What did you have for breakfast, golfballs?

As if we did not have enough to worry about, the day after our stuff arrived at the house, Kutter started complaining of a toothache. I kind if dismissed it thinking it had something to do with the 8 Fun Dips he ate that day. I brushed his teeth really well, gave him some Motrin and sent him off to bed.

Sunday morning rolls around, and the pain was still there. I brush his teeth again, give him more Motrin and send him off to play. Shortly after noon, he spiked a 104 degree fever and started throwing up. A normal parent would panic at this point, but not me. You see, for Kutter, a 104 is normal. He would get that high of a temp any time he cut a new tooth. Three trips to the emergency room when he was a baby to discover that is just how he cuts teeth. So, I drew the conclusion that he was cutting his 6 year molars causing pressure on his other teeth therefore, a toothache. The fever was because of the new teeth and the vomiting because of the fever.

Monday morning comes around and it is President's Day so no school. I decide, since he is off from school anyway, to make him a dentist appointment just to be sure my diagnosis was correct. They make him an appt for 2:45. Kutter then comes downstairs and proclaims he knows why his tooth hurts. I turn around to look at him as he says "there is a bump on it!" I gasp as I see the deformation of once was my son. His face was so swollen he was nearly unrecognizable. He looked as if he had a golf ball in his cheek. His eye was almost swollen shut and his nose was nearly flat from swelling. I panicked and called the dentist back and frantically explained Kutter's appearance. They told me to bring him right down.

Two x-rays later, the diagnosis is an abscessed tooth!! Given the swelling and the pain, they opt to pull the tooth and put a spacer in its place to keep his teeth from drifting together. Kutter was amazing during it all. He did not even flinch when they gave him multiple numbing shots. He squirmed a little when they pulled the tooth only because it took such force to get it out. He walked away with a couple cool prizes and one more missing tooth. He did not even need an antibiotic. Apparently, kids are resilient. If it was me, I would need IV antibiotics and some morphine. Kutter felt so much better once the tooth was gone. All he could focus on was calling Connor Zierse and also seeing what the tooth fairy was going to bring him. Awww, to be a kid again!

This picture gives you an idea of what he looked like, but not quite! He is still a handsome little guy, golf ball and all.

Kutter Lost His First Tooth

Kutter finally lost his first tooth. He discovered it was loose when we arrived in Iowa. I thought for sure it would be out in a week. A month later, the tooth still was hanging on and did not seem to be getting any more loose. I really did not think much about it until Kutter came out of his room one night and said he had a bump in his mouth. Upon further examination, I found his permanent tooth was coming in behind his baby tooth. No wonder his tooth was hanging on so tight. I told Kutter he needed to work real hard to get his baby tooth out or we were going to have to go have a dentist take it out. Over the next couple of days, he wiggled as much as he dared. Finally, one night he let me have a go. I tried to tie a piece of floss around it but there was just nothing for the floss to hold on to. Every time I yanked a little, the floss would slip off. Kutter told me he would go to bed that night and would let me have two more chances with the floss. So the next night came. I still felt it would be hard to get the floss around it. I ended up pushing on the tooth until he said OUCH! This loosened it up enough that it gave me an edge to slide the floss around. I tied that thing good and tight. I can testify to you now that I was way more nervous that Kutter was. I was having horrific flashbacks of being a kid and my mom trying to yank out my tooth. I was motivated to get this tooth out for Kutter because I knew it really needed to come out. So I closed my eyes, gripped the floss, and pulled on that thing like I was starting a lawnmower. I screamed when the tooth flew out and hit me in the face. The scream was the only thing that scared Kutter. He was so excited that his tooth was actually gone. He immediately wanted to call his best friend from Arizona, Connor. We called Daddy at work and told him the good news. Later, when Ryan came home from work for lunch, I had to have him console me because I was so traumatized that I had to pull Kutter's tooth out. Plus, I was in shock that my child was to the point of losing teeth. Where does the time go?
Kutter lost his second tooth about 2 weeks later. It was a much easier process this time. The tooth was good and loose. Kutter wanted me to pull it out again with the floss. I reluctantly agreed but it went much smoother. The tooth came out like it was stuck in butter. It was almost fun this time around. I think Kutter would let me pull out any tooth I want just so he can get a visit from the tooth fairy. He is totally bummed out that he only has 20 teeth to lose. I told him to hit up his grandpa's next time he is around them, ha ha ha. So grandpa's, beware! Kutter is losing teeth and is expecting to be paid!

Franklin Does Christmas!

We were so excited to find out that Kutter's school actually celebrates Christmas! It seems like Christmas is being taken out of so many schools, it was so refreshing to be somewhere that the world has not taken over yet.

