{a november to remember}

as you know, november has been an interesting month. we've had my parents, my mother in law, my sister and my brother's family come visit! it's been wonderful! the end of the month is always bittersweet. at least for the past 4 years....

my cousin, joshua thomas kollmann went to heaven 4 years ago on November 30, 2007. he was only 25 years old. and his fiance was 6 months pregnant with their son, joshua jace ryan kollmann. it's not fair that he was taken so young, but we know he is in a better place. please say a prayer for my aunt deedee, uncle mike, cousins aaron and jason (& their families), and jace's mom-danielle. i know they need strength, as well as the rest of his friends and family. and for people to remember. josh was someone worth remembering. i love you, cousin.

 so, we are going to TEXAS tomorrow!!!!!!!! we are headed to denton to stay with justin's parents and hang out with his family (his brother's family is even flying in from washington, d.c! awoohoo!) i'm really excited to see everyone and see all of the little cousins together! the reason we are headed to texas: to celebrate CECILIA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!! i can't believe my sweet and funny little angel girl is already one. sigh. tear. sigh again. we are going to be celebrating at na & poppy's house, then next week the kids and i will be going to columbus for a few days! awoohoo! we're going to have a birthday dinner at my parent's house (since she's having her party in denton, she's spoiled, but she doesn't need two parties!). nothing fancy-probably hot dogs- just a good reason for people to get together and so we can see as many people as possible while we're there!

i've been packing like crazy. and by packing-i mean packing! since we're leaving, i'm obviously getting ready for the trip. however, i am also packing for moving into our new house!!!!!!!!!!! (it's a rent house, but it's STILL A HOUSE!) we've been cooped up in this apartment for too long! i must admit-it's not ideal timing (right after our trip and right before christmas) but the house was too good of a deal to pass up!

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i'm proud to say that i'm officially a grown up! (nevermind the fact that i'm married, have 2 kids, and live in a state where we have no family) . i stuffed and cooked my first turkey!!!!! this past thanksgiving was awesome! my sister was here for over a week! (i'm a sap and actually tearing up as i type this b/c it was so nice having her here for as long as we did!) it was so amazing. then stephen, terri & stevie flew to see us! i miss them so much! my sweet stevie is getting so big. he's such an amazing boy. he's not around babies too much, but he opted to not bring some of his toys b/c he said they were too little and cecilia could choke on them. what a thoughtful 7 year old! after he got here, my little runny-nosed boy sneezed and as i was going to wipe the snot away (you're welcome for that), stevie just swiped it away with his hand! my cup runneth over. both of my kids adore him!!!! (as do justin and i!)

it was such a nice visit from them. it was too short, unfortunately! we hung out and prepared for thanksgiving-i had so much help, which made it awesome! we have a small kitchen in our apartment, so there was only so much we could do at once. our final menu consisted of: turkey & dressing (i couldn't have done it without the play by play from my mother in law and from my mawmaw), ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, rolls, pumpkin cheesecake, & my mom's yummy chocolate dessert.

stephen, terri, & stevie had a day of exploration on friday. they went to bisbee to shop around, then we met in tombstone to hang out and have lunch for awhile. sadly, we had to duck out early so i could take kaysey to the airport (sad face) and for the kids to nap. they stayed in tombstone for the rest of the day-taking tours and having fun!!!

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today was a BIG day for us! ian got his first big boy haircut (he's had a few healthy trims here and there, but never like this!). i was okay if we waited until he was 4 before we cut those curls off. however, i'm not the only parent ian has! justin was just super curious to see what he looked like with short hair. after much prodding ;)-i gave in, reluctantly. (don't get me wrong, i was a little curious, too. but when it came time to actually do it, i had a mini freak out session). ian did fantastic-i'm so proud of him!

 after his big hair cut, we headed to see santa! the beautiful thing about living in a not-so-ginormous town is that there aren't a ton of people at the mall on a tuesday night. no line. santa was just waiting for us! {side note: the kids and i were at the mall yesterday and went by to see and talk to santa, so i had done a little prepping}. when we walked into the "north pole" (if you will), cecilia about jumped out of my arms, then when i put her down-she changed her mind. i walked with her towards santa, then she took off and stopped at his feet. he put her in his lap and she just sat there, silently the entire time. it was so adorable. you could see the wheels turning in her head-not sure what to do about this bearded guy in a red suit. she knew he was good people though! ian hopped up into his lap as well. i took a video (that i will post at the end). and he told santa that he wanted a "choo choo trains and track". (i feel i'm a little annoying in the video-i hate hearing myself like that-so don't judge me....i was just trying to have my kids do their "tricks"-which of course, they didn't do!) it was such a great visit. that santa guy is #1 in my book!

+++++++++++++++++++++++

next time i blog, my baby will be 1. ahhh!

{what i am thankful for}

-my husband & best friend. he works so hard and lets me stay at home to make my dreams come true. it's not always easy, but i wouldn't have it any other way. i love him.
-my sweet ian christopher and beautiful cecilia jo: they complete me in a way that i never knew possible. they make being a mom so easy with their easy-going personalities (most of the time!) and their intelligence (their ability to follow our rules makes life wonderful!)
-my parents: they would do anything for us and the feeling is mutual. they are my rock.
-my siblings: i'm grateful that all of my siblings have been able to come out and visit us. i love them all and hate that we can't see them more often.
-my in-laws: they are family and it's so great to have a good relationship with them. i'm also grateful for american airlines and my father-in-law being a pilot, so we can see them as often as we do, (and not to mention-come to texas next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) i can rely on them, which is an amazing feeling. i'm able to call my mother-in-law a friend, which i love (and talked/laughed me through violating my first turkey!). i miss seeing all of justin's siblings, but they hold a special place in our hearts!
-technology: the ability to email, skype, facebook, so i can show off my babies and how they are changing/growing/learning.
-doctors
-stevie michael, matthew james, henry paul & olivia jane
-all of my friends: i'm not the best in calling or keeping in touch, but my true friends know how much i love them and i would do anything for them-even minus the phone calls ;)
-my grandparents: i consider my mawmaw one of my closest friends and pawpaw is the rock that started our close family. memaw is an inspiration for being a fighter. i love them all so much. my kids are lucky to have such loving great grandparents (including justin's grandma-who is thoughtful and loves us even though i've been slacking at sending pictures. and justin's grandpa-who, although he may forget how old some of his great grandkids are ;), he loves them and i wish he could see them growing up) we miss all of them

there is so much to be thankful for-like having two happy/active kids who have shifted me back into mom-mode so i can't concentrate on this blog anymore! (although they are spoiled and in heaven with aunt kaysey!) hope everything has a safe and happy thanksgiving! God is good!!!!!!!!!!!

