KH Photography

Kyle asked if he could take some pictures with our camera, I said yes, and here are the shots he took!

Miss Leah, 2.5yrs old

Kyle wasn't impressed with this. He said I needed to say "cheese!"
hehe, you always need a self-portrait

Lunch on the stove top.

Pinpin The Spot ****** (last name protected)

Yes, his blanket has a full name. ;)

Don't ask why he's (yes, we talk like it's a person, lol) is in the pantry.

The kids' unhealthy snacks. Out of sight, out of mind!!

I can't believe I'm posting this picture. My nasty microwave!!

So, what'cha think? Can't beat that talent, right?! =)

mom guilt

It didn't take me long to see that Kyle was missing out on something.
It didn't take me long to see that I was the different Mom.
It didn't take me long to see that I was the only Mom who didn't have their kid in preschool.

Is it even called preschool if they are only 3yrs old??

We have been here for right about a month now. And it seems like every one who has a kid who is 3yrs old is already going to school. I keep getting asked if Kyle goes to school. I actually have started to feel a little, tiny, tiny bit guilty saying "no, he doesn't, he stays home with me".

I've started worrying that he's going to feel left out when he does start school. Or that he'll be behind because he was home with his Mama instead of being with an more educated person.

*sigh*

I know there's no right or wrong in this situation.
It's just a parent's choice.
But, why do I feel a little bit of guilt?
He's only a little boy for such a short time, right?
He has the rest of his life to go to school.


For now, I think he's okay staying home with me, even if the guilt does come and go.

No regrets.

Plus, if he went to school, I would never have these million and one adorable pictures of my handsome little man!

"don't give this to a lion"

Kyle was looking at the back of his Transformers packaging and told me that it meant we couldn't give it to a lion. I could not stop laughing. But, seriously, what does that lion inside the triangle mean!? :

smooth talker

The other night we were invited to our friend/neighbor's house for dinner and games. About an hour before we had to be there, Kyle started begging us to go just then. I told him that I just had to put some makeup on and then we could leave. He paused for a second and replied with "Mommy, you don't need makeup, you're already pretty!". Oh my goodness, doesn't that just melt your heart!? He has been FULL of compliments recently. After dinner, he'll tell me "Mommy, you make really good food" or "you did a good job, Mommy". I could really get used to this! ;)

No training wheels!!

December 11th, 2009, my firstborn became a grown little man. We decided to see how Kyle would do without his training wheels. He wobbled back and forth a few times, but in less than 30mins, he was off on his own. He was a pro!! I was so close to crying, but fought back the tears and cheered him on. For a split second, I considered throwing the training wheels back on. I don't like this growing up thing. It happens too fast. *sigh* He'll always be my baby boy. =)

Wondering why Miss Leah is saying "uh,oh!" over and over?? Our neighbor across the street has a blowup Snowman decoration and in the daytime Leah ALWAYS says "uh, oh, sn-man" because it isn't inflated! :)

kids are so funny

A recent conversation Kyle and I had on our way to church

"Mommy, are my teachers going to miss me when we move to Mexico?"

"Yes, Baby, they'll miss you a lot"

*quiet*

"Mommy, is there a WalMart at Mexico?"

"Yes, Kyle, they have a WalMart in NEW Mexico"

"YES!!!!!!! Woooohoooo! Me love WalMart! Me so excited!"

*driving past the boat dealership*

"Mommy, me like that boat! Me want it."

"Sorry, Kyle, New Mexico doesn't have beaches"

*quite shocked* "What!? Aw, man! Mexico don't have beaches!?!?"

"Nope, New Mexico is just a desert, Baby"

"Mommy! Are there be cowboys there?!"

*me laughing and quite surprised he knew that cowboys live in deserts, told him "maybe"*

"Mommy, are those cowboys gonna ride horsies??"

That (almost four years old) boy of mine keeps me laughing!

big heart

One day while I was on the treadmill at the gym, I looked up to see my baby (or as he says "Mama, me not a baby, me a KID!") boy really close to tears. He was trying to hold his tears back and his eyes were watery. I immediately slowed down and asked him what was wrong. My first thought was that he somehow got hurt. When I asked him again what was the matter, he said "the kitty drowned and died". I looked over at the movie that was playing on the TV and saw that these two dogs were trying to save the little kitten. I asked him what happened to the kitty and he told me that it got hit by a wave and drowned. I got off the treadmill and tried to get him to come to me, because at this point the tears were ever-so-slowly falling down his cheeks. I looked back at the TV and an old man had come and rescued the drowning kitten. I eventually got Kyle to look at the TV (he kept telling me no, the kitty died) and see that the kitty was okay. When my little boy realized the kitten didn't die, his face lit up.

