Tonight was a little rough. My patience had been a little thin all day long and Matthew totally freaked out tonight when I told him it was time to clean up trains and get ready for bed. After making it through that freak out session, he had another melt down when it was time to read scriptures. So we only read 2 verses. Then it was time to say prayer. Lately Matthew has refused to pray and when he does he gets all silly, and starts messing around and won't finish, he doesn't fold his arms or listen to the prayer...you get the idea. So last night I told Matthew that he was going to say the prayer every night until he decided that it was okay to pray and he could do it right. So, tonight I held his arms folded and had his feet between my legs until he decided to stop messing around and say the prayer. We got past that and then he dropped to the floor like a limp noodle when it was time to walk to bed. I was carrying Koyle and half dragging/carrying Matthew into the bedroom. Matthew started fighting more and wouldn't stand up so I just let go of his arm and he dropped to the floor, bonking his head. This of course led to more screaming and crying. At this point my patience was GONE so I grabbed him and dropped him in bed, covered him with his blanket, and told him I didn't want to see him until the morning. (That sounds very mean, I know-and it is mean. I am working on being nicer to my children when I get upset.) Matthew then proceeded to get out of bed multiple times, and I would put him back and he would get out and stand by the door and cry and cry because I told him to go back to bed. I think you get the idea of how the night was going.
Well, my dear, sweet, baby Koyle layed quietly in his bed and just played with his blanket through the entire thing. He never made a peep-seriously. He was the angel of my night. I know I say it almost every time I post but he is such a good baby and I just love having him around. He is teaching me to be more peaceful and gentle. Matthew can take the rough and tough side of me, but because Koyle is more gentle it makes me want to be more sensitive myself. Don't get me wrong, I love both of my children. But tonight I am especially grateful for Koyle and how easy he is.
Oct. 2017
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Video: Koyle Rolls
He finally did it! I put him down to let him practice and he just rolled right over. So I put him on his tummy again and he rolled right over again! It was super hard to get it on video because by the time I would step back enough to get it on camera he would already have rolled over. Way to go little buddy-I knew you could do it!
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Thursday, March 22, 2012
6 Months Old
Time flies when you are having fun-and we are having fun! Koyle is 6 months old and so without further ado here is a good old baby update:
Size: 16 lbs 5 1/2 oz
26 in. long
Head circumference 43 cm.
Eating: Koyle has been eating rice and oatmeal cereal for a month now and he does great with them, as long as I make it with breast milk. He usually just gags on it if I make it with water, although he is getting a little better. I started him on green beans today and he actually did pretty well. He was a little upset to start with so lunch in general involved a lot of tears. But once I held him on my lap and fed him he calmed down and ate just fine. Occasionally he would kind of gag on the beans, but really he ate them pretty great for his first time. Not surprising though with Koyle, he is pretty easy going.
We still have problems with him refusing to nurse. The doctor said although his weight gain has slowed down, it hasn't dropped enough to worry about. She said that some babies just aren't worried about eating, they would rather be doing something else (this describes Koyle well). She said not to stress about it and if I only feed him every 6 hours, that is just fine, especially since he has started solids. Of course he has eaten great the last few days but it is nice to know that I don't need to worry about making him nurse. Although it still kind of frustrating when you need to go somewhere but Koyle won't eat so then I always end up feeding him out places or he is just fussy. The punk. So in general he eats every 2 hours, but he can easily go 4 hours between feedings and be just fine; it all depends on what kind of mood he is in that day or what we are doing.
Sleep: Koyle puts himself to sleep really well. We just lay him down in his crib with a binky and blanket and he nods right off. Sometimes we have to go back and give him his binky again but he usually doesn't cry. He has had a nasty cough for the past 2 1/2 weeks so sleeping at night has not been great. The only thing that would make him stop coughing was to nurse him, so I did. The past couple of nights he has been feeling better and falling back into his more normal routine. He usually goes to bed around 8 and will wake up to eat around 2 or 3. Then again between 5-6:30. He is usually up for the day by 7 or 7:30. I am working on getting him to sleep at night until 5 without eating; now that he is healthy I can really try. He still usually takes 3 naps a day, varying from 45 minutes to 2 hours each. He is only fairly predictable which has made me get better at reading his signs of tiredness or hunger since he isn't on a real consistent schedule.
Skills: Koyle is still not rolling over, although this week he has finally decided to at least start trying. He is getting close so as long as I keep remembering to practice and do tummy time with him, I bet he will be rolling in the next couple of weeks. He has figured out how to turn himself around in a circle on his tummy just by wiggling and squirming. He has been sitting up great for quite a while and is getting pretty good at using both of his hands.
