Pajama Day

We declared today P.J. Day. We wore our pj's all day, sat around the house, relaxed, and enjoyed our Sunday. ( I had my p.j.'s on since thursday night, since I had the shingles. I was being a real bum!)

As soon as I got the camera out to take Kale's picture, he yelled, "no, no, no" and started running away from the camera. The next few pictures show his reaction to getting his picture taken...

Kris decided he didn't want his picture taken either. 

We even tried holding Kale down to take his picture...it didn't work. 

Sweet Liam...he has gotten so good at rolling over. The second I put him on his stomach, over he goes. 

I am thankful for our nice, relaxing weekend. I needed the time to relax, get well, and get ready for the week at hand. 

It IS Getting Easier...

As I sit back and reflect on my day, I think, "Oh, what a day!" I have shingles so badly right now...I am miserable. They are all across my stomach and I can barely hold Liam. Of course, Kris is out of town right now. . . as always. He is always gone when things like this happen. It never fails!

To list the number of things that have gone "wrong" while he was out of town would be impossible. But let me try--I've had kidney stones, various types of colds, the door knob on the front door fell off in my hand once, we've had various kinds of car problems, toliets have stopped working, Kale almost always gets sick when his dad is out of town, the dogs eat something they are not supposed to (like bricks--Jonah) and have to have surgery, and now shingles. Kris always misses the good stuff!

But as I said, as I sit back and reflect on my day, I realize, it's been a crazy day, very difficult at times, but overall, things are getting easier. I have found that it's "doable" to care for two kids at once, even with the shingles. One of them is crying or fussing at almost all times, but on the positive side, Liam is on a great schedule. Bless our sitter's heart--she is a life saver. Liam actually goes to sleep without being rocked now. I just lay him down on his stomach (yes, I know you're not supposed to do that), and to dreamland he goes! Kale is starting to play somewhat independently now, so that I actually get a few minutes to pick up the previous mess he has made, which is huge, considering our house has to be in "showing condition" at all times now that it's on the market. And then there are parts of the day that are so sweet, I thank God for not letting me miss them. Like the other day, we were sitting on the bed in my room. Liam was on the boppy and Kale was jumping on the bed. Out of the blue, Liam started giggling at Kale, and you have to know, I think baby giggles are probably the best sound on the face of the earth. Kale realized that Liam was giggling at him and kept acting like a clown and the giggles just kept on coming. Kale does love his little brother and Liam only has eyes for Kale. Although it is so hard to 2 little ones so close together, I am still very glad that we did. To see my two boys play and laugh together is a little piece of heaven. People often ask me if I was disappointed not to get a girl and the answer is truthfully, no. I am so glad Kale has a little brother. Although I love pink and all things girly, I could care less if I ever have a daughter. My boys have taught me how to love deeply and I would be happy to stick with being a boy mom. And for those of you wondering, no, we are not planning to have more kids anytime soon!!

Well, that is my tirade for the night. I enjoy blogging so much that sometimes it helps me to do a "reflection." It makes me realize just how much I have to be thankful for. We are immensely blessed.

Daily Life

Kale found a noisy gun at the sitter's house that he loves. As a matter of fact, he liked it so much she let him bring it home. Did I mention how noisy it is?


He is also very into play dough these days. He uses plastic cutlery and cookie cutters and has a blast.


I, on the other hand, am not having so much fun. I have shingles. I am terrified the boys will get chicken pox since its the same virus. Of course, Kris is out of town. These things always happen when he is gone.

Liam is also not feeling the best. He has an ear infection. At Monday's appointment he weighed 18 pounds. That's a pound and a half gain in 2 weeks!


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The Jumperoo

Liam has started to play in the jumperoo. He hasn't quite figured out how to jump...but he enjoys the music, looking at all of the various toys and swaying back and forth. 

I couldn't get him to look at me for these pictures. Kale was doing something that was apparently much more interesting and Liam wouldn't take his eyes off of big brother. 

After Liam spent some time in the jumperoo, I turned around and Kale was climbing in. I guess old habits die hard, and he had to try the jumperoo out one more time!

He is obviously way too big for it, but spent at least 15 minutes jumping like crazy in this thing.  I have noticed that Kale always wants to do the stuff that Liam does. 

