Over Achiever.

This little girl is an over achiever.

She has been rolling since 1 month, crawling since 4 months, and standing up since 5 1/2 months. SLOW DOWN KID!!!!!! I never realized how much I love the baby stage, until I only got to see it for a little blimp! She even got her teeth pretty early, at about 5 1/2 months they started coming through. She has her 2 bottom teeth and 2 top teeth, not the middle ones, but the ones beside them... I find it quite adorable when she smiles! Here is a good pic to show her odd top teeth...

It will be only a short little while until she is walking, and she is only 7 1/2 months.

I guess Nixon was quite the over achiever though too. He crawled at 5 months, and started walking around 10-11 months.  I love little little babies that sit still and you can keep an eye on, my kids are movers and shakers though, and hardly sit still. I guess it leads to a lot of fun and adventures though, and they sure are skinny from never sitting still!

Random thought, but growing up when my Mom would hear us asking about food (and with 5 kids I am sure she heard about it all the time) she got to a point where she would almost cringe at the word food. You can ask any sibling, she hates it... and now I know why! I hear at least 20-30 times a day, Mom I am getting kind of hungry. Mom I'm hungry. Mom I need some food. Mom whats for Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner? I already hate it and I only have one kid!! So Nixon is not skinny based on the fact that he wont eat, he eats, he eats all day long!

Anyways, Nixon is also an over achiever. He has always been quite smart. He has known his ABC's since he was like 2, and has known most of his letters since 2 1/2. He also loves to count, and has been able to count to 30 since he was 2-2 1/2 years old. Recently he has been pushing me to teach him how to read an analog clock. What 3 year old asks that?!!! We have been doing a little bit of math with him, adding and subtracting with our fingers because he likes to count his bites of food or crackers he has, and add them and subtracts them all on his own..... I think the next thing I teach him will be the game UNO. He knows his colors and his numbers very well, so I think with some practice he could understand it, and think it was fun. (of course at a kid level, nothing too intense.)

Anyways, here are a few pictures from the week! Of course we hit up the pool a few times, because we LOVE it! :)

Morning snuggles...

So pretty, especially when she is sleeping

 Selfie

 Nixon and I taking a selfie. He likes to be in photos!

 Jeff ignoring me. :)

 Oakley got a picnic set for Christmas, we just let her open it, but she hardly gets to play with it because Nixon absolutely loves it.

 Swimming!

 She is just adorable!

 These things are amazing!

 First good watermelon of the year. YUMMMMM
Generally we eat a watermelon in 2 days... and we get the biggest ones we can get!

 Oakley will learn to love it too

 Nixon thought he needed a pic too

 Oakley being soo cute!

 Friday night we went to our friends house, Nixon is an inexperienced rider haha

My little girl. I just love her!!!!

That's all for now!

-K.

Terrible threes.

I am a victim of the terrible threes. Nope not terrible twos, although we did have some rough days, but the horrible terrible threes.  I have decided I need a break from my kids, and here is why....

The Cookie Theif.

The Wednesday before St. Patricks day I decided I would make some sugar cookies.  It was perfect timing because I could take more than half of them to those I visit teach, and we would have a little treat, but not too much temptation. Well apparently, Nixon had too much temptation!

I had bundled up the prettiest cookies as the ones I would give away... obviously! I had them all prepared, and had taken 3 of the plates out on that Wednesday night. I left some on a plate for our family, and put the others up higher so that Nixon could not get to them. I also put them in a Ziploc bag to make it more of a challenge for Nixon, especially since the ones he could eat were wide open on a plate! I had told him he was allowed to eat the ones from the plate, but to ask first, and not to touch the other ones. I even repeatedly showed him which ones were good and which ones were bad. Well Thursday morning I woke up and noticed a few of the cookies on the family plate missing, which was fine. I talked to Nixon, and said I would like him to ask first, but was not mad at him. Then Friday morning came. As the number of cookies had dwindled down a bit from being around a few days, I knew I  had to keep the ones for the lady I visit taught safe. I moved them to a harder spot for Nixon to get too Thursday night, and also put a piece of bread in the bag to make sure they stayed soft. Well that morning, I went into Nixons room and saw him eating a piece of bread. I knew we did not have any left in the house except for my special piece I had just put in the cookie bag last night. His reply. "Good cookies Mom!" I was ticked, but thought I could use some of our family cookies to give to my friend if Nixon had really eaten the saved ones. Nope. He had eaten the bag of 4 cookies, and either took a bite of every other cookie in the house, or ate the icing off of the top. Oh boy was I ticked! He made a HUGE mess in his room, and in the kitchen and the little turd ate pretty much ALL of the cookies. There were not to salvage and take to my friends, but she did enjoy the story, and Nixon was even there to back me up when I told her what had happened.

