oops! I just realized I posted the same picture of Trent in two different blogs! The only excuse I have is that while blogging I'm really not paying attention to what I'm doing. Instead, I'm watching 2 kids as they run in 2 different directions (and Trent... who always decides he's hungary as soon as I sit down at the computer) Tys is frustrated that he can't staple the wooden ruler and Katie is yelling from the bathroom "mommy, please wipe me" (too much information, I know) Anyhow, that's my story and, I'm sticking to it!!

Trent enjoys his swing and usually ends up falling asleep.... He was actually smiling at the ceiling fan!

Katie woke up with the stomach flu yesterday so, I spent much of the day taking care of her. She was feeling lots better last night and back to her normal self today. Hopefully, the rest of us don't get it! Yesterday, I did get my new skirt cut out and began sewing it. I'm hoping to get it finished by Easter....

first bottle

I'm so excited because Trent just took his first bottle this afternoon... He didn't fuss about it at all! I guess, like Tys, he doesn't care how he gets his food, just as long as he gets it! I can now do something away from him without having to be home in 2 hours to feed him :) Last night Tys decided to take 2 baths. I had bathed him first then, got Katie in the bath. While she was playing I turned my back for a second to get something and came back to find Tys in the bath with her! However, he did forget to remove his p.j.s and diaper first!!

Trip to the park

The weather was so beautiful today I got the kids outside for a little fresh air! First, we drove out to Casey's work and visited him for a few minutes. The kids love visiting daddy because they get to see all of the rail cars waiting to be loaded (and the cows that are along the way...) Then, we stopped in to see my mom, at the hospital, before heading to the park. Tys is big enough this year that he can pretty much climb the steps all by himself! And, Katie is getting more adventurous with the equipment as well. We also kicked her soccer ball around a little before going home for lunch....

I admit I was a little unsure about going to the park, by myself, with 3 little kids. But, it went well!! Trent hung out in his car seat while Katie and Tys played. There were a few times when I was busy helping Katie and couldn't catch Tys when he went flying down the slide... landing on his bottom/back with a big "thud"!! But, all survived and had fun :)

Easter dress

I got Katie's Easter dress sewn this week! The bodice on this one was more difficult than her last one but, with my mom's help I got it done. Also, I did a zipper for the first time which, really wasn't so hard :) Katie loves her new dress! (never mind her messy hair!!)

Trent 3 months old

Trent will be 3 months old tomorrow!! I am reminded how quickly babies grow out of that newborn stage.... Trent is such a smiley and laid-back little guy. We all love to talk to him because we're always rewarded with a smile! Katie especially loves to see her baby brother smile and exclaims "HE SMILED AT ME" He is happy to just sit back and watch his siblings play. Lately, he has also been getting into holding his little toys or, working hard at getting that toy into his mouth! His head isn't quite so wobbling anymore and he's sleeping great at night (sleeping 9:30p-7:30 0r 8 and, waking up just once to eat) My only issue is that he doesn't like to nap in his bed during the day. He'd rather sleep in the swing or his bouncy seat... which is ok until he grows out of those! Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days....

No More Nuts!

