knuckle sandwiches

Rocking, rolling and scooting

2011-08-18T11:26:00.002-05:00

Some little fuzzy headed baby is on the go. You leave him in one spot and within seconds to minutes he's in a completely different spot. He's a rolling and a scooting. While on vacation he started getting on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. This is very exciting, especially for Lily and Harrison to see. But...I also know what comes with a crawling baby and it's a bit scary!!

Back to school

2011-08-18T11:21:00.003-05:00

Very important day!! First day of kindergarten for Lily!! She was very excited so I'm hoping her report at the end of the day is a great one!

Harrison is a little excited to start back at Montessori but I think he's more excited about his new shirt.

Home sweet home?

2011-08-11T21:00:00.003-05:00

We're home. Blah.

Actually, I'm a little bit happy to be home. Thanks to Texas. We left GCI on Tuesday evening and had an overnight layover in Houston. Since we were traveling with kids it was nice having a 2.5 hour flight one day and another 2.5 hour flight the next. But traveling for 2 days (lugging around lots of luggage, including a huge car seat bag) made me excited to get home. Who knew?

Our last day on the island we spent 3 hours between the beach and the pool. Lily and I made a sand robot for Harrison, although he wasn't impressed. A nice lady from Texas, Kaye, watched Henry while he slept in his stroller on the beach (while we played in the ocean). The kids improved their swimming skills. Lily and I snorkeled and saw lots of small fish. It was a nice way to say good bye to the beautiful beach and ocean.

Our last night on the island

2011-08-09T20:45:00.004-05:00

I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave.

I wish I was homesick but I'm not. Probably since we are trying to sell our house. I wish I missed our dogs but not taking care of them has been nice. I wish I was excited to get back to our routine life but I'm not. I like THIS life. This island life. The life that we have lived the past 8 days. The life of being together. All day and all night. Together.

I have everything I need with me right now.

I feel like throwing a tantrum.

I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave.

Our Caymanian digs

2011-08-08T21:20:00.002-05:00

We opted for a condo at The London House on seven mile beach. Its hard picking a place off the internet but we started with vrbo and used reviews from trip advisor. The London House has been wonderful! We rented a car to get from the airport to our condo (almost same price as taxi) and Randy made a grocery store run. We moved in and have been living in our 2 bed/2bath condo like its ours. We have cooked all meals (except anniversary dinner and lunch today). Our poolside, ocean view condo is on the first floor in a small complex, maybe 14 units total. Besides the pool, it has shuffleboard, an amazing hammock house plus other random hammocks around the beach, sand volleyball and we have a beautiful beach practically to ourselves! There are other people here but the most I've seen on the beach at one time is ~ 5 people. Everyone is very nice (Bart is from Texas and stays for a month with his wife every summer and they offered to babysit Henry. Lan is another regular from Indiana and has been super helpful with restaurant recommendations, picking up stuff from the grocery store for us and even offered us to use their rental car, Avis works here but is from Jamaica and her oldest is graduating from college this week, etc.) Our condo location is on the north side of seven mile beach, away from the party scene. We only rented a car for the first day so we have used the buses when we ventured out. I talked about the buses in a previous post but it's very convenient since they seem to stop anywhere along seven mile road and the longest we have waited for one is 3 minutes.

To sum it up, The London House has been excellent! I hope to be a regular like Bart or Lan someday. :)

More from Grand Cayman Island

2011-08-08T20:43:00.003-05:00

Today we....
~~Woke up ridiculously early (courtesy of the "H" boys)
~~Played in the pool (I showed off by doing some spectacular jumps into the pool, yes, I think Randy would agree they were spectacular). Lily also jumped into the pool! Even though she was wearing floaties she has never had the guts until today. Of course she loved it. Harrison started doing it too with his spiderman floatie ring thingy.
~~Built a sandcastle. I'm not talking the usual bucket castle where the top never comes out right. I'm talking big mound carved down with a knife. Yep, just call Lily and I professionals.
~~Spent a few hours at Caymana Bay. We bused down there, ate lunch at Michael's and let kids loose in the water fountains. After, Randy gave kids option of ice cream or cupcakes. After checking both out they chose ice cream. I don't blame them since it was a hot day but the cupcake store was the cutest store! I bought one for them to share later on. :)
~~Napped. Not all of us but the ones that woke everyone ridiculously early did. I stayed at condo and read my book while Randy and Lily went snorkeling. Lily had progressed to submerging her entire head (only using mask, not breathing apparatus yet) tried floating a bit and even had a fish touch her. Randy and I can't wait to do some real snorkeling with our kids someday!
~~Walked on the beach. Watched a crab dig his hole and throw sand at Harrison, Henry and myself.
~~Had a relaxing and fun family night that included playing phone games with Harrison (more like he taught me how to play), Lily was busy coloring when not playing with Henry or helping Harrison and I, and Henry and Randy had lots of laughs while playing on the floor.
~~Attempted a dusk walk on the beach but the mosquitos foiled our plan. It rained tonight so that maybe why they were out so bad. They are around other nights but tonight they were HUNGRY!

