Time for another installment of Kellan conversations, the random things that come out of his mouth that have Andy and I laughing out loud.
Kellan: Tonight Mom can we read the "10 Communities" before bed.
Me: 10 communities?! What is that?
Kellan: You know, the story in the bible that tells about God's Rules.
Me: Ohhh, the 10 commandments, yes.
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Leaving a restaurant last week and walking past the hostess stand where a man (with a ponytail) was waiting to be seated....
Kellan: Mom, why does that guy have a ponytail? Is he a guy girl?!
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This gem was said during his nightly prayer where he thanks God for various things (and lately any and everything that comes to mind)
"Thank you God for ....(insert every toy/book in his room)..and thank you God for milk, that comes out of nipples" And with that, we ended the prayer and chatted about being serious in our prayers!
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Tonight, after he went to bed I hear him turning up the volume on his CD player, which he knows not to do.
Me: Kellan, if you turn the volume up again I will be taking the CD player out of your room for the night.
Kellan: Well Mom, the 10 commandments say that you can't take things that aren't yours, so if you want to obey God you shouldn't take my CD player.
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Monday, July 14, 2014
Friday, July 11, 2014
Day in the life
I know 6 months from now I won't remember what activities filled our days here at home, so for that reason I like to occasionally keep track of an average day so I can remember the craziness busy days!
5:30 AM - My alarm goes off, I hit snooze once and roll out of bed at 5:40. 10 minutes to get dressed, grab a banana and my water bottle and out the door to the gym
5:58 AM - Drive up to the gym and have to park halfway down the street because the 5 AM class is still working. This means the WOD is going to be a long one!
7:00 AM- Back in the car. Feels good to be done with the workout but I can already feel the 130+ kettle bell swings we did in my shoulders/arms. Those will make carrying Drake around even more fun.
7:10 AM - Get back home. Kellan meets me on the stairs since his clock is green. Get a big good morning hug from my boy and then run upstairs to jump in the shower before Andy has to leave for work.
7:20 AM - Dressed and get the boys their breakfast. I usually give Kellan two choices for breakfast and today he picked waffles. As soon as I set the waffle on the table he says "I changed my mind I'll just have cereal." Ha, nice try buddy you're having waffles. While the boys eat I empty the dishwasher and load it back up.
7:45 AM - The boys finish eating and I get them situated in the playroom while I clean up their breakfast dishes and the floor. No sooner do I turn around and Kel is right behind me again. He is really into washing dishes these days, so even though it's more work when he "helps" I get him set up at the sink to wash a few of the remaining dishes. I want to encourage his eagerness to help with tasks around the house as much as possible so I try to say yes most times.
8:00 AM - Ahh, everything is cleaned up I make some coffee and sit down for a second....literally, I think. No sooner do I sit down and Kellan asks if we can go on a walk around the neighborhood while he wears his police uniform and "check on the farmers soybeans." I switch my coffee into a travel mug for a walk and get Drake buckled into his bike and off we go. Kellan is very into rolley poleys lately, so he spends all his time with his eyes to the ground looking for them. Bad part is he can't figure out what is bird poop and what is a rolley poley so he makes many many stops along the walk. I finally tell him that if it's not moving it's probably poop and that seems to click for him so we can walk at a slightly faster pace. We check the farmer's soy beans (they look the same as they did yesterday, ha!), and then we walk down to the construction site so we can watch the "digger". We stand a watch for a few minutes and the construction guys wave at Kellan, which he thinks is pretty cool. We turn and head for home and I answer at least 20 questions before we finally make it back to the driveway.
8:45 AM - Drake gets a bottle and goes down for nap
9:00-11:00 AM - Drake naps so Kellan and I use this time to read books, watch a cartoon, and I get dressed.
11:00 AM - Spencer is in town so he comes to visit for a bit before he heads back to New York
11:45 AM - The boys need to burn some energy, and I NEED some energy so we get in the swagger wagon and hit up the Starbucks drive-thru and then head to a park to play. Kellan made me laugh while waiting in the drive-thru he asked me why I never take them both inside Starbucks so we can all sit together and have a snack and a drink. I try to explain to him that Starbucks is more of a quiet place that people go to do work or talk with friends and Drake is not a quiet person so we just stick with the drive thru!
