Happy 2nd Birthday to my little man Kevin! 2 years ago today I was relaxing in the hospital room, staring at your beautiful face and updating facebook with pictures of you :)
You have been such a joy, always laughing and interested in everything going on around you. You have an intense concentration that I love. I have said you are going to either be an engineer... or a hairdresser. I still marvel at how even at 2 years old you love to run your hands through your or my hair when something upsets you. I love how you scream and run to me when something hurts you, but after just a brief hug, you are right back in the fray. You are one tough cookie, but still have a sensitive side. If someone is crying, you are the first to walk up and give them a hug.
I love you Kevin, and look forward to many more years showing you this wonderful world!
Mostly pictures of Mike, Tricia, Amanda & Kevin McReynolds.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Helping out
The kids love to help in any way they can whenever Mike and I have things to do. These pics I took while they helped Mike wash the cars. Unfortunately I way over-exposed a bunch of them (apparently I need to change the ISO setting when I move from shade to sun!! duh!!), so these were the best I got.
I snapped this one just before I moved the camera out of the way of Kevin and the hose!
This is the intense concentration Kevin gives to every task he does. I love that little tongue!
Amanda washing my truck
And just this last weekend, Kevin helped clean up the yard with Mike.
I snapped this one just before I moved the camera out of the way of Kevin and the hose!
This is the intense concentration Kevin gives to every task he does. I love that little tongue!
Amanda washing my truck
And just this last weekend, Kevin helped clean up the yard with Mike.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
funny things kids do
It's kind of hard to see but that's Kevin holding a computer mouse up to his ear like a telephone. Hilarious !!
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Thursday, July 14, 2011
Frustration
Ever have one of those "I wish I did that earlier" moments? That is today. I found out yesterday and this morning that the kids' daycare moved all the kids up to new classrooms this week. All, that is, except my kids. I can kind of get where they are coming from since we are leaving this particular daycare August 1. And truthfully I appreciate the non-move for Kevin who has barely been in this classroom a few short months anyway. But Amanda? Really? She has been stuck in preschool for 18 months at this point and I have tried every which way from Sunday to get her moved up to the pre-K class, and they refused 10 times over (saying they wanted to move the whole class together and there wasn't enough room for them all). So now that I decided to leave, you move everyone up. Nice.
I REALLY wish we had been able to move earlier. But alas, Kevin can't go to the new place until he's 2 which is July 27. So we are stuck at this place for 2 more weeks.
Meanwhile every day Amanda comes home crying because she didn't get to go on the field trips with the pre-K class, and she doesn't want to go to preschool again tomorrow. It is heartbreaking when I remember the first week she was in preschool and would come home smiling and excited about all the new stuff she was learning. I know it's only 2 weeks, but for a preschooler, 2 weeks is like 2 years and her emotions always run into our time at home where she fights more with the rest of us. *sigh* God grand me the patience to get through the next 2 weeks!!!
I REALLY wish we had been able to move earlier. But alas, Kevin can't go to the new place until he's 2 which is July 27. So we are stuck at this place for 2 more weeks.
Meanwhile every day Amanda comes home crying because she didn't get to go on the field trips with the pre-K class, and she doesn't want to go to preschool again tomorrow. It is heartbreaking when I remember the first week she was in preschool and would come home smiling and excited about all the new stuff she was learning. I know it's only 2 weeks, but for a preschooler, 2 weeks is like 2 years and her emotions always run into our time at home where she fights more with the rest of us. *sigh* God grand me the patience to get through the next 2 weeks!!!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sleeping
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Pictures!
Ok, here we go. After some difficulty getting these uploaded to Flickr, I have some pics for your enjoyment!
First series here, is one night we were playing in the backyard and for some reason Kevin wanted the basketball up in the tree. So first Amanda tried to put it up there.
And when that didn't work, I had to do it.
Then, they had to try and climb up and get it!
The next pictures are Kevin in the trampoline. He likes to take some tennis balls in with him and throw them out to you. Then you have to throw them back in!
(pic with the ball on the way back in)
And here is Cali - the kitten we are babysitting. She LOVES Sophie's scratching post!
Here's Kevin trying to get her out of the little 'cabin' below
This kitten gets into everything, including my dishwasher!
And finally, here's a pic of Kevin trying on Daddy's shoes:
First series here, is one night we were playing in the backyard and for some reason Kevin wanted the basketball up in the tree. So first Amanda tried to put it up there.
And when that didn't work, I had to do it.
Then, they had to try and climb up and get it!
The next pictures are Kevin in the trampoline. He likes to take some tennis balls in with him and throw them out to you. Then you have to throw them back in!
(pic with the ball on the way back in)
And here is Cali - the kitten we are babysitting. She LOVES Sophie's scratching post!
Here's Kevin trying to get her out of the little 'cabin' below
This kitten gets into everything, including my dishwasher!