Communication: Koyle doesn't jabber a ton, but he does jabber. He still mostly squeals and makes baby sounds-no ma ma or da da yet. He laughs more and more which we love. He has started reaching his arms out sometimes when he wants me, or something. I think he might even know his name, but it is hard to tell if he is just responding to my voice, or to me actually using his name.
All in all, Koyle is a great baby. He is usually pretty content to sit and play and watch Matthew or mommy doing whatever. He loves to be played with (what baby doesn't) and is really starting to be interested in his surroundings and likes going to new places. Content is a great word to describe Koyle. As long as he isn't hungry or tired he is a pretty happy baby. We love him and he brings so much peace and joy into our home.
Size: 16 lbs 5 1/2 oz
26 in. long
Head circumference 43 cm.
Eating: Koyle has been eating rice and oatmeal cereal for a month now and he does great with them, as long as I make it with breast milk. He usually just gags on it if I make it with water, although he is getting a little better. I started him on green beans today and he actually did pretty well. He was a little upset to start with so lunch in general involved a lot of tears. But once I held him on my lap and fed him he calmed down and ate just fine. Occasionally he would kind of gag on the beans, but really he ate them pretty great for his first time. Not surprising though with Koyle, he is pretty easy going.
We still have problems with him refusing to nurse. The doctor said although his weight gain has slowed down, it hasn't dropped enough to worry about. She said that some babies just aren't worried about eating, they would rather be doing something else (this describes Koyle well). She said not to stress about it and if I only feed him every 6 hours, that is just fine, especially since he has started solids. Of course he has eaten great the last few days but it is nice to know that I don't need to worry about making him nurse. Although it still kind of frustrating when you need to go somewhere but Koyle won't eat so then I always end up feeding him out places or he is just fussy. The punk. So in general he eats every 2 hours, but he can easily go 4 hours between feedings and be just fine; it all depends on what kind of mood he is in that day or what we are doing.
Sleep: Koyle puts himself to sleep really well. We just lay him down in his crib with a binky and blanket and he nods right off. Sometimes we have to go back and give him his binky again but he usually doesn't cry. He has had a nasty cough for the past 2 1/2 weeks so sleeping at night has not been great. The only thing that would make him stop coughing was to nurse him, so I did. The past couple of nights he has been feeling better and falling back into his more normal routine. He usually goes to bed around 8 and will wake up to eat around 2 or 3. Then again between 5-6:30. He is usually up for the day by 7 or 7:30. I am working on getting him to sleep at night until 5 without eating; now that he is healthy I can really try. He still usually takes 3 naps a day, varying from 45 minutes to 2 hours each. He is only fairly predictable which has made me get better at reading his signs of tiredness or hunger since he isn't on a real consistent schedule.
Skills: Koyle is still not rolling over, although this week he has finally decided to at least start trying. He is getting close so as long as I keep remembering to practice and do tummy time with him, I bet he will be rolling in the next couple of weeks. He has figured out how to turn himself around in a circle on his tummy just by wiggling and squirming. He has been sitting up great for quite a while and is getting pretty good at using both of his hands.
Communication: Koyle doesn't jabber a ton, but he does jabber. He still mostly squeals and makes baby sounds-no ma ma or da da yet. He laughs more and more which we love. He has started reaching his arms out sometimes when he wants me, or something. I think he might even know his name, but it is hard to tell if he is just responding to my voice, or to me actually using his name.
All in all, Koyle is a great baby. He is usually pretty content to sit and play and watch Matthew or mommy doing whatever. He loves to be played with (what baby doesn't) and is really starting to be interested in his surroundings and likes going to new places. Content is a great word to describe Koyle. As long as he isn't hungry or tired he is a pretty happy baby. We love him and he brings so much peace and joy into our home.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Picture Update
Brothers! I love my two boys, and I think it is adorable how much they love each other.
This is what happens when a certain little boy refuses to take a nap: the second he stops moving he falls asleep on the couch, usually late in the afternoon. That has been happening more often these days. But really I posted this picture to update you on potty training. We did good for a while and I even thought we were over the hill and cruising to success at one point, but then Matthew started going backwards. He kept getting worse and worse until he even started wetting the bed during naps which he had never done from day 1. And since we are moving in a few weeks I decided that instead of continuing with the madness just to have it all undone when we move, I would just save myself some sanity and stop. So he is back in diapers which he wasn't very happy about to start with, but now he thinks it is just great. I am not minding having my freedom back; now I can go out and get things done without having to have the stars align in my favor. It's a little sad to think I spent 9 weeks all for naught, but oh well. I can't control life and it just ended up not being a good time for us to potty train. Maybe he will do it this summer, but I am not going to push it again until we move at the end of the summer. Yeah for 2 in diapers-again!
