End of Another Year

Well, here we are in the last days of 2010. It’s been a busy year. Much has happened in the past 12 months. Many firsts for both kiddos and lots of busyness and craziness throughout the year.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I thought I’d write down a few of the things that happened over the course of the year. Also, this is in no particular order as I’m just using the “stream of consciousness” method for writing these out, so they’re being written as they’re being thought of.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s that time of year again. We get one day…24 short hours. A brief blip of time in our calendar year which is 365 times bigger than this one day. (I know, some of you think it should have been 364, but the year is 365 days and 1 times any number is that number. It’s a math thing.)

Normally, most of the friends and family who read these all-too-infrequent posts tend to receive them in their e-mails, read them and that’s about where the story ends. In fact, I wonder how many people have even been to the website, rather than just getting the e-mails, in a long time. This time, however, I’m going to be so bold as to actually ask people to be a bit more participative.

The Ocean

I suppose it would have been better to visit the beach on a warm, sunny day. However, after spending a cool, rainy day at Sea World and then a cool, rainy day at Legoland, we only had one chance to visit the beach on the last cold, rainy day in California.

Still, we tried to make the most of it. The last time Kyle was near the ocean was in Hawaii and he hated it. This time, he seemed less disturbed by the noise of the crashing waves. Though, he really was a bit nervous with all the seaweed washed up on the beach. No worries, though. We cleared a path for him.

Legoland

After a great day at Sea World, what do you suppose a family is to do next? Well, I guess the title of this post probably gave it away. Yes, Legoland. We got to spend a whole day there, riding rides and looking at some amazing things built out of Legos.

There was face painting, ride riding, climbing, sliding, floating and trick or treating. Well, actually, it was “Brick or Treating.” It was Legoland, after all.

Sea World

It was a chilly, rainy day for our first trip to Sea World, but that didn’t stop us from having fun! We got to see several shows, ate some junk food, played hard and found that Kyle has suddenly developed a thing for sharks (big surprise)!

So, here are some pictures from our trip around Sea World. Enjoy!

Company Party

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. Today I don't have a picture to include (well, technically, I do if I scanned it in, but there is an "approval process" I have to follow to post pictures of certain people), but I do at least have a cute anecdote from that evening.

As we were walking out the door and giving Kyle hugs and kisses, he says to Mommy, "Mommy, you look sooo pretty!" That alone was enough to get us laughing. After that, however, he give me a hug and a kiss and says, "Daddy, are you going with Mommy?" I said, "Yes." So Kyle asked, "Are you going to marry her?"

I guess once a beautiful girl becomes your beautiful bride, she remains your beautiful bride. I can't say I disagree with that logic.

Superman

Ok, let’s just be clear that I’m not condoning this. On the other hand, I did have a difficult time not finding this quite hilarious. Not to mention rather cute, as far as it goes.

Before we get to what exactly happened, it would be best to start with a picture. It’s not a very clear picture as it was taken with my Blackberry and didn’t come out all that well. But I think you can get the idea.

New Sheriff in Town

Kyle stopped by the office the other day. After he got done running around and talking with everyone, he decided to get down to business.

He's very serious. He looks like he was in the middle of writing up some new policies. I guess the team will just have to get ready to see what he came up with. Who knows? Maybe he's going to institute mandatory nap times! One can hope. Though, since he hasn't napped in two years, I doubt that's it.

Actually, he was playing a memory game on the Thomas & Friends website.

What!?

This one is for my dad…

 

Computer Branding

Final Exam

After about a month and a half, Kyle finally had his "Final Exam" for his swim lessons. He did so good! We are so very proud of him. What started out with a screaming, crying child who didn't want to swim and didn't want to go under the water ended with the child you're about to see.

The swim lessons were done through Infant Swimming Resource and were every weeknight for 10 minutes. After the first two days, I didn't know how it was going to turn out, but on day three, Kyle pretty much did a 180 degree turn. From then on, he loved it. Now, we can hardly get him out of the pool whenever we go swimming.

Doing Some Modeling

A couple weeks ago, we decided that we’d have to make at least some amount of effort to take more pictures of Katie so that she’s not quite so far behind how many we had of Kyle. So, Mommy took her in to get in a quick photo shoot.

The pictures turned out very nice. Many people are still saying how much she looks like her brother, but we’re thinking that she’s really starting to develop her own individual look. And, no, I’m not just referencing how often she’s dressed in pink with little hair bows and other accessories.

She Swims, She Sleeps, She Laughs

Recently, we did a family “stay-cation” at a J. W. Marriot resort in Scottsdale. We spent the morning having pictures taken (no, those aren’t what I’m posting at this time). Then we took the kids to the pool and had a great time there.