Oh, that boy warms my heart! Kyle is so loving and he has such a big heart - doesn't matter if it's a person or an animal. I'm so thankful that he gives me these little reminders. Reminders to be more loving, to be more compassionate. To be more like Him.


**this is the second time an animal dying has gotten to him, read about it here**

Labor Day Meme

Jill over at The Diaper Diaries decided to do a Labor Day Meme, and I couldn't resist! If you decide to play along let me know!

How long were your labors?
You know, I don't really understand this question. None of my doctors ever told me "Hey! You were in labor for 15hrs!". So, if someone could tell me when the time "starts to count", I'd be grateful.

Anyhow, with Kyle, my contractions started Tuesday evening, didn't get any sleep that night! Wednesday had contractions ALL day long. They got closer and closer around 7pm, so we went in to the hospital. Kyle wasn't born until 4am Thursday.

With Leah, my water broke in bed around 3am. Got to the hospital around 530am. Miss Leah was born at 2:22pm!

How did you know you were in labor?
Kyle: Horrible contractions.
Leah: Water broke.

Where did you deliver?
Kyle: Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
Leah: An AFB in Florida

Drugs?
Kyle: Asked for the epidural as soon as I walked in, had so many problems, and had to get a spinal.
Leah: Wanted to go natural, but asked for an epidural near the end. It wore off in no time, and I kept asking for more, but he wouldn't do anything about it.. next thing I know, I was insisting it was time to push!

C-section?
Nope.

Who delivered?
Military doctors, but my husband could have since he was all up in my business! hahaha.. Love ya, Babe!

update on potty-training

If I didn't have a blog, I probably would still be getting up every few hours each night, to take my son to the bathroom! I took your advice and stopped getting up in the middle of the night, and to limit drinks after 7pm. I'm happy to say that Kyle has only wet the bed 3 or 4 times, since we started!! It's such a wonderful feeling to have him completely out of diapers! One down, one more to go! :)

Speaking of Leah, she has shown a lot of interesting the toilet. She likes to go in there and try to pee, but never really does. I think she's obsessed with the idea of being like her big brother. I put her in one of Kyle's underwear yesterday, but she had an accident and didn't even seem to care that she was wet. So, I will wait on letting her be without her diapers, but still take her to the toilet every once in awhile.

I just wanted to come here and say a big THANK YOU for your potty-training advice!! You guys rock! =)

**picture credit**

is there any other way?

My goal is to have Kyle completely potty-trained by October 13th. Why October 13th? It's the day he turns 3 1/2yrs old. I really never thought that I would have a child in diapers for this long. There were a lot of things I thought I would never do.. but things change when you actually start having your OWN kids! Ha!

Anywho, Kyle pees just fine by himself. He goes all by himself. He's now even getting better at telling me when he has to go #2. I now know the whole poop issue is because he has a looong history of constipation problems. But, that's not the problem.

How do you get a child to not wet the bed in the middle of the night? Is it something they just learn by themselves? The past two nights I let Kyle sleep in just his underwear, no diaper. I had to set the alarm every 2-3hrs, get up, carry him to the bathroom, and get him to go pee. No accidents, but I don't want to be waking up every 3hrs every.single.night! Potty-training is HARD work.

I try not to give him anything to drink after 8pm, and I do make him use the bathroom before he goes to sleep. Am I missing something?

Build A Bear

Two weeks ago, I won Sandra's $25 giftcard giveaway to Build A Bear. I was excited not only because I knew how happy Kyle would be, but because I had never been to a Build A Bear workshop before. Brandon didn't share my excitement about it because he thinks the place is over-priced. If you think about it, for a stuffed animal it IS a little pricey, but the experience is fun! It's definitely a special occasion type of thing, for us at least. Saturday we decided to take Kyle out to a mall and let him build his own stuffed friend. I had so much fun building his little bear with him. When we were getting ready to check-out, Kyle took my hand and brought me back to the starting line. He told me we had to get Leah a unicorn because he couldn't share his bear!! What a sweet, thoughtful, big brother! ;)Waiting in line to stuff his bear..

He's so shy!!

Washing his new friend!

Getting Tommy (name of his bear) all dressed up.

Kyle tried two different outfits out on his bear. He put a Batman costume on his bear first, but then decided on a Batman pajama set! It's so cute! Too bad I forgot to take a picture of his finished bear! Whoops! =)

We all hear it, right? Never leave your kids alone when they are in the water. Never leave their side. Watch them at all times. Yet, somehow, this past weekend, my little boy almost drowned.

