Kindergarten Celebration

Kylee's first year of school wrapped up earlier this month, and I was lucky enough to be able to attend her Kindergarten Celebration. They had a music program followed by a sweet celebration in her classroom where her teacher, Mrs. Ireland, had something nice to say about each child and gave them each a small gift. I loved every minute of it, and I was so proud of Kylee. She really was a star student this year and I can't wait to see what great things are in her future.

Belated Mother's Day Post

I just love being a mom. I have two (almost three) beautiful children who bring such joy into our home. Sure, not everything is peaches and cream, but I didn't expect it to be. One thing I loved about Mother's Day this year was this sweet present from Kylee that she made in her kindergarten class. She brought it home framed and wrapped with a sweet handmade card. I know this is something I will always treasure:

Matt got me exactly what I wanted - a couple hanging flower baskets, complete with a drip line :-) They sure make the front of our house look even more beautiful. They make me smile every time I see them. I love them!

Expecting Again!!!

It's about time I wrote this blog post... that we are expecting an addition to our family! Kylee and Tyler will have a new little brother around October 5th. At least we're hoping we make it that far this time :-)

This pregnancy has been pretty different than my first... for one, I haven't had the acne issues I had with Tyler... hallelujah! But as a trade off, I started things off much sicker. I couldn't keep anything down (including water), and quickly lost 12 pounds. We tried several different medications and I had an appointment to go in and start IVs when my doctor said there was one more medication I could try... a rectal suppository. TMI probably, but this is what finally saved me. I was still sick with this medication, but at least I could keep some food down! The first day I was able to eat and didn't throw up was April 21st. I remember it well because it was Matt's birthday and we went to dinner at Famous Dave's and I was able to eat all that delicious food. Since then, I've continued to feel better and better. I still have about one sick day a week where I throw up once or twice, but that's it. I can handle that.

Now that I'm feeling better and eating, though, the heartburn has really set in! I am bummed that the bottle of Tums says to limit it to 7 a day, because there are some days when I really wish I could have more. I probably need to start paying better attention to what causes it, along with drinking more water - maybe I can stop it before it starts :-)

We are definitely looking forward to completing our little family. We've got a few things to do before he comes, like set up Tyler's new bedroom, get a double stroller, nail down a name, etc. But for the most part, we are pretty lucky that we already have a lot of boy stuff! We don't have a ton of other prep work to do so that's nice. Kylee is pretty excited and keeps talking about our family of five. Tyler doesn't really understand, I'm sure, but when I ask him where our baby is, he lifts up my shirt and pats/pokes my stomach. If this little one comes on his due date, he and Tyler will be just about 23 months apart. I'm sure it will be a handful, but I'm excited Tyler will have a little playmate on the half of the week Kylee is gone.

Here's a quick picture of my belly at 25 weeks... crazy to think that I've only gained a few pounds over where I started (I did gain back all 12 pounds I lost!), but that's a good thing since I started out heavier than I would have liked anyway. I've got the glucose test tomorrow so hoping that goes well, and I'm hopeful my blood pressure is still okay. The doctor already has me going in every two weeks to keep a closer eye on things. I've also been taking a baby asprin each day as studies have shown that can help with the severe pre-eclampsia/HELLP syndrome I had with Tyler. Fingers crossed! I guess there is only a 25% chance that will happen again. I'm just hoping I'm in that 75% window.

Kindergarten Field Day

Some of my favorite memories from elementary school are the end-of-the-year field days, so I was super excited to be able to volunteer at Kylee's first field day! I was stationed at the spoon race, so didn't get to see her participate in every station, but Matt was able to come for a little bit before going to work and took some pictures and video at a couple other stations. Kylee had a blast, with the inflatable obstacle course topping her list of favorite stations.

The spoon race was in her top three favorite activities :-)

She was a rock star and I was proud of her attitude and her skills. I sure have enjoyed my weekly volunteering in her classroom this year! What a good group of kids...

Memorial Day 2015

We were excited to have Kylee for Memorial Day weekend this year. We loved spending the extra time with her (we got to pick her up Friday after school instead of Sunday morning). We took full advantage of the weekend, starting things off Saturday morning with a crepe breakfast at my mom and dad's house. It was extra fun to be able to see Beki and Bryce and baby Ellie. We planted some flowers and did yard work that afternoon and then finished off the evening with a pizza party at our house with my family.

Unfortunately Matt had to work Sunday and Monday afternoons/evenings, so he didn't get to enjoy the rest of the weekend with us, but we still packed it in! Sunday evening, Kylee, Tyler, and I, along with Mandi and her kiddos went to Merrill Park in Eagle. We started off by checking out the Field of Honor, where flags stood to honor those who had fallen in the service of our country. It was nice to be able to remind Kylee why we have Memorial Day and to silently thank those who fought so bravely to protect us. After checking out the flags, the kids loved playing at the park, along with the hundred other people who had the same idea :-)

We spent Monday afternoon/evening with Matt's family at the zoo. Tyler missed his afternoon nap in order to join us, so it was a little rough, but we still had fun. He didn't seem to have much interest in the animals, but did think the slides, the climbing areas, and the merry-go-round were pretty cool. His favorite part of walking around was pushing the wagon (that I had specially borrowed to pull him around in!).

We ended the evening with a picnic in the park, followed by a little play time.

And one final picture - Tyler was pretty tuckered out from all our weekend adventures and totally zonked out in the car on the way home... poor kiddo!