Painting Fun

Some days, I am feel a little more brave than others.
Then I end up having to ask myself, "what was I thinking?"
I then respond to myself with a simple three word response, "it's all washable."

Look who turned 2!

 April 28, 2009 at 11pm I was beginning the process of being induced, anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first child Gunnar. April 29, was a pretty uneventful day, the doctor just kept encouraging us telling us this was slow process and we must be patient. April 30 at 2:36am, Gunnar decided to make his appearance and the fun hasn't stopped since then. My little 5.5lbs. baby is now 24.4 lbs.
If you have met Gunnar, or read my blog you know Gunnar is a kid full of life. He keeps me on my toes. As we are now in what is referred to as the "terrible twos" I can only pray that our training and discipline will pay off and maybe they won't be so terrible. We know we have many challenges ahead of us. We will return to two areas previously addressed...the binkie and potty training. He went for almost 6 months without a pacifier, and then when Ryker was born he kept stealing it. We fought it for a long time, but moving, and not being settled for quite some time after the move, we gave it up and let him use it. If it made him feel better, we were all much happier. I am afraid, it will be much harder to get rid of the second time around. Potty training will also be revisited. I suspect in about a month or so. We will test the waters and see if he is more ready. If we had stuck with it the first time around he could have gotten it he had many accident free days, however, with me getting mastitis, and Kyle not able to assist as much as he can now, it wasn't much fun. I have high hopes for our next shot at it.
Some things about Gunnar:
-He can say 30+ words, and says a few short phrases. His favorite 2 words together are "don't push."
-He loves to ride his bike. He got a little trike for his birthday last year. He loves it and rides it everywhere. He will ride it to the park, down the street, in the house, etc. He is so good at it we got him a balance bike. It is a bit heavy and I am not sure he is ready for it, but hopefully here in the next month of so he master's it.
-He loves to read. When I take showers, I use the bathroom that is attached the the boys' room. I close the doors and let them play. It is safe and usually there is minimal crying. Most days when I come out, Gunnar will be sitting there with a book in his hands.
-He LOVES being outside. He doesn't care about the weather, or if he has shoes on. He recently has been sneaking out our doggy door. We had one big scare, but usually we catch him as he is doing it and he is quickly redirected inside.
-He loves going to the church nursery and daycare..as long as it isn't nap time. He gets so excited about getting to play with other kids. He goes to daycare some weeks none, and others for a few hours during the week, never very much, but he is so excited. He doesn't like one of the daycare facilities on post and cries as soon as we get in the parking lot, so I avoid taking him there if possible.
-Gunnar is a monkey. He climbs everything. People are always really impressed with his climbing skills when we go different places. He isn't afraid of much.
-He loves water. If he sees a puddle, it is instantly attracted and must go play in it. He also can't get into the bath fast enough. As soon as he hears the water running he makes a mad dash for the tub, I usually am able to get his clothes off in time, but he does jump in with his clothes on if he has too.
-He says "please" and signs "thank you." We are trying to teach him manners, and while he isn't able to say "thank you" yet he using his sign language to sign it. He also signs "please" but will often say the word along with the sign. I love when he says these to words without any promoting from Kyle or I. Teaching him to say "please" has really cut down on the whining and begging for things.
-He has a loving heart. He cares deeply for his brother and watching their relationship grow is such as  joy for me as their mom. He also is great about giving hugs and kisses, and he very polite to others.
Gunnar is a great kid and we are so happy to have him as part of our family. I think he is at a really fun age, but look forward to watching him as he grows and seeing the type of young man he becomes.
(Apparently we only took a video of him opening his gifts, so I might have to edit some of the boring parts out and add it later, but for now here is a cute picture of my 2 year old making bubbles, one of his favorite things to do.)

Easter

Sometimes I get a little behind in my blogging. Then I have to bombard my blog with lots of pictures...this is your warning. There will probably be a lot of pictures (like always), the difference is, this time we have actually been quite busy.
We spent some time at the Children's museum which was so much fun. I am not actually sure who had more fun, Gunnar or Kyle. 

We have spent time at the park. Anytime it doesn't rain we try to get some play time in.

Gunnar got RSV. I took him to the ER with a fever of 105. He was having a hard time breathing and was just really sick. He had to be put on oxygen, get some fluids, and have tons of tests run. He laid on our couch for about 4 days without moving. He slept almost the entire 4 days. He had an ear infection as well so was able to be on antibiotics. Ryker ended up getting it too, and ear infections, but it didn't hit him nearly as hard as Gunnar.

