Tyler's goals

"Daddy, when I'm seven, can I get this?"  Points to something in Boys' Life.

"And when I'm eight, then I get married.  Cuz that's what boys do, right?"

"Then when I'm nine, I get a Mario game."

Danny the Dad

If I can think of one thing that Danny was meant to be it is a Father.  He is like a kid at heart which equals the best dad in the world.  When Danny is home he has a kid or four around him in whatever he is doing.  He is always teaching and involving them in his projects (even when it means the project will last 10 hours instead of 1).  He finds time to do things they want to do like fishing which isn't his idea of fun.  He has extreme patience.  He takes the kids each morning so that I can sleep.  He always makes breakfast for us.  He teaches them piano.  He does these things with a cheerful heart.  He is the dad in the pool that is throwing our kids up in the air and playing marco polo.  He works so hard each day as a dentist just to come home and work  play as a dad.  He reads to them.  He makes sure that he is at their special events.  His family comes first.  He speaks Spanish to them which I am sure is tiring.  He leads them by example. I don't know how we got so lucky but we did and I am eternally grateful for the dad Danny is every single day.  It is a job he never gets a break from that he does so well each day.  When I get asked how I manage 4 kids so young, I tell people they have an amazing dad.  Without him I couldn't do it.  We love you Danny!  

ID

Journey as a Mom

Life with Scott.  Life with one for me was figuring out how on earth you raise a baby.  Everything is new.  Packing a diaper bag was like packing a suitcase.  I had to make sure I had everything or I would somehow not survive the planned out adventure that was often just to to the park across the street.  It was hard.  I didn't have many mom friends which was the hardest part for me.  

Life with Scott and Tyler.  Life with two was learning to share my time with two kids.  We also learned more than enough about hospitals, surgeries and sick kids.  I learned to lean on others and that it is not only ok, but actually a really good thing to allow others to help.  This opened up the door to some great friendships and learning the beauty in the phrase, "it takes a village to raise a child."

Life with Scott, Tyler and Carl.  Having an angel child was one of the hardest yet most wonderful blessing in my life. I have a child looking down on us who I have grown to know and love in a very personal way.  He helps me be a better person each day so I can be with him someday.

Life with Scott, Tyler and Kira. Another infant wasn't the difficult thing, it was the older brother.  My village was hard at work.  Dealing with a difficult toddler gave me empathy that children can be difficult.  They can make you cry, make you wonder what on earth you are doing wrong, make you laugh, make you not take life too seriously and give you hope that they will someday turn out ok.  Friends who understand and lots of prayers made me get up and tackle another day with a happy heart and reason to smile. 

Life with Scott, Tyler, Kira and Blake.  There is so much to do and not that much time to do it.  Learning to better myself each day and schedule my time is a constant battle.  I am trying to simplify my life. I continue to work on how I can fill my cup and in turn help my kids and Danny.  Having four kids helps me evaluate the many things I need to work on.  I feel like being a mom is who I am in life right now.  I often have four kids attached to my hip.  While some might think that is an unhealthy viewpoint of life, I actually love it and am embracing it.  It is a great blessing to be a mom to four children and a great responsibility. I am grateful that my mom and grandma dedicated so much of their time and energy to giving me and my sister the love, attention and opportunities we were blessed with and want to give that to my children. 

An Almost 3 Months Post

I better blog now because if I don't I will probably miss the monthly update on this little man.  Blake is getting cuter every month and I just love the little man.  He brings me peace.  He is just a calming presence in my life. He remains to look very concerned and continues to resemble Danny.  He just always seems to be thinking about something and absorbing all this life has to offer.  Danny gave him a beautiful blessing in church.  He blessed him to be a "defender of the truth" and that he would be an example for others to come unto Christ.  What wonderful promises.  He smiles so much.  It is this penetrating smile with his eyes that touches my heart.

The siblings are good to him.  He is a trooper to put up with Kira's mothering, Tylers playing and Scott's caretaking.  It will be so fun to see their relationships emerge. Kira is often told not to jump over Blake which she thinks is fun.  At least she doesn't carry him around like a doll anymore.  Probably because he probably weighs about the same amount as her.  

So we are loving this little man.  I sometimes forget that I have him.  The days that he is fussy makes me realize how blessed we are to have an easy baby for the majority of time.  I am labeling him as my peaceful child and will keep telling him that. What a blessing Blake is to us!

