Bathing Beauties

I know I have two boys, but really, when you look at their sweet little faces, their soft skin and their beautiful eyes, it is easy to call them Bathing Beauties.

Tavin's face did get cleaned eventually by the way. =) He was a disaster after dinner, so I just waited until the bath to bother cleaning him up.

Mommy Goes to Work

Before having kids I worked full-time for a marketing research firm. This firm kindly has let me be part-time since having Koen when I used to go to work in the office twice a week. Now the firm has extended this kindness and allows me to work fully from home. This week though they requested I go to the client for a training. It was nice to go back in and reconnect after 8 months for a morning and help out my fellow teammates. Anyways, Daddy was on full duty this morning with both boys as I woke up before they were out of their rooms.

Tavin hasn't had a bottle in about 2 months probably. Totally my fault, but I just hate finding time to pump and bottle-feed when it is so fast to just do it the natural way. So, I have definitely neglected that. Anyways, I figured he would be so ravishingly hungry from his long sleep that it wouldn't matter and that he would remember it enough to take the bottle. Not so! I had 10 ounces for him and he had none. That is a significant difference in mealtime intake! Thankfully he did eat 3 jars of baby food (he usually has 1.5-2), so hopefully he will make it close to lunchtime, but I just feel so horrible that he didn't really have breakfast.

I'm a little nervous too because in a few weeks is Abbie's wedding and I think he'll need to take a bottle and the following weekend Doug and I are supposed to go away without the boys for 2 nights. Oh dear! Looks like I have my work cut out for me in re-training Tavin to take a bottle. Ugh. Like I needed another time-consuming challenge.

Koen apparently didn't take the news very well this morning that I was away for a few hours either and totally lost it around breakfast time too. Poor Doug! Thankfully, Koen did bounce back fairly quickly.

Doug was adventurous and took the boys out to a local coffee shop, Voluto, for some morning coffee (Doug) and juice (Koen). They both loved it he said.

Tavin is now sleeping, but I'm guessing it won't last long. Mommy is back on duty shortly I'm sure!

It was a fluke!

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, thankfully, the odd start to the day yesterday seems to have been a one-time (or most likely occasional) fluke. Yay! This morning Koen slept all the way to 7:30am or a little earlier and then happily talked to himself (and Teddy) until Doug went up to get him after 8am. If we have future encounters with early morning needs to go to the bathroom, I am seriously considering a potty in his room, but I'm hoping that is not necessary. Today was what the norm had been and I hope today is the norm going forward!

"Hero of the Rails"

One of Koen's favorite books right now is a Thomas the Tank Engine story, "Hero of the Rails." I recently got the DVD of it as well from the library and he has enjoyed watching that a few times this week too.

Koen has a fabulous memory and often can memorize a book in just a few readings, letting us know very quickly if we've skipped a sentence, a page or an exclamation. He also can recite many of his favorites. "Hero of the Rails" is the newest addition to his repetoire.

Tonight he was playing with his trucks in the backyard and they did "Hero of the Rails." Koen just walked around making up the story, reciting pieces of the book and DVD and adding in extras to incorporate his trucks. Try to listen for the funny things he says..."Cinders and Ashes" puffed Thomas, he says loudly, "well, Thomas, you are a very useful engine."

He did this for about 30 mins. and the phrases and things he said were so, so entertaining. I was beaming. Not to mention our sweet neighbors next door were totally enjoying the entertainment.

Please excuse the backyard. The view from where I was sitting is of the scrappy part where we keep Koen's toys, where the AC is and the yucky fence. Oh well, it's our little outdoor haven!

I knew it would happen sometime...please don't last!