My grandma came to WA state for a visit. She is one special lady to me and I was so sad I didn't get to spend more time with her, but we didn't want to risk getting her sick. So on Thursday night we headed for my parents and spent until the evening of Easter Sunday. We had a big family get-together and just had a great time.
The boys loved playing with her. Gunnar and her had a lot of tea parties. This was the first time she met Ryker, so that was a special time as well. 

We also had a little birthday party for Gunnar since he turns two tomorrow. He had his well-child check up on Thursday and is weighing in at 24.4lbs. and is right on target developmentally. He is so much fun! I love this age. We didn't have a cake, so we put his candles in the cinnamon sticks we got from Pizza Hut with our pizza.

 

Kyle and my mom share the birthday of April 27th. I got Kyle some airsoft stuff (which he knew about) but his big surprise was his first sky diving jump. He will take the Advanced Free Fall class on May 21 (our anniversary :() and do his first jump then. He has jumped out of airplanes before, but the military jumping doesn't involve a lot of free-fall. It is more getting to the ground as quickly as possible so you don't get shot at. He is REALLY excited and can hardly wait for May 21st to roll around.

Here is he reading about his surprise.

Grandma Kathy sent Gunnar his gift in the mail and some Easter Basket goodies. Gunnar hid in the closet and attempted to finish off a big chocolate Easter bunny on his own. 

I think that is about it. Gunnar turns two tomorrow, but we won't celebrate as a family until Sunday as Kyle is at Men's Retreat. I will close with a family picture from Easter and a fun one of the boys. To bad Kyle looks sleepy Easter morning. (Notice I got a major haircut, I am regretting it, but hoping I get more used to it).

Ezra and Owen visit (with Poppa and Gramma)

This past weekend, my parents came and brought two of my brother Paul's boys with them. Ezra and Owen came and we had a lot of fun with them. Friday night we just let the boys play. Saturday we got up, got everyone ready and made the hour drive to Northwest Trek. We had a great time walking around...then we got on the tram. It instantly started bringing back horrible memories of a long boat ride we took in Germany where Gunnar screamed almost the entire time. There was no screaming this time, but that was because I let Gunnar eat an entire thing of Tic-Tacs...this was after Kyle wrestled with Gunnar to get him to sit, look, and be content while I fed Ryker. Everyone else seemed to enjoy the ride. The best part of the afternoon was on a trip the boys took to the bathroom. Ezra decided it would be a good idea to run though the grass, which was more of like a marsh...you will see the result of this grand idea in the pictures.
Saturday evening after naps we headed to Charlie's Safari for dinner and playtime. Everyone had a blast! Uncle Peter and Aunt Perki came and joined the fun here with us.
Sunday was church, dinner, and then our sad goodbyes. I love having family visit, but it is never easy to say goodbye, even when I know I will be seeing them soon.
I have lot of pictures from the boys' visit, but here are a few of my favorites.

 The boys watching Uncle Kyle play airsoft in the house.

 Poppa and Ryker.

 Poppa and Gunnar not quite ready for the day to start.

 Gramma and with Owen and Gunnar

 Ezra a great big cousin.

 Our picnic lunch.

Ezra's adventures through the grass resulted in only one shoe and a lot of mud.

Ezra, Gunnar, and Owen

 A group photo.

 Here are some of the animals we saw at NW Trek.

And some pictures from Charlie's Safari.

Rub-a-dub-dub, three blonds in a tub

My dad, being the tech savy guy he is caught this great picture with his iphone. It is probably my favorite from the entire weekend.

Time in Post Falls

We just got back from spending a week with the Pettit's. The big boys did a lot of shooting real guns and airsoft guns, not to mention the CO2 grenades they were also playing with. Only two injuries were reported, but nothing major thankfully.
The little boys enjoyed all the attention that their Uncles and Grandpa and Nana gave to them. They were loving every minute of it.
Gunnar the future soccer star.

 Gunnar playing with his "gun"

Bubbles inside because of the weather.

 Gunnar spent a lot of time sliding down the stairs.

 He loves playing trains with his uncles.

Ryker loved sleeping on Nana.

 Ryker getting in some play time with his Great Grandpa Pettit

 Gunnar trying to get Great Grandma to play with him.

 The boys napping up at Priest Lake.

 Kyle and his brother Caleb at the lake.

 Mike cooking up some chicken wings in the snow and rain. The weather was awful the entire time we were up at the Lake.

 Ryker's bed at the lake. He slept very well in here.

 

Shawn and Gunnar. Uncle Shawn took great care of his little nephew.

Gunnar and Shawn playing.

The boys loved being pushed in here.

Nana spoiling Ryker with Jell-o.