Kale's Stats

Kale had his 2 year check-up today and we are happy to report he is healthy! He weighed 23 lbs and 12 oz...still teeny tiny. In only the 15th percentile for weight. His length was 34 inches. The doctor told me that supposedly the length of a boy at age 2 is a good indicator for adult height. You take the length and double it and this is supposed to give you the height he will be when he is fully grown...that would put Kale at 5'8'-5'9', Kris' height. I looked in Kris' baby book to see if this formula worked for him and apparently it is pretty accurate because Kris was Kale's exact height at his 2 year appointment. The doctor said this only works for boys, so if you have a daughter, don't bother doing the math. Other than weight and height, we didn't do much at this appointment--no shots, so that was good news! We talked about his development and since he is talking, climbing, running, etc, I guess he is right on track!

Liam's baptism

Liam was baptized on Sunday, April 15th...Kale's actual birthday (it should be an easy date to remember).

I dressed Kale and Liam in matching suits but failed to get a single picture of the just the two of them together. 

We also joined the church we have been attending for the past year. I know, I know, we are moving, why join the church now? The pastor thought it would be a good idea even though we are moving due to baptism records. 

Pastor Stan Cosby baptized Liam.

Liam was a good boy and didn't cry at all during the baptism. He did, however, have a near blow out the beginning of the service. We were getting ready to go up the front and I discovered he had a poopy diaper. I rushed to the bathroom and changed him as quickly as possible. It was just a half inch or so from creeping out the top of his diaper. It was a definite close call!

My sweet family

Kris' parents

Once we got home, Kale decided he needed a baseball hat to complete the outfit. 

Liam's godparents, Aaron and Missy (Kris' siblings)

My mom 

Liam's great-grandparents

We had a dinner at our home following the baptism. We catered in Famous Dave's, which did an excellent job. We also had a cookie cake for dessert.

Liam got lots of great baptism gifts, including a personalized book, a baptism frame, a Bible, money for his college fund, baby dishes, a savings bond, and stock from Johnson and Johnson (we buy stock for our boys for major holidays and life events--maybe they will be millionaires one day and can take care of their poor parents.)

Kale enjoyed helping open Liam's gifts

Kale and Scarlett enjoyed a wagon ride in Kale's new wagon after dinner...unfortunately they got caught up in a storm. 

Kale and Scarlett colored and played nicely

Liam was happy just to watch Kale and Scarlett play

Kale loved to put stickers on himself, Liam, and Scarlett. Scarlett wasn't a big a fan of the stickers though. 

Kale's Birthday

My sweet little man turned 2 this weekend! I CANNOT believe he is already two! We had a big party to celebrate!

I ordered his cute shirt off of etsy...he had a Barney themed party. 

We had friends and family over to help us celebrate the day.

Kris' extended family flew in from Iowa and my mom came from Missouri.

Thanks to my mom for helping me through this chaotic weekend! We had both Kale's birthday party and Liam's baptism. It is not easy having to get ready for so many people to be at your house. My mom helped me with all the little details. Thanks, mom!

Kris dressed up as Barney for Kale's birthday. This is his reaction when he first saw Barney...

He was pretty scared in the beginning and clung to me. He refused to go near Barney.

The other kids weren't too scared. I was truthfully afraid there would be tons of screaming when Barney made his grand entrance. 

Kale finally figured out the guy in the suit was his dada. As you can see from this picture, you can see the majority of Kris' face in the costume. Once he started to talk to Kale, Kale was willing to go to him. 

We had a dinosaur egg hunt (using leftover Easter eggs). The kids loved it and had a blast!

The only family picture we managed to take...

Kale got a ton of cool presents, including a ton of matchbox cars, a car carrying case, a new shirt, a puzzle, lots of books, a new set of sheets for his "big boy" bed, new shoes, sandbox toys, a sandbox, several water toys, and many more things that I can't remember...he is one spoiled child!

Kris and I got Kale this joovy tricycle. It's cool because right now we can push him or he can move it with his feet. As he gets older, we can take the steering bar off the back and he can petal himself. 

My mom and dad got Kale this basketball hoop. This is currently his favorite toy to play with. 

Kris' parents got Kale a new wagon with seats. Liam will enjoy this gift one day too!

Liam was a good boy and minded his manners or slept through the party.