Gone

Well hello there! I hope your holidays have been just as fabulous as ours have been.

First of all, I would like to congratulate this little guy for completely getting rid of his binky:

He threw me completely off guard. I thought we were in for at least a week with no sleep and lots of crying, but that is not what happened at all! I tied his binky to the leg of his crib with a short ribbon. He walked into his room, touched it, and said "uh oh. kuck! " (stuck).  That night he cried for less than 5 minutes, and then gave up and fell asleep. "That's it?!" I asked my husband, "He doesn't even really care?" and then I started bawling on Jared's shoulder because...well...I'm a mom and I get sad about my baby growing up. bahaha. Yep, I cried more than my son.  

The next day I caught Kyler kneeling awkwardly by his crib sucking on his binky, but he gave up after about 10 seconds.

A few days later I threw the binky away. Kyler said "All gone!" when I put him to bed that night and that was the end of binky.

I feel like Christmas came and went so quickly this year. We kept it simple for Kyler, and got him a balloon for Christmas (he is obsessed with them) along with a few other things that were given to him from family and friends. He was a happy boy!

A few days after Christmas we went to the Lucky Leaf (our fam beach house) which is always an adventure. Saturday morning there was a storm that made the waves huge! You can't tell from the picture how big they were, but Jared and I had fun surfing/ boogie boarding in the waves later that afternoon. (with wet suites on of course).

 Kyler kept trying to get in the ocean when we went on walks on the beach. He loved being able to run wild and free! He handed me this seashell and said "rock"...close enough.

Happy (almost) New Year!!

Bye Bye Binky!

Pacifier. Binky. Paci. Bink. Plug. -They're all the same thing. Kyler calls it his "Keenkey"- but whatever you want to call it, it's time for ours to go "bye bye".

I loved using the binky to soothe Kyler when he was an infant. Once he started to walk I tried taking it away, but then he started sticking his thumb in his mouth...and I thought it would be easier to break the habit with a binky rather than a thumb (and less germs too!) Kyler is still OBSESSED with his binky. It is his most treasured item. So I am anticipating that this "getting rid of the binky" process is going to be very difficult.

Since Kyler was 18 months old, we have only been letting him have it in his bed (and occasionally in the car or when he's not feeling good).  Now he relies on his binky to fall asleep. How in the world am I supposed to take away his most favorite item in the world? Our pediatrician recommended tying it with a short ribbon onto the leg of his toddler bed by the floor. That way he can have it whenever he wants but he will have to lay on the floor in a weird position to suck on it. He said they get tired of the "inconvenience" and stop sucking on it all together. I think we are going to try this method first and see how it goes... Here's day one:

How did you (readers who have done this before) get rid of your baby's binky?

Laundry Hatred

Let's talk laundry.  I hate it. Last week I never got around to getting the clothes out of the dryer, and into the closet. So my clothes have been in there this entire week. Even lazier part? I ran out of clean shirts, so every morning I walked to the drier and got a clean shirt out to wear, and left all of the rest sitting in there. Now I have two more loads to do. Laundry is seriously never ending, and it takes forever to do, but I can't complain too much because at least I wasn't born in the old days back when you had to hand wash and hang dry everything. :}

Enter awesome laundry hatred quotes:

(thank pinterest for not giving me people to cite)

"I believe you should live each day as if it's your last. Which is why I don't have any clean laundry, because, come on, who wants to do laundry on the last day of their life?"

"As I do more laundry, nudist seem less crazy."

"I didn't see anyone important today, so I'll just wear the same clothes tomorrow!"

"I don't feel like folding laundry right now...so I'll just restart the dryer."

"You know you are a mom when you have been washing the same load of laundry for 3 days because you keep forgetting to switch to the dryer."

I'm thinking about hanging this in my laundry room- It's so fitting!

The Results

As I left the doctors office on Friday, I was told that we would recieve Kyler's X-ray results of his hips by the end of the day. However, the computer systems went down after we left. Just our luck right?