I debated back and forth on whether I should even post this. Mainly because I don't like thinking about it and would rather forget about it. But, then, if I forget about this past weekend, it could happen again, right?

We celebrated 4th of July, by going out on our friend's boat. There were quite a few people who we know that came out, too. We all parked the boats up next to the sand, where we hung out the entire afternoon. Kyle (who was wearing his life jacket the entire time) would go back and forth between staying with us and staying with friends in the water. Brandon came up to me and told me that Kyle had pooped in his swimming trunks. So, I took Kyle into the water to clean his shorts out. In order to do that, I had to take his life jacket off. We go towards the back of the boat, get him and his shorts cleaned out and come back to the sand. We walk back up to the sand and I was standing in the shallow part of the water and started talking to my friend. It wasn't even a minute (probably not even 30secs) before we heard something and my friend gasped. We both ran into the water, and she picked Kyle up who was grabbing at the boat trying to stay up. I guess, Kyle thought he had his life jacket on (I got distracted and forgot to put it back on) and was walking around in the water. He got to the part where it started to drop off and freaked out. We asked him a hundred times if he got any water in his nose or in his mouth, and he said no. We don't think he inhaled any water, since he said it just went in his ears. He calmed down right away and wanted to get right back in the water. It was a terrifying experience that I never want to relive again. Our afternoon could have ended worse if we had never heard him gasping for breath.

I know it's summer and our kids are constantly in the water. Please learn from my mistake and never take your eyes off of your children. I think even if a child can swim, if they are in water that has waves or any type of current..they need a life jacket on.

I am so thankful that the Lord watches over my kids at all times!

Thank you for your prayers, but Brandon's Great Grandma passed away last night. She was more than ready to go on. I don't think I have ever known anyone who has passed away before. It's really sad that she is gone. But, I think what is more sad is that I don't know if she went to Heaven. She was a great woman and a great grandma, I would like to think she did. I am kind of fearful to find out. She will be missed!

I tried my best to explain to Kyle that Granny Mac is now gone. Just this morning he has asked me if Obachan (my Mom) and his Grandma (Brandon's Mom) has died. Explaining death to a 3yr old is kinda hard, but I felt that he needed to know, especially since he actually knows and remembers her. We showed him pictures of him and Granny Mac and tried to tell him that she is gone. He told us we had to get on an airplane and go see her. *sigh* :(

Still alive!

I caught my husband checking my blog the other day. Before the page could even load, I told him there was nothing new and I hadn't blogged in a really, really long time. I seem to blog here and there and then stop for a really long time, and then do the same thing over again. I don't mean to, but life is just a bit crazy. When I started this blog, my hubby was on swing-shift (roughly 2:30pm-after midnight). So, I had a lot of time on my hands in the evenings. Now that he works a normal schedule (comes home for lunch AND usually gets home EARLY), blogging is a last priority. Having two kids under the age of three definitely keeps me busy!

Last Tuesday, I took Kyle in to see his Pediatrician. He has had issues with constipation for about 6 months and I was tired of him "pushing" all day without pooping. I was stressed, and I'm sure he was, too!! Kyle was prescribed citrate of magnesium (or something like that), and pooped (more like diarrhea'd) non-stop for 2 days straight!! He still has semi-runny diapers thanks to the Miralax he is on. We haven't figured out the perfect amount for him yet. Hopefully after Kyle is cleaned out, we can go back to toilet-training and be completely diaper free by October! October is when he will be 3 1/2 and I am so ready to be done with diapers! I have heard that girls are easier to potty-train! I am so praying that's true!!!

I wish I could tell you that I haven't blogged in a really long time because we've been on a super duper fancy vacation. But, that's not the case. I am just now getting over a cold that lasted almost 2wks!! Not a whole lot going on here, but I'm okay with that!

I do have something exciting to tell/show you. But, I need to get my digital camera back from our friends so I can show you the pictures! Nice teaser, huh? ;)

It's amazing to think that people from all over the world, come here, to where I live, to vacation!!! When we're out on our friends boat, we see dolphins all the time! I can watch them all day long! This is my life!!

the weekend

I found out last week that my Mama is able to read my blog now. Her boyfriend prints out each of my blog posts for her!!!! My Mom doesn't have internet, nor does she even know how to work a computer. But her bf does! I'm so excited!!! Hi, Mom!!!!!!!!!! :) It's time to put the babies to bed, so here's a re-cap of our weekend in pictures!

Kyle opening his presents

He wanted a Hulk cake. It was the only thing he talked about.

Our present to him.. a bike!! Before I know it, we're going to be taking the training wheels off, huh?!?

