Peyton and Mommy Days!

Mason had a grand old time with grandma and grandpa K (went to see Despicable Me one day, and the zoo the next) while Peyton and I enjoyed some time together earlier this week. We weren't quite as busy running around as my time with brother, but little missy is crawling around pretty darn good now and is starting to be into everything!!!!! She's definitely busy and keeps me on my toes more now but both John and I LOVE the fact that she's actually getting into things she's not supposed to! It sounds funny, but this is the first time in a long while that she's doing something reminiscent of a child without delays: getting into drawers and cupboards, going right to the baby gates, crawling after someone or something (she should be walking at this age but same basic principle), tipping over the bathroom wastebasket, playing with doors, closing and knocking on them, and her personal favorite: getting into the dog's water bowl - pictured below! Don't worry, I don't let her actually get to it every time and the times she does, I wash her hands very well after. THIS is the stuff people kept saying, "oh, be happy she's not mobile yet", but I had been WANTING & WAITING to deal with - Yay!

P.S. - could Haus be any better of a dog? He totally could care less that she's in his water or if she were to stick her hands in his food bowl while eating. She doesn't get to put her hands in his food bowl, but he's very desensitized to hands being by his food (we made sure of that when he was a puppy) and we while he looks all rough & tough, not to mention fairly chunky these days, he really is an amazing dog with our children. We knew from research this breed was good with kids but he happily just sits there while his ears get tugged on, head climbed on, and belly nudged and hugged!

Due to her sensitivity issues (a common and big part of neuro delays) one of her many quirks is she doesn't like her hair being touched, brushed, done, etc. And not just "doesn't care for" but "major freak-out" doesn't like! Luckily she doesn't mind washing her hair, and I've been able to come up with creative ways to distract her enough to brush it out a couple times a day, but she has been in need of a hair cut pretty badly! Both her therapist and I agreed there was NO WAY she could go to a place to get it cut, even a baby / toddler oriented one, so I went and got some supplies and attempted it myself! I sat her in an old booster style chair with activity tray on our coffee table, with puffs & milk, put on Mickey Mouse Club House, and started to work. I had to do it in small sections for sure, but she did WAY better than I anticipated and I don't think it looks half bad for really having no idea what I was doing, ha ha! I took off almost a good 3" and it already loos much thicker!

From the Front (looks slightly uneven here but it really isn't)... her look cracks me up BTW!

And from the back....

We did get a little shopping time in and while me missed brother very much, it was way more enjoyable with only a cart contained child :o)

Everyone is back home now and we're getting ready to head East of the Mountains for some lake time this next week. We rented a cabin this year at my parents marina and I can not WAIT to get to boating on beautiful lake Coeur d'Alene, get a beer in my hand, and get my tan on!

Mommy & Mason Days

Peyton went to stay with grandma and grandpa Kieneker for a couple days, on grandma's offer, so Mason and I got to spend two whole days together! It was weird not having two little ones at all times and I totally missed my baby girl, but at the same time it was really nice to spend the time with just Mason, and I enjoyed it immensely! I wanted to do things that I knew he loved but without the time limitation or schedule we're usually on due to having a little sissy along. Yesterday we packed a lunch, mommy grabbed a coffee, we lathered up with sunscreen, and spent about three hours at the spray park! Mace had a blast, and I had a blast pushing him on the swings, helping teeter the totter, and just sitting in the sun watching him play with other kids in the sand box and water. Even though it was packed, it was oddly relaxing to be able to just sit and watch and not entertain littler Peyter's. I feel so bad even saying that because of course I don't mind being the entertainer since she's not able to fully enjoy the park yet, but it was a nice break at the same time. Once done there, we went to Fred Meyer where Mason got a new Transformer (he chose Megatron), then we ran home to grab a quick snack before meeting Fawn and Daniel at the YMCA. Fawn was generous enough to let us use her guest pass. She and I enjoyed an awesome spin class, and Mason and Daniel enjoyed the kid play areas - it was perfect! We ate dinner after 7 and passed out shortly after, ha ha!

