2009

2009 - I can honestly say that this year has been the best year ever!  I am more in love with my husband then I have ever been.  I am loving my job as mommy!  I got to spend some special time being mommy to just Zeke, we visited just about every park there is in the Littleton area, we swam at the pool every day that we couldn't be at the park.  In April I got to meet the newest addition to the Kulow family, Malachi who was born on April 29th.  Being a mommy of two was hard at first but a few weeks in we all adjusted - Michael only had to go without homemade dinner from me for about two months.  The summer was spent at the pool with two little guys.  In August my dad and sister got to meet the newest to join the family, it was great to see them!  In September Zeke started preschool and has loved every day of it!  Zeke's vocabulary has increased so much in the last three months, Michael's request for mommy translations has diminished almost completely.  Ki is growing in leaps and bounds!  Ki starting sitting by himself in October and started crawling the beginning of December.  Now here we are, the last day of the year and he is pulling himself up on everything and taking steps while holding on to stuff. 
The Kulow family is ready for 2010!  We eagerly await what the Lord has in store for us in the year to come.

Big Boys in Training

When we left San Diego Zeke would upon our request go to bed and lay down for his naps and bed time.  When we moved out here to CO, I became a stay at home mom, and felt like my job was to spend every minute with Zeke.  I would lay down with him for his nap time and I would read books until he fell asleep.  After three books if he had not fallen asleep I would lay next to him rubbing his back until dream land came.  When I found out I was pregnant with Ki I felt like I had to continue spending that special nap and bed time with Zeke because I didn't know what life would be like with two little ones. 
With all that said in the last two weeks I have been having both boys lay down on their own to take naps and go to bed.  It has been a little more of a struggle with Ki, however Zeke has taken to it really well.  We do lunch time around noon and after lunch Zeke can play for fifteen minutes and then he needs to go upstairs, go potty and then lay down on his bed.  I will give him a kiss and then he falls asleep on his own.  He has been taking two hour naps, which before I would only get an hour if I was lucky!  Ki has been falling asleep on his own at night time really well, actually too well if you ask Michael, because Ki goes to bed at seven, Michael would like a little more time with him.  Nap times for Ki are a little rougher - he still takes two naps a day.  The first nap is usually around 9 or 9:30 and lasts for about forty minutes.  The second nap is around 1 or 1:30 and lasts for an hour maybe a little more. 
I have to say I am very proud of the boys though in their quick learning that they need to fall asleep on their own!  I am also happy because it has allowed me a little more down time.  I actually get to eat lunch and have a little time to myself in the middle of the day, which all moms know that sometimes naps are more for ourselves then for our children! ; -)

Productive last two days.

Yesterday I got the cleaning bug and went through the pantry threw out some old food.  Went to Target and got some snap ware and put away some of the pantry food that was in bags from Sunflower Market in them.  Got all the Christmas decorations picked up and boxed up.  Today I decided to tackle the laundry.  I got all the laundry done and put away - that is a big thing for me, usually the clothes sit down in the basement on my folding tables; also known as the tops of the washer, dryer and the ironing board.  Both the boys got a lot of clothes for Christmas and so I needed to wash all their new clothes.  Being that there were so many new clothes I had to go through all the old clothes and pack up the outgrown ones.  While I was in the mood I went through the boxed clothes from Zeke that were to be passed down to Ki, and organized and washed them.  The some of the clothes that have seen better days through hand-me downs from friends I took a bag of clothes to the Goodwill.  I cleaned out my truck and put in Zeke's new booster seat and then moved Zeke's old car seat over for Ki to now use.  I got dinner made and then cleaned up from that, got the boys bathed, Ki in bed and now Zeke is watching a movie while I sit here. 
Phew - that just about tired me out typing it all... or maybe it is that I am tired from my day.  I think it might be also that I woke up at three this morning because Ki woke up, he went back to bed and I could not for the life of me switch my brain off!  This morning when Michael got up I bombarded him with all of my night time thoughts, which were a ton!  I started off thinking about Mothers & More, then MOPS, then the boys room, my truck, having another child or not, selling the baby stuff if we are done having babies, our vacations... March to San Diego, July to Utah, and August to Arizona... like I said my mind would not shut off!
Well, now I am hoping that my mind will shut off.  I am off to have a glass of milk and some chocolate chip cookies!

