~Happy Easter~

house and kids update catch-up

Well this post is LONG overdue! Yeah, Rykin is almost 8 months old and has grown up quite a bit since the last update I posted and we are all moved into our new house. Sooo, I should have done this a while ago, and this may be too long, but here goes.

New house:

We moved in April 2nd. I think the move went

pretty well. My whole family came and helped clean and move everything. We had a few unexpected things pop up, but nothing we couldn't handle. As of now we are all settled in, getting to know our neighbors, and getting started on homeowner things that we will be working on all summer (the yard!). Here are some pictures. I still have some more decorating "work" to do, but I am having so much fun getting our house set up just the way we like it. This place feels more like home already than our rented house did. We are lovin' it!

Aydin gets to have her kitchen in her own room. She loves knowing that the space is all hers.

Aydin: She is getting so big! She talks all of the time and has started pretending a lot. She is a little smarty. She is so excited about her new "friends," our neighborhood kids. She has a bike to ride in our circle, and we have already visited the parks quite a few times. She couldn't be happier in her now home.

Abel: He has some bad days, but enough good days that sometimes I question his diagnosis. But I know that we need to be preparing ourselves to say goodbye. The worse he gets, the more cuddly he gets.

Rykin: 7 months old already!! He is soooo much fun! A very happy kid. He really only gets upset if he isn't being fed fast enough, and sometimes when I'm not around. He is a mama's boy for sure. He "talks" a lot now and can say mama. He loves playing with Aydin. The two of them can really get each other going. She is his second mama. If he coughs she pats his back, if he has a runny nose she wipes it (kind of), if he cries she tries to make him laugh or asks, "are you okay broseph (Jesse called him that and she adopted it)?" He thinks the world of her, and he is very forgiving when she isn't the nicest. He is crawling everywhere and so fast, eating solids, and learning to drink from a sippy cup. I just can't believe we are going to be celebrating his birthday very soon.

We are so blessed. It really feels like everything is coming together.

Abels's Diagnosis

Our dog, Abel, started limping about a week ago. We thought, lets just wait a bit and see if it gets any better. Well, it hasn't and so I took him in to the vet today to see what is going on. At first she thought it might be his ACL, but she did an x-ray just to make sure. Turns out he actually has bone cancer. I thought, slow progressing maybe, he'll need some pain meds, but he'll be with us for a while still. She told me that actually it is very aggressive. Dogs who have gone to CSU for cancer treatments make it maybe 6 months past their diagnosis. I was shocked!! This was not at all what I was expecting when I took him in with a limp. I can't believe we could only have a few months left. I know that we aren't the best pet owners ever. We don't play fetch with him every day (he never brings the ball back anyway) and we don't take him for walks all the time, and we don't rub our faces in his fur and baby talk him, but we do love him, and we are going to be very sad to lose him. I was actually crying at the vet. I remember watching "Marley and Me" and thinking "it's a DOG people," but this is hard. He has been a part of our family for almost 5 years. And he's been such a great dog; really one of a kind! I don't really know what else to say.

Home is where the heart is!

So this happened pretty fast, but we are in the process of buying a house as we speak! We are finally in a place where we feel comfortable with it so two weeks ago we let our realtor know that we were ready to start looking at houses again this spring. Okay, so it is not even spring yet, but this house listing came up in a location that we like (Severance is just 5 min. away from Jesse's work) and we HAD to just take a peak at it. Well, turns out for the money that we can spend this is THE nicest house that we have seen (we have been through this process before, about 2 years ago.) And we made an offer. We won the bid with three other potential buyers by $100. $100! That was too close. I can't even believe that this is really happening. We had the inspection today, so we were able to take some pictures of the place. The inspection went really well. Now we just wait. Our closing date is March 31st. The next few weeks will be full of loads of cleaning, packing and HGTV.

This is it!! The back fence to our house is the fence for the neighborhood co

mmon area/PARK! Aydin is super excited about the little park!

