We've been living life

I was going to write "We've been busy" as the title of this post and then I decided that everyone is busy, and you don't really need me to tell you how busy we have been while you've been dealing with your own kind of busy.  I'm considerate like that.

So anyway, Easton had his first trip to the dentist.  He did fantastically!  No cavities and he let the hygienist and the dentist do all that they needed to do.  He did ask me right after he got up in the chair if we could get in the car and go home, but once the hygienist started showing him all of the cool tools, he was great.  Here he is in the chair:

Then, last weekend, Ronnie's work had their annual retreat.  It was in San Diego and we took the entire family.  Because the trip was so quick, we only got to visit with a few family members, but it was great to
see everyone we did.  Grandma Cali and I took the kids to the zoo one day when Ronnie was in meetings.
Easton and I (and Kendree's legs) in front of the elephants:

Kenny and I with the giraffes:

The day after arriving home from the trip, Ronnie was officially sworn in by the state and federal courts so he could become and honest-to-goodness attorney.  The ceremony wasn't really set up for great pictures (seeing as how they were held in courtrooms) but I did get this picture of him.  Doesn't he just exude knowledge? :)

Also, for those of you wondering, he still goes by Ronnie, but his "official" stuff (business cards, nameplates, etc.) say Ronald.

Now, it's back to the swing of things.  I'm starting to think about maybe, possibly, someday potty training Easton, and preparing for the holidays.

When Grandpa Comes to Visit

He takes LOTS of pictures, and we love it!

[pictures from when Ray was here earlier this fall.  I'm a bit behind.]

While we're talking about babies...

perhaps I will enlighten you with my rules for baby gifts.

1. Books.  Everyone can always use more books (especially first-time mommies).
2. Disposable stuff.  You might as well give something that they are going to have to throw away spend money on anyway.
3. Handmade.  You can't go wrong with a handmade gift.  [unless your homemade gift is not usable or cute, but I know I'm not talking to anyone in that category]
4. If you are going to buy clothes, buy 9 months or up.  Everyone loves the tiny stuff, so you are sure to give an outfit that will really get used if you buy the bigger sizes. [I don't always follow my own advice.  Sometimes a darling outfit will sway even me]

Now go forth and give! :)

Baby Must-Haves: The Sequel

You probably don't remember, but when Easton was six months old I did a post about my favorite baby gear.  I thought that it was time for a re-visit to that idea, seeing as how I am totally an experienced mom now and my opinion should mean that much more to you.  Dudes, I have TWO kids.  How can I not know it all?!?!

:)

There are a few things that remain on my list.  I love them forever more and will probably ask to have them placed in my casket [note that when I was typing, I totally typed bassinet right there the first time] when I die.  I'm just going to type a few notes, but you can refer to my first list if you want a little more information.

1. Triple Paste.  I cross my heart, this stuff is the bomb-diggety, no doubt.  Just the fact that I have 3-4 tubes in my house at all times should attest to the wonderful-ness.

2. Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe.  They are now carried in every Wal-Mart I've been in lately and are only $10 each.  You NEED this product, I promise.

3. Papasean Cradle Swing by Fisher Price.  I still have the same complaint--this baby takes up a lot of floor space, but seeing as how Kendree still enjoys a swing every day, I can't give it up.  I need that hands-free time.

4. BundleMe by JJCole.  Again, I'll refer you to my first post, but know this, I'm getting it out for Kendree again as soon as the snow flies.  As long as my babies are in the Graco car seat and it is winter, they'll be using it.

As for the other five items on my previous must-have list?  I still used them with Kendree [except the binky, she won't take that], but if necessary, I could have lived without them.  Some of that is due to the fact that as I have mentioned approximately 1 bazillion times, Kendree is such a content little gal. 

Now, onto the things that I like.  Again, I'll refer you to my previous post and go from there.
I still really like the Bounce Bounce seat, the bath seat and my beloved pump.  I haven't used a mobile for Kendree [and would prefer for her to not get attached] and have never been able to use the Baby Bjorn like I want to.  For what it is worth, I've tried the Moby wrap [well, a homemade one] and purchased a baby carrier from www.sevenslings.com.  I like the sling from Seven Slings the best.  It's a small piece of fabric that can stay in my diaper bag all the time, Kendree stays really snug in it and I don't have to wrap a super long piece of fabric around myself.

