Updates!

Kyle:  Kyle has been busy...as always, but not ridiculously so as he sometimes is.  He has been maintaining his websites and working out. He has basically finished "prepping" our garden until spring.  That is his most recent major project.  He has some new arrangements for future hunting land so he's been busy with that, planning and getting deer feeders, stands, camera's and who knows what else.   But all the essentials for hunting =).  This hunting land is in southeast Oklahoma in the Washita Mountains.


Luke:  Luke is still very much into trains.  He also spends a great deal of time planning "his house".  Sometimes he will get frustrated with us and say, "I just wanna be IN CHARGE!" so one day I responded with that one day he would get to be in charge and that he would be the leader of his own household but that right now he was learning so that he would be a great leader of his home one day.  He has taken that idea and RUN with it.  Multiple times a day he talks about his house.  What he will have in it.  What it will be made out of.  What he will let Leta do.  What he will do.  It is going to be right next to ours with a slide that goes down to daddy's garden.  He will have talking dogs who can do the dishes.  And cats.  And mice. And flies.  IN THE HOUSE!  And he will not kill the flies.  And in his house, whenever Leta asks for candy, he will give it to her.  He could spend his entire day thinking about and planning his future house.  It's very real to him.  He often asks Kyle where the wood is so he can start building.  One day we saw a semi hauling lumber and he KNEW they were bringing it so he could start building his house.  He was disappointed when he got home and there was no lumber. He has taught himself to skip.  He loves hide and go seek and most recently playing "bad guys".  He loves to be a bad guy.  I'm trying not to read to much into this and am going to assume that it's all very normal.  One day he sat down and stared at the TV (which was off) and told me his was watching "bad movies".  Not sure what he thinks those are, exactly, but he sure was having fun watching them.


Leta:  She has become quite the talker and will often ask "Where Daddy at?" and "Coming?"  She also loves kitty cats and horses and asks to see "more 'neighs'" on our drives home from Body and Soul.  She loves to talk on her play cell phone to "Tyle" (Kyle).  Last week we arrived at church and she asked if Emmett would be there.  I told her I thought he would be, to which she replied.  "Tiss Emmett.  Hug Emmett"  She is also very possessive and everything is MY or MINE! And this is cause for many a heated dispute between her and Luke.  She got very upset with Luke the other day when I was holding him (very rare) and she ran up and hit him and yelled, "NO! MY MOMMY!".  She got sent to time out this morning and she hollered, "No want to!" all the way there and then sat in time out screaming and yelling "No like time OOOUUUTTT!"  It was pretty funny.  She is much more snuggly than Luke and is still very much a "momma's girl" where Luke was very definitely a daddy's boy from about 18months on.  She loves to play in her kitchen she got for Christmas and can spend a great deal of time bringing me water or milk or sometimes applesauce.  She also loves her babies (although she frequently says they pinch her and need to be put in time out) and coloring.  She colors just about every day.  She is VERY independent and many times a day we hear, "No! ME do it!"  followed by a complete melt down if she's not allowed to do it.  We're slowly learning to schedule extra time in so she can do things herself.  Luke was not this way.  He couldn't have cared less if he did something or if you did it for him.


Max: Max is now 6 months old.  He has two teeth (which he got before he was 5 months old).  He gets out of his crib at 8am.  He is the happiest, smiley-est  baby ever, although he will definitely let you know when he's had enough. He is eating solids very well, a variety of veggies for lunch and supper.  I haven't progressed to anything else yet (meat is to be next) because he's been having a bit of trouble with constipation and I'd like to get it worked out before moving on to protein.  He and Leta have a well check ups tomorrow so we'll see what the pediatrician says.  He can roll over both ways, but hasn't rolled from his back to his tummy in months.  I wish he'd learn to love this skill a little more as I'm tired of getting up to roll him back to his belly at night. He loves to watch the kids and has only recently begun to show an interest in toys.  He gets up on all fours very well and rocks back and forth and will scoot his knees forward, but doesn't have the arms figured out at all yet.  He's also sitting up pretty well, he still needs to be attended, which means he doesn't get the opportunity to sit up as much as he should since I have to sit right there with him.  I need to work on this skill with him more.


