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Saturday, November 26, 2011

Halloween

   This new area we live in is definitely a great new experience for both boys. We have been used to living out in the country with no kids around that they can get to know. The first weekend here Dakota already made new friends. He still is excited to go outside and play with his friends. Even when the neighborhood kids aren't around, Dakota still enjoys going outside to ride his bike.
     Dakota got himself all ready to go outside. He is so proud that he can dress himself.
 My little pirate. His earring isn't exactly on his ear, but it is close. He scored quite well in the candy department! Once he got the idea of what he needed to do to get candy he was all for it. His first year this year walking up to the houses and actually "trick-o-treatin" . ;)
                     Kyan the walking, flirting, baby spider. ;)
 Now that Halloween has come and gone we can prepare for Kyan's first birthday and then the holidays.
I cannot believe that my little walking baby Kyan will be a year old in just a few weeks. It definitely seems like just yesterday I had found out I was expecting. The milestones have just begun with this boy. His little personality is coming out strong. He is my little chatterbox. Always jabbering and I must not forget his little dancing moves he has begun to show.

Monday, September 19, 2011

It's party time!

Dakota turned three on the twelfth of September. We decided that this year we would try to have a gathering at our place the following Saturday. So, with a lot of stress about the theme we came up with Phineas and Ferb, Dakota's new favorite cartoon. Dakota talked about having his party all week and friends coming over. It was real cute to hear him get so excited for his party. He would ask every morning about his cake and I would have to tell him how many more sleeps. The morning of his party he was so excited his little face was beaming. He kept saying, "today. friends. party". 

The party people all hanging out. It was a beautiful day to have a party. Couldn't have asked for a more breezy sunny day.
 Dakota and his new friend, Jaiden. The boys all had a blast in Dakota's truck. They were driving that all over the yard. His truck was the main toy all the kids loved. He shared his truck and didn't get upset at all when he wasn't able to drive it. I am so proud of him. He definitely has a great personality. Love him to death. :)
 Playing one of the games. The kids had to wrap each other up like a mommy and run. Dakota was the last to get wrapped. He stood so still and let Jaiden wrap him up. These two were so cute. Even though this was the only game the kids played it was cute to watch.
 One of the presents Dakota received. Him and Ryder checking it out. It is a Vtech computer. Hopefully now he will use this one instead of my laptop. Hopefully.
 The birthday cake. Phineas and Ferb. It was marble cake with butter icing and it was so yummy!
 Justin actually smiling, but Halle making the funny faces. First picture I got with Justin lookin nice. I love these two so much.
 Pretty Hayden. Such a cute little girl. So happy all the time. Love this little girl!
Kyan decided to climb into his walker all by himself. Even though he is backwards. So proud of himself!!

The party was a success. Even though we didn't play all the games I had planned, just having people over to help us celebrate Dakota's birthday was all we wanted. Now that we know we can do this, we think we will try again next year. Dakota is still talking about his friends and his party. To see the joy and smiles light up his face is the best feeling a mommy could have. I love being a mommy!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Tropical Storm Lee


We have really been lucky to not have a hurricane or tropical storm in a couple years. I didn't know about Lee until he was almost here!! Turned on the weather to hear that there was a storm in the Gulf. Boy, did I almost freak out!! Then I saw it was a tropical storm. Still a little worrisome when there is a lot of wind involved. All that night the rains and the wind came. Fortunately we didn't have too much damage... other than Dakota's toys blown all over the yard and back by the pond. We had to make a trip into Gonzales to get groceries so off we went. I decided to take the camera just in case we came across any thing interesting. 


and we found this!! tree took out the line.. just the lines. poles a little slanted.. but no injuries..

The water is up, but not flooding the road.. yet.. as of Sunday (today) our road was shut down because of flooding.

 Flooding on the island..  Head of Island is what it is called. we know the owner and he wasn't home. good thing he put his motorbike on his porch! 
Apparently this man was smart when he built his house.. put a levee around so when it rains he doesn't flood. there is usually just grass there.. It is all around his property.

We still have the rain falling and every once in a while our television will get that tornado siren warning us of tornado's. Haven't heard any touch down anywhere close to us which is good. I don't like tornado's or anything that sounds remotely close to one. The greatest is that we still have power. So we are thanking our lucky stars and hoping this storm will pass over.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Morgan

.

