19 months

Here are my sweet boys at 19 months. Kieran loves to wear glasses or hats or masks, you name it. He loves climbing and climbing and climbing til I nearly go crazy! Caleb didn't cause me this much stress from what I can remember. You would think a few falls would teach him a lesson, but he keeps climbing and I keep saving or removing chairs! Once he figures how to get out of his crib, I am in trouble! The boys continue to love each other to pieces. Playing together can be hard because Kieran is also known as "Captain Destructo!" and can ruin just about anything Caleb is playing with. Seeing them give each other hugs and holding hands in the back seat while driving somewhere warms the heart. This love hopefully will continue many years down the road. Kieran is talking up a storm, nearly repeating everything I say. He loves to dance and sing Old MacDonald, E-I-E-I-O, ride on Seaby Dog like a horse and jump on the bed with his brother. We recently started the token system with Caleb so we can work on managing better behaviors like picking up toys, getting dressed with no hassle, no whining, sharing, etc. A few days into it already and he is doing great. He is not too fond of school lately which is a bummer because he does not realize he has about 14 years left to go!

Here is Caleb enjoying an enormous taco. One of his favorite foods. I can hardly believe he ate the entire thing! The boys are enjoying the first snowfall of the season...finally!

Christmas & The New Year

Kieran just turned a year and a half which I can hardly believe. He certainly loves the adventure of climbing onto our table. At least he is not sitting on top of it all of the time, mostly just standing in the chair playing with toys, still putting both Kerry and I on edge as he smiles with joy like nothing is a concern. We have pinned him as a "momma's boy" always clinging to me for "hugs." Hearing that precious word from his mouth, who can resist? He loves to eat and just when he says, "All done" and gets down from his seat, he is right next to you begging from your plate. He is very polite, saying "Thank you" when handing you things or getting something. His "brutha" still lights up his face in the morning, sometimes he can hardly wait to see him, he has to go in and sneak a peak at Caleb sleeping. Caleb often calls him the "cutest baby or best baby". It warms the heart to see the affection and love they have for one another, something I hope they hold onto for years to come.

We headed out to AZ for Christmas to spend a week at Nana & Papa's. Kieran is a little bit of a nightmare on the plane, but at least his slept the last hour of the flight. Caleb adores Nana & Papa and we often feel regret for moving so far from family, but distance makes the heart grow fonder right? Some day we will be closer, should the Lord lead us, but for now we love our home in Indiana. I missed the beauty of it while in AZ. At least we could play outside and enjoy the warm, winter weather. Christmas Eve came and Kieran came down with a bug. He was feverish and whiny, waking up at 3:30am covered in puke. The poor little guy missed the joy of Christmas morning, but Caleb was a delight. He was so excited to see the cookies had been eaten and was amazed at the gifts under the tree. I guess Chippey, our Elf on the Shelf had a good report for Santa! Thankfully Kieran was almost back to normal prior to our flight home and he was a delight for the most part thankfully for Mommy and Daddy! When we got home, Caleb couldn't believe there were more packages under the tree, so we had our Christmas together. Kerry had the rest of the week off which has been nice for us to spend extra time together as a family.

The night before New Year's Eve, Caleb woke up hysterical complaining of stomach pains. Another holiday, another bug! He has been feverish and couch bound for the past few days, so we are hoping and praying he recovers or we may take a trip to the hospital to double check its not more than a bug. I promised Kerry I would stay up for New Year's, which I did and then hit the pillow at 12:01am sleeping next to my sick boy.

Kerry suggested making a memory jar for 2012. Write down memories throughout the year to share next New Year's Eve. This is a great idea because I sometimes forget to jot every fond memory down. I can hardly wait to see what the New Year brings. I am thankful for my healthy family and for dear friends who have been constant in our lives. I am thankful for a God who loves us unconditionally and who has purpose for every circumstance we face. I am thankful for another year I get to share with them all.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

One of my dearest friends asked me to stand beside her on her wedding day which was November 19th. This was perfect because we planned to travel to California for Thanksgiving with my family so I flew out with the boys a bit early to attend the wedding in San Ramon, about 1.5 hours from Sacramento. Thankfully my sister and Dad graciously watched the boys for 2 days while I was driving back and forth. My friend planned for an outdoor wedding and the rain was falling off and on all day prior, but to her desire and God's faithfulness, He provided sunshine for her big day! Sun or no sun, it was still about 50 degrees and we were wearing summer dresses. Brrrrrrrr. I was shivering a good chunk of the ceremony, but it was lovely and turned into a beautiful day. I was honored to be there as she stood beside me 10 years ago on my big day. True friends are hard to find.