{adios, stones! & more :) }

i'm finally getting back to normal! yay! i went in 2 tuesdays ago to get my lithotripsy done. justin had to work, so my dad took me to tucson and my mom stayed with the kids. all went well-as far as he could tell at the time. i'll go get an xray tomorrow and have my post-op appointment on monday to see how everything really went. while doing the lithotripsy, my doctor pulled the tube (horray!) and replaced it with a bag. a bag?? yeah it was weird. it was taped to my back and since they don't stitch up my kidney or back, it was going to still drain for a day or so. and that's exactly what happened. in less than 2 days, i was no longer draining any yummy fluids, so we got to replace the bag contraption with a bandage (thank you to my medic husband to patching me up so beautifully!).....

after i got the tubes out, i felt SO MUCH better! still tired, exhausted and overwhelmed, but all in all: good. marisa flew in tuesday night and my parents left on wednesday morning. of course that was super sad. i hate saying goodbye to them. i hate even more watching my son cry after nana when they walked out the door. fortunately, na was there to distract him :) we hung out and did a few errands and i'm pretty confident i over did it. {note: at this point, i was still instructed to not lift more than 5 lbs for another week, so i was feeling much better, but still couldn't hold my babies. or do much of anything-making me feel somewhat worthless (i know better, but in an exhausted state-that's how i felt), so i was getting pretty frustrated and overwhelmed....} so we took a break and i rested the rest of the day. the next day we did some more 'going' (justin was off of work these two days so he was there to help with me and the kids!) we ended up driving through a neighborhood that a couple of our friends live in (and that justin and i both would like to live) and i made a few calls for rent houses. long story short-we ended up going to look at the house (fast forward a few days), and now we will be renting a house come mid-december!!!! {also, insert lots of stresses and emotions trying to finagle (sp?) how it was all going to pan out with our hopeful texas trip and christmas coming up....all the while-having a low grade fever and not feeling as great as i was pretending to}

unfortunately, marisa found out she had to leave early. she was originally going to stay until thursday (when kaysey gets here!!!!!), but had to leave sunday. i was SUUUUUUPER stressed. i didnt' feel 100% and i wasn't supposed to lift anything until tuesday. in no way was i upset about the situation b/c i was so incredibly grateful that she was able to come help out as much as she did, but i was just an emotional wreck. although i knew God wouldn't give me more than i could handle, i just didn't think that i could handle it! sadly, we dropped marisa off at the airport early sunday morning and i drove back to sierra vista and had to lift my babies.

as any parent knows-after ANY time spent with grandparents, they are just plain rotten after! (and that's okay!). so that was exhausting-they were very needy and my little priss just wasnt' having me not holding her ALL.THE.TIME. i had a fever and my side was throbbing. i just prayed that my kidney wasn't going to fall out (dramatic, perhaps?!?). low and behold, God gave me the strength and energy to get through the day! each day has been better and better. although i can't honestly say that my side doesn't hurt. besides that, my energy level is completely back and we're back on track getting those babies back to their normal routines.

so there's that. the purpose of the blog, though-is about the kids! i missed them so much while i was "healing/recovering". even when i was out and about with them, i still missed them b/c i could just pick them up and snuggle them! ian was so sweet-he still will lift up my shirt occasionally and "kiss mommy's owie" (he does it, and then has to tell me what he did). this kid talks so much and is just hilarious. there is a contact commercial on tv with a man who says "my brand!" and it's really drawn out (if you've seen it, you know what i'm talking about-otherwise, just take my word that it's really cute)....so ian hears this commercial and starts cracking up and saying "my braaaaaand!" over and over.

he is singing along with songs more and more. he's such a quiet learner. he listens and absorbs, then blows our minds by revealing everything he knows all at once. he is amazing. i'm the mom- so of course i believe this, but i'm pretty sure he's brilliant ;) he baffles us daily with his sentences, memory, and complex thoughts (you can see the wheels turning as he relates things together, then tells us about them). he is also rotten (refer back to being with the grandparents) and doesn't always want what we give him {"no want blue bowl, i want orange bowl"....cause it reeeeeeally matters what color bowl he has}....oh good times! :)

cecilia has come so far in the past couple weeks. she 'jumps' (bounces up and down), dances (pretty much the same), is talking a lot more (basically she repeats most things she hears-ie: we had on mickey mouse clubhouse the other day and they said "say ohh tooooodles" so, little miss stinker says "ohh tootoo"), she knows ian's on-going 'joke': "ow, my back hurts" and she'll say "ow, ba hu", she'll sign "more", "thank you", and i've gotten her to "please" a couple times, but that's about it. she LOVES baby dolls now, it's so sweet! and she is still so happy! almost always. the other times-she's a stinker. she's learned the 'i'm going to go limp the minute someone reaches down for me so they have to pick me up' or the 'i'm going to go limp so you can't put me down, but if you go ahead and lay me down b/c i won't stand, i'm going to throw the biggest fit ever'. she's become a much better eater (yay!), but now thinks she needs me to feed her more than ever.

ian also got sick the other day-like threw up in the car kind of sick. it was so sad. we have no idea what caused it and it was short lived, but it was so sad b/c you could tell he thought he had done something wrong. and we were in the car. bless his heart. we weren't far from home so we came in and ran the bath immediately. my rock star husband got him out of the car, stripped him, brought in the car seat and cleaned the car. (i think i've said it before-and in case i haven't-throw up is probably my least favorite thing about being a mom. i'll clean it up b/c it's my job and i'll do anything to protect my kids....but that doesn't mean i have to like it). we had him eat some toast, then that came up again. after that, he's acted perfectly normal since then. no fun (also not fun to try to get the throw up smell off of the car seat straps!)....

okay, wow....ramble much? i'm done. i must get to bed and get ready for tomorrow when my sister gets here, YAAAAAY!!!! (and THEN stephen, terri & stevie will be here next week!!!!!)




