any of Paytons new presents!
Payton received quite a few books on astronomy. He also got lots of brain teaser like games such as a Rubiks cube and sudoko and a 3D puzzle that is shaped like an apple and some chapter books. Right now he is really into his tornado lab that makes a tornado in water! He also got a set that has chess/checkers, etc that he had been asking for. Can you tell he is my little whiz kid!!
Some of the highlights for Justin were some audio books that my mom and I had each gotten him. He always wants books but never gets them, so he was thrilled that we thought of audio books that he can listen to in the car.
All in all we had a wonderful holiday!! I then took Monday off of work so we pretty much spent all of Sunday and Monday in our pjs playing with new toys! It was great to be able to stay home and hang out with the boys with nothing else planned. Next week school starts back up (Payton has been at the day care with Easton over break), and we get back to basketball on the weekends. So a little break and then we are right back to our normal hectic lives!!

Happy Heart Day

Today, and every year on this date we will celebrate Happy Heart Day in our house! (I stole, or borrowed, the term Happy Heart Day from a dear friend who's daughter had a happy ending to her heart defect as well). It is hard to believe that one year ago my energetic 18 month old was just a little baby undergoing heart surgery. I can vividly remember the drive to the hospital in the dark very early that morning and waiting in the waiting room with all of the other parents who had babies and children undergoing surgery that day. We will always be so greatful that his defect was diagnosed when it was and was able to be corrected with no complications. We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate and plan on celebrating this day for years to come!

Payton is 6!!

Yesterday was Paytons 6th birthday!! I can not believe how fast time flies. It is amazing though when I look at pictures of is birthday last year how much he has changed and grown up since then! He was very excited to turn six because now you have to use two hands to show people how old you are! And he already told me that in 12 months he will be 7!!
He woke up Friday morning to a birthday donut waiting for him! He brought little Krispy Kreme donuts to school for a treat and then I came to his school and met him for lunch! What an interesting experience that was! It is so funny to be in their environment and hear all of the little kindergarten conversations and questions!! After school we went bowling! We kind of struggled as to what to do for a party this year. He hasn’t really been in school long enough to determine who is good friends are as it seems to change weekly. I also was not wanting to do something that invited all the kids in the class. So we decided to do something simple and just go bowling with family. (Bowling was his choice!) Payton had a fantastic time!! It probably even worked out better. He tends to get overwhelmed when there is too much going on, so just being with a small familiar group worked great.
We did a Lego theme, so I made a lego cake and candies and most of his gifts were lego themed! Lego games, lego books, lego wii game and lots of building sets!!
Even though his birthday was yesterday, I am still having a hard time believing that six years ago he was born! He has turned out to be such a wonderful boy and makes us so proud to be lucky enough to be his parents.

Thankful for medicine and fire trucks!

This Thanksgiving season I am thankful for ….antibiotics! Just kidding, well... sort of!
In the past two weeks, all three guys in the house have been sick and been on all sorts of medicines. I think I could probably qualify for a pharmacist at this point! Justin had been fighting a bad cold for a month and a half (yes, you read that right, 1 ½ months!) I finally convinced him after about 3 weeks of begging, to go to the doctor before Thanksgiving and sure enough he had bronchitis. Not to mention the fact that he has severely hurt his ribs from coughing so much that they put him on codeine as well! Payton had a cough that was keeping him up, so he went to the doctor and was found to have a sinus infection! Now Easton is on meds for a severe case of pink eye! I think they are all on the upswing though and hopefully (knocking on my desk) they will be all better soon!
We had a good Thanksgiving and celebrated it low-key at my moms, and of course she made Justin his favorite pie! We were going to go and see the Plaza lights, but Justin was pretty miserable and it was too cold for the kids, so we just stayed at her house and watched it on tv instead. Payton was very upset, but I promised him that we would go and see lots of lights sometime before Christmas. On Friday, we got to go to a fire station! My mom has a friend who is good friends with a fireman and they invited us to come out and see the trucks and Payton got to go on a ride! He loved it! He asked lots of good questions and was very interested in everything. What kid doesn’t like a fire truck! We also got all of our xmas decorations up this past weekend. Easton has been babbling to the tree and lights ever since it went up!
Things are starting to get very crazy busy around here like they always do this time of year. Between a school musical, school Christmas parties, basketball starting and various other holiday activities, we pretty much have something going on or that has to get done almost everyday between now and Christmas! And somehow I have to finish Christmas shopping! (Thank goodness for online shopping!!) I love the holidays, but wow, they are exhausting!!

Halloween - Finally!

