Conversation

Me: "Keyton, get out of Dad's tool box right now."

Keyton: long drawn out "Mom!"

Me: "Don't Mom me."

Keyton: "then Crystal?"

So funny! I was impressed that he remembered my name. Keyton has for awhile know questioned what peoples names are. Or where people live or what the store is called we go to. He will call Britt by his name when he gets mad at him or Britt has left a mess. A few weeks ago he asked me what my name was. I said... Mom and he just laughed. Then I told him. He thought that was pretty funny. So when he said this to me this morning all I could do was laugh. Kids... they say the cutest things!

Keyton's view on a baby sister...

The other day Keyton and I were blog surfing. Well one of the blogs has pics of a new baby. This is how it went...

Keyton: "Oh, that's a cute baby!"
Me: "That is a very cute baby! Do you want a baby sister like that?"
Keyton: long drawn out "No."
Me: "You don't, you don't want a baby sister like Jeron's baby sister Liliona?"
Keyton: "No, not like baby Ona."

I laughed and thought... good thing we are waiting a year before we even start trying for another baby. Maybe by then he would change his mind. I thought it was kinda funny because he really has been loving other peoples babies. My Aunt was holding my cousins baby while she was sleeping and Keyton told my Aunt that the babies feet were cold and pulled the blanket over her feet while saying, "there, there." I took Keyton in the other room to let Keyton tell Britt what he had just told me, this is what was said...

Me: "Tell Dad that you want a baby sister."
Keyton: "No I didn't." With a sad concerned face, "I don't want a baby sister."
Me: "Why?"
Keyton: "Because I love my Cub Bear."

This is when I realized that he thought if he got a baby sister he would have to 'give back' his brother. HOW cute is that!! He really does love Kaycen so much. Then I told him that he could have a baby sister and still have Kaycen. He immediately perked up and said...

Keyton: "I can? I want a baby sister! That would be fun, I can share with that baby sister my toys."
Me: "You will share, what about sharing with Kaycen?"
Keyton: "I will share with him too."

I just love this kid. He has really been testing my patience these past few weeks. I keep thinking... can it get any harder? And then it does... I better change my thoughts too... This is SO easy... then maybe things will get easier. Isn't that how is works? He just doesn't listen when we tell him to stop, come in the house, or don't climb on that. He does it anyways, no matter what the consequence is. I have been trying to stay strong and not give in. But when he says things like this... I lose it. He is such a sweetheart and when he bats those big brown eyes I cant help but love him and give in. But I also have learned that I must stay strong or its harder and then he doesn't give in because that 'one time' I did. Isn't parenting a challenge?!?! Keyton really does love Kaycen and he just loves other peoples babies. He is very protective when other kids are around and if he thinks Kaycen is going to get hurt he steps right in. Pretty sure he is going to be a very protective big brother. I just hope that when that day comes we can give him his sister. My thoughts are... boys are our only future! Which I was thinking... how do Mom's get themselves ready and 2 or more other girls ready? Britt thinks I take forever now... and to add another person to fix their hair?

Fun at the Sand Dunes

7/9/09~~Coleen and her kids, Kim and Dennis, Britt, I and the boys went out for a fun night to the dunes. As soon and I told Keyton thats where we were going he was SO excited. He found his helmet and carried or wore it around until we left. I wish I would have taken pics of Britt and Dennis giving the kids rides, but my battery was almost dead on my camera. These are a few pics I did get. We built a fire and roasted hot dogs for dinner. We had such a fun time and the kids begged not to leave. I think if it weren't a weekday night and Britt had to go to work the next morning we would have set up Coleen's tent and stayed the night. We will have to get Coleen and the kids back before the summer in over and spend a night out there.

Keyton had to wear his helmet on the way there.

Kaycen getting on his little wheeler. So cute. Kim and Dennis have a bigger power wheels four-wheeler and Kaycen could climb up on it himself and push on the foot pedal to make it go. He was riding a wheeler BEFORE walking!! This kid is too funny!

Naomi and Ireland had fun playing in the sand.

Keyton and Naomi riding Kaycen's wheeler. They would take turns pushing each other because it wouldn't go very good in the sand.

Hanging out by the campfire. We roasted hot dogs for dinner.

Grandma Kim and Kaycen keeping warm by the fire.