The kindergarten put on a little singing program. Kutter was the M. He got to hold it up and say very proudly..."M, is for the Magic of Christmas!" They sang a few Christmas songs that represented the letters of the alphabet. It just reminded Ryan and I of when we were kids and were able to do these little programs. It was such a surreal experience to be the ones there watching our child do the things we remember doing ourselves.

After the singing program, they invited the parents back to the classrooms to make little gingerbread houses with our children. It was so much fun! Let me tell you, the little kindergarten room gets pretty crowded with all the kids and all the parents. The gingerbread houses we made were graham crackers stuck to a mini-milk carton. It was fun to watch Kutter just create with no direction. I like to see how kids minds work. It is also funny to watch him put a candy on the house, then put a candy in his mouth. I am certain he ate more than ended up on the house but it was sure fun. I was so glad Ryan was able to be there and experience this special moment with Kutter as well. I was also glad Kutter's teacher, Ms. Borcher, offered to take a picture of us all together. It is a rarity that both Ryan and I get to be in a picture with our kids at the same time.

Kutter's Second 1st Day of Kindergarten

Honey, we are not in Arizona anymore!

Kutter's first day of Kindergarten at Franklin Elementary was on Dec 8, 2008. Let me just say it has taken quite the getting used to for me to have to wake up extra early just to allow enough time to get Kutter's coat, gloves, hat and boots on. Not to mention the fact that my car's are in severe pout mode and will not run for us unless we warm the up for at least 15 minutes before going anywhere. I guess that explains why I am only getting 150 miles to a tank of gas. Whoops! The nice thing about the weather in Iowa, is they cancel school for even the hint of snow. Either that or they do a late start which gives us an extra 2 hours to convince ourselves to get out of bed. The first 10 days of Kutter's start of school, only 2 were full days. The others were either cancelled or late start due to weather. I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoy late start days. But it is funny, even at 10:30am, I am still taking him to school in my P.J.'s. Poor kid!

Now back to Kutter.....Kutter had a great first day. He came home saying he likes being the new kid. For a solid week he begged that we can move more often so he can always be the new kid. He says that everyone has to be nice to the new kid. He did take his new found fame to a new level when he took it upon himself to become the class tattle tale. He felt since he was the new kid and so loved and respected that he must announce every mis-behaviour that happened around the classroom. Kutter is an expert at following the rules (at school anyway), so he just wanted to make sure everyone was as good at following the rules as him. I was a bit mortified by the discovery of Kutter's tattle-tailedness. I would rather my kid be the class clown that the class tattle tale. But when sitting down and discussing things with him, I discovered that he had only the purest of intentions. He really did think it was his job to tell the teacher everything that happened. I guess his teacher, Ms. Borcher, told him on the first day that he should come tell her if anyone is mis-behaving or being mean. I think she meant if they were being mean to him. I am happy that the teacher tried to help Kutter feel comfortable and now I can see how Kutter took this statement so literally instead of the intended purpose of just making him feel comfortable at his new school. He is much better now. In fact, I don't think he tells his teacher anything, even if it is warranted. I guess we need to work on him finding a middle ground.

We are really liking the school here and the education seems to be top notch. Kutter is one of only two LDS kids in the school so that is interesting. It is all quite the adventure!

Kutter's Stats - Age 6

Height: 4 ft 11 1/4 inches

Weight: 53 lbs

Here is a picture of Kutter doing two of his most favorite things in the world: playing DS, and hanging out with his daddy.

Kutter's Real Birthday...Party #3

Kutter's actual 6th birthday was spent in a hotel room. The Holiday Inn Express in LeMars, Iowa. The kids affectionately refer to this place as big Iowa. Ryan tried to make it extra special and decorated the room in the middle of the night. When Kutter woke up, he wanted to have a little photo shoot with his little buddy, Maggie. It was cute! All throughout the day, Kutter kept referring to himself in the 3rd person. But not just by his name, he would refer to himself as the "birthday boy." He would say things like, "the birthday boy is thirsty!" Or "Payton is not being nice to the birthday boy!" It was cracking me up!

Ryan took Kutter on a little outing to the dollar store. He came home with some fun junk (reference the first picture and Ryan's glasses). We got a cake from Wal-mart's bakery. We went to lunch and McDonald's, of course. He wanted to go to McDonald's for dinner too but we had to but the kibosh on that one. My arteries can only handle so much McDonald's in one day. We convinced him to go to Archie's, a local steakhouse. It was most excellent! They made a big deal and special dessert for Kutter so he liked that. All in all, with 3 parties and a full day devoted to attention only on him, I think Kutter had a pretty darn good birthday after all.

Happy Birthday our little man! We love you so much. You bring so much joy to our lives and we are so filled with pride that you are ours. You are one amazing young man!

