It's Been Long Enough

I have my mind set to fill in all the gaps of the last eight or so months.  I am kind of over blogging.  I mean, who has time to sit and type, let alone read all the crap I have to say?  Plus, I used to blog for my family that, at the time, lived thousands of miles away.  Now they all live within 90 miles of me.  My other issue with blogs, in general, is that it all seems kind of contrived.  Blogs only tend to highlight the, well, highlights.  As I am going to do right now.  Starting with the beginning of the summer.

Dread Pirate Rodney and Captain Root Beer (pretty sure it's Red Beard, but he says it's Root Beer)

Konrad playing tball

Brian did the Whiskey 50 at the end of April.  He did it in just over 5 hours.  Not too shabby.  He said it was the hardest thing he'd ever done.  

Then i ran the Whiskey Row Half Marathon.  It sucked.  I set a new PR for this horrible course.  Never again, folks, never again.

hardest dang race

Then there was our 11th anniversary.  Brian and I left on a Thursday and came home on a Saturday.  It was lovely!  We got up early, I ran and Brian biked South Mountain for old time sake.  It was awesome.  I also realized how hard that trail was that I ran at least twice a week for three years.  I've kept up with my fitness, I think I may be better now, but that trail (Mormon Trail) on SM is rough.  Oh yeah, I also had only one functioning arm at the time.  I stretched my brachial plexus doing Nancy (sounds nasty, right?) at crossfit about a week and a half before we did South Mountain.  It was overhead squats and running.  After the last round of 15 OHS, I could not move my arm.  Anyways, I could not hold my arm up to run, so for about a month I looked like a moron running with one arm flopping at my side.  I'm all better now, but it sucked.

We had the 4th of July and the Boot Race.  Konrad was pissed cuz he didn't win.  We are quite proud of the competitive spirit!  Next year and some duct tape.  He'll be a competitor.

Konrad also took of his training wheels in mid July!  He is a beast on two wheels now!  We spent a lot of time at the new Pump Track here in town.  Rodney loves taking his scooter to the track and Konrad will ride his bike!

Konrad started PreK on September 4.  He goes every day and he loves it!  His teacher is Mrs. Huard and she is wonderful!

We ended our summer with some Birthday parties.  Rodney Roo turned 3 and was adamant about having a garbage truck birthday party.  So, I made all the decorations green and yellow, put a garbage truck toy on his cake, made him a garbage truck t shirt and birthday hat.  

Sunday was Rex's first birthday.  It has been a year.  I feel like I have been awake for most of the year.  It has been long.  He is so darling!  He is the busiest child I have ever seen or been around.  He does not stop for even five seconds.  But I love him dearly:)

Okay, I think that's it!

houndstooth

I have now made this dress twice.  I found this pattern on pinterest and I immediately loved it and knew I had to make something.  It is pretty easy, it just takes forever to finish the seams properly, but that is my complaint for everything.  I lined this dress, lengthened the sleeves, added about 2 inches to the hem and dropped the waist about an inch and a half.  I found the houndstooth fabric at Joann for $2.50/yard.  I had the lining fabric (black).  I am pretty sure the belt cost more than the entire dress!  I have said how much I am loving houndstooth??

Thumb Butte.

One of the reasons I love living in AZ again is, of course, the weather.  We have had some snow earlier this winter, but as of late, the weather has been rockin'.  I have been able to run in shorts and a long sleeved t shirt. That, folks, is a big deal, considering that this time of year in WI and in Denver, we have had feet of snow on the ground and degrees that start with minus.

Today I took the boyz to hike Thumb Butte, the ol' Prescott trademark/ landmark.  Some idiot once called it (in all seriousness on said idiot's part) Thumb Butt.  No joke.  Anyhow, the trail we went on in straight uphill but it is paved, so no decomposed granite to slip on.  There was some ice and Rodney did not get the idea that you are supposed to walk around the ice.  Not on it.  He fell a billion times but still walked on the ice.  I finally gave up telling him and held his hand.

The snack du jour was fruit loops.  Rodney had to hold them along with Grave Digger.  You see, they went to see Monster Jam this past weekend and he is kind of obsessed with Grave Digger.  Also, please note the food on his face.  He ALWAYS has food on his face.  Immediately after I wash it off, there is somehow food all over his sweet little face.

 The fight du jour was over sticks.  Seriously.  Sticks.  Konrad found a gigantic stick and Rodney leapt thru the forest and found this mammoth stick.

