My Loves

Ok. 2/3 of my love. No wait... only 1/2 of my loves because I am definitely going to count Darby. 

These kids, they are growing up WAY too fast. 

H has become tall, lanky, and every once in a while displays some teenage behavior that I am just NOT ready for.  I will catch him out of the corner of my eye and think "that is not my baby. that is not my little boy. when did he start to look like a big kid?." If you ask him, everything is in 2's. He slept for 2 days, Christmas is in 2 weeks, and he grew up in 2 days.

He has only been in school 3 days so far but I can already see a difference in his play and what he does. He is more apt to sing along to a show or when music is on.  He is also nicer to A. He tells her that he missed her and helps her take her shoes off and climb up & down. He is a much happier boy during the school year than during the summer. 

He loves all things sporty, tractors and firemen. He is going to be a fireman for Halloween and we are all excited about this. He is going to rock it and will actually want to wear his costume. We are going to start him in sports in the next year. Just have to figure out which sport it will be; baseball or soccer. 

I am struggling with him though. He whines and cries at the drop of a hat. He hates to clean up but LOVES to make a mess. He is, in a word or 2, a young kid. He is really a great kid and our issues are my patience. I worry that I am not showing him love in the way he needs it.  I am going to get the 5 Love Languages book for Kids to help me. My biggest fear is that he will grow up thinking I love A more than him because her & my love languages are similar so it is easier for her to feel my love. So, I am working on loving him as he should be.

A, what a stinker. She will be 2 in a few short months and is a lover of life. She wakes up every morning happy to see the day. Usually, the first thing she will say is "See-ral!!!" She loves to eat cereal for breakfast and always stops by our room to say good morning to daddy before she makes her way to breakfast.  She continues to work her magic in making both JJ & I feel like her favorite. I envy her ability to make everyone feel important and loved to her. 

We are working on her coordination. She still has a hitch in her right leg when she runs but I have noticed that she is starting to run faster. I think all those races with H down that hall are starting to pay off. This girl loves to run, though. She would run all day of she could. 

She is becoming quite a verbal little girl.  She can express herself very well and even said a 6 word sentence the other day. It didn't make the most sense (something about monsters) but she put 6 words together and was able to convey what she wanted to say in a round-about way. 

She still has a love to Elsha (Elsa) and all things Frozen. If she is upset or doesn't want to do anything, just sing "Let It Go" and all is right with the world again.  She loves to dance. She has learned to speed up or slow down her dancing to the beat of the music. I am seriously starting to think about enrolling her in dance next spring to encourage this love. 

A loves H; thinks he hung the moon.  Anything that H does, she has to do right along with him. H has learned to use this to his advantage (as any kid would) but A does not seem to mind taking the fall for his ideas. As long as H wants to play with her, she is a happy girl.  They play very well together and really enjoy each others company most of the time. 

These kids of mine, I think they are pretty great. I am not always the perfect mother but I love them to the moon and back. I think that JJ & I are doing a great job with them. I hope that we continue to help them grow into the amazing people that they will become. 

First Day of School (3 yrs)

This looks very similar from the picture last year but he is so much taller. 

H has started back to school!!!  Summer was great but no matter how much I tried to do with him, he was plain bored.  He needed school to start just as much as I did. 

He was ecstatic to go to school. Most kids will cry & cling to their parent but not H. He walked away from me and went straight into his new room and never looked back. School is one of his happy places and it really shows. He has a new teacher, Mrs. Nicole. She is a new teacher at the school but was an assistant last year. Nicole is great and has been planning all sorts of activities for the last year. She is very enthusiastic and seems to be very loving.  I think that she will be an excellent teacher for H. 

H has some friends from last year in his class but also some new kids to meet which seems to make him happy. He was not at all sad that Trace and Owen were in a different class. 

Here are some of his favorites right now:

Food: Pizza & sandwiches

Movie/Show: Rescue Bots & Charlie Brown Halloween.

Toy: Anything that he can make into a firetruck or fire hose

This kid is all boy and has boundless energy.  

As we were getting in the car to head to school he turned to A and said "I will miss you Anns. Will you miss me?"  It was so cute and really showed what a loving kid he truly is. He has his moments where he is not nice and a stinker but deep down he loves his family and really enjoys being around him. 