And finally, the items that "they" tell you to buy that I just don't use.
I stick by my previous opinion on the Boppy.  I thought I could turn things around between the Boppy and me with baby #2.  I knew that I didn't want to use it for nursing purposes, but was convinced that I could find uses for it.  I did lay Kendree on top of it a total of 10 times as a newborn (more use than it ever got with Easton), but then I promptly forgot about it and never used it again.  As for the Bouncer, I did end up sending it to my sitters' houses [thanks mom and Erc!] and it seemed to get use there, that being said, I didn't miss it at my house.

New additions you ask?
1. Fisher Price Deluxe Booster Seat.  I initially heard about this from my cousin Amy.  It seemed like a great solution for apartment life, and I still love it.  It's compact, can go anywhere and served as Easton's booster seat until we needed it for Kendree two months ago.

I think that's it!  Thanks for sticking with me and I'd love to hear your thoughts on all of this.

More Halloween

Thought I would post more Halloween pictures for the grandparents.

The pumpkin Easton "carved." [meaning that he LOVED helping me draw the face, but once the insides were displayed in all of their glory, he ran for the hills]

After I had altered Kendree's turtle costume so that people would know she was a girl [read: added the pink bow] I decided that I better see just how okay she would be with wearing the hat and got these expressions.

She was an angel as usual and gave me the biggest grins!

Finally a few more shots of our little turtle and Buzz.

For my reference: Turtle costume from BabyTrend (when they existed).  Easton wore it in 2008 (seen here).  Buzz Lightyear costume and inflatable wings(purchased separately) from Amazon.  And if you ask me, the wings totally make the costume.

Happy Halloween

from our little Buzz Lightyear and turtle.

Comes back to bite us in the...

Whenever Easton is emitting an unpleasant odor, we ask him if he has pooped.  He ALWAYS responds with "No" no matter what the truth is, so after that we always say "Let me see..." as we open up the back of his diaper to check.

This week someone in our family tooted (name withheld to protect the innocent).  Easton asked if that person had pooped.  That person said no and then Easton proceeded to say "Let me see..." while trying to pull open the back of that person's pants.

It's just one of those things that begs to be documented.  Sorry if I grossed you out.

A tour of our place

This time around, I decided that I would do things a little different and take pictures as my house was at that. exact. moment.  So, there are toys on the floor, dishes in the sink, "stuff" on the counters, etc.  But, it shouldn't make you feel like I live in perfect-ness, since that would be FAR from the truth. Without further ado:

This is what our neighborhood looks like (this may or may not be our street, you know, for privacy reasons).

When you come in the front door, you see this:

And then turn to the right to see this: (the door that is cut off is the coat closet, door straight ahead is the half bath, you can't see the garage door, but it is directly to your right).

Then when you step into that little hallway, you have the stairs directly to your left(door with the Halloween hanger thing is the pantry which is located under the stairs):

And the kitchen to your right:

And this is the view into the living/dining room:

A view to the left:

And to the right (why hello Easton):

Then if I stand by the back patio door, you see this on the living room side:

And this on the dining room side:

Now, if we were to go up the stairs, this is what you would see at the very top (straight ahead the main bathroom, closed door on the left is Kendree's/guest room and the closed door on the right is the linen closet.  You can't see Easton's door, since it is directly to the left:

A view of Easton's room:

And one of Kendree's (diaper changing station on the bed):

If you turn to the right at the top of the stairs, this is your view (closed door is the laundry room and master bedroom is straight ahead):

View from the door of the master bedroom (bed skirt still hasn't made it on there):

Standing in the doorway to the master bath you see this:

And this is a view of that bathroom:

And that concludes our tour. [Sorry we ended in the bathroom!]

