Bye bye baby and hello environmentalists

2 short topics in one post :)

So the last remaining bit of our baby is now gone (well besides the diapers). Sutton is happily sleeping in his big boy bed. It was only a matter of time as he was ready to be out of his crib. I was hoping for a smooth transition as we have had with the other 2 and I got it! He loves to sleep so much that when it is time for bed he goes right to sleep and same with nap. It's kind of funny because when he is ready to get up he just opens his door and comes on down the stairs. He even has done this a few times in the middle of the night. It kind of makes me laugh to think that our 18 month old can just wander around the house at night all by himself (no worries we have an alarm so if he goes out EVERYONE will know). He's not afraid of the dark just comes down to my side of the bed and says, "mommy." He's so grown up for his age... guess that happens when you have 2 older brothers.

This weekend we took advantage of what I keep saying is the last nice day of the year and we did some yard work. We are preparing for family pictures this Thursday at our house.

Caution side comment ahead: for the record I said that no matter what happened I promised myself I would never let Sutton have third child syndrome where we never get his picture taken... and well I did. I didn't mean to, I really didn't... in fact I had good intentions, even made an appt when he was 13 months for his year pics and then he got a huge goose egg so I cancelled them and well then the flood happened... and yah I have no good excuse that it is actually going to be a whole year since he has had his pictures taken. GASP.

Ok back to the story about yardwork. Slowly but surely we have been planting trees this year and getting the yard how we want it. We planted 8 arborvitae at the beginning of the summer and then an Aspen, or vice versa. So we decided to plant a tree or two this fall. We went to the nursery and everything was 30% off but there was little to choose from, we almost settled for a tulip tree but I decided we might check Lowe's instead. JACKPOT. We ended up wtih 6 trees for $52.. yep $52. Granted they aren't big by any means but they aren't that small either and for less than $10 a tree if they die who cares? We'll buy more. So here are a few pics of Sutton and Easton helping plant the trees. Sutton wasn't much of a help but he was really interested, Easton actually was a big help. I was no help with the planting, I did however work in the front yard. Where was Mason? Playing with friends... yah that's another post in itself.

Until next week...have a good one!

Easton's birthday party

I didn't get around to blogging last week so will update with 2 this week. First off we had Easton's birthday party a couple of weeks ago. He had a construction theme and many of our friends and family showed up for a fun time.

He of course got lots of presents and has been having a hard time figuring out which to play with. His favorite part of the day was probably cake. He gets that from his mom.

Here are a few pictures of the party! Hard to believe he is 3, the time went too fast between 2 and 3 years old.

Jekyll and Hyde

Mason loves school and teachers love Mason. Ever since he has been 18 months old I have been told over and over how well behaved he is, how he is helpful and if all the kids were as good as him their jobs would be much easier. I must say it sort of makes me mad. Mad because the child they describe to me sounds nothing like the child I see at home, he talks back, he doesn't listen, he hates picking up, he whines... he's 4.

A few months ago Mason started attending a new preschool. His new teacher Miss Mary sends home a daily sheet that tells how his day was. It has a bunch of adjectives on it and she circles the ones that reflect how he acted. Everyday his sheet says: cooperative, good listener, respectful, happy, helpful, nice to my friends. And everyday Jake and I look at each other say... "there must be another Mason in that room."

Yesterday I got Mason's daily sheet and all the positive adjectives were circled but there was a 1/2 by the good listener. And she wrote comments that said "Mason was asked to stop talking during circle time but was not being a good listener. Otherwise a good day." It was kind of shocking at first and refreshing at the same time to know that it is my kid that she send notes home about... now if only he would act at home like he does at school we would all be happy. But Jake and I both agree it's better he act like that at school and bad at home than vice versa!

Happy 3rd Birthday Easton!!!

Today is Easton's 3rd Birthday. Here's a look back at the past 3 years.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Don't know what you got til it's gone!

So this post is about one of the furry Koller Kids today! Last night we had a big scare with Macy. I arrived home at 5:30 with Sutton to meet my mom (who had the big boys) and Karen (Jake's mom). Karen was watching the boys so I could go to a meeting and Jake could work late. My mom called me when she got to our house and said they were there waiting and wondered where Macy was. I said, "she's not there?" and she said "no." I said, "oh well today is payroll day at Lucky Pawz so Jake probably took her there for daycare and will pick her up tonight." Somehow I failed to remember that Jake actually left after me and I clearly left the house with Macy and Maverick both outside.

When I got home from my meeting around 9, Jake had just arrived home and Macy was no where to be found. We searched all over the neighborhood but because it was so dark it was hard to look in the wooded area behind the house. I called the microchip people, the police department, the animal control people, the animal shelter, all the neighbors... and finally went to bed after one more search at 11pm. Needless to say I didn't sleep much last night.