I have to laugh though, because I used to always find the smarties chocolates in my parents house growing up and eat them all. I guess like mother like son!

The Game Lover.

Nixon recently has had a big interest in playing games with the family. We have some kid friendly ones such as Candy-land, Snakes and Ladders, and Trouble so that we can have a fun game night with him and help him to learn how to be a good sport.

Nixon LOVES Candy-land, and any one that plays with him instantly becomes his best friend. He is pretty good at it because he loves to count, so he really doesn't even need our help unless he starts to get bored.
Nixon also LOVES to bring everything into his room, especially while I am still sleeping early in the morning. Jeff will wake up to get ready for work/school, and Nixon will be hiding things in his bed, and most recently it has been either food (we will get to another story in a minute here) or games. One morning it was Candy-land, the next Dominoes, Sequence, Things in a Box, Snakes and ladders, Trouble, decks of cards, and the worst, Dominoes. I am glad he did not go for our expensive games that we love like ticket to ride, but come on, every morning he gets a talking to about spreading these games through out the house, but he doesn't seem to care! He gets in trouble, we have tried taking toys away, time outs, spanking, NOTHING WORKS! We tell him the rules, we try to be firm, and we are being consistent, but we are not getting through to him!
Any suggestions here?
I have locked up the games in a big bin and put heavy bins on top of it to stop this for now because I do not want to have missing pieces to a bunch of games, or have them be ruined because hes three, and still drools, and does not take care of things too well... I hope tomorrow morning we do not hear a big crash and have these bins falling down on him. I just do not know what else to do! They are even in a room he is not allowed in, our guest room. All day long he doesn't even bother it, he acts like the room isn't even there... but during the night when we are all asleep, we have come to know he is really searching through it and being a pest.

Bed Bugs.

No not real bed bugs, but I told Nixon that he was going to have a bed full of bugs if he didn't stop it!

To go along with hiding everything else in his bed, Nixon has also been taking food from the kitchen, and bringing it back to his bed to eat in there. We have a rule at our house, first off no food in rooms, second of all, Nixon is not allowed to get out of his room until 8am, which is when his "alarm clock" has a sun that "comes up" to show that it is morning time. Well, it worked for us in Rexburg, but since moving here the kid hates his room, and simply is done with trying to listen to us. I have even done everything I have tried to make his room comfortable.
(Little rant ahead...)
He has a huge bed, sweet Cars sheets, lamps, and night lights. I have noticed though that our "condo" is bad for sound, and his window is right where the walkways up to the front doors on our buildings are at, so a friend of mine suggested getting him a CD player and getting the Primary songs on CD for him to listen to at night. (I am a big fan of no noise at night because I think people get too attached to the idea, and also I don't want my kids having hearing issues), but I thought it sounded like a good idea, and went ahead and got one. Nope, doesn't make a difference.
(End of rant)
Anyways, Nixon gets up in the morning, before anyone else, and very quietly goes to the kitchen and will take things like Cookies, watermelon, applesauce, bread, cereal, etc back to bed with him. Its gross. At first I tried to explain that's why we have a table, and he can come get me to help him and when he wakes up I need to be with him, but no leaving his room until the sun comes up. Then after time and time again, I am just getting mad. I have been frustrated and trying to work with him, but he is a little stinker, and will not work with me.
So again, any suggestions???

See why I need a break? I am not even exaggerating, probably I am under exaggerating all of the things he has been up to. I wish I could lock everything up, or just lock him in his room, but sometimes he will call for us at like 3 or 4 in the morning to come and wipe his bum. Who Poos in the middle of the night?! I am just glad it is in the toilet....

Anyways, if you have any suggestions please let me know. I have been trying to get to his feelings, but he's a tough cookie, and hard to break through to.

Here are a few pics from last week......

Date night with our friends Pete and Lisa.

Hanging out at our pool!