So the boys have a new little cousin. It is hard to believe that little Janet has a baby. I am still trying to grasp that she is married and now she is a mommy. The little bundle, Morgan, arrived into this world August 11, 2011. She was a healthy girl weighing in at 8 pounds 7ounces. Smaller than what Dakota and Kyan weighed, by only a few ounces. 
Janet and Morgan. 

So, now that baby has arrived and all I think we need to make that trip up to Michigan so the cousins can meet. I think the boys will get along great with her. After all, they are all close in age. We live so far away it is hard to make the visit as often as I would like. But, hopefully in the future we can make those trips or have them come down here for christmas vacations or summer. 

Monday, August 8, 2011

Chunky Monkey

My little baby has grown quite a bit and has finally conquered crawling. He crawls like a speed demon! I chuckle watching his little behind wiggle back and forth as he darts through a room with eyes set on a toy. He also has begun the process of standing by himself and walking. He will stand by the door and try to reach his little fingers to the doorknob only to be just a few inches too short. With assistance he is able to make a few steps but that is it. He would much rather crawl for the time being. I am more than happy to see him continue crawling until he is ready to make it to the next milestone.

The speaking has begun and I hope he won't fall into the same rut that his older brother has. I am not saying a speech delay is bad, just that it could make things a little more difficult.  Hearing the babble he says on a daily basis seems to make one wonder how the concept of repetitiveness is acquired and learnt, but then again without repetitiveness one couldn't learn the basics like speech. For now Kyan is learning "maa maa" and "naa naa". He will sit and play while he says those over and over. 

The cuteness in a baby giggle is precious and my Kyan's is pretty darn cute. We will play tickle monster just so mommy can hear him giggle. His face lights up and the love that pours out his giggle is priceless. The two little teeth that he does have just makes the huge open mouthed giggle more cute. 

The joys of being a mommy just gets better and better with each day. There are better days than others, and as each day ends and we close our eyes to go to sleep we hope that the next day will bring new challenges and growth.



Kota Bear

My first born child is growing and learning everyday. I love watching him experience things and learn things for himself.  We have started to say the alphabet and to hear him try to say the letters is just an experience every parent can understand. All a parent can ask for is that their child does their very best in each and everything that they do.. talking included. With how the complicated language english really is, I know my child will be an exceptional talker in his own way. He is my flesh and blood, after all. His latest is making a clicking sound at the end of words he uses. I chuckle each time he does it because it is just so cute to hear him try to pronounce the word correctly. I really love how he has made his learning fun.

He loves to play with all his toys. And that does include dumping his whole toybox out on the floor just to walk away from them distracted by a toy that was out the whole time. His favorite would have to be his cars and trucks or as he calls them "vroom vroom". When we go into town to pick up his daddy from work he loves to look at the big trucks in the yard. His daddy has even taken him up in the boom truck. Of course, me being terrified of heights almost passed out when I saw them both waaaaayy up in the air. Dakota also loves to drive his little 4x4 truck around the yard. He looks so proud to be in control of where he wants to go. I know he will love to drive his little brother around once Kyan gets old enough to ride in it. So, in the meantime he has the joy of trying to drive over his dog, Chief. Lol, now that may sound cute and all but I have to get after Dakota for trying to drive over the dog. If he does this to the dog, I don't want to think about what he will do to his little brother! All the cars and trucks he has to play with inside he will line them up in a row and call them his "choo choo".

Kota loves to be an older brother, but I am noticing more and more the jealousy of being an older sibling. I am trying to let Dakota know that being an older sibling can be fun. They will crawl around the house laughing and giggling and having fun. I really do like to see their smiles when they play together. And I am sure other new parents feel the same way with their children. Dakota and Kyan are well on their way to being the best of friends and I couldn't have asked for a better two boys than these two. Of course, they are also at the stage of hurting each other just to get a rise out of me or their daddy. Dakota has a habit of pushing or sitting on his brother. And Kyan will pull Dakota's hair. Those are also just the beginning of many more tears that will come.