So, Koen is definitely a big boy now in that he has finally made the transition to wearing underpants to bed at night even in the last month. I figured with this development we would hear from him earlier in the morning with needing a trip to the bathroom (unfortunately there is no bathroom on his floor and therefore needs adult assistance to get there, ugh, plus he is supposed to be in his room until 8am or so anyways, so this way we make sure he gets back there safely). Anyways, the first few weeks were amazing. No accidents and the kid would wake up at his normal time somewhere between 7:15 and 8am and still hold it until after I would get him up or sometimes he would wait until 9 or 10am!

Well, yesterday morning I went up and he had had his first accident. Oh well. It was a good opportunity to discuss that he can just say, "Mommy, I need to go..."

Now, before continuing the story I have to mention an annoying development. Koen likes to line one side of his bed with library books. The rule is they have to stay up against the wall so that he has room for his body to sleep comfortably and so they won't fall on the floor and wake him up. Well, he just loves to put a few of them on the side at the opening of his bed and many times it wakes him up in the early morning hours when he starts to toss and turn naturally. I thought I had ended this problem by sneaking in his room and removing the ones near the opening and putting them back along the backside. Unfortunately, that doesn't guarantee a fix.

Last night he must have woken up at some point and fixed them again (unbelievable!, he probably wasn't even fully awake!). So this morning at about 5:20am I heard the slam of the books on the floor. 5 minutes later I hear, "Mommy, I have to go..." I ran up to his room and brought him downstairs. Thankfully it was still dark, so I told him it was still nighttime and he had to go back to bed. That worked for another hour (although I'm unsure he went back to sleep). Then at about 6:20am he calls again, so I go again. I brought him back up again. The poor kid thought he had to do #2 and just kept having gas...frustrating for both of us! Then at almost 7am he says it again! This time he realizes it is light out and is hungry, so I let him have some cereal. I told him he had to go back to his room though and I would let him have the light on so he could read. A few minutes ago I had to go up and ask him to stop jumping off of the furniture and yelling so that he wouldn't hurt himself or wake Tavin up. Definitely a much more stressful Sunday morning than I had planned on and Koen is going to be so, so tired later.

Please tell me this is a one-time thing and this is not the look of the next few years' morning routine. One solution is to talk to him about the books again and I will remove all books from his room if needed as I truly think they are a culprit. Another solution could be letting him take himself back and forth to the bathroom, but being that that includes stairs in a sleepy state, that really scares me that he could fall even if we have the hallway well-lit. Oh, please, let this be a one-time thing! We've been so blessed and spoiled by our good, happy sleepers (and Koen just talks to himself for so long). I really can't allow myself to think this is the beginning of the end!

Family Morning in the Neighborhood

The last few days we have had gorgeous weather. Sunny, not too hot and cool nights that keep the house so comfortable, even chilly in the mornings! I love it!

Doug has been super busy lately with work, doing weddings, work again, and more work. =) Just that tiem of year, of life, I guess. I don't mind, but it makes for some long Mommy days. Thankfully, today he was able to spend a few hours in the morning with us.

After breakfast Koen "rode" his bike to the playground with Doug. Tavin and I joined them shortly afterwards. It is so fun that Tavin can sit and play on a blanket and watch all that is going on, somewhat participating in outings now. Koen absolutely loved having Doug there to play with him. They were pretending they were firefighters. Koen has a fabulous imagination and Doug was a great sport. Koen had Doug be the tiller man and he was the driver up front in the "huge hook and ladder truck." They made several "rescues" while we were there. So cute! Some neighbors also stopped by and that is always fun to catch up with friends.

We all went back to the house, Tavin laid down for nap and Koen and Doug took off for the East Liberty library. It has been closed for about 15 months or more and we are so excited that it is re-opened. Today was the official Grand Opening and what a party! Tavin woke up early from his morning nap so we walked down to meet Doug and Koen. It is a beautiful facility and it was so busy today with entertainment, giveaways and lots of people! We can't wait to go back on a regular basis. Doug left from there and I hiked back up our hill to get the boys home for lunch. They were both in great spirits the remainder of the wake time before naps. They are just so sweet together. Today I am so reminded of how blessed I am.

