Face Book Contest

Hi blog readers!

I entered Bruce into a photo contest and need your votes so we can win a free Holiday mini photo session! (We all know I need more pictures of my kids ;))

Please follow this link: Bruce #19 and "like" the Ty Bebe photography page so you can then "like" Bruce's photo. Make sure you "like" his photo and not just the mini contest album or it won't count as a vote for Bruce.

Let me know if you are confused and thanks in advanced!

xo - Melissa

My Babies

Here they are, playing together nicely ;) Bruce loves his little sister and even though we will never leave them alone together (not yet, anyway) he has proven to us that he can be in her space without putting his hands on her. He's very sweet with her now.

Bruce turned 16 months last week and celebrated with his first ear infection. We put him on antibiotics and towards the end I noticed a rash starting to develop on the inside of his legs. We went back to the doctor and Bruce is allergic to Amoxicillin. This was the first time we ever had to put him on antibiotics hopefully we do not have to do it often. Bruce, Rhyan and myself are now fighting a brutal cold that hopefully ends soon. The kids are handling it better than mommy, I think my immune system is down from lack of sleep and exercise so this cold is kicking my butt.

I went to CVS to get a few things for my cold and they had Halloween stuff out, I bought Bruce his trick or treat bucket and the next morning he asked for it and has been playing with it every since. I try and have practice runs with him, he knows how to say "teet" for "treat" and then I throw a beanie baby in his bucket. I hope he will do it when we really go trick or treating.

He has added "kitty," "keys," "d for down" and "out" to his vocabulary. He is constantly telling stories, and chattering away. He is hardly ever quiet and when he is it's because he's doing something he's not suppose to or pooping. Whenever he's hungry (which is always) he comes to me and signs the word "more" and then waits for me to follow him to the kitchen. And then I have to guess on which item he wants more of. This can be quite the game. He gets frustrated after awhile, if I don't guess right. But sometimes it's odd things like, the salt shaker or BBQ sauce. All I can say, is this kid is funny. Bruce loves to go outside and go for walks, or help dad take out the trash and get the mail. He is currently obsessed with my candles and constantly takes them out of my room and arranges them in his room on top of his night stand, or whatever that thing is called. He puts them from smallest to tallest in one single row and then carries them back to my room and then stacks them on the shelf again, he does this over and over and over again. If I see the candles in his room I take them out and the first thing he does is take them back. I hope this isn't his first sign of hoarding.

Rhyan is more alert and loves to look around. Her head is all over the place. She smiles now and coos. She is such a peaceful baby. She doesn't really cry. When she's hungry, she just lets out a few snorts and that's how she lets me know she's hungry. Night time has become more peaceful as well. I had to re-read some of my favorite books that helped me with Bruce and freshen up on my techniques. During the day Rhyan is around noise all of the time but at night it is quiet and hard for her to settle down. Kiel added an app called baby sounds to my phone and we play the hair dryer noise next to her ear all night. That has helped alot! I also make her stay awake more during the day, at least an hour from the time she wakes up. This includes a feeding, burping and some play time. She yawns twice and I wrap her up and put her back to bed. She falls asleep on her own, which is really nice. I make her nap when Bruce naps so I get a break to do stuff around the house and take a shower.

I have a new calling for church. I am second counselor in primary. Last Sunday was the first Sunday we went the full 3 hours since Bruce was born. We have a tough 3 hour block that interferes with nap time. Bruce was excellent in primary, he even sat down next to a few kids while they were singing songs. Sacrament meeting; however, was awful. Kiel ended up driving around the parking lot so Bruce could nap. Needless to say, church will be really hard when Kiel starts his old work schedule again.

Here are a few interesting facts: In one month we go through 900 wipes, 536 diapers and 3 gallons of milk ;) Bruce only uses 186 diapers out of that 500! Rhyan is a pooping machine! I couldn't imagine our diaper bill if we had more than two kids in diapers.

A different perspective...

