The tunnel

Over the weekend I made a tunnel/fort for the boys to play in downstairs. I laid blankets over the coffee table and couch and used some our law school books to weigh the blankets down. On a quick tangent, Tyler was VERY shocked to not only see how big the books are but also how little the words were inside. I found his reaction pretty cute, and was pleasantly surprised to find a good use for the books rather than just sitting on the shelf. ;)





Anyways...so tonight I am trying to get dinner prepped so I can get it in the oven to bake. I assigned the boys to taking all of the toys they brought up throughout the day back down to their playroom. At first, there was lots of protesting between each trip, but soon they were both running back and forth diligently picking up.





I should have questioned things then, but I didn't and was working quickly. Eventually, Tyler explained that he is using his tunnel to put toys away. Honestly, it made no sense as the tunnel I built was on the opposite side of the basement from their playroom....but as long as toys were heading back downstairs, I was okay with it. Finally, I got the casserole in the oven and went to see their progress. You can only imagine my shock when I saw this!!









Yep, they weren't using the tunnel I had made for them over the weekend. Rather, they were using the tunnel from their tent and sliding down the stairs into it and then into their playroom! I'm constantly amazed at what they are able to come up with together...makes you just wonder what the future holds. ;)

Pillow pets are fun for dogs too....

With the exception of meals, barking for the mailman, and checking on us when we came back in this morning from playing in the snow, this is where Carlie has been all day. Curled up on Kevin's pillow pet in the glider refusing to move. She has just looked so cute all day that I had to take some pictures of her. I wonder if she will give the pillow back to Kevin or whether she has permanently claimed it. :)

Playing in the Snow!

First, a quick picture from last week. It is super blurry, but if you can't tell Kevin is COVERED in sunscreen. The boys were playing downstairs when Tyler came up to tell me it was okay because Kevin put on his lotion by himself. Of course, I went running downstairs to find Kevin had found a bottle of sunscreen on my scrap booking desk (that I had NO idea was even there) and he thought it was lotion. He has very dry skin and eczema, so he is always asking for lotion and telling us where he hurts. So I think that he was just trying to help himself out a bit. I had to take a quick picture because he was so upset when he realized that he did something wrong and I wanted to get him bathed quickly. But I couldn't resist the picture because it reminded me of Tyler's incident around this age with the blue food coloring. Thankfully, this mess was MUCH easier to clean up. :)



Now on to the pictures I took today. Finally, the temp has warmed up and it snowed! The boys have been very wound up lately as we haven't been getting out as much as normal to do fun things and burn energy. So today we bundled up and headed outside to play. And we stayed outside for a LONG time playing, and both boys had a blast climbing up the big snow piles and sledding/sliding down where ever the could. And both took a turn or two to throw snowballs on me.

They were upset when I couldn't reach the sleds, but Tyler quickly recovered when he started using his shovel as a sled. I thought that he came up with this on his own and was quite impressed. But as we were taking off their snow clothes inside, Tyler told me that daddy had taught him to use a shovel as a sled the last time they worked on snow shoveling. So thank you daddy as he had a BLAST sledding into the driveway from the piles on the side....and sorry that there might be more snow in the driveway as they knocked it down since that means more work for you. They had a BLAST though!! :)

Kevin's Two Year Checkup

Kevin had his two year checkup today. The good news for Kevin was that he didn't have to get any shots today, despite Tyler's constant requests to the nurse and doctor to give Kevin a shot (got to love that brotherly love). ;) The good news for me to hear was that all looks good for Kevin. He was not in a good mood at all so weighing him and getting his length measurement was a trick. We are guessing he weighs in just under 32 pounds (so around 90th percentile) and is about 34 inches (so 50th percentile). These are in line with his growth charts in the past, so the doctor was pleased.

Kevin did bite me while we were chatting with the doctor, so I got a talk about how to handle biting. He has just started doing this when tired and since starting his two year molars. So the doctor is guessing that he is just in pain, but we still need to stop the behavior. I also got told that we need to work on Kevin's early rising to "nuggle" with Adam and I as that isn't good.

That was pretty much the highlights as the rest of the appointment was uneventful. We did have to go to the lab afterwards to get his lead test. That was a crazy event as they finger pricked him and so filing the vial was SLOW! Kevin screamed hysterically. It freaked Tyler and I both out, and thankfully an OB nurse saw us and grabbed Tyler so he didn't have to sit there and watch.

