April FLEW by!

Wow... it's been a whirlwind weekend. and month. and life...really! For Easter we had some friends over and celebrated mid-afternoon with a ham feast and easter egg hunt for the kids. It was a really fun day.

From there we really don't know what's kept us so busy but somehow it has been! Somewhere in there we headed to Rapid City and ended up with a Toyota Sienna van. It's the Extra Luxury Edition. Yep.. I think it's awesome...even if it is a minivan. We've had some beautiful days this month and spent time playing outside in the water. Kaden learned to ride his bike with training wheels and was OH so proud to ride it to the park for the first time. I doubt we will go to a park without it now! Kate graduated from stroller to wagon for our park trips. She just climbs around in the stroller so I realized a wagon is much more suited for her! The kids also got to go to their first circus! The elephants were the favorite (possibly because they peed and pooped for them), and they also loved the tigers and cotten candy.

Kaden also got to meet Curious George. You should have seen his excitement! He found every monkey think he had to wear... then he frowned when George came in. He told me George is NOT that big, and he knew it was the real George. Oh well, he still loved it!

Friday (27th) was a day full of happy and sad. In the morning we had our 20 week ultrasound! We found out our baby is totally healthy and the amniotic fluids levels (the worry of this pregnancy)are GREAT. We don't have to have another ultrasound for that until 32 weeks! (What, 12 weeks without an ultrasound? the most we've gone so far is 4!) We also decided not to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. I am so excited for the surprise. I think Luke is just willing... he'd sure love to know. I kind of think its a boy because the baby is already measuring a week older and is in the 90th percentile. (Following his/her brother, Kaden!!!) Friday was also a sad day when Allison moved out. We were all sad to see her go, especially the kids. Katelyn even through herself on the floor and wailed and cried. We miss her, and were glad to get to share our home with her. It is weird to go back to "normal". Thankfully, we had a busy weekend to distract kids from the sadness. On Saturday Kate turned 2. We spent the day cleaning and cleaning...and cleaning. And making potato salad, and marshmallow fondant, and cakes. That evening my parents came and the kids were so thrilled to see them. It had been since Christmas! On Sunday, the kids and Luke and Boppa went to church while my mom and I made the cakes and wrapped presents. The cakes were the easiest I've ever done, and I kind of think I'm hooked on fondant!!! I made the marshmallow fondant, so it even tasted good. My dad said he likes it better than frosting. I loved how it turned out..and Katelyn seemed to enjoy it too!

We had cake and ice cream first at 3:30pm-right after naps! Then we opened presents and played. Around 5:30pm we had polish dogs, hamburgers, potato salad and chips. It was a fun celebration. We got her a water table, but I don't even have a picture!

Kiddos

Lately Kate has been learning at warp speeds. I don't know how to handle it! The other day (like 2 weeks ago) she started insisting that she sit on the potty...all.the.time. It was actually just purely annoying. So I thought, "Can't beat 'em? Join 'em." So, we taught her to go potty while she sat on the toilet. And...here we are 2 weeks later, after having BARELY potty trained (mostly she's just taught herself) and she's dry all day. She only uses a diaper at naps and night. I'm impressed. I'm relieved...I mean, how easy was that? I remember saying that about Kaden... I firmly believe in the "they'll let you know when they're ready" thing.
Some new words in the last month:
cheese- EEESE
Please- EESHZE
My Turn- Dah Doo (while patting her chest with her hand)
Meh Meh - No NO (While pointing to her diaper... sometimes it comes out Mo Mo)
Dog - Daahh
Dad - Dada
Kaden: Day doo
She also has started to make a dog sound, duck sound, and a few more animal sounds. She's quite fond of all D words.

It's so crazy to talk about my almost 2 year old this way. So crazy different. She is soooo smart just like her brother, but they are totally different in how they display their brilliance. She just knows how to do things. No explanation required. Puzzle? easy. Spoon and Fork? Mastered in seconds. She can already put on her shoes and if you let her, her pants (normally backwords.) These are things I had to force her brother to do, at a much older age.

Kids are just sooo different. and so precious. And so, so, so wonderful.

Kadenisms: (I couldn't make these up, people!)

on the way home from walmart, Kaden from the back seat: Oh no! Where did I drop that booger?

I asked Kaden what he liked about AWANA. Number 1 on the list was: snacks 2: craft time 3: surprise box. So i asked what he didn't like: That they don't have trains. (surprise!)

Kaden: "Mom, would you go down and get my green blanket from downstairs? I unheld it."
Mom: "You 'unheld' it? So it's downstairs? I don't think I understand what you mean."
Kaden: "MOM....UNHELD means to DROP something."

Kaden usually offers to lick me after he kisses my cheek. I always respond "no thanks". Today:
Kaden (after a kiss on my cheek): Do you want me to lick you, mom?
Mom : No thanks... I don't need licked.
Kaden: Because your not a lollipop?
(that's one reason, I suppose...)

