The Youngs

April 2025

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 20:27:34 GMT

Claire will only take a nap on the couch with a movie or in the car. One day she fell asleep holding the bible and I thought it was so cute! She doesn't like to nap but she still very much needs a nap!

Claire was upset with me one day because I wouldn't let her drink the wine we have in our pantry. I am such a mean Mom!

I took the kids to get donuts one morning for a surprise! The kids loved it.

We dyed Easter eggs and also used the egg spinner with permanent markers. I would say our kids enjoy that was more than dying eggs! Eggs are a hot commodity these days so I wasn't sure if I was going to get any! We dyed them once as a family and once with Nana. The kids had fun!

The Easter Bunny came! The kids had fun finding their baskets. We went to church Saturday evening and then went to the movie "The Kings" during the day. It rained all day so it was a perfect day for a movie! We brought along some jelly beans from the Easter bunny and Claire decided to stick one up her nose! So I had to leave with her and bring her home to get it out. I was able to get it out thankfully but she better not do that again! We went to The Myers for Easter dinner and had an egg hunt. It was actually harder inside and we lost some of the eggs for awhile. We finally found them all though!

Grant had his music concert! He was nervous and excited for it. He said some of his classmates didn't listen so he was worried he would fall. The whole class did great and all seemed to participate (or at least not fall off the bleachers!). Grant did a great job!

We did the Walk to End Epilepsy again this year! The kids had fun walking around Jordan Creek and supporting epilepsy and Blakey Boy!

Grant has been playing football this spring with his friend Theo. He has been the quarter back and he really enjoys it! He is also really good! It has been a lot of fun to watch him play. His team is not very good so he gets upset often after the game but we are working on that!

We did the challenge with Claire to see if she would share her treat with me. She passed with flying colors!

March 2025

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sun, 25 May 2025 21:34:54 GMT

I caught Greg and Claire napping on the couch one afternoon. Claire will nap some days and not others. If she naps she usually falls asleep on the couch and we carry her up to her room. Greg was snoring so I had to get that on camera so I could prove he snores loud! :)

We had another snow day! Our family has been sick with the stomach flu. Blake got sick the day before the snow day so it was nice to have the extra day off for him to recover. The day after the storm was nice outside so it was fun to go and play in the snow and not be freezing! We made a cute small snowman!

Another way Claire falls asleep is during our afternoon walks. She won't fall asleep in her bed at naptime so we either have to put on a movie, go for a car ride or a stroller walk. She will be completely done with naps here soon but still needs them a few days a week. We are in that in-between where if she naps bedtime is bad but if she doesn't nap then the evening is bad.

Claire loves sensory play. Her favorite is water. It is one of the only things she will play with for awhile to keep her entertained. She likes to make messes everywhere she goes so we know if she is quiet and not bothering us then she is making a mess somewhere! She will go grab all of my utensils to play with water. She will get all the ice out of the fridge and just go fill up multiple cups of water. We let her do it at times because it entertains her but we know we will have a mess to clean up when she is done.

I tried to make protein muffins. They were okay but not the best. I have been trying to make a protein breakfast that the kids will eat and it is hard to do. All healthy recipes either don't turn out or are disgusting! Claire ate them initially but would not eat them the next morning.

We took the kids to the Wisconsin Dells for Spring break. It was a last minute decision but Greg and I decided we wanted to get out of Iowa. There was SO much to do for the kids which was fun. It was our first time all sharing a hotel room and that took some getting used to. By the third night I was sleeping better. We were ready to come home and back to our showers and beds but the end though. The kids all said they had a blast! It would be fun to go back in the summer to be able to enjoy the outside activities in the summer also.

Claire got her new clothes from Aunt Nicki and she LOVES her new swimsuits! Look at all that attitude!

Claire was whining because she wanted a mustache just like her Dad!

Claire wanted to wear her new jean jacket to church so I had to take some pictures. I love all her poses!

Claire wanted me to come dance with her when she was watching Blippi! I can tell from this video I need to work on my dancing skills!

Grant is playing baseball this spring with his friends from school. Baseball isn't his favorite sport but it is fun for him to play with his friends!

January 2025

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:40:11 GMT

Grant is on Hive Pack Hoops and it has been a frustrating season for the team. It was fun to watch Grant score a free throw though. He was so proud of himself!

Justin Jefferson does the Griddy and Grant could not wait to learn how to do it. We YouTubed a video showing us how to do it and had so much fun dancing as a family.

Blake has been doing basketball at the YMCA with some friends from school. Blake is so fun to watch! He is so aggressive but has fun at the same time. He played against our neighbor, Tarren, one game also and they had so much fun guarding each other.

After basketball one Saturday we did a kid swap. We had Carson over and Claire hung out with Emerson. Claire was a perfect angel for Ashley and Mike, of course. Carson and Blake had a blast playing at our house.

We had Carly over and the girls had so much fun playing dress up. They have a lot of fun playing together.

Greg and Claire went to not one, but TWO, daddy daughter dances. Friday night they went to Hope and Saturday they went to Glen Oaks. Hope was too overwhelming for Claire and she only lasted 20 minutes but she had a blast at Glen Oaks! Greg said she danced the whole time.

November 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:39:40 GMT

I caught Claire playing in with the hot wheels cars while playing in her brother's Captain America mask. So cute!

We went to Kids Empire with the Glover boys for Asher's birthday! Claire had a blast and it was fun to catch up with Sara.

Jackie came in town for a wedding so we were able to have a girls night! It was fun to catch up.

Claire calls the remote the "kamote". Greg and I love it so I had to get it on camera. We don't want her to ever learn to say it right.

Grant is 8! How can that be!? Grant was so excited for his birthday!! He wanted a basketball themed birthday. He loves the Chiefs so he got a sweatshirt, a blanket and some football cards. He even gets an early out on his birthday! Then some bowling to celebrate this afternoon and lots of celebrations this weekend.

Grant had his friend birthday at Spare Time. He wanted to play games and then the boys played one game of laser tag. Grant had a blast with kids friends. The party stressed me out having those boys running all over but I am glad Grant had fun.

Grant had his family birthday the next day. He had a lot of celebrating this week! The family came over for pizza and cake. He loved all of his presents and he was one happy 8 year old boy!

If Greg lays on the floor the kids are instantly attracted to him and will climb all over him. They love it but I am not sure Greg always feels the same way.

Grant had pictures for his basketball team and they turned out so good! He looks so handsome in the pictures!

I have been working on my french braiding of Claire's hair. I will french braid it at night after she showers and I am getting so much better at it. I do still have a lot of work to do. She loves her "Elsa hair" and it also helps with the tangles at night. And it is beautiful in the morning when I take it out. It is a win-win.

Claire had a performance in her dance class and she was so excited to perform for me!

We put up our tree early this year since the Christmas season is so short. He kids had fun putting ornaments on the tree. Some lights are out on this tree so we might be getting a new tree next year! Let all the Christmas festivities begin!

The boys have been playing fantasy football this year and love looking at their teams. They get along well while doing this so I had to capture this rare moment.

October 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:39:34 GMT

I tried to make cinnamon sugar sourdough bread and it still didn't turn out like I thought. The kids still wouldn't eat it which was my goal. AND it was a lot of work. So fail on that part but hoping to try bagels next and I have heard they are easier and better.

Greg had his 44th birthday! He doesn't like celebrating his birthday but I think this year he enjoyed the kids making it special. His birthday was on a Monday and so we celebrated the weekend before. He had a scavenger hunt and we took him mini golfing. Greg and I got to go out to eat Saturday night and then he watched a Cyclones win. Then we celebrated his birthday dinner of "daddy's steak" on Wednesday when we didn't have any activities. Grandma came over and brought angel food cake which was delicious and the kids loved it! I would say he had a good birthday!

Claire loves Emerson! It was cute watching them play at the boy's soccer game.

On our walk home from dropping the boys off at school Claire decided she wanted to play football with Carly and Emerson. I am not sure if they would want to play with her but it was cute to hear!

I found a mermaid costume at Costco and Claire loves it! She says she is going to be a mermaid for Halloween and that better stick because I am not buying another costume!

I had to park and walk in with the boys one morning because Blake had a big snack box and Claire ran right up wanting to hold her brothers hands. It was so sweet!

We made a last minute decision to go to the Timberwolves/76ers pre season game at Wells Fargo. Grant had a blast and loved it. Blake was tired since it was on a Friday night and was ready to go home after the first quarter.

After the NBA game we came home and Claire cuddled right up to Grant. She loves her brothers but especially loves Grant. They have a cute and special bond. I think he has more patients with her and understands how young she is and Blake still just gets frustrated.

We finished the football season and Grant had his best game the last of the season! Grant finally scored a touchdown, pulled some flags and threw some touchdown passes. He loved it and loved playing with his friends from school!

Claire watched Blake and Claire on Sunday so Greg and I could go to Grant's soccer game. It was cold so it was a good choice for them to stay home. When Claire woke up from her nap she wanted to read Nana's book! It sounds like she can read all the words. She is a preschool genius!

Claire has been wanting to paint her fingernails for awhile now. We finally bought some at Target and she loves it! She HAD to have her nails painted for dance class too. She gets frustrated because the color falls off so quickly. I see a nail salon visit here in our future. She is such a girly girl!

Claire started dance! She is doing Discovery dance: ballet and tap. She was so excited and love it! We started a few weeks late but it is Thursday mornings so it will be perfect for something to do on her days off from preschool.

We went to the pumpkin patch after an early out. It was a beautiful and and not busy at all. Grant saw 2 of his friends and had a blast playing with them. He would rather of hung out with them than his family. That day I was dreading is officially here. Overall, we had a lot of fun and no meltdowns until the end when we were leaving. I will call today a success.

Claire has gotten into the habit of waiting to poop and then pooping in her diaper right before bed. So we are celebrating any time she actually poops in the potty. She has started pooping in the potty again and we are so happy!

Claire loves Carly. They have so much fun together and it is so fun to watch them play.

I love these naptime cuddles when I get them. I know they won't be there much longer so I take them while I can.

Grant finished his soccer season. He has really started loving defending. The coaches had a lot of nice things to say about Grant. They said he was the best defended they had. Grant's team was really good. It was a rough start since Grant didn't know anyone but he made friends by the end and had fun!

Claire has been having more play dates lately! Emerson came over one evening to play with Claire. Claire struggled to share her toys but I think she was just tired.

Uncle Mit got Claire to say "GO HAWKS!"

Blake wanted to wear a gold chain just like Grant! He only wore it one day but it was cute to see.

Carly and Claire love dressing up in their costumes. They are super hero princesses!

The older community across the street had trick or treating on the Saturday before Halloween. Grant had a blast. His friend Theo came over and we went with the Cloe's. Claire did great (even though it was during nap time) but just at a much slower pace than the boys. Blake was not having it. He was scared to tell a joke.

We carved pumpkins and the kids loved designing their pumpkins. Some of the designs are more than Mom and Dad could do but I think they turned out great!

Clarie loves playing hide and seek lately. This is how Greg decided to hide and Claire thought it was hilarious!

We went to trick or treat at Uncle Peter's work again and the kids had so much fun. They look forward to this every year. Grant was brave this year and went in the scary part. He was proud of himself!

Claire went with Emerson to dance class and had a blast! Emerson does Acro and hip hop and I think that is more entertaining for Claire than ballet and tap.

Trick or treating was delayed this year due to rain so we had it on actual Halloween. It was colder than it has been but wasn't too bad. The kids had a BLAST! The boys were hard to keep up with because they were going so fast. We got SO much candy!

August 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:39:20 GMT

Carson invited Blake to go to the pool with him and Blake had a blast (even if the picture doesn't show it!)

We had Claire's birthday party with family and it was Elsa themed, of course! She had a special princess outfit and got all the girly things to play with! She was so excited to turn 3!! She still wants to be a little girl so she can be carried every where but she seems like such a big girl to me! She is growing up too fast. She has the best personality. She is kind, sweet, caring, loving, smart but also bossy, silly and stubborn. We sure love our (not so) little girl!

Grant got to go on the field of the Iowa Cubs game with his baseball team during the national anthem and stand by the players. It was a HOT game but a fun experience for Grant!

Both boys went to football camp this year and had a blast!

Blake went to a Kindergarten prep camp. He said he had fun! I can't believe it is almost time for him to go to Kindergarten!

Aunt Toni got Claire an Elsa dress and she loved it! She is all girly and loves dresses.

We went to go visit my high school friend's family, Kelly, along with Erica's family. We played in their new pool, went on a short hike to a beach, and just hung out at their house. Kelly and I went for a run and I was surprised that I kept up with her the whole time! It was fun to get our families together and a fun weekend!

Claire finally got her Elsa backpack for going poop in the potty! She is getting so much better about potty training but we are still working on pooping in the potty. She starts her new preschool after Labor Day and needs to be potty trained. She will stay dry in underwear (for the most part) so hopefully she continues to figure out pooping also. Greg and I will be so excited once diapers are officially gone!

Grant ended his season of baseball with his school friends and he had so much fun playing with friends! He has been practicing with Greg a lot this summer and has definitely seen a lot of improvement. Grant really enjoys baseball so I am excited to see him improve next year.

Dad went on a guys trip with friends which is a perfect time to get special popsicles for the kids.

Claire wants to wear her hair like Elsa does! Her hair is long enough for a braid but it falls out quickly since her hair is so fine. She loves it!

We were able to spend a day at the fair. Greg was out of town most of the week so we weren't sure it was going to work out to go. The kids had fun but it was BUSY! Greg and I were over the crowds after a few hours so we did not last long but long enough to do all the main things!

Blake went to his friend, Tarren's birthday party. The boys painted an Iowa State picture and Blake had a blast.

I watched Tyler for a day at the end of summer when there were no camps. Grant and Tyler just get along so well. They hung out at home and then we went bowling and played some games at Spare Time. They had a blast!

I took all 3 kids to the zoo by myself. I was nervous about it but the kids did great. We were ready to go by then end and Blake was nervous for the train but we did it. I was proud of myself and the fact that we made it without any huge issues.

We had meet the teacher night and the boys got see their classroom and put school supplies away. Grant is so excited and Blake is nervous but he will love it once he gets there!

Claire got her first hair cut! Greg wasn't ready for it but the ends needed it. Especially after swimming all summer long. She was SOOO excited. She wanted a unicorn hair cut. She looks so much older after her haircut even though they only cut an inch or so off. She is such a sweet and goofy girl!

I can't believe summer is over already and it is time for school. I am excited for the boys but also so sad our summer together is over. Grant is going into 2nd grade and Blake is starting Kindergarten! I am nervous about Blake going to full day Kindergarten since he is still taking daily naps. It is going to be a big adjustment for him. Grant is so excited to go to school and see his friends again.

We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary! We sent the boys to Parents night out at Lifetime, had Grandma hang out with Claire so we could have a few hours away. We went to Flemings and it was delicious but expensive! Greg and I do not feel like it has been 9 years already. It has gone by so fast. We are hoping next year we are celebrating kids free on a beach somewhere.

Claire went to go play with our neighbor Carly. Claire loves playing with Carly and I hope they stay friends as they grow up!

July 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:39:15 GMT

I caught a sweet video of Claire with Chase and Marshall kissing. She is so sweet.

Greg and Grandma took the younger 2 kids to the parade while Grant and I had to go to his baseball practice. It was hot but the kids had fun!

We went to the 4th of July parade with the Bolten's again this year! It was also hot but the kids loved it! We got way too much candy!

We did not have any plans for the 4th so we got out the splash pad and the kids loved it while Greg and I enjoyed a beer. We also tried sparklers for the first time. I think those will be more fun in a few years when they can stay up late after it is dark outside.

Claire loves the silly faces on Snapchat! She asks to do them often and I occasionally let her.

We went to the new park at Raccoon River. It was a really cool park. It had rained by raccoon river but didn't rain near us so we did not know it was going to be all wet. The kids still had a great time there and it helped burn off some energy.

Blake had a friend's birthday party from daycare. It was at the jump park and Blake had a blast. He loved running around with all his friends!

Claire fell asleep on the couch. She was a tired little girl! Some naps we let her fall asleep on the couch so we don't have to fight her for an hour in her bed to take a nap.

Claire loves Grant and it is sweet to watch. He tolerates her a lot more than he does Blake. I found them laying together multiple times these past few weeks and it was so cute to see!

Grant has been playing baseball this summer with his team from his school. I am so glad that he was asked to be on the team. He has loved playing with all his friends.

We went to the Big Lake again this year! I was very nervous how it was going to go but the kids did great. This new house was nice because there was a basement for them to play in. They did well sleeping in the same room which I was surprised! They were all up early which I was not surprised about.

We loved getting up and going to the beach. Grant loves the beach but the younger two still only like being there for a few hours in the morning. They took a nap each afternoon. Greg enjoyed relaxing in the afternoon also. We had a great week of weather and were able to spend most days at the beach.

We rented a new house this year and they had these cool bunk beds in the basement. The kids loved climbing up the stairs. This will be a fun place for them to sleep when they get a little older!

We took the kids to Bubbles one night for ice cream. The kids loved the ice cream and had fun playing with the bubbles.

One morning we took the kids to the zoo. We weren't sure what to expect but it was nicer than we expected. The kids enjoyed it and it was nice to do something different than just going to the beach every morning.

Claire took this picture herself and I love it. I love her cute baby feet!

Grant got home from the lake and wanted to read to the kids before bed. I love moments like this of them all getting along.

The next week was VBS. Grant had a lot of friends in his group which was fun. Both boys had fun. I am excited for next year for Blake. He will officially be with the big kids in the church and I think he will love it.

Grant passed the swim test at Lifetime! He was so proud of himself and he should be! He has improved so much this summer. All of the kids have improved this summer with swim lessons. It is fun to watch them get more confident in the pool.

We had Jack and Naomi over for a play date one afternoon. The boys had so much energy but had a blast!

Claire came up to me right after I cooked my eggs and put her hand right on the hot burner. It wasn't as bad as it could have been but it hurt! She cried all morning and of course Greg was out of town. She did well when she was playing with cold water so she did that for a long time. Then Grandma came over so I could go to the store and get some stuff to help with the pain. By the afternoon she was not complaining of pain and had forgotten all about it by the next morning. I am so thankful it wasn't worse than it was.

Jackie was in town on her birthday so we got together a few days before for a girls dinner. It was so fun to get everyone together!

Claire is 3! I am sure I say this at every birthday of my kids but I cannot believe she is 3. These years are the fastest yet. She has grown so much and has such a sweet and feisty personality. It will be so fun to watch her grow this next year! On her birthday we went to the pool in the morning. Dad met us there for an hour or so and she loved it! She got presents in the morning. We love celebrating this little girl.

The kids read another book together. I would love it this becomes a regular thing!

Aunt Nicki give the kids money each year for their birthday. They get the amount of years they are. Claire was so excited to get money!

June 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 21:06:36 GMT

The boys are getting into music lately and have been dancing to some new music!

The boys have been playing baseball this Spring. Grant is on his preschool team and Blake is with some kids from Carson's preschool. Grant got a ball to his eye one game but it didn't look too bad the next day. That was lucky!

We went over to the Bennett's after a baseball game and the kids had a blast playing together. Claire and Brady are in the same class at daycare and played so nicely together.

Blake went home with Corbin one afternoon when the bigger boys had basketball camp. Jess said they had a blast playing together and from the pictures it looks like it!

Claire is a very opinionated little girl. She knows what she wants and doesn't want and isn't afraid to let everyone know. This is such a good quality to have but not a full quality to raise a child with. ;-)

Grant went to basketball camp this summer and the mascot was there! Knox and him got a picture. Grant loved the camp and loves basketball!

We took the boys to Adventureland and they loved it! They said it was the best day ever! They loved the rides but were nervous about the big roller coasters. Maybe next year!

Our babysitter, Courtney, graduated. We are excited for her but sad she won't be able to watch our kids anymore. She was great with them and they loved her! Hopefully, she can watch them over her breaks.

The boys are taking a ton of swimming lessons to get them competent to swim on their own. The first session was a private lesson with the WDM park and rec. Grant got up and went off the diving board at the end of his first lesson. I was impressed and he was so proud of himself!

Blake went to Safety City with Carson this summer. They had a blast together and it was so fun to watch him at the end of it.

Nana has been watching Claire a few days this summer. Claire loves to avoid her naps so her and Nana got to take one on the couch together.

Claire love this guitar and dancing! She is so cute to watch!

For Father's Day we took the kids fishing. Fishing is hard with this age. It takes a lot of patience and that is hard. Everyone caught a few fish and it ended up being a good day. Then we did a scavenger hunt so that Greg could go biking for his fathers day present! I am glad it was nice and he was able to get away!

Grant went to the Brock Purdy camp with Tyler. Grant had a blast which is all that matters. Greg said it wasn't worth the money and we won't be doing one again, but I am just glad Grant enjoyed it.

Another couch nap after the refusal of a nap in her bed! I do enjoy these snuggles while they last though.

Such a rare moment. The kids playing nicely around each other without fighting! It might not last long but still had to capture this short moment!

We had SO many tornadoes this spring. One week we had the sirens go off 3 times! There were a few really scary ones. One was right by our house but missed us. Grant was sick but we all went into the basement bathroom. Another one was this scary funnel cloud outside our house. I was with the boys at swim lessons when the sirens went off and Greg sent me this picture. Luckily, it didn't touch down and the boys and I stopped at Nana and Papa's until the storm ended.

I took the kids to Howell's to play and pet some goats. Grant loved the goats but the other 2 were more hesitant. Howell's has a lot of things to do so it was a fun excursion!

I have been working on my sourdough! It is a process and it still needs a lot of work but I am proud of my attempt!

December 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 22:14:08 GMT

Henry the Elf came back! He brought Elf pajamas just like Grant asked for last year. The kids were very excited our elf came back. Christmas is going to come quick this year and the kids are so excited!

Grant had his first basketball tournament in Perry this weekend and it was a rough tournament. The head of the program put us in the 3rd grade division and the boys weren't ready for that yet. They got beat pretty bad every game and Grant had some rough games but played really well the 3rd game. Blake and Claire hung out with Grandma in the afternoon so they didn't have to sit and watch Grant's games all day. It was beautiful outside so Grandma took them to the park to play! They had so much fun with Grandma!

Claire got this doll from Grandma's house and she loves it. I think it looks like a girl Chucky but Claire has to sleep with it every night since she got it from Grandma's house!

We went to see Moana 2 in theatres. It was Claire's first movie and she did great! I was impressed she lasted the whole movie. There was 30 minutes of previews so the kids were getting ansy and I was worried it would be too long to sit but once the movie started they were locked in!

If Greg lays on the floor, he is a magnet to the kids. They immediately get up from wherever they are and climb on his back. He doesn't love it, only tolerates it, but the kids love it.

Henry brought gingerbread houses to make and the kids had so much fun putting them together. They did not come with many goodies so many next year we will have to get some extras when we make them!

Blake had basketball at Recplex this session with his friend Jack from ACW. Blake learned a lot the few weeks he was there with Greg teaching him at home. He had a few games of tears because he wasn't scoring and Dad promised him xbox time if he score. Once we got that squared away (don't ever promise xbox time for baskets again) he played great!

Greg took Blake and Claire to Hy-Vee and got to see Santa! Blake was excited but Claire wanted nothing to do with it.

Claire did a dance performance for the moms and she loved it! She has shown every one her dance and loves to watch herself dance. Now if only she listened and performed as well at actual dance.

Claire had a Christmas concert at her preschool. I only have a few minute video of her because she performed the first few seconds and then just stood there the rest of the time. She did a fair share of picking her nose too. Hopefully next year is a little better!

We did Christmas cookies at Grandma's house this year and it was a success. The kids loved decorating the cookies!

We went to Hope for church service on the 22st. We wanted to go early to avoid the crowds and it was successfull. We had plenty of space and no one was there! Way better than being crammed in there. Plus-Claire was still able to go to the daycare so we didn't have to keep her entertained during the service.

We went to Santa's last night at DMGCC. The food was good and the kids did great. Santa was giving out full candy bars!

We spent Christmas eve morning at the Chalik's for our first Christmas and then Uncle Mit and Uncle Peter came over to help the boys learn how to play their new pokemon games. Then we headed over to Aunt Randis for Christmas eve dinner. We had to get home early to make sure Santa did not miss our house!

Christmas morning was a success! The kids slept until around the normal 6:30 time. We opened presents in record breaking time and the kids were all happy with their presents! Then we just hung out all day with the new toys until Greg's family came over for dinner.

The Young's came over for Christmas day dinner and for gifts. The kids all got along well and had fun playing. They were happy with their gifts! We are sad Christmas is over. It was a short and quick season this year and just didn't feel very Christmasy. The weather has been warm and he haven't had any snow so I don't think that helped. The star of the show this year was definitely Henry, our elf. The kids loved searching for him each morning to see what crazy thing he did. Overall, it was a successful Christmas and the kids said "it was the best Christmas ever!" and that is the best compliment I could have received.

Claire was tired from all the activities of Christmas and fell asleep on the couch. She has basically given up her nap but will fall asleep some afternoons if she is tired. Bedtime is way better if she doesn't nap but evening time can be rough if she didn't nap.

It has been a long Christmas break this year. We have over a full week after Christmas until the kids go back. It has been cold so we have gone to a few Recplex open gym/turf to burn off some energy. I am hoping next year we are some where warm this week!

We had a fun end of year celebrating Grandma Young. We went over to her house on New Years Eve day and make homemade pizzas and have cake. Then she came over to our house and we had tacos and played some games. The best game was bouncing the ping pong balls into an egg carton. The boys loved it! We will have to think of some other games for next year! It was a good year this year and we are excited to see what next year brings!

May 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:00:42 GMT

The faces of Claire! I tried to take a picture of her in her cute Iowa State cheerleading outfit and these are what I get!

Blake is seizure free off medications!!! We decided to have a party for him to celebrate! He has been through so much and was so brave. He deserves to be celebrated!

I caught the boys cuddled up together sharing a blanket and NOT fighting! They were actually touching and not fighting. This is picture worthy since it is SO rare these days.

Here Claire is trying to get the balloon down by herself from the ceiling. Lately she has become very independent and will just go open my kitchen drawers and take random utensils. She will then grab a cup and fill it with water and make a mess. It keeps her occupied so I let her do it at times but if she is playing nicely alone you can guarantee she is making a destructive mess. In the video you can tell I am irritated because it keeps happening. When I need to get stuff done I just let her go knowing I will have a mess to clean up later! The price I pay!

Makenna had a tournament downtown so we went to watch. We brought Grant for the 2nd game and he loved watching it. Makenna had some great games and it was good to see her and Tracee.

We watched Chloe's soccer game before Blake's. The kids picked up some pinecones while watching the game. Chloe did a great job! She is very aggressive!

Soccer is over for the season. Both boys had a blast with their team. This was the last time Grant will be with this team and coach Natasha so we are sad about that. We will see what Grant decides for next season but Blake will be back next season and he is excited about that!

We have been following Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeye team. Claire got all dressed up in her cheerleading outfit with Hawkeye pigtails, pom poms and all.

We went to visit Aunt Randi and Blake cuddles right up to her. It was so sweet to watch.

Blake went to Jack's birthday party! It was a face painting party and the boys both chose snakes. He has a blast running around with Jack.

Blake graduated from preschool! He was so cute singing his songs. Blake was so excited for his graduation. He would sing the song for us after school. Only a few more days and he is home for the summer!

It is Blake's last day of daycare! He was so excited to be home with me, and soon, Grant for the summer! He is so excited to graduate his preschool and start school with Grant! We are so proud of Blake the past few years and are excited to see him excel in Kindergarten!

Blake was getting pictures for his last day of school and Claire had to get some of her. She is a sassy one with lots of personality!

The kids are very into the song "Fancy Like" by Walker Hayes. We have listened to it so much in the car that Claire has the song memorized (along with the rest of our family). I tried to get her to sing it for me but she gets distracted easily and shy when I try to video her.

Claire got a big girl bed! She is a struggle to get to get so we thought possibly a big girl bed would make her excited to sleep. Then maybe she would stay in her bed in the morning! She loved her unicorn and rainbow sheets and comforter.

Grant had his last day! This year Greg got to go to his field day. It was a beautiful day to watch Grant. Grant was excited for summer to start but sad to leave all of his friends. We have a lot planned this summer and it is going to be a fun summer!

We got a free tennis lesson for joining Lifetime. The boys were excited to try. Blake had some lessons last month and Grant has shown interest in it. Grant is definitely more interested now though.

September 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 15:21:21 GMT

Claire is really into dress up these days and found the boys costumes. She put on this mask and called herself "Princess America"!

Claire had her first day of preschool at Little Friends! She was so excited and not nervous at all! She did not even care when I left for the day. I was nervous to send her because she has all her friends at ACW but since I am home right now it doesn't make sense to keep her there. We have heard great things about this preschool so I hope it is a good move!

Nana came with me to pick up Claire so she could see how it worked. Nana came home with us after so she could pick up the boys too and Claire fell asleep on her. Nana was falling asleep too!

Claire is doing so much better potty training. She wears underwear all the time now and just has a few accidents. She still struggles with pooping on the potty and especially getting all the poop out. We were so proud of her that she "got all her poop out." We are hoping she has it fully figured out in a few months and we can officially be done with diapers! We are so excited for that day!

Fall sports have started! Grant is doing soccer and football and Blake is doing soccer. Grant was quarterback for part of his first game and made some good plays to score a touchdown and extra points. Grant loves football but is not enjoying soccer this season. We tried WDM for something different and he has no friends on his team. We think this will be the last season of soccer for him.

Greg and I did not want to cook one night so we decided to go to Texas Roadhouse. I wouldn't say it was a relaxing experience but we got a few cute pictures of the kids. They all wanted to be sitting so they could see the phone. I guess the phone makes it okay to touch each other! It looks like Grant was just tolerating it for the picture though!

We have football night this Friday and so I took Claire with me to look for Waukee shirts. We found matching shirts (my first matching shirt with Claire!) and she had to put it on instantly! Grant got to run across the field before a high school football game. They then form a tunnel for the high school football players to go through. It was a beautiful and fun night.

We went to my coworkers wedding and it was outside on a farm. They had a big bounce house and the boys played football. Claire loved the live music. We should take her to listen to music more often!

Blake is 6! He is all about monster trucks right now and that is all he asked for. He wanted to monster truck scavenger hunt when he woke up on his birthday. Grant and I worked together to make it and he loved it. I think this will continue to be hit in our house. Grant and Claire were telling me what they wanted for their birthday scavenger hunt already. His birthday was on Sunday so we were able to celebrate the whole day with him. He is the sweetest and silliest little boy. We just love to celebrate him!

I love catching moments when the kids are all playing nicely and getting along. This doesn't happen often or for very long so it should be documented!

We went to our neighbor, Thomas's, birthday party. An ambulance and fire truck showed up and Claire loved it. Grant and Blake were too scared to go into either.

We had Blake's friend birthday party at Sky Zone the weekend after his birthday. He had 5 friends there and had a blast. They were running all over the place!

Claire has school until 1:00. I try to get her to take a nap right away so she is awake by the time I pick up the boys from school. She fights the naps and this day she fell asleep 10 minutes before I had to leave to get boys. I successfully transferred her into the car and then to her room after picking up the boys!

Claire had picture day at preschool and she was so excited to wear her new dress and shoes! We haven't gotten the pictures back but I am excited to see how they turn out.

Blake was the secret star one day at school! Blake was so excited. That means he was listening well during carpet time. He also filled his first punch card! He is getting used to the rules at school and is doing so much better now. He is still very tired but his behavior at school is better.

I went on a cousin trip to Austin. It was a fun trip to have us all (minus Tim) together. We hung out at the pool, went to some nice restaurants and a bat tour.

Greg was home with the kids and did well. It is a busy time for us so Greg had a lot of help from his mom. She took one of the boys separate mornings so Greg only had 2 kids. She also helped him get to all the sporting games that weekend. I was sad to miss out and I was happy to be home.

The boys had Run for the Hills! Grandma and Greg went to watch them run. The boys had a blast running!

April 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 19:29:25 GMT

We have been cheering on the Iowa women's NCAA tournament! It has been so fun to watch. I am more invested in them than I would like to admit. So Claire has to put on her Iowa cheerleading outfit and get out her pom poms to cheer on the team!

Claire doesn't like her hair in her face but also does not like me to do her hair so we put it up in a princess hair do and she loves it! It never fails that after I put it up she immediately asks for me to take a picture so she can see her princess hair.

Claire came home from daycare one day and fell asleep on me. She has never done that before. I am not sure if she didn't nap at school or was just overtired or sick. I let her sleep on me for about an hour and woke her up. I was worried she wouldn't go to sleep that night but she still did!

Nana came with us to the zoo! The kids loved it and the animals were more lively than I have seen them before. It was fun to actually see the tigers moving! It was a perfect day for the zoo and the kids were exhausted once we were done.

Grant went to his friend, Finlay's, birthday party. They had a painting party and Grant had a lot of fun!

Such a sweet moment! Claire will request to watch Ms. Rachel and Ms. Rachel got the boys up and dancing to a song.

It is Blakes last day of medicine! I never thought this day would come! We are so happy to be at this point and are anxious to see what the EEG shows in 10 days. We have seen such a huge improvement weaning the medicine. He is more silly and less hyperactive. Just more of a little boy and Greg and I love seeing it. We hope and pray the EEG is good so he can stay off meds.

Clarie wanted to do a happy dance just like her brother and then she got camera shy!

We went to Grant's first grade music concert. It was so fun to watch. Grant was very into it and the show was very cute. Aunt Kellie and Grandma came to watch also. Kailey watcht the other two and they had the best time.

Greg and I had a special day with Blake for his first day off medicine! It is such a big, special day and we wanted to celebrate Blake and all he has overcome! He has been such a trooper and we wouldn't be here if he wasn't so great at all the things we asked him to do. He is truly a special little boy.

We went to the epilepsy walk and actually made it to the right day this time. ;) It was a good turn out and it felt good to support Blake and others going through similar or even worse experiences than us.

We have both the boys in soccer and baseball right now. It has been a lot but the boys are loving both sports. I got a video of Blake scoring a goal but missed Grant's goals this season. Blake has a blast playing and Grant has improved so much over the season. It has been fun to watch.

Nana and Papa watched Claire and Grant while we went to Iowa City. Papa and Grant were outside practicing baseball in our backyard.

We went to Iowa City for another EEG off medication. We went the night before because the EEG started at 8:00 and he had to be sleep deprived. We ran over a tarp on our way there but made it safely. We will just need to get it fixed when we get back. We went early to get his labs drawn and then his EEG was only an hour. He did amazing for his poke and I was so amazed at how well he did on his EEG. We did not realize he would be in a quite dark room for the hour. They hooked him up and he sat quietly and watched TV. Then they turned out the lights and he went right to sleep and slept the whole time. We were so proud of him!! We got the call from the neurologist that his seizures were still gone and we were ecstatic! We can't believe this day has finally come! The first 6 months are when the seizures are most likely to come back so we are hopping they stay away. We are so happy that Blake can finally be a "normal" little boy.

March 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:59:11 GMT

The boys wanted to dance to the Mario Brothers song and found this one they loved.

I tried my best to do Claire's hair all cute like I see on others. It needs some work but it was the best I could do with a squirmy toddler!

Blake had Carson over for a play date after church. He had so much fun having a friend over to play!

Claire and Dad cuddling watching Elsa or Frozen together. Claire always likes to cuddle a little after nap. She needs some time to wake up before playing and we love this time.

Claire has decided lately she loves sleeping on the floor. We were hesitant about it because we thought for sure she would be coming out of her room multiple times a night but she did well with it! She even woke up in the morning and read her book until her light came on. This only lasted a few nights but we let her do it and picked out battles!

Grant had really good spring conferences with his teacher. He is doing really well in school and Ms. Galligos said he is ready for 2nd grade already! She also said he has a special voice when he is the quarterback so we had to hear it. He wants to sound just like Patrick Mahomes.

School celebrated Dr. Suess week for his birthday and Blake came home with his Cat and the Hat hat! He loved dressing up for the week, especially Wacky Wednesday. He thought it was so fun to wear his shirt inside out and backwards!

