Where have I been?

I do have some pretty valid excuses to my blogging absence.  Here area few:
1.  Maicee has discovered my computer and hardly ever lets me use it anymore.  I think she knows more about my computer than me! (After going to her friend Ava's house to play, she now says she wants an I-phone and an I-pad for her birthday.  Thanks Annalee and Brian!)
2.  Our good camera died, and I honestly don't know how to charge it.  I've never seen a charging station for the battery, and Dan keeps forgetting to tell me how to charge it.  Our lives have been pretty boring lately, so blogging without pictures would bore you all to tears.
3.  Our dishwasher broke, so I was doing dishes 3 times a day.  (I hate having dirty dishes in the sink).
4.  My whole household was sick for about a month.  Kyson still has a little bit of a cough, but other than that, I think we are all finally getting better!
5.  It's been in the 60's and 70's these past couple of weeks, so I would rather spend my time outside.
Stay tuned, I will try to get a couple of new blogs up in the next few days!

8 months!

Wow!  Time sure is flying by!  This little man is growing so fast!  He rolls like a pro, but still doesn't have any teeth, even though he's been teething since 2 months (Maicee did the same thing).  Starting today he will only get a bottle.  He is not a very good nurser and sometimes eats only once or twice a day, which is very painful and frustrating for mommy.  I really wish I could have nursed him until 1 year, but I made it a whole 2 moths longer than I did with Maicee!  (Maicee weened herself at 6 months).  I think we will all be more happier with this new feeding practice.



He loves his sister's Rapunzel pillow doll (please don't mind the mess in the background, apparently I hadn't cleaned yet that day).

He loves when daddy plays guitar and tries to play, too.

He loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

He loves when his sister crawls in bed with him for morning snuggles.

He loves to sit and play

And make funny faces

And he's getting pretty good about being on his belly.  I don't think he will be crawling anytime soon, though.

We just love him!

Snowstorm

I was so excited last week because the weather was getting warmer, Maicee could go outside and play a bit, and I even let Kyson go outside and play in the grass. There was no snow on the ground, a little bit left in the parking lot from the piles of plowing.    Here's a picture of Maicee riding her bike on Tuesday, I think. 

And then this happened:

 That's the same little tree from the picture before.

 We had about an inch Thursday night, got some more Friday, and woke up to this on Saturday:

Rilee and Kyson

Maicee playing in the snow.

 And these are just a few random pictures.

Love this face!

And this one, too!

So handsome!

Maicee is obsessed with her hair being curly.  One day she asked if I would curl all of her hair.

Back view.

We had fun with our snow storm and are still loving life here in Colorado!

5 years...

I can't believe it's been 5 years since I've seen this face. 

I hate that my kids will never know their Grandma Judie on this earth. And it scares me when Maicee talks about going to live with Grandma Judie. Yes, she says it quite often. I'm so grateful to have the gospel in my life and to know that one day I will be with her again, hopefully a long, long time from now.

Miss you Mom, more than words can describe.

7 months!

Where has my baby gone?

This big boy can sit up,

go on walks

drum,  (Maicee says thanks Grandma and Grandpa Heilmann, for the drum!)

and sing!

Don't worry, he can't climb stairs yet, he was just playing with Dad.

One with sister.

I had to throw this picture in.  Isn't she just beautiful?  We got this outfit on super sale right before the big game this last Saturday.  Maicee loves it because now she is a cheerleader like cousin Jordyn.

She even has pom poms!

At Kyson's last Dr.'s appt. he weighed 16 lbs. 6 oz.

Christmas

I didn't take enough pictures again this year because we had the video camera out, when will I learn?

This was at our ward Christmas party.  Both kids were happy before I pulled the camera out.

This is the only picture I took Christmas morning.  I'm such a slacker!

Family photo at Jared and Tracie's house.

I just love these two!

Maicee was so excited for Santa to come.  We had to wake her up Christmas morning so we could get things going and make it to church on time.  She jumped out of bed and started running down the stairs.  Dan was trying to beat her so he could get the camera ready.  Well, Dan got the camera out, but there was no Maicee.  I found her in the hallway peeking around the corner.  She asked me if Santa was still here.  She was apparently excited for him to come, but not excited to see him Christmas morning.  We had a blast opening presents.  Kyson even helped out ripping the paper. What a good Christmas!

Another day...