{surgery}

{warning: my thoughts may be scattered more so than usual due to my medications!}

if you haven't heard-my surgery went great! in fact, it was (almost) perfect. the day of the surgery, my doctor told me he thought that he got them all (15 stones in a cup, one sent off to get tested). unfortunately, after getting my ctscan on friday-it showed that i have one stone left. i had 2 choices-do the same surgery (but take the risk of him not getting it again) or do a lithotripsy. no brainer for me-lithotripsy it is! i'll go in tuesday at noon, get an xray done, then get that blasted stone blasted out at 2:00. when he is done and i am still under, they will hopefully take my tube out then-which is awesome b/c he said that the tube coming out hurts like a beast! so all in all (assuming everything goes as 'planned' on tuesday) i'm pretty happy about the outcome of all of this.

{halloween 2011}

so if you weren't sure-i kind of like holidays. i've always liked to dress myself according to the holiday coming up (i blame/thank my mom for that!)....but now that i have kids-it's game over. i LOVE to dress them festively (it's a word)! i'm sure they'll hate it when they're older and (gasp!) not wear green on st. patrick's day just b/c they hated how insane i was. and that's okay. i'll deal with that when that day comes ;)

here are a few halloween pictures i took of the kids with my crudtastic (also a word) little camera!

  (side note: as much as i try to post equal number of pictures of each kid-sometimes it just doesn't happen-in this kind of situation-ceci is much easier to pose {for now!}-ian likes to fight it and runs and i can only bribe him so much ;) )

so as far as halloween night goes-we went to our friend's house-the sanchezes (sanchez's?) and hung out for awhile and then when justin got off of work, he brought the wagon on over and we got to trick-or-treating! sophie is almost 5 and was a fairy and nicholas is 20 months and dressed as a puppy. they were a ton of fun! they live in a great neighborhood and we made it to several houses until we went to a house that had a scary creeper hanging out. ian caught sight of him and it was game over. everything spooked him from then on. sophie was on the same page as ian, so we headed back to the house to hand out candy. nicholas was hilarious-he was pretty much screaming for people to come to the house so he could give them candy. ceci had a blast, too (as long as the owl head was not on-she was a-ok). overall it was a great time! we love hanging out with the sanchez family!

on another note, the past few days have been amazing. i love how God works. cecilia has been sleeping in our room/bed her entire life. however, i started putting her in her room this past week. she started off not so hot, but we have now had two 8 hour nights and even a 10 hour night! wow! first time since, well, EVER! awoohoo! and now i can just lay her in her crib and she'll fuss for a bit, then is out! (the first couple days were brutal-but we pushed past it!) yes!!!!! and she's even started eating more!!!

unfortunately, ian has been a little wimpy with a super runny nose for over a week now and today had a low fever, so i'm really praying that he isn't coming down with anything (and then that doesn't pass on to ceci). that would be that much harder for me-i love being the one that they want when they're sick (clarify-i hate when they get sick, but when they do-those are such a great cuddle moments and i love being the one that they want). but mainly-i just hope they don't get sick for their own sake! we've been talking about nana and grampy coming to visit and that mommy has to go to the doctor and spend the night. and that they get to play with nana and grampy for a lot of days, but that mommy is going to have an "owie" so i won't get to give big hugs or wrestle. i will get to give him a ton of kisses though :) i'm just trying to prep him and he understands just as well as a 2 year old can!

 

please say another prayer! i'm getting pretty nervous, but am also super excited about my parents getting here and spending the day with them and my angel babies!!!!

{surgery prayer request}

next thursday (november 3) is my surgery. i'll go in uber early (have to be in tucson at 5:30am), then the surgery is supposed to start at 7:30. my surgery could last anywhere from 2-4 hours.

in case you didn't know....here's the recap.

one month before cecilia was due-i started peeing blood....many tests later concluded that i have a kidney stone in my right kidney. i was in no pain whatsoever. before we moved out to arizona, we went to a kidney doctor in brenham and did many tests to find out that A.) i have an abnormally shaped and large right kidney and B.)that particular kidney was full of kidney stones. i mean full.

so then we move to arizona, i find a urologist here-take him all my ctscans and xrays and he decides it would be best to try to get rid of the kidney stones -so we can figure out what is causing them (and if my kidney itself needs to be fixed). the hospital in sierra vista doesn't have as much technology as a bigger hospital, so he suggested doing Lithotripsy. {via webmd.com: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) uses shock waves to break a kidney stone into small pieces that can more easily travel through the urinary tract and pass from the body.} so my doctor did the lithotripsy (& going into this, we knew that we would most likely have to do more than one b/c of the size of my stones and the amount of shock waves they can do per day). it was very successful. he put in a stint and i peed out stones for a few weeks, until it was time to do round 2 of the lithotripsy. unfortunately, this time it was unsuccessful. he then concluded that i would need to do a more invasive surgery and since our hospital doesn't allow that, he referred me to a doctor in tucson.

i met with this doctor, he looked at all my scans and decided the best route to go would be Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy {webmd: In percutaneous nephrolithotomy or nephrolithotripsy, the surgeon makes a small incision in your back to remove kidney stones. He then puts a hollow tube into your kidney and a probe through the tube. The surgeon removes the stone through the tube.}



lucky me will have a tube coming out of my back, draining stones (and urine-yummmm) into a bag. i'll stay in the hospital the day of the surgery, then on friday-i'll have a ctscan to see how it went. after that, my doctor will determine whether or not i'll need to have the same surgery done in a week or two (and keep the tube(s) in my back the entire time) or if i'll need to have another Lithotripsy done, or best case scenario-they got it all. in the best case scenario-i'll have the tube coming out of my back for a week. then i'll have a couple weeks of light activity, then i'll be full-force again.