I am finally getting to my Halloween posts! It is only two weeks late! I think I have finally gotten the website all set up, so I can now get it updated. (See post below).
I know the kids love Halloween, but by the time it is here I am so ready for it to be over! This year Payton was a fireman and Easton was a dalmatian puppy. On the Friday before Halloween, we had 3 events to go to in one day! In the morning we went to the party at Eastons school. Then is the afternoon we all went to the trunk or treat and party at Paytons school. Then, straight from there we went to my work for the kids to trick or treat on lots of the floors. Then, on Saturday Payton went to a Halloween themed birthday party next door and then Sunday night was trick or treating! (See why I was ready for Halloween to be over!!) Payton loves this holiday, Easton wasn't really into it. I am sure next year he will be when he figures out that he can get candy!
In other news, Payton went to his first sleepover birthday party last night! A friend of his that he used to go to day care with had a party with a few boys. He has been friends with a few of these boys since he was just 3 months hold! He is pretty tired today, but I think they had a great time!! It was so strange just having one kiddo in the house. We took full advantage of him being gone though and went through all of the toys in the house and cleaned, organized and purged!
He seems like he is getting so big! We also had a book fair at his school this week and a little girl that I think he has a crush on was there! He gets giddy when she is around. It is so cute to see them all interact together. He is also almost ready to lose his third tooth! It is just barely hanging on!
Easton is getting so big too! He loves to do whatever Payton is doing. We try and keep Paytons bedroom door shut so he can keep some things out of Eastons reach. But if we forget and Easton realizes it is open, he will make a mad dash into his room and just start grabbing whatever he can! I have even seen him hide Paytons mp3 player in his laundry basket!
It has started getting cold, which has put us in a festive mood. We are all getting ready for the holidays and started getting some shopping done. It will be here before we know it!

New website!

I think I may have finally found a new home for our blog. I was previously using MSN Live, which I really liked, but I got a notification that it was going to be going away after the first of the year. So, I had the option to transfer mostly everything to a new platform. I did that, and didn't like the options or functionality of that one. So, now I am going to try Blogger. So please make sure and replace any links or bookmarks you may have to this new one. Sorry about that, I know it is a pain in the behind!
I had contemplated whether I should keep the blog going or not, but I decided that I like it mostly for myself. If other people read it, great, but if not, that is okay! It is a way for me to record moments in our life, like a diary of sorts. So I periodically look back and reminisce about moments in our life.
It make take me a little while to get things where I want them, but bear with me. Time has not been my friend lately!

October 2010

I can’t believe that Halloween is almost here!  Time goes way to fast!

Two weekends ago, Justin and I were able to head up to Iowa for the homecoming game!  I was able to get tickets through the Alumni Association since it was my 10 year reunion.  This time we left the boys at my moms house for the night.  This was the first time we had ever left Easton over night.  I knew they would do great, but I still hate leaving them. They had a great time with Grandma Joy and spent a lot of time playing outside and at parks.   We like it that she can play and have fun with them, without having to get them all hyper and riled up.  I am not sure who enjoyed the time more, the boys, or Grandma! 

Justin and I had a lot of fun at the game.  We drove up early Saturday morning and pretty much went straight to the tailgate where we met our good friends Erin and Ryan.  I forgot how much fun taigating in Iowa City is!!  Then the game was at night and it was so much fun!  I love night games!  After the game we were so exhausted we just went back to the hotel and then drove home on Sunday.  So, it was a quick trip, but so worth it!

This past weekend the weather was so beautiful that we took full advantage of it!  The city has completed these great new bike trails near our house, so we went on two separate walks and Payton rode his bike.  It was wonderful to be outside all day!  On Sunday we went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead and went to their pumpkin patch.   They boys got to pet baby goats, Payton went on a pony ride and we all went on a hayrack ride to get the pumpkins. 

We had Paytons parent-teacher conferences this week and he is doing outstanding at school.  He has had some attitude issues at home, but luckily at school he is wonderful.  The teacher is going to get with some of the other teachers to find things to keep him challenged as the year goes on.  She told us to be very proud because we have a very bright special boy on our hands!  Which is easy, because we are always so proud of him!

 

(I added pictures to the Fall 2010 and Hawkeye Football albums)

September 2010

I have been a little behind on updates! Two weeks ago we took Payton to his first Iowa game!  We went up to Iowa City on Friday for FryFest with both boys and my mom.  Thank goodness for my mom.  It was great to have another set of hands because we were reminded on the way home how much Easton dislikes the car!  The next trip Justin and I are going by ourselves, so it will be a much quieter and faster car ride! But we had a GREAT time while we were there.  On Friday we went to the pep rally and both boys were just in awe of everything going on around them.  Payton even got a high five and a quick hug from Herky, so now he is obsessed with him!  Saturday morning we took the Hawkeye Express to the game.  Payton has always loved trains, so how could we not take it?!  We had great seats for the game and we really enjoyed ourselves. Payton thought the game was pretty cool!  The boys were both great the entire trip. 

This past week/weekend Justins brother came for a visit!  It was great to see him and Payton did not want him to leave.  Easton just kind of stared at Jeremy, with a look like you kind of look like my daddy, but you are not, so I am not so sure.   On Saturday we headed to two festivals.  One was a hot air balloon festival.  We tried to go to one over Memorial Day, but the balloon launch was canceled due to the weather.  So we thought we would try it again, but this one was cancelled too!  I think we are jinxed!  Hopefully next time we can actually see the balloons go up! Then we headed to the plaza for a waterfire event.  It was really neat experience. 

The boys are both doing great.  Payton is doing fantastic in school!  He really enjoys it and seems to have grown up so much in the past month.  He was picked as a student of the month for the first month of school, so we have an assembly to go to this Friday to recognize the students from each class.  I have also gotten an email from the teacher telling me that he works really well with others and that he is very respectful to all of the teachers and other students. The first few weeks of school he was so very tired when we got home.  Sometimes to the point of meltdown.   But, from what I hear from other parents, this is normal and I have already seen it get better.    

