Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Summer family photos
Hi everyone! As some of you may have seen on Facebook, we took family photos last month and we couldn't be happier with how they turned out. It never ceases to amaze me how our awesome photographer (Danny Lemaire) is able to capture such amazing photos of our kids. We weren't sure if we were going to have to reschedule our photo shoot as it was scheduled on a day during the rainy week we had here in Reno, but everything turned out perfectly. The umbrellas and rain boots worked out perfectly. I was just especially thrilled that Caleb and Madeline weren't wearing their Thomas the train shirts and Mischa wasn't in her Princess Sophia dress! :) Here are a few of our favorites...
More fun with the kiddos
Hello! Well, another post weeks late again. We have had a wonderful but busy summer! The kids are keeping us busy as usual but we've managed to squeeze in some fun between the lake, the park, play dates and other outdoor activities. Seth and I are reminded daily how truly blessed we are. The kids are at a very busy stage but definitely it's definitely a fun stage, too. They are so entertaining and the funny things that come out of their mouths sometimes crack us up!
Seth and I have recently started checking out different preschools around Reno. We want to enroll the kids sometime in the near future but finding a preschool that can accept three kids at once is tricky. Then there's all the questions regarding which days of the week, full-time or part-time, and cost among many other considerations. The kids do great socializing with each other of course, but we want them to get used to being around other children. They enjoy being out in public but have never experienced being away from Seth or me for very long, so preschool will be a transition for them. We both feel that they would benefit greatly from having a structured schedule which preschool can definitely fulfill. We have the search narrowed down to two favorites - one preschool is a small, intimate type of preschool located near our house and based out of a lovely woman's home. The other preschool is a larger Montessori preschool that is heavily based on the Reggio Emilia philosophy which emphazises a more child-directed learning style. Both preschools seem wonderful so Seth and I have a tough decision to make. We will definitely keep you all posted as to which one we choose.
Caleb recently had an appointment with a pediatric allergist. They did some skin testing on him and determined he has quite a few allergies (all tree nuts, pollen, cats, mulberry, and a few other environmental allergies). Fortunately, they don't seem severe but of course we have to keep a close eye on him and keep all nuts away from him. We have epi-pens which we would need if he ever had a severe allergic reaction. The doctor wants to do an oral challenge test in the future to determine how severe his nut allergy is but this is usually done when a child is between 3-5 years of age.
Things have been progressing with potty training but we kind of hit a road block. For some reason, the kids do not want to wear underwear anymore. They prefer to wear a diaper and then either remove the diaper themselves or ask us to take it off so they can use the "green potty chair." They seem to have trouble removing the underwear themselves so that has led to a few accidents here and there. Mischa was the last to learn to use the potty chair but she has finally done it! As some of you know, we get a large shipment of diapers each month delievered from Amazon. I am slowly but surely using these diapers up and then plan to switch to pull-ups for night time use. None of the kids have used a regular toilet yet, so this makes it tricky when we are out in public. They have gotten so comfortable with their Bjorn potty chairs that the big white toilet intimidates them. So, that's one more thing we are working on!
Here are some pictures from the past few weeks!
Mischa
Seth and I have recently started checking out different preschools around Reno. We want to enroll the kids sometime in the near future but finding a preschool that can accept three kids at once is tricky. Then there's all the questions regarding which days of the week, full-time or part-time, and cost among many other considerations. The kids do great socializing with each other of course, but we want them to get used to being around other children. They enjoy being out in public but have never experienced being away from Seth or me for very long, so preschool will be a transition for them. We both feel that they would benefit greatly from having a structured schedule which preschool can definitely fulfill. We have the search narrowed down to two favorites - one preschool is a small, intimate type of preschool located near our house and based out of a lovely woman's home. The other preschool is a larger Montessori preschool that is heavily based on the Reggio Emilia philosophy which emphazises a more child-directed learning style. Both preschools seem wonderful so Seth and I have a tough decision to make. We will definitely keep you all posted as to which one we choose.