It is going to be an adjustment to A & I with him gone during the day. Last year A still took a nap while he was at school so there wasn't much time for us to do anything. This year she doesn't nap and is used to H telling her what they are going to play. I think  it will be great but definitely an adjustment. 

I love H and his enthusiasm for school and all that it entails. This is going to be a great school year for him. We can not wait to see how much he grows and learns this year!

The perfect winters day

Today was a day I had waited for for over 15 months. The weather is unseasonably warm (high is 81) and Florida's Snow (what I affectionally call Pollen in the winter) made a thin yellow blanket on top of everything. And the Keitzers could be found outside!  

I was on one of our adarondack chairs reading a book while the kids played. Together. That's right. Not only were we enjoying the warm winters day with enough breeze to be comfortable but H & A were playing together in the backyard. 

A is finally old enough to walk around so I am not freaking out about her crawling in dirt but she is still young enough to think everything her brother does is amazing and worthy to copy. H loves having someone to boss around but is kind enough to choose activities that A can play along with. 

 

One moment I hope to never forget is the two of them spinning in circles laughing. H looks at me with a smile and said "I spin in circles with my sister!" This is the very first time he has called her his sister and it made me feel like we were finally a family. I needed H to acknowledge the relationship to make it complete. 

My Firstborn is 3

H is 3 today. At 11:14 tonight, he will have officially been on this earth for 1,095 days. It is crazy to believe that I have been a mom for 1,095 days and I think that I rocked it most of the time. 

It is crazy to believe that this little guy who cried so much his first 6 weeks that JJ & I thought we were going to get divorced from the stress has turned into this fun loving guy:

We are so blessed to have him as a son and our first born. 

H, you are sensitive (in a good way) and gentle. You do not shy away from your feeling or expressing them.  You are all boy. You love to kick the soccer ball, throw the football and pretend to be a fireman.  

You have grown so much in the last year. School has made you incredibly social, brought out your imagination and so smart. I hope that your love of school does not fade for a long time.  Your verbal skills continually amaze us. You can count to 16 and you LOVE to count. 

You have made your father and I so happy and brought laughter, love and tears into our lives. I see you growing up to be a fantastic big brother, friend and someday a wonderful husband to a sweet little girl. I am already praying for you to choose a woman who can treat you as well and love you like your father and I do. 

We love you with all our hearts. 

This Killed Me

I was doing laundry the other day. A completely normal task. A task I take for granted that I get to do with relative ease. I normally don't really pay much attention to anything else while doing laundry. I wish I hadn't been paying attention on this day. 

I walked into H's room and just stopped in my tracks. This is what I saw:

A very messy boys room that had been cleaned but one thing was forgotten, Blue Bear. That killed me. It killed me to see Blue Bear forgotten. Really, tossed aside and then forgotten. 

You see, Blue Bear has been a constant companion of H's since he was able to move. Blue Bear would sleep with him, come in the car with him and play everything with him. I was so used to seeing Blue Bear everywhere that H went. But, it seems, not anymore. 

This is telling me that H is growing up. He isn't relying on stuff like Blue Bear for comfort anymore. He is moving around so much and too fast to worry about bringing a bear along and I know that soon he won't be worrying about bringing me along to things anymore either. 

My little boy is growing up. Next Tuesday he will be 3 years old. He can count to 16 and has recently started calling us Mom & Dad, not Mama & Daddy. Blue Bear was just the first of many clues telling me that he is slowly pulling away and is definitely not a baby anymore.

Haven help us. If I am freaking out over him not using Blue Bear anymore, imagine what I am going to be like when he learns to drive or goes off to college. 

Oh, well. Fare you well Blue Bear. You were a great companion and I hope you enjoy the keepsake box I put you in. I know that when H has kids they will love you like he did. 

H as a big brother

H is really coming into his own as a big brother. He is starting a care about A as well as tell on her more. 

It cracks me up how much he loves to tell on her but he also loves to play with her and show her how to do things. 

