I'M BACK!!!!

We are coming up to the one year mark that I have not updated the blog.  I did NOT intend to get this far behind!!!  Recently I was working on a scrapbook (via shutterfly, I haven’t had time to do any real scrapbooking in ages – so the shutterfly books will have to do until I have more kids in school!) But while I was putting it together (from 2011) I used the blog a lot to go back and remember how things happened, how we felt, etc. And I know I’m going to miss it during the times I didn’t blog. That is the reason I am doing the blog. To remember the times we share together as a family, and to share those times with those of you who read it from far away.  My goal is (now that I will have 2 in school – yep, Jayce is starting preschool this year!) that I will be able to get back to posting regularly. I am shooting for bi-weekly, or at least once a month. We just don’t do as much during the school year to post weekly.  But for now I’ll start with some updates on everyone, and some posts on the fabulous summer we had this year!!!  (so make sure you get to reading posts all the way to September last year, I don’t know how many posts it will take to get this fabulous fun-filled summer in!!

We’ll start with Riley, he is now 7 and just started Second Grade!!  I know, I can’t believe it either!! He is so smart though, and we are hoping this year will challenge him a little more in the Mathematics department! He is almost as tall as I am, coming up to about my chin now, and growing more everyday. I’m dreading the day he is taller than me, and unfortunately, looking at his cousins, that day could be very soon!! He only has one more year in a booster seat in the car, and we are looking forward to the day we can eliminate one! We’ve spent the summer going lots of places with LOTS of friends and having to squeeze three carseats in a row in the van means those in the boosters get their fingers squished trying to buckle seat belts. We even went camping last weekend and ended up driving a lot of places in Daddy’s car, which is even more tight. But he survived!  What else can I say about Riley…he has become a Great Big Brother!!! He has grown up so much in the last year, and that has brought a wonderful level of maturity. Especially when it comes to Amara. Last year he started being responsible for making his own lunch. He always did a great job and completely stepped up to the responsibility (which this not-a-morning-person mom loves!!) Well this summer he would get Amara out of her crib when she woke up. It was good, except in true Riley fashion he would do it quietly to not wake me up. And then the 3 of them would go downstairs and play quietly or watch tv eating cereal (dished out again by Riley). It was wonderful, and allowed me to sleep!! But soon Amara was getting rashes from not being changed when she first got up, and soaking through pajamas, etc.  First I made the rule that Riley couldn’t get her out of bed. That worked for about a week, until I found them all in the crib with her one morning! Pretty sure it wasn’t made to handle that kind of weight, so I quickly changed that. So now in the mornings, he gets Amara up, changes her diaper, and takes his brother and sister downstairs to eat some dry cereal and play or watch tv.  It is fabulous, and really takes a load of me. Allowing me to wake up slower and be less of the mean grouchy mom I usually am in the mornings. I’m hoping this will continue until each of them are old enough to take care of themselves like this!

Jayce has also grown up a TON!!!  Which if you know Jayce is a HUGE improvement! He is talking more, and whining somewhat less.  Lol we still have the fits every once in a while, but usually I can talk him down out of it after a few minutes. He understands, and only occasionally will we have a complete melt down where I have to lock him in his room for a couple hours to calm down. He still has his “rags”, but before his third birthday we warned him, again and again and again, that 3 year olds don’t take their rags places, they keep them in their beds. We told him if he wanted it he could come up to his bed anytime and lay with them, but that they had to stay in his bed. And he’s done excellent with that!! Every once in a while he would sneak one downstairs and hide under a pillow on the couch. But after losing a few that way we told him that was why they had to stay in bed – so they don’t get lost. And he knows that if he loses one, he doesn’t get a new one (since at one time we had about 20 of those things!). So he either leaves it put or goes without. And he’s done pretty good with going without.  I’m debating whether to just take them away completely. It doesn’t seem to be hurting anyone as long as they stay in bed. So what’s the big deal!  We’ll see how I feel about it when he’s 10 though.  Lol  After dealing with all the talking/tantrum issues with him the last few years, we decided preschool would be a good fit for him. He is a very social boy and loves to play with other kids (unlike Riley who could always be happy playing by himself) and with Riley in full day school now, he really struggles.  Riley also picked up school things really fast, super smart. Jayce on the other hand, doesn’t really have the desire. I’m not saying he isn’t smart!!! He already knows his numbers to 12 and a few letters. But he just doesn’t have the desire to learn. So I’m hoping a more structured learning environment will help him learn on a school year schedule rather than his own.  He starts after labor day, and will going to FaithSteps. A faith-based pre-school in Windsor out of one of the churches there. My neighbor Lacey’s boys have gone there in the past, and I think it will be a good fit for everyone!

