#5

Says it all...again, nothing that would make him "even"...not even a front tooth...it's the 'lateral incisor' - top left....crazy kid :)

Dah dah dah dah dah

This took place while the boys were napping (obviously, B had better things to do than nap...) :)

Guest Post

I posted on our freezer meal swaps on Once A Month Mom. This blog has QUICKLY become one of my favorite blogs! Peek around and I think you'll agree!

2 year appt. and 4 teeth

Well, Keaton had his 2 year appt. today.

He weighed in at 27 lbs. (not sure why he was 30 about 6 weeks ago - probably lost it in the last week running/sweating in the back yard!) but they didn't say anything, and I didn't care :) He's 36.5inches tall...and his head circ. was 48.4cm.

He didn't get any shots, but did have his finger pricked to test for lead and his iron (since that was low last year) - both came back normal.

He was great on his ages and stages form (for fine & gross motor skills, communication, etc...) Communication was a bit low at first, but once the pedi and I communicated, he was practically at the top of the chart, haha!

He does have horrendous seasonal allergies, but other than that, he's perfect :) He threw a beautiful tantrum and Dr. W. said, "Yes, he is indeed two!" (as if we doubted....)

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Benjamin popped his 4th tooth today....bottom left 'lateral incisor' (thank you to the chart, again!) The bottom right lateral incisor will be coming very soon - but it doesn't look like any others are nearing showing...great...WAY uneven, haha!

He is very close to crawling. He's moving everywhere as an amazing scooter. OH how I've cherished 8.5 months of immobility!!!!!((way better than Keaton crawling at 6 months!))

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And other than Keaton's bubble lawn mower coming today, it was a fairly uneventful day!

Is it because you're two?

we bought Keaton some sandals. He was less than excited....

90+ degree days...

So nice (says the one not grilling or mowing the yard, haha!) Wait...what?!! did you say grill?! I did! Zach went out and bought an AMAZING grill! We put it together yesterday while the boys napped (yes, WE, haha) and cooked out dinner...and then lunch today! Yummmmy! SO nice to have this back! For now, with his work schedule, we'll only be grilling on the weekends, but, hopefully if he gets his old position back (where he goes in super-duper early and get off at 330pm) we'll be using it a lot more!

And I confess - the wood that's on the front and sides...I spent the majority of our 'putting together the grill' time, smelling it....it smelled (smells!) soooo good! Can anyone tell us the type of wood?? It reminded me of the shops in Gatlinburg, so we're both thinking pine maybe?

In other news, Benjamin has popped his 3rd tooth...I thought it was his top right 'fang' tooth (eye tooth) but, I was wrong. It's not his front tooth, but the one to the side...(aka: lateral incisor, I just looked it up...haha)

Today was an exciting day in church as we commissioned TWO church plants! The first plants from our church (our church was planted about 20 years ago). One team will be going to Tampa to plant Covenant Life, and the other to DC to plant Restoration Church.

Finally, what you're really here for :)

Too funny not to show - he LOVES water bottles :) Who can blame him - so cold on the hurting gums!

Papa and Grandma Susan bought Keaton (B will use it eventually, when not everything goes in the mouth!) an oh-so-fun, classic turtle sandbox. At this point, it was a pool because we hadn't bought sand yet. Yesterday was a day of learning for K as he had to learn (the hard way) that sand stays IN the box!

He wanted a ride in his wagon. I asked him to wait a minute...and he got sad, haha

Ah, sweet Benjamin!

Both ready for a ride around the house in the wagon. I had dreams of going for walks with them in the wagon, but this is esentially pulling about 55lbs. behind me...whew...

For the record - that is NOT water from the bottle - that is DROOL! The next day, I saw the aforementioned 3rd tooth :)

B discovering....pine things. There's a TON of pine trees around our house, so it was this or very sharp, spikey pine cones ;-)

Couldn't resist...

Last night, the boys took their first bath together. It went great and will save a LOT of time in the future!

Phil. 2:14

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining and arguing,
-NLT

I decided it was time Keaton learned this verse, as he's developed a bit of a 'tude lately... (I adapted it a tad...)

So we're in the back yard (yes, BACK YARD, woot!) playing and I said, "Keaton, say 'Do'"

Keaton: "DO!"

