Week 12 and Stuff

Ok, I'm not even going to pretend to stay up on the blog. My life is too filled with other things... like life. And I have too much to do to stress/feel guilty about the blog. I'm actually contemplating stopping it all together... but haven't decided yet.

Pregnancy #3 is going great. If it wasn't for my ever-growing chest and belly and my constant hunger I wouldn't even know. It's been a cake walk so far (fingers crossed). This weekend I was 12 weeks! One more week and I'm into the second trimester! Here are the past 3 weeks size pics.

 

Week 10: 1.25 inches... almost the exact length of all those broken crayons that I find in Mallory room.



 

 

Week 11: 1.75 inches...Ahhhh "B" is for baby.

 

 

Week 12: 2.5 inches... the size of Little Elmo (one of the few small toys that we have somehow managed not to loose, despite taking it to San Diego, Oregon, Car trips and Shopping. Don't ask me how.)

 

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Some other fun things that we have been up to are enjoying visits from friends. Janie and her beautiful family came to visit (they had business stuff to do... but I like to pretend it was JUST to see me). It's always amazing to see Baker... and this time was even a little more special (if that's even possible) because both of us are pregnant! Which despite all our pregnancies (her 4th my 3rd) has never happened before! So it was fun to rub tummies. Mallory had a great time hanging out with her older girls too... she felt very special that they wanted to play with her.

Then Jeralyn came to visit! She's such a trooper, she had a smile on her face all day (even after spending 2 hours driving here to hang out with me and my CRAZY children!) :) I love when Jeralyn visits... I get to catch up on all the ins and outs of other people that I don't stay in contact with and live vicariously through her and her dating adventures! :)

And last but not least the 4 (and a half) of us went camping for 3 days and 2 nights. It was all-in-all wonderful... despite forgetting our pillows (Matthew went back and got them), and having to pee multiple times a night in the dark, the crazy velosa-raptor sounding animal screeching ALL through the night and the kids bickering over who gets to hold the flash light... or the pink chalk... or the stick... or the leaf. But we hopefully created some fun memories. At least for Matthew and me!

 

9 Weeks

Now that I'm 9 1/2 weeks, I thought I would post the 9 weeks pic...
Little "final"/"Done" or "China" (Which Mallory has told me we are naming the baby... if it's a girl) is an inch long. Roughly the size of one of the million pieces of sidewalk chalk you can find scattered throughout our back yard.

Catch Up... Again

Working 55-60 hours a week make blogging near impossible…and I’m sorry. I have actually had a few calls/emails/texts asking if everything is ok because it’s been SOOOOO long since I’ve posted any new information. But rest assured all is well with the Klein Klan.

Mallory has started Preschool and loves it! Each morning she asks to go back (she’s just going 2 days a weeks but apparently can’t get enough).  I can’t believe that she’s old enough to be in school.

 

Wesley is doing great, and FINALLY starting to expand his vocabulary from something other than grunting and pointing. He’s totally into mimicking works, sounds and actions. And did I mention how stinking cute he is… sadly his strawberry colored hair is now more blond… but he’s still a stunner!

 

We took a family camping trip with my folks. Just overnight and in town… but it was great! The kids did wonderful. We have a 2 nighter planed for next month and it’ll just be us… no grandparents to help. Gulp!

 

 

As for Klein Baby #3… all is great! I just had my intake appointment today. I am 8 weeks and 2 days… so Due on March 30^th. Baby looks good, heart looks and sounds good… all it good. I am doing the weekly pictures again (sorry that I had not posted them). Since we have a plethora of toys and kids stuff I thought that I would compare #3 to all that… so here they are:

Week 5: A tiny piece of a sticker (found stuck on Mallory’s floor)

 

Week 6: A bead (after which I promptly threw all of them away because I was sick of picking them up again and again and again).

 

Week 7: A small hair clip (we started out with a 12 pack of them… pretty sure this is the last one. The rest must have been lost, broke or eaten).

 

Week 8: A Gummy Vitamin (I thought it was fitting because that’s kind of what #3 looks like right now)….See.

 

I’ll TRY to be better about posting… no promises though.



