My Heart and Soul

Give me a G – A – R – Y…Gary Allen! That’s right! I got to see Gary from
second row seats the first of May! I loved the concert. I love him. I
could see him five more times and I still wouldn’t be tired of Gary. I had
a wonderful night out with the girls – dinner prior followed by fun and
girlfriends at the concert.

May also brings…March of Dimes March for Babies. We always put together a
team of walkers to ‘March’ in honor of Kylor Gene – our little Preemie –
who is no longer so little.

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day – a day of celebration. As I celebrated
motherhood, we also celebrated my niece’s (Caprianna) birthday. Damon took
Julie and I to dinner to celebrate. Days such as Mother’s Day make me feel
incredibly loved and blessed.

Damon is super-busy with golf league and softball. He’s such an active
guy. On top of it, Spring / Summer begins Damon’s busy time at work. I’m
busy…working. Thank goodness for family and friends, otherwise, I don’t
know how we’d juggle our schedules and our boys. Seems if they are not at
day-care, they are with Aunt Sharon, Grandma Julie or whomever else we can
convince to help out. Poor little pumpkins…sure haven’t been getting much
time at home lately. Hopefully my schedule will chill out sooner than
later so we can have more quality time together.

Mid-May, Kason was baptized at First Congregational United Church of
Christ. We had a beautiful and blessed day filled with family friends and
Godparents: Uncle Tanner and Auntie Kristie.

Kylor cleans – he loves to clean. He can spend an entire afternoon
organizing’ and ‘cleaning’. Pretty good for 3-years old. I sure hope he
feels the same way about cleaning when he is a teenager! He’s becoming so
independent.

And Kason…our little Smiley John. We couldn’t ask for a happier,
good-natured baby. He babbles and babbles more every day. Although, I
know he’s not aware of what he’s ‘saying’, but he sure does a great job at
mimicking the word ‘hi’. Kylor was a great baby, but Kason is so wonderful,
it makes it seem as though Ky was 'high maintence'. Kason loves to eat...loves to eat.
He's been eating cereal and oatmeal since he was 4-months old, but more recently,
we started vegetables...peas, green beans, squash, carrots and sweet potatoes...he
loves them all...so much that he gets angry after his last bite. Sure hope his love
for veges continues!

My three boys – the highlights of my life!

Rumblin' and Tumblin'

April Brings…

Easter!!!

We had a wonderful Easter! Damon spent this Easter at home…with us! (Rather than in Spokane playing in an annual hockey tournament). It was so nice to have the hubby home! We hosted a nice Easter brunch at our house. The Easter Bunny was very good to both Kylor and Kason. The icing on the cake was Ky’s Easter Egg Hunt at Grandpa Don’s house.













Kylor had his first dentist appointment. That was…a bit of a disaster! Actually, to be honest…to describe him as ‘crying’ would be an understatement…’hyperventilating’ would be an understatement…flopping around like a ‘fish out of water’ would be an understatement. It is not as if we haven’t spent months preparing for the big visit. In addition, we've taken Ky to the dentist with us every six-months since he was born (just toget ‘use’ to the place). Needless to say, while it’s necessary, I do not eagerly anticipate our appointments in 6-months. Fortunately, I’ve picked up some great tips from my fellow-mommy-friends to hopefully make the nextvisit a bit better for all of us. Kids – one can never fully prepare for the array of possible reactions one may have!


Damon and I had a weekend getaway…to Bozman, MT to see the infamous Bill Cosby. I’d wanted to see Bill since I was a little girl watching the Cosby Show! In a sense, it was a ‘dream come true’. Even at 72-years of age, he is as spunky as ever! It was so nice to spend some alone time with Damon. I think I can count on one hand how many times that's happened since parenthood. Definitely something we need to make happen more often. While it was a quick, over night trip – it was very well worth it.





Towards the end of the month, I had a fabulous girls night out! It was along time overdue…and I sure paid for it the next day! Here’s to my girlfriends – who I love and cherish so very much!



It’s bittersweet how quickly my Kason is growing up. As a mother, its always fun and exciting to see your babies grow and change, but it makes me sad how quickly it happens. It seems as if Kason was just born and here he is, on the verge of sitting up on his own. He ‘talks’ and ‘talks’ and‘talks’…all the time…and giggles! What a sweet baby he is.



