Sedona

Our little family, the Patricks and Trevor all headed up to Sedona for an over night campin' trip. Its just not the same if you say "camping" like your fresh out of college, so just appease me and use the verbage supplied. On this campin' trip we hung out by the fire, hiked in the beautiful canyons, breathed in the freshest of air and yes like always Khage got naked. Maybe it was I who got him naked, but either way he loves to be all natural and I fully support his wild child ways.

If I had more time I would have created a whole movie montage with these photos, complete with Native American pan flutes and background sounds of birds singing and the wind blowing. That really would have created a nice moment for us all to share. Maybe next time.

What could these three possibly be discussing here? They seem so captivated by their little kid conversation. Is it Elmo? Marshmallows? What items of ours they could sneak away and throw into the fire?

 Two out of three ain't bad.

This sad little fish became Brad's protein snack... gotta stay nourished people.

 Ya know how I roll: naked in the wilderness... but I kindly provide photoshoped loin clothes for the web.

  These two are so made for a NatGeo wilderness survival show... its gonna start low budget but I have a feeling its gonna go prime time.

 

 Back off ladies. This one is mine.

Lets close on this note:

This trip was a waste and it has ruined my life. 

What I mean is: life in Arizona is already hard enough... and now I have to live with the fact that we are hours away from a place so beautiful and with weather so nice. Why are we wasting our lives living here on this side of Arizona, the ugly hot side with no pine trees? I wish I never had to find out such a place existed.

Just put a graham cracker on me, I am done here!

BoyOhBoy

If you can manage to get through the shaking of the camera whilst I chase after a toddler and endure my repetitive request for Khage to say BoyOhBoy you will absolutely love this video.

It stars Khage and his eagerness to always do the opposite of what I ask him to.

Always stubborn but truly adorable.

The Jinx Fairy and a $2000 popsicle.

Just the other day I found my self saying such stupid things. If you know me you know this is very unlike my character to talk nonsense. But the other day I did. I went out on a limb and tested the jinx theory. You know when you say "I never ever __blah blah blah__" and then BAM just like that the pesky little Jinx Fairy takes it upon himself to make you a liar! He is quite the little jokester that one.

I remember saying that Brad and I never take Khage to the doctors... aside from his wellness check ups of course, because we are not those people... you know the ones who say "no thank you" to vaccines. The italics on that previous statement were provided to emphasis my snobbery on that topic.

But that's for another day.

We "never" take Khage to the doctors, or urgent care or hospital visits. We have a very strict rule... blood must be gushing or limbs must be dangling to get a special trip to one of those places. And that's when the Jinx Fairy twinkled in and temporarily turned my world upside down. It started off with a simple fever that turned into 104.4 degrees and sent me into a panic. He was lethargic; allowing me to cradle him in my arms (a position he didn't allow since the day he was born), passing out every chance he got and drinking hardly any fluids. Things starting popping into my head: brain damage, dehydration and febrile seizures. That was enough to convince me it was time to scrap our rule and rush him in. After his first urinary catheter, blood sample and IV drip he was released with a popsicle and homemade teddy bear. We were told it was just a viral infection and to continue with Motrin and Tylenol. I never want to be forced into a situation like that again, I am just not built emotionally strong enough to withstand the pain that came along with holding down my child as they probed at him with needles and he screamed owie over and over again.

A hospital visit for a fever scare and for a family uninsured will get you a hefty bill and a yummy popsicle.... a yummy but very expensive popsicle. Better safe then sorry!

Climb on.

 The best thang about living near family is playing with family. 

On my 26th birthday my Mom took us all to a rock climbing gym where we climbed and laughed and sweated our little toxins out and just enjoyed being a big 'ol family together on a national holiday... yup that just happened.

There is something about getting old that makes you wanna just get out there and climb a fake rock and possibly beat your brother whilst you do it!

Back off Zach its my birthday and Im getting old and I'm pretty sure I saw Mom give you a  little boost at the start. 

 

 oh yes Nicole is a very handy Mom, turning simple climbing gear into amusing toddler toys.

 

 

Go Mom!!!

 

 

 And then we got a little relationship building going on during family time. 

 

 Lets take a second to acknowledge those eyelashes... hes gonna heartbreak for sure.

 Can this moment get any cuter?

Maybe if Khage returned the embrace... hes so cold.

 And odd.

 

It was such a fun day!

I just love to love my family.