The other day A had pulled out part of H's measuring tape and was really frustrated that she could not get it to go back in. I asked H to show A how to use his measuring tape. He walked over to her, picked up the measuring tape and said "You put your thumb here and help is slowly slide in with your other hand" while demonstrating what to do. 

This is the first time that I have asked him to show A how to do something. The fact that he did it without complaining and was so kind about it really amazed me. For the first year of her life, H wasn't too excited about now so to now witness him treating her like a person and being nice to her really made me happy. 

I am incredibly grateful that I am able to watch my kids grow up and become friends right now. 

Halloween 2013

This is the first Halloween that we have participated in.  Our first family Halloween, in 2011, H was 9 months old and we kinda thought it was stupid to pay for a costume just for pictures and candy that we are going to eat. Our second family Halloween, in 2012, A was 8 days old. To say that we were not in the mood to go out is an extreme understatement. H wasn't in school or around kids so he didn't really know about Halloween so we didn't feel like he was missing out on anything by not participating. 

This year, with H in preschool, we knew that it would be talked about and that he needed to at least experience it. So, I got 2 inexpensive costumes from Old Navy; A monster and an owl. 

A few days before Halloween, we got a pumpkin to carve. Neither JJ nor I really enjoy carving pumpkins but I knew that H would like it and I really wanted to roast some pumpkin seeds. 

H had a great time helping JJ with the pumpkin but by the day after Hallowen that bad boy was rotting. Stupid Jacksonville and being warm in October. I think next year we are going to let the kids paint them and I will just buy pumpkin seeds. 

We were going to go over to Casey & Sarahs to hang out and let the kids play but Audrey was sick so back up plan was Mom & Dad. We hung out with them and let H ring the door bell and say "Trick or Treat" for the first time. 

He loved it! H was all about Halloween until he realized that he had to wear the costume. It took me telling him that we would have to go home and he wouldn't get any candy for him to decide to put it on.  But, boy howdy, are those kids cute.  

Since H & A go to bed so early, we were only able to go to a few houses but H was so polite. Kinda blew my mind. Without any prompting, he would say "Trick or Treat, please!" and after he got the candy he would very kindly say "Thank you. Good Night" and walk away.  It worked out really well that we only went to a few houses because H still got enough candy to last him the few days until he forgot all about Halloween and candy. I actually had to throw some away. And by throw some away, I mean eat it :)

(Please take note of the pink Halloween bucket. H was able to pick between orange, blue, green and pink. He choose the pink one and I absolutely love it!)

A was extremely unimpressed by the whole thing and just wanted to take the stupid costume off and go to bed. 

I think that our first Halloween was a huge success and can't wait to go next year when both H & A can actively participate and enjoy it. 

{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment in time. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

H-isms Part 2

H has his good days and his bad days but man, those good times make all the bad times totally worth it. 

When A was born, we decided for me to stay home with H because he was slightly delayed in speech and I could work with him all day long and give him that one-on-one attention that he couldn't get in daycare. It amazes me how much his speech his grown in the last 10 months. He was barely saying 1 word and now he is consistently putting 5-6 word sentences together.  Some of the stuff he says makes me laugh and just amazes me. 

Now that he is in school, he has grown by leaps and bounds. The other day, we were on our way to church and H told me (out of the blue) "new carpet at school." It had been 3 days since he had been to school and it amazed me that he remembered it and wanted to share with me. 

H is learning and discovering new stuff all the time and I don't want to forget any of it. 

Every day when I pick H up from school, I ask him what he did, did he make any new friends, what their names were, and if he had fun. H almost always responds with "No!" He does not seem to want to talk about school when he leaves. He has never mentioned any other kids other than to say that he played with kids. Yesterday, on the way to school, H asked "Harper school today?"  He has never spoken about another kid or even acknowledged that he has learned other kids names. I can't wait to share with Harper's mom that her daughter is the first kid that H learned the name of. 

I have also learned to watch what I say around H. Evidently, every time that JJ needed to take a shower after working in the yard, I would tell H that JJ was nasty.  So, now, every time anyone (me, JJ, NiNi or Poppa) go to take a shower, H gets this pained look on his face and says "Nasty... So & So is Nasty."