Kaden was "reading" the 3 little pigs to me. I asked him which house he would build: straw, stick, or brick? He said "I'd build straw, because we don't have BIG BAD WOLVES in Gillette" LOL. logical.

Kaden was helping stir the sloppy joe meat.
Mom: Make sure not to touch the pan, ok?
K: Ok mom. But if I do, I'll just wipe it on my shirt.
so then dad explains that the reason is that he could get burned.
K: It's ok if I get burned. it will be fine.

kaden: mom why are you looking at these pictures?
Mom: they are of mommy's friends. do you want to look at pictures of you now? (normally an instant yes)
Kaden: no, i just want to look at pictures of trains.

Kaden's newest love is the game Memory. We have one that has 3 levels of difficulty. He is now on level 2. It is just adding more cards. He loves it. And he is SO good at it. Of course, it is a THomas the train game, so he loves that too. He has to make sure I know what each engine's name is as we flip them over.

He also loves to cook with me. He's always wanted to, but lately he can actually do it without spilling everything or trying to touch something hot. He thinks its the best thing ever.

I couldn't sleep from like 4-5am then the kids were up early. Kate woke up on the WRONG side of the bed, and I think she's helping everyone over to her side. Everytime Kate screams (not like a cry scream, but an "i don't want anyone to touch me" scream) I am ready to lose it. Her scream is my "crazy" button today. This is going to be an interesting day...

I think she averages one GOOD scream every 5 minutes, with the lame ones in between.

So basically, every five minutes I find myself crawling back from the edge of crazy.

To cope...right now, they are in their room and i have music so I can't hear the screams. I think we are gonna have to start consequences for this screaming...it is totally out of control. But I think we'll wait til tomorrow...when I'm a little less edgy about it (I hope.)

Thankfully (I think) I have a lot going on today... that should help.

Christmas letter 2011

Some of you will get this in the mail, but here it is for the rest of you!

Dear friends and family, Dec 24, ’11
Merry Christmas and, by the time you all read this, Happy New Year! This year has been busy and GOOD. We are so thankful for the health we have had, and the ways God has provided.
Katelyn is now 20 months old. She loves dolls, coloring (or anything to do at the table!), and teasing her brother. She has mastered the art of grabbing his toy and taking off in record speeds. It has been so fun to see them play and interact more as she gets older. Katelyn still refuses to talk for the most part…although “Uh Uh” (her “no”) is common, and every once in a while you might hear an “Uh oh” slip out. We think she’s saving up to surprise us with full sentences one of these days. In the meantime, in order to relieve some frustration that comes with the lack of words, we have taught her some sign language. She loves it. In a month she learned “please”, “all done”, “more” (we didn’t even want her to learn that one-she picked it up at church!), “help”, “drink” and a few others. We see significantly fewer fits and tantrums because she feels like she has the ability to communicate! She has 2 speech therapists that she meets with and they are constantly amazed at her fine motor skills (she can put together puzzles, match colors, etc NO problem) and attention span (she’ll sit and play at the table for a couple hours at a time), and are not worried about her speech development at all.
Kaden (3 ½) is still our talker. He talks so much he runs out of things to say, and then he’ll ask me what else he should talk about. Often we will wake up to him standing by us asking if he can talk about breakfast. He loves food. He’s a growing boy and manages to put away amazing amounts of food. He also loves anything trains, and has somehow managed to amass quite the collection of wooden train tracks. One can no longer visit the Antonich’s without being introduced to his trains. This year Kaden got to join the AWANA Cubbies program, and just recently started attending Children’s church. He loves them! He also took 5 weeks of swimming lessons and passed his class on the first try! He loves to hang out under water! He also recently gave up napping. (Sad day!) In March, he had surgery to have his tonsils and adnoids removed. We are amazed at how it changed his voice…he no longer sounds like he’s talking around a golf ball! It has changed his life-as now he can breathe when he runs, sleep through the night, and hasn’t had antibiotics even ONCE since the surgery! We can’t believe we ever wondered if he need them taken out!
Luke has kept very busy at work with PCA this year. He just ended his “outside work” for the “summer” about 2 weeks ago, and is now back in the office already feeling behind on his designs for next summer! We are thankful for the work, but looking forward to vacation time this spring!!! Luke still sings in the choir at church, has led worship several times this year, and is on several committees. He just started league basketball this month and is enjoying that a lot. He had surgery this month to remove a mole on his nose (yes, surgery for that) and that was his contribution to our deductibles!  (We are ready to be done with surgeries for a while!) His project for the house this year was to finish our dining room (it looks BEAUTIFUL!) and keep on top of the contractors who finally got our new siding put on! We love it! He also installed 4 new windows (all new windows now!) and we are hoping we are done with the major house repairs for a while! Maybe now he’ll have time to finish the garage that he has insulated/painted and needs to build work benches for!
Bethany keeps busy being mom, cook, wife, and referee (for the kids!). She is still working as a Pampered Chef consultant with 2 cooking clubs per month. She still directs the church nursery and in August, she added 2-3 five hour days a week of babysitting a baby girl who is now 6 months old. In September, she (reluctantly) agreed to co-coordinate the local MOPS group. It has been a challenge- to say the least- and a learning experience. Thankfully, the challenge has been fairly enjoyable – and she has learned a lot about her leadership style, as well as gained many new friends! This year she also (again, reluctantly) co-directed VBS at our church. This too was a challenge, and very rewarding…she is looking forward to doing it again this summer. She is trying to learn not to be so reluctant about these things! She also organizes a “monthly” (more like every 6 weeks) Craft Saturday at church where she enjoys working on Kaden and Kate’s scrapbooks and hanging out with friends while Luke cares for the kids.
In June, Bethany and the kids took a trip to Denver to celebrate Rachel Allen’s 30th birthday. It was a fun week filled with zoos, pools, trains, food, and more! Kaden still talks about it often! In July, we headed to Bethany’s parents house to help them paint their house, then Bethany and the kids got to visit with family friends in Butte for a few days. In October, more family friends- Bill and Nate Allen- visited again from Arkansas to hunt for a few days. We sure enjoy having them around (and think they need to move here).  When we return home from Christmas vacation we look forward to having a college student- Allison- move in with us for the next 4 months while she student teaches in Gillette.
As we get ready to open presents tomorrow we have been frequently explaining to Kaden why it is that we get to have this holiday called Christmas. He has helped us see this Christmas story through the eyes of a child and we hope that you also can take the time to go back to the basics of Christmas! It truly is amazing that a great big God sent His Son to earth on Christmas day just because He loved us so much. Now that’s something to celebrate!
Love from the Antonich’s