worst case scenario for me is

-have surgery

-have to keep tubes in back for two weeks just to have the same surgery

-then have tubes in back for (at least) another week

-then 2-3 weeks of recovery

i have anxiety about this entire situation. i know my doctor will do a great job and will make the right choice on what is best for me and my body. however, i have never spent the night away from cecilia. the only time(s) i have been away from ian was when i was in the hospital, first finding out about the stones and then when i had cecilia. i am lucky that my parents will be coming up to help and watch the kids while i'm in the hospital (justin will be with me). they are going to be staying a week, then marisa will be coming to help out, then my sister will even be coming. so i know my kids will be in good hands. i'm just a very hands-on momma and being stuck in our room and hearing my babies is going to be absolute torture! hearing their voices will be helpful, but not being able to play with them isn't going to be fun at all. cecilia is still pretty much full-force breastfed, so that's stressful as well. she is JUST now starting to eat more real food. i've introduced her to milk and have her sleeping in her own room (don't judge me that she was still in our room up until two nights ago). it was hard for me to wean her (for surgery purposes) b/c she refused food....but now i'm trying to do what i can to make it easier for when i'm in the hospital. i don't want ceci to be miserable and i don't want my parent's to stress out either (i know they won't, but i'm over-worrying about everything at this point). i know ian is going to be in absolute heaven with a line up of nana & grampy, na, then aunt kaysey coming. (oh and did i mention that stephen, terri & stevie are coming for thanksgiving as well?!?! b/c they are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! awoohooo!)

on an unrelated, yet somewhat related note: there is a possibility that we may go to texas for ceci's first birthday! it all depends on my surgery(ies) and my recovery. it also depends on if justin can get off of work. we are fortunate that my in-laws have some passes still available for american airlines so we can try to go! if so-we would (ideally) go to texas, thursday, december 1. friday, december 2 will be ceci's FIRST BIRTHDAY!, saturday-we would do her party at peter & marisa's, then justin would try to fly back on sunday, where i'll stay in denton for a few more days, then hopefully go down to columbus for a few days. (i need to clear a lot of this information with my mother-in-law, so i'm jumping the gun a bit-but i'm getting too excited about this possibility)!!! yeeeeeeee!

alright, so that was a lot of information. basically-PLEASE pray that the surgery is super successful and we only have to do it one time! if it doesn't work out that way, please pray for my patience in my long recovery process and my (ideal) plans are out the door. i know it's all out of my hands and God will handle this. i have a ton of comfort knowing that! i will also admit that i'm selfish and want to enjoy my kids and my guests while they are here-either way-i'm super grateful for any support i have....no matter how far away. :)

{pumpkin patch fun}

yesterday was a fun day! we woke up and went to the pumpkin patch. this pumpkin patch had a petting zoo! ian was so pumped to go...all he kept talking about was "go see animals", so we did! we got into the petting 'zoo' area and he wanted to go see the pony right away, so-of course- we did.

unfortunately, this little pony decided to (kind of) snap at ian. he didn't get hurt, but the pony got his shirt a little. needless to say, ian was just plain spooked at this point. he trusted no animals. he still wanted to see them all, but daddy had to be holding him :)

cecilia is absolutely in love with animals-goats in particular. she pretty much jumped from my arms when we first saw them. then she sat squatted next to this guy for the longest time. it was hilarious and precious!

they loved her, too. and her dress ;)

there was a little 'train' ride that ian wanted to go on. he reeeeeeally wanted to, and since they had a seatbelt, we decided that we would let him. unfortunately, it was a very shaky ride and ian didn't love it the entire time. we're very proud of him being as brave as he is, though!

sadly, ceci took a little fall and face planted in the gravel. she was pretty upset, but her goat friend made it all better!

the horsies even took us for a ride (and got to enjoy the beautiful arizona mountains)

 

{you know it's a good day when....}

• cecilia poops out a piece of red crayon.
• ian sat in the car and says (pointing) "neenan (ian)'s seat. ceci's seat. mommy's seat. daddy's seat. ebeebody (everybody) seat." {i love him!}
• the kids got to skype with aunt kate & uncle kyle

that's really all.     :)

{two walkers, one jumper}

i don't know if i said it or not before, but our little chunk is now a full blown walker. i'm still getting used to having TWO walkers around the house! cecilia is hilarious. she is still opposed to eating most actual food (she'll nibble here and there). i've introduced whole milk to her and she's taking it much better than i had hoped! unfortunately, she's still pretty attached to me feeding her. t-minus 2 weeks (well 13 days) until my surgery, so she's going to have to get used to the sippy cup!

ian is now the jump master. he has been able to jump for a few months now, but just recently-he's obsessed. he'll jump down the sidewalk when we're walking around. he loves to jump off the curb or steps-he's pretty darn good if you ask me! he also has become quite the talker. his sentences and words amaze me! the other day we were outside and we saw two dogs being walked. he said "no walk two white dogs on that sidewalk" (b/c he wanted them on the sidewalk that we were on). for the most part when he sees two or more of anything it's a "lot of" that object....it's pretty funny!

monday we went into tucson to go to the children's museum there. we were told that they had some dinosaurs, trains, firetrucks, and tons of different fun things for kids! we thought we struck gold! ian LOVES dinosaurs and trains and firetrucks! unfortunately, we walked in and went straight into the dinosaur room (where it happened to be very dark and loud) and it terrified the living daylights out of him! he was not a fan, to say the least. so the rest of the visit wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been-he was worried the dinosaurs were going to be around every corner we went. either way, they had some really awesome stuff and i'm looking forward to going back again!

another part of the museum that was fun to watch was a "story" time they had for little kids. we went and ian really didn't want any part of it. cecilia, on the other hand, went right up to the group and was all about it. i love how timid he is about that kind of stuff. towards the end of it, ian had decided he would join in and actually sat next to the teacher. ceci went right in and was making new friends right away. it really makes me miss my days at the little gym and being a "joy nazi," as my dear friend, julianne's husband, once called us. but, i must say-i love my job now a whole lot more! ;)

ian is full of surprises. like i said before, he is talking like crazy! yesterday he had a bowl (he had to pick the color: orange) full of gold fish and they dumped out on the floor. he started singing "clean up clean up everybody clean up"-which i know that i have only sang around the house a time or two. when my mom was here, she sang it several times and ian's friend, jayden, sings it, too. {going back to my tlg days-i like the sing my own version of "it's time to put the toys away"....it works for me!} either way, i was very impressed that he started singing it! just like how justin and i were very surprised when he started {trying} to count in the 'teens' the other day. yay buddy!