Our neighbor has put some Woodpecker boxes on their trees. It is great because Woodpeckers love them and you can hear the pecking all over the neighborhood. For some reason, H won't say "Woodpecker" so whenever he hears woodpeckers he shouts "Hookpecker!!!!!" Cracks me up every time. 

I hope you have a great Tuesday. 

Kelly

H's new bed!!

A few weeks ago JJ & I decided that H was just getting too old for his toddler bed. He just wasn't sleeping well in the toddler bed anymore. We chalked that up to a toddler/baby mattress and the fact that he just didn't feel comfortable in that bed anymore. 

Mom and Dad had one of my grandfathers, Gramps, old bunk beds. They gave one of the beds away so we only have 1 but JJ & I loved the idea of H's first big boy bed was slept in my the grandfather that he is named after. 

Bed bed was originally made by my great-grandfather in a natural wood. When my sister got it, it was painted white. 

I am extremely tired of the paint in H's room so I want to paint his room white. Since I want to paint his room white, I don't want the bed to also be white. So, we decided to paint it Navy (Naval by Sherwin Williams by be exact). 

I like the way that it turned! I love the anchor detail on the headboard. Since the room is white and the bed is navy, we might do a naval theme at some point. 

We bought animal sheets and a comforter from Target. We put H in the bed a couple of weeks ago and only had one little incident. The first night, H woke up scared. I chalked it up to to waking up to a new surrounding and not having the security of the sides of the bed. 

See.... we need to paint his room

We plan for JJ to build another bed so that we will have a twin set. The bed is pretty simply designed so I think that my handyman husband will be able to build a great bed. 

It was a shock for me to put my first born in a real bed... a bed that he will sleep in for years!! It scares me how fast he is growing up but I love to watch him grow up and see the joy he gets on his face to call that bed his. 

{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment in time. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Happy Friday!

Kelly

{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment in time. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

First Day of School: The Aftermath

Ok. So the Aftermath sounded a little extreme. 

H had a fantastic first day at school! I knew he would be OK since he would be going to my Moms preschool so if he got too upset, she would be there to make sure that he was OK and comforted. 

I didn't realize how much I would miss him. We had orientation after dropping him off so I only had about an hour and a half to kill between the end of orientation and when I had to pick him up.  A and I just came home and kinda walked around in a daze. Pick up time is noon for the 2 year old program.  I was so excited to see H and hear about his day that I left the house at 11:30 and was one of the first 10 cars. I was so giddy to see him and hear all that happened to him in the 3 hours since I had left him. 

As soon as I saw his smiling face I knew it was going to be a good year. They put him in the car in the pick up circle and then we go back to buckle the kids in. I am a little proud of this but the first thing that H said was "buckle. buckle. buckle!" He was so freaked out that he was not buckled in. It was really kinda cute. 

On the way home when I asked about his day, he let me know that he played on the playground with a dump truck but one of the wheels was broken. I told him that I would mention it to NiNi and maybe she could fix it. He just shook his head and said "No. Broken."

The 2 year old program also eat lunch at 11 so that when you pick them up they aren't cranky. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I had packed H's lunch for the first time on Tuesday night. So, one of the first things I asked is if he enjoyed eating his lunch out of a lunchbox. He let me know that he had to eat his grapes with his hands. Evidently this really offended him because he next proclaimed "pack fork!" So, I am to pack forks for his grapes.... talk about high maintenance. 

He also learned that you do not play on the elevated, stage area. One boy went up there and H just could not understand why he would do that when they told the kids not to. 

As soon as we got home, he crashed and slept for 2 hours. He woke up and was still tired. All he wanted to do was lay on the floor and watch Toy Story. I try not to let him watch too much TV but I knew how stimulating this morning was for him so I figured resting was a good thing. 

I am very excited for what the year has to bring for my little man. I am excited to see the friends he makes. I am excited to show him how wonderful his art creations are and I am excited to see how he grows. Clearly, I am on cloud 9 right now with how the day went. No one cried and everyone had fun. Win-Win.

His backpack is almost as big as he is but he loves it!!

OK. Gushing done. Did your kids start school? Did they have a great day?  

I am off to have a girls night. Margaritas and Mexican food to celebrate my first back to school as a stay at home mom! I hope your Thursday is as good as my Wednesday!

