Thankful Thursday

I was so thankful Kase took a 3 (!!!) hour nap last week

Kent and I are both super thankful for our new vacuum. In fact, we are kind of geeking out over it. Our carpet feels like new! This further confirms my suspicion that our old vacuum was not picking up ANYthing.

I am thankful my parents made it safely to Chile.

I'm thankful for yet another snowstorm.  At least this time the kids just had an early out and didn't miss a full day of school.  Here's to hoping we're not still in school in June!

I'm thankful for several plans with friends over the next week and a half.  Man, do I need to get out of the house.

I'm thankful for the stories Kael writes.  He has been so creative lately!

I'm thankful for my little lady.  We made homemade funfetti cupcakes with chocolate frosting (her pick) and princess wrappers on our snow afternoon.

She cracks me up.  Have you ever seen someone so pink and so fancy sitting so...unladylike?? I am dying.

I'm thankful Kael had a really fun basketball season.  His coach did a nice end of season get together at Cherry Berry where Kael was recognized for his outstanding assists.

Happy Thursday! The weekend is close, friends!

Kase is 10 months old!

10 months old is far too close to being 1 year old than I am ready for.

My baby can barely be considered a baby anymore because he is walking.  Walking, you guys! For well over a month he's been taking steps without holding onto anything.  Then he got brave and would walk from one side of the room to the other, but always cautiously sat down when he got to our tile or wood floors, knowing he wasn't quite steady enough.  Forget that.  Two days ago he took off.  From one side of the house to the other.  He has also mastered the art of bending down to pick something up and stand back up.  And he can turn around, turn corners, the whole nine yards.  Yes, I'd say it is official.  My babe is now a walker.

I can't help but think that propels him from babyhood into toddlerhood and while I will always have that "he's growing up too quickly" thought in the back of my head, I am so happy for him and his new independence. You should see the proud, ornery little smile on his face when he walks all over the house.  It's so cute.  I'd love to show you video/pictures, but every time I pull out a camera he races right for it and grabs it, so basically I have a lot of super close Kase face pictures instead of shots of his first (not so wobbly anymore) steps.

What makes you think I'm the one who dumped out all these markers?

In other Kase news, wait for it....he still doesn't sleep.  Anyone *tired* (I crack me up) of hearing about this yet? He has, however, started taking a killer morning nap if he happens to fall asleep in the car when I take Kylee to preschool.  Afternoon naps are short and he still wakes up several times a night.

His favorite toy are a puppy that walks and we joke that his best friend is his bottle.  You should see how his face lights up when he spots his bottle.

He has two teeth, loves to eat anything he can get his hands on, and babbles all the time.  Are baby voices/words not the cutest thing ever???

On community

It's that time of the year again: parent teacher conferences. I am always pretty close with Kael's teachers and usually have a pretty good understanding of how things are going with Kael since I am pretty involved and have had the opportunity to volunteer in his classroom every year. But it's still nice to go in and hear what the teacher has to say about his progress.

Kael got to come along to conferences this time and I could tell he was nervous. It was really cute, actually. I know he was anxious to have to tell us what areas he thought he "needed to work on". But as he sat there and showed us his Power Point presentation I could see his shy smile and I hoped he felt as proud of himself as Kent and I do.

The truth is, there are things that are hard for Kael that are always going to be hard for Kael. Namely, reading comprehension and staying focused without getting distracted in the classroom.  But like any kid, there are things that Kael will always be great at. His memory serves him well in areas like mental math and spelling.

But Kael's report card isn't really what matters to me. What matters most to me is the amazing sense of community we feel at Ashland Ridge.  As Kael walks down the hallways he's always waving to kids, and more importantly, the kids are waving back and saying, "Hi Kael!" At recess, Kael reports that the girls like chasing him and playing Cops and Robbers, and that he often plays football with a group of boys.  He also told me the other day with a super shy smile, "Mom, Averi thinks I have the softest hair ever." It's true.  Kael has the thickest, softest hair ever.  Evidently Averi noticed and couldn't help but touch it. :) Also the other day, a neighbor girl who is in Kael's class came down and rang the doorbell asking if Kael could go play at the park with her.  He's turning into quite the little ladie's man.