Since today was maybe the worst days of the year and definitely the month I've changed my outlook on a few things...

Disclaimer: These are meant to be funny and not taken seriously in the slightest

1. An oversized BYU t-shirt and pink polk-a-dot pajama bottoms, is a perfectly suitable outfit to go grocery shopping.

2. Showering only on the weekends does not equate to bad hygiene

3. Polygamy...uh, yeah. Minus the husband sharing part, I get what those ladies are talking about. I could totally live on a huge farm with all of my sister wives, where if I needed just a tiny break to tinkle, I could drop my kids next door to Aunt Brittany's house, or Aunt Brigitte, or Aunt Shelley or Auntie Fran. What do you say ladies? Shall we go look for one giant piece of land and start building? I say we build in a giant square so all of our backdoors open up to one huge back yard. Stipulation: Must have own husband, and own income. Yeah, I've been thinking about this too much.

I've already said too much...goodnight

a much needed dose of Bruceness

I smile for pictures now...

I'm addicted to all types of medication, tylenol, advil, emococillan...I love them all and constantly sign more when I see a bottle of the good stuff...My sister Rhyan is super cute, I give her kisses now and love her lots...isn't her church outfit cute?
And this is a video of me telling you what I did yesterday and some other stuff!

Happy 28!

Well, it's that time again that I make a list of 28 amazing things about Kiel. But I really can't think right now, so I'll just say one: The mostest amazing thing about Kiel...He manages to get a good night sleep despite the fact we have a newborn in the house that doesn't sleep. (If only he could teach me this trick I would be willing to write more amazing stuff about him.)

The birthday boy got a gun, remember? And Bruce got him an ipad, that kid is awesome right? Rhyan got him a big fat fully loaded diaper. Yesterday we went out for sushi and enjoyed a lovely dinner coupled with two unhappy children. The food was delish, I guess that's all that matters. Bruce loved his terriaki (sp?) chicken and pot stickers.

But in all seriousness, Kiel is an amazing father and husband. Two children is not an easy pie to slice (is that a phrase? NO, well I just made it one because I don't fry fish but I slice pie, so there. But in reality I hate pie, worse dessert ever. Oh my we are way off topic here.) Ahem, The Husband is grand and together we are raising to beautiful children tag team style, so far its worked.

Happy Birthday my love, I can't wait until you turn 30!

Mariah's party

Mariah's birthday party was today and I think all of the kiddo's had fun. Bruce did his usual and walked the perimeter of the park over and over and over again. Shelley feel free to steal whatever you want below, thanks for having us out!

Lightening the Load

Things have been crazy lately. Those days of browsing the internet while Bruce is playing with his toys are over. He seriously gets mad if he sees me on the computer and I don't blame him. The problem is any downtime I have I use it to sleep. So a few things needed to go and the first thing is my job. My boss is giving me more time to acclimate and hopefully I'll be able to pick it up again in a month. It really is a nice gig and we all need extra moola (who doesn't? I need a brand new wardrobe.) The second was Montana, Frances is keeping him at her house for a little while. He just wasn't getting the attention that he deserves and he is getting the royal treatment at Fran's house, lucky dog. I miss the safety net I felt when Montana was around, especially when Kiel worked nights but I do have to say it has been a relief not having to worry about him.

A couple weeks ago Bruce was head butting everything. And in the above picture his bruises are from head butting the concrete. His Dr. told me he won't head butt anything too hard that will cause brain damage, so ummm, I guess I shouldn't worry? She also told me this is how Bruce is adjusting to his new environment and it's normal. (Really!?! how is this normal?) But fortunately things have already improved. Bruce is much gentler with Rhyan, he sees us burping her a lot so he mimics us and pats her back and sometimes smacks her head (we're working on that.) He no longer grabs at her although he still tries to get her nose. Instead of taking the pacifier out of her mouth he tries to put it in when she's crying. It's really cute, he says "baby, baby, baby" as he tries to comfort her. He is, however; taking his aggression out on me by biting me if I can't pick him up right away because I am holding Rhyan or if I was on the computer working. I thought we got rid of the biting problem but it is back and in full force. I actually got really mad yesterday and tried to give him a time out for it - LOL, I laugh at myself for this one because I know it didn't work. He's too young to understand the concept and as proof he got off the couch right away and bit me even harder. (What a stinker!)