Me:  I'm back to instructing at Body and Soul 3 days/week.  I also do the dishes, fold laundry, change diapers...oh wait?  You don't want to read about all that?  Back in October I decided I wanted to start running again (mostly because at this point the kids aren't fast enough to keep up!) and decided to start training for my first 1/2 marathon.  I just run the roads near our house but recently got a pedestrian pass to Arcadia Lake (just a few miles from us) and ran 10 miles (my farthest run to date) on the trails there this past Saturday.  The half marathon I'm registered for is in Tulsa on February 26th.  I kinda wish it was earlier so I could run my first half while still being 30.  Anyway, it is a "Troad" race, half trail half road.  My planned training run this coming Saturday is a trail race at another nearby lake (45min drive).  I'm to run 12 miles.  We'll see if I survive.  I'm not racing it, just using it as a trail training run.  My official goals for my first half marathon are: 1.  Don't walk.  2. Finish.


And now...some cute pictures of our kids!

So I had a baby the other day...

Tuesday I went to the Dr. Shanbour who predicted he'd see me for my regular appointment the following Tuesday.  He informed that he'd be out of town Thursday-Saturday (I should've known then that I was going to have my baby!  Just my luck!) and again beginning August 10th (my due date).  So we decided that the next appointment we'd set up an induction date so that he'd be able to deliver me.

Wednesday after my workout at Body and Soul I did this (planking):

Thursday after the kids' naps we packed a supper and drove to Arbuckle Wilderness, an exotic animal theme park, about 1 1/2 hours from our house.  We had planned on doing this on Monday afternoon, but Luke threw up Monday right before Body and Soul so we had to rearrange our plans.  Once there, Luke and Leta got to get out of their car seats and ride in our laps and we drove through the park.  Most of the animals roam free and believe me, they know the drill.  They come right up to your car window and will stick their heads right in begging to be fed some of the feed you can buy there at the park.  Luke thought this was great, Leta mostly liked to see them from a distance.  We kept our window up when the animals were near.

The kids really enjoyed it and I'm really glad we managed to get that little outing in...as it turned out, our last as a family of four.  In the middle of the night that night (1:45am Friday morning) my water broke.  We called our good friend Shanna to come over.  Kyle packed up, helped me finish packing and getting things together etc.  I've learned a thing or two since having Luke so I was sure to grab a shower before we left for the hospital.  We arrived around 3am, wishing we'd got to bed earlier than we had =).

At 7:00am they decided that at the rate my (non) labor was progressing I might never have a baby, so they went ahead an induced me me.  I got my epidural at 10:30, and was soon feeling fine.   A little after 11:30 I sent Kyle off to have lunch knowing that it was probably now or never for him and eating.  5 minutes after he walked out the door, Max's heart rate dropped below 90 bpm.  He sure had me worried, but nothing was going to phase my veteran nurse (whom we had when I delivered Luke) and she was not worried since he was recovering nicely.  Dr. Goff (who was pinch hitting for Shanbour since he was gone) got to my room at 12:10 and Max was born at 12:30pm July 22, 2011.  He was 37 weeks 2 days along, so almost 3 weeks early.  He weighed 6lbs 8oz and was 19 1/2" long.  We noticed the nurses all clustering around Max's umbilical cord and then even measuring it.  Turns out, a normal umbilical cord is 28-30" long.  Max's was the longest that any of them had ever seen measuring in at 40".  When I take Max to the Dr. next week I hope to remember to ask him if he knows what determines cord length etc.  Max is completely healthy and doing great.  He's got a very high pitches cry and looks more like Kyle than the other two, I think.  He has less hair than Luke had, but more than Leta.

Leta's a big sister!

Big Brother!

Leta is pretty possessive of me and doesn't like it when I hold Luke (which isn't much of a problem since Luke isn't snugly with me at all.  But when he does let me hold him, she has to be held too and will hit him and try to push him off my lap.  I was VERY nervous as to how Leta would adjust.  So far, it seems I had nothing to worry about.  Leta is simply glad I had her baby for her.  She has to check on "BABY!" all the time and is very attentive when I change his diapers and will hand me a clean one to use.  She is very observant while he's eating and spends a great deal of time kissing his head.  Nothing will be able to distract this child from eating with all Leta's training!  We're doing well, but the true test will be when mom goes home and I don't have full-time, live-in help.

