Dan.Jamie.Maicee.Kyson.Blakely.: Perspective

I've been in a serious funk lately. I haven't been wanting to do anything. And on top of that, I'm feeling like a huge failure. Disclaimer: I'm not telling you this because I want sympathy or words of encouragement, I just want you to know my perspective. We have been taking Kyson to various appointments to be evaluated, Maicee will soon be evaluated for ADHD, so yes, I'm feeling like a failure as a mother. I can't seem to stay on top of housework lately, Dan has been cleaning and doing dishes to try to make up for my lack of motivation, which isn't fair for him. I was completely bummed yesterday for no reason! We had an awesome morning with Dan's brother Jared and his wife Tracie. We took our kids to a neat little splash pad and awesome park that is super close to both of us, then we had lunch at Chick-fil-a. Aunt Tracie was nice enough to give Maicee Colton's kids meal prize, which was a little book titled "My Favorite Things". After we left them and went home, I realized I would not be taking my kids to see fireworks for the 4th of July (fireworks were cancelled again this year because of fire hazards), there was no parade in the morning, basically I felt like I was letting my kids down because they didn't get the normal 4th of July traditions. We still had a fun day yesterday, even with my gloomy mood. Then, this morning, I found Maicee's "My Favorite Things" book, which her friend Rhianna helped her to fill out. The beginning was filled with things like who her favorite friend is (Rhianna was her answer), what her favorite thing to do is (play with Rhianna), etc. Then I got to the end of the book, and it asked what her favorite day was. Her answer was: today, the 4th of July, because we made red, white and blue popsicles, and red, white, and blue drinks. My sweet little 4 year old doesn't care about big parades or firework shows, she likes doing fun things with her family. So I need to get my priorities in order and realize the good stuff that I have around me. I'm so grateful for this sweet little girl and the big impact she has on my life. I love her so much!
Okay, enough with the sappiness. A quick update on us. Dan is busy studying for his Board 2 exams (I think that's what they're called). He gets a week off after he takes them, and then he's off to Hawaii for 6 weeks. Me and the kids are planning on spending a couple of weeks in Idaho while he's gone, then we get to wait patiently for him to get back. He'll be back for a week or two, then he's off to Tacoma for 4 weeks. If I can handle the drive, I will hopefully spend a couple of weeks in Vancouver with his parents, because Tacoma and Vancouver are only about an hour and a half apart. Maicee just finished up soccer again, and is still enjoying every minute of gymnastics. She is excited to start pre-K this fall. Kyson still isn't talking, we took him in about 2 weeks ago to get his hearing tested, and his results were normal. We are taking him in on Monday to a speech therapist. I'm not too worried about him not talking, but there are some behaviors his pediatrician is worried about, but he hasn't told us what. This boy is constantly on the go. He loves kicking soccer balls and jumping. Either on the couch, or on the ground. At his 2 year appointment, he only gained a couple of ounces since his last visit weighing in at 23 lbs. 14 oz, (3rd %), but jumped to 60% for height at 34 3/4 inches. Blakely is my little bundle of joy. She is still sleeping through the night (she started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks but I didn't want to jinx anything by announcing it). At her 6 month check up she weighed 15 lbs. 7 oz. (48 %) and is 27 1/4 inches tall (95%). She is always smiling and giggling and she just loves everything about life. She makes me so happy. And her siblings just adore her. Maicee is always wanting to kiss her or hug her, or make her laugh. Kyson gets upset when she cries and piles her with toys, or minkies, or binkies. She is almost sitting up, and lifts herself up off the floor on all fours when she is on her belly. Oh, I ran a half marathon last Saturday. It was pretty awesome! A girl in my ward had been trying to talk me into it, and I've been doing long runs with a group of women in my ward who were training for the half. I jumped in the week they ran 7 miles, and felt pretty good, so I just kept training with them. About 2 weeks before the race I realized I was feeling pretty amazing on the runs, so I registered for it and ran the race! Juliann, the girl who talked me into it, has my running pace, so we would always run together. Our goal was to finish under 3 hours. We barely missed our goal and finished in 3 hours, 4 minutes. But we did it! I'm feeling pretty amazing since I've been on this gluten free diet. There are a lot of things I can't eat, but my energy is back!!! It took about 3 1/2 months of being on the diet to get my energy back. I wouldn't trade any taste in the world for my energy!
Sorry there are no pictures with this post. Maicee set a cup of water down on our ottoman, which turned into a puddle of water, right where our nice, expensive camera was sitting. That was about 2 months ago, and we are still hoping it dries and and starts working again. I will hopefully be posting soon about Kyson's 2nd birthday. Oooh, I just figured out how to get pictures off my new i-phone, so here ya go!

So pretty!

Dan and I were talking one day, looked over at Blakely and saw this. I don't know how she managed this.

She was pretty happy though!

One of the many fires that were burning in Colorado. This one was about 30 miles from us, but there were several mountains and hills, and a highway seperating it from us.