right now we are knee-deep in the world series. boy am i glad we were in texas when the mavs were in the playoffs! although, it is incredibly entertaining to watch ian cheer and copy everything justin does during the games (which may or may not have consisted of a little cussing one game and justin realized that he had to watch it-even during the playoffs!). this is more of a reinactment, but you get the picture!

cecilia is trying to say so much these days. she kind of jabbers here and there-like she really wants to tell us what she's thinking. she'll use signs (more & please mainly) if prompted, but since she doesn't eat much food, she doesn't need to say 'more' for much stuff! she is a professional train track destroyer and loves pretty much anything ian is doing. she is really good at playing on  her own as well. she will sit for the longest time and just figure things out. (and by figure things out, i mean taste them)...tonight she was about to fall asleep and got a little choked and coughed twice. after that she started saying "achoo" about 6-7 times, but still in her sleep. it was too cute! she sometimes wakes up during a nap, claps, then falls asleep again. i love her!

for ian's birthday, he got a baseball tee with bat. a few days ago-we went to the park so justin could show him how to do it. ian didn't really want justin's help-(which, as the dad, he wasn't super excited about-however, justin knows he is only 2 and daddy's time will come!) anyways, here are the videos from ian's first baseball experience!

{finally, the birthday blog}

IAN IS TWO!!!!!

birthday weekend began as this....

{my parents came in thursday night, yay!}

 

we blew up balloons and put them in ian's room so when he woke up on his birthday, he would see them! we (me, mom, dad, & cecilia....justin had to work) waiting until we heard him talking (to know that he was awake), then we went into his room and sang him happy birthday. he was still pretty groggy, but was super excited about all the balloons. cecilia ended up in ian's crib b/c she so badly wanted to eat them all....

i made him birthday sprinkle pancakes, then we went to run a few errands to get ready for his party, then came back to draw with chalk on the sidewalk. his favorite thing to do at the moment. it was surprisingly cold on ian's birthday!

 

after nap, we headed to the park for awhile!

time for dinner. i decided last year (when he -obviously- turned one) that i wanted to make my children their birthday dinners as opposed to going out to eat. so i made dinner, we had a "mini party" complete with cake and presents. it was a great day!

day two (saturday): mom and i took the kids into tucson to do a little shopping around while we waited for peter's plane to land. we got him and headed back to sierra vista and just hung out majority of the afternoon. ian was in heaven with 3/4 grandparents there!

day three (sunday....birthday party day): marisa flew in in the nick of time! she came in just in time for the rest of us to head up to the park to get ready. she and peter stayed with the kids so they could get a full nap in, then get them ready! we had a great time and a great turnout. some of justin's work friends + families were able to make it, which was amazing! both sets of ian's grandparents, the thomas' and us! it was a great time!

the afterparty was a ton of fun...we just hung out and watched ian be the super cute 2 year old that he is! (and ceci had to call it an early night b/c she was so excited for the party that she never really napped!)

thanks to everyone for making it such a great time! i know there's a ton of people who wishes they could have been there, but you were definitely there in spirit. ian is one loved little boy-that means so much to justin and i.

thanks again!

{not the birthday update}

• in case you were wondering...cecilia weighs more at 10 months than ian did at 15 months. by almost a pound!
• cecilia now says "uhoh"
• she is also walking much much more-still crawls more, but mostly due to the fact that she wants to walk so fast, she ends up falling and crawling to where she needs to get!
• ceci says "e,i,e,i,e,i,e,i" when we are singing "old macdonald"....ian always picks out the animals and ceci sings the eieieiei part (no "o" though!)-it's awesome!
• ian had his 2 year appt today-he's a tall & skinny fella. he weighs 28 lbs 3 ozs (53%) and is 35.5" (i can't remember if they said 83% or 93%.....)
• ian's dr said he was beyond awesome at his speech & knowledge of things (was very impressed that he knows all his shapes, colors, animals, body parts, etc!) yay smarty pants :)
• ian now likes to wear my shoes everywhere
• ceci tries to say most things we say.
• cecilia also has gotten (somewhat) out of her "stinker" phase-she's much happier! she doesn't cry at the smallest thing-now she smiles and tries to 'break' us if she gets in trouble!
• she still only has 2 teeth. crazy crazy.
• my surgery has been scheduled for thursday, november 3. good times.
• ian is TWO!!!!!! birthday update will come later this week. i'm still recovering from the party weekend with all our amazing visitors!!!!

{t minus 2 days}

ian is going to be TWO. in TWO days! i can't hardly believe it. i remember waking up next to him on his first birthday and just crying like an idiot. (keep in mind i was uber pregnant as well)...i don't see that happening-now that he knows what is going on, it's just going to be a fun birthday celebration! also, my parents will be coming in tomorrow night, so they'll get to enjoy the birthday festivities as well! (justin's dad is coming saturday and hopefully his mommacita as well-fingers crossed!)

so i just walked into ian's room (b/c i'm a really good mom and doing this while my kids are awake and playing.... :/) and cecilia was taking 5 or so steps (that i saw) across his room. she's certainly figuring it out! i'm happy and sad about this....but mainly it's just exciting. she is now 10 months old and hilarious. she's still a bit of a stinker and gets upset for no reason (most of the time). but now she really tries to talk. when justin or i are on the phone, she'll put her hand up to her ear and smile a huge smile b/c she knows she's done something cute. she's going to be a rough one, too. she loves to head butt and be rough and tough with ian. it's so cute and it makes them both so happy! unfortunately ian doesn't understand when the line has been crossed (what 2 year old does, really?). so it goes from fun and games to cecilia crying hysterically most of the time. i can't get mad at that b/c he's just having fun with his sister! she just decides "hey i'm done" but he doesn't get the memo ;)

ian talks so much. SO. MUCH. perfect sentences, too. the other night-justin made salmon and rice & ian took a bite, looked at him (while pushing his plate away) and said "i don't like that." he's growing too fast-he even has started saying "monkey" (instead of ohoh-ahah) and today he said "elephant" (instead of the elephant sound). ah! stop. growing. little. boy!!!!!  {although i don't hate it b/c he's SO much fun! he's a stinker, too-don't get me wrong, but it's just awesome watching him learn so much!}