12:30 PM - We get done playing at the park and head home for lunch. On the menu today for Kellan: Mac n cheese and an apple. Drake is going through a super picky stage so he had greek yogurt, cheese, and peas...most of which did not make it into his mouth.
1:00 PM - nap time! After I get the boys upstairs I get the kitchen cleaned up from lunch and make my own lunch. Today I have laundry I need to do while they sleep, so I finish that up too.
2:30 PM - Kellan wakes up and comes downstairs. We sit on the couch together and watch a cartoon
3:00 PM - Drake wakes up. He gets a bottle and we get out the duplo legos to play with.
3:30 PM - I check in with Andy and he has to work late so we need to pick up Jake from the groomer. We get to the groomer and they can't find Jake?! Hmmm...they finally find him (apparently he was hiding in the corner of a large pen and they couldn't see him??)
4:15 PM - Andy is home! We have a birthday party to go to tonight so I get Drake's food ready to take with us while Andy wrestles on the floor with the boys.
5:30-8:00 - The boys have fun celebrating Lexi's birthday!
8:00 PM - Boys home and in bed, Andy and I crash on the couch after I pack for a weekend trip to visit Carolyn (yay!!)
10:00 PM - I'm exhausted and ready to pass out for the night.
Life with a one year old and three year old means that someone always needs something. Lately it is that they both want me to hold them - at the same time. If one is sitting on my lap and the other sees then they too have to be on my lap. My lap isn't really big enough for both of them to sit without one elbowing the other one so that always makes it interesting. Sometimes, in the middle of the chaos I try to stop and really just appreciate it all because I know in a few years Kellan won't want to sit on my lap and cuddle so I try to soak it up as much now as possible :)
5:30 AM - My alarm goes off, I hit snooze once and roll out of bed at 5:40. 10 minutes to get dressed, grab a banana and my water bottle and out the door to the gym
5:58 AM - Drive up to the gym and have to park halfway down the street because the 5 AM class is still working. This means the WOD is going to be a long one!
7:00 AM- Back in the car. Feels good to be done with the workout but I can already feel the 130+ kettle bell swings we did in my shoulders/arms. Those will make carrying Drake around even more fun.
7:20 AM - Dressed and get the boys their breakfast. I usually give Kellan two choices for breakfast and today he picked waffles. As soon as I set the waffle on the table he says "I changed my mind I'll just have cereal." Ha, nice try buddy you're having waffles. While the boys eat I empty the dishwasher and load it back up.
7:45 AM - The boys finish eating and I get them situated in the playroom while I clean up their breakfast dishes and the floor. No sooner do I turn around and Kel is right behind me again. He is really into washing dishes these days, so even though it's more work when he "helps" I get him set up at the sink to wash a few of the remaining dishes. I want to encourage his eagerness to help with tasks around the house as much as possible so I try to say yes most times.
8:00 AM - Ahh, everything is cleaned up I make some coffee and sit down for a second....literally, I think. No sooner do I sit down and Kellan asks if we can go on a walk around the neighborhood while he wears his police uniform and "check on the farmers soybeans." I switch my coffee into a travel mug for a walk and get Drake buckled into his bike and off we go. Kellan is very into rolley poleys lately, so he spends all his time with his eyes to the ground looking for them. Bad part is he can't figure out what is bird poop and what is a rolley poley so he makes many many stops along the walk. I finally tell him that if it's not moving it's probably poop and that seems to click for him so we can walk at a slightly faster pace. We check the farmer's soy beans (they look the same as they did yesterday, ha!), and then we walk down to the construction site so we can watch the "digger". We stand a watch for a few minutes and the construction guys wave at Kellan, which he thinks is pretty cool. We turn and head for home and I answer at least 20 questions before we finally make it back to the driveway.
8:45 AM - Drake gets a bottle and goes down for nap
9:00-11:00 AM - Drake naps so Kellan and I use this time to read books, watch a cartoon, and I get dressed.
11:00 AM - Spencer is in town so he comes to visit for a bit before he heads back to New York
11:45 AM - The boys need to burn some energy, and I NEED some energy so we get in the swagger wagon and hit up the Starbucks drive-thru and then head to a park to play. Kellan made me laugh while waiting in the drive-thru he asked me why I never take them both inside Starbucks so we can all sit together and have a snack and a drink. I try to explain to him that Starbucks is more of a quiet place that people go to do work or talk with friends and Drake is not a quiet person so we just stick with the drive thru!