Easton is getting the sweetest and funniest personality.  I wish he would stay this age forever!  He just cracks us up.  He is really starting to communicate with people.  Not necessarily with words, but with some signs and gestures and the beginnings of some words.  He really likes giving kisses and high fives, and he is still obsessed with the cats!  He will just sit there and yell at them and follow them around the house.  They are not nearly as amused as he is!  He is also a huge flirt.  Which I remember Payton was at this age as well.  If we are out and about, he just waves at people and gives them a huge grin!

Back to School!!

Payton has now completed three days of kindergarten!  He started school on Tuesday and has said that Kindergarten is awesome!  Monday night he went to bed early and was so excited.  Then, Tuesday we woke up to rain, but that did not dampen his mood.  He was just beaming all morning.  We got to school and Justin and I took him in and you could tell he got a little nervous, but did wonderful.  I held the tears for when we were leaving so he wouldn’t see them.  I am just so proud of him.  That night when we got home we celebrated his first day with a cake and some candies that I made for him.  Then the next morning, I was going to walk him in and he told me that he was a big boy now and I didn’t need to.  He wanted to just get dropped off out front and walk in.  So he did, and never even looked back!  He is such a big boy.  Last night he was already drawing pictures for his teacher, so he seems to like her and I'm sure will be a teachers pet in no time!! 

 

On back to school night, along with our paper work we got was this story.   It really stuck out to me and is so very true:  (Be prepared, it may make you cry!!)

               

Thoughts from the Bottom of the Beanstalk

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut and a brand-new book bag. 
     Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this same beanstalk almost every day last year, this was Jack's first day and he was a little nervous. So was his mother. 
     Early in the morning she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day and how nice his giant would be. She reassured him that she would be back to pick him up at the end of the day. For a moment they stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk. To Jack it seemed much bigger than it had when his mother had pointed it out on the way to the store last week. His mother thought it looked big, too. She swallowed. Maybe she should have held Jack out a year... 
      Jack's mother straightened his shirt one last time, patted his shoulder and smiled down at him. She promised to stay and wave while he started climbing. Jack didn't say a word. 
     He walked forward, grabbed a low-growing stem and slowly pulled himself up to the first leaf. He balanced there for a moment and then climbed more eagerly to the second leaf, then to the third and soon he had vanished into a high tangle of leaves and stems with never a backward glance at his mother. 
     She stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared. There was no rustle, no movement, no sound to indicate that he was anywhere inside. 
     "Sometimes," she thought, "it's harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk." 
     She wondered how Jack would do. Would he miss her? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes acted silly when they felt unsure? She fought down an urge to spring up the stalk after Jack and maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing. 
     "I'd better not. What if he saw me?" She knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own. She reminded herself that, after all this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk and that everyone said his giant was not only kind but had outstanding qualifications. 
     "It's not so much that I'm worried about him," she thought, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's just that he's growing up and I'm going to miss him." 
    Jack's mother turned to leave. "Jack's going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life," she told herself. 
     "Today's the day he starts practicing for them...

And today's the day I start practicing something too: Cheering him on and waving good-bye."

 

August 2010

Last week we finally got the insurance company to come out and meet the roofers and decide that we get a new roof from the storm damage that we got almost a month ago.  As of now we have these nice pretty blue tarps on our roof to prevent any more inside damage then we already got.  A few houses on the block have the same blue tarps, so at least we all match!  We are glad that we are finally getting a new roof because we were needing a new one.  Although, we are not happy because since we live in a high tornado zone we have separate and much higher deductibles on wind/hail damage then we do on the rest of the homeowner’s policy.  So even though insurance is paying for the bulk of it, we still have to fork out over $2,000!  But, hopefully it will help us when we try and sell this place!

On top of meeting with roofers and insurance adjusters, both boys also had a stomach bug that seemed to also wipe out a lot of kiddos from day care.  It didn’t last long for either, but they were miserable for those days.  So that meant a lot of missed work and working from home for me!  It wouldn’t have been so bad, but Justin has been gone a lot working overnights at work because they are remodeling his store and they have to do a lot at night and my mom was in Florida visiting Grandma, so I had no relief from anyone!  But that’s okay, we managed! 

 

Payton was such a big help while Easton was sick and his pretty much a big help all of the time.  He has really grown up a lot lately.  I am so proud of the boy he is and is becoming.  He has also though started acting like he is 15, instead of 5!  The other day, we were in the car and Justin yawned.  Payton said, “Save it for the pillow dad!”  He has also really been into singing lately, so I will try and get a video of him this weekend to post.  We finished his last Tball game last week.  This season was night and day from last year.  He really seemed to get the concept and really enjoyed it.  Although, I asked him afterwards if he wanted to play next year and he said that no, he wants to play Tennis!  So, who knows what he will want to do next year!   He will be starting flag football soon!  It is a good thing we have connections at a sporting goods store for all of the stuff we need for these sports!   I got him enrolled for school last week and we went shopping over the weekend for supplies and everything that was on his required list.  We even got him the cutest alarm clock that is shaped like a red Lego block!  He was so excited to get an alarm clock!  I am sure the excitement will wear off really quick!  He starts school in less then two weeks!!  Next week we have a back to school night and will get to meet his teacher and such.

