More Teeth & Rolling Over

Kolay turned 10-weeks old on Saturday! She is growing up so much and starting to get a personality. She is a pretty diligent roller from belly to back. She will work and work til she gets turned over during her tummy time. She can hold her head up by herself for a little while. She is starting to coo and gurgle back and forth with you. She is such a low maintenance girl and is so fun to be around. She is great to take with me anywhere. She started a good little cough and is at the end of it thank goodness. We have been diffusing Breathe right by her bed all through the night which has helped tons. She was struggling to sleep at nights earlier in the week but slept 8 hours again last night! Yay!

Kason started repeating parts of the alphabet with us. He talks most all of the day. It is hard to take him to sacrament meeting and teach him that he needs to whisper. He prefers more of an outside voice everywhere he goes! He also has found the fun in repeating the same word over and over.  He got his 17th tooth on Friday night, his first 2-year old molar. It definitely explains his sudden lack of patience and increased demanding attitude. I forgot to mention that last Sunday Kolt taught Kason that cooked carrots were candy. Kason has really bought into that and as of last night still gobbles his "candy" with both hands when we offer it. We're going to keep that one going as long as we can! He is pretty good about trying new foods and forgetting about he sweets when they are out of sight.

Monday was a pretty normal day with morning classes and afternoon work for me. The evening was crazy--I filled in for a volleyball team in rexburg and then hurried back to play for another team at the Apple.  So thankful for people who help me with Kolay at both places. It is just too long to leave her home between feedings. This girl is already getting her feel of life in the gym!

Tuesday Kolt was at school from 8 am to 10 pm. Kolt had a test in his second class. He got an 87% which he was disappointed with; however it was quite high for the class. He started the day with institute, abnormal psychology, and then studied all afternoon until His organic evolution course in the evening. Tuesdays make for long days at home! We FaceTime a lot during breaks.

Wednesday Kolt had morning classes and I worked in the afternoon with Kolay. Kason, Kolay, and I went to district wrestling to watch Kolt's cousin Shelly's son wrestle. Kason was so intrigued with the mats! He thought we were going to watch brand play basketball and kept saying "Brand" over and over. Thank goodness we ran into him during lunch! Jared lost the match we watched but went on to place quite high, just barely missing qualifying for state. Kolt was able to get out of class in time to watch as well. He and kason went back to the championships later in the evening with brand and grandpa Lindley. I had volleyball practice with my 12 year old team. It was a good practice. The girls are learning to serve over the net from farther back and getting more rallies. I think we are about ready to learn how to hit! After volleyball, we dropped Kolt off at his church ball game. He enjoys playing basketball every week he can make it, although he keeps feeling like his body is getting older and more achy. He got a good workout last night because after his game, he ran home from the church too!

Thursday Kolt was at the school all day studying and preparing for a presentation in his senior seminar. The kids and I stayed home all day; I taught Evan his piano lesson in the afternoon. Kason loves to try to play with us. He thinks Evan is pretty cool when he plays. Kason had also been enjoying being with Kolt when he plays the piano and sings the hymns. I really love having music in our home. Kolt has even motivated me to play a little more in the week. Kason went to grandmas day with Grandma Piquet in the evening. He went to a relief society activity with her. I enjoyed taking a bath with Kolay and making homemade teriyaki chicken and rice bowls for dinner.

Friday was a busy day! Kolt shadowed in the morning and I took Kolay to her photo shoot for the cover of the Baby Parade 2014 at the post register. My mom was Ardmore to watch kason on the business office while I took Kolay downstairs with the 5 other kids. The theme was a cake smash and Kolay didn't do much smashing but there were plenty of kids to smash them. Hopefully the pictures turned out as I spent most of the time under a blanket laying behind a bench to hold on to her and not be seen! After the pictures, we hurried and met Kolt to go to a funeral of a neighbor who was in one of Kolt's classes a couple semesters ago and used to be in our ward. It was a nice funeral with a neat tribute to Jonathon Horton. Kolt stayed with the kids in the nursery and listened to the funeral while I played the organ and I went to the nursery to feed Kolay in between songs. After that, I went to work with Kolay and Kolt stayed home with Kason.  In the evening we went on a date night at ISU's Idaho Falls campus. They provided dinner and showed Mockingjay. We left Kason at home with grandma and grandpa and took Kolay with us. We were glad to meet Natalie and Brady there! It was a fun night!

