Has it really been a week?

Wow, a week without posting.  I wish I could say that I didn't even realize it, but to be perfectly honest I've tried coming up with things to post and nothing seemed "worthy."

We'll just update you on a little bit of the normal.  You know I love me some bullet points.

• Ronnie and I got new callings.  We were called to be Primary workers.  He is to be a "permanent sub" helping with whatever they need help with for the week, and I'm the chorister.  We'll be in the ward through July, so it will be nice to have callings and be able to serve for a few months.
• This is Ronnie's last week of school and then finals weeks begin.  Every semester this part gets easier (for me at least, I can't speak for him), but it doesn't stop me from dreading it just the same.
• Easton seems to have reached a semi-normal state.  Overall, he is doing so much better.  Don't get me wrong, he is still two and he still flips out, but I feel like "our Easton" is this close to coming back. (And I am aware I said essentially this exact same thing a little while ago).
• Kendree is a great baby.  She's teased me by sleeping through the night two different times now (something that Easton NEVER did), and on a normal night she's sleeping for 5-6 hours at least before waking for her one feeding. 
• However, Kendree is dealing with some serious skin issues.  The doctor told me last week that she appears to have VERY sensitive skin, and that must be true because this weekend her face broke out in the saddest looking rash.  I'm treating it as instructed and as best as I can tell she is reacting to the laundry detergent on our clothes (since only the parts of her head and face that touch us when burping, feeding, etc are effected).  Looks like I'll be doing all of our laundry with Dreft for a while.
• As for me, it's time for my tri-annual work meeting.  Hip-hip-hooray.  Everything is ready to go though, so it shouldn't be too stressful.

What Easton Has Been Up To

Easton's been hamming it up for the camera lately. Here are some things he wanted to share:

He does a cute little arm pump when he says "All right!"  This is what I could capture.

Then he wanted to say that he is two.

And that he loves you.

This is him doing the letter "j."  When he does it he says "Scoop it, it's a "J"!"

He woke up with a nightmare during his nap the other day and finished his nap in mom and dad's bed.  It was too cute.

He loves his tool sets.  He calls these his Handy Manny Glasses.  I just can't get enough of him wearing them!

Imagine that today was Easter

'Cause that's what we were doing around here.  Due to General Conference and illness, we finally got to wear our Easter outfits to church.

We were lookin' good!

Kendree-2 months!

I know I say it on every monthly post, but I just can't believe how quickly time is passing!  Kendree is such a good baby.  She is content to be in her swing, the bassinet or just on the ground the majority of the time and allows me to spend time with Easton, grab a quick bite to eat, etc. 

She is sleeping fantastically, continuing to get up once a night after about a 5-6 hour stretch of time.  She even gave me a little "happy two months of life" present of sleeping THROUGH the night on Friday night.  I had to ask Ronnie the next morning to make sure that I didn't get up to feed her (you know how those nursing nights are a blur).

She is smiling--not a ton, but when you work at it, she rewards you.  She gave her first full smile to Grandpa, and I don't think he'll ever let us forget that.  She seems to be a little more serious than Easton was at this time, but her pleasant and easy-going temperment is well worth a few less smiles! 

She is still not a big fan of the binky and this week I may be forced to branch out from my "preferred" brand to see if she will take a different one.  That wouldn't be so hard if I wasn't such a binky snob. 

She likes to grab things, including her own hair while she is feeding.  I'll look down to see a big grimace on her face and then find her little hand in a tight fist around her hair pulling as hard as she can.  It's actually pretty funny (aside from the pain she is causing herself, of course).

Easton is doing better and better everyday.  He loves his "Kenny" and gives her dozens of kisses a day to prove it.  It's just the little outbursts of extra "love" that we are working on. :)

Just like her big brother, Kendree loves to be swaddled up tight to sleep at night.  She is an excellent eater and I'll be sure to post her official stats tomorrow after our doctor's appointment. [ETA: She weighed in at 10 lbs. 15.5 oz. (less than I thought, she seems so much chubbier than Easton was)  that's the 55th percentile and was 22 inches long (40th percentile).]

Now, on to the pictures:
Here are her official 2 month shots.  She wasn't wanting to give me any smiles and actually got more and more upset, the more pictures I took.

