o'tay, mama

That's Brecken's new phrase. And I'm totally in love with hearing it- it's sooo cute. I find myself asking him questions that end with "OK, B?" just so I can hear his adorable little voice say, "O'tay, Mama."

owies

B got a good owie tonight. He was helping me make dinner and touched the hot stove with his hand. THANK THE LORD it was the one I had turned off a few minutes earlier, instead of the one I had JUST turned off, but it was still hot and he burned his hand. I immediately got his hand under cold water and Josh was just pulling into the driveway. We held his hand under the water for several minutes while B bawled hard, and then B wanted to cuddle with Josh. His hand was a bit red, but it didn't blister, thank goodness. He sat with us for quite a while and sniffled and every once in a while he'd cry and say, "owie...." and hold up his hand. Poor baby. :( Luckily it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

may i have this dance?

It's been a bit of a rough afternoon in our house- Josh is gone on the ambulance and Brecken has been so naughty. Throwing crayons, not listening, the whole bit. I tried time-out twice, in our room with the door shut. Well, he has figured out how to open the door, so I had to stand there holding it shut. Two go-arounds of that and all he did was laugh. I was at my wits end. After more crayon throwing, I put him in his room and shut the door- and he must have known finally that I meant business because he didn't try to open the door and he bawled. I was mad enough at that point that I left him there for an extended time-out (don't freak out on me- it was only 5 minutes instead of 2.) while I gathered myself back together. After I was ready, I went to get him. I made him tell me he was sorry and he gave me the biggest hug ever and came out to the living room and was the best helper, picking up his mess.

After we picked up together, I turned on the iPod and we slow danced in the living room. My mind fast-forwarded 20 or so years to his wedding and I imagined myself with him dancing on his wedding day and it made me sad. I'm not ready for my baby to grow up. He's already too big. 2 years old is too old. It will be so exciting, however, to find where his life leads between now and his wedding day. Soon I will be saying I wish he was 2 years old again, tantrums and all.

My mind woke up from my daydream, when he covered my mouth to make me quit singing, and said, "Momma. Milk." Yup- back from the 20-something young man to my 2-year-old-milk-wanting-son; one who is the light of my life, tantrums and all.

haizey doe

We want to welcome Brecken's new cousin into the world! She was born on Wednesday, Sept. 24, but I wanted to wait until Joel and Annie posted first before I did.

Hailey Jo, or as B says, Haizey Doe, weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs, 1 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. Big sister Karlee is in love with her, I can tell from the pictures. And Joel said Trevor wanted to put her back and not bring her home. I've been told that's what I said about my sister, too. :)

So, WELCOME, Haizey Doe, and we can't wait to meet you!

(pictures of her are posted on Annie's blog)

trucks poop- did you know that?

Brecken is very stinky right now. I asked, "Did you poop?" He immediately replied, "no...." I asked if I should check, and he said, "no....." Then pretty soon, he brought me his toy truck and said, "Momma. Truck poop." I asked to make sure I heard right, and he confirmed it- the smell I am smelling came from the truck. Plastic trucks poop. Good to know. :)

Off to change a diaper...

"gwoss"

Yes, it is gross. We all smell like skunk today.

Last night, there was a skunk on the other side of our fence. The dogs were barking at it so we got them in as fast as we could. Unfortunately, it was not fast enough. They got sprayed. Once we realized it, out they went again, but it was too late- our house smelled like skunk. All night. We left the windows open but it didn't do too much good. We all went to school today smelling like skunk, although only one person asked me about it. I think the others were just being polite. :) I was dousing myself in peony smelling lotion, maybe that had something to do with it! HOWEVER, the first thing out of Amy's mouth when I went to pick B up was, "Um, Kara?" I said, "Did he smell?" Poor Amy. She said it wasn't bad, but I think she was just trying to be nice! I honestly didn't even think about the fact that B would smell like it until I smelled it on myself at school!!! She put B's extra set of clothes on him and she said it was much better, but man, I still feel bad!

So, as B would say, "GWOSS". Josh is outside right now putting skunk remover on the dogs and I am in with B while he takes a bath so we can get it out of his hair. We left the windows open all day today and the house no longer smells, thank goodness! It was not something I wanted to live through tonight, too! The house is freezing cold now, but blankets can help that- nothing helps skunk smell. :)

#50

family

I had the privilege of taking some more photos of my niece yesterday, along with my nephew, and their parents, too. :)

happy birthday!