Kaden Kwotes:
Kaden: What are we having for breakfast? Mom: Worms and alligator tongues!
Kaden: (the beginnings of a fit) I don't WANT that! I want YOGURT and alligator tongues!
• Kaden stopped dead in his tracks, looked around...then said "I just forgot myself.... MOM! what was I going to say?"
• Kaden: "I found a chocolate chip under the stove. ...sooooo I kinda ate it."
• "Mom, if some little Katelyn chewed on this and ruined it, I'd be sooooo sad." –Kaden (as if I don’t know which Katelyn he might be talking about…)
• Kaden- to Katelyn as she scratched his legs- "Katelyn no more scratching. STOP scratching" slight pause..."No scratching! I CAN SCRATCH MYSELF!"
• "Mom, when I get a little bit bigger, and that tree gets a little bit smaller, THEN I'm going to climb up it!" –Kaden
• "Good morning Mom! Time to get up?" ~ Kaden, 15 minutes after going to bed. (I was almost convinced…)
• Kaden: “Dad can I have a bath when we get home?” Dad: “No, Kaden, it’s bedtime.” Kaden (in a serious voice): “JUST because I WANT something, doesn’t mean you always have to say NO!” (He got a short bath…it WAS a pretty good argument.)

Just the basics of the last 2 months!

Kaden: "Daddy, when we get home can I have a bath?"
Silence as Daddy considers it (it is already bedtime).
Kaden: same question.
Daddy: "No Kaden, I don't think we're going to do baths tonight."
Kaden: "JUST because I ask you for something DOESN'T mean you always have to say NO!"
Poor kid got a short bath.

The last 2 months have been insanely busy. In November Kaden took 5 weeks of swim lessons with his friend Quincy. He thoroughly enjoyed every second of those lessons! The first day of lessons Kaden convinced his teacher to take him to the deep end afterwards. She didn't know what she was getting into...almost every lesson he begged, pleaded, and otherwise convinced her to spoil him for a few minutes after lessons. He also was the kid who was always in trouble and had to sit on the wall. He wasn't trying to be naughty, but he just loved to be underwater. Apparently going underwater while the teacher is working with other kids is a big no-no. Also, he didn't have the greatest attention span, and loved trying to make the other kids laugh. I was told before we started not to expect him to pass because "they never pass a kid the first time." Well, I'm proud to say he passed! (I do have to wonder if the teacher just wanted to be rid of him!) He was able to hold his breath under water for 3 seconds, push off the wall on both is front and back and glide 2 body lengths, pick up an object off the floor of the pool, and other things like that. He even jumped off the diving board twice! He was one of only 2 kids to pass.

Katelyn and I spent that time either sitting and watching (well, she ate suckers...) or we suited up and walked the "lazy river" together with a friend and her daughter. Walking against the current is harder than it first appears! Katelyn loved getting to be in the water too.

For Thanksgiving we headed to Montana to my parents house (and sadly, we forgot our camera.) We were able to spend Thanksgiving with 3 of my 4 brothers and my Grandparents. The last time I was able to be home for Thanksgiving I was pregnant with Kaden and sick, sick, sick. I don't even remember most of it. It was fun to do all of our traditions: the meal, graham cracker houses, games, and leftovers on already too full stomachs. Kaden still talks about the house he made (which had character! I wish I had a photo!) and has asked Gramma to save it for him at Christmas so he can eat the candy off of it. So fun to share traditions that I enjoyed at his age!