Greg's non compete is officially up! It was something to celebrate so I got him some champagne. He is still going to be cautious but is another step in the right direction!

Grant still loves Usher and dancing to Usher. Both of our boys seem to be into that type of music.

Claire put on her cheerleading outfit for Caitlin Clark's conference championship game! Cutest cheerleader there ever was!

Blake lost his first tooth!!! He was SO excited for the tooth fairy to come! That tooth had been loose for a few weeks now and finally came out on our way to Nana and Papa's house!

Spring Break was beautiful this year so Grant and I were able to go mini golfing one morning. We had a fun day and I hope this nice weather sticks around!

We went to Kansas City the second weekend of Spring Break! We went to an ISU conference basketball game, toured the Arrowhead stadium, went to Legoland, went to Fritz's and swam at the hotel pool! Greg ended up getting sick a few hours into the trip but the boys still ended up having fun! Blake loved dancing to the music at the game. It was fun to watch. Grant said he likes watching games from his couch because he didn't like the noise or the people. It was a fun time!

Claire stayed home with Nana and Papa. They offered to watch her and we took them up on it! We were initially going to take her but we are glad she stayed home. It would have been a lot harder having her with us. She had more fun getting all the attention from Nana, Papa and Uncle Mit than touring a boring football stadium!

Claire is very girly and she loves having her hair done and bows or clips in her hair. Then anytime I do something with her hair she tells me to get my phone out so I can take a picture of her! Her hair is so long though and Greg and I are just not ready to cut it yet. It is just so pretty!

Anytime Greg is on his back the kids run over to him to climb on him like a jungle gym. He hates it and they love it!

We went to the park one day and Claire loved the swing. I just love her sweet little giggle.

We did so many different type of eggs this year! I got this new egg contraption and the kids loved it. I think this will be our new go to and we will stop dying eggs. I got some other kits that dye the eggs and even some that make them tie dye but the coloring of the eggs was the true hit!

We went to Auntie Kellie's house for the Young's Easter and had an Easter Egg hunt! It was a success and the kids loved it.

The Easter Bunny came! She did a great job hiding their baskets and the boys got new bikes! They also got way too much candy. We went to church after that and it was packed. Then we went to the Chalik's for Easter dinner. It was a great Easter!

February 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:33 GMT

We have had some nice weather this month and so it has been nice to get outside and get some fresh air. This time of year we get really tired of being stuck inside. One day we were out front playing basketball and Claire decided she just wanted to chill and eat in the chair like the little diva that she is. This girl is going to be trouble for Greg and I!

We took Blake to Iowa City for his 2 year seizure free EEG! Blake did SO amazing! We went to Iowa City the night before since we had to sleep deprive him. He loves these days because he gets so much one on one time with Mom and Dad. We stayed in a hotel and got to go out to eat and swim in the hotel pool. The EEG went well so now we just wait for results.

Claire and Naomi have loved playing at the boys basketball game. They are so cute together! Then one of the games all of their cousins came, except Carter, and they loved playing together! Claire and Chloe loved running around playing. She loved Chloe chasing her.

We made birthday cards for Nana and Grant requested Taylor Swift music. Grant is very excited for the Super Bowl and the Kelce/Taylor Swift drama. Nana's birthday is on the Super Bowl so we are celebrating a week later but we brought her cards for her on her actual birthday.

We had fun watching the Super Bowl as a family. We made brownies and I cut out chiefs. It was a good game and we let Grant stay up way past his bedtime so we could watch the whole thing, even the overtime. Chiefs won so Grant was very happy!

We got together with the Youngs on Grandpa's birthday and celebrated. Grandma gave the kids their bears with Grandpa's shirt on it. I also printed out the picture of Grandpa holding them in those shirts. They are very cute and loved them!

Grant got strep the next weekend. He came into my room crying because his throat hurt and I knew instantly it was strep. He was so sad because he missed his last basketball game and his friend, Theo's birthday party. He was feeling back to normal by the next day. We brought his ipad to urgent care and he listened to Usher since he watched him at the Super Bowl halftime show. He is liking the same music I loved when I was younger!

Blake and I went to the Mom/Son dance at Hope Elim! We went with out neighbors Ashley and Carson and had a blast! Blake did not like the actual dance because it was too loud. They had other crafts and activities for the kids to do. Then we went to dinner afterwards and the boys had a blast! It was fun being able to spend time with just Blake.

Grant has been very into reading his Epic Athlete books he has been given. He is sitting up in his room reading in the morning and before bed. I love watching him find books he loves to read.

We didn't go to church one week because of Grant's strep throat and Blake being weaned off his medicine. We watched it on TV and were surprised how well the kids listened and then played while Greg and I listened.

Daycare taught Claire how to make a heart with her hands and she loves doing it. It is the cutest thing to watch her do it so I had to get it on camera!

My coworker gave me some swim suits and Claire found them when she got home and HAD to put them on right away. Then she told me to take a picture and posed for me. So sweet but definitely turning into that threenager already.

Greg had the kids make me a video for my birthday and it was fun to watch. On my birthday I picked up Claire from daycare and she wouldn't move her left arm. I ended up taking her into the doctor and I think it was just nursemaids elbow. The doctor popped it back into place and she was good as new like nothing happened. We even made it to basketball to see Blake's last game and were able to do cake once we got home. It was an eventful birthday! Barb came over a few days later so Greg and I could go out to dinner. We were going to go to a concert at the new Waukee center but Claire was not behaving for Grandma so we came home. Greg and I will get a night out in a few years when they are out of the house, I guess!

Blake had his last night of basketball on my birthday! He loved basketball and was very good at it! He scored so many baskets and had so much fun! That is a sport we will continue doing for him. His friend, Jack, was on his team too. He also made a few other friends on his team. Greg coached and actually had a great time coaching this season. The kids were all well behaved and he had good co-coaches with him.

Grant had his friend, Amir, over after an early out day. They seemed to have a good time playing together!

We have had some really, really nice days this month! It has been to nice to be able to go outside and play in February. Some days even got nice enough to wear shorts! I will take this weather all spring long. Now, lets just hope it sticks around.

Blake had a couple special days earlier this month since we are now weaning his medicine and the mother/son dance so it was time for Grant to have a day also! He wanted to go to Wendy's and then bowling. It was a fun afternoon and it is always nice to get one on one time with each kid. Grant loves quality time so he was so excited to have time alone with Mom.

Blake is 2 years seizure free!!!!!! Man, we never thought this day would come and now we are here. We are SO thankful we have made it this far and get a chance to wean off Blake's medicine. His EEG showed no seizures or spikes, thank the Lord!!! He does have some brain slowing which I was nervous about but my doctor clarified that it was nothing concerning and is not something that needs to be followed. It might be there forever or it might go away. The slowing can show up on an EEG from anyone with issues with migraines, ADHD, autism, seizures and so many other brain disorders. We have started weaning Blake's medicine so we will see what the next few months bring. He will be off medicine (if all goes well) mid April and we will have an hour EEG 2 weeks off medication to see if there are any spikes or seizures. If all that goes well, the highest risk of the seizures to come back is 6 months of medication. It is going to be a long, worrisome few months but we have made it so far in this journey we are just celebrating every positive milestone that comes our way.

Grant plays well with Claire! One evening when I was gone, Greg said Grant and Claire played tea party together. The boys dont always play well together. They mainly just wrestle and fight so it is nice to see siblings get along.

We watched Migration on TV the other night and Claire wanted to fly like a bird. She loved Daddy flying her around with her arms stretched out like a bird!

Greg got some good cuddles from Claire the other night. She does not give us good cuddles very often so we take what we get when we get them. She is our last kid so we definitely love the cuddles since our cuddles are numbered.

January 2024

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:31 GMT

This is what Greg was wanting to happen. Everyone can watch what they want on their ipad and so no fighting. The problem with that is that Grant goes into his room to watch football while Greg is watching it downstairs. We are happy they like their ipad though.

Grant had a play date at his friend, Amir's house. They had a blast playing football outside and some video games. It was good for Grant to get out and play with a friend and he had a blast!

Greg won some free tickets to an Iowa Wolves basketball game. We weren't sure how Blake and Claire were going to do but everyone did great! Claire loved the music and just danced in her seat while eating popcorn. Blake enjoyed watching the game more than I expected. Both Claire and Blake were always watching the wolf mascot to see where he was. We had great seats and were pleasantly surprised with how smooth it went.

Claire (and even the boys) new favorite show is Gabby's Dollhouse. I caught her dancing to it (with a mouthful of blueberries)!

We went to Woodland Hills night at the Waukee basketball game. Grant was able to go out at half time and shoot a basket. He didn't make it unfortunately but the kids had fun! The younger were ready to go after half time but were well behaved otherwise!

The was a Michigan vs Washington championship game on and our kids were cheering for Michigan. We had to send it to Jeff and give him a laugh!

I caught the kids all sharing a blanket together and being silly! Claire just loves her brothers. She does not want to be left out. If we mention leaving she will run to the door and put on her shoes and say "I wanna go! I wanna go!".

Claire has been doing a great job peeing in the potty but she won't go poop. She has gone a few times but not consistently. She seems scared to go now. We have been sending her to daycare in a pullup since she usually poops first thing in the morning and they switch her to underwear after she poops. Well, she has been getting lazy and peeing in her pullup so we want to get her to poop. I tried to bribe her with toys and prizes and it worked a few times but she ended up holding her poop for over 2 days when I was home with her. Then the day she went back to daycare she pooped right away. Daycare has been great and tries to put her on the potty before she usually poops but she just seems scared. We will try again in a few months and hopefully she is not as scared then. One of her prizes was stamps of cool animals and all the kids loved those! She also got some cool heart glasses! She loved the pink ones the best, of course!

Claire wanted to play sleeping with Dad and me. She thought it was so funny to wake up!

Blake started basketball with his friend, Jack, from school. We had the first game and the girls had a blast! They were the entertainment of the game! Jack and Blake both had great first games and scored multiple baskets.

Blake had a play date with Carson and Claire had to join in and get dressed up as power rangers! The boys had fun but also had a lot of energy!

Grandma came with us to Grant's basketball game and so I sat in the back with Grant. Blake wanted me to hold his hand but I couldn't reach so Grant was so sweet to hold Blake's hand! I had to get this on camera because these sweet moments are rare.

Grant went over to Amir's house again and they went sledding by the school. Grant had a blast at his house!

Blakey has upgraded to a booster seat!!! He has been wanting to do that for a lot time and is having a lot of problems unbuckling himself so we decided it was time to switch. It was so cute to watch Blake that first morning. He was just smiling ear to ear because he was so happy! He ended up moving to the back because he can buckle easier in that seat and Grant is in the bucket seat. Everyone is happy!

Blake is getting to the point where he needs a nap but doesn't want a nap. He refused to nap one day and then fell asleep in the car. It was so cute with his football helmet on.

December 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:28 GMT

Henry, our elf, came back! He always brings a gingerbread house for us to do sometime during the month and this time he brought it the first day! Blake could not wait to do it so we did it before lunch. Claire basically ate all the candy and frosting off the house, Blake was overwhelmed and had a meltdown and Grant thrived decorating it! It was something fun to do to get us in the holiday spirit.

Santa came to daycare! Claire was not liking Santa today but was happy when she got her Santa treat. Santa had a talk with the boys about getting along and not always fighting. Let's hope that talk helps!

The boys like to solve things with rock, paper, scissors and Claire can't be left out of anything her brothers are doing. So she has learned how to play. She doesn't know all the hand symbols so she uses the same one over and over but it is still fun to watch her play.

Blake had his Christmas concert at church and he did a great job! We couldn't find him for the longest time so I was worried we wouldn't be able to watch him perform. I found him at the last moment and he did a great job!

The elf brought the kids PJs! Grant wrote a note to the elf and the elf brought them the next morning. The kids loved them and I loved this hug from all my babies!

Then Claire and Blake ready a book with Daddy. Claire had to be included again.

Claire loves princesses and dressing up as one. She put on every piece of jewelry she owns and went downstairs to show Daddy. Greg will say "who is my princess?" and Claire will go "ME!"

Blake had a stay at home day because we had to get some labs drawn to see his iron level. I was worried about the lab draw since we have had bad luck at Methodist before but the tech and Blake both did great! After that we went to HyVee to get a donut and found a Santa picture to take. Then we made a trip to the library to get some football books. It was a fun but busy stay at home day for us! His labs came back good so we don't have to make any changes at this time!

We did our yearly Christmas tradition of making sugar cookies with Grandma. The kids all had a blast and loved putting too many sprinkles on the cookies.

We celebrated the first day of Christmas break with homemade playdoh and some crafts our elf, Henry, brought us. We first made Santa and elf door hangers and then colored some ornaments. The kids loved making their own playdoh and played with that for an hour and a half. I call it a fun morning and Mom win!

Claire found the boys costumes and wanted to be Bathman. She was adorable in the mask!

The weather hasn't been too bad outside, just rainy, so we got the kids outside in boots to play and get some fresh air. Grant did a great job playing with Claire. She loves when he pretend chases her and then falls right before he gets to her.

We went to Des Moines Golf and Country Club for Santa's last night and got to see him one more time. This year they had some reindeer also! The kids all did great and we so well behaved. A huge improvement from last year.

We celebrated the Chalik Christmas on Christmas Eve morning. The kids were so excited to start the Christmas festivities but really just the presents. :)

We went to the Stern's Christmas Eve night and even heard Santa's sleigh bells. They loved the presents they got but we had to hurry home to get to sleep before Santa got to our house! They were so excited for Santa to come. We knew it was going to be an early morning that next morning.

The Christmas tree is so pretty with all the present under it and the lights on. The kids had a great Christmas and loved all their toys! It was an early morning but it was fun to watch them open all the present.

Christmas dinner was at Grandma's house for the first time! The kids did great and were not too riled up. They got a few more presents and had fun playing with their cousins.

Grant has a tooth coming in way behind his other teeth. He doesn't have room for the new teeth since all his baby ones haven't fallen out yet.

We went to the Science Center for Noon Years Eve and had a great time! The balloon drop was very claustrophobic and we had to wait in our spot for 40 minutes. Blake was nervous about the loud noises and didn't like the sound of balloons popping after the drop but everything before that was fun. They loved getting their faces painted and decorating their hats.

Grandma came over again a few hours later and we celebrated with the cousins with cake. Then Kailey watched the kids while the adults went out to dinner. Kailey did a great job babysitting and we were able to get out to dinner!

This has been a good year! Lots of ups and downs but we have so many good memories and are looking forward to see what 2024 has in store for us!

October 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:24 GMT

The kids loved tickling Dad and they all attacked him at once!

Grant is reading to Blake. These are the moments I love seeing as a parent. There are fewer moments than I imagined before becoming a parents so I cherish them.

We potty trained Claire this week and it went well. I was not excited to try since I failed with my boys multiple times, but she showed a lot of readiness signs. Claire did great if she was naked but the minute I put underwear on her, she peed. We sent her to daycare Monday and she had a bad day but had NO accidents Tuesday! She did well pooping initially and now she only poops in her underwear so we are still working on that. The daycare teachers are not too happy about it and so I hope Claire figures it out soon! Claire even surprised us by staying dry during nap and bedtime every night! Greg and I are ecstatic to be almost done with diapers!

We got the boys Halloween costumes and they look so good! They are going to be Sonic and the costumes are so cute on the boys! Blake loves shaking his tailfeather. Claire is going to be a princess and she is so excited! I ask what she wants to be and she says "pincess".

We celebrated Greg's birthday at sports all day long! Greg's mom came over and watched the kids in the evening so we could go out to dinner which was nice. Then we had family over Sunday night for pizza and cake. Grant and I made homemade cake for Greg! We made homemade picture frames and Claire decided the paint was her makeup and put it all over her face. Good thing it was washable!

Blake still says "gamote" instead of remote and Greg and I love it. We will be so sad when he stops saying it. Grant tries to correct him and we get mad because we don't want Blake to say it the right way. I got it on video so we dont forget.

We had another appointment for Blake at the University of Iowa. We went up the night before because we had to get labs early the next morning. Blake was so excited to have a special day with Mom and Dad! We got to swim in the hotel pool and then went to the Children's museum the next morning between the labs and the appointment. His labs came back good and the doctor said we didn't have to increase his meds which we were ecstatic about. His other labs looked good also other than he has low iron. So we have to add a multivitamin with iron in it and get the labs rechecked in 6-8 weeks. Other than that we will have another EEG in February and see if it all looks good and we can wean off meds. Only a few more months and we hope everything keeps going well and we can make it to February and get off these meds! Blake is on a regular diet with no restrictions and has been tolerating it well. We wanted him on a regular diet before trying to get off the meds.

Grant has his last football game. It was the Super Bowl according to him and he was so nervous and excited for it! The weather was cold and rainy but he had a good game. He got the ball a few times and made a few good passes even though his teammate didn't catch it.

Claire plays with our neighbor Carly and they have fun! It is fun to watch girls play together. It is a night and day difference between girls and boys.

Greg and I take turns taking the boys to church and Claire stays home since she is still potty training. Claire has been getting up early so she fell asleep on me at 10:00 in the morning and I couldn't wake her up so her nap for the day was a morning one! She doesn't cuddle me very often anymore so I did enjoy the cuddles for awhile before I put her in her bed.

Blake has been sick for about a week and a half so he had a day with just me and him and we also went to the doctor. The doctor gave us an antibiotic and we are to start the albuterol treatments again. The whole family has been sick the past week so we are hoping we are on the end of this.

Blake still mispronounces a few words and I still love them and think they are so cute to hear. Here he is saying "gamotions" instead of emotions.

I picked up some pumpkins to carve and the kids were so excited!

We took the kids to a Halloween Party at the Raccoon River park. We got to go on a hayrack ride, do some craft activities and ate s'mores. We ended up running into the O'Holleran's and Grant was so excited to see Tyler! It was chaotic for Greg and I but it was a beautiful night out and a fun Halloween activity.

Blake and Claire had school pictures taken and we just got them back! They were all adorable but we ended up getting one with Blake and Claire.

My dreams are coming true! Grant spent one Saturday morning reading his football book in his room all by himself!

Greg and I went to a friends house to watch a football game for a few hours and came home to kids being crazy and wrestling. Pure chaos always.

One night Claire was going into the playroom and would come out and say "Mom" and wait for me to to tell her how pretty she was. Then she was walking around on her phone calling people with her baby. She is ready to be a mom. It was adorable!

We went to Howells Pumpkin Patch one beautiful day after school and the kids had a blast. It closed at 6 so we didn't have much time but we sure had fun with the time we had!

Uncle Peter's work had another trick or treat this year! The kids had a blast other than the spooky hallway.

We had fun carving pumpkins this year! Greg did the cleaning and I did the carving. They turned out great and the kids had fun.

Greg went on a guys trip the last weekend of October and I took the kids to the jump park Sunday morning to burn off some energy. It was cold outside so we couldn't go outside to play. I was nervous about taking all 3 alone but the kids did great and it was a success.

Claire went poop in the potty when Greg was gone! She has gone a few times in the potty and it was the first few days of potty training. So this was exciting that she told me she needed to go and went! Lets hope this continues.

Caught a rare moment of the boys sitting nicely by each other and getting along. Of course, it was playing nintendo but I will take it!

Trick or treat night was cold this year but the kids didn't complain! They were too busy running house to house to get more candy. The boys were Sonic and Claire was a princess. This year was a fun Halloween. We did a lot of fun activities and the kids are getting to an age where the meltdown aren't AS continuous. But they are still interesting in the activities.

September 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:21 GMT

The kids have been getting up in the morning and crawling into our bed to watch TV on the weekends. Claire usually gets bored first and wants to go downstairs to get a "snack." Snack is what she calls all food and she is constantly in that pantry looking for more food! The boys would stay up there forever and just watch TV!

Claire LOVES Baby Shark. She has loved baby shark for a long time. They play it all the time for her at daycare and she loves listening to it and dancing to it.

We have Miss Jess come babysit our kids every Tuesday so Greg and I can have a date night. One night was beautiful so we went mini golfing. I got a hole in one on the first hole!!! That has never happened to me before. Greg killed me the rest of the time but at least I beat him at that one hole!

Claire went poop in the potty!!! I could tell she had to go and I put her on the potty and she went!! She did not know what to think of it and didn't tell me she had to go but hopefully this continues. She still likes to be naked at home and will go or tell us if she has to go but if she has a diaper or clothes on she will definitely go in there. She has only had a few accidents when she has been home with us. Officially potty training will start when we get back from Hawaii in a few weeks.

We have had some beautiful weather lately! An extension of summer! The kids love the reusable water balloons and a water gun they have. Then we have been able to go to the pool a few more times lately and all the kids LOVE the pool! I am sure our neighbors are loving seeing Claire naked out in the backyard. It is the best spot to potty train because if there is an accident it is no big deal! We love our new cement also, It makes playing outside so nice.

The boys have gotten into American Ninja Warrior lately! They love it and want Greg to create their own ninja gym in the back yard. Here they are doing a push up challenge to see how many they can do. Claire had to get into the fun also.

I switched out our playset and the boys are seeing how long they can hang like the Ninja Warriors. They will be on that show in no time!

Fall sports season has started! We have busy Saturdays with football and soccer. It is hard to see Grant playing football and his team lost the first game but that gives them room for improvement over the season! Greg coached Grant's first soccer game also and 2 games in one day is a lot for Grant. He was tired by the time soccer came around. We have learned he will need to rest between games and get some nutrients to have energy for the soccer game. Blake had an amazing first soccer game! He scored 4 or 5 goals! I was hesitant to see how Blake did just because he wasn't very interested last season and I was so impressed this season so far. It was even hot outside so I was worried he would get too hot and not want to play. He has the cutest dance after the goals and he always looks over to the sideline and give us a thumbs up. Grant went over to sit by Blake after scoring all this goals and they were walking hand in hand to the car. So sweet to see them bond over something.

We celebrated Blake's birthday on Sunday! He had his friend party in the morning and his family party in the evening. He was SO excited for his day he was up at 4:30 and refused a nap. He could barely wait for his family to get there for his party and had SO much energy! His friend birthday party was at Pump it up and he had a blast! And he was so excited for the presents he barely said anything to his family when they arrived. It was fun to see him so excited for his day to celebrate him. He is so sweet and deserve some celebrating.

The next day we had Blake's family party. He was so excited to get all the attention again. He wanted a Monster truck/Mario birthday. It was a good year because he was able to eat normal cake and ice cream. We still worry about it but luckily we haven't seen any seizures or changes since allowing him to have gluten.

Miss Jess from daycare has been coming over once a week to watch the kids so Greg and I can have an evening out. She brings her kids and so they play together. Her youngest is in Claire's room and her oldest is in Blake's room. The kids enjoy playing together!

Blake got a stay at home day for his actual birthday. He had a rough day because all he wanted was a robot for his birthday and we just found out the morning of his birthday that is what he wanted. We brought some monster trucks to the park and ended up watching youtube before nap time.

Grant was able to run across the field before the Waukee football game and he loved it! We stayed and watched the first half of the football game and Grant was in heaven. Claire and Blake loved the beginning but got tired the closer it got to half time.

We had Miss Cassie come over to babysit the Saturday before we left for Hawaii so the kids would be familiar and show her Blake's medicine. She did great and the kids loved it! Grant said he is excited for her to come back.

Aunt Nicki always sends birthday cards with money for how old they are. So Blake got $5 in his birthday card and was SO excited. It was burning a hole in his pocket from the minute he got the money. Luckily, Nana took him to get a car from Target so he stopped talking about it.

Claire does just a great job of holding a crayon! We went to Texas Roadhouse and she was holding the crayon so well. And she is so focused!

Greg and I went to Kauai with Aunt Kellie and Barb. It was a busy and fun trip! Kauai is such a beautiful island and we had a great time. Greg and I flew first class for the first time. We were so excited! It was a fun thing to do but I am not sure it will be worth it to do on most flights.

The first day we got there we went on a helicopter ride of the island. I was very nervous but once we got up in the air it was so beautiful that the nerves went away! Such a great way to see the island and so much of it is not able be seen other than the air. The pictures don't do it justice of how beautiful it really is! This was Greg and I's favorite excursion.

We went to the restaurant called the Beach House. It was a beautiful view of the sunset but the food was not the best. Kellie and I got the filet and it was delicious but the fish was not good per Greg and Barb.

The next day we drove up the Waimea canyon. Beautiful views but the roads up there were very curvy with a lot of blind, sharp turns. It was a beautiful view but Greg did not like driving on those roads!

That night we went to Poipu beach to watch the sea turtles come up to sleep on the beach. The sea turtles all come to this beach at sunset to be safe from the sharks at night.

The next day we went on a boat ride to snorkel and see the Napali coast from the water. We saw a sea turtle snorkeling but that was about it. The water was the perfect temperature! We saw dolphins twice while driving around the boat. They were smaller dolphins that are never in confinement as they will always die if they are in tanks. The ride to the coast was very cold and wet! It was not enjoyable. We got so wet that it was hard to open our eyes and burned! It was a beautiful view of the Napalo coast the few times I was able to open my eyes.

We went on a hike at the canyon the next morning. We were not sure of our choice at the beginning. It was cold and rainy and the reviews said to be careful because it can be very slippery when wet. It ended up not being that bad and a great view at the end. The way back was mainly uphill and the last mile was rough!

We went to Keoki's paradise the next night and the food was great! We got a hula pie for dinner and it was delicious!

The waves were strong on the beach with a strong under toe! Kellie and Barb braved the waves and water!

Kellie really wanted to try a puka dog or a hot sausage hot dog so they all went for one lunch while I stayed back. They said they were really good!

Kelly recommended going to Merriman's for dinner and it was our best meal! All of the food was delicious and so much flavor!

We rented the Cabana one night and got a great view of the ocean and the waves.

Nana and Papa watched the kids for the majority of the time away. Miss Cassie watched them over the weekend to give my parent a couple nights break. The kids did well for both of them! Miss Cassie brought a bunch of art projects and kept the kids busy. The boys did great but Claire was the hardest. She didn't want to sleep past 5 any day and got up in the night a few times so everyone was sleep deprived. The kids were SO excited to see us when we got home. It was the best welcome home I have ever received. Greg and I were ready to be home with the kids also.

Claire and Blake had picture day the next day. I tried to get a picture of them all dressed up but Blake wouldn't take a picture and Claire ended up having a blow out before pictures and ruined her dress.

The next day was Grant's Run for the Hills school fundraiser. He was so excited to run! When we got there he would barely acknowledge us because he was so focused. He did great and ran most of the time which was a big deal because it was HOT! His friend told him he got first place so that made him happy. He is doing so well in school these days and I love hearing him be excited for school activities. He was excited to get jobs in his classroom also and told me many times how he couldn't wait to go to school and see what his job was. He also is very smart and his testing showed he is doing great in math and he is in a special math class for a few weeks. He loves math and science.

Saturday we went over to the O'holleran's house to grill and have s'mores. Grant loved the s'mores but Blake and Claire were not into them. The kids all had a good time and Grant ended up having his first sleepover. I was very nervous (and barely slept that night myself) about him sleeping over because he has only stayed somewhere other than his bed a few times. And of those times, only 1 was when Greg and I weren't there. He did great though and had fun! He was tired the next day and he told me he likes sleeping in his own bed better.

August 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:18 GMT

I had to work one day this week and so Nana and Papa watched Grant. They took Grant to Target to get a new checkers set since theirs was missing pieces. Papa ended up getting peer pressured into buying some presents for Grant, Claire and Blake. Grant picked out and wrapped the presents for his brother and sister and was excited to give them the presents.

Grant and I went to Living History Farms one morning. It ended up taking us about 3 hours but we learned a lot and Grant had fun! It was muddy from the rain the day before and Grant got mud on his shoe. He was very concerned about the mud but, luckily, it came off by the time we were ready to go.

Claire was sad one day and wanted to go and see NanaPapa. They are usually together so she always asks for them both as one person.

Claire has started to potty train herself! This is completely new territory for us because we struggled with the boys. They had no interest ever. She got mad a me one morning when I was changing her diaper and wanted me to take it off. So I took it off and she went to the corner and squatted down. I quickly grabbed her and put her on the potty and she went right away! She was so proud of herself! And we are so proud of her! We are hoping this continues and it isn't much work for Greg and I. The best part would be to be done with diapers!!!

Claire is a toddler with definite sassiness and attitude. One day Grant really wanted to hold Claire's hand and she would only hold mine. He eventually got her to hold his hand in the car and he was in heaven.

Jackie was in town and we got the boys together to play. They had a blast! Milo brought a Tigershark monster truck and it was a hit at the park. They eventually became friends with the whole park!

I took a trip to Colorado to visit my Grandma and Aunt and see my high school friends. It was really fun to see my Grandma and Aunt. And it was also fun with the girls. We mainly did a lot of sight seeing and hiking and it was just fun to hang out. Greg held down the fort with the kids and help from the grandparents and Kailey.

Since Grant is getting so many stay at home days this summer, Blakey has been asking for a Daddy day. He was so excited and wanted to go to a jump park and watch Youtube. He had a fun day!

Steph's Grandpa ended up passing away right before our girl trip and ended up going to Des Moines just as we were coming to see her. It was nice she was still in Des Moines when we got back from the trip and she came over one morning to see us and brought Cam so that Grant had someone to play with. It is fun to see Grant and Cam play together. They seem to have fun and get along well.

Claire had a dentist appointment and did awesome! She was amazing for a 2 year old. Grant came with us and so I think that helped.

Claire has learned how to count 1-10 in Spanish! She just did it one day and I was super impressed!

I took Grant mini golfing one day at the end of summer. He initially got a hole-in-one! He was so proud of himself and we had to make a video to tell Dad. The rest of the time was not as much fun. I tried to teach Grant that golf is a tough sport and a hole-in-one is very rare but he didn't believe me.

We took the boys to the Iowa State Fair and they had a blast! They told me they like the Iowa State Fair more than the big lake. I wasn't happy about that ;-D. We didn't go on any rides but we say the Train Museum, ate some good food, and did Little Hands on the farm. Greg and I went back to the fair that Saturday for a Dixie Chicks concert and it was HOT. It was miserable but everyone had fun!

Blake and Claire can play so well together and it is so cute to watch!

We had meet the teacher night for Grant. It was so nice to go because it got Grant excited to go back to school. He doesn't know anyone in his class but hopefully he will make new friends this way!

Grant had a great first day of school! The younger kids wanted to get their signs out also to be just like brother even though it wasn't their first day. Blake is a the big man on campus this year in Clubhouse and Claire is in preschool. It was 100 degrees so no outside recess and that made him sad because he didn't see his friends. He was exhausted at the end of the day after all the stimulation. He seems to have a good teach and we hope for a great year for him!

Claire and I stayed home one night while the boys went to swim lessons and Claire wanted to dress up like a princess. She loved her princess earrings and she was the cutest princess I have ever seen!

The boys have been watching Blippi and he has an episode to teach kids to dance. Here the kids are doing Blippi's hip hop dance. Claire, of course, had to be a part of it if her brothers are doing it!

The weekend mornings when the kids get up, we watch TV in my bed and it is my new favorite thing to do with them. I love them all cuddled up in bed with me.

I was brushing my teeth and looked out of the bathroom to find this and hear this cute little voice "help mommy help"

Greg was out of town on a guys trip so I took the kids to a near by park! It was fun but there was a wasp on a ladder so that scared the kids off from using part of the playground. Grant was a great big brother at the park. He played and helped Claire so well! She was loving all the attention from her brother!

Grant wanted to work out one afternoon when the kids were napping. He wanted to walk on the treadmill and workout like Mom and Dad.

Claire can read "Brown Bead, Brown Bear what can you see?" all by herself and she loves this book! She carries it around and sleeps with it at night. I think she is proud of herself for being able to "read" it.

Claire figured out how to climb out of her crib!!! We lowered it to the floor and she STILL figured out how to get out. So we gave in and put her in a toddler bed to avoid any injury in the future. We will see how this goes. Greg and I are not confident about her being able to escape and how our nights and early morning will be affected.

Claire was SO excited for her big girl bed! Lets hope this helps the nap and bedtime battles and Greg and I did not create more problems for ourselves! Blake was so sweet and wanted to walk her upstairs to show her the new bed.

Grant was so sweet and wanted to read her a bedtime story. She was so excited about the bed she wasn't able to sit still and listen but Grant was being such a good big brother!

That same day she decided to climb out of her crib, she also decided she didn't want to wear diapers anymore. Greg and I love the fact that she wants to potty train herself, we just wish we had a little more warning! I went and bought her Minnie Mouse underwear and she didn't quite understand where they went. She does great going potty and telling us she has to go potty only if she is naked. If she puts on underwear she will pee in a few seconds. She also hasn't mastered poop yet. We aren't ready to fully commit yet because we are leaving in a few weeks but we will let her potty train at home for the time being!

Claire loves dancing especially with her brothers! Here they are dancing to the end of the Trolls movie. Grant was too cool to dance this time.

We have had some beautiful days and nights recently. It has been hot during the day but beautiful at night. Blake, Claire and I are playing outside while Grant and Dad are at practice and Claire is looking for Grandma.

June 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:09 GMT

Grant has been home with me since the beginning of summer so far and so he has been helping me clean. Here is a picture of his type A shoe organizing he did for me.

I took the boys bowling one day and it wasn't a fun experience. Blake was hangry so he was having a meltdown during bowling. Luckily, Greg had planned to meet us on his lunch break so I was able to take Blake home while Greg stayed to let Grant finish his game. Next time I will make sure Blake is well fed before going bowling. :)

Claire has been telling us "NO NO" and she thinks it's funny. So she will say "NO NO" and start laughing. We have great control of our kids as you can tell.

We got invited to Dream Night for Blakey again this year at the Blake Park Zoo. The kids had fun and enjoyed all the free stuffies and activities.

Claire learned how to do a frustrated face from Ms. Rachel. It is the cutest, funniest face ever. We all laugh when we see it and she loves doing the face.

I took Grant mini golfing one of the days he was home with me. He loved it! He is loving golf and he loves to go with me because he wins. ;-). I hope he continues to love golf and Greg really hopes he does too.

Claire is a little fish in the water. She loves swimming and jumping in. She was a little nervous of the fountains at our pool the first time we went but now she loves them and has no fear in the pool.

We put a new sand box under our play set and the kids all love it. It is nice and big so everyone can sit in it and it is covered most of the time from the sun.

Blake finished soccer this month. He has fun playing but didn't like it being so hot. He is good and soccer and aggressive to the ball. He scored 2 goals this season! He is signed up for VSA this next season but we will see if he continues to like soccer or something else.

Grant lost another tooth! It was very wiggly for a few weeks and finally came out when we were driving. He has lost 6 teeth so far.

We had our neighbors, the Ertz's, over one night to play in our bounce houses. The kids destroyed our house and Got out almost every single toy, but at least they were entertained so we could talk to Ashley and Mike. The girls loved playing with the dolls and sitting at the doll table. It was so cute to watch.

Claire fell asleep eating lunch on Saturday. We wore her out at the parks in the morning.

We took the kids to the Omaha zoo for Father's Day. We were going to take them Saturday but it rained in Omaha. So we decided to go on Father's Day and I think Greg will change what he wants to do on Father's Day next year. Surprisingly, Claire was the best behaved at the zoo. It was a really cool zoo with lots of animals and it has changed quite a bit since I was last there. The kids favorite thing was the train ride.

My Aunt Connie and Uncle Eric stopped over when they were in town and took this sweet picture of my kids. My kids were less than angels that afternoon but it was nice to talk to them for a short while.

Greg got out his Dad's boat and took it for a ride with his friend Josh, Josh's son and Grant. Grant loved it and even caught a few fish.

I caught a cute (rare) moment of the boys sitting together on the couch watching a show together without fighting.

Grandma came over to watch the kids while Greg and I painted her new townhouse and I came home to this cute sight of the boys cuddling with her.

The kids were all playing soccer and kicking the soccer ball between their legs. Claire wants to be just like her brothers and loves playing soccer like them.