Me: "Everything"

K: "Eh-tha"

Me: "Without"

K: "Hmmmm"

Me: "Grumbling"

K: "Noooooo..."

Me: "Or complaining..."

K: (insert tantrum here)...

Seriously, I just asked you to repeat not eat worms!

Maybe tomorrow....haha

To: Zach, From: Benjamin

To Daddy:

What happened to the weekend...

I commented about an hour ago that it's hard for me to believe that people have a normal weekend in the midst of the chaos we've had this weekend!

Our official move day (Saturday) start very early. 5:30am to be exact. Keaton opened his bedroom door and then slammed it...then locked it. We have the turny locks (as opposed to the push locks) and we'd never once had to open them before. Needless to say he was NOT thrilled at the amount of time it took Zach to figure it out!

But, it was a blessing in disguise, as there was MUCH packing to do and if he chose to sleep til 8 that morning, nothing would have gotten done. Packing boxes at 6am isn't at the top of my "fun things to do" but knowing that we'd be moving to this beautiful house, kept me going!

We went & picked up the truck and got to loading my mom's car, my van and, once Zach's parents arrived, he & his dad started in on the truck.

Zach's mom and my mom went to Kroger to pick up the cupcakes and some last minute party supplies. I headed to the house with the boys and started unloading the van (and making room for a party!)

Thankfully, it wasn't a 'formal' party and (hopefully) no one was expecting much more than fellowship!

We had a small, yet fun gathering for Keaton's birthday party, including Keaton's grandparents, his Aunt Meagan and his cousins, 'Aunt Christina' ('Uncle Chris' had to work), and Robin, a friend from church/Seminary/small group, and her two sweet kiddos. He got lots of goodies (much more than he really needed) and will have a sandbox arriving sometime this week! (Woohoo!)

Once the party was over, it was nap time and time to get to unloading.

The guys headed back to the apartment to grab another load and later, Dale, another church/Seminary/small group friend, helped with some of the heavier items (piano, dryer and fridge) --- wait, fridge??? That's right folks! We got our amazing fridge back. The one my mom bought us as a wedding gift about 4 years ago and we only got to use for about 6 months before it spent time in storage and at Uncle David & Aunt Dianne's house. Oh how we've missed our beautiful fridge!!!

The rest of the evening was spent doing typical moving day activities...

Until about 9:30pm, when I was starting to loose steam and tried to get a shower...

Only to realize that we had no hot water....

So, after Zach attempted a couple things to no avail, we called the landlords. I am a firm believer we have the best landlords around. They jumped in their car and headed right over to help us out - at almost 10pm, and even assisted with a couple other small issues around the house!

About 30 minutes later, we had hot water.

This morning, Zach had to play at church. Then we went out to lunch with family. We rushed home and Zach headed to another friends' to pick up a futon. He got that here and then took Keaton to Lowe's to pick up a couple items.

We went to Applebee's for dinner and then my mom and I headed to our apartment to clean out the fridge and freezer.

Tomorrow morning, I have my toe surgery...and hopefully the recovery will much MUCH better than last time and I'll be back to unpacking and playing with my boys in no time!!

Right now - sleep!

How's the move going?

I'm so glad you asked! ;-)

Well. Family got into town early afternoon and we took a van and car load over. It was my mom and Zach's parents first time seeing the house (other than pictures) They were wowed....yes I know I'm awesome for finding a great house ;-) Anywho :)

When we got there, there was a note on the door that the water company had come by to turn on the water but it was already on so they shut it off....

The landlords HAD the water on, we just needed it in our name...

So I called to try to get it turned back on, but I wasn't allowed to do anything because my name wasn't on the account (Zach handles all our bills) The lady was getting an attitude with me because I wouldn't let her talk to Zach. I was like, "He is at work and can't take calls, I'm calling on behalf of him..." Her response was, "Well, I have no proof you are his wife or allowed to make decisions regarding this account..." blah blah blah

So, he finally calls on his break to get it sorted out. Apparently they didn't even ask him his name and said they'd send someone out. By the time I got this information, we had just walked back in the door of our apartment. Zach sent me a text saying that I needed to be there.

So, we load the boys back in the van and head to that side of town....

When we get to the house, there was the same note on the door - that someone had been there and they noticed the water was on, but no one was at home, yadda yadda....