 {ian just hit his hand and started crying. i asked him what would make him feel better and he said "eat" i asked him what he wanted to eat and he said "food"....k thanks, bud ;) }

proud mommy moment:
we've been working on potty training more & ian will go after bath. he has a mickey mouse folder and he gets to pick out a sticker when he's done to put in the folder. anyways, he loves it and is VERY proud of his potty folder. justin and i are making a huge deal of this as well, and making sure cecilia knows (or basically-ian knows) that it's IAN'S and not ceci's. she's still quite the paper eater and would destroy it! but the other night ian was sitting on the couch next to me & i picked ceci up to sit in my lap. ian told me he wanted ceci in his lap-so of course, i put her there and he started to show her the stickers from his potty folder (but not just showing them, he was being gentle and talking softly "this is dumbo, mickey mouse, dumbo, blue shishaur") it was pretty much the best thing ever!!!! and then when he was done, he pushed her away. ;)

okay, that's all for now-i'll post more after ian's bday and party!!!!

{time to catch up!}

so since i've been slacking....here's what has been going on.

• justin's parents come to visit!
• ceci started taking steps (well, one at a time and she's pretty lazy about it)
• ceci stands alone ALL the time-without having to prompt her!
• ian got a haircut (much shorter than i planned....)
• i turned 29!
• we went to layla's 2nd birthday party
• justin and ian went to the zoo! & ian got to feed the giraffes carrots
• we went to the cochise county fair and ian got to ride a pony (twice), pet animals & ride a train!
• cecilia now strongly dislikes us singing & will let us know (by grunting)
• ceci has also become even more of a stinker....gets so MAD when she doesn't get what she wants (it's bad!)
• i had my ctscan & had a slight allergic reaction to the dye contast (my eyes were crazy red and one eye was super swollen)
• ian now loves to make it "rain" in the bath-too funny
• ceci will wave to people and say "hi"

{video time!}

(majority of the time when ian laughs SUPER hard-it makes cecilia cry)

(not the best video of her taking a step, but it works!)

(i mentioned that cecilia is rotten. she is throwing a fit and crying b/c she likes to eat off the crayon part of the bath crayons and she's not supposed to. so i took it away and this is what happened.)

(ceci was hiding behind the computer and playing "peekaboo" with justin. of course when i got the camera out, she basically stops. but you get the jist of it!)

(my song to my babies "you are my sunshine" -ian loves it! you'll see cecilia's reaction to singing songs she doesn't like anymore. and she waves and "says" hi!)

{roadtrip, anyone?}

we have officially booked the park pavilion for ian's birthday! you are all invited!!! roadtrip time? no? ah well, it was worth a try! i'm excited and have been getting stuff together for his super cool dinosaur 2nd birthday! or as ian says "shishaur"......

yesterday, justin and ian had a "daddy and me" day! they went to tucson to the airplane exhibit. justin said ian loved all the airplanes, but was a little overwhelmed. he wouldn't let justin put him down -except for a time or 2...especially in front of poppy's airplane :). i sent my camera (and if you know justin this was a BIG deal for him to stop what he was doing to take pictures! i'm so proud!) 

i completely forgot to add in cecilia's "stats" from her 9 months appointment!  needless to say, she's not lacking in the weight department: 24 lbs (99%). she is 29" (90%) and her head was in the 96%....so all A's for the baby girl-yay!!!!! i was pleasantly surprised when talking to the nurse practioner for her appt (the doctor had to be called out for a delivery). i was telling her how cecilia doesn't like to eat food. she fights it and seals her mouth shut and shakes her head from side to side. it's ridiculous. she'll snack on some finger foods, but really wants nothing to do with anything else. (don't get me wrong-she nurses like a champ.) then i proceeded to tell her that i was concerned since i was going to have to start weaning due to my upcoming surgery. (my kidney doctor said that i could keep breastfeeding, but i'll be on some serious pain meds for at least a week, so suggested to either supplement, then pump & dump or stop....-which is why i have postponed the surgery as long as i have!) anyways-she (the nurse practioner) was so supportive and told me that baby's can tolerate X amount of pain meds so i didn't have to stop completely. i could supplement at least half of her feedings and still nurse her and it (at most) should just make her a little drowsy. {i'm going to get with my kidney doctor and see what kind of pain medications they will give and then give them to my pediatrician to see what is safe/not safe}. i'm not 100% that i'm going to do this, BUT considering that she doesn't eat much regular food and i've been dreading all of this....it's a big stress reliever to know that i have more options. so YAY for that!

also-i met my new "lady" doctor (if you will) the other day. i immediately liked him and the staff. the clincher... they do not do vbacs (vaginal birth after cesarean). ah! even though ceci was a vbac, their hospital policy is that its too much of a liability. so when we do decide to have baby #3 we'll have to go to tucson. bummers. not what i wanted to hear! (although he did tell me that i could do it with a midwife...um, no epidural? i think not!) and turns out that this particular doctor isn't going to be doing deliveries after this year anyway.

singing the 'a,b song'

{snakes, spiders, & scorpions...oh my!}

new fun facts about our kiddos:

{ian}
he has been on such a train kick for awhile, and since my parents and sister came to visit-he has a few brand new trains. he LOVES them! he loves counting them. and he pretty much knows all of their names. i must admit-i'm pretty darn impressed by him! in other ian news-we got him a 'stand alone' potty-it just so happens to be a dinosaur. even though it was cool at the store when we got it, now he thinks its punishment to sit on it (although we did get him to actually go once while he was on it!) this kid is beyond ready to be potty trained. he wakes up and says "mommy, chee boppa" {change diaper}. he poops and immediately says (you guessed it) "chee boppa". hopefully it won't be too much longer...i'm not excited about him growing up, but i am excited about not having to buy double the diapers!

