Love / hate relationship

Things I love about toddler stage:

- Communication is MUCH easier!

- Get to play games with someone more animated

- Feeds himself

- Hugs and kisses me back

- Copies everything we do

- Shows love, compassion and empathy

- "I do it"

Things I hate (yes, I said hate) about toddler stage:

- How long things take when he does it

- Changing diapers

- Tantrums

- "Mine"

- "No"

- Thinks that it's ok for Elmo to be on repeat

Bret cracks us up on a daily basis....he turns his golf clubs into leaf blowers and edgers....he pretends to pull-start his tools (like Jason) and it takes about 50 pulls (like Jason)!! HAHAHA - He feeds his Elmo doll "soup" out of a ladle and chases us around the house with his toy saw. Maybe I should be creeped out about the last one! HAHAHAHA....Bret, you're awesome!

Pics of my burtday

I had a blast on my birthday!! Had dinner with my cousin who just turned 21....we took her out for a few drinks; we ate cheesecake at home - OMGosh.....stop with the desserts!!! It was good and Jason made it for me :) Then I put Kyle to bed and we went out for a few hours. I had so much fun that I could've stayed out all night. Karaoke (stone sober and proud of it!!), a couple of my favorite beverage then night-night.

Toledo's got a new firefighter :)

This is my devilishly handsome BIL.....He gets his good looks from Jason, I know :) HEHEHE
Well, today we celebrated his official induction into the Toledo Fire Departement! After years of hard work, persistence and PATIENCE, Justin is one of Toledo's finest. Jason and I are SOOOO proud of him and to be able to share in his achievement. Great job, Justin....we love you!!

2010 - The beginning of the end

The title sounds kind of creepy but it's really not...I'm talking about my consumption of meat. Starting this year, I'm going to cut out a type of meat until I'm vegetarian. 2010 - red meat, 2011 - pork, 2012 - chicken, 2013 - turkey....Boy am I going to miss my steaks :( I need to force myself to make more fish and vegetarian dishes. I'm not very good at it.
Have to do it. Not getting any younger or healthier. The way things are going in government, we'll be paying for our own health care pretty soon. So I'm taking better care of myself!! Here are some pics over Christmas and NYE :)

2 months old

I can't believe that 2 months have passed by!! It's almost in the blink of an eye. Kyle had his 2-month wellness check up yesterday. Stats: weight - 13lbs 4oz, length - 24.5", HC - 15.25". Compared to Bret at this age, Kyle is about 1/2lb lighter and a whole inch longer!

We're getting super excited for Christmas....On Saturday, my family got together and celebrated Christmas. Bret had an awesome time opening gifts. I. CAN. NOT. WAIT. UNTIL. CHRISTMAS. MORNING. He and Kyle will be fun to record :)

The pic shows Kyle (left), Kayden (his cousin and 1 day older - middle) and Koltyn (born at the end of August- right). Yeah, I'm the mom that doesn't dress an infant really super holiday cute and to the nines.....my philosophy is that they'll drain us of money when they're teenagers so why start now?! HAHAHA.....Christmas cards are going super slow. Not really wanting to send any out this year but I already bought them. We'll do the family picture card next year. For some reason, this year crept up too fast for us to do the picture.

I'm such a slacker

My poor baby's 1 month birthday passed and I didn't even post anything :(

Kyle is a good baby...I know I've said this before, but I just can't believe how babies can be so different coming from the same parents!! It's tough not to compare Bret and Kyle but I do it a lot.....Bret was a not-so-good-sleeper....He still isn't; Kyle, on the other hand, sleeps so well. I'm sleeping about 5 hours at at time right now and it's pure heaven. Bret was a terrible spitter-upper. Kyle barely ever spits up. Both of my kids were/are gassy. I have to pump legs a lot and the farts are adult-sized!

Let's see, what else??? I've lost all of my pregnancy weight, plus 4 lbs. I have 10 lbs to go to be at my goal weight. Actually, I'm happy at my current weight but I have to lose an additional 10 lbs to get back into my pants. Thanks to all of the flabby, stretch-marked skin on my belly. I am really looking forward to my tummy tuck one day.

Starting with the winter session, I'm going to start taking classes at the Y with Bret. I'm going to enroll him in swim lessons - without me. We'll see how he does; I'm kind of nervous. I am going to take a boot camp class. Really excited about that. My neighbor is in it right now and she said that the instructor shows no mercy.....that is exactly what I need.

This week we're going to the Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo.....They do such a great job decorating the zoo with Christmas lights. I love it!!

Update

It's been awesome-crazy around here....I absolutely LOVE having two boys; especially since Bret is such a great big brother and Kyle is such a great baby. I've been VERY, VERY blessed :)

Not too much going on....thinking about going private. Don't know yet.

We're celebrating Jason's parents' 60th birthdays on Friday. Saturday and Sunday are free days, so far. Next week Jason is taking his last unpaid vacation week (thank God). That means he automatically gets an 8% pay increase next year!! YIPPPEEE

Bret gets his MMR shot on Tuesday :( I just hate when kids get shots. Almost as much as I hate circumcisions. How wimpy am I, right?!

We had a family photo session last week. I love the work that Tara does...she's pretty much one of the sweetest persons I have ever met. A couple of sneak peeks for you.