Music

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE music. And my children share my love for it as well.

And I know it sounds a little stupid, "I love music..." because really?? Who doesn't??? Its like someone NOT liking watermelon!! Craziness!!! (actually my cousin, Jason, doesn't like it. And I always thought that was strange! ;)  )

Kai makes me laugh. He has several favorite songs that are always on rotation.

See, along with music, I, too, love to sing....Now Kai isn't always a fan of this. I dont know what his deal is, but many times he'll ask tell me to stop singing. He says the funniest things sometimes!!

Just last weekend I was singing along to one of his current favorites, and he didn't like that, so he said, "Mom! Stop singing, or I'll seriously go into space, and that will hurt my peepee!"

WHAT????

Not sure if that has anything to do with potty-training, but it was random!

Speaking of potty training, he hasn't had ANY hint of interest in that until 2 weeks ago, he was with my friend, Amanda, and I'm not sure if it was him, or her, but he started going in the potty, and he had dry pants all day. Only once he started to poop in his pants, and finished in the toilet. He's been really trying since then. It has been amazing how his attitude has changed towards it.

Anyway...On my phone I have a play list for me, Kai, and even one for Kirra (more mellow music to calm her). The songs that Kai currently is loving are:

Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson

Baby - Justin Bieber

Crazy Train - Black Sabbath

We Are Young - Fun.

Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas

I Get Around - Beach Boys

Ho Hey - The Lumineers

Payphone - Maroon 5
Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys (he heard it at my moms, and now he keeps wanting to watch the video from the Grammys where she sings with Adam Levine)

and most recently:

All I Need - Awolnation

Knights of Shame - Awolnation

The last two are on constant rotation in the car right now. I gave Rob the CD for Christmas, and for some reason Kai just loves those two songs. Its cute.

Here is a video we got of Kai singing with Girl on Fire.
He was singing it normal everytime until we recorded, then he started singing about her burning on fire. :P   Typical boy.

 

Kirra dances along to most anything. She started by doing the little bob dancing, and every once in a while will twist at the waist back and forth. (this is my favorite!! it is ADORABLE!!)

Randomness to fill in the space....

Some random pictures I came across to catch up a bit (in the last year!! :P  )

And random facts.

One of the first times I let Kai hold Kirra. He still doesn't really get to hold her. Hes too rough and can't sit still to save his life.

Kai was pretty obsessed with Cars for quite some time. Somehow he got on an obession for Thomas the Train. I think he had to have gotten that from our neighbors across the street. Their boy loves Thomas and that's probably the first exposure Kai had to it. So when I was on maternity leave, it was 87 different Thomas shows that was on rotation to keep him busy! He has quite the collection from stuff we got him and a co-worker of mine who was nice enough to force her son to sell a TON of his trains and tracks to us for Kai. He got all that for his 3rd birthday. (pics to come eventually)

Playing in Pine Valley at the West family reunion. With his trains, of course.

Being goofy in the tub.

"Giving Loves". I had to stop him right about here, he likes to try to press his face too hard. He really does love her, I just think he doesn't understand that he hurts her. And he has SO much energy that it's just exploding out of him in the form of head bunting, hitting, pushing, squeezing, etc.....

Kai was actually just letting Kirra sit for once. Kirra LOVES Kai. Its so funny how he can just push her around and be so rough, but he is definately the one that can ALWAYS make her laugh.

"Bleeeahh" So cute that Rob caught both of them at the same time. Kai would always want to lay under her play gym with her.

Watching Thomas. Kirra started to be a bit interested. Probably because it was a song.

She LOVES when music comes on and she perks up, and lately she'll totally focus and start dancing. Its adorable.

She was about 6 or 7 months here. Pretty Princess, just started sitting alone.

For the longest time, this is the look that she would give most people. So serious! Just really checking people out.

Amanda made this cute headband that Kirra wore with her Witch costume for Halloween.

I can't get over her eyes. She is gorgeous.

