Reading a good book

A few days ago I was watching Karli's boys for her. I went upstairs for a little bit and left the boys playing together downstairs. After a few minutes it got really quiet so I got worried (isn't it funny how when kids are really quiet it usually means they are doing something they shouldn't!). I came back downstairs to check out what they were into and I found this:

and then Kyson joined them and all four boys were reading books together.

Caleb had the book and would "read" it to all three boys. It just made me smile:)

Stoddard family

Sunday I took pictures of my cousin and her family. I just thought I'd share a few of my favorites! Now I think I need to go take a few pictures of my own kids...it's been a while and we need updated pictures on our walls:)

Here's the whole family


Cute kids!!! I couldn't decide which one I liked better.



Just for fun...


and last but not least my personal favorite!

but I can't decide whether I prefer it in black & white or color...what do you think?

I'm not messy, I'm creative!!!

Right before Kyson's birthday I found the shirt he wore for his party at a yard sale:

It made me laugh and I felt like it was perfect for my Kyson! I often tell people that he is a messy eater but every child is messy to some degree. So, the other day I decided to take pictures after each meal to demonstrate how creative Kyson really is:)

For breakfast he had yogurt. You would think this wouldn't be too messy, I mean it's just yogurt right? Well, Kyson is creative...




Of course our next meal was lunch and we had leftovers...chili beans and corn bread from dinner the previous night. Here's Kyson creativity in the works...



Of course for dinner that night we were in a big hurry so I didn't get a picture. Maybe tonight I'll take a picture after dinner and add it on... we'll see if I get around to it:)

I just have to say though that although I give him a hard time about being so messy, I'm just grateful he is a good eater! He just keeps us all on our toes at meal time:)

Kyson update

Yesterday Kyson had an appointment with his cardiologist, Dr. Alhadheri. I was little concerned about how this appointment would go knowing it was right in the middle of his normal naptime and Kyson gets cranky without a nap!
Before we saw Dr. Alhadheri, I had to take Kyson to get a chest x-ray. Of course they were really busy and even though I planned an extra hour to get this done, we were still 20 minutes late to his appointment afterward! Gratefully once it was finally Kyson's turn to go in for the x-ray he was cooperative. He seemed a little nervous about laying still on the table but gratefully he didn't fight us. (Maybe knowing I had a piece of candy for him if he was good had something to do with that:) Anyway once we finally got the x-ray we headed over to his appointment. We got right in and we began with getting his weight (~24.5 lbs) and height (I think ~35 in). His oxygen saturations were ~82, and I don't remember his blood pressure. Then we did the EKG. Kyson loves stickers so he didn't mind getting stickers all over his chest. He held perfectly still and the test was over quickly. Of course after the test we had to take the "stickers" off and Kyson just wanted to play with them. The assistant gave him a new set of "stickers" and he played with them until it was time for his echo. The stickers kind of pull when you take them off, so I was surprised he kept wanting to put them on and take them off over and over again!

Sorry for the blurry pictures...I just took them with the camera on my phone.

Kyson was amazingly good for his echo. He just laid there and watched Elmo. I was so grateful it wasn't a fight. He's always been pretty good for all of these tests but I always wonder how it's going to go!

After the echo we waited in our room for quite a while to talk to Dr. Alhadheri. He seemed to think Kyson is doing good. His function looks good so we are taking one of his meds away. He still has a leaky valve but they will probably try to put a few stiches in it to help in his third surgery. He is getting close to needing the Fontan so we will do a heart cath sometime in July. After the heart cath they will be able to determine when his third surgery will be. Dr. Alhadheri is hoping for right around his third birthday. Right now I'm just grateful he is healthy and doing well. We are blessed to have our little heart boy in our family!

How to Have an Easter Egg Hunt

Hide the eggs in good places...


Then round up the kids.
Get Ready...Get Set...NO WAIT, we have to take a picture first!


Ok...now GO!!!



Look everywhere...


Shake every egg to make sure there is something good inside.


Show off the goods

And enjoy the goodies inside!

So much fun!!!

Papago Park and PA school update

When it's so beautiful outside I am always wanting to find things to do to enjoy the weather before it becomes triple digits all summer long. Today we decided to go on a hike and had heard that Papago park had some fun yet easy trails that our kids could enjoy. This was about the fourth hike we have taken Caleb on and he LOVES it! He's always asking when we can go hiking again! It was fun to watch him. He was so excited he was always wanting race everyone.

Kyson spent most of his time here

He thought it was a fun game to steal Jared's sunglasses and put them on himself:)


Just to prove that he did get down and walk...a little. He would walk about 10 steps and then just sit down and play with rocks.

We found a cave that we climbed up to.


My sister Christy came with her sweet baby Anna who was very content right here:)

About half way through we stopped and rested for a bit.
Caleb was not interested in sitting down. He was all over the place.

What a super cute hiker!

My sister Jamie and sweet Kyson

Kysons enjoyed climbing down the big steps and was quite proud of himself when he made it down!

He found a BIG rock he kept trying to pick up and throw but he was struggling so Jared helped him out.


We had a great time together as a family. Jared has been so busy working lately it was nice to get to do something together.

As a side note, I don't think I ever mentioned that Jared got a call from AT Still about a month ago (the PA school he interviewed at) and he is on their alternate list. That means anytime between now and when school starts we could recieve a phone call letting us know there is a spot for him. If not it we will start the application process again this summer and hope to get in next year. With Jared's job at PMT, we have more confidence in his resume and complete application for next year so we are happy. It has all been a big waiting game for us but I am at peace that the Lord is guiding our lives and knows our future.

Happy birthday Kyson

Another year has gone by. Kyson has hit another milestone. He's now two!!! Every single day I think about how blessed we are to have him here with us. I love being able to watch him grow and learn new things. I just can't imagine life without him. What a blessing he is in all of our lives.

Sunday was his actual birthday but we celebrated Monday night by going to the park with a few friends and family. We enjoyed Ned's Krazy Sub's for dinner with chips and salad (thank you everyone who brought something!) and then brownies for dessert. Here's Kyson blowing out his candles:)

All of the boys sure enjoyed their dessert!


After brownies Kyson opened all of his presents. I think he enjoyed this part the most! You gotta love all the faces he was making!



He got so many new toys and has been playing with all of them ever since. I think Caleb has really enjoyed Kyson having a birthday too. He's got a bunch of new toys to play with too:) Good thing for brothers to share your new toys with!
Happy Birthday Kyson. I've sure enjoyed this last year with you and look forward to all of the things this new year will bring for you!