Kaleb's Christmas

At first I thought that Kaleb would not want anything to do with opening Christmas gifts, but I was wrong. He wasn't ripping into them or anything and actually he wanted to make sure that every piece of tape and paper was off the gift before he even laid eyes on whatever it was that was inside. Ricky and I let him open all of the gifts that were under the tree and he was actually interested until we were about 3/4 of the way done. Well at least until he opened his Thomas the Train cho cho set. Once that was open and he saw what it was, he didn't care about anything else that could possibly be opened. So Ricky and I finished and lets just say that he hasn't stopped playing with his cho cho since.
Thank you to all of you that were so giving this year. Because you were so generous, Ricky and I only bought Kaleb 2 things, everything was given or purchased with a gift card that he was given. So THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
Pictures to come...

playing in the snow

Sorry the pictures are little. Just get really close to your screen and you will be able to give him a kiss and see a little better! :)

Kaleb's 1st time playing in the snow...

Kaleb learning how to make snowballs!

Just a little update...

Ricky and I went to another ultra sound about a week ago, for a check up on the baby's kidneys. It turns out that the alarming number to be worried about is 7mm and the baby's kidney was at 6mm. So we are in the "clear" zone. The dr there said that the pediatricians' would want to do a ultrasound a week or two after he is born. So until then, we are going to stop worrying so much and focus on having a healthy baby boy. Now the next obstical is yet another glucose tollerance test. I was gestational with Kaleb, so they screaned me early and I failed my one hour but passed my three hour. Since it was early this time I still need to do it again at 28 weeks. Which is only about a week away. I am going in on Monday to take it before I leave for MN. Anyways, I thought that everyone would just like an update.
We are going to play in the snow in a little while so I will get those pictures up soon.
Take care everyone! We love you all.

Kaleb and Santa

They both look SO scared! At least there were NO tears (by either of them).

It's a waiting game!

I know it has been a really long time since I have put some new pictures up... and I am sorry. I could make an excuse and say that the last month has been really busy. But that won't cut it for some so I will just say that Ricky's mom is here until Wednesday and we have been taking pictures every day so I will get them up soon.
We went to go and see Santa last night so I will get that one up too.

Love you all!

Our Halloween

Here are a few pictures from our Trick or Treating at the Everett Mall...

Carving Pumkins

This is how Ricky carves pumkins. My sister says, "It must be a Pittsburgh thing!"

Aww

Ricky got these pictures the other night when we went into tuck Kaleb into bed. He is such a sweet little boy!!

Just in case you can't tell, that is Mickey Mouse he is holding onto!

Kaleb being Kaleb

This was taken the other night. He had been trying to get the cat to go into the bathroom all night long. I think to go potty? Anyways, I had been trying to get the video, I got what I wanted; but Kaleb didn't. He is sooooo close though!

Taking a break from homework...

I have been at homework for the last two hours and I feel like my brain is going to crumble into mush if I don't take a break... so here I am. In case you haven't heard yet, we found out what the sex of the baby is.......... a BOY! We are really excited and can't wait to meet him. I guess Leah is out of the question now, so are there any good ideas for us? I still like Austin and Ricky doesn't, and he likes Ethan and I don't. Typical when it comes to picking names out!

On another note, we went to The Roloff Farms this weekend in Hillsboro, OR. We made it a little mini vacation. We drove down (about a 4 hour drive) on Saturday after Ricky got off of work, spent the night Saturday and Sunday night. In case you don't know what Roloff Farms is... it is the farm that the Roloff family has built and is featured on "Little People Big World". They open their pumpkin patch, hay rides and tours to the public every Halloween season. We had an awesome time and took some really neat pictures. On Monday we went to the Oregon Zoo. We had a great time there too, but the farm was the highlight of the trip! Here are a few pictures from the weekend. The last one is of Ricky, Kaleb and I with Molly (daughter on the show) with Honey and PaPa (her grandparents; Matt's mom and Dad).