Rather than show a bunch of pictures of the boys swimming (since we have plenty of other pictures of that and not much with Katie), I’m focusing this post on Katie. This is actually her second time ever being in a pool and it’s the first time in her little floaty thingie (which is a technical term, in case you didn’t know).

Fixed Post

As many of you may know, there were some technical difficulties not long ago with some of the pictures on here. Unfortunately, one of the posts contained quite a few pictures of the kids that you all, as a result, were unable to enjoy.

I'm happy to let you know that I've fixed that post and re-uploaded those particular pictures. There are other posts with the pictures and such still messed up, but at least this one is fixed now.

Bouncy

One thing about our little girl...she loves to bounce. Whether it's in a jumper or an exersaucer or just on the floor while we hold her. Jumping is her thing.

So, I thought you all might like to see some of her bouncing so that you could share in the joy that it brings to us when we see her doing what she loves.

Keeping Time

How cool is it when you see your son doing something really awesome? Many people may not find this quite as cool as I do, but I think it's awesome enough to make up for everyone else who just doesn't "get it."

Let's just say this...music has a great deal to do with time. In music, time is not quite the same, static thing that it is in the rest of the world. In music, time is quite relative. It's not about how many seconds, minutes, etc. It's more about staying in a groove.

Dreams and the Future

For as long as I can remember (yes, I know...how long could that really be? I mean, I can barely remember events from last week!) I have had a particular dream. This was not a dream of financial fortune, world peace or anything like that. This had to do with how I envisioned my family.

Long before I was ever married...long before I ever had children...I would notice changes in our society and connect some of those changes (and they were not very positive changes) with the fact that there were fewer and fewer parents who could afford to live on a single income. As a result, more and more children were having to be cared for by day-care providers.

Where's the Posts!?

So, after posting a whole bunch of new pictures and such over the past couple weeks, I finally realized that something happened to the feed for this blog. The thing that happened was...it wasn't working.

That means that nobody got any of the posts or pictures that I've posted recently in their e-mail. I suppose if I had been doing a better job of posting more consistently, someone would have noticed that something was amiss and brought it to my attention sooner. However, there would be no way for you all to know that since I haven't posted in a while.

Da Boyz

This trip was pretty much all about the boys. Nate and Kyle, being just under four months apart, were just there to have fun. They played, they went on rides, they ate junk food and just generally had a good time.

Oh, yeah. Did I mention that they also were both a couple of good looking young boys? Not that I’m biased or anything…

Gigi

While Kyle visited with characters and got a bunch of photo ops, Kaitlyn decided to just be cute and let everyone get all mushy around her. Gigi, in particular, was quite taken with her.

Really, who can blame her? She’s so darn cute. As you’ll see in some future posts, she has the cutest smile ever! What can I say…we make cute babies!!

Donald Duck

Continuing on, as I mentioned with Pluto, Kyle never mentioned any desire to see Donald Duck. Nonetheless, he got into line and got a couple shots with one of the “Fab Five.”

It’s actually starting to get kinda fun since he is old enough to understand that we’re taking pictures and he’s supposed to look at the camera and smile. I guess it beats screaming and having the daylights scared out of him when standing next to a six foot bird!

Pluto

Most of you may have heard that we went to Disneyland last month. Aside from one major mishap on our last day, Kyle loved it. Though I think we came to the conclusion that we’re going to hold off from further trips until Kaitlyn gets a bit older.

There were only two people Kyle talked about wanting to see at Disneyland, Mary Poppins and Peter “Pam.” When we first got into the park, the first people (characters) that we saw were Mary Poppins and Bert. We immediately got in line.

Bouncy

I know I’m waaaaay behind on posting stuff. But I figured, what better place to start than with the poor little baby who seems to get so little attention as compared to her big brother. So, this post is all about Katie.

We’ll start of with, not really a big deal, but cute, nonetheless. It’s hard not to be cute with Katie since she is actually much more adorable than the lack of pictures posted would indicate.

The After-Party

I think that major league baseball should have “snack time” at the end of the game. Maybe they have something similar, but I’m not sure. They need to lighten up a bit. Could you see someone wheeling a cooler into the dugout of a major league club and handing out juice boxes and little fruit snacks or something? I think that would be awesome!

But, I digress. We were warned when we went to the initial signups that snack time is the very most important time of the entire game for the kids. I can say, after our first game, that this is an undeniable fact, as certain as the heat on a summer day in Arizona.

Bringing it Home

We’re down to the bottom of the second. It’s our last shot to win this. The kiddos come in from the field, this time lining up the opposite order from last inning. They’re losing interest fast. We’ve got to keep them focused.