Claire has learned so much from Ms. Rachel and loves all the songs she does on her show. She is so cute when she does the hand motions and sings the songs with her. Grant was being a great big brother and playing with her and singing songs with her one morning.

The boys have been wanting to make caterpillars from egg cartons and we made them one rainy stay at home day. It was a fun activity for all ages that day. We still need to let them dry and then we will put the eyes and antennas on them.

One morning the boys gathered up all of their magnatiles in the house and we made the biggest tower we could. It almost reached the ceiling!

May 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:07 GMT

We participated in May Day for the first time this year. The boys had fun ringing doorbells and running away. They wanted to wear their football jerseys and helmets so that people would think they were the real football players. Blake was not injured on his fall. He is out clumsy kid. They had a hard time understanding that even though we give the baskets out, we might not get any in return. Grant was really sad about this. A neighbor gave us one by the end of the night so the boys were happy!

Grant and Claire wanted to work out with me so we did some squats together!

We had a Mommy/Blakey day! We played, went to the library, went out to lunch and played some more. Nana joined us for a little bit at the library. Blake said he had a good day so that is all that matters to me. It is so fun to have one on one time with each kid.

Grant has been playing soccer with VSA this spring and loving it! He is getting way more aggressive and it is fun to watch.

Jackie came into town and I got to have a night out with her! It was fun to see her and catch up with my friends!

We have had some beautiful weather this month so we have been trying to get the kids outside and much as possible. They also love being outside after being cooped up all winter. Claire especially loves outside and will go cry and the door saying "outside". She doesn't quite understand we can't go outside if it is raining or too cold. This is the best I could get of a picture of all 3 of them. It is tough to do sometimes.

The boys found the sunglasses Grandma got them for Valentine's day and they have been wearing them around.

I got to go to music class with Grant and see all he is learning and dance with him! It was fun to see him at school!

I caught this cute picture of the 3 of them holding hands walking into daycare. So sweet and I have to catch on camera the moments these happen!

The kids love to dance so we have dance parties often. Grant was so sweet and danced with Claire. Blake was showing off his break dance skills to old school boy band music. Grant's new favorite song is "Low" so we listen to that inappropriate song often.

For some reason the kids love to lay on Greg's back when he lays on the floor. Claire will sit and loves when Dad moves side to side and she falls off.

I found this sock challenge on social media and we did it with the boys. It was a blast and the boys loved it.

Grant showed me the "loser dance" the boys do at school. We had to talk about how that is not appropriate.

Mother's Day this year was rainy and cold. We made the best of it and went to ihop for breakfast and then to a few parks just to get out of the house. The boys were refusing to take a good picture but at least I got Claire looking at the camera. She just followed her brothers around and has to be where they are.

Greg and I got to volunteer with Grant's class at the zoo. We had so much fun and it was a perfect day for it. We had one of his friend's, Hudson and we got to see the whole zoo!

Grant had his first golf lesson with our neighbor who used to be a golf pro. Grant had fun and did really well. Greg bought soft balls to practice in our backyard and Grant responds better to Alex than Greg for teaching.

Claire loves sitting in these chairs and reading to her stuffed animals. She was also putting 2 animals in the chairs and being the teacher. And she loves putting the animals in that basinet and putting them to sleep. It is just so cute to watch.

We got our new bedroom furniture this month! I was nervous how it would turn out but it turned out great. We had been waiting on this since January. Now it is time to get rid of the old stuff and start shopping for new bedding and lamps!

Greg left early one morning to help Grandma with her grass before listing her house. She bought a town house in Waukee and will be listing her house in Webster City soon. We are so excited for her to be down here! Grant wanted to show Greg the drawings he did. Grant has been loving art lately and says he wants to be an artist when he grows up.

The kids had a morning dance party to Cocomelon and I am here for it! It was fun to watch.

I wanted to have a Blake/Mommy day with just Blake before Grant was home for the summer. We cuddled, played and let Blake make all the decision on what to do. He doesn't get to do that very often being in the middle. We got to see Grandma's new townhouse and go to lunch with Daddy, Grandma and Auntie Kellie. It was a fun day together!

The boys have been wanting to have a bath with Claire. They had a blast but the bathroom was WET after the bath! The kiddos giggles made it worth it.

Claire put her animals at her table and grabbed some books to read to them. We moved the table and chairs to the play room because it was distracting and delaying bedtime. She loves that table!

We had a surprise Thursday May 25th when Greg texted me saying his stomach hurt and he thought it was his appendix. He went to urgent care and then to the ER and eventually had to be transferred to Methodist downtown and wait to have surgery for the next day. He didn't end up having surgery until 4:00 pm the next day! They just gave him pain medicine and he was out until the next dose. When he came back to the room after surgery, he was still really out of it, couldn't keep his oxygen up and needed another dose of antibiotics so he ended up staying until the next morning. We were both really happy once the surgery was over and Greg was SO much more comfortable. The recovery was relatively easy but his lifting restrictions were the hardest part. He can't lift over 10 pounds so he can't lift Claire. We are hoping that is only a few weeks until he goes to his follow up.

Grant had his last day of Kindergarten! Grant was SO excited for summer and I have mixed feelings. The year went by SO fast it makes me sad but it is also fun to watch him grow and learn. We are so proud of Grant and all that he has accomplished this year. He loves math the most and is very good at it. He is also a very good reader. His test scores were way above average and we love his desire to learn. We hope that continues as he grows!

Grandma and I got to go to Grant's field day. The silver lining of Greg's surgery being pushed back was that I was able to be there to watch Grant. He looked like he was having a blast and was so excited Grandma was there too!

Blake has been in Hope soccer this spring. He has a blast but it is usually when he is playing with his friends. He likes soccer but also told me last week he didn't want to play because he was sweating. Claire was exhausted during the game and Papa got some good snuggles! It was the first hot game the last week. Greg has been coaching but was unable this game because of his surgery.

There is a place close to us that serves gluten free and dairy free ice cream options so, of course, we had to go and try it out. The ice cream was great and we got there just in time. It was packed when we were leaving.

I found some popsicles at Costco that Claire and Blake love. So it officially feels like summer! Of course, I go back to Costco to get more and can't find them!

I caught a rare moment when all 3 kids were in the playroom playing nicely! I don't think this has ever happened before so it was a moment to capture.

I have noticed Claire talking so much more the past week. She is talking about a waddling penguin here and it is just so cute to see.

Grant and Blake were supposed to have a special day home with Mom but Claire has been having diarrhea for almost a week and her diaper rash is horrible so she was home with us too! We had to go to the library to sign up for the reading program so Nana came over to help me go out in public with 3 kids! Then the boys were so excited we came home and read for about 30 minutes. And the boys get their special day (without Claire) to go to the pool. It was a fun day!

After nap time I got out the splash pad for the kids. Grant was so excited but Claire was very hesitant initially. Blake wanted to read in his bed for 30 minutes before coming out but they all ended up having a blast! We had such a fun day together! Summertime is so fun!

April 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:04 GMT

Grant went to a friend's birthday at Sparetime and had a blast. It was quite chaotic with so many boys with SO much energy but Grant had fun! He has such a great group of friends.

The cousins and Aunt Kellie came over on the 2nd to have a belated birthday celebration for Auntie Kellie. The kids had fun playing outside with their cousins.

Saturday morning all of the kids climbed into my bed to watch TV and cuddle in the morning. I love having all my kids in my bed watching TV. I loved Claire resting her head on Grant's belly. So adorable.

Nana and Papa took Blake and Grant to the new Mario movie the first day it came out. It was so hard to wait SO long for the movie to come out so the boys were counting down the days. They loved it especially Blake and he was laughing during it and very into the movie. My parents had a blast taking them.

Claire has been loving playing in water lately. She will have multiple tantrums if she doesn't get to play in water. It is not always warm enough outside so we let her play with her play sink inside. It is very messy and always requires an outfit change but keeps her busy for awhile!

The boys got their new swim suits from Aunt Nicki and love them! They got them the night they got home from the Mario movie so it was perfect timing.

Claire has been wearing Maribel's glasses from her doll. She wears them all over and it is the cutest thing. I bought her toddler size ones and she only wants to wear the doll size ones.

We had a good Easter this year! We did not make it to church because Claire was sick until Saturday afternoon with a fever. She has a cold/virus but luckily the rest of us stayed healthy that weekend. We dyed eggs Saturday morning and there were only a few meltdowns in the process and lots of questions why we dye Easter eggs, but still moments of fun. We had Easter dinner with the Chalik family Saturday afternoon and it was beautiful outside so it was fun to be able to play outside with family. Sunday the kids found their Easter baskets and then we played until going to Auntie Kellie's house to celebrate Easter with them. The kids had their Easter egg hunt with Grandma and the adults had theirs also. Greg ended up being the big winner this year!

Blake and Claire wanted to ride their bikes. We brought out Claire's pink bike and she loved riding it and was really good at it! Blake is getting better at coasting on his balance bike so hopefully it is a smooth transition to a real bike.

Blake got new "fast shoes" and he was so excited to go home and race Daddy and WIN!

We celebrated Chloe's birthday a week late since it was on Easter weekend. The cousin's all had so much fun playing together.

We took the boys to Monster Jam and they loved it! Claire stayed home with Courtney since it was during nap time and very loud.

Claire has been having a lot of tantrums lately. She is better at communication but still has a hard time. If she doesn't get what she wants it is a complete meltdown! Thank you Ms. Rachel on youtube for helping us understand out emotions. Here Claire is acting "frustrated."

Claire just wants to do everything like her big brothers! She is trying to grow up too fast. She wants to swing like a big girl these day!

We finally got Claire to wear her new Maribel glasses!

Claire vomited at school on Friday, again on the way home and twice more that night. We think it might be from drainage from her cold but don't know why she puked. She didn't have a fever and was fine again by Saturday. I tried out a new pigtail hair-do to keep her hair out of her face. She hated it but looked oh-so cute!

Grant went over to his friend, Finlay's house to play one night and Claire had fun playing with his sister. The boys tipped over this gator and I think my heart stopped for a few seconds. They were all alright but definitely scary to watch.

Claire has been loving yogurt lately and she makes a huge mess when eating it! Baths every night after yogurt!

The kids (Greg) sent me these beautiful flowers to my last part-time day at work. I am switching to PRN and will be working one day a week -ish. It will be nice to have more time with my kids and not have to miss any activities.

Claire found her bunny sweatshirt and loves it! She hops around like a bunny and points to it and says, "bunny!"

Claire will run to the corner of our family room and giggle and stare at Greg until he chases her and tries to get her. She is such a cute age.

We had planned on going to the epilepsy walk at Jordan Creek Mall but I got the date wrong and we went a day too late. Ooops! Nana was already there with us so we just walked to the play area of the mall and the kids played for awhile. It was nice since we were the only ones there and the kids were able to burn of some energy. It was cold and windy outside so they had a lot of energy to burn!

March 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:02 GMT

Claire had her surgery to remove her cyst from her right eyebrow on the 2nd. I was super nervous since this was the first surgery for one of my kids that wasn't just ear tubes. She did amazing! She went back to the OR and didn't even cry. She was not happy when she woke up and stayed that way until about 30 minutes after getting home. Claire and I cuddled on the couch and once she started eating and drinking she was back to her normal self. The site looks great and hopefully not too big or noticeable of a scar.

The next day Claire was with Nana and Papa while Greg and I worked. She had so much fun playing with them! And I think they had fun too ;-)

About a week after her surgery, Claire got a cold which led to pneumonia. She had a high fever for about 5 days and we took her back in and they are treating her with antibiotics. She still has a cough but is on the mend. We are so happy this happened a week after her surgery and we loved getting all the extra snuggles!

Claire loves to sing and dance. They always turn on Baby Shark at daycare when she get there because she loves it so much. She loves to sing her favorite songs and her favorite of the moment is Moana!

Claire's first pony tail! It doesn't stay in very long and she doesn't love it but it is so cute on her.

Grant lost his other front tooth! He did NOT want it pulled out and it was hanging on by a thread all day and finally came out. The tooth fairy forgot to take his tooth and we couldn't find the money right away but we found it! All Grant wants for Easter is his two front teeth!

Blake loves to be the teacher and read books to us! He even likes to read to Claire.

We recently discovered Claire can count to 10! (Thank you daycare) She is also a daredevil. She decided to go down the slide head first all on her own. Greg and I are in trouble as she gets older!

Grant learned how to ride his bike! I worked with him a few weeks ago and knew he was close to learning so we went out one nice Saturday when everyone else was sleeping. It didn't take him long to figure it out. He decided he wanted to try without me holding on and figured it out quick! He was frustrated with himself at first because he couldn't make it all the way to the end of the street and kept going into the grass. He figured it out after a few more tries and was very proud of himself!

Claire is behind in her words so I am always looking for ways to help her. She is slowly getting better and I think part of it is that she doesn't have a chance to talk with her older brothers around. I found this new youtube channel that helps kids learn how to talk. Her name is Ms. Rachel and she is great and I can already tell a difference in Claire just after watching it a few times. The boys even like watching her.

A bunch of sicknesses have gone through our family this month. Claire got sick first and it was a cold that turned into pneumonia. Blake got it next and had the same thing. He also was very lethargic and tired. He would just lay around on the floor with his finger in his mouth. He got a rash shortly after that so he either had antibiotic allergy or a viral rash on top of the respiratory issues. We gave both kids albuterol to help. And here I thought we were done with this nebulizer! Greg got sick next and had a 103 fever one Saturday and then followed with GI symptoms that Claire also got. We are hoping we get over this and the warm weather (finally) shows up so we aren't sick anymore! Grant and I have luckily stayed healthy through it all.

One of Claire's stitches didn't dissolve and so I had to take home scissors from work and cut it out. I was worried it would get infected. She did amazing and it was no big deal cutting it out. And the scar looks great. It is still red but I know that will go away over time. I am relieved.

February 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:12:00 GMT

Claire has been sitting on the potty and we would love for her to potty train early so we can be done with diapers! She is not quite ready and we have learned from our boys, starting too soon will only cause more stress and accidents for Greg and I. So we will be waiting until she is very ready and showing all the signs!

Claire fell asleep eating lunch one day when I was home with her. She was still holding her milk and everything. I must have worn her out!

We had a beautiful snow day this month! It was warm-ish and sunny outside but still had good snow on the ground for a fun snowball fight! Claire and Blake had a blast playing.

Uncle Mit gave Claire a balance bike for Christmas and she is just finally brave enough to try and she loves it!

Claire loves to read books and play with her animals in the table and chairs I was given as a young girl. It is so fun to watch her love those like I did.

Grant is a good big brother and loves to help! He held Claire's hand as they walked into Nana and Papa's house for Nana's birthday celebration.

We made a shark box for Blake for his Valentine's Day party and he loved it! It was more work than we initially thought but it turned out cute.

I tried to do my first braid on Claire's hair and it turned out okay but I am going to need to practice to get better at this "girl mom" thing.

Grant finished his basketball and he loved it. He did a really great job and scored 4 baskets on his last game. He was on the same team as Tyler and his friend from school, Josie.

We have been stuck in the house too long by this point and Claire has been dying to go outside and play with the water table. So I got out our kid sink. She loved it, but of course, Blake also wanted to play. It ended in a hug mess and lots of tears. We are hoping it warms up soon so we are able to play outside!

We had a snow storm this week but it warmed up a few days later so we were able to enjoy the snow. It was perfect snowman snow and the boys made a huge one named "Snowie"

We celebrated a HUGE milestone this month! Blake is officially one year seizure FREE!!!! It happens to fall on my birthday because the last possible seizure was February 19th and so I loved sharing my day with him! We are just going to keep praying the seizures stay away for another year so we can try and get off medicine. He is still gluten free and we continue to give him his medicine and supplements. He does amazing with this and we are just SO proud of him!! This has been such a long road to get this far, and I never knew if this day would come, so it is a celebration for Greg and I also! We are so blessed we had the resources to get Blake to this point!

For my birthday the boys made me cards and we went bowling after dinner. I wouldn't say it was a stress free birthday as we had some meltdowns bowling all while chasing Claire around, but it was a good birthday!

I tried to get my kids to watch Thomas shows like they used to because I miss that stage but they were not into it! They watched a few minutes of it and I caught Claire and Blake dancing. All of our kids love to dance and Greg and I love watching them dance!

When picking up the kids at daycare, Grant asked if we could get Claire first. We usually get Blake first because it is easier for me but I caught them holding hands so cutely on the way to get Blake.

Claire and I fell asleep watching TV and I loved it! She doesn't love cuddling on me very often so I soaked this time up.

I went to get Claire from her crib one morning and she had figured out how to undress herself and was naked! This better not become a thing where we come in and she has figured out how to take off her diaper!

Claire found her baby stroller and has been pushing her baby dolls around in them. She is so nurturing and it is so cute to watch!

This month we got a jar and the boys have to fill the jar by doing things they are supposed to. For example, putting on coat and shoes without being asked multiple times, putting clothes in hamper, etc. If they filled the jar they got beyblade arena and beyblades. They convinced Grandma to play with them also. The toys are very frustrating to play with and don't work like they are supposed to but Grandma was able to figure it out!

January 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:58 GMT

Claire is learning all of the animal sounds and starting to talk a little bit more. Still not as much as we hope but we are getting there!

Blake and Claire are so cute together! I was surprised Blake was willing to share his blanket.

Greg and I got our first facial together for our Christmas present. I had streaks down my neck afterward and was worried it would look like I got mauled by a cat but it faded slightly by the next day. The lady said Greg was a good candidate for this but didn't notice much on my skin.

Grant had a Friday off of school so we took the kids to Minnesota to the Mall of America. My parents watched Claire and we just took the boys. It was a last minute decision but we pulled it together pretty quick. We got joining rooms at a hotel with a cool looking pool close to the mall. On Friday we went to the Nickelodeon world and rode all the rides. We loved being there during the week because there were no lines or waits! We tried to go back Saturday and it was packed. The boys loved all the rides. They went on their first roller coaster and Grant was not too sure about it at first but loved it after another time or 2 riding it. We met up with my friend Kelly and her girls for dinner Friday night and went to their house Saturday morning for breakfast. The kids all got along very well. We went to Greg's friend Kirt's house and the boys found a new toy the HAD to have. It was fun to catch up with our friends. We went to the aquarium Saturday afternoon and saw some sharks! Saturday night we planned on hanging out at the pool and ordering pizza but the pool was packed, hurt Grant's eyes and not as much fun as we expected. So we hung out in our hotel room and watched football. It was a great short vacation and we all had a really good time. It was nice to get away and have some fun. We missed Claire though! She had fun with Nana and Papa but she was so excited when we got home she refused to nap. :)

Grant has been playing basketball at the Recplex. He got hid in the eye on accident and it caused a swollen eye. Luckily, it went away pretty quickly and he didn't bruise bad.

Claire has my set of doll chairs and table in her room that was made from me when I was a little girl. She loves playing with them, sitting in them and sitting her dolls/stuffed animals in them.

I caught Claire nicely reading books alone in the play room. I love catching moments like these.

We got a Nintendo Switch game for Christmas that is similar to the Wii called Mario Olympics. We race nightly and Claire thinks she is playing too.

This month was the one year anniversary of Cal's passing. It is a hard day to know what to do. Greg's family decided we would have a fish fry to remember the good times. Greg did a really good job of cooking the fish and it was a nice memory together. Our family let off balloons earlier in the day to send up to heaven to Grandpa. Grant's got caught in a tree and he was so sad, rightfully so. So he and I went and bought 2 new balloons and he got to pick the colors and send them up. The first time we went to raccoon river park and the second we went to the pond by the library. Both places we have fished with Grandpa. Grant and I went and got a donut after that since it was so sad his first one got caught in the tree. The only picture I took of the night is Claire and Chloe playing together so nicely.

I love seeing these pictures of all our kids sitting nicely together without fighting. Claire and Grant are even holding hands.

The boys were giving Dad "shots" and all the kids thought it was hilarious. Cute laughs all around.

It was Woodland Hills night at the Varsity basketball game and Grant was able to shoot a basket at halftime. He was hesitant to go at first because he didn't want to miss the game but was eager to go once he found out what they were doing!

Claire loves to dance to the next songs she learns at daycare. Here we are dancing to Happy and you know it, Hooray! She loves her Mommy so much these days and I will take it! Cries when I leave and only wants me when I am there.

I noticed Claire has a lip tie on her top lip. I talked to her ENT and she said to go see a dentist so I made an appointment with a dentist for early February. They should be able to fix it with a laser so hopefully she wont have to go under anesthesia.

End of 2022 (October-December)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:56 GMT

October 1st-December 31st

We celebrated Greg's birthday at a Grant's school tailgate. We were hoping to meet a few of Grant's new friends but it was so busy we didn't see any. The next day I had a baby shower for Leslie so I was able to bring home some of the leftover food so Greg was able to eat some good food. Greg's family came over Saturday afternoon and we celebrated with a gluten and dairy free brownie. Greg is a good dad to give up his favorite angel food cake for Blake. Greg and I are hoping next year we are able to celebrate his birthday on vacation. We still need to celebrate his 40th birthday with a trip!

I caught a rare moment of the boys playing Go Fish together nicely with no fights! I love seeing moments like these. Hopefully as they age there are more of these moments.

Claire started daycare at the beginning of October and it has been rough for her since. She has been feeling sick with multiple ear infections for weeks. There have been many long nights with little sleep for Greg and I which has us questioning if daycare is worth all this lack of sleep. I am sure she is on the road to ear tubes and we wish we could get it over with already. Here is a picture I caught of her asleep sitting up because it was the only way she could get comfortable. We obviously didn't leave her sleeping like this and I went in shortly after and let her sleep on me but it makes us feel bad she is so miserable!

Grant had his last taekwondo class and he was so excited to get his belt! He was sad he did not get any special awards but we think he did a great job and learned so much so quick! He would like to do it again sometime but we are going to take a break. He was very overwhelmed with taekwondo and soccer at the same time so we are going to let him have a break from activities for a little while.

Greg had a weekend away with his friends to watch an Iowa State football game is Austin mid October. It was a rough weekend for me but I think Greg had a blast and enjoyed the time away! Claire was so sick with double ear infections, wasn't sleeping and in a lot of pain. The boys really missed their dad and I have a picture of Grant so sad looking out the window because we wanted to play catch with his Dad.

We have rare moments where our kids will play nicely together. It is usually short lived but I am glad I caught this moment of Blake and Claire playing with a dog on video to remember. :)

Blake is such a cute dancer! I love watching him especially when he shakes his booty or does his break dance moves. Claire is thinking about dancing in this video but gets distracted with Mom's voice.

Blake somehow got an infected thumb. He told me his thumb hurt a few days before but it just looked normal like a hang nail and I didn't think much of it after that. A few night's later I heard him crying in his bed after bedtime and I went in there and he was crying about his thumb. I looked at it and it looked horrible. We gave him medicine that night and took him into urgent care. They cut it open and cleaned it out and sent Blake home with an antibiotic. We also had to soak it every night until it healed. When the culture came back the nurse called me and said it was MRSA. I have no idea how he would have gotten that. It ended up being a fiasco with the antibiotic and they gave us a new one but did not tell us but luckily it healed without the super strong antibiotics and is all better a few weeks later. I tell ya what-if one of our kids is going to get something, it is going to be Blake. Poor little guy. He handled it very well.

We went to Howell's Pumpkin Patch one evening after school. We loved it as always and the kids had a blast.

We had a play date at a park with one of Blake's friend's, Jack, from school. They all had a blast playing and Greg and I enjoyed getting to know their parents, Kelly and Jake.

We carved pumpkins for the first year this year and the boys had fun even though Greg and I did most of the work. ;-D. Blake and I were a team and Grant and Dad were a team. Claire was there for moral support!

Claire is learning so many fun things at daycare. Right now she loves dancing to wheels on the bus. So cute to watch!

Grant got to go to Paxton's birthday party at Spare Time and Grant had a blast. Grant played a virtual reality game for the first time and didn't know what to think.

A cute picture of the boys with all of their teddy bears from Auntie Kellie. And me in the background stuffing my face with cottage cheese. :)

Everyone was excited for trick or treat this year and we got to go twice! Peter's office had a trick or treat a few days before and it was so fun! The boys were the red power ranger and Claire was the pink one. Luckily, it was a beautiful night out. My parents and brothers came over to walk with us for a little while and the boys enjoyed that!

The boys started basketball at the end of October also. Since the boys are only 1 year apart for 2 months, they were able to play on the same team. We initially thought this would be a great idea but we were wrong. Greg was the coach and the team assigned to him was too young. It was a rough season and Greg is going to take a break from coaching after that one! Grant loved it and was one of the oldest on his team so played great. Blake was not too interested and refused to play a few of the games. We are going to wait a little longer to put Blake in another sport. And Claire just wanted to be out there playing with her brothers so someone had to be constantly walking around with her or else she would make her way back onto the court.

Grant had to disguise a turkey for a school project and he chose to disguise him as Chiefs player Patrick Mahomes. He favorite player of the moment! He was so proud of his turkey.

I went on a girls trip to Austin, Texas to visit Jackie with a couple girls. We had a blast and it was nice to have time away. Greg was home with the kids and my parents took Claire one night so Greg could have a little bit of a break and go up to his family reunion that weekend.

We celebrated Grant's friends birthday party at Spare Time. The kids had time to go and play some games and then we did one game of Laser Tag. The boys seemed to have a blast!

We celebrated with family the next day on his actual birthday. In the morning of his birthday we went to the Science Center. Grant loved it but I think it is a little too old for Claire and Blake's age. I can't believe Grant is already 6!

Blake makes this deep growly voice when he sings at school. Miss Janice took a video for us to watch and it makes us laugh so hard!

On his birthday afternoon we were going to have a Mom and Grant afternoon while the other kids slept. Grant got a book about sports and wanted to read it so we went to Starbucks because he wanted hot chocolate and the date lasted all of about 10 minutes. We got there, sad down, read one page and he asked to go home. He enjoyed his reindeer cake pop though!

That next week we went to Iowa City to have a 24 hour EEG with Blake. We asked Grandma to come along for another hand. Blake had to have his leads attached for 24 hours and he couldn't leave his bed. We were worried about keeping him still for this long but he did great! We were very impressed with how well he did. He did not like the leads being put on or taken off his head but other that he did amazing. And we got AMAZING results! We are so thankful!!! He did not have any seizures and no spikes of epileptic activity noticed on his EEG. The doctor also did not notice any slowing of his brain waves or epileptic encephalopathy. They were amazed with the results and said they did not expect it to looks this good comparing to the previous EEG only about 11 months ago. We are SO happy! We have let Blake have some dairy as of now and since the EEG results looked so good we are going to continue with that. Blake loves cheese and is eating so much better now that he has more options. We are going to keep doing what we are doing and hope in about 15 months we can get another one and possibly try weaning off meds!! We are just taking it day by day right now and our short term goal is to get to one year seizure free in February!

The boys loved pushing around Claire in the doll stroller and she loved it too! So much so it is now hidden in the closet. She was a little too heavy for it and it kept breaking. I am sure the boys will love pushing her around when the weather gets nicer and we can go outside.

Blake has been asking for "rocket shoes." We didn't know where we were going to find those but luckily the Nike swoosh is a rocket shoe in Blakey's eye. He loves his new shoes!

The boys have been dying to put up the Christmas tree. So we put it up a few weeks early. Claire was a "big help" and kept breaking all the ornaments. We ended up only having ornaments on the top half of the tree and only a few soft ones where Claire could reach. Not the prettiest tree but I love this season with kids so I think it is just beautiful that way! We love the Christmas season and the boys do to so why not enjoy it a little longer?

We got out the boy's old battery powered Thomas the train and Claire loves riding it also. Greg and I loved the Thomas the Train days and are very sad they are over so we loved seeing Claire enjoy it also. And Blake is such a sweet big brother.

Claire loves her brothers so much. She walks up to them every morning and wants hugs and kisses. She will even walk up to them if they are crying so hug them. So sweet she picks up on this already. Grant is such a good big brother to let her give him hugs and kisses like this.

Claire is so cute doing her "so big."

Claire blows kisses and it is the sweetest thing. She is getting so fun!

Someone in our family finally plays with our kitchen!! And she is so good at playing by herself at times.

We got to see Santa twice this year. He made a special appearance at daycare and we saw him at Hy-Vee with Mrs. Claus one day also. Grant wants all things Kansas City Chiefs, Blake wants a Hot Wheels dinosaur garage, and Claire has no idea what is coming! It is an exciting year for us with the kid's ages but also a sad one with it being the first without Grandpa.

We went over to our neighbors house to make ginger bread houses. Blake wanted noting to do with the houses (until it was time to leave) and just wanted to play with their toys but Grant loved it. Claire had fun playing with Karley. Greg dropped it on the way home accidentally but luckily our elf, Henry brought a Super Mario one the next day! We have fun decorating that one.

Claire and Grant playing together so nicely and holding hands!

Grant lost another tooth and has lost a total of 4 with one of the bottom ones almost in.

Greg has been working hard building board and batten on our wall in our master bedroom. It looks great and I am very happy with it! I think Greg would say he is happy with it but learned a lot in the process. He is going to build a half wall in our entryway with all that he has learned. And my next project is to find a bedroom set so we can finally get rid of the mismatching dresser and one end table from way too many years ago.

We decorated Christmas cookies with Greg's family to continue their family tradition. I made Blake special gluten free cookies and I was very proud that they actually turned out and weren't too bad tasting either!

Blake plays so nice with Claire. He is just the sweetest!

We went to Des Moines Golf and Country Club on the 23rd like always. This was the only time seeing Santa that Claire hated. The kids did well for the first hour and we over stayed our welcome a little too long. The boys ended up wrestling in the middle of the floor. Greg and I were very embarrassed. We haven't been out to eat very often since Blake's diet changes so it was fair to expect much but we were hoping they knew not to wrestle. Ugh.

Christmas Eve we went to Nana and Papa's house in the morning for presents and then to the Stern's for dinner. It was a fun but busy day and the kids are so excited for Santa to come tonight!

Christmas morning was fun! The boys got everything they wanted from Santa. Everyone got up and Claire had pooped so Greg came in to help me and Blake ran downstairs and yelled "you guys have got to get down here there are so many presents!" and Grant goes "I already know there are a lot of presents and Santa came." I was so sad to miss Blake's reaction to Santa. The excitement only lasts a few years. We went to Auntie Kellie's house later that day for Christmas dinner and got even more presents. It was a very busy but fun Christmas!

How many sports can we play at once? The boys love their helmets and jerseys and want to wear them every day!

A few of Greg and my friends has moved away so when they come back to visit family for the Holidays we get to see them too! Here is a picture from one night Greg went out to get beers with his friend, Brett, and there was a rare moment of all 3 kids sitting quietly one the couch watching TV. It didn't last long but I enjoyed it while it did!

Grant went to play with his friend, Tyler, over break. They ended up both getting jerseys and helmets. The boys loved that and were so excited they were both wearing their jerseys!

Greg took Grant sledding one day of Winter break and he loved it.

Grant got to go to a football camp 2 days over break and had so much fun! He had a few friends there and was so proud of himself for getting a touchdown!

We celebrated Grandma's birthday on the 31st. Greg, Kellie and Barb got a hotel room and the boys went to the pool for a little bit. The adults had a little too much fun that night (;-D) but it was good for them to have time together!

We had such a busy last few months of the year, but looking over this, SO much fun! This stage is very exhausting, demanding of time and energy with not enough sleep but we had so many good memories of birthdays, activities and holidays to remember it with.

12th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:47 GMT

July 1-31

Grant went to Safety City the last weekend of June and had a graduation Friday the 1st. He loved it and it made him want to become a police officer! He did it with his friends Tyler and Camden from daycare. We love the first picture and the smirk Grant gives us when he sees us but doesn't want to smile at us. He got to have a special lunch with Dad after at Panera to get white mac n cheese.

A sweet picture of Blake with his Mom.

Good ol' instagram saved me when the boys were bored and looking for something to do. We made bubble foam. They had fun making, playing and mixing the different color foam. It kept them busy for just a short while but it was fun!

We had a fun and eventful 4th of July. Greg's mom came down the 3rd and went to the WDM parade and we went to the Waukee parade on the 4th! The kids all got a lot of candy :). Grandma spent the night and the morning of the 4th the boys went down to wake her up and Blake fell off the bed and his bottom teeth went through his bottom lip. Claire had 2 more incidences of a blotchy, red rash on her face. We ended up taking her into the allergist again and we think it is just her rubbing her eyes while eating and her sensitive eyes. She has been tested twice and no allergies to food.

Blake has been using the apple TV remote as his phone and it is SO cute!

Claire thinks it is so funny to turn the lights on and off!

We waited to sign up for swim lessons this summer until we knew Grant's ear was healed so we signed up for swim lessons late. We found some at Genesis Health club for the boys. I want them to be confident swimmers so we need to do more of these this winter. They had a lot of fun at the pool, though!

One Sunday dinner Blake got very sad not being able to eat some of his favorite foods. Greg and I have felt very bad restricting him so much so I promised him a snow cone. We went to the place on Ashworth and it took forever! Luckily, there was a playground for the boys to play and the snow cone was good so I am glad it made Blake happy!

We took the boys to the zoo one morning and Nana watched Claire. It was sprinkling at first but ended up being a great day for it. We all had a blast!

My Mom, Nana, is still watching Claire. She loves it! We won't be able to get Claire into daycare until November at the earliest so Nana gets some extra time with her! Nana's neighbor, Connie, watches her grandson, Mack, part time also. Claire and Mack have play dates sometimes and I get the cutest pictures from them!

We are loving all the cute giggles we are getting from Claire these days. We can't seem to get as many on camera as we want but she is very fun these days!

We went to Lake Michigan this year and I was so excited to go since we weren't able to go last year. It was a big adventure for us taking all 3 kids on a vacation and dealing with Blake's specific diet needs. We were nervous with how the kids would handle the drive and change but the kids loved it. We haven't traveled much so this was a big step. We rented our own house which was nice since we were worried about Blake's food and nap/sleeping schedules. Grant LOVED the lake and wanted to spend every minute there. Claire slept great which we were surprised but happy about! Blake ended up getting sick half way through the week with GI symptoms but I considered it a successful week! We went to the train museum which was fun. One of the trains was loud so that scared Blake, but we still had fun. Uncle Jeff took us to visit one of his firefighting friends and the boys got to see the firetrucks. Super cool!The weather was perfect for us. We took the kids to Oinks one evening and found some dairy free ice cream so we all could enjoy! The first weekend was cloudy and humid which was great so we could go to the beach and not worry too much about our kids getting too hot. The sun came out the rest of the week and we went in the morning so it was not too bad. We would take Grant back to the beach in the afternoon when the other kids were sleeping. Claire took her morning nap on Greg or I and I honestly loved those naps watching all my boys play in the water while holding Claire and watching the lake. Absolutely perfect!

Greg and I took a ton of videos on this trip to remember it so here is our video overload of the trip :)

Claire is walking really well with her walker. It wont be long until she is on the move on her own. Then we are really in trouble.

Natasha took Grant and Tyler to the summer festival at. Hope. It was extremely hot that day so we didn't want to take the younger two but they ended up moving it inside and Grant loved it. He got his face painted for the first time and did not want to ever wash it off!

Grandma and Grandpa Young gave us money for a play set a little while ago and we finally found one we liked that fit in our backyard. The boys were really excited for it. Blake was a little hesitant about the slide but I am sure he will be loving it in no time.

Grant is a sweet older brother and was reading to Claire. She loved it!

Claire says a few words-one of them being ball. I am hoping to get her talking more so we can communicate and have less tantrums as she ages. She understands everything but only has a few words.

Claire's "berry" first birthday was on a Sunday so we had a busy day. We had family pictures early in the morning and then had to come home to get ready for her family birthday party that afternoon. We got it all done and had a great birthday. The boys did not like that all the presents were for Claire and not them. Watching the video of her opening presents is chaotic to watch and you can tell our chaotic our lives are daily. We love Claire so much and is a perfect addition to our family. She is just so sweet and dramatic at times and we love her so much! She loves Encanto and Cocomelon right now so I got her a Maribel doll and Cocomelon bus.