On Saturday Kolt got up early to go rope at the Rexburg Arena for a few hours. He had a good time and felt like he did alright. He was thankful to be able to have a horse to share because he doesn't have one right now. After roping, Kolt came home to sleep because he picked up a last minute on-call night shift. He had planned to do a little homework if he got called in, but unfortunately he got called in and had quite a bit to do. He did make some progress on his homework in the night. I felt like I was up as much as Kolt was that night. It felt like Kason and Kolay took turns being awake so I got next to no sleep. Kolt usually takes kason at nights so we can both sleep. Dad was definitely missed at our house!

On Sunday, we went to our 1 o'clock block of church. I played the organ. Kason didn't do so well during sacrament meeting. He had a good morning nap but was just full of energy in the meeting. He seems to think that if mom and dad are whispering, he has to make up for the noise by shouting back. He also found that it was pretty fun to shout "Amen" 5 times after prayers. This week I went to nursery with him. They have quite a few young kids in nursery that fuss quite a bit and Kason seems to think that he needs to have his grandma the whole time. Kason did pretty good although he doesn't care to clean up toys and sit for a lesson just yet!

Our Valentine's Day

Kason is full of life right now. He is a busy-body, always wanting to do something. He is totally content to be outside for hours and hours. It’s pretty boring when he’s home with Mom and Kolay, since it is still a little too cold for Kolay most days.  He loves to sit on Horsey Kate in the backyard. On Sunday, Kolt actually found Kason and Brooke in the corral feeding hay to Kate. We are glad they were okay and that Kate is so good with kids. Kason definitely has to be under close watch outside! Kason still loves his morning pancakes. That is always his best meal of the day. Throughout the day, we can convince him to take a break from his busy schedule to eat yogurt, string cheese, shredded cheese, bananas, oranges, or apples.  His favorite “nacks” (snacks) are “nandy” (candy) and “teem” (whipped cream). He loves his usual squirt of whipped cream on his pancakes in the morning. His toughest job is to make sure that Kolay’s binky is in her mouth. Since we have 1:00 church, Kason has started taking naps around 10 AM, and going to bed between 7 and 8 at nights.  It’s been a tough transition because he is usually ready for a second nap in the late afternoon, but then has a hard time going to bed at nights.  Kason’s favorite show is still Super Why.  He started sounding out letters this week and repeats numbers to 10.  He loves repeating words and will echo everything you say.  He can officially say all 8 of his cousins’ names. 

Kolay has already taken on the role of peacemaker at our home. She is pretty easy going and always brings out the best in everyone. She smiles and smiles now. It is adorable. She is great to go to anyone and is also great to lie in her chair or bassinet to let her mom keep up with Kason at home. She is really good at holding up her head and is getting better at sitting in the Bumbo. She is officially a roller already! She rolls from her belly to back pretty consistently. The first time she rolled over was last Saturday and today she did it several times in a row. She is so patient with her brother’s acts of love, which sometimes end up being a one-sided wrestling match. She is still on a great 3-hour schedule in the day and 6 hour schedule at night. Kolay had her 2-month appointment this week! She weighed in at 10 pounds 14 ounces (45%) and measured 22.5 inches (58%) with a 15.25 in head (72%).  She still has her belly button hernia, but the doctor said it’s healing well.  Her eczema rash is all gone! ‘nkShe got her first round of immunizations and was really tough! Kason and Kolt stepped outside during her shots, so I stayed in with her alone. I really like having Kolt in with me during the shots to make me feel tougher, but I really didn’t want Kason to see the shots more. Kolay had one oral immunization; as the nurse was telling me that she was sucking it better than most 2-month olds, I realized that that was the first thing she had had besides breastfeeding. She still hasn’t even had a bottle (which will change soon as Kolt and I really want to attend a temple session before it closes in March). Kolay barely teared up when she got the shots and was soothed about 10 seconds later and never fussed again. She didn’t even need Tylenol when she got the shots. I contribute her toughness to the fact that she has an older brother who toughens her up on a daily basis. We are pretty impressed with our baby girl!

