Reflection on 4 Years Ago!

This was Kolbe the day he was born!

Sometimes, when he gets really upset now, I see resemblances in this picture. The mouth definitely looks the same. Hard to believe that up until that day we had no idea he was even a boy, what he looked like, what color his hair was, what he sounded like, his personality, his facial expressions-and now I know him like the back of my hand.

Nickolas looked just like him the day he was born. I wonder all the time what the new baby will look like-every little thing. Is it a girl, a boy, how big, the looks, the sounds. Now is the time when we are still pondering all those things, awaiting 3 1/2 months from now when we will forever know them all.

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY KOLBE!!!

Today is Kolbe's 4th birthday!! He was so excited when he woke up this morning, and the first words out of his mouth were "Next time I'll be 5!" (Where's the patience?)

Every birthday is a milestone, and always gets me thinking back to the day he was born. I had checked out of the hospital the night before, and had to be back the next morning at 5am for them to induce. I had been having contractions for weeks, and not progressing and they were concerned with how big he might be.

Induction started at 7am and I went until almost 3pm until getting an epidural (after they manually broke my water). I still hadn't made any progress after almost 10 hours, and Kolbe's heart rate dropped suddenly and within 10 minutes they had me in for a c-section to get him out.

I can't say the surgery was the best experience, but I would do it 10 times over again to have that single moment where he came out and the doctor said "It's a boy!" The best moment of my life.

I can still hear all the sounds, the smells and remember it like it was yesterday. And now it's already 4 years later.

Thank you to my little boy for bringing such joy into my world.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOLBE!

Thomas the Train Ride

On Saturday we drove down to Rusk to ride Thomas the Train with Oma and Opa. It was their birthday gift to Kolbe. Of course, the boys absolutely loved it. It was a little different than last time and only ran 30 minutes, which was really good timing with Nickolas there. We walked around and let the boys play, then took the train ride and then had a picnic afterwards. The weather was beautiful and the fall colors in the trees were so pretty. It was a great time to go and they did great in the car ride too. Slept the entire ride home which was almost 3 hours!

Must have been planet alignment that day, everything went off without a hitch!

We Saw SAW V!

On Friday Keith and I were able to relax for a bit and we saw "Saw V"! How can you NOT see this during Halloween month? Plus, we've seen each one in the theatre.

Of course, I was a sucker for it, and really liked all the blood and guts while enjoying my popcorn and peanut M&M's. It was a lot of the same stuff from the other 4, and it got kind of confusing when they started backtracking to clips from the others, but overall it was worth taking the time to go see it.

I can't account for about 10 minutes in the middle when I dozed off, but the rest I give 2 thumbs up!

Camping 101 with Kids

Last weekend we went camping down at Inks Lake-it was was, how shall I say...an adventure!

Kolbe had soccer on Saturday at noon, so we headed out right afterwards, which was perfect timing because that's the time the boys nap. They did really well on the way out, they had a snack and slept about an hour or so, and Nickolas kept dosing off and on the rest of the way. We only stopped one or two times. It took us a little under 4 hours to get there, and that was with the time it took to find the campsite-which was awhile.

Keith's parents, brother and his family (including his kids, 4 and 2 year old) were already there and had slept there the night before. It was nice because we had an RV and tents. It was kind of close to the water which made me a little nervous, lots of people and bathrooms close by. The evening went well because it was new. The kids played, we went to the park, ate dinner, talked. Kolbe slept in the tent with Eric and Dorys and their kids. We slept in the RV with Keith's parents and put Nick in the daybed in there. He did GREAT! I was impressed. One of the kids accidentally hit the power button and we didn't know what the problem was so there was no electricity all night, but it worked out. Everyone was up about 7 and the chaos started!

The kids were crazy. We went fishing, took a walk, played, ate and tried to keep them entertained. They just got worn out so quickly and our boys were ready to go by noon! We headed out about 1:00 anticipating they would be so exhausted they would sleep the whole way home-that would be a no.

What should take about 3 hours, took 5 1/2! We stopped at least 6 times to get gas, for Kolbe to go potty, get water, let Nickolas stretch, you name it. The boys didn't sleep until we were about 15 minutes from home and they were NOT happy in the car. Needless to say, it was not the greatest car ride as we were all exhausted and ready to get home.

Camping.

Worth it-but in short periods and close to home! Just my advice.

Goal Complete: Have Lunch with Someone New

On Tuesday I had lunch with Kathryn, Keith's cousin's girlfriend!

She's actually lived here for about 2 1/2 years, and we have seen each other at family gatherings, we've been to their house and out to dinner, but I have never had lunch one on one with her.

She made her way over to Fossil and we went out and had sushi. It was really nice to sit and talk about work, family and just chit chat.

We plan on seeing each other in December for a family get together and hopefully we can have lunch more often!

School Pictures

It's that time of year again-school pics!

This is the first time they have been able to get theirs done together (granted, Nickolas has only been in daycare for a year), but it's still nice to have them both in the same shot.