And more techs came to my rescue to help a screaming Kevin as we know the techs well and they know how little my lap is at this point with the baby. Eventually, it all ended and Kevin was focused on his sticker and Tyler calmer having not witnessed it all. But since we know a lot of the staff and nurses everyone came out to see how Tyler and Kevin were doing, and reminded me to go home and rest before we head back in the morning for a blood pressure check.

It made me realize how much we have been there over the last four years with as many of the people we know, and how nice they all are to us. We have definitely come a long way from nervous first time parents, and everyone tells us how neat it is to see how big the boys are getting. Just makes it nice knowing how nice they all are.

Anyways...so that was Kevin's appointment this morning. And for reading, here are two pictures I took of him yesterday....exhausted after the big ultrasound of his baby brother. :)

33 week, 5 day ultrasound

I had my regular checkup on Monday. It had been six weeks since my last appointment and apparently a lot of things had changed. My blood pressure has gotten a lot higher, I am swelling more, having dizzy spells, and it turns out, measuring 10 weeks ahead! With all of this, the appointment was just about two hours rather than twenty minutes and had my doctor explaining that we will be seeing more of each other from here on out.


His concern is developing pre-eclampsia and he did lots of tests on Monday. Thankfully, I passed all of my blood work on Monday. But he did want to get a measurement of the baby and check my fluid levels via ultrasound. He said that given how far ahead I am measuring (44 weeks instead of 33 weeks) he is afraid my body might go into labor sooner than later. Anyways, so today we went to our ultrasound!



Everything looked great! My fluid levels are normal and we could see the baby moving about and practicing breathing. The boys enjoyed seeing the baby too, though they didn't have as much of an attention span as we hoped they would have as Adam and I could have stared at that screen for a long time!


The nurse managed to get these two pictures of his face.

And then she proceeded to measure him. I was in shock watching as the measurements came up on the screen. His head was measuring at 38 weeks, 6 days. His belly at 37 weeks, 5 days, and the rest of the measurements were like that. All super ahead! I finally asked her whether he was measuring too big and she said "he's not that big for being 37 weeks". And when we reminded her that we are almost 34 weeks she then told us that she was going to check with the doctor before having us leave.

But before she left to get the doctor she said that I have enough fluid to try a 3D ultrasound! We have never done a 3D and it was absolutely awesome to see! She even printed some pictures for us of him in 3D. It is so neat looking at his face and fingers (as his hand was up at his head)!

Our OB was on call that day at this clinic and so he came in. He explained that our baby is already measuring in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces!! Then he went on to tell me that my blood work from Monday looked good but he wants me to continue to take it easy as I don't have pre-eclampsia "yet". I of course stopped listening when he said yet as that word scared me and I was thinking about how I can take it easier throughout the day with the boys. This was something they were worried about me developing when I was pregnant with Tyler...and I remember how poorly I felt towards the end of his pregnancy and don't want to get there again.

But apparently he went on to say (thankfully Adam kept listening) that he is hoping to get another couple of weeks out of us to help the baby with his development, but that he is a big baby. So his hope of making it a few more weeks then had Adam's mind racing about all we need to do. And that he still wants to see me back in the office on Friday, so I should keep that appointment. (I'm assuming that appointment is just another blood pressure/swelling check).

But even with all of that, we were just so excited to see our baby in 3D. You can see his little chubby cheeks and Adam is convinced he has my nose (both boys have my nose too). It was tough for Adam, but he eventually let me come home with all of the pictures so I could blog these to share. :)

TV Zombies

I am trying to get us ready and out the door to go to our ultrasound, and I realized what zombies the kids are being this morning watching Handy Manny. I don't think that either noticed when I put their socks and shoes on, and they were just so zoned that I had to snap a picture of them! :)

Videos of Kevin's 2nd Birthday

Thanks to Grandma Thimmesch for taking these videos of Kevin's birthday! The boys have loved watching these this morning and so I thought I would post them! :)

Waiting for cake

Singing Happy Birthday

Mouseketools

Kevin's Second Birthday Poem

Our dearest Kevin, you are two today!
We can’t believe it is already your birthday!
Our little boy growing up so swiftly,
Your ate your cake, "Oh Toodles", so quickly!

Reminiscing about you, our darling, our dear;
To think of how you've grown this year,
We beam with great joy,
As we watch you learn, our dear boy.