Later on Friday, we got a call from our pediatrician saying that he looked at the X-rays and couldn't tell so he would have to have the Radiologist read them and let us know tomorrow. Saturday came and went, and we still hadn't heard back.  By this point I was freaking out thinking that there was something terribly wrong. I had so many thoughts running through my head the entire weekend like {What if Kyler walks funny as he gets older, and all of the kids make fun of him?...Will he ever be able to play sports like football without fear of his hips getting dislocated?...How in the world would he survive being in a cast not being able to walk for 4-6 months if he has to have surgery?...He is two years old, I cant even get him to sit still for 10 minutes!...etc)

However, all of my worries and concerns came to a halting stop early Monday morning when I got the call...

Kyler's X-rays are completely normal, and he won't need surgery!

What a relief! I am so glad that everything is good with our little boy! It was scary, as a mother, worrying about something being wrong, and the possibility of Kyler needing surgery to fix it.  I have SO much more respect for other mothers whose kids have had surgery, and more serious/life-threatening health problems.

This experience has made me realize that life can be changed in an instant. Sometimes I find myself complaining about things that I don't have, and I forget to be thankful for all of the things that are good in my life.

Chalk Paint and Kyler's X-Rays

 This week in preschool  we learned that the word "paint" starts with the letter "P" and then the kids practiced writing the letter "p" with paint outside! I've seen  posts all over Pinterest of homemade chalk paint, but I thought it looked like too much work and too messy to ever motivate me enough to want to do this activity in the past. However, we were overdue for a messy craft in preschool- so I decided to do it anyways.  Turns out, the kids (and I) LOVED it!

It was definitely messy, and may have been sampled at one point or another by my own son (can you blame him? It looks delish) but that's okay because it is completely safe, and super easy to make:

       -1 cup cornstarch

-1 cup water

   -food coloring 

Isn't it pretty?

Chalk paint was definitely a success over here. You should try it!

On a completely different subject: Kyler went to the doctor for his 2 year check-up today. While doing the physical exam of his hips, we heard a loud grinding noise (not normal) when he moved his legs around in different positions. I had never heard that before!  He asked if Kyler was breech when I was pregnant with him (I said yes, that's why he was a C-section) and the doctor then asked me if his X-Rays turned out normal when he was 4 months old.
Wait.
"Wha?"
Apparently, (I had no clue and I guess my Idaho doctors over looked this) but it is standard procedure for breech babies to have an x-ray and or ultrasound of their hips done at 4 months to check and make sure they are growing in the proper place. Hip dysplasia is always a risk with breech babies. Why didn't anyone tell me this before? Anyways, the doctor was shocked when I told him that Kyler never had those x-rays done, and he sent us over to the hospital to have them taken right away (because of the abnormal grinding and because Kyler started walking a little later {around 14 months})

The doctor said that even though Kyler is walking normally now, if the hips aren't growing in the correct place (see image), it can cause him to limp when he grows and then he could have other hip problems down the road. So IF that is the case they would do a surgery now to prevent that from happening later.

Now we are just waiting to get the results back from the x-rays. I really hope everything looks okay with our little guy! It was kinda traumatic going in to the doctors expecting nothing to be wrong, and then walking out thinking that your child might need surgery. So I am doing my best to keep my cool and stay positive. We will most likely get the results tomorrow!

NOTE TO READERS: If your baby/child ever has to have an x-ray done, make sure you bring another adult with you! I went by myself today, and it was very difficult. I swear every mom should grow 2 extra arms for every child that she has. Kyler was scared of the huge x-ray machine. It made him cry, and he kept trying to get off the table--I had a really difficult time trying to hold him down in the position that he needed to be in for the x-ray while trying to comfort him AND  trying to keep the little lead apron from falling off. I thought there would be a nurse or someone to help me, buuut there wasn't. So yeah, just a little tip in case you ever find yourself in the situation I was in today!

What's In My Diaper Bag?

Today I saw this youtube video. Her diaper bag is COMPLETELY organized. There is a special place for every object, and separate pockets for just about everything. I laughed out loud just thinking about what I would look like up on youtube going through my own diaper bag. Everything is just kind of dumped in there. It drives me NUTS not being organized and not being able to find things when I need them. I'm constantly having to clean it out... and lucky YOU today is one of those days...so let's take a look at my own diaper bag!