New Stuff!

With the upcoming arrival of Baby Max we have had some "rearranging" going on.  When we built the house the floor plan called for a separate single car and a half garage.  We debated on what to do with that space.  We didn't feel that we needed 4 car slots, so we knew we wanted to do something else with it.  Gym or guest room was the debate.  Gym won, but as it turns out, guest room should have.  So Kyle headed up the project of converting our gym (treadmill plus my dinky "girl" free weights room) to a guest room.  It's finished.  It's been finished for a while, but I was getting curtains to go in there so decided to wait to post pictures.  I'll have to post more once we get our guest room furniture moved into there.  I must say Kyle did a great job (and I didn't do half bad on the curtains myself *wink*).  He picked out/did EVERYTHING.  The only thing I did was the curtains.

 The closed door on the left is a closet.  Then there is just a cupboard with counter and the open door on the right leads to the bathroom.  

 View in the bathroom from the doorway.

Linen closet to the right and the shower.  Was very hard to get good picture of this side of the room.

 Luke's new curtains.  He's not too sure about them still.  He didn't want new curtains.  He liked the brown sheet we had draped over his window with the hole in it.

 Leta's room.  I LOVE these curtains.  I should've taken a close up so you could see the pattern better.  Maybe I'll do that someday, but not today, she's already down for the night.

Max's future room, but still set up as the guest room.  

Updates!

Playing with her learning table.

Here she is "snorting". One of her favorite activities. She has recently added making this goat sounding noise to that list.

Luke and Leta (7mo)

My, what big EYES you have! The better to see you with, my dear.

After having been mobile for 2 months, here she is officially crawling at 7 months

A very "twisty" Leta.

It's been quite a while since I've posted much of anything it seems, so here's an "updates" post on the fam.

Kyle: Got another website up and running. Just type in www dot TimeshareClassifiedAds dot com and check it out. He also has a couple potential buyers for two of his other websites, but those are far from done deals. However, a company did fly him out to Atlanta for an overnight business trip. Kyle has been busy lately. He spent a long weekend in Houston visiting Jeremy, 2 weekends at his Dad's and tomorrow is going to the lake to get one last boating trip in and get the boat and house ready for the winter. Football season has also started so Kyle is in heaven again and his "locks of the week" challenge with his friends has started back up so I am always hearing about everyone "points" etc.

Me: Nothing new going on with me really. Our new Body and Soul session is up and running and I finally have all my songs learned so no more practicing in the car (which Kyle enjoys!).

Everyone: Our family is also part of a church plant called the Church of Christ at Oakdale. We have around 21 committed families to go and start a new church in an area of the metro where there currently isn't one. There are many young families with lots of babies so Luke and Leta will have many new friends at this church. On October 10th we will begin meeting at the Oakdale Elementary school. The general plan is to meet there for around 2 years while our church building is being built. This past Sunday was the first Sunday that our new preacher, Darrel Sears preached. It's nice to feel "official". There has been lots of preparation for getting a new church up and running. My current role in that is to be on a team with 2 other women and plan out the curriculum for our 5-8th graders.

Luke: Luke is almost three and seems to me, to be very naughty these days. We are in a challenging phase with him. He has been much more difficult really since Leta was born. We did have a nice little break in there from him being so "trying". I have heard from many that they found the "3's" to be more difficult than the so called Terrible Two's. I think we are going to find that this is the case here. We are working on "whining" (a constant struggle) and "obeying the first time asked". Luke is still very much into trains, Thomas the Train and the Polar Express. He has also begun to be scared of different things. He doesn't like thunder, loud sounds, smoke detectors, when the electricity goes out, and flashing lights. He is still much too rough with Leta and we are constantly working on being gentle and careful. With that said, just recently they have begun to "play" together. Peek-a-boo is a favorite game Just this morning before naps they were in the living room laughing like loons together. One of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard. I will have to remember that moment because it was one of those where you sit back and say, Oh yes. This is TOTALLY worth it. Luke has started to call me "Mark" sometimes and thinks this is quite funny. He is VERY talkative and there is rarely a quiet moment with him.