Tea Party Time

Ok, before I lose any more brain cells to this new little baby, I wanted to write about Mallory’s 3^rd birthday party.
Mallory had decided that she wanted a tea-party, so that’s what we did! I want all out with the decorations; real tea cups, saucers and teapots (thanks to salvation army), loads of dress up clothes and hats (once again salvation army), a tea-room (courtesy of our pop-up tent and dollar-store tablecloths) and more jewelry than the kids know what to do with (thanks to Joyce).  It turned out really cute. The kids loved pouring their own iced tea and lemonade and eating teeny-tiny tea sandwiches. They looked sooooo stinking cute! Plus I loved seeing all the adult friends and family getting in the spirit.

 

Happy Birthday Surprise!

On July 20^th Matthew turned 32 (old man)! It started out as any regular birthday morning. Pancakes, kisses and gifts. Until…the last present was opened up, then life changed…for the THIRD time!

I woke up that morning thinking that ‘Gee, it would be funny if I were pregnant and could tell the birthday boy on his actual birthday.’ Since we went off birth control about 6 weeks ago, I honestly thought that it would be zero-chance that I was already pregnant (especially since we wanted to get pregnant more like sep/October). But apparently with Matthew and me all we have to do is talk about a baby and I get knocked up.  So yes, we are expecting baby number 3 in March!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I then made up a few shirts for the kids to wear that night at Matthews little b-day dinner. Malloy’s is three little stick figure faces, and Wesley’s says “Little bother status expiring March 2014” (though I guess if you want to be technical he’ll always be a little bother AND a big brother).

 

It was fun telling the family. There were lots of tears, squeals and hugs. I’m only 4 weeks, so it’s all very, very, very early, but I can’t keep a secret like this so I figure why not share it with the world! So baby number 3… WOW! I’m a little overwhelmed just thinking about the number 3…but I guess I have 36 more weeks to get used to it. Per my online checking (which is very accurate I’m sure… hahah) I would be due March 30^th. I’ve been early each time though… so we’ll see. And once again we don’t plan on finding out the gender… but will be taking bets. Malloy’s banking on a girl (she said ‘since I already have a brother I need a sister’). Any other EARLY guesses?  

 

Three Today

 

Our little girl is THREE today and I can’t believe how time has flow,

It seems like only yesterday that she came out with just a groan.

Our little girl is THREE today and as tall as she can be,

At first she looked like Matthew, now she’s looking more like me.

Our little girl is THREE today and oh the words that she does say,

Like ‘possibility’, ‘Tyrannosaurus’ and other fun fanciful play.

Our little girl is THREE today and it makes my heart hurt a heap,

Cuz all too soon she’ll wear makeup and find a boy that she will keep.



4th Of July

We had a great 4th! I actually had the 3rd and 4th off (worked the 5th) but then had the entire weekend off too! It was great!
On the 3rd we went over to Dave and Becka's house. The live super close to where the fireworks are set off, so we had a little BBQ and the kids played. I was a little worried about Wes and the fireworks (at the moment he's not what I would call the bravest boy out there)... but he LOVED them! He actually wanted to walk towards them and got mad when we wouldn't let him (I know, what mean parents we are). The morning of the 4th we woke up and Matthew suggested we visit his family in Colfax. So we quickly packed, loaded up the car and drove up there (plus made a really quick stop in Ikea to pee... ok, and to shop). It was great to see the Klein family... we haven't got to spend nearly as much time with them as we used to (darn kids and work always getting in the way). Mallory and Wesley had a blast! A ton of toys, a pool and countless people to play with! What could be better.

What's The Buzz

On Saturday, I gave Wesley a buzz cut! I can't decide if I should feel sad that he looks like a little man now, or to be happy that I don't have to brush it and keep trying to keep it trimmed. Either way, he sure is cute!

Our Colorado Vacation

It’s been go, go, go since we got back from Colorado. At the moment  the kids are napping and I’m not working, so I thought I’d try and get a few pictures up.

 

Like I said, Colorado was WONDERFUL! Each time I look at all the pictures I can’t help but smile. We really had a blast! I hadn’t been back to visit my Dads side of the family in 12 years!!!!!! So needless to say the ‘boys’ (my cousins) are now men, with beautiful wives and stunning children! We stayed the nights with Derek and his family, and got to spend our days with Aunt Dottie and Uncle Blob (Bob). We were welcomed with open arms by everyone. Not once did it seem like anyone thought that having 4 extra people invade their homes and their lives was a nuisance (even when the kids were cranky and getting on MY nerves).  There was almost always a beautiful new face to meet… each of the 4 West boys have 2-4 kids (and we met all but one)! The hospitality from my aunt and uncle was (almost) too much… activities, love, food, treats, gifts, swimming, nights out… it was so sweet, so personal that just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. It’s depressing that we live so far away from each other.