This picture came out looking weird. They were making sand angels. Its so fun having these two so close in age, they are such good friends, but fight like brother and sister.

A close to the evening. Britt taking the flag off of his four-wheeler and loading up. Its was such a nice afternoon and evening. I wish we could have stayed longer. We are lucky to live so close and be able to go out anytime we can.

Picture disaster...

6-26-09~~I had been debating back and forth for about 2 months on what to do with the boys and pictures. I really LOVED what my favorite photographer 'Chantri Keele' had done with our family pictures last October. Since Keyton was 3 in April and Kaycen 1 in June I thought I could get pics when Kaycen turns one and get both the boys done at the same time. Well it ended up being last minute and I took the boys myself to JCPenneys because I had this coupon and I figured Chantri would be busy. We couldn't get in until 3pm. Not a good time for the boys. But I figured we could hurry get it done fast and be outta there asap. WRONG!! Pretty sure I will NEVER take my boys together to get pictures again. Keyton was so bad, I mean he threw a HUGE fit and was pretty much hysterical and there was no consoling him in any way. I have never seen him act the way he did that day. Kaycen got tired and started feeding off of Keyton's fruit cake business. I left that place about ready to break down in tears. I was so embarrassed that my 3 year old could behave so badly. And to make matters worse the lady that took the pictures was very bossy and got off on the wrong foot immediately with Keyton. She would get him all posed and then when she turned to take the picture he would unpose and start laughing. I am sure he was doing this to irritate her. When we all loaded in the car and I was barely out of the parking lot when I looked back in the back seat to see both kids were fast asleep.... you think they might have been a little bit tired!?!?! lol!! I look back on the situation know and laugh... but have come to the conclusion that next time I will go with my gut and call my girl Chantri next time. I wasn't crazy about the background and probably could have found a little something better for the boys to wear. After I got the pics back I was surprised to see that they actually didn't turn out too bad.

Kaycen's stats

Today Kaycen turned 13 months! We were scheduled for a 12 month check-up 3 weeks ago, but things didn't work out that way. So here were are at age 13 months. He is growing and changing so much. He finally decided that walking wasn't such a bad idea about a week or so ago. If he wants to get somewhere fast he still drops to his knees and crawls. I must say, he really is a fast crawler. No wonder walking didn't interest him before. He can say 12-15 words that I can understand. Mama, Dada, cheese, moo, Griz (Grandpa Briggs' dog), go, he can make the horse sound, I swear he was saying fish at the doctors office because we were in the 'fish room' and Keyton was telling him what they were. He also says tickle, no-no, and ya. He can bark like a dog and its so cute. His favorite thing is when Keyton says 'BOO' to him and then he says it back and just giggles. He loves every and any animal that he sees and would live in the backyard if we would let him. If he hears any motor at all he immediately stops what he is doing and tries to find where the noise is coming from. He is still my cuddle bug and I am still soaking it in because I know it wont last much longer. He carries that binky around everywhere and thinks its the greatest thing to have two at the same time. When Keyton is eating popsicle or anything for that matter, Kaycen goes right over to him and lets him know that he wants some. Keyton is pretty good to share with him. Kaycen also is learning to fight back and let Keyton know when he is mad at him. Kaycen loves to read books, drives cars and trucks around all day with that noise that boys make. He is growing up so fast. Love you Cub Bear!!

7-14-09 13 month stats

Weight- 19 pounds 15 ounces -- 7th percentile for his age

Height- 29 3/4 inches -- 35th percentile for his age

Head- 18 inches -- 23rd percentile for his age

4th of July Fun!

~7/4/09~ We started the day off at the Ashton Parade. This picture makes me laugh because Keyton is standing there with his bag open so that they can throw the candy right in.


Alorah, Ireland and Keyton


After the parade we always go up to Warm River and feed the fish. Either they were full or there just wasn't very many fish this year. There was a lot of bread just floating down the river. But its still fun to watch the kids.


Grandpa Dennis and Kaycen

Keyton and Naomi ready to go back to Grandma/pa's for a BBQ and swimming!

Later that night we all went to a hotel in Idaho Falls, checked in, kids went swimming, then it was a hike to our spot to watch the fireworks. It was a 40 minute walk from our hotel to where we went to watch. Good thing for my double stroller because I never would have been able to carry Kaycen that far. Then we stayed the night with Coleen and the kids because Britt was home sick. I felt bad leaving him, but didn't want to get near him and catch whatever he had. All in all it was a fun filled 4th of July!!!

