I didn't hate 2009- though it was a little scary with the further tanking of the economy and increase in the cost of EVERYTHING except our home value...I'm choosing to focus on the positive things:

• My family was healthy and happy
• Tyler had steady employment (a HUGE blessing I realize all too well)
• I still got to be a SAHM so I could see my little boys grow and learn.
• I built up my piano teaching business
• I was able to see my MI family/friends, visit Yellowstone, and learn that Palm Springs is NOT a primo family vacation spot (though it was still awesome to relax & have my little family all together)
• I got knocked up- and am having a GIRL in 26 days :)
• Kaden was able to start preschool & he LOVES it!

And many, many more blessings...too many to count! Happy New Years everyone- be safe and have fun!

Ok so I know it's not quite 2010 yet, but I've made my first custom blog header and it took FOREVER so I wanted to make it right for the new year and our new addition (Miss MiaJolie). I know it is not even cute because I wanted it to be kind of neutral to go with whatever blog background I choose...I was just really sick of boring blogger font. So there it is, hopefully some day I will feel like making a super cute one...for now I'm sick of GIMP so that's what you get.

We had an awesome Christmas this year! It always makes me reflect on how blessed we are to have a nice warm home and food and family. The boys were spoiled with presents and I think they had a pretty fun holiday- getting to stay up late watching movies and eating lots of junk food!

Christmas Eve we spent at Grandpa and Grandma Kents'

Ky has recently learned how to say 'cheese'

In our Christmas jammies

Christmas morning, 6:45am. (We slept in the basment together)

Santa magically put the bunkbed up in the night (hence the reason we slept in the basement.)

Kaden with his loot-

Kyson was most interested in eating candy canes from his stocking.

Until he unwrapped this:

Excellent form- he must have learned it from me :)

In their star wars command center:

Kaden driving his favorite (noisy!) present:

Christmas breakfast

Close-up of Kyson- cheese!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year is fantastic!

Love,
The Kents

Tyler, Darci, Kaden & Kyson

Here are pics of the downstairs with carpet/furniture! I love it and am so thankful for all of Ty's hard work (Henry's too!). I think one of my favorite parts is all the prewiring we did- so you don't see any entertainment components or cords- they are all tucked inside the closet. I am also in love with the sconces/accent lighting...bowm chick a wow wow (did I just say that?) The boys love it too- they never want to come upstairs (makes cleaning upstairs much more peaceful!) We've only got a couple more tasks to do in the bathroom and then some organizing of the bedroom/office and we can finally say we're totally done!Here are some pictures:

View from the back of the room looking forward (the walls look kinda green but they're not- they are Mississippi mud brown)

View from the front of the room looking back (The office is behind the double doors.)

The kids' playhouse aka 'The Cave'

The office (I was nervous about this color but it is really warming/relaxing in person!)

The bathroom- tile all done, toilet in, just need some fixtures/vanity.

Saturday we went to Layton Park's Christmas display on a hayride- I was so prepared and everyone was bundled up. We get in line and I reach for my camera- battery is charged- and...NO memory card :( I was so sad! We waited in line a while to get on a trailer but it wasn't too bad- and the boys really enjoyed the lights. Afterwards we stopped into Sill's Cafe for scones and hot chocolate (MY favorite part)! It was like 7:45 when we walked in but they encouraged us to come in and order anyway- they rock! Since it was light inside I could get pictures on my phone.

So yummy...I ate half of it before I could get a pic :)

Kyson enjoyed it...

And Kaden too!

I would like to make this a tradition...hopefully next year I'll remember my memory card!

I MUST say thank you to the various people who have lent us their tools and time during this process...especially Grandpa Kent who has not only lugged over numerous saws etc... but has put in hours of work tiling for us as well. I am SO thankful that #1 we did not have to spend hundreds of dollars to buy these tools and #2 that they are finally LEAVING my house :) Things will be much quieter around here and Tyler will have to find some other excuse to abandon me for hours...I think he really had fun down there playing with power tools even though he was "working." Carpet comes later this week then I will post pics!