12:30 PM - We get done playing at the park and head home for lunch. On the menu today for Kellan: Mac n cheese and an apple. Drake is going through a super picky stage so he had greek yogurt, cheese, and peas...most of which did not make it into his mouth.
1:00 PM - nap time! After I get the boys upstairs I get the kitchen cleaned up from lunch and make my own lunch. Today I have laundry I need to do while they sleep, so I finish that up too.
2:30 PM - Kellan wakes up and comes downstairs. We sit on the couch together and watch a cartoon
3:00 PM - Drake wakes up. He gets a bottle and we get out the duplo legos to play with.
3:30 PM - I check in with Andy and he has to work late so we need to pick up Jake from the groomer. We get to the groomer and they can't find Jake?! Hmmm...they finally find him (apparently he was hiding in the corner of a large pen and they couldn't see him??)
4:15 PM - Andy is home! We have a birthday party to go to tonight so I get Drake's food ready to take with us while Andy wrestles on the floor with the boys.
5:30-8:00 - The boys have fun celebrating Lexi's birthday!
8:00 PM - Boys home and in bed, Andy and I crash on the couch after I pack for a weekend trip to visit Carolyn (yay!!)
10:00 PM - I'm exhausted and ready to pass out for the night.
Life with a one year old and three year old means that someone always needs something. Lately it is that they both want me to hold them - at the same time. If one is sitting on my lap and the other sees then they too have to be on my lap. My lap isn't really big enough for both of them to sit without one elbowing the other one so that always makes it interesting. Sometimes, in the middle of the chaos I try to stop and really just appreciate it all because I know in a few years Kellan won't want to sit on my lap and cuddle so I try to soak it up as much now as possible :)
Friday, July 4, 2014
The Anti-Relaxing
Anti-relaxing....antirelaxing?! I may have just made that word up, and if I didn't it's probably spelled wrong. Either way, traveling with small children, or even Kellan sized children is not my favorite thing to do. You have to pack like you're leaving for 2 weeks, naps are missed, kids are grumpy, it just doesn't sound fun or relaxing in any way. So, for these reasons we never really took many long day/weekend trips with Kellan when he was young, and up until today we hadn't with Drake either. I had a change of heart though after being cooped up in the house for the last week and a half while Drake battled the HFM virus and was more than ready to get out of here for a bit, and the lure of a few things I wanted at IKEA also helped persuade me to take the plunge and break my "no travel with kids" policy.
To my complete and utter amazement, it was actually relaxing!! Andy and I loaded up Drake (timed our leaving with his first nap) and headed to Chicago this morning. Drake was a rockstar and slept the whole way there. He rode in the stroller for the 2+ hours while we shopped and was happy to just look around and practice waving at everyone.
After IKEA we ate at a brewery Andy wanted to try. The name was something weird that I'm not even going to try to spell, but it was good! Since I'm a rookie at packing for day trips I forgot his bib, a change of clothes, and his splat mat to put down on the table to eat off of. Drake left a big mess, and we left a big tip (I hope).
There was a Bass Pro Shop near the restaurant so we walked over there and Andy picked out the pontoon boat that he decided we needed. The Swagger Wagon can't pull a boat so we'll have to wait to pick it up until we have something with a little more power. I feel the same way about boating with small children as I do about traveling with them, so we need a few more years for the boys to grow up a bit anyway. While Andy took his time and shopped the gun section Drake and I had time to explore the entire rest of the store. We entertained ourselves with some hats.
We left about an hour after his normal afternoon nap time. He quickly passed out and slept the whole way home! I've decided day trips are now do-able. The next big hurdle I need to overcome....a weekend trip...with kids...sleeping in a hotel room. Kind of makes me cringe!! I'm up for the challenge though, and we're planning on taking the boys to Chicago for a weekend sometime this summer. Now, my only question is should I pack one bottle of wine or two?! (That's a joke, Mom!)
To my complete and utter amazement, it was actually relaxing!! Andy and I loaded up Drake (timed our leaving with his first nap) and headed to Chicago this morning. Drake was a rockstar and slept the whole way there. He rode in the stroller for the 2+ hours while we shopped and was happy to just look around and practice waving at everyone.