There was definitely a bit less excitement during this at-bat. They’d already been through all this before. It wasn’t new any more. Still, it was a nice day and we were almost there. Just about done. Let’s just try to stay on course for just a little longer.

Second Inning

  Everyone got a chance to bat and run the bases. That puts the Bears back in the field. We’ve switched some things up, this time. Nate is positioned over at short stop (just like his mom) and Kyle is in right field.

Eventually, the first basemen (or, first basegirl) is pulled off the bag (I think a potty break was in order) and Kyle is moved in to cover for her. It started off pretty well, though by the end of the top of the second, Kyle was losing interest fast. Most of the kids were, I think.

Batter Up!

It’s “Go” time! Get those bats swinging. Knock it out of the park (yeah, right)! It’s time to show the competition what we’re made of. We’re going to keep up the pressure and push them back on their heels.

Oh, wait. This t-ball. Oops. We’re not supposed to be quite competitive at this point. They’re just toddlers, for goodness sakes! They’re out there to just have fun, hit, throw, run, catch (OK, that last one is a little bit of a stretch most of the time).

New Look

For those of you who have been getting updates via e-mail or RSS feed and haven't been to the actual site lately, check it out! We've got a whole new look and feel.

Yes, I know...like I don't have anything better to do with my time. I figure if I can't keep up with posts, I can at least change how the site looks now and then just to keep things fresh.

The Bench

   We’ve made it to the bottom of the first inning and the kids are lining up on the bench awaiting their turn to step up to the plate. Unfortunately, the hats have not come in yet, so they’re all wearing different types of hats instead of the ones that go with the uniforms.

Still, it’s abundantly cute. Just seeing all these three and four year olds lined up on the bench was just too much. They all look so good in their uniforms. They got lined up in order of their jersey numbers to determine batting order.

Game On!

Warm ups are done and it’s time to take the field. We’ve got Kyle on the pitcher’s mound and Nate in shallow right-field. No worries about strike-outs since there’s not actual “pitching” involved.

Nice thing about playing the “pitcher” though…Most of the hits are going to come to you, so there’s less chance of boredom. Kyle did pretty good rushing the ball and even got a good grounder right into his glove and threw it over to first, where Nate was dutifully backing up the first basemen (who typically was not paying attention as the ball was thrown his way).

The First Game

Kyle had his very first t-ball game last weekend. As  you could well imagine, there were a number of pictures taken. So, in the interest of keeping things somewhat manageable, I’ll be posting just a few at a time rather than having a huge post with tons of pictures.

On the one hand, many people will likely feel like it’s taking too long to get to it. However, just think of how much more you get out of things when your anticipation builds. There is, of course, the other side of that coin…which is getting your hopes up for something much better than what you get. But, with pictures of three-year-olds playing t-ball, is there any way for that to turn out badly?

Thus Begins the “Age of Sports”

Yes, our little baby is growing up. Time flies and now Kyle is learning to catch flies. Fly balls that is. It’s t-ball time! Not quite up to the whole “fast pitch” type of thing, but hey…he’s only three. You’ve got to start somewhere.

For his second practice, he was joined by his cousin, Nate. Both boys had fun and Nate really seemed to get into it. So now Jaime is working on trying to get him on the team. Let’s hope it works out. The boys have so much fun together

The Peanut Gallery

The other day, I posted some pictures of Kyle at his swim lessons. You may have been wondering what Kaitlyn was doing during that time. Well, fortunately, Mommy had her camera ready and got a couple shots of her while they were sitting together behind the glass, watching her brother.

We only have a couple shots of her, but the ones we did get are quite adorable. Therefore, we’re sharing those with you all today. Enjoy the pictures…

Swim Lessons

Well, we’re already getting to that time of year that we need to start thinking about pools and swimming. That means swim lessons (safety first, don’t ya know). Kyle did really well and, I think, had a pretty good time.

This was a bit different from what we had seen at the pool in Anthem. It was an indoor pool (still not quite warm enough for outdoor swimming yet…it’s only March after all) and all the parents were behind a window and the instructors were in the pool with the kiddos.

My Beautiful Bride

I was going through some old picture files on my computer the other day and came across a couple pictures that I just love. So, I thought I’d share them. They were from about five years ago but I don’t really think much has changed.

Girls, for some reason, seem to not recognize this. They seem to think that we husbands see them in the same way they see themselves and that just tends to not be the case, I think. When I look at Joelle, I continue to see the same thing I saw five years ago when these pictures were taken.