I call the water company. again. and again. they tell me I can't make decisions....blah blah blah. So, I sent Zach a text telling him the same thing happened. He quickly called and then informed me that someone was coming. So we wait.

and.

wait.

and.

wait.

and.

wait.

This was approximately 4pm.

My mom took them out back so I could do some unpacking (I will say that most of my kitchen is in order! Woohoo!)

Zach ended up calling around 515 or so saying that he was getting off work (he told his supervisor there was a 'situation' at his house that needed taking care of, hahahaha!) He stops and grabs us all dinner and we eat....

and wait.

and wait.

My mom and bring the boys back home and leave Zach there...

It's 8:55pm...

he's still waiting...

Seriously.

We just needed the water in our name....

Big Boy Bed

Well, days 2 & 3 have gone swimmingly!

Lots of disciplining to stay IN the bed, but when he finally gets to the sleeping point, at night, he's back to sleeping all night and no crying out...and naps, well, they are shorter than they were, but he's still napping (my biggest concern!)

In other news, we're all sneezing and congested due to the lovely sea of green (aka: pollen) that we're living in. I boiled peppermint on the stove in water all day to open up the airways...whew, so much better!

The packing continues, though I don't feel like we're getting very far!

Two more days til moving day!

Big Boy Bed/Easter/....again?!

Since we bought (well, my mom bought haha!) K's new big boy bed, he's been very curious, but has only taken one nap in it. This has been totally fine by us - we are not pushing him in any way to sleep in this bed (if he can be contained - the better!)

Every.single.night. we got through the.exact.same.routine. He stands and looks back and forth, deciding which bed he wants to sleep in. Every night he lays down in his 'big boy bed' and as soon as we close the door, he jumps up screaming like someone is attacking him. He throws his sippy cup in his crib and as soon as I lay him in the crib. Silence. We're kind of tired of having 2 cribs and a big boy bed up in these rooms. We played with a couple of ideas - keeping them both in their cribs (but I'm really going to have to potty train K soon, the kid loves his little potty so much... and that'll just be easier in a bed and not a crib)....making his crib into a toddler bed (and when should we do that? Now? The day of the move/his party when he's all jacked up on sugar?) or just break down the crib and leave him with the only option being his big boy bed....

Where did that Keaton manual go??

Well, we decided we'd make his crib a toddler bed. We decided it would be done last night after small group...

Zach starts in on it...and then realizes, while he has the toddler RAIL, he can not find the hard ware....nice...

SO, K's new options were "3 sided crib" (for the child who HATES change!) or the bed he loathes, haha! It took about an hour, but he finally fell asleep in his bed! He woke up a couple times throughout the night, but he stayed in his room (my biggest fear).

However, nap time was a different story...glad we're working out these issues now, as opposed to moving day! (which will bring a whole new set of issues!)

So, when we move, Keaton will JUST have his big boy bed....Benjamin will get the black crib...and the white crib will go into storage for some time (no, we are NOT pregnant!)

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Easter - no pictures (well, of the boys in their Easter garb - I do have pictures of both of them in chairs, in the kitchen while Zach made breakfast!)

We went to church (have I mentioned how much I love our church family?), possibly started a new Easter tradition of Mexican (though, no more chimichangas for me, haha) and moved stuff into the house. Speaking of that church family, our washer is dying a slow death and, thanks to the wonderful world of Facebook, a family quickly (I'm talking maybe 30 seconds after I posted it) offered us their spare washer! What a huge blessing! So they delivered that to us after lunch. We came home and then left shortly thereafter for a cookout with your small group!

--
You're wondering about the "again?!" aren't you?

I have to have surgery on my toe. AGAIN! I can't believe it! I'm waiting til after the move because I can't take another move being pitied and told to sit and rest (Ok, so I totally thought I'd have B about 10 weeks early during our last move!) So...yeh, I need to call, as soon as I post this and get it scheduled for next Monday - not fun. But, yeh, I have another ingrown toenail - same toe, different spot.

--
Back to boxes!

Inside!

Well, I signed the lease for our house today! She went ahead and gave me the keys! We get to move in "when ever"!!!

Found out some fun things:

We get to PLANT FLOWERS!

We can get a sandbox for Keaton (eventually, Benjamin! haha!)

I'm giddy about these things too!

Here are some pictures from the inside. They aren't of the best quality, B was screaming and I had left a very tired K with a friend so I could take said pictures and measure a couple of things.