There are two walk in closets in the master bedroom. This is just the back half of my closet!

The living room and staircase down to the basement.

This is a look at the entryway from the living room. The kids bedrooms and bathroom are off to the left at the front of the house, and the master bedroom is on the right.

It's just a fan, but....I LOVE it.

A look at the dining room from the living room.

And last, the kitchen.

It has a nice backyard too. There isn't any grass yet, so Jesse has some work to do this summer, but it is a huge backyard. Okay, not huge, but big as far as backyards are concerned these days. We are soooo excited. Can't wait to post pictures after we move in!

Update

Oh the old neglected blog. I have a little catching up to do. Here is all of our big news for the past two months...

Kara:

I have started my own business. Sort of. Not from scratch. My boss at the company that I have worked for the past three years decided that he didn't want to continue to run one part of his company. Things had slowed down enough that it just didn't make sense for him to continue to employ someone to run it. So he just gave that part of his business to me. I was extremely nervous at first, but decided to take it on. My first business day was January 3rd. So far it has been going very well. I do real-estate/title related stuff. Not super fun, but it allows me to stay at home with the kids. I can do a little here, and a little there so it's perf

ect.

Aydin:

She got her cast off the week before Christmas. She was actually sad to see it go and asked to have it put back on. She healed perfectly! Our real news these days is that she is potty trained now. A friend suggested the 3 day potty training method. I tweaked it and we gave it a shot. You are supposed to throw out all of the diapers and stay at home for three days to focus on potty training only. She caught on so fast. I was completely prepared for the worst while we were out on the fourth day (3 cloth diapers lining the carseat and one in her bag for a quick clean-up at the store, 3 pairs of undies, 3 pairs of pants, and 3 pars of socks, as well as a plastic bag to put wet stuff in) and we still haven't had to use any of it!!! We started this two weeks ago, and this week she decided she didn't want to wear pull-ups to bed any more either. She has woken up dry two nights now. So proud!! This is big new because pull-ups/diapers for 2 kids is kind of expensive.

Rykin:

He is eating real food now! I started him on rice cereal last week and he LOVES it. It only took him a couple of days to figure out how to keep the stuff in his mouth and now he gets so excited when I put him in his Bumbo every night. He'll reach for the spoon and lean in for the next bite. I think we'll try out some apples and squash next week. He is also pretty much sitting up on his own now. He wobbles a little, but he is getting so strong!

Jesse:

Hmmmm, he got a helicopter for Christmas (a little one.) That's all I can think of that would be big news right now.

Whelp, that's it.

3 Months / Christmas Kick-off

Well, this (not so little anymore) little man is 3 months old now. I can hardly believe it. I feel like our lives are just running at break neck speed and I'm trailing behind yelling, "Wait, slow down a little." He is growing, growing! He weighs in at a whopping 14 lbs. He is smiling all the time now. Aydin was a very content baby, but not easily amused. Rykin smiles on demand. I love it! He is reaching for things now, and sitting up in his Bumbo. Just doing great!

Above is my all-time favorite shirt!

He LOVES his big sister! She is not so keen on having to share her space sometimes, but she loves him too and is willing to put up with it if he'll smile at her.

Over the holiday weekend we went up to Beaver Meadows to cut down our Christmas tree (one week later than I was hoping, but it was a beautiful day!) She was so excited to get on her snow pants and play.

Rykin was a little less keen on the idea of getting all bundled up.

We told her we were looking for a Christmas tree so she would point up and say "like this one." We settled on the one above.

She picked out her own ornament last year, and again this year. After a lot of debate she came away with Tom & "Jeremy" Go figure ( ; (and yes she is wearing a "cast." She fell off the couch on Thanksgiving and hurt her arm. We took her to the doctor on Friday and he said that he thought it might be broken and splinted it. We went for x-rays today and it turns out she does have a broken wrist. She will have to wear the splint for 4 weeks. She's okay and it doesn't seem to bother her too much. We'll just have to try and figure out how to keep that thing clean. It is already covered in yogurt, soup, and ketchup.) The house is now almost completely decorated, and it feel so much warmer and more comfortable with the decorations up.

