Tryin' out my skillz

Last fall I talked Mike into letting me buy a fairly expensive new camera.  One of the things I used to convince him it was a good idea was that I would be able to do the kids pictures myself.  So, I decided I better at least give it a try.  

A couple weekends ago we had some BEAUTIFUL spring Minnesota weather.  So, during naptime I took Kayden outside and snapped a few photos of him, and actually, they didn't turn out too shabby!

Two Two Year Olds

Today starts my month of having two two year olds.  You know, the one month out of the year where Tyler and Tyson are the same age?  Yes, they are just eleven months apart.  It always makes me feel good to hear of other families with children REALLY close in age.  A couple weeks ago, I met a mom at Tyler's ECFE class who has children who are just nine and a half months apart.  Craziness, right?  Oh, how those stories make me feel better ;)

So, today is Tyson's second birthday.  We started the day with his doctor's appointment.  After being given a clean bill of health, I took him to daycare and headed to work.  Tonight we had Grammy over for grilled hotdogs and brats and birthday cake and ice cream.  

It's interesting how, with my current job, where I spend all day, every day with two year olds, I find myself comparing my own children to the children I work with every day.  When I compare Tyson to other kids his age (the ones I know anyway), I'm realizing that he talks more than most of them.  He talks a lot.  I am able to understand most of what he says.  Mike on the other hand, sometimes needs some translation from myself or Kayden to help him figure out what Tyson needs.  

He really is nowhere near ready to start potty training.  We are obviously in no rush, seeing as how Tyler is still wearing diapers.  We WILL get going on that potty-business.  I just often feel like I am wasting my time and energy trying to force Tyler if he just isn't ready.  Ugh, that's a whole other post.  

Tyson's interests right now include baseball, four-wheeling, going outside, swinging, eating, drinking "duce and wata", wrestling with his brothers and chewing on his blanket.  Grandma Doris has already had to sew all of the seams on the corners of his blanket because he chewed them apart.  

He is just a very goofy, happy little guy.  He is a great mix of Kayden and Tyler's personalities.  He has Kayden's calm, laid back-ness, and Tyler's energy at the same time.  We love the little guy :)

Aaaahhhh....

We had an uneventful weekend.  A rarity for our little clan.  Mike is on call this week, so we made zero real plans for the weekend since we never know whether he'll have to go to work or not.  

Friday night he did just that--he worked.  The kids and I had supper and then played for a while before watching The Land Before Time.  Mike came home just in time to help me get the kidlets to bed.  

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL outside, so the kids and Mike were outside pretty much all day.  I was in and out doing the weekend stuff--hanging laundry, chasing kids, etc.  During naptime I got Kayden dressed up and we headed outside for my first attempt at taking any of the kids' regular, yearly pictures by myself.  I must say, they turned out really cute!  

Saturday night after supper, I headed to meet some co-workers for a wedding reception for another of our co-workers.  

Today we cleaned, ran a few errands and took the boys out to lunch.  Something we haven't done in a LONG time.  Anyone who has more than one child knows how much of a challenge it can be taking them in public, let alone trying to get them to eat a meal.  They actually did really well.  They must be growing up :)  **Another bonus was that we went to LaCasita where kids eat free on Sundays, so we got by pretty cheap :)

Tonight we finished some cleaning, got the kids in bed early, I got a run in on my treadmill and got to watch my shows, and even got in some time to catch up on blogs and facebook. 
The week ahead looks fairly uneventful as well.  Tyler has school Wednesday night, and I will probably have to work Thursday night.  It sounds like next weekend will involve some serious turkey scouting before the next hunting season---turkeys! 

Easter 2012

We had one of our usual, crazy-busy holidays.  We had two Easter celebrations Saturday.  We headed to Farming to celebrate with Mike's mom's family for lunch.  Had an egg hunt there, then headed to Albany to celebrate with Mike's dad's family, which included another egg hunt.  