It looks pretty cute on the outside, right? That's all that seemed to matter when I bought it at the time. pfff who needs functionality, I thought.  Well apparently I do, because I regret buying this bag, just like I regret buying my 6inch black heals for church (tall pointy heals and a heaaavy toddler combined with the fact that I am extremely clumsy-doesn't mix so well) but they are cute. So, I will keep wearing them :)

Alright, now for a picture of the inside of my dumping zone diaper bag:

 Yikes.

See what I mean? Nothing has a place. It's all just kinda thrown in there. The bag does have a few pockets, but nothing ever stays in them. If per chance something does stay in the pocket it is supposed to be in, I spend 5 minutes fishing around for it at the bottom of the bag, and then the next day I will finally find it in the pocket where it was supposed to be. LOL

Alright let's list what's in there...shall we? (I'm nervous. There is bound to be something completely embarrassing (or rotten) in here.)

-Baby wipes (I always seem to run out with such a small case)
-Wallet
-2 of Kyler's favorite books and 1 book that is not mine and I have no idea where it came from. (It looks girly and has a bumble bee on it... if it's yours let me know!)
-My headphones
-2 candy wrappers
-Empty gum container
-A tape measure (Huh?)
-1 (clean of course) diaper
-Perfume
-Goldfish (LOTS OF THEM, I think the whole bag spilt in here. woops)
-3 toys
-One crayon (I use it as my pen bahah)
-2 lip glosses 
-A spoon (handy right?)
-A granola bar wrapper
-Fruit snacks
-2 binky's (I've been looking for these! They were in a pocket. Go figure.)
-3 old receipts
-Oh here is the gum that fell out of the above empty container! All of the pieces of gum are mushed in with the goldfish crumbs...yum.
-Chick-fil-A sauce (I'm addicted to this stuff)
-Mascara
-Last thing, my keys (clipped to outside)

That's it!
I'm thinking I need to invest in a new diaper bag that has magical pockets and zippers, to keep my bag more organized. What's the weirdest thing in YOUR diaper bag?

Zooing Around

We have been crazy busy the last few weeks. On Saturday, Jared and I ran in The Color Run 5k, and it was so fun! (running and fun in the same sentence? weirrd) I definitely recommend it. Watch the video if you don't know what it is!

 

We celebrated Kyler and Jared's birthdays this week too! 

Yesterday we went to the drive through zoo!

We bought a few buckets of food to feed the animals from the car windows-the kids loved it.

This Ostrich was taller than our suburban! Mel was afraid it would stick its' long neck through the car and poke her eyes out...she was all "Driive dad driiiive!" and so my dad stopped and rolled down the windows...bahahha I love my fam. 

Here is the story behind these next two pictures, but first you need to know the rules... Rule #12 (Schrammpa made us read the rules four times so I know this rule by heart) it was "do not feed the zebras. They are mean and bite." So obviously when this zebra started to stick its head through my window I "thought fast" and closed the window....

Okay okay, that's not what REALLY happened... what really happened was the whole car started screaming (I was sitting by the opened window on the right side if the car) and of course I wasn't looking until I felt a zebras wet breath and snotty whiskers on my neck. Then I jumped to the opposite side of the car onto my four year old nephews lap and squished my sister, Melanie, flat up against her window (which was closed- she's so smart) Then she yelled "charrrrr! close your window!!" which was kind of impossible considering the zebra was practically sitting in the middle seat next to us by now, but I was brave and kicked the zebra out and managed to close the window with my foot. Basically, I saved the day :)

Big Decision- where to live

 Making decisions is something both Jared and I despise. Whether it is picking which movie we watch for date night, or deciding what to cook for dinner. Choices. We hate making them. That's probably why we have put off making this decision for such a long time. Which career should we pursue? We seriously considered medical school, but it just didn't feel right for us. We also thought about moving out west for graduate school, but oddly-that didn't feel right for us either.

After much prayer, analysis, and discussion, we feel like staying here with our current job is the right choice. We have discovered opportunities and potential growth in this career that fits our family life style and that is simply too great to pass up.