Amara is my perfect mix! Riley is my independent, laid back, cautiously curious one. Jayce is my social butterfly with an appetite for the adventurous, loud, and high strung sometimes.  And Amara is right smack in the middle of the two.  She is laid back and quite just like Riley, but if she doesn’t like something, or she wants something she will let you know, just like Jayce! She’s a blanket baby like Jayce, carrying around her fleece blankets so much that I finally made some small lovey sized ones that won’t get dragged through the dirt as much. But she also loves the pacifier, like Riley did. Once we FINALLY got her to transition to a bottle, she wanted it all the time. And even at meals after she had turned one she would take her sippy cup and lean her head back and drink her dinner instead of eating.  So we thought the paci might be the lesser of two evils, since there’s no milk in it to sit on her teeth 24/7. And we were right! She took right to the paci.  But now she’s attached to that!  So breaking her of that may take some more work than it did with Riley, or the rags with Jayce. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. It’s so funny to see how much she loves being a girly-girl! She loves headbands and tiaras, and bows and hairclips.  And she will bring them to you to put on for her (and then take them out so you will do it again!) She loves walking around with purses, and trying on everyone’s shoes! She loves to look in the mirror after I fix her hair and smile at herself! But she is also a girl who has two older brothers and very outdoorsy parents! She loves digging in the dirt, and catching bugs and frogs with her brothers. She plays with cars and trucks possibly more than her babydolls. (but that could be they are just more accessible because they are always left out from the boys!) She also definitely has their appetite. One thing that scared me about the thought of a third boy when I was pregnant with her was how we were going to feed them. Well, that fear is now back, because she eats like they do! She is independent like Riley, but also strong-willed like Jayce, and is not afraid to tell you when you are doing something she doesn’t like! ( like helping her push up her popsicle!) She is growing up way to fast. She hasn’t started talking much. But I’m sure the paci isn’t helping with that much. I’m not too worried about her. Jayce and Riley were both late talkers, and she has 2 siblings to talk for her, and wait on her hand and foot.  Lol (she is totally the princess!) So we just keep working with her, and it will come! 

Cam is still working at MCC. He is still doing the same thing, but always with new challenges. And he’s still running! He’s taking a bit of a break right now. After going back to Indy to run the Mini with his Dad and brother, he took a break and never really could get back into the running groove. First he thought it was his shoes, so he went and bought some new shoes. (and when that didn’t help, he went and bought MORE new shoes). But he still was off somehow and couldn’t quite figure out why he wasn’t running like he had just a few months before. He hadn’t changed anything. So he started going down the list of different things it could be, eating habits, allergy medication, etc. but nothing helped. He was complaining of pains in his legs, back, neck and shoulders, he was hot all the time, itchy, and was even having issues with his bloodshot and red eyes. After a running across Rocky Mountain National Park (a run that would have been only a slight challenge for him in his peak) he got back to the trailhead 2 hours after his intended time, almost green from dehydration, saying he had to start rationing water around the 9 mile mark of this 16 mile run. Something wasn’t right. It took some convincing, but he finally went to the doctor. And after some blood work and a thyroid scan he learned it was Hyperactive Thyroidism, caused by Thyroiditis.  Don’t ask for the details, I couldn’t explain them to you. Just know that it covered almost every single one of his symptoms (and even some he didn’t know could be associated) and it clears up on its own in a few months. So the doc recently gave him some meds to keep his heart rate down (it’s been crazy high, the reason for the fatigue and dehydration when he runs) and he says since it’s been a few months already he is already starting to feel more strength in his legs (which was the first thing to go downhill. He’s not out of the woods yet, but it’s good to know it is a temporary thing, and not a lifelong condition.  He has signed up for a race from Telluride to Ouray over Imogene Pass in a few weeks, but we are still considering if running it will be the best thing.  It will probably be a last minute decision based on how this medication affects him, and how much training he will be able to get in the next 3 weeks. At the very least though we will head down there for a camping trip with the kids!

I’m doing great! I had a great summer this year being active with the kids!  We did a ton of stuff, most of it outdoors, and it was the best summer I’ve had since rangering. I realized this summer just how much I missed the outdoors the last few years while first Jayce, then Amara were so young. Riley is at the age now where I have to plan things for him to keep him busy, so we scheduled a lot of things! We were always going somewhere, or coming back from something. But I had a blast. It was a lot of work, and I was glad when school started up again (just this last week) but I was so happy to have that time with him, with all 3 of them! My business is going pretty good! Part of the reason I was unable to keep up with the blog last fall was because I took on a bit more than I could chew with orders for Christmas time. I was crocheting nearly non-stop for stuff from September-December.  So much that I am developing carpal tunnel in both wrists.  After that things slowed down a bit, which was good. But then in March one of the items I sell on etsy was showcased somewhere (not quite sure where) and I got 12 orders for that one item within a matter of a few hours! It was madness!  I finally finished all those the beginning of the summer, and took a little bit of a break. I still crocheted here and there. Coming up with some new things to add to the store, filling the few orders that came in via friends or through Etsy.  But it was relaxed. And I liked it. I just had my first “Fall” show this weekend, so busy season has started up again.  I’m definitely going to monitor my orders a little closer this year though, and try not to over do it again. I have a better idea now of what I can and can’t do!  ;) I’m still doing MOPS. And actually re-joined the steering team again this year. My friend Trista took over the position of coordinator this year, and I told her I would be happy to help her out as a “back-up” person if something comes up like sicknesses, or trips or anything of that nature. I have a pretty laid back position, which is what I wanted. I’m handling all the mom’s night out events we do, which I love!! It’s so fun to plan these times for moms to get away. And the best part, if I’m organizing it, it’s kinda a given that I should be there! So I don’t have any reason not to!!!  Score! 

As you can probably tell just by this post alone, we have had one crazy summer! But don’t take it from me!  See for yourselves! There’s lots of pictures to share, so I’ll probably just do a couple of posts about our summer, maybe one for each month. Enjoy! And I hope you all had a wonderful summer too!