I was SO happy with these. I love the background. I think it's cute how they have their shoes off and they are both smiling so sweet. Good thing Keith was home the day we had these done, because I kept reminding him the night before to get them dressed halfway decent, and by morning I had forgot!!

Keith remembered-whew!

Painting of Nickolas

My birthday present from Keith was a wonderful painting of Nickolas (the one on the right)! He had done one for me for Christmas of 2006 right before Nickolas was born, and I was always hoping he would do one about this age so they would each be close to 2 years old in the picture.

I love the style ad differences in color. It's been difficult to find a frame, but I can't wait to get it hung in the living room next to Kolbe's and then he has another 2 years of rest before the next one needs to be painted!!

Birthday Melon

It's been a week, but better late than never. Last Monday my desk was decorated by the team for my birthday!

The theme: FRUIT!

I think we all know how bad I am about leaving fruit on my desk, never to be eaten and gradually rotting and becoming a waste.

So this year my card was replaced with a honeydew melon!~ What a great concept! A fruit decorated crown and lots of pictures of bananas, oranges and so forth hung all around.

Great lunch at Posadas with a small group of people and a very happy day!

My Birthday on Saturday!

I was definitely treated like a princess! (Or at a minimum, a tired Mom who needed a break!)

On Saturday morning Keith got up with the boys and got them out of the house, so it was completely peaceful while I was sleeping in. I got up at about 9:30, and the boys had picked up breakfast and had a present for me. Keith also painted a picture of Nickolas that we could hang next to the one of Kolbe.

Keith took care of almost everything for the day. We had a nice dinner out and he got the boys in bed, and then we watched a movie and relaxed.

I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Couples NIght Out!

On Thursday night Keith and I had dinner with Jennifer & Ian, Nikki and Nate and Jenn L! (Byron was out of town for work).

Since 3 of our birthdays are in October we decided to get out and enjoy dinner together.

It was nice. Maggiano's is so good-we enjoyed appetizers, pasta and dessert, and good company.

Congratulations to Jennifer and Ian who just closed on their house! And Nikki is glowing (18 weeks pregnant too). Jenn's job sounds fabulous!

Thanks for a great "birthday" night out!

Flowers From Mom

A flower cake!!

I've never seen one, much less received one.

When I got into work on Thursday the operator called and said I had a delivery at the front desk. I went down there and saw these beautiful flowers. My first thought is that they were from the boys, but when I looked at the card, they were from my MOM!

What a sweet gesture that she sent them for my (early) birthday and remembered that I would not be in the office on Friday!

How thoughtful!

18-Week CheckUp!

The baby is doing wonderful!

I thought they were going to do a sonogram this time around, so my grandmother came with me, but they didn't. Good thing I wasn't anxious to find out the gender!

Everything looks good. Baby's heartbeat is good, I'm measuring on target, I gained 5lbs and my blood pressure is up but still a little low. It was 115/60, which is a lot better than 80/60. I'll find out the results of the triple screen next week I'm sure.

I set up all my appointments for the rest of the pregnancy. The next appointment will be the sonogram, then the glucose test at the one after that, so 2 more months until bloodwork thank goodness!

I'm feeling the baby move a lot, although no one else has felt it yet. It's the ideal time because the movements have yet to hurt and are increasing in strength. I'm noticing little things to come, like getting out of breath faster, my stomach becoming harder and therefore noticing it more when I sit down and the struggle to find clothes that fit halfway decent.

I'm very tired a lot of the time, but enjoying this last pregnancy tremendously.

Monday-Wednesday: Nickolas' First Break

Monday Night: I pick Nickolas up from school and he is screaming. I can tell it's him before I even see him around the corner. The ladies said he had been crying for about 15 minutes and that he's constipated because he won't walk and stiffens up. They said he was fine up until then and they saw him in the corner crouching like he needed to "go".

I take him home and he won't walk the rest of the night. He's obviously in pain and Keith runs out and gets some food to help him try to go to the bathroom. He makes it through the night and sleeps great.

Tuesday: Nickolas slept so great I had to wake him up at 7:15 so I could get to work by 8am for a meeting. I get him up, and uh oh, he still won't walk. I feel horrible dropping him off at school and tell them I'm having my grandmother come and get him to keep him and try and get him into the doctor. I get to work and all 3 meetings I found to be very important, didn't happen. I'm overwhelmed and frustrated with work, and feeling guilty that I am not with Nickolas. The doctor wants Nickolas to get an x-ray. I leave work about 3:00 and get him to the x-ray place. He did great. He starting to walk on it a little, but limping a lot. It's hard to watch him try and walk on it.

Wednesday: Get a call for the results and Nickolas has a fractured tibula. We also found a bruise on his left butt cheek. The doctor wants him to see an orthopedic pediatrician. Keith takes him in and he says it is fractured, and if he's limping after a week he'll need a cast. We get him home that night and he's doing so much better. He limps occasionally, but is back to playing and is very active, although the doctor said to try and get him to take it easy.

Needless to say, those 3 days were extremely hard, but I am so thankful Nickolas is doing better. I don't blame the school, I don't think anyone did anything to him, but it's scary to think that something like that happened when we weren't there for him.