Kellan's 2!!

Ok, so you might notice in thie next few entries the lack of pictures of Kellan. That's because he HATES getting his picture taken. He runs as fast as his little feet can take him. Im also to blame in that I usually get so caught up in life, I suck at taking pictures when I really want to! For example, Kellan's 2nd Birthday. 4, count then FOUR pictures were taken the whole day of the party. Pathetic, I know. I didn't even get a good 2 year picture of him. Sighhh...sad story. But, here's what I did get. We had a Dr. Seuss Party! I had scoured the internet for the proper theme for him and lots and lots of ideas and came up with SO many that I wanted to do. Of course, my eye was much bigger than my stress tolerance. I edited and dropped the elaborate games and crafts I had, adorable favors, and most of the decor. We went for the easy jumphouse and good food kind of party instead. However, I did have a menu that included: HAM and cheese sliders and GREEN deviled eggs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut with FISH cookie cutters, and a lot of totally unrelated to the theme food lol. All in all, it was an awesome day. Kellan loved having all his cousins and friends there. MY amazing sister, Minnarie, painted this banner for the theme. She spent so much time on it and always comes to my rescue when I get stressed out.

the yummy lemon-raspberry cake

red velvet cupcakes with the most delicious cream cheese frosting known to mankind

and Finally my sweet boy, My big 2 year old!

TBALL!

If you've been following the blog for a while or know anything about Kade, you know that he's had a long time love and obsession with baseball. He has been waiting to be in Tball since he was 18 months old, talking about it nonstop. I kept telling him,"When you're 4, you can do Tball." It seemed so far away and then all of a sudden, it just crept up on me. He was 4...and I was late on Tball sign-ups. I was a nervous wreck for about a week, calling everyone from the tball agent to the different coaches at the fields practicing to finally the commision of Little League for our region. I couldn't have him watching practice at our nearby park and asking me why he wasn't in tabll every day, could I?! So, he got on a team finally and he loved it. It was a bit of a challange as 4 year olds really love to fight and dog pile each other when the ball comes near them, but he had a really good season:) Here are some pictures!

Insanity!

Life is insane. Sometime a blog just becomes the last thing on your to do list! I am going to attempt to catch up over the next few days and then try to update as ften as humanly possible:)

Just some cute pictures to share that I took back in February. The boys, they love their daddy and on this particular morning, refused to share him. Kellan kept crying and saying,"MY turn!!!" lol, I love them to pieces and can't believe it's taken me this long to post them!!

Kade's 4 Year Pictures

Well, picture. I took a bunch of them, but I was only trying to get one good one to send out with his invites, since I was pressed for time and late on sending them out. So, we went that morning, got his hair cut, went to the park for 15 minutes and went home to send them out. I know, I need to learn not to procrastinate!
Here's the one that made the cut:


But, here were a couple of the outtakes that made me laugh and realize the reasons I love Kade. Possibly because he's the biggest goofball with the craziest, silliest, sweetest smile you've ever seen:)



And he has a creative mind, insisting I take a picture of him in the "slide circle."


And mostly, because he makes faces like this when he's genuinely trying to take a "nice picture."


And because he's the best big brother to this little guy(I had to include it somewhere it in:)


So, yeah...that's right. I have a 4 year old. Go ahead and cry. I did:)

Kellan Seymour, 20 Months

Kellan Seymour. Oh my. This boy is such a sweet little man. He is so much like Kade and SO very different at the same time. Kade was all over the place. Kellan is very much one track. He watches people and loves to imitate everything his brother does. He never just walks, ALWAYS runs. He is Grandpa's little buddy. He is my little cuddle bug, something Kade NEVER did. Kade would give me cuddles and go about his business. Kellan checks in with me and gives me a few minutes worth of cuddles then runs away and always comes back for more love. I love it. He is unbelievably smily and cheerful BUT also very stubborn and shy. His smile is one that lights the room. I find myself oohing and ahhing over his every feature, from his beautiful hazel eyes to his silly little smile to his fuzzy little head to his big round belly. Even as I type this, I feel that sting of tears, that sentiment because he is such perfection. He is the perfect addition to our family. He sleeps the same as he has since he was 4 weeks old. From 8:30-7:00 every single night. His voice is deep like his brother's and he is beginning to talk in 2-3 word combinations. He says a few new words each day, so at this point it's almost impossible to keep a log of them!! Funny characteristic: when he's focused on something like watching TV or his brother, he gets this sweet expression on his face and raises his shoulders and kind of tilts his head. It's ridiculously precious. There really isn't enough time before I pass out for me to go into any more detail about this little man:)

