Memories

Since I found out I was pregnant with Macalan I have been keeping a journal of what pregnancy was like, the birth experience, and any milestones he has reached or funny things he has done. I have been doing the same for Sutton. Last night I was looking through Macalan's journal and so many memories came flooding back. It's amazing how quickly you forget some of the things your kids do.

One particular entry had to do with the words Macalan was learning to say. The date at the top was from last August when he was about 16 months. He was saying words like bubble, water, and cracker. I also made some comments about him being nuk free for several days!

Now he speaks in very clear sentences and uses words like delicious. In fact people often comment on how well he talks. It's crazy how fast things change. There are days when Kyle and I wish he couldn't say so many things. :)

I thought I would include a picture of him from the summer of 2009, but I don't have any on my computer so I posted one from his first birthday pictures. He looks so different now!

Tailgating

Last weekend the weather finally cooperated and we were able to enjoy some ISU tailgating, not to mention an awesome 52 to 38 win! Macalan was practicing his bar backing skills. For some reason he thought it was great to fill cups with ice from the coolers. Hey...whatever keeps him from having a red-headed temper tantrum, which did occur while we were there! Sutton loved being cuddled by Aunt Penny, Grandma, AND Mommy. It was a great weekend!

I'm looking forward to hanging out at home this weekend. Kyle is heading to Ames without us. I just can't stand the thought of packing up the boys' stuff for a third weekend in a row. It will be nice to just be home and relax and hopefully get some of Sutton's birthday pictures taken.

Thomas the Train and a Cyclone Game

We had great plans this weekend to head to Ames and see Thomas the Train and enjoy the ISU game. However, the rain had other plans! Macalan had been looking forward to seeing Thomas so we went anyway. It was cold, rainy, and crowded. They were charging $18 to ride for twenty minutes and do the activities. Luckily we found out right as we were about to leave that we could do the kid's activities for only $5. We managed to get a tattoo on Mac's hand and check out the petting zoo before deciding that none of us were really having any fun. There's always next year I suppose! I did snap a picture of Thomas pulling out with all the suckers who decided to spend what I thought was an arm and leg for a short ride and not very exciting activities. Can you tell I have a bad attitude about this experience!? :)

It was intended that Sutton would have his first tailgating experience too, but it was so rainy and cold we decided to hang out with some friends who live in Ames. It was nice to be in a warm house with a clean bathroom and not a port-o-potty! Later in the day the tailgating sites were getting closed down because it was so wet. I'm glad we didn't waste our time trying to set up. I guess we'll try again next weekend.

I included a picture of Macalan showing off his Percy tattoo that he got at the Thomas the Train event. He was pretty proud of himself. He was also having fun making an Oreo, turkey, cheese, and cracker sandwich!

I am crossing my fingers that we'll have a better week this week. Last week was so crazy with all the rain and water in the basement. Right now we have the padding in the garage ready to be thrown out and every available storage bin holding up the carpet so it can dry out. Eventually we'll have the carpet relayed. I just hope this doesn't happen again! I really can't feel too bad for our situation though. I saw pictures of what other people are dealing with and we're pretty lucky.

Scary Week

I have no fun pictures to include in this blog post because life have just been too crazy right now. We are all doing pretty well adjusting to our hectic lives during the school year. Macalan and Sutton are having lots of fun playing with their daycare friends. Barb our daycare lady informed me that Sutton has started army crawling to where ever the big boys are playing! He is really getting around lately! Macalan had lots of fun at the Gustavus football game last weekend with his friend Carson. They got to run around on the football field after the game and pretend they were the big football players. Gustavus played Wartburg and that was the same day as the Iowa/Iowa State game. We felt kind of funny walking in all decked out in our Iowa State gear. We heard a few "Go Hawkeyes" and a couple of "Go Cyclones" as we walked around. Too bad they had to lose so horribly!

We had a pretty bad scare this week at our house. On Thursday a repair man had come out to fix our oven. He did a few things and left a note for Kyle that as soon as he could he should switch out the cord on the oven. Kyle was home alone with the boys that night because I had class. Thankfully he decided to do what the note said and he started changing out the cords. When he bent down to switch them he could smell and feel gas blowing in his face. He ran downstairs to shut off the gas and called the gas company. They said to call a plumber so that's who he called next. Our plumber came right over and was able to fix the problem pretty quickly. He determined that somehow the pipe had been snapped in half. We are wondering if when the repair man pulled it and then slid back in its spot if that's when it happened. I got home as soon as I could and according to the plumber we were very lucky. He said if we had tried starting the oven or lighting the burners there would have been an explosion. I couldn't help but get teared up on my way home thinking about this. I could have lost my whole family. Someone (probably Kyle's dad) was watching over us that night. The next day Kyle made a phone call to the repair company and they are waving the fee. I know none of this was done on purpose, but it still makes me angry!

