Whoa...Howaween!!!

Whoa, Halloween has already come and gone.  We have had a CRAZY busy month of October and I have not blogged in forever.  I have a million things to blog about...

our trip to California
my sister's wedding
our trip to the zoo
my fhe ideas
my kids growing up
kid's rooms finally finished!
Halloween
etc...

Let's just start with Halloween or Howaween as Kayzee likes to say:)  Other posts to come later.

Halloween morning Memphis was so excited to put his costume on.  Kayzee woke up saying WITCH WITCH!!!  She was a witch this year (so was I) but that morning when I put her costume on she started screaming and wouldn't stop till I took it off.  Sooo, Kayzee didn't wear her costume to day care but Memphis wore his costume -Green Savage- to preschool.  He got to go trick or treating around the high school and came home with a huge bag of candy.

That night our ward had a Halloween party so we all dressed up (Kayzee finally wore her costume) and  we enjoyed dinner and trick or treating.  No trunk or treating for our ward, just trick or treating around to all the rooms in the church.  Everyone kept saying we had the most polite toddlers because they would say, "Trick or treat please...thank you!"  I taught them well!  We then went home and trick or treated around our neighborhood (to all the houses that didn't go to the ward party because they were the only ones home) and then put kids to bed.  We have TOO MUCH CANDY it's ridiculous.  We have Memphis' huge bag from preschool, both of the kid's bags from trick or treating, AND all the candy that I had bought for trick or treaters but no one came to our house.

We had a fun Halloween and now every evening Memphis looks out the window, sees that it is dark and says, "Halloween!  I need to put my costume on!"
 

 Memphis took this picture of me and Kayzee, he did a good job:)

 Kazyee took this picture of me and Memphis

At the ward party with my friend Steph and her little girl Brielle

Hope you all had a fun Halloween too!

Sweet Kayzee Lynn

My sweet Kayzee Lynn

My baby girl is growing up way too fast.  She went to her 2 year well-baby-check-up yesterday and she is definitely growing.  The pediatrician did all the developmental tests and said she is basically the size and has the smarts of a 3 year old!  Just like her older brother was at that age.  He said I make big smart babies:)  She is wearing 3T clothes but for winter she is definitely going to be wearing 4T!  

She can sing her ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle all by herself.  And she can count to 12.  She LOVES BOOKS.  She will sit for hours looking at books.  She also loves her babies.  She will eat ANYTHING we put in front of her.  

Here are her stats at 2 years old:

Weight---28 lbs (73%)

Height---36 in (97%)

Compared to Memphis at 2 years old:

Weight---30 lbs

Height---35 in

Kayzee beat him in height!  She is going to be a tall little lady.  

The pediatrician looked at her umbilical hernia and said that all it is now is a cosmetic issue.  He said wait one more year and if it isn't gone by the time she is 3 then surgery should be considered because no little girl wants a "tootsie roll" for a belly button;)  That is exactly what he said and that is exactly what it looks like.  I am just hoping that it is gone so we don't have to deal with it.  

I also talked with the pediatrician about her lack of sleeping at night.  Sad news for mommy.  He said there is nothing else I can do:(  I just lucked out and have a child that likes to scream 1-4 times a night.  He said she is just so smart she knows we can hear her.  She has been sleeping better  the last few nights so here's hoping she keeps that up!

WE LOVE YOU KAYZEE!

Bi-sick-le

Bi-sick-le=Cycle of sickness and a new bicycle!  Yes, I make up words for my blog:)

Cycle of sickness:
The cycle of sickness has now gone through our family so here's hoping and praying we stay well for awhile...a LONG while:)  Kayzee was actually the only one that was sick the least.  Which is good because Memphis was sick for too long.  Danny came home sick from work one day.  And as for me?  I was sick for a week but not as bad as Memphis so I endured it until I couldn't anymore.  But that's how it goes right?  I got to go to work two days this last week.  I made it Wednesday and Thursday but was miserable and so weak I had to teach PE from a chair.  I DID NOT want to miss Friday AGAIN because they were already behind on fitness testing but Thursday night I was so miserable there was no way so I got a sub and off to the Dr. I went.