The parentals were in town

It was Blakey's blessing on Sunday.  He got a nice blessing.  Grammy and Grampy came out from Utah and we had a good time with them. 

 Went cherry picking on Payne Ave

 Dad grew up on a farm.  He knows what he's doing.

 Scott was sad they had a "no kids on ladders" rule

 The boys were nice to each other

Not a good day for fishing.

Lately

Scott had a meet in Pleasant Hill.  Sadly, we don't have any pictures of him swimming.  He got second place in the backstroke and we were pleased.  Mostly, we're just happy that he can finish the races and has a good time with his friends.  I've been thinking about getting the 70-200L lens, and I've been thinking about that for several years, but we'll see.

Tyler was happy with grandma's ipad. 

Kira did great but got tired way too early.  Then she peed in her diaper, took it off, and threw a tantrum.  Kira has no shame in wandering into other people's tents and stealing their food.  But Kira has a way with people and can approach strangers and start talking about shoes. 

Tyler has been way happier since the fenestration was closed. 

Pop brought dinner

Back at home, Kira and Blakey hang out in the bassinet. 

I've been into my 50 mm lens lately.  Optically, it's my best lens, but the auto-focus isn't always dead-on.  Still, I feel like with the heavy bokeh, good color and contrast, it's acceptable that the eyelashes aren't tack sharp. 

Preschool

Tyler had his first morning of preschool this morning.  His teachers are so loving and wanted to make sure Tyler was happy.  They introduced Tyler to some of his classmates who were all so nice.  They all wanted to be his friend, show him around outside and voluntarily asked him if he wanted a turn with a ball.  Everyone I talked to exclaimed that the preschool we chose instilled great social skills, confidence and happy kids.  That is what Tyler needs and I wanted. He wanted me and Kira to roam around with him and when it was almost time to start class, I left Tyler with his friends and Kira and I tucked away in the playground.  I watched from afar as he lined up, patiently waited in line to go into his classroom, talked to other kids and hurried into class.  When I peeked into the classroom upon leaving he was sitting so quietly on the carpet waiting for class to start.

Tyler is my challenging kid.  I know a lot of it is due to his health.  I am so happy I waited for his heart to get fixed before starting school.  It was the right decision for him.  With his challenging personality, I thought I would look forward to the start of school, however, I was sad.  He has always been my little buddy.  He has always added adventure into my life.  I realize my kids are growing up and that makes me happy for them and kind of sad that their simple childhood is entering a more demanding phase. 

When I picked him up he was sitting for lunch talking with a little boy next to him. It made my heart so happy.  His teacher said he did great.  He spilled the pitcher at lunch and it made him really embarrassed she said and angry but got over it and had a great day.  Yeah for Day 1.   Went better than I thought.

They are so loving.  They just want their kids to be happy.  This will be a great school for Tyler.  Exactly what he needs.

Kindergarten Graduation

Scott had his kindergarten end of the year assembly and graduation today.  Still can't believe I have a 1st grader.  He has grown up so much this year.  Highlights...

Friends!  Scott has made some great friends.  His favorite part of school is playing with his friends.  He is such a good friend to others.  He is always greeted at school by his friends and has a smile on his face when he is with his friends.  This was probably the best part to see as a parent.  So grateful!!

Fieldtrips to Smith Family Farm which I got to go on, Pumpkin Patch and Discovery Musuem with Grandma.

The best teachers.  Scott's teachers were so loving and kind.  I always felt their #1 concern was that the kids were kind and felt special.  Mrs. Bullington and Quintana were awesome!

Minimal homework.  Scott would much rather be playing than doing homework, so we are grateful that kindergarten does't have too much homework and I am still not sure what we are going to do next year.  I am hoping that maturity will help Scott actually want to do homework instead of just wanting to do the minimum.  We shall see.

He has changed so much this year in being confident, independent and social.  We are so proud of our little man.  At the school assembly he was thrilled to get the Krey Dog Tag for being the "leader of the pack".  It is given to someone in the class who is a good friend and leads the class.   In his kindergarten class, each kid was given a cute award associated with candy, the 3 musketeers, laughy taffy, smarties, etc.  Scott got rolos for being a role model to his class.  It was a very cute graduation idea and fun to learn the different kids personalities.

We are so proud of Scott and look forward to 1st grade.  I am so happy that he enjoys school.  This year has been so easy and wonderful.  I know that each year and each child's experience is going to be so unique and different.  Here's to more wonderful years!