Kyle.Kris.KJ.Kolt.

 I am slowly trying to get back into the blogging world. I took a much needed break from it but realized that I wasn't being very fair to Kolt and to family. KJ's first year of life was documented here but I have yet to do so with Kolt. They grow so much that first year and you always want to remember the little things. With that said, here is to hoping I can pick up on the blogging and catch up on the last year of life.

Over the summer KJ got very into Peter Pan. That was one of the only movies he wanted to watch and he wanted to watch it every day. When it would come to the first scene with the pirates he would yell to me "Mom, it's the pirates!" Around the end of August I started thinking about his costume and seeing if he had any input. He didn't really give me any ideas so I started searching Pinterest. I came across a pirate costume and knew at once that that was perfect for him. After checking all the stores I decided that it would be easier and lots cheaper to just make his costume. Most places were asking a lot for a costume with cheap, thin material. As I looked for a few different pirate costumes I came across this tutorial for a Peter Pan and Kolt's costume was "born". Originally he was going to be the same skeleton that KJ was his first Halloween, but I thought "why not make their costumes coordinate?" I had a lot of the materials on hand so I hardly spent anything for their costumes and absolutely love how they turned out. KJ trick-or-treated his heart out; we went to Night Eyes at the zoo; attended the Halloween party with friends at the med school; trunk or treat; and Beggar's Night. Our neighborhood did trick-or-treating on Halloween night and by that time KJ had had enough. Although on Beggar's night he was running door to door and dragging us, he just did not have the same level of energy or enthusiasm on Halloween night. We wore the kid out! It was a very successful and fun Halloween season this year. :)

Just this past week I was thinking that nothing really big has happened lately; wrong thing to do! This last Wednesday KJ broke both of the bones in his left forearm. I have never broken a bone so I have no idea the pain he is going through. He somewhat understands what happened and has adjusted pretty well, but still tells us he wants his cast off multiple times a day. It is hard to see your child in pain and know there is nothing you can do about it except love him and try and comfort him. Poor kid.

Although the day ended on a sour note, our Wednesday was completely normal to start. Kyle left for school early (7 a.m. - yuck!) and I was trying to think of what me and the boys could do that day so that we didn't go stir crazy waiting for dad to get home (usually around 7 p.m. he makes it home - needless to say we all hate Wednesdays at our house). My friend Nellena text us and asked if we wanted to join her and her baby girl at the park for a picnic and to play. I figured it was probably one of the last nice days of the fall so we should get out and enjoy it. (Turns out I was right, because it was 80 degrees that day and upper 40s today!) Lunch went great and the kids loved the swings and going down the slides. Nellena and I decided to take the babies back to the blanket so they could move around and play with the toys while KJ continued to play on the playground. He was only about 15-20 feet from the blanket so I let him stay over there and try and get all his energy out before nap time. Of course, I got distracted with Kolt for a few seconds, and the next thing I hear is a horrible scream/cry from KJ. He had fallen and I knew it was going to be bad. I feel bad that I don't even know exactly how he broke it, but even if I had seen him I wouldn't have been able to stop it from happening. I think what happened is that he was walking on a little bridge with safety bars and simply fell between the bar and the bridge. Nellena and I jumped up and quickly ran over to help him up and make sure he was ok, and while Nellena was brushing him off I went straight to his hands and arms to make sure everything was intact. Immediately I could tell his left arm didn't feel right and then when I saw it I knew there was a problem. I showed Nellena and asked her if it looked right, and she said that it looked broken. His arm was bowed between his wrist and mid forearm, enough to make me a little sick to look at it. Nellena took Kolt for me and I rushed KJ to the ER where Kyle met us shortly thereafter. The doctor confirmed it was broken in two places, but he wasn't positive whether KJ would need to have the bone re-set or not. He ended up putting KJ in a temporary splint with a shoulder sling and set up an appointment for us for the next day with an orthopedic surgeon.

On Thursday we met with the Orthopedic surgeon and took new x-rays. The inside bone took the brunt of the force and was broken completely in half, whereas the outside bone was not as severe, yet still broken. The doctor said that we are lucky that KJ is still so young, because over all the damage was severe enough that had he been much more than 11 years old it would have required surgery. Because KJ is not even 3 yet, we are all hoping that he will heal correctly and without the need for any additional corrections. Luckily the doctor did not have to sedate KJ and re-set the bone, too! There is still a chance that we will have to do that when we go back in for another follow up on Thursday, but for now he put some pressure on the arm prior to putting the final cast on.



Thank you to everyone for bringing treats, dinner, offered up help and sent their love. We appreciate it all and are hoping for a quick recovery.