As I was thinking of everything we did today I got mad that I didn't have any hammock time but then I remembered I really did. Just a few minutes when Lily and I got rained on while building our sandcastle. :) I think I know what to ask for my upcoming birthday. :)

Grand Cayman, Part 3, Stingray city

2011-08-07T17:41:00.003-05:00

Today started off with an early morning walk on the beach with Lily and Harrison. My intention was Randy and Henry would sleep in a bit since he's been getting up with the older kids and hitting the beach first thing. Unfortunately Henry didn't get the message so they joined us pretty quick. While walking the beach the kids love to find crabs and let the waves chase them as they walk along the sand. After breakfast I took the older kids to the pool while Randy planned our day and what a day it was! We ended up going on a 3 hr guided tour to Stingray City and 2 snorkeling spots, barrier reef and Coral Gardens. Pictures to come (forgot to mention I can't post pics from the iPad so that will have to wait until we come home). Stingray city was AWESOME! The kids got in the water and touched stingrays!! And loved it!! Lily even tried to snorkel to see them under water but her life jacket prevented that. Randy and I took turns taking Lily and Harrison out of the boat. Neither Lily or Harrison held a stingray or kissed one (I kissed one) but they both petted them and Lily got to feed one. She was instructed to hold the squid like a ice cream cone and put it under the stingray. It was hilarious when the stingray grabbed it from her. I could tell she was scared but excited and she just giggled a ton. Harrison also wanted to feed one but the food was gone by the time he got up the nerve. The next 2 stops were for snorkeling so I hung out on the boat with the kids while Randy snorkeled. Randy saw some spotted ray, grouper and lots of random other fish. The boat was awesome and had a nice flat bed like area that we had to ourselves. Henry happily slept on it during Stingray city and Harrison fell asleep on the return back.

A little extra reading on Stingray city....
Many years ago local fishermen stopped in the shallow sand bars to clean their daily catch. The fishermen discarded the unwanted fish parts into the water which attracted hordes of Southern Stingrays to the area. As the fishermen would arrive the Stingrays would gather awaiting their free meal. The Stingrays began to associate the sound of a boat engine with their free meal. Eventually local divers realized the rays could be fed by hand and were docile.

The southern stingrays are located in the shallow waters of the northwest corner of Grand Cayman's North Sound. It is just inside a natural channel that passes through the barrier reef and consists of a string of sand bars that crosses the North Sound from Morgan Harbor to Rum Point. The area is a popular attraction where the rays are found in abundance and visitors can feed, pet, and interact with the animals.

Grand Cayman, part 2

2011-08-06T14:55:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, we started with the pool (Randy entertained Henry while I swam with Lil and Harrison). Then Randy took the older kids while I swung in the hammock reading a book (my book club book, Secret Life of Bees!!) while Henry slept on me. We had rest time and then Randy took Lily snorkeling while I kept the boys in the condo to rest more. Later, I took Harrison for some alone time on the beach. I tried to get him to put on snorkel mask (he's done this plenty) but he refused. So I ended up laying in the ocean while he poured sand on my back. He was happy and well, how could I not be? We de-sanded, got pretty and caught a "bus" to go down seven mile beach road to have a celebratory anniversary dinner. "Bus" means a van that acts like a taxi. Besides lack of car seat options it was convenient (it didn't go fast and we didn't travel far). A day before, Lily and I (Henry was strapped in bjorn) walked down the beach to explore and found a smoothie place. it was a hot day and I visioned walking back with Henry in the front carrier with Lily on my back so we tried out the "bus." Best $2 I ever spent. Anyhow, we ate at Yoshi (yummy sushi) and when we got back to our condo the kids had an early bedtime which gave us peaceful time to hang out together. It was just right.

Today, we started in pool (Randy swam with Lil and Harrison and I followed later with Henry) followed by the ocean and my usual book reading in the hammock/Henry nap. Our days are pretty routine but it's working very well. The kids love to swim in the pool so they can actually swim and the ocean is more playing in the waves and sand.

Randy and I have been taking time almost everyday to have "mommy time" and "daddy time.". It's fabulous. We do whatever we want by ourselves. It would be fun to have time with Randy (see previous post about how much I like to guy) but this time alone works for this family trip. We take about an hour and I tend to enjoy a beach chair (with and without reading my book) and today I also snorkeled. Randy tends to snorkel each time and right now he's out for a jog on the beach. Happy mommy and happy daddy!!

11 years. Seriously.