And finally, here's a pic of Kevin trying on Daddy's shoes:
Friday, June 24, 2011
Something interesting
I wish I had something totally interesting to tell you guys. Something earth shattering and oh-so-interesting. But I don't. I feel very uninspired lately. Most days I'm lucky to make it through the day before collapsing into bed, exhausted. I really don't know how people do it with more than 2 kids. I thought one was hard, but not too bad. But two kids has been one challenge after another.
Kevin is at the age where he is not quite able to get across what he wants to tell you, so he gets frustrated. And cries. And cries. Some nights I just want to throw something at the wall I get so tired of all the crying! And he is *not* into cuddles anymore. I miss my Kevin cuddles, he was definitely a cuddler when he was younger. Amanda never really grew out of the cuddles. She still wants to cuddle up to me all.the.time. Most of the time I'm happy to oblige, but some days I just don't have time!
We just went through transitioning Kevin to a "real" sippy cup. He still needs his milk warmed up, and he refused to drink milk for about 2 weeks, but I think finally he might be transitioned. He is the most stubborn kid when it comes to drinking his milk. I couldn't get him off a bottle for the longest time, and we finally just had to go cold turkey. Now comes the fun of trying to get him to take it cold...
Meanwhile, Amanda is trying to transition to no diapers at night. Wow, has this been a disaster. Everyone told me they "get" it after 2-3 nights. Not my stubborn child! We're going on a month now with about 3 nights total that she didn't wet the bed. And two nights ago, she wet it FOUR times!
We are also babysitting my best friend's kitten right now. I thought it would be fun, but really it is a lot of hard work. I forgot how much attention/play time a kitten needs. And poor Sophie does NOT like that another cat is in the house, so it is a job keeping them separated! Amanda has had some issues because being a kitten, she doesn't always know to retract her claws when playing and Amanda has gotten scratched a couple of times. Nothing to make her bleed, but Amanda is a very sensitive child and gets very upset easily. So we've had a few crying fits.
Speaking of Amanda, my little girl somehow has 2 cavities in her molars that need to be filled. She is *petrified* of the dentist so we had to get a referral to a pediatric dentist and they are going to have to put her to sleep in order to fill them. So that whole thing goes down July 6. What fun! I am really at a loss on how she got these cavities in the first place. I followed all the rules on limiting sweets, she never had a bottle in her crib, and has always brushed her teeth. Only thing(s) I can think I did wrong are that she was given juice (starting at about 18 months) and I used the "training" toothpaste too long, perhaps that doesn't clean teeth as much as fluoride toothpaste?
Anyway, that's a smidgen of what is going on at our house right now. I am still running, every other night. I'm up to 3 miles in about 38 minutes if I really push myself (with walking at the beginning & end). I have another 5k coming up in August, in which I'm hoping to do better than my previous 36 minute time.
When I get a chance I have some really cute pics of the kids playing in the backyard and the kitten we are babysitting. Until then!
Kevin is at the age where he is not quite able to get across what he wants to tell you, so he gets frustrated. And cries. And cries. Some nights I just want to throw something at the wall I get so tired of all the crying! And he is *not* into cuddles anymore. I miss my Kevin cuddles, he was definitely a cuddler when he was younger. Amanda never really grew out of the cuddles. She still wants to cuddle up to me all.the.time. Most of the time I'm happy to oblige, but some days I just don't have time!
We just went through transitioning Kevin to a "real" sippy cup. He still needs his milk warmed up, and he refused to drink milk for about 2 weeks, but I think finally he might be transitioned. He is the most stubborn kid when it comes to drinking his milk. I couldn't get him off a bottle for the longest time, and we finally just had to go cold turkey. Now comes the fun of trying to get him to take it cold...
Meanwhile, Amanda is trying to transition to no diapers at night. Wow, has this been a disaster. Everyone told me they "get" it after 2-3 nights. Not my stubborn child! We're going on a month now with about 3 nights total that she didn't wet the bed. And two nights ago, she wet it FOUR times!
We are also babysitting my best friend's kitten right now. I thought it would be fun, but really it is a lot of hard work. I forgot how much attention/play time a kitten needs. And poor Sophie does NOT like that another cat is in the house, so it is a job keeping them separated! Amanda has had some issues because being a kitten, she doesn't always know to retract her claws when playing and Amanda has gotten scratched a couple of times. Nothing to make her bleed, but Amanda is a very sensitive child and gets very upset easily. So we've had a few crying fits.
Speaking of Amanda, my little girl somehow has 2 cavities in her molars that need to be filled. She is *petrified* of the dentist so we had to get a referral to a pediatric dentist and they are going to have to put her to sleep in order to fill them. So that whole thing goes down July 6. What fun! I am really at a loss on how she got these cavities in the first place. I followed all the rules on limiting sweets, she never had a bottle in her crib, and has always brushed her teeth. Only thing(s) I can think I did wrong are that she was given juice (starting at about 18 months) and I used the "training" toothpaste too long, perhaps that doesn't clean teeth as much as fluoride toothpaste?