Today we lounged a bit in the morning, played some video games and watched Transformers II - guess who picked the movie? Mason also decided since it was less sunny today, it'd be good to head out to the mall. That's my boy! We played on the toys, looked through the Gap Kids, the Disney Store, and Build A Bear Workshop. Then we played on the toys some more with his 'friends' (some random boys he met in the play area). We hit McDonald's on the way home for dinner, where Mason played in that play area for about an hour and a half after devouring almost his entire happy meal! Again, I happily just sat and watched, pretty much doing nothing but sipping on my diet Dr. Pepper and smiling at his giggle! Once home it didn't take long again before he was wiped out, snoring next to me on the couch. I love those moments as well!!!

We get baby girl back in the morning and I'm very excited to see her smiling little face again! Mason kept saying how much he missed sissy and kept making sure it was only 'one more sleep' until she was back home. He's such an awesome big bro!

By the way, grandma and grandpa pick up Mason Sunday for his turn of spoil-me-grandparent's-time and Peyton and I get a couple days of mommy daughter time! Great idea and thanks bunches grandma K!

More summer fun pictures

Stud Muffin alert!

Grandpa playing in the 'boys" pool with Mason

Then to be fair, grandpa got in Peyton's pool - tee hee!

wiped out after a long day!

P.S. - he looks HUGE here to me!!!!!

Run of the Mill

My friends, Erin, Heidi, Heidi's mom Paula, and I participated in the Run of the Mill 5K race this past Saturday. My goal was to beat my last 5K time of 26 minutes, 38 seconds, and unfortunately that didn't happen. I was just about a minute slower at 27:31. I was a little bummed but my first 5K was 60 degrees with rain and this one was in blazing sun with a high of 80+ for the day, which made a huge difference for me! Plus each course is different and I know that counts as well. My lungs, legs, everything felt fine (which I was glad of because I've been running between 4.26 & 4.5 miles lately) and the course felt shorter than the last race, but I got SO HOT! I think I actually got a little overheated because I just didn't feel right the rest of the day.

There were 1,711 racers who completed the race and I came in 417th place, tee hee. At least I was faster than well over half of the racers ;)

All the husbands, our kids, and Fawn, Andre, and little Daniel came to cheer us on, which was so nice. It was great to see the familiar faces after crossing the finish line and personally gave me that extra little push at the end knowing they were there watching!

Summer Fun!

Cousin's in the sandbox!

New pools! Are surprise for the grandkids at grandma & grandpa's house!

It took Peyton a while to warm up to the idea....

hmmm.... thinking about it....

still thinking with my windblown model pose ;)

ooohh, some incentive from brother...

there we go (with help from grandma)!!!

It's been quite hot here the last couple days, but it's been SO NICE, aside from the hot house issue, I LOVE this weather and am so happy summer is finally here! We've been going to the spray park almost every morning this week, and it has been packed! A little too overwhelming for Peyton, but with moving around, swinging, and changing of scenery a lot, she deals with it long enough for brother to enjoy a couple hours of crazy play. After nap, we've went to the mall toys to play in the cool. Grandma Denise and Grandpa Big John bought these two pools for the grandkids and surprised us with them Thursday afternoon, the hottest day! It took Peyton a bit to warm up to the idea, but eventually she got all the way in and had a great time. Mason was thrilled from the start and was non stop until we pulled him out for dinner, big shocker ;)

To back track a bit, we enjoyed a very nice Fourth at the annual Kieneker Family get together, with tons of food and volley ball games, as tradition. We then went to 'the culdesac' (John's mom & dad's house) and joined the Palmer Family with John, Denise, Stacy, Eric, Beckett, and some other neighbors to continue the celebration and light off fireworks. Another shocker was Peyton was NOT down with the fireworks, and her and I ended up going home, where she was at least a little more comfortable to deal with the noise. Our neighborhood is pretty good and they ceased around 11:30PM. Once she was down, I kept her downstairs until it quieted a bit then put her in her bed and she was pretty much out for the night. Mason woke up at 6AM that morning and ran nonstop until 10:20PM (no nap!) We only had a couple exhaustion driven meltdowns, which was way better than I anticipated! Needless to say, I took him about a day and a half to fully recover. I forgot our camera and with trying to keep missy's terror cries contained :) I didn't have a chance to snap ANY Fourth shots with the cell ... extra sad faces!