Leta: Is still super sweet and 8 months old (this past Monday). She has become quite the little crawler, which is bitter sweet. It's fun watching her learn new things and gain new skills, but with mobility comes the need to teach her "no" and what items in the house are "do not touch". She loves cords, the artificial trees, and outlets and especially the toilet. She cries whenever I move her away from it. She has already played in toilet water once. Yesterday. She now has 3 teeth. She just got her upper left today and the upper right appears to be coming right along as well. She is quite giggly and tickle-ish. She can clap and especially enjoys to clap in her high chair while eating. Luke is the biggest thing in her world right now. While she is awake during Luke's afternoon naps she will often crawl all over the house looking for him. The first place she usually checks is "Time Out" and then she heads for the stairs, although she can't climb them yet. She gets really excited to go and get Luke out of bed in the mornings. She squeals and kicks her legs as we approach his door. Luke is always disappointed if Leta does not come to wake him up, so that is a morning chore Leta and I do together. Leta is on okay eater. She is pickier than Luke was (but he wasn't picky at all...) but not too bad. She does NOT like Israel melon and isn't a big fan of the same thing too many times in a row. She is a slow eater and NOT an eager one, so she doesn't open her mouth well and feeding her takes a long time. Sometimes an hour, which I think is a bit ridiculous, so we'll be talking to her pediatrician about that at her 9 month check up. She takes three 45 minute naps per day, but quite often the last nap is more like 20-30 minutes. She takes FOREVER to fall asleep. If she falls asleep in under 15 minutes it's of miracle proportions and here lately 30 minutes to an hour is more likely. Another topic of conversation for the doctor. Leta can also pull up on anything and everything and there is some unintentional cruising going on. Luke could cruise, but never did. He just crawled and then walked, so we'll see what she does. Her favorite toys are her learning table and a plastic ear of corn.

Crawling!

Leta is officially crawling. Gone are the days of the "frog lunge/worm" and army crawl. On to well coordinate hand-knee movement anywhere her little heart desires.

And she is pulling up. On the couch, end tables, toys, us, laundry basket....anything she can get to work for her.

In other news...Since Body and Soul is on a break so instructors can learn the new routines, I decided that this would be my best time to potty train Luke since we don't have to go anywhere. We are on day 3.

Day 1: No accidents. No #2 on the potty (in his diaper before we got him out of bed this morning)

Day 2: 3 accidents. 1 #2 on the potty! (much celebration and 6! yes 6! mini M&M's)

Day 3: 1 accident. 1 #2 in underware. 3 #2's in potty!

Day 4: Not finished yet, but so far no accidents and 1 #2 outside in the lawn. He was very proud of this, although he was not awarded any M&M's.

He will occasionally tell me he has to go to the bathroom (which is good) but I still have been trying to take him about every hour to prevent. When we get good at an hour, I will extend this time. He is still wearing a diaper to bed and to his naps.

Kyle is gone to Houston this weekend to see Jeremy and help him with a deer stand and ride 4-wheelers. Home alone with the potty training. And if you've noticed a certain facebook status of mine...you'll know Kyle already owes me.

Alright...for those of you who missed it:

Kyle: Did you feel that earthquake?

Me: When? Just now?

Kyle: Yeah, just a few seconds ago.

Me: That was me coming down the stairs.

9 days 'til B&S starts back.

Body & Soul Workshop

Once a year Body & Soul has a big training workshop in the Baltimore area. We learn all the new routines for the new programing, new moves are introduced, and there are classes. This year there were several classes: marketing, shoulder impingement, and a Pregnancy Q&A. There were also MANY workouts: Cardio (twice), strength training and pilates (twice), Boot Camp (twice), Power strength, and Dance Blast.