OCD and Proud of it

Michael very nicely made Ki some cereal this morning while I was getting beds made and Zeke changed and ready for the day.  Zeke and I came down stairs and Michael in his absent mindedness of getting food to Ki, forgot to close the cupboard doors.  I noticed it but thought oh well, at least Michael helped get Ki some food while I was taking care of Zeke.  Zeke, on the other hand said,"Mom, dad leave open."  His eye brows furrowed and his hands on his hips.  I said, "It is okay Zeke, when I am done feeding Ki I will close them."  Zeke then proceeded to call down to Michael to come and close the left open cupboards.  I smiled and noted... Zeke really is my child! : )

Wake Up Call

This morning I was awoken by Ki crying in his crib at 7:20am.  I went to his room to get him out and after getting him out of bed to change his diaper and feed him, I walked into Zeke's room to check on him.  Zeke was not in his room.  A little panic ran through my chest as I wondered where he was.  A glance down stairs assured me.  Zeke had gotten up was eating an apple, that he climbed up on the counter to get himself. And was sitting very quietly on the living room floor eating and trying to figure out one of his Christmas games that we got him... Lighting McQueen Tic Tac Toe.  I thought about getting upset with him for coming down stairs by himself and climbing on my counters, however he chose an apple to eat when there was plenty of other things that he could have gotten that were not as healthy.  My little Mr. Independent!

Home

Before we left for San Diego for Amie's wedding, Michael and I found a house that we really liked.  We had called our Realtors and told them that when we got back from San Diego that we would like to go and look at the house.  So two Sundays ago we went and looked at the house.  Everything was perfect... it was a three bedroom house, main floor master, main floor laundry, two bedrooms upstairs for the boys and the basement was finished with what they were calling two extra bedrooms and a bathroom but was really more one room (office) and a play area.  The home was smaller then our current one but it was so nice.  No major work was needed, the walls were even painted reasonably. 
Michael and I spoke with our Realtors and they explained that there are quiet a first time homer buyer packages that we needed to look into.  That evening Michael and I sat down and looked over our finances and calculated the home price through a mortgage calculator and realized that we could handle the monthly payments as they were only one hundred dollars more then we are paying for rent (we calculated mortgage insurance, home owners insurance, taxes, hoa, and the mortgage).  We really felt confident that it was just a matter of getting the pre-qual letter. 
So the very next day I went to our bank and got in contact with a lender.  After playing phone tag I was able to meet with the lender in person on Wednesday.  After an hour of looking at everything she said that we were not qualified.  I was crushed.  Because of the way in which Michael is paid... his hours and then "cafeteria money" taxes show the hours and not the "cafeteria money", so even though we make "X" it shows we make "Y".  I was crushed - I felt like my dream of owning a home for my boys to grow up in was shattered in that one meeting. I spent a day of mourning my "loss", then had to come to grips with, "When it is the Lord's will nothing will stand in the way."
I guess in my head I thought that if only we could have a home that we owned then we could do what we wanted, have pets, paint the walls, grow the garden that I want... all of the things that are not really possible in a rental.  After my day of mourning I had to come to grips with the fact that we are blessed to live in the house that we are in.  We have a nice place, in a great neighborhood, and my boys are happy here.  All the other things are the "American" dream but maybe not in the near future for my family.  All in perfect timing... even if it is not my timing!

Gates

After a tumble down the lower stairs Michael ran out and got a gate.  (I have been tumbling down the stairs since we moved in and only when Ki tumbled down the stairs does he get a gate... Smiles!)  Ki has decided that he is going to perch himself right in front of the gate making it difficult to open it but I guess it keeps him from falling down the stairs.

A New Day

Thank the Lord for new days!  By yesterday evening around six I was done.  I had lost my patience and I had become a yelling lunatic.  I got my boys to bed at 6:30 and I headed to bed at seven to read.  I fell asleep around nine.  A good nights sleep... well waking up three times by the boys, is truly a magical thing.  I woke up this morning at four thirty and I felt like a new person.  I took a long hot shower, got dressed for the day, did my hair and had a cup of hot peppermint tea.  Ready for my day!

Mommy Moment

Zeke and I were playing swords with our water bottles and I got his water bottle from him and then I was pretending to stab him with the "swords".  Zeke turns around and puts his hinney in the air and says, "Me farting at you so you give me sword back." 

An Acknowledgment

Is it so hard for the police men, firefighters, or paramedics to smile or nod?  Today we were sitting at two lights one with a police man and another with a fire truck and ambulance.  Zeke had his window down and was frantically waving hello to them and no one, not a single person waved or even acknowledged the fact that an admiring child was waving.  I wanted to honk my horn and yell at them!  Now I can understand if they were busy... but we were sitting at a stop light!  I had to tell Zeke that maybe they were too busy to wave.  Inside me I was crushed for Zeke!  I think it should be a requirement for them to all have to take a class on "Proper Child Acknowledgment". 

