Thursday, April 16, 2015

Three things Thursday

So... it is time to venture back to work after my second maternity leave. Monday will be my first day back. I will be working 3 day work weeks like last time (Monday/Tuesday/Thursday).
I have mixed feelings, just as I did returning after my maternity leave with Skye.

I'm trying not to get too emotional/stressed and thinking of the positives of returning to work:

1) adult time - including talking to adults, dressing like an adult (we had a LOT of pajama days at home!), wearing jewelry again and having a little me time.

2) maybe our house will stay cleaner with us having reduced home time. PLEEEEASE let our house stay cleaner. ;-P

3) and the number 1 thing I am looking forward to the most - the PAYCHECK!! Hallelujah!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

monster bash!


we did a joint birthday party this year for the kids.

It was this past Saturday, April 11, at the Canyon Meadows Community Hall - which is just 5 minutes from our house.
Even though it is a huge amount of work to drag everything to the hall and only having a bit of time to set up before hand, our house just isn't big enough to hold everyone. I think the numbers came to around 55, down from the 73 that were invited.
It was a pretty nice day, except for the horrendous wind. But that didn't stop the kids from running and running and running outside and playing on the two bouncy houses that our friends loaned us. They were a hit and definitely had the kid burning off excess energy from the treats they ate (most of them were into the cupcakes way before the pizza arrived!).
Even Rhys enjoyed the party. He spent the majority of it sitting in his high chair eating everything in sight. He was pretty full by the time cupcakes came around, so I didn't have to worry about him eating a huge amount of icing.



monster tattoos
The monster theme was fun and I got most of the ideas off of pinterest (a very dangerous place to browse), therefore causing me to go a little overboard…
Thank goodness I had a lot of help with the decorations and setup/takedown of the party.
A HUGE thank you to all that lent a hand!! I couldn't have done it all without you! We are very lucky to have such generous friends and family!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Rhys turns 1!

 Our baby is ONE year old!  I think that went faster than the first time around. More of a blur ;-)  Rhys is such a big boy already. And he is a such a boat full of trouble already! Good thing he's cute...
His absolute favorite thing to do these days (besides eating) is CLIMBING. He climbs EVERYTHING.
Thinking back, it was the same thing with Skye. But I don't think she started as early or was as determined. And maybe a wee bit less crazy than her brother.
He climbs up the couch, then tries up the back of the couch, and grabs the blinds and bangs them around. He climbs the big mechanical car that we have from Skye's birthday last year. He climbs the toy box to get onto the coffee table. He climbs the ride on toys and stands on top while holding the handles and rocks back and forth. And he climbs the step stool in our bathroom and makes a bit of a leap to get to the counter. Needless to say, he can't be left alone at all anymore. AND he's not even walking yet. Can't wait…
He is standing more and more on his own, and walking along furniture and the table as he reaches up to grab anything he can.
His most liked "toy" is the remote control (in true guy form)! And he will hold it up and point it at the TV. 

He is still about the same for vocabulary. He says "mom-mah". And a little more babbling, sometimes it sounds like "Dah" (dada?). The next closest thing is when he sees a cow in his books and I say "moo" he says "mmmmmm". He is "yelling" a lot more - usually at Skye when she takes something away from him, or at me when I don't bring him food fast enough! 
He has 8 teeth now - those last two did arrive shortly after he turned 10 months in February. And it's an ongoing process - he has been drooling for a couple weeks again and gnawing on his fingers, so I'm sure something is arriving soon. 

And he's been sleeping WAY better, thanks to finally getting around to sleep training near the end of February. Daddy bit the bullet (after much nagging from mommy), started sleeping downstairs with Rhys and did a great job with the training. It took about a week and a half till Rhys was pretty much sleeping thru the night. And about a month after that we did the nap training, but we didn't really have to work at it at all - he didn't protest much. Which was a nice surprise - as Skye was difficult.
So Rhys goes to bed at 7pm and is up at 6am every morning like an alarm clock - ugh! But I guess it's better than being up 3x during the night. I just have to learn to go to bed way earlier!
And he takes 2 naps - 9am and 1pm. Lately he will sleep for two hours, which is up from the 1 hr 15 mins it was about a week ago.