The workshop was 3 days. Since Leta is still nursing, little, and won't take a bottle, it was either bring her with me or stay home. I asked Kyle if he wanted to go as a family and watch both kids all day and then bring Leta to me when it was time for her to eat...however, he said it wasn't his idea of a good time (wonder why?!??!?!). So I asked my mom. She drove down to Oklahoma Tuesday and we flew out Wednesday morning. Leta was able to have her morning nap at home. She did very well on the plane (especially considering we left OKC 2 hrs late). She had one crying fit right before she slept on the plane for 30 minutes. Thursday and Friday were 12-13 hour days, so very long and tiring for all of us. Saturday was just a half day of workshop and traveling home. Leta did very well, all things considered. She was definitely ready for workshop to be over...she was done sharing me. It got to the point Saturday morning that she wouldn't let my mom feed her, so she came and got me. The only thing that worked for breakfast that worked for breakfast that morning was for me to hold her and mom to feed her. So she pretty much spent Saturday with me. I always nurse Leta before she gets her baby food, but Thursday when mom went to feed her for the first time, she wasn't sure of the order and figured that it probably didn't make any difference so she began feeding her. Leta let her know in no uncertain terms that she does NOT eat baby food first. She only took 3 30 minute naps a day, which is worse than normal (she usually does 3 45 minute naps). She woke up in the night Thursday night because she was cold and so she got to sleep with us in the big bed. Then she woke again early to eat at like 5am, so I put her down in her pack n play and she got up for the day at 6:30. Friday night she woke in the night and slept with us again until she had to eat at 5 again. Friday night we also took Leta swimming before bed and she LOVED it. Too cute.

The other good thing about workshop is the CEC points (continuing education credits). To maintain my ACE certification I need 2 CEC points every 2 years. I got 1.3 CEC's this workshop alone. You can get them other ways (through the ACE website etc) but they cost lots of money, so since I have to go to this anyway, it's good to kill two birds with one stone.

I was definitely glad to have mom come, and I think she had a good time playing with Leta every day, but I was ready to have my baby back and we both were definitely ready to get home. We are both still recovering from out long days and short nights!

It's been a while

Luke playing with his Mr. Potato Head accessories

And lots of things have been happening, and we've seen lots of people.

First, Bridget and Kaleb came to visit us. They arrived Thursday evening after Luke and Leta were in bed. Then Friday morning, Leta went to Body and Soul with me and the rest of the gang went to White Water Bay (local water park) and had big fun. Apparently Luke was not intimidated with the big water slides and was fine riding them all by himself. It wasn't until later that I found out just exactly all he'd been allowed to do. Let's just say he probably wouldn't have had quite as much fun if I had gone along. Saturday morning Dana (Kyle's dad) came and we all left for the lake. We stopped on the way at the Hard Rock Resort in Tulsa (yeah, you read that right...RESORT in Tulsa, OK) at ate and then continued on our way. We spent Saturday through Monday at the lake and everyone did quite well. We swam, tubed and skied. Dana was "showing Bridget how it's done" and threw his back out, unfortunately. But, at least it was our last evening to be there and it was after we took him out to eat for his birthday when he got a pie in the face =)

Tuesday we came home and when we arrived my parents were here. We spent the rest of the day with them and Wednesday morning before they had to head home. Luke had lots of fun playing and swinging with them and were are looking forward to a visit to them next week. (Not looking forward to the drive, however.)

Leta is busy being cute. She smiles a lot and giggles frequently. She is proving to be hungrier than Luke and so she has already been started on rice cereal. We started her the day before we went to the lake. It hasn't been going just the best so tonight I'm going to try oatmeal to see how that goes over. She has refused to establish a consistent wake up time, but I've decided her waking is due to hunger. Depending on what time she wakes I'll feed her and then put her back down, sometimes until 8:00. (Those are my favorite days!) Other times she'll sleep more towards 7:30. I have tried giving her cereal in the mornings the past two mornings as well, but this morning she wouldn't eat any. I think I'm going to have to monitor how much she nurses to get her to eat cereal, too. She is not napping well still, either. With Luke, he ALWAYS slept 45 minutes, unless he had a fever due to shots or something. She will randomly pull out 1 really long nap, and occasionally do that for a few days in a row. But it's very unpredictable. She really enjoys her tummy time and is currently very into a soft cloth block that Traver gave Luke for his first birthday. She chews and chews on it and flings it around and makes it jingle.

Luke is his normal ornery self. Yesterday I felt the need to hide from him in my bedroom for a while after a particularly whiny and fussy day. He talks up a storm and says funny things (to his biased mother, anyway). He has a lot to say about crocodiles lately. He also has started saying, "No Way Hosanna!" instead of no way Jose. Right now he's playing with his "Mater and Lightning McQeen". They are playing hide and seek. The cars I mean. "Come off the chair Mommy because to see Lighting when he is driving out. Do you see lighting now? He must be hiding! Where could he be?" Is what he is currently saying.