2011-08-06T14:27:00.003-05:00

Happy Anniversary to us. :). Yesterday, was our 11 year wedding anniversary (3 days before that was our 17 yr dating anniversary). I'm very thankful to be married to an amazing man. I'm very thankful for our vacation since it gives us 8 days and nights of being together without distractions of real life. I'm thankful that we have different interests (Randy likes ultimate frisbee, I like scrapbooking, etc.) but our differences have brought us closer (strategic board games, comedy shows). I'm thankful his presence calms me when I'm upset. I'm thankful he's a gentleman. I'm thankful our children will have the best male role model. I'm thankful our children are surrounded by a mom and dad that love each other. They smile when they see us kiss and always join in our hug.

After I met him 17 years ago I said he's too good to be true. I love everything about him and I've learned to appreciate that he is too good to be true and just accept it.

Grand Cayman Island, part 1

2011-08-04T16:27:00.004-05:00

We have been in the Grand Caymans for almost 2 full days. We left early (7am flight) and had a 3 hour layover in Houston. Both flights the baby fell asleep when breastfeeding on takeoff and stayed sleeping for over half of each flight. Lily and Harrison played phone and iPad games and Harrison slept a little on the flight from Houston to Grand Cayman. Overall, it was great. Randy stayed busy entertaining the older kids and getting their snacks so he might say the travels went "well."

I need to mention that Harrison had been swimming up a storm before we left. He was doing so great watching others and just going for it. Until he developed double middle and outer ear infections 4 days before we left. The poor kid was MISERABLE. He traveled well but his mood has been on and off (understandably). Today is his first full "happy" day and for that we're all thankful. He wears ear plugs and a neoprene strap covers his ear plugs. But really it's just for extra caution since he won't be submersing his face. Although he would love to. :(

Yesterday we started off by swimming in the ocean. Followed by snack, swimming in pool, rest, dinner, more swimming in ocean and of course,a beautiful beach sunset. After kids went to bed Randy and I had a little Caymanian Rum and played a board game on the patio.

Today was almost the same but so much happier. With Harrison feeling better it was so much easier. Randy said it was his best day with the kids. He was the one that swam with them today while I took care of Henry. And by "care" I mean swinging in the hammock reading my book while a sweet baby slept on my chest. For 2 naps. Pure joy.

Henry, 5 months old

2011-07-31T15:04:00.006-05:00

Mr. Henry is now 5 months old. He starting rolling at 4 months and at 5 months he started eating rice cereal. He is scooting backwards. A lot. A lot more than we are prepared for. He loves anyone and everyone talking to him. He is a very good and happy baby. Many people are surprised to hear him cry since he is such a happy baby. But trust me...he can cry.

As I was writing this he scooted under my chair. Stinker. Thanks to Katie (and her mom!) for his adorable hat.

His initial bites made for funny pictures but he really does like this new food adventure. I have to point out the picture of Randy AND Lily with their mouths open, subconsciously mimicking Henry. Too funny. See this post for when Randy had his mouth closed while feeding Harrison. :)

Locks for Love...again and again and again!!

2011-07-31T14:35:00.002-05:00

The kids posed with my long hair (and me!) prior to getting my hair cut. This is my 3rd locks for love donation!! I've started the process of growing long enough to donate and cutting short (seems to coordinate after having a baby, definitely has something to do with the house being covered in long Jenni hairs). I hope to donate many more times!!

This summer...

2011-07-27T21:24:00.001-05:00

Lily is busy losing teeth (see previous post, she's now lost 2!),taking swim lessons (we all can't wait to say adios to the arm floaties), watching over Harrison who is in her class this summer, practicing riding her bike in an effort to take training wheels off in the fall, princess ballet dance summer camp, being a very good helper with Henry (she won't wipe a butt yet but will do the rest of the diaper change) and learning to read (Randy bought her "Bob" books and she is flying through them (and very proud).

Harrison is busy being spiderman, iron man and green lantern (his new underwear help bring out the characters). As mentioned above he is in Lily's class for summer school but will return to his normal class come fall. He loves to wrestle his dad and tickle his baby brother. He loves to swim too but doesn't use arm floaties. He is a bit more adventurous and will mimic what other swimmers are doing. He will go down the kid water slides over and over. He is almost over afternoon naps but will fall asleep during bedtime stories. He remains a cuddle bug and takes full advantage when he sneaks into our bed at night. At the end of the spring semester he was drawing "H's" but isn't too interested in the other 7 letters yet. Sorry for the long name, buddy!

Our summer has been filled with a road trip to Colorado (kids did rather well for 2 days of 5-6 hrs each way), trip to Adventureland to celebrate my mom's birthday and 5 years cancer FREE!!, first camping experience (see previous post), weekend in Okoboji for my cousin's wedding (family surprised bride and groom with a Thriller performance), Randy 4-day work trip to Boston (besides 2 other 1 day or 1 overnight work trips this was my first extended time with all 3 kids alone) and a week in South Dakota/Sioux City for Randy's bro's 40th birthday, the 4th of July and the Days of 59 (lots of fun stuff including the annual run/walk in honor of my aunt, Susie that my bro organizes and I try to help with).