Monday Kolt shadowed in the morning, and I worked in the afternoon. Kolt is learning a lot from his shadowing with Scott. Scott is great to explain things to him and let him do some hands on things.  Kolay is great to come to work with me still. She sleeps most of the time, and I put her chair underneath my desk, so I can rock her with my foot for hours. She is pretty content and also loves to lay on my desk and kick. After work, we drove to Sugar City to visit my Grandpa & Grandma Dalling.  They were great to visit with! They got to meet Kolay for the first time, and Kason liked visiting with Grandpa.  Grandpa talked to us a little bit about his service as mayor of Sugar City, and we visited and laughed a lot about raising kids.  I played volleyball again afterwards in Rexburg. The kids did much better this time for Kolt. Playing a little earlier in the evening seems to be better for both kids.

Tuesday Kolt had classes and the kids and I stayed home for the day.  Kolt has been working really hard in his classes.  He is taking Abnormal Psychology, Organic Evolution, Pathobiology, a Senior Seminar, and Medical Terminology. He only has 10 hours of in-class time because a couple of the classes are online.  Although he doesn’t have much class time each week, you would never know the difference. He has been spending nearly 12 hours at school on Tuesday and Thursday, the days I don’t work.  During those days, he does most of the week’s homework and lectures online.  He is a diligent student and never misses class or homework. On Tuesday evening, the kids and I met Grandpa Lindley at Grandma’s basketball game at RMMS.

Wednesday evening we went to Brand’s last basketball game. The kids got valentines from Grandma & Grandpa Piquet.  Kason loves his dog valentines! Kason wasn’t feeling good with a bit of a cough and upset stomach. Right after the game, I had volleyball practice in the gym. Trish watched Kolay again, and Kason went home with Kolt. Kolt was also feeling pretty sick today as well.  Last Friday, he went to the doctor and got an antibiotic to try to kick a nasty cough and congestion.  He has been coughing and coughing for a couple weeks now, and Kason and Kolay have both started it.  Unfortunately the antibiotic hasn’t been helping, so it must be viral. His back has also started to spasm enough that he can hardly walk or move without serious pain.  He was able to get a muscle relaxer to help him through a few miserable days. We have spent the last week heating, sitting in the hot tub, doing lower back stretches and strengthening his muscles until he finally feels better. It has been a crazy thing—he can’t figure out what made it upset, maybe coughing too much or shooting hoops with Brand outside that afternoon, but he seems to be doing much better now!

On Thursday, Kolt has class and homework most of the day. I taught Evan his piano lesson; he keeps amazing me. He’s a quick learner and practices every week.  In the evening, we went to Grandma’s basketball game again with Grandpa. On Friday, we went to Kolay’s doctor appointment and I worked. Kolt stayed home with Kason. It was a pretty routine day! In the evening, before it got too cold, we took the kids for a walk. Kason loved the park. I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time there this summer! Friday evening, Paisley, Landon  & Shauna came to bring us Valentine cupcakes. Kason and Paisley enjoyed playing together while we visited, and Kolay snuggled with Shauna and Landon.