 

Easton is growing so much and changing every day.  He is becoming very dramatic!  He will protest A LOT if you take away something he wants or tell him no.  He is really into throwing things as well.  It could be from his high chair, stroller, shopping cart, whatever!  He will usually give you this dirty look first, and then throw something!  We think he seems to be growing quite a bit.  He looks like he is getting really tall.  He eats like crazy! I am going to have to get a second job just to feed these boys!  He had a cardiology appointment last week and we found out that his device is still in place and it is doing its job.  We knew it probably was, but it is still always nerve wracking.  We also found out that the part of his heart that was enlarged is now within the normal range!  We do not have to go back for 2 years!  The cardiologist always sends our pediatrician a follow-up letter and sends us a copy as well.  Whenever we get them it makes me realize how lucky we were to have found his defect when we did.  The doctor always makes us feel at ease, but when you read the letters with the words like ‘generous sized defect’ and all of the medical jargon, it kind of takes your breath away for a moment.

Easton is pretty much all over the place now a days and gets into EVERYTHING!  He also really likes to dance to anything that sounds remotely like music!  I can’t even sing him lullabys at night because he perks his head up and starts rocking back and forth!  I will try and get a video of that this weekend as well.

 

We have been trying to do lots of fun summer stuff, but it has been unbelievably hot, so we haven’t been able to do as much outside as we would like.  Our actual temp on Monday is supposed to be 100 degrees!

And BTW, only 30 days until football season starts!  Go Hawks!

 

(added a few pictures a couple of days ago to the Summer 2010 album)

Summer Fun

The last two weekends have been filled with lots of summer fun!  Two weekends ago we went swimming on Saturday after TBall and then tried to go to a park that is about 20 minutes away on Sunday for a bike ride and to play on the playground.  It was raining off and on, but was supposed to stop.  So we loaded up the kids, food, and the bikes and thought we could get some fun in.  Well, apparently not!  We sat in the car in the parking lot at the park to wait out the torrential downpours!  After we got what seemed like a break, we thought we would still try and play a bit.  Well, we learned that a wet slide = a ridiculously fast slide!  Payton went down a few slides and literally flew about 10 feet off of the end!  So, he became a muddy mess.  Then the skys opened up again and we decided to just head home.  Any of you that have kids, know that cleaning the car seat is one of the worst tasks ever.  So we did the only thing we could think of and stripped the pour kiddo down to his underwear and made a quick run for the car!

This past Sunday, Justin had to work and it was way to hot to do anything outside, so my mom and I took the boys to Crown Center and Union Station to go to a dinosaur exhibit and Science City.  Payton was beside himself the entire day!  We ate at Fritz’s, where trains bring you your food.  Then we got to see some amazing life size dinosaurs.  Then we saw lots and lots of model trains and then we went to Science City.  Finally, we got some ice cream and headed outside to the huge splash park.  It was a great day and per Payton it was the ‘awesomest day ever!’

The boys are both growing way to fast.  Next week we have enrollment to get Payton signed up for school and we will find a time soon to go school shopping!  How exciting!  Easton is walking almost all of the time now.  He prefers to carry something with him when he walks.  He also can go up stairs really fast!  He hasn’t figured out how to come down yet.  He tries to walk down, which doesn’t work with his little legs!

 

(Added pictures to the Summer 2010 album)

4th of July

This past weekend we went up to Iowa for our annual 4^th of July trip.  We had a wonderful time as always!  The boys and I headed up on Friday night so they could rest a little on Saturday before fireworks.  Then on Saturday morning Justin came up with my mom because he had to work Friday night.  Saturday was the festivities in Dixon and we got to see tons of family and very old friends.  It is such a great chance to see everyone.  We had a lot of great company and the boys had a blast.  They just love playing with other kids and our cousins.  The boys were both up WAY past their bedtimes so on Sunday we all took a nap because we were so tired!   We then headed to my friends house and saw some old friends and the kids got to play together.  On Monday we went and saw my dad and he was pretty surprised at how much Easton had changed since he saw him last back in February.   Then we headed back to Kansas!  The weekend was great and we had wonderful weather the entire time.  There was a ton of traffic and construction though, so the drives were a bit longer then usual.  We did learn however that Easton is NOT a fan of traveling!  He did okay, but you could tell he was just miserable being confined to his car seat.  Part of it is just his age, (I remember this stage a bit with Payton), part of it is his personality and part of it is due to the fact that we don’t travel as much as we did when Payton was little.  It is a good thing we have no trips planned for a while, because I think Easton needs a break from the car!

 

Also, Easton decided this weekend at the hotel that he can walk across rooms! He prefers to crawl if he is in a hurry, or excited, or frustrated.  But, other then that he likes to walk now! 

June 2010

We have been having a great time this summer!  Easton got his first haircut a little while ago and was not happy!  It was pretty funny because he would be fine, and then look at the lady and just start wailing again!  As soon as we took him out of the little car chair thing he was all smiles again.  Other then that, we have just been really busy doing fun summer stuff and trying to stay cool!  The temps have been in the low to mid 90s a lot, so we have been spending a lot of time in the water!  Payton and Easton have been playing so great lately.  I think Payton is really enjoying it now that Easton can actually play and interact with him.  Payton also does great keeping Easton entertained or making him happy when we are out and about or when I am trying to do something at home.  

I can not believe that it is almost July already. There is just so much we want to do yet and not nearly enough time to do it!  Payton will be in school in a little over a month and a half! I have really been behind on housework and any house stuff, but that is okay, because they are only little for so long! 

We will be heading to Iowa this weekend for the 4^th of July, so I am sure to have some pictures when we get back.

 

I added a bunch of pictures to the Summer 2010 album.

Easton is 1!!