We had Claire's one year pictures the same day as her party. As exhausting and stressful family pictures are, these turned out great and I love them! Claire is so sweet and smiley these days. She is almost walking and says a few words. She weighs 22.5 lbs and is about 80% in everything except height. I am still breastfeeding now and will see how long we go. I am ready to be done but she loves nursing to bed so that might be a hard transition. Since she is our last kid I will enjoy the time nursing I have left!

11th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:45 GMT

June 1-30

Greg, Claire and I had a lunch date on one of my days off at the new Mexican restaurant by Target. It was a beautiful day and so nice to be outside.

Claire is moving along furniture and behind her walker so well! Walking won't be long!

I think someone (*cough* Greg *cough*) has gotten frustrated a few too many times and it is amazing what our kids pick up on. Of course, we both get frustrated but the inappropriate words are more likely to come out of Greg's mouth. ;-)

Boys love driving in our yard on their power wheels dump truck.

Grant had surgery on his ear a few months back to remove his left ear tube that never fell out. Dr Liudahl said she was concerned about it closing on its own because of how big the hole was. We went back one time and it was not fully healed. Here is the video of him telling me it has healed. I forgot to put ear drops in his ear a week before this appointment to loosen the gel foam in there so we have to do the drops for a week and get it checked back out but Dr Liudahl is pretty confident its closed. Now time for swimming!!

Blake and Chloe are in Happyfeet soccer league this summer together and it has been so fun to watch. It is nice they have each other out there so both ran right out and were ready to play!

Grant finished up T-ball and football this month. He had fun at T-ball with all his friends but enjoyed football more. The boys had an end of year party at Brook's house and the boys had a blast playing.

Grant lost his first tooth!!! It had been wiggly for a few weeks but we thought it would be a few more weeks until it fell out. Dad took him to get a donut one day during nap time and it came out when he took a bite of his donut. We never found it! So, of course, we had to write a note to the tooth fairy so they knew he lost his tooth. She gave him $5 for his first tooth.

These days its hard to get all of my friends and the kids together with scheduling but we were able to make it work and the kids had fun! We went to the fox creek splash pad and park.

Claire loves Cocomelon. Here is a cute video of her dancing to it.

Grant has been done with naps for awhile and quiet time is officially done so we try to find stuff for Grant to do during the others kids nap time. One day Greg took him mini golfing and he loved it!

We had a fun and busy Fathers Day weekend. The kids got Greg a mug with their pictures on it, some new shirts and a picture frame of Grandpa's best man speech at our wedding. The boys were able to go fishing Sunday morning to honor Grandpa. It wasn't very relaxing but they were able to catch 10 fish and had fun! Seisers and Seversons came over Sunday afternoon to catch up and Greg was able to go out to eat with them while I took the kids to my parents so I could be with my dad.

My mom texted me one day saying she woke up from her second nap with a crusted eye. When I got her after work she had a 101.9 fever. I ended up taking her into the doctor because we were worried about an ear infection. She was better a day or two later after the eye drops and antibiotic kicked in.

Claire is going all over the place these days and getting into everything. I caught her by the toilet the other day. She also puts everything in her mouth! Greg and I can't take our eye off her for a second.

Claire and I were playing with the light switches and she loved it. So many giggles!

We had a quick dinner away with some of my high school friends that were in town. It was nice to get away for a short while.

Blake is getting so much more confident in soccer. It is so fun to watch!

Our favorite movie of the moment is Sing 2. The boys love dancing to Johnny's song. Enjoy some videos of them dancing and playing the piano.

We rallied the troops to watch our kids so Greg and I could go to Leslie's gender reveal on Sunday. They are having a BOY! The due date is only a few days away from when Grant was due.

Claire loves Encanto and her chair. So cute to watch her crawl right up to it and sit in it and watch TV. She also went on her first wagon ride and loved it!

Claire is so busy but happy! She weighs almost 22 pounds. We had another rough month with sleep because of her ear infection and eye issue but hoping with that gone sleeping improves. Greg and I are tired! We can't believe she is almost 1 years old. Years keep getting faster and faster but this one has to be the fastest yet!

10th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:43 GMT

May 1-31

The boys have started to have more (short) moments of playing well together without fighting. Greg and I will take it!

Grant's favorite sports right now are football and basketball. He had his first season on football with i9 and was nervous the first game since this is the first sport he did not have a daycare buddy on the team with him. He scored a touchdown so that helped his spirits!

Claire is pulling herself up and is wants to be a big girl SO bad. She wants to keep up and be just like her brothers! In this picture you can see the cyst above her eye well. We are waiting for the appointment with Plastic Surgery to get that removed.

I gave Claire yogurt and her mouth got red after eating it. I wasn't sure if it was a dairy allergy or just irritated skin. She had her allergy appointment this month and we know for sure it is not a dairy allergy. Doctor was not 100% sure about the eggs so we had to get a blood draw. Greg took her and that was not fun but we are pretty confident there is not an egg allergy so it will be nice to have confirmation so we are not worried. Her test result came back negative and we gave her eggs a few times. She loves them and no rashes!

We celebrated Mother's Day and Greg had the boys tell him 5 things they loved about me and put them in eggs so I had to do an Easter egg hunt Sunday morning. It was super sweet and one of my favorite things so far. Greg said they thought of the reasons all on their own. I had a little help with the hunt ;). Earlier in the week at daycare, Grant made me a bunch of drawings of him and I with a heart in between us. Greg brought them home and was supposed to hide them until Mothers Day but I found them and Grant got really upset I saw them before Mothers Day. Although the surprise was ruined, it was super sweet and made my day that Grant made me special Mother's Day pictures all on his own at daycare.

Claire is not a snuggler so we take all the snuggles we can get! We have to walk and sing to her to get her to sleep. She hate rocking in the chair with us. Greg and I love snuggles so this makes us sad. We have had a rough go of sleeping with Claire at the beginning of this month. She has been waking up a few hours after we put her to bed hysterical and we are unable to calm her down. We have no idea what is causing it but think it could possibly be teeth? We took her to the doctor and it wasn't ears. We are hoping it gets better because we are tired!

Blake has been doing really well. I am hesitant to write this because every time I do he has another seizure or the medicine stops working. We finally got him off Keppra this month and we are so happy! He seems like a happier kid as well. One night when I was putting him to bed he says "Mom I am really happy." That just made my heart melt. It is so hard to give Blake these medicines that wreck havoc on his body so it makes my day he can tell me that. These seizures have taken a lot from us (and we are very lucky compared to others) but if my son is happy and developing on track, it makes this a tiny bit better.

Claire has starting sitting up and trying to pull herself up in the crib. So it is officially time to lower the crib. I took this picture from our monitor on her sitting up and staring at the door waiting for me to come in in the morning. SO cute.

Blake is in Happyfeet soccer this summer. He is getting warmed up to the idea of soccer (he doesn't like people stealing his ball-rightfully so!) but enjoys the warm ups!

Grant is playing spring T-ball with a bunch of his daycare friends. His friends all love to race each other at school so they start each racing with the racing stance. Grant had to get in the stance to run home during T-ball! Greg is the coach with 5 other dads from daycare. Even though it isn't Greg or I's favorite sport, it is fun to watch them all play together!

Grant was a twin with Lenny at school one day and was so excited!

Claire has been pulling herself up to the couch! She has even started taking a step or two while holding on to the couch. She is a determined little girl and is constantly working on mastering this new skill! We are thinking walking is not too far away.

Claire loves her brothers and any attention she gets from them! If they are in the room she is always looking for them to see what they are doing. Here is a video of them playing with her and she loves it. We missed the best giggles but she was just giggling continuously before this.

Grant wanted some alone time with Mom since Blake was getting so much attention with potty training. We made a ramp out of magnatiles and Grant loved it.

I took a few days off of work to take Blake to get an overnight EEG. We ended up canceling and will reschedule due to insurance but I kept the days off to potty train Blake. It was a beautiful week so Claire and I enjoyed some outside time while Blake was napping!

Claire was so cute and starting raising her arms in excitement after I passed the ball to her. She made the cutest face an so I had to get it on camera!

One of the moms in Grant's class threw a party for his class. It was fun to talk with all the parents and ended up being a beautiful day for a party.

We had Grant's preschool graduation this month. Grant was SO excited to graduate. It was a super cute graduation and the kids did a great job. Grandma and Nana/Papa came to watch the celebration. His favorite song they sang was "One Small Voice" and they did sign language to the song. He loves showing us sign language at home. And, of course, he was the last one off the stage to graduate with having a last name of "Young" but he got the loudest cheer being the last one!

After the graduation we celebrated with Grant at Bravo. He wanted to go there to have his new favorite food-buttered noodles. Grandma got him a big cookie and ballon to celebrate and Nana/Papa gave him some books!

We have been potty training Blake this past few weeks. It has definitely been a roller coaster of a job. He is finally starting to figure it out and will tell us when he has to go potty. We are still working on daycare and pooping but he does a great job at home. He will even stay dry most of the time during nap. We are so happy to be done with diapers for another kid!

Grant wanted Uncle Mit to come over on his birthday so we could celebrate! Grant was so excited to get him a football as a gift. The boys had a blast playing with Uncle Mit!

We didn't have much planned over Memorial Day weekend but the weather was beautiful so we spent most of the time outside. We got a splash pad and the boys loved playing in it! Claire isn't too sure about the cold water and I don't blame her! Nana and Papa watched the kids for a few hours so we could go out to dinner and visit some of my friends for Steph's birthday. It was nice to get away kid-free for two hours and I don't think Nana and Papa minded the cuddles. We went to Cutty's to visit Auntie Kellie, Uncle Brian and cousins and our kids had a blast. Greg's mom came down for the day so it was fun to see the whole family.

Uncle Peter gave all the kids a sloth stuffed animal from Costa Rica and Grant loves his. Grant calls it his stuffy. He sleeps with it every night and says it keeps him safe.

Claire has learned so many new things this month and it is fun to watch her grow. She is so curious, always wants to be in the action (which drives her brothers crazy), is generally always happy and smiling. She is very persistent and not upset about being pushed out of the way. She will go right back until she gets what she wants. She is going to have to be this determined with two other brothers around. She weighs 21 pounds and loves table food. She is so ready to be a big girl!

9th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:41 GMT

April 1-30

This has been such a fun month with Claire! She is usually so happy and smiling (if we are right next to her playing). She loves her Mama and gets so excited when Mom or Dad walk into the room. She has started clapping, waving and giving kisses.

Grant is super into sports these days. Right now his favorite are football and basketball. He was so excited to wear his new shirt and wanted to take a picture to send to Grandma.

Our family also LOVES the movie "Sing 2" especially the son "Sky full of stars." Grant loves to dance to this song. And you can hear Blake's cute voice in the background of this video.

Claire started sharing her toys with us and it is the cutest thing ever!

We are getting so many baby giggles these days and we still can't get enough. She does this cute thing where she drops her head to get Greg to tickle her and it is adorable.

Uncle Peter came over for dinner and to visit us. Grant got new weights the day before so he was really excited to exercise with Uncle Peter!

Claire wants to be a big girl SO bad. She is trying to pull herself up and loves being able to stand tall. She is also trying to crawl but hasn't quite figured out how to move forward yet. She will be crawling in no time though!

Blake has been doing well this month. We are still tapering off Keppra and it seems to be going well. We can't wait to be done. He just has the sweetest personally and his silly, ornery side is coming out. One night this month I was sleeping in the basement and at 1 am all the lights turned on and I saw Blake standing downstairs. He said he was cold so I brought him back to his room, went back downstairs and checked his monitor. He had left his room again and was on the main floor. He would not go back to sleep until about 4 that morning. We have no idea why he woke up or couldn't go back to bed but we hope this doesn't become a regular thing!

Claire is always looking for her brothers and just wants their attention. Here is a video when they are playing with her and she just can't get enough.

Grant has been having a hard month behavior-wise. We think it is due to Claire and Blake getting so much more time at home. We had one Dad day and one Mom day and Grant loved it! Dad took Grant to chick-fil-a and Get Air Trampoline park and I took him to chick-fil-a at the mall and to the movie Sonic 2.

Claire is loving food these days. She gets so excited when she sees foods or is eating.

We had a super fun Easter this year! We went to Lutheran Church of Hope Saturday. Blake and Claire slept through the whole service and Grant did amazing so Greg and I were able to actually listen. Grandma and Auntie Kellie and cousins came over Saturday afternoon for an Easter dinner and Easter egg hunt. The kids had a blast searching for eggs and we were lucky the weather was decent for the hunt. Sunday the Easter Bunny came to our house and the boys were very excited for their 4 pack of goo-jit-zus and Mariokart hot wheel cars. Grant said "Mom, the Easter Bunny knew exactly what I wanted." Claire just loved all the activity. Sunday afternoon we spend at the Chalik's for Easter dinner. Aunt Randi, Uncle John and Tommy were able to join us and it was fun!

Claire learned how to clap this month! It is so fun to see her learn new skills! She does it all the time now that she knows how.

We caught this cute video of her "dancing."

Claire is finally able to "play" with some of her baby toys and is so proud of herself when she gets the blocks in!

Claire is able to walk a few steps with her walker or help from one of us. She wants to be able to keep up with her brothers. She is growing up too fast and we are definitely not ready for her to walk!

We put Blake in soccer this Spring and he has been very hesitant about it. He did it with Lucy, the daughter of my friend, Steph. I have to be out there with him most of the time but he would go out to play the game by the end of the season. A few times he would be running and then just stop at the end of the field and not run. I am not sure if it is related to his head or not but it makes me nervous. We will most likely wait a little longer to get him into more sports. It would have also helped if he had a close friend with him.

Claire learned how to crawl on the last day of the month! She wanted to make sure she crawled on her 9 month birthday! Now it is time to baby proof the house since she is on the move!

Grant is doing T-ball with a bunch of his friends from daycare and Greg is helping coach. It will be fun for Grant to be with all his friends but it is quite the time commitment and long season.

The boys are still loving Sing 2 "Sky full of stars" and we have been having dance parties regularly. So fun to watch!

Grant loves dancing and since we have the Just Dance Nintendo game we will dance and tell each other how many stars they got. Grant is a good dancer!

This was a fun month with Claire. She learned so much this month! She learned to clap, crawl, say Mama and pull herself up. She is 20 lbs and 10oz. She has 2 teeth. She is sleeping better but getting up early so we are getting a little more sleep but obviously not enough. I was so tired the day of her pictures I fell asleep and missed them! Ugh-I felt so bad! We had to reschedule for the next week. She is so fun and I love this age!

8th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:38 GMT

March 1-31

Claire had some cute pigtails and is just so cute!

We had a rare warm day and we went to the park to get out of the house! Claire was old enough to swing and go down slides for the first time! She loved the swing and Grant was such a big helper. He helped push her and went down the slide with her.

I have tried a few times so give Claire formula and she won't take it. It would be nice to have another option if I don't have enough milk but we will just stick with breast milk since its working and she won't take formula

My parent's friends got Claire a cute St. Patrick's Day outfit so we tried it on early to make sure it fit for the big day!

The boys love riding around on their dump truck in our lawn. It is nice enough to be outside so we are out there as much as we can be after winter!

We pulled out Greg's old Wii for something to do for the boys and they loved playing boxing! So cute to watch them play!

We got some snow in early March so the boys when outside and had a snowball fight.

Grant had to have surgery because one of his ear tubes has not fallen out and it had been in over 3 years. It was a quick surgery and Grant did great! Dr Liudahl said it was a bigger opening than usual so we hopeful the gel foam will heal it, if not, then he will have to have another surgery to close the opening.

Claire loves her pouches and loves doing it herself! She gets so excited but it causes more of a mess for Mom and Dad!

We went to Jurassic Quest with Grandma and had fun! Blake loves dinosaurs right now so it was perfect timing. We ran into Tyler and his family when we got there so it was fun for the boys to have someone to play with. We went to the back of the event first and were able to do all the games and rides before everyone else realized they were back there. It was packed and hard to keep track of all the kids if they were running around but we still had fun!

Greg fell asleep one morning and Grant thought it was so funny to tickle Dad's feet. He was laughing so hard he couldn't even do it most of the time.

Claire is on the move but backwards! She hasn't quite figured out how to move forward but we are sure it won't be long.

We have been trying to get the boys to ride their bikes. We are starting Blake with the balance bike to see if it is an easier transition to the real bike down the road and avoid training wheels.

Claire has been fun and smiley this month and I love it!

I love when my cute boys want to snuggle and take pictures with me. :)

Claire has another allergic reaction and we still have no idea what is causing it. We had another visit at her allergist and they did not find anything she was allergic to. At this point, we think she is just rubbing her eyes with her food filled hands causing the reaction. It is frustrating but I am glad it is not a true food allergy.

We tired potty training Blake this month and had some successes but it did not last. It is so frustrating and we feel like he will never be out of diapers. I try to give all of us grace since he has been through so much these past 6 months but it is still hard. Blake has been doing so well with his seizures this month so we wanted to try while the medicine was working (and hopefully it continues!).

Claire has started to motor boat and it is just the cutest thing! I love the faces she makes when trying to motor boat.

Grant has been practicing some songs for his graduation from school and he is very excited to show us! We can't wait to see the concert!

Auntie Kellie stopped by our house a few days after her birthday so we could celebrate!

Claire had her second ear infection this month and so she did not sleep well. I am sure we are on our way to ear tubes at some point. She got a new tooth which also did not help sleeping. She weighs 19lbs 10oz. and is so smiley!

7th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:36 GMT

February 1-28

We got Claire's 6th month pictures back and got a few cute ones! She wasn't loving being photographed so I am honestly surprised we even got some good ones.

We had a rare warm day in early February so I bundled Claire up and we went for a walk. She loved being in her stroller!

Claire has been working on using her sippy cup and she does a pretty good job so far. The video of Claire drinking from a sippy cup is a great depiction of our house on a daily basis. You can hear Greg talking to Blake and telling him he is so brave for taking his medicine. We are weaning off Keppra and it is disgusting. We can't wait to be done with that medicine. Grant is just talking non-stop to no one and I am talking to Claire. Pure chaos all the time.

Claire loves it when her brothers pay attention to her. They are her favorite people. Blake is such a great big brother. Blake started Valproic Acid this month and we are slowly weaning off Keppra. He is off his keto diet also. He seems to be doing so much better on this new medicine and we haven't seen the constant seizures since we started this medicine. I did see a potential seizure once when he was falling asleep but I am not sure. Blake also went to the pulmonologist and was cleared (again) from him. Here is to hoping we don't have to go back to him! But we are so happy with how he has been doing this month.

Claire's hair is long enough for some small pigtails and she just looks so cute in them! They can be hard to do since she doesn't sit still and she hates when they are taken out.

Claire loves her bath and playing in the water! She is sitting up pretty good so she will be able to be in the real bath soon.

We love Sing 2 and the song "Sky Full of Stars" so here is Grant singing a song to Nana for her birthday. Our house is just a disaster of toys. Just pure chaos at all times.

Kelly came into town and we were able to meet up for coffee one morning. It was so good to see them and catch up!

We have been working on food this month. Claire has had a rough start of baby and solid food. If we feed her baby food she wakes up in the night crying and arching her back like she has a stomach ache. She is doing a lot better than she was but we are having to go at a slower pace than normal introducing foods.

Claire is so interactive and responsive to us talking to her. She is able to play with toys sitting up. She is just getting so big!

Claire has started giving open mouth kisses and this has to be one of my favorite things ever. I will take the slobbery kisses all day long!

Grant is such a good big brother! Claire just loves him and any attention he will give her.

I was able to meet up with my friends to celebrate Jess and my birthday's. We tried a new brewery so were able to try some new beer and have some apps and enjoy time catching up.

Claire loves Cocomelon and watches it a little too much. She looks to the TV when she wants to watch it. Bad parenting at its finest.

Claire got her first tooth this month. She is sleeping through the night much better now that she is tolerating foods better. She is so smiley and happy and loves her brothers. We got the bump above her right eyebrow ultrasounded and it is a cyst. We will have to remove at some point and have an appointment with plastic surgery in about 6 months. She is 18lbs and 8oz of cuteness!

6th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:34 GMT

January 1-31

Claire was sick over new years so we got to ring in the new years together. Made for a tired new years day! She has been getting stomach aches from food and also has a cold. Not a good combo.

Claire has been talking or blabbering more and I love to hear her talk!

This is the last picture we have of Grant and Grandpa. The boys loved sitting on Grandpa's lap in that chair.

Claire has been doing such a good job sitting up! Now she just needs to roll over!

Claire has been bouncing like crazy in her jumperoo!

We have been feeding Claire baby food and she loves it! Her stomach does not love it though. She has been waking up in the night with what we think are stomach aches. We are going to go slower with food and give her stomach more time to adapt to real food.

We got a dinosaur fossil box from Aunt Toni and the boys and I broke it out one cold weekend day. They boys had fun digging for fossils but it was actually pretty hard and I had to do most of the work!

Claire has been taking a lot of naps on me since she isn't sleeping the best at night. I will take all the snuggles I get!

We FINALLY finished our basement. It has been quite a process but we are so happy to have it done so we can use it.

Grant played basketball at the RecPlex and he loved it! Greg was supposed to be the coach but he was at hospice with his Dad most of the time so luckily another Dad stepped up and took over.

Claire is still trying hard to roll over. Hopefully soon she figures it out!

Claire loves us smelly her "stinky feet" and just giggles and giggles!

We had a huge snow storm one of the days Greg was in hospice. Greg showed me how to use the snow blower and I did it! It wasn't pretty and I am sure the neighbors got quite a laugh watching me, but I got it done, all while being home with the kids alone.

Cal went into hospice on January 11 and passed on January 22. It was a very long 11 days in hospice and so hard to watch but Greg's mom was there the whole time and Kellie and Greg switched off to be there and give Barb a break to rest. It was such a hard and sad time but I am glad Greg and Kellie were able to be there. Greg gave the speech at the funeral and he did an amazing job! It was so hard for Greg to get up there and talk about his Dad but he did it! We all miss Cal so very much. Grant has been having a really hard time with Grandpa being gone and so we talk about him often and read the book that Cal read to the boys and are keeping his memory alive.

Claire has now graduated to the grocer cart and doesn't she just look so cute sitting up in the cart like a big girl!

Blake's seizures came back January 7th. We tried increasing Keppra and that didn't work so we decided to add valproic acid and then slowly wean off Keppra. We want to wean Blake off Keppra now but we understand we have to wait until we have valproic acid at the right dose before we are able to do that.

The boys still love dancing to "sky full on stars" from Sing 2. So fun to watch their dance moves!

I love catching moments like these were the boys are playing together so nicely! Right now it is pretty rare to have this happen so it is so nice to see. There is hope they will be best friends some day!

I was going to an appointment so Greg was giving her a bottle and she was holding it herself like a big girl!

Claire FINALLY rolled over. Just a day before her 6 month birthday!

Claire is 6 months! I can believe she is already half a year old. Time is flying by. She has been sick this month with a cold and stomach aches from food so we have been getting up in the night and we are tired! She is happy during the day though. She is about 16lbs almost sitting up on her own and rolling over!

This was the hardest month we've had to date. I can't even write this without crying. Claire has been sick and not sleeping from stomach aches, Blake's seizures coming back and Greg's dad in hospice and passing away. Greg's Grandpa also passed the same day Cal went into hospice. Looking over this month I have no idea how we made it through, it was very tough. Lot and lots of tears. We had a lot of happy moments mixed in there and we are going to focus on those. Let's hope the months ahead lead to seizure freedom, health and keeping the memory of Cal alive for us and our kids.

5th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:33 GMT

December 1-31, 2021

Daddy needs a bigger lap! He loves cuddling with all 3 kids.

Claire started food this month! We did the rice/oatmeal cereal but quickly moved to baby food. She didn't like the cereal but ate the baby food fine. It did upset her stomach so we have been going slowly with food.

Nana and Papa wanted help putting up their ornaments and Grant was a great help! Claire and I observed and Blake was doing his own thing with the toys.

Grant has always been able to memorize books quickly. Greg and I think it is so cool that he is able to do that and he does it so fast. He read one of the Cars books to Blake and I one night before bed.

Claire is always happy after bath and we get lots of giggles! We love this time with her.

Grandma and Grandpa came down so we could decorate Christmas cookies. This is a Young family tradition and we had to alter it since Blake is Keto right now. The boys had fun with Grandma and Grandpa!

Blake is home with us all the time because of his seizures. So he gets extra time when we go and visit Grandpa. Grandpa and Blake are the best of friends and Blake just loves crawling up on his lap.

Claire is still trying to roll over. She is getting there but can't quite figure it out!

We went to Iowa City to get and EEG for Blake. Greg and I felt it was pointless because we knew he was having seizures. He had 2 that we noticed while we were there for 6-8 hours. Blake did awesome! Greg and I really want to stop Keto since we know it is not working but our doctor wants us to keep trying since it hasn't been a full 3 months on Keto, but the doctor left it up to us. We decided to stop and Blake had no issues coming out of ketosis. And he is loving eating normal foods again. We are going to increase Keppra and try valproic acid. We need to come up completely on valproic acid before the doctor will let us stop Keppra VERY slowly. This is going to be a long process. We are so proud of our brave little boy!

Claire is still loving her jump-a-roo! And I still love putting her hair in the cute little pig tails.

The boys thought it was funny to "fart" on Mom. Anything about pooping and farts is funny to these boys! All 3 of them ;-D

We made gingerbread houses that our elf, Henry, brought us. It was fun that Blake is also able to eat a few of the candies while making the house. The boys had fun!

We went and visited Santa at Valley West Mall and road the train. Blake was too scared to ride the train but Grant and I had fun riding it.

Grant was making Claire giggle with the purple phone and was loving it! It is fun seeing her so interactive with the boys.

I tried to get the best picture I could get with the 3 kids on Christmas day. This was the best I got.

We celebrated Christmas with the Chaliks on Christmas Eve morning. It was the start of our Christmas celebrations!

That evening we went to Aunt Randi's and the boys got a few more presents and heard Santa's sleigh bells!

Christmas morning was so fun! The kids got so many great presents from Santa and were very excited! It was quite the mess after opening all of the presents but it was so fun and totally worth it.

That afternoon Grandma and Grandpa came down early to play with the kids and the boys opened their present of a basketball hoop! They were very happy. Later we went to Auntie Kellie's house and opened even more presents!

Nana got Claire an Iowa State headband and so we had to wear it for an Iowa State game and, of course, take a picture.

The boys thought it was so funny to stick out their "big bellies"!

Milo came over to visit and Blake and him had so much fun playing! It is so fun having my best friend's kid's friends with my kids!

We drove to Webster City to celebrate Grandma's birthday on New Years Day. We had a fun day celebrating and Blake loved eating the cake! It was misting the whole day and on the way home the interstate completely froze over. It was the scariest thing we have experienced driving in a long time. Greg drove well and we got off and onto a gravel road for the rest of the way home. We were safe and the kids all napped during this which was a blessing!

Claire is a Mama's girl right now. She knows where she gets her food from. :-) This video was so funny. She had to keep an eye on Mom!

Claire is 5 months old! She is 16lbs 6oz. She found her toes and sits up well. We are still working on getting her into her crib so hopefully next month is the month! She smiles, loves her brothers and sits up well!

4th Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:31 GMT

November 1st-November 30th, 2021

We got Claire's 3 month pictures shortly after her 3 month birthday. She was very skeptical of the photographer but we got a few good ones!

All 3 kids wanted to cuddle Mom. I need a bigger lap these days!

Blake has been saying his first and middle name lately and I love how he says "William"

Claire has been so cute and giggly! The absolute best sound!

We got family pictures again with Greg's family now that Claire is here and our family is complete! We went out to eat after the pictures and Blake did great with his food! He didn't complain once. And Grandpa got some good Claire snuggles.

Claire is getting so strong with her tummy time! She doesn't always love tummy time and it doesn't always last very long but she is getting good at it!

The only way I can get stuff done in the house without Claire whining for me to pick her up is to turn on Cocomelon and I will get a few minutes of quiet to clean or do the dishes.

Claire LOVES her brothers! And they are very entertaining. I think she even gets bored when she is home with me and they are at school.

Claire loves to giggle during bath time and bedtime. She loves the undivided attention.

Grant had his first friend's birthday this year at Rainbow and the kids were able to play on all the playgrounds and trampolines. We had pizza and cake. He had a blast!

Grant had 3 birthday parties this year! A birthday party with the Young's, Chalik's and friends. He was one lucky kid!

Claire got an ear infection from her Covid infection. She did one round of antibiotics and it still wasn't healed. We gave one day of Augmentin and it caused a rash and vomiting/diarrhea. We went the next day to the doctor and they said her ears were fine so we stopped antibiotics and added Penicillin to her allergy list!

We put Claire in the bouncer for the first time and she loved it! All these new toys to explore!

She also got to sit in her bumbo seat for the first time! She falls over to the side and knocks all the toys off constantly but it is a new place to play.

Claire is trying to roll over! She can't figure out how to get all the way over yet. The video with Blake in the background telling me he loves me just makes my heart happy. I love when kids randomly tell me they love me because I just love them so much!

Claire got baptized at Hope! Leslie, Tracee and Kellie were our god parents. Greg and I were not very happy with Hope's baptism (they didn't even include god parents) but luckily we were the last one so we got a little more time up at the fountain. They all came over to our house after to have dinner and cake.

Blake woke up November 20th having constant seizures. He would basically just sit and stare at nothing with his eyes half closed and occasionally jerk. It was so horrible to watch. It was hard to get the jerks on camera because they were so quick but we tried a few times so the doctor would be able to see what we are talking about. We have no idea what could have changed. He has been doing so well with his Keto and seizure free for 3 weeks before this. We had just saw neurology and were so hopeful Keto was going to be the answer. He had one breakthrough seizure when he refused a nap and got over tired. Then slowly over the week a few more seizures to this Saturday morning. We called Iowa City Neurology and they gave us a rescue medicine, clonazepam, to him and it made him go CRAZY! It was like a stimulant to him and he was off the walls and these very crazy tantrums that we have never seen before. We gave it to him Saturday and Sunday and I will never give him that medicine again. We took him to a functional medicine doctor to try something before medicine but the options the functional doctor gave us made us nervous to do with a 2.5 year old who can't tell us how he was feeling. I am doing a ton of research and I still think Greg and I are going to try and find alternative options also but Blake needs medicine right now to control his constant seizures. We ended up starting him on Keppra Monday November 22. It was a very hard decision for Greg and I and there were lots a tears but we knew this is what we had to do for Blake. We were titrating up slowly and he was still having breakthrough seizures but also refusing to eat. When we already had such a limited diet with Keto, it was very stressful. We tried dairy free Keto for a short while and that made Blakes refusal to eat worse. When you are on Keto you have a lower blood sugar so if you don't eat it can get dangerously low quickly, especially in a little kid. That next weekend on Sunday Blake was very out of it and was just laying in his bed lethargic not really moving. It scared the crap out of me and we went to the ER. I ended up giving him an applesauce before going into the ER and we was a lot better after that. Greg and I want to stop Keto since it is now not working but out Doctor wants us to continue to give it a fair chance. We are doing the best we can right now and he is going to get an EEG in December but we are hoping Keppra works for us and we can get out Blakey boy back!

Claire has SO much hair already! I have no idea what to do with it and once night Greg gave her a mohawk.

The kids in Grant's class love the song "I feel like a Monster" from the movie Sonic and the boys love dancing to it. We love Blake's arms when he dances and really love just watching out kids dance.

Claire and I are still nursing and I have gotten her to nurse and sleep on me in bed when she is fussy when she won't nap and I secretly love this. I love when we can nap together in my bed.

We had a bad Thanksgiving. Blake was still having constant seizures so I stayed home with Claire and Blake and Greg took Grant to Webster City to see the family. My mom came over to bring me dinner since I had to miss the family dinners but at least Claire gave me these cute giggles to make it better.

We put up our Christmas tree and the boys loved helping! They were such big helpers and we are all excited for the holiday season coming up.

Claire is 4 months! She is 15lbs and 6oz. We are going to switch her to the crib this month but I have also been saying that every month since she was born so we will see. It was nice to have that elevation in the rock n play when she was congested with covid but she is starting to try and roll over so it is time to transition. She is happy and giggly when she isn't sick with her first ear infection and covid. We just love this cute and smiley baby!

3rd Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:28 GMT

October 1-31

We have been working on writing letters with Grant. He does a great job but it can be overwhelming learning howe to write letters and not have them be perfect so we learn in short time periods. He is getting so much better!

Greg took Grant to an outdoor festival at Raccoon River park and I stayed home with Blake and Claire during nap time. He learned how to make spin art.

Blake has been home with us often since his diagnosis of myoclonic seizures. We started Keto early October and he has been home with us most of the month until we can figure out his diet.

We celebrated Greg's birthday! He got the boys a present so they were able to open something for Greg. The boys loved it. He got a keto keylime pie. It wasn't what he would have chose but he will do anything for his kids. My mom made the pie and it turned out pretty good!

Blake fell because of seizures and got a black eye. He has jerks and they are often when he is eating so he hits his head on the table. Also, he sometimes falls out of his chair and hits his head. Once we started Keto his seizures got worse initially but got better a few weeks in. We asked the dietician and she says it is not normal for the seizures to get worse with keto. He is doing well with his eating and we are so proud of him.

Claire is more awake and noticing her toys on her bouncer. She is starting to touch and play with them!

I tried to get a picture of all 3 kids. The photographer tried to get this picture when Claire was a newborn and Blake was crying so I tried to recreate it but I still failed. I got a few cute ones!

My Grandma Fowles came into town and was able to meet Claire and see the boys! She had fun meeting Claire and it was great seeing her.

Claire is giving us so many smiles and giggles these days. We will do anything to make her smile. She is very happy after bath and I love it!

We put Claire in her sit-me-up chair for the first time and she loved sitting up and seeing more. She was intrigued with the bee and toys on the chair.

Claire rolled from her front to back and we were all cheering her on!

We love the baby snuggles and Claire sleeping on us.

We painted pumpkins and painted spider webs for Halloween. It was a beautiful day outside to paint. I tried to paint a purple pumpkin for epilepsy but it didn't turn out like I hoped and Blake wanted to help me which I liked better anyway. The boys had fun!

We went to Howell's Pumpkin Patch and it was a blast! Claire did great and slept most of the time. We went on a beautiful day.

Claire loves Kailey! She just stares at her when Kailey holds her!

Daddy and Grant got Claire to laugh and it was adorable!

Blake got a big boy bed and he was so excited! His bed had dinosaurs on it. The boys tried to have a sleepover the first night but it didn't last long. Grant falls asleep right away and Blake moves around and takes awhile to sleep. We will have to try again when they are older.

The boys have been loving to dance to "I'm Still Standing" from Sing and "Like a Monster" from Sonic. We love watching their dance moves and having dance parties.

Grandpa really wanted to get his monument done so Greg went to Webster City one day to help his parents. Greg said it was great, just like old times when Greg and Cal would go set stones and Cal was happy it was done.

Claire got covid the first week I went back to work. She did okay but was just so stuffed up she wasn't eating well. We ended up taking her into the ER because she wasn't eating but, of course, she ate right when we got to the ER room.

Grant was Ironman and Blake was Captain America for Halloween. They love to dress up and go fight the "bad guys" around our house. Claire didn't dress up since she was still recovering from Covid and not feeling well. It was a beautiful night outside and the boys had a blast.

Greg took the boys to Webster City the next time to trick or treat with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa had a lot of fun and so did the boys.

We did the "Switch Witch" this year because of Blake's keto diet. The boys put out all of their candy the night of Halloween and the witch takes the candy and leaves them a present. The boys got a hot wheel track and were so excited. They didn't miss their candy one bit.

This has been a rough month for Blake his he has done so well. It is a lot of stress on the whole family but we will do anything to help Blakey!

Grant had his last baseball game with his friends. It was a beautiful day out and Grant had fun with his friends.