Names

I have duty this weekend, which means that I basically have to work the whole weekend. Today my job was to drive one of our active duty members to the airport, since he is deploying on Monday. Anyways, I had a lot of driving today and on the way back I came up with a possible boy and girl name. The boy name that I like is Austin Dean; named after Ricky's best friend and my dad. And the girl name that I like is Leah Ann; named after mine and Ricky's sister. Ricky on the other hand isn't too sure of what to think of them and he is still stuck on Ethan for a boy. I don't like the name and I think that it is too common right now to name my own kid that.
So everyone, tell me what you think. Or if you have any other ideas shoot them this way.
BTW I have another OB appointment on the 14th and will have an ultrasound shortly after to find out the sex. We are so excited and are on the fence now of if we are hoping for a boy or a girl. It seems like all of our friends and family want us to have a girl, so that is starting to wear on us and we are getting used to the idea.
So, let us know what you think!

Kaleb's Halloween Costume

 


 
We ordered Kaleb's costume off of ebay and we got it today. So naturally I put him in it and took some pictures. It is all one piece and none other than Mickey Mouse himself. He looks so cute in it and when he saw it for the first time, he gave him a big hug! What a little sweety we have. I can't wait to take him around our neighborhood.

Kaleb's New Sibling

Since we are expecting a new baby in the family, we decided to get Kaleb a new baby so that she will be used to having a little one around. It is kinda far fetched but, hey it sounds like a good idea. Above is a video of Kaleb interacting with "JoSue Sammy" S/he is a Cabbage Patch Newborn doll that acutally pees their diaper! And if you know Kaleb like we do, smelling the baby isn't anything out of the ordinary.

Kaleb's MRI

A few days ago Ricky, Kaleb and I went down to Children's Hospital for a MRI of Kaleb's brain. You might already know that we are on the hunt to figure out why Kaleb is not learning at the rate that a two year old should be. We have him in speech and physical therapy to try and jump start him into catching him up with where he should already be. So among the many tests past, present and future that he will have to undergo, a MRI of his brain was the hardest so far. The first picture is of him before his scan and next is a picture right as he was waking up. We have a really funny video but it will not upload because the file size is too big. I know it is mean of Ricky and I to laugh but after what we had all just been through it is a good release of some nervous thoughts that were in our minds. Kaleb did really well with the anesthesia and is beginning to be a pro at coming out of it. He had PE Tubes placed in February of 2008 and it was the most horrible thing to watch as your own child does not recognize you or your voice for a good 45 minutes and thrashes when you try to hold him. We have Genetics, and Neuro Developmental Testing next. I will keep up with the blog to inform everyone on how he is doing and the test results. Kaleb's MRI should no abnormalities (Thank GOD!)so that is one of the reasons we are moving onto further testing.

I Know... I know

So I know that I am the worst blogger ever! I seem to never have the time or the brain to remember to add a little note or a picture here and there. Well, since the last time I wrote, (like always) a lot has gone on.
The summer quarter has ended, and I boosted my GPA, thank God! We are in Minnesota right now, we got here on the 17th at 5am and since then we have had NO time to enjoy anything since all 5 adults and 2 toddlers have gotten sick! That's right, it started with Ricky and Kaleb the day after we got here, we thought that we could blame it on the Olive Garden since that is where we had lunch that day, but when Riley (my nephew) got sick, we knew that it wasn't the Olive Garden. So we went to Urgent Care for Kaleb, he is on antibiotics for another ear infection. After 2 days of no eating, throwing up and some oh so fun GI issues, we moved onto the next person. So Saturday came, and it was time for the wedding, everything was going great, we thought that the bug had passed and we were over it. Then my mom gets an upset stomach at the cocktail party before the bride and groom came to the reception, next to go during dinner was Lisa, then on the way home Kyle (who was driving) was making the free way a race track so that he could hurry up and get home to take care of himself since he was starting to get sick. My mom and Kyle had a race to the bathroom all night, and same with the rest of the next day, then it was my turn! I ended up only with an upset stomach, nothing worse. Which I am thankful for!! Monday was the Fair day. The original plan was to go with everyone except Kyle (who left to go back to school on Sunday). My mom was still achy so she stayed behind and the 5 of us went. Well we lasted about 4 hours and couldn't take the crowd so we left. We get home, Riley isn't very happy with anything and we find out that he is running a fever of 103.3 so off to the ER Lisa and I go. We get done in about 2 hours and thought then we were done with the sickness. The next night (tonight) my mom and Lisa agree to watch Kaleb so Ricky and I can go eat a dinner with no kids. We get a phone call when we are 2 minutes away from home and it's Lisa, she is going back to the ER because Riley wont eat, drink and wont stop vomiting AGAIN! When it was just Ricky sick, my mom made the comment, "Why don't you guys take your germs back to Washington?" Now I am wondering the same thing. But we still had a good time away from home, and it will definitely be hard to go back to work on Thursday since I have been off since the 13th.
Moving on....
As some of you may already know, Ricky and I are pregnant again. We found out around the first week of July, but didn't want to really spread the word until we were a little further along. We are due in March and praying for another boy!
I better get off to bed now, take care everyone and thank you for reading!