TMI if you don't want to read skip down to the Bicycle part below:)  It was definitely a stomach bug going through our house but it affected us all differently.  Memphis was throwing up for four days.  Danny and Kayzee threw up once and they were fine.  I never threw up but food was going straight through me.  I had diarrhea really bad for a week.  I could hardly eat anything but I made sure I drank LOTS of water so I didn't become dehydrated.  I was so weak from not eating and losing all my nutrients so fast.  By day 7 after getting off the scale and having lost 14 lbs in a week I knew it was time to go to the Dr.  I can't lose weight when I try but when I don't try I lose a ton!  HA!  Not fun:(

I seriously LOVE my Dr.  I always praise him on my blog but he is amazing and always cures everything so fast!  He gave me a pill that would instantly stop the diarrhea and a pill to stop my tummy from feeling gross so I could actually eat, a probiotic, and a nasty sodium drink for a little pick me up to get my nutrients back.  That did the trick.  I got home from the Dr. at 11am Fri.  The Dr. told me that all the prescriptions would knock me out so Danny came home early from work and I went straight to bed.  I didn't wake up until 11am Saturday morning!  I slept 24 hours!!!!!!  I guess I needed that.  And the pills really knocked me out so I didn't hear Kayzee at all when she woke up in the night.  Oh heaven!  And THANKS DANNY!  I only woke up twice to go to the bathroom and eat and drink a little to take more pills.  Today I feel a million times better but I am just so weak and light headed still so I am slowly eating more and walking around a little and taking naps so I can be ready to go back to work on Monday.

Bicycle!
Warning: this section has some potty talk;)

When Memphis started potty-training I found a potty-training chart online that I printed out and made to fit Memphis and what I wanted him to accomplish.  We told him if he filled up the chart with stickers he could pick out the biggest prize of his choice.  He choose a bike!  Well, he filled up the chart so off he went with Daddy today to buy his new big boy bike and helmet:)  They have had fun outside trying it out.  It is just a little bit too big but we would rather he have a bike to grow into.  He can still ride it well enough to get where he wants to go.

 Danny was getting ready to go to the store with Memphis and he put on his hat and sunglasses like he always does and Memphis said he wanted to look just like Daddy:)

 Danny told me about this funny thing Memphis said in the car on the way to the store:

Memphis: "Daddy, turn off the music, we need to talk"

Danny: (laughing) "Ok Memphis, what do we need to talk about?"

Memphis: "My bike!" And here it is...

Way to go Memphis!  I am so proud of you:)

It's been 2 years...

It's been 2 years of NO SLEEP!  But it's also been two years of giggles, sweet smiles, singing, dancing, bows, dresses, beautiful curls, hugs, kisses, and LOVE.  Our sweet Kayzee Lynn is now 2 years old!

A lot would say that they can't believe she is already two and that time has gone by so fast.  For me it has been a LONG two years because of the fact that she doesn't believe in sleeping.  Hopefully we can figure out this month why and fix the problem because I don't know if I can go without sleep very much longer.

But I LOVE my sweet baby girl and I do hate seeing her grow up so fast.  She can say a lot of words now and she can say her ABCs and count to 10.  She loves to draw, read books, and play with her baby dolls.  She also loves to pick on her older brother;)  She has the most beautiful curls and I love having a girl to dress up.  She is so sweet and so smart.  She also has an attitude and will give you a mean scowl when you make her mad HA!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY KAYZEE LYNN!!!  WE LOVE YOU:)

 Kayzee LOVES her new doll stroller and crib.  They go everywhere she goes with all her dolls.

 Kayzee also loves this new doodle travel pad.  And I love it because the marker only works when it has water in it and it only writes on the doodle pad.  BRILLIANT!!!  Perfect gift from Grandma Royer!  Now I don't have to clean off colors all over my house:)  Thanks ROYER family for all the gifts!

 See all the happy faces Kayzee has started drawing.  She always says she is happy so she likes to draw happy faces:)

I had planned TWO big parties to help her celebrate her birthday.  One with the Royer side of the family and one with my side of the family and Kayzee's friends.  Well they didn't really happen because our poor little Memphis has been really sick.  Sorry Kayzee.  Next year we will make up for it!

