highlight of my work day!

i think sometimes i take for granted how fortunate i am to have kellen attending the child development center at my work. while, he's still in a group care environment and there are challenges to that...man, there are so many benefits and it's really the ideal situation with me working. i mean, we drive together to work/school. his building is a 10 minute walk across campus from mine (he in the vivian stringer center, me in alberto salazar building!). he is in a state of the art facility, with teachers who care for him and provide him so much opportunity for learning and development. i sometimes run into him and his class out and about on campus for a walk and i can pop over anytime to say hello! to top it off, i often get pictures of him from his teachers in my inbox and let me tell you...when i do, it's THE highlight of my work day! i call over all my co-workers to check out my cute boy!

here are a couple i received this week:

this is his new cheesy smile! evidently as soon as they pulled out the camera, he ran right over and gave his teacher this big, cute, cheesy smile!


this is his cute, but not so cheesy smile! right now, i'm kinda partial to the cheesy one!! but i'll take any...they all melt my heart!! i love this boy.

coming out of the fog...

sorry for my lack of posting...we've been laying fairly low lately and there hasn't been anything super blog-worthy or i just haven't felt up to it! keeping up with a busy toddler has captured most of our attention and we find ourselves exhausted at the end of the day. sitting at the computer is the last thing on my mind!

last weekend the poor boy was sick again. we had actually had a pretty good run of being fairly healthy! there was lots of vomit, crying and lounging on the couch for hours on end. this picture pretty much captures the highlight of our entire weekend!

fortunately we seem to be out of it and just dealing with a lingering cough now. his appetite has picked up again, which is such a relief to me.

his weight is a new area of concern. i'm trying very hard not to focus or stress about it, but it's not easy for me. last week at his 15 month appt, his statistics were a little startling.

Weight - 20 lbs 8 ounces - 5th percentile
Height - 31 inches - 48th percentile

it's the weight that concerns me, although the doctor wasn't super alarmed. he's only gained 9 ounces in the last 3.5 months!! i do realize that in that time, he has had his share of being sick, he had surgery and he's become much more active and busy...but the poor little guy is getting skinny! his little ribs are showing!!! our doctor said to just keep focusing on making sure he gets offered enough food and to try and give lots of plant based fats (avocado, olive oil. almond and other nut butters). the frustrating thing is that he is also a little bit of a picky eater. he's hot and cold. one day he's a great eater, the next he picks like a bird. one day he loves something and the next he shakes his head no and puts his hand up! you can't force a kid to eat and i certainly don't want mealtime to be a power struggle...but i can't help but feel a bit disappointed when he doesn't eat much! i've read and often re-read the book child of mine, which i really believe in. if anyone has any hands on advice or ideas on foods to try with kellen, let me know! i know he won't starve himself, but i'd like to see some meat on this kid's bones!!

sleeping through the night {finally!!!!!}

i've hesitated to say it for fear of jinxing it, but the boy is FINALLY sleeping through the night and in his crib! ever since he started school in the fall, we got into this bad habit of him waking and demanding to nurse. being, the guilty working mom that i was, i felt like i needed to give it to him because he was drinking very little milk throughout the day - like 2-4ounces total...when most babes were drinking around 3 - 5 ounce bottles! i was exhausted, but there was always a reason on why i didn't feel like it was the right time to sleep train him - he was sick, he was teething, he needed to gain weight (had dropped from the being solidly in the 50th percentile pre-school and his low was the 6th percentile a couple of months after starting going to school!), and on and on and on. after a couple of months of getting up and feeding him and then getting him back to sleep, i became SO tired that i would just bring him into bed so i could nurse him lying down and then we'd both drift back to sleep. right away, i knew this was a bad plan...but i was TIRED! i quickly tried to right my wrong, but it was TOO late...the boy enjoyed being in bed with us and grew to demand it! he would start screaming in his crib around 2am with teddy and blanket in hand, waiting for me to come and get him! and again...i was TOO tired to solve the problem.

until a few weeks ago - it started getting ridiculous. he no longer would just go back to sleep in our bed, it became a whole night ordeal of him tossing and turning, kicking and waking - signing for milk and thinking that i was a 24 hour, all you can eat buffet. my goal of weaning him was suddenly further and further away and i was even MORE exhaused...if that was possible! wednesday, february 18 was the day our lives changed! after a vent session and pep talk with my friend, erin, i was inspired to put my foot down and gain the control i had lost to my 14 month old! that night, aa and i decided that kellen could learn to sleep through the night in his own crib.

it was surprisingly much easier than i ever imagined. aa deserves much of the credit, for he was the one who had to go in and comfort and soothe the boy back to sleep those first couple of nights.