We think about your precious smile,
How the simplest things put it there.
And how our little boy stands his ground,
(And you have to, with big brother Tyler around!).

Always looking to color, not always on paper
Keeping an eye out for your next big caper!
Running around like a fast race car,
Singing, climbing, and dancing; closing doors left ajar.

You're King of nightly bed jumps,
(Daddy better throw you just right),
As you count “two, three, four”,
(It can be quite a sight!).

How can we be mad, when a rule you don't keep
As you scrunch up your face with eyes closed, pretending to sleep!
We call out your name, and you peek at us…your giggle and smile
Quickly reminding us that anger is futile.

After stories and songs, tucked snugly in bed,
We hear giggles and chatter. . . then we see your little head.
We walk towards you having heard your door opening,
Your standing there with a playful grin hoping,
For one more “nuggle“, one more song,
One more laugh, 'cause the night's so long.

As we lay you back in bed, your head on daddy’s shoulder,
We realize tonight you're one year older.
Tucked back in with blankets, pillow pet, and your bro,
Quietly we face the truth we know.

Times like these will someday end,
And you’ll say goodbye to your childhood friends,
Like your cars, trucks, and trains;
Woody, Buzz, Rex and airplanes;
Mickey, Toodles, and your puzzles;
Oh, how we treasure your snuggles.
All tried and true,
That once were such a part of you.

We delight to see you grow up, my dear,
But we'd like to hold on to this moment right here,
Snuggling, wrestling, and holding your little hand.
Thankful to be blessed, though the reality we understand.

So grow up our little boy, you have our blessing,
to continue learning and growing, trying and testing.
And we will do our best to help you flourish,
to give you our all, with God as our guide, that is our wish.

That's all we can do, to love with full measure
our precious children, our earthly treasure.
That's you, our Kevin, and Tyler, your brother
(And a surprise for you soon, as here comes another!)

With love and great pride we write you this poem,
Hoping you know that you are such a gem!
So Happy Birthday to you our two year old boy,
May your big day be filled with lots of joy.

Kevin's Second Birthday Party

We decided to celebrate Kevin's birthday a little early since Grandpa and Grandpa Thimmesch drove up while Grandma and Grandpa Vaughn were visiting. So on Saturday after daddy got home from work, we had his two year old party!

Kevin got sent a basketball hoop from Uncle Mike, Aunt Elaine, and Benjamin. While daddy was at work, Grandpa Thimmesch got it all set up for them to play. Needless to say, it has been a BIG hit around here with the boys and daddy alike.



Grandpa gave Tyler a lesson on shooting, and he is still shooting like this! Thanks grandpa!

Kevin was being shy here.

Grandpa helping both boys dunk the ball!

When daddy got home from work and after eating some lunch, we had birthday cake! Kevin was very excited about his cake and started to blow out the candle as soon as daddy started walking towards him.

He managed to blow out the candle before we were all done singing and was just so proud of himself! He was pretty excited about his birthday. And on Sunday I caught him holding the two candle and singing happy birthday to himself! He is so cute!

You have to ignore the back of the cake here as I stopped frosting it. Tyler announced that he wanted to eat an ear and I figured Kevin would too...and realized that they didn't need that much icing. ;) Little did I realize that this side of the cake would be in pictures! :)

Checking out the new Mickey Mouse toys he got on his cake. And when he realized that they were dirty, he quickly started working on cleaning them up!

Kevin was nice enough to share the cleanup job with Tyler.....and we quickly realized that red icing is messy!!!!

A very tired Tyler with a very messy face waiting patiently for daddy to cut him a BIG piece.

More interested in his new toys than the cake at this point. :)

But unlike last year, once he got a piece in front of him he was very serious about finishing it all. He did manage to drop the last few bites of his cake on the floor. And he looked more concerned than upset....and so he helped me finish off the rest of my cake as I felt so badly for him.

And Kevin went crazy with his ice cream. He started with his ice cream first, and before we knew it he picked up the whole scoop with his hand and stuck it in his mouth. All of us were grimicing and groaning as we watched him work through it. I really thought he would spit it all back out because it had to be SO COLD and the look on his face just screamed it! But he never did and once he ate the ice cream moved back on to cake. Talk about a tough kid! ;)

After cake and cleanup, it was back to a few hoops.

And then on to a few presents.