Overdue Updates

So it’s been awhile since our last update.  I’ve been busy with work and haven’t had time to even think about this blog.  Apparently I need to give Kryssi some more training so she can update more often.  But in case anyone is interested, I figured I’d post what we’ve been up to this year, along with some random photos (at the end).

I don’t think we’ve updated since Halloween but I don’t think I can remember much of what happened that far back!  We had a good Thanksgiving and a good Christmas.  It’s always fun to spend time with family.  This was our first Christmas being in an actual house, so we were able to have a full size Christmas tree, which was great.  McKinley had quite a fun time taking off the ornaments, which is something Lucas never really did.

It was a really mild winter, probably the weirdest I ever remember.  We had very little snow this winter and probably got more this spring then all of winter combined.  The temperatures were never too bad either (not that I’m complaining).  Lucas got to start in Sunbeams at the start of the year and so far he’s really enjoyed it.  Kryssi and I got put in as CTR5 teachers, so we get to keep an eye on him.  Because of us getting put in, McKinley got to start nursery a few months early.  She loves it and has done really well.

We had a nice Easter, even though we woke up on Friday to a bunch of snow, so we figured the easter egg hunts we had planned for the next day wouldn’t happen.  But luckily it warmed up and was a really nice day on Saturday.  We had two hunts to go to and the kids got plenty of candy.

It’s finally starting to warm up now and we take advantage of it by spending as much time outside as possible.  It is so nice having our own yard to be able to play in.  We didn’t get to take much advantage of that last year, as we moved to our house in the fall.  But we love being outside and having room to run around.

Lucas was in joy school, where a few moms in the neighborhood would take turns each week teaching.  He really enjoyed that and learned quite a bit.  And just yesterday he started preschool at a local high school, where some high school students do most of the teaching.  He seems to really enjoy that so hopefully he’ll continue doing well there.

McKinley has gotten a lot bigger lately.  She is finally starting to get more teeth in, which calms Kryssi down, as she thought she’d be toothless her entire life.  She is talking a lot more lately and you can actually understand a lot more of what she says.  She is definitely a sweetheart and makes everyday a little bit brighter.

And I just started a new job about a week and a half ago.  I’m doing the same stuff I’ve been doing (web development) just getting paid more for it (along with some other benefits).  It’s for a remote company, meaning they don’t have a central office and all the employees work from wherever they want.  So I just work from home, which is really nice, and keep in touch with fellow employees via email, IM, Skype, etc.  It’s been a change but I’ve really enjoyed it.  It means I get to spend more time with my family, which is always a good thing.

So I’m sure there’s been a lot more that’s go on since the last update, but I can’t remember now, which is what I get for updating once every 6 months.  It’s been a really good year so far and we can’t believe it is already May!

Note: For those that don’t know, you can click on any of the images below to view a larger size image.  Wait until the page is fully loaded before clicking on a picture or it will open the picture in a new window, instead of a pop-up.

Halloween 2011

We had a really nice Halloween this year, filled with lots of candy and fun!  We went to multiple events, probably more then we should have.  My (former) school had a trunk-or-treat Thursday night we went to, that was better then I was anticipating, though it was freezing.  On Friday, Kryssi and my mom took the kids to trick-or-treat street, which was really crowded and probably not worth it.  Then on Saturday we went to Toys-r-us for their little Halloween event, and that night we went to Boo at the Zoo, which was a mistake, as it was absolutely packed.

Then on Monday, we went to a trunk-or-treat at our ward as well as my parent’s ward.  Needless to say, we got plenty of candy.  We found a pirate costume that was really cheap that we got Lucas and he wore that to a few of the events.  He then found his monkey costume from last year that he wanted to wear so he did to the zoo.  Then on Halloween he wanted to combine the two, so he was a monkey pirate.  We found McKinley a cupcake costume that was 75% off at Old Navy, so that’s what she got to be.  She loved seeing all the candy when we got home and dumped it out.  She immediately started picking up as much as she could, especially of the suckers.

First Snow

We got snow here last week, which isn’t unusual around here.  Seems we always get a big storm early to mid-October.  It didn’t stick around too long, but it was a pretty big storm, with at least a couple inches.  It was very wet snow, so there was a lot of branches that fell down.  One of our neighbors trees had a branch that fell into our yard, so that was fun getting rid of.  The kids loved seeing the snow, while Kryssi and I, not so much.

First Snow

McKinley’s 1st Birthday

Today is McKinley’s 1st birthday, as hard as that is for me to believe.  It honestly seems like yesterday that we were rushing to the hospital, 3 weeks before we thought we’d have to, hoping everything would be okay.  Looking back on that now, we were definitely being watched over, as things couldn’t have gone smoother.

We are so blessed to have McKinley is our lives.  She is such a bundle of joy and brings so much light into our house.  She is such a happy girl, and it usually takes a lot to make her upset.  I knew we were blessed with Lucas, and how great a kid he is (knock on wood!) but McKinley so far has been just as great.  It is always the highlight of my day, when I come home and she is so excited to see me.