Burning Questions

1. When you purchase a shirt, do you do the "bend over" test to make sure you aren't showing a little more than you would like to?

2. How do you organize your household chores?  One massive cleaning day?  A little everyday?  Certain chores for certain days?

3. What dinner do you ALWAYS have the ingredients for?

4. How often do you talk to your parents on the phone?  Your siblings?

5. How many plastic totes of decorations do you own?  (Your decorations not kept in totes?  How many would you guess?)

1.  I don't normally do this test, but I had a chat with my Grandma last weekend about how many women show a little sumthin,sumthin when they bend over in Primary, or helping their child, etc. that I am DEFINITELY starting.
2. In an apartment, I always did the everything in one day method.  Mondays it was.  I'm finding that not quite a reality in a bit larger place.  Currently I do the nitty-gritty stuff (bathrooms, mopping, dusting) all on one day and then spread out the laundry, vacuuming and sweeping.  I'm sure I could be more efficient though.
3. Ritz Chicken.  Crushed Ritz crackers, melted butter and chicken breasts or tenders.  Coat the chicken and bake at 350 for 45 minutes (breasts) or 30 minutes (tenders).
4. Mom-daily, Dad-2-3 times a week, Sister-every other day, Younger siblings-weekly-ish.
5. Two totes of non-Christmas decorations (all those other holidays) and while my Christmas stuff is not in totes, I would guess about 3-4.

Singing Time

I mentioned a while ago that I had been asked to serve with the children at church.  More specifically, I led them in singing. 

It may be the most favorite calling I've ever had. And that's saying a lot, considering I was ward chorister for a while in high school and that was absolutely fantastic.

I only ended up having this calling for about four months before we moved, but there are definitely some things that the kids love/have worked better than others, so I thought I would share.

1. Using popsicle sticks for fairness in picking children. [imagine these popsicle sticks have kids names on them and are red on one end and green on the other.]

I took every child's name in both senior and junior primary and wrote them on a popsicle stick.  Then, I colored one end of the stick red and the other end green.  Each primary has their own can of sticks.  When I am in need of volunteers, I draw a green-ended stick out of the can.  The stick then returns to the can with the red side up so I know that child has had a turn.  Everyone gets a turn and then all of the sticks are turned back over to the green side.  This works especially well with my junior primary since they have a harder time understanding "turns" but can see the visual of the colors on the sticks.  Note: I use the sticks of kids who are not there to call on any visitors we have for the week.  That way, no one is left out.

2. Bean Bag Number Toss.  My mom saw this idea years ago with an old shower curtain, but we didn't have one of those, so a cheap plastic tablecloth did the trick.  I drew on the lines and numbers.  Before Sunday, I write up the list of 20 songs for each singing time (different songs for different ages) making sure to have some be "Child's Choice." and give them to the pianist when I get there.  That way we both have the songs and page numbers ready to go.  The kids get to toss a bean bag on to a number. Note: I use four hymn books to hold down the corners and mark where the kids have to stand with the container I keep the bean bags in. [DVD on the mat for size reference]

3. Temple Flower Picking.  I got my set up on a CD I purchased with singing time helps, but this would be incredibly easy to duplicate on your own.  One picture of the closest temple and hand cut flowers.  The kids (both young and old) love to pick a flower and hope that they find one of the six bees hidden that tell them how that song is supposed to be sung. (Standing on one leg, eyes closed, arms folded, etc.)

4. Numbers.  Numbers are your friends.  Every special help I use I put numbers on the back of the flowers, animals, etc. and have those numbers assigned to a song ahead of time.  I don't have to redo any of the items, just rewrite the list I give to the pianist.

5. Name That Tune. Again, this technically came from a singing time help book, but it couldn't be any more basic. Type up songs with the page numbers and place in a jar. You have the opportunity to add songs they already know, or songs that you want to work on. One child comes up and picks a slip of paper and takes it directly to the pianist (I don't even get to see). That child then decides how many notes the pianist will play. The rest of the children guess the song and then we sing it. The child who guessed correctly is the next one up to choose.