We had quite a scare this last weekend with Tys and had to rush him to the hospital. We had no idea that he was allergic to nuts and, found this out the hard way! It began around noon on Saturday when my mom and I took the kids to visit our friend, Jona. We were just hanging out and he ate 3 cashews that were on her coffee table. Then, we left not too long after that and headed to the duck pond. It was pretty windy so when his eyes starting getting red and itching we thought that maybe it was just allergies from being outside. Casey met us for lunch at our local pizza parlor and that's when we noticed that his face was getting all red and rashy (this had happened one other time when he peanut butter but, it went away and I never gave him peanut butter again) Well, it progressively got worse and he kept itching his eyes and ears. We cut our lunch short and got home to give him some Benadryl. He then proceeded to gag and ended up throwing up all over Casey and himself! Poor Tys was miserable. We got him (and Casey!) cleaned up and noticed the rash was quickly going down his body. Thankfully, my mom (being a nurse) knew exactly what was going on and said we needed to get him to the hospital right away. So, she and I wrapped him in a towel and drove to the E.R. Once in the E.R., Tys got two shots and a breathing treatment right away (since he was wheezy) A little while later he wasn't getting any better and was now completely covered head to toe in one big, red welt. You couldn't even see any separation between the blotchy rashes. So, it was decided that he needed the steroid by i.v. and my mom, being the most experienced with doing child i.v.'s, was voted to do it! She did a great job :) Poor Tys was crying this whole time and kept saying "I'm done"; he just wanted to go home! I admit that by now I was beginning to really worry because it just wasn't getting any better.... I called Casey and had him (and Trent) come down to the E.R. And, thankfully, our friend Sharla picked Katie up and took her home to their house... Once the I.V. steroid kicked in, things started getting better. The one big welt started becoming more of a rash and slowly kept going away over the course of the hour that we had to wait. During that time he had a few visitors (Joe and Jerry) had a sucker and just laid in my arms. The I.V. was in his thumb sucking arm so that caused a few issues :) Anyhow, around 4:30 we got to go home and he immediately got a bottle and went to bed! The poor guy was so exhausted. We may live in a small town without a big fancy hospital but, I have to say that it's a great hospital with awesome people who work there! Of course, we were warned that more nuts for Tys could mean an even worse episode than this one so, we are now watching everything he eats and making sure he doesn't have any more nuts!!

Tys got to play with Play-Do for the first time after dinner tonight! He loved it! Of course, I think he ate more of the Play-Do than he should have but, he had fun :) Trent wore his new shirt from Nana and Papa today.... I'd say it fits him rather well!

Pretty baby blue eyes!

440 kit

This is Casey's new 440 kit for his 4-wheeler... it arrived just the other day and Casey was SO happy (just as happy as when he got his new AR-15 and, the births of his 3 children!) He opened the box and said "look at that beauty"!! Now, what I want to know is...... what is SO beautiful about this????

Afternoon in Elko

We went to Elko yesterday afternoon for Tys' check up with our new pediatrician. The appt. went well and Tys is in the 97% range for his height and weight... he weighs 32lbs! He doesn't have a love for doctors like his sister and screamed pretty much the whole time... he did get a shot so I don't blame him :) Afterwards we took the kids to Dairy Queen for ice cream!! While in Elko we also went to the Big 5 Sports store and got the kids balls. Tys immediately had his eye on a Dora one (he calls her "Rora") and Katie got a new pink and white soccer ball. She is looking forward to playing on a real soccer team this summer! The weather was so beautiful we took them to the park and let them practice kicking their new balls around. Casey is teaching Katie the correct way to kick the ball... it takes lots of concentration!

And, then he's also teaching her to actually kick the ball and not carry it around :)

Tys and his favorite new "Rora" ball

Trent got to spend some time outside too. He wasn't too sure about all that bright sunlight!

Big 5 was also having an awesome sale on Nike running shoes (and other tennis shoes) Casey and I each got new running shoes for just $35 a piece!

This is Tys in the swing this time last year..... he was still such a little baby! AND, this is Tys today! My, how he's grown and now almost too big for the swing!!

Mondays are always cleaning day around our house. The kids help me clean, do laundry and pick up from the weekend. Their favorite jobs are dusting and vaccuming! I use our big vaccum while they get to use the little one and clean the rug. It keeps them busy for a while :)

A picture of Trent from the weekend... he is such a happy little guy!! AND, he's been sleeping 6 hours at a time now at night!!!

We had a good weekend, although it went too quickly. Casey began his week off on Friday (however, he's working three days of overtime this week) On Friday night my mom and I went to a friend's Body Shop/wine party. I used their products and gave myself a much needed pedicure and, just had a great time with "the girls"! Thanks to my wonderful husband, Dad and Joe who stayed home with the kids so mom and I could go :) Note: I love how it takes 3 guys to watch 3 kids while I have all 3 by myself all day long! hee hee

Saturday, we mainly hung out at the house. Casey went to the gun range in the morning, with Joe, and shot his new gun. Then, that evening we had friends over for dinner.

