Little Stinker!

My smarty pants girl has figured out (probably with the help of her brother and maybe even watching the dogs) how to scoot her body under the gate blocking her from the laundry area. I have this area blocked because when I am in the kitchen she tends to want to go out there and put toys in the dogs' water dish and eat the dogs' food. She loves their food...In this area there are two exit doors as well which creates a lot of dirt and wet snowy mud. Not a place for a child to be crawling/walking around in. I have to have the gate about eight inches off the floor because as I mentioned, that is where the dogs food and water is. I guess we will have to find another solution to this problem...or maybe she will forget all about this little skill...she wasn't really fond of ducking her head under, so maybe she won't try it for a while again.

Austin's Big Ideas!

Saturday Austin woke with great ambition...he decided that was the day he wanted to rearrange his room! So we sat down in his room together and brainstormed on ways to go about this. There isn't a whole lot of room for creativity since he has a full size futon/bunk bed and not a huge room to begin with. I must say his ideas were anything but great but being the mother that I am I didn't want to crush what he thought sounded like brilliant ideas so I said, "sure, why not", hoping that once it was completed he would see the ridiculousness of it and want to put it back. I thought to myself, "what a great opportunity for me to get him to deep clean his room". So I broke the news to him that if he really wanted to rearrange his room it first needed to be deep cleaned and reorganized since it looked like a tornado destroyed it. I gave him a tub for things he no longer wanted and sent him on his way. To my surprise, about an hour later he came downstairs to tell me he was done...After putting Kezzie down for a nap I proceeded to humor him by moving some furniture around. His idea was to put his bed smack in the middle of the room so that with the futon down flat you would have to crawl through it to get to either side of his room. I thought, "we'll just do this and leave it for a while and then he will get tired of it and we'll move it all back, no biggie". So, long story short...after many modifications to his original thought, he thankfully hated it and after Kezzie's full nap (2 hours) and then some, we finally had an arrangement we were both pleased with! The bed is now on the opposite side of the room and his dresser, bookcase, and computer desk are all in a logical place on the other side of his room. And I think we both like it this way better than before. It was so much fun hanging out with Austin for that long and working together on something without interruptions!Now, the past couple days I have been doing a little deep cleaning myself while he is at school. I think I was able to eliminate half his wardrobe that doesn't fit anymore and many children's books that he has outgrown...I am thankful for our extra garage that is so nice for storing these kinds of things!

Keziah is 15 months!

Today Kezzie is 15 months old. WOW! There are so many things to speak of I don't know where to begin! Kezzie's two upper eye teeth are taking forever to completely come in continuing to give her trouble. She constantly wants something to suck/gnaw on. The bottom ones have yet to show themselves and can stay under as far as I'm concerned! Her hair is getting much different...not longer and not thicker, just different! It is really thin and still pretty light. It also has a pretty crazy mind of it's own so most days, when we are planning an outing, we put as much as we can get in a pony tail on the top of her head! Kezzie is talking up a storm, as you can imagine...here are the words I can think of that make up her vocabulary (I may add some as I remember them).

Kezzie's Vocabulary:

bape (grapes), bip (dip), teats (treats for the dogs), cheese, ater (water), hat, hot, puppies, doggy, cat, ight (light), papa (grandpa), bebow (elbow), ottle (for her baby's bottle), up, chichen (chicken), peas, apple, bear, ball, cup, che chew (thank-you), choes (shoes), ah done (all done), ganger (danger), two, bib, shishin (lotion), bebe (baby), bobbles (bubbles), Hi, peace (please), mom/mama, dad/daddy/dada, ahs-tin (austin), paci (pacifier), poop,

Among the words she can say there are many more that she can understand. For instance if I tell her to point to a duck on a page of animals, she knows what to point to (and many other animals!). If I tell her to go get her purse, she knows what I am talking about, etc.

Sign language she knows:

more, eat, bed, bath, play, movie, drink, bye/hi, book, milk, all done and she can point to all her body parts.

Body parts she knows:

eyes, ears, hair, nose, teeth, tongue, mouth, face, leg, toes, foot, belly, bottom, fingers and head.