Stairs

So in the last week Ki has gone from the army crawl to full blown crawling.  Now he has ventured near the stairs.  I can feel the gray hairs sprouting from the top of my head!  Ki is pulling himself on everything, being that the stairs are at the perfect level he is using those to reach higher.  Thankfully he has only been able to reach up to steps but I know that it is just a matter of time and he will be conquering the stairs of this house. 
Michael and I yesterday had to move Ki's crib down to the lowest level.  My baby is growing up!  He loves standing up and checking everything out.  Much like his older brother he is a "big boy".  Ki is about a month behind Zeke as far as reaching mile stones.  I will be honest I am totally fine with that though! 
Zeke was sitting at four months
Ki sitting at five months
Zeke got his bottom two teeth at five months
Ki got this bottom two teeth at six months
Zeke was crawling at six months
Ki is crawling at seven months
Zeke was walking at ten months
Ki... well we will only see!
I know my babies are growing up but it is a bitter sweet thing!  I guess as Grandma Betty says, "They are always my baby boys" while referring to uncle Bart and my dad. 

Run Away

Today I got to run away from home for an hour.  This past week was a long and hard one... two sick boys and Ki I think is allergic to sleeping at night!  Yesterday I asked Michael if I could run away from home for an hour and he being very gracious agreed.  This morning I was able to take a shower all by myself and used up all the hot water, all be it in a twenty minute shower but it was nice to not have anyone (Zeke or Ki) in the shower with me.  I was able to get out of the shower and get dressed without having to referee the boys.  I was able to blow dry my hair and brush my teeth in peace!  Ahh the simple things.  Then I got to run away from home.  I had to take back the string cheese we got from Costco last night because I wasn't paying attention when I put it in the cart and I got the variety pack, so I took that back and then went to the library.  I was kind of bummed because the book and movie that I was really wanting to get were both checked out, so I got different ones.  I will say the book seems to be a decent one, I am only one chapter in but am enjoying the new author....  Michelle Wildgen.  I stepped out of my comfort zone of Karen Kingsbury, Lori Wick and Nicholas Sparks and got an author I have never even heard of before.  I know this seems like an insignificant thing however for me it is pretty big!  I am all about my comfort zone and my tried, true and tested things (like when we go to a resturant and I don't even open the menu because I order the same thing every time... I "opened the menu" at the library and am actually enjoying my new choice!)  So now I am off to read, or watch my movie - I haven't decided yet which I am going to do.

At last

The fever has left the building (well okay the house!).  I may have to put an addendum to that however since Michael woke up this morning really not feeling well.  At least my babies are fever free which means that maybe we can leave the house today.  It is hard having fever babies and not wanting to leave the house but going crazy sitting in the house.  All I have to say is thank God for the library... we have gotten movies from there the last three days.  So I guess, yes, we have left the house but it is for ten minutes to run to the library to get movies to come back home, close the curtains and snuggle on the couch.

Christmas Spirit

I have been struggling with getting into the Christmas spirit lately.  I think the crud has had an effect on that but I really think that it is more then that.  I will admit today I was feeling a little glum so I decided that I would decorate everything.  Yes, I realize that without the decorations in my house it would be hard to get into the spirit... therefore the motivation was there tonight.  We went and cut down our Christmas tree on Sunday night, the event was very non-eventful... we drove up to Grandma and Grandpa Kulow's house.  We saw a tree from the car on the road to their house, pulled over, got out and cut it down and got back in the car to go eat cookies at the grandparent's house.  We put the tree in our house Sunday night.  Zeke came down with the crud that night, Monday and Tuesday I was watching our neighbor's daughter Luciana.  Ki came down with the crud on Tuesday night and the last two days I have been laying low!  After a few movies, naps and lounging, Zeke and I decorated our Christmas tree, we even set up the Thomas train track around the bottom of the tree.
I am hoping that with the tree decorated, house cleaned and the crud, hopefully on it's way out of our house that the Christmas spirit will come to me!

Crud

Ahhhh - I will be so glad when this stuff is out of my house!  Zeke has been battling the crud since Sunday night.  Ki picked up the crud on Tuesday.  Michael picked it up yesterday.  I have been contemplating picking it up for the last two days. 
"Crud, crud go away, don't ever come back another day!"

Comparison Shopping

My next Mothers & More meeting is this coming Monday and the meeting title is "Family friendly budget on one income"... being that is our world at least at the Kulow's home I thought I would do the research for my house and then share my findings with the group.  Today I hit Target and Costco and wrote down some of the basics that we purchase as a family.  From the two stores, thus far, I think that if you have the space to store Costco purchases you are better off.  I will try to graph out all of my findings this weekend in Excel to share with the group.  My thought is that I will try to go to WalMart, Safeway and Kings Sooper this weekend and get the prices from there to add to the spread.  While I was in Target today a sales associate came up to me and asked if I was with WalMart.  She said that one of their jobs in working at Target is to go to WalMart "undercover" and write down prices.  So she thought that was what I was doing.  I simply told her that I was doing research for personal use... she was impressed.  I will say that there is a sense of wonder on my part as well as a sense of accomplishment, I think that Michael will be pleased that I have taken the time to really see if we are getting the best prices for the things that we regularly purchase. 