St. Patricks Day I decided Oakley was ready for the booster, she loved it!

On Sunday in sacrament, I asked Nixon to draw me an E. This was his first go EVER, I was stoked, he is a boy genius... just not the best behaved one... 

Oakley sleeps so weird. She always pushes her chin way up and looks like a snob.

-K.

Being Needed&&Jeff's 29th.

When I had my son Nixon, he pretty much came out a Daddy's Boy.  They spent his first night together, and have been very close ever since. I am very glad that they have that connection, but at times it was hard for me because I wanted to be the one he ran to when he needed us. I would get it when Jeff was not there, but miss it when Jeff was there. Although I generally joke that it is nice because at night time Nixon still wants Jeff, and yay for me, because I love my sleep! I love that my husband is an awesome Dad, and never would I want to hurt that bond between the two of them. But now its my turn!

Since I have been staying home, I have seen the effects on my children. Oakley needs me. ALWAYS. If I put her down, she is so sad, she generally lowers her head to the floor and cries for a few minutes before being distracted. When she falls (and that is a lot lately as she is trying to figure out how to walk) she always needs me. No one else, just me. At first I was over whelmed. I thought I must be doing something wrong because I cannot have a moment to myself. Nope. Its just called being a Mom.

I saw this on Facebook, and it is totally my reality with Oakley. I kind of love it, but it has its moments where I think noooo I just need a break!

Some days I think I get nothing accomplished. I go from task to task cleaning, calming, and helping my babies cope.  I feel like my husband walks in the door after school/work and thinks I must not have done anything because it looks the same as when he left. Basically my job is to keep things in order. I have 2 kids, meal times are messy. I make the meals, feed the kids, then clean it all up. I make sure everything goes back to square one.  I love it though! I love being there when my kids need me. I love being the one they need, and especially with Oakley, I love being the only one to calm them and get them back to square one. 

This past week was an unusual one since we had company. Jeff's parents came out to our house for a bit. We also had Jeff's 29th Birthday, and since we had babysitters, we went out and had a little fun!

If any of you are coming to Vegas and want to see a show, I STRONGLY recommend the Cirque du soleil Las Vegas shows! We have seen 2 of them now, and we just saw "O" for Jeffrey's Birthday and it was awesome sauce!!! We also have a pretty sweet go-kart track that we go to where the carts go like 40mph, Jeff absolutely loves it, I prefer just watching him on these ones.... Another thing we did on Jeff's birthday was go to the restaurant "Dicks; Last Resort".  It is located in the Excalibur Hotel, and Jeff has been there before and RAVED about the burger for months. When we went this time, they had turned into a franchise or something, so the menu and a lot of things had changed.... Jeff was disappointed, but I still thought that the burger was awesome! If you are not familiar with this restaurant it is fun restaurant, where they are super sarcastic, and a funny rude, they put paper hats on your head and write funny (usually vulgar) things on them. Jeff and I did not get hats.... I feel like we did not get the full experience... but oh well!

Here is us at O.

Jeff waiting in Line to go-kart. Its like a wife, stop taking my picture moment! haha

 Jeff on the track, he is awesome, and kept lapping people.

Terry and Sandy with Nixon at Elephant Bar. Its a good restaurant we found here!

Nixon and Oakley love going to the park, we almost go daily.

Nixon loves to chase pigeons...

Little Miss Oakley so happy just hanging out, as long as she can see or touch me!

-K.

Teeth

Little Miss Oakley has 2 teeth!

I will be honest, these past few weeks have been rough. I am so lucky to have the luxury of being home to take care of these awesome little kiddos, and I can see how much our relationships have changed since we have had so much time together, but some days just cannot end soon enough!

When Nixon was little, he really did not react much when he was getting teeth. Oakley.... completely different story! Naps went from hours to 15 minutes. Bedtime was just another time of day. I was exhausted, and I also had to go to a training for work (that I will start soon enough).  I felt so bad leaving them in a day home, and when I  pulled up on the driveway to pick them up, I opened my door and could hear Oakley screaming. I felt horrible, I am her Mom so I am like programmed to put up with her grumpy screaming crying phase, but when J the day home owner opened the door, she was happy and smiling and leaning to come to me. Nixon also had a blast and J the babysitter was also happy and patient with the both of them.  Nixon did not even want to leave, she had a super great time! I am so glad I went with my instincts and took them where I did, and will continue to use her for the future!