This has been a fun month of smiles and giggles but also Covid. I went back to work and Claire got covid so I had the next few days off. She wasn't sleeping well so we were exhausted and I just wanted a little more time with her. I got more time but I didn't like seeing her so sick.

2nd Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:27 GMT

September 1-Septmber 30

The boys went fishing with Grandpa and they both caught some fish!

The Science Center had a steam engine come downtown and we were able to take a ride on it! It was so fun to see a real "Steamy"! Blake was scared of the loud train whistle and we had to worry about smoke embers getting into our boys eyes but it was a fun experience. Claire was great and slept the whole time.

Later that day we had Blake's birthday party with the Chalik family. It was a big day for Blake!

We tried potty training Blake again right before his birthday. We failed again so hopefully the next time he picks it up. It is very frustrating for Greg and I and I am sure for Blake too.

Claire doesn't look like it in these pictures but she loves her baths these days.

Now that Claire is a little more awake the boys are starting to get more interested in their sister.

Greg went to the Iowa State Game with his friends so Nana came over to help me. Claire is cheering for Iowa State just like her Daddy! And Nana got some good cuddles in today too!

We went up to Boone again this year to see Thomas. Grandma and Grandpa came with us and we all had a blast! Grandma, Grandpa and the boys went on the train ride. We got to see Sir Topham Hat and so many trains! It was a fun day and once again, Claire was a trooper! The second video is of Thomas coming into the station but Thomas is going VERY slow so it is a longer video.

Claire started SMILING this month!! I absolutely LOVE when babies start smiling. It is the cutest thing and you know all your sleepless nights and constant feedings are worth it.

Blakey was SO excited for his decorated door for his birthday! We let him open up presents from us and he got to go to the jump park. We had so much fun and we can't believe Blakey is already 3!!

Claire is still nursing well and I had to take this picture of Claire giving me the middle finger!

I caught Blake reading to himself in his room. I have so many of these videos and I love watching everyone of them!

Kempton held Claire for the first time. He is such a good cousin!

Grant played T-ball with a bunch of his friends from daycare. Greg and all the Dad's were the coaches. It was fun to have all of his friends on a team together and I think he liked playing but got a little bored. There isn't much to do in baseball at an early age. Greg and I are not mad about it though. Baseball is not either of our favorite sports.

We celebrated Blake's birthday with the Young 's so he got another birthday celebration!

Blake got very sick again and so when we went to our pediatrician he suggested we go back to our pulmonologist. This is the sickest he has been in a long time. Greg and I decided we want to try keto first before putting Blake on medicine. We met with the dietician this month and it seems overwhelming but do-able to try and keep Blake off mediciner. I also took Blake to the allergy doctor to see if he had any food or dye allergies and he does not. We are slowly checking off the list of possibilities of why Blake is having seizures. I am determined to figure something out to help Blake.

Claire can get fussy during bedtime and Blake plays with her so nicely to keep her entertained. She loves it!

I love having all three kids cuddle on my lap. Absolutely nothing better!

Mom is getting all the love. I love my kids kisses!

Claire is babbling more and we love to hear her voice. Here she is looking at me and we are having a conversation.

The biggest thing this month was Claire starting to smile! We can't get enough! She weighs about 12lbs 7.5 oz. She is still sleeping well but we have her in her rock n play still. We will try to get her out of that soon but it is so nice that she sleeps so well in it! It was a fun month with Claire!

First Month of Claire

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:24 GMT

Aug 1-31

The boys were excited to see their sister and have us home! Grant was more excited than Blake was but both did a great job. Grandma and Grandpa took the boys to the store to get presents for Claire. They got hot wheels and a race car but had fun doing it! Claire got them a tablet and they were so excited! Something to entertain them when Mom and Dad are exhausted and need a break.

Usually the first few days after I give birth I have really bad postpartum blues and just cry all day and night long. I decided this time I was going to sleep the first two nights home and see if that helped my hormone shift. So Greg graciously got up with Claire the first two nights. The next morning home he was sleeping so it was my job to get the boys out of the house and to daycare and man it was tough! It took me a few hours to get them all ready, lunches made and Claire fed. Getting three kids ready is going to take some getting used to. Greg said she did pretty well throughout the night. We have her in her rock n play so she sleeps way better in that.

This was the first time that Greg has been able to have some paternity time off after one of our kids and it has been SO nice having him home! It is nice to have someone to talk to during the day and someone to watch Claire if I need a nap.

Claire did not like her first bath at home so we made it quick!

Grant loves to hold and Claire and Blake will hold her for about 1 second and he is done.

Uncle Mit, Uncle Peter and Auntie Kellie got to meet Claire! I just forgot to take a picture of Uncle Peter holding her!

Claire has seemed more awake during the day than I remember my other two being but maybe that is because of all the noise going on in our house!

Claire has also spent quite a bit of sleeping also! One of my absolute favorite things is to take a nap with her on my stomach. She doesn't love it as much as Blake did so I enjoy the few times this happens.

We have tried to get Blake to potty train but have not been successful this far. He went poop on the potty one night and we were so happy! We are trying to bribe him with his new computer.

I caught a rare picture of Claire smiling in her sleep and I am in love! So precious!

Greg is such a great Dad and is reading some library books to the boys.

We spent a lot of this month trying to figure out what is causing Blake's seizures. We went to a few holistic appointment's today but did not feel that comfortable doing their treatments with a 2.5 year old. We went to Iowa City Neurology to get a second opinion and Greg and I were happy with the doctor but still not happy about putting Blake on medicine. The seizure medications have a lot of bad side effects. They sent us home with a script for a rescue drug and for us to think about which medicine to start. I am still going to search to figure out what is causing these issues. All of his testing came back normal. I found 2 facebook groups that are parents of epileptic children and I have gotten a lot of knowledge from those groups. It also is scary and anxiety provoking to read because there are a lot of kids way worse off than Blake. I spend way too much time looking for answers especially when I am up at night with Claire. We have yet to find someone like Blake who is developmentally on track and having these seizures.

We had our newborn pictures this month and they were stressful! From finding clothes for the whole family to wear to taking the pictures. My boobs were so swollen it was hard to find a shirt that would fit. Blake was hangry so he cried most of the time and Claire was awake for most of the time but we got a few good pictures.

Grant finished his soccer season. It was more difficult getting 3 kids out of the door in time for soccer but the weather cooperated for mid August and it wasn't too hot for Claire in the morning. Grant played with his friends Tyler and Lenny on his team.

Breastfeeding has been going well for us. it helps I know what I am doing (for the most part). This has been the easiest breastfeeding journey so far! I hope it continues. :)

Grant has been doing swim lessons through daycare this summer. I am not sure how much he is learning and I think it is more of a "play time" with his friends in the class, but we went to visit him.

I enjoyed some time cuddling with my boys and absolutely loved it.

The boys got new Captain America costumes and love dressing up and playing super heros! They go and find the bad guys around our house and catch them. Keeps them entertained and moving to burn off all that energy when Greg and I are so tired!

We tried to figure out all the ways to keep these boys busy and burn off energy. Trampoline and bounce houses helped!

We've also taken a few road trips up to Webster City to visit Greg's Dad!

Since we have been spending a lot of time with Claire and Blake dealing with his seizures, Greg took Grant for a daddy day and he loved it! They went to the jump park!

We took the whole family to the fair this year. It was a lot to bring them all, especially a few week old, but it went surprisingly well! We met up with Grant's friend, Tyler so they had fun hanging out also! It got hot around lunch time so we headed home then.

Grandma and Grandpa came down to visit us and take the boys fishing!

I love catching moments of the kids playing nicely by themselves. Here is a video of Blake playing so well by himself.

It was a very busy first month for a newborn but we did it! It helped a ton that Claire sleeps well in that pack n play. She sleeps about 6 hours a night. We are not looking forward to transitioning to the crib but we know it has to be done. She was 9lbs 13.5 oz at the end of the month. She did not get jaundice like she had a potential so that is good also!

Labor/Hospital (July 31st)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:11:21 GMT

Pregnancy-We had just found out about gregs dads pancreatic cancer diagnosis on November 9th. I was a week late for my period and we had just moved into our house about a month ago on October 16th. I took a pregnancy test on November 19th and it was slightly positive. I called and set up an appt with the doctor for January 5th. We scheduled an initial ultrasound december 15th. Greg couldnt be there because greg had covid so our boys couldn't go to daycare so we had to facetime. December 9th boys had ENT appt and blakes tubes were almost out so follow up in 2 months and if out and no issues then he would be released from ENT. I felt great with the pregnancy until about 6 weeks and then was miserable. Worst pregnancy first trimester i have had so far. Also having migraines often. Greg said “youve never complained about pregnancy this much” Our initial ultrasound appt went well-no issues. I felt sick until about 15 weeks but still continued to have occasional migraines. I craved sugar this pregnancy and did not want water which is the opposite of the boys pregnancy. Feb 3-Follow up with ENT and tubes out and released from ENT. Out to eat at firebirds for my birthday. March 9th-20 weeks ultrasound and found out its a girl. Everything looked normal except i had low lying placenta. Recheck in 4 weeks at heart echo ultrasound. March 27th to splash to celebrate gregs company selling. Grant soccer in the spring with happy feet. April 27th passed glucose test. Blake started having jerks first week of May. first jerk outside playing in the pool. Super hot outside. Designers to design main floor. Did a good job to stage the house but not to live in. may 16th baby shower at leslies house for claire. Jims wedding night out may 22nd. Nana retired memorial day to be able to watch claire once shes here. Memorial day young family trip. Last trip as a family with gregs dad. Bad weather. Boys had fun fishing with gregs dad and swimming. Blake having jerks and really tired. June 8th appt with secory to talk about jerks. Blakes EEG june 18th. Diagnosed with myoclonic epilepsy. Maternity pictures june 22nd. Very hot and humid. Met with doctor tripathy. Did not like. July 1st-1 cm not effaced basically like ive had babies before. July 6th-blake MRI and started coughing and had fever next day and 2 days later (July 8th) blake into secory for steroids. July 13th-long cervix finger tip. Grant in swim lessons July12th week. July 20th 1 cm effaced sunny side up so rude to me. July 23rd mucus started. July 26-3cm dilated and 70% effaced. Induced July 31st.

I called at 5 am to see if we could go in and they told me they were busy and to call back at 10. Grant had soccer that day and so we went and I called at 10 and they told me to come in! It is a lot less stressful calmly getting ready to go to the hospital for labor than my other two labors.

Once we arrived at the hospital, they started my IV, took my labs and started the pitocin. I didnt feel anything at first. They checked position of baby and nurse said she though she was sunny side up. Shortly after the doctor came in and broke my water. Initially I was going to hold off on the epidural because baby was sunny side up and nurse said its easier to change positions without epidural but then changed my mind and decided to get epidural. Good thing i did! Once it was in it only worked on my left side so nurse had me lay on my right side. All of a sudden i had this intense feeling of nausea and told Greg to call the nurse. She came in and said she would get me medicine and asked if I felt pressure. I said yes and she checked me and I was ready to start pushing! She said “I knew you were good at having babies but I didn't think it would be that quick!” The epidural still wasn't working on the right side so the nurse had been pushing the extra medicine button. The doctor came in shortly after and when I started pushing I almost peed on the doctor! She was very good at avoiding my pee per Greg. I was able to feel the contraction but not the pain which was good. The right sided pain was better after the nurse pushed the button for me a few times. While pushing the doctor saw she was sunny side up and flipped her around for me. I pushed for a few minutes and she was out!

Claire Louise Young was born at 2:35!

I tore more than I expected and the nurse said it was because she came out with her head and arm. I was still super numb once it was over because of the nurse pushing the button so many times to help me in labor. There is a time limit to get out of bed and I had to use a special wheeling thing to get me to the bathroom. Everything went smooth in the hospital.

Greg cutting the cord!

She already loves her Mom! I tore more than I expected and the nurse said it was because she came out with her head and arm. I was still super numb once it was over because of the nurse pushing the button so many times to help me in labor. There is a time limit to get out of bed and I had to use a special wheeling thing to get me to the bathroom. But everything went smooth in the hospital.

She was not happy about the bright lights and being out in this cold world.

She already has her Daddy's heart!

She weighs 7 pounds 7 ounces and is the biggest of my 3 babies!

She was happier once we got her back in a blanket and in my arms. She was an angel during our hospital stay and slept quietly so well!

She nursed well right away!

She didn't love her first bath until she got the warm water on her. She doesn't like being cold! She did not like her footprints though!

We could only have 2 visitors at a time and so we had our parents and that was it. Papa and Nana came to see Claire!

Grandma and Grandpa came to see Claire too!

We spent the rest of the time cuddling and taking pictures of our little girl!

We were headed home about 24 hours later. Greg went home to be with the boys at night and didn't stay at the hospital. I don't sleep well in the hospital and I was ready to go home to see my boys. Claire was doing so well there was no need to stay! There was a chance she could have jaundice because of Greg and I's different blood types but we didn't notice any so far. Claire had no idea what chaos was in store for her once she got home!

Summer 2021 (June-July)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:09:34 GMT

JUNE

The boys created this indoor baseball game with a ball and an old bubble wand. So funny but they love it!

They still love their color changing cars! This is the best toy I have gotten to keep them busy. They play with them for so long. They do need to get new water often but play on their own so I will take it!

We went to the Raccoon River festival day with Tyler's family. They had arts and crafts, food and fire trucks. It was hot but the boys had fun!

Steph came to visit so we had a girls lunch! It was fun to catch up! I love talking to my high school friends.

It was so hot outside so Greg took the boys to the splash park. The boys had a blast!

It is very noticeable at times to see baby girl moving around in my belly! I love feeling these baby movements. This is one thing I will miss about pregnancy.

The bump is getting bigger!

The boys and I made beaded fish and they had fun making them! They did better with this than I expected.

Papa read to the boys at Sunday dinner! Blake was all about the spiders.

Then they had a fun dance party to their favorite song, "I'm still standing"!

Nana gave us some left over cake and it turned a tongues blue!

The boys found their winter hats and boots and decided that is what they wanted to wear. I am sure they will change their mind once they step outside and feel how hot it is!

Caught Blake reading to himself! I can't understand what he is saying but he is reading his train book. I have been noticing Blake has been having quick jerks every once in a while. I noticed it at first in May and it kept happening. No one else noticed it at first because it is such a quick movement. I decided to go take Blake to the doctor and he scheduled an hour EEG. The EEG showed myoclonic seizures. To say I was a mess when I got the diagnosis is an understatement. We then got into the neurologist at Blank and they wanted us to go on medication right away. We didn't like the doctor so we are going to get a second opinion. We are so scared to put our 2.5 year old on medicine with such scary side effects! We are also going to get a brain MRI to make sure there is nothing going on in the brain to cause this. The last thing we are going to get done is genetic testing to see if he has a gene that is causing this. I am praying all of these things come back normal so that we know it isn't guaranteed a forever problem and we have a chance of out growing the seizures. We can't get into the neurologist in Iowa City until August so we are just going to wait to do any treatment until then.

For a short moment the boys were playing nicely at Nana and Papa's house.

The boys went fishing with Grandpa and they all caught fish! The boys had a lot of fun with Grandpa!

JULY

We took the boys to the aquatic center by our house and we had a blast! It was hot outside so a perfect pool day and it wasn't too busy! The boys had a blast!

The boys are still loving to dance to Sing! It has been the one movie to entertain our kids over and over again.

We went to the Waukee 4th of July with my friend, Steph's family. It was hot but the boys has so much fun and got too much candy!

I had to get a picture of the boys in their nice clothes looking so handsome! They are so goofy so it takes quite a few pictures to get a good one but I love all the outtakes just as much!

We got a slip n slide for our backyard. We thought it would work a little better with our hill but it was not quite steep enough. Blake was scared of it but Grant had fun!

We got Blake's MRI done right after the 4th of July. I was SO nervous. He had to get sedation for it and that always makes me nervous but also worried if that would cause more seizures. I was also nervous about the IV going in but he did pretty good for being so young and awake. Overall, it was a smooth procedure and he did great. We actually got the phone call saying it was all normal when we were walking out of the hospital! Thank God for that miracle! And I was so happy we didn't have to wait for days to hear.

Grant's classroom has dance parties and he is loving Cotton Eyed Joe. He loves dancing to it and we have to listen to it in the car too. It is his new favorite!

We catch Blake sleeping in the funniest but cutest ways! We love checking in on him and seeing how he is laying that night!

Ignore the mess (it is constant) but the boys have been loving this racetrack and it has been keeping them busy which I like being so pregnant and tired!

Baby was showing off the other afternoon! She was sticking out her butt (I think) and it was very noticeable!

Blake has been all about his Mom these days and so we had to take a cute picture of him at Grant's soccer game.

More wrestling with Dad. Thankfully I am getting the girl. She better not be a wrestler too. I need a break from it!

This sweet boy can't catch a break. We are so worried that this sickness will cause more seizures but so far we have been okay. We are hoping it gets better soon!

Baby girl is getting big and she looks low! I have not been as good about bump pictures this time around but I feel huge!

Blake is loving this chipmunk that Nana gave him. He thinks it is hilarious!

Grant had swim lessons a few weeks before I was due. I was very nervous I would go into labor at Greg would be 25 minutes away but luckily that didn't happen. Grant did great but we still have a lot of work left to do.

Grant played soccer with his friends from daycare again and had a great time. We had some hot days but really it wasn't too bad which is a lot coming from a very pregnant person!

Blake has been singing Twinkle Twinkle for us from a book he reads at night. His sweet voice is just adorable!

Then Grant had to sing too! He made up this great song for us!

Baby girl is not in the right spot. I think she is sunny side up but the doctors don't seem to care. So I am trying all the techniques to get her to flip. I don't think it is working though. I just really don't want a c-section for my 3rd delivery!

The boys were spiderman and looked so cute! They have to shoot their webs at us and I just love it!

We got Greg's old ipad out to see how the boys would like it and they love it. They are getting their own tablets from baby girl and they are going to love them.

Baby girl has stayed in a week after her due date. I was almost positive she would come early but I was wrong. I think it is because she is not in the right position. My mom has been staying here every night since my due date in case I go into labor in the night. I am so nervous that I will not make it to the hospital in time and will have to deliver at my house or in the car. If she doesn't come soon then I will have to be induced and I don't want that either!

Spring 2021 (April-May)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 14:21:40 GMT

APRIL

We love looking at how Blake ends up sleeping. He is always in such cute positions. Tonight he decided to go to bed with his firetruck and he is cuddle the hard, uncomfortable firetruck. So funny!

The Christmas train stayed at Valley West Mall and became the Easter train so we brought our boys back! They loved it again!

Blake is just the cutest 2 year old. He is so sweet and has the best smile and laugh. We just love him so much.

We decorated Easter eggs! The boys had fun! It was a little stressful at times but better than years before. The boys were very proud of their eggs they colored.

We had Easter on Saturday with the Youngs. Grandma put together the Easter egg hunt for the kids and they loved it.

Easter morning the Easter bunny came! The boys were so excited to find their baskets. Then we went to church with Nana and Papa (which was chaos). It is impossible to get 2 young boys to sit still and be quiet for an hour.

picture blake with dad gregs

I am 24 weeks! I feel so much bigger already by this point. I am not sure how I am going to make it until July. I am going to be huge! I feel pretty good and this is my favorite time of pregnancy. We had our follow up ultrasound and baby is doing well! The heart all looks good and the placenta has moved a little but they are going to do another ultrasound closer to birth to make sure it is completely out of the way.

Our boys still love dancing to the movies and it is just the cutest thing!

If you ask Blake what his name is he says "Blakey boy" and we just love hearing him say it! We always call him Blakey boy too so I am not surprised that is what he thinks his name is.

The boys got Lightening McQueen coloring changing cars for Easter and they love watching them change colors. I did not know how many times we need to refill the buckets with warm or cold water though!

Grant is in soccer with a few buddies from daycare and it is so fun to watch! They are more into playing than the actual game. As long as they are getting out and moving around we are fine with it and just love watching what they do during the games. It is quite entertaining!

We tried to potty train Blake before the baby got here but we were unsuccessful. He is a master at holding his pee and will go all day without going until we put the pullup on for nap or bedtime. Plus, so many kids regress after a new baby is born so we will just try again once the baby is here!

We go for walks at the development across the street from our development. They are putting in some 55+ homes there but no one is there yet so it is a great place for a walk. They have some construction equipment around and Grant loves this green tractor/front loader. The time is bigger than him!

Blake is getting so good at biking and pedaling! Of course Grant has to come give me a hug and kiss since Blake is getting all the attention and praise! They are battling for Mom's attention. I will take it as long as it lasts!

The boys love the construction hats and toys. They will go around and find things to fix for us in the basement!

Oh, boys! They are always wrestling! They had to just be born this way because we definitely did not teach them this!

Grant (and usually Blake) love to watch the garbage truck come by on Fridays. As you can see, it can be a little loud and scary!

I love my Blakey cuddles!

Greg went on a fishing trip with Grandpa and his Uncle's to Lake Erie. This was a place Greg's dad has always wanted to go so I am happy they were able to go! Greg had a great time and was glad he was able to spend this time with his dad.

The boys wanted to mow the lawn with Daddy! Grant was able to use the play mower but it was hard for Blake to use. He was so sad he couldn't keep up with Dad and Grant! It was cute to watch them follow Daddy around.

MAY

Grant finished up his season of soccer with his friends from daycare. They had more fun together than they did playing actual soccer but it got them out of the house and running around for an hour. I'll take it!

We've had some beautiful mornings! It is pretty sunny on our deck but I love getting outside in the morning.

Grant would rather pee outside than go all the way inside. Thankfully we have those rocks so it doesn't kill all our grass!

Grant went to a birthday party at pump it up and Grant had a blast with his friend Tyler! Tyler has been his best friend from the beginning!

oh boys being boys!

We got another ultrasound to make sure the placenta had fully moved and it has! We also got another look at baby girl! She is definitely smooshed in there!

Grant got some new shoes and they are fast! He had to try them out right when he got home and couldn't wait to show Daddy and Blake how fast he was.

I took the boys to the zoo and Blake was sooo excited! This is probably my favorite video of him ever. I just love their genuine excitement at this age. Blake was definitely more into the zoo than Grant was but Blake's excitement made it for me.

Leslie hosted a baby sprinkle for me and it was so fun! I got some cute girl clothes and it was fun to get together with all my friends!

We got the ipad out for the boys to play on and we are going to give the boys an amazon tablet as their present from baby. It will keep them busy while I am spending my whole day nursing!

We went to a delayed covid wedding and it was fun to get out! It was pouring when we were walking into the wedding so we were wet but it was fun to see our friends!

Blake is just so sweet! He watched me shoot the ball and when I missed he was so positive and sweet. "Oh so close Mommy!" I don't know where this sweet boy came from!

We got a swimming pool for the boys this summer. Grant liked it but Blake didn't like the cold water. It takes a lot of water to fill it up. It was hot! Blake jerked and then fell over and I took him inside and found out he had an 103 fever! I don't know what that jerk was about but that is the same thing he did at daycare a year or so ago.

We took one last trip to Honey Creek Resort with Greg's family. The boys had fun fishing with Grandpa and swimming in the water park. The weather wasn't the best but it was fun to get away with Greg's whole family and spend time together.

The bump is BIG! I do not know how I can get much bigger the next 2 months. Baby girl is low too. She is hurting my back and giving me back pain which I didn't have with the boys.

Beginning of 2021 (January-March)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 21:30:06 GMT

JANUARY

The boys are all into Spiderman and Batman these days. Grant is practicing flying so he can be just like Batman!

We had the O'Hollearn's over for dinner one night and everyone had fun playing!

We had our first official doctors appointment! Everything looks good and my due date is July 25th, 2021. It has been a rough first trimester but I am slowly starting to feel better. It was so fun to see our baby and I was amazed at how far along baby seems. Baby is not just a blob but actually looks like a baby!

I am loving these snuggles. I swear the boys sense I am pregnant and they have been all cuddly with me. I love it! My lap isn't big enough for a third!

Grandpa went fishing with his brothers down by us, so he stopped by to say Hi to his grandsons! The boys absolutely love their Grandpa. They ran right over to him and sat on his lap the whole time.

Grant is learning how to burn on command. He thinks it is hilarious. Oh my, he is such a boy!

The boys are all about performing Sing these days. We have a performance about every evening lately. Grant is more into it than Blake but Blake does it because he does whatever his brother does.

The boys love playing on their dump truck. Lately, they have been going on missions to put out fires! Blake is still getting used to driving but at least they can't hurt anything in our basement.

We got some Thomas tracks and love making all sorts of different tracks and racing the trains!

The boys are cuddling on my lap again. I need a bigger lap for this third baby!

For some reason, every time Greg lays on the floor like this the boys think it is an open invitation to jump on his back. They don't understand that hurts Greg! Blake also loves wrestling with his Dad.

I am already showing quite a bit with the third! I am feeling slightly better but I usually don't feel great until closer to 15 weeks. This has been the worst nausea out of all my pregnancies. Maybe that means it is a girl!

With me not feeling well and being so tired, the mess has gotten out of hand. I don't have the toys organized well so they get all over the place! Looks like I have some work ahead of me.

I love listening to Blake talk. He does so well! He doesn't get much chance to talk with Grant is around so it is fun to have him alone and just let him talk.

We went sledding by our house! It was a fun hill but very icy and cold. It will be better to go closer to a fresh snow but the kids had fun!

Jonny is Grant's favorite. He also loves to dance to this movie. This has been the best (and one of the only) movies we have found that has maintained our boys interest the whole movie and beyond.

FEBRUARY

Blake got sick again and so we got out the nebulizer! It is not even close to as bad as before but still needs the nebulizer a few times a day until he gets better. He is so much better at using the nebulizer now! He doesn't fight us and holds it on his own. He has grown so much in a year!

Blake is finally pedaling! He is so good at it and will be riding his bike outside all summer hopefully!

The boys can be sweet to each other every once in a while!

The boys love to go on missions in the dump truck. They usually go to put out fires. Grant is very focused but Blake gets distracted easily!

Blake decided he wanted to just sit in the tub and play with the trucks, I guess!

We met Tyler's family at a park to play and then they came over for dinner that night. The boys had so much fun dressing up and playing together!

The boys thought it would be fun to take out the diapers and start dancing on them!

They are playing with our cars and trucks and, of course, have to crash them into each other.

The boys love to wrestle with Dad. And I think he loves it just as much.

We went up to Webster City for Grandpa's birthday! It was fun celebrating him and the boys were exhausted on the way home.

We went out to eat with the boys for my birthday!

The boys are playing King of the Towels and trying to get on top! I have no idea where they come up with these silly games!

We got some more snow! Greg was out snow blowing so Grant want to go out and help Dad. It was so cute to watch him follow Greg with the shovel.

While Grant and Dad were outside shoveling and snow blowing in the cold, Blake and I were smart and cuddled inside in the warmth!

The boys go from wrestling to watching a movie in seconds. Their attention span to movies isn't very good.

Grant has always been the best person to make Blake laugh and it is still that way! Blake still has the best laugh in our family too.

They love playing with the balloons I got for my birthday!

Blake is just so adorable in bed! We look at the monitor and find him in such cute positions! He is so good with bedtime and staying in him bed until we get him. He is so much different than Grant was at that age!

I was tired one morning so Blake and I laid in bed together! I love listening to him talk.

I finally got Blake to say "no I not" on video. I am not sure where he picked it up from, but cute to hear him say it!

Another rare moment of the boys playing alone and playing nicely! This doesn't happen very often.

MARCH

We got outside on some warm days. Blake did not like the dump truck at first but warmed up to it and actually likes it now!

I feel huge this time around! I am sure it is because this is my third pregnancy but I wonder how big I will get!

Greg sold his company! We are very excited for him! He is going to to work for the company that bought him and we are hoping its less stressful for him!

We went out with my high school friends one night and it was a blast catching up!

Grant wanted to wear sunglasses but it hurt his ears so he put mittens over the glasses and wore them. Silly boy!

We had our 20 week ultrasound and found out we are having a girl!!! We are excited but nervous. We don't know how to raise a girl. My placenta is partially over my cervix so we have to have another scan in a few weeks to make sure it moves far enough away so I can have a vaginal birth. They don't seem concerned and think it will move with no problems.

I got some good cuddles from Blake after work one day. I love these snuggles.

Greg gifted himself a new truck for selling his company! He was still driving my old car so he definitely needed a new car. He loves it!

Grant is in a sunglasses phase. He looks so cute in them!

Blake reads this book and school and it is his favorite right now. He knows all the words and the actions that go with those words.

We had a rainy morning so the boys wore their rain boots and loved jumping in puddles!

Blake was singing "rain rain go away" on the ride home and it was the cutest song!

Blake really loves practicing cutting. He is very focused with it but still needs quite a bit of work so its good he loves to do it!

Blake was giving Grant chips to eat and they thought it was hilarious. By the time I started recording most of the cute giggles were over.

That toy Grant is playing with has been our all time favorite toy. Every kid has loved it and will hold their attention for longer than any other toy. I caught a quite moment with the boys playing.

Blake has been learning how to ride the scooter just like his brother. Grant was having a meltdown in this video because he decided he wanted to use the blue scooter instead of his red one.

Grant was having a meltdown because it was March Madness and Greg was watching too much basketball!

Blake is so cute when he says, "I so excited!" When Greg picked him up from school one day he ran up to Greg and said "I so excited!!" and Greg said it was the cutest thing ever!

Blake is so good and playing by himself. He loves that race track and will play with it for a long time.

We took the stomp rockets to Nana and Papa's house on Sunday to give the boys something to do outside in the nice weather.

Such a sweet moment of Greg reading to the boys before bed!

Grant finally got a big boy bed! We are hoping this helps him stay in his room after we put him to bed. He was so excited to be a big boy!

They seem to get along more when they are eating! Another cute moment of them giggling at each other during lunch.

End of 2020 (October-December)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 02:51:13 GMT

OCTOBER

The boys are into Super Heros! Blake especially likes Spiderman. He will shoot his webs. We can't get him to do it on camera but it is the cutest thing!

Greg turned 40!!! We had big plans for his 40th but unfortunately covid changed those plans. We celebrated at home and he got a night out with his friends. I tried to get some cute videos of the boys but they did not want to cooperate. Lets hope we get to celebrate with a trip next year!

Blake is learning how to pedal on a bike! This bike is hard to learn but he is ready to keep up with his brother!

Caught Grant playing by himself! I love these moments and listening to the imagination going on in his head.

The boys reading together. It looks like they are reading while also being mesmerized by the TV but still a cute moment.

These are my favorite cuddles. Blake is laying down on me watching TV. He loved taking naps like this when he was a baby.

We officially have a house!!! It was quite the process but we are so happy to finally be in! We moved in a week later than planned. I took a whole week off work to get settled but we didn't end up moving in until Friday so I got nothing done while the kids were in school. Frustrating I took that time off but glad it is done and I will slowly move in.

Such a sweet moment watching Grant read to Blakey.

Blake is really good at puzzles. It amazes me! And he will just sit quietly and do them. He loves them! I hope this continues because I love doing puzzles also.

Blake is pointing out all the balls on his PJs. And Grant gives him a nice hug. A sweet moment in between the wrestling.

We painted pumpkins for Halloween! The boys loved it! We aren't quite old enough to carve them. We went up to Steph and Brett's neighborhood to trick or treat and there were so many kids. Blake was supposed to be batman but wouldn't put on the costume that day. He decided on Thomas at the last second, thankfully. The boys had a blast and Grant keeps asking if he can do it again. He is going to be waiting awhile!

NOVEMBER

We had a friend take our picture outside our house for our Christmas cards. It is easier than getting a professional photographer and I wanted to get it out early so everyone knows our new address.

Blake has learned how to jump! He won't perform for us on camera but he is so good at it!

Blake found our pooh matching game and he calls Pooh "poop". So funny!

I love listening to all the Blakey giggles! He is so sweet and silly!

Grant is such a good talker for his age. He talks a lot! :) He is so excited for his 4th birthday!!

Somehow my phone camera was switched to black and white and I took these adorable pictures of Grant. He is so handsome!

I got a rare picture of everyone looking at the camera and smiling!

Grant is 4!! I am not sure how we have a 4 year old already. He is so sweet and cute! We love him so much! We decorated the house and his door for his birthday. He got some presents in the morning and gets a day with mom and dad today.

We finally got a video of Blake shooting his spider webs!

We took Grant to the jump park for his birthday! He had a blast getting attention from both mom and dad!

Grant got 2 family birthdays just like Blake did even thought we are in our new house. His first one was themed Thomas of course! I am happy he still likes Thomas. Greg and I love Thomas. He loved all of his toys and got way too spoiled.

We had a lazy morning in bed and got some cute and silly pictures with my boys!

Grant is playing with his new remote control car and he loves it! The boys love playing in the basement and it is perfect to bike bikes and scooters in the winter with an unfinished basement.

We celebrated with the Youngs next. This time it was a Spiderman themed celebration! Grandma and Grandpa came early to play. Grant had a great birthday and lots (too many) toys to play with!

This is my absolute favorite picture of Blake. This was taken at daycare and when I say it, I knew I had to get this print. His face is a picture of absolute joy and I can hear his belly giggles just by looking at this picture. Blake has the best laugh and is the sweetest kid.

Cal was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early November and we found out November 9th. We got family pictures taken before Cal lost his hair and changed the way he looks. We are very, very sad about this diagnosis. We hope he tolerates chemo well so he is able to be here with us for awhile longer. He is pretty uncomfortable right now so we are also hoping the oncologist helps him feel better so he is able to go on some trips, enjoy time with family and fish.

Grant tells me he is my best friend and he wants to marry me. I think it is sweet. I know he won't feel that way for long. Blake comes in at the end and tells me he loves me more too! I love these sweet ages where they have genuine, unconditional love for their parents.

Greg got out his Wii and Grant loves playing boxing! It is a fun activity to do in the winter when it is so cold outside!

Blake had some cereal and needless to say I think he liked it!

Blake read the Hungry Caterpillar book this week and keeps talking about the butterfly and flying his wings. I love it!

Grant played cards with Uncle Peter. They were playing go fish but the cards were face up so Grant could play. Makes for an interesting Go Fish game when you know all of your opponents cards.

Greg is going to try and put the lights up on our house by himself. I wasn't happy about this idea since we have multiple steep peaks on our house. He is obviously already frustrated so we will see how this goes!

We got some cute pictures with the Uncles and Nana and Papa.

Nana got the boys presents to start off the Christmas season! Blake and Grant loved their new ornaments and their Christmas pajamas!

We got a new Christmas tree! Greg and I went looking at multiple different stores and found the best one at Menards. We are ready for the Christmas season!

Our Elf came! The boys named him Henry. I am not sure they understand what the Elf does but they are excited!

Blake is very into dancing these days! He is so cute when he dances so we love to watch him and video him!

Just a video of boys being boys. It was all fun and games until Grant got too strong!

Grant is getting good at riding his balance bike! Still needs some work but slowly figuring it out.

The boys had a blast playing in the snow!

We made a gingerbread house and a gingerbread train! I think they liked eating the candy more than the actual decorating!

Another video of Blake dancing. See, I told you we love watching him dance so much so we keep videoing him!

We got the Wii out again for some more activities to keep our boys busy. They love the boxing game.

Surprise! We found out I was pregnant in middle of November. My period was a week late and so I went and took a test. It came back with a very faint line. I took a test a few more days and it kept getting darker! I went to get an early ultrasound just to make sure and baby was in there! Greg had to stay home because Grant was sick so he got to see it over facetime. It was still too early to hear the heart beat but we got to see that there was one baby in there and baby was in the right place. I will go to my OB in a few more weeks.

Grant and I decided to do a little Christmas baking! He is such a great helper.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to make some cookies with them. We got up early to go there and make pancakes too! Grant decided to make them multi colored pancakes. They loved helping Grandma and playing with Grandpa!

Some more silly pictures with Mom and Dad in the basement. We spend so much time down here and we love it! We will have to end up finishing it next year with the arrival of our new baby but it has been great for us this winter.

I made some salt dough ornaments with the boys to paint and give to family members. They loved painting the ornaments!