For my birthday my parents offered to keep our kids for the night the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We left around 9am and headed to Billings to shop. It was so weird to drive in silence, and the car felt so empty! We shopped alllll day, then had a nice hotel with heated pool and hot tub. We shopped a little more on Sunday and were able to get much of our Christmas shopping done. We met my parents with the kids at Sams around noon. Katelyn wouldn't even look at me when we met up. She held out, not looking at us, and refusing to come to us until Gramma threatened to put her in the car and take her back home. She practically leaped into my arms! What a stinker! It was a very fun weekend, but it always reminds me how much a part of my life my kids are. I sure do love them. (I just don't love shopping with them!!!!!!)

(I am so thankful for autosave as I accidentally just deleted this entire post. It had autosaved just a few seconds before!!!)

This month has been filled with Christmas Parties, (for MOPS, PCA, Church..), meetings for church, and other holiday fun. Yesterday Kaden and I were laying on the floor by the tree looking into the ornament's reflections and talking about Christmas. He has been asked several times by people what he wants from Santa, which has generated much talk. He is confused between the link between Santa and Baby Jesus. We are talking about how Santa is someone we pretend brings us presents, and Baby Jesus is real, and was born as the son of God. After we talked about that I asked him what he wanted for Christmas and his reply was, "Ummmmmm...some more trains, some more trucks, and something for Katelyn." It melted my heart. A while later, curious as to what he'd say, I asked again. He replied the same exact phrase. So we decided to take him out Christmas shopping for his sister. They each got each other a present and we are talking about how we get presents for each other at Christmas and why. It has been fun to see him question, and put together the pieces that everyone teaches him about Christmas.

This week Luke had an appointment to find out if the mole on his nose was something we needed to be worried about since it was changing in shape/size from year to year. Since he works in the sun many hours all summer long we wanted to make sure it was not going to be something to cause skin cancer, etc... The doctor said that he was fairly confident that it was nothing, but said that it might be best to have it removed just to make sure. It ended up being more than we bargained for. Apparently to make an inscision on the face they have to put you under anesthetic to ensure that you won't move and screw anything up. So 2 days later Luke went in for that surgery. It was not a very fun experience for either of us, but it's over now and we're glad to have it behind us!

In a week we are headed back to Montana to spend Christmas with Luke's family. It's hard to believe it's already that time of year! During that stay I'm hoping to write our Christmas letter (which is actually a new years letter and I don't know why I still call it our Christmas letter and send it in Christmasy envelopes!) We need to take a family picture- I wish I'd thought of that before Luke's surgery! (I bet he wishes that too!)

Kate's Version of Jumping on the Bed

We find Kate doing this quite often. If you happen to find her, then she will be mad if you walk away and don't laugh and applaud her. She thinks she is sooo amazing and funny doing this...as you can tell!

Busy Day- and Halloween!

Today was productive. I took care of a pukey sickie until he quit puking-then I turned movies on for him. At 10am I took Kate to her 18 month appointment... (She is 22lbs, 18th percentile, 32 inches 60th percentile). And after that I made LOTS of freezer meals.

Taco Soup
Tatertot Casserole
Lasagna
BBQ Meatballs
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Noodle soup Base
Chicken Pot Pie Base
Spaghetti
Pizza Crusts (3)
and 2 loaves of bread

I learned some things.

-start with an empty dishwasher
-Make sure you have lots of pans, and plenty of dishsoap
-start with an empty garbage can
-don't bother trying to keep the floor clean
-a mix 'n chop will save your sanity
-make sure your kids/hubby have easy lunches so you don't have to quit! YOu'll never get restarted!!!!

I also made Cheesy Mostaccioli for dinner and it was a hit. Nice and easy too. I also finished in time to go with the family to the Trunk or Treat at Westside Baptist and to a few drive-through places. It was a fun night, and I'm so glad Kaden was feeling well enough to go!

Here are some pictures from Halloween, and one from raking leaves this weekend. Enjoy!

Just some random thoughts...

I am to the point where I'd pay good money to know why I can't sleep so often.

I went back and was reading old blogs (this is why I blog. You think I do it for you, but really, I love the (rare) times when I go back and read.) It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since some of the blog posts I was reading. Wow, what a year we had last year. Between pregnancy, birth of Kate, Gallbladder surgery, MRI's, EKG's, Bladder testing, lumps removed, church/relationship hurts and frustrations, etc..it was a rough time. I am so happy to look back and remember how HARD it was, and yet see how I handled it. God really does give us the strenth to handle what we face. And today I am so thankful that all of it turned out ok. Maybe not how I wanted, but it turned out ok.