ian likes to say things are "cool" now. we were at the store the other day and he was sitting in the shopping cart (i prefer to call it a buggy, but thought i would put the 'proper term' in case you didn't know what i was talking about) and touching clothes while saying "coooooool" hehe. he's awesome. unfortunately-he does not think my singing is cool. i would like to pat myself on the back in my ability to add my children's names in pretty much any song there is. and i like to do it often. these days, however, ian will look at me and say "no, mommy sing song." sad face.     yesterday, though, we were going to my friend annika's house and we beat her there. i pulled both kids up in the front seat while we waiting and of course they had to push as many buttons as possible. ian figured out how to eject the cd and made it play (and my sister made me a copy of the "glee" soundtrack) so in goes "glee" and the first song is called "valerie".....so ian is sitting in the front seat-kicking his legs over the edge, he turned the song up-with this uber goober precious smirk on his face (the one that he gets when he's really happy about something but doesn't really want to show it...), then he looked at me and said "i like song". made my day!!!

{cecilia}
our baby girl is becoming little miss personality. she has figured out 'dancing'....her favorite song to 'dance' to is on mickey mouse clubhouse "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog...." -she lights up immediately and goes to town! (i'll try to get a video soon) she also will get on all fours and just rock back and forth-the look on her face is the best b/c she knows she's doing something awesome! if you saw the video from the last blog (i know it was long...) but she does the "ohhhhhh" face ALL the time-it's hilarious. she knows when it's appropriate and everything. she likes to raise her hands in the air-we clap, she claps, then she stops and does "ohhhhh". too funny!

ceci is a sweet baby who is mostly happy (i'm not trying to be conceited and say this, but it's the truth)-when i'm in the room with her. she's a STINKER! i know i've said it before, but she gets plain MAD if i put her down to go do something. or if i leave the room. i think a lot of it is that she gets her feelings hurt. i'm pretty sure that she's already figured out that if ian even starts to or acts like he's going to push or hurt her, she'll start to fuss. when justin or i get onto her-she just wells up and it is the saddest thing. she doesn't like to be told 'no' at all. she gets so sad and sometimes it works to her advantage..... she also gets scared pretty easily-like when i will run water, or the air comes on, or if i speak suddenly after it being quiet. it's actually sweet how sensitive she is!       she's also quite the hunter. no matter how clean it is, she is able to find paper to eat. where is this paper coming from?!?! she's getting quicker as well-she can move across a room pretty fast-she helps me stand a lot and holds my legs up ;) today when justin got home from work, he was going to get her and she just giggled and walked all around the train table as fast as she could...it was pretty precious! daddy has a special way of making her laugh-she loves justin so much!!


{also}
my babies love bath time-ian mainly likes it and uses it as his "art" time. he wants to draw. he wants us to draw dinosaurs, trains, helicopters, etc on the side of the tub (they make bath crayons....) yes, i have my degree in art-but justin is the one who can draw these things. i'm really good at drawing shapes and doodling! cecilia just splashes like crazy-she even voluntarily put her face in the water today (it was shallow and i was holding her arm at the time) but she was curious....and didn't even react. i have a feeling she'll be our water bug. ian is just so cautious when it comes to water and the pool (i kind of don't mind that!)

alrighty, so about the title of this blog.... well no more snakes (although i "hunt" for them while i'm in my car). no more spiders. now-we had a scorpion invade our home! AHHHH! if you know much about me, you know that i don't like scorpions. {things i am afraid of: 1). losing someone i love. 2.) scorpions.....and new to the list 3.) snakes that get to close} needless to say-i wasn't too happy about this. especially the fact that it was in the middle of the living-where both the babies play all the time (but were sleeping). i felt so violated. (still not as traumatized as the snake incident!)....we haven't seen any more at this time, but we are on guard, sadly. the apartment people are coming to spray on monday....

{labor day weekend}

we had an amazing visit with my mom, dad, & sister! they got in on friday night and got to stay until tuesday morning! we had an awesome time!!!! :)

a few days prior to them coming, justin's best friend, andy & his mom, came into town for a few days. we had a great time visiting with them! ian really missed andy and went to him immediately. cecilia-however, wasn't too sure about andy or his mom (her name is nancy but we call her 'nanner'). everytime andy and nanner would leave, ian would ask "where andy & nanner" so cute :)  it took ceci a little while to really warm up to them. i knew that she was in a clingy 'mommy' phase, but this reached a whole new level.

{side story to go with ceci's fear of people}...as i mentioned a few days ago-i went to go change my license to arizona the other day. while i was at the dmv, i had the kids in the front to back double stroller (not important to the story, but in case you were trying to picture us!) and there was a heavy set guy who was kind of dirty (he obviously works outside) who cecilia kept staring at. he was a nice guy-said hi to me and the kids and would smile at them. little miss stinker could not stop staring at him. then she would burst out in tears. then stare. then cry. {repeat} drama! the poor guy was a good sport and even offered to move. (i wouldn't let him). so that may tell you a little bit of how ceci is these days.

back to mom, dad, & kaysey coming into town. i sadly had to warn them that it was a possibility that she would be a little scare/standoff-ish. and unfortunately that was the case. she had just woken up when they got here and of course they couldn't wait to get their hands on her! they were good sports and didn't want to upset her. i think it upset me more! it breaks my heart that my parents can't see my kids more often and that this was even an issue. however, that's our life-i LOVE our life, just little parts like this make me sad on occasion. (okay, got that out of my system!)....cecilia definitely warmed up to everyone and gave them lots of love :)

you know who wasn't shy about them coming to visit?!?!?! you guessed it...IAN!!!!! i so wished i could have videoed his reaction to seeing everyone. let's just say this-justin opened the door and he saw aunt kaysey first. he did a little "happy feet" action (if you will) and said "nana!!!!" and gave her the biggest hug. then he saw aunt kaysey and pretty much pushed nana away! more happy feet stomping action. gave her the biggest hug ever. then saw grampy. same reaction. CUTEST THING EVER!!!!!!! oh my gosh. that boy was SO HAPPY!!!!!!! we had been talking about it for over a month that he would get to see them and give them hugs-and it had finally come true!!!!

ian was definitely super attached to his nana this trip and cecilia was loving her some aunt kaysey. grampy was loving all the hugs and love he got, too! we had such a fun weekend! saturday-went out to breakfast saturday, went to tombstone to do some sightseeing, then nana, grampy & aunt kaysey were in charge and justin and i got to go on a date for our anniversary! so much fun! sunday we went to the park and ian got to fly his new "airmane" nana brought him, then we went swimming after nap time. ian prefers the "hot pool" although he can only get in it in moderation (is wasn't really hot and it wasn't a hot day....) monday-we shopped :) tuesday-they left :(

here are a few pictures to recap the weekend! (and videos)

videos!!!!!!!