And our Ky – the other day he says, ‘Mama, you are the best Mama in the entire World. I love you so much. You are beautiful’. How can that not melt a Mama’s heart? We are getting closer and closer to getting this potty thing down. In the past 9-months, Kylor has only had 2 'accidents' at Cheryl's house. Home has been another story. Something about home. But...I am happy to announce that we are almost there! Yea to the potty Gods! As baseball season swings into full gear, Kylor watches out the back at all the kids playing and dreams of the day he’ll be able to take a shot at the sport himself. Hoping that the weather starts picking up so that Kylor and daddy can get out and get some 't-ball' time in.


Love my life! Love my husband! Love my babies! Love my family and friends! Can't get much better than this!

My 'oh' My...How the Times Fly By

Finally starting to get the swing of things…being a full-timer worker and the mom of 2-perfect little boys! I didn’t realize how busy life was going to get with two little men to keep me on my toes! Kason had his very first ‘play date’ early in the month. We had a great visit with Shannon and baby Aiden (and even Kristie too) – hopefully the beginning of a great friendship and many future play dates!

I got in some good ‘friend time’ this month…along with a couple of evenings out with the girls. Time well needed and well spent with good friends. Mid-March, my friend Nikki and I took a road trip to Bozmean for a friend’s baby shower. It was a quick trip…over and back in one day, but I sure enjoyed our visit.




Kason had his 4-month check up…still can’t believe he is already 4-months old! I’ve been calling him a ‘moose’, but
his appointment sure confirmed that for me! He’s in the 70% for height and the 80% for length! We have ourselves a big boy! A happy boy at that. Damon has nick-named him ‘Smiley John’ – he’s always smiling or giggling at someone / something. Thank goodness for such a perfect little man.




Kylor continues to be our Ky-Man. He’s such a great big brother. Loves to love on Kason…loves to play ‘pat-a-cake’ with him. Loves every little bit of him…EXCEPT for the little bits that he does cry. The other day Kylor said, ‘why does Kason have to cry all the time?’ Funny thing is, Kason doesn’t cry very often. Must just get on Ky’s nerves when he’s doing something ‘important’ like watching Phinneus and Ferb! Ky said the funniest thing to me the other day: ‘Mama, Kason smiles at me all the time.’ I asked Ky, ‘do you know why he smiles at you all the time?’ His response was, ‘because I get in his face all the time?’ (Ha!) I said, ‘I think he smiles at you because he loves you’. Ky’s response to that was,‘that doesn’t make sense!’ (Where do kids get these things?) We learned this past month that Kylor has a slight lactose intolerance problem. He does okay unless he gets lactose ‘overload’…then watch out…he becomes an erupting volcano!

What did I do in life before my two boys? They sure keep me hopping! Thank goodness for them!

Cheering For My Children

I must say that the last two months have flown by – it’s like I blinked and it was February.

In December, Damon and I took Kylor to see Sesame Street Live – this was the second consecutive year we have taken him. He loved it so much that there was quite the meltdown when it was over as Kylor wanted to ‘see it again’! Hopefully we’ll have another opportunity in the future to take him to another show.

Quicker than we could have imagined the holidays were here…and then gone. As always, we had a wonderful time spent with family. We are so grateful for those in our lives – it makes time together that much sweeter. Although Christmas Day is a l-o-n-g day, traveling from house to house, we wouldn’t trade it for the world. The boys were certainly spoiled – but that’s okay. As Gramma use to put it, ‘if you are not spoiled, you are not loved’. Damon and Julie traveled to Fort Peck on December 26th for his cousin Katie’s wedding. It was my first time doing the ‘single-parent’ role, but sure enough, I survived.

Traditionally, I have a sleep-over with my niece Caprianna and nephew Carter on New Years Eve. 2009 wasn’t any different. After a nice dinner party at Aunt Susan’s house, we went home to crash for the evening. There was no ringing in the New Year on my part.

Our little (or should I say big) Kylor turned 3-years old in January! My ‘o’ my – where did my little baby go? We celebrated with an Elmo party! And a lot of red frosting! Kylor brings much love and entertainment to our lives. I can’t even count in a day how many times he says, ‘I love you so much’. On the flip side, when the little stinker gets angry, it’s pretty typical for us to hear things such as ‘you’re mean to me. I don’t love you anymore.’ Yes – the first few times I heard that, it was like a knife thru the heart, but that feeling was short-lived. These days, all it does is irritate me so I try and ignore him when he acts like that. Fortunately, within minutes of saying horrible things, he follows-up with ‘I love you so much’, in his sweet little voice. Ky loves to catch mommy and daddy saying ‘bad’ words. For example, the word ‘stupid’ is a bad word – if he hears something that we’ve not allowed him to say, he’ll tell us, ‘we don’t say that bad word – it’s not nice.’ He sure keeps us on our toes. Potting training is making a little progress. With constant nagging at home, he seems to be doing a little better. On an exciting note, Ky-man moved into a ‘big boy bed’ shortly after the first of the year. I was sure there would be some resistance, but thankfully, the transition went smoothly and he loves his new bed!