Kirra had reflux like Kai, so she was constantly soaking bibs and spit rags. Kai had it until just after he was a year. Kirra's let up finally around 6 months, thank goodness.

Until later....

33 weeks pregnant JANUARY 2012

I started writing this post in January...I figure I'll post it anyway since its moldy... :D
I am now 33 weeks along. A couple appointments ago my dr said my Iron was low, they wanted me to start an Iron supplement. So I did. The next appointment last month, they said I was Anemic. So apparently the Iron supplement wasn't enough. Yay....(sarcasm).

Then, 2 weeks ago I had to do the 3 hour glucose test because I failed the first one. The next week they called to tell me that of the 4 blood draws, one was high, so that made me "borderline" for Gestational Diabetes. They wanted me to go to a diabetic clinic for a consultation.
UGH. Really??
So NOW I am checking my blood sugar 4x a day and when I went back in to the diabetes clinic today for a follow-up, they told me that my morning/fasting levels are higher than they like, so I am starting on a pill to help my body use my own insulin better. Hopefully this helps. I dont want a 10+ pound baby!! :S
This past week I've had a few contractions, I'm thinking just Braxton Hicks, but sometimes they're like 5-ish minutes apart and I start to get a little panicky, and then they stop. I didn't really have Braxton Hicks with Kai so this is making me a little stressed (which is not good on the blood sugar either! BAH!!)
I'm also getting nervous about how Kai is going to handle all this. He can be pretty violent and rough with us, and I swear does NOT understand "gentle" so we're going to have to keep the baby on top of the fridge out of his reach! ;)  Kidding, folks.
When I was pregnant with Kai they put me on bedrest 17 days before my due date, which would be toward the end of February if that happened this time. Crazy! And I had Kai 4 days early. I have another appointment with Dr. Lunt in a week, so I'll ask him how much this blood sugar damage might play in the timing of it all. Last time it was my high blood pressure that was the issue. This time my blood pressure has been fine. I've started swelling a little bit recently though. But not like I was with Kai!

Christmas Weekend

Before Christmas I wanted to make sure we did one of my favorite things.

Put together a gingerbread house. I wasn't sure if Kai could focus long enough. But he really seemed to enjoy it! :D

You can see where Kai took a bite out of the top of the roof...

He actually put SOME candy on the house...but most went into his mouth...

{December 24, 25, 26}

We had 3 Christmases. 3.

Christmas Eve we went to Rob's parents house to do our gift exchange with them. Had dinner and got entertained by Kai. He was such a goof. He got spoiled with a Cars light from Uncle Danny, an R/C police car and Lion King from Grandma and Grandpa, and a Lego wagon and cape/mask from Aunt Michelle, Uncle Russ, and the girls.

{Christmas Eve}

Super Momma

Once Kai had the cape and mask on...he didn't want it off...He slept in it that night. It was so dang cute!

{Christmas Day}

Happy boy Christmas morning with Car Pez

Kai's new boots and mom's new slippers!!

Dad's headphones

{At moms}

Kai LOVED his Cars blanket from Grandma and Grandpa

And Police car

Jackson didn't want Kai stealing his toys

Got Maddie and Brycen tickets to go see Real Salt Lake Soccer!

{Dec. 26th, Celebrating Jackson's b-day}

Jackson's Birthday is Jan. 2nd, but we wanted to celebrate it while they were in town.

CUTE BOY!!!

Kai got him a MACK!!!

Kai liked Jackson's bunny

Reading with Grandpa

Christmas was great. I'm kind of glad December is done though. There was a lot going on!
Kai got SO spoiled and is still loving all his goodies!

Rob got me a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I am LOVING IT!!!

If anyone has some good suggestions for reading, lay 'em on me :D

I pray for Patience....

Holy Cow did I need this quote this week.
My friend, Megan, Posted this on her blog and it REALLY spoke to me!