Caleb recently had an appointment with a pediatric allergist. They did some skin testing on him and determined he has quite a few allergies (all tree nuts, pollen, cats, mulberry, and a few other environmental allergies). Fortunately, they don't seem severe but of course we have to keep a close eye on him and keep all nuts away from him. We have epi-pens which we would need if he ever had a severe allergic reaction. The doctor wants to do an oral challenge test in the future to determine how severe his nut allergy is but this is usually done when a child is between 3-5 years of age.
Things have been progressing with potty training but we kind of hit a road block. For some reason, the kids do not want to wear underwear anymore. They prefer to wear a diaper and then either remove the diaper themselves or ask us to take it off so they can use the "green potty chair." They seem to have trouble removing the underwear themselves so that has led to a few accidents here and there. Mischa was the last to learn to use the potty chair but she has finally done it! As some of you know, we get a large shipment of diapers each month delievered from Amazon. I am slowly but surely using these diapers up and then plan to switch to pull-ups for night time use. None of the kids have used a regular toilet yet, so this makes it tricky when we are out in public. They have gotten so comfortable with their Bjorn potty chairs that the big white toilet intimidates them. So, that's one more thing we are working on!
Here are some pictures from the past few weeks!
Sweet Maddie
Caleb is doing so well with using the potty chair
Mischa still wears her Princess Sophia dress almost every day
Hanging out at the park
Madeline (notice her Thomas the Train shirt...her new obsession just like her brother)
Caleb enjoying the swing
Mischa riding a big snail
Enjoying a play date with their sweet friend, Wyatt
The kids are really into Play-doh
Fortunately, no one tried to eat the play-doh!
Madeline
Caleb and his blue lips
Playing in the backyard
Silly Madeline
Madeline helping Caleb up the slide...too sweet
Mischa
Eating donuts (pink sprinkles for Mischa, of course)
Playing with the water hose and buckets
Madeline enjoying the beach
Caleb and his favorite red truck
Mischa likes the cold water
Seth taking a bike ride in Vancouver for work...lucky guy
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
More Summer fun
Hello! Everything is going great here in the Klein household. We're having a great summer and doing our best to keep the kids entertained. They are definitely at a fun age right now and they're quite the silly bunch on most days. With the days being longer, bedtime has been pushed back to around 8pm. The kids are still taking one nap during the day usually around 1pm. On some days, they wake up around 3pm but other days we have to wake them up once it gets past 4 pm or else bedtime really gets pushed back. As always, Caleb is the first to fall asleep and the first to wake up from naps and in the morning. They used to sleep in until 7am but with the sun rising so early, Caleb is usually awake by 6 or 6:30 am at the latest. I'm usually using our treadmill at that time, so lately he climbs out of his bed and comes into our workout room and lays on the floor with his blanket until I finish. I've been so fortunate to be able to squeeze a workout in, especially now that all three of them are awake earlier in the morning. My workouts are a huge part of my stress relief so everyone benefits when mom exercises!
The kids are still sleeping in their tents which are inside their cribs. Caleb and Mischa have gotten much better about not climbing out of their cribs but once in a while, we still have to go back in their room and tell them to stay in bed. We have to "lock" their tents occasionally, too, especially when one climbs out of bed and encourages the others. Madeline is still our one and only child who doesn't climb out of her bed generally and prefers to sleep with her tent open. Somehow she manages to sleep with her pillow, blanket, turtle night light and about 5 or more stuffed animals. Caleb and Mischa each sleep with their pillow and blanket and on some nights one stuffed animal or none. It's so funny to see how different they are.
While Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Lanny were here last month, we tried putting the kids into big kid underwear. The kids each picked out their favorite characters (Mischa chose Disney Princess and Hello Kitty, Madeline and Caleb both prefer Thomas the Train underwear). They didn't get the concept of using the potty chair and we're still working on it. They don't like the feeling of having wet underwear so they tell me when they've gone to the bathroom but we haven't gotten any of them to actually use the potty chairs yet. Caleb got close the other day and told me he had to pee. I immediately put him on the potty chair but he couldn't go. After he got up he peed on the kitchen floor... go figure! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one will go in the potty chair soon so that the others can learn from example. We've tried not to pressure the kids to use the potty and are trying to be encouraging yet matter-of-fact. We will see what happens.