KK

H First Day of Preschool

Oh man, Oh man. My first born has started Preschool and could not be more excited about it. 

We went yesterday to meet his teacher. All morning long H kept asking "Meet teacher? Meet teacher?" As soon as we walked into the classroom, H just left my side and I didn't see him again until it was time to leave an hour later. 

H goes to the 2 year old class Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There are 18 kids in the class. 13 boys and 5 girls. I pray for the teacher and the 2 aids. That class is going to be crazy. 

H already knows a few of the kids from Sunday School but didn't seem to really recognize them in the new setting.  He didn't care. He was having a ball. 

Today was his first day of school. I don't know who was more excited, me or H!

Clearly, H dressed himself. I was going to switch his shirt around but I loved that his collar was popped and the shirt was on backwards. I knew that JJ & I would treasure this picture of the real H at this moment than the one that I put together. 

I only stayed in the room for 15 minutes to socialize with the other parents and make sure that he remembered where the bathroom was. H was too cool for me. He immediately put a baby in a shopping cart (I am assuming like I do with A) and went about his business. 

After he had the shopping cart and baby in order he went and sat down to "breakfast" with some new friends.  I love the freedom that kids have. There didn't seem to be any worries of whether someone would like them. All 4 of these kids just plopped themselves down at the table and pretended to eat together. 

As soon as I saw this, I knew that he was OK and A & I left to start our own adventure. 

So far it has been a quiet morning. A keeps crawling around the living room playing with whatever toy she wanted and laughing. I think that she was really enjoying being an only child for a few hours. I know that once this gets more routine she will miss him more but right now she is loving not having her toys taken away from her and I am enjoying a few minutes of quiet. 

As much as A and I are enjoying ourselves, I will admit that I can't wait to pick up my little man and hear about all his day had to offer for him. 

We have entered a new era and I think we are all going to enjoy it!

I hope that your Wednesday is as good as mine (and H's)!

KK

On my mind today

H was a holy terror yesterday. I blame it on the end of summer and his desperate need to start school ASAP (which happens tomorrow). 

He started the day whining for his new toy rotation box to be taken out. I let him know that the new toys would be out after quiet time. That answer did not satisfy him so he went into our bedroom and asked JJ to get the toys out! That is the first time that he has done that and it blew. my. mind.  Next he wanted to take a walk. I let him know that we would go out after A woke up from her morning nap. So, he proceeded to close all the doors in the house, very loudly, and then yell down the hall about what he was doing in the bathroom. Amazingly enough, this didn't wake A up so he decided to cry and call out for Daddy until she finally did wake up. Then, he proceeded to spend the whole morning keeping all toys away from A. He would take toys out of her hand and at one point he took her hands out from under her to keep her from getting to a toy he wanted to play with.

Right before lunch he asked me to take the top off his water bottle so he could drink it like a big boy. I took it off and turn around 2 seconds later and he has spilled water all over the table (books, my phone, the laptop, etc) in his attempt to immediately put the top back on.  At this point, I flipped my lid. 

My patience was shot from dealing with his antics all morning that I could not handle it. I yelled at him and made him get a towel to clean it up and took his cup away. I didn't comfort him as he cried. I just hardened my heart and went about getting lunch together. In an effort to calm down, I opened Bloglovin to catch up on my blogs and saw this:

This was a slap in the face/heart. It completely spoke to me at the exact moment that I needed it. I don't know which blog posted this (for some reason I couldn't find it again) but this was what I needed. 

While H had spent the morning wearing down my patience, I had spent the morning breaking my son when I didn't respond with understanding or compassion. 

H is only 2 years old. Every thing and every day is an adventure. Every thing is a game. Very rarely is he intentionally bad or mean. This morning, he was annoying most of the time but only mean once. And yet, I treated him like he was purposefully mean and being bad. He doesn't always understand why I am mad so when I react the ways that I was, it was slowly breaking and hurting my gentle-hearted little boy. 

Just realizing that (and typing it now) makes me cry. I love his adventuresome spirit and loving heart but I was not celebrating it when I was yelling at him. I was potentially hardening his heart and I don't want to do that. 