I didn't get anything in the garage measured to see if we can fit a deep freezer in there (ie: what size) but, I'm not worried at all - there's a PERFECT spot of it! (No pictures of the garage - you've seen one before, haha!)

So, here's a tour...

Here's the front door, I think the piano will go in that open area to the right - it's HUGE there - I think a book case will be able to fit next to it...it's the only spot I didn't get measured because B was screaming.

The fireplace. The TV will go caddy-corner to the right of it. To the left is the kitchen

B's room - the smaller of the two.

K's room

Master bath (didn't get a pic of the double vanity...just wait!) ;-)

Master bedroom. I think my desk and sewing machine will go in the funky window (I need to measure, first)

The dining area (it's an eat in kitchen)

The door leads to the deck and back yard. To the left is the kitchen area. To the right, the door to the garage.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Keaton!

My Sweet Pea turned 2 today! I can't believe it!

(He has a thing for "wearing" my shirts lately...He can almost get them on right himself. That is not demonstrated in this picture, haha!)

We celebrated by giving him the remaining Mega Blocks we got for him at Christmas.

A friend made his oh-so-fun birthday shirt! (Thanks Melissa!)



I promised I would share his word list (I'm sure there are words we are forgetting, but, this is what I have documented -

Single Word Phrases
Apple
Baby
Bag
Ball
Balloon
Banana
Bath
Bee
Belly
Benjamin
Block
Book
Bottle
Bowl
Bubbles
Bye
Car
Cat
Chair
Cheerios
Cheese
Chicken
Church
Circle
Color
Cookie
Cool
Cow
Crib
Cup
D
Daddy
Dark
Diamond
Dog
Done
Drink
Ear
Eat
Eye
Fish
Go
Grandma
Green
Guitar
Hat
Hey
Hi
Hot
Ice
Jacket
Jesus
Jump
K
Ketchup
Key
Kitty
Lap
Light
Lo
Mama
Mine
Nap
No
Nose
One
Out
Ow
Pee
Plant
Please
Read
Ready
Red
Roll
Room
Sheep
Shoe
Shirt
Silly
Sink
Sling
Snow
Sorry
Spoon
Star
Teeth
Train
Trash
Tree
Triangle
Truck
Trumpet
TV
Tweet
Wii
Window
Wow
Yes

2+ word phrases
Thank You
Love You
Hey You
Where is it?
What's That?
Uh-oh
Oh no
Here it is!
It's ok
Ready, Set, Go

...whew...

The day was going fairly well til he took off down the hall...I was on the couch nursing B and all of a sudden I hear screaming like I've never heard before! I jumped up and K is gimping around holding his right knee. I tell him he's Ok (he's on this "I hurt really bad til you tell me I'm ok" kick) and to run and get the ball for me (how I prove that he really is Ok). He runs and after 2 steps, he's on the floor, screaming. I say, "Keaton, come on bud, you're Ok!" He jumps back up and again, he is back on the floor screaming! He stands up to walk towards me and he's holding his knee and bawling....great...

I feel his knee...

He kicks me!

So, I call the pedi's office (JUST where I want to spend his birthday, ugh!) The nurse is all telling me to go to the ER for x-rays. I ignore her and call my chiro, but she's pretty much done for the day, so I call back and make an appt. at the pedi's office.

He finally calms down to take a nap. When he woke up, I tried feeling his legs to see if anything seemed out of place. He allowed me to touch his legs this time. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary so I just keep reminding him that he needs to sit and play and not be on his leg.

After about 45 minutes, he starts running around like a normal kid...I asked him if his knee hurt and he doubled over as if someone were cutting his leg off! So I stopped asking and he just kept playing.

I ended up calling and canceling the appointment, because who really wants to spend their 2nd birthday in the pedi's office?! I'm going to keep an eye on him and follow up with our chiro in the next day or two...

So...

We went to Mellow Mushroom for pizza tonight to celebrate! Their pizza is the best! We're so excited that they finally opened one close to us! He got a yummy cinnamon pretzel pizza for dessert!

Happy birthday, sweet pea! I can't believe how much you have grown and what you have accomplished in two years!!!!

The House!

Here are outside pictures!!

I'm going to meet the landlord tomorrow to sign the lease, so I will take lots of inside pictures then! (need to figure out how to arrange everything!)