Whoops! Helmets are important!

Miss Leah pointing at an airplane

Kyle in Destin

Kyle ran off with his other parents (Matt and Bek), lol, so it was just us 3.

I'm so blessed to have a beautiful family!! Us with Brandon's parents

Birthday Boy

Kyle turned 3 years old on Monday. Yesterday I realized I didn't blog about it!! LOL. Bad Mommy!! I guess since we aren't celebrating his birthday until Saturday, it sort of slipped my mind. Yikes! We didn't tell him it was his birthday until the afternoon and then we asked him what he wanted to eat for dinner, of course his answer was pizza. We explained that he wouldn't be opening his presents or getting his cake until Saturday. Happy Birthday, Buddy!!

How did we go from him being this little, tiny baby..

to this big, handsome, non-stop talking boy!?!

Or his first Easter (well, technically his 2nd, since his first one he was only 3days old!)..

..to his 3rd Easter!!!

I wish the time would slow down just a little. *sigh* I have a three year old now!

Friday Funnies

Kyle was patiently (or so I thought) waiting by the door for me and Leah to finish getting ready, so we could go to the gym. As I was putting my shoes on, Kyle says "Come on, Woman!". I started laughing and thought maybe I heard him wrong. I asked him what did he just say and he replies "Come on, Woman, hahaaha". I couldn't stop laughing. I know he picked it up from my hubby. It was just too funny to get on to him about talkin' to me like that. LOL. =)








To get your laugh on, head here!

chat

I just feel like chit chattin' for a second. Is that okay?

I made this soup for dinner the other night. It was really, really good. It was almost like a dip, but it was still delicious!! Kyle especially loved it.. he had 2 bowls the first night!! Next time I think I will add in some black beans or some other filler like corn. I didn't use as much water as it called for. And I also didn't make the Pico de Gallo.

The girls and one guy @ The Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans are giving away SEVEN copies of Jillian Michaels' DVD, 30 Day Shred! Go here to enter for yourself!

My face has looked like one of a 15yr olds these past few months. I really don't know what is going on. It's super frustrating though. I have tried Acne Free and even ProActiv and still am broken out. I need to make an appt. with a dermatologist, but I'm still unsure of how to do that. You know 'cause we're military and I'm just the spouse. I need to figure it out and maybe can get prescribed something to help! *sigh*

I am still working out! I feel really good about myself. I've been going 5 days a week and yet have gained 2lbs. If I gain another pound, I think I'll cry. Actually, I know I will.

Leah is now 13 months old and she is still nursing. When I took her in for her 1yr check-up. Her pediatrician told me I deserved an award for breastfeeding her this long. He even told me "you rock!" haha. It was great. We are down to 2 feedings a day, so I know it won't be too much longer until it's over.

We have found a really great church. We have been church-hoppin' for quite some time now. I had an issue with them 2yrs ago (it was about their nursery and not anything to do with their beliefs or doctrines).. and I am now ok. The 1st Sunday we went there, I told the nursery workers about what happened with Kyle and I think they understand. I still make a note when I sign her in, just in case. This is the first church that Kyle really enjoys. He doesn't cry at all when we drop him off, so that's a good sign, right? :)

Speaking of Kyle, he's going to be turning three next month (or this month, depending on when you are reading this). I am not prepared whatsoever!!! I always tell him that he's my baby and he says to me "No, Mommy, me Kyle!" hahahaha. What a goofball!

Okay, it's bed time for me now!! Goodnight ya'll!!

what a funny boy

Kyle talks a lot now. A whole lot. He talks in sentences. He even surprises me when he uses words like awesome, comfortable, amazing, and so on. ((Isn't it amazing how fast little children can pick things up!?)) Last week, he learned the word special. I'm sure Kyle is tired of me saying "Baby, say...", just 'cause I think it's cute. He is definitely at that age where the things he says are just cute and funny! I've always looked forward to this point!


Last Tuesday, I told Kyle that I had a haircut appointment, his immediate response was - "you gonna get a lollipop, Mommy?". LOL. We took Kyle to get his haircut at the barber shop once, and afterwards he got a sucker. Wouldn't it be great if we got one afterwards, too?? ;)


When I came out of the salon and got in the car (Brandon and the kids were waiting for me), Kyle says "Mommy! I like your haircut". Aww, he melted my heart! I don't think my hair looks that much different. I just got about an inch and a half, maybe two inches, taken off and added lots and lots of layers. But, he definitely made me feel good! =)

Wordless Wednesday - He has a bed, I promise!

For more Wordless Wednesday shots, go to 5minutesformom!