Another big step for Dakota has been his ability to let water run down his face. He would scream at the top of his lungs when water got on his face while he was in the tub. His scream is a piercing one so being in an room that echo's just makes it hurt the ears even more. Within the last week his daddy has let him into the shower where he has had to make the adjustment of water on his face. I can hear him laughing, so I guess the water falling tickles his face. It is quite the big difference than hearing that piercing scream I was used to hearing.
He also has his favorite television shows that he loves to watch. His favorite is SpongeBob Squarepants or as he calls it "Bob bob". There is something about that show that will always make me laugh. Dakota will  make crabby patties and serve them. He is growing a little collection of spongebob toys that he likes to play with including his latest, a Spongebob hat that he likes to wear around. I am happy to say that I will never know the entire Spongebob song, hopefully. Maybe he will grow out of this phase and move onto another cartoon like Spiderman or Batman.

My toddler has grown so much and this is just the beginning of many more experiences for him. I am excited to continue to watch this sweet young boy grow into a strong man. I just hope that he will remember how much his mommy loves him.


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

not much but a little

Where do I begin?  My two sweet boys are growing up before my eyes. Dakota is learning his numbers and alphabet. He still has a hard time pronouncing but with time and help I know he will get a grasp of this complicated English language. Kyan is crawling like a little pro and is learning to pull himself up to his feet. He will stand by himself for a few seconds and when he realizes he is standing he will smile. 
The hot and humid summer weather has not been pleasant. This is the one season I really dread living in Louisiana. The humidity is so sticky I really don't find it fun to be outside. Dakota will play outside every once in a while but then when he comes inside he is sweating so much. So, our days are spent inside until the sun isn't so hot. 
We have decided to leave the alligators alone. From time to time Cliff will go back there to see if any are in the pond, but he hasn't noticed anything for sometime now. I just hope that if there are any they will stay there or move onto some other pond. My understanding is that just down the road from us there is an alligator farm so, there will always be alligators around this pond. I have also learnt that the alligators like to eat dogs. Not a nice thought seeing as how our dog Chief likes to run around back there and he has a vision problem. I have seen him roaming around that area a few times, so hopefully he knows. If not, I guess there is not much I can do about it. He refuses to be tied up and we don't have a fenced in yard. 
I have been trying to get motivated to get my body back into shape. It is nice that I finally fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, I just wish that I was more toned than I am. I have started and stopped with my exercises more times than I can count this year. One of these days, hopefully in the near future, I will get it right and stick with it. 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

80-year-old lady married for the fourth time


The local news station was interviewing an 80-year-old lady because she had just got married for the fourth time.

The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband's occupation. "He's a funeral director," she answered.

"Interesting," the newsman thought.

He then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living. She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years.

After a short time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining that she had first married a banker when she was in her early 20's, then a circus ringmaster when in her 40's, and a preacher when in her 60's, and now in her 80's, a funeral director.

The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had married four men with such diverse careers.

She smiled and explained, "I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go."





Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Memorial weekend

We didn't have plans for the weekend at all. Then cliff caught one of the alligators again with some bait and a hook. Once again we had one ready to be taken care of and no one to help us. Of course, all the legal issues are a big deal here so it is understandable that no one will step up to help kill and skin the gator.
Here he is. He has the bait and hook in his mouth. He was not a happy camper. Cliff was only a few feet away from him to get this picture. The alligator was hissing and snapping until cliff cut the rope. Then the alligator slowly went back into the water. He was so dry from the humidity.

 Dakota fishing over at our friends place. He has definitely mastered the fishing. I am so proud of my little boy. He acts so grown up sometimes. Makes me wanna cry. :)
                       Just some of the people visiting.
                    Crawfish! mmm. and so tastey too.
 Kyan all tuckered out from a long hot day. He slept for a good long while.
               Dakota and his new friend Riley.
Riley the pro at peeling crawfish. she would peel them for dakota. What a sweet girl.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Swamp People

We live in the area where the new television series Swamp People has been filmed. How locals hunt for them gators that has been done for many years here in Louisiana. I have to admit that since moving out into the country where there are actual alligators I have come to enjoy watching that show.
Last year was the first year I have ever been close to an alligator in the wild. It was definitely an experience to remember. I would lay awake at night thinking that I had alligators living in my backyard. What a nice thought to think just before going to sleep. We had called Wildlife and Fisheries to help with the "nuisance" animals. I thought that rather weird because those ginormous animals weren't a nuisance to me, they were more of a "oh my stars! how can my child play outside knowing there were prehistoric animals in that pond?" 