DMGCC did not have Santa's last night so we went to Glen Oaks for the 23rd. It was different than normal with Covid but still a good start to the Christmas chaos!

Christmas eve morning we opened presents at the Chaliks. The boys had a blast opening presents and then doing puzzles with Aunt Nicki and Nana.

I was very sick and tired over Christmas so this was the best picture I got of the boys in their Christmas clothes. They had fun posing for this picture though!

We went to Aunt Randi's on Christmas eve and heard Santa's sleigh bells. We saw where Santa was in the sky on his way to our house. We can't wait for Santa to come tonight!

Santa came!! The boys loved their presents. We opened then in only a few minutes and now we have all day to play!

We went to the Young's for Christmas dinner. Great Grandpa Dale was there and we had fun with our Grandparents and cousins!

The boys had to try out their scooters from Grandma and Grandpa right away! They took a little to get used to but I think the boys are going to love them!

The boys are very into the movie Sing and are now putting on performances for us daily. Dad even makes a special appearance in one of the shows. It is so fun to watch them perform for us!

Greg took the boys to the dollar store and Blake picked out this hat for New Years Eve. We met Grandma and Grandpa at Hickory Park to celebrate Grandma's birthday. They boys did great! Blake was all about Grandpa. Grant even got to help Grandma blow our her candle!

This has been a year filled with lots of up and downs. We sold our house, built/moved into our new house, Greg turned 40, Covid, Cal's diagnosis, a new baby and so much more. It has been a year of the highest highs and lowest lows. Next year will probably be filled with those high highs and low lows also. In the next year we hope for a lot of quality family time, happiness and we are excited for the arrival of our new baby!

Summer 2020 (July-September)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 02:02:09 GMT

JULY

Grant went fishing with Grandma and Dad over the 4th of July weekend. He had a great time and caught a few fish!

Here are some progress pictures of this bite thing. Blake had a virtual visit since he was exposed to covid and the doctor said she couldn't tell from pictures but was going to treat it as lyme disease. It is always something with this kid. The antibiotic is 4 times a day so that is going to be hard at the lake but I am glad he is getting something from it.

Our house is making progress! It is so fun to go almost every night to look at our house and see the progress. We have had to make a few changes so far. We had them raise the garage, change out some windows in our family room that didn't open and widen the hallway upstairs. You can see things so much clearer in person versus a floor plan. They weren't happy about the changes but they did them. We had to pay the changes.

We moved into a town house until our house is complete. We are happy we found an option to stay somewhere for a few months. There are some positives and negatives about the town house but it works for a few months. We don't have to do yard work for one! It is hard to fill up this water table because the outside faucet is in the garage in this town home so I take a big bucket and fill it up to fill the water table. It works for now and Blake loves playing in the water table.

We have been having problems getting Grant to sleep and to stay in his room at night. We are now laying in his room until he is asleep and it is taking FOREVER. We are going to have to do something different because we can't keep doing this.

There is a pond close to our town house so we walk over there and look at the duckies! It is a fun thing to do when we just need to get out of the house but don't want to go too far.

The boys wanted to tell everyone Happy 4th of July!

We took Grant to swim lessons. He is learning slowly but surely. We hope he can be a confident swimmer!

We went to Aunt Randi's house over the 4th of July and the boys were excited to go on a boat ride.

The boys love monster trucks right now! We only have a few toys out and one of them that Grant and Blake love are the Blaze monster trucks Auntie Kellie gave us.

Here is a video of me being annoying and demanding and asking Blake to do all the tricks he knows! He is so cute and such a silly little boy!

Taking another stroll to visit the duckies and watch the pond!

The boys have been loving the cars movies so I got them some light up Lightening McQueen shoes! They loved them!

We saw Aunt Leslie and had to say goodbye to her on the way home. So cute listening to them say her name.

Grant is playing soccer with some of his friends from daycare. They are SO cute to watch. I wouldn't say much soccer is getting played though. At one point they were all holding hands and playing ring around the rosie. It was the funniest thing to watch!

Grant got an ear infection right before we left for the lake. We wanted to get his ears looked at before we left so now he is on an antibiotic for it. We think he got an ear infection at swim lessons even though they say you don't have to wear plugs in clean water. Now we are going to the lake with both boys on antibiotics!

We made it to the big lake! That is what Grant calls Lake Michigan. It was a fun but exhausting week. We stayed at the bus spot which was nice to have our own space for naps and early wake ups. The weather was amazing though and we loved the early morning time at the beach. We had some lunches at Aunt Nicki's and the boys loved her "spicy chips" or BBQ chips and the name has stuck. They did really well on the car ride especially with the long drive. Our car was packed to the brim. Makenna played with Grant a lot which was nice to keep him entertained. Uncle Mit dug a hole with Grant also. Uncle Jeff took Grant fishing. He even caught a few fish! These boys are busy so we had to keep them active!

It is fun to watch Blake learn new things. He is counting and, of course, being silly about it but oh so cute!

Grant found some Batman masks at Aunt Kellie's and loved them! She even let him take one home and he wore it in the car.

AUGUST

Grant is playing a little more soccer and doing a great job. It is a lot of playing with his friends still though. It is just a nice reason to get out of the house and burn off some energy Saturday mornings.

Grant says granola bar so silly! You would have no idea what he is saying but we love it.

The house is getting closer to to being done! The bookshelves are being put in the wood around the stairs. That was put in by accident and we are so happy they did that because it looks so good! The house is getting sided and hopefully painted shortly after that. I took a few videos to send to my Grandma but its looking good so far!

Blake has his favorite Llama Llama books he has memorized. He loves singing to me before bed. Such a cute little boy!

Greg made fidget spinners for his work and Grant took one. He got frustrated when he couldn't initially do it but figured it out and he was so proud of himself!

We had a HUGE storm come through today. They called it a derecho which is basically a huge storm with hurricane like winds. It came through but did not last long. It did quite the damage though! We went to our house to check on water damage and there was some in the basement but that was expected since the windows had not been sealed. The boys enjoyed splashing in the water though!

Blake is wearing his santa PJs in August. Makes sense! So we are getting him to show us who Santa is and what Santa says.

We met Jackie, Milo, Jess, Cade, Lenny, Corbin at the park. There were a lot of little boys! They had fun playing around at the park and it was nice to catch up with my friends.

We went to the Blank Park Zoo! The favorite part was the train, of course. They also loved feeding the goats! Blakes laugh and excitement is just to precious to watch!

The boys always have so much energy when they go to Nana and Papa's house on Sundays. Uncle Mit got stuck wrestling with them. They boys loved it!

This is a rare moment of the boys playing quietly and nicely together. I had to capture it on video so I know a few of these moments actually do exist!

They both just looked so cute drinking out of their cups together watching TV! I hope they become the best of friends.

Grant made a monster truck out of magnetic tiles and he was SO proud of himself!

The governor closed down bars this weekend due to the covid numbers. This weekend is Greg and my 5 year wedding anniversary and we are going biking and to stay the night at a hotel. So we were talking about how we can't go to bars on our ride and apparently this was very upsetting to Grant. Such a funny video!

We had to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things and Grant was a big helper! He loved having his own cart!

I can't believe we have been married 5 years already! It has flown by and we have experienced a lot of life in those 5 years. We've had 2 kids, bough a house, renovated a house and are currently building a new house! It has been a fun, exciting but also busy and exhausting 5 years. Here is to hoping the next 5 bring us lots of happiness and joy!

SEPTEMBER

Our house is painted and looks so good! Next up is the brick. We are supposed to be in mid October so fingers crossed we are!

This bounce house has been a life saver to keep our boys busy when we don't have a basement or much of a backyard. They love it!

Blake still loves to wear his Thomas helmet and we don't steer him away from it because his head needs all the protection it can get. He is just such a clumsy kid.

Blake is dancing to the TV and he is just the cutest little dancer!

I've been trying to brush teeth while they are in the bath just to speed things up once bath is done. Bedtime is taking a lot of time so we will see if it works. You can also see a spot where Blake fell again.

Blake gets 3 birthday parties this year! Since we are in our town house we split up the family celebrations. First was the Young family celebration and it was Lightening McQueen themed! We got out the bounce house for all of the cousins to jump on.

We went to Cape Cod for Greg and Caitlin's wedding. It was a cold weekend off of the ocean but it was fun! It was very strict with covid restrictions to that was a bummer. We couldn't all sit together at one table and couldn't dance at the wedding. Silly rules that we somewhat followed but it was nice to get away with Greg and no kids for the weekend.

Blake got more cake and presents on his actual birthday! He is one spoiled little 2 year old. He loved all the attention and presents.

The last celebration for Blake's birthday was the Chaliks. He got some more cool presents so who knows where we are going to store all these new toys in our town house!

Grant was helping Nana do the dishes after dinner and he was the best helper!

Blake does some of the cutest things these days. He is acting like a gorilla here and it is just so cute!

These moments are my favorite. I love all the cuddles and I know they don't last forever so I will cherish them while I get them!

We took the boys to the pumpkin patch in September because it was so nice outside! The boys loved it! They got to feed some goats, so on a tub ride, play in some corn and jump on an inflatable. I would say it was a success!

The boys were playing a game in the backyard and playing together well-ish. This lasted awhile and they thought it was a fun game!

The house has made a lot of progress this last month. This month has been all the fun stuff to see-the finishing things. We are supposed to move in the house in 2 weeks. It seems like there is still a lot to do but we can't wait to move in!

Spring 2020 (April-June)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:38:40 GMT

APRIL

Caught Blake reading some books today! I love when I catch him reading quietly. As you can imagine, this doesn't happen very often. It is usually constant chaos with 2 boys.

The hair salons are closed because of covid. All of the boys desperately needed haircuts. I did my best with them but they boys did NOT like it! They screamed the whole time and I am sure our neighbors wondered how we were torturing our kids and it was just a hair cut!

Blake still does this cute hand game. I have no idea where he came up with it but we love watching him do it!

I was working out and Grant had to join me! I loved having the company even though it didn't last long. I have been off work since the beginning of April. Elective cases are canceled right now due to Covid. Lets hope it doesn't last long and I can go back soon!

We can't go to the park so we went out for a bike ride. It has been nice weather for the most part and it is nice to get outside as much as we can!

I got some Easter eggs out early and we had an Easter egg hunt! The boys loved it and they asked to do it multiple times. Success!

This is a cute moment of Grant kissing Blake and helping him! I love seeing these moments.

They are all sweet and then go straight to wrestling!

Blakey loves his stuffed doggy these days! He will go and get it if we ask. What a smart boy!

I have been trying all the thing to keep these busy boys active so I got out the sensory bin with beans. Blake loved it so much he thought it would be better to sit in it to play. I am fine with it if it keeps him entertained!

We can't go to the park but we walked over the the open field by the city hall. We brought Tball and soccer balls to play. It was a beautiful morning and so it was nice to get out and do something fun!

I used the eggs for another activity to keep Blake entertained. He loved this one also and did it multiple times!

Grant says granola bar in a way only Greg and I can tell. If you didn't know what he was saying you would have no idea!

Since everything is still closed, including bars, bands can't play right now. Our neighbors in a band and had a driveway concert. It was a beautiful night outside and we brought out the train table so the boys played while we enjoyed the music. It was one of the best nights we've had in a long time!

The boys got some sunglasses and loved them!

Grant is mad whenever we go on a walk and can't stop at the park. We understand your frustration, Grant! We think its silly even the parks are closed.

Blake has been giving me kisses! We missed the best ones, of course, but caught a few cute kisses!

We dyed Easter eggs! It is definitely stressful with 2 little boys but we made it work and got it done. The boys had so much fun dying the eggs even if Greg and I were stressed.

The Easter bunny came! Grant got a little discouraged when he couldn't find his Easter basket and needed some help finding it but they loved their presents from the bunny. The Easter bunny even had an Easter egg hunt in the basement! Blake loved the m &m's!

Grant and I made chocolate chip cookies for a snack and they were delicious! He was a big help making the cookies.

Blake is done eating or he doesn't like what I served him so he is just throwing it on the floor. Oh so frustrating and our floor is a mess!

We spend the afternoon practicing cutting and coloring. Grant loved cutting-he still needs some work but loves to practice!

I have been trying a few "homeschool" activities. Grant loved this one. It was a bunch of stickers and he was to circle all the ones he likes. He ended up circling all of them in the end but it was fun.

Oh boys. They just love playing in the rocks, mud and water. As long as it is keeping them busy, I am fine with it!

Blake is coloring on the easel for us! He is doing a great job!

It snowed...again. I do NOT like snow in April. This better be the last snow of the year! It looks like this is the end of it and it was actually a nice day to play outside in the snow since it wasn't that cold. Lets hope it melts soon and we can get back to playing outside.

Blake was a tired boy he fell asleep on the couch!

Grant and I enjoyed watching some TV while cuddling, holding hands and being goofy.

We have been busy this month baking! Cookies, banana bread and now brownies! Grant is a big help and they were delicious!

We went to Nana and Papa's house and had some races. Grant won every race of course but Blake had a blast just being a part of the fun!

Greg has been working from home and Blake doesn't like him working and he isn't able to see him! It is hard for Greg to work from home with the boys here but he is getting rid of his office soon since no one is going into the office. We will put all of his stuff in storage for now.

Greg taught Grant how to grab me a beer. Grant thought it was so funny to bring me a beer!

Blake pushed off of our table and fell backwards in his high chair. It was the scariest thing ever and Greg and I feel horrible! He had a bump and a sore but he seemed fine other than that. We are definitely not letting that happen again. He will either be in his high chair away from the table or sitting like a big boy at the table.

I couldn't take it and he is just going to sit at the table like a big boy from now on!

I have been going for a run in the morning and Grant wanted to go on one with Dad too! They only made it around the block and that was too long for Grant.

We have been spending so much time outside. I am so thankful for the nice weather so we are able to do this. The boys love playing with the sand box and water table. Grant is making some food for me and it keeps them busy!

We put Blake in a helmet because we can't trust him. Just kidding but ironically he loves this helmet and won't take it off. We aren't complaining. Any extra protection to that head and we will take it!

We took the boys fishing one morning. Blake was all over the place but Grant loved it.

Grant found his Thomas outfit from Halloween and wanted to dress up! Blake is so sweet and giving his brother hugs.

We got to meet Leslie's new puppy, Harley! Blake loved Harley but Grant was scared of her. She is so sweet!

We had to get out the bounce house again so the boys could burn off some energy! It is a great place to burn off energy.

We have been trying to teach Grant how to ride on his balance bike. He likes him bike with training wheels better but we think the transition to a real bike will be easier if he learns to balance.

MAY

We went on a walk with the bike but it was too much work for Grant to make it home on the bike. So we walked home right next to the bike. :)

Entertaining my boys with snapchat. They love the different filters.

Our bushes in the front were looking sad so I decided to take out all the rock and put some mulch down. Taking out the rock was a bigger task than I was expecting. We haven't finished the walkway yet but I think the bushes look great!

Grandma and Grandpa came down and took Grant fishing! He was excited to go. He got a little wet but caught a fish!

Blake is loving peanut butter and jelly these days. Well, anything really that has peanut butter in it. He is a boy after his parents heart. Just like us.

We got a package and the boys loved the bubble wrap. Such a fun activity to pop the bubbles!

Blake found a Santa figure and goes around saying "santa" "ho ho". Of course, we couldn't get the best one on video but we caught him saying "ho ho".

Every since our neighborhood concert we left the train table in the garage and will let the boys run around and play in the garage. They found some boxes and decided they wanted to play in those!

Grant got a big boy bed!! He was so excited. He still loved his crib but it was time. So far I don't think he realizes he can get out but I am sure that will change soon. So lets hope he stays in his bed and we aren't up all night.

The sun was too bright for these little boys so they had to take my sunglasses while I was driving. Good thing I could still see with the bright sun while driving. :)

Greg was mowing the lawn and the boys followed him around and mowed the lawn with him. It was so cute to watch!

The boys went on a walk around the block and Grant pulled Blake. He even pulled him up the big hill at the end. We were impressed how strong he is!

Greg took the boys up to Grandma and Grandpa's house and they played out on the playset. They had a fun time!

Greg got out his old construction toys and the boys loved them. They are still a little too rough with them but we are surprised they are still working.

Sunglasses were popular this month. The boys loved them. Blake looks so cool in the sunglasses!

Our house is officially on the market! It is exciting! We just finished all the renovations and didn't even have time to enjoy them all. We have a bunch of showings this first weekend so hopefully we get an offer!

The boys are picking up sticks so our yard looks nice for the showings. The boys actually loved doing this.

Auntie Kellie gave us some of her magic tracks and they were a hit!

JUNE

Last fall Greg and I spent a day leveling our yard and putting down dirt, seed and straw over that. It was a lot of work but we did it! We have been lucky with a warm spring and Greg has been watering our lawn daily. It looks great! Best it has ever looked! Blake likes going out and helping Dad water.

Blake loves singing the Thomas song! Such sweet moments.

We created a magnatile ramp where the ball goes down and comes out the bottom. They are the best toys and I can see how all ages would love them.

Oh my goodness! He looks so adorable with just the cutest smile!!

Grant is pretending to drink a "beard" or beer. Maybe we have been having beer too often at night for him to be copying us!

I took Grant to the future house to watch the cement being poured! He loved all the big cement mixers! Crazy our house is officially being built!

Blake is talking to great these days. I am impressed because I have heard a lot of second kids don't talk as soon or as well since the older one does all the talking. He is doing a great job!

Greg and I go multiple times a week to watch out house being built. We aren't supposed to be there but, of course, we have to go look at it. It is exciting to watch the progress.

Grant was sad I was working late. Greg sent me this video at work. It is cute to see he misses me but makes me feel bad for not being home!

Blake saying "Happy Fathers Day" to Greg. He did a great job with it!

We went to the park this weekend to get out of the house and celebrate Dad!

The next day we went biking as a family. We biked to a few parks and stopped and played. It was a fun morning!

I noticed this bite that Blake got on his leg. It is black but maybe a blood blister? We will keep watching it and see what happens with it.

We caught Blake trying to work like Daddy. Hopefully he didn't send any emails!

We officially sold our house! We got a full price offer and took it! Today was the closing day. We are so excited and can't wait to be in our new house.

Beginning of 2020 (January-March)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 21:25:44 GMT

JANUARY

Grant learned how to raise his eyebrows and he thinks it is so funny. We think it is so cute ;-)

Of course we still wear our Christmas PJs after Christmas! And Papa is reading them their bedtime stories.

I love these moments! Both boys wanted to snuggle with me and I could never say no to that!

It snowed! So Grant and I went sledding. We got going so fast we broke the fence. Oops! We had a blast sledding though.

Blake started saying "I love you" and my heart just melted! He doesn't obey our commands of constantly asking him to say it again and again. You can hear it once with "I love you cheeeese!" if you listen closely. Grant doesn't like Blake getting all the attention either. ;)

I am still trying to get Blake to talk all the time. He is sure over me asking! He can say strawberry (in his way) now. He is talking so much more these days!

We had to send a video to Dad when he was gone on a work trip. I survived single parenting while Greg was gone!

Blake now is trying to figure out this hamster. It might just stop working or disappear one day.

Blake loves riding on Thomas! Look at those happy smiles! He is so big!

We went to an inflatable party at a church one Saturday morning and it was packed! There was stuff for both boys to do though and Grant ran into his best friend from daycare, Tyler! A few days later we went with Tyler to the fire station to see some fire trucks and Grant got to sit in the drivers seat.

Blake says "duckies" but once again already has suggestive listening and doesn't want to perform when I ask.

We are going to my work party and he wants to go with us! We will enjoy the time away and he will enjoy the time with his grandparents.

We got some more snow! This time we took Blake out with us and he had his first day in the snow. I would say he had fun! It was cold so he didn't last as long as Grant but had fun sledding and touching snow. Grant even made a snow man!

We are always trying to find things to do to burn off energy of these busy toddlers! We like going to the mall play place early in the morning before the mall opens and we usually have the place to ourselves for a little while.

We went on a HyVee run and Grant got some chocolate milk as a reward to pooping in the potty.

Blake is a big boy now and is in a booster seat. He is so happy to be a big boy now! Blake got his swallow study January 6th and a follow up appointment with the pulmonologist on the 14th of this month. The swallow study showed that whenever he is sucking (bottle, breast, water bottle) some of the liquid is going into his lungs. This is because his sphincter is not strong enough. This would have been nice to know so long ago but I am glad we had answers. He can't use a sippy cup anymore and will just use his camelbak water bottle until he can use a normal cup. Camelbaks are nice because you bite before you suck so that puts less pressure on that muscle that is weak. His pulmonology says he thinks he has asthma and this silent aspiration. We will continue his nebs twice a day and go back in 3 months and see how he is doing. I am just so happy there are finally answers about why he was so fussy as a baby. I wish I would have pushed earlier for answers and asked to see a pulmonologist after his hospital stay.

Blake got his second hair cut and it was much smoother than the first time! No tears and even some smiles. He looked SO much older after a hair cut. He is handsome with his new hair cut but I don't like seeing him grow up with just a hair cut!

Grant misses Daddy again when he is away working! Always wanting Dad to fix his trains for him. Trains all day, every day for Grant. We love it and love Thomas. He loves trains so much he get everyone around him to love trains too!

FEBRUARY

On our next adventure to try and find something to do to burn on the boys energy-we went to the Science Center! They had a fun toddler room but most of the stuff was for older kids. It was a successful activity but we will be back again once the boys are older.

I am laughing in this video because Blake is finally big enough to fight back to Grant. We knew this day was coming and Grant sure doesn't like it! I am sure the wrestling will never stop with brothers so close together but at least now Blake can be a similar size and fight back.

Grant must have missed nap or something. He was NOT happy about hanging our new curtains. I had no idea he was so invested in my decorating.

Grant is so excited to have 2 beers when he is 21! I hope that is all he has and those are his first 2 beers ;-)

Another day another episode of wrestling somewhere in our house. Today they chose the bounce house! At least this place is soft and cushioned so the risk of injury is lower!

Boys have so much energy! Blake loved jumping on the cushions. Such an easy way to get him active!

Grant had to help Nana open her presents for her birthday! He was front and center with her!

This was a special day. It was Valentine's day and the boys gave us a few minutes of playing on their own and not needing us. This doesn't happen so it was definitely a gift!

We are building a house! We have been looking at houses and lots for a few months now and finally settled on a lot and builder. The paperwork is signed and we have to finalize a few things about the house and then the building can start! It was definitely something to celebrate so we popped some champagne!

The boys helped me blow out my candles on my birthday. Greg got me scratch cupcake which are my favorite cupcakes!

The Christmas train never left between Christmas and Easter so we went to the mall and rode the train in February!

It was a nice day in February so we met Grant's friend Tyler's family at the Walker Johnson park and played at the park and had a picnic lunch. It was a fun morning!

Blake loves the bubbles and he actually listened to me and said "bubbles" (After I asked a few too many times)

Such a funny kid-he already knows how to cheat!

I love capturing these cute videos of our kids saying this differently. They change so suddenly or you don't realize they stopped saying it until its too late so I am happy I caught this on video.

MARCH

Blake has been so much happier since we made the changes with his water bottle and pulmonology. I am just so happy to see him happy and to be getting more sleep!

Grandma and Grandpa were coming over to play and Grant couldn't wait to see them!

A rare moment of the boys loving and hugging each other. Definitely a moment to capture and cherish.

The balloons from my birthday are still hanging on and Blake is loving playing with them.

Nana and Papa came over for dinner and Blake was the entertainment of the night!

The boys love to take baths together and are so cute! Blake has started pooping in the tub and Grant hates it! (I would too!) So we make sure he has pooped before bath times.

Greg has been trying to get some house stuff done before our house is on the market and Grant wants to be just like Daddy with the noise cancelling headphones!

Blake was so tired one day he fell asleep on the couch. This never happens! We must have really worn him out.

This month has been interesting with Covid and everything shutting down. The kids have still been going to daycare so far but we wanted to sent a St Pattys Day video to my family since we aren't seeing them.

Grant was so sweet to Blake when he woke up from his nap and was tired!

We have been spending a lot of time at home these days (even parks are closed!) and luckily it has been decently warm so we have been able to get outside. Blake loved watching Grant fall over on the soccer goal. I just love Blake's giggles.

I have been going through things and getting rid of stuff, putting stuff in storage so I put on the life jackets to see what was going to fit for the summer and what I could put in storage. If only it was summer already!

Once again trying to get Blake to say a word. This time it is purple. I just love when they start talking!

Blake is getting so good at this! I am always amazed how quickly they change and advance. I few months ago he could not do this at all.

Just a funny video of Grant being the silly little boy that he is!

I brought a water table inside! I guess it pays off to not have any furniture in this room. The boys love water and it is too cold to go outside so I was brave and brought it inside. It definitely made a mess but kept them busy for awhile so I will take that as a success!

In this time a lot of things are uncertain. So I might be staying home with the boys for awhile since all elective surgeries are canceled until further notice. So I tried my best as a home schooling mom. It did not go well and this was basically as far as we got!

He loves Blaze and Aunt Kellie gave us the coolest hats. The PJs are from my coworker. He is one styling little boy!

Every time Blake sees a phone or camera he says "cheeeese!" and I just love his little smile.

Finally got Blake to say all of his colors in his goofy way! He is just a goofy cute kid. Grant felt left out so I had his tell me his colors also.

Blake wanted to play with trains but wanted to be right up there with the trains so he got right on the table!

Wow! They are laying on the couch together and not getting mad about touching! Such a rare moment, I love it!

They make up the silliest games and Blake absolutely loves when he plays with his brother. Grant is loving playing with Blake also.

I created a treasure hunt for an afternoon activity one day. I had a grand plan that it would take us awhile to complete and Grant would love it. Blake is too little to know what was happening. It only took a few minutes to complete and Grant was not too excited about the hunt or the treasure so it was very anticlimactic. Always the way it works-I was excited and it didn't turn out to be as cool as I hoped.

Blake is so silly! He made up a silly hand game and does it all the time.

November 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 20:27:18 GMT

Claire and Grant have been getting along well these days. He is patient with her (most of the time) and she, of course, always wants to play with her big brothers.

Claire was sick with diarrhea so we had a special day home together. She is just on a different level than the boys. She is so much calmer and less destructive. It always amazes me how different they play.

Caught this video of girls playing versus boys playing and it just makes me laugh how different they are!

Claire likes to dress up like a princess and wear jewelry. So far she is quite the girly girl!

Grant and Blake are playing basketball at the Recplex again this winter. Grant has his friend Josie on the team and Blake has his friend Carson on the team. They are having fun playing!

I took the boys to their annual physical and they were so good compared to years previous! They sat in the waiting room reading sports magazines and they behaved so well for the doctor. What a few years difference can make! They are both growing very well and are healthy. They both grew 3 inches this year and the average it 2 inches so that is good.

We took the boys to Blippi at the Civic Center. We had great seats! The show was mediocre but the boys had fun. Grant was happy with the surprise but Blakey was sad at first. He was also worried about the loud noises. He had fun once we got there though and it wasn't too loud for him.

We celebrated Grant's friends birthday at Spare time for a bowling/laser tag party. Grant has fun and the boys were well behaved! His friends know him well and got him some good gifts! We found out later that Tyler broke his 2 finger by smashing them between 2 balls. We feel horrible that happened at Grant's party!

Right after the friend party we had the family party. A lot of partying and sugar in one day! We catered Olive Garden and had homemade banana cake that Nana and Grant made together. He is one lucky boy!

I caught a cute moment with Uncle Mit and Claire. Claire was scared of my brothers at first but has definitely warmed up to them and is not scared at all anymore!

On Grant's birthday he got donuts for breakfast and opened his presents from Mom and Dad. I brought his Chick-fil-a for lunch and he got chocolate chip cookies at school to celebrate his birthday! Dad picked him up after school and he got to pick out a book from the book fair, we made him his favorite dinner with steak and mashed potatoes and he spent the evening playing his new favorite game-Madden. I think it is safe to say he had a pretty great birthday!

This was cute a moment with the boys. Grant was reading Blake one of his new books! Claire ruins this video with her meltdown but the boys are so used to these it doesn't even phase them.

Aunt Nicki got Claire some new clothes! Claire loves them and loves her kitty shirt!

Blake had his first play date at his friend, Carson's house, and had a blast! He didn't want to come home. He asked Ashley and Mike how much longer until he goes home and they asked if he wanted to go home now and he replies "No! I want to stay here for all of the days!" So I guess they gained another son and we lost one!

We put up the tree the weekend after Grant's birthday. The kids couldn't wait to put it up and we wanted to have it up to start the season! The kids had a blast putting the tree up with out help and I think it looks great!

Greg didn't want to put the Christmas lights up himself this year (and I don't blame him). Our roof is so steep I was happy he decided not too but getting them put up was too much money for us to Greg put some lights on our pillars, up the walkway and we got a minion! The kids loved our minion and the lights turned out great thanks to Greg!

We were looking for something to do one cold Saturday morning so we went to Valley West Mall to play and run around. It turns out Santa was already at the mall so we were not planning on it but got to visit him today!

Claire and I had so much fun playing with her tea cup. I love when she says "I funny" I hope she always thinks so positively about herself. She is just so fun these days.

All 3 kids had to come over and give me a hug! You can see Claire's face peaking out in one of the pictures. I love these hugs and being loved by these kids. I will take these hugs as long as they are willing to give them to me.

We finally got some snow!! This was a milestone moment because Grant was able to put on all his snow stuff by himself and they went out to play without me! I was able to stay in the warmth and watch them from a window. Also, they lasted outside for quite a while so the struggle of getting the snow gear on was worth it.

Nana watched Claire so I could go and watch Blake and Grant play basketball. Claire loves these finger puppets and always put them on and sings "Mommy finger mommy finger where are you?" So Nana got a show of Claire singing her song. She is just so precious.

Grant has been doing some eye movements with his eyes starting in August so we finally got into an eye doctor. Grant did NOT like having the dilating drops put in his eye but wanted to see him eyes dilated. We tried to get a picture but his eyes are so dark it is hard to see. His eyes are fine but the Doctor thinks it is due to dry eyes and some blocked oil ducts in the eye. So he will need eye drops a few times a day and we will need to put a warm compress on his eyes for a few minutes a day. Lets hope this helps!

End of 2019 (September 16th-December 31)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 22:31:31 GMT

September 16th-December 31st, 2019

Blake got this dog from Nana for his birthday and he loves following it around like a real dog. I am glad he likes it because this is as close as he is getting to a real dog for a long time!

Blake was sick on his birthday-poor guy! He had thrush and a bad cold so I got some good snuggles from him. Poor guy can't catch a break.

I love watching these moments. Greg got both boys to sit down and listen to him read a book. Rare moments around here!

Blake is SO BIG! We love how interactive he is with us these days. He is a lot happier and has come a long way.

The boys love their water table! One of the best toys we have gotten so far. They always end up soaked but it entertains them for longer than any other toy so we play with it as often as we can!

Blake has a sweetest smile and best dimples of the family. In this picture he almost looks like he has red hair!

We are trying to get Blake to do "happy and you know it" and Grant doesn't like that Blake is getting so much attention. It is hard being the big brother and then having to share your parents! Blake is so cute when he does it!

We went to see Thomas the train in Boone. We thought this would be so fun since all Grant cares/talks/thinks about is trains and Thomas. When we saw Thomas Grant said "Mom, why isn't Thomas real and talking?" He is too young to be noticing that! It was a fun time though!

Blake is standing up at the train table and playing with trains just like Grant!

As you can tell we are so proud of Blake so we have tried to video this song many times! It seems all the best times we can't seem to catch on video so we just keep trying!

I got some Grant cuddles one afternoon and those can be hard to come by! I love it.

Blake is walking around with the walker so well these days. He can turn it around all by himself and has good balance. Walking will be here any day now.

Blakey knows what it means when we say "no-no" We must say it too often! Oops! He shakes his head at us like I am sure we do to him.

OCTOBER

We took the boys to the Children's Museum. It was great for Grant's age and, of course, he spent the most time at the train area. Blakey had fun too but he was just a little too small for this.

We found some train tracks on Amazon marketplace and Grant loves them. They are fun to make different tracks and Grant loves to create new tracks with his trains.

Grant still loves trains. He gets very focused and it is the only time he doesn't want to play with me (unless his train breaks and he needs help).

Dad got some good snuggles from Blake! These are Greg and I's favorite cuddles so Greg is soaking it up.

Blake is getting such a fun age! He is moving all over the place, more interactive and happier than he was as a baby. He is getting better but we are still have some issues with sleeping and eating.

Blake got this chair for his birthday and loves to push the button and dance to it. It is a fun toy!

Blake also got this riding toy from Grandma and Grandpa for his birthday. Grant loves pushing Blake around on it and Blake loves all the attention from Grant! A lot of times the attention is one sided. Blake just wants his brother's attention and Grant doesn't want anything to do with his brother so it is fun to see them getting along!

We are getting braver (at times) and take the boys to HyVee Market Grill for dinner sometimes to give Greg and I a break from cooking and cleaning. Blake loves giving kisses these days and we will take all the kisses from him!

The boys both wanted to sit on Papa's lap. Grant was talking about what dinosaurs say and Blake was growling at Uncle Mit. It was cute!

We have had some nice fall days so were getting the boys outside as much as possible before we are all trapped inside for 6 months. They love their sandbox!

Chloe is on Blake's toy and loves it just like Blake! We watched Chloe for a few hours and she wasn't too happy about it. She wanted her Mommy! This was one rare happy moment with us.

Blake was kissing the big bear at Nana and Papa's house! So sweet!

Blake is eating a banana all by himself like a big boy!

We took the boys to Howell's pumpkin patch. It was a nice day for it! As you can tell from the pictures we had some good moments and some toddler moments. Grant loved the bathtub train and was mad when he had to get off!

I took Grant to the jump park on a day off and he loved the trampolines! Perfect place to wear him out for naptime.

Daycare had a Halloween party and it was so fun! The boys both dressed up as trains (there is a definite theme in our house these days). They had cookies, treats and bounce houses. It was fun to see home of Grant's friends and be able to talk to the parents.

I took the boys to HyVee to have a donut day! They loved it!

Nana loves her open mouth kisses she gets from Blake! She risks all his sicknesses just to get a kiss.

Grant had a great joke for Halloween!

He loves this train song we listen to while driving in the car and I started singing it as "all aboard the mommy train" once we all get into the car and he loved it!

Blake's finally walking!!! He only take a few steps but will be on his way in just a few short days or weeks I am sure.

Blake gets frustrated with this toy because it doesn't move as smoothly as it should but Blake doesn't get much stability from it so he is basically walking when using it!

Our boys were trains for Halloween! Grant was Thomas and Blake was James. They were adorable! We stopped by a few houses in our neighborhood and then to Nana and Papa's and Aunt Randi's. It was a fun night!

Blake is officially walking on Halloween. Such a great Halloween present!!

NOVEMBER

This is my favorite type of cuddling ever. I absolutely love when they are still small enough and can lay on your stomach. I can rest and they can rest/watch TV at the same time. Perfection!

Blake loves Mom's water just as much as I do! We are very lucky that our boys love water. Greg calls us all camels because of it! I am just glad our boys love water and that isn't a battle we have to fight.

We had to get outside and get out the house! We bundled up and went on a wagon ride around the block.

Blake got his first hair cut! He wasn't happy about it-actually hated the whole thing. But he was all smiles afterwards like nothing happened.

Grant pooped in the potty! Sorry for the poop photo but we just get so excited when these things happen. Closer and closer to being fully potty trained.

Grant and I took Grant to the jump park for his birthday. He loved it! And loved the alone time with Mom and Dad!

Grant opened a few presents on his birthday, got a cake and Nana came over to give him some presents! He loved all the celebration and presents! We can't believe we have a 3 year old already!!

We had Grant's family birthday that weekend and he got lots of great presents! Of course, it was a Thomas themed birthday and we would have it any other way. It was perfect for Grant!

After Grant's party, Blake picks up one of Grant's books and starts reading it all by himself (with the book upside down) but so cute to watch!