Kerry was supposed to fly in Saturday night but he forgot about the knife in his backpack he confiscated at a retreat the weekend prior and so he got held up in security and missed his flight. Luckily his brother lives in Denver and kept him overnight. We spent a good week with the family, visiting Old Sac, the Railroad Museum, Zoo and most importantly, Ikea and In n Out Burger. We got to meet up with old college friends and their kids at Chuck E Cheese in Modesto, as well as a lobster feast with family and friends. Caleb had no issue chowing that down all by himself! My goodness!

Thanksgiving was a relaxing day of being with family and eating yummy food prepared by my sister. She is quite the hostess and prepared a lovely feast. Kieran got his turn at dressing up as the Turkey! The boys got to spend some time with their cousin Elizabeth, Grampy Bob, Gran, Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Dave, whom we get to see twice a year. Being apart is tough because I feel like a stranger to my niece and I want my boys to know my family as well as they know Kerry's, but distance is hard. Some day, we will be close again.

Friday we headed home and I was shocked to see the airport pretty quiet on one of the busiest travel days. The boys did great on the way home and we got to see Uncle Derek on our layover in Denver which was a nice treat. The boys were still wide awake and ready to play once we got home, they were so excited to see some familiar territory I think and Seaby dog!

16 months!

This past month Kieran began walking and I just love to hear his footsteps coming down the hall. He is still quite the peanut for his age supposedly, but he appetite would say otherwise. I guess he got my metabolism! He still loves to throw food he doesn't like, let Seaby lick his fingers while eating and also place food on top of his head. It is hard not to laugh at this, but its so cute. He also likes to smear ketchup all over and then wipe his hands in his hair. This is my favorite especially if he had a bath earlier that day.

He loves to copy his brother. He is starting to call him Bubba which is very cute. He is already making his gun shooting noises too. Just the other day he is walking down the hall with a foam sword saying "shoo shoo" or just imagine what a shooting noise sounds like! Caleb does like to be in control and often pushes Kieran aside when he wants something he has. He also likes his space too, which is hard to manage with Kieran on the go wanting to be everywhere his brother is. Kieran even likes to wake up Caleb, he can hardly wait to see his brother in the morning and will sometimes walk in and screech loudly to do so, but I try my best to let him wake on his own.

He is using so many words now, copying things we say. Kerry was whispering "Cupcake" loudly with the boys and Kieran would repeat it back in the same tone. Hilarious! He just said Pablo today for the Backyardigans. Our favorite is "hotdog". He loves them and we love to hear him say it! Really, can he get any cuter? He still uses a lot of screeches and eeeeeeeeeee! when he wants something, but eventually the words will roll out.

This past month we rewarded Caleb with a trip to Chuck E Cheese for having 5 dry nights in a row. CEC is his potty training reward place and our next goal is for 10 days in a row. Its funny that he hasn't been dry since going. Oh, the joys of potty training!

We also celebrated my 34th birthday this month. I can hardly believe I am that elderly. Caleb and Kieran had a blast watching the cook at Benihana and Caleb even asked to have his birthday there next year. We shall see!

The Big Apple!

Kerry and I just celebrated our decade of marriage by taking a little getaway to NYC this past weekend. We jumped on a plane shortly after Caleb's 4th birthday party and left the boys behind with Nana & Papa for 3 days. Just a short plane ride to JFK and as we were leaving the airport, I saw what I believe to be was Regin Philbin's driver. His sign read R. Philbin. I just assumed and it excited me. My first star siting possibly? I kinda wanted to wait around, but kept walking. We grabbed our first NYC cab and let me just say that NYC cab drivers believe they are invincible. It was somewhat magical this experience, yet I was also hoping that we would make it alive into the city! We actually rented an apartment from a complete stranger using www.airbnb.com. Kerry found it and we researched the site and many options to find one located near Hells Kitchen. The gal met us at her apartment, gave us a run down of the small quarters and said goodbye. We were then off to find some dinner. We got carried away just walking around town and probably did so for about an hour before landing at a little Italian spot called Mario's Trattoria. It was a good find and surprisingly not expensive.