Lately, I've noticed how often I think "Wow, I'm blessed." And tonight I realized it's because this year has been so totally different. Yah, we've had some issues (tonsil surgery, and other small things) but, wow, it's been a good year. Nothing like hardship to help you know what GOOD is.

Also, I was reading about Kaden when he was Kate's age....and I was right, he did have a ton of words. It will never cease to amaze me how different Kaden and Katelyn are. I LOVE IT. God gave me such blessings when He gave me them.

This 'n That

Lately my sleep habits have been awful. Absolutely awful. I sleep REALLY good for one night, and then the next 3-5 nights I can't sleep til well after the morning has arrived. Guess which night tonight is???

For those of you who might not stalk me on facebook. Or who do stalk me on facebook and just aren't very good at stalking... I have a lot of big things going on in life right now!

Last week I agreed to be the Gillette MOPS Co-Coordinator. Yes. Me. I'm the one who (should I post this on internet for all to see?) has always said I'm not even that IN to MOPS. But, when it ended abrubtly last year it troubled me greatly. I had even considered stepping up to coordinate when I knew the position was open, but really thought someone else would step up. Then when no one did it was shut down, to my surprise. All I heard from all my MOPS friends was shock, dissapointment, and sadness. So then all summer I prayed hard about starting a Women's Bible study or a Mom's group that was not MOPS at my church. Something that could start out small so I could start my leadership skills on a smaller scale...but I never felt peace.

Part of that is because I am already the nursery directer. I coordinate the baby showers at church (and just recently have HELP, thank goodness!!!), have my Pampered Chef cooking clubs and babysit a 3 month old 14ish hours a week. But really, I think it was just that it wasn't God's timing. In fact, I know it wasn't.

A couple weeks ago at a Bible Study I almost didn't join, at a church I don't go to, on an evening I was supposed to have cooking club, I met Stacey. Stacey moved from Cheyanne and has coordinated MOPS before. To make a long story short- here we are getting MOPS restarted and it's awesome. I am so excited. No, really, I AM! I found out that coordinating is something I just enjoy. But only if it's right. And only if I can bounce ideas off someone else. So, all in all, this week's been a busy one trying to get MOPS started in a month instead of months and months which is normal.

Speaking of babysitting. Did you all know I was doing that? (Oh, yes, all you facebook stalkers did, how 'bout the rest of you?) Anyway, I've been babysitting a (then 2 month old, now 3 month old) for a month. It's.been.awesome. I was nervous at first. But so far Katelyn and Kaden totally love her. And she sleeps 90% of the time and even then half the time I wake her up to feed her. And when she is awake she just adores watching my kids play. So far, so good. And the extra money is nice too! It keeps me home Tues-Thurs afternoons, but I always have at least an hour of ME time still. Does it get better than that?

Let's see...what else is new? Kate has been a teething monster baby. But just tonight we felt one bottom right tooth. If that's the only tooth that comes from this teething disaster I'm gonna be depressed. But at least there's one, right? Katelyn is getting bigger and smarter and cuter and sneakier as the days go by. She loves nothing more than to scream at brother for touching HER STUFF. (Which is really his stuff.) Also, she thinks his trains are an awesome way to get his attention. Mommy is about to go crazy with it.

Kaden has had a cold/allergies/something problem since Labor Day. I keep saying "If he's not better by Friday..." but really I just don't want him on antibiotics! I don't know if he's ever gotten over something without them! We've been feeding him allergy meds but wondering if he's going to need some asthma treatments. But I don't want to talk about it anymore. This week I changed all his clothes to 4T. I expected them to all be huge. Um, nope. They look great on him and this mommy's in denial. He cannot be growing up so fast. Speaking of growing up, he started Cubbies last week. He's been there twice and loves, loves, loves, LOVES it. And it's a nice break for us too. He was given his book, vest and bag last night and first thing this morning he was asking to look at his book. He's so quick at memorizing the verses, but won't say them to anyone but me. And even then only if no one else is around, or listening, or COULD BE around or listening. He suddenly thinks he's shy. Weird. Also, he's been testing my patience lately. My prayer is that I will be a mom like God wants me to be. Not yelling, or going crazy on him. Boy oh boy...it's been hard. But I sure do love that kid.

This weekend I have a Craft Day all day Saturday and a Baby Shower on Sunday. Crazy me decided it would be "FUN" to make cake pops for this baby shower. Which-it would be- if I were confident that I could make them, have them turn out, AND be cute. I did practice once...and learned what not to do. Needless to say, after a busy week of MOPS planning, Cooking Clubs, Awana, babysitting, etc...I'm worn out going into a crazy busy weekend. And coming out next week isn't looking any calmer! But I'm not complaining- I feel so blessed in all I have and do. My friends. My appointments. My leadership (which I've grown so much in!) and my kids. I love it all. (Oh and you too, Luke!! Even if I haven't seen you lately! Date soon?)

Yes, I did just ask my hubby for a date on my blog. And I bet it works too.