Kendree and Daddy

Hanging out in the bassinet (she doesn't like the pre-flash so she kind of closes her eyes--she normally has big wide eyes!)

Sleeping beauty

We love our Kendree-girl!

Playing with Uncle Adam

Sometimes Uncle Adam comes to play--and he does way cooler things than mom can do.

It's great to have someone else do the heavy lifting so you can dunk the ball every time.  Adam didn't even need to hit the gym that day.  Two birds, one stone.

Easter Eggs

Five days after Easter, Easton and I finally got around to dying some eggs. 

To say he loved it would be a gross understatement.  I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.

Work or how I manage to get out the door

[I apologize in advance if this post is boring or not at all interesting to you.  I just thought it might be helpful to someone, so I wrote it. :) ]

I've been working for a week and a half now and thought I would give a little update on how it all works around our household.  I work daily from 8a.m. to noon and work is just a five minute drive away.

Successfully getting out the door on time really boils down to two things, both of which are completely controlled by me.  1. Nighttime preparation and 2. Actually getting up when the alarm goes off.

Every night I get Easton's lunch packed and put it in the fridge, set out both Easton's and Kendree's clothes, get the bottle supplies into a bag and at least think about what I might want to wear the next day (I try to give myself three options, so even if I am fickle, I don't have an entire closet of clothes to choose from--even though I technically do...).

Then, when my alarm goes off at 6a.m. I MUST get up.  The schedule works best if I can be completely ready by 6:45, although I have a few minutes to play with there.  The days when Ronnie doesn't have class until 9:30 are a breeze, since he takes over Easton entirely and I just have to worry about Kendree.  The two days when his class is at 8a.m. are a little more tag-team, but still have been totally manageable so far, I'm lucky he is such a great help!

In order to be at work on time, we must leave our house by 7:40a.m. (out the door, not actually driving).  Dropping off the kids is a breeze as Easton knows the routine (since he's been doing this his entire life) and sometimes is waving "Bye, Mama!" before I've finished giving a morning update to either my mom or sister.

I've found it easiest to have a "supply bag" at each of my sitters locations.  That way, they already have wipes, diapers, medicine, extra clothes, blankets and burp cloths ready to go and I am just bringing food for both kids daily.

I'll admit that the last thing I want to be doing at 9p.m. is preparing for the next day, and the last thing I want to do when my alarm goes off is actually get up, but I'm thankful every day that I JUST. DO. IT.

P.S. A small shout out to my Kendree-girl for only getting up once per night.  She's the reason I'm staying sane.

Burning Questions: My Answers

Thanks to all of you for your answers to my burning questions!  It was great to get some other opinions/stories.  I'll just go ahead and warn you that in true KaLee fashion, my answers may be longer/contain more information than you care to know, but it's my blog and I can do what I want! :)

When you eat a baked potato, do you "hollow" it out and only eat the meat of the potato, or do you eat it all, even the skins?
Both of my parents eat their entire potato, so I grew up believing that "grown ups" eat all of the potato.  I hollowed my potato out all through college and then one day after Ronnie and I were married I decided that I was officially grown up and began eating the entire thing.  Since starting to do that I have been informed by more than one person that it is not normal.  Thanks to those of you that made me feel like I had some kindred spirits out there!

Have you ever broken a toilet seat?
I, myself, have never broken a toilet seat.  The other day I was giving Easton a bath and leaned over to grab something while sitting (on top) of the toilet and it made a weird popping noise and I thought that I had, hence the question.  I will say that I really believe that toilet seats get brittle after a certain amount of time though.  Also, Ronnie being the germ-a-phobe that he is, makes us buy a new toilet seat to install every where that we have lived (minus family's houses--we trust them).  They are super cheap and really worth every penny.

Do you really get over the "ick" factor of a dog licking you if you live with one for long enough?
Your responses were great on this one.  I can't STAND dogs licking me, but feel like it should be something I should be able to tolerate as long as it isn't on my face.  I'm working on it.

Do you address your aunts and uncles with the aunt and uncle titles?  Do you use them when you talk about your siblings to your kids?
I've been trying to make up my mind as far as what I want to do with Easton, now that he can actually address his aunts and uncles by name.  I grew up not using the titles, unless I was talking about my aunts and uncles to someone else, but Ronnie grew up using the titles at all times.  I don't use the titles when talking about my siblings, again, unless there is someone around that the converstation would make more sense to with the titles thrown in there.  Clear as mud?  My one worry is that I will be contributing to all the disrespect that us adults complain about all of the time.