We've been so busy we're in need of a vacation. Good thing we're traveling to Grand Cayman Island in 6 days. :)

DyMOmite

2011-07-25T10:30:00.004-05:00

Harrison is a very focused kid when he wants to be. Like when it comes to music. He will request a song over and over to memorize the words. He is very determined and as parents, we get pretty cool concerts on a regular basis. I could watch this video daily for the rest of my life...I love it...

First Camping Trip

2011-07-24T17:06:00.010-05:00

We survived the first family camping trip. I should rephrase that to say we didn't melt on our first family camping trip. It was a HOT one. Randy gave a talk on rockets and even launched a few model rockets for the campground. His talk was great, as always. This was Randy's first talk the kids have been to. I've pictured them tagging along when he does community outreach talks. But that will have to wait. They did pretty good, probably as good as can be expected from being 3 and 5 yo and being quiet for 30ish minutes in 90+ heat. From their mom's perspective they moved their lawn chairs way too much and way too close to the stage (while flashing me a naughty smile) and fought over a water bottle. Henry even decided to baby talk and he's not so quiet anymore. But again it was at a campground so no one seemed to notice (or care).

Our family friends hung out at our campsite and the kids all enjoyed s'mores and catching lightning bugs. We went to bed at a reasonable hour (for a family with young kids) but not reasonable in campground terms (drunk people without kids who were LOUD). I don't think the drunkos woke Randy or I up anymore than we would have woken from the HEAT. I feel the need to capitalize any word with heat or hot because the HEAT was HOT. Around 3AM I checked the temp and it was 75. I'm pretty sure that was as cool as it got. The nice part of waking every 15 min was seeing our family sprawled in a tent together under the stars. Both Randy and I agreed on that the next morning. And yes, we paid back our drunko neighbors by waking up at the crack of dawn. Before the HOT HEAT set back in we enjoyed breakfast, swimming at the beach and Henry and I got in a little nap in the tent while the kids and Randy continued their beach/swimming fun.

Overall a successful camping trip. I foresee many, many, many more!

First tooth fairy visit!

2011-07-24T16:56:00.005-05:00

Our tooth fairy is tall, dark and handsome. Normally, I'm the one to sneak around after the kiddies are fast asleep and play the role of the gift giving bunny or present leaving Santa. I couldn't fulfill the tooth fairy's duties since I was sleep deprived with a newborn so Randy stepped up to the fairy plate. He even left a "fairy dust" trail from the window to Lily's bed thanks to a friend's recommendation (Thanks Lacey!). The fairy dust was the big excitement, more than the 8 quarters she banked. But I did wrap those 8 quarters in cute pink netting with a bow (points for presentation!). Anyhow, Randy did a great job since he completed the mission without waking a kid up. Makes up for him losing her tooth the second time he was the tooth fairy. Someday we'll find it. :)

Henry is 4 months already!

2011-06-23T21:25:00.001-05:00

To tide you over until I can post again...

What we've been up to...

2011-05-05T18:58:00.002-05:00

If you look real hard you'll see a missing tooth on Lillers. Another post on that grand event very soon.
Having too much fun dying eggs
The Easter Bunny brought yummy stuff...
Lily wanted to read to Harrison. She demanded he sit on her lap.

New pictures!!

2011-04-01T10:54:00.002-05:00

5 weeks old. My kids don't listen to me...they keep on growing even though I constantly ask them to stop.

A daddy to 3 cuties...plus one gigantic stuffed bear that has taken over favorite stuffed animal status for now.

First giggles

2011-04-01T10:48:00.002-05:00

Henry has been smiling (real smiles!) since he was 4 weeks old. He starting cooing a few days later. He's a genius I tell ya. :)

It's hard to capture the smiles because they seem to immediately disappear once the camera is on. But I did capture what I consider a giggle. At 5 weeks old. Baby genius, I swear.

Bean song

2011-04-01T10:33:00.003-05:00

Ever since I was pregnant we've told the kids that babies like to be sung to. We meant lullabies and not the bean song.

Family pictures

2011-03-20T11:42:00.003-05:00

Me and my boys...

First official momma photo shoot...

My beautiful babies...

Happy Belated Saint Patrick's Day

2011-03-20T11:34:00.002-05:00

All of my kids have now worn Great Grandma's St. Patrick's Day bib.

No green beer in this house BUT green milk, OF COURSE!!!

Baby Henry

2011-03-08T10:54:00.003-06:00

Can't type much, I'm using one hand right now. Breastfeeding multi tasker I am. Baby Henry is doing great. He's such a good baby. He's extremely cuddly and it's hard to take your eyes off him because he's a gorgeous little baby. When he's awake his eyes are so beautiful. His siblings continue to dote over him. He fits into our lives perfectly.

This one was taken today...Happy 2 weeks old!!

It's a...

2011-02-22T20:19:00.006-06:00

BOY!!!!