Funny Girl

This morning Katelyn wanted to go outside with her big brother. So I told her she could go out but we had to get her dressed first. So she "helped" me get her pajamas off. Then when I held out her shirt she got "that look" and giggled and ran. Not being one to play that game, I just sat there. She went over to the back door and cried and cried to go out. So I told her she had to come get her clothes on. So she comes back to me and just when she's out of reach she got "that look" again, and giggled and ran...only to find herself at the back door, realize she wants to go outside, start crying and start the cycle over. I kid you not, it has been going on for 15 minutes. It's like she has an attention span of less than 2 seconds and forgets what she's going for... I wonder if we will get dressed today, or go outside???

More about the kids...

Facebook reminded me that this was Luke's "status update" from February 21, 2011.

"Good morning Mom! Time to get up?" ~ Kaden, 15 minutes after going to bed.

He is so hilarious. And I wanted to have it noted somewhere other than Facebook for him to see someday.

So while I'm at it...more Kadenisms:

"Nurdles" are noodles
"I'm a BOY" is what he thinks is the reason for everything. (Example: why can't I paint my toenails, Mom? Because you're a boy. Why can't I have long hair? Because you're a boy. Translated in his mind: Find your shoes Kaden. I can't! Why not? Because I'm a boy.) You see the trend. Sigh.

In other news, Katelyn has learned how to push Kaden's buttons in a matter of milliseconds. Threaten to come downstairs when he just finishes building a track out of his wood track set. Take said tracks. Run to the bathroom and get there before Kaden as soon as you realize he needs to go potty. (She loves this one, and does it often. I keep trying to tell Kaden not to announce his need to potty...She loooooves the hollar and screams that come from him until I make her leave.) Also, she mostly won't do what we want her to...unless we ask nicely. We can have a fit because Mom said "Give me my phone back." but if Mom says "Kate, can I please have my phone back" then it's all ok. RESPECT.... also, at her developmental checks she will not do what they ask. At the last one (about a week ago) they got out a HUGE stuffed bear to try to get her to come play with them. She smiled slightly (with a look that said, "I'd DIE to be playing with that bear right now, but I can't since you want me to") and walked the other way. There was NO getting her to play with that bear until the end, when she wasn't supposed to. I found it all very hilarious. And we wonder why she doesn't talk. Why would she, if we WANT her to?

When I write these things it sounds so cute and funny. But actually, in real life, I struggle to see the humor oftentimes. I'm working on that.

She WALKS! (finally!)

My baby girl is officially walking. And she's pretty darn cute at it too!

She's a stinker tho. She totally could have been walking 2 months ago. Instead she took a few steps now and then and absolutely REFUSED to practice in my sight. I would walk into a room where she was walking and she'd see me and sit down and cry. (How DARE I interupt her private practice times!) Eventually, when she did walk while I could see it was only....ONLY... in the wading pool, on a bed, or sometimes in the grass. Never somewhere easy to walk. Never somewhere normal.

But...over the last couple weeks she's started walking more and more and by mid-July she was walking "full-time." It's sooo nice that she isn't crawling on the hot cement anymore-wearing out here knees and/or clothing, etc. The other day she tried running. And again this morning I saw her running after Kaden.

Also, she FINALLY has a 3rd tooth! I was seriously beginning to wonder if her mouth forgot what it was there for. She eats any food she wants, but no one but Mom and Dad will give her those foods since they don't think she could possible chew it with no teeth!

Right Here at Home

Nothing like watching some video coverage of a town torn apart by a tornado to put my problems in perspective!

Also seeing the pictures/videos of my hometown and the flood that is, and is coming.

It reminds me of that country song...I don't know the title. One of the main chorus lines is "I've got problems, right here at home." I think it fits. It seems that the weather is beating up all different areas and we all have our problems "right here at home."

I can't say Gillette has seen it's share yet, but I also wouldn't say I'm holding my breath against it!

But my problem "right here at home" is my sick baby girl. How many appointments, fevers, meds, etc...can this girl possibly have? It's certainly wearing on me. I'm praying for real answers...not just more meds.

But my perspective has changed. My problems are small compared to many.

On the Mend?

Poor Katelyn

She got her MMR and chickenpox vaccines last Monday and has been sick ever since. Firt she got a fever-which I attributed to her shots. Then it got worse. So we took her in to the doctor (pause, while I tell this story.)