Another nice surprise - instead of the original plan of mommy sleeping downstairs, daddy decided he likes the "cooler" room in the basement and has choose to stay down there. So I get my own bed upstairs (more often than not, I have a little pint sized bug snuggling in my bed though). It sucks having to be split up, but there isn't much more we can do at this point. :-(

Rhys still eats a ton, but he has become more selective. Still LOVES his cheese! But he doesn't like fresh berries or some veggies in small chunks. Hoping its a short phase.
Oh, and he REALLY enjoyed his very first cupcake, as you can see. He knew exactly what to do with it! He is a very messy eater as well - always running his dirty hands thru his hair - yuck. 
Rhys weighs in at approximately 24.2 lbs. And is 32.25" long.
(Skye was 20.5 lbs and 30.5" @ 1 year).


Rhys is still a pretty chill little guy, as he was from day one. He's so happy most of the time, and his giggle is infectious. He is the BEST snuggler and always cuddles into you :-)
The funniest - being when I "rescue" him from his high chair and he climbs up and squeezes me tight, obviously forgiving me for putting him there in the first place.

The last year has been a challenge with having two little munchkins to juggle. Most days it was just about surviving. But I think we have found our groove and we are thriving instead of just surviving ;-)
Skye has grown to adore her brother and is loving that he can somewhat play with her now. My guilt of "ruining her life" by taking away her only child status has been alleviated by watching them cuddle each other and laugh and play.

And Dino and I are so blessed to have two healthy and happy children to love and cherish! We are thankful everyday.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY Rhysee boy!

Much love from mommy, daddy & skye-bug.  xoxo

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Easter Weekend - Zoo

We made a trip to the zoo today with Zia Jenn, Zio Maurizio and cousins Jayden and Leighton.
The kids loved the new animatronic dinosaurs!
Skye was a little wary at first, saying "don't eat me!!" to a few of them - haha. 
AND she surprised us all by knowing the name of one that we hadn't even heard of before. She started yelling it out as we got close. And sure enough, when we got up there to read it, she was right! Smarty pants ;-)


Skye & Leighton



we travel with a full load!! 

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

skye turns 3!


our beautiful, goofy girl is 3 years old.
Although these pictures make her look much too old :-(

Her energy, spirit and personality keep amazing us daily!
She is thoughtful, loving, caring and gives the best hugs and kisses. 
She is witty and smart and silly and funny. 
She can also be stubborn and a handful, but what child isn't ;-)
we can't believe she has become the wonderful little person she is in only 3 short years. 



Skye loves to dance and sing (especially Frozen songs), read books, do puzzles and crafts (mama's girl) and watch tv.

Her vocabulary is crazy!

She loves her mama, daddy and BabyRhysee. Her "whole fam-a-ly".

Her favorite movies are Cars, Planes: Fire & Rescue and Frozen (over and over and over).

Her most prized possessions are her ARplanes (airplanes), monster trucks, stickers, bandaids, balloons and of course bunny, sooey, blankey.

She isn't picky about her clothes or shoes yet (thank goodness).

She IS picky about food lately. A LOT. She used to eat everything, and quite a bit of it. Could be coincidence, but ever since she was sick with a fever a few weeks back she doesn't eat much at all. Probably just a phase…hoping. A few of her favorites are "pamcakes", waffles, toast with butter, carrots, apples & PB, cantaloupe, blueberries, marshmallows, yogurt bottles, black olives (a can at a time), pizza (with extra olives), milk, water, treats…CUPCAKES!




skye is 30lbs and 37.75" tall. she wears a size 3/4 and size 7'ish shoes.

Her sleeping is still a work in progress…and will likely always be that way.


our favorite girl is 3 years old and we are so blessed to have her!

xoxoxo