Fireworks at Grandma/pa Briggs'

~7/3/09~ The night before the 4th of July we always light off fireworks.

Keyton with his sparkler... I was getting a little nervous with 10 kids running around and not paying attention. I think Grandpa Briggs chasing the kids with his sparkler didnt help ;)

Jeron, Kaycen, Britt and Keyton watching the fireworks. The kids thought the neighbor haters were the best ones!

And the end result..........................

Worn out from all the fun activities!

Elk Ranch Trip

~7/3/09~ Kim and Dennis took us all to the Elk Farm at Bagley's Elk Ranch in Driggs. We rode the wagon pulled by Clydesdale horses (my favorite kind of horse).

Kaycen on the fake elk in front of Bagley's office....where are his horns?

Grandpa Dennis, Keyton and Ammon on our way out to see the elk.

Keyton and Kaycen looking at the elk. It was all we could do to hold Kaycen

back... he loves animals!

Kaycen and I enjoying the ride... well Kaycen is probably enjoying that sucker more ;)

This bull elk came right up to us, we all got to feel his velvet antlers. VERY COOL!

This baby elk was born just barely before we got there. The baby was still wet and the mother was cleaning it off and she hadn't even stood up yet. A couple minutes earlier and we would have seen it born.

The babies stay in their own herds called nurseries and only one or two females will stay close to the nursery just in case they get in trouble then they can help call the main herd for help. When a baby elk is born the mother cleans the baby then leaves it for 2-3 hours and then comes back to nurse it. Then leaves again, this goes on for a few weeks until the baby joins a nursery. This is because when an elk is born for the first few weeks it doesn't have a scent. So the mother leaves so that her scent doesn't attract danger. We were also told that at feeding time that its neat to hear the elk call each other. The mother calls her baby and they know exactly which baby is theirs by their call. The Bagley guy says that it all sounds the same to him, but its neat to watch each baby and mother meet up.... we learned a lot about elk on this trip!

Horseback Riding for my Birthday

~7/2/09~

My Mom was so nice to watch the boys so that I could go horseback riding with Kim, Dennis and Heidi. We went up to Driggs to Bagley's Ranch and up into the mountains. What a beautiful ride it was. Our ride was an hour and a half and I think we were all glad it wasnt any longer. Only because we were saddle sore and Kim's feet kept falling asleep, the ride was either up hill or down hill and made for a more difficult ride for someone like me that hasnt been on a horse in years. Other than that we probably would have rode all day long. It started to rain on us. The rain drops were HUGE and it was just a small cloud passing by. If you looked into the sky you could see the rain drops falling from way high because the sun was shining. It was such a peaceful and beautiful ride. What a great way to spend my birthday. Thanks you guys for letting me tag along!

Our guide and Dennis.

Free Kids Fishing Day at Lone Pine

6-27-09~~Since Britt hasn't taken Keyton fishing yet this year, we decided to take advantage of the free kids fishing day at Lone Pine Nursery. We figured he would for sure catch a fish in the pond that they had just stocked over 1,000 fish. We got there about an hour after it started and it was starting to get a little hot. Keyton was having more fun playing in the dirt and running around. Well Britt tried, and tried, and tried to catch a fish so that Keyton could reel it in. Just when we were about to give up and go because Keyton was hungry, Britt caught one! Keyton ran over and reeled that fish in. He was so proud of his 16 1/2 inch sucker fish! He carried it by hand around the entire pond and every kid he passed he would say "Look and my big sucker fish I caught!" Next time we hope to catch a trout! It was fun to see him so excited and proud.

Patiently waiting...ok Keyton would really just reel the line in and then take

off playing in the dirt and mud.

Kaycen playing in the weed grass.

Reeling 'the big one' in.

Keyton showing off his 'sucker fish'.

Love you guys...

I think that Kaycen is more crazy about anything with a motor than Keyton was at his age. Britt's mom always said that Britt would sit outside for hours watching all the heavy equipment and big trucks doing their jobs all day long. I am thinking that Kaycen will grow up to be just like his Daddy and be able to run any piece of equipment he can get his hands on...

including toys of course ;)


Keyton and Kaycen playing outside