Some of these pictures I've already posted, but as I said, this kid never holds still so pictures of him are so rare!

A couple pictures from the last post with our family pictures.




I took these pictures one day while he was eating a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast. He thought it was so funny that I was laughing at him:)



I'll post more of these pictures in a different post, but this is a picture of the boys playing with a kitchen that Kellan for got Christmas. He is SO obsessed with my pots and pans and utensils, I HAD to do something!!


This is one of the pictures I took for a review for In The Know Mom on Soopsori Ecowooden Toys. Probably one of my favorite reviews yet.


I love my sweet boy so much and cannot believe that he is so close to being a 2 year old. I am the luckiest mama alive!

So Happy Togetherrrrrrr

Kade had a project for school where he had to have a family picture, and I shamefully realized we didn't have a decent one since Kellan was...8 months old?? haha, yeah. So, I brought my best friend with me to a nearby park and had her snap the family photos and the ones of Duane and I and I took all the ones of the boys. I love them so much and am so glad that I finally broke down and did them!!

Kade Liam, the happy boy

I did manage to find lots of happiness in the crazy that has been the last few months. Kade is such a funny, crazy, smart and challanging boy. I love these pictures because they really radiate Kade and his spirit.

I knit this hat for Kade. It's not my best work, but I love the chunky knit and how adorable he looks:)

October/November

I know, I said somthing along the lines of not keeping you hanging for that long anymore and I'm here to tell you that I failed.

The last few month have been uneventful in activities we've done or places we've gone. We've pretty much been home bodies. Well, this kids and I have, Duane is still slaving away at school. This last quarter has been brutal, he does 4 days a week, 12 hours a day, 16 units. He's been staying in Stockton at his Dad's house to save on gas, so for those 4 days I am by myself with the kids.

We had a long long 8 week break in receiving disability from Oct 30th-Dec 23rd. Longest 2 months of my life. The doctor didn't send in a re-evaluation after detirmining Duane needed a 4th surgery, and then it took forever for them to fax in the new one, so it was just a long and frustrating process. This is why I didn't blog. The place that I was in emotionally wasn't one to share with everyone. Not that I was outwardly depressed, because I am always happy for my kids, but I just had nothing to report! haha, so that's been the last couple months. Sitting, waiting, wishing. I tried to get a job and went for training and everything was just not working out to allow me to get there. It became apparent to us all that working was not the right thing for the kids and my dad. I belong at home taking care of them, so that's where I've been. To top it off, Duane's car broke down and he's had mine, so Dad and I have been sharing his car. Hence the homebodiness:)

If this is a depressing post, I don't mean it to be. I really am happy that things are falling back into place for us and becoming more normal. I am just so incredibly thankful for all that I do have in my life. Through this all, I have been able to keep my eye on the silver lining and focus on my kids and their happiness.

Sighh, glad that ones done:)

Color the Skies 3

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that last year and the year before we do something called Color the Skies. It's an event benefiting Children's Hospitals. They lift off a whole bunch of hot air balloons and have vendors and jumphouses and Kade's favorite, a firetruck, helicopter, and ambulance. This year was the first year that the balloons actually were able to go up because of the wind. My best friend since kindergarden, Breanne, and her boyfriend came with us. It's been so fun to be able to spend time with her since she graduated from California College of the Arts in SF. I love love love her and so do my kids:)

It was a super fun day and with 4 kids, we were happy to go home and rest for a little bit:)