Crashed

Our son is not a good sleeper. There was a brief period of time, before he was a year old right after he had tubes in his ears because of so many ear infections, that he slept through the night. Other than that, it is a rare and celebrated occasion when he makes it through the night without waking up.

Not long ago, however, he had had such a hard night and was awake so much (followed by a day of playing hard outside) that when he came home, he had fallen asleep in the van on the way. It should be noted that Kyle also is not car sleeper, either. After waking up at home, he came into the house and then promptly laid down on the floor in front of Katie’s swing.

Our Princess

I know that everyone has probably been wondering when I’d get around to posting new pictures of Katie. Well, it just so happens that we have a couple very adorable shots of her. Now that she’s been feeling better more often, we were actually able to get some shots of her smiling.

It’s only a couple of pictures, but they are cute enough to make up for the time that’s passed without posting any. She’s such a beautiful little princess. After a bit of a rough start, she’s getting to the point where she’s becoming a quiet, happy little baby. Though, she can get very angry when she’s hungry.

My Adorable Niece

When my sister came out recently, we finally got to meet our beautiful niece, Julianna. Plus, it was cool getting to hang out with my brother-in-law as well since I pretty much had only met him once five years ago at Joelle and my wedding.

Because dad and I were somewhat busy with the play set, I didn’t really get quite enough time with my sister and family. But, we did get a few pictures and such. She has such beautiful eyes. What a cutie!

Out With the Old...

If you recall, I mentioned something about putting my dad to work while he was out here. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I figured it would be easiest to show pictures of what we did.

After three days of work, my dad and I can now say that we’ve installed a bay window, we’ve done roofing, and done structural work. Maybe it’s not exactly like doing the whole thing completely from scratch.

Surprise!

So, when I came home from work last Monday, I was told to go outside to see the surprise that Kyle had for me. I went out back and Kyle could not have seemed a whole lot less interested in seeing me. Hmmm…

Mommy asked Kyle to show me his surprise, so he pointed behind me. As I turned around, imagine my surprise when I saw my dad and step-mom standing there! Wow! I already knew that my sister was flying out that night, but this caught me waaaay off guard.

Finding Humor in Illness

Last Thursday, at about 1:30am, we woke up to Kyle calling for Daddy. I went into his room and laid down next to him for a couple minutes. As I was getting up, he asked me for some water. I figured as long as I was filling the cup, I could limit how much water he actually would get.

As I went to get him water, he suddenly sat up in bed and (as if it were in slow motion) I could hear what was about to happen. The lights were still off, so I couldn’t see, but I didn’t really need to. That sound is unmistakable. And the next thing I knew…he had gotten sick all over his bed, his sheets, his comforter, his pajamas, etc.

When it Rains…

You know you live in Arizona when rain is the main topic on the news for three days straight. Granted, it’s been pretty severe. Lots of flooding all over the state, cars getting stuck in “rivers,” power outages, all sorts of damage.

With everything that was going on all over the valley and the state, I thought I’d share what our own yard looked like after all this rain.

We Have Kids (Plural)

That still seems crazy to say. Kids. More than one. Plural. Multiple children. It may be a little while before that starts to sound normal and natural.

Recently, we had one of Mommy's friends come over and take pictures of the kids. Both of them. She's quite the photographer and we wanted to share some of the pictures with you all.

Happy Birthday, Dennis

Your family loves you and misses you still….five years later.

 

Kaitlyn Marie

Finally! It’s about time! And with all that, they’re already old pictures. You want to see new pictures. I’m afraid I just can’t do that quite yet. You’ve got to go through “the process.”

So, here are some of the pictures from the hospital from when we finally got to welcome Baby Katie into our world. If you don’t have an old picture of Kyle to compare to, I’ll have to post a couple pics of the two of them from their first couple weeks so you can see how much they look alike.

Thanksgiving 2009

I know what you’re thinking. What a tease! Sure, I finally put up some pictures, but Kaitlyn is still in Mommy’s belly! What’s up with that?!

Look on the bright side. If I’m posting pictures of any kind, it shows that I’m just that much closer to posting the pictures of Kaitlyn. In the meantime, enjoy some pics of our first Thanksgiving dinner at our new house.

Pigeon Noises

I know. You’re wondering where the pictures are of the new baby. I feel your pain. Unfortunately, they’re on the other computer and I’m writing from this computer. What can I say. It’s one of those “wrong computer at the right time” kind of things. I’m sure you’ve been there before, yourself.

But, at the very least, I wanted to just send out a quick update to let everyone know that Kaitlyn has started cooing a little bit. It is, of course, quite adorable. She gets a cute little smile and then makes a little cooing noise.