Tristan's Stats 10/06/2010

Tristan had his one year check up today. Yes, I realize he is 13 months old, but our Pediatrician was totally booked for the months of August and September for some reason. Anyway, his weight is finally starting to catch up to his height. Here are his stats as of today:

Weight: 20.7 lbs (12%)
Length: 31.4 in (82%)
Head Circumference: 18.6 in (68%)

He is still tall and skinny, but the doctor says there is nothing wrong with that. He is a very healthy and happy toddler. At his 9 month check up, he was only in the 6% for weight, which was a little scary. We had to "power pack" Tristan's food so that he would take in more calories. I felt like a bad mom, like I wasn't providing my little one with the nutrition that he needed, but Dr. Templeman said that he just wasn't thriving on my milk anymore. Once I weaned him and switched him to formula it helped a ton.

He now drinks whole milk like crazy! Between Tristan and my daycare kids, I probably go through about 5 to 6 gallons of milk a week. Crazy, no? At least I get reimbursed for a lot of the cost of food so it doesn't hurt my pocket book so badly, but I digress. Tristan is not a picky eater at all! He eats almost anything and everything I make him. He loves fruits, veggies, meat, everything!

He is very active and really smart! The doctor said that Tristan  has some of the best motor skills for a 13 month old he has ever seen and is really impressed that he is trying to talk. Besides "mama" and "dada", he says "Ba" for ball, "tankoo" for thank you, "na!" for no, "hi", "da" for that, and several other words too.

He is also incredibly social from playing with my daycare kids everyday. He gets so excited when they come over and gets along really well with everybody. Although, he is starting to get really possessive of the toys during free play time. I tried to avoid that by keeping Tristan's personal toys separate from the daycare toys, but I guess that didn't help. *sigh* I love my toddler though.

Wow! This post ended up being much longer than I anticipated. Lol! I guess it just goes to show that I can ramble on and on about my little man. What can I say? I'm a proud mama. ;)

Tristan's First Birthday Party

Here are some pictures from Tristan's first birthday party on 8/29/10. Enjoy! ;)

New Pet!

We got a new pet last night! Well, new to us anyway. My dad and step-mom gave us their dog, Fly, a.k.a. Bad Dog. She really is a very good dog, but my dad started calling her that when she was a puppy and now that's all she responds to. Lol!

She is a 6-year-old, pure bred Border Collie, and she is very well trained. She has been around young children throughout most of her life and has no history of aggressive behavior whatsoever. Bad Dog is a sweetheart and she is so perfect for my little family.

I'm sad for my dad because she was his dog and he really wanted to keep her, but they are moving to a place that doesn't allow dogs. He is really happy that we have her though, so he can still visit her whenever he wants.

We have really missed having pets in the house. Robbie and I are both animal lovers and it just felt strange not having one for so many months. Like I said earlier, Bad Dog is the perfect fit for our family. Tristan already loves her and I know the daycare kids will too. She is so incredibly calm and obedient, and we just adore her.

Welcome to the family, Bad Dog! Our family is almost complete. Now we just need one more baby and we will be good to go! ;)

Rising Sun Fun Care Flyer

I still have one full time opening for a child between the ages of 3 years and 12 years. Here is a flyer that my lovely sister-in-law designed for me. If you happen to know of anyone in the Tooele area looking for child care, would you pass this on? Thanks so much!

Family Portraits

Here are some pics of my beautiful family and I that were taken on 8/29/10. Enjoy! ;)

Post #100

Hello everyone,

I am back! Wow! I have been really, really bad about updating my blog. I haven't posted since March, so it's been six months. Lol! I guess that's what happens when you have a toddler, your own business to run, and a house to take care of. As busy as I am, I really am going to try to post here at least once a week to update on what's going on with my little family.

Well, I got my state license to do home daycare back in April, so I have been a child care provider for five months now and I am so glad I made this decision. I can honestly say that I love my job and that I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I have bad days, just like with any other job, but nothing beats being able to be home with Tristan while playing and teaching him as well as all of the other children that are here everyday. What could be better?

It gets stressful running the daycare though. Not just the kids, but the record keeping, shopping, planning lessons, cleaning, sanitizing, etc. I think as soon as we get some of our debt paid off and I fill my last opening in the daycare that I am going to hire an assistant. I could definitely use one! Lol!