So, I have printed out the above image and put it on my bathroom mirror. I have decided to start my day reading it. It is good for me to remember that "Sorry" doesn't always fix everything. 

So, that is where my head is at today. Is this a reminder that you need? Did this help you in anyway?

I hope that you have a great Tuesday!

KK

Currently Coveting (School Edition)

School is starting back for us on Wendesday. This is my first year with a kid in school (preschool) and I was super excited to get him his first backpack and lunchbox. 

I looked around for backpacks and wanted something that would last him a few years (durability) and that he wouldn't get tired of (not liking spiderman, etc). We decided on the Pottery Barn Fairfax backpack stripped in green & blue (his favorite colors). I opted not to get a patch on it because I figure that he will outgrow and change his mind on the patch.  JJ & I also opted not to get it monogrammed. We are totally those people who think that our children are super cool and attractive and assume that other people would want them. We feel that if H doesn't have his name on his backpack it will be harder for them to steal him. 

I got his the above lunchbox. This goes against my whole "not outgrowing thing" but it was so cute how could I pass it up. H loves Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and bulldozers so I know that he will be pretty excited to carry his lunch in this.  I am super pumped to give it to him. 

Now, I like to dress him preppy. I am sure that he will hate it someday but while I have control over it, I am going to make him as preppy as I think JJ can handle. J Crew kids is one of my favorites. I rarely buy their clothes because H is one messy kid and I think that $50 for a pair of jeans that he will most likely ruin by snack time isn't worth it yet. But, that being said, now that he is in school I am going to splurge every once in a while. 

J Crew Boys - Back to School by kellykeitzer featuring polo shirts

Polo shirt
factory.jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' slub pocket tee
jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' Stanton short in garment-dyed chino
jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' stripe cotton cardigan
jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' long-sleeve slub pocket tee
jcrew.com

J.Crew Kids' Sperry Top-Sider® for crewcuts Authentic Original...
jcrew.com

J.Crew Boys' vintage cord in straight fit
jcrew.com




These are the things that I am loving and can't wait to use.

What are you excited to have your kids use at school this year? Anything that I missed that you think H needs?

KK

Living Life as a 2 year old

I truly wish that I could live my life like a 2 year old. Not go back and have everyone take care of me and play all day; that would be super nice but I want to live life with the curiosities and naivety that a 2 year old does. 

H starts every day with a fresh set of eyes.  Every morning he wakes up and everything is new. I wish that I could wake up every morning forgetting the sad things and rediscover the beauty in the little things. To be excited about just waking up in general. Instead, and maybe this is just me, but my first thoughts on waking up are "Oh God. What times is it? Do I really have to get up? Is it the weekend and JJ is around to help with the kids? What the heck am I going to do to entertain the kids all day?" Those aren't happy thoughts. 

BTW: I asked him to smile and this is what I got. Melts my heart!

I take the kids for a walk every day. We walk the same route at pretty much the same time every day. And every day, H discovers pine cones:

Pine cones! Who is excited about pine cones? That kid right up there. He has to stop and look at all the pine cones. He points to the tree that the thought they came from and then tries to put them in the stroller with A to take them all home. Daddy loves coming home to piles of pine cones :)

Then, we have the neighbors who have a butterfly garden in their front yard. We have to stop every day and count all the butterflies that are there and see how many different ones there are. 

The butterflies are pretty cool. We have been reading The Very Hungry Catepillar a lot lately so he loves to try to figure out which butterfly was the "very fat patepillar". 

Then there are plants and flowers. H has not learned the difference between plants and flowers so pretty much anything green is a "pretty plant."

We stop at all the plants on our walk and talk about how pretty they are. 

These are things that I would never stop to think about or look at if I didn't have H. I wouldn't be fascinated by pine cones or plants. I wouldn't spend 10 minutes looking at all the butterflies to figure out which one ate the slice of salami, lollipop, etc.  

So, I am trying to wake up happier and think about all the things that I get to do instead of the things that I have to do. I have a son who is not going to be 2 forever and won't want to experience these things with me. 

Ok. So this is me trying to be happier:

Have you found yourself stopping to smell the roses lately? Have you been bogged down and needed a 2 year old to teach you that life is about the little things?

KK