Please, I would like to hear your teething tips. I tried Infants Tylenol, and teething tablets, the teething rings...nothing was making things better. What do you do?

Random humerus side note, another exciting moment Nixon had just last night, he had a sleeping buddy!
Jeff's parents are here, and I am excited to spend some time with them. This left the only spot left in a bed to sleep in was in Nixons bed, and my brother Brock stayed here last night for a quick Hi on his way to Utah. Anyways, when Brock decided to go to bed, Nixon was still awake. Brock climbed into bed and Nixon got the biggest smile on his face and started petting Uncle Brocks face! Brock said they were going to share the bed, but they had to be quiet and sleep, Nixon was just so excited to have a buddy that he went to sleep.  Brock said Nixon was a bed hog, so future sleepers beware! Nixon thought it was the best thing ever, and was sad when Uncle Brock left.  When I put him down for his nap he asked when Brock would be back to share his bed with him, he likes sharing his bed with Uncle Brock!

Here is a picture of Uncle Brock and of course his favorite niece and nephew ;)

These faces totally fit my kids hahahaha

That's all for today!

-K.

Working Mom

Since we moved to Nevada, I have been very fortunate to stay home with the children.  However, since we are not making any money, and I need to do and internship to complete my bachelors degree, I am getting prepared to go back to work. Some of you may not know, but in Idaho when I worked, I was able to have Oakley with me when Jeff was in class or something.  My boss was very nice and understanding, I was spoiled there. Unfortunately, I will never find a job like that again. :(

I go to a training for work tomorrow. I am really nervous for my kids.

When I went to my interview for the position, I had a good friend watch out kids because I was only going to be gone an hour or so.  This time, I did not want to push my kids on her for 6-7 hours, even though I trust her the most.
I also did not want to burden her with a very cranky baby, even if I was going to pay her. Oakley has been super super cranky, and I just figured it out right now, as I FINALLY felt a tooth come through! She loves to suck, so it has been very hard to investigate if she has been teething or not.

I feel bad for the lady going to be watching her though, she has been such a crab.  I just hope I get some sleep tonight so that I am not a crab too. Oakley is also VERY attached to me. Since she was born I have not been away from her for maybe more than 5 hours, maybe less time.... and since we have moved here, probably max time away from her would be 3 hours. So yea, we are pretty tight, and she has very much attached herself to me.

Most importantly, I feel bad for my kids. I am so sad to be going back to work. I always thought I was the working type... but being home with my kids these past two months has shown me how much I have been missing out on. Honestly some days I would prefer to be at work over being home and arguing and fighting with my kids. However, there are some moments, that I know I am so glad I was there to experience it with my kids, and I always want to be there for them just in case. I also worry a lot about what goes on while someone else is watching them.

I have been researching day homes and day cares.  One in Las Vegas just this week has been charged with child abuse.  They were found strapping children in chairs for 6 plus hours, and with holding food from them. AHHHHH How are people this insane to do that?!!!!

This of course made me more worried about my decision, but it came down to the fact that I don't really have a choice.... Thankfully I found a good paying job where I can also do my internship at, where I will be working more with kids after school.  I will be starting with Basic needs training, and moving up to psycho-social rehabilitation (which really is what I want to do).

All in all, I want my kids to be safe and happy. I want to give them the best life that I can.  By choosing this job, I chose the hours. I get to choose which people I work with, and therefore pick my days and my hours. I look forward to the journey, but am just having a really hard time even thinking about being away from my kids. Usually they will only be babysat a few hours a week due to me and Jeff's schedule, but tomorrow is going to be a long hard day for them, but I really hope its not. I tried to find them the best day home I could, with a women I somewhat know...

However, all of this makes me remember how much greatness I have in my life and how much to be thankful for.  These kids are my whole world, and I am so blessed to be their Mom and get to be on this journey with them!

So I think we will go out and really enjoy today.

-K

Sick Kids

It is so hard to tell when your kids are getting sick. Well, at least it is for me.  I swear Nixon has more mood swing than a teenage girl!

On Monday morning when Nixon got up, we were changing his clothes to get ready for our morning walk. When I pulled up his shirt there were little red bumps EVERYWHERE. Very confused because there has been nothing new in his diet for weeks, I contemplated other issues such as chicken pox or something.

