Tooth Fairy Disaster

I wanted a picture of Darren's new smile to show you but he wasn't in the mood. "Moooom, don't take a camera of me!"

Well Darren lost another tooth, that makes two. I should have known by the way he lost it, that this tooth was trouble. Apparently, while at school, Darren couldn't get his Spider Man water bottle open, so he decided to use his teeth - you see where this is going right? The boy yanked out his tooth, that we still aren't for certain was even loose, and it bled so badly he couldn't even eat lunch. So it must have hurt because Darren doesn't even let stitches in his tongue stop him from eating.
Anyway, he brings home his tooth in this teeny tiny little treasure box and I open the treasure box and it's empty. Great. He dug around in his back pack for a while and did eventually find the tooth and put it back in the treasure box. Bedtime comes and he puts the treasure box under his pillow and goes to bed all excited.
The next morning I spotted a dollar bill laying on the coffee table, scooped it up, and went to put it under Darren's pillow. There was no treasure box. Crap. I search around a little longer, which is difficult because I didn't want to wake him up, but I can't find that dang treasure box. I leave the dollar anyway, just in case, and go wake up Zach. He goes to look for it but he can't find it either. We decide, oh well, we'll look for it later when he's not around.
But then Zach tells me, "You gave him his own dollar. The dollar on the coffee table was the dollar Mrs. Nicole gave him last night." I said, "Ohhh, OK" and I went back into the living room, got a dollar from my wallet and put it on the coffee table where the other dollar had been.
Later that morning Darren meets me in the kitchen with the dollar in his hand. I said "Awesome, did the Tooth Fairy come see you last night?" He just looks at me with this confused look on his face, "she gave me my dollar that Mrs. Nicole gave me." I feign stupidity, "What? Where's the dollar Mrs. Nicole gave you?". I know what your thinking, because I was thinking it too, How did he know? A dollar is a dollar right? He answers me that question as I'm nonchalantly trying to get him over to the coffee table to see my replacement dollar, "Mom, this is how I folded Mrs. Nicole's dollar." And then the statement that broke my heart, "the Tooth Fairy did give this to me right Mom?" I felt horrible, he is only six years old, and this is only the second tooth he has ever lost and he is already questioning the Tooth Fairy. How was I supposed to know he folded that one special?! I tell him of course she did and show him the other dollar and everything was OK.
That is until a couple days later when he is cleaning his room and discovers the treasure box under his bed! All we hear is, "Hey! She didn't take my tooth." Zach and I are just frozen in a cringe. So we told him the truth, the Tooth Fairy just couldn't find it and he needs to put it under his pillow again in something bigger this time so she can come pick it up. The next morning when he comes out of his room he is disappointed all over again. This time the tooth was gone, but there wasn't any money. The Tooth Fairy thought she had already paid for that tooth, but she was apparently mistaken. Don't worry, I fired her ass. We have a new Tooth Fairy now.

Kamryn Rolled Over!

When I picked Kam up from daycare yesterday, there was a note on her daily sheet that said she had rolled over that morning. I was happy she had finally made it all the way over to her tummy, but I was also a little sad I had missed it. She has gotten really good at getting onto her side (like in this picture) so I knew it was only a matter of time.
I took this picture a couple nights ago. Zach and I were in the kitchen and Darren was playing his DS on the blanket with Kamryn and she was just talking and talking to him, it was too cute!

Cereal

Kamryn wasn't sleeping through the night anymore, and always seemed to be hungry, so we decided last week it was time for cereal. Even Darren was excited. When we told him we were going to feed Kamryn cereal his eyes got really big and he said, "she got her teeth?!" We had a good laugh about that. I got out Darren's scrapbook and showed him pictures from when we fed him cereal for the first time, and we called the grandparents.

She seemed to like it OK, she didn't make terrible faces or anything, and she did eat it pretty good. But she didn't enjoy it as much as I remember Darren enjoyed his. She still isn't too keen about it now. She doesn't have the patience to eat from a spoon when she is hungry so we have to give her a bottle first and then feed her when she is already semi full. And so far Daddy is the only one who can feed her, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but she won't eat it when I feed her. Zach says I'm not shoveling it in fast enough. She is a mess when she is done, half the bowl ends up in her chins, so its straight to the bath when she is done. She is sleeping through the night again though so mission accomplished!

Look at that full tummy!

She not only slept through the night for the first time in weeks, she slept almost all the way to day care!

Kamryn Updates

I finally caught a couple smiles on camera, I still haven't caught her in "full smile" though. This first one is the end of a smile and the next one is the beginning of a smile. She is just so enthralled with the camera. Every time she catches a glimpse of it she forgets about everything else, and just stares at it. I think it's because of the flash, or maybe she is just her father's daughter. Either way, I'll keep trying.

I finally caved into Zach, and we got her ears pierced. I know, it is such a debated topic, you either love it or hate it. It was done by a professional who also happens to be a close friend, and she did a GREAT job. Kamryn cried of course, but only for the 10 seconds it took to do the piercing, then we had a bottle ready for her and she was a happy camper. Before Zach could even finish paying she was already cooing and smiling.

She is getting really good at rolling onto her side! She hasn't made it all the way over onto her tummy, her arm keeps getting in her way, but she is pretty close.

