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.

Duh!

I'd like to start out by stating that neither Matthew nor myself have ever made this comment to Mallory (or around her....as far as I know).
The other day I was searching the house in frantic desperation to find something that I misplaced (I don't remember what it was that I lost anymore). In passing I asked Mallory if she knew where it was... and stopped in my tracts when she said 'yes'. I asked her where it was and very seriously she responded back to me, 'Probably the last place you left it Momma.' Got to love her and her logic.

Little Talker

this little boy has become quite the Chatterbox all of a sudden which a hand full of new words in his arsenal. He is no longer just babbeling but saying words, and telling us what and who he wants. He calls Mallory 'maamaa', (which at times is hard to differentiate from Momma) he can say banana... 'bananannnaanana' and today he said 'onnor' as we were looking at a picture of cousin Connor! When the phone rings he says Dada and will also walk around with his toy phone, hold it up to me and say Dada. 2 more lower insisors are coming in...So getting quite the toothy grin! He and Mallory love each other so much! Almost daily she tells me 'Momma, I love having a little baby brother.'

Yosemite 2013

A couple weeks ago we made our annual March trip to Yosemite for my continuing education class. This was the first year that we went as a family of four… we had a blast. I was dreading the drive… it’s a 4 1/2 hour drive without stops… now with kids I was thinking it was going to take us an extra hour or two. Wrong. These kids are great traveler. Happy, napping, snacking kids. It was great. There was no snow on the valley floor, but there was a ton-o-snow just 45 minutes back up the mountain. The C.E topics were great and the speakers were brilliant but I have to say, the best part was where we stayed and how we got there.

The C.E talks are held in the Yosemite Lodge, so each year we get a room there… they are fairly cheap (for Yosemite), and the rooms are literally feet away from the talks. The rooms are nothing fancy, but do-able. This year they gave up a room in a part of the lodge that we had never been in. We walked up the stairs with our bundled-up babies in tow to our room. What we were given was more like an army bunker. No light switch (I still don’t know if there was any form of light), two thin bunk-beds made of metal WITHOUT any railings and no TV (which isn’t normally a big deal, but since Matthew was supposed to entertain them while I was in class, it would have been a nice option if he needed it). This would not due. There is no way we would have been able to keep either kid from climbing and jumping off these bunk-beds. Plus this is a little vacation for us; it would be nice if Matthew and I could at least have the option of sleeping next to each other.

 

We took the kids back to the lobby and I very nicely asked if we could simply change rooms, to a more child-safe room. Apparently they had over-booked the Lodge (due to construction that was supposed to be finished. But wasn’t)… so we were told that we could be upgraded to the Ahwahnee hotel for an additional cost. (For those of you who don’t know the Ahwahnee is a very swanky, very expensive hotel in Yosemite… the rooms go from $500-2000 a night).  I said to the gal behind the desk, ‘Really, so I have to pay more because you guys don’t have a room that’s safe enough for my children?’ Turns out ‘safety’ and ‘children’ are trigger words because she waved the upgrade fee and told us to head over to the Ahwahnee (about a mile and a half drive). We were told they only had a king size bedroom available. I said that’s fine. So off we went.

When we pulled up to the Ahwahnee there were valet guys, bellhops and doormen. I was feeling special! I went to check us in and was promptly given free bottled water for the entire family and the wonderful lady behind the desk saw that we were put in a king room and asked if we would prefer a private cottage. I looked at her kind of skeptically and asked if there was heat (all I was envisioning was those little white tents in curry village). She (politely) laughed at me and told me that the cottages were larger than most rooms and was equipped with a flat screen TV, fridge, safe, bay-window-seat, multiple rooms and our own forest. We’ll take it!!!!!!

So that’s where we ended up. Our own private cottage at the Ahwahnee Hotel!!!!! And even though I had to wake up a little early and take a bus to the class it was WELL worth it. We got to experience their tea-time, the history of the hotel, live pianists, yummy food PLUS have all of Yosemite literally out our front door! What a once in a lifetime experience!

 

Old Lady

Mallory said to me yesterday, 'Mama, you're not growing anymore?' I said back to her, 'no Mama's not growing anymore.' (I didn't feel like explaining to her that though I may not be growing up I very well still can grow out.) She looked at me and asked 'Mama, is it cuz you an old lady?' Got to love the honesty of children!

1 Year Stats... and then some

Why Hello. Sorry I know its been a while... the time sure does fly when you are averaging 50 hours a week at work (plus 15 hours of continuing education on top of that). So I have had very little 'extra' blogging time. And sorry to say, this one is going to be short and sweet. I just thought I would write down Wesley's 1 year stats (so that in the years to come I can look them up easily... because goodness knows putting all this information in a ACTUAL baby book would just be crazy!)
Any way... at Wesley's one year check he was weighting in at 22 pounds 12.9 oz, was 2 feet 5.25 inches and had a 45.7cm head (68%, 23%, 37% respectively). You should see this boy walk now. There is no crawling. He's over it. His walking is looking less and less Frankenstein-ish, he's bending his knees and is even 'running' more. And he is FINALLY over all the sick-crud! I'm pretty sure I haven't wiped a nose in over 24 hours! (It's the simple joys in life).

 Ok... now that I'm actually blogging, I might as well keep going and talk a little about our little miss. Mallory is wonderful. Though, out of the blue had a little power struggle over her not wanting to poo in the potty. But I (think) I won. The power of stickers in amazing!!!!!! She has been joyful and caring lately. Showering me with kisses and 'I love you sweet mommy' comments. I'll find her reading to Wesley in their rooms or I'll listen to her yell down the hallway 'come-on Buddy, follow me!' She calls Wesley Buddy. I don't know who she picked it up from, but its contagious... that's all Matthew and I seem to call him anymore. She is spunky, and imaginative and remembers EVERYTHING/every name/every number/word/letter.... Seriously, I'm sure she is going to be ruler of the world within the next few years. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to make her sound like a saint... after all she IS 2. And there are moments when her attitude reflects it perfectly...as it should.