We decided to be REALLY brave and take all three boys to Easter Vigil Mass at 8:00 Saturday NIGHT.  Mind you, they had NO NAP.   I figured they would all sleep, and I was ALMOST right.  Tyler fell alseep on Mike after about half an hour.  It didn't take long and Kayden was laying on the pew snoozing too.  We had Tyson sit with my parents to separate the boys and hopefully make things a little easier on everybody.  I think this was the first time in his almost two years of life that Tyson didn't take a nap.  This will also be the last time he goes without a nap for a  LONG TIME.  He did ok for the first half hour or so.  Was a little chatty while he read his books, but eventually got loud and wiggly, and was not staying in the pew.  So, my dad took him out into the "gathering area".  He was out there with him for about another half hour before I decided to go relieve him.  I stayed out there for a little while and my mom came to relieve me.  Just before communion, my mom brought him back in.  I busted out a few of the snacks that I had left to get us through the little bit of Mass that was left and we all survived.  We woke the two big boys up and put their coats on and we were on the road, headed home by 10:10.  Tyson was asleep in the car by 10:12.  He was TIRED.   

This morning, Tyson woke up early.  I got him his "rink"(water), put him in our bed and he went back to sleep.  At about 8:00, Kayden was yelling for me, so I got him out of bed and took him to our bed.  At about 8:15 he remembered that the Easter bunny was supposed to come while he was sleeping.  He lasted until about 8:30, when I told him he could go downstairs and get Tyler up.  I'm pretty sure 8:30 is the latest Tyler has EVER slept.  Boy was tired!  So, now, everybody was up, and we were headed out to find those baskets.  Tyson and Tyler found theirs right away, but Kayden had to really search before he found his in the bathtub :)  

After everybody was dressed, had a few minutes to play with their new stuff, and had some cereal, we headed to my aunt and uncle's for brunch and another egg hunt.  Shortly after, we headed to Mike's parents to hang out for a while, and--yep--another egg hunt.  This evening we had supper at my parents' house and then finally headed home.  I'm guessing we're going to have a week with some VERY tired kids!  Well worth it though, to be able to spend time with family on a special holiday. 

Mother of just ONE

It was just like the old days.  Just me and ONE toddler.  We shopped, we shopped some more, we watched Auntie Mazih play basketball, we went for walks, we napped.  It was glorious.  BUT, it was not our normal.  We missed the big boys and we missed Daddy.  It was weird.  

This weekend Mike took Kayden and Tyler with him to "the pink house"(my brother's cabin).  They went up to do boy things.  Four wheeling, put siding on a bunk house, work on plumbing, walk in the woods, you know, the usual.  My mom had surgery last week and is pretty much out of commission for a while.  So, since Amazih started North Tartan practice this weekend, I volunteered to stay back from the cabin to help out and take Amazih to her practice.  

The weekend started Friday after work.  We packed up the boys and Daddy and sent them on their way.  Once they were gone Tyson and I headed to Wal-mart to do some Easter shopping.  When we got home Amazih came over and spent the night.  Saturday morning we headed out for basketball.  We left early so that we would have time to stop in Albertville at the outlet mall and have lunch before we needed to have her at practice. Her practice was from 12:45 to 3:15.  I figured this would work perfect.  This is Tyson's normal nap time, so I figured I'd bring his stroller and push him around for a while and he'd sleep through most of the practice.  Wrong-O!  He did not sleep for a second.  He sat in his stroller, climbed on the bleachers, ate snacks, drank lots of juice/water, ate some more, went for a stroller ride, did everything BUT sleep.  It was ok though.  At least he was well-behaved. 

And on the way home?  Yep, you guessed it.  He was sleeping within five minutes of getting in the car. 
I worked my mom's usual shift at the bowling alley Saturday night, so Tyson stayed home with Grammy and Papa.  Today we hung out, went for a couple walks, took a nap, helped my mom deliver some funeral flowers and then when Daddy and the big boys got home we played outside, had supper at Grammy and Papa's and then finally headed home to get ready for another busy week.