The Great Wolf Lodge!!!

In case you didn't all know... Ricky, Kaleb and I spent the night at The Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA. We had a blast!!! Here are some pictures! Check out the smile on Kaleb's face on the last slide!

Latest & Greatest

Info on the new slide show...

I have finally sat down to get the pictures I have been promising up on here, and the camera was dead, so I couldn't upload them. But it charged long enough for me to upload and here we are... so here is the descriptions of the order...
First is pictures of us at the Everett Mall. We went to a dinosaur dig store where you dig for jewles, fossils, fool's gold, and teeth. Kaleb loved it so much he wanted to get in! On the outside of the store, there was a dino theamed playground.
Then it was Saturday the 28th of June, and we went to "the little gym" in Everett, they specialize in motor development for children. We saw them a few months back at the Marysville Healthy Kids day and decided to give it a shot. Lucky for us, they give everyone a free trial. So we went, and will be signing Kaleb up for class in the fall.
Later that night, I had a girls night (I was the DD), and Ricky stayed home with Mark and Julie's 3 and Kaleb, they had a blast rough housing together and having a mini photo shoot! Looks like Ricky is ready for another baby!!! (I am NOT pregnant, but we are "trying")
The next day, Ricky invited some friends over for a BBQ and Mark and Julie and the gang came over too for a little splash time in the sun! The 4 littler kids had a great time running around in the water and the pool.
The ones of our legs and Kaleb is when Ricky and I were playing WII Fit. Kaleb wanted to play too, so he did! He tried so hard to get on the board with us, but he couldn't fit. When we gave him a chance to get on, he wanted nothing to do with it and wanted to put on my flip-flops instead.
The 4th of July was later that week and we went over to Mark and Julie's (we sure spent a lot of time with them that week!). They had a BBQ and set off some $400 worth of fireworks. Kaleb wasn't really into it so he want to bed and Julie and I hung out in the "gated community" with the kids while the boys played with the fireworks. Julie, me and the kids were almoset set on fire at the end of the night, so we went in and put the 3 down and cleaned up.
Overall we have had a few busy weeks, and it is only July, but we are looking forward to the nice weather in the future and plan to take advantage of every minute of sunshine there is! Enjoy the show!!!

The last few days...

So I haven't written in a while but I will just write a quick update and upload some pictures after this weekend is over. Since the last time, we have been back to the water park in Everett, had a girls night out, started to potty train Kaleb, had a BBQ at our house and the regular everyday stuff.
For the 4Th we are planning on going over to Mark and Julie's for some fun in the sun, BBQ and some fireworks. We don't have a whole lot of other plans but we are going to hit the potty training thing hard this weekend. Maybe by this time next month we will be a diaper free home!!! It is sad to think that Kaleb is getting so big. He is learning more and more everyday and really making a lot of progress since his tubes.
That is all for now, but I will get some new pics up soon. Take care all and Happy 4Th!!!