But for the most past I'm pretty darn sure I couldn't have picked better kiddos. They are a joy.

Paaaaaarty!

We had a VERY little, but very nice party to celebrate Wesley’s first birthday. Really it ended up just being the Grands, their significant others, Wesley’s god-mom Carrie and our good family friend Aaron (who is crucial at all family functions). There was no real theme to this party… just “Stuff Wesley Likes”… so there was food (meatball, homemade mac-n-cheese, and homemade banana ice cream… oh and a banana shaped cake), balls, whistles/kazoos’ and lots of people to snuggle him. He had a blast. Obviously, who wouldn’t! ;)

 

Ballet Class

There's this supper cute (and way inexpensive) drop-in 2-3 year old dance class that I just found out about. So this past Wednesday Mallory took her first Ballet lesson! She had fun... I had a blast! Pretty sure that watching a gang of toddlers prance around in tutus is VERY close on the cuteness scale to watching a pack of puppies wrestling... maybe even cuter (if I factor in maternal bias). She did enjoy herself...but really like when they got to skip and hop. When they were supposed to be doing boring stuff like stretching she got up and went over to the bars and started climbing...I think she may be more of a gymnastics sort of gal (before the gets WAY to tall and is kicked of that sport).

Wesley's ONE

 

 I can hardly believe that my little man turned ONE yesterday! It seems impossible that an entire year has gone by since I kissed that sweet, fresh smelling, perfectly round little head. That I looked into those indigo blue eyes, and that I feel madly, deeply and totally in love… again! And yet how is it that it has ONLY been one year… when I feel like he has been part of me for my entire life? Time, love, parenting… it is all so strange… it as if the true physics of time somehow leaves you exempt; and you get it all of time and none of it all at once. It’s crazy.

 

Anyway, Wesley Robert Klein is ONE! He is such a good boy! SUCH a momma’s boy (I’m not totally happy about it… though I LOVE the constant snuggles… it’s really hard for me personally to deals with the needy factor whenever he sees me). Mallory was sooooo independent I would have to practically have to hold her down to get a hug! Wesley on the other hand would spend his day monkey-hugging me and giggling into me neck. He has just started to say a few 2 syllable words…. Banana is Na-nA and Balloon is Baa-ooon. It’s cute. Oh and he now he points outside and in the air and will say ‘bird’… even if nothings there.

He’s motoring along with his walking. He splits his time walking and crawling about 40/60 respectively. He has recently become a little bit of a picky eater… and will spit out anything that anyone tries to give him (he has to do it on his own), and he likes to eat when no one is watching him (over wise, if you’re watching he wants to play and make faces/sounds at you).  He’s still a champ at sleeping. Down at 7:30 pm and up at 7 or 8 am, plus 2 naps during the day. He really, really, really wants to wrestle with Mallory and do all that she does (climb, swing, slide…) it won’t be long before those two are playing chase. He’s just starting to get into books… but he likes turning the pages more than listening to the story. Oh and he still LOVE music and will rock-it-out when it’s on.

He is such a joy. Love that little man more than words can say!

 

Disney

We all know I am not a huge princess person... not by any stretch of the imagination, though I do enjoy Disney, their movies and the occasional visit to their "Land". Yet Mallory loves it all. The animals, the princesses, the villians, the books/toys/stories/crowns...but her all time favorite is The Beast. You got to love her for that! She was actually in tears when her princess panties didn't come with a Beast pair. She is so my child! Any way, I was at Kohl's the other day, and I found this dress for $2.80 (before they took off my 30% coupon)! How could I resist?!?!

New Do

It's fun how a new hair style or bangs can make you feel like a totally new person!

Bay Area Discovery Museum

Before The Plague knocked our family out, we had a wonderful day visiting the Bay Area Discovery Museum. I hadn’t ever been there before (apparently I’ve been living under a rock)… this place is amazing. Both kids had a blast. We didn’t even make it in all the different sections. There’s music, streams, building stuff, arts/crafts, fairytale/dress up,  forts, planes, boats…. It’s like heaven for kids. I can’t wait to go back!



Hack, Hack

For the past 2 1/2 weeks my family has been quarantined in our house as we battled the dreaded flu (or as I like to call it The Plague). It did quite a number on us. The kids started out with just a little cold bug, which after a few days turned into the fever/upper respiratory/cough nastiness. I quickly followed suite but thought it would be fun to add vomiting, diarrhea and a sinus infection into the mix. Poor Matthew was the only healthy one… and he took all of last week off work to run the infirmary. I could hardly leave the bed/bathroom, Mallory bounced back pretty quickly, and poor Wesley kept getting more and more sick and eventually ended up on the correct antibiotic (because he got an ear infection on top of it all) and a nebulizer with Albuteral. We are finally on the mend though… I can eat, I’m slowly getting my sense of smell and taste back and I can walk around without feeling like I’m going to fall over from weakness and best of all nobody is coughing continuously through the night (making it impossible for anyone else to sleep)! Matthew truly was a saint through all of this. I had my doubts at first (I may or may not have said something to the extent of ‘You need to work on your mother skills’… I am going to blame that on the fever). But he really was amazing. Kept us all medicated, hydrated, bathed, breathing, rested, picked up medications/food/tissue… you name it, he did it. Meals, diapers, cleaning. I don’t know how I would have got through it without him. Thank you my love.

So Practical

I was doing my workout this morning and as always Mallory wanted to do some of it with me. We were about 10 seconds into a set of wall squats, when she looked at me said 'mama I'm going to go find a better chair!'