Kyle's 3rd Birthday

We had such a fun time celebrating Kyle's 3rd birthday last weekend.  We took him to our local amusement park Friday; the same one that I used to go to when I was little.  He had a blast and loved the train ride especially.  Then Saturday we had a dump truck themed birthday party.  It was a pool party and he loved it.  

Kyle is 32 lb and 38.25" tall.  He is so smart.  He can sing the ABC song, count to 20, and knows all his shapes, colors, and is learning his color combinations (i.e. blue and red make purple).  He loves trains, painting, and riding his bike.  The hilight of his birthday was the drum set we bought him.  He LOVES drums and was so excited. He talks all the time and from what I'm told he's advanced in language for his age.  He is hopefully starting preschool this fall and doing tennis lessons.  He's very active and still hates naps...LOL

35 months and 15 months

The boys are starting to play and interact alot more.  I"ve been asking them to hold hands when we cross the street and Kyle really likes to hold Eli's hand and make him mind.  Eli thinks we are playing Ring Around the Rosie (his favorite game other than patty cake and ride the horsie).  We had VBS this last week.  It made me realize alot about Kyle.  He is very busy but has trouble listening and obeying his teachers.  I've decided he is alot like me and likes to test things to see what happens and also needs strong leaders over him.  He will respect and look up to strong leaders, but weak ones he walks all over.  I am the same way.  I had a preschool teacher who everyone thought was mean, but I loved her!
Also Kyle has stopped laying down to take naps with me so we have moved to Rest Time.  It has been better for our relationship and I've thankfully not been too tired not getting in my afternoon nap.  Kyle is still tired but seems to be adjusting.  This is no surprise since he's hated naps since he was born...LOL
He is very excited for his birthday next month.  We are having a Dump Truck birthday and I told him he could pick out a balloon at party city and he's so excited for that.  I love birthday parties!

Eli is talking up a storm.  He has decided that signing is good too.  He says/signs more, all done, thank you, please, sleep. and signs yes.  He says, Momma, Daddy, Bye Bye, hello, poo poo, blankie, binky, Gi Gi, Auntie, cracker, na na and more I'm probably forgetting.  He is cutting all four molars which has been no fun.  He loved the music at VBS and loves to dance on stage and be the center of attention.  He has quite the ornery streak in him too, but obeys when I ask him to do things most times.  He's so cute when I ask him to throw away something he's so proud of himself when he goes and does it.  He is quite the little helper around the house.

Parenting

For anyone who knows Ben and I, it's no surprise that Kyle is our strong-willed child.  He was lucky enough to have both parents be very strong-willed themselves.  Parenting his strong-willed little self is very challenging at times.  Most days I ask him to do something and he looks at me and laughs and does what he wants.  Which usually results in me saying if he doesn't obey me right now he will be getting a spanking for disobedience and then he usually obeys.  His new thing is when I ask him to get in the car he runs off so I get in the car, act like I'm leaving and he screams and runs to get in.  It's very much a battle of the wills lately.

One big battle is naps.  He still is too tired to not take an afternoon nap but tells be everyday, "I don't like naps."  I then tell him everyone has to take naps and so does he.  I would let him just read books in his room or whatever but it usually results in some kind of temper tantrum from being so tired and waking up his brother who is napping in the next room.  So I have to lay down with him in his bed and usually nap with him.  It takes a while usually to get him to calm down and be still to allow himself to go to sleep.  This is no surprise to me because since he was born he has hated naps.  I had to let him just cry and figure out how to go to sleep on his own when he was an infant because he WOULD NOT take a nap.  I tried rocking him, and he would scream.  Finally after about 3 days he figured it out and napped great after that.  Then once he could climb out of his crib he had more freedom than he could handle and wouldn't take a nap unless he had me there to help him.  It's hard being a parent.

But today I got a huge blessing and encouragement from God to keep on keeping on even though Kyle makes me feel like the worst parent in the world sometimes.  After he through a fit when he woke up from his nap (a very common occurance...you'd think he would wake happy after a nap) I went outside and he came out and said, "Mommy I'm sorry for yelling in anger."  I almost cried.  It made me so happy.  I hugged him and told him I forgave him and was so happy that he apologized to me.