Reaching this decision has been difficult, yet refreshing. It makes sense and feels right to us. We are confident that this is the best option for our family, and acknowledge the guiding hand of the Lord in our life.

 I guess this means North Carolina is the place we call home for now!

NC

Our Time

 My life is extremely: chaotic-hectic-wild-exciting-flustering-vibrant- and sometimes zoolike....but occasionally it is also:

-laid back and peaceful-

I work 30+ hours a week taking care of other people's kids (in addition to my own) and I love it!...but every once in a while I get a whole day that is just me and Kyler, and I love that most.

We laze around together, snuggle on the couch (for a whole 10 seconds that he will stay still) play games, go on walks, do chores together, and do anything else Kyler wants. That little boy has me wrapped around his chubby little finger. I love "our time" together.

   I made this video of Kyler by compiling random video clips from my phone and adding music. It's nothing fancy, but something to be able to look back on in the years to come and remember what life was like when he was this age. I still can't believe he will be TWO next week!

PS. We finally made the HUGE decision concerning our future(schooling/career and where we will be living)...more on that later!

First time trick-or-treating

Kyler was a ninja turtle for Halloween! He absolutely loved getting candy from people, and we ended up with way too much. Now what to do with it all? I'm sure I can figure something out ;). He wouldn't hold still for pictures so this is the best I have. Also I'm going to attempt to post a video from my phone, we'll see how that goes- of his first house he went to.

 

 He kept saying "WHOA!" like he had never seen that much candy in his life (which he hasn't lol).

Carowinds

Last weekend we went to Carowinds! For all of you non-NC people, Carowinds is an amusement park, kind of like Six Flags. Neither of us had been to an amusement park in many-many years so this weekend was mine and Jared's first time riding a roller coaster together! We went to the park on one of the last days it was opened this season, and it was SO FUN! Honestly, it was the perfect day to go as the weather was beautiful, and the park was empty. We literally didn't have to wait in lines! We road on three times as many rides (in a few hours) as you would normally be able to fit into one day.

 The coasters were AMAZING. I especially liked The Intimidater Jared's favorite was The Night Hawk.

 My parents joined us, and we took turns going on roller coasters and watching Kyler. 

Kyler got to go to the little kids area of the park called Snoopy Land-He loved it!

 This was his first time on a carousel. He was just a little too nervous to ride on the horse by himself, so I ended up holding him on my lap-he still loved it!

Halloween is quickly approaching, and I can't believe how fast time seems to be going by lately. We are busy trying to decide what career path we want to follow and where we would like to end up living...it is a slow process, but I think we are finally making progress! Meanwhile, we are just enjoying life here in NC.  Happy Halloween Eve!

 PS. stay tuned for Kyler's next home movie!

Lullabies Before Bed

Every night before I put Kyler in his bed, I like to sing to him.  We always sing what we call the "Mr. Moon" song, and I often like to sing a churchy song before bed as well.  One in particular that I call  Kyler's very own is "When He Comes Again":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR-Xum1W0

Three weeks ago, we sang a song in church that I fell in love with. It's called "Come Unto Jesus". I've heard this song many times in my life, but when we were singing it, it almost sounded like a lullaby to me, and I decided right then and there that this would be our next child's "very own song". This song has been stuck in my head for the past three weeks (isn't that a super long time to have a song stuck in your head?!) I especially love the last two versus. This youtube channel won't let me post the video directly to my blog, but you can still click on the link and see it that way. I love this video that goes along with the song! http://youtu.be/LYtjgBxnasA

1. Come unto Jesus, ye heavy laden,
Careworn and fainting, by sin oppressed.
He’ll safely guide you unto that haven
Where all who trust him may rest.

2. Come unto Jesus; He’ll ever heed you,
Though in the darkness you’ve gone astray.
His love will find you and gently lead you
From darkest night into day.

3. Come unto Jesus; He’ll surely hear you,
If you in meekness plead for his love.
Oh, know you not that angels are near you
From brightest mansions above?

4. Come unto Jesus from ev’ry nation,
From ev’ry land and isle of the sea.
Unto the high and lowly in station,
Ever he calls, “Come to me.”