 

The first couple of days were devoted primarily to getting over to see Matthews’s rugby team play in the national rugby playoffs. They placed 3^rd!!!!!! Truly amazing that our ‘little’ team from Santa Rosa is so very talented! During the second game, Matthew obtained his first real injury in his 10 years of playing rugby… he was landed on by a very large opponent and he separated his left AC joint in his shoulder. Now it's raised at a funny angle. He goes to talk with a surgeon tomorrow to see if there is any ‘fixing’ it.

 

After all the rugby, we truly started our family vacation which included Red Rock ampatheater, a train ride (which Mallory hated for some reason),  the zoo, multiple trips to THE most amazing community center ever (pools, playland, ice rinks, workout gym, running and basketball  courts included) and a chance to watch my second cousins in their swim meet. Let me just say these girls must be part fish because NO ONE was able to keep up with them and they won it all!

  

 

 

This trip was truly wonderful. I can’t wait to get out there again (and I am hoping that my aunt and uncle, and ALL of my cousins will come out and visit us soon)! Thank you for an amazing time. I love you all.  

Fishy-Goo

My family and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in Colorado!!!! There is so much to write about I’ll probably have to talk about the trip itself later… for now I’ll just fill you in on the adventure that started our trip off!

 

The 4 of us flew out of SFO midmorning. Mallory, being the seasoned traveler that she is, did great! We set up a Curious George video and she was good to go! Wesley on the other had hadn’t been on a plane in a year and he was not nearly as easy going about the whole thing. He started off on Matthews lap as we were taxing down the runway and as we picked up speed we pulled out the bag of Goldfish crackers (both to entertain them and to help keep their ears open with the chewing motion). Mid take off Wes started to freak out about not getting enough fishies (he likes to have a full mouth AND two full hands all at once). As he started to cry he inhaled and he started chocking on a glob of fishies. Matthew started patting him on his back and after a few moments he realized that wasn’t working. At this point I looked over because Wes is no longer coughing and was frightenely quiet and Matthew was saying ‘what do I do now’? Wesley’s face was plum colored! A sickening bright red and deep purple all at once. I whacked his back twice and when nothing changed I grabbed him from Matthews lap, tip him upside-down over my legs and somehow manage four or five good baby-style heimlich maneuver thrusts (all of this in the cramped space of an airplane row). A large wad of fishy-goo went flying from his mouth and landed on my leg (or seat, or somewhere). His color immediately returned to beautiful pale pink and I started to hug him and tell Matthew “I hope I didn’t break a rib” when he grabbed that regurgitated fishy-goo and popped it back in his mouth. Obviously he was (and is) fine.

All Boy

Ok, as much as I hate the statement “When you have _____, you’ll understand.” But it’s true. There are so many things about parenting that I didn’t ‘understand’ until I actually became a parent. And even after being a parent to a little girl (a VERY rough and tumble little girl mind you), there were things I still didn’t get about parenting a little boy. How different can they be, right? I mean we are the same parents, raising them in a pretty darn similar manor, Mallory’s such a Tomboy, I’m SUCH a tomboy, what could be the big deal?!

Holy Cow! Wesley is SUCH a BOY! If it can be climbed on he’s on top of it, if it’s not bolted down he’s moving it, if it had a surface he’s banging on it, if it’s piled up he’s pushing it over, if he’s holding it it’s in his mouth, if there’s an opening he’s crawling through it and if it’s a command he’s ignoring it. It’s amazing how different boys and girls are (even if you thought your girl acted more like a boy).