{recap}

so, since the drama that was the snake-we have had the pleasure of having a tarantula near our apartment (minding it's own business, but there and creepy-nonetheless), THEN justin went for a run the other day (an exact week from my snake(s) encounter...) and ran {pun intended} into TWO snakes-one for sure was a rattlesnake-who just so happened to be reared up and ready to get him....and the other was all curled up-was probably a rattlesnake, too, but not 100%. unlike myself, justin went ahead and took the time to actually take a picture of the snakes with his phone (which doesn't have a good camera on it). i will spare you guys the joys of seeing the pictures of them-i think i almost gave my sister and probably others a heart attack when i stuck that picture of the bull snake on the end of my blog the other day. so, if you are dying to see it-i put them on facebook. if you don't have facebook, then just imagine 2 gross snakes in the dirt. wala!

b/c of all of THAT, i still have the heebie jeebies about hanging out outside. we walk to and from the car and that's about it! don't worry, we don't just sit at home all day-i'm lucky to have a great friend here {annika} who just so happens to have 2 kids {jayden-3 1/2 and layla-almost 2}. we like to hang out and do crafty things (i miss you aimie!) and our kiddos get social interaction and a change in scenery. ceci enjoys the company as well-layla and jayden LOVE her-it's the sweetest thing, they are always looking out for her, giving her kisses, making sure she has toys, and if she gets upset about something-jayden tells me "i got her" so this 3 1/2 little boy is going to take care of her....it's too funny and too cute!

ian's favorite book is about airplanes. he waits all day for justin to get home and as soon as he does, ian says "daddy read airmane book! change! "(b/c he knows justin will change clothes before he sits down to read the book with him) and no, reading the book with me  just won't suffice apparently. he'll say-"cool airmane" and he loves to find airplanes that his poppy flies :)}

{ian hoards toys....   :/}

well the other day (last wednesday-to be exact) justin was holding ian and set him down. apparently ian didn't have his complete balance and fell over (which happens often & not usually a big deal). but this time-ian flipped out and was crying an "i'm in pain" cry. he finally calmed down and he got down but couldn't walk-he just limped and cried out immediately. it was about 7:00pm when this happened and we waited about 20-30 minutes to see if the pain would pass or if we needed to take him to the emergency room. panic set in, and we headed to the er. (in my mind-i was thinking....well if it IS something and i wake up in the morning and (justin's at work) ian needs to go to the dr, then get xrays-i can't take cecilia in the xray room with us, so we need to go tonight....) so while we're waiting, he gets brave and will kind of take steps, but then just stop and say "mommy/daddy hode you" and fuss a little. but by this time, he wasn't really crying about it. so then we toyed with leaving and just taking him to the doctor. long story short(ish)....we stayed and he got xrayed on both feet. it was about 10pm at this time (a good 2 hours past his bedtime)-keeping him still during the xrays wasn't the easiest task, but the technician said that they were good enough. the er doctor said there were no broken bones (whew!)....it was probably a strain/sprain of some sort, to alternate tylenol/motrin, and if it wasn't better in 24 hours to call his pediatrician. he did amazing considering it was so late-thank goodness for choo-choos and snacks!!!

well ian woke up the next morning with a sad limp. he complained some, but it got a little better as the day went on. then he took a nap and it was sad all over again. his pediatrician recommended waiting a week to see if it got any better. well here it is, a week later, and it hasn't really gotten completely better. we went to the mall today so the kids (the kids being ian, cecilia, jayden & layla) could play in the play area ...and ian started limping waaay more than he has been the past couple days. before today, he had stopped complaining about it, but still limped....and his usual swift run-was now very sad. today justin noticed that his big toe was bruised. tomorrow we're going back to the doctor to see what he thinks...say a little prayer that everything is okay!

cecilia is not liking teething at all. (to be honest, neither do i!)....we were spoiled b/c ian's front teeth never even bothered him-or he didn't show it at least! all she wants is for me to be in the room with her and to hold her. she gets MAD when i'm not there. she also get really mad when she can't have a toy she wants. she's going to be trouble-if you ask me! i knew her being such an easy and laid-back baby was going to backfire at some point! {challenge accepted!} she is into everything and is so happy (usually-teething time being the exception) just sitting and looking at every toy we own. and eating it is normally in that as well... it's been a sad week -in the sense that-cecilia has figured out and mastered taking off her headbands. whaa.

speaking of sad-i am officially an arizona resident. i finally went and changed my license from texas. sad face. (technically i was supposed to do it within 10 days of moving here....so just off by about 8 months or so....) soon my car will be an arizona resident as well. sigh. i realize i'm ridiculous about a lot of things, but this does actually make me sad. but that's okay b/c MY MOM, DAD & SISTER ARE GOING TO BE HERE IN LESS THAN 48 HOURS!!!!!! that pretty much makes everything better! the closer it gets, the more i actually let myself realize how much i really do miss seeing them. TWO MONTHS! it's been 2 months since i've seen my parents and they've gotten to see the kids. a LOT happens in two months. i know i'm super fortunate to get to see family as often as we do, but that doesn't mean i don't wish that we were closer. i get sad that they have to miss out on so many sweet and special moments (which, of course, is why i take as many pictures and videos as i do!!!!) but the truth is, that i miss them, too (not just the babies!)  i'm lucky that my parents are some of my best friends. lucky lucky lucky me!!!!

anyways, enough of all that. i'm thinking we are all recapped for now. more to come later!