Insta-Catch-up

Yep, still here. Still slacking. But here's a little peek through the eyes of Instagram at what happens in our little lives.

We've had some good and bad days...

 some science projects...

 free time,

 Yummy food,

 silliness,

 more yummy food,

 finished some science projects,

 snuggled with brothers,

 and had some REALLY bad days.

And then we've had better days. Days where you just want to fly a kite.

Days where you get to visit cousins,

 eat Cafe Rio,

and go up 100ft in a ladder truck at the fire station. That was a REALLY good day.

Days where you get a date with your little man (who is NOT so little anymore)

or dates with a FEW good men,

 
who sometimes know just how to dress things up.

 We've had carpools for preschool

 midlife crises,

 And I even went a little crazy and ran a half marathon. Yup, that's 13.1 miles.

 It was kind of fun. I might actually do it again.

 We've had some gorgeous sunsets

 and some uber- happy moments.

 One little man graduated from preschool (where did time go?)

 And another little man practiced his snow angels for the winter.

 We've had midnight ER visits (a far too common occurrence at our house)

 and we celebrated 9 years of wedded awesomeness.

 and a couple birthdays (with a baptism in there, but somehow I don't have a pic on my phone)

 We enjoyed a beautiful Fourth of July

 complete with cousins and yummy food.

 Ooh, and a hot date.

And plenty of brotherly love in there too.

 love, love, love.           LOVE.

Wow. Congrats if you made it through that. So far, its been a great summer. Next week begins a 5-day road trip cross country with my Dad and my boys and I. I'm sure it will be filled with LOTS of craziness and memories. Be prepared...

{laboratory}

This is my kitchen counter. For the next 10 days. How did Keegan get old enough to have science projects? Hope these pennies are going to be alright after doing time in these babies....

{awkward}

A conversation with K2:

K2: "Mom, when I grow up, I'm going to have a baby in my tummy."

Me: "Umm, actually no. Remember how only girls/mommies can have babies in their tummies?"

K2: "oh yeah. Ok, well, then I guess I'll be the dad."

Me: "Good call, buddy. So after you get married in the temple, you and your wife can have a baby."

K2: "OK. I'm going to marry you, ok? So we can get married and then have a baby."

Me: "........oh. Right."

I didn't know whether to laugh or just sit there in shock. How did I not see this awkward moment coming? Hahahahahahahahaha!!

{i am stronger}

(FYI: this is just my wild thinking, a small journal of my day, and me releasing some emotional pressure. read at your own risk)

This week, we had a Relief Society meeting where they talked about the 'power of positive thinking.' And while I may have made some jokes about things that were said, in truth, it really struck me. Basically, the message was that you are what you think. So if you go around thinking how tired, sad, irritated, depressed, etc you are, that is exactly how you will feel. So I resolved to myself to work on it. Even though I would probably be tired when I got up the next morning, I wasn't going to focus on it and let it rule my day. That being said, I was also in the midst of having had sick kids for the. whole. month.
I had already been to the doc 2x for the little Ks (K2 & K3) and once for me (yea, bronchitis!). I had just gone yesterday for K2, because the cold was triggering his asthma and his coughing/wheezing was out of control. Enter in my nemesis, oral steroids. I hate them. And yet, I can't seem to keep my kids away from them. The winter season brings colds, which are difficult for K2 & K3 to deal with because of their asthma tendencies. K3 has had croup more times than I can count this winter, one time sending us in an ambulance to the ER in the middle of the night. Anyway...
K2 was put on oral steroids to help calm down his lungs since the inhaler/nebulizer wasn't cutting it. As a background, this kid DOES NOT do well with oral steroids. The first time he had them as a 14 month old, he sat on the floor of our house screaming his head off as he went through some fabulous 'roid rage'. Successive treatments of the steroids have been no kinder as he has aged. He doesn't deal well with the emotional response to them. So. Doctor yesterday, had a dose of steroids at bedtime, had a dose when he woke up in the morning. All is well, right? We're on the road to lung recovery. I was relieved because he finally was able to take a nap without constant hacking. I'm about to get some much needed 20 minutes of shut-eye before K1 gets home from school. Cue sudden hysterical crying and screaming from K2.
(Also remember, I'm trying to stay positive, right?)
I spend the next 30 minutes holding his hands, stroking his head, talking quietly to him trying to get him to take deep breaths and calm down. The second I think I'm getting a little headway, he gets all agitated again and I'm back to square one. This is tortuous for me, as I'm sure most of you moms understand. I don't deal well with my kids being sick. I want nothing more than to take it from them and spare them the pain and agony. This emotional pain for Kayden is even worse and tends to put me on an emotional edge as well. 45 minutes later, I'm starting to get worried. This is the worst 'roid rage' episode I've seen from him. He starts screaming about his ear hurting, his throat hurting, back to his ear hurting, then just screaming about "I don't know what's wrong! Make it stop!" I start to get a little panicked. I ended up calling our doc because I didn't know what was going on and they had me bring him in. He still wouldn't calm down. IT WAS HORRIBLE. It seemed like he was in terrible agony, screaming, crying, extremely agitated and upset. Keegan was a champ - that kid helped get his little brother (K3) ready and he sat in the back of the car mumbling prayers under his breath for Kayden to calm down while I drove to the doc with tears streaming down my face, and Kayden screamed his heart out.
Turns out, he had a eardrum that was on the verge of rupturing. The doc said the pressure must have been excruciatingly painful, and the steroids messing with his emotional state didn't help him deal with the pain. I'm thankful it was just an bad ear infection. I was sure he was having some awful reaction to the medicine. How this ear infection was missed YESTERDAY I'm not sure - unless things like this can go that fast? I guess it's possible.
In the end, I survived. I'm not going to say I was completely positive throughout the whole experience, but I feel like I did the best I could at that moment. It definitely was a trial for my resolve to be positive though. And I am hopefully stronger for having made it through, and will be able to handle each experience better as they come.
{i can do this}