6. Letter of Each Word. This has been a great help with songs that don't have obvious "picture" helps. Even the junior primary kids that can't read yet understand what is going on. I write down the first letter of every word of a new song. As we sing it, I cover up one row at a time (usually I let the kids choose) until we don't have any letters showing.

7. Chimes. This is really for "free" weeks, but the senior primary LOVES it. My parents gave me a set of pipe chimes for Christmas this year. [Instructions and songs here]. Using the notes assigned to each pipe, I wrote out several songs and had the kids sing the song once (to get the tune and rhythm in their heads) and then we played each song twice.  All it took was taking away pipes if they played when it wasn't their turn and they did great.

Any brilliant ideas you have to add?

Because I know my lack of posting has been keeping you up at night

with thoughts of, "What is that crazy family up to anyway?!?!?"

Here's the bulleted version.

• Ronnie is in the midst of elk season.  This means weekly trips to Laramie to hunt on the ranch.  So far, he has killed a coyote, but no elk.  He also keeps very busy at work--he even has official business cards now with "Attorney At Law" underneath his name and everything.  We try to keep the size of his head to a manageable level around here.  Normally a few diaper changes does the trick. :)
• KaLee got a new calling in church (1st counselor, Primary) that is keeping her very busy and a little overwhelmed as she is in charge of the primary program in 4 weeks.  She loves staying home with the kids (you know, most of the time) and has gotten into a groove with work, housework, errands and a little fun stuff.  She has yet to find her "spare time" again and is in need of a crafting fix.  Perhaps that will happen in the near future.
• Easton continues to amaze us with all he is learning.  He is VERY good at reading out the letters on anything he sees.  He loves pumpkins, just like he did last year so the fact that all of the stores have them is incredibly exciting to him.  He is talking in sentences and is getting to the point where pretty much anyone can get the idea of what he is saying (mama may have to fill in a few things here and there).  
• Kendree--you can read all about her in her 8 month post here.

We are all happy, healthy and doing great! 

Kendree - 8 months

Man, every month that goes by leaves me with my mouth hanging open, wondering where the time has gone!

This little princess is getting so big!

The updates:

• She is a pro sitter-upper and prefers to be in that position when on the floor, so she can see everything that is going on around her!
• Claps her little hands--which may be close to the cutest thing ever. 
• Loves all foods.  Easton had clear favorites at this age.  She will eat as much food as I will give her.
• Puts everything in her mouth--but shows no signs of teething (that is just fine with mama).
• Has stopped sleeping through the night.  She gets up at 4am for a feeding, but would then sleep until 8 or 9 if I would let her.
• Is taking two naps a day regularly with the occasional evening cat nap.
• Is a little stranger-shy.  Especially so when she is on the tired and/or hungry side.
• Prefers girls to boys (sorry, it is true).  This does not apply to her daddy, but all other boys are second-rate.  My mom says that this is pay back for Easton, who much preferred the boys to the girls.
• Isn't too close to crawling.  She gets her hands all ready, but hasn't yet figured out how to get her knees underneath her.  Again, another thing that mama is not pushing at all.
• Gets wherever she would like to--between rolling, scooting and pivoting. 
• Doesn't have consistent ticklish spots--every day is new.  Quite the challenge when you are dying for some Kenny giggles!

And now, on to the pictures. Yesterday was her official 8 month mark and she was in a gorgeous dress from Aunt Kari, so I decided to take some pictures.  I have 15 pictures that look very similar to this:

Dumb camera.  I'll have to dress her up again!

Easton loves her, she just isn't so sure about how she feels...

And now some shots from today:

And a video of the clapping.  Just imagine that orange ring is not in the way. Oh, and the "thing" she keeps turning to look at is her older brother.  She still adores him!

After all of that waiting...

Remember when I made you look at every single step of the bedding I made for that daughter of mine (at the time I had no idea if she was a girl or a boy)?

Well, Easton made the transition to a big boy bed and we finally set up the crib in Kendree's room when we moved to Cheyenne.

And I have pictures to share--hooray!

Thanks for sticking with me!