Matthew LOVES to paint! He is also learning to enjoy coloring in his coloring books more. Mostly he loves to use markers. Occasionally I can get him to use crayons but not for very long. He is starting to really draw things now and he can tell me what the lines represent and that has been fun. He is best at drawing train tracks (surprise!) and the sun. He also can draw a pretty good mountain : )
Snowman!! We finally got some snow the other day at a time when we were not out of town, it wasn't Sunday, and daddy was home to go out and play with us! Justin had fun building the snowman for the boys, and Matthew had the most fun building a fort (which I didn't get a picture of).
Koyle drools all the time and his shirts always get soaking wet which then rub against his chest and irritate his already tender skin. So one night I found a way to solve the problem. I called it the Santa Clause : )
Koyle loves to suck on his toes. I attribute it to the fact that he was a breach baby, but he still enjoys having his legs up and curled in a ball. He does it when he nurses all the time. It makes him fun to cuddle.
Koyle got his first goose egg the other night. The day before Matthew had pulled Koyle off the couch by his feet, slamming Koyle's head into the floor. Our hard, Wymount floors are not very forgiving either. Well, apparently he didn't learn his lesson because the next day he pulled Koyle's blanket that he was sitting on off the couch, slamming Koyle into the floor again-only this time he was face first. Poor little boy. We find that we have to be VERY specific with Matthew. He didn't pull Koyle off by his feet-he pulled his blanket. (He pointed out the difference to us when he was getting in trouble). Sigh.
Every time I see my kids sleep (which is usually every night because I check on them before I go to bed) I fall in love with them more than before. There is something so precious and pure about a sleeping baby.
Hanging out at the Leemasters waiting for Tiffany to have her baby. We are sure going to miss hanging out with our cousins when we move.
Hogle Zoo
Tami was in town this week because Tiffany had her baby. On Friday, we took the kids to the Hogle Zoo. It was a lot of fun. We have been wanting to take Matthew to the zoo for a long time now but just didn't have the money for it; so thank you Grandma's who like to spend time with their grandkids, and for Grandpa's who work hard so she can pay to do it : ) All morning before we left Matthew kept telling me, "the animals won't bite me, they won't get me mom." It was pretty cute.
The baby elephant was pretty cute. We went in the afternoon so most of the big animals were sleeping, but they were feeding all the smaller animals so there was lots of excitement there.
There was a playground with this big snake slide that the kids loved! We tried to go on the train ride but it started sprinkling and so they shut it down. Matthew was disappointed but life went on.
The baby elephant was pretty cute. We went in the afternoon so most of the big animals were sleeping, but they were feeding all the smaller animals so there was lots of excitement there.
There was a playground with this big snake slide that the kids loved! We tried to go on the train ride but it started sprinkling and so they shut it down. Matthew was disappointed but life went on.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Barf on the Page
So, I have about a million things to blog about and the more they keep adding up in my mind the longer I put it off and it just keeps getting worse. Tonight I am home alone and while I told myself I was going to either go to bed early, or do some good cleaning, I am just hanging out.
One night in college my roommates and I were sitting around the kitchen table doing homework; I had a paper to write that I didn't care about nor did I have the time to care about it. So much like tonight I just started writing whatever came out. After a while of this I concluded that it was "barf on the page"-I was just getting things out and then I would organize it later. That saying made it onto the quote wall and we had many more nights of "barfing on the page" if you will.
Today we went to the Hogle Zoo with Tami. (I will do a post of this with cute pictures later.) The zoo just happens to be right up the street from where Justin and I lived while going to school there. I haven't driven back up there in years and I had the strangest walk down memory lane. First there was painted rock down in the canyon as you come up on the exit. We use to talk about that rock all the time and on the many drives from Provo to Salt Lake that was always what I looked for to know I was almost home. Then right as you get off the exit there is a Chevron. That is where we stopped to fill up with gas as we rolled into town with all our stuffed crammed into our little Honda Civic. Then as you keep driving there is the Red Hanger Dry Cleaners where we took one of Justin's shirts, there is the church that always let me know I was still on the right road, the gas station where we washed our car, the grocery store I shopped at. And then the intersection; the one intersection that made me feel like I knew where I was (I never really learned to navigate Salt Lake). And then the old apartments. Can I just say that as I drove by, they actually made Wymount look good. I was surprised at how many memories I had, and how they came back as fond memories to me. We only lived there for a couple of months and it was the hardest, most unhappy time of my life so I have never remembered it with much fondness. Weird is the word that keeps coming to mind. Does this mean I really should think about going to Utah if we get accepted there? Oh bother.