Sunday I wanted to grab breakfast at Dean & Deluca. The place of employment for Felicity, one of my favorite shows in college. I have to admit I got a little giddy sitting there! We then headed over to Times Square to pick up our NY City & Hop on Hop off passes. Times Square is like nothing you have ever seen before. It somewhat reminded me of Vegas, but not quite. Advertising galore, people, Broadway shows, people, restaurants, people, shopping, people, plenty of street vendors, people, a 4 story Walgreens and ToysRus to name a few. Did I mention people? Yikes. We got on our first Hop on Bus and headed over to Empire State Building. All of these sites we visited were part of our pass, so it totally was worth the cost rather than pay for everything on its own. This offered an amazing view! Of course, I had Sleepless in Seattle flashbacks that I kind of wanted to recreate, but Kerry said no. We walked over to the 9/11 Memorial Site, but didn't have an opportunity to see it. It was not part of our pass, but we got to see WTC1 in current construction. Once finished, it will be the tallest building in US. We saw some memorials around the area which is always neat to see. We decided to attempt Statue of Liberty which included a nice ferry ride over the Hudson. It was pretty muggy in the city, so a nice breezy ride was totally necessary at this point! Lady liberty was gorgeous, especially up close. Once off the boat, we headed back up to Times Square to visit Madame Tussauds wax museum. Now, we probably wouldn't have stopped here had we not had the pass. Wax, lifelike figures of your favorite stars and sports figures. We snapped some pics with our faves and headed back to Hell's Kitchen to meet up with an old friend from AZ who had recently moved to NY. We ate at 5 Napkin Burger and then visited a speakeasy bar that was featured on Drinking Made Easy called Just don't tell. The entrance is through a phone booth in a hotdog shop. Its rather funny to watch people watch you enter this bar because its not well known in the city, its somewhat secretive. We had a few drinks and called it a night.

Monday was our last full day in NY, so we grabbed the Hop On Bus and drove around the city, down to Central Park. Its neat to hear all of the history from these tour guides, facts I did not know about before visiting, like how John Lennon was shot for example. We did not see a ton of Central Park, but it was gorgeous. So lush and green. Its weird to look down from the Empire State Building and just see this block of green amongst all of these skyscrapers. We hopped back on the bus and hopped off at St John Cathedral of the Divine. Breathtaking to say the least. Walking through I felt like I was at the royal wedding. It was spectacular. The architecture is outstanding. We grabbed a late breakfast across the street and demolished some tasty crepes before hopping back on the bus over towards 30 Rock. We had a NBC studio tour which was pretty cool, got to see Brian Williams NBC newsroom, Dr. Oz set and SNL. We grabbed a quick lunch at an amazing sandwich shop called wichCraft and wichCraft it was. I just found out Tom Colicchio from Top Chef is the founder of this tasty shop. Makes more sense now. Simply delicious. Kerry and I couldn't stop eating them, they were so good, probably the best we ever had. Kerry went as far to say it was better than In n Out. What? We then checked in for our grand finale in NYC, a taping of the Jimmy Fallon show. It was so much fun!!!!!! The set appears so much bigger on TV, but they manage to fit a few hundred in that audience or so it felt waiting to go through security! Elmo was a guest and the audience got the new Rock N Roll Elmo's! Woohoo! Andy Samburg, drummer from Pink Floyd and the Shins were on the show. It was very cool to see. We walked right out of there and over to Fedex to mail those home. Walking around the city with those would have been a nightmare and there is no way we would have got them on the plane either. Smart thinking Snyders. We were famished and just kept walking around the city hoping to land on a good spot. I wanted Chinese and Kerry did not. We kept walking and walking and walking til finally crossing paths with an Asian Fusion restaurant so we had a seat. Turned out to be quite decent. Kerry ordered some duck and I picked a wrong dish, but it was still satisfying. After dinner we continued to walk. I wanted to enjoy some gelato, but it seems when you want something, you cannot find it. I mean, how many blocks did we walk and not come across any gelato? I see it all day long, but not at night? We ended up getting PinkBerry which was very tasty anyway and headed home.