Mini vacation

This last weekend we had the opportunity to go to the nc state fair and to the beach...let's just say it was a blast and a MUCH needed mini vacay with WAY too much good food. When we got back Jared gave Ky new haircut!
Pics out of order...oh well!

Camping/Project

We finally finished the entertainment center we have been working on for the last month! My parents were trying to get rid of it- I was going to sell it for them but decided we might as well keep it because it's a really nice piece of furniture! We weren't huge fans of its orangey color stain. So we traded our entertainment center for theirs and sanded it down and stained it a darker color. Sounds easy but it was A LOT of work and it seriously seemed like it took forever....buuut our work paid off and now we have an entertainment center we love! Now we just have to find pretty things to put on the shelves and something to fill in the gaps on the bottom piece of the entertainment center, but that part should be easy. It was a fun project to do together. I'm blogging with my phone again so all of the pictures will have to come last and in a random order. (Is there a way to put pics in the middle of post from a phone?)

Last weekend we went camping with my parents and bro Cal and sis in-law Courtney. Schrammah took Kyler on a billion walks so he completely crashed in the tent at bedtime and slept the whole night through- what a good camper he is! The first thing kyler did when he woke up is put jareds hat on. Photo cred Courtney for the pic of Bauer swimming in the lake!

Toddler Problems

Stuck in a laundry basket. Life is rough as a toddler.

First Flower

A few weeks ago Jared was teaching Kyler about giving mommy flowers...and today Kyler did it all by himself with nobody helping or telling him to. Daddy taught him well <3

What's in Kyler's Bag?

This is a completely random blog post, but Kyler has this bag he has been dragging around while pushing his stroller (his new fav activity) the last couple of days. He has a couple of objects in there and every time I take them out, he promptly returns them to his bag. Here are his treasured items of the week: a basketball, a tennis ball, a bowtie, a play cup and play milk carton, a bottle cap, a protein mixer ball, a play hamburger bun, a harmonica, and a play dough roller.

Just taking turns

First kyler got sick, then he politely gave me his germs, and then I of course shared my germs with Jared. So we have been taking turns being sick the last two weeks.

In between all of the germs we celebrated my 24th birthday! We went out to dinner, had coldstone icecream cupcakes, and Jared got me flowers, my fav movie, and a blue sapphire (my birthstone) necklace shaped in a heart with a lil diamond on top. It's sooo pretty! I love it.

We have also been busy with projects around the house. We painted our door and shutters black (they used to be ugly grey) and we are also working on sanding down an entertainment center so that we can stain it a darker color. It's a lot of work, but a fun project to do together.

This week

First of all, the DRIVE from UT TO NC was awesome! I can't believe how well behaved Kyler was! He throws a fit driving around town for a few minutes-but across the country? He was an angel. Most of the drive he spent playing with his feet. He has a weird toe fascination thing going on right now.

This week has been CRAZY busy for me. I started nannying a little 3 year old at my house 3 days a week, and I also started nannying another family (same as last year) with 3 kids-3 days a week (tutoring and driving them to their various activities) Plus I started teaching preschool on tues/thurs mornings too! The word busy is an understatement but I love it.
Kyler hasn't warmed up to me teaching preschool so far. He gets really possessive and jealous when I give another child attention- so it's really hard to teach right now. I was going to keep open enrollment for my class this year so that my class would grow and get bigger as the year went on, but now I am thinking that I wont do that. Kyler is just too young and making sure that his needs are met is my priority. I love that all my jobs allow me to be with my son all day long. Being a mom is the bestest job ever! It's hard work, don't get me wrong- but I love every minute of it and wouldn't trade my time with him for the world.
Tonight at our relief society meeting (women in my church) we had little mini classes on motherhood. I loved it and learned so much! We talked about patience and unconditional love. We talked relationship vs behavior, and how important it is to form a strong relationship with children while they are young and how good behavior will (most of the time) follow because of that attachment- children naturally want to please those that they love! We also talked about Christ and how He held the little children in His arms and how important it is for us as mothers to do the same for our children and to give them each that time, love, and attention.