Motorcyles--Awesome or Death in Metal Form?
I'll admit my opinion is a bit misinformed, seeing as I have never actually ridden one, but judging from the fact that snowmobiles and 4-wheelers cause me to scream like a little girl and constantly tell whomever is driving to "SLOW DOWN RIGHT NOW!"  I'm going to have to say that death it is.

Thanks again for playing along!  Maybe when I get a new list of questions I can't stand to have unanswered, we'll do this again.

Burning Questions

Happy Friday!  We're supposed to have nice weather (for Wyoming) around these parts this weekend, and I couldn't be more thrilled.  Because I do things without explanation--I have some questions that have been driving me crazy.  Don't worry, after you share, I'll be sure to let you know my answers on Monday.  In the meantime, I can't wait to see what you all think.

When you eat a baked potato, do you "hollow" it out and only eat the meat of the potato, or do you eat it all, even the skins?

Have you ever broken a toilet seat?

Do you really get over the "ick" factor of a dog licking you if you live with one for long enough?

Do you address your aunts and uncles with the aunt and uncle titles?  Do you use them when you talk about your siblings to your kids?

Motorcyles--Awesome or Death in Metal Form?

The gift I almost kept

A good friend had a birthday this week, and I found a fun new project to make and give to her.

The only problem?

I loved it so much when I was done, I had to force myself to give it away.

I can always make another one--right?

I found the tutorial here and feel like her pictures of the finished product are better, but for the sake of documenting, here is my little hostess apron. (I have a white skirt on, which is a bit confusing, as it looks like another weird layer).

Overall, this was really easy, just took some time ironing to hem all of the layers.  Next time I make one I'm totally using my "rolled hem" foot on my sewing machine.

Also, Ronnie just didn't get it.  I told him it was a hostess apron and he asked what it was good for, and I explained that you would wear it to be cute, and show that youareinchargeherethankyouverymuch, but I still don't think he gets it.  Boys.

Easter

We had a terrific Easter!

Easton was able to go to a fun egg hunt a few days before Easter with lots of his little friends. 

Then on Easter day, he was very excited about what the Easter bunny brought.  Here he is saying "Surprise!"

And here he is checking out his loot!

And here is sweet little Kendree.

Heard over the baby monitor

"Kay-eeee!  Where are you?  Whoooo-hoooo!"

Is it bad that instead of correcting him with "My name is mama," I just chuckled?

Answering your Questions: Part 2

KaLee, you are so darn stylish!  Where in heavens name do you get your clothes?
Okay, so I may have embellished that question a bit! :)  As I'm sure is true with most people, I don't have a go to store that always works for me.  I tend to shop at the following places fairly regularly: TJ Maxx, Ross, Maurices, Target, Wal-mart, Kohls, and Shade Clothing.  There are always those places that you will stop for a quick look, but these are my staples.  The only thing I live by?  You've got to try it on!  I will take pretty much anything off the racks at Ross in my size, even if I don't really like it at all--and you know what?  About 50% of the time I end up loving something I thought was fairly hideous on the hanger.

A few specific notes:
I buy pretty much all of my dresses and skirts from Ross and TJ Maxx.  They almost never disappoint me (again, after trying on about 20 articles).

I recently found an undershirt that I love!  Half Tees Plus, the founder totally graduated from high school here in Laramie, so we have to support the local girls, you know?  I love this for the lack of bulk (for those shirts where length is not the issue, but the neckline may be), and as Amanda says on the site, for the ease of nursing. 

I really struggle to find tops that fit me well, since I am on the large side in the chest area.  I will try on top after top after top and never really be satisfied.  Lately, I've taken to actually tailoring my shirts by myself.  I buy the larger size that fits me up top and then tailor the sides so it no longer feels like a boat around my middle.  I know you are all thinking that that is too hard for you to do, but what do you have to lose?  For me, they were shirts that I hated to wear anyway, so I felt like it was worth the risk.  The nice thing about taking things in is that you don't have to cut until you know that it fits and you can always unpick your stitching!

I know that every one has their own struggles when it comes to clothes--but hopefully something I've shared helps!