Quote from Lynn Robbins talk in the April 2011 General Conference:

A sweet and obedient child will enroll a father or mother only in Parenting 101. If you are blessed with a child who tests your patience to the nth degree, you will be enrolled in Parenting 505. Rather than wonder what you might have done wrong in the premortal life to be so deserving, you might consider the more challenging child a blessing and opportunity to become more godlike yourself. With which child will your patience, long-suffering, and other Christlike virtues most likely be tested, developed, and refined? Could it be possible that you need this child as much as this child needs you?

I must need SOMETHING because this little 2 year old, as cute as he is, has been trying my patience to the breaking point. Especially lately. Holy cow, I wonder daily how we're all going to survive another year. Let alone another child.

Prayers were answered on my Birthday this last saturday, though. He was the sweetest angel all day long! No fits, no arguing, he obeyed like crazy. We went and saw Santa, and he normally can't sit still for 2 seconds, and he actually sat on his lap and got a picture, and we had to TAKE him off his lap, instead of him scooting down immediately.
The next day....he was making up for being so good. Oh my gosh!
Hes so hard to discipline. I'm at a loss. I can't get him to sit in time out at all. No matter how much I hold him in the seat. And the kid is way too strong. He hits, pushes his fists into our necks, throws things at us. So if someone watches him for us, I get so nervous. But he's always so good for them.
So, I will now have to just read this quote everyday and continue to pray for patience. And hope we all survive another year....and another child.
I'll try not to cry now!

Fall Holidays

Usually Fall is depressing for me. I hate cold. I love Christmas, but getting to it is usually soooo much of a bummer.
BUT this year is different. Don't know why. Maybe having kids distracts me. Being pregnant maybe? But when I saw a magazine for fall stuff several months ago, I was almost excited. Halloween was more exciting to me this year. I looked forward to it. And I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Wish I had the whole week off work, but oh well. We went to Rob's parents for Thanksgiving this year. That's always a big thing to get used to also. Especially when you get married later than some people, you get used to your own family traditions, etc. But Rob's family is awesome and I really like spending time with them, so I don't mind throwing them in a rotation. And Kai loves all his grandparents, so any time at any of their houses is awesome to him. Not to mention Rob's mom cooks great food (even if she doesn't think so). But of course I always miss seeing my mom!

I hope I can gather the energy to start maybe decorating for Christmas this weekend also. The house Kai goes to for daycare put their christmas lights on the house this week, and Kai loves it. So the sooner we do ours, the better. I love seeing him excited for things as he's getting older.
He's the funniest kid lately, I'll have to post some more silly stuff he does. It makes me laugh :D

Halloween

I know Halloween was a couple weeks ago, but I'm behind. Big surprise. We decided Kai would be Dracula, just because we found a cute costume at TJ Maxx. He was a good one though. He'd do his evil Dracula laugh for us. It was so cute to see him going up to the doors, trying to go inside, and taking as much candy as he wanted. (I really tried to stop him, but he thought this was like an unlimited shopping spree).

My costume was inspired by the fact that I wanted to use my pregnant belly somehow and thought of this. I know...mildy disturbing. But not that surprising if you know me :D
One girl at work was really bothered by it. So I had to hide it behind my desk while I talked to her :P
Everyone else thought it was amazingly creative. I told my mom what I wanted and directed her while she made it. Kai liked it. He'd point to the doll and say "Baby sister!" Ok, I know...we're going to have major counseling bills later....

Mom made a creepy zombie....

Speaking of zombies...My mom took me to "Thriller" at Tuacahn for the first time, it was AWESOME!! I loved it. But it was the first COLD night here. We were freezing!

Annual Girls Day in Springdale!

My mom, Madison, and I, have gone to Springdale each fall for the past few years. Its fun to just stop at all the shops, eat lunch, and make new memories together. Kai had a couple breakdowns that were frustrating, but did fairly well.

Kai calls this a "Fuffalo"

We went to the wildlife museum. Kai wouldn't let me put him down. He was pretty freaked out.

Looks like I'm getting a Bear head massage...