As I watch Kael at recess out our back window, I see kids giving him high fives in line while waiting to go inside.  I am friends with several of the teachers at Ashland Ridge and know there are people looking out for Kael.  The other day when a kid told Kael he had to be the referee if he wanted to play football, Kael ran into one of my friends who promptly marched Kael right back to the football field and told the kids that Kael was going to be on this team and he was not going to be the referee.

I see Kael's projects hanging in the hallways of the school and I can tell he's trying his best.  Working his hardest.  He has made leaps and bounds in the area of handwriting because I know he wants to be proud of the work others see.

Last night his teacher said, "Kael is just such a nice kid.  Just really a good kid, Laura.  And I can't say that about everyone. He's so sweet."

I'm awfully proud of my sweet seven year old. And I'm so happy with where he is.

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful Kent's home safe.

I'm thankful for help from family while he's away.

I'm thankful for the snow storm that's coming this afternoon.  Call me crazy, but I'm kind of looking forward to an afternoon of being snowed in.  Can't wait to bake and play games with the kids all afternoon! Hot chocolate by the fireplace sounds pretty nice too. :) What are your snow day plans?

Stay safe everyone!

Super Mom

***Another post from the Draft archives


Awhile back I wrote a post about Kent, Super Dad.

Today, I'm thankful for all you Super Moms out there.

Maybe you served homemade organic meals for your family every night of the week.

Maybe you didn't shoot a death glare in the direction of some roughousing 13 year old boys at the pool who completely closelined your daughter and didn't stop to apologize.

Maybe you provided ice cream sundaes for the enitre block.

Maybe you didn't lose it when your son begged you to go to the donut shop for breakfast, and against your better nutritional beliefs you went. And maybe you still held it together as you pulled into the donut shop and he quick changed his mind and decided he actually would only be eating at Village Inn that day.

Maybe you finished your Christmas shopping by Halloween and handmade gifts for neighbors, teachers and friends.

Maybe you kept it to yourself when your helpful husband who threw a load of laundry in, then put your Hand Wash Only swimsuit in the dryer and completely ruined it.

Maybe you didn't lose your patience when it was tested to the limits.

Or maybe you did. And maybe you did shoot that 13 year old kid and his buddies a whole round of death glares. Maybe you didn't go anywhere at all- maybe you just stayed in and read books and watched movies with your kids all week. Maybe you ate fast food and ordered pizza all week instead of cooking.

You're still super. Whether you do any of that, or none of that, you're a Super Mom.  And don't forget it!

A Day Off (???)

Why is it that when the kids have a day off school, the moms work the hardest?

There was Oobleck.

There was Moon Sand.


There was lonely morning coffee.  (Kent's in Philadelphia).

There was blood.

There was sweat.

There were tears.

There was an open gym at Triad.

There was a brand new earring...lost.

There was a brand new earring...found, then carefully guided back through a very tender piercing.

There were more tears.

There was baby spit up on my jeans in a place that very much looked I had wet my pants.

There were a lot of stares. (See above).

There were Nerf Gun shooting ranges.

There were homemade empanadas.

And there was one very tired, but happy mama. :)

What did you do today?

"Dear God,

could you please help Kael stop being so mean to all my friends?" I overheard Kylee as she said her prayers the other night.

Thud went my heart as it dropped to the floor. I took a deep breath, and sighed, wondering how to approach her.  The truth is, being the sibling of an autistic child is hard.  One that Kylee has handled with charm and strength  as well as you could expect any five year old to handle it.  Especially considering that she doesn't even really know that he's autistic.  Neither does he, if you're curious.

The kind of things Kael had been doing went beyond typical brother-sister "I'm going to bother you and your friends because your friends are here and mine aren't" stuff.  He was really frustrating them and he didn't even realize it.