8 Month Comparison

Now that we are 8 months in, I less often see Koen and Tavin as so similar as babies because Tavin is growing into his own personality, his own funny faces, his sweet, special demeanor. But, you can't deny the facts...these boys are truly brothers. Today Tavin wore one of my favorite outfits that Koen wore during our special trip to Australia in 2007 when Koen was 8 months old. Here are a few comparison shots between Koen and Tavin...

They definitely have a similar, scrunch up the nose silly face!


Koen's face was more round, but I still think they look a lot alike!


Very interested to hear anyone's comments on your thoughts!

Playgroup Today

Playgroup today was especially fun as Koen's best buddy, D (and her mom and little brother) came with us. Koen was so, so excited to have her there and it showed basically the whole time as he didn't let her out of his sight and you could hear him all over the playground..."Come on, D!" We are going to have a discussion about bossyness. =)

Due to D's presence, Koen was in great spirits on the playground today except for a low-point when he was excitedly running after Delia and didn't look out for some kids on the swings and totally got bumped into in the head. He was so sweet, a friend, Amie, picked him up and said, "Koen, are you OK?" and Koen replied, "Uh, Yep, I'm fine." Then he proceeded to scout me out, ran towards me and completely lost it sobbing. Poor thing. It totally brought back memories of when I made some clutsy mistakes on the playground myself...embarrasment crossed with pain...not fun!

Tavin had fun too today. Again, it is so nice that he is sitting up. He and Huck played on a blanket and he also ate a lot of his lunch sitting up by himself. Such a fun stage (not to mention he is so cute!).

Real Food for Tavin!

Tavin got his first real taste of real, adult food. I had a snack of fresh, homemade zucchini bread tonight while I was holding him. He was so intent on watching my every move. I thought through the ingredients and decided...why not? I gave him a little and he tasted it, moved it around his mouth, swallowed it and looked at me with those adorable eyes that seemed to say..."more???"

Here is a picture of him enjoying it in the backyard after his dinner (in total, he had almost an entire piece!). I think he's giving a thumb's up. =)

Tavin Learned a New Trick

At 8 months, Tavin can put a ball where it goes! That sentence sounds really lame, but it is so fun to watch a child develop the skills to put something together like this mentally and then physically. He did this this morning on his own while we were playing and I was so impressed I had to get it on video...

Happy, Smiley Tavin

A brief video of Tavin cracking himself up for no reason. He's just such a happy joy!

Boys in the Backyard

After lunch today we played in the backyard. I'm absolutely loving that Tavin can sit up now. It makes things easier and more fun for all of us. I can be mobile without lugging him everywhere I go and he can get some exercise and move around and be more content. Koen loves it because he can give him hugs and snuggles whenever he wants. This is getting to be a bit of a downer though because he is getting a little too rough (I should've figured it would happen eventually). He seems to be curious (ah, that human nature!) about what is too rough, too tight, too hard and hmmm, what happens when I knock little brother down on "accident." Poor Tavin, just the beginning I'm sure. He's not violent or anything, just seeing how far he can go or something.

Anyways, the backyard was fun despite some of these "testing" hugs for Tavin. Koen loves playing with his trucks in this cooler, less sunny weather we've been having the last few days. Tavin enjoys thinking about crawling without being on his tummy. I'm convinced that when he crawls it will be straight from sitting up and with no pressure put on his tummy. =)

The boys did well this morning (despite the fact we ran a bunch of errands and Tavin basically had no nap!) and then after our nice lunch and time in the backyard, they both had long afternoon naps, yay! They are rousing now though, so I should end my post. I'm exhausted, by the way, prepping dinner, baking bread and cleaning 2 bathrooms and getting some work done is exhausting to squish into 2 hours!