Kai has been allowed to come on the girls trip, but I think my mom says he's done now. Next year, baby girl can go! :D

Mr. Kai...and baby too

I really should update more on new stuff Kai does. He makes me laugh :P

When we had his Dr. appointment they asked if Kai says at least 200 words. I was like...well, I dunno, does he? But when I think about it, of course he does. He has a book "Baby's first 100 words" and he can name everything in it, and says tons more than that.
He TRYS his colors, but sometimes gets them wrong. 80% of the time he can correctly name red, yellow, purple, and blue.
He loves to point back and forth from me and Rob and say "Mama....Dada....Mama.....Dada" and sometimes does it so fast that he gets backwards and then fixes it.
He loves to do "knuckles" and "spive" (he says "SP" instead of "F" almost always). The other day we were at Rob's sisters house, she has horses, and he loves to go look at them, but is a little scared. He held up his fist to the horse and said "Knuckles!" it was SOOO cute and SOOO funny!
His current favorite movies are Rio, all the Shrek movies, occationally Alvin and the Chipmunks, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and lately we've found he likes Beethoven. Rob insists Kai wants a dog. He's really been into this Elmo dvd of songs lately too.
He will color for a very short time, then he just eats the crayons....no bueno! BUT he's been bringing home masterpieces from daycare....they're on the fridge :)
He's started kinda singing along to songs, it is so cute! He LOVES music. The other day he was humming a tune of one, I thought that was pretty good. He's been trying to sing "twinkle, twinkle little star" lately. Its adorable!
If I dance and tell him to dance, he tries to do what I do....hopefully that doesn't make him a bad dancer in the future....
Unfortunately he's learned he likes to pull the chair to the kitchen counter and have a utensil and pan or bowl so he can "Make it" he says. Can be annoying.....especially if the kitchen is messy. (maybe motivation to clean it more....which I have)
He still loves his baths, but started not liking his hair washed, so I'd try to act like I forgot to, he'll tell me "Hair". Heehee
Kai can give kisses, but for some reason if its not your lips, he acts like he's blowing his nose on you or something. He does that to my belly for the baby. It IS cute though ;)
We are ALMOST done with the bottle. He is just having a hard time giving up his morning one. Any tips? He freaks out if we give him a cup.
He is DONE with the binky.

This pic is at 12 1/2 weeks. I popped early, because those darn stomach muscles have not come back yet, after Kai. :P

I am 16 weeks along now and my appointment a couple weeks ago was good. Heartbeat is great, they found it instantly, and I'm measuring right on. They scheduled an ultrasound for 19 weeks, but I can pay $25 for one at 16 weeks to see the gender if I want to know earlier. So....we're doing that wednesday!! I'm too excited to wait!! Of course there's things we'd be happy about either a boy or a girl, but it'd be nice to have a girl, so we can have our one of each. Because after this, we are done. :P
People have asked us about names, but we really haven't discussed that much yet, so we will see. I need to speak to the geneologists of the family to see some family names too. I'd at least like a family name for a middle name.
Nausea is pretty much completely gone. I just can't let my stomach get completely empty, and avoid bad smells.
Kai is at a point where he likes to jump all over you, so this poor baby is going to come out black and blue, I'm afraid. Ah well....that will be his/her life for a while I am sure. :)
I'll definately post what we find out at the ultrasound.
Rob and I got a nice break, my mom watched Kai this weekend while we went up north to my cousin's wedding in Springville. It was gorgeous up there and I got to see a bunch of my family that I never see. It was wonderful! I missed Kai a TON, but it was nice to get away.
I'll post some of the pics from the wedding, and another belly shot soon I'm showing so much already! :(

A Touch of Sun

For I heart faces entry this week, the theme is "A touch of sun". This is one of the first pictures I thought of. Kai last year in his pool...

Kai's new T-shirt

Yes...it is true. Dammann Baby #2 is due March 10th, 2012.

We are very excited and very apprehensive!! I'm just praying that Kai will learn to be gentle!