Pigs not boys

I swear I have pigs not baby boys.  Zeke today ate a whole Costco hot dog after we were done at Costco today, he didn't even share a bite with me.  We got home and he ate a whole apple and then had two celery stalks cut up with peanut butter and craisens on them.  Geesh!  Ki last ate at nine this morning before we left for our errands.  We got home and he polished off two jars of baby food and then nursed for ten minutes.  I can't even begin to imagine what our grocery bill is going to be like in ten years!  The Lord better come back before then or Michael and I are going to have to get more jobs to pay for these kids to eat. 

Helpful People

After dropping Zeke off at school today I made a mad dash to Hobby Lobby - Zeke has "overused" his Superman cape and it was in need of repair.  I stood looking at a large wall of cape repairing materials and I was totally lost.  Thankfully there was a grandma type lady purchasing a few items and I thing she say my look of desperation while holding the cape.  She came to my rescue and offered a few options for me to fix the cape.  She asked if I had a sewing machine and I informed her that I didn't and that I was bound and determined to fix the cape better than new.  She smiled a sweet grin and offered to have me over to her house to help me sew it on her machine.  I was so honored by her gesture and I think overwhelmed that I turned down her offer.  She pat me on the shoulder and said, "That's a true mom!"  I sheepishly smiled and she was off.  After she left I cringed thinking... what the heck, I just turned down help in an area that I am totally unfamiliar with!  Oh well - I have a cape to repair so that my super hero can get back to saving my house!

Mothers & More

I have to admit that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with my position in Mothers & More.  I know that I can bring a lot to the table and can offer much to the group but I am tired!  It feels as though every time I turn around someone is dropping out or informing me that they will be dropping out.  My husband encouraged me to push through it all and really try to build it back up, but I am loosing my fire!  I feel like I am holding all positions and am not doing a very good job at any one of them.  I need a little inspiration to keep me going.

Happy!

I can't tell you how many people commented on how happy I looked while we were in San Diego.  I was overwhelmed by the nice comments.  To that I simply say, I am happy!  I am blessed beyond words.  I have a wonderful husband who I love and whom loves me... even with my quirks!  I have two great boys, who keep me busy and on my toes.  I live in a fun little town where I have made friends, which is not in my nature to do but I have learned!  I have THE best job ever - being a wife and a mommy.  I truly feel like I am doing my dream job - the job I was made to do.  Growing up I thought I was supposed to be a teacher in a classroom, but I have found my higher calling... being Zeke and Ki's mommy and Michael's wife. 
So to everyone that said such nice things to me in San Diego, thank you!  You made me take a moment to really appreciate all that I have in my life!

Busy days

Starting this week I am watching our neighbors baby, Luciana she is two months old.  So my days are very busy.  The mornings are all about rushing to get everything done for the rest of the day knowing that with three little ones my afternoons are taken up.  I have been truly blessed though with a big helper in Zeke.  He love helping with Luciana.  I don't think he realized that he could help out with Ki but now having two babies he is really helping out.  Yesterday both the babies were fussing at the same time so I put Luciana in the bouncy seat and had Zeke feed her a bottle and then I fed Ki, as he still will not take a bottle.  Today Luciana was fussing because she had tummy troubles and Zeke was so sweet, he sat next to her singing to her the lullaby songs I sing to he and Ki.  When the songs weren't helping he tried stroking the bridge of her nose like I do to Ki.  When that stopped working he came over and got me and took me by the hand to the kitchen to get her a bottle.  I had to inform him that a bottle wouldn't help but we just had to talk gentle to her until she stopped. 
The only reason why I am able to post is because both Ki and Luciana are sleeping right now... awe peace and quiet, well maybe from baby cries but Zeke is still running a mile a minute, on no nap mind you!

Quick Wit

Yesterday I was scolding Zeke for talking meanly and I had my brows furrowed and was talking very sternly to him.  Zeke very quickly took his Batman mask that was around his neck and placed it over his eyes and smiled a big smile and said to me, "No yell at Batman.  Me not Zeke, me Batman."  I have to tell you with that quick wit I had a hard time not laughing myself.  I replied to his humor saying, "Well Batman and Zeke both need to listen to mommy!"