Koen, Jack of Many Trades

It is so fun to see your child flourishing with imagination, interests and skills. I can't wait to see what Koen becomes someday. What will be his gift set? What will be his vocation? What will the be the lasting qualities of his character that will shape him as a man? These are some serious questions, but at this point, we just marvel at his sense of humor, his sweet singing voice, his unembarassed embrace to life. This video shows Koen, just as he is...a construction worker/singer/fix-it-man, not to mention he is still in his pj's.

Back Home in the Burgh

We had a great visit with Chris and Molly and the girls. Here's a picture of all of us at Mencie's, a great fro-yo place in their neighborhood. So good! It was the perfect ending to a nice family vacation with friends.

The trip home went really well and we are all happy to be home. Koen and Tavin both slept great last night in their beds (we got in around 12:30am). They slept in late. Koen, I had to wake up at 10:15am so I could get us all to church.

Now, back to the norm. It's nice to have those interruptions in normal life to have a little fun, experience something different and stretch us as a family to see what we are capable of. We learned on this trip that we can do long car trips with 2 kids, that we as a family can all sleep well in one room together and that Koen still does not sleep in the car!

Koen's First Slip & Slide

Amelia had a fun little birthday party this evening. It was still pretty warm and sticky here, so Chris had the mini slip and slide set up. So fun!

Koen was reluctant at first, but eventually after playing in the muggyness with all the bikes, trikes and trucks Amelia has, Koen was convinced getting wet was a good idea. He wasn't very good at running and sliding, so Doug took to pushing him down (poor Doug ended up pushing a lot of kids down as that looked fun to a lot of the other little kids).

Koen got so good he would start on his back end and flip around onto his tummy and go down the rest of the way like that. What a fun night!

All kids are in bed now. Parents are relaxing on the couch. Ahhh...

Koen & Amelia Singing

Like I said, Koen and Amelia are great playmates. Koen is really enjoying her playroom which is complete with a Thomas the Tank Engine train track and also a play-karaoke machine. Koen is our little music man, so this is up his alley. He swings his hips and is shy with the microphone. Amelia helped show him how it's done. So cute!

Amelia's 5th Birthday

Today is Amelia's fifth birthday. It is so fun that we get to be with the Bradstreets today. We were actually able to see them in the hospital 5 years ago when they had Amelia. We had gotten in from Thailand the day before and drove out to Ohio to meet their little one and see how they were doing. How time flies by! Amelia is now quite the little lady and it is so fun that we now have kids that she interacts so well with. She keeps telling us how cute she thinks Tavin is and she and Koen are just super playmates already.


In honor of Amelia's birthday we all went to the zoo. It's pretty hot and steamy here in Nashville, but it was a really lovely zoo. Koen was a little spastic at first, but thankfully he settled down and enjoyed riding around on Doug's shoulders mostly. Tavin took a nap in the carriage for most of the visit, which was perfect. Koen got super silly later on in the trip, but for the most part, did very well.


Here are some pictures from our little Bradstreet/Melder adventure...
Koen has the zoo map in his hand. He was our navigator for the beginning of the journey. Poor Doug, he was such a good sport. He carried Koen on his shoulders most of the time.

I don't know that we've ever had a full family picture. This isn't my favorite of all of us, but it's at least a picture of all 4 of us!

This is a little pop-up hole in the middle of the meerkat display. We had a meerkat come up right next to us. It was fun!

Koen loved the petting zoo portion. He told Doug that he would try not to kick the donkey this time. Apparently, he had a situation where he kicked a donkey at a petting zoo recently? That was the first I had heard of that. He did really well in there and especially liked the camel.

Hot Night in Nashville

The kids all enjoyed playing outside after naptime. It is hot and sticky here tonight, but better than it has been in awhile according to Chris and Moll. The kids enjoyed running out their new energy.

Koen in this picture has his pants on backwards. He is very independent here with the adjoining bathroom to his room. He helped himself to the bathroom after Doug laid him down for nap and apparently he got his pants a little mixed up when he put them back on. No problem. He slept 3 hours anyways! Amelia and Sadie are adorable and very kind hostesses. So sweet!