Anyway, that's a smidgen of what is going on at our house right now. I am still running, every other night. I'm up to 3 miles in about 38 minutes if I really push myself (with walking at the beginning & end). I have another 5k coming up in August, in which I'm hoping to do better than my previous 36 minute time.
When I get a chance I have some really cute pics of the kids playing in the backyard and the kitten we are babysitting. Until then!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Whirlwind
It's been a whirlwind of activity around here lately. Our daycare decided to raise tuition by 10% beginning July 1, so we decided to look for a new place. We are moving August 1 after Kevin turns 2.
Kevin's 2nd birthday is coming up as well. I can't believe he's already almost two years old! Time flies! He is finally starting to say more words, though he doesn't really put them into sentences yet. He is definitely a slower learner than Amanda was. But I hear that is to be expected from boys and second children.
I leave you with a cute pic I took of Amanda back in May when we had a warm day and she was splashing around in the wading pool.
Kevin's 2nd birthday is coming up as well. I can't believe he's already almost two years old! Time flies! He is finally starting to say more words, though he doesn't really put them into sentences yet. He is definitely a slower learner than Amanda was. But I hear that is to be expected from boys and second children.
I leave you with a cute pic I took of Amanda back in May when we had a warm day and she was splashing around in the wading pool.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tangerines & Ladybugs!
I purchased a new zoom lens for my camera recently, and tried it out on the kids. The first was a nice sunny day we were hanging out in the backyard eating tangerines off our tree.
This was the next day, Amanda & I tried to garden, and got disracted by a ladybug!
This was the next day, Amanda & I tried to garden, and got disracted by a ladybug!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Update of sorts
You know you haven't posted in a while when you start to type the address in the address bar and it doesn't automatically fill in because the history has already deleted it. Oh well...
I have been utterly busy with so much going on. We just finished another fundraiser at the kids' daycare. As the President of the parents group, I basically helped run it with the director and we had a less than exciting turnout. It really boggles my mind how NOT involved parents are these days. It also boggles my mind how this has been going on for 2 years at the center, and they haven't raised tuition! Instead, I get lectured about how important fundraisers are. I know that, thankyouverymuch, that is why I am helping out!!!
I also started training for a 5k on May 21. So far, so good. I am using a "Couch to 5k" app on my phone which has been awesome. I train 3 days a week for about 30 minutes. Last night was the last interval training. Starting Thursday, I have full 25 minute runs! Ack! We shall see how I do with that, because last night running just 10 minutes was hard!
We missed signing up Amanda for the next swim lessons at the Y. We missed a week due to an Easter party at Church and when we finally found out what class to sign her up for, all the classes were full. So we are going to have to skip a session and decide if we want to sign her up for the next one, which would be right in the heart of summer.
I have also been researching schools for Amanda and am utterly overwhelmed with choices. What I really need to do is visit a bunch of schools and see which one I like best, because right now it looks like I have about 2 million choices and they all look good on paper!
We are getting the house tented for termites this weekend, which has been another source of stress for me. We decided to go camping, so I have been slowly been working on getting the motorhome ready for the big trip as well as preparing the house for tenting. Fun times!
Easter was fun. Amanda participated in 4 egg hunts. One at school, then a Church party, then on Easter morning and one more at my parents' house that night. Kevin on the other hand, wasn't much interested at all. He found one and just wanted to play "ball" with it. oh well, next year! I leave you with a picture of Kevin, after he found his one egg at the Church party.
I have been utterly busy with so much going on. We just finished another fundraiser at the kids' daycare. As the President of the parents group, I basically helped run it with the director and we had a less than exciting turnout. It really boggles my mind how NOT involved parents are these days. It also boggles my mind how this has been going on for 2 years at the center, and they haven't raised tuition! Instead, I get lectured about how important fundraisers are. I know that, thankyouverymuch, that is why I am helping out!!!
I also started training for a 5k on May 21. So far, so good. I am using a "Couch to 5k" app on my phone which has been awesome. I train 3 days a week for about 30 minutes. Last night was the last interval training. Starting Thursday, I have full 25 minute runs! Ack! We shall see how I do with that, because last night running just 10 minutes was hard!
We missed signing up Amanda for the next swim lessons at the Y. We missed a week due to an Easter party at Church and when we finally found out what class to sign her up for, all the classes were full. So we are going to have to skip a session and decide if we want to sign her up for the next one, which would be right in the heart of summer.
I have also been researching schools for Amanda and am utterly overwhelmed with choices. What I really need to do is visit a bunch of schools and see which one I like best, because right now it looks like I have about 2 million choices and they all look good on paper!
We are getting the house tented for termites this weekend, which has been another source of stress for me. We decided to go camping, so I have been slowly been working on getting the motorhome ready for the big trip as well as preparing the house for tenting. Fun times!
Easter was fun. Amanda participated in 4 egg hunts. One at school, then a Church party, then on Easter morning and one more at my parents' house that night. Kevin on the other hand, wasn't much interested at all. He found one and just wanted to play "ball" with it. oh well, next year! I leave you with a picture of Kevin, after he found his one egg at the Church party.
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