We love you McKinley!

Note: The images above link to larger images, with captions.  The only issue is the page has to load first for it to work correctly.  If the page hasn’t loaded, when you click on an image it will just load up that image, in a new window.  So just FYI, if you have slow internet, like we do, you might have to wait a second or so for the entire page to load.

Lucas’ Black Eye

These are some pictures taken the afternoon after the surgery, so only 5 or 6 hours after.  His eye was pretty black and blue then, but it got a lot more colorful the next day.  It is starting to look better now though, and the swelling is going away.   He’s been a really tough kid, and hasn’t yet complained about any pain.  The day after the surgery he was back to his normal self, wanting to run around and play.  We tried to keep him down as much as possible, since we didn’t think he had all his strength back yet, but he just wanted to play.  We had a lot of people at church today ask what happened, and luckily Lucas told them it was from surgery, because the day after at the store he was telling people he fell on a rock.  Not sure where he got that idea.

Done with Surgery!

So Lucas had his surgery yesterday morning and everything went great.  We are so happy to have that over with.  It was a very long day, as we had to be at the hospital at 6 am.  So we went down to Utah the night before, after I got off work.  Then left the next morning at 5 am to get to the hospital on time.  So we were all pretty worn out by the time we got home yesterday afternoon.

Lucas did really well the whole time.  I was worried he was going to get upset, but he did great.  They gave him a sedative before they took him back, since we couldn’t go with him and they didn’t want him to freak out.  Well he was pretty funny after the sedative kicked in.  He was extremely happy, and pretty kooky.  But it kept him extremely calm as we handed him off to the anesthesiologist.

Kryssi and I had to then go wait in the waiting room, which was probably the worst part of the whole thing.  But everything went well and we were able to leave the hospital only about an hour after the surgery ended.  Jill was nice enough to keep McKinley, so she brought her to us and we headed straight home.

Lucas is pretty black and blue and this morning his eye was almost swollen shut.  They had to chip off some of the bone to get the cyst out, so it looks like someone punched him in the eye (I’ll post pictures soon).  But he hasn’t once complained about being in pain, so I don’t know if he’s just really tough or just not telling us it hurts because he doesn’t want medicine.  But we are hoping it continues to heal well and that everything comes back negative from the tests.

Moving and Surgery

For those that didn’t know, which I think is probably very few, we moved at the end of last week.  It was a short move, probably half a mile from our apartment.  But we were able to move out of our apartment and into a house, so we are really excited about that.  We have a nice yard now, the kids each have their own bedrooms, and just a lot more space and privacy.  It will be a lot nicer once we finally get settled, but it is getting there.  I’ll post some pictures of the place once we are semi-organized.

And on another note, Lucas’ surgery is tomorrow morning, so we’ll be headed down to Utah tonight for that.  It is making us nervous, but it should all go fine.  I’m most worried about how Lucas is going to handle it.  Hopefully he doesn’t get too scared.  But again, if people could keep him in your prayers, we would really appreciate it.

Update on Lucas

Well Lucas had his initial doctors appointment on Wednesday, in Salt Lake.  We were hoping to then do the surgery on Friday, just to get it over with.  Well the doctor said it wasn’t an emergency so they weren’t able to schedule us right away.  So we have to go back I believe it’s Sept. 21 to have the actual surgery done.

But good news was the doctor basically confirmed what the other doctors had told us, that is wasn’t anything too serious, he’s probably had it since he was born, it does need to be removed as it will just keep growing, but it’s just an out-patient surgery.  But since Lucas is so small, they have to do the surgery at Primary Children’s, to have the anesthesiologists with the proper knowledge of dealing with children.  So that’s a little scary but I guess we’ll worry more about that when it gets here.

McKinley Walking!

McKinley has been taking a few steps at a time for the last little bit, but since this last week, she has started officially walking!  She doesn’t like to crawl anymore, unless she needs to get somewhere fast.  She looks pretty cute, wobbling around, but she’s getting steadier each day.

[flv:http://family.darinkotter.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/08/McKinley-Walking.flv 360 240]

On another note, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this or not but we’ve noticed for awhile that Lucas has had this bump right above one of his eyebrows.  He fell on it once and the swelling never went all the way down.  So at his 3-year appointment, we mentioned it to the doctor and he said it was a cyst.  So we went to an eye specialist to have it looked at, and he agreed that it was a cyst.  He recommended getting it removed, as it will continue to grow as Lucas does, and could damage his vision.

So unfortunately there was no where around here to get the surgery done, so we found a place in Salt Lake.  So this Wednesday is the initial appointment, and potentially the surgery could happen on Friday, depending on what the doctor thinks.  So far it doesn’t sound serious, but any surgery is always stressful.  So if everyone could remember Lucas in your prayers later this week, we would really appreciate it.