{words cannot describe}

Hopefully this cheers up your Monday blues...

*sigh* I love this dude.

(and if I don't post after this...you'll know why, right?)

{whoa}

Yes, yes, again. Slacker. Just slap a label on my forehead and be done. Here is a lightning-fast update of our clan. And then I promise (dare I say resolve??) to update REGULARLY.
August - Took an awesome trip out to Idaho to visit the B* clan. It was spectacular. Immediately prior to taking that trip, we bid our Dodge Grand Caravan adieu and upgraded our swagger. That's right, we are now proud owners of a swagger wagon (2011 Toyota Sienna) and I LOVE IT.
September - School started. 2nd grade for the Keegster (in Spanish all day) and preschool for Kayden and me. We do a co-op preschool with 6 other moms & kids in our area. 2 days a week, 2 field trips a month. It's fantastic, and I love being a part of it while still getting a break when it isn't my turn to teach. Soccer was also going on this month.
October - Ummm...School kept going, I taught preschool, had a birthday in there somewhere (28, oy), potty-trained Kyler, and celebrated Halloween. Boom, baby. My house is diaper-free. BEST. THING. EVER. Oh yeah, and this month, Zach, K1, and K2 were hit by a car while crossing the street. Everyone was fine, but it was a horrific experience.
November - School: and can I just share a life lesson with you here? When I just had Keegan, I could never understand why the moms with 3 or more kids didn't come to playgroups, etc. I couldn't figure out what they were so busy with. I get it now. I am constantly on the go - taking my turn in the carpool for school, the carpool or teaching for preschool, running my own errands, keeping my family fed, etc, etc. So, my apologies to you moms who I ever thought weren't busy. Ok, back to November...
November (again) - Soccer finished, yeah! It was fun, but so busy. Holidays were celebrated, Kyler made it exciting with our first ever 911 call and ride in an ambulance. Have I mentioned how much I hate asthma during the winter cold season? It's a nightmare.
December - Kyler turned 2! He was sick, and so his b-day was um...overlooked. I mean, we tried to make his day as nice as possible, but with ear infections, immunizations, and the leftover croup, it wasn't that awesome. Kayden is still reminding me that we never had a cake for him. What can I say - I was ultra-frazzled from his illness, and I dropped the ball. Big time. I promise I'll do better next time! School wrapped up for the 2011 year with Keegan getting rave reviews from his teachers in all areas. He is picking up the spanish amazingly well and really enjoying himself. Christmas was wonderful and probably deserves it's own post.... All in all, life is good, and we are keeping our heads above water in the daily routine. Here's to 2012 and more posting!