Saturday was Valentine’s Day! Kolt surprised me with a dozen red roses, my favorite frosted sugar cookies, and a Roku stick. He is so good at listening to the things I tell him about and surprising me with them on the holidays. I am very lucky to have him as my valentine.  I surprised Kolt with sticky notes on the bathroom mirror in the shape of a heart with all the things I love about him. The kids made a valentine craft for their mommy. It’s a LOVE board that has Kason’s handprint as the “O” and Kolays’ footprints as the “V”. Thank you Pinterest! It turned out great! In the evening, Kason stayed with Tatelyn Hill while Kolt and I went to Macey’s Homecoming dinner and Stake Conference.  Kason did great at home. He loves Tate and was saying her name all the way to pick her up.  Tate fed him lots for dinner and then let him eat cupcakes for dessert.  We had a great time visiting with Macey at her dinner. Returned missionaries have such a special spirit; it was great to be around her. Aunt Jan spoiled us by holding Kolay for most of the time we were there! We then hurried to the Stake Adult Session of Conference. It is always one of my favorite meetings.  I was really touched by a talk from the mission president’s wife in our area. I can’t even remember the theme of her talk, but I remember her mentioning that sometimes our homes are “Celestial Chaos”. I loved that. I feel like that often right now, but it really is Celestial. I love being home with my kids; it really is a heaven on earth at our home.  We also were instructed to “redouble” our efforts in attending the temple even with it being closed for a year and half. I have been thinking a lot about what that means and how we can do that. I also spent a lot of time thinking of my Grandpa Lindley who passed away on Valentine’s Day a few years ago. I am always amazed at the many things he accomplished in life and the love he had for his family. He will always be missed, and I can’t wait to see him again someday.

Sunday morning we attended Macey’s mission report in her ward at 9 AM.  She did a great job. We had an interesting meeting. Right during her talk, Kason started choking on a piece of cereal. Combined with his cough and the cereal blocking off his air, he choked pretty good and threw up as I was leaving the meeting. He was pretty upset after that, and it was pretty scary for mommy. On the way to our Stake Conference (we had to leave a little early to make it), we decided to take Kason home and let him sleep. He crashed as soon as we got there around 10:15.  I went to Stake Conference for the first half and then traded Kolt and let him go the second half. It was an interesting day! We had a nice dinner with the Lindley’s in the afternoon. Kason loves playing with his cousins.

Sweet Smiles

Kolay turned 8 weeks old this week! She is still sleeping 6-8 hours at night usually from around 11 PM to 6 AM. She is quite a noisy sleeper, but this mom is tired enough it doesn’t bother me to have her in the bassinet beside our bed.  She is a great eater and can burp like a grown man. She definitely knows her mom’s voice. She is really starting to smile this week, and does it several times a day. Mostly when her mommy is around, but has started smiling for others as well. Thanks to some Aquaphor cream the rash on her face is all cleared up, and the rash on her neck and back is almost gone. Her head is definitely growing, as her hair keeps getting thinner.  She is a long skinny girl with a cute little belly. I enjoy dressing her in some of the dresses I wore when I was a baby. She is right in the 0-3 month clothing.  She is so pleasant and is great to have with me at work or wherever I need to go.

Kason turned 19-months old this week.  He has turned into a great sleeper. He loves his crib. Every night we have the same routine. We get on our pajamas, brush our teeth, read scriptures, sing songs, and have prayer as a family, then we go to his room, turn on his “music” (which he always asks for), gives his big bear a hug, give him a sippy cup of water and his favorite horse blanket, and then Kason dives into his bed.  He usually sleeps from around 9 PM-7 PM.  He takes a great nap in his crib, usually about an 1 ½ at noon. One night I told Kason that we needed to go down and get his pajamas on. Kason disappeared and came back about 10 minutes later with a pair of pajamas from his closet. It was pretty cute! Kason talks a lot! He repeats lots of words and now says some on his own. He loves to have conversations. Kolt has been trying to teach him Spanish. When he is alone with Kason, he will only speak Spanish to him. One day this week, Kolt only spoke Spanish to him while he was in the store. Kason would point to something, say it in English, and then Kolt would point to the same thing and say it in Spanish. Kason was pretty frustrated. Now when Kolt starts speaking Spanish to Kason, Kason will jabber back in some incomprehensible language and will laugh at himself like he is speaking like Dad. His favorite show is Super Why. It is an interactive show that teaches lessons from reading stories and helps with spelling and sounding out letters.  Kason thinks that “E” is always the answer, and just started repeats some of the letter sounds, including “ss”.