How cool is that knowing those live in your backyard? It was scary to know these prehistoric animals were there, but yet it was exciting. Growing up in Canada, this is not a childhood experience, so I am a little thrilled my children will experience this.
It took a little while to catch the first alligator, but when we did it was exciting.  This was a smaller one. My little Dakota was so eager to touch it. I think this one was just over six feet long. They say one can measure the approximate length of an alligator by looking at the eye stumps. The width between the eyes is the length. Or something along those lines. I am not too sure.

The last one caught in our pond. He was still alive when I took this picture. Quite a bit larger than the other one? Thanx to wildlife and fisheries, those "nuisiance" alligators were taken care of for the year. 
So now once again, we are on the hunt for alligators. Not quite sure how this year will turn out. 
This is the only one we have seen so far. If you look closely you can see a white spot. Look to the right of the white spot and that is the alligator. He is definitely a sneaky one. 

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The little things in life



Our little Kyan sure is growing fast!! He is now 5 months and growing. The little things he does to bring a smile to my face. His smile. His laughter. Love this little chunky monkey! :) 




Dakota playing with his toy boat and Chief, our dog,  by his side. My little boy growing so fast. Makes me smile to see how much he has grown. Learning something everyday.



Dakota taking his little brother for a pretend cruise in his truck. I am foreseeing a lot of fun and mischief these two will get into one day. And yes, the bad too. 




Our little indoor surprise.. A chameleon that found it's way into our home. I hope he keeps his distance and I will do the same! He can eat the mosquito's or other little bugs that decide to invade our home. Dakota has named him 'Rex'.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Spring

So spring has finally arrived here in Louisiana. The flowers are well on their way to blooming and everything around us is a bright green. I love this time of year here. 
I thought this was a cute picture of Kyan actually sitting in a chair. He has his big brother's hat on. Dakota wouldn't wear it but kept putting it on Kyan so here he is. 
The only flowers I have.. They were given to Dakota from the neighbors. I am surprised I actually remembered to water them on a regular basis and keep them in the sun. After this picture was taken Dakota decided to take all the petals off the smaller flowers. So, now we are down to one flower pot.. I hope the others will grow back. If we can give it plenty of love they should. Maybe I will start a flower bed. I saw a cute way to make a little flowerbed at the flea market this past weekend, so I think I may just want flowers!!
Chief. Our wonderful dog. He is cross-eyed. We don't know what happened to him but he seems to manage. It is cute to watch Dakota play with Chief at times. Other times Chief will get in Dakota's face and then I hear the screams and crying. 
Dakota showing his cuteness. He loves to play outside. I don't think I know a child that doesn't like to play outside. Well I do, but I won't gripe on my blog about that. :) 

A picture of our neighbors garden that is just outside our property line. He grows a lot there every year. He is such a nice older gentleman. This year it looks like he has strawberries, potatoes, green beans, and green onions. I am sure he will plant more throughout the season. He seems to have eased up a little this year as far as tending to daily. Not to worry though he has plenty of family in the area to help him out. Plus we are always here willing to help when he needs.

Monday, March 21, 2011

A day at the Park

We were told about this cool new park that we had to check out. So we took Dakota there and he absolutely loves this park. There are so many more things to play on and way more children attend this park. The only downfall I have seen is trying to get Dakota to leave! From the moment we arrive at the park Dakota has a big smile on his face. He really enjoys climbing the wall up to the slide and has perfected this all on his own. I have yet to see another toddler his age climb the wall by themselves. He seems to have the climbing gene. No, not from me. 

Just hanging out! He can dangle there for quite a while. Such a strong boy I have!!! This apparatus seems to slide back and forth. Dakota seems to like it somewhat. If daddy stands there holding him he will swing back and forth for as long as his little arms can handle.
 A snail that he enjoyed riding on. He doesn't seem to stay on this too long when he sees there is another that he can ride.
 The grasshopper. Liking this one a little more. Smiling away because he can rock back and forth. There is also room for one more.. One day his little brother can ride with him. 
Discovered sand. He wasn't too sure at first about this, but eased up a little. Dakota seems to like to walk like a little soldier back and forth. Have no idea where he gets that from. It is cute though. 
 Kyan even got his share of sand. It seemed like he enjoyed the feel of the sand on his feet. He sat there and watched the sand. I think he was waiting for the sand to do something. 
 Dakota playing with Kyan, putting sand on his feet. Kyan was too busy watching daddy's boots to realize what big brother was doing. Or he just noticed he had a monkey on his wrist.
 Kyan once again. He likes to eat his little hands and wrists. 
There are so many other mother's that are there to chat with and so friendly. I even ran into a girl I had met when Cliff and I first started dating. Such a small world. We chatted for a while and then went our separate ways. Hopefully we will run into each other more often. It has been ten years since I had seen her and now we both have kidlets of our own.