Easton is now 1!! On Friday he had his 12 month checkup and the doctor said he is perfect. (Although we already knew that!!) He is in the 58^th percentile for height and 52^nd for weight. I don’t have the exact measurements with me, so you will have to settle with that!

On the night of his birthday my mom and sister came over for a few minutes to see the birthday boy. I hadn’t really planned on doing anything that night since his party was on Saturday, but late on Tuesday night I thought that I better make a cake. So I made a little train cake!

Saturday was his party and we were so lucky that the weather cooperated. We had HORRIBLE rain all day until about an hour and a half before the party. I had planned on having it outside at my moms house and wasn’t quite sure of a backup plan. But luckily the rain stopped and the sun came out. It became quite warm and humid, but overall was pretty pleasant. We had a great party. We did a blue and brown polka dot theme and it was really cute. We had bought the boys a bouncy house to use for the party and just for whenever and I think that was a lifesaver! It kept the kids completely entertained for hours! I cant wait to use it again! Easton loved his cake and wasn’t as much into making a mess as he was into just eating it!! Thank you to everyone who came and made his birthday so special. And Thank You to my mom for letting us use her house and yard and to Justin for getting moms yard and garage all ready!

Happy Birthday Easton!

Happy Birthday to my sweet adorable little curly red-headed boy!! On June 9, 2009 at 12:34pm, Easton Kinnick Schulte was born! I can not believe how fast this past year has gone.

3 Months old:

Fun facts of Easton:

At birth, he weighed 8lbs, 5 ounces.

He was 1 day early.

His middle name is an Iowa reference.

When he decides he is hungry, he wants to eat now! And when he decides he is done, he will clench his mouth tight.

He will not let you look in his mouth for teeth. You have to catch him laughing.

His favorite things besides mommy and daddy are: his big brother, the cats, books, cell phones and remotes.

He loves to dance!

He loves to bang on things and climb on Payton.

He now sleeps about 12 hours a night.

When he is hot, his hair gets very curly.

He wants to talk and be a big boy so bad.

He is funny! He loves to make faces and get people to laugh.

He is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen.

In his short life so far he has had two surgeries and is now perfectly healthy!

 

Easton has his 12 month checkup later this week and a birthday party this weekend, so I am sure I will have more updates in a few days!

Growing boys and Memorial Day weekend

The boys are growing way to fast!!

Payton graduated from Preschool and is now officially ready for Kindergarten! They had the actual ceremony a few weeks ago when we were on vacation. (I didn’t know this when I booked the trip. I never would have booked it at the same time). So, since we had to miss the ceremony, they were great and let us borrow his cap and gown and take pictures in it. Payton even got a 2010 tassel to keep! The kids had rehearsed songs and such to perform during the ceremony. I really like this one that they were going to perform. I think it is so sweet!

A is for the alphabet that we learned to say.

B is for boys and girls at work and at play

C is for colors--red, yellow, blue and green.

D is for drawing the best pictures you’ve even seen.

E is for exercise--it keeps our bodies strong.

F is for the fun we had together all year long.

G is for the many good friends we made throughout the year.

H is for happy hearts, filled with love and cheer.

I is for imaginations and all the things we have learned.

J is for a job well done and the praises we earned.

K is for Kindergarten--hip, hip, hooray!

L is for learning more and more each day.

M is for minding and showing everyone respect.

N is for numbers--one, two, three--perfect!!

O is for the obstacles we learned to overcome.

P is for puppets and for playing rhythms on a drum.

Q is for the questions we asked throughout the year.

R is for reading stories, even those that brought a tear.

S is for all of snacks that we so bravely tried.

T is for taking and giving--no one was denied.

U is for some of the unusual things we have done.

V is for our volunteers--moms, dads, and everyone!

W is for words--we learned more then just a few.

X is for extra special kids--him, her and you.

Y is for yes--it sure has been a super year.

Z is for zest--let’s give ourselves a great big cheer!

Since we missed graduation I told Payton that we could go and celebrate at Chucky Cheese! I actually cried when he put on his cap and gown! I am never going to make it through the first day of school!!

I think Easton is going through a growth spurt right now. He has been sleeping over 12 hours a night and is still eating like crazy! He is becoming so funny and likes to make faces at people. He has been cruising all along the furniture for a while now and will let go for a second or two. He isn’t walking yet, but I don’t think it will be long at all! He wants to talk so bad! He loves to babble and shriek at Payton! He gets so excited when he sees people he knows or when we pick him up at night. He starts giggling and kicking his legs! It is pretty adorable!

We had a fun filled Memorial Day weekend. On Friday night we went to a T-Bones game with some friends. It was opening night, so it was kind of crazy, but we had lots of fun! On Saturday I took the boys to the pool and they had a blast! Although, Easton has no fear and will crawl into the water until his face is submerged! So, a mental note---keep him away from any bodies of water like lakes, ponds, etc!! This weekend we also went to a hot air balloon festival twice, had a picnic in my moms back yard, ran various errands and played in the back yard a lot! The next few weeks are going to be super busy as well. T-Ball starts this weekend and we have a few other events and next week is Eastons 1^st birthday!!