To Wesley everything makes a ‘Vrrrroooommmmm’ sound (cars, rocks, bark, food, baby dolls and toy baby buggies) and everything is known by a grunt and finger pointing.  At 15 months Mallory looked at the underside of her shoe and said “momma dis is dirty.” At 15 months, with all his grunting Wesley sounds more like an orangutan than a human. He likes to wrestle and shove things over, he’s great at throwing things (though very good at not doing it in the house), can actually dribble a soccer ball about as well as I can (not saying much about my soccer skills), and loves to be naked! Oh and he can throw a text-book tantrum like nobody’s business (face on floor, arms and legs flailing). He had about a 15 second attention span for books and absolutely NO interest in TV no matter what’s on it (whereas Mallory was obsessed with both of them by 6 months). It’s all very funny/amazing/annoying. He makes me smile all day long as he runs around the house giggling and screeching… as he chases after Mallory, Sonny or Krush. (Heaven help whichever one he catches…. Because it is full-force WWF-style belly flopping time)!!!!!

Home Improvement

I think I might have a problem… I’m pretty sure that I am addicted to home improvement projects. I love the challenge of transforming something that I already have in my home that I am not super in love with, into something that I love, love, love and did myself (for way cheap).
My latest project has been taking those ugly 1980’s shiny oak cabinets that are in both bathrooms and the kitchen and bringing them into the 21^st century. (So for I have done both bathrooms, it only took 4 days… and that was due to drying time). The kitchens next on the list but is going to take considerably longer because I’m going to re-paint the walls and try my hand at tiling too.
Anyway, back to the bathrooms… I removed all the doors and drawers, power sanded it ALL down (drawers, doors and bases), primed and sealed, sanded again, painted 1^st layer (I used a color called espresso bean), sanded again, then did another 1-2 paint coats (depending on the area and how it covered). I think it turned out beautiful… and with minimal visible paint strokes!!!!! As I was about to replace the doors, I realized that the old hinges were a sickening gold/brown/rust color. So I cleaned then and spray painted then a mat-silver color. I added some cute new pulls to the drawers and cabinets and some new towels in the guest bathroom, and Ta-Da!!!!!! All for $157!!!! (Double Ta-Da). It’s a ton of work, but I’m hoping that since I took all the proper steps it’ll stands up to wear and tear.

I think the most difficult part of the entire thing (as side from allowing adequate drying time) was keeping the kids out/off/away from it all. I utilized books, nap-time, snacks… and a FEW Curious George episodes. Today as I was using the power drill to create the holes for the pulls Wesley was watching in deep fascination… after a few minutes, he reached out his hand, touched the drill gently, grunted twice (as if giving his approval) and walked away! It cracked me up! He’ll already in love with power-tools and he’s only 15 months! SUCH a boy!

A Little Scare

Wesley has had quite a day... to say the least. It all started this morning when we had a 9:45 doctors appointment for his 15 month check up. Stats and physical were all good, until Dr. Notch got to the heart. The doctor picked up a very low grade but present systolic murmur (i got yo hear it too). In vet-med about 50 percent of the puppies I see have a murmur of some sort. They almost all eventually goes away...apparently its the same in human medicine. And 99 percent of those murmurs are not a big deal, but there was still that small chance that our little buckaroos murmur would be in that one percent that would resolve or would need treatment of some sort, so the doctor recommended we had it have it checked out. So Wesley had his oxygenation monitored, blood pressure taken, chest xrays, vaccinations and a EKG all between 10am and noon! Quite a lot for a 15 month old to handle. Poor guy zonked out on the short 5 minute car ride home. Mallory was a trooper and a huge help...actually she was the only thing that entertained him and got him quiet during the EKG. We already have all the results back and praise the Lord all of it looks normal!!!!!! The murmur should be monitored but it is anticipated it will go away!
Oh and this is how they take chest radiographs on babies...crazy, huh? Its like some old-time torture devise.

Happy Mother's Day

2 years, 9 months and 26 days ago I became a mother...and my life forever changed! It took having a baby of my own to truly know love. The deep, soul-filled, pit of your stomach sort of love. The sort of love my own mother daily gave me...but I never understood (and maybe still don't). Love is funny...there are so many levels. It truly is infinite. Just 15 months ago I was still trying to figure out how in the world I could possibly love another baby as much as I love Mallory... then just like that Wesley is born, and I do!!!!! Never again will I ever underestimate the power of love. Especially the power of a mothers love!!!!!
So for every mother out there 'Happy Mother's Day!'
Oh and in case you are wondering, yes that's a mother's day black eye Wesley got for me. Such a sweet, thoughtful boy!