Kutter's BD party, #2...Colorado

On our long trek to Iowa from Arizona, we stopped for the night in one of our favorite places on earth, Colorado!!! We stayed at our parents away from our parents house, the Jenkins. They were so excited to see us and had not met Maggie yet. They were very prepared for our arrival and had set up a mini-birthday party for Kutter. Dale picked out a giant cookie and they had it decorated for Kutter. They had plenty of gifts for all the kids. We came away totally outfitted for the upcoming colder climate of Iowa. We are so blessed to have Sharon and Dale in our lives. Our kids are really lucky to have so many people who love them and consider them family. I know and have always known that the reason we went to Colorado was to meet Sharon and Dale. I cannot imagine my life being complete without have them in it.

Kutter's Last Day of Freedom (Elementary, that is!)

Kutter's last day at Buckeye's Freedom Elementary School was November 21, 2008. This was also the day our truck was being loaded and leaving for Iowa. I had talked to Ms. Nunez, Kutter's teacher, to see if we could do something special for him. My plans were to make a special treat but then I realized all my kitchenware was packed and gone so.....I bought donuts. Mom of the year, right! The kids did not seem to mind my store bought treat, however. The class had made that Friday all about Kutter. All the sentences written on the board for them to read had Kutter's name in them. He got to be the line leader, treat helper, paper helper, everything. Now to us adults, this seems like slave labor on a day you should get to kick back and be pampered. But to a kindergartner, this was heaven. He felt very special.

I came at the end of class with the treats and to gather his things. All the kids wanted their picture taken but I thought I would just post the group photos. There is one exception to this, I had to post Kristi, Kutter's first crush. Well I should rephrase this, I am not sure if Kutter had a crush on her but she sure did have a crush on him. She followed him around like a lost puppy. What can I say, the girl's got taste. She had made him a birthday card and drew a picture of him and her holding hands....awwww!

We sure loved Freedom Elementary and especially Kutter's teacher, Ms. Nunez. She just loves her students so much and it shows.

May The Force Be With You

Seeing as how we decided, or more that we were forced, into moving so suddenly, I felt we needed to throw a BD party for Kutter before we moved. He has made so many great friends here and his birthday was just the week after we moved away. I don't know why I do these things to myself. As if moving is not stressful enough but Ryan was already in Iowa so I was alone with the three kids trying to get the house packed and cleaned. Who in that situation thinks to themselves, "self, why not throw a birthday party while you are at it?" Then I thought, well lets make it a going away party for Payton too. I think we invited 36 kids. All but 7 came! That is a big ol party. Luckily I have some amazing friends who came to my rescue. Tisha Bierman deserves all the props in the world. She made the most amazing pinata and made light sabers for all the kids who came. I mean seriously, this life like Darth Vader came equipped with gloves, all the mechanics and even a cape. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Kutter was inconsolably crying when it got all busted up with a bat. He wanted to keep it forever, I felt bad. But it truly was an amazing creation.

Megan and Bridgette jumped in and helped get food served and cupcakes decorated. Then there is Kelly who stepped in as my knight in shining armour for the party. Kelly is Megan's husband and he became the entertainment portion of the evening. He took on all the kids in a light saber war. It was so funny and such a stress relief for me. He also manned the pinata and figured out all the tricky stuff that came up that evening. It was a sad time for all when he had to duck out early to go to work. Thanks Kelly, you da man! Seriously, I could not have done it without any of you guys. All in all it was a perfect party and a great send off for my kids. I don't regret doing it one bit. I am so grateful for the friends my kids made during our time in Arizona. They will forever have a place in all our hearts.

Look Ma, No.....Training Wheels!

On Tuesday, August 19th, Kutter J Wright rode his bike for the first time with no training wheels. Ryan decided he and the kiddos were going to ride bikes to the park. I headed outside to wave goodbye and noticed Ryan taking Kutter's training wheels off his bike. I panicked at the thought of this new milestone. I promptly put Kutter's helmet on and headed inside to check on Maggie. A few minutes later, Kutter comes in and told me I need to get my camera. I asked why and he said because he rode without training wheels and did not fall. Apparently, Kutter hopped on his bike and took off riding while Ryan was chit chatting with our neighbor. Ryan took off running after him and caught up to him and helped him stop.

I ran out with the video and digital camera to capture this moment. Kutter got right back on and did it again. After that, he became more consumed with me taking pictures than with concentrating on keeping his balance. Ryan then took him to the park and had him practice in a safer environment. They came home full of stories about all the places Kutter rode and did not fall. I am so proud of my little boy learning this and I am proud of Ryan for teaching him.

On a side note, Ryan is extremely sore today. I think someone is out of shape. He said it was all that jogging he did next to Kutter. I was sore just thinking about running. Sounds like we need to get to the gym.