Henry Gale was born today, February 22, 2011. He entered the world at 12:05PM, weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 inches long. He made the entire pregnancy a good one for me and also made the delivery a wonderful experience as well.

My mom brought Lily and Harrison to the hospital after school. Once they came in the hospital room and we told them the baby was a boy Harrison proudly exclaimed that he always wanted a boy. He kept repeating that over and over with a big grin on his face. Lily fell in love the minute she set eyes on him. She also had a huge smile on her face and after checking him out she started taking lots of photographs of Henry.

Today is our due date!

2011-02-20T23:30:00.000-06:00

I thought it was fitting to blog on our due date. I don't have any announcement to make since the baby ISN'T making his/her appearance today. I did get pretty excited last night that this kid might actually fall into the ~2% of babies born on their due dates. My mom arrived yesterday so Randy and I took advantage of a date night and saw a movie. Throughout the movie I had stronger braxton hicks contractions than I'm used to (and I've been having them for months). This made me excited but they ended up fizzling out in the middle of the night. And nothing happening since. So we wait...

I am very excited to meet this little one. To find out if this baby is a boy or girl. To start our life as a family of 5. To see Lily nurture her new brother or sister. To see Harrison react if he really does get the brother he's convinced he's getting. To see Randy hold his newborn again. I remember the huge smile, I mean huge smile, on his face when he held Lily for the first time. Thankfully I have a picture of it because I always want to treasure it.

I'm very excited for our near future to unfold. But for now, I'm still very grateful for everything I have right this minute. I have 2 precious kids that I just tucked into bed and a little baby cuddled inside me. I'm sitting across from my husband, whom I love with all my heart. We're all inside a warm house while it's chilly and rainy outside.

I'm very thankful.

Baby #3

2011-01-06T16:33:00.002-06:00

Sneak peek at baby!

The Nutcracker, Year 2

2010-12-06T10:54:00.002-06:00

This is the 2nd year Lily and I have attended The Nutcracker Ballet at the Englert Theater. Last year my mom and niece, Kelsey, joined us. This year, Harrison joined us. Too bad the sword fight between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King didn't last the entire 2 hours otherwise he would of had fun. Randy was out of town so Harrison had to come along. :)

It's becoming a fun tradition for Lily and I. I painted her nails to match her new dress from her grandma Kim. Harrison and I also dressed up. She was all smiles throughout the entire ballet. We'll definitely be going again next year.

The Princess Pose

2010-12-06T10:46:00.002-06:00

Lily likes to throw out the princess pose for pictures. And makes her dadddy pose like a princess too.

26 weeks!!

2010-12-05T09:40:00.002-06:00

This is definetely my 3rd pregnancy because this is the first prego picture I have taken...at 26 weeks. I reassure you lack in photos won't occur once this bambino/bambina enters our lives. Maybe not the millions I took of Lily but plenty, I'm sure.

I'm very, very, very thankful and lucky to have great pregnancies. With Harrison's pregnancy my worst complaint was due to sciatica which really wasn't that big of a deal. This time around my biggest complaint is heartburn, which again isn't much to complain about. It's not easy caring for 2 other kids being pregnant but I knew what I was getting into. I really don't have any crazy cravings either. If someone mentions Thai food I know to order it within a few days or else it will be the only food on my mind. But Thai food is delicious, pregnant or not.

So here is the belly in all it's glory 3 weeks ago...

Goodbye tonsils!

2010-12-05T09:33:00.004-06:00

Harrison suffered through 4 strep throat infections in a very short time frame. His main symptoms were grumpiness and difficulty sleeping. After a hard night, we'd look at his throat and shake our heads. His tonsils would get huge and red. Finally, after 4 rounds of this he had his tonsils and adenoids removed. We definitely played up the surgery with talk of all the ice cream he would eat but I think we did that to make ourselves feel better. The first day he did eat 7 popsicles but it wasn't an easy recovery. Now, 2.5 weeks later he is 100% back to normal. And by normal I mean crazy, blue haired rocker...

Coping with the booster seat

2010-12-02T16:14:00.004-06:00

How does one cope with their child growing up? The pants that are too short, the shoes that squish the toes...these kinds of examples are difficult to accept but my new issue with growing up is the booster seat. How do moms and dads accept THIS change? To go from a 5 point harness (SUPER SAFE!) to a regular old seat belt????? It made me feel better to see the proud smile on Lily's face today when I picked her up from preschool and she rode in her big girl booster chair (with a NORMAL SEAT BELT) for the first time. She was SOOOOOOOO excited. But I still drove extremely slow because I'd look at her, my little girl, my first born, and she was wearing a NORMAL SEAT BELT. I would keep her in the 5 point harness until she was 65 pounds if I could BUT the stork visit in February means I need to readjust the car situation and make things a little easier. I figure if Lily can buckle herself that will be very helpful. Even though tonight as I was searching for the NORMAL SEAT BUCKLE I was totally squishing my belly trying to find it. But we'll get there.