I felt like I was getting a bad cold last Thursday night so I got a sub for Friday so I could stay home and rest.  I actually felt fine when I woke up that Friday morning but Memphis started throwing up.  He threw up every 5 minutes for 3 hours!!!  He could not keep any fluids or medicine down.  I was getting worried but he didn't have a fever.  After the 3 hours he was able to keep fluids down but would throw up every time he ate.  Danny's family was supposed to come over and spend the night so we called them and told them to stay away because we didn't know what was going on.

Saturday he was tired all day but he was keeping food down finally so we told Danny's family they could come stay at our house for the rest of the weekend.  Saturday night Memphis threw up a few times during the night so his wonderful Grandma stayed home with him while the rest of us went to church.  THANKS so much Peggy!

We had a small little party for Kayzee that night with Danny's family.  We had cake and ice cream and opened presents.  Kayzee loves her grandparents and her aunties so it was a fun party.  Monday Danny's family left and Memphis started throwing up again:(  He couldn't eat or drink anything again without throwing up.  I have never done so much laundry in my life that I have done in the last 4 days.  We tried teaching Memphis to throw up in a bowl but he understood to throw up on a blanket or towel better so I was ok with that because I would rather just throw those in the washer rather than scrubbing carpets.

Memphis slept all night last night and I got a sub again today so fingers crossed he does not throw up any more because I really can't miss any more school because it's fitness testing time.  I am waiting to hear back from the pediatrician to see what he has to offer.  I can tell Memphis is feeling better because he is getting into trouble and he will not sit still.  I keep trying to get him to rest so he doesn't over do it but try getting a 3 year old boy to rest!  He keeps saying he is starving so we are going easy on the food.  It has been a rough 3 days seeing my little boy in so much pain.  It is no fun being sick:(

On a more exciting note in my life...I finally quit drinking soda (something I have been trying to do for far too long).  I got really sick a month ago and the doctor said the worse thing I could do was drink soda so that was the kick in the butt I needed.  I have not had soda since July 28 and I have lost 10 lbs!!!  I feel so good:)  GO ME:)

Kayzee has her two year well baby check-up on the 24th so we will see how much she has grown and hopefully we can figure out why she doesn't sleep and also see about her umbilical hernia.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

"Come on backpack, we can do this!"

School has officially started and I am back to teaching PE.  It was hard going back because I was being so productive and getting things done at home and I didn't want to be away from my sweet kids.  Such is life.  

But something excitingly new this school year...Memphis has started all day preschool.  A high school in my school district offers an all day preschool for mommy teachers and it's really cheap:)  But you have to be 3 and potty-trained so only Memphis could go this year.  Next year Kayzee will join him.  

I was worried about the potty-trained part because two weeks before it started Memphis started to regress and was having accidents again.  I guess preschool actually helped.  He has not had a single accident and his teacher says he does great at going all by himself.  They also feed him all his meals and he gets to play with new friends and get some preschool learning in with the high school girls.   He especially loves his new backpack!  It was only $5 (no way was I paying for an expensive backpack for preschool) and every school morning Memphis runs downstairs and gets his backpack ready.  On the first day of school Memphis walked into the high school with his backpack on and said, "Come on backpack, we can do this!"  I Love my Memphis:)

First day of preschool August 21, 2012

Last year was really hard for me dropping my kids off for day care each day I worked.  I really struggled with the girl I had watching them and my kids never wanted to go so it was a relief to find something different this year.

I LOVE that Memphis is getting preschool and playtime and I love my friend who is watching Kayzee this year.

My friend Michelle is a friend I grew up with through high school and seminary and she actually moved by my house last year.  It has been fun to catch up with her.  We work-out together and she also mentioned that she wanted to work from home so I asked if she wanted to watch Kayzee for the school year.  It has worked out perfectly.  She has two boys in school (one in 1st grade and one in 2nd grade so they are gone all day) and she just had another little baby boy.  Another friend who is also the music teacher at my school needed a babysitter for her little girl so I mentioned my friend that Kayzee goes to and now Kayzee has a friend to play with.  Kayzee actually likes going to "Shell's" house to play with her friend and I love that both my kids are actually happy going.