 They were pretty pissed when I told 'em they could not bring them home with us.  We put them in a secret place so they could use them next time.  The funny thing is that Rad will totally remember this and will be pissed when he can't find them.

This all the while RexLee slept in his Ergo Sport Baby Carrier.  Not too bad!

McDowell Meltdown

Heavens only knows why.  Why on earth I would wake up at 5 am, pack up three boys *and Brian* and drive two plus hours to Fountain Hills for a Mountain Bike race.  Part of me knew it would be a nightmare of all nightmares, but the other good mommy part of me (it really does exist, I swear it does) knew the boys would love it.  I knew it would be a battle and I am not referring to the race part.

Truth be told, the boys were angels during Brian's race.  Rad just sat in my chair and Rodney ate 7 packs of fruit snacks.  We yelled at the racers "up, up" to urge them onward and baby Rex, being his usual little angel, just slept.  He cried for a little while, but mostly he ate and slept.

Brian did okay.  He wasn't happy with his performance but we also did not realize we would have to hike 19 miles to the start with three kids and all their crap.  Had I known I would have brought the BOB.  Lesson learned, I suppose.

We waited around for about an hour or so after Brian finished for the kids bike race.  Konrad was pretty pumped for it.  He got a new bike for his Birthday last week and he has been practicing.  On the take off he fell and got real pissed.  I mean real pissed.  After that he was in a terrible mood and not at all pleasant to be around.  Thankfully he fell asleep on the way home, after stopping at Fountain Park, chasing the ducks and watching the "Big Wawa" (thank you, Rodney Roo).

I don't know how many more of the races I will haul the boys to, but I at least gave it a whirl.  I will be recovering for the next week.  My children, as lovely as they are, are exhausting.  But, dang, they are as cute as can be!

A Mini Tour

Turns out that I have lived in my house for six months.  I have posted almost no pix of our new place.  It seems like we moved in, I did a ton of projects, had a baby and here we are.  Yup, that's exactly what happened.  I have actually done quite a few things around the house in my *spare* time.  You know, the time I should be cleaning my house, reading to my kids, doing laundry...that sort of thing.  Anyhow, I have some pix of the house to share with you!  Are you pumped?  That's right, you are!

Let's start with my prize room.  I just finished putting this baby together!

I am super excited about my sewing room.  It's about 10 feet long by 10 feet wide, so we are not talking a ton of space.  However, it is awesome!  I got a table (adjustable) from Ikea for Christmas.  Now for the real gem.  Grandma Kleinman passed away back in September.  She had tons of stuff to pilfer thru, and pilfer I did.  Actually, I pilfered only after the estate sale and after everyone else in the family pilfered.  Actually, we went up to get a bunk bed that was being stored up there.  Behind the bunk bed, hiding in plain sight, was this beauty.  Actually, it was not very beautiful then.  Just a measly disassembled library card catalogue.  It was in decent shape, it just needed to be *done up*, you know?  I took it home, sanded it down, painted it red and put some table legs on it.  I am totally in love.  It holds all my sewing notions, thread, and other crap.  It also houses the tons of vintage sewing notions that I pilfered from Grandma Kleinman.  Please expecially (you are welcome) notice the curtains.  They were made from a table cloth of Grandma's that perfectly coordinates with my schtuff.  Please also note my dress form, that still causes me to turn in to a ninja as I walk down the hall at midnight ("Who's that sexy lady in my sewing room?"  It's me!!), and also the dress that it is wearing.  I should probably pick out a name for my sexy double self.

Next up, the Places We've Lived Quilt that adorns my dining room.  I made this quilt while we were living at my parent's house this summer whilst waiting to close on our house.  I wanted to make a quilt to remember all the places we've lived and so I sewed some strips together, cut 'em up and put 'em back together.  I didn't follow any specific pattern, it was all just living in my brain.

That's MA, Australia, WI, CO and AZ.  I don't plan on adding anymore states to my quilt.

Next are the houndstooth canvasses.  I love them oh, so much!  I used Ed Roth Stencil 101 and in it is a fab houndstooth stencil. I would have taken a pic of the entire dining room, but it's kind  of a disaster this morning.  Maybe next time.

Next up is our entry way.  I hated the entry way when we first got this place.  I still want to rip this wall down, but in the meantime, it is kind of awesome.