Tuesday was our last morning, so we headed over to 30 Rock to pick up our Late Night with Jimmy t-shirts (the shop was closed after show) and finished our souvenir shopping. We caught a taxi and headed back home. If you are looking to relax, this is not the place to vacation. I love to walk and I didn't realize how much it would exhaust me day after day. You just have so much to see, that you never want to stop. One thing I didn't expect about NYC is that I never thought I would feel like a foreigner in my own country. We did not hear much English outside of tour guides and employees of attractions. Not once did we ever find an American to snap our photo. We loved it and can't wait to visit again someday.

Caleb is 4!

We celebrated Caleb's 4th birthday this past weekend at Ben & Ari's, a place similar to Chuck E Cheese, but smaller and closer. His theme was an airplane party and most creative mothers would plan an actual airplane party at an airport or airplane museum or something right? This mother does not have creative juices. I can do an airplane invitation and Nana makes the themed cakes-she did a fantastic job! The kids played mini golf, had some pizza and played arcade games before enjoying that lovely cake and watched Caleb open his presents. He had told me months previous that he was dreaming of a remote control tractor for his birthday so of course I had to get one for him. He said it was his favorite gift! SCORE! He also got a US map puzzle of all the states which he learned with Nana over a few days! He knows where the states on the map are more than his own mother! He had a fun day with friends and new toys and then got to spend a few more days with Nana & Papa while Mom and Dad went to NYC for an anniversary trip! Woohoo! Stay tuned for next post!
We love you buddy and hope you had a wonderful airplane party!

P.S. I would just like to note that the airplane party was planned right after his 3rd birthday and #5 was planned prior to turning 4.

15 months!

This past week, my little tornado starting taking steps without support. Kerry and I started playing baby ping pong like we did with Caleb (right) and it sure helps to encourage him to walk support free. I think in another week or so, I may be in trouble! Kieran (left) loves to push anything now that he can get around. The dog dish, the plastic kid chairs, the sit and spin, the wagon, his walker, you name it. He just doesn't put it back so my house looks like a tornado hit. Especially when he visits the kitchen. He knows the things he can play with, so he takes them out of each cupboard and throws them around. Its awesome.

He loves to dance. Put on the Imagination Movers and he is grooving in a second alongside his brother. He tries more things to eat than his big brother, but I am sure that will change once he turns 4 too. He loves to say "Uh oh" and sing into a play microphone. He has tried to ride Speedy, but hasn't successfully done so because the poor dog can only take so much torture in his old age. I love to see him attempt to climb into the bathtub at tubby time or climb out when he is all done. I love to see him climb into his big red chair and just relax. I love that he still greets Caleb with a "boop" in the morning, reaching out to touch his nose. I love that he loves to play with Caleb and do whatever he is doing, although Caleb may not agree. I love to see his excitement in the morning when I get him out of bed. I love that he talks about Dada all day long and his face lights up when he sees him. I love everything about this special gift of my son.

Caleb is nearly 4. My goodness. My chubby cheeked little baby cakes, is now a very intelligent, silly, fun loving kid who just started preschool this month! He loves to go to school and I am so happy for him. Its hard to question him on his day, either he doesn't want to share or he doesn't have a good memory! This past week, we got our first bad report on his behavior which did not make us happy, but hopefully he will learn and grow and listen and be kind. I do have to remember he is only 4. He loves to go on bike rides with me cul-de-sac to cul-de-sac. He loves to find the perfect stick on a walk. He loves to watch the Backyardigans and Looney Tunes. He loves to play Wii. He loves to listen to Imagination Movers and Veggie Tales. He loves to play Chutes & Ladders, Candyland and Uno. He loves to go to Conner Prairie to make crafts and visit the Apple Store for a treat afterwards. He loves the museum and Bounce U. He loves going to the library and he loves staying home a lot too. I love to hear him pray for us at dinner. Its so genuine and meaningful to him. I love that he can think of just about anything to put off going to bed. I love everything about this special gift of my son.

This month Kerry and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary a few months late by traveling to NYC for a few days while his parents watch the boys. We are ecstatic about visiting a new place and also to see a taping of Jimmy Fallon! I know the boys will have lots of fun with Nana & Papa, and they won't miss us a wink....well, hopefully a wink or two! I will definitely miss them as this is our first trip away from our kids alone! Whatever will we do? Sleep in? Enjoy the quiet? Party like rockstars? Just kidding. At least we won't have to be home for 7:30 bedtime.