Let's Talk Cuteness

I can not get over how adorable my kids are! I know I'm a little biased being their mom and all, but seriously, who could deny it!?! I love how much my boys' personalities grow with every passing day. They seem to get more and more fun as the time passes.
When I look at Andrew I can't believe he is only 2 1/2! He looks like he's 3-4 and acts like he's about 16. He always wants to drive, gets mad when you don't let him, and lately every morning the first thing he says to me is "Hey mom, Ashyton is my girlfriend." (Ashyton is my bro-in-law's gf) It's hilarious. He loves playing with his dad, LOVES it, he gets mad/really sad (cries mostly) whenever Jon has to go to work, and asks Jon if he can go and says he will help. He is my very grown-up boy. I watch my niece daily (& she is 3 months older than KB) and Drew will come in and tell me what "the Kids" (as he refers to them) are doing. I love how grown-up he seems to think he is and am grateful "the kids" have someone as great as him to look up too.
And we can't forget about KB! He has hit a huge Milestone...He is WALKING (will post more about this later). Now he can keep up with his niece and brother (well almost, he's still a little slower than them). He has such a laid back, calm personality. He can play by himself for hours and be completely content. He has finally "cut" his two front teeth, although they aren't quite in completely. He is really curious and loves to get into our cupboards. He loves climbing and standing in our window sills. I know I am going to be in a lot of trouble soon with two very active boys on my hands, but I have to admit it, I can't wait.
I told you they were cute! :) (seriously, who can deny spikey hair)

"Surgery"

As most of you all know, Kenneth has had a blocked tear duct since birth, and no matter how many hot wash cloths or rubbing he endured, it decided to stay blocked. So at his nine-month appt, we decided surgery would be the option to fix it. We went to two opthamologists and it was agreed he would had a small "surgical" procedure done to insert a probe (tiny tube) into his left eye which would allow extra fluid to drain down his nasolacrimal duct. I was told the procedure takes about 15 minutes, and that it was really easy. So his surgery (I use the term surgery lightly, because how can a 15 minute procedure where they don't even "cut" anything, be called surgery) was scheduled for Wednesday, September 7th. I woke KB up that morning and we got all prepped and ready to go, he was a trooper. We may've done a little photoshoot while waiting for his turn and the doctor to show up. Here he is all ready to go.

Checked in and waiting for surgery

The above pic just makes me smile

All dressed in his own special surgery gown

Happy Boy, Dressed and ready to go

Kenneth did amazing after surgery! He cried (like they said he would) after the anesthesia wore off, but was totally fine as soon as we got home. He's such a little trooper!
I didn't realize we would be able to see the probe, but apparently we were, it's right "there" in the corner of his left eye.

The aftermath - a little teary, bloody nose, and a purple dot on the left side of his forehead (this was to ensure the doctors knew they were inserting the probe in the correct eye)

So, we were told on Wednesday, September 14th by his opthamologist that the probe would be in for 3 months and was scheduled to be taken out on December 14th, however apparently our little man had other plans for us.....
Last night after putting the kids to bed, KB woke up crying at about 9:30pm, Jon went in to check on him and decided he must've been cold and put his blankets back on him. He fell back asleep, but about 15 minutes later, he woke up crying again. At this point, I just told Jon to bring him to me and I would hold him. As Jon walks into our room he says "I think Kenneth pulled his probe out...." Huh, wait, what? We turn on the lights and sure enough, our sweet son had rubbed his eye hard enough that he had pulled part of the probe out...oh my gosh! Neither Jon or I know what to do, Kenneth is screaming and I am freaking out a little.

Fast forward...a couple emergency doctor phone calls later, we are told we need to cut it and pull it out...I.w.a.s. s.h.a.k.i.n.g...the doctor wanted us to do what?
Restain a crying infant, stick some sort of cutting utensil to his eye, cut a tiny tube, and yank it out of his eye..."oh yeah this happens (says the doctor), it's not a big deal."
So carefully, I hold Kenneth still and we use tweezers to pull the probe out more (who would feel comfortable sticking something sharp that close someone's eye), just enough for Jon to be able to clip the tube and with one clean swipe, he yanks it out. After a quick cry, Kenneth is back to his happy self and ready to play.

Below is what was in his eye

The probe after Jon yanked it out of KB's eye (notice the knot, we didn't pull at the knot, that was in his eye, we didn't know there was a knot until after we pulled it out)

And now after nearly a $1,700.00 surgical procedure, here's to hoping his eye magically corrected itself in 8 days instead of the full 90......(only time will tell)

Almost a Year

I can't believe Kenneth will be a year in just over 2 weeks. My little boy, sure isn't so little anymore. Kenneth has been such a blessing in our home, we sure love him. He is crawling everywhere, he especially loves the stairs and has recently figured out how to crawl down them too, so proud. He loves to eat mostly anything, but it is still a challenge with only 2 bottom teeth, I keep waiting for the rest to show up...anyday now (at least that's what I tell myself - by Drew's 1st bday he had 13 teeth, so it's a big difference). He takes 2 naps a day, one around 11:30am, and the other at about 3:30pm. He loves to play with his brother, these two have great times together. He likes Little People toys - he could play with them all day long. Will stand by himself only if distracted, he doesn't trust himself yet, but if you give him a toy while standing he will stand for about 10-30 seconds until he realizes no one is holding onto him and so he will slowly sit back down. Looks like he will just turn away from the sofa and walk, but doesn't....yet. Is super smiley all the time, and a very calm little guy. Basically, he's awesome and I love him! Here are a couple photos to help get you updated on his super-cuteness.