The appointment was at 3:10pm. I had to go early to do a UTI test for Kate, so it was 2pm. Naptime for both kids. Kate was sick and grouchy (read: screaming her head off). I walk in and they hand me the stuff for the urine sample. Surprise! I get to put it on this time, instead of them. They have no baby changing station (at a pediatrician's office!)So we head outside to put it on in the car. Kate is NOT impressed. We go back in and Kaden runs to play on the playground in the waiting room. Kaden got pushed off the playground (and landed straight down on his head). So I give Kaden Kate's sippy (only way to calm him down) Kate didn't like that. Kaden guzzled it so then he had to pee. He won't pee with his shoes on and I wouldn't take his shoes off. (we are now working on that problem) So by the time we leave the bathroom, Kaden has NOT peed. Both kids are screaming bloody murder (and I'm pretty sure I've been reported to someone for some kind of abuse by the sounds coming from that bathroom!) So i take them and go for a drive (we were trying to get a urine sample so i didn't have to be in the waiting room-just had thought, THOUGHT, it would be easiest). Drive doesn't help. Not at all. Kate is screaming so hard I thought she was going to throw up, so we come back to the office and I rock kate in he parking lot and leave Kaden in the carseat and call daddy in for backup. After daddy got there he was able to convince Kaden to potty with his shoes and pants around his ankles, and Kate was happy to be away from MOM. We go into the dr at teh scheduled time (Luke had been there maybe 5 minutes...thank goodness he came!) and come to find out she has an ear infection so getting the dumb urine sample is pointless because she'll get antibiotics either way. SIGH.

back to the original story. So that whole dr visit was because her fever was up at 104.2 all night-even with meds. So we started her on antibiotics-fever still doesn't break, and 3 days later (and 7 days after the shots)she gets a rash. We can't tell if it is hives (allergy to amoxiccillan?) or rash (reaction to live vaccine)...sooooooooo back to the dr we went. No answers. We changed antibiotic in case (and Dr told me to try amoxiccillan again sometime when I can "watch for a reaction" umm. No thanks, I'll do the blood test.) Anyway, we got a new antibiotic which seems to finally have kicked in and her fever is gone. She finally took some good naps yesterday (good thing, cuz this momma was low on patience!)

She still has the rash and is itchy, but we're hoping that will be gone in a day or 2. needless to say, we won't be hanging around other kids for a few days!!

On a side note. It is kinda cute to watch a one year old rub her head and back on things to "itch" them-once you get past the feeling super sorry for them!

Kate is ONE!

For the next 2 1/2 months now I have a 1 year old and a 2 year old.

I was welcomed into this "Mom of a one and two year old" phase of my life by Kaden peeing all over the bathroom floor (accident?? I think so.) on the morning of Kate's birthday. Awesome.

Speaking of Kate's birthday. It was a fun party! We had it the day after her birthday so my parents could be here with us. We had a few other people over and had brats (the meat-we didn't eat the kids), polish dogs, hot dogs, potato, pasta and green salads, lemonade, and chips. Of course, it snowed.

I didn't get a lot of pictures, but managed to get a good one (or 2) of the cake. I was proud of it! Just cupcakes made to look like flowers. Then I made a little spot of mud where I wrote Happy Birthday Kate. For months I had looked at cake ideas and didn't like anything I saw...finally found just a picture of this one and knew it was perfect for Katelyn. It took a lot longer than I thought it would to frost and put together, but it was totally worth it!


She truly enjoyed every lick of frosting and can now be considered a frosting-aholic. SHe KNOWS what frosting is now!



She got lots of cool toys too! Ironically-everyone got her Melissa and Doug brand. Kitchen toys and sandbox toys. Kaden is pretty sure it was all for him.

March Madness

As I sat here trying to figure out when Kaden could have his next dose of Tylenol (which also happens to be the last teaspoon of both "i b Broken" and Tylenol both) I realized something. This family may have singlehandedly supported the pain medicine industry this month.

We completely (started AND finished in just this month) used:
3 Children's Tylenol bottles
2 Infant Tylenol Bottles
1 1/2 Infant Ibuprofen
1 Children's Ibuprofen
at least 50 Adult extra strength Tylenols
and some amount of Adult Advil

AND I don't just feed my kids (or Luke) pain meds! Other than this surgery for Kaden-they ONLY got pain meds for fevers above 100*. Maybe I should look into getting a prescription for these meds? Then I could get a tax write off at least. LOL. Maybe April will be less painful month all around???

A day in the life...

