Tuesday, October 7, 2014

A really LONG week

Last week was, well incredibly crazy and exhausting. I had a conference for work. Not just any conference, but one that my company hosted and that I have spent the last 10 month planning. So it's was kinda a big deal. Lucky for me, the conference was at a nice hotel only about 40 minutes from our house, so I didn't have to pack up and fly somewhere, which makes things a little easier.

The weeks leading up to the conference I had been putting in really long days, (well it was actually long nights because when you're a stay at home mom who works part time, working hours tend to begin after you have the kiddos in bed), so I was pretty tired walking into the conference. The silver lining was that I would be at the hotel for a week and would be able to catch up on some sleep.

For those of you who know me, I'm super structured and organized when it comes to… well just about everything, haha, so I had everything planned to the T for last week. Every detail of the conference had been worked out and discussed, I had people lined up to watch my kids, had the clothes picked out ready to go, everything was set. But, as I've had to learn over and over again in my life, it's never that easy...

Literally as I was walking out the door on Sunday to head out to the hotel, Ryan started complaining about his back hurting. I didn't think much of it at the time, it was random, he couldn't remember doing anything to really hurt himself, so I chalked it up to stress, life, etc. Long story short, his back got so bad that we made a middle of the night trip to the ER on Monday, returned to urgent care on Thursday, and he basically spent a week in bed on pain meds to help him cope with the intense back pain. SERIOUSLY, this was NOT part of my plan.

The back pain was the strangest thing. Ryan is a tough guy, so for him to be pacing because he's in so much pain he can't stand it, well that's a big deal. We never discovered what exactly happened, but the best guess is that he strained it doing something, maybe lifting, and it gradually got worse. Stress probably added to the problem. Then once his back clenched up, he just had to give it time to release. In the mean time he had to use the meds to help ease the pain. It took a full week before he could function without the pain meds again. And then he got to spend a few days "detoxing" from those, which was pretty horrible too.

So all that was going down while I was trying to deal with the logistics of hosting a week long conference for about 100 people. The conference ended up going really well. Thank goodness I'm a planner and had everything worked out ahead of time! But regardless, by the end of the week I was more than ready to be home. I felt so bad that I wasn't there to help Ryan, but in some ways it was probably good that the kids and I were away so we weren't bothering him.

Mimi and Granne were such a huge help all week because they helped take care of the kids. We are so lucky to have them both nearby. One of the days Granne took the kids to the Butterfly Pavilion. I think they had a lot of fun! They also went to see the horses by the hotel.







Ryan did make it down to join us for dinner on Monday night. He was in a lot of pain, but it was still somewhat bearable at this point. Kelton stayed at the hotel with me all week, so he got to "participate" in a lot of the conference activities and hang out with me at lunch and stuff. :) (He was with Granne the rest of the time).




The one part of the conference I have to tell you about is an activity that I planned, an Amazing Race! It was intended to be fun and to help with some team building. We had people eating baby food, playing with legos, posing for pictures… it was great! I know you don't know any of these people, BUT it will give you an idea of what all was involved. :)
























When we did get home, the girls were really sweet and wanted to help daddy feel better.




Welp, we made it though the week. I guess finals week in college does prepare you for the real world! Ryan is doing much better. It's going to take him a bit go get back to where he was before this whole crazy ordeal, but he's back at work and able to function now, which we are all so thankful for. Now it's on to the next thing… dose life ever slow down???

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Kelton is Four Months Old!


October 2, 2014

Look at that picture, apparently we are very serious at 4 months old! For some reason Kelton was not into smiling during his little photo shoot this month. I had Cameron there making faces at him and everything! Oh well. We don't go in for Kelton's wellness doctors appointment for a couple more weeks, so we'll update you on his stats then. Overall, Kelton is an AWESOME little baby. He is so easy going and sweet. We all just love him to pieces.

So Kelton, what are you up to at four months old?
  • You smile, laugh and talk like crazy. 
  • You found your fingers and they keep sneaking into your mouth! Specifically your right pointer and middle finger. We've been trying to get you to take the pacifier instead, but every time I look over those two little fingers have made their way into your mouth and you're just sucking away. It's pretty cute, BUT I know the pain this could cause in the future if we're not careful. :) 
  • You love to cuddle with your blankets and lovey. You'll pull them up by your face when you're tired, or when you're nursing. 
  • You are rolling over from your back to your tummy really well. At night you usually roll yourself over to your tummy to sleep now.
  • You took your first bottle without a single problem. 
  • You are eating 5 or 6 times a day. 
  • You are wearing size 2 diapers and 6 month clothes. 
  • You love to be held and to be around all the action, wherever that is. 
  • You are such a good baby, and so incredibly sweet. I am so lucky to be your Mommy Mr. Kelton. 

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Hiking with Friends

The girls really love hiking now, which is so much fun! I'm so glad that we bought a pass for Rocky Mountain National Park. We went this past weekend to Sprague Lake with Uncle Ross, Alissa, Ava and Khole. The leaves are starting to change so it was really beautiful.













Saturday, September 20, 2014

Back in the Groove

We're getting into the groove with school and all our fall activities now. It's been nice having the girls in school because I have time to catch up on things and hang out with my little man. 

One day last week Kelton and I went for a run at Macintosh Lake after we dropped the girls off. It was a beautiful day!

And I got to have this handsome little guy as my running buddy! 

Such a happy "little big guy" 

Then we we got home we had a small "situation" to take care of. Oh my goodness! There was poop EVERYWHERE! I was cracking up. 

Ok please look close at what Sydney has with her… yes that's a purse! This kid is always carrying around a whole bunch of junk with her! 

His smile kills me! So stinking cute. 

Auntie Jenna came to babysit and the girls had a blast building box forts in the basement.

Entertaining baby brother! 

Like I said, she is always carrying around a ton of junk! In this instance she had papers on a hanger, a pen, daddy's bible, and wipes. Not to mention her outfit: dress w/ spinout skirt, hand me down pj top, leggings and pink clogs. Wow! 

I went out for a night with the girls a couple nights ago and I decided to bring Kelton along with me. We were planning on going to this new wine bar in town. When I walked in the hostess came up to me and told us that it was a 21 and up restaurant. I was looking at her like, "ummm yeah, I'm obviously 21 lady" when I finally realized that she was talking about Kelton! Seriously! So long story short we got kicked out of the wine bar and had to take refuge at the local brew pub. Here's Kelton in all his glory. Kicked out of a bar at 3 months… geeze kid! 

Here's Cameron walking into church last Sunday... she could NOT walk in her shoes! They kept slipping off her feet so she started walking super funny and duck-like to keep them on. Ryan and I were both laughing watching her try to keep them on. At least they looked super cute! 

I don't know what is so appealing about sitting in the baby seat like this, but both the girls love to do it!

My loves

Cameron is working so hard learning her letters and practicing writing them. Here she was practicing writing people's names. 

This little guy found his fingers! It's always those two (just like his daddy!) I'm desperately trying to push the paci on him so we don't have a finger sucking habit to break down the road, but every time I look over the paci is out and those finger are in. Oh Mr. Kelton! What are we going to do with you? 

In honor of all our NJ family… #jerseypride

Yet again, look at all those "things" in that bag! She can't even carry it because it's so heavy, yet she's been dragging it along with her for days. She is taking after her Auntie Jenna! 

Mr. Buddy Bear doing some tummy time!