And I want to give a shoutout to Rick for being on camera duty!

You rock... get it eh eh???

Update!

What has become of me? So we move near our family and I assume I no longer have to update my blog. Forgive me reader, but this blogs purpose is not just to bring smiles and laughter to your daily life.. that's just an added bonus...  a very fun extra prize in my crackerjack box kind of bonus. But seriously, this blog is for Khage and the rest of my unborn posse. I want them to one day read this blog and feel my love through these stories. I want them to open their empty baby books and say "its okay that these pages are bare because Mother Dearest found another way to express her love for us... through this beloved and cherished blog." Well haven't I raised a couple of saps, Brad must be so proud.

So for the sake of the historical documentation I'm gonna jump back a few weeks:
We moved back to Arizona from Texas.
We moved from the state of no family to being 45 minutes from the farthest one.
We went from an abundance of free time to no time for ourselves...
and as of this very minute we love it!

Khage doesn't know what to do with himself anymore... I barely even see him throughout the day because he is so distracted by the many playmates he now has. He checks in with me every few hours with a head nod and a hand shoved out begging for snacks and that's about it. Sometimes I feel the need to pull him aside and be like "hi remember me: your mother. The one who created you in my womb and gave you life? Sweet precious life, complete with an adorable face and all." That's when I show him this picture and remind him of the cuteness I bestowed upon him and then he begs me for forgiveness and the world is right again.

Dirty little scoundrels, every last one of 'em.

 

Fun Fourth of July festivities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ya they are a bunch of party animals for sure. Proof is in the pudding and the shot below.

 

 

 Are you wondering where my family is? Don't fret they will be starring in the next post.

It's Potty Time

Im sure some of you saw this coming after my last post a few weeks ago regarding Khage yanking off his diaper every time he peed in it... but I sure didnt. I was aiming to potty train Khage years from now when it became socially taboo for me to continue to diaper change him.

Can you picture me on the cover of Time Magazine diaper changing my six years old... are you Mom Enough? I know I am.

But in all realness I am sad to see this phase of Khage pass us by.... diapers are the last thing linking him to his babystage. Where do we go from here? My fridge covered in finger painted pictures of turkeys and then right into shopping for a hotplate for his college dorm room? I'm not ready for this. My fridge is still too new for crafts to grace its luxurious face and hot plates are a fire hazard. Im getting off topic... but I find that it helps me cope with the realities of life.

Dont you just love that first picture of Khage all "ya I pee'd in the potty what of it?"

And now let me tell you how this event came about. Im sitting around and Khage comes over to me, yanks off his diaper, runs to the bathroom and sits his little fanny right on his cousins potty. Within moments he piddled in it. Me, I'm standing there freaking out like I just opened his acceptance letter into Harvard. It was amazing.

I do a couple "Khagey went pee pee in the potty" dances. Motivational songs are a common thing in this house, I can make a song up in an instant about anything and with an original tune... thats my gift and I embrace it any chance I get.

So after a few songs, an apple slice for reward supplied by Aunt Brittany, four piddles in the potty and a trip to walmart to purchase a 10 pack of so cute little boy underroos he was over it.

Done. Kaput. Finito.

Oh well I really do dig this kid with a diaper butt anyhow. See you in six months for round 2.

Clue On You

 

This just may be one of the most akward images I have included in a blog post, but at the end of this story you will appreciate this shot.

Now have a seat while story time begins:

I was in the bathroom blow drying my hair when Khage walked in. He just awoke from his afternoon nap and was working on rubbing the snooze out of his eyes, that was when it suddenly became aware to me that he was naked. Top to bottom... stark naked. Odd considering I put him in his bed with a fresh diaper on and suddenly no diaper was present... (cue dramatic sound effect Dun Dun Duuhhn)

So together we walked to his room to collect some evidence and get to the bottom of The Case of The Missing Diaper. That was where I found the missing diaper and inside of it was a very not so missing dootie.  Based upon the state of the dootie I concluded it has been sitting there for hours.

For those of you who didn't play Clue as a child let me formulate for you the scenario.
It was Khage in his room, diaplerless while he slept.

I confirmed this suspicion with the dootie streaks that graced his sheets and the large urine stain that was puddled in his bed.

And now we are working on trying to get Khage to stop removing his diaper after he goes to the bathroom.

Now don't you appreciate the image above instead of one from the feces filled crime scene?