A mom's letter to Santa

2010-12-01T10:56:00.003-06:00

Dear Santa,

My 3 year old son would like a fire gun to shoot the naughty poo-poo.

Good luck with that.

At least my 5 year old daughter has a simple request...a bicycle.

Thanks,
From a mom who doesn't know what a fire gun is.

To Harrison's future wife...

2010-11-15T09:26:00.005-06:00

I'm sorry.

If Harrison continues his night and nap waking routine, than I am very sorry. This boy is a grouch. He makes Oscar (the grouch) look happy.

Proof: This morning when he came into our room around 5AM. Apparently upon climbing up into our bed there is a immediate shift in ownership. This boy thinks it's HIS bed. He grouched at me because I moved. He grouched at me because I breathed on him. He grouched at me because my blankets weren't on his feet. Oh wait, they were on his feet and that is completely inappropriate.

Harrison Grouch McGouch.

If we can make it through until 6:30 AM (when we allow him to get up) THE MOOD disappears with a little chocolate milk and a tv show. Until he wakes up from nap...

One of my favs

2010-11-11T11:25:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure I can communicate how much I love this but I'm going to try. I LOVE FEELING THE BABY KICKS, MOVEMENTS AND PUNCHES. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT. I feel like it's my little secret that sometimes I share with others but sometimes I'm selfish and keep them all to myself. These little kicks help keep my attention during work meetings, especially during a recent all day training. Apparently my little one likes all day training or maybe she/he decided to rebel and party all day, whatever the reason I loved it.

If others are around, usually Randy and the kids, I'll share and put their hand over my tummy where the kicks/punches are happening. Lily was able to feel the baby kick the other day. I don't think she quite understood what it would feel like but she's more than happy to keep on trying to feel more.

For the past 2 days, the baby has increased the intensity of their kicks and punches. Now it's fairly significant and hard not to stop and notice. I can see them through my shirt (which is completely alien like but I still love it).

Since I'm fairly busy during the day the majority of the kicks will happen at night as I lay down in bed. I don't mind postponing sleep for a little bit while I relish in this fantastic and completely amazing thing happening inside my body. I love it.

Last night

2010-11-11T10:32:00.003-06:00

after the kids were tucked in bed and sleeping soundly I started thinking about how fast they grow up. I'm an emotional mess lately so this really hit me hard. I had a good cry and started to climb into my bed alone (Randy is away with buddies on a fishing trip)but decided to crawl into Harrison's bed (he sleeps in a full bed next to Lily's twin bed in her room). As I was clearing the large amount of stuffed animals, extra blankets, books and pillows I woke him up. I asked if I could sleep next to him and he smiled the sweetest smile and nodded his head yes (in a very sleepy manner). Before I laid my head on the pillow he had his arm wrapped over my neck and cuddled right in.

It wasn't the most restful night of sleep but it was a filled with a warm little body that would snuggle up to me every once in a while. Plus, when Lily woke up she was quite happy I slept in their room.

It's this kind of memory I want to hold onto forever. I don't expect to retain it in my memory but in 15-20 years I will be happy I wrote about it.

Random pics from summer and fall 2010

2010-10-31T11:19:00.004-05:00

Water balloons and umbrellas. First is a weapon, second is a defensive shield.

Lily's first day of preschool (again). This is her 2nd year at a Montessori Preschool (ages 3-6). Same teacher, same class but now she's the big girl around campus.

Big sister is dropping Harrison off at his daycare. His recent photo ops have been pure goofiness. Lily picked out her outfit all by herself, right down to the Princess Aerial necklace and mismatched princess earrings.

The leaf pile. Lily was DETERMINED to make a leaf pile like last year. The problem was, or so thought by myself and Randy, there wasn't enough leaves YET. This shows the drive in a 4 year old...she worked so hard to gather leaves from all over the yard and she did it. She made herself a big ole leaf pile and thoroughly enjoyed jumping in it. Her brother enjoyed her hard work AND enjoyed playing in the leaf pile as well. (can't find that stinkin' pic of Harrison but it's really cute!)

Lily joined soccer this fall. Harrison joined too but only lasted 15 minutes into the first practice. It didn't help he's under the age limit (I was "assistant coach" so he could play with Lily's team) and it really didn't help there was a park 100 steps away. With a firetruck climbing structure. Lily gave it a try but it wasn't quite her cup of tea. Ballet on the other hand...is. But I just love the pink soccer socks over the cute little shin guards. Call me a sucker.

My cousin Mikey got married in October. Here are some shots from the wedding reception. We had ourselves a mighty fine time.

I had to include this one since I made Lily's dress. I'd feel guilty NOT mentioning I had a decent amount of help from a sewing class so there it is. In addition to my cutie patooties my sweetie pie niece, Kelsey, has joined the goofy clan.