This morning I called the police again and still nothing...then a neighbor from down the street knocked on our door and said that someone had our dog! She was hiding in an upstairs bedroom of a house being built a couple of lots down. The drywall guys found her and she was terrified. I ran down there (with 3 half naked kids following me) and she was so scared. I felt so bad for her. But she is home safe and sound.

Best we can figure is that she ran out the back of the yard (we have an invisible fence and she had her invisible fence collar on) and got shocked. That probably scared her so much she didn't want to come back in so she probably just went roaming and eventually walked into the empty house next door since it has no doors (and ironically for those of you who I went to HS with-the house where she spent the night is Ben Eisenbach's future house.) It was as close as she could get to home and safe I guess. Maybe our Golden Retriever is smarter than we thought :) So that was stressful to say the least and I of course immediately thought the worst that she must have been dead somewhere and was so distraught. ugh.

We are all relieved she is safe and home. It really made me think about what would happen if one of my boys got lost or taken from the yard, something I really haven't ever pondered. And makes me sick to think about.

In other updates, I am showing our house to a potential renter today so crossing my fingers he wants it. In the meantime another woman is VERY interested as well, so there is hope we might get renters in there. Too bad someone just doesn't buy it. ugh.

And in other exciting news, Mason, Easton and Sutton are going to be cousins! Michelle and Ryan are having a baby in March. I am thrilled to finally get a niece or nephew, I secretly am hoping for a niece so I can buy lots of cute clothes.

Finally I will post a few pictures, I submitted these to the GAP casting call, they do a thing each year where you can submit photos of your kids and they pick a winner. I am sure they won't win but I think they are the cutest kids ever! You can only submit 5 total, and they have to have been taken in the last 3 months. So I did one of each of them and picked the 2 other best pics. Enjoy. Check in later this week, probably Thurs or Friday for Easton's Birthday post and time line!

Too big for my britches

I guess when you are the youngest of 3 boys it is inevitable that you grow up faster than you should. Being a mom I even expected this, but it's out of hand really. Yes this post is about the baby....First he rolled early, crawled early, walked early, climbed up and down the stairs early, jumped off the couch early... well you get the idea. For the record he didn't talk early :)

So about 3 months ago he started throwing a fit every time I would put him in his high chair. So I started making sure it was right next to the table... didn't work. Finally one night I said forget it, and I put him at the table on one of the booster seats. He proceeded to climb on the table multiple times and I proceeded to get him down and sit him back down each time, until eventually I just let him sit in the middle of the table and eat his dinner. As the saying goes in our house, "oh well... he's the baby" So at the age of 14 months the high chair becomes obsolete... I swear I know people with almost 3 year olds who still sit them in the high chair (lucky people, this is like jail for kids and hence wonderful for parents.)

So along with his indepence of sitting at the big table he decided to he must also feed himself...everything. Caught this shot this morning at breakfast... I just keep reminding myself that the mess is worth it because he is learning independence and this is important in development... right? Of course YOU think so because you don't have to clean up this mess. Next big step... big boy bed. It is coming soon as he is quite obsessed with the other boy's beds. Mason slept nicely in his big boy bed starting at 17 months, Easton started in his big boy bed at 15 months and Sutton is now 17months so I guess if he's gonna do what they did we might as well move him. BUT...the reason we moved them was to make room for the baby and get them used to the big bed before their new baby stole their crib... NO we aren't moving him to make room for anymore babies... stop hoping for a girl cause we certainly aren't :)

Stay tuned... we will see how the transition goes or if I can put it off for awhile until I find the perfect big boy bedding! He CAN climb out of his crib, but usually chooses not to cause he loves to sleep so much.

Mason's new trick

So every Tuesday night I teach night class and so the house becomes "boys only." 2 weeks ago when I finished teaching I had a text that read, "Mason can ride his bike with no training wheels." I was like, "what?" "when?" "how?".... he had been begging us to take his training wheels off all summer and Jake and I both looked at each other and shook our heads, we knew he would crash and burn and we just weren't prepared to deal with it. Especially since he gets so frustrated when he can't quite master something.

Apparently that night they all went for a walk around the neighborhood and down the street a new little boy that just moved in (who is almost 4) was riding with NO training wheels. So I am not sure if it was Mason's idea or Jake's idea... but regardless they came home and Mason learned to ride with no training wheels. This also sparked the 2 other little boys in the neighborhood who are the same age as Mason to start learning and mastering this skill too. (so yes we now have a bike gang in our neighborhood).

When he first learned someone had to hold onto the bike so he could start going, and when he stopped we would have to walk to where he was and do it all over but within the past week he has learned to balance on one foot push himself and start pedaling.

Now it's time for a new bike as his is tiny...and Easton wants it anyway. :)

Here is some video of him, sorry it's bad quality it is from the point and shoot and someday when we get a new video camera (hint, hint for xmas) I can post good video.


So the next Tuesday night Jake decided that Mason would learn to sleep with no diaper on (he just can't quite wake up to go potty)... let's just say that didn't end as well as the bike riding. So no more "Tuesday night firsts"