 Back in December Mitt Romney came and did a little rally at our grocery store so we all bundled up and headed out to listen. We could not believe how many people were there!
All I wanted was to get a picture of KJ and Mitt together but that didn't happen so this is as good as it gets for the time being :)

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

 Here are our big highlights of 2011:

Kyle finished his first year of law school and is halfway through his second; luckily he is still loving it and still wants to be an Attorney. Kyle's brother helped Kyle get an internship down in St. George so we spent last summer down there. Every Saturday was spent wakeboarding on the lake, and luckily we were able to hit Lake Powell twice - once with Kyle's brother and sister and once with my family. He also made the Arbitration team (like a mock trial) for his school and carried them into a the semi-finals at the regional tournament, barely losing to eventual champion Missouri. He was hired on with a local law firm specializing in tax and business law and acts as a clerk while he finishes up law school. We don't know where we will be after law school as of yet. With the presidential elections around the corner, Kyle has been very active and has found no better place than Iowa to do so. Among many thing, he attended a dinner with five of the Republican candidates, met Newt Gingrich and had him sign a book for himself and for KJ, spoke individually with Rick Santorum, and met Mitt Romney. Because his school hosted the Presidential Debate on December 10, Kyle was asked to escort Mitt Romney's son around campus and act as his liaison prior to attending the debate. Needless to say, given his love of politics he is a "duck in water" here in Iowa at this time.

Kristin has been staying busy keeping up with a rambunctious 2 year old KJ and his favorite target (also the newest addition to our family), mini-beagle puppy Sammi. The two love each other, but a toddler and a puppy create the exact "perfect storm" that you can imagine, and Kristin has no trouble getting to sleep each night! She spends most of her "spare" time crafting and reading. Kristin is also gearing up to add another member to the family; she is excited to be a mommy of two! Another little boy ("Kolt") will be joining the family in late February of 2012, and everybody is praying that this one's head is smaller than KJ's! We recently moved from our home in West Des Moines, Iowa to a brand new townhome community in Waukee, Iowa. There is a reason you have never heard of it! But, we now enjoy the luxury of a 2 car garage, Kyle doesn't have to scrape his windows each morning before going to school in the horrible Iowa winter, and Kristin no longer has to figure out how to put a baby and a toddler in the same room.

KJ is a busy little boy! He will be turning 2 in January, but decided to prematurely enter his "terrible two" stage. We all knew he would be an over-achiever! He is an emotional and stubborn boy, but very loving and happy. He jumps off anything and everything, even if the floor below is not forgiving. KJ has made the switch from the crib to the "big boy bed" and loves having daddy come lay in it with him each morning. He loves tractors, trucks and buses and will point them out before anyone else has noticed. KJ loves little babies and mom and dad are keeping their fingers crossed that he will be loving and accepting of his new little brother. He is still a big time daddy's boy, so it might take some adjusting for him when daddy is holding the baby. Mickey Mouse and Elmo are his favorites to watch, though they usually don't hold his attention for longer than 10 minutes. KJ has also become an avid football viewer and enthusiast. Anytime anything football comes on tv or shows up in one of daddy's ESPN magazines, KJ is sure to yell "football!" and look around for dad so that he can make him aware of it. He has a large vocabulary and continues to pick up new words everyday. KJ loves to read, do puzzles, play with his toys, torment Sammi, and cuddle with mom and dad.

October and November seemed to fly by at our house! Below you will find some highlights from these 2 months. Well, actually most of them are from October; November was pretty uneventful since we spent a lot of time unpacking and getting settled in the new house.

September and October have been filled with lots of happenings and news. We started the month off by celebrating Kyle's and my 4th Anniversary! We were able to spend most of the day hanging out with one another and just enjoying each other's company. Our gift to one another was tickets the musical  "Wicked." We saw it together once and really enjoyed it, so when we heard it was coming here we hurried and bought tickets.

 Next bit of news: we are MOVING! Back in August our friends told us about this new townhouse complex opening a couple of miles away from where are currently living. They are brand new, rent is cheaper, it's bigger, and we will have a 2 car garage. Our application was accepted at the end of September and we will be moving this week. Most of our friends got in as well, which makes it even better.

Thirdly: Kyle got a job! He is working 10-15 hours a week but most of that is from home. This job is right up his alley - they are a tax/accounting law firm. Everything that he did at 1-800 Contacts helped land him the job and has been a big help in the projects he's been given.

And last but certainly not least: we found out we are having a BOY! Though I was kind of hoping for a little girl, Kyle says its 2 down and 9 to go for his foot ball team. Everything about this pregnancy has been completely different then KJ's, so I thought for sure it was a girl. However, I was wrong. When the ultrasound tech said "boy" I thought for sure she was mistaken and was waiting for her to say she was wrong and that it actually is a girl. Ah well, nothing I can do but be excited for another little boy!