Randy and I never attended the homecoming parade in all the years we attended college here BUT with kids it's mandatory. And fun.

Announcement

2010-09-30T14:07:00.002-05:00

It's probably time to announce that we're expecting baby #3!! We are very excited about it but I kept putting off the announcement because I'm a crazy worry wart. I kept thinking I'd wait until after hearing the heartbeat (the best sound in the world!), then after the 13 week ultrasound (for abnormality check but really I got it to see the baby!!!) and now I've been postponing until after the 20 week ultrasound which is next week. But I can't contain it any longer!!! Plus the little kicks and growing belly are good reminders that everything is progressing as it should.

Lily and Harrison are VERY excited. Harrison loves my growing belly and Lily will describe in detail how she'll help with the baby. She said she'll help out with everything except for changing poopy diapers. Lily also added that she won't EVER change poopy diapers even when she has babies since her husband will do that. Smart girl.

A little this. A little that.

2010-06-28T09:30:00.005-05:00

We've been back from England for sometime and were able to enjoy July and August in Iowa. Okay, okay, that sounds ridiculous. Who really enjoys the Midwest in the dead of summer? Despite the sticky heat we had a fabulous summer filled with parties, parades and da pool. We also managed to have another ER/hospital visit during our annual July trip to visit the grandparents. Yep, 2nd year in a row but this year was Lily's turn. Poor thing got a ton of mosquito bites on her ankle and somehow an infection set up shop and was only evicted following a 2 day hospital stay with serious antibiotics. She was AMAZING and through the IV, multiple lab draws, foot x-rays, removal of IV she did better than most adults. Lily also recounts her hospital stay as the time she got pretty spoiled. Our dear family visited and brought cuddly presents to make her smile and well...it worked.

Harrison turned 3 last week. Since he was 3 before school started we planned to enroll him in Lily's Montessori Preschool but this was contingent on him potty training since they don't accept diapers. We tried a few times over the past few months, nothing serious, and he amused us with peeing a few times and even pooping in the potty once. We reluctantly gave up his spot at Montessori. A week before he turned 3 he was home from daycare with pink eye (we've had our fair share of ear infections and tonsillitis, heck we've even had hand, foot and mouth so WHY NOT pink eye?) and was watching Elmo's Potty Time video when he DECLARED OUT LOUD that he didn't want to wear diapers anymore. What did I do? I RAN and got him big boy underpants and never looked back. He tried to look back once or twice and even requested a diaper when he needed to do some serious business. I rejected his request all the while questioning if I was a really horrible mom or really smart. Apparently, I'm really smart. :)

Potty training Lily was very easy since I knew exactly what steps to take and how to position oneself, etc. Potty training a boy, when I'm not a boy, well that is rather difficult. There are so many positions one could use but which is really the best? Stand up...but he's not tall enough. Sitting...can lead to pee all over. Sitting backwards...works pretty well but requires removal of big boy underpants and shorts. Stand on potty...not ideal. Clearly we've tried them all and he still likes to mix it up daily but whatever position he decides it's WORKING! And seamlessly I might add.

My blog goal is to produce some additional posts to wrap up our England trip and highlight my baby turning 3 so stay tuned (and if you've learned your lesson previously you'll check back in approximately 6 weeks). CIAO!

Tea Party!

2010-06-11T03:22:00.002-05:00

Lily's first REAL tea party was a few days ago. It was complete with real tea cups, hot chocolate and biscuits (and aero bubbles which are delicious!). I surprised her with the first tea party when Harrison was napping (she napped earlier) and she LOVED it. She loved the tea party but I think she also loved the time alone with me. She requested another girl tea party but Randy and I talked her into letting Harrison join us. For some reason, this tea party turned into a very improper tea (imagine burping and toasting to a "Fantastic Pee Party") party but we had many laughs about how improper it was.:) Today's tea party will make our 4th consecutive tea party.

Toolin' around Ivinghoe, England

2010-06-11T03:14:00.002-05:00

The village we "live" by is a small village called Ivinghoe. It has a few pubs, library, tea room, a great park and a gorgeous church. The last picture is of the post office. Pretty cool looking post office, I think.

The Dairy Cottage

2010-06-09T02:29:00.004-05:00

Currently we're staying at The Dairy in Town Farm in Ivinghoe in Bedforshire. Can you understand why it takes me a while to read a map? The cottage is a barn conversion in the middle of a farmyard. It's located at the foot of the Chiltern Hills and has sheep and chickens. Apparently there is a pick your own fruit and vegetable area that we plan to explore today. Since it's June there won't be too much ready but hopefully some strawberries at least. We're also going to buy some free range eggs from the farm chickens. Fun. :)

We didn't plan to stay in 3 different locations for our 3 weeks here but it's working out rather well. Since our current cottage is on a farm we can't walk to anything beyond the farm. The town of Ivinghoe is pretty close, about a 2 minute car ride but the path isn't ideal for 2 little ones and I envision carrying both of them while juggling an umbrella (been raining intermittently a lot this week). Since the forecast called for rain all day yesterday we dropped Randy off at work and played at an indoor playground. We went here last Sunday and the kids loved it then and loved it now. They had the usual huge play structure but also had a race car track, carousel, kid's kitchen, vet pretend center, lego area and outdoors they had arm paddle boats and big sandbox. Yesterday, the kids got their faces painted.