We got a few more pictures from the pools that I'll post soon!

To all those who are local, try to stay cool -

Beckett's First Birthday Party

this picture cracks me up! Mason was having a blast, Cali (my mom & dad's dog) was being a good sport, but pretty sure she feared for her life!

Uncle the birthday boy and mommy!

my FAV pic of Peyton and both her grandma's

My mommy & me!

the cook!

the birthday boy!

sicky-poo and me

cake time with big brother's help

cake time with grandma's help ;)

the opening of the presents, always crazy!

ready to chillax after a long day!

I can't believe it, but my little nephew turned ONE already! We had his birthday party this past weekend and my parents came for a visit as well. We had so much fun at the party and enjoyed their visit very much. Mason was especially excited for grandma and grandpa to come and took turns being one of their shadows pretty much every moment he wasn't eating or sleeping!

With last week being so rough (Peyton's nasty double ear infection and John being out of town) I didn't get to run for almost a week straight. Part of me was totally okay with that since sleep was a rarity and I was completely exhausted, but the other part of me was totally itching to get out and go for a nice run. Funny, but good, that it's become such a release and a hobby of sorts to me because running was something that I NEVER had previously enjoyed. I have always loved the way I felt after running in the sense I knew I'd just had an awesome workout, but I did not look forward to it by any means. I just hope I can keep it going. I would LOVE, LOVE to be able to say I ran a marathon some day, but I honestly just can't imagine or wrap my head around running 26.2 consecutive miles! So, we're starting small. I'm doing another 5K on July 10th, and hoping to complete a 10K on Aug 29th. Realistically, I think the most I would enjoy doing, and would still feel very accomplished, would be a half marathon. My goal would be to attempt that within the next 6 months given there is one to run within that time frame. Part of my problem is also finding the time to train for more than 30 minute sessions, since I'm training all on road running. No treadmill, no gym membership, which means John is watching the kids and I'm sneaking in a run before he heads into the office or after he gets home, pre dinner or post kids going to bed. I'll see how the training is going and if I'm feeling optimistic, there is always the Rock n' Roll Seattle Marathon again next June!

Peyton isn't motoring all around quite yet, with being sick and all, but I can tell she's definitely enjoying her new found freedom! She is exploring more and more and able to get to whatever she wants in a room with a crawl, scoot and crawl combo. I'm expecting her to amp up the exploration now that she's 100% again with in the next couple weeks... may be time to toddler proof the house again - yay!

Look What Peyton's Doing!!!

He's just a little cute!

Haus and Peyton window pic

My boys playing 'bubbles' after doing dishes - so goofy!

Peyton likes Hot Wheels too, big surprise ;-)

Peyton gave John one of the best Father's Day presents ever, she started crawling!!!!! She's still a little slow and unsteady, so for her she'll probably be in that stage for a week or two, but she should be cruising around in no time. I was so excited and happy to see her move in that way, I totally starting crying! Of course she went right into a horrible double ear infection by the next day, so the rest of the week has been a bit trying but she seems to be on the up now. John was out of town so thankfully Mason was able to be picked up by Auntie Jennie & Uncle Russ and spent one of our warmest days yet at the pool while I tried to keep a very upset little girl pacified.

I was a horrible mom and somehow didn't manage to get any pictures on Father's Day, but we had a very enjoyable day.

Cute story... Mason was watching Mickey Mouse Club house the other day and they were going over shapes. They were talking about an octagon and Mason said, "Mommy! That's not an octagon, that's a sexagon! I had to laugh out loud and say, oh you mean a HEXagon, and quickly tried to move on explaining the difference in the number of sides between the two. Oy! I hope we get that corrected before the next session of preschool starts - ha ha! I can only imagine that call from the teacher =)