Favorite things to do:

Eat, give the dogs their treats at random times during the day, turn on and off light switches, play in Austin's room with all his big boy stuff, climb on the fireplace or anything really, put lotion on, clap, dance, scream and sleep! She also still really enjoys her stacking boxes and is very fond of her new baby doll that she can feed. Her newest discovery is that we both have bellies and she likes to see them! Also, a few days ago I introduced her to the concept of dip...you know, like ketchup for your fries, ranch for your chicken, etc. I did not really think she would understand this wondrous way of eating but apparently she does and LOVES it as much as me! I love condiments! She actually found an extra container of ranch in the lazy susan the other day and was carrying it all over the house saying 'bip, bip, bip'...she is so adorable! I find myself creating her meals around being able to use dip! She is also really into giving hugs and kisses! Another favorite is lotion...I don't know how it ever got started but I have a little bottle of lotion that is now 'hers' and she knows where I keep it and requests to have it put on several times a day. She has also realized that pretty much anything in a bottle similar to that one is lotion and that she should be able to have it applied at will! This includes hand sanitizer, make-up, etc. She even considers 'bip' to be 'shishin' because if you stick your hand in your dip at lunch time you can rub your hands together as if rubbing in lotion!! Oh the days of toddler-hood!!

Kezzies' NEW schedule:

Last week (2/17) Kezzie decided she was done with three breast feedings a day so now she is down to two. Her new schedule goes something like this...

Between 7/7:30-Wake (Kezzie lays on my chest and lets me know when she wants to nurse)

Between 7/7:30-Breast Milk

8ish-Breakfast (Kezzie is eating a wide variety of breakfast foods, no rice cereal anymore)

9:00-Nap Time

10:30/11-Wake

11:30-Lunch (usually a meat, veggie, grain, and fruit, whole milk to drink, which she is doing better with)

1:30/2-Nap Time

3:30 (sometimes as late as 4)-Wake

3:30/4-(snack of cheese fish crackers, raisins, dried blueberries, string cheese, apple, yogurt, or puffs along with a drink of water or milk)

5:30-Supper (whatever I make!!)

7:30ish-Bath Time (every other night)

7:30-Breast Milk

7:30/8-Bed Time (depending on when she woke from her afternoon nap)

This is the month we have to get some more shots. Tomorrow is the big day with her apt at 10. She will have her iron tested again as well since it was low at her 12 month exam. We pray everything goes ok and the pain will be minimal! We love you Keziah Gail...

Keziah's Well Check Exam:

(2/24) Kezzie did a great job at her check-up. She had to have three separate shots. The only time she cried was when they held her legs down and put the needles in. Usually she cries through the whole exam. Kezzie is 22 pounds 7 ounces and is in the 50th %. She is 31 inches long and just below the 75th %. Her head is 18.5" and is in the 75th %. They didn't feel it was necessary to test her iron since it was only slightly low at 12 months and are instead going to check it in another 3 months. The doctor did mention a slight heart murmur that he said is really nothing and she should grow out of it in the next couple years.

Bennett James

He is just way too cute to not put any of these pictures up...this was from the 15th at my mom's birthday celebration. Bennett is so much fun to be around! He has such a great personality. He has a very loud voice, much like Kezzie's! He loves to hear himself scream just for fun and makes the most adorable noises with his lips! He has perfected rolling over and is starting to scoot himself around. It's in a pretty peculiar way...he leans to one side scoots with his foot, leans the other way and pushes with his other foot...it's the 'Benne crawl' (clever eh?)! He is going to be doing things his own way his whole life I have a feeling! He is doing very well at solids and is really getting into some finger foods. He loves his banana puffs especially! Bennett turned 10 months old today! Before we know it he will have blessed us with a year!

Mom's Birthday!

My mom's birthday was Feb. 12th but as a family we celebrated after church on Sunday the 15th. We didn't want her to have to cook for everyone on her birthday so we ordered Applebees to go! It was delicious, easy to clean up and nobody had to lift a finger to cook it! Emily, however, did make a very delicious dessert to have afterwards! Since my mom does so much for all of us and has our whole lives we really wanted to do something special for her. She never ever buys anything for herself and every time we ask her what she wants for Christmas or Birthdays she never gives us any ideas. She always says, "I am truly blessed with what I have, I honestly don't need anything else". Her mixer is small and really old and is used all the time so we have been wanting to get her a new mixer for a while now. We never really got all the funds rounded up to be able to do it though. So this year for her birthday all my sisters, my dad, and my grandma all went in to buy her a professional Kitchen Aid mixer. She has wanted one for so long and uses a mixer almost every week to cook for us on Sundays. I think she was pretty happy with her gift and we were all happy we could finally get her something she really wanted!

Brady Visits!

Since Brian and Brian's brother-in-law, Mat, were gone together (along with Brian's dad) over Valentine's weekend Steph and Brady came to New Hampton to visit. They stayed with Brian's mom. Friday, Kezzie and I went over there while Austin was in school and then we went back after Austin got out of school and after Kezzie woke from her nap. We had supper together and LaVonne, Brian's grandma, came to eat with us too! Brady was feeling under the weather and teething so he was pretty laid back. Austin just played with the neighbor kid pretty much the whole time so we didn't see much of him. I love watching Kezzie and Brady interact since they are so close in age. Usually Kezzie is busy stealing whatever toy Brady is trying to play with but Brady is getting a little more of an opinion and is starting to hold his own! Go Brady! On Saturday, Steph and Brady came to our house to visit. Brady and Kezzie enjoyed playing with the kitchen set that Kezzie got for Christmas! After a little while of playing and a big effort at eating lunch, Steph concluded that Brady really just needed a nap so they had to leave! It was really great to see them when they were here!