The bike is meant for a garden, but I kind of love it here.  It was a gift for our 10th anni last June.  As we were moving in, I put it right there to get it out of the way.  I can honestly say that I did not not move it out of laziness.  The mantle?  I'm glad you asked.  One of my mom's friends was selling their house and getting rid of a lot her stuff.  Luckily, my mom thought of me!  I got some vinyl wall paper  to mount behind it and there you go!  I seriously love it so much we may not be ripping the wall down!  I found the clock on sale at Pier One.  Score.

On to the living room.  I have always wanted a fireplace and a mantle.  I now have one.  An awesome one.  Especially now that my ugly mug is gracing it.

My favorite part, aside from my ugly mug, is the red gate.  Yup, old red gate.  I found it one day when I was taking out the trash for my mom.  It happened to be hiding behind her trash cans.  As I always do when I find something I love, I ask if I can have it.  She gave it to me!  I painted it red and put it up on my mantle. Jealous?  You should be!

Anyhowzit, that's a little tour of some of the house.  Now come visit me and see it all!  

Merry Christmas, Fools!

Here is our Christmas letter, for all you fools that lurk my blog.  I know you are out there.  I am WAY too important/interesting/awesome to not have lurkers. You know it is true.  If you don't know I am kidding, turn away now.  It only gets worse.

Dearest Friends and Family,

Lucky you! You are one of the very few and elect that will be receiving

Merry Christmas newsletter from your favorite Kleinmans this year.! I

loathe newsletters. In fact, if I get one in the mail I open it with a lack of

anticipation. I mean, we all have blogs where we brag all year long about

our picture-perfect lives, right? You may even hear me refer to blogs

as “blah-gs”. I can hardly stand my own blog, hence I have not updated it

(www.brianandemilykleinman.blogspot.com) since baby Rex was borned.

Anyhow, here is The Kleinman Family Newsletter 2012. With any luck I will

never send you one again:}

As you probably know, Brian graduated from Marquette in May. He is

now a full fledged endodontist and would love to do a root canal on you.

Whatever, nobody cares about that. You want to hear what he has REALLY

been up to since he now has all this free time on his hands. Well, he has

found a cure for root canals. We know it means that he would be out of

business, but he will make billions when he announces the cure. In fact, he

would like you all to be privy to the cure as our closest and loveliest friends

and family. BRUSH YOUR TEETH. Yep! That’s it! More importantly, brush

your kiddies teeth. Often. Brian’s research concluded that the fuzzy end

of the toothbrush typically works best. Brian came in fourth in the Tour

de France this summer. He trained extremely hard for it! All those snowy

months and hours on the trainer in the basement inWisconsin paid off.

As for me, I grew a baby this year, but my awesomeness does not even

start with growing a human. I have figured out how to grow an extra arm.

I have always complained that I can grow an entire human but could not

grow an extra arm to help me deal with said human. Well, I have figured it

out. Finally. True, I walk around with three arms and because of said 10 lb

arm, I can also complain that I have not lost the baby weight, but it is worth

it. I also ran the Chicago Marathon in October and got third over all. Yes,

just four weeks after Baby Rex arrived I nearly won the Chicago Marathon.

Eat your heart out Paula Radcliff. I am also training for the Cross Fit Games

next summer, along with auditioning for Project Runway. The only thing is

that they don’t want me to design. They love me so much they offered me

Heidi Klum’s spot as judge and total bad A. Look out for me on Lifetime in

2012.

Konrad is as advanced as ever. He was admitted in to the American

Lutheran Preschool, which also happens to be a Harvard feeder school. So

we are saving our money for Harvard tuition in about 14 years, but we

also know that he will more than likely get a fencing scholarship to pay for

his Harvard tuition, so we are not too worried about it. Konrad can read,

spell and has made up his own language, both written and spoken. He

just got done reading the Encyclopedia Britannica for the second time this

year. I keep telling him to just read Wikipedia because it is more up to date

anyways. He argues that that the articles on Wiki not always fact based, as

anyone can edit them. I will concede that to him (but don’t tell him that).

Rodney is a wizard. I know it. He has special powers and I am pretty sure

that the toilet in our second bathroom is a door to the Ministry of Magic. I

don’t have hard proof, but I think that is where Rodney Roo goes nightly.

Maybe he is just the janitor. My resolution is to find out for sure. He is

currently composing a symphony, inspired by the heavenly sounds that

abound in our lovely home. He is hell bent on learning the French horn.