This was the first day it has been warm enough for us to play in the snow- Kyson threw a HUGE tantrum inside because he didn't want to get dressed in his snow things, but the second we opened the door he started smiling. He probably doesn't remember much of last winter since he was so young and couldn't even really play in it. It was really wet packing type snow so snow angels didn't work very well, and YES it would have been perfect for a snowman but I couldn't find my gloves and Kaden didn't feel like doing it himself. So instead they just ran around, threw snow, played with the dump truck and even ate a little...(Ky found it most effective when he laid on his tummy and shoved his face into the snow since he couldn't maneuver his mittens very well.) Then we had to come inside and Ky threw another HUGE tantrum...

The smile

Cute brothers

Trying to walk in the deep snow!

Kaden posing with his beloved candy cane lights...

Ky was eating snow while Kaden played with the truck.

Ahsoka loves the snow- I can't get her to come in sometimes...

Here is a funny conversation that just took place between Kaden and I after watching Elmo visit the Dr. on Elmo's world (the boys just had their seasonal flu shots yesterday):

Kaden: I was proud of myself for getting my shot yesterday.
Me: You sure cried a lot though- it didn't really hurt THAT much did it?
Kaden: (silence- awkward)
Me: But it's ok to cry sometimes, huh?
Kaden: Yeah...and it's ok to try and escape from the shot too huh?

(Because he DID try to escape his flu shot- we had to hold him down and he cried for about 10 minutes afterward when Kyson only cried a little.)

Last Saturday the 5th of December was mine and Tyler's sixth anniversary! It seems like just yesterday, yet at the same time it feels like forever. I know that makes no sense whatsoever but really the time has flown by, but it also feels like we've always been together with Kaden & Kyson. It is quite the paradox.

We have accomplished a lot together- 2 1/2 beautiful kids, 2 homes owned, 3 college degrees & a CPA! What's next? Hopefully we will get the basement finish out of the way, get baby #3 here safely and settle down for a while...Ty keeps bugging me to let him get an MBA so we'll see how I feel after a few months with 3 kids...I'm not ready for him to be gone all time/studying again.

Here are a couple of wedding pictures...my scanner is not hooked up so I can't post any really old ones like I wanted to...maybe another day.

Well for over a year we've been slowly finishing the basement as we saved up the funds...and once we got the sheetrock up it really snowballed from there! I'm SOOO excited to have a place for the kids to play and an office for the desktop/craft stuff. We will also have another bedroom and bathroom down there so that guests can be a little more comfortable and eventually when Kaden is older he can move down there. Just doing the painting and trim has really added a lot (Tyler did a great job with that and has worked so hard! Thanks honey!) and Tyler's dad was kind enough to come and install all of the tile around the fireplace and hearth so it looks great! In a couple of weeks the carpet will be installed. We are hoping we will get to spend Christmas Eve down there together watching movies and cuddling in front of the fire!

Here's a pic of the west end of the family room- the closets will house blankets, games in one and all the dvd/speaker components in the other. It's all prewired with some conduit so the cords can go through the walls to the TV/speakers.

A close-up of the fireplace/'cubbies' I'm not sure what will go in there yet, probably decorative stuff or shelves. What would you put in there?

The East end has double doors into the office and there's a playroom under the stairs next to the bathroom (on the South wall). I'll post more pics when carpet is down. Thanks everybody who has helped us out on this 'little project' we are so grateful! We have also been really lucky to have met and worked with some great guys whom we would definitely recommend for sheet-rocking, plumbing, custom doors, electrical, etc. if you're interested- :)

Today makes 30 weeks! I have a maximum of 9 weeks left to go (love scheduled c-sections!) I have been getting requests for belly pics from far away family and friends so here you go, fresh off the press this morning:

A close-up...

Today Kyson is 18 months old. I can't believe he is going to nursery! Here are his stats:

• 22lbs 4 oz. (9th % up from the 3rd % 3 mos. ago- yay! It has been SO difficult to get him to gain weight with his newfound picky eating, the Dr. was VERY pleased with our progress!)
• 31.7 inches tall (32nd%)

He is still too busy exploring to say much other than 'dada' 'mama' 'baba' (cup), and 'bum' and a few animal sounds. He is attempting more sounds- and babbles a lot more than he used to, so soon the words will come. The Dr. said not to worry about the talking since he is still very good at communicating. For now it's really entertaining watching his made-up sign language- he definitely gets his point across. Just Sunday in church he pointed to his bum, grabbed the wipes and ran out of the chapel- and he DID need a change.