I've seen it coming and have tried to stop it.  For example, during a Little League game last year I heard another mom say to her son in a hushed voice, "Just try to stay away from him then." I had a bad feeling about it so I asked her if she was talking about Kael and I could tell she didn't want to cause a big fuss.  "It's ok, just typical 7 year old boy stuff," she replied.  She was trying so hard to be nice.  I knew she wasn't going to tell me what was going on so I did something I never do. I blurted out, "He's autistic.  If you can tell me what's going on, I can talk with him about it and try to make it better." Instantly her face softened (which is why I rarely say anything so blunt- I don't want the autism to be an excuse for his behavior, but rather an explanation) and she said she'd had no idea then out came the story. Kael had been bullying this kid in the dugout.  Say what??? Kael, who has been on the receiving end of such mean, unjust behavior, was being the bully? It took me a lot of talking with Kael to get to the bottom of it all, but suffice to say he saw all the other kids goofing off in the dugout and he was just trying to do the same.  Social things are so tricky. Turns out this kid had been making some sort of "angry noise" that really bothered Kael's supersensitive ears so that's why Kael was taking it out on him.

As an aside, I found out the hard way it is not always good advice to tell your kid to "just stay away from him/her if they're bothering you" because I don't want kids to stay away from Kael.  I want them to not give up on Kael so he can have a chance to learn how to interact with them. Well, once Kylee came home from school telling me about a kid who always bothered everyone so I told her to just stay away from him.  When I got to the school program (in May, no less) I spent some time around the kid and realized that he was autistic. Doi. What I should have told her is what I wish people would tell their kids (referring to Kael), "Well, Kylee, if he's bothering you maybe he just needs a little extra attention.  How could you try to be his friend? How could you try to include him?" 

There's a lot I don't know about being a mom.  A lot I don't know about being the mom of an autistic son.  But I'm learning; figuring it out, day by day.

Freeze

***I started a little early spring cleaning of this blog and found a few random posts stored away in the Draft folder.  Thought I'd go ahead and share this one that I wrote nearly a full year ago!



Pregnant women should not sort through baby clothes. 

I figured it would be smart of me to start going through old tubs of clothes to see if there's much from Kael that we can reuse for baby.  Since it's a boy, and since they will be born at almost the exact same time of year I figured there would be a lot.  Thankfully, there was.  I was so proud of my ambitious attitude thinking how wonderful it will be to have all this sorted and organized before baby comes and before we (potentiall) move.  I had a 3-pile system going: one pile for stuff to reuse for baby, one pile of "keepsake" clothes, one pile of stuff to get rid of.  Unfortunately, the "get rid of" pile was the smallest. 

I decided to switch things up and start looking through Kylee's old clothes and do the same; this time just two piles: one pile of "keepsake" stuff and one pile of "get rid of" stuff.  There was almost nothing in the "get rid of" pile. I sat alone downstairs, surrouned by piles and piles of her Easter dresses, things she got her pictures taken in, and little baby jammies and I burst into tears.  I have no idea where the last seven years of my life as a mom have gone.  I look at those tiny things of Kylee's and can't believe that she's outgrown them.  In my head, she should still be my baby.  I want everything to freeze.  Actually, I'd prefer a rewind.  I want to do it all over again.  I suppose that's why we decided to have a third- because I do want to do it all over again.  I'm so excited for this next baby but at the same time I am sad because I know it will be our last.  I don't want days of baby jammies, tiny impractical shoes and baby memories all stored away in a box.  I'm not ready for it to be over yet.  I realize he's not even born yet but I'm so afraid life and the older two will keep me so busy that I'll blink and baby #3 will be 5. 

I think it was easier for me to sort Kael's clothes knowing that lots of them will be used again, but it didn't make me any less sad.  Seeing some of the things he wore when he was born and realizing that was nearly seven years ago is enough to make my cry again just writing about it.  I hope that I've cherished every second of Kael and Kylee's 7 and 4 and a half years.  I hope I open that box of keepsakes every so often and just....remember.

I...

...take the stairs.

....honk.

...am far too trusting.

....won't say anything about you behind your back that I won't say to your face.

...don't take no for an answer.

...wear my heart on my sleeve.

...am happiest when I'm cooking.

...wear too much eye makeup.

...comb my hair maybe once a month.

....will never tell if you've asked me not to.

...am a lover and a fighter.

....thoroughly enjoy grocery shopping.

....make my bed the minute I wake up every.single.morning regardless of what time it is

....am all or nothing.

....always get what I want.

There ya go.  A little bit of unsolicited info about moi. And you?

Valentine's Day!