Melders in Nashville!

Douglas has been in Nashville before, but for the rest of our little family, this is a first! We came down as a quick family getaway for a few days. Yesterday was our 9th anniversary and we spent the day as normal until about 3pm when the boys and I picked Doug up in Wexford for our 9+ hour drive to Nashville. Ah, the romance in a long car drive with two kids! Definitely not our standard idea of an anniversary date. But we figured the cost of traveling with tired boys was worth the payment of a few days with good friends that we rarely get to see.


Koen did really well in the car, but he is unbelievable! He never slept and we didn't get to our friend's house until almost 2am our time!!! For a kid that usually sleeps 12 hours a night, I just couldn't believe he stayed up the whole time.


Tavin, on the other hand, got a few catnaps and then slept most of the time once it was dark. For about an hour in the middle of the nighttime journey I found him just sucking his thumb staring at Koen. So good!

We all slept in the same room last night and it was a great setup! Tavin slept in a walk-in closet in a crib. Koen was on an air mattress on the floor next to us in a queen bed. Koen went right to sleep as did Tavin. I heard some noise around 7am and figured it was our friends on the floors below, but no, it was Koen taking care of business in the bathroom all by himself. I had told him about that on the car ride, that we would have our own bathroom, but I didn't think he would really take advantage of it. So cute! I saw him stumbling out of it, adjusting his pajama pants. He crawled silently back into bed and went back to sleep. I had to wake him up at 9:30am! Tavin woke up around 8am which was perfect and way better than what I had anticipated. Yay!
(Above) Tavin at breakfast. It's hard to get a picture without fingers in his mouth these days. He is teething so much! This week his top left tooth is cutting through!

Today has been great with our friends, Molly and Chris and their kids, Amelia and Sadie. Koen and Amelia are about a year and a half apart in age, but they are playing really well with each other. Sadie and Tavin have "played" a little together, which is mostly making sure that Sadie doesn't fall on top of him or something.
Tavin took a great morning nap and then we all went to lunch together for pizza.
This is the only way that Tavin sits in the stroller. No matter how often I sit him up, he gets himself wedged back down with his feet sticking straight up in the air. So funny! He had a good lunch, although I can just tell he wants to enjoy the food we get too. No pizza for him yet though!

Koen does not look that good when pretending to smile with his eyes and multi-tasking with his mouth to keep eating!

The boys and Sadie are all taking afternoon naps now. I'm feeling my eyes get heavy from the late night last night, but it is so nice to be away from my list of to-do's at home and just get a little work done and relax on the couch.

Tavin Goes to Space Camp

Tavin had his first try in what we termed, "Space Camp," when Koen was using it. The things we put our kids in are pretty hilarious. They must feel like gerbils sometimes! Anyways, he liked the new experience at first, but only lasted a few minutes. He's really funny. He doesn't really enjoy the standing up stuff yet, he hates tummy time and he gets annoyed with sitting up really quickly. This kid wants to move!

Backyard with Friends

After our eventful breakfast watching movie-making, we had some friends over during Tavin's naptime and over lunchtime. I love hanging out on a nice day in the backyard with friends. I love summer and fresh air! Sometimes Koen just doesn't want to play outside and I get so tired of being indoors, so when we have friends over I get so excited that I know he will have to go outside. Yay! Unfortunately, he had his first weird 3-year-old meltdown in days over it, but once we got past that (it took about an hour or so for him to starting acting normal again...weird!) and then he had a great time playing with his friends.

Famous in Friendship

So, there is a movie being filmed on our street this week. Fun! They have the road closed off and we aren't allowed to park on it. They are using a house down the street for the main character's mom's house I believe. You can look it up on imdb.com under "One for the Money" (2011).