Early Valentine's Day!

Brian was gone from Thursday to Sunday over Valentine's weekend so the kids and I decided we could celebrate V-day a little early. I always like to get my kids a little gift to show how much I love them and appreciate them on Valentine's day...I guess you could call it an excuse to spend money on them but I really enjoy it...Here are a few photos from our fun! Kezzie got a baby doll that came with its own bottle, teddy bear and sippy cup (she is really into feeding her stuffed animals and toys), along with a couple new bibs (she calls them 'hats' and loves to wear them even when she isn't eating), some hair ties and some bracelets (she loves to show off her 'pretties'). Austin got a new game for his PSP, some candy and a Wal-mart brand under-armor shirt (he's been begging me for one)! We missed Brian while he was gone but the kids and I got to spend some much needed one on one time together!

Tub Time!

Most of the time the hot tub gets a lot of neglect, but recently we drained, scrubbed, and leveled the chemicals and have been enjoying it ever since! We obviously can't heat it to the max, but at bath-water temp. it is still very enjoyable! Kezzie wasn't sure at first but is loving it and even though Austin never lets me snap any shots of him, he is enjoying it the most out of all of us!

Kezzie pics!

Kezzie has a little plastic baby bottle that came with a bath tub baby that she has recently rediscovered. I fill it up with water and she drinks it out of the bottle. I first go to the fridge and fill a glass with water and then suction the water out of the glass with the bottle...that is why she is standing at the fridge water dispenser saying 'ater! ater! ater!' (water). The really funny thing is that up until the discovery of this bottle she hasn't been a fan of whole milk but one day at lunch time, with many many refills, she actually drank half a sippy cup of whole milk out of this little bottle!

Special Guests!

Today we had some very special visitors! My friends from Cedar Rapids drove up here to visit...I used to work with Kristin and Jami at Yellowbook (Pindar). Kerra is Kristin's sister which I became friends with through Kristin. I am so thankful for each of their friendships, they are such awesome women to have in your life! I am lucky to know them! Kristin had a baby in October and named him Hunter...he is such a sweetie and just adorable. He is smiling and laughing and practicing his skills at rolling over! We all spent most of our time just watching him and Kezzie play and babble...who needs TV when you have kids!

Our sweet pups!

I just had to share this sweet picture of our puppies, Bucky and Bella. They will almost always lay together and lately the sun has been shining in this one window so it hits the carpet just right. They will do anything to stay warm!

Sunday Fun!

Every Sunday after we go to church, we get to eat lunch with the family at Mom and Dad Smith's. It is so much fun to get the kids together and have good food and great conversation. Ethan and Austin always have so much fun together. Here's Austin playing a car racing game on his PSP and Ethan watching!


Grandpa has been wanting to give rides on the snowmobile for a while now. It is finally warm enough to be outside so today was the day. Although we didn't remember until the Thilges' had already left, Austin was still able to enjoy it. Kezzie stood at the sidelines watching and when she realized it was grandpa and Austin on there she started shaking and she stuck her bottom lip way out...she was so frightened they were going to get hurt. She just kept calling out 'Ah-tin', 'pa-pa'...it was really sweet. (This also happened a couple weeks ago when we took Austin to get a haircut...Kezzie was very concerned for his well being!) She loves her brother so much! I really wanted a picture of the three of them on the snowmobile so what does a loving mother do but stick her ever so scared one year old on the very thing she is afraid of and take a snapshot of that priceless moment, tears and all! Fun times!!

Jamie's 25th Birthday Celebration!

Since Jamie turned 25 this year on the 6th, the family got together for a little celebration. Jamie invited Keith's family as well so it was even more fun! First we went to eat at the Bremer Diner in Waverly and then headed over to the bowling alley for a game or two! Kezzie had a blast watching all the balls roll down the lanes. My cousin Melissa and her daughter Olivia were there also. Olivia is almost 6 and Kezzie adored her. She kept wanting to steal her headband and necklace...I think Kezzie definitely has a girl's taste in fashion!

Spaghetti Os!

For lunch the other day, Kezzie ate Spaghetti Os and Meatballs...which she loved! I picked out all the meatballs and cut them up for her but for the most part she was on her own! This is the end result...I'm probably not going to be doing that again any time soon!