The bay window looking thing, there isn't a seat in it, it's just a fun looking addition to the master bedroom.

We are Moving!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just got the word!!!!! We've been looking at houses pretty much since we moved into these apartments. As our lease comes to an end, the search got serious. I went with our realtor the other day to look at a house and it was ok, but, by the time I got back home, she called to inform me it was basically taken. All I could think about was our emotional roller coaster from last spring, of thinking, too many times, we'd found the perfect house!

So, the search continued. A friend of mine mentioned the neighborhood that she lived in. It is a SUPER cute neighborhood and we had looked there many times before, but we just couldn't afford it. While driving around looking at houses, I drove past this neighborhood and decided to "just see."

There happened to be a "for rent" sign in front of a house stating 3bed/2bath (exactly what we needed), I called and left a message. I heard back and learned more about the house (ie: that we could afford it!). We set up a time to look. Upon entering the house - we were in love! (I'll share details in a moment...)

So we told her we'd talk about it and immediately called her back to say, "YES we want it!"

She returned the call on Monday morning telling me she had to show it to another couple and would call me later in the evening...

Evening came. Evening went...

Finally at about 2:45pm, today, I got THE call!

She asked if we were still interested (um, YES!) and said it was ours if we could move in by May 1st (you bet your sweet bippy we will!)

So, it's official - we are moving next weekend! Oh, wait, Keaton's PARTY is next weekend....yup, we'll have a jam packed weekend! haha

God has richly provided in this home!

First, it's a HOUSE - not an apartment. not a town house. no one living ABOVE, below, beside us! Yes, we will have neighbors, I love neighbors, I just am a little tired of sharing a wall with them (or a ceiling).

We knew we couldn't go smaller than our current home (which is "roughly" 1200sq.ft.) this house is 1178sq.ft. Totally doable. ABSOLUTELY doable once we learned there is a 1 car garage, with an attic above it and an attached outside storage unit!

As I mentioned, 3bed/2bath. This is silly, but the master bath has a double vanity - something I've always wanted. I'm a spoiled only child. I want my space ;-) It's also separated from the toilet and shower (meaning a door between the two)

The living room is much larger than we anticipated.

There's a fireplace (I was so bummed that I didn't have a spot for our "NOEL" stockings this year!)

There's a yard. Anyone who has spent 2.436 seconds around Keaton, knows he needs room to run.

There's a pantry. After our current apartment, having a 'nice' little pantry, I knew I couldn't not have one - this one is deeper and wider and has an extra shelf.

There's a deck. (ie: we'll be getting a grill and patio furniture!)

The garage - we'll have room for a deep freezer.

I could go on and on and on on the little things that make this the perfect house!

We are so thrilled!

Pictures will soon follow! :)

Cheerios

B had his first cheerios this morning...and Keaton "said" 'cheerio' for the first time...And he's been saying it.all.day.long.

My Sweet Boys

I adore Keaton & Benjamin being so close in age. I really do. The transition from 1 to 2 was seamless. Keaton has NEVER purposefully hurt B (he's never HURT him, startled him, every day, haha!) Keaton has been so sweet with B from day one. Always wanting to be where he is, see what he's doing, help out. He always has to be touching B - which I think B loves, because he is very 'touch-oriented' (MUCH unlike free-spirited, always on the go, leave me alone, Keaton).

I hope to have Zach help me figure out how to upload a picture from my cell phone that I took a couple weeks back. It is SO sweet! (If I can't figure it out, I'll share in detail what it is)

But this morning, we were driving around, looking at houses and B was very fussy (he was trying to see me over the back of his car seat - apparently, the mirror isn't good enough!) Keaton was rubbing B's hand saying, "It OK....K B...It OK...." The hysterical part was, Keaton wasn't even looking at Benjamin, he was watching trees and trucks (two of the best things. ever.)

Yesterday, B was super fussy and finally after not wanting to nap in his crib, he fell asleep on me. I really needed Keaton to stay quiet to allow B a sufficient nap, so I turned on PBS, knowing that would buy me atleast 30 mins. I was patting B's butt whenever he stirred and once he cried out, stirred and went back to sleep. I once again patted B's butt to soothe him and Keaton reached over and started rubbing his back...He just kept looking at me with this huge grin :)