Kylee had her Valentine's party at school on Wednesday, and she declared it Best School Day Ever.  What's not to like? A pink, sparkly, candy-filled holiday? That has Kylee written allll over it.

She took some cute Bear Hug Valentines to share. (Thanks, Pinterest!)

This was the first year for Kael to make a Valentine box for school.  He doesn't get really excited about crafty things, but when I showed him a picture of an iPod Valentine box, he loved it.  Super easy and he was super happy.

It was his idea to add the real headphones.  Cute! Looking a little sleepy though...

Valentine gifts from us and some from grandparents.  

I guess I'm looking a little sleepy too. :)

My Valentines.  :) 

Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful my taxes are done.

I will be super thankful when the tax return arrives.

I'm thankful my sister got offered the Ankeny teaching job.

I'm SO thankful she accepted it! We are so excited for you guys to be in town!!

I'm thankful she shared the baby's gender with us...(see below).

I'm thankful Kent's garage heater is getting installed tonight.  I suppose if I'm going to keep asking him to do all these projects for me...he might as well be warm while he's doing them. :)

I'm thankful for those little pouches of baby food.  So much easier than little jars of food.  Kase wolfed one down the other night in one gulp.  Seriously he did not take a single breath.

I'm thankful Kase loves to be outside.  It has been so nice being out at the park again!

I'm thankful I get to spend the evening with my four favorite Valentines.  :) What are your Valentine plans?

Here we are reacting to the news that "It's A Boy!"

And THIS is the reaction to the news that she got offered the job! BIG day!!!! :)

Baby boy!!!! 

Angel face

This one.

He's completely melting my heart with those big, brown eyes. 

I'm so lucky that I get to spend all day with him.  And often I get to see him five or six times in the middle of the night, too. ;)

I couldn't ask for a cuter Valentine.

Five and a half

Kent says he didn't know that half birthdays were even a thing until he met me.

Enter Kylee and now I think he sees why half birthdays are sooo worth celebrating. :)

When she woke up on Saturday I had the Kylee-ist cake I could find waiting for her on the table.  Red is her current favorite color- the cutest little cake loaded with frosting and heart sprinkles.  Not to mention a big jewel heart right in the middle.  She was thrilled.

And a little goofy.

Also, she had asked me several days ago if she could get her ears pierced, so we decided to go for it! She was the sweetest combination of nervous and excited, but she did awesome! She piicked out some adorable purple, sparkly studs- clearly the best of all the options.   It was definitely a mom/daughter day that I'll remember for a very long time.

My Kylee is something special.  I can't believe she's five.  And a half. ;)

Kylee at Kael's Fun Night with a rose balloon. 

Kylee, Uncle Kevin, and some sparkly earrings. 

This was pre-piercing. 

Kylee was matching a friend at school the other day!

On looking ahead

Last week was a tough one, you guys.

Kael was sick and missed an unprecedented 3.5 days of school in a single week, my dad was sick (on his birthday, even!), Kase is teething which means his sleeping habits go from horrible to even more horrible, my grandma fell and was lucky to come away with just a bump on her head, my sister's brother-in-law had surgery, my grandpa who recently had heart surgery is in a lot of pain and recovery hasn't been as smooth as we'd hoped...the list goes on, but all of that pales in comparison to other news we received on Friday.

A cousin to my dad, who he was very close with growing up, very unexpectedly passed away.  I knew him, but even though I didn't know him very well I can't stop thinking about him, his wife and kids.  Kids who are my age.  Who lost their father in the blink of an eye.

It makes me feel bad that I was grumping about washing wet sheets earlier in the week.  My heart is heavy and I feel like my troubles can hardly even be considered troubles anymore.  I'm often reminded of that saying...something about if we all threw our problems in a big pile we'd grab our own back out instead of taking someone else's.  My sleeplessness is fleeting.  Sick kids will get healthy.  Dads can't be brought back.

I'm staring out our window on this rainy Sunday morning and am hopeful that the week ahead will be full of good news.  Lots of great things to look forward to. Tammy finds out the baby's gender tomorrow.  She has her interview in Ankeny on Tuesday.  The kids have Valentine's parties to look forward to and Kent and I have plans to go to the Home and Garden Show today.  Alone.  And maybe even lunch out.  Like a date.