Kutter's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Prepare yourself for a novel:

Kutter's official 1st day of school was August 6th, 2008. It has taken me a week to come to grips with this whole new life so now I am able to talk about it.

Kutter was so excited. He bounced right out of bed and was ready to walk out the door. I made him a "special" breakfast of waffles and eggs. I think he only ate about 3 bites. Our family is not used to waking up so early so it was hard to eat breakfast that soon. Not knowing how long it would take to get him ready, I jumped the gun a bit on when I woke him up. We ended up having nearly a half an hour to spare so I quickly filled that time with picture taking. I think I took over 50 pictures just to make sure I got one good one. My neighbor nicknamed me the paparazzi. Here are a few samples:

We had gone to meet Kutter's teacher the night before school started so we were feeling more comfortable with the idea of Kutter being with her all day. She resembles Ryan's grandma but she reminded us of Ryan's mom because she had the sweetest and most patient temperament. She seemed to have the demeanour of a grandma and acted as though her students were more her grand kids than her pupils. That made us feel pretty good about Kutter's first year in school.

Ryan and I both took him in and our neighbors stayed with Payton and Maggie in the car. Ryan ran the video camera while I snapped the still pictures. I think I got every one of his first steps in the classroom, I may have overdone it a bit. Kutter said his cheeks hurt from smiling for so many pictures. He was a good sport though, he knows his mama is a bit looney toons. I had a hard time leaving him but he was ready for us to go. I think he has been looking forward to this day for a year. He was a bit sad that he did not get the same teacher as his "best bud" Connor but it brought him comfort knowing they could play together at recess. The day actually went quickly for us at home because we took Payton to get her cast off. YEAH! (More on that later) We ended up getting home from taking care of her and basically loading back up in the car to head to the school to pick up Kutter. I am certain we were there way too early but I could not help it. I wanted to be there for him to see me right away when he came out of school. It took all my strength and will power to not run and tackle him when I saw him come out of his classroom.

The next day seemed to be much worse for me. Ryan had to work and I had nothing to do. Payton went to a friends house and I literally just sat on the couch and stared most of the day. I knew I had so much to do but I could not figure out how to go about doing it. I felt so lost! I love my little Kutter Man and he is so great to have around. It has been fun getting to spend time with Payton and Maggie but it just does not seem right without big brother around.

Here are some funny things Kutter has said since starting school:

When asked what his favorite thing about school is, he proudly answers "Lunch!"

As he was preparing to leave for school on his 3rd day, he said "Mom! You need to have this house cleaned up for when I get home from school." He then explained that he gets to be the one to mess it up when he comes home but he expects it to be clean when he arrives.

He came home on his first day and said "I do not know how to read yet!"

After his second day of school, he proudly proclaimed "I have been to school for 2 days and have not been sent to the principals office yet." Kutter always gets a kick out of me telling him that my dad was my principal so when I was bad, I had to go see him. I am not sure why, but he thinks that is the funniest thing ever. He always says, "that is so weird!"

He makes sure and lets me know every day which kids were bad and what they did. It is like the little kindergarten soap opera. But he lets me know "I don't break any rules! I am being a good boy mom!" You are a good boy Kutter J!

I am so proud of my little guy. He is being so responsible. He is making sure he has his blanket, backpack, and water every day. I watch him fold his arms and walk to class so he does not break the "turtle" rule. I hear him tell me stories of how a kid at his table could not do his work so Kutter helped him. He says he always says hi to a boy in his class that does not know anyone. And he makes sure and lets me know that he plays with everyone he knows at recess. Then he proceeds to name them all so I understand that he did not leave anyone out. He is an amazing son and I am honored to be his mom. Love you buddy!

Kutters 1st Sleepover

Kutter has a "best buddy" named Connor. If they could, these two kids would play together all day, every day. Connor went to Utah to visit family for nearly 6 weeks. When he finally got back, the two were inseparable. If they were not together, they were begging to be together. On July 30th, after a 3 1/2 hour playdate at Peter Piper Pizza, the boys convinced us moms to let them have a sleepover. Little did I realize that Ryan had already talked to Kutter about this the day before and had made all the plans. I guess us moms had no choice. : )

They were such good kids. They went to bed at 9pm with no complaints. Now before you get all impressed that they went to bed so early for a sleepover, I will finish by saying they finally fell asleep at midnight. I guess it is our fault, we put a movie on in Kutter's room and popped popcorn. Payton was a having a hard time with being left out so we let her watch the movie for a few minutes. It was funny to me that when she went to sit down, the boys had her sit in the middle. She was in heaven. Cute Connor on one side and her best big brother on the other.

I have never seen Kutter laugh so much. Kutter and Connor are a good fit because they have similar personalities and are such good kids. Plus, neither one of them can say their "C' and "K" sounds so they call each other Tutter and Tonner. So great!