I feel as a mother, if you aren't prepared for the worst, then your probably just not prepared.

As the day progressed, he got more and more of them. They up under his arm pits, and slowly down his arms and legs. I tried allergy medicine, and that did not seem to make any difference... I was reading online the difference between chicken pox and a rash from something like an allergy.  Chicken pox usually look  more like a ready to pop zit, and rashes always clear up after 24 hours, even if new ones are still appearing.

Well... Tuesday morning I skipped out on my Zumba to avoid contact with any other kids, just in case.

By 11am, they were all gone!

Now I just gotta figure out what his allergy was..... I am going to guess its something outside and in this climate, or something from nursery in church!

One of them did kind of bubble on his back and look a little like a blister, but does not look comparable to Google images to anything I have looked up, so I am thinking it is no big deal. I feel like you have to use google and find the not so ridiculous posts, otherwise your child and you could potentially have everything, or nothing because everyone is so DRAMATIC. After his bumps left, I felt a little dramatic about the situation, but my mom says to keep him away from other kids just in case. I think she's a smart lady, so I will try and listen.

Except, yesterday I had to run out and get the kids social security cards. It was a 3 hour trip before we were headed back home. Ugh. American government and making everything SO RIDICULOUS!

However, we need them, and I needed to get them done for taxes, and eventually they will need them, so it was for a good cause, but holy I had 2 very grumpy GRUMPY kids yesterday. The only problem is... its continuing with Oakley, so now I am thinking, is she getting sick? The cycle just goes round and round doesn't it...

Love Day Disaster

On Valentines Day I had a plan to go and "heart attack" Jeffrey's car while he was at work. Nixon and I had planned it for days, and had the hearts and everything all ready! You have no idea how hard it is to keep a 3 year old quiet, especially mine, he talks all. the. time.

Well Friday came along, and I had some errands to do beforehand, which I did not expect to take so long. (Visiting teaching, always longer than you think, right?!) I headed quickly over to Jeff's school, but on my way Nixon had an emergency and HAD to pee. NOW.

Well.
My phone rings......
Its Jeff.
Jeff - Where are you?
Me- Oh just taking Nixon to the potty, why are you almost done at the school?
Jeff - I will still be an hour or so, but I should be home soon.

I knew I did not have much time, but I still thought I had time!

After Nixon was done, we headed to the school, I drove around the parking lot, and there was no sign of our car.  I knew Jeff was pulling one over me and I was ticked! He always gets me, and I never have a chance to get him.  But now I knew he was getting me so HA!

I called him back.
Me- YOUR not at school!!!
Jeff - Why, where are you?
Me - I am so onto you, I can't believe you lied and said you were at school!
Jeff was basically - sorry not sorry. haha

By now he knows I was up to something, and he knows hes been caught so he said he would be home soon.

I was so disappointed that I could not surprise him.  We had tons of hearts and chocolates made into cute saying for him, and he was not around to receive it.

He still got to surprise me with flowers, a singing mylar balloon, and a trip to the spa the next day.

I did get to make him chocolate covered strawberries though! Yumm! But we ate them all Thursday night because they were so good.

All in all it was an awesome Valentines Day, but from my side to him, it was a total fail.  I did heart attack our room for him, but that is so not as cool! I would have done more of our house, but we had people coming over to visit that day, and did not want to make it messy.

I enjoyed seeing on Facebook that so many people enjoyed their Valentines Days, I am so glad that I have friends and family that are having fun in their lives and being taken care of.

One other thing that happened this weekend, Oakley is officially 6 months old!
She is also very grumpy. I cannot see or feel teeth coming in, but I can see bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, and feel my achy, tired body as I try and make it through the day.  Good thing she is cute.

We also hit up the Stratosphere, and the Chocolate Factory since it was the long weekend, and the Sam's town casino which has a forest in the middle of the casino, with dancing animals. Nixon loved it!

This one with Jeff & Oakley was form the Cactus garden which is just outside of the chocolate factory.

This was from our trip to the stratosphere, Oakley isn't the best yet at eating her mum mums.

I sent Jeff on all of the rides, this is a horrible picture, but this was him on the Insanity ride, which he thought was probably his favorite, but he thought they were all great.

We had a great love day weekend, and we hope you did too! We are having way too much fun here!

-K