Monday, March 7, 2011

No more diapers?

We have decided that Dakota is well on his way to being potty trained. It has been a game of trial and error for the past few months but I believe he is getting the idea. At first when we bought his potty he just played with it listening to the music it played. Pushing the button over and over to hear the wonderful sound effects it had. He had even went potty in it once but my excitement pretty much scared him into not attempting it again.  We had even bought his first set of big boy underwear with Cars the movie logo on them. He wore a pair once and when he hurt himself while wearing them he didn't want to even go near them for the longest time. I would ask him over and over if he wanted to be a big boy and wear his big boy underwear but he would just walk away and say "no". So, once again I felt like I was back at square one in the training department. So we patiently waited and waited for the time to be right where he would decide he was ready to try it again. He eventually decided he would sit on his potty and even use the toilet paper, of course with his diaper still on. So the timing was getting closer and closer to where we would see if he was ready. He would tag along with his daddy to the bathroom at home and even when we were out and about. Holding his daddy's hand and being a big sport watching what needed to be done. Finally this past week I had decided that I thought he was showing more and more signs that he was ready to try it again so I asked him if he wanted to show his baby brother what big boys do on the potty. He went to the bathroom and grabbed his potty and brought it out. I helped him take his diaper off and he sat down. The next thing I hear is the most wonderful sound.. the sound effects of his potty saying he had just went. This time I didn't react as ecstatic as I had previously done. He showed his baby brother and with a smile on his face we went to empty it. He was so proud of his accomplishment that he had decided he needed to go over and over in his potty for the next hour or so. He was awarded with a nice sugary treat and the potty training phase had begun. He decided to wear his big boy underwear and wears them proudly. Even running around the house saying "Vrrrooomm". 


Notice how his underwear is backwards! haa. He is so proud of himself I couldn't resist capturing this moment. A smiling boy proud that he put them on himself and being such a big boy. Love this kid!!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

My baby boys

My baby boys are both growing like weeds and I still cannot believe that they are mine. I love them dearly. Dakota is learning to say more and more words each day. We were worried for a while that he had a learning disability.. he wasn't talking by his second birthday. He was evaluated and  diagnosed with Developmental Apraxia. There was a speech therapist that was in the area that came out to our house and evaluated him as well and she had said that Dakota is a smart boy. He understood beyond his age group but just was not grasping the talking stage. When she came back the following month to give the final results of his tests I had realized Dakota was beginning to speak more words. So, Cliff and I decided Dakota did not need the speech therapy we had previously thought he needed. Since then, Dakota has learnt many more words and is finally speaking. He has slowly come to realize that words gets him more than pointing and grunting. 
Kyan is now a 3month big boy. He is growing so much. He can now hold his head and is learning to roll over. He will roll onto his side from his back but hasn't grasped the rolling over from his tummy. When he has his floor time he will move around in a circle under his Baby Einstein gym. He talks to the octopus laughing and giggling to it as he moves. 
We have discovered a couple alligators in our pond again. So it looks like it is going to be another few months of alligator hunting. The meat that we get from the alligators is so tasty. This year we are going to hunt for them ourselves. I am hoping that we are successful. We have quite a few friends that are willing to help with the catch and the rest of what is done with them. How exciting this will be for the boys to grow up doing. I am thrilled that Dakota and Kyan will get to experience the excitement of alligators. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Friends forever

These two boys will always be friends. Dakota loves his little brother. He is always playing with his feet and hands making Kyan giggle and laugh. Dakota likes to help Kyan getting his toys when they fall or just helping mommy. Life with two boys is definitely an adventure. The more I am around these two the more I fall in love with them. I will always put their needs first and be there for them no matter what. They have definitely shown me the true meaning of love. Pure love. Unconditional love that cannot be broken.