I Love my Kayzee:) 

We had a fun short visit from my dad this weekend.  He was passing through Utah on his way back from a cross-country motorcycle trip with his friend up to eastern Canada.  I definitely heard when my dad arrived:)  Memphis and Kayzee were really shy at first because they haven't seen their Grandpa Thorpe in so long but once my dad started playing with them and reading books with them they were happy to play with their grandpa.  Here they are playing on his motorcycle.  Memphis still talks about "Grandpa's LOUD motorcycle"!  We also enjoyed a yummy dinner at Porter's Place.  Sorry they were all out of Buffalo steaks Dad:( but yummy scones!!!!!  Thanks for visiting us Grandpa:)

No more ducks!

I got so sick of my guest/kid's bathroom being ducks that I redecorated and I love it!  I took a stab at trying a colored theme; how did I do?  I thought about painting it but after the painting experience I will tell you more about below...let's just say I will probably never paint our bathrooms.

Here is a picture of what it used to look like...

 And here it is now...

 Yes, my shower curtain is wrinkled.  I don't iron so don't judge;)

We have had a very busy couple of weeks with lots of driving.  One Saturday we drove up to Logan for my cousin's wedding in the afternoon.  Then we drove back down to Pleasant Grove (with my brother Chris who came to visit) for Danny's work party in the evening at a water park.  Memphis LOVED the water slides and he surprised me by swimming underwater.  

Then that night really late (more like 3:30am) I drove to Salt Lake City to pick up my sister from the train station.  Then that same day, Sunday, my sister and I drove back up to SLC to go see WICKED!  LOVED IT!!!!!!!  Want to go again just wish it wasn't so much money.  Luckily that was all the driving we were going to do till the next Saturday when we drove back up to Logan Canyon for a family reunion.  My mom and brother had driven from Washington but my mom stayed in Logan for a few days after the wedding so she joined us at my house on Monday.  My sister Alicia had ridden the train in from California.  They all came to visit and to help me paint some rooms in my house.

Here is my brother reading a book to my kids.  They loved Uncle Chrissy!    

When we moved in this house Kayzee's room was purple and I got sick of that too so I decided to paint her room white and paint a stripe design to match her color theme.  I thought with my sister, mom, and brother we could get tons of painting done.  HA!  Painting is a chore.  Especially when you are trying to cover a color.  I wanted to paint Kayzee's room, Memphis's room, the master bedroom, the guest/kid's bathroom, and a part of my kitchen that includes the pantry.  Ya, that didn't happen.  After a coat of primer and two coats of white, the purple room could still use another coat but I am just spot painting now since my family is gone.  We also got two coats of paint done in Memphis's room which a bright blue color was starting to show through the one coat of white paint that was there when we moved in.  Nothing else in my house got painted but that's ok.  There's always next summer right?

No more purple!  My sister Alicia...

 My brother Chris.  So lucky to have him since he is 6 ft 8 in tall we didn't need ladders!

 Me

Call me crazy but in all this mess I also decided to switch my kid's rooms.  Now that they were both white it didn't really matter except for my grandma's huge brown dresser that was in Kayzee's room.  I don't know how we got it up there but there was no way it was moving and Kayzee's room colors are going to be white, black, and pink so a brown dresser just bugged me and Memphis's room colors are white, brown, and blue so there you have it.  Danny just shook his head at me the entire process.  My mom was really nice and watched my kids and made all the meals so the rest of us could paint.  Oh, and I have to mention that the baseboards and the doors in their rooms were not as white as the paint we had bought so I ended up painting those too.  This turned out to be a bigger project then I wanted but oh well.  I will love it in the end.  Now I just have to paint the stripe design...

And this also turned out to be a perfect time to get rid of the crib and move Kayzee to a real bed since the crib didn't fit through the door.  Right now her crib mattress is on the floor until we get her twin bed (who knows when that will be) but she is doing great so far.  She falls asleep great but it's the staying asleep that has always been a problem since she was born that is still a problem.  

My sister was the one that took most of the pictures so I still need to get those from her so I have more pictures to show from our fun week.

BIG Thanks to my mom, brother Chris, and sister Sheesha! Thanks for all your help.

We also got to have Danny's sister Emily stay with us for a few days.  I had never really sat down and talked to her before so it was really nice to get to know her better.  She is an amazing girl and she was so nice and helpful while she was here.  THANKS Emily!

Now I am cleaning up from the painting adventure and getting ready to start school next Thursday....AHHHHHHH!!!!  Goodbye Summer Vacation:(