We have a LOT of leaves in our backyard. Greg tries to get rid of them and the next day our backyard is full again. It was nice outside one day so we had a family affair outside playing in the leaves.

Greg getting some of my favorite cuddles. Blake is such a cuddler and we absolutely love it!

Blake loves to dance! We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Webster City and Blake loved this toy!

DECEMBER

Blake loves riding on Thomas! He hasn't quite figured out how to push the button to make it go so Grant helps him and he loves it.

I caught some cute smiles out of Blakey in his Christmas shirt!

Another sweet moment of Blake reading to himself! I love catching these moments.

The boys are shaking their heads and giggling and it is the sweetest thing. Grant is still Blake's favorite and person who makes him laugh the most. We love when Grant makes him laugh because we get the best belly laughs out of Blake.

When we went to pick Blake up from daycare the teacher told us Blake had a few incidents where he jerked and then fell over. We brought him home and checked his fever and it was only a low grade fever of 99. As I was sitting with him playing he did it again. We called the on call number of his pediatrician and they told us to go to the ER. It was hard for the ER to see what was happening because it was random and only every so often. We videoed him while we were in the ER and finally got a jerk. We showed the video to the nurse but in the end they blew us off and said it was most likely due to his fever. We had no more issues the rest of the weekend so we are not sure what that was. You can't see the jerk until the last few second of this video.

This is such a cute moment but I had to catch it on video. Greg denies he snores so I had to show him ;-)

Blake is really sick again. His breathing sounds horrible. We took him into the doctor again and got steroids and a nebulizer. He has pneumonia. Our pediatrician said this isn't normal for a kid to be this sick again so we have a consult to see pulmonology. I am glad we are finally seeing pulmonology so hopefully we figure out why he gets so sick and needs a steroid every time he gets a cold. We got into see the pulmonologist quickly due to a cancellation and my boss was nice enough to cover so I could go! I was glad to get it quickly so the doctor could see him when he was sick. The doctor said Blake most likely has asthma and we will get a swallow study to make sure he wasn't having silent aspiration. That is scheduled for early January. Blake will start taking a nebulized steroid twice a day and albuterol every fours hours until he is better. Anytime Blake gets sick we have to do the albuterol but the steroid we do every day until our follow up.

I caught some cute Blake smiles even while he is sick!

The boys are jumping on the trampoline together. I am sure Blake will be jumping soon because he always wants to do what his brother is doing!

The boys got their cute Christmas pajamas on and I caught them both smiling!

Blake has the best daycare teacher, Miss Cassie, right now and she taught his some cute animal noises!

We went to Hy-Vee to go shopping and Santa and Ms. Claus were there! Grant was excited to see Santa but Blake wasn't too sure about them. You can see the tears are about to start flowing. :(

We went to Santa's last night at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. Blake did not like Santa again this time and still wasn't sure about him even though Mom was holding him. Maybe next year he will like Santa!

We went to Nana and Papas on Christmas Eve morning for presents and coffee cake! This was the start of our many Christmas's to come in the next two days. Later that evening we went to Aunt Randi's and had dinner and they opened a few more presents and Santa flew over her house! We had to get home after that to make sure Santa didn't miss our house.

Santa came! Grant was excited and Blake was excited for the presents. They weren't as excited for the kitchen as I was expecting but they got a lot of great toys. Santa even found his Polar we have been looking all over the house for. It is noisy and loud but Grant loves it.

It was beautiful on Christmas day. Since we are always up at the crack of dawn, we went to the park after opening presents since the Young family wasn't coming over until dinner time.

We had our last Christmas at dinner on Christmas with the Youngs. The boys got more great presents and Grandma and Grandpa got the boys a bounce house! Grant loved it and Blake is still warming up to it but I am sure he will love it when he gets used to it. We had a busy but fun Christmas! There was a lot going on in two days but it was fun to be able to experience the Christmas magic with two young boys and be able to celebrate with all of our family. We are very blessed!

Blake is doing so well with his use of utensils! I am so proud of him and how much he is developing. He is getting so big!

We met at Buffalo Wild Wings in Ames for Grandma's birthday. The kids did pretty well for about an hour and then it was time to go! But we were happy to be able to celebrate with Grandma for her birthday! We are excited for the New Year ahead. Hopefully getting some more answers about Blakey and we just started the process of looking into building a new house so we might be getting a new house next year too!

12th Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 17:55:17 GMT

August 16th-September 15th

Blake is almost walking! We are so proud of him and he is so proud of himself!

Blake is doing so well eating! He is tolerating foods well and I love his sweet smiles while he eats.

We had Leslie's wedding. We were worried about an outside wedding in August but it ended up being a beautiful day! Everything was great and it was a beautiful wedding.

Grant always has James by his side. It is his favorite train and he sleeps with it every night. We are so proud of Blake is his eating! I love his crossed legs in the high chair.

Grant was all wrapped up in a blanket watching TV and he looked so cute so I had to take a picture.

Blake does great with the sippy cup. He was done nursing on the night of his birthday and we were both okay with that. He did not love nursing but everyone told me it was helping him stay healthy so we made it the full year!

Blake has been sick this month and so I am soaking up all the snuggles.

I love spending time with Grant. He is a busy, busy boy with so much energy but he is at such a sweet age.

Grant loves getting new shoes. It is most important when getting new shoes to make sure they are FAST! He wants to be so fast and beat all of his friends at school.

Blake still loves his bouncer and jumps all the time!

Grandma and Grandpa were coming to watch the boys and they were taking too long for Grant! He couldn't wait for them to get there.

Greg and I went to a Backstreet Boys concert. My middle school self was in heaven! I tried to get some of my girlfriends to go with me and no one could so Greg did! He was such a good husband to go with me. He even said they were a good concert and we got a night away in Omaha so it wasn't a complete waste for him.

We are just waiting for Blake to walk any time now! He stands well on his toy so hopefully soon!

We got Blake's 1 year pictures. His belly was a little bit for one of the shirts I had picked out. He loves his food now. He did pretty well for the pictures, definitely better than the past and we got a handful of good ones!

This is Blake on his birthday not happy about being trapped! Good thing that gate is steady!

We had a busy day for Blake's birthday. We got up and went to iHop for breakfast. The boys loved the pancakes and waffles.

Then we went home to clean and set up for Blake's birthday party!!! We can't believe he is one year old already! He loved his birthday, the presents and the cake. He was so sick on his first birthday. He had a virus and thrush. Because of this thrush, his pacifier and bottle will be gone on his birthday so we don't have to boil the nipples after each time it goes in his mouth. He does great with the sippy cup and wants to be just like his brother so I think he will transition well.

Blake is 1 year old! It has been one rough year with Blake but we hope year 2 is better! He has been SO sick this whole year with little sleep and so many challenges but we love him so much. He is almost walking, done with bottles and pacifiers. He loves his brother the most and Grant is one of the only ones who makes him belly laugh. Blake has the best laugh and we always try to get Grant to make him laugh just so we can hear it. He weights , height, head. Happy Birthday my sweet Blakey boy!

11th Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 16:45:53 GMT

July 16th-August 15th

We had fun at Lake Michigan this year. We stayed at the bus stop and loved having our own space but still close to every one else. Grant loved the sand and Blake also did after he warmed up to it. We kept his paci in the whole time on the beach to make sure no sand got in there. We went to a train museum and Grant loved it. It was HOT! Greg got to go fishing with the guys out on the lake. We put Grant on the bottom bunk of the bunk beds and he did not like to stay in there. So it was impossible to get him to go to bed and he did not like to stay in that bed so he was getting up at 4 or earlier. Greg and I spent a few nights/early mornings in that bed trying to get him to sleep. We were exhausted! Blake did well sleeping for the most part but woke up at any noise. So there wasn't that much sleep for Greg and I.

Blake is finally crawling like a big boy on all fours!

Blake has the absolute BEST laugh. I caught these great videos of him laughing and these just brighten your day and make you smile watching them.

Grant still loves trains and Blake is hopping on the trend as well. The boys both play on the train table together and get along some of the time. It is fun to see them enjoying the same things!

We took the kids to the zoo and they had fun!. Grant and I got to ride on a camel!

We have been working on potty training Grant and he has been naked. I go to clean the dishes and turn around and find this on the floor. A whole turn of poop right in the middle of our floor.

Blake still loves Grant. He will laugh at anything Grant does. I love watching them play together and I hope as they get bigger they play well together.

Blake loves when Dad "airplanes" him onto our bed! Both boys would let Dad do it all night if he would let them.

We celebrated Leslie's bachelorette party and it was a success! We had a night in the first night making fanny packs and hanging out and Saturday had a whole day of fun! A cooking class and then a pedal pub bus and went out after. It was a blast!

Blake learned how to clap! He does it all the time now!

Our house is a hot mess all the time. There are toys everywhere and Greg and I don't have the energy to clean up every night. Especially when sleep is not a guarantee. Our house will be clean one day but it might be in about 18-20 years or so. ;-D

We took Grant to the Iowa State Fair and he loved the little hand on the farm. He loved all the food and Greg is hoping he gets his love of the fair!

Auntie Kellie gave us Blaze hats and the boys love them. They are so cute in them!

I was told about this ring test. You put one of your hairs around your wedding ring and it will tell you what gender and how many children you will have. It is very creepy. It said I will have 2 boys and a girl so we will see!

I got to see some of my friends at Jackie's Mom's retirement party!

Blake is 11 months! I can't believe he is almost a year. He is pulling himself up and started clapping this month. He is eating better and sleep is getting better but still not consistent. We hope it continues to get better and we love the silly little guy that he is!

July 2023

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 23:04:08 GMT

Claire plays so nicely with her dolls at her doll table. It is such a night and day difference with how the boys played at that age. (You can hear Blake whining in the background of this video for m &ms. Oh the joys!)

Claire is such a big helper! I am amazed how much she "helps" pick up toys, put books away and just wants to be a helper!

Here Claire is putting her face in the cold water. She is doing her own version of a cold plunge. Silly girl.

We had a fun and HOT 4th of July. We went to the West Des Moines parade on the 3rd with Uncle Mit and to the Waukee parade on the 4th with the Boltens! We then went to a party at the Bennett's house that afternoon. They had a inflatable water slide and Claire had no fear. She was in there with all the older boys and was having a blast.

Grant got another Nana and Papa day and went to the library when it was raining outside. Blake had a Grandma day also! Both boys had a blast with their grandparents.

Greg has been painting Grandma's house and so Grandma came over to watch the kids so I could help Greg. Kailey came to help Grandma and they took the kids to the park by our house. There is a hotwheels car track on one of the playsets so the boys really wanted to go and try it out.

We went to Lake Michigan again this year. The boys were very excited to go to "the big lake" but Greg and I were very nervous to share a house with other families. Claire was not happy to be there and she had horrible tantrums the whole time. She was happy and smiley literally the minute we got in the car to come home. Everyone got sick this week but Grant and I. Blake puked and was having diarrhea. Greg got his normal cold when he over does it and that is what caused us to end up leaving a day early. Grant and I had fun at the beach and I am hoping that next year is a little more enjoyable. We have some fun and enjoyable moments just fewer than normal this year. ;-)

Blake has been asking more and more questions about Grandpa, where he is, why we can't talk to him or why he won't come back. Here is a video of him talking to Grandpa. Makes me heart break again.

Claire loves her yogurt! I think she loves spreading it all over her face instead of in her mouth. We have since only allowed her to have it at dinner on bath night.

I caught the kids all singing and playing together. It was a rare moment. I, of course, missed the best part but got the end of the short event.

It was extremely hot out the end of July and I put Claire's hair up in a pony and man, she just looks so OLD! Very cute, but growing up way too fast.

Claire was sick with a fever the whole week after we got back from the lake also. I eventually took her into the doctor since she had the fever for a week but the doctor thinks it is just a virus. If the fever continues then she will get a work up but hopefully it goes away soon. Since she was home with me all week also, she came with me to get all her birthday decorations and some presents. Good thing she is just turning 2 so she didn't know what I was doing. She got some Minnie Mouse ears and loved them!

Claire wants to be a soccer player just like her brothers!

The boys went to Vacation Bible School the last week of July and loved it! Grant loved the songs and wanted to show his whole family at Claire's birthday party. Claire followed along with Grant and it was the cutest thing ever! We went to the Taste of Hope that Saturday after and it was HOT but the kids had fun. I forgot to take pictures that week so I only have a picture from the Taste of Hope and Grant's music video.

Grant went to a free baseball clinic put on by the Iowa Cubs players with Tyler!

I love getting snuggles from Claire after naptime. I don't get them often so I soak them up when I do.

One of our goals this summer was for Grant to learn how to ride a bike. Greg is a much better teacher than I am and he has done a great job helping Grant. He gave Grant different levels to achieve to be a great bike and Grant loves a challenge so it worked well. Grant needs a bigger bike also so it is hard for Grant to go up hills but he does really well going around the cones.

We celebrated Claire's birthday Minnie Mouse style! She was so surprised to see her decorations and loved having all of the attention! The cousins had fun playing together also!

On Claire's birthday I had all of the kids home with me and we went to a park in the morning. Then in the afternoon, the whole family went to the aquatic center. Claire loves swimming so we thought it was perfect for her birthday. We put streamers outside her bedroom like we do for all the kid's birthday and she loved it. Everytime she walks through her doorway she said "birthday!" She loves singing the song Happy Birthday and always blows out the candles even if we are just singing it.

9th Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sun, 21 May 2023 20:30:55 GMT

May 16th-June 15th

We took Blake into the doctor to get his ears checked out and Blake had already been breathing funny and the doctor said he should go to the ER. We did a breathing treatment and gave him steroids to help and I was to take him home and watch him and take him to the ER if he was constantly breathing over 40 breaths per minute or getting lethargic. He was breathing over 40 breaths per minute but his activity and energy level was normal so it as hard to decide if he needed to go to the ER. We ended up taking Blake to the ER that night and they sent us home. I stayed home and watched him all day Friday. I made Greg go to Target at 9:00 at night to get the owlet to monitor his oxygen level. Our doctor said kids don't go slowly downhill, they go off a cliff. So I was so worried we would have to call an ambulance in the middle of the night. The next morning when I went in to wake Blake up, I could tell he was lethargic and I called my parents right away to come over and watch Grant because we were going to the ER. Greg thought I was crazy at first since they just sent us home a day ago, but I knew it was bad now. They got us right in at the ER and got him on some oxygen. They had to keep titrating it up in home his struggle of breathing would go down. We then knew we were going to the PICU for him. He was there 5 days. He was very lethargic the first few days but never dropped his oxygen. We tried to feed him bottles and nurse but it was too much for him so they ended up putting in a feeding tube. I was not excited about him getting one put in but it did not bother him and it helped so much. We got discharged on Thursday and then followed up with our pediatrician on Friday morning. I was not comfortable with him going home because I felt he needed to be there another day. When we went to the pediatrician he was amazed they sent us home with him still this bad. He got better over the next few days thankfully and was back to his energetic self. It was quite the scary experience.

Blake's home and Grant is so excited! It was very confusing for Grant why Blake was not home and Mom and Dad were gone so much. He is happy his family is back together!

This was right before we went to the doctor and Blake was still all giggles for Grant!

Caught a rare moment of Grant playing well all by himself!

Such a cute video of Grant talking on the phone!

Blake is getting so good at sitting in the "beep beep" car with his brother!

Grant loves popcorn! He is just shoveling that popcorn in his mouth.

Blake is just busy making more of a mess in our mess of a house! It is keeping him entertained and busy so we let him.

I got a couple hours away to celebrate Steph's birthday! It was only a few hours but it was so fun to see my friends after such a long week.

Greg farted at the table and so Grant decided Daddy had to go in time out. You can tell he is copying what we do and then went to sit with him and talk about what he did. So cute but man, they are watching our every move.

Blake loves the remote just like Grant did!

Blakes ready to eat! They were all so cute I couldn't decide which ones to add. We love seeing Blake's smiles.

He is just such a handsome boy!

I finally got Blake to giggle so good for me! Usually it is only Grant who can do that!

We have been playing Robot Blake and running around the house. I did this with Grant when it was cold and miserable outside and we needed to get some energy out and Grant loves it! He "transforms" into Robot Blaze and runs around our house.

We celebrated Leslie's bridal shower. It was a beautiful shower and fun to have all of the family in town. The cousins thought it would be fun to have Grant go through the doggy door and my Dad was "giving" Blake wine. So a good experience there ;-).

Grant thinks Dad needs to clean up his mess in the garage just like Mommy does.

Blake ended up getting an ear infection after the hospital stay. We knew he would and we asked the resident before he was discharged and the resident said his ears looked fine but we went to follow up with our pediatrician and he said Blake has a horrible ear infection. So we made an appointment with the ENT and he will be getting ear tubes later this month.

Grant is still getting hives randomly. I tried to stop the zyrtec and they came back so I am going to continue to to give the zyrtec throughout the summer and see what happens this fall.

We took the boys to the zoo and they had so much fun. Of course, Grant's favorite part was the train!

I must of felt I didn't have enough pictures of Grant so he had a quick photo shoot for me! I love the scrunched up nose smile and picking his nose is just perfect picture of Grant. We sure to love him!

Grant learned how to ride his big boy bike! We are so proud of him and he is proud of himself. I love the helmet Greg found for him. It fits him just perfectly.

I found some matching train shirts for the boys. It isn't a steamy like Thomas but they still love their shirts and Grant loves matching with Blake.

This Noah's Ark toy was one of Grant's favorite toys and one that kept him entertained the longest and now Blake has big smiles and loves this toy as well.

I love watching Blake and Grant playing together. We hope they will be the best of friends.

Blake loves the Paw Patrol chair. He loves climbing up into the chair and it is a perfect size for him!

We got Blake out in his tricycle since Grant was riding his big boy bike and Blake was so happy!!

Blake starting standing up to his toy and he is just getting so big! He isn't super sturdy and falls down (as you can see from the video) but he is determined to keep trying until he gets it!

This has been a rough month for Blake. He started it in the PICU with 3 viruses. And he ended up with another ear infection which got him ear tubes. The ENT doctor said his eustachian tubes were not functioning properly and he will keep getting ear infections until he gets tubes. I was worried about the surgery since it was 3 weeks since he was in the PICU but he did well. He did not handle anesthesia like his brother and was very mad when he woke up pretty much all day long. He was better the next day. We are hoping after the tubes, his eating and sleeping will get better. He is almost 21 lbs and is moving all over to keep up with his brother!

8th Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 09 May 2023 15:59:44 GMT

April 16th-May 15th

Blake is just about ready to sit up and share a bath with Grant. Blake loves his brother so he loved it and Grant was a big help cleaning him off!

Blake has been giving us so many adorable smiles these days!

We went on an Easter egg hunt and got to see and sit in a fire truck! Grant did not understand the Easter egg hunt at first but figured it out by the end. It was a beautiful day for the hunt.

We had Easter wit the Young's and Grant had a blast with his second hunt of the day. Grandma got a cute picture with her cute Fareway shoppers.

We went to church Easter morning and then went home to see what the Easter bunny brought us! A sand box!! Grant was so excited!

Blake has been sitting in the big boy seat of shopping carts. He especially loves to sit with his brother and drive the "beep beep" cart.

I got some good snuggles this month after Blake eats. Oh how I love those snuggles.

The boys had so much fun playing in their new sandbox!

We took the boys to the park and Blake loved the swings! He gave us such good baby giggles and smiles!

Grant started getting hives for no reason. I have been trying to track what is causing them but they are very random and I can't find a pattern. I asked the doctor about them and he said to see if you can find a cause. They seem worse after the bath or when he is hot but I think that just release more histamine. Luckily, they don't bother him so I just decided to give him daily zyrtec and they finally went away.

Grant is still Blake's favorite person ever. The only one who can make him giggle those baby belly giggles. Greg and I, of course, love hearing them so we try and make Grant entertain him often.

We are going to start getting serious about potty training soon! Wish us luck! He loves the potty dance so that is a good start.

Blake still chokes on food all the time. It scared the crap out of Greg and I. So at almost 8 months he is still mainly eating baby food. He is just starting to be able to eat puffs. We are hoping it gets better soon.

Grant just figure out how to jump on the trampoline and we are all so excited about it!

I took Grant to the library one day and he wanted to sit down and read. I love seeing this.

We painted the house this month and man, it was a lot of work. Greg did most of the work and thankfully, Greg's parents came down to help. Greg's Mom watched the kids so I could help also. The house looks so much better but it was a lot!

Blake's all ready for summer and sun!

Blake is starting to stand up with move the walker. He only lasts a few seconds but we are getting there!

Grant has quite the mood swings these days. Gotta love the terrible twos. His are actually pretty manageable and he has some pretty cute moments too!

Blake is almost crawling on all fours!

Grant loves reading with his Dad!

Look at this cute happy boy!

Grant is getting to work fixing trains!

I love to hear Blake babbling and talking to me.

Another 2 year old meltdown. Bananas seem to be hard for him. If they are not perfect or all in one piece, it is apparently very upsetting!

I had a great Mother's Day this year! Grant helped me make brownies and then Blake got to see Grandma when Greg went out to lunch with her!

Blake is still loving his bouncer!

Blake went through the tunnel! We initially thought Grant could get him to go through but it ended up being the train to convince him. Our boys sure do love trains.

Blake has been sick with ear infections this month. I started noticing his breathing also and it doesn't sound good. We went to the doctor later this day and ended up in the ER and ultimately the PICU but this video was the start of it all. I feel like I should have worried sooner but we went to the doctor initially and he said it was just because of the ear infection but it got worse over the 10 days of antibiotics.

Blake had a good 8th month! He is eating better and got his first tooth. He has been sick with ear infections and was getting very sick by his birthday. I got his 8th month picture in the hospital a few days late because he was in the PICU and we were very scared!

7th Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Wed, 03 May 2023 16:14:30 GMT

March 15th-April 14th, 2019

We went out to dinner for Kellie's birthday and Blake cuddled up to Grandpa!

Grant learned how to pedal like a big boy! He was so proud of himself.

Grant had some ice cream at Dairy Queen and loved it! Nana and Papa also gave him some to have at home. He is one spoiled little boy.

I caught this super cute moment of Grant "reading" to Blake. Blake absolutely LOVES his brother. He is always looking for attention from Grant. Blake was in heaven right now.

I got Grant some shaving cream for something to do. He loved it and put it all over himself. It is funny to see the progression through this pictures of shaving cream going everywhere. He went straight into the shower after these pictures were taken but it looks like he had fun and the mess was worth it!

Grant loves playing with ice and it keeps him busy for longer than just a few minutes!

It is getting warmer outside so we bundled up and got some fresh air.

We took the boys to the Sacred Heart fish fry and luckily they had a few things to keep Grant busy because he was restless after awhile.

Grant was excited to have Blake in the shopping cart with him. Blake still leans over a little but he was happy to be next to him brother.

Greg and I got to get away and have a rare date night. We had to capture Greg and I in something other than sweats with our boys!

Blake has been blowing bubbles and loving him Mom lately!

Blake is getting so big and sitting in the stroller like a big boy these days!

Blake is still breastfeeding and it is a lot of work. I feel like I need to continue because he has been so sick but it is very hard.

Greg and I got to get away and go to Florida for a few days. It was nice to be able to sleep in. I got a few clogged ducts and it was not fun trying to pump in amusement parks but it was worth it to get away for a few days. And we got to see Harry Potter World again! We, of course, took all the pictures and videos of trains to show Grant and he loved them. We send the train video to Nana and Papa and they said Grant watched that video on repeat.

We caught a cute moment of Grant hugging Blakey! We had to get out of the house and didn't want to cook so we took them to Hy-Vee. It is quick and it wasn't busy when we come and make a scene with two little crazy boys. We also got another hug and Nana and Papa's house. He obeys our requests every once in a while at least.

Blakes drinking out of a sippy cup! He is getting so big!

Blake is still causing us issues and lack of sleep but he is cute so we will keep him.

We got the potty out and are getting Grant ready to be potty trained. We would love to have him out of diapers! He wants to wear big boy underwear and will got potty on the toilet if we ask him so I think he is getting close.

Blake is army crawling! We are definitely not ready for this!!!

Greg took Grant to Auntie Kellie's house and they went outside and rode around his cousins 4-wheeler.

We dyed Easter eggs! Grant dyed the eggs and Blake was just being a cute observer It was definitely stressful with a 6 month old and 2 year old but I think Grant had fun and that is all that matters.

Seriously, these kisses are my favorite. I think I say that about too many things but I love these open mouth kisses! I love you, sweet boy.

It is just to funny how Blake will giggle for Grant more than anyone else. Greg and I try but then we just have Grant do it so we can hear Blake's great giggles and laugh.

Blake is 7 months! We got some things checked off our list and his murmur is gone so they said the holes in his heart are gone and he doesn't have to go back until 3! Wahoo! He is working on sitting up but still falls over because of that big belly. He is 19.5 lbs but still gets up in the night to eat so we are still tired. He started to army crawl this month so he is on the move. He has to keep up with him brother who he absolutely loves and is his favorite person ever!. We love his dimple, smiles and giggles.

6th Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 02 May 2023 19:51:57 GMT

Feb 15-March 15, 2019

Grant has a lot of energy so we take him to the play place at the mall on weekend mornings to burn off some energy. Early mornings before the mall opened is the best. No one knows the mall is open so it's empty and the play place is cleaned the night before so we don't have to worry about so many germs! We do have some tantrums when it is time to leave at times. The train is open certain times since they left it up between Christmas and Easter so Grant LOVES riding that when its open!

Grant wanted to help Dad outside shoveling snow. It was all fun at first but the cold got to him and he did not last very long outside. Long enough though to sled down our backyard a few times.

Blake is starting to babble and talk more. I love listening to him "talk" and have a conversation with him!

Grant got pink eye from school. Luckily with medicine it clears up fast. Pink eye is no fun and we are trying to keep him away from his brother so he doesn't get it!

Blake just LOVEs his brother. If Grant give him an ounce of attention Blake will burst out in giggles. So, of course, I am constantly asking Grant to make Blake laugh. Blake just has the best laugh! Grant does not listen to my requests some of the time but Blake will still giggle at his brother. It is the cutest thing ever.

We went over to our friends house and they had hockey and Grant wanted to play at home too. I am worried about those hockey sticks being weapons down the road so we will have to put those high and only have them out when we are near.

Grant pooped in the bathtub! First time having to deal with this and hopefully the last. It is disgusting and horrible to clean up!

Grant will fall asleep in the car if it is anywhere near his nap time. We don't like him falling asleep in the car because then a good nap is our of the picture!

Greg's office has a pool in the workout area. We took the boys there on one exceptionally cold day and Grant had a blast. Blake watched from afar. We should definitely do this more often!

Blake is starting to "blow bubbles" and loves his jumperoo!

Grant asked me to hold his hand during dinner and I was in heaven! I will never say no to that request!

Umm, these are just the cutest pictures ever! Look at that love Blake has for his Dad!

Blake is so cute talking to himself in the mirror. Does he know that is Blake he is looking at?!

We had Thomas the Train on and Blake loved watching it in his bouncer. Look at that messy house...

Grant will play with Blake sporadically but Blake loves any and every moment his brother will pay attention to him.

Again, looking for activities to do with a busy toddler when it is freezing outside! Today we decided to paint ice and he had fun. It kept him busy for a few minutes which is longer than most activities.

Grant absolutely loves trains. He loves playing with trains, watching Thomas and just everything trains! I introduced Thomas the train to him and he has been in love with trains ever since.

Blake is getting close to crawling! Greg and I are not ready for 2 moving kids. EEK!

We introduced Blake to baby food and he loved it! He can't get food fast enough. He is still not sleeping the best so we are hoping this helps get us more sleep at night. Greg and I are tired!

Nana and Papa met us at Hy-Vee for the Paw Patrol brunch. Man, it was packed! Grant got to meet a few of the Paw Patrol characters. He did not want to talk to them but got a picture near by.

Another request to hold hands and I am all in!

Took Grant to Backyard Adventures which is a place that sells play sets and lets kids play on the floor models. Some of the slides were very fast and some play sets were very tall!

I caught this cute moment of Grant calmly and quietly reading to himself. It is just so fun to watch.

Blake is having fun playing with Grant's cars. Ssshh-don't tell Grant he is doing that or he won't be happy!

We love Blakey's smiles and his dimple. We will take Blake's smiles anytime we get them

Blake still hasn't been sleeping the best and does not sleep through the night so we are getting a lot of cuddles during the day and during naps. We even take them with Blake when we can.

Dad is enjoying the cuddles with both his boys-most likely watching Thomas!

We got Blake's 6 month pictures back and we got a few cute ones with smiles! I am impressed she got some smiles!

I cannot believe Blake is half a year old! It has been a long 6 months and we still aren't sleeping like I would like, but he is getting more interactive and it is fun to watch the boys together. Especially watching how much Blake loves his brother. He is getting close to sitting up! Blake was 36% for height, 18lbs 2 ounces which puts him at 58% weight and 64% for head circumference.

End of Summer 2022 (August-September)

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 21:30:39 GMT

August 1-September 30

Claire has been practicing her walking. She is getting so good! She is able to stand for a long period and takes a few steps.

The boys loved Claire's birthday presents more than Claire did! Here they are playing the drums Aunt Kellie gave her. Thank you for the loud noises, Kellie ;-)

Claire is "SO BIG". She wants so badly to keep up with her brothers and do everything herself.

Claire likes to blow raspberries just like her Mom and Dad do to her.

We joined Genesis Health this month for the pool. It is a perfect size for our kids right now and it very convenient. The outdoor pool is open if the club is open so it is nice to be able to go in the morning. The city pools are always closed until noon which is still nap time for Blake. We have also noticed the boys need some more exposure to the water so this is a good way to do that. They have done swim lessons this summer but I would like them to be a more confident in the water.

We had our first incident of writing on furniture. I am actually surprised we made it this long! I was also surprised it was GRANT who did it at almost SIX. We are not happy about that! This was drawn on our table on the kitchen wall. I will have to see if I can find a way to get it out without ruining the table.

Blake was invited to Dreamnight at the Blank Park Zoo. It is a special night at the zoo for kids with special needs. It was fun to be able to celebrate Blake since he has gone through and missed so much. There was a big storm on this night so it was extremely humid! We did all the fun things, ate, saw super heros and left just in time to hit the storm on the way home. It was a scary ride home but I am happy we were able to go. We have been following the women who cured her son of seizures plan but have been getting very discourage because Blake has been sick since the week of the lake. He has been having high fevers and a really bad cold/cough which ended up leading to an ear infection. The good news is that we have not noticed any seizure activity even with all those high fevers and sicknesses. So hopefully some of the stuff we are doing it helping. He has done so great with the special diet but has been refusing to take the supplements a lot of the time. We will retest at the end of August and see if anything has changed and then do a 24 hour EEG hopefully in October.

Here is a really cute video of Blake and Claire playing together. He has been so cute to her lately and I can see a beautiful friendship starting (hopefully!).

Our cute Blakey boy has been loving his Mom these days. And I absolutely love his cute crinkle smile.

We had to say goodbye to Milo and Jackie at the beginning on August. Blake and I were both very sad they moved away. It was fun to watch Milo and Blake play together. They were in the same class at daycare and Milo was Blakey's "best" or best friend. He cried one night when I was putting him to sleep because he missed Milo. :(

Claire has learned how to climb the stairs. And this video of Blake cheering her on is just the cutest.

Greg and I went to the state fair 2 days this year. One day we went with Claire and the other day we took the boys. We had a great day both times. I did happen to break my tailbone going down the Big Yellow Slide so I have been pretty miserable since that. Grant was so excited he won the race both times though!

We are getting a lot of open mouth kisses from Claire and we love it! She is just so loving and sweet.

Claire found the boys batman mask and loved wearing it around one afternoon. I thought it was the cutest thing.

We did a kiwico box and Blake got one about pirates. Such a cute pirate!

Here is a rare moment of Claire sitting and reading a book to herself!

Claire is getting even more brave with her walking. She will go multiple steps and walks now without us standing her up. She is almost to full walking now!

It was a big day this month. Grant started Kindergarten!!! He was nervous but SO excited! I teared up watching him walk in. He was so brave and walked inside all by himself. He has one friend, Camden, from daycare so that helped ease some of his nerves. We can't wait to watch him succeed this year!

All three kids have been loving our water table this summer. This has been the most used toy ever. Grant still loves it! You can see our make shift gate in the background. We might needs something better next summer. I don't think that will stop an almost 2 year old!

Grant has been doing Taekwondo and loves it! We thought it would be good for him to teach him discipline and how to control his fighting urge.

Claire loves to do everything her brothers do and does not want to be left out. The boys love soccer right now so here she is trying to play also!

I was trying to get some pictures of the kids for a mug and this is what I got. I love their smiles!

Grant went to his first Iowa State Game with Greg in September and he loved it! It was a little too hot and Grant made it through about 3 quarters so I bet next year he will make it through the whole game!

Claire is getting so big and playing by herself so much more! It is so fun to watch her grow and explore.

Claire doesn't say many words but one of the few is "dog". I think only Greg and I can tell that is what she is saying but we are counting it!

Blake and Grant are such good big brothers to Claire most of the time. And Claire just wants her brother's attention all of the time! Here is a video of Blake playing nicely with Claire.

Claire has learned to play peek-a-boo by lifting up her shirt and she it is the cutest thing!

The boys got their Halloween costumes early this year. They are all going to be power rangers and the boys are so excited! We even had a power ranger help us unload the dishwasher.

Blake turned 4 on September 15th! We kept him home on his actual birthday and then we have the family birthday the Sunday after. We had so much fun celebrating! Everything was monster truck themed and he loved it. On Sunday, Grandma was in town and went to the park with the boys and Greg in the morning and then the whole family came over to celebrate have his birthday party. Blake is still dairy and gluten free so that was a challenge for his birthday. We wanted him to have the same thing as everyone else so we found gluten and dairy free cupcakes at Molly's cupcakes downtown. They were actually pretty good!

We went to watch Kailey play volleyball and the cousins had fun together while having ring pops!

We went to Clear Lake at the end of September to celebrate Cal and spread some of his ashes on the lake. One of his favorite places to fish! It was a fun weekend with family. The house we stayed at was beautiful and had a beautiful view of the lake.It was a little colder than we would have liked but we were able to go on a ferry on the lake and out to dinner a few times. We were also able to fish Sunday morning before we left. Blake was the only one to catch a fish but we were glad to catch one!

Claire is getting so much better at walking! She walks mostly on her own but still falls quite a bit. We've had a beautiful fall so we have spent as much time outside as possible.

Grant has his school fundraiser-a fun run at the end of September. I had to work but Greg and Grandma were able to go and watch him run!

Grandma spent the nights a few times lately and here she is watching all three kids like a champ. Our kids LOVE when Grandmas has a sleepover.

10th Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 03:18:32 GMT

June 16th-July15th

Blake is standing on and playing with this toy and so proud of himself!

The boys are loving the sand box and it is entertaining them for longer than I expected!

Blake is on the move and figured out how to crawl up our step so he is all over the place now!

Greg and I got a night away to go to Greg's cousins wedding. It was fun to have adult time away from the kids.

Blake is eating big boy food so much better! We are all so happy about that.

These are just the cutest videos. He is laughing and talking to himself in the mirror. I don't think he realizes its himself.

I love these naps on Mom!

He looks so big in the "beep beep" cart!

We got Blake's 9 month pictures back and got a few good ones. He was not interested in taking pictures so he cried through most of the pictures. I am surprised with what we got.

Grant did a great job potty training! He finished his sticker chart and stays dries most of the time. He has to always be reminded or told to go potty so we are hoping that gets better with time.

Grant is ready for the 4th of July! He is so cute in his sunglasses.

Cute video of Blake smiling and Grant in big boy underwear!

Grant still loves to play "Robot Power!"

Walked in to get Blake one morning and he was sitting up waiting for me. Looks like it is time to lower the crib so this big boy!

The bees love the spaces under our wood in our deck and keep making homes so we need Dad to kill them so we can play in the sand box outside!