Random

Here are a few completely random pictures and a video as a stand in for a written post.

Ah, parenting

"Would you believe this kid who couldn't even hold his own bottle less than two years ago now has the gall to look his two-hundred pound father in the eye and tell him where to get off? What audacity! Obviously there is something deep within his soul that longs for control. He will work at achieving it for the rest of his life." (Dr. James Dobson)

Exhibit one (see first picture): My baby girl. Truly an easy going baby. I never thought that that easy going little baby would grow to be this two year old spitfire who (exhibit two) posses such a drive for control, such a strong sense of independence, and such a stubborn streak. Where did she get that from? Hmmm... yeah, okay I know exactly where it came from, what I really want to know is how do I effectively and lovingly parent this child to help her to become the Godly and naturally born leader that I know she can be? I think I have finally come to the point where I feel like this is it; I need strategy, advice, a guidebook, prayer. Obviously the terrible twos have been exacerbated by everything that goes along with welcoming our new addition (funny that I thought he was going to be the hard part of being a mother to two) but I know that this is not just terrible twos. This is a part of her that will always be there, I should know, I've still got it. I need to know how to mold it, how to show her how to use it in positive ways instead of using it to fight us at every corner... and straightway... and dead end.

Examples:

"Aydin, it's time to get dressed." She stops in her doorway, turns, puts her hand up and screams "NO MAMA! I do it!" She runs to her closet, while making sure that I'm not following her, and picks out her own outfit."

She points to one of the ribbons on her pinwheel and says pink (none of them are pink, and she really knows her colors). I say "no, what color is that? You know it." She points to it again, "pink." She then points to the rest of them saying, "pink, pink, pink, pink" and smiles with sass.

Jesse was trying to put her down for a nap the other day, and was on the losing end of the battle. After about an hour of trying to get her to sleep he says, "You need to lay down and go to sleep. I'll be back to check on you." He left and not one minute later we heard her door open. He saw her spot him, out of the corner of his eye, and she closed her door as fast as she could. When he went to check on her she was in bed and sat up and said "nap all done, play time."

I know, I know, this sounds like every other two year old, but this is how she responds to most situations. Funny and frustrating at the same time. Eh, we'll figure it out. With the help of good old Dr. Dobson, I will conquer her. I kid, I kid... kind of. She is such a loving, sensitive little girl. She has an amazing sense of humor and although she knows how to push my buttons, she also knows how to melt my heart.

And here is my little man. Almost 2 months old. Look at that amazing smile. Just imagine... it is ten times more dashing in person.

After one month together...

First Week

We have been home for almost two weeks now. It has been great. Rykin was born Wednesday the 25th, and Jesse was able to take off the rest of tat week and all of last week. Aydin has been doing pretty well, with the exception of a few rough bedtimes and the addition of a timeout chair to the routine for almost a week. She has been a little jealous of the attention Rykin gets from momma, but Jesse was able to do a lot of fun stuff with her, and I got out a couple of times for some quick just the two of us outings (ice cream cones at the park, and a pedicure.)

Rykin has been doing so well! Another easy baby I think, different than Aydin who was also, but easy none the less. He has been sleeping really hard. My only challenges so far are getting him to stay awake to eat, and getting him to burp so that he doesn't lay there grunting all night. He has been staying awake for longer periods of time every day. He was up for almost two hours earlier this morning. I love looking into his eyes. I think they are going to be hazel or brown maybe. They are a darker, warmer grey than Aydin's were. It's fun to already be able to see little things that clue us into what his personality is going to be. So far I can tell he is more patient than Aydin is. I think Aydin has more of my personality in her, and I think Rykin will be a little more like Jesse. Who does he look like? At first all I could see was David. Sometimes when he is sleeping I think he looks a lot like me as a baby, and I have heard from more than a couple of people that he looks a lot like my dad. He and Aydin have the same eyes (I think they are Jesse's).