When I ask Kai if he wants a brother or a sister he says "Uh huh!" and I say, "do you want a boy or a girl?" he says "Gool"

He doesn't get it yet, but its cute anyway!

The shirt is how I told my parents, Rob's parents, and Rob's sister. I had to point it out to all of them. My mom saw it and immediately thought it was a hand-me-down. DORK!!

Even though we talked about maybe adding another family member by next summer, people were surprised.

I am 9 weeks, 2 days today. I have actually been feeling great, only mildly quesy sometimes, especially if I wait too long to eat. Until today...

Rob's boss was in town and we didn't eat until a couple hours after we normally do. When Rob and I were driving to lunch, I had to make him pull to the side of the road...so I could empty what little filled my stomach...NO BUENO.

So less nausea than last pregnancy...maybe a girl?

I have had 3 migraines so far--YUCK!

At the beginning of the year, I went down to Vegas with my mom, sister, and her mother-in-law. We saw Robyn, and she bought me an adorable little girls dress and took a "magic wand" in the store and "blessed" me with a girl next. :)

So we'll see if she's magic! ;)

We went down to Robyn's baby shower just over a week ago, it was filmed, so in the fall you may get to witness that on the next season of "Sister Wives".

Telling my grandparents at their 60th anniversary party that they were going to have another great-grandchild #17? #18? I forgot.  :S

Missing the boy...

I didn't end up doing a post on the fact that my nephew was missing. By the time I was about to, he was brought home, THANK GOODNESS. Long story short, my sister's step son was wrongly taken by his biological mom. She's been on drugs, and we believe he was NOT safe with her. He was missing for just over 2 weeks...a long 2 weeks. 2 weeks full of tears and constant prayer that Jackson was safe. It was scary. Especially for April and Darrin. We had already planned a trip to see them in Price, the weekend of July 16th, but changed to stay in Sandy, because that was where April and Darrin had been staying and trying to find Jackson. My mom, Maddie, Kai and I went. Even though the circumstances were NOT happy. We did end up having a good time trying to brighten April and Darrin's days. I think they liked having Kai around to take their minds on a short vacation from all the terrible things. We ended up going to the zoo on saturday. I was impressed. I had heard crappy things about Hogle Zoo, but it ended up being really fun. Kai was SO good the whole time, and LOVED it.

Had to get some shots at the room, since it WAS Kai's first hotel stay! ;)

Now....holy zoo picture overload, Batman!

He'd call the Peacock a "chicken"

NO, MADDIE!!

And pay no attention to what THESE monkeys may be doing below....

Checking out the elephants!

This big fake elephant sprays water from his trunk. Scared Kai....

Don't mind him, he's in awe...

Kai was really checking this guy out (T-Rex)...Then it growled...Kai jumped, and ran and cried! And my mom was laughing so hard she was crying....only cause it scared her too. :P

LOVED the Giraffes. So did Kai...

I'm sure Kai will try that someday...tongue in the nose hole!

This next one looks like he's got a hat on! ;)

BIG HAT

Across the way was "This is the Place" Park.

This camals got floppy humps....Its ok camel....you're not alone....

The massiveness of this guy is a little scary.

At first, before the carousel was going Kai was DONE, but then he was fine again when he saw how fun it was (it was his first ride on one!)

Wish this sloth wasn't sleeping so much! I wanted to see him!

Kai liked this "Sand Cat"...I think the cat liked Kai...juicy snack...

Had more tickets, so Kai had to ride again with Grandma

Kai's getting sleepy! Thanks so much to Darrin, April, and my mom, who helped so much with Kai.

And he's out.....missed the train ride, dang it!!

Kind of a crappy picture, but I love  Kai's expression when Maddie has the giraffe mask on!

It was a great day!!

Playing after the zoo...and feeding chips to Midge the dog...

Kai was so worn out that he passed out before we even got on the train, and slept through the train ride! (bummer because he loves trains)
The trip up was really fun, and it was nice to have an actual "Vacation". Now I just need one with Rob.