Water Boy

Drew is my little water boy! This kid LOVES it! If he could he would spend all day outside spraying my car, watering the lawn, "cleaning" rocks, and on occassion get mom and dad all wet! Whenever we take him outside, he heads straight for the water spout turns it on and away he goes. On this particular day, apparently it was more fun to clean the inside of his boots than just spray the water.

Making sure he has a tight fit

Fill 'er Up When that's not fun anymore find a nice dirty rock and try to "clean" it (this happens to be one of his favorite things to do in water)

When that's not fun anymore, just throw the rock

Dentist

Andrew had his very first dentist appt on July 17th, and I have to tell you, he did A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I was shocked (and so was the hygenist). The Hygenist was great, she showed Drew all the tools she would be using, which was a big help to ease some anxiety, being able to understand that the tools she used made noise, but that they didn't hurt. She even let Drew squirt water in a cup and then suck it back up - that was of course his favorite part. With Drew sitting in my lap, we leaned him back and Dr. Kammack was able to get a full evaluation and all his teeth are looking fantastic. He also let the hygenist clean his teeth - without the toothpaste for reason 1. It tastes disgusting and 2. Drew doesn't understand how to wait and spit, he just swallows whatever is in his mouth, and we didn't want him ingesting that much flouride. I must say though, all in all it was a huge success!

Getting to squirt water into the cup

Letting the hygenist clean his teeth

Rinse and Spit

Photo Enslaught

We have been really busy lately, but here are photos of our growing boys

A smiling baby boy to get you started off
We have the opportunity to attend my best friend Kasey's wedding September 25th in Stevenson, WA (absolutely beautiful), and this is Andrew strutting his stuff!

This is what Andrew did when we woke him up to go somewhere...he got strapped in his car seat and put the blanket over his head so he could go back to sleep.

NOT WHAT I WANTED TO FIND IN MY SON'S ROOM RIGHT BEHIND HIS DOOR......this picture is not zoomed in...the spider was really THAT BIG!!!

HE WAS HUGE!!!!!! (I freaked out, thankfully Jon was home and killed it, and no worries, we called the exterminator and now we have no more spiders)!!

This was sooo funny, I went out and got the mail and I sat down on the couch to look for the deals, and Andrew came up grabbed the grocery newspaper, went and sat down in this chair and read it. This kid is hilarious!!!

Another funny day. To understand why this is funny. (our bedroom door has a door that connects our room to the kids' room (so I don't have to walk around the house to get into his room) and we don't have doorknobs on our doors yet, so to keep andrew in his room when he is taking a nap we wedge an extra piece of base into the bottom of the door). So to explain the picture, I put Andrew down for a nap and "pinned" the door closed so he couldn't get out. I heard him climb out of his crib and start playing with his toys. I thought, it's okay he's in his room and he's not crying, so I was okay with it. Then I didn't hear him at all, so I figured I would go check on him. Being as quite as I could I unwedged the door in my room, and as I opened it, I saw Andrew SOUND ASLEEP inbetween both doors, with the blankets over his face. It was soo funny, and hey he was asleep so I just let him stay there until he woke up from his nap.

This is what I first saw when I opened my bedroom door.

A clearer picture of what he looked like (he was still asleep when I took all these pictures)

Kenneth sleeping...he does a lot of this

Chilling in his bassinet

I pretty much have the cutest boys EVER! And yes they are in matching Sunday outfits, I didn't do it on purpose. I found Kenneth's first and loved it and after looking at all my options for ones in Andrew's size I found the same one (not realizing it was the same one I picked out for Drew). It just goes to show I know what I like!

I don't know why, but I LOVE this picture! He's so stinking cute.

Andrew giving his brother some lovin'.

He has really beautiful blue eyes

In the Zone.

So that's it, photo update of our boys!

Prayers

Last night before putting our son Andrew to bed, we said our family prayers, and Jon decided we would let Andrew actually say them (for the first time) and I would lead him in the prayer. So we start out great, Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the day, thank you for our family (and so on) and Andrew was doing GREAT, he was repeating everything I said until it came to the end. I started closing the prayer by saying Name and before I could keep going my son pops in and says DREW!!! Trying to hold back my laughter I started again, in (andrew copies, in) the (copies again, the) and then I say NAME and without hesitation Andrew again says DREW!!! By this time both my husband and I can hardly control our laughter as we finish the prayer with Jesus Christ Amen...

Kids say the darndest things, and I am grateful for my sweet son who knows his name is DREW!!!!! :)