My spring session with Body and Soul is over and I had been looking forward to teaching a 4 week, 5 day a week 6am boot camp, but Leta's wake up time is just to inconsistent for me to commit to that. I'm bummed out. I like to have all day free in the summer. It gives me a bigger chance to do fun things with Luke etc. We'll be starting our Summer Favorites Session Monday May 28th, so I have all those routines to learn.

Off to make supper. I have 2 items left on my meal plan and neither are appealing to me. I think we might just do sandwiches tonight. I really don't feel like cooking.

'Member me?

Both of these pictures were taken yesterday. So it is the most updated you can be with out seeing Leta in person!

Yeah. It's been awhile. Since we last visited, Leta got over her ear infection and Luke got a doosey of an ear infection. It was his first one, but he did it right. He did get a rash from the antibiotic, but the rash didn't seem to bother him.

We went to the lake this past week. Kyle went Tuesday evening with Brandon and Shanna and their almost 1 yr. old Karter and Luke, Leta and I came up Wednesday morning after Body and Soul. We had a good time while we were there. Brandon skied, but Kyle stuck one foot in the water and decided it was way to cold for him. Luke did good at staying in his bed at the lake house, although I'm sure he was extra tired and that didn't hurt either. Leta also slept well while we were there. BTW she is a MUCH better car rider than Luke. Not that it would take much.

Luke is at a difficult age. He's not eating as well, his behavior is challenging, he is not gentle with Leta (although he is improving slightly), he is having a harder time going down for naps etc. He is however, still as funny as ever with the things that he says etc.

Leta can roll from tummy to back over her left shoulder or right. She's a professional at sitting in her bumbo and can sit very well in her jumperoo as well. She smiles all the time, loves it when you sing/talk to her. She also giggles quite a bit. She is a bit of a drooler. She likes to chew on her fist and her burb rag. She can reach for and grab onto toys and chew on them. She will be 4 months old on Thursday and we have her well baby check up (involving shots, unfortunately) so I'll post after that with her new updated "stats".

Updates!

Kyle: Kyle has been very busy lately. It seems I always say that about him. I think that him being busy isn't an update. We can just assume he's always busy =). I mentioned that he and Traver did not purchase a Timeshare website. Instead they plan on building their own. Currently they're working on a database of all the resorts in North America. When that is completed, then they will build the website and then continue later to finish all the resorts in the world. Last weekend Kyle went on a fishing trip with Fireman Paul (as he is known to Luke). They went to Grand Lake and fished for Spoonbills. They each caught a 45-50lb fish. Kyle brought the meat home. He got a recipe from a friend that he plans on trying out next week.

This week he has been working on fixing his sprayer that he pulls behind the lawnmower. He finally got it completely fixed and working this morning. He plans on fertilizing the lawn on Monday. It supposed to not be windy that day. Kyle had been continuing to run, but has yet again injured his old man hamstring so he thinks he's out for the season. Which is too bad, we had been hoping to all go to Kansas City and watch him run this summer, but it looks like that will no longer work.

Rachel: We have started a new Body and Soul session. I know all the songs except for one, which I don't have to have learned until Wednesday so I'm in good shape for that. We have had several people over lately, reminding me of how much I enjoy that. So that has kept me busy. I feel like we're getting into a bit of a groove now, so maybe I'll get better at continuing to have people over. I don't have anything else new going on with me. I'm the boring one in this house!

Luke: Luke will officially be 2 1/2 tomorrow!!! Time sure does fly! Luke went fishing with Kyle (I posted about that already) but here are some more pictures from that evening.

Luke is still learning, but he is doing much better at being gentle with Leta. We still have a long way to go. I can now be standing several feet away from Leta while they are in the same room for like...maybe a minute or two now! But ALWAYS within seeing distance.

Last night Luke and I went on a "Love Date". Leta and Kyle stayed home and we went to Chick-Fil-A to eat (his choice). It was cold and rainy so we didn't play in the play land but we did get to go to Target afterward!!! I let him pick out a book because it was our "special date". We had fun and I enjoyed getting to spend time with just him since there isn't much of that anymore with me needing to protect Leta from him so much.