But my children are so cute and so well behaved. I can run a pretty tight ship sometimes-I don't put up with a lot crap. I expect Matthew to listen and obey and I don't always have a ton of patience when he doesn't. I feel like I do a pretty good job of only expecting of him what he should be able to do at his age, but I am not perfect. Sometimes there are moments when I think oh my goodness-Matthew doesn't listen to me at all, he is just a crazy 2 year old. But more often than not when I take him out, or when he is around other kids I really see how awesome he is. Matthew is very obedient and I can give him quite a bit of freedom because I know that he isn't going to run off or do something crazy. However, sometimes this backfires and Matthew's mischievous, naughty side takes over; this usually results in me not being as patient as I should. I am finding that I set myself up for failure sometimes. Well, this really isn't a new revelation to me but I am trying to get better at not doing stupid things and then not getting mad when I did do something stupid. Example: Matthew wanted to eat his cereal on the couch this morning so I gave him a bowl of my homemade granola (without milk, I'm not that stupid). Naturally, he knocked his bowl over not once, but twice, and I got upset that he made a mess all over the couch and floor. But seriously, I gave my 2 year old a bowl of cereal on the couch and expected there to not be a mess.
While I was pregnant with Koyle I would always tell myself that two kids was going to be easier than one. I knew this was probably not true but I needed to make myself feel good because I would sometimes get quite anxious about having another baby. Well it turns out-two kids is WAY easier than one kid. This is due largely in part to the fact that Koyle is just a very good natured kid. But from the very beginning the boys have helped to entertain each other and two kids gives me more to do so I have fewer moments of "what am I going to do for another 4 hours with this baby that doesn't do anything?" I have also learned a lot of things. And I get double the joy and satisfaction out of dedicating my days to teaching and playing with my children since I am nurturing two souls instead of just one. (Not that Matthew wasn't worth it just himself, I just feel double the joy now in those moments when I realize I really am doing some good in the world.)
Okay, I think I am ready to stop "barfing" now. ha ha. I crack myself up. I really need some sleep. Koyle has had a nasty cough for 2 weeks now which means I have not been getting much sleep. Goodnight!
One night in college my roommates and I were sitting around the kitchen table doing homework; I had a paper to write that I didn't care about nor did I have the time to care about it. So much like tonight I just started writing whatever came out. After a while of this I concluded that it was "barf on the page"-I was just getting things out and then I would organize it later. That saying made it onto the quote wall and we had many more nights of "barfing on the page" if you will.
Today we went to the Hogle Zoo with Tami. (I will do a post of this with cute pictures later.) The zoo just happens to be right up the street from where Justin and I lived while going to school there. I haven't driven back up there in years and I had the strangest walk down memory lane. First there was painted rock down in the canyon as you come up on the exit. We use to talk about that rock all the time and on the many drives from Provo to Salt Lake that was always what I looked for to know I was almost home. Then right as you get off the exit there is a Chevron. That is where we stopped to fill up with gas as we rolled into town with all our stuffed crammed into our little Honda Civic. Then as you keep driving there is the Red Hanger Dry Cleaners where we took one of Justin's shirts, there is the church that always let me know I was still on the right road, the gas station where we washed our car, the grocery store I shopped at. And then the intersection; the one intersection that made me feel like I knew where I was (I never really learned to navigate Salt Lake). And then the old apartments. Can I just say that as I drove by, they actually made Wymount look good. I was surprised at how many memories I had, and how they came back as fond memories to me. We only lived there for a couple of months and it was the hardest, most unhappy time of my life so I have never remembered it with much fondness. Weird is the word that keeps coming to mind. Does this mean I really should think about going to Utah if we get accepted there? Oh bother.
But my children are so cute and so well behaved. I can run a pretty tight ship sometimes-I don't put up with a lot crap. I expect Matthew to listen and obey and I don't always have a ton of patience when he doesn't. I feel like I do a pretty good job of only expecting of him what he should be able to do at his age, but I am not perfect. Sometimes there are moments when I think oh my goodness-Matthew doesn't listen to me at all, he is just a crazy 2 year old. But more often than not when I take him out, or when he is around other kids I really see how awesome he is. Matthew is very obedient and I can give him quite a bit of freedom because I know that he isn't going to run off or do something crazy. However, sometimes this backfires and Matthew's mischievous, naughty side takes over; this usually results in me not being as patient as I should. I am finding that I set myself up for failure sometimes. Well, this really isn't a new revelation to me but I am trying to get better at not doing stupid things and then not getting mad when I did do something stupid. Example: Matthew wanted to eat his cereal on the couch this morning so I gave him a bowl of my homemade granola (without milk, I'm not that stupid). Naturally, he knocked his bowl over not once, but twice, and I got upset that he made a mess all over the couch and floor. But seriously, I gave my 2 year old a bowl of cereal on the couch and expected there to not be a mess.