Tristan is doing so well! He just had his first birthday two weeks ago. I still can't believe that I am a parent of a toddler now instead of a baby! He is so smart. He knows how to say mom, dad, duck, ball, hi, and a couple of other words. He also tries to sing E-I-E-I-O when we are singing Old McDonald. Lol! So cute! He can sign milk, more, kiss, all done, please, and he is learning more and more each day. I love my little man.

Robbie and I are doing great. We have been together for almost four years now and I love him more and more all of the time. He is a great husband and a wonderful dad to Tristan. He has been so patient with me and my business and helps out around the house whenever he can. I feel so lucky to have him in my life.

Life in general is just great! The first part of the year was really rough because I was starting the daycare, but things are getting better and better all of the time. I am starting to get baby hungry again. I know so many people that are pregnant with baby #2, but Robbie and I both think it would be best to wait until Tristan turns two before we start trying for our next baby. So I'll just have to wait I guess. =/

Sorry for the novel. Hopefully it won't be so long before I post again next time. ;)

formspring.me

A friend of mine started doing this and I thought it was pretty interesting, so I decided to try it myself. Ask me anything, http://formspring.me/RisingSun2010 All of the questions are anonymous, so I don't even have to know who is asking me what question, unless you want me to. =)

YES!!! 8 More Days!

...Until I get my State License! My licensing specialist called me yesterday to tell me that they received my application, they have processed our background checks as well as the rest of the paper work I had to send in, and she is ready to inspect my house!

I have the checklist for the licensing inspection. It is 14 pages long! She said it is going to take about 2.5 hours! At least I know what to expect though.

I'm so ready for this inspection and to finally get my license. I have been working for this for awhile now. We have hit more bumps in the road than intended, so it feels good that this process is finally coming to an end.

I have been trying to find kids to watch for the last month with no luck thus far, but I'm confident that once I get my State License it will make a huge difference. I will have help from Child Care Resource and Referral then and I will be able to accept families who need state assistance.

I ordered some flyers yesterday. One more form of advertising in addition to my website, Facebook, the Rising Sun Fun Care blog, KSL, and the local paper. I have business cards too. I have been marketing like crazy and my efforts are starting to pay off.

I am so excited! I could just cry. I can't wait!

Family Update

I haven't updated on what is going on with our little family for awhile, so I thought I would bring everyone up to speed.

Tristan is now 5.5 months old! I can't even believe that much time has gone by since he was born. He loves to roll over, he can sit up on his own, and he tries to crawl, but hasn't quite figured out how yet. He just scoots on his tummy and kicks his legs out. Lol!

He loves to grab onto everything he can; including mommy and daddy's plates when we are trying to eat. He is a little chatter box. He loves to talk, talk, talk. He can say 'mama', but that is his only word so far. His favorite toys are his car and our chihuahua, Roadie. He thinks he is so funny! Every time he sees him he laughs. Lol!

Speaking of Roadie, he is doing great. He misses Chili though and I didn't think he would. Oh, I haven't told you yet... We found a family for Chili. It was really hard to let him go, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I think I would have had a much more difficult time if I had to take him to a shelter.

The family that has him is really great. They came over, met with us, played with Chili. Chili chose them more than they chose him. When it came time to leave, he left with that family and didn't even look back. I knew at that moment that's who he was supposed to be with. They will give him the love and attention he deserves. I will always miss him though.

Now that Chili has a home I can finally start my day care! I have everything done but my building inspection (to make sure our house is structurally sound and up to code) and my policies and procedures. I'm putting the final touches on those today and my building inspection is this week! Once those two things are done I can send everything into the bureau of child care licensing!

What is even better is I can watch four kids including Tristan while I am waiting for everything to process at the bureau. So I can start taking kids any day now! I'm so excited. I have worked so hard for this. I started this process in October and everything I have done is finally paying off. I am so happy.

That is my little update on what is going on in the Randall family's world. Talk to you soon!

Beautiful Boy

Close your eyes
Have no fear
The monster's gone
He's on the run and your mommy's here

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy

Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way
It's getting better and better

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy

Out on the ocean sailing away
I can hardly wait
To see you to come of age
But I guess we'll both
Just have to be patient
Yes it's a long way to go
But in the meantime

Before you cross the street
Take my hand
Life is just what happens to you
While your busy making other plans

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy
Darling,
Darling,
Darling Tristan