How did it become March already? And not just March, but almost the MIDDLE of March!?
Kaden has been on antibiotics since the first of the month. I took him in for a red eyeball (that looked like he'd poked it) and he came out with a double ear infection, meds for his eye, and a referral to the ENT doctors. I was happy. I had decided there was only 1 doctor in that office that I am willing to see-and I told them I would only take an appointment with him. I've never been pushy enough to do that before. Boy did it pay off!! The other doctors won't even talk about the poor kid's tonsils. The antibiotics haven't helped the tonsils at all (they are still "kissing" as the doctor called it.) But I think it must have helped his ears because he seems to feel better. I am excited to be moving forward in getting Kaden's tonsil problems figured out. But as the realization comes that he will have to have surgery it really makes me sad for him.
Katelyn is little miss toothless still. She attempts to get them-fever, crabbiness, swollen gums, diahrea and all...but she will NOT chew on things. I keep telling her that I'm pretty sure if she'd chew on something it'd help that tooth pop through. Even if I try to put my finger on her gums she will just get mad and scream at me. And yes, I've tried them all. The cold icy ones, the soft squishy ones, the food ones, all of it. I figure-she'll have teeth by kindergarten, so I won't worry about it now. Sure wish the fevers would stop though. They always make me nervous that they are more than teething...like the UTI's or something.
Today Kaden was on his play phone talking and I tried to ask him something and he said to me "Mom, not now, I'm on the phone with someone." So I asked him who and he said "It's daddy" and then went on to tell daddy that "Mommy says hi." and all about what he wanted for lunch. It was great!
Katelyn has some new words. Ok, so only 2. She says "bye bye" (SOMETIMES) mostly she just waves hi and bye. And she claps her hand and says "Paaaaa-b" for Pattycake. Now aren't those just the most useful words? Her favorite game is definitely pattycake! Kaden is now into Rock-a-bye-Baby...only because we drop him at the end I think.
Well-the baby's crying and that's all I can think of to update. I'll try to have more funny stories next time!

Cheyenne & Denver

Early this month we headed down to Cheyenne, WY so Luke could attend the WES Conference for his engineering stuff. (Can you tell I know a lot about it?) We headed down on Thursday and did a little shopping and took the kids swimming. Both LOVED the pool. And Kate was so adorable in her little baby swimsuit. Want proof? Ok, fine, I'll put some pictures in (since you twisted my arm, and all.)Ok "some pictures" might have been an understatement. Sorry.





While Luke was at the conference on Friday, the kids and I did some shopping. It was a really windy, cold day and by about 2pm I was SO done. Thankfully, Luke decided to skip out on the last 45 mintues of the conference and we got to head to Denver (and Brent and Claire's) early. We got there in time to eat some dinner and then Luke and Brent headed to a Nuggets basketball game. While they were there we did our best to tire out our 2 year olds...here's a hint to what they did!




I think they ended up having a bath everyday we were there. It was a great entertainment when we adults were worn out! They went to bed VERY well for us that night.
Saturday we took the boys to the mall to wear themselves out in the indoor play area. That's where my finger decided to swell, itch, and totally take away from my day. I survived, but it sure was annoying. For the afternoon, Claire and I got to go shopping all by ourselves. It probably sounds more fun than it was, since neither of us felt like we had money to blow! It was nice to get away and I'm totally jealous that Claire has access to all those stores within 5 minutes notice. (Traffic depending-of course!)That evening we made the men put the boys to bed. Let's just say it didn't go so well for them. It makes a mom feel good...is that bad????
Sunday was the superbowl, snacks for the kids, more baths, and just hanging out and relaxing.

Oh yah. And church! Kate got compliments for how good of a baby she is in the church nursery. She's such a sweetie!
Here's a picture of the boys...as you might have noticed it was a little hard to get them still enough to get a good one. This was MAJOR success!

We got home Monday evening and we were all so tired that we put on Lady and the Tramp and had movie night til we were allowed to go to bed!
Thanks Brent, Claire, and Parker for letting us see your world!

A little bit of ♥

The last time I posted I remember it was a sick day...it's been a while, and yet, not much has changed! Fevers seem to be the theme of this year so far, but we're glad that so far, they don't seem to be signaling anything too horrible. Kaden's the last one to have a fever, and today seems to be doing MUCH better. Kate's fever seemed to be a result of teething-although-we still have no teeth to show for it. At this rate she's gonna be a hairless, toothless, one year old soon. Poor girl. *edit* I think this picture is how she's felt lately...with her teething, etc...



We celebrated Valentine's day a bit early in the Antonich world. Tradition is for me to make heart pizzas and have candlelit dinner as a family. Kaden loved his mini heart pizza and the "fires". I think Luke did too. He brought home some roses-which are STILL sitting beautifully on the table a week later. Kate got to have mac 'n cheese...she seemed thrilled until she realized she didn't have pizza on her tray. I'd post a picture but my camera has disspeared. Very frustrating. VERY.




*edited* The pictures are now uploaded. I'm thanking the camera elves for bringing it back to me so soon! Here are my other two Valentines! I'm a lucky girl!!!

Every year I just can't wait til next Valentine's Day!

Sick Day!

Katelyn started running a fever yesterday, then in the middle of the night threw up a little bit. This morning I thought she was doing better, but her fever spiked again around 9:30am. SO, here we are, down in our basement with netflix running and as comfy as possible! Kaden's loving the mom time and Katelyn is loving the movies! (Truth be told, Kaden's loving the movies just as much!) I did run out and get starbucks to help me through the day, and ran one errand. Other than that I'm just going to love on my kids and do my best to not have a TO-DO list today. Here's a picture of Kate-it's not the greatest because it's from my phone.

To bad I didn't realize we needed more baby advil. SIGH. Maybe I'll run out when Luke's home for lunch. I swear the Advil cuts the fever WAY better than Tylenol-but we're using both to keep on top of it.