Monday morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast with Grandma Lindley before I left for work.  We are so glad Grandma was able to come to Kolay’s baby blessing last week. Kolay and I stayed at work all day to close the month.  Kason stayed home with Kolt for the day. In the evening, I subbed for my volleyball team at the Zone again. I enjoy getting the chance to play. Last week, Kolt came and watched both kids. It was quite a task. This week I was able to take Kolay with me and have Teresa Ure come and watch her at the gym. Kolay did great for her and I’m grateful Teresa was able to come. It is just a little too long to leave Kolay at home between feedings.

Tuesday I stayed home with the kids while Kolt had class and studied at the school from 8 Am – 10 PM. We had a great day at home. We went to my mom’s basketball game at Rocky Mountain. Half way through the game, Kason started saying “Rope” and pointing to him in his lime green shirt across the gym. I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t know Rope would be there, so I was pretty impressed Kason found him. He loves going to basketball games and is really good at watching.

Wednesday Kolt had class in the morning and I worked in the afternoon. Kason and Kolt went up to Brand’s game at Madison, but found out on the way up that Brand wasn’t going because he was sick. Luckily he was planning on watching some of my mom’s game at Madison, so he was able to make something of the trip. I took Kolay to my volleyball practice; Kolt met me at the gym to take her home. We had a good practice. It is fun to coach 12s this year. They definitely learn a lot from 10 to 12.

Thursday Kolt had class in the morning, and I worked the afternoon again.  I filled in for Beth at work Thursday afternoon and Friday. I am getting better at it although it still seems new to me every time! In May, she is going on a trip for 10 days, so I will be training a lot in the next week to fill in for her then. Kason got to ride the bus with Grandma Lindley to her basketball game with the team in the afternoon while Kolt had his afternoon class.  He was great on the bus and was pretty shy with the girls. Kolt went to the game to get Kason and watched a little bit, then did some shopping. I met them at home with some pizza that I got with a coupon for dinner.

Friday I worked all day with Kolay. Kason fevered most of the day with Kolt at home. He wasn’t feeling good. Kolt was great to do the laundry! Half way through the day Kolt came and picked her up and brought her back a few hours later when she was hungry. It was a busy day at work! In the evening, Kolt went to watch some of Brand’s game, although he wasn’t able to play still.  We had a good evening, watching basketball and eating caramel popcorn.

Saturday Kolt worked a 7 AM – 7 PM shift at the BHC. That makes for long day for both of us! I was able to do taxes in the morning and spent the afternoon making valentines for grandparents and cousins.  For the grandparents, we made a valentine with Kason’s handprint and a picture with both kids, blowing them a kiss. For the cousins, we made Bear-shaped cookies with a tag that said “We love you BEARY much!” I tried to help Kason understand how to hold his hand big to put it in the paint. Once I did, he started crying saying “Uh-Oh”. He was pretty worried at the mess, and it wasn’t such a fun activity for him. He really enjoyed helping me make cookies though. Since we have officially had pancakes for 2 weeks straight, he kept calling them “pancakes” because they were flat. He thought the bears were pretty cool though! Kason went to town with Grandpa in the day and also to Evan’s basketball game. He loves going anywhere!  In the evening, I took the kids to the girls district basketball game at Bonneville with Grandpa & Grandma and Kamrie & Kylen. Kolt met us there half way through! We had our hands full!

Sunday was a good day. I took some pictures of Kolay in her blessing dress again in the morning. Kason got up early and took an early nap. He was pretty tired still through nursery, and the leaders were shorthanded, so it was tough in there. Kolay slept all through church. She is great to go to others when I needed to play the piano in Relief Society. After church, we drove straight to Great Grandma & Grandpa Piquet’s to take them their valentine. It is always good to visit. We then went to Grandpa & Grandma Piquet’s house to take them their valentines. Kason went outside with Rope and Kolay snuggled with Shauna & Grandma. When we got home, Kason was really tired. He went to bed at 7:15 and slept until 7 the next morning. Kolt and I watched a crazy show called Stonehearst Asylum on Netflix. It was pretty intense!