Kason continues to grow like a weed. He’s definitely a much bigger baby than Kylor ever was. I figured I’d be set for clothing as both Kylor and Kason were born in the winter months – about 1.5 months difference. But, recently, I went to pull out the next size clothes for Kason and found that Kylor was in summer clothes at that time! Towards the end of January, Kason developed a cold…which, unfortunately, turned into RSV – a repertory illness. What a scary ordeal for mom. After a couple weeks of nebulizer treatments, I’m happy to say he is healthy and recovered without a trip to the hospital.

After years of working on it, our basement is FINALLY finished and we are thoroughly enjoying living in it. For the time being, we’ve made one of the bedrooms into a ‘toy room’. There are times that we loose Kylor for hours in his toy room. He loves it. I’ve lost Damon to the family room – he glues himself to his extra-large TV. I find myself getting lonely upstairs. (Certainly never thought I’d feel that way).

Mid-February, I went back to work after a 12-week maternity leave. While it's bittersweet, I'm glad to be back. I've missed my job, co-workers and routine. Fortunately, Kason is a great little man like Ky is and he, too, loves going to Cheryl's.

Before I know it, I’ll be writing my February blog…until then…

Oh Baby

Here it is…mid-December…and I’m just now getting to my November blog.
Damon spent a bit of time hunting…and fortunately (or unfortunately), he was successful this year. He got an Elk – the first one since we’ve been together. In fact, his hunting partners, my Dad and brother, were just as successful. (The unfortunately part would be that I really don’t care for Elk…and now we have a freezer full).

I spent a few days doing my annual Christmas shopping with my Aunt Sharon. We usually spend a few days shopping after the Thanksgiving holiday, but being that baby boy #2 was due at the beginning of January, my gut instinct told me to bump it up a couple of weeks this year. So we shopped mid-November. Oh, how it feels good to be ready for Christmas.

November brought weekly appointments to my most favorite OB doctor – Dr. Braget. Dr. Braget was unavailable for one of my appointments so I had to see another provider. Being that the ‘substitute’ was not a ‘high-risk’ doctor, she felt it necessary to send me to the hospital for monitoring as she wasn’t happy with the baby’s heartbeat – she didn’t feel comfortable making a judgment call. So, off I went…a waste of a couple of hours, but better to be safe than sorry.

5 short days later, Kason John Heck blessed us - Monday, November 23rd weighing 7lbs 2oz and 20-3/4 inches. Like his big brother, Kylor, he came out of nowhere and was a complete surprise. Once again, my water broke…as I was on my way back to work from my lunch. I made a quick call to Damon and a call to my BFF, Kristie, and drove myself to the hospital. Fortunately, once I arrived, the staff and on-call doctor moved very quickly and were able to get me into the operating room for my c-section before I went into ‘labor’. I was a bit disappointed that my Dr. Braget wasn't able to deliver, but everything worked itself out. Damon sucked it up and tried to be by my side in the operating room. Poor guy – he only made it 5-minutes (or less) before he was on the edge of passing out…so there I was, alone, delivering a baby. What an emotional experience. Much different delivery than with Kylor being that I was awake this time. I got to see Kason as soon as he came out and got to hear his first cries. What a great feeling.

Things I’ve learned: expect the unexpected (as both of my babies came very unexpectedly) and trust your gut instinct (thus the early Christmas shopping).

We were fortunate enough to leave the hospital after a couple of days and we were home for Thanksgiving dinner at Gramma Ree’s house – just what I was hoping for.

Kylor loves his baby brother to pieces, but he can sure show a jealous side. There have been meltdowns over different people holding ‘his’ baby and when he wants the attention of mom or dad while attending to Kason’s needs. I think they’ll grow up to be great buddies. Thanks goodness for Grandma Julie who has ‘rescued’ Kylor from time to time to give him some ‘alone’ time.