I had high hopes for today; really, I did.  As I was going to bed last night, I just knew it was going to be the night that everything changed.  I just knew it.  I would get up at 7 the next morning, get ready for the day, fold some laundry, take Maicee to story time, and I even planned on doing some blogging.  Sadly, I was wrong; very wrong.  See, I have a secret, and I was hoping last night it would all change.  Here is my secret:  I don't sleep at night.  I feel lucky if I get an hour of uninterrupted sleep.  This has been going on for a while.  The beginning of November, if I remember right.  My cute little man, with the smile that melts your heart, doesn't sleep either.  At least not restfully.  He sleeps more than I do.  There is something wrong with his tummy, and I just don't know what to do about it.  His doctor thinks things are normal, so I switched doctors.  The new and improved doctor put him on some new medicine, but it doesn't seem to be helping his tummy either.  So we go back to the doctor tomorrow.  I feel bad for my little guy.  I know it's not his fault he can't sleep; more likely it's something I am eating.  But I don't know what else to cut out of my diet.
Here is our nightly ritual:
7:30- kiddos in jammies, teeth are being brushed, scriptures read, prayers said.  Kisses goodnight.
7:45- kiddos are either asleep or close to it.
9-9:30- Kyson may or may not wake up.  Normally he will just take a bottle and go right back to sleep.
9:45- anxiety kicks in for me.  My palms get sweaty, I start visibly shaking, and my stomach burns because I know what is going to happen in the night, and it makes me sick.
10- I start talking myself into going to bed.  I keep telling myself, "tonight will be different, you will get some sleep."  But I'm always wrong.  (Last night I felt none of the anxiety I normally feel, that's why I thought things were going to be different).
10:30- I finally drag myself upstairs to bed.
10:50- I lay wide awake in bed even if I'm exhausted because I know in half an hour I will just have to get up again.
11:30-12:30- Kyson wakes up.  Sometimes he wants to eat, sometimes not.  So I just sit and stare at him and hope he can get comfortable.  Sometimes he lets out these horrible smelling farts, then falls right to sleep.  Most nights he just grunts and falls in and out of consciousness. 
12:45- I get back in bed and try not to think, just fall asleep.  If I'm lucky, I get 10 minutes.  Sometimes, but rarely, 30 minutes.
1:15- Kyson is up again.  Sometimes he wants to eat, sometimes not.  Repeat everything from 11:30-12:30.
2:00- I'm back in bed, repeat 12:45.
2:30- Kyson is up again.  Repeat.
3:00- I get back in bed, repeat.
3:30- Maicee is awake because brother is awake.  I get to sit and rock her and sing to her and hopefully she will climb back in bed quietly without waking Kyson.  If Kyson doesn't wake up, I get to go to bed at 4.  If Kyson does wake up, then I'm already awake.
4:30- Drag myself back to bed, pray that both kids stay asleep for just an hour.
5:00- Kyson up.  Repeat.
5:30- Maicee up.  By this time I'm begging both kids will go to sleep.  If I haven't had a break down yet, I do now.  I cry and plead for just one hour of sleep.
6:00- I get back in bed whether both kids are asleep or not.  I turn off the monitor so I don't have to listen to them.
6:15- I feel guilty about turning off the monitor, turn it back on, and listen to the kids.  Still no sleep.
7-7:30 Dan gets up and starts getting ready for school.  If I'm super lucky, he'll give Kyson a bottle and take Maicee downstairs so I can try to get some sleep.
8:00-8:30- Kyson is up for the day.  I pull a pillow over my head to sleep for a little while longer.
9:00- If I'm not out of bed yet, I have to get up.
Normally the hour or so I get in the morning is the only sleep I get.  Over Thanksgiving break, Dan got up with Kyson one night, and I slept like there was no tomorrow.  I felt so good the next day.  Over Christmas break, we were both behind on sleep, so we took turns getting up with them at night.  Now that break is over, I can't ask Dan to get up with them; he's already got too much on his plate.
I feel bad for my baby.  I know he is hurting and uncomfortable, but I don't know what to do about it.  At first, gripe water and gas drops helped a lot.  Now they do nothing for him.  I'm tempted to give up nursing, but formula seems to upset his belly, also.  If he drinks milk based formula, he vomits it all up.  We have him on soy based formula now, and that seems to help.  He gets about 1 formula bottle a day.  He also naps well during the day.  He naps twice a day for  2 hours.  I thought maybe switching him to his crib would help him sleep at night.  His crib is in Maicee's room, so I was hesitant to make the switch.  We did it over Christmas break.  That hasn't helped either.
I am ashamed to be typing this.  Kyson was my good sleeper.  He would only wake up once a night.  Then he would grunt and move around and be uncomfortable the rest of the night, but he would sleep.  I'm worried about his health; it can't be good for a baby to get that little sleep.  I'm worried for Maicee's health.  She won't take naps anymore and I'm afraid her brother keeps her up half the night.  And I feel bad because when I don't get sleep, I get grouchy.  And Maicee gets the worst of it.
I don't know what else to do.  If the doctor doesn't try something new tomorrow, I think I might have a nervous breakdown.
Anyway, if you see me and I seem out of it, or perhaps even a little drunk, I'm not.  Just super duper tired.