My baby boy turned 2 today! Holy moly, how time flies.

September 11, 2006
September 11, 2007
September 11, 2008

two years ago today...

I woke up and threw up. First time in a while that had happened. (And after 5 constant months of it, I didn't miss it at all!!) I told Josh after I puked that we needed to get the baby's room done that day, because I had a feeling we were going to have a baby sooner than we thought. All we had left was curtains and blinds and straightening up, but it needed it! Little did I know, 2 hours after making that statement, I would go into labor! Tried stopping it with water and laying on my left side, didn't work. Tried a bath. Didn't work. They were long contractions and regular, but they sure didn't hurt like I thought they would. Instead, it felt like a body sized rubber band squeezing the air out of me. I knew they were real though! Called the dumb doctor on call and he wanted to prescribe me a pill, but on a Sunday in Saratoga, there was nowhere to get it filled. So off to the hospital we went. We got there and got checked in and I was given the pill to stop labor. Didn't work. They gave me the worst shot I've EVER had (OH MAN, I can still feel the stinging in my arm!) and that didn't work either. So I labored all night. Counting the minutes until MY doctor came on call. :) For the rest of the story, you can read it here.

And yes, I still think about those babies in the NICU and ICC. Every day.

two years ago today...

was a Friday. I got up and got ready for work, totally oblivious to the fact that it would be my last day of work for a few months. I'm sure there was a football game that night that I attended, too. I didn't have any of my sub plans or info ready to go. If we are lucky enough to have another baby, I will have all affairs in order by 30 weeks, just in case. :)

backet

For as long as Brecken could talk and identify people in pictures, photos of himself were always "Baby", "Rynee" (Ryan) or "You". Today, for the first time ever, he saw himself in a photo (of him on the potty, none the less!) and said, "Backet!" Not only was that the first time he has identified himself, but the first time he has EVER said his name!! (well, close anyway.) He said it again, and then pointed to himself and said it again. Yay! And he did it before his 2nd Birthday!!

Here's the famous picture:

airplanes

The group of terribly rich people with their own airplanes who fly to Saratoga just to hang out are in town this week. Brecken, as you know, is fascinated with airplanes so I took him to the airport for a closer view today.

waterboy

It's official- I became the mother of the waterboy today. He helped Macy fill them up...

Then he carried them over...

And carefully placed them in the water holder thingys (don't you love my technical terms?) for the boys to drink later.

We went to Hanna for Josh's game tonight. It was COLD AND WINDY. But we won- a solid 58-6. :)

fyi...

For you grandparents and such that are looking for something to give to a 2-year old for his birthday... here's what we got him so do NOT get him the same thing. :)

Thomas the Tank Engine railroad tracks, expansion pack, and a couple trains:

Shape sorter:

And Josh's choice- a 4-wheeler similar to this. Only it's just blue, not Batman. :) It's small, like his bike that he is in love with, but this one is battery powered.

road trip

We took a road trip yesterday. Wasn't planning on it, but it happened anyway and was a really fun day!

The day started off a bit silly...

B thought it was hilarious to wear Josh's socks instead of pants. What a dork. But it made us laugh, hard!!

Then we went up to do a family session for some new people in town. Josh teaches with the dad...

Then we headed up the mountain to visit Aspen Alley. Last year, we missed the gold trees. We went the weekend after Labor Day and it had already snowed and there was not one single leaf on any of the trees. This year, they were still GREEN. We'll have to see if we can find another day to drive up there.

By the time we were done at Aspen Alley, it had started raining. Hard. And the fog was thick.

Right before we made it back to Encampment, we decided to drive down to Hog Park Reservoir since neither of us has been there. On the way, there was a sign that read, "Steamboat Springs, CO- 68 miles". We had diapers and lunch, we were set, so we decided to continue, on the dirt road, to Steamboat! It took 2 hours since most of it was dirt road, but it was a fun drive. Coming off the dirt road and onto the highway, we got to see some pretty amazing houses. In Steamboat, we parked on one end of downtown and walked down one side of the street and back up the other, shopping in all the stores that were having sales. It was crowded down there! We also passed this gas station, which was out of business. You can tell how long it's been out of service:

We wanted to eat dinner at Beau Jo's Pizza, but it didn't open until 5:00. So we found a park for B to play at and for Josh to read the paper:

Steamboat is sure in pretty country. I have never been there before. So it was a good road trip to take! Here's the view leaving Steamboat and the Yampa Valley, along with the pretty setting sun on the mountains on our way home.