Leta: Is now 3 months old. We went to the doctor this past Monday because she was so congested etc. just to get her checked out. She weighed (with wet diaper and clothes) 12lbs 8oz. She had fluid in her ear and I was told to watch for not wanting to suck and a temperature. Which developed yesterday. Which on the plus side, meant we got great naps out of her all day long! Unheard of! But, the poor girl felt horrible so that was no good. I emailed her Dr. and we both assume she went ahead and got her first ear infection. (Luke has never had one before) So she's breaking us in on that front. The ear infection is why she and Kyle stayed home last night.

SHhhhhed-jew-uls

So, after talking with Audra, I decided that Luke and I need a schedule for our "At home Days" Tuesdays and Thursdays. Audra does her schedule every day. Maybe I'll get a schedule for Body and Soul days, but we're starting small. Baby steps, people! So anyway, an initial conversation with Audra, a follow up phone call, searching the web, and tons of scratch paper later. Here is what I've come up with:

7:30am Leta wakes up, eats, gets dressed
8:00ish Luke up and he and I eat breakfast
8:30 Luke gets dressed (Play with any leftover time)
9:00 Chore Time with Leta (haha...this will be our play time in her room, she'll go down for her nap and Luke isn't allowed in her room with us.)
9:15 Chore Time with Luke (Tues. is upstairs chores, Thurs. downstairs)
(dusting, changing his sheets, making bed, cleaning his bathroom, sweeping under his chair, cleaning his chair, general picking up)
9:30 Mommy chore Time
9:45 Mommy and Luke structured play time (arts and crafts, letter writing, games, learning time)
10:30 Leta eats. Luke has independent play in living room. Not allowed on couch.
11:00 All play
12:00 Luke and I eat lunch
12:30 Bible time (songs, stories, activities, scripture memorization)
1:00 Luke Nap time
1:30 Leta eats
3:30 Luke awake and free play with mommy
4:30 Leta eats. Luke has alone playtime upstairs or outside
5:00 Luke helps make supper
7:00 Daddy and Luke time
7:30 Pick up toys and get ready for bed
8:00 Bedtime!

If you people have any ideas for structured play time, Bible Time etc. let me know in the comments. Except you Michael. I'm sure your comment will be a smart alec one anyway =) I'll let you all know how it goes. I'm starting maybe next Tuesday or maybe in 2 weeks. Our Body and Soul workshop is tomorrow and Saturday so after that and for the next two weeks I have 18 routines to learn...so maybe the schedule will have to wait a while.

Luke is babbling away upstairs. I'd best go get him.

Catch Up!

Kyle: Kyle has been very busy lately. He has a few really big projects going currently. He is also considering a partnership with Traver on a Timeshare website. His "no compete" clause from selling Vacation Timeshare Rentals expired and so he's now free to do so. However, this is FAR from a done deal, so who knows if it will materialize or not. He is also back into running competitively, which I think I mentioned earlier. He has run in...3? 4? meets now. There are a few upcoming that he plans on running in as well. The next one is in Overland Park, KS. I think it's next weekend. Anyway. That has been keeping him busy, too and he's really enjoying it, although there are many reasons for me telling him that he's old now =) He was plagued with injuries and issues early on, but they seem to be improving and not occurring as frequently. He just completed our gathering information for our taxes today and will take them to the accountant. We are pretty sure it will be bad news and that we'll be paying more than we anticipated. So. Anyone wanna come over for some Ramen Noodles?

Rachel: My update isn't nearly as exciting as anyone elses...so feel free to skip =). I'm still trying to get into the swing of things with two kids and get everyone on a manageable schedule. I think I'm doing pretty well myself. Current schedule (because if I don't write it, there will be nothing else for me to say!) 7:30: Wake up time for Leta 8-8:30 Wake up time for Luke 10:30 Leta's morning snack 11:30 Lunch for Luke and I 12:30 Luke's nap 1:30 Leta's early afternoon snack 3:30 Luke's nap time is over! 4:00 Leta's late afternoon snack 5:30 Supper time for the Fam! 6:30 Leta's early evening snack 8:00 Bed for Luke 8:30 Leta's bedtime snack 10:30 Leta's late night nursing. I'm also back at Body and Soul MWF. It feels so good to exercise again. And with Luke's behavior lately I NEED the stress relief! I tell ya...being pregnant and then taking 5 weeks off postpartum will get you OUT OF SHAPE!!! So I'm working on that. Leta is "pulling a Luke" and staying home with Kyle while Luke and I go to Body and Soul.