Graden Project

Once again in true "Me" fashion I started a project and didn't take a before shot... it wasn't until we were arms deep in dirt that I even thought about it. Like I mentioned before, since we are staying in our sweet little house I wanted to get some project done and the garden was at the top of the list... the only thing is, is that projects cost money... and the reason we aren't moving yet is because moving cost money... which we are trying desperately to save...you understand the dilemma. Always up for a challenge I decided that we could re-do the backyard/garden area for just about nothing. The area was originally a 2 level raised bed that ran the length of our back fence. Great spot, super sunny. But it started fall apart a few years ago... and there was no saving it this year. Plus it had a ton of unused pathway-type space that I thought would be nice to actually USE.
Anyway, I convinced Matthew that I had a better design and that we could do it WAY cheep by re-using the existing wood (heck, 'up-cycling is TOTALLY in right now... so not only are we thrifty but we are trendy). The entire process took about 10 day (because there is a TON of dirt to move. I happened to have a handful of days off in a row, so I actually did most of the work. Not that I'm bragging, but I am pretty darn proud of myself... I was out there with the pick-ax, circular saw, power drills, hammer, jig-saw, shovels, paint, stain, sanders, and wheel barrel. I was a regular Tim-The-Tool (wo)Man-Taylor! It was fun! We were able to re-used most of the wood but cutting off the dead/rotten areas, re-used the dirt (and even added it to other flat/boring places in the yard to give some depth), re-used the rest of the paint (left over house paint from when we moved in), most of the PVC pipe we had, cut the wine barrels to turn them into the herb beds (and also new larger homes for my standing rose bushes along the front/side), re-used the flag-stone from last years patio project... so all we really had to buy was new front boards, a few new PVC pipes, the hardware, veggie and flowering plants, a gallon of paint and the ground cover bark. All in all I think this yard/garden redo only cost about $250! Not bad huh?!?! Oh plus I did a bonus mini-redo on the very front flower area under Wesley's window. I pulled up all the rotting wood border and replaced it with large stones found around our yard, planted flower, ran drip and put down the landscaping bark. It looks pretty. Sorry no picture yet. Speaking of pictures... I don't know what the deal is... and why the computer is cutting off the right side of these photos... but the options are; deal with it, not have me blog or throw the stupid computer out the window. :)

A Little Stuffy

Last night Matthew opened up the back door because it was a little warm in the house. Mallory wanted to know why he opened it up, so he told her "I opened it up because it was getting a little stuffy in the house." Mallory thought for a moment and then said, "But daddy, houses don't have noses."
Get it? Stuffy....Noses...? This girl cracks me up. She's so literal.

Catch Up



 

How can so much happen in so little time? Oooy!
Here’s a little breakdown on our life…

1) Turns out that through the course of that really nasty flu, Wesley ended up with Asthma. Fingers crossed that it’s just viral induced and our “Little Wheezier” will grow out of it. But for now he has a few different types of inhalers to us if/when needed.  
 
2) I finally trimmed the Wesley’s hair wings that were growing up and out over his ears… ahhh babies first haircut.

 

3) Easter was great. Loads of fun, family, Christ and candy.

 

 

 

 

4) Found out that Jeff, Lindsay and Connor are moving back to Sonoma County!!!!!!! Supper excited to have the cousins get to play together (twice a week at daycare)!

5) We thought about moving (to a larger house somewhere in Sonoma county) for a second… then realized it made more sense to stay here for a little longer and continue paying off my ‘brain’ loan and the car… THEN move. Sad not to have a larger home (I have to admit I cried a little over it), but excited to do more projects on our current one (Thanks Pintrist). Here’s our mini bathroom re-do. Sorry I forgot to get a before shot.

 

6) For 2 weeks straight I was having horrible, mind-crushing pain in my left frontal sinus… Nothing made it better. I finally had a C.T. scan. Good news, no tumor, just a massive sinusitis, with such severe swelling and stenosis that there was literally NO drainage possible.  So I’m on oral and nasal prednisone, antibiotics and decongestant… and only have a little pain if I push on my sinus (so trying not to do that).

7) Worked a TON this past month… and finally have a week where I am only working 30 hours! Here’s my exhausted sigh of relief.

8) Today was my first day off in a while, and I woke up to Mallory screaming for me and rushed into her room just in time to direct her bile-vomit onto the blanket not the carpet (much easier to clean)!

 Ok, that’s it. That’s what the Klein clan is up to.