Kamryn's Baptism

Kamryn June was baptized Sunday September 6th. Her baptismal gown was made by my grandma, Grandma Keeling. I and all my cousins wore it when we were baptized, and Zach and I were very honored to have Kamryn wear it too.

Yes, that is my son, and yes, he is playing GI Joes on the baptismal font...I still haven't figured out how the GI Joes made it out of the truck, but he was finally pulled into line with his Aunts and Uncles.

Sponsors: Uncle AD, Aunt Kourtnie, Aunt Tracie, & Uncle Jody


PaPo, Dammie, MeMe, & PawPaw

What a good lookin' bunch!

Trouble X3

Afterwards Mama and Daddy treated everyone to BBQ at C&J's, Thanks MeMe and PawPaw!

And Thank you to everyone who joined us on this special occasion, we love you all!

Darren's 6th Birthday

Darren is 6 years old! This realization had Zach a little sad, he was reminiscing about when Darren was younger. I told him, "Now you know how I felt when Kindergarten was starting!"
On his birthday, we took punch and cupcakes up to his school. Spider Man cup cakes for the guys and bright flower cupcakes for the girls. Let me tell you, it was a lot of fun sugaring up those 5 and 6 year olds! I apologized to Mrs. Davenport when it was time to leave, but she only thanked us. "No, thank you, this is fun. That's why I told you to come now, because we are about to go outside." In the parking lot though, Zach and I couldn't stop laughing. As we were leaving the classroom all the little boys were pretending to be Spider Man and making the same web shooting noises at each other.
The school announced his birthday on the morning announcements, gave him a birthday pencil and a red ribbon to wear that says, "It's my birthday!". He was very proud of the ribbon, and even wanted to wear it to football practice that day.

When Darren got home from school, we surprised him with a new bike. He wanted a blue motorcycle, but a blue bike was the best we could do. It completely dwarfs his first bike, but he actually fits on this one, with a little room to grow. He can ride this one a lot better than the yellow bike as well. I'll have to post a new video of that soon. Needless to say, he loves it. He is constantly asking to go ride it.

The weekend after his birthday, all the grandparents and aunts and uncles came into town, and we had a bowling party. We really appreciate everyone coming and cramming into our house for the kids. One day, when they realize it, the kids too will appreciate all that their families do for them. Most everyone at the party, hadn't bowled in a long time, and some even bowled for the first time. Once we finally got all our shoes, the fun began. I'm proud to boast that I had the highest score (GO MOM!!), but I think Darren had the most fun. He had been looking forward to this party for a while. After pizza and bowling, a few people played laser tag, and I'll boast for Zach that he had the highest score, other than some stranger who was apparently a professional laser tagist. There are lots more pictures out there, but true to form, I forgot the camera.

When we left the party we came to the house to do birthday cake and presents. Zach's birthday is a few days after Darren's and his birthday seems to get swept under the rug, so I wanted to surprise him with his own little cake. When I bought the cake it was very cute and I was very proud of it. But before I even got the cake back to the house to show him, it had already been dropped... twice if I'm being honest. And contrary to popular belief it was an accident!.. both times. Between its travels to and from the bowling alley it must have gotten dropped a few more times because you could barely make our Zach's name by the time I got the candles in it. But it was the thought that counts right? I was laughing at his sad little cake so much I could barely sing Happy Birthday. But I would like to state for the record again, it was an accident!

Waller Scrimmage

The first scrimmage in Waller was a last minute event, and Zach had to work. That left me to handle the football gear and both kids, out of town, by my self. I didn't know where I was going and I had no clue what to expect. So I called in the troops and Aunt Lindsey came to help, God bless her! She didn't know any more about football than I did, but she was excellent moral support. She held Kamryn while I lugged blankets and ice chests out of the truck, her umbrella shaded us after mine exploded, she helped move all our stuff when we realized we were seated in the end zone, and she took pictures since my camera was out of batteries. Like I said, God bless her!

Darren did awesome. I was so proud. I called everyone on the drive home and told them how well he did. We were only supposed to scrimmage one team, but ended up scrimmaging both Waller teams, when another team didn't show up. Most of the time I had no idea where the ball was, because I was so focused on Darren, but I do know we kicked their butts. Towards the end of the second game it dawned on me that Darren never really got to touch the ball, and I wondered if this would bother him. But I asked him on the ride home, what his favorite part of the game was and he answered, "the tackling!", so I realized he didn't really care so much about the ball.

Opening Kick Off

Half Time

Thanks for coming Aunt Lindsey!

1st Game

These are the pictures from Darren's first football game two weeks ago. It was quite the experience. Zach said he didn't sleep the night before, but he never said if he was just excited or nervous. Probably both. Sorry the pictures are out of order, it has been a while since I posted and I forgot. Start at the bottom and scroll up if you want to see them in proper order.

We played Waller, the same team we scrimmaged the week before, and like the week before, we creamed 'em! The final score was 21 to zero. Aside from the injury to his chin, Darren had a great time. Zach and I had a good time too. We are fortunate to have a great group of parents. We all cheer for the whole team, and there hasn't been any anger management issues like we've seen on the other teams. After the game we stayed and watched the "senior league" play. Those 11 and 12 year olds hit pretty hard. I'm glad we have a few years until we get to that level of play. It is pretty obvious those guys have been playing together for a while.

Darren is number 80. Enjoy!

You might want to turn the volume down, Kamryn is getting tuned up in the back ground.