Night 1 was the hardest - he woke at midnight and it took aa about 30 minutes of shhooshing, singing and lying on the floor next to the crib. an hour later, he woke up again and it took about 20 minutes of the same routine. 4am he awoke again, but this time aa went in and gave him his pacifier and was able to walk right out. if i remember right, he then slept until 7:30 or 8am that morning. Not TOO bad of a night.

Night 2 - miraculous - he woke at 4am and aa was back in bed after less than 10 minutes and that included about 5 minutes of him falling asleep on the floor! this time the boy slept in until around 8ish! Huge improvement!!!

Night 3 - he stirred and cried a bit at 6am, but put himself back to sleep and woke around 7:30 - OMG...he really did it and he's been doing pretty much the same thing since then!!!

i was a little worried that our trip might set us back, since we'd all be sleeping in the same room with him in a pack and play next to our bed...but the sweet boy slept through the night and woke up at what is now his fairly normal time of around 6:45.

i can't tell you how much this has changed all of our lives! we have our bed back and we are all sleeping so much better and waking up in a happy mood. this was so right for all of us and it was clear that we were all ready for this change in our sleeping habits (although i will admit that both aa and i do comment how we kind of miss waking up to him next to us in the morning!!!)! once again...sorry for the wordy post, but i wanted to get this down for my own documentation purposes and also give anyone else encouragement that you can break bad sleeping habits, even in older babies!

friends

this past weekend the three of us flew down to meet the newest little Staley - Shea Noel - who is now 9.5 weeks old. she is a total cutie, although kellen was much more impressed with macen, who is 3 1/2 years old. let me tell you...our boy LOVES older girls! thinks they are the total bomb. he had so much fun following her around, playing in the playroom with her and just giggling at her! i had lots of fun just watching them play - made me a little sad that we don't live in the same town anymore so they could play all the time! with three kids under the age of 4, we didn't do much but hang out, eat, play with the babes and play a few rounds of cards...but it was perfect, just relaxing and catching up with dear friends. can't wait until next time!

i didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few:

kellen loving the pink barbie piano and kellen and mace in their footie pj's

gut check on my 2009 list

it's hard to believe that it's march already...time is a ticking! if i'm not careful the year is going to pass me by and i'm not going to accomplish as much of my list as i'd like...here's where things stand:

1. take a photography class - i've done NOTHING towards this one! hmmm...need to get on it!
2. get an external hard drive for our computer and back up all our photos and videos...ahh...this one has been hanging over my head for awhile now! - CHECK! - I've totally completed this one!!
3. be better at meal planning - i think i've thought about it a couple of weeks, but can do MUCH better!
4. try at least one new recipe each month - this shouldn't be that hard, but i'm not sure i've done this. if i have, i need to do better at documenting!
5. waste less food - i wish i could say i've been good at this, but i haven't.
6. compost - we're getting going on this one! the compost bin was installed today!!

7. get more pedicures this year...i think last year i got a whopping 2! need to improve upon that this year. who wants to help me with that one?? - now this should be really easy, but i haven't had even one yet! i did get a facial on friday, which was pretty luxurious!8. consume less/simplify - hmm...not sure where i stand with this one yet!

9. eat as a family more - we're doing pretty good with this one...although sometimes we're eating a little later than i'd like...can't do everything right, though!

10. figure out our family holiday traditions - no progress yet

11. reduce my hours at work - no progress yet

12. wean the boy - working on it!

13. travel - we have some ideas!

14. have an internet free weekend each month...or at least a day/month! this one will be hard!!! :) - didn't do it in january, but did do it in february...let's see how march goes!

15. go to the beach more often this year - so far so good...see post below!

16. take a trip for our 5th anniversary...possibly without the boy - need to get the details figured out and everything booked. looking forward to this one!

17. more date nights with aa - we've only had one so far

18. move more - already working on this one - i'm getting certified to take the pilates reformer classes at the gym - it's so great! any nike peeps want to join me for the tue/thurs 4:30 class? - doing pretty good here...have been taking the pilates classes at least 2 times a week and LOVING it!

19. 1 month in 2009 = no consumption - - need to pick the month...requires me to be very strategic!

20. use zero disposable plastic water bottles - two months down and not a single plastic water bottle. last night i was at a party and really wanted some water, but they were only serving it in plastic water bottles, so i declined!

our trip to the beach...in photos

playing around with all the great things in the cupboards!

getting ready for our walk on the beach and eating cinnamon chip french toast with dada

mom and dad's dinner and me in my bob

our silohouttes on the sand and dad and me looking very serious

obligatory family self portrait and walking with mama on the beach

Out for a trike ride on a sunny day!