So even though parenting is really hard, it's the little things that make it worth it.

32 months and 14 months

Kyle- 32 months
He wears 3T clothes, size 8 shoes
He is saying so many funny things, "Eli you're a little monkey", "Come here little fella" "Are you sure?", "My tummy wants ice cream momma." Oooo.That tastes yummy"
He can count to 20 and he knows all his letters and colors and most of the color combinations.
He sings the ABC song, This little light of mine, Twinkle twinkle, and you are my sunshine.


Elias- 14 months
He wears 18-24 month clothes and size 4 shoes. He loves to eat. anything and everything.
He takes 2 good naps a day still
He follows Kyle everywhere and wants to do what he's doing.

He's in the phase of screaming for everything.  We've tried signing with him but he's not into it.  He's able to say, "yeah", "buh bye", and "eat" of course.  That's in addition to momma and thank you.

Mud Balls

So I really want to start blogging more.  Things have been so busy this year I just haven't had time for it.  The boys have been having so much fun playing outside together in the mud lately I wanted to post some pictures.

What a cute little mud ball

Kyle at 14 months...he's always liked the mud

Yay mud! (Go Chargers!)

Wow it's been so long since I posted. Life has been busy, which is good, but it doesn't leave much room for blogging. Here are some pics and a few tidbits on what the boys are up to.
Eli is fully walking now which is much easier on my back. He is also signing and trying to say more words. He still has such a sweet spirit but also an ornery streak. Anytime I tell him "no" he laughs at me and does it more. Kyle is also teaching him how to disobey too. They know just what to do to test my patience.
He is also done with formula! He likes milk but still prefers if in a bottle in the morning and after naps.

Kyle talks so much if's fun to have conversations with him. It also means he can say "no mommy" alot more. Lol. He is really starting to have fun with his little friends and system more Eli... When he's not hitting him or knocking him down. Brotherly love. Lol

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy Elias!

Free picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

Happy valentine's day from two little heartbreakers

30 months and 10 months

Playing peek-a-boo through the dog door

Helping mommy with dishes

Fun with daddy

Getting into the cupcakes at the MOPS steering mtg.

Brothers...look at Eli standing! No steps yet though

Wow I can't believe how fast this last month has gone. I guess between the holiday's and my surgery it was over in a flash. I can't believe how close we are getting to Eli's first birthday. He is getting so big and so much more interactive with everyone. He is 21 lbs and 29" long. He wears size 12-18mo clothes and size 4 shoes.
One of the cutest things he does is grabs your face with his hands and opens his mouth all big for a kiss. I love it so much. He also says "momma" all the time now but we're still working on "Dadda". He is also screaming alot less now that he is signing which helps. I want to teach him a lot more signs than I did with Kyle but that involves training myself to use them all the time first.

Kyle is getting better with his emotions and screams alot less. He has been talking more about being mad or happy and talks alot about Eli being happy and smiling. When I tell him to be quiet because brother is sleeping he says, "brother time to get up".

Kyle is also getting better at sharing but now takes my phone and says, "mommy share"...um no. LOL

2011

I know I'm a little late on this, but with recovering from surgery I haven't had much time with out being on painkillers.

2011 is a year I have a love-hate relationship with.

It was a year joys- adding Elias to our family, Kyle turning 2, going to Maui, remodeling our kitchen
And a year of extreme difficulty- Getting Post-partum depression and anxiety, finding out I have Grave's Disease, and finally getting my thyroid removed.

But through it all I have learned and grown so much. I know now that God gives us the grace to get through anything. Even though we don't understand why we have to go through such difficult things, we can be comforted to know He will not allow us to go through anything that He has not predetermined is for our greater good. And when you have days where you don't want to get out of bed and do it again, calling on Him for His strength is the best thing to do.

This year I have learned the importance of saying "no" and learning my limits when it comes to stress and amount of activity. With that in mind I've seen the importance of spending as much time with my boys as I can and not letting the business of life push them aside. It's okay to let the laundry and cleaning go and sit on the floor and play.

So while I hope 2012 is a little less....eventful...I hope I grow just as much as a person and in my relationship with Christ.