We had a fun 4th of July! We went to the West Des Moines parade on the 3rd and the Urbandale Parade on the 4th. We got out chairs stolen at the West Des Moines parade and there was a big storm right before but it cleared up just in time. It was very hot at the Urbandale parade but the boys had fun and Grandma and Grandpa suffered through the heat with the kids.

We went to the Stern's lake house in Panora and Grant and I got into the lake. It was a little rocky but fun!

Our neighbor's were out of town and let us borrow the pool while they were gone. We had our friend's over to enjoy the pool with us!

Blake is becoming a moving, wild little man but we love seeing these smiles.

Blake is so proud of himself that he can pull himself up! One step closer to walking!

You can see how the 10 month pictures went. I couldn't get him to sit down for a picture so these are the best I got. He had a good month. He is pulling himself up, his ear tubes look good, and is a on the move all over the place! He weighs 21lbs 14oz, he is 57% for height and 61% for head circumference.

5th Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 17:39:51 GMT

Jan 15-Feb 14

We are all still sleeping all the time over here! Blake's favorite places to nap are on Mom and Dad. We fall asleep with him often too! Grant has even been seen to nap throughout us shopping as Costco.

But we are still smiling through the exhaustion! (Some more than others ;-D)

I was so worried when Blake was born I would "lose" Grant as my best friend. I am happy to say he still loves his Mom just as much. We love to be goofy, silly and cuddle on the couch.

Blake started holding is bottle when Daddy is feeding him. He is getting so independent already. :)

Blake has been able to sit up in his bumbo and he loves being able to see what is going on. He has been interacting with his toys more which is fun to watch!

We gave Blake cereal for the first time this month and he did not love it. He spit it right back out but we will keep trying.

Grant has been "going on a bear hunt" at school and loves it! His attention span doesn't last long enough for the whole song but it is so cute to watch!

Grant loves to help out his brother especially now that Blake is more interactive.

Grant still absolutely loves trains! It's fun to watch his enjoyment and excitement.

Grant is Blake's favorite person ever and the only one who can make him giggle! We tried so hard to get Grant to make Blake giggle since Mom and Dad weren't funny enough. Grant is such a busy body we can't get him to pay attention long enough but Blake's eyes are always paying attention to his brother. We hope they are best friends some day.

It was a big month for Blake and he started rolling over this month!!

He is even getting close to crawling! Greg and I are not ready to be chasing around two boys all the time!

Blake got to meet his new friend, Milo! Jackie had her baby in January and it was fun to meet Milo and see Jackie as a Mom!

Since we had the horrible blow out on Blake's baptism day, we had his outfit washed and wanted to get some pictures in it. They aren't as good as they would have been that day but better than nothing!

Blake is doing better this month. He seems to be happier which we are all thankful for. He weighs about 16 pounds and still has blow outs daily. I am sure daycare loves that. :)

Fourth Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 20:00:47 GMT

December 15th-January 15th

Grant loves being silly these days! Here we are getting ready for Blakes 3 month photos coming up and he grabbed these Winnie the Pooh shorts and put them on his head!

Blake is finally big enough to try out the jumperoo. He loved it and I can't believe he is this big already!

We are still nursing and I love when Blake grabs my hand. I love these moments!

Blake is supporting Creighton with his onsie!

Grant and Mom cheesin' together.

Uncle mit came over to play! Here he is reading a book to Grant.

A few pictures of Blake and Mom cuddling. Still lots of naps on Mom!

Here is a cute video of Grant asking to go to time out. Silly boy!

Grant learned how to say "hawkeye" so, of course, we had to send a video to Uncle Mit.

Grant had a blast making Christmas cookies with Grant!

Santa's Last Night at Des Moines Golf was too late for Grant so Blake and I got to go alone and see Santa!

The boys made out like bandits at the Chalik Christmas. We do the Chalik Christmas celebration Christmas Eve morning.

The boys got a few more presents from the aunts at Aunt Randi's house after church Christmas Eve.

We we exhausted by Christmas morning but we enjoyed opening a few more presents from Santa!

We had to get the boys dressed up for the Young side of the family Christmas!

Blake took naps most of the time we were opening presents but we got a cute picture with cousin Chloe and Grant loved even more presents!

Grant loves playing with his Thomas the train. Dad is obviously exhausted from all the Christmas activities and lack of sleep.

Blake is having more smiles and starting to try and roll over. It won't be long!

Grant sat on the potty for the first time this month! We are so proud and excited to be (hopefully) done with diapers soon!

We celebrated Blake's baptism at the end of December. It was an eventful day, thats an understatement! We pooped through his baptismal outfit and had the worst blowout we have ever seen. Luckily I had packed another outfit just in case. Kids always seem to poop when they are all dressed up! Blake was super fussy the whole evening making it stressful for Greg and I! It was hard to host an event, deal with an extremely fussy baby and take care of Grant!

Moments like this make parenting worth it. This is Grant and Blake holding hands.

We went over to my friend Steph's house and met Lucy! Lucy is about a month and a half younger than Blake. It was fun to get them together and see Steph as a first time mom!

Blake is starting to motorboat and it is the cutest thing ever!

We got some snow so Grant had fun playing in the snow, sledding in our backyard and helping mom shovel!

It is hard to keep a 2 year old entertained in the middle of winter with no where to go. We brought it some snow and added some ice. It kept him entertained for a solid 5 minutes or so!

Grant singing Baby Shark! Our new favorite song of the moment.

Blake went to daycare this month and got RSV within the first week there! He also has his first ear infection. I am very nervous about his RSV because that can be very serious in little babies. We had to postpone his immunizations until he was feeling better. Greg got RSV from Blake and he has been very sick also. He had 103 fevers for about 12 days. Greg is the reason we found out what Blake had. Greg had to go to the doctor multiple times and finally asked the doctor to do the test to see what he had and it came back positive for RSV. Greg is on the mend and hoping Blake is soon too! His measurements at the doctor looked good though. Height is 66%, weight is 33% and head circumference is 61%. Blake still isn't sleeping through the night which is rough for Mom and Dad. Hoping that improves next month!

Third Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 19:49:54 GMT

November 15th, 2018 - December 14th, 2018

We have been trying to find things to keep busy body Grant entertained! It has been hard since its cold outside so we have spent a lot of time in our basement and at the play place in the mall. We even spent one of the negative degree morning at the pool at Greg's office.

Grant loves to color his favorite things, people and trains! Another way to keep him busy. :)

Blake has been smiling more and it has been so fun to see his sweet smile and cute dimple!

We celebrated Blake's first Thanksgiving at the Sterns house. Grant did not want to cooperate for a picture so this is the best we got!

Most of the time Grant will not let us watch anything but his shows. One afternoon we got him to watch Harry Potter with us for a few minutes and had to catch it on video!

We went to Valley West Mall to visit Santa and ride the train. Santa was cool but riding the train was, of course, Grant's favorite part. Surprisingly, Blake didn't mind Santa holding him at all.

We took Grant to the Santa Express! He LOVES trains and the movie Polar Express or just "Polar" as Grant says so we thought this would be super fun for him. We were also excited to get some alone time with Grant. It was snowing on the way up there so it made the drive a little slick but we made it! The snow made the ride a little more magical just like the real Polar Express.

This was the first year Grant was able to "help" us put the ornaments on the tree! It was fun to finally be able to do this.

Blake starting to babble more and it is so fun to hear his voice!

Greg and I are amazed he is reaching for the toys above his head on the piano. He is becoming more aware and it is fun to watch.

It is fun to see Greg with Blake and being a great Dad!

Grant and I being silly together!

Blake randomly started giggling. It was SO cute! I am so glad I was able to get it on video.

We are still having quite a bit of sleep problems with Blake. I even got the crazy looking Magic Merlin Suit out of desperation. Sadly, it didn't help. Lots of snuggles on Mom so Blake could get some sleep but not much sleep for Mom and Dad.

Blake loves his brother and is always looking for him while Grant will just tolerate him. ;-)

Nana loves Minions and got Grant these Minion glasses and he loves them!

The boys love their Papa!

Santa came to visit at daycare! Grant was excited even though he doesn't seem that way in this picture.

We got Blake 's 3 month pictures taken. I am always hesitant while we are taking them. I don't think they are going to turn out and then I get the pictures and they are great!

Blake was 14lbs 1 ounce at the end of this month! We are hoping for some more sleep again next month but love this sweet boy!

Second Month of Blake

amy.chalik@gmail.com (Amy Young) — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 15:15:03 GMT

October 15th, 2018 to November 15th, 2018

We got to meet Austyn while on maternity leave! Shannon (Austyn's mom) is my coworker and we went through pregnancy together with due dates only 10 days apart.

We wanted to do something fun with Grant so we took him bowling and he loved it! He didn't understand the concept of taking turns so we just let him play for us as well!

When I took Blake in for his appointment to discuss his colic, our doctor noticed his prominent veins in his abdomen. Initially he wasn't concerned but he called me that night after talking to a GI doctor and thought we need to get an ultrasound. There is a potential that he has portal hypertension and he wants to rule it out. We got that done a few days later and thankfully, the results came back normal. His veins were just noticeable because he was so small with very little fat on him.

Here is a picture to show Blake's veins in his stomach at birth.

This year for Halloween Nana so graciously offered to watch Blake and hand out candy at our house so we could take Grant around the neighborhood. His favorite thing of all time right now is trains and Thomas, so of course, he dressed up at Thomas! The cutest Thomas and pumpkin I have ever seen. :)

Blake has been so fussy and colicky since birth. I have been googling (against my better judgement) his symptoms to see if I cab figure out why he is colicky. I know people say this can be normal for a newborn during the 4th trimester but I just have this mothering instinct that something is wrong. When he cries he acts like he is in pain. Finally, I came across a post explaining most of Blake's symptoms to be caused by a tongue tie. I was so excited and could not wait to get into a doctor and see if this would help. I called and scheduled an appointment with an ENT doctor and got in the next day. Dr. Stevenson said that he did have a tongue tie. It can be controversial about cutting the tongue tie but he said he has had his share of nursing struggles with his wife and he feels anything that can help with nursing the better.

I have gone to two lactation appointments so far to help with nursing Blake. He cries after I feed him often so I wanted to make sure he was getting enough milk. Honestly. Blake cries ALL the time so this is another way to rule out the reason for so many tears. We weighed Blake before and after a feeding and she said he was getting enough milk so that put me at ease. She gave me a lot of information to help with nursing.

Blake started smiling this month and it makes my heart so happy to see those smiles. Our blurry first smile picture!

Another cute smiling Blake picture!

And a video of a smile caught on camera :)

Grant has had a little bit of a transition with Blake. He loves his brother in short spurts. Because of the addition of Blake to our family, Grant has been acting out at daycare. We have spoken with the teachers and we know it is due to his new addition to our family. We are just adding more one on one time with him and lots of love and snuggles! During one of his moments of rebellion at daycare, Grant started a food fight! While we don't think his behavior is appropriate, we thought this was hilarious!

We celebrated Grant's 2nd birthday with family the weekend before his real birthday. He loved all the attention!

Happy Birthday song to Grant!

He loved opening all his presents!

We celebrated on Grant's actual birthday with a train ride at the mall and some leftover cake!

At Blakes 2 month appointment he was 11 pounds 5 ounces, 23 inches in height and head circumference of 39 centimeters. It was an eventful month and were hoping for less crying from us all to come!

Second Month

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 14:26:00 GMT

We got to meet Austyn while on maternity leave! Shannon (Austyn’s mom) is my coworker and we went through pregnancy together with due dates only 10 days apart. We got to meet Austyn while on maternity leave! Shannon (Austyn’s mom) is my coworker and we went through pregnancy together with due dates only 10 days […]

First Month

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 20:34:00 GMT

The first month was a ROUGH one for us. When they say you forget about the newborn phase, it is SO true. Plus, it is so much harder when you have another one at home that needs attention. All Greg and I seemed to remember was the happy moments and we seemed to forget the […]

Labor and hospital

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 19:13:00 GMT

This pregnancy was a lot harder on me than my first. I was very swollen, barely able to sleep and had so much more pressure! Baby would move and press on a nerve and it would cause intense shooting pain down my leg and my leg would give out. It was only for a splint […]

22 Months

Wed, 08 May 2019 01:47:00 GMT

We got a fun night out for Nate and Alyssa’s wedding! We enjoyed being able to sleep in and enjoy brunch the next morning! I am about 23 weeks pregnant in this picture.

Grandma and Grandpa moved out of their long time home. We made a trip to Webster City to help them move. Grant was a big help and loved it! It was sad to see them move out of the house Greg grew up in, but their new house will definitely be a better fit!

He learned “happy and you know it” song! So cute!!

Greg was very sick over Father’s Day weekend. At one point, he had a fever of almost 105! He did not make it out of bed more than a few minutes all weekend. It also happened to be the same weekend as our siding was getting redone. It was extremely hot this weekend as well. So it was a rough weekend for all. Grant and I went to the park in the morning to get out of the house and beat the heat.

Grant got some golf clubs so he could be just like Daddy and be a future golfer! It might be a few years until Grant is on the course with Dad, but we have to start them young!

Grant remembers going to the zoo and riding the “choo-choo” with Nana!

We took a family trip to the zoo! We loved seeing all the animals but our favorite was, of course, the train!

We took on a HUGE project this summer. We wanted our kitchen redone before the baby arrived. Just like any house project, it took a lot longer and was a lot more work than anticipated.

We lived like this for WAY too long. It took me an embarrassing about of time to decide on flooring. Once I decided, Mother Nature did not act in our favor and there was a massive rain storm a few weeks before we ordered flooring. Since so many basements were flooded and being replaced, it caused our delivery and installation to be set back until Labor Day weekend. Living like this, for this long, is extremely hard and stressful with an 18 month old boy!

After too many ear infections we finally got ear tubes. Here is a picture of our not too happy little boy. He did not like the name band. The surgery went very well and our little guy was a trooper!

Enjoying some time at the park over the 4th of July before the crazy summer heat!

Greg and others have been calling me “Amy” a few too many times. Grant caught on!

We love hearing is new words and listening to him talk! We just think it is so cute!

Grant had fun playing in our blow up pool and LOVED swimming in our neighbors pool.

We got to see Hamilton and it was amazing, just like everyone said!

We took a long weekend to Lake Michigan. The weather did not cooperate and it was quite a cold, rainy weekend. We still got a little time to enjoy the beach. Grant loved the sand and the water!

Shortly after we got home from Lake Michigan, Grant got the Roseola virus. His only symptom was a high fever of 103-104 which scared Greg and I. After the fever had lasted a few days and a very fussy boy, we decided to go to urgent care. They then told us to go to the ER. We did not feel this was needed and just pushed fluids and gave tylenol/ibuprofen. Thankfully, a day later his fever was gone but he had a full body rash. The rash didn’t bother him, but then, we knew it was roseola. This kid has the worst luck! No one else in daycare got it so I have no idea where he picked it up? Hopefully we will have a healthy kid some day!

We had a day date with Grant before baby arrives. He had a blast at the splash park and, of course, we had to stop and get some ice cream on the way home!

Hanging out with Chloe; a little over a month until her cousin is due to arrive!

We had a great time at the Iowa State Fair this year! It wasn’t too hot for this massively pregnant Mom and Grant loved the kids farm! Of course, we had to try out some new food and some old favorites!

We FINALLY got our flooring in right before baby was going to arrive. It was nice to finally have flooring, but there were some issues. The floor was not level going into the dining room, so Nebraska Furniture Mart needed to come back and fix that. They also did not finish the step down to the family room. So it was not completely done, but at least we had a floor to walk on!!! AND we liked the floor-thank god!

We were really bad at taking baby bump pictures this time around. I felt way bigger and definitely started to show sooner. I couldn’t even hide my pregnancy from my coworkers for the full first trimester. Baby definitely sat low during my whole pregnancy which made the pressure even more uncomfortable. I had to stop running earlier than last time because of the pressure. I was still able to walk a few days a week during the pregnancy.

This pregnancy was not as smooth as the first. I was not as comfortable as last time and had quite a bit more swelling. I got carpal tunnel and had to wear arm guards every night to bed. It was annoying because it woke me up in the night, more often then I already was from normal pregnancy symptoms. Luckily, it did not bother me as often during the day, but my fingertips were numb most of the time. I was told it would go away after birth once the swelling is gone.

We also thought it would be fun to have an extra ultrasound for our parents to see baby. Baby was not very cooperative and we weren’t able to see his full face. It was still fun to see him again. I was 29 weeks during the ultrasound. A few days after the ultrasound my OB called and said there were some problems noted during the ultrasound. The nurse told me “an enlarged heart, too long of an umbilical cord” and one more that I can not remember. I was to go and see a high risk OB for another ultrasound to check out these claims. This scared the CRAP out of me. After going through the 20 week ultrasound and being told all is good, I was not mentally prepared to hear this. After the ultrasound, we were told the baby is fine, but does have a small hole in his heart. At that point, there was nothing we could do but wait until he arrived and get an echo of his heart. There was also a higher risk for Downs Syndrome because of this hole. We ended up doing a genetic test, which was pointless, to see if we were high risk for Downs. The test showed low risk, but still a risk. So we just had to wait until baby arrived to get any definite answers.

We had maternity pictures as part of our newborn package which initially I did not want, but I think they turned out great! I am 32 weeks in these pictures.

It was a quick last fews months before baby arrived. It was fun, but very stressful, with our house renovations, baby concerns, and keeping up with daily life. I wanted to enjoy the last few months with just the 3 of us. It was definitely a bittersweet summer before our next adventure: becoming a family of FOUR!

18 months

Sat, 27 Apr 2019 23:18:00 GMT

Greg and I went to Arizona for a 30th birthday celebration one year later. We had a great time! We spent a few days visiting Aunt Toni and the Johnsons. We had fun visiting Jeff’s fire station and taking a ride in a fire truck. We, then, spent a few days at a resort. Unfortunately, […]

15 Months

Sat, 30 Jun 2018 18:58:00 GMT

It was a fun Christmas this year! Grant is starting to figure out this opening presents thing and we got to see Santa twice this year! The first time at Valley West Mall wasn’t too fun for Grant but he LOVED the Santa we saw at Hy-Vee. Grant couldn’t stop talking to him. We had […]

ONE YEAR!

Tue, 05 Dec 2017 03:09:00 GMT

Grant turned ONE this month. How is that possible?!?!? Seriously, it was just yesterday we brought him home, right?! This has been the quickest year of my life. The saying is so true about parenthood-the days are long but the years are short. Over the last year we sacrificed many times, lost many hours of […]

11th Month

Tue, 24 Oct 2017 20:33:00 GMT

Grant has developed SO MUCH this month. I would even go as far as to say he changed the most in a month. It has been so fun to watch. He gets so proud of himself every time he learns something new. And, of course, we are so very proud of our little boy. He […]

10th Month

Sat, 16 Sep 2017 20:48:00 GMT

We are finally in the double digits! He has made big strides this month. I feel like he does something new every day. It is so fun to watch him learn. He is moving all over the place now. Grant learned to crawl up the step from our family room to the kitchen. Greg and […]

9th Month

Fri, 18 Aug 2017 21:15:00 GMT

We had quite a fun 9th month! He giggles all the time and is just so happy! It makes Mom and Dad happy too. His giggles always brighten our day. Giggles during bath time! Giggles with Dad! More giggles with Dad! He is the best at making Grant smile and giggle. Giggles with Grandma Chalik! […]

8th Month

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 17:33:00 GMT

This has been quite a busy month for us with two trips and many new activities. We celebrated Greg’s first Father’s Day. Greg had a pretty good first Father’s Day, if I do say so myself :-). Greg was able to go on a bike ride with friends, golf outing with friends, got a new […]

7th Month

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 17:01:00 GMT

I was able to celebrate my first official Mother’s day with my family. Grant ,really Greg 😉 , did a great job this year. The boys gave me flowers. I had a morning to myself to sit outside and read a book. We went to dinner at our favorite restaurant (Sakari). And Grant had his […]

Sixth Month

Fri, 16 Jun 2017 19:59:00 GMT

We celebrated Easter this month and were able to spend the weekend with both families. Grandma Young had a fun filled Easter egg hunt on Saturday afternoon. Greg and I made our second holiday dinner and it definitely went better than the first (Thanksgiving). Sunday, we spent the morning at church and Grant slept through […]

Fifth Month

Fri, 21 Apr 2017 21:10:00 GMT

We started Grant on cereal this month. Grant wasn’t too thrilled at first. It was fun for Greg and I to watch, though. We tried oatmeal cereal the next night and he enjoyed that quite a bit more. By the end of the month, he is pretty good at using the spoon. Baby food will […]

Fourth Month

Sat, 08 Apr 2017 22:06:00 GMT

We finally got out our Jumparoo, bumbo and high chair. He LOVES his Jumparoo, but it still might be a little too early for the bumbo. He enjoys dinner with Mom and Dad in the high chair. Our cute happy boy! He loves gnawing on that bee. We officially stopped swaddling and started using a […]

Third Month

Sat, 25 Mar 2017 00:33:00 GMT

We started off this month watching Kailey play basketball. Grant enjoyed watching all the girls play. He is starting to become more awake and observant which is fun to watch!

We went to Grant’s 2 month doctor appointment shortly after his 2 month birthday. Only our second time at the doctor which is hard to believe. He got his first set of shots and wasn’t too happy. Poor guy-he had no idea what was coming. He was in the 60% for head circumference, weight and height. We were happy with those numbers.

We thought it would be fun to go with Greg on a work trip to Topeka while I was still on maternity leave. Boy were we wrong! Grant did not adapt well to a new environment. He was a scared boy, so Grant and I were awake all night. Luckily, Greg was able to sleep through our noise and still had a successful presentation.

I went back to work on February 7th. It was hard to leave my little Grant, but I was ready to have adult interactions and feel like a productive person. It was easier going back knowing my parents were watching him. My dad is the main caretaker for Grant the first two months. He has been an awesome caregiver. My dad enjoys it just as much as we love having him watch Grant. Plus, an added bonus was no daycare until after flu season!

The Severson’s brought us a delicious meal for lunch one Saturday which we enjoyed while watching Iowa State Cyclones pull a victory. Homemade lasagne, salad, garlic bread and creme brulee. YUMMMM!

We went to get Grant’s 3 month pictures in Ames on Valentines Day. Grant’s pictures turned out awesome, showing his cute personality. He was a little confused having us and a camera in his face but our photographer was able to capture great photos! Greg and I were able to celebrate an impromptu Valentine’s Day at Hickory Park. Another delicious meal!

Hickory Park Valentine’s Date

We were able to make it to Nate and Alyssa’s house to celebrate the super bowl. Grant was all decked out in his football onsie. We had to leave before the huge last minute unexpected finish. It was so fun to get out and see some friends!

Mom and Dad are so in love with our little boy. We are so blessed and lucky for such a great baby.

He ended this month at 15 lbs 10 ounces. Again, what a chunk. He is getting so much more fun and we can’t get enough of him. We love all his smiles.

Second Month

Wed, 18 Jan 2017 15:42:00 GMT

The second month started off just as busy as the first month. We were still finishing our Christmas gifts and in the middle of the house renovation. Our house was a mess, which made it hard to be home all day with Grant. Also, I was under the impression I would have a ton of time once this baby was born to get things done and run errands. Wow, was I wrong. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the time, it was just so much more work getting out of the house. And Grant was still eating every 2 to 3 hours so once we were out, we didn’t have much time until the next feeding. It limits my excursions since I wasn’t confident enough to nurse in public quite yet. In the end, we got it all done and had a fantastic first Christmas with Grant!

This one was from Great Aunt Connie. I had to capture that back during tummy time. Too cute not too.

Earlier in the month, we celebrated Grant’s baptism (December 17th) the same weekend as Tommy’s college graduation. This worked out well because family was in town. His baptism was after the 4:30 mass at Saint Francis. We were lucky because we were the only family having a baptism that night. After the baptism, we had a celebration at my (Amy’s) parents house. Our house was in disarray due to the renovation, so my parents were nice enough to open their house to us. We catered Jethros BBQ and had Costco cake (our favorite!).

The godparents!

Our family!

We went to church Christmas eve night, then off to continue the tradition of Christmas eve at the Sterns. Grant did awesome at church and had fun enjoying our Chalik family tradition. We didn’t get a pictures of his cute sweater since he had a rare spit up moment after church. That always seems to happen when you get kids dressed up, doesn’t it?

Our first Christmas eve together. So much fun!

The grandparents

The new uncles

Greg, Grant and I were able to celebrate Christmas morning and the arrival of Santa as a family of three. Christmas afternoon Grandma and Grandpa Young came down. We were unable to celebrate with the Myers family due to an outbreak of the flu at their house. We definitely did NOT want that transferred to our newborn, Grant! We were able to celebrate with them the next Saturday afternoon. It worked out perfectly because we were able to celebrate Grandma Young’s birthday at the same time! We had the Youngs side at our house and, let’s just say, it was a little chaotic. Greg and I will be way more prepared for next year. Overall, it was so much fun to make new traditions as “the Young family.”

The spread!

Grandpa and Grandma Young got to celebrate not one but TWO Christmases with Grant. Lucky ducks!

Another family picture of our first Christmas, because you can never have enough, right?!

Grant met some very special people this month.

All the cousins at Santa’s last night.

Great Aunt Nicki

Great Grandpa Dale

Heather and Great Aunt Connie. This was Great Aunt Connie’s second time meeting Grant, but it was such a great picture, how could I not post?!

And not pictured is Tracee. She flew all the way here to help me with Grant while Greg was at a work conference in Marco Island, Florida. It was nice to have someone here to keep me company. Grant and I missed Dad terribly and were pretty jealous he was in warm, sunny Florida without us.

Grant had his first milestone: his first smile! It made my day seeing that smile on December 28th! It was fun to watch him grow this month. He is much more awake and starting to engage with us. He loves his kick ‘n play piano and will stare and touch the hanging toys. He rolled from his front to his back a few times this month, more so because of his heavy head, but it counts right?? Watch the video below to see.

The first smile caught on camera. Those toothless smile are the absolute BEST.

Greg and I celebrated Grant’s 2 month birthday by a much needed date night. It was only our second date night out without him. (Thank you Grandma Chalik for watching him!!) It was nothing special but so great to get out and remember where everything started. Greg and I are a great team and I am happy to share this journey with him. We had a blast, but were definitely excited to get home to see our little man!

Looking back over these last few months, it amazes me how far we have come in this parenting thing; yet, how much we still have to learn.

First month

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 19:54:00 GMT

But, we were finally home and it officially was our job to keep this perfect little baby alive. Scary, but exciting! There was so much to figure out. Why is he crying? Is he Hungry? Tired? Cold? Dirty diaper? I spent time during this month reading multiple baby books to try and figure out how often to feed and nap/sleep. I also asked multiple questions to my many friends and family with babies. They are usually the best and most realistic advice out there.

First picture of Grant at home

First time in the house!

First bath. It did not go as well as the bath at the hospital.

We were told to wake him up every few hours to make sure he was eating enough. We went to our one week appointment and Grant had already gained his birth weight plus some. He was 7 lbs 6 oz. We were obviously feeding him enough! Greg and I were happy about this because now we didn’t have to wake him up during the night. This gave Greg and I (a little) more sleep. Grant was a bill of health at the appointment which meant our next doctor appointment wasn’t for 2 months. That seemed like a long time to Greg and I!

Sleeping on mommy!

Sleeping on daddy!

Sleeping on his newborn lounger!

Sleeping in his rock ‘n play!

Finally some awake pictures of our Grant. These were hard to come by in the first few weeks. We love seeing his eyes!

Breastfeeding was a struggle for me at the beginning. As I said before in the hospital blog , Grant was born with a tongue tie; so we left the hospital still very unsure if he was latching correctly or getting enough milk. We were still supplementing with formula because he had only peed once. I also started on the wrong foot. I would let Greg feed Grant in the middle of the night so I could sleep. I didn’t get up to pump while he fed him. Big no-no when you are trying to regulate your supply. The things I would do for some sleep :). I ended up having to pay catch up with some mothers milk tea, lots of oatmeal and extra pumping sessions. I don’t think I felt confident with nursing until he was about 3 weeks old. I went to a breastfeeding class through the hospital. I fed Grant at the class and he was weighed before and after to see how many ounces he ate. He ate 3.8 ounces!! That is a lot of food for a 3 week old! Also, he weighed in at 9 pounds 10 ounces. He had already gained over 2 pounds since birth. I definitely left that class feeling a lot better about feeding my child!

I had textbook baby blues. I got sad at the same time each day; it was when the sun was setting in the evening. I would get this overwhelming feeling of missing being pregnant and missing our “past life.” It was such a weird feeling because I knew the feelings were crazy, but I couldn’t stop them. And I definitely couldn’t stop the tears accompanied with them. I asked Greg to come home at 4:00 those first 2 weeks just so I wasn’t home alone. Being alone seemed to make things worse. Having company would keep me occupied and my mind off my crazy emotions. Like I said, it was textbook so it last about 10 days to 2 weeks. There are times when I still miss being pregnant, more so a nostalgic feeling because I loved it so much, but I wouldn’t change having Grant here for the world!

It was beautiful in November this year. Grant is a week old in this picture and we were able to go on a walk (wearing shorts!). Getting some fresh air helped my mood, for sure.

Having this cutie here for Thanksgiving also brightened our life. We had no problem finding something to be thankful for this year. Grant, Grant and Grant!

Greg has been great this first month helping me out. He would take Grant downstairs to sleep so I could get more than 2-3 hours of sleep at a time. He is super involved. It is really amazing watching your husb and become a dad. This is totally a cliche comment, but it makes you fall in love with your husband all over again and on a different level. It is something you can’t explain until you become a parent!

Grant starring at his daddy! He is lucky to have such a good dad!

The Hospital

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 19:52:00 GMT

After Grant was born, it was just a flurry of activity until we left the hospital. Doctors, nurses, lactation consultants and aids were in and out all day every day. It makes getting caught up on our lost night of sleep almost impossible. I was so tired on Sunday afternoon I fell asleep on the lactation consultant. Oops. We also had many visitors to meet Grant! It was fun to be able to “show off” our perfect baby. The busy hospital experience was worth it to make sure Grant and I were both healthy and doing well. We had a great experience at the hospital. The nurses, doctors and lactation consultants were awesome.

The new Grandma and Grandpa Chalik!

Grandma and Grandpa Young!

The new Uncles-Uncle Peter and Uncle Tim!

Aunt Kellie!

Right after birth, we noticed Grant had a tongue tie clear to the tip of the tongue. This made it almost impossible for Grant to latch on. We talked to our pediatrician Monday morning and Dr. Sullivan basically told us the ENT doctor won’t come to the hospital; and we would have to wait to fix it outpatient once we were discharged. After a little pushing from the lactation consultant and Greg and I verbalizing our opinion, Dr. Rinehart came to help us out. It was a simple and quick procedure which made a huge difference for Grant and helped breastfeeding immensely.

Grant and I trying to figure out this breastfeeding thing.

Grant was also a little shy about peeing once out of the womb. The doctor wouldn’t circumcise Grant until he peed, just to make sure his kidneys were working. We supplemented with formula and he still he still had not peed Monday afternoon. Dr. Sullivan (hospital pediatrician) ordered for him to have a renal ultrasound. As the ultrasound technician was setting up, he peed! Just in time. Grant just wanted to keep us on our toes. �� We quickly cancelled the order and told the tech to pack up so we didn’t have to pay for a pointless ultrasound. He got his circumcision shortly after we were still able to leave the hospital on time.

Our first picture as a family of 3!

Grant’s first bath. He liked the water most of the time!

Daddy cuddling Grant!

We left Wednesday afternoon with a crabby and, most likely, hungry baby. I was still unsure if I was breastfeeding correctly and/or if Grant was latching appropriately. I was so unaware of the fact that breastfeeding was a job. Only MY job. I was the sole person in charge of making sure our baby was fed. It seemed overwhelming. We had been supplementing with formula due to Grants lack of urination. He still had only peed once at the hospital. This was nice so Greg was able to help me out with a few feedings. We knew we had a lot to figure out when we got home, but we were ready.

Our family of three leaving the hospital!

The Pregnancy

Sat, 07 Jan 2017 22:12:00 GMT

I can still remember the day we found out we were pregnant. It was March 4th and I was a week late, but I still had a negative pregnancy test. I went into the doctor for lab work and got a call back that my HCG was a “10.” That level is considered to be one week pregnant. Since it was so early and we already had one miscarriage, Greg and I weren’t celebrating quite yet. A few more follow up lab draws with numbers increases as they should, and Dr. Kaufman assured us things looked good! We were excited but still hesitant. We had an ultrasound on March 18th which just showed us the egg and sac, but it was the ultrasound on April 1st where we left ecstatic! We saw our little baby for the first time and he was moving around like crazy! We could see his heart beating out of his chest. Greg and I were beaming from ear to ear! I didn’t have the traditional reaction of crying, but instead, laughing because it was so fun to see. We were told our due date was November 11th. Having a date made things feel more real. We were going to be parents in November!

Our first time seeing our baby. Coolest experience EVER. Heart-eyed emojis times infinity for this little baby.

On June 24th we had our 20 week ultrasound and our little baby was healthy! We had a small scare of “placental lakes” which, in the end, did not affect the baby’s growth. We enjoyed a gender reveal party with our families, and to our delight and my suspicion, found out we were having a boy. This helped our name choices since we were only able to come up with boys names we liked.

Here is a 20 week ultrasound picture. His hand was right by his face and that is where he always had them after birth as well!

This is a picture of the “placental lakes.” The placenta is on the top and the big black holes are the “lakes” or puddles of blood in the placenta.

The official gender reveal! (Thank you to Jackie for filling the box!)

The rest of the pregnancy was great. I had a ton of energy and felt great. I swear I was nesting during the whole pregnancy. I would have sporadic urges to clean the whole house during the entire third trimester. This “nesting” ended by the last few weeks and, to my surprise, I did not nest right before the baby was born. Instead, I thought naps sounded better.

My friends Jess, Jackie and Steph hosted a beautiful couple baby shower for Greg and I. It was so kind of them and great to see all our friends and family in one spot to support us! Grant was so loved already.

The beautiful hosts!

Such a creative theme!

On October 28th, during my strep B test, they checked my cervix and I was already one centimeter and 80% effaced. I knew I could stay this way for awhile, but happy my body was making some progress. The next week (November 4th) I was 2 cm, 80% effaced and they stripped my membranes. I was almost sure this was going to put me into labor, but I was wrong. I had a few contractions off and on the next day and lost my mucus plug the day after. I was once again sure labor would be that week and I would not make it to my due date. Wrong again! I had my last appointment (November 10th) and was 3 centimeters, 90% effaced and they stripped my membranes once again. By this time, I was wondering if he would hang on until the following week and I would be induced. I talked to a few friends and decided I was going to walk this baby out!! Saturday, November 12, I went on a walk with my friend, Jess, and another long walk with my frousin (friend and cousin), Leslie. That night, I was craving Panera’s broccoli cheddar soup, so Greg and I had one last date night before baby.

I was 5 centimeters once I arrived at the hospital and they decided to keep us. The epidural was in place by 2:30 and I was 6 centimeters after that. By 4:00 I was already 9 centimeters with what the doctor called a “bulging bag of water”. My water was broken right after that and I was fully dilated and ready to deliver this baby. Greg and I were surprised this process was so quick since we expected this to take hours. Unfortunately, we had to wait until 7:30 to push since there was an emergency c-section and only one doctor on call that night. All I have to say it thank God for epidurals! There is no way I could have waited three hours without that. I started pushing at 7:30 and Grant Edward was born at 9:13. Dr. Mintzer delivered him and did an awesome job. I only had a small level 2 internal tear and the placenta came out easily. The whole process was smoother and quicker than I imagined and I am thankful for that! Grant was 7 pounds exactly and 19 inches long. I was able to pull him out and up on my chest right away. Absolutely amazing. It was the best sound to hear your crying child and then hold him for the first time. Some tears were definitely shed. It was such an awesome experience. Greg and I are so in love.

These are the first pictures taken of Grant.

Greg’s first time holding Grant. Once again, heart-eyed emojis times infinity.