Parade

Last night we went to the longest parade in HISTORY! We went to the Marysville Strawberry Festival Parade that started at 7:45pm and we didn't get into our car (that was parked across the street) until 10PM. Can you belive that? The night was perfect. We originally were supposed to be meeting everyone at 6pm. I got a phone call around 4 from a friend of mine that was going with us. She said that someone had moved the chairs that were camped out since 9am that morning so my other friend was there holding the spot for us so we should meet her earlier than planned. So Ricky got home from work, we packed the car and went to sell a WII game and headed to Quizno's for dinner. After it was all said and done we met her in downtown Marysville at 6pm. Sorry Melissa! Her mom works at the Safeway gas station and posted a "no parking zone" so that our 5 cars would have a front row spot! So we unloaded, walked accross the street and set up shop. Melissa had her husband's pickup parked there so we would have a place to put the kids. They played in the bed for over an hour and loved every minute of it. Then it was time to start the parade. We watched and watched and watched some more. It was getting dark and the parade kept going. Finally the last fire truck came through and it was over. We loaded back up the car and headed home. We got home around 10:15 and went straight to bed. Kaleb had a LONG day and about a 40 minute nap and was still wanting to play when we got home. Where does he get is energy? I will put a slide show together of our days since we have been home from CA. Enjoy!

Its been a while

So I know that I haven't posted anything in a long time. Well I sort of have a reason/excuse. That would be that I had finals last week and needed to focus on those. I did ok, GPA wise I am not where I need to be so I am taking a class this summer that will hopefully raise it up a bit. I am at a 2.7 and I need to be a 3.7. Kaleb is learning more and more everyday. He now listens to you when you tell him to go "in time out". He knows when he is doing something wrong because he will look back at you and see if you are looking. Next weekend we are taking him to "the little gym", it is a place that focuses on motor development skills in small children. The class is a parent and me setting until he is a little bit older. Hopefully we like it and get into the summer semester. Classes start again on Monday so we have a jam packed weekend taking advantage of my freedom. As far as upcomming events, other than birthday parties, the 4th, and school there isn't much more. So when I get some more pictures they will be posted. Take care everyone and thanks for reading!

Our Vacation Photos!

We're Back!!!

Hi everyone! We are back and getting setteled back into our routine. We had a great time in CA. We stayed with Ricky's aunt and uncle for the first 2 nights and then checked into our hotel on Tuesday afternoon. One Sunday we got to Ricky's aunt and uncles around noon. We hung out with them at their place for a while and then went to their country club to sit by the pool. We stayed there for about 2 hours and then went back to their house to change and went out to dinner. Kaleb was so tired from the day that he slept with his head on the dinner table. We came back to the house and Kaleb and I went to sleep for the night. The next morning, we woke up and went back to the country club for their Memorial Day Annual Celebration. We got into line for some breakfast and everything was going great, then Kaleb heard the diving board bouncing after someone jumped off and it all went downhill from there. So after hearing him cry for a good hour, we decided to leave. We got in the car and drove to Leguna Beach. We walked around for a while and took in the sun. Then we went to an older town where the Mission was, we wanted to go to the petting zoo but it was closed by the time we got there. We has some dinner and went back to the house for some needed rest. Tuesday we checked into the hotel and it was off to DisneyLands California Adventures Theme Park. Besides Kaleb getting sunscreen in his eye, we had a great time and took a lot of pictures. On Wednesday, Ricky, Kaleb and I went to SeaWorld in San Diego. That was the best part of the trip. Kaleb loved watching all of the shows and he even got to touch a REAL dolphin!! On Thursday we went to DisneyLand, we were there from almost open to close and had a great time. Kaleb got to meet Cruela Duvell, Pluto, Buloo, Mickey, and Minnie. Friday night we relaxed as much as possible, and went to eat dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. There Kaleb got to meet, Jasmine, Max, Pluto, Sleeping Beauty, (Kaleb's favorite) Goofy, the chimney sweeper from Mary Poppins (sorry I don't know his name). Then early Saturday morning (like 5AM) we were up and getting ready to leave to come home. We had a great time and will be going back again! I wouldn't recommend going with a child as young as Kaleb, but we had a wonderful time and enjoyed it very much!

On our way down to.....

DISNEYLAND!!! We leave on eraly Sunday morning for California. We will be visiting Ricky's Aunt and Uncle for a few days and then we will be going to DisneyLand, California Adventures and Sea World. We are so excited to go. A lot of pictures will be taken so I will be sure to post them next Saturday when we get home. So make sure you take a look!
On to other news, Kaleb has started saying more words, He will count 1,2,3 on his fingers, he says "DA DA" "UH OH" "SIT DOWN" "NA" (for more) "ALL DONE" "THANK YOU" Of course these words are not said and pronounced perfectly, but hey, it's a start and we are excited for him.
It is time for bed so I will write more when we get back!