Rhyan is quite the butterball and does not look like a newborn anymore. She fits in 6 month sizes along with 3 - 6 month sizes. She is a true joy to have around. Such a lovely baby during the day and at night she turns into a gremlin. Things are getting better, I've noticed and I have yet to cash in on her prescription. If we can get through this without using medication that's what I prefer to do. But I also do not want her to be in pain where medication would have been a huge relief.

Kiel is doing great with his physical therapy, he's enjoying his birthday presents and I think he is really bored at work. Well we are off to a birthday party. Mariah is 4, we can't believe how grown up she looks. Go Mariah!

Rhyan's Blessing Weekend

Here we are, a family of four! I still can't believe it.

This weekend, Rhyan was blessed by her father and almost everyone came down and some came up to witness her blessing. Here is a picture of the whole gang minus my dad, Frances and her two children, who mysteriously went missing during picture time.

Here is the princess in her blessing outfit. The picture doesn't do her dress justice, it was, well, A LOT of dress. Family started rolling in on Thursday night and by the time Saturday came, everyone was here. Kiel's side of the family spent the day at the beach and I stayed home to make dinner for everyone and take care of Bruce and Rhyan. All of the cousins played really well together and it was fun to have a very loud house and watch them play.

After the blessing on Sunday, everyone came over again and we had a BBQ. We also celebrated all of the September birthdays and there are a lot of them in our family. After another busy day, most everyone packed up and started heading home that night or the next morning.

The Browns and Celia met us for breakfast at Rubys Monday morning and then we played at the park before they headed back to Utah. The only family left was my mom and aunt. We did some shopping, got frozen yogurt and later that evening we took them for a drive on Palos Verdes Blvd, so they could see the sunset.

I love where we live. I also love my husband. I love that he is a priesthood holder and can bless his beautiful children. I love my children so much I would die for them. I am so grateful for this weekend and for everyone who spent time and money to celebrate this special day with us. It was so much fun, I just wish I could have visited a little bit more and been a better hostess. (Special thanks to those that stepped up and helped.) Instead I spent most of the time feeding my little girl who probably gained ten pounds this weekend, she is a p - i - g!

I also wish I got more pictures, but thanks to Brittany we got some really good family shots!

Happy 1 - month Rhyan

Here are her stats so when she's asks me "mommy why don't I have a baby book" I can say because I blogged everything ;)

Height: 23 inches 100% percentile
Weight: 11 lbs 12 ounces 95% percentile
HC: 35cm 95% percentile

Poor Rhyan has acid reflux and screams ALL - NIGHT - LONG. We are trying some techniques before we resort to medication, I hope this works. Other than that, she's a mellow baby during the day, loves to be cuddled. She can't stand to sleep on her back even if she's elevated, so yes, hold your breath or look the other way; she naps on her stomach and we sleep on a couch at night. I have to be completely upright and she has to lay on my chest to get any relief - her poor tummy. I'm running on fumes, I average about 2 hours of sleep per night and a 3 hour nap during the day. You wouldn't believe the products they try to sell at 3 in the morning on t.v. Lot's of workout machines - really? I'm watching t.v. at 3 am because I have a screaming baby and you think I care about my thighs? Why don't you try selling baby sleep machines or energy drinks that reboost your immune system, metabolism and yes "if you drink this, you physically do not need sleep" - oh that would be amazing!

I think I've officially gone off the deepend - and get this, I told my boss I could go back to work! Ha! What the heck was I thinking? This week has been extremely unproductive work wise.

Oh I'm sorry blog reader did you want pictures? Too bad ;)