He’s not so good at it, but hopefully the wizarding thing will shed some light

on the secret to learning the French horn. I told him that if said symphony

does not land him a spot in Julliard, he is no son of mine.

Now there is Rex. He was borned on September 16, 2011. He is great. He

may be even more advanced than his older brothers. Let me tell you of

his genius. He has found his hands!! I know! His hands! He can actually

grasp things! So advanced. I am also certain that he referred to me as

Emily Christine Kleinman last week. I told him it was probably a lot easier

just to call me “mommy”, but if he insists, who am I to stunt the growth

of his vocabulary? I think he is going to be the one to go to Dental School

and take over Northern Arizona Endodontics. His motor skills and hand-eye

coordination are unparalleled. He must be a superhero. He can’t fly yet, but

I will keep you all posted.

That’s about it for the Kleinmans! We love and miss you all.

Rodney's a Wizard. I Know It.

I am totally positive that my little two year old, Rodney Roo, is a wizard and that he is trying to kill me.  We have officially arrived and are up to our elbows in the Terrible Two's.  Terrible does not even begin to describe it.  He is a difficult, volatile child.  At any moment he could erupt.  I am never prepared, although heavens knows I try.  Today?  He freaked out (F.R.E.A.K.E.D.) out because he could not get the trains to stay together.  The magnetic trains.  All he had to do, and I showed him 15 times, was turn it around so that the magnets went together.  Then he would walk away, the trains would come apart, and MELT DOWN.  When I say MELT DOWN, I mean throwing hisself on the ground, in the dirt, kicking, screaming and pounding.  He has this unearthly shrill scream that lets me know he is getting his head ripped off.  I mean, his trains won't stay together.  In Costco the other day??  He wanted to be held (and I was pushing the huge cart with toilet paper, paper towels and diapers stacked so that I could not see in front of me, and with a baby sleeping- thankfully- in the cart).  He would not sit in the cart.  Mommy's arms only.  I could only hold him for about 10 (or some other random number of minutes) before I had to put him down.  What did he do?  He threw hisself on the ground, in the middle of Costco, kicking, screaming and pounding and screaming the shrill, unearthly shrill.

That being said, he is also the cutest, sweetest little guy on the planet.  He loves his beep beeps, giving me hugs and before he goes to bed he tells me to "cuddle me".  How can I resist?  He is so lucky that he is so stinkin' cute.

Baby-Ness

10 Reasons I am Ecstatic to Not Be Pregnant (I had to limit myself to just 10).
1.  I can breathe.
2.  I don't have to pee every 10 seconds.
3.  I can sleep on my back, stomach and head if I so desire.
4.  Strange people that I would not EVER in a million years talk to do not talk to me anymore.  This IS a good thing.
5.  Strange men do not touch my belly.
6.  No more strangers saying to me, "Boy!  You are about ready to pop!"
7.  I can paint my tosies cuz I can see my tosies.
8.  Now that I dropped 20 lbs (or more;) I can run like the wind again.  Well, maybe not like the wind.  I still feel like I got kicked in the crotch for a mile or so when I run, but I am well on my way.
9.  I have not had one person say, "oh, you're gestational diabetic?".  Nope.  I am not.  I have had the beetus for 22 years.  I could go on for days and days about how irritating this particular number 9 was.

10.  I have a very sweet and up till now, a very good baby!  He is the best!

Number 3

Fatty Fatty 2x4.  I've never had a chubby baby before!

I think he looks like Rodney Roo.

So Baby Boy Kleinman #3 is officially here.  He was born on September 16 2011 @ 1121 pm.  He was 8 lbs and 13 oz, 3 weeks early.  He has a ton of hair and old man eyebrows.  We love him dearly!  Especially due to the fact that he slept from 10:20 pm to 3:45 am last night.  Don't worry... I know the battle is nowhere near over.  That being said, one night of sleep is glorious!  Here are some pix of the new little guy.  Oh yeah, his name is Rex Lee Foster Kleinman.  We could not decide between Lee and Foster for a middle name.  I was on team Foster and Brian was Team Lee.  Since Lee Foster was the name of my Grandpa, we decided both names would be okay.  We are now team Lee Foster.  The boys have even adapted to calling him baby Rex, as opposed to Baby Lightning McQueen and/or Baby Wayne.  They seem to like him just fine.  

Yoooge.  That's really huge.  Mamasita.