BIG NEWS!!!

Guess what??? Kaleb has 2 words!!! Well if you want to get technical, he has 3. He says (when he purposely drops something on the floor) "uh-oh" and when he sees Ricky or me for the first time in a while he says "hhhhhhhhhhhii" in a high pitched voice. I will try to get these one video and post them if I get them. Just thought you would like to know!

New Slide Show

The BIG day Kaleb and Firsts!

Today was Kaleb's first trip to the dentist. He was a little apprehensive at first when I opened the office door. So we read a book and within 5 minutes he was warmed up and was playing. Then it was time to go into the exam room. He was a little apprehensive again and when I picked him up he wanted to get down, only to run out of the room. Once the dentist came into the room, he looked at him like he was an alien. So we played with his mask for a minute, with his gloves and then it was time to look in his mouth. The dentist and I did this thing called a "knee to knee exam" which means that Kaleb sat on my lap facing me, and when he laid back his head was in the dentist's lap, and his and my knees met. As soon as he laid back, he started to cry. But that is a good thing since when he cries his mouth is open. He put some fluoride on his teeth, looked around with the mirror and explorer. He cried the whole time and tears ran down the sides of his face. But that was to be expected. Overall, he did great and we are so proud of him. Then I took him to school so I could get some school work done. Ricky picked him up on his way home and we went to see Kaleb's first movie in a movie theater. We saw "Horton hears a Who" which is a pretty good kid movie. Kaleb was amazed at first, then he got bored. Since we were the only ones in the theater Kaleb was entertained by playing in the rows. He watched the movie off and on but wasn't afraid of the larger than life characters. So Kaleb had a big day! One that will not be forgotten.

The First of Many SlideShows!

Update

Since the last post, a lot of things have happened. Kaleb's Grandma, Aunt and Cousin came out to visit. They stayed here for a whole week. We did a lot of things, like, going to the zoo, shopping, played, and ate A LOT! We are glad that they were able to come out and spend some time with us. A few weeks after that, we celebrated Kaleb's 2nd birthday. We had it at the Children's Museum in Everett, WA. The weekend after that we went to Craig's 5th birthday party. That same day we went to the Tulip Festival. Since then, we have been planning our trip to Disney Land in California. Kaleb doesn't completely understand what going to Disney means, but when he sees Mickey for the first time in real life, I am sure he will be exstatic. While we are in CA we will also be visiting Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary who live in Lake Forest, CA. More to come... enjoy the slide show!

Our Son

Kaleb got his tubes put in on the 26th of February. He hasn't shown much change since then but it has only been 3 weeks. So only time will tell how things go. But other than that, Kaleb's grandma, aunt and cousin are coming to WA on Wednesday and we are so excited. Having 3 extra people in the house will sure be interesting. We are planning on going to the Future of Flight for their Edd Drop, the children's museum, and shop till we drop of course. More update to come...

Getting to know us

Ricky and I met in July 2006 on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (the Love boat). After only a few weeks of dating we found out that I was pregnant. Since we had only met a few weeks prior I thought that I was going to be doing this alone. But to my surprise, Ricky was as excited as ever! When I first met him, I, in my heart, knew that he was going to be the one for me. He must have thought the same thing because 4 months later, we were married. Since I was in corps school and he was still on board the Lincoln. Our first year of marriage was spent apart. Between me finishing school, Ricky being deployed, and me flying home to Minnesota to give birth. Ricky was unable to be present at Kaleb's birth, and to this day I wish that I would have had him there. But, since I wasn't able to have him there, I made the best out of it and spent 4 weeks in MN and flew back to WA the week before I had to go back to work. Ricky met Kaleb for the first time July 28Th, 2006. He flew home from Hawaii at the end of his deployment to spend more time with us before he had to leave again. We have been blessed since then and haven't had to say good by to him and hopefully our days of that happening are over. Raising a child is the most rewarding things that one could possibly do in a life time. There have been good times and bad, mostly good though! Over the last few years, Ricky, Kaleb and I have been able to spend a lot of time together, and learning how to be the best parents we can be.