My recovery is taking a little longer than last time. I’m sure that is normal – after being cut open a second time.

Until next time - Happy Holidays!

Take Me the Way I Am

My buds threw me a ‘surprise’ baby shower - the stinkers that they are. Actually, it was a really nice time and I’m very thankful for their thoughtfulness.

Great Falls held its 6th Annual What Women Want Expo. This is a great, big, fun event. I not only organize a booth for Mountain West Bank, I also love to go and spend a couple of hours walking thru the Expo. To top off the event, there was a fantastic Comedy Show that I was fortunate enough to attend.

Bad news – my car was ‘hit’ mid-October…in the McDonald’s drive-thru. To this moment, I’m still waiting on pending insurance information from the other side. Kylor and I were by ourselves, picking up some dinner when the teenager in front of us, threw his rig into reverse and backed into us. Fortunately, neither of us were hurt, although, Kylor was very curious to know what exactly was happening as he was hungry for dinner. He didn’t understand the ‘hold-up’. And, Ky was quick to lecture his mama when a few choice cuss words slipped – ‘Mama, don’t say those bad words!’ He’s asmart one!

Hunting has officially started – this takes Damon away from home here and there. If I have anything to do with it, Damon’s hunts will lead to nothing other than some good hikes. (I’m not into the wild game). It’s a good ‘boys’ time for Damon, though.

Halloween was super fun. Kylor dressed up as a Sea Otter – a cute one at that. We went for an early morning Trick-or-Treat at Gramma Ree’s. The only negative was that Ky woke up from his nap covered in hives from head to toe. A little anti-itch cream and Benedryl later, he was feeling better, but one cranky little man. We took Kylor to Trick-or-Treat at Gramma Julie’s, Grandpa Don & Grandma Denise’s, Aunt Sharon’s and Papa Jule’s. That was plenty of running and goodies for one day!

Kylor is finally starting to show some interest in his soon-to-be-born baby brother. He’ll point out things and ask, ‘is this for my baby brother’ and he’s very curious to know when he’ll get to see him and touch him. In due time, in due time.

Happy days to you!

Fall...Into Fall

September was HOT, HOT, HOT! My how our seasons are changing.

Damon took my little Ky camping for the first time. While the whole tent experience was a little challenging for Kylor, he had a great time and wants to go again…today. Damon is now in search of a camper…with a bathroom. The whole 6a, out house with a 2-year old ‘thing’ wasn’t Damon’s ‘cup of tea’. We’ll see what we can find for them in the upcoming months.They met up with some friends at Camp – Doug, Kristie Nelson and family as well as Kylor’s sitter, Cheryl, and some of Kylor’s day-care friends. And, me, I got a nice relax-cation. I hadn’t had some me / alone time since I’d become a mama.

Damon and I celebrated our 6th anniversary this past month. Expecting, it was a pretty low-key celebration. Dinner at Cattlemen’s Cut while Kylor spent some time with Grandma Julie. My, how wonderful the past 6-years have been. While we’ve had some ups and downs, I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I’m still happily in-love today if not more than 6-years ago.

I got to do some visiting and catching up with a long-time friend, Amy. It’d been such a long time since we’d gotten together – it was long overdue. I can only hope that the next time doesn’t take so long.

Our pregnancy is moving right along – in fact, doing some maternity leave planning at work made me realize how quickly the next couple of months are going to go. Lots to do, lots to do, lots to do.

Kylor is totally geared up for Halloween, although, almost everything related to Halloween seems to ‘freak’ him out. He tells me that I can’t bring Halloween decorations out because (and I quote), ‘you can’t – it’ll freak me out’. Yes, that’s my little 'fradie-cat' for you. Here’s a funny…driving home from Cheryl’s one night, we are stopped at a red light when Ky says, ‘come on lady, put your foot on the gas.’ Needless to say, I was appalled. I explained to Kylor that he couldn’t talk to mommy like that. Pretty much the end of the story – just figured he picked it up from one of his little friends. Later that week, the three of us were in the truck on the way to Damon’s mom’s house when Damon pipes up, ‘hurry up old man – the gas is on the right’. Oh My Goodness! That’s where Kylor got it. They are like little sponges. It was at that moment that Damon and I realized, more so than ever, that we really need to watch our mouths around our little man. Trying to gear up for the new baby, we got Ky his own 'baby' - baby Fletcher (aka Fletchert) - still seeing how it is going to go...

Happy Fall!!!