After IKEA we ate at a brewery Andy wanted to try. The name was something weird that I'm not even going to try to spell, but it was good! Since I'm a rookie at packing for day trips I forgot his bib, a change of clothes, and his splat mat to put down on the table to eat off of. Drake left a big mess, and we left a big tip (I hope).
There was a Bass Pro Shop near the restaurant so we walked over there and Andy picked out the pontoon boat that he decided we needed. The Swagger Wagon can't pull a boat so we'll have to wait to pick it up until we have something with a little more power. I feel the same way about boating with small children as I do about traveling with them, so we need a few more years for the boys to grow up a bit anyway. While Andy took his time and shopped the gun section Drake and I had time to explore the entire rest of the store. We entertained ourselves with some hats.
We left about an hour after his normal afternoon nap time. He quickly passed out and slept the whole way home! I've decided day trips are now do-able. The next big hurdle I need to overcome....a weekend trip...with kids...sleeping in a hotel room. Kind of makes me cringe!! I'm up for the challenge though, and we're planning on taking the boys to Chicago for a weekend sometime this summer. Now, my only question is should I pack one bottle of wine or two?! (That's a joke, Mom!)
Thursday, July 3, 2014
All my favorite people!
Today was pretty close to being my "perfect" day, and this is a perfect day that did not even involve a trip to Starbucks or Target! Nothing super extraordinary happened but it was a culmination of the entire day's events that made this day stand out as one I don't want to forget anytime soon.
Our day started with a trip to Springfield. Aunt Darcy invited Kellan to a "Pete the Cat" class she was teaching so since we were headed to Springfield I decided to make a day out of it, get a babysitter for the littlest wild man, and have a special day with Kel. When Kellan finished his class (which he loved by the way and said that was his favorite part of the day!) we went to lunch with Darcy and Anna. I miss those girls...a lot. So it was so nice just to be able to sit and catch up with them. After lunch we hit up Ergadoozy to play. Darc and I even enjoyed climbing around with Kellan while he pretended he was mario and would climb up and down through all the "levels."
After we finished playing we took Kellan to the mall for his first ride on the big carousel and a visit to Build-A-Bear. He is the perfect age right now for this and I loved seeing how excited he was over it all. He ended up with a dog dressed like Spiderman that he aptly named, Silly Bear. Yeah, I don't know either...
The second half of my day consisted of seeing all three of my brothers, at the same time! They live in three different states right now so it doesn't happen all that often that they can make it back at the same time. We enjoyed dinner at Alexanders and just hanging out and catching up. Next week it will be 5 years since our Dad passed away and seeing these guys all doing so well makes me smile. I know my Dad would be so incredibly proud of them! I also laugh because as they get older they all are starting to look more and more like him :)
Our day started with a trip to Springfield. Aunt Darcy invited Kellan to a "Pete the Cat" class she was teaching so since we were headed to Springfield I decided to make a day out of it, get a babysitter for the littlest wild man, and have a special day with Kel. When Kellan finished his class (which he loved by the way and said that was his favorite part of the day!) we went to lunch with Darcy and Anna. I miss those girls...a lot. So it was so nice just to be able to sit and catch up with them. After lunch we hit up Ergadoozy to play. Darc and I even enjoyed climbing around with Kellan while he pretended he was mario and would climb up and down through all the "levels."
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| Sporting his Pete the Cat mask |
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| Showing Aunt Darcy some love |
After we finished playing we took Kellan to the mall for his first ride on the big carousel and a visit to Build-A-Bear. He is the perfect age right now for this and I loved seeing how excited he was over it all. He ended up with a dog dressed like Spiderman that he aptly named, Silly Bear. Yeah, I don't know either...
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| Chatting it up with Aunt Darcy |
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| Informing the lady that his dog's name was going to be "Silly Bear" |
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| "Mom, this isn't really water though, right?" |
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| Of course he wanted his dog to have underwear, because underwear is hilarious when you're three |
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| On the carousel together |
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| Taking Silly Bear home with us! |
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| Andy, Spencer, AJ, Wes, Dad and I in 2006 |
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| And in 2014 |
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