Sunday, we went to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant (it's also the only one in town!) with friends, Joe, Judy & Ken and, Bryan & Ambur and their two girls. We managed a meal "out" with all three kids and no major catastrophes! That afternoon Casey and I watched a movie and I made Ann's famous Misssissippi Mud Pie.... I brought it to Ken and Judy's house last night and everyone loved it. Joe was the happiest of all because he got to take some home :) Thanks, Ann, for your recipe. We all thought of ya'll as we ate it :)

Katie actually wanted her picture taken this morning so, I took advantage of the rare moment and got some pictures of Katie and Tys with their baby Trent!

Trent and his special blankie from Oma!

This is Tys' goofy "cheese" face

Katie is very gentle and loving towards her baby brother. She always makes sure he has a blankie and some sort of toy to look at... below: the toy of choice was her pink puppy

Casey's new toy arrived yesterday! His new AR-15 is a Christmas present from my parents and had been on back order until now.

Papa Princess

The other night, Papa was gracious enough to let Katie "do" his hair! First, he got his hair blow dried ~ that blow dryer has batteries and really "blow dries"

Then, he got it combed. Tys wanted in on some of the action too!

To top it off, he was crowned the "best Papa Princess ever"!!

Bedtime story

We always read a bed time story to the kids at night. They each get to choose one and, Katie's is usually REALLY long :) A few things going on around here:
1. Tys broke out in a rash on his belly and legs last night.. they look like the chicken pox! It's just a mild case and he doesn't seem to be in too much discomfort... however, we are now staying home and away from people until they've cleared.
2. I cut 3 - 4 inches from Katie's hair this afternoon. I don't have any pictures yet but all the long blonde hair you see in the above picture is gone!! It was really getting to be unhealthy and she was always complaining about it being "a mess" or, "a bad hair day". She's not a fan of having her hair combed so, I think she's happy to have it gone. Of course, she'll grow it out again but for now it'll be cute for the summer.
3. I cut out the pieces to Katie's new Easter dress. This was after I had pinned it down and thought "something about it isn't right" So, I waited and had my mom look at it. Sure enough, I was about to mess it all up! So I repinned and cut it and, am thankful for my patient teacher, My Mom!
4. Trent is now sleeping any where from 4-6 hours at a time during the night! He is in size 3-6 month clothes and wearing either cloth or disposable diapers ~ yippea!! Katie and Tys could only ever wear one or the other....
5. I have been working-out on my new treadmill 4-5 days a week. I haven't worked out faithfully since Katie was born so, as you can just imagine... I'm really out of shape! It feels great and I'm "training" to run the Women's Fitness Celebration, in Boise, in Sept. My mom and I are doing it together so, that helps keep me motivated. I can't be out-done by my mom :)
6. Casey is working days this week then, starts his 7 days off this Friday (however, he'll be working o.t. next Mon-Wed) I'm so thankful that I have a husband who can juggle working hard at his job and still spends quality time with his family!!

A few pictures from the weekend... Casey, Pastor Danny and my dad.... Casey was installed as a deacon in our church during the morning service ~ a very momentous occassion!! Besides Pastory Danny, there are now 3 deacons and 2 elders in our church.

Jerry and Casey hanging out with their boys at Ken & Judy's last night

Trent enjoying his swing :)

Between the end of Oct - Feb, there have been 4 new babies born in our church ~ Here are our sweet little blessings from L. - R. Trenton Richard 12/25/08, Sydney Jane 01/29/09, William Leon 01/31/09 and Josiah Hendrik 10/30/08 I am excited for Trent to grow up with so many friends his age!

belly time

Trent is very generous with his smiles these days!I had him do some belly-time today to strengthen those neck/head muscles... definitely not his favorite thing in the world to do but, he happily did it for a short period of time.

"ok, mom, maybe this isn't so bad after all..."

"actually, it might even be fun!!"

"or, not!"

Tys ~ our little orphan boy in need of a haircut

Katie ~ our little orphan girl in need of a hair comb!

I got some scrapbooking done today while the kids got to get out ALL of their toys and make a mess. This is usually what happens while I'm busy cutting and pasting :) But, they had a fun time at it and played pretty good together (I say just "pretty good" because Tys is still learning how to share and, Katie is still learning how to be patient!) After Casey went to work, we spent the evening picking up their toys and having a bath. Then, we watched a new Shirley Temple movie that I recently got for Katie. Katie, of course, loved it and now wants to be a ballerina like "that girl in the movie"