It is amazing to me how our family seems so complete now. I told Jesse that I will not commit myself to just two kids, but at the same time the way we are now seems so right. I can't imagine how I would divide myself between three or four when it is so hard with just two. I haven't been able to just hold and admire him as much as I was able to with Aydin, and at the same time I feel like I haven't been able to stretch myself enough to give Aydin all of the cuddling, and undivided attention that she is craving. I know she will learn to share me, and as he gets older it will get easier, but right now...it's just hard. I was holding Rykin against my chest, under my chin, yesterday and I found myself just soaking it all in. His smell, the warmth of his squishy little body curled up against me, his quick even breaths. I am going to have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this could be my last little baby.

I think every single person who has asked us how we are doing has also asked if we are getting any sleep. I think if you are a parent you know well enough that we are not (I am not). I think I got a total of 2.5 hrs. last night. Somehow it is just now catching up to me. Today is my first day alone with the kids. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon to, so I'll be going on my first official outing with both kids today too. I am a little nervous to see how it will go. Being a mom of two has been much easier than I imagined, but Jesse has been home with us up until now so I may be singing a different tune tonight. I am most worried about how Aydin will handle him being back at work. We'll see.

And so it begins, the little man is calling...

Down to the Wire

39 weeks. Yes, yes, yes I know it is healthier for baby to stay put for as long as possible, but I was hoping that he would be here already. This pregnancy flew by, but now that we are this close it seems to be just creeping along at a snail's pace. I will admit that as far as mothering goes, or life for that matter, the area that I could use the most improvement in is patience. I am definitely feeling it right now, that lack of patience that sometimes gets the best of me. I keep having dreams of holding him, and introducing him to Aydin. I am so excited for that! I can't wait to see the look on her face when it becomes clear to her that "brother" is not just another name for my huge belly. I have been telling everyone every night (for the past week and 1/2) that "tonight is the night." I am coming to terms with the fact that all the wishful thinking in the world won't make it happen, but at this point it really can't be much longer. Oh the wait.

Our Last Hurrah

Jesse and I had talked about how nice it would be to take a family vacation during shut-down this summer, but in reality I'm not really supposed to travel 36 weeks pregnant. So, instead we decided that it would be fun to take Aydin to Denver for a couple of days to do some last only child stuff with her. I got a great deal on a nice hotel that was only a block away from the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver, and only a few minutes away from the Zoo and Children's Museum. We stayed one night, and had so much fun together!

Our first stop on the way into Denver was the Zoo. Aydin has been before, but we thought she might have more fun this time since she is a little older.

After the zoo we headed to our hotel to check in and get some lunch. Aydin was very impressed with the bounciness of the bed, and the swimming pool ( : Since we were so close to the "mall" (and because we couldn't for the life of us get her down for a nap with the bouncy bed and all) we did a little afternoon shopping, went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and saw Despicable Me, such a cute movie. The shopping pretty much did her in, so after her nap she was in a good mood for the movie and seemed to really like it. Below is a picture of us in the theater before the movie started.
The hat she is in is definitely a boy's cap, but she found it at Gap, put it on, and decided it was hers. I actually really like it on her. She insisted on wearing it most of the trip.Monday morning we had breakfast at a bakery on the mall and headed out to the Children's Museum. The museum was for sure her favorite part of the trip. She still spent the most time in the painting area, the girl's an artist.
We didn't get a chance to build anything together last time we were at the museum because it was so packed, but this time Jesse sat down with her and built a car for her. She was so proud, showing the other kid's her car. One little kid was very impressed and trying to get his grandma to make him one.
We had such a good time. I told Jesse we need to try and do this sort of thing a few times a year from now on. Jesse is on his three week shut-down now, and although we have a pretty busy week ahead of us, I am excited to get some time with him home to relax a little, focus on Aydin a lot, and just have some time to prepare for a new family member.