We also have recently started using "time out" with the kids...well, actually, Caleb mostly. He sometimes takes toys away from his sisters if he sees them playing with something he wants. Usually a mini dispute will occur and generally hitting and crying starts, so we have a blue chair we keep in the corner of the living room which we use for time out. Caleb has had the most time outs but he seems to be getting a lot better about not taking toys from his sisters. One minute in time out seems like an eternity to him, of course, but it gives him a chance to get away from a stressful situation and take a break. Overall, we're liking time out!
We are very excited that Isaac is coming to visit next week. The kids love when Isaac comes to visit. He will be staying for almost 2 weeks and we can't wait! We'll definitely have to get lots of pictures.
Here are some more pictures from last month and some from the past couple of weeks.
The kids are still sleeping in their tents which are inside their cribs. Caleb and Mischa have gotten much better about not climbing out of their cribs but once in a while, we still have to go back in their room and tell them to stay in bed. We have to "lock" their tents occasionally, too, especially when one climbs out of bed and encourages the others. Madeline is still our one and only child who doesn't climb out of her bed generally and prefers to sleep with her tent open. Somehow she manages to sleep with her pillow, blanket, turtle night light and about 5 or more stuffed animals. Caleb and Mischa each sleep with their pillow and blanket and on some nights one stuffed animal or none. It's so funny to see how different they are.
While Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Lanny were here last month, we tried putting the kids into big kid underwear. The kids each picked out their favorite characters (Mischa chose Disney Princess and Hello Kitty, Madeline and Caleb both prefer Thomas the Train underwear). They didn't get the concept of using the potty chair and we're still working on it. They don't like the feeling of having wet underwear so they tell me when they've gone to the bathroom but we haven't gotten any of them to actually use the potty chairs yet. Caleb got close the other day and told me he had to pee. I immediately put him on the potty chair but he couldn't go. After he got up he peed on the kitchen floor... go figure! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one will go in the potty chair soon so that the others can learn from example. We've tried not to pressure the kids to use the potty and are trying to be encouraging yet matter-of-fact. We will see what happens.
We also have recently started using "time out" with the kids...well, actually, Caleb mostly. He sometimes takes toys away from his sisters if he sees them playing with something he wants. Usually a mini dispute will occur and generally hitting and crying starts, so we have a blue chair we keep in the corner of the living room which we use for time out. Caleb has had the most time outs but he seems to be getting a lot better about not taking toys from his sisters. One minute in time out seems like an eternity to him, of course, but it gives him a chance to get away from a stressful situation and take a break. Overall, we're liking time out!
We are very excited that Isaac is coming to visit next week. The kids love when Isaac comes to visit. He will be staying for almost 2 weeks and we can't wait! We'll definitely have to get lots of pictures.
Here are some more pictures from last month and some from the past couple of weeks.
Picture from last month at Virginia City with Grandma Lynn
At the Kite Festival at San Raphael park with friends
Getting haircuts at Hollylocks
Caleb eating snacks and watching Thomas the train
So angelic
Maddie at the museum
Caleb
Our little diva, Mischa
Snack time
Blurry but Caleb giving Mischa kisses
Maddie and her Thomas train sunglasses
Silly Mischa
Breakfast at Starbucks
Maddie really loves boiled eggs just like Mom
Caleb showing me his tongue
Mischa
Caleb sporting his new pair of Thomas the Train undies
Madeline wasn't sure what to think of them at first
Mischa had Disney princess panties, of course
A little blurry but Madeline and Caleb both wearing Thomas undies
Sitting on their potty chairs
Grandpa Lanny
Uncle Cecil
Madeline love popsicles
Caleb
Celebrating my birthday with the family
Grandma Lynn, me, Caleb and Mischa (Thomas too)
Maddie eating pepperoni
Me and my mini me
Madeline
Caleb
Mischa
Looking for bugs at the park
Ice cream on a hot summer day
Relaxing in a tent
Seth and Maddie at the lake
Caleb loves his beach toys
Mischa (she's still wearing that princess dress)
Caleb relaxing on the blanket in the sand
Maddie
Maddie & Mischa
Life is good
What a beautiful day
Our attempt at a family photo :)
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