Vacation to Paradise Island, Bahamas

We just got back from a family vacation to Paradise Island, Bahamas. It is an island just North of Nassau. We had a wonderful time together and both boys really enjoyed themselves. We were not ready to come last night! I think we could have stayed for a very long time! It was just what we needed after the last few months that we have had. We left last Sunday very early in the morning. We woke up at 2:45am in order to leave the house a little after 4. Payton woke up when we did and never went back to sleep, so he had a tough time later that day because he was so exhausted. That night after we got settled in the hotel we walked around a bit and went to a little store to buy some water to make Eastons bottles with. We also went to dinner and then we went swimming. The next day we explored the entire area of the Atlantis. It is so amazing. The attention to detail is just astonishing. There are a ton of marine habitats everywhere. We also explored the area called The Dig, which is a huge aquarium type thing made to resemble the lost city of Atlantis. I can not even come close to describing it, so you will just have to look at the pictures. There is also an area called Marina Village that we spent a lot of evenings at. It is surrounded by multi-million dollar yachts! We heard that celebrities are there all of the time and we think one must have been on one of the boats we saw, because people were taking pictures of one of them a lot. The next day we spent the entire day at the Aquadventure water park area. Payton was in heaven and Easton really enjoyed splashing the water. We all rode the lazy river and Payton and I went on an very active river rapids ride called the Current! Wednesday we did something really special. We decided that while we were here, why not do something that we wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to do. We took a ferry ride to another island called Blue Lagoon. This was an amazing area. There were hammocks in the trees, and chairs and umbrellas on the beach. So we spent a few hours there and then did a dolphin encounter! We got to get in the water and hug and touch a dolphin. We even got to get a kiss from him. It was a really neat experience. The last full day there we spent it at the Atlantis beach and just tried to soak up every last bit of sunshine before having to head back to the rainy Midwest. Both boys had a blast playing in the sand and water. I am still finding sand everywhere!! Then the last day we took an eventful bus ride back to the airport and had to head home. I was a little worried as to having to wait in line with all of our stuff and the boys for all of the customs and immigration stuff, but they both did great. Easton was much easier to travel with then I could have ever expected. He slept and napped good in the hotel and the flights. The trip was great and we are trying to figure out when to go back. I know a lot of people probably thought we were crazy taking the kids on a trip like this, but we couldn’t imagine not taking them. We really like to experience things together as a family and think that vacations together are really important.

The entire area was wonderful and beautiful and everyone was so nice. Although, it is VERY expensive on Paradise Island. We stopped counting how much we were spending after the first day. When we went to the little grocery store, we saw a normal size bag of oreo cookies for $9.95! One meal we got two slices of pizza, a bowl of fruit, and three drinks and it was $50.00.

On Monday we head back to our hustle and bustle of school and work, etc. We are NOT looking forward to it, except Payton is missing his friends and teachers. Justin and I know that we are both heading back to lots of stress at work, but oh well, life must go on……

More missing teeth and cruising around!

Since I last updated, Payton has lost another tooth! That makes two gone for him, and two total for Easton! Eastons teeth just seem to be on their own time schedule. It doesn’t stop him from eating just about anything though.

The boys have both done great since their surgeries. After the first few really rough days with Payton he did great. I am amazed as to how much better he sleeps now. I used to be able to tell if he was sleeping from the hallway just by the way he was breathing. Now I can’t tell and actually have to go and check on him to make sure he is okay. I also don’t hear him up and stirring all the time throughout the night.

We also just found out that Payton made the cut for full day kindergarten. We are so glad. He will do so great in a full day setting. I guess not everyone made it in because there were just not enough spots. Easton has learned to pull himself up and is now cruising along furniture. So, pretty much he gets into everything now! He loves to pull the toilet paper off and put it in the toilet! So basically I need to clean a little more often! (In my free time, HA!) He also loves to pull up to the window and bang on it! The neighbors probably think we never let the poor guy outside! Easton is getting the funniest personality. He likes to play little games and is just becoming quite humorous. He really enjoys going for walks and just being out and about in his stroller. He is also getting very talkative. He mostly says mama and baba. He says mama when we wants me or when he is crying or wakes up and he says baba when he wants to eat. He is starting to get stranger anxiety. He is okay as long as we are holding him and he is interacting with others, but if the other person wants to hold him he is not so sure. If he knows someone though, he get so excited to see them and starts kicking his legs and starts laughing.

Surgery updates and Eastons first trim!

We had the boys followups today from their surgerys and both are doing well.  Eastons recovery was really nothing at all.  We do have to go back every six months though until the tubes fall out.  Payton was a different story!  The day of and the day after surgery he was in a lot of pain (which we expected).  He also got a little sick from the pain meds a few times, so we moved to normal Tylenol.  On Saturday morning he was getting sick nonstop and could not keep even little sips of water down.  He then got really lethargic and you could tell he was dehydrated.  So I called the doctor and they sent us to the ER.  So they gave him some meds and some IV fluids and he perked up right away.  His throat doesn't really hurt anymore and the only symptom he still has is that his voice is all messed up.  It is really soft and high pitched right now.

He is still home from school and really wants to go and see his friends.  We have visited a few times when we drop off and pick up Easton, so that helps.  He is also getting really frustrated that he can't eat whatever he wants either.  For another week he still has to stay away from anything sharp, rigid, hard, spicy, sour or citrisy. He doesn't really understand that if he has those things it will open the wounds back up that are starting to heal.