He is starting to climb things now that he's figured out the lego bucket doubles as a stool- he likes to find keys, phones, and treats off the countertop. His favorite movie right now is probably Toy Story- he LOVES Buzz. He is still refusing to eat most of the time- but in the last day or so he's been doing better- he goes in spurts of good eating/fasting. He is just too busy to stop and eat! Next week we move his crib into Kaden's room to start testing out the sharing schedule, then in December Santa is bringing a bunk bed (don't tell!). He will probably want to sleep in the big boy bed when he sees it since he's not really attached to his crib and hates being stuck in it when he wakes up; but if not we still have a few months before the baby will sleep in the crib. It's just nice to have them in the bed before the new sibling shows up so it doesn't seem like we kick him out and put the new baby right in. Anyway here's some pics of Ky over the last 18 months :)

Less than 24 hrs old and grinning:

This was around 2-3 months old:

This was at 17 months- his first 'big boy' haircut:

Ky is such a joy in our home- he continues to be a pretty easy baby (toddler now!) he's usually happy and laid back. If he gets mad or frustrated he does the cutest "incredible hulk" impersonation and then a few minutes later he's over it. He loves his brother tons- he is always giving Kaden random hugs. He loves to rock out to music on the radio. His favorite toy is whatever Kaden is playing- he copies pretty much everything he does- especially Star Wars sound effects.

Or at least that's what my weight chart looks like:

Well one of the many joys of pregnancy is the weight gain...so far I've gained about 18 lbs. (That dip in July was from morning sickness/flu.) This is on track I suppose, but the last 10 lbs have really come on quickly and I'm worried it will continue to speed up and I still have 10 weeks to go! It is so hard to get to the gym at the end of a long day, and the bigger this baby gets the less energy I have in the first place! And not snacking is NOT an option- it's as if an alien being is controlling me...and it knows its way to the pantry all too well. So anyone out there who has any suggestions is welcome to comment.

This year Halloween came fast! I have had a lot going on this month and making cute homemade costumes just wasn't in the cards. Kaden was fine with this- he LOVED his Wolverine costume (he has a Wolverine school backpack which turned him on to this character). Kyson wore the good ole' monkey costume (Kaden's wore it a few years ago). I was so happy Ky would leave the hat on- he even made some monkey noises.

Here is the ONLY picture I got of the two of them together in costume- Kyson was running around non-stop!

In the car on the way to trunk or treat- he was strapped in so I could get a pic!

Here is one I REALLY wish I had from the front...but once again he was racing around- excited to see his "cousins."

Wolverine!

Here are all of Grandma's great grandkids- except Samantha, she was a mover too!

Claws are out!

After the trunk or treat- sugar high!

This was so sweet- Ky loves giving random hugs to his big brother.

Today my mom mentioned that she'd seen Kaden's birthday pics on FB but that I'd never done a post here...oops! The last week has been so hectic, I kind of overlooked posting the actual birthday festivities here. Since this is a kind of scrap book I decided to post them even though they're late...

The day before his birthday he got to go and have lunch & a movie with Grandpa & Grandma Kent. They saw cloudy with a chance of meatballs- he had a blast!

The actual birthday day started with green pancakes (his favorite color).

Then after his nap Papa flew in from MI to surprise him- he was really shocked/confused at first I think because he just stared when he answered the door. Soon after though he was running around and giggling with him.
Here he is before the party- trying out his storm trooper mask.

Once everyone arrives we head downstairs to play party games- first a Star Wars version of pin the tail on the donkey.

Then a pinata...the kids couldn't quite break it so they soon grew bored of trying and Uncle cam stepped in to help out.

Then we had cake/ice cream!

His cake was supposed to be star wars but he wanted it to be green too- so it ended up being a green galaxy cake with a storm trooper & ahsoka figurine on top. Oh well, he loved it even if it wasn't the most attractive/true to character cake! (Inside was confetti with chocolate pudding filling.)

With Uncle Cameron

And Aunt Erica

He had a great birthday- thanks everyone who was there!