Also, stay tuned for a Kylee update.  You can always count on that girl to brighten any day.

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for my friend Allison's "I can fix this" attitude.  After reading my blog yesterday she called me up, offered to watch the kids during kindergarten registration and she dropped off some C batteries.  Talk about saving the day! :) Thanks Allison!!!

I'm thankful I finally got around to starting the kids photo books for 2012.  It's always seems like such a big
task that I sort of drag my feet but once I get started, you guys, I have the absolute best time selecting photos for their books.  Every album I click through I usually discover some random iPhone photo that I had completely forgotten about and end up laughing out loud at some of the memories from the last year.  It never ceases to amaze me how much the kids have grown in a single year.

I'm thankful Kent's parents come home from vacation soon.  We missed you guys!

I'm thankful for early morning games of Battleship with Kael.

I'm thankful Kylee likes her adorable haircut as much as the rest of us do.

I'm thankful for a beautiful, warm, muddy, messy day yesterday!

I'm thankful Kase likes to share his food with me.  Is there anything yummier than smashed up Cheerios that have been smuggled away in little sweaty fists? And how do I say no when he reaches them towards my mouth to share them to me?

I'm thankful for fun weekend plans ahead- does it get any better than elementary school Fun Nights???  :)

I'm thankful my sister got called back for a second interview in Ankeny.  I have no doubt she's the perfect candidate for the job and I know quite a few people who would be THRILLED if she, Rob and the babe moved back this way.

I'm thankful that Kase has started to talk.  He has mastered "Hi, Dad", "Mom", "baba (bottle)" and "no no no no no no no" (when he crawls and starts reaching for anything he's not supposed to- oven, fireplace, outlets....).  Also I swear he said "hot" the other day when he was by the oven and occasionally I can convince myself he says "up" when he crawls to me and reaches for me.

I'm thankful for Wednesday morning blueberry muffins.  Late starts are the perfect excuse for me to actually bake something for breakfast and blueberry muffins are something we all eat.

I'm thankful Kent's brother joined us for dinner last night.  The kids get soooo excited when we have guests.

I'm thankful I discovered a pair of jeans in my closet that I had completely forgotten about.  Honestly I hadn't seen them since we moved into this house.  It's like I got a new pair of jeans for free!

Happy Thursday!

Get real

Sometimes you just gotta say it like it is.

My house is a mess.

My kids are sick.

I am tired of washing wet sheets.

Actually, I'm just tired.  Really tired.

Kase's favorite toy (the one that keeps him happy in his crib) is out of batteries.  Of course, it needs C batteries.  As if I ever keep those on hand.

I've already made one trip to the store today and failed to get aforementioned batteries.

My fat jeans are slowly but surely getting much tighter than I care for them to be.

Kylee got some foreign substance stuck in her hair that we still have NO idea what it was.  Haircut pictures to come.

I have had so many cancelled plans with friends/sisters because of sick kids I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get a night out again.  Does going to kindergarten registration for an hour count as a night out? Because I'm kind of looking forward to that.  Well, as long as Kael gets better and I can find someone to stay with the kids.  Fingers crossed.

I finally got around to printing off pictures for Kase's baby book.  Got home and started putting them in the book, only to realize the printing was all messed up and the photos are smudged and have random streaks of color all over them.  Good, because I was sure hoping to make a trip back to Walgreens today.  Maybe I'll remember to grab some batteries at least.

I'll be back tomorrow with a MUCH more grateful attitude.  I promise.

Kase is 9 months old!

At 9 months Kase...

...has taken a few steps on his own several different times.

....eats any table food he can get his hands on.

...crawls soooo quickly.

....weighs 19 lbs 8 oz (50%) and is 29 1/4" long (80%).

...naps pretty well during the day, but is still up anywhere from 2-4 times a night and awake for the day usually by 5:00.

....is starting to get a little wary of strangers and definitely prefers to stick close to Mom or Dad.

...is clearly the man of the house.

....loves his white blanket (thanks, Dawn!) and his brown and white striped blanket (thanks, Mandy and Tammy!).

....has such a sweet, calm personality.

I know I say this every time I blog about Kase's milestones but it's hard to believe how grown up he is already.  Can't believe I'll have a one year old soon!