 

Easton got his first trim today!  It seems like all of a sudden his hair has gotten out of control!  It now has a bunch of curl to it and especially since it is warm out, when he gets sweaty it is really curly.  Well it has started to curl over his ears and look a little girl like!  So we had to fix that.  He really didn't have enough to get rid of to take him to get an actual hair cut, so I just trimmed it up myself, and I am quite proud of it!!  It is crazy how much more hair he has then Payton did at this age. 

 

In just a few short weeks we will be in Paradise on vacation and we couldn't be more excited.  We really don't have the time or money to go on a big trip, but we decided that even though we don't need a vacation, we need a vacation.  Does that make any sense??  Three surgeries in 5 months and trying to work 2 full time demanding jobs, plus everyday household and family demands takes its toll on you and the rest of the family.  We are looking forward for the four of us to get away from the real world for a while!

 

BTW-- I added a couple of pictures to the Spring 2010 album.  For some reason MSN doesn't always put them in the order I say and I can not find a way as of yet to move them around.  But, I have found, that if you click on the album title it will take you to a new screen where it shows thumbnails of the entire album.  Here they are in the correct order.  You can view them as thumbnails or scan through them from there.  Strange computers!

Two kids, two weeks and two hospital visits!!

In seven days we have had both boys make trips to the hospital for surgeries! It is okay though, no worries! Both trips were preplanned and pretty routine. Last Thursday Easton got tubes in his ears and this morning Payton got his tonsils and adenoids taken out. Easton had been having a lot of ear infections in the past few months. He had fluid behind his ear drum that would never drain and so as soon as he got off of antibiotics it would re-infect itself. And since he has a device in his heart, we want to keep any infections to a minimum. His surgery was so simple and really nothing compared to what he has been through. We were done and back home in no time at all. He came home and took a nap and when he woke up seemed totally fine. He hasn’t had any issues since.

This morning was Paytons surgery. His tonsils were extremely large and the doctor felt the best thing was to just take them out. They haven’t really been bothering him yet, but since they are so large probably would cause frequent infections in the future. Large tonsils can also cause some sleeping issues. We have know for a few years that Payton is a ‘rough’ sleeper. He breathes through his mouth and makes lots of noises and wakes up frequently. I guess this is common with large tonsils because they make it hard to breath while sleeping. The doctor said we could try a wait and see approach and wait until they do start bothering him, but she said it is so much easier to take them out when they are young. Also, he has to be home for at least a week, so we wanted to do it before he started school in the fall. We plan on keeping him home for about a week and a half at least. I am home with him the rest of the week and next week we are splitting between myself, Justin and my mom. I am thankful that my job is flexible and will enable me to work from home when needed because I have missed a lot of work in the past 6 months.

He was really good this morning and much more calm then I expected. We brought his Leapster and he just played that the entire time. They did give him some meds to relax him though and he became super drunk! It was hilarious! I have never seem him act like that. We got to see him about an hour later and he was pretty uncomfortable. They gave him lots of pain meds and he pretty much passed right out. They wouldn’t let us leave until they were certain that he would constantly drink something. We got home a little bit ago and he is vegging out watching movies. We are supposed to give him codeine every 4 hours for pain. He and I went shopping earlier this week and picked out lots of popsicles and ice cream and fun treats. From what I hear it is a pretty painful and tough recovery that can last up to two weeks, so hopefully he won’t remember most of it!

It hasn’t all been hospital stuff though! Payton had Kindergarten roundup last week and is really excited to start school. The school is adorable and the kids had a great time. They got to go and see all of the teachers and do activities with each while us parents filled out lots and lots of paperwork. We are still trying to figure out what to do after school. We have a few different options, we just need to figure out what works best for us. After roundup I took Payton to see How to Train you Dragon in 3D! He loved it and has worn his 3D classes a lot since then! The next day he started soccer. It was a beautiful day and he really seemed to enjoy it. The league we are playing in this year is co-ed and not as competitive as the one last year and I think that is good for him. He was a little All Star out there with the girls and he does better with things when he knows he is doing good.

For Easter we went to my moms and hunted for eggs and hung out outside. It was such a nice weekend! Thank you mom for all of the yummy leftovers that we are still eating!!

Easton is doing great and is all over the place now! He follows Payton everywhere and crawls and gets into everything. He is still a great eater and sleeper and now that his ears have tubes, he should be even happier!!

We are looking forward to the warmer weather that we are getting and spending more time outside. Payton will start Tball and swimming lessons soon. Then we will look forward to Eastons 1^st birthday in June and VACATION, because we really need it!!

Easton 9 month update

Easton had his 9 month checkup last week and is 20lbs 6.4oz and 28 1/2 inches long.  Both of which are in the 50th%,  His head is in the 75th percentile at 46cm.  His first tooth just broke through finally!  You can't see it yet, but you can feel in through his gums.  I got his pictures done this weekend and they turned out, but I think we were spoiled with the amazing 3 and 6 month pictures we did.  This time I didn't want to spent alot, so I went to one of those places where you get like a thousand pictures for one price.  I guess you get what you pay for!!

Tooth Fairy

It was a big day at the Schulte household last week!! Payton lost his first tooth! It had been loose for a couple of weeks, and he finally wiggled it free on Friday. I was at work and got a call from his school, so my first instinct was, “uh oh…which one is sick.” But then it was Payton’s teacher and she said that he had to tell me something. He was so excited when he told me. They saved it in a little bag and made a big deal out of it. Even some of the other kids drew pictures of the tooth fairy for him. He looks like such a big boy now I can not even believe it.  I thought that he might get upset when it came out, but he was so brave.  I am so proud of him.  He was very excited for the tooth fairy to come and the next morning he came running into our room to show us what she left him!