Hopefully this next week will be a little more calm for us. We are headed to Ames on Friday for another ISU game! Hopefully they can pull out a win, especially since it will be Sutton's first tailgate! I will do my best to post some pictures of all the festivities!

So I have to include this! I am sitting here typing and Macalan is playing with his cars on the table by me. He just crashed them into each other and said, "Knock, Knock!" "Who's there?" "Calan!" and then he started having a conversation between his two cars! It was pretty cute. He has been really into knock knock jokes lately. The punch line for every single one when you get to the "Who's there?" part is "Calan Jophus!" He thinks it's hilarious and it's even cuter because he can't say Joseph, which is his middle name. Kids know how to make you smile even when things aren't the greatest!

First tumbling class!

Macalan had his first tumbling class tonight. He really seemed to enjoy it. I was afraid he'd be scared and freak out and not want to participate, but he did really well. I can already tell we'll need to be working on some things at home. He has always struggled a little bit with large motor activities. Hopefully this class will help with that.

Sutton and I enjoyed hanging out in the lobby and watching while Kyle took Mac in to the class. It was fun to sit back and watch his reactions to everything. We were happy to see that some of our friends had enrolled their kids in the same class. It's always nice to know someone!

At the end the kids got to go in the foam pit. Macalan called the foam pieces ice cubes because they were light blue squares. He told me I should throw him in the ice cubes next week. Thankfully he wants to go back again! It probably helps that the teachers pass out stickers at the end of every class! Macalan is a sticker fanatic!

I'm hoping to get some pictures of him at some point, but I'm not sure if they will allow that or not. I hope they do because he looks so cute trying to do the different activities.

First Haircut and 10 Months!

Last week I took Sutton in for his first haircut! I really wanted to hold out until he turned one, but his hair was covering his ears and he was starting to get a mullet in the back. :) He did pretty well except for the times that I had hold his head still. I can't believe how much bigger he looks just by getting his hair cut. I made sure to ask the girl cutting his hair to save some in an envelope for me. It's crazy how much his hair has changed since he was a newborn. When he was first born he had lots of dark hair and now it's pretty much blonde!

Sutton also turned 10 months old today. I feel like I was just posting his 9 month entry. Each month seems to go faster and faster! It makes me itch for another baby, but don't worry...I think we'll hold out for a couple more years! I don't think I can handle much more right now.

In the last month Sutton has decided he's tired of just sitting on the floor and allowing his brother to come and take his toys. Now he has taken matters into his own hands. He has gotten to the point where he could be crawling at any time. At this point he gets up on all fours, rocks back and forth, and then slips to his tummy and army crawls. I think he got tired of being "bullied" by Macalan so now he wants to get his toys back! We'll see how that goes!

Aside from trying to crawl, there really isn't anything different from 9 months. He continues to explore and try to get into everything around him, he finds sneezing hilarious, he loves splashing in the tub with his brother, and he's trying to master using a sippy cup. It's hard to believe I almost have a two year old AND a one year old!

Almost a crawler!

Sutton is getting closer and closer each day to crawling! He's been able to get up on all fours pretty easily. However, once he's up he rocks back and forth and sometimes is able to move one hand forward a little, which typically makes him slip back on to his belly. I don't think it will be too many more days before he's on the move! This is exciting and scary. I will now have two busy boys to chase.

It's funny how different kids can be. Macalan wasn't at all interested in crawling until he was just a couple of weeks away from his first birthday. Then he finally did it! Once he mastered crawling he must have thought that was better than walking because it took him until about about 17 months or so before he walked! That was when we took our first trip to the ER because he split his head open on the corner of his bed! I remember discussing at length with the pediatrician how concerned I was for him. I kept being told not to worry, that it would happen and that once it finally did I would miss the days when he didn't walk/run all over the place. I have to say, sometimes I do miss those days when I could plop him down and he stayed in the same spot. Now I find him on top of the coffee table or trying to climb into Sutton's crib, etc.!

As busy as these little guys keep us and as often as I am having to deal with "terrible twos" issues lately, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's so easy to get upset about small, insignificant things that, when it comes down to it, just don't matter. I am grateful for every moment I have with my kids, both the good and the bad. I am reminded of this even more lately after experiencing the death of a co-worker's son. At just 15 he was taken from his family and friends, who loved him dearly, due to an undetected heart problem. I think about him and his family often, especially his mom. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a child. I hope and pray I never have to experience such a heartbreaking loss. I am amazed at the strength this family has had through this very emotional time. The strength they've shown both in their faith and in themselves is inspiring. It just reminds me that no one is promised tomorrow and that we need to enjoy life as much as possible.

Hopefully I'll be able to post a picture or video of my littlest blessing crawling soon!