Luke: Is still adjusting to having a sister (whom he dearly loves) and learning how to treat her. He's only thrown her once, which I suppose I should consider a success. He is still more stressed out by life than he was pre Leta. One VERY nice change in him is that he is getting back to being a "Daddy's boy". This has happened within the past week. He was very much one before Leta, but after her he became very clingy to me and didn't want to have much to do with Kyle at all. However, that is changing so it makes is much easier for Kyle to help me out by distracting Luke during Leta's early evening sack. He is in a very challenging parenting phase right now and spends a good portion of his day in time out and recovering from getting "swats". He is singing lots of different songs these days. Some that we sing together and some that he learns in bible school. His current favorites are: Peter, James, and John in a Sailboat and Roll the Gospel Chariot. He also likes them to be sung, "Real Fast". He is also picking up on "grammer rules". He will often pluralize in this way, "carses, trainses, cupses etc." He is also very in to telling Kyle that he missed him when he gets back from the gym. It's so sweet to hear. Luke is very much becoming a little boy and not so much of a toddler.

Leta: Leta is 7 weeks old today. She also weighs approximately 11 lbs. and is wearing 0-3 month clothes. She has outgrown one outfit in this size range so far, but I think it was on the smaller side of things. But they are all fitting her, which probably means our 0-3 month days are numbered. So says our scale when I weighed myself first with her and then without. She smiles a lot. She is big into our crown molding and ceiling fan as Luke was. She also likes "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". She is pretty good at rolling over from tummy to back and does it pretty frequently. She is a good night sleeper. I nurse her at 8:30 and then she goes down to bed. I wake her at 10:30 to "top off her tank". She doesn't eat much and I never see her eyes during this feeding. Then she usually wakes up once in the night to eat. Her latest to wake up to date is 5:15am. Then she goes back down until I get her up to "begin her day" at 7:30. She prefers to sleep on her side and likes to be swaddled. She only has 2 blankets large enough to swaddle her in. However, she's getting so strong...or maybe I'm just not that good at swaddling that she escapes those so I had my Grandma Olson make a swaddle pod like in the pictures in the post below. I got the first one in the mail from her the other day and we have a bit of tweaking to do before it's mastered, but they are large enough for her now and she has room to grow. She can track objects with her eyes, bear her weight on her legs (she doesn't do this as much as Luke did) and lift her head pretty well during tummy time. She is also becoming much less of a "bobble head" as Kyle calls it, but you have to be ready because that huge noggin of hers will take an unexpected dive. She is also starting to get baby acne like Luke did. We can also see some new hair growth on the top of her head. We aren't 100% sure, but we think it looks like she will end up with darker hair.

I'm behind in my recipe plans. I know. Too bad. You'll just have to get over it! We had lots of meals brought to us after Leta was born so you only missed 1 or two. Anyway. Here's the current one.

Meal Plan

Chinese

Shepherd's Pie

Chili Corn bread

Crockpot Tomato Basil Chicken

Easy Chicken and Pasta

Poppyseed Chicken

French Toast

Chicken Penne Italiano

Pizza Bread

Chicken Bundles

Extra: Peanut Butter Granola Balls, Granola Bars

Chicken Bundles (we had these brought to us after Leta was born and it was SO yummy. I opted for reduced fat versions, left out 4 T of butter and added poultry seasoning and red pepper flakes)

6oz reduced fat cream cheese

1 1/2 tsp dried chives

2 T milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 pinch red pepper flakes

4 c cubed chicken, cooked

2 (80z) cans refrigerated reduced fat crescent rolls

Cook chicken in poultry seasoning and red pepper flakes. Mix cream cheese, chives, milk, salt and pepper until smooth. Stir in chicken. Unroll crescent roll dough and separate into 8 rectangles. Press portions together. Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture onto the center of each rectangle. Bring edges together and pinch to seal. Place on baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350.