Payton has been busy learning how to read more words at school and is just loving that he can recognize a lot of words now in his books. He gets so excited if he can read all or most of a sentence.  He is getting pretty good at sounding out the words he doesn't know.  He read most of a beginning to read book the other night. He is also still learning how to add and subtract and amazes me at how he uses it in real life. He told me that he really likes math. (Can you tell who he takes after!!) He is one of the older ones now in his class and has unofficially become the teachers helper. In the beginning of April we get to go to Kindergarden round-up. We are going to try and get full day vs. half day. He is more then ready for school and I think that full day will be great for him. There are not as many spots as interested kids, and it is first come, first serve. So, we are going to sign up as soon as we can. Unfortunately you have to pay for full day, and it is not cheap! But, in the scheme of things, we want to do what is best for him. Soccer starts in a few weeks as well and I desperately hope that the weather warms up a bit before then!!

Easton is growing and changing so fast! He is now 8 ½ months old. He still has no teeth! I thought that maybe he would get his first the same day that Payton lost his, but no such luck! He is so close to crawling. He will get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. I am in no hurry for him to crawl or walk! I am trying to soak up every last baby stage!! He LOVES to eat. He is pretty much on all table food now. I occasionally fill in with baby food if we are out and about or if I feel that what we are eating is not good enough for him. He really likes yogurt, peas, applesauce, peaches…pretty much anything! He is a really good eater. You don’t have to do any of those tricks to get him to open his mouth. He will literally sit there with his mouth wide open waiting for the next bite! He is getting quite the personality as well. He is a flirt, much like his older brother was at his age!! He really likes to make a serious face at you, almost like he is upset, and then he will have a huge grin and start laughing. He also likes to yell at the cats! He will slam his hands down on the high chair and say “AHH” to get their attention.  He babbles a ton.  He most common sayings are, "MaMa, BaBa, and RaRa."  I can’t wait to see how his personality continues to grow.

We are getting anxious for warmer weather and the ability to do stuff outside. Before too long it will be summer and we can go for walks and to the pool! I can’t wait! I foresee a busy and fun spring/summer ahead!

(I added some more pictures to the Winter 2010 Album).

Overdue Updates

I have been really bad lately about posting updates, so I will catch you all up on the boys.  Things have been kind of crazy with the holidays getting over, working a ton, various viruses going around and just lots of other stuff going on.

In December the boys had their 5 year and 6 month checkups.  They are both doing well and right on target for growth and development.  Between the two of them had to get 9 shots!  That was pretty traumatic for all involved!

Once January started Payton got back into classroom style learning at PreK.  He does so great when he is learning and really gets into all of his subjects.  Last week he learned about penguins and he told me about their migration patterns and their defense mechanisms!   He is learning more sight words every month and loves to point them out when he sees them in books.  Lately he has been really into drawing pictures and making books.  He really likes to be Mom and Dads helper at well.  Whether it be laundry, cooking, taking the garbage out, whatever, he just likes to help.  And as always he loves Legos and puzzles.  In 2 months we have Kindergarten roundup!   Also in March he will start spring soccer.  So I sure hope it warms up a bit before then!!  Then this summer brings TBall and swimming lessons and then possible fall soccer again!

Easton is now mobile!  He is not crawling yet, but he is rolling….everywhere!!  He has been able to roll over for a little while, but really had no interest in doing so.  You could put him on his belly or his back and he was perfectly happy.  Well for about the last week or so he has figured out that he can roll to get to things!  This has caused him to lodge himself under various furniture items!  Tonight he learned that rolling over in the bath is probably not a good idea!  This also now means no Legos sitting out and that I need to clean my floors a little more often!   He also puts EVERYTHING in his mouth!  Payton never really did that as a baby, but Easton will put anything within arms reach in his mouth!  He has been sitting well on his own for a little while which has opened up a new world of play for him.  He loves to sit and play with toys scattered around him.  He is just starting to try and wave and clap.  When he gets really excited he starts kicking his legs like crazy.  He gets most excited seeing Payton and the kitties.   He now eats babyfood three times a day and really likes it.  He is just starting to eat little Gerber fingerfoods.  We have tried water and juice and he really is not into it yet.  He just holds it in his mouth with this look like why in the world would I want this!  He is still a super happy baby and smiles so easy.  He has started to be a lot more vocal and likes to shriek to get your attention.  If we are in the car or something and Payton is singing to his MP3 player, Easton will babble louder and louder to try and keep up!

He had a follow up cardiology appointment at the beginning of January and the doctor said his defect looks like it is corrected and everything looked good from the surgery.  He was a little squirmy for the testing, so when we go back in a few more months they said they might give him some meds to relax him so they can get really good pictures.  After that next appointment we will go back in a few years and then go from there.  The doctors there are great!  I have been doing some work with the Childrens Miracle Network and Childrens Hospital here for their annual childrens telethon because I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful resource.  So, if you know anyone that wants to donate, let me know before the end of February!!

Overall we have been spending a lot of time at home.  Like most of you, we are extremely ready for this winter to get over.  I can not wait to be able to just go somewhere with out the coats and blankets covering Easton, etc!  Only a few more months until summer!!!  Until then we will try and keep ourselves from going insane while staying occupied inside!