While I was pregnant with Koyle I would always tell myself that two kids was going to be easier than one. I knew this was probably not true but I needed to make myself feel good because I would sometimes get quite anxious about having another baby. Well it turns out-two kids is WAY easier than one kid. This is due largely in part to the fact that Koyle is just a very good natured kid. But from the very beginning the boys have helped to entertain each other and two kids gives me more to do so I have fewer moments of "what am I going to do for another 4 hours with this baby that doesn't do anything?" I have also learned a lot of things. And I get double the joy and satisfaction out of dedicating my days to teaching and playing with my children since I am nurturing two souls instead of just one. (Not that Matthew wasn't worth it just himself, I just feel double the joy now in those moments when I realize I really am doing some good in the world.)
Okay, I think I am ready to stop "barfing" now. ha ha. I crack myself up. I really need some sleep. Koyle has had a nasty cough for 2 weeks now which means I have not been getting much sleep. Goodnight!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Video: 5 Little Monkeys
I just downloaded my new camera software and am trying to figure it out. I think it is gonna be pretty cool. But I wanted to share this gem with you. We have been having nice weather lately and on Friday I decided to let Matthew go over and play on the playground. On our way, we saw some people in our ward going to a playgroup that they do every week. We decided to go and be social. They did this little song there and Matthew loved it and wanted me to sing it all day long. He picked up on it right away and it is so cute when he does it. I was super excited to finally catch it on video!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Family Pictures
I have been wanting to get new family pictures for a while now and I knew that if I waited long enough, the perfect deal would arise. And it did! JC Penny had a sale this month that was free sitting fees and a free 8x10. I was just going to get the free 8x10 but they also had a deal where photo sheets were only $4 and I really wanted a bigger size to fit in the frame I have for my picture wall. So I ended up spending $4 but that is still a smokin' awesome deal. Here are a few of my favorites:
Sunday, March 4, 2012
"Prince"ess Party
Matthew got to go to his first real birthday party this weekend. It was cousin Emily's 4th birthday. Emily is an avid princess lover, so naturally she had a princess party. They invited only cousins, and it just so happens that Matthew is the only boy cousin that age. So, Matthew got to be the star prince of the party. (Someday he will realize just how lucky he was!) He looked pretty cute in his suit, comb over hair, crown, and sword. I don't think I got a good picture of his hair, but we had to put a fair amount of product in it to get it to stay in place. All day he kept touching his hair saying, "I have crazy hair."
After getting all dressed up and opening presents, the kids got to make noodle necklaces. Matthew did a really good job at stringing his noodles on. Then we had lunch, and cupcakes. The kids had fun just playing together for the afternoon.
Koyle made his debut as well, looking cute as ever!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Soul Train
This morning we had a sweet experience with Matthew. During the night he got the croup (big surprise, he gets croup all the time. Luckily he is old enough now that it doesn't wipe him out, but it still sounds so sad when he coughs, and it was a pretty strong cough today). I knew his throat really was hurting because the first thing he said when he got up this morning was, "Mommy, I sick." This morning as I was getting his breakfast ready he walked over to Justin and said, "Daddy, a little help my cough go away." So Justin told him that he would give him a blessing. It was a sweet moment as Justin explained to Matthew what he was going to do and what a blessing was. Justin explained to Matthew that if he followed Jesus, then his cough would get better. Matthew's response: "I follow the steam engine. You be the engine dad and I be the caboose." (One of Matthew's new favorite games is to be the train and we follow each other around. He even made the nurse at Koyle's doctor appointment yesterday be the engine as we followed her down the hallway) So then, Justin gave Matthew a blessing and at the end he reiterated that if Matthew followed Jesus, then his cough would get better. At which point, Matthew assigned himself to be the engine, Justin to be the middle car, and mom to be the end car. We then ran through the house in a line. We will keep working on the whole following Jesus thing : )
* And as a sidenote: After Matthew got out of the bath this morning he had a little coughing spell and he said to me, " I need another blessing mom." Patience my child, patience!
* And as a sidenote: After Matthew got out of the bath this morning he had a little coughing spell and he said to me, " I need another blessing mom." Patience my child, patience!
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