They start early in the morning (impressive!). When I was opening up Tavin's window this morning I noticed a lot of film crew guys on our end of the street and then a red Mazda convertible came into view with camera gear all over the front. Now this would be fun to watch with Koen during breakfast! We got downstairs and out on the porch with all of our breakfast stuff (including Tavin and highchair) as quickly as we could. Koen was saying, "Quick, Mommy, we don't want to miss the movie!"

We did get to watch them do about 5 or 6 takes of the convertible drive-up scene. It was pretty entertaining. I believe we were watching Katherine Heigl herself. It had to be her (I just couldn't tell because of my bad eyesight and I didn't know her hair was darker and curly in this movie). But it had to be her, because in between takes she sat in an Escalade. When the convertible was in the spot for her, then they would motion for her to get out of the Escalade to do the take in the convertible. It made me laugh it was so ridiculous. I mean she would be in the SUV for a minute or so in between takes. It was a gorgeous morning. She should've enjoyed the fresh air. Or even better, it would've been great for her to come and say good morning to my sweet boys. She totally missed out. If I were her, I would've at least waved and said hello. Koen was so interested in the vehicles and we weren't being annoying "fans" or anything. Anyways, I was a little disappointed that she didn't reach out to the "little people." We were literally only feet from them during this process.


Koen freaked out at one point at the camera guys that were sitting on our front steps. Hilarious! They backed off to give him some space, but I apologized for him. He also got a little upset momentarily when the Escalade took our parking spot. So funny!


Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing the movie just so that I can see the scenes on our street! Hopefully it will be worth watching!

Koen Growing Up

I gave Koen a new haircut last week and I think it is so cute, but it definitely makes him look grown up. On Sunday I put him in a cute outfit of shorts and a long-sleeve button down with sleeves rolled up. He looked a little like a mini Doug (except for the fact he really looks more like me as a kid).

Sorry there is not much else to report. I know my Dad wanted to see Koen in his new haircut. Hopefully we'll have more interesting things to report later after a fun morning with friends in the backyard.

Tavin Wants to Grow Up

We've had a nice few days around the house the last few days. Koen seems to be acclimating back to normal life here in the Burgh. Tavin, on the other hand, continues to change daily, even hourly. The last few days at my parents' house, he was getting very independent with sitting up. He is now fully there. It is so fun! The poor thing has spent much of the months since he was born, lying on his back watching the rest of us. In recent months, he endures the exersaucer for some vertical stand-up time. And he absolutely hates tummy time. The last few days as he sits up, he just seems like he wants to move. I think he is desiring to crawl so badly, but he doesn't like being on his tummy. It's so frustrating to watch! I'm trying to help him practice. He had a short session that was somewhat helpful I think today (it literally lasted about 90 seconds). Hopefully we'll make some more progress in the days to come. I don't really want him to crawl. I'm really sad to see him grow up in so many ways (although I totally am excited to see him grow up in other ways). I just love him as my sweet baby Tavin. Plus, crawling is really going to complicate playtime with Koen. Tavin has his eye on everything Koen touches. When he is crawling, it is going to be quite a learning curve for Tavin and I as we adjust to "sharing." It should be interesting! Tavin right now just whines and grunts and flaps his arms from wherever he is sitting at whatever Koen is doing. That is why I can just tell he is not content to stay put anymore, my guess is he is going to make this advance to crawling as quickly as he can. He just isn't content being on the sidelines anymore.

Here are a few pictures of some "love time" we had before Tavin's afternoon nap. Enjoy the video too!

Brother Love

I am just loving watching Koen and Tavin develop a brotherly love, a friendship, already. What a blessing! Koen can make Tavin laugh and Tavin just adores Koen in every way. I can tell he already wants to emulate his big brother. He watches everything Koen does and flaps his arms and whines to be right there doing it with him. Sweet. The pictures above are from before naptime when they were just enjoying tickling, giggling and snuggling together.