I'm assuming this was once the main house but now it's separated living quarters. Still gorgeous. I took this picture from the tennis court. Prior to playing tag with the kids and Lily scraping her knee and hand. Ouch!

More Pics from London Trip

2010-06-08T15:26:00.005-05:00

BIG BEN

London street performers. These were CRAZY! They would be soooo still and once you put money in their cup they moved. The gray lady gave fortunes, another angel (not pictured) gave the kids fairy dust and the others just posed with the kids. We probably spent more money here than anywhere else in London but the kids loved it. :)

My favorite part of London is the Tower of London. We didn't go inside but ate lunch on the steps outside. Nice view for a picnic. :) Harrison had just woken up from his nap (which lasted the entire boat cruise tour, he would have loved that!) so that is why he has the confused look. :) At least he let Lily console him, which she was more than happy to do.

Our digs

2010-06-07T05:04:00.001-05:00

The first place we stayed was in downtown Milton Keynes. We stayed in a "serviced apartment." It was definitely more geared toward young single adults and not so much for families with young kids as evidenced by open windows with no screens (we on the 5th floor!!) and glass tabletops. But it was a very clean and nice place to stay. The apartment was located in the Hub, which is the central part of town. We were surrounded by nice resturants, COFFEE!, a supermarket and water fountains. In case you can't guess which perk the kids loved...

The apartment had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and all the necessary items to live in. Hotels seem silly after this place. It was even cheaper than a hotel!

Since we ARE in England we wanted to experience England so we moved to the countryside. Randy has to drive 30 minutes to work so we'll only be here for a week and move to a different cottage with a shorter drive for Randall. But it's lovely and I'm excited to spend our days here.

Here is a video of our cottage in the countryside.

Our amenties remain the same with 2 bedrooms, washer dryer, etc. but we are no longer surrounded by supermarkets, coffee :(, and resturants. Instead we have chickens, sheep and a trampoline. In case you can't guess which perk the kids loved...

London

2010-06-07T04:28:00.003-05:00

On Saturday we took the train to London. It was about a 35 minute train ride. Both Lily and Harrison enjoyed initially before requesting to play iphone games. Oh kids.

Kids in a English phone booth and Lily in front of the London Eye (large ferris wheel).

A family picture with an uncooperative 2 year old boy. At least Big Ben is in the background.

Windmill, British accent and London!

2010-06-04T17:31:00.002-05:00

Tonight at dinner (which was at a windmill, don't get to say that much) Lily said something in a British accent! Too funny. I can't remember what she said but it was quite noticeable!

Off to London tomorrow. Thinking double decker bus tour. Mostly because they look cool but also we won't have to walk about London holding kids.

Greetings from England!

2010-06-04T03:47:00.003-05:00

We're on a bit of a holiday. Well, myself and the kids anyway. Randy is working and that is why we are here in the first place. My company agreed to reduced hours which means I get to hang with the kids all day and work in the evenings once Randy is home. Currently "home" means a serviced apartment in the middle of the city which is quite lovely. We'll be here for 3 weeks so we plan to stay at another location or 2 to explore our surroundings. Plus, staying at cottage in an old barn sounds rather fun. :)

2010-05-14T19:34:00.003-05:00

In an effort to maintain sanity some friends and I have started a monthly get together. We drink wine, eat yummy food and discuss...cough cough...books. Yeah, I'm probably not fooling anyone but saying "book club" sort of sounds dorky. And my friends and I are far from dorky. :). We have read a couple great books and a couple good books. I always like recommendations so I thought I'd share them:

must read:
The Help (you can shut your computer down right now and go buy it NOW.)

should read:
The Other Boleyn Girl (never ever see the movie if you read the book first)
The Reliable Wife (not much to say but it's good)
Guernsey Potato Peel Pie something or other (makes me want to visit Guernsey but the thought of a potato peel pie makes me a bit sick or maybe all this blogging while driving is causing that)

Read if you want to be sad and depressed:
Sarah's Key (good book but you've been warned)

Not from the cool girl club but also recommended:
The Alchemist

Not from the cool girl club and not recommended:
Eat. Pray. Love (heard good things but i can't even get past India. Will see movie though. Will never pass up Pretty Woman)

Are we there yet?

2010-05-14T19:16:00.002-05:00

Cows, grain bins, miles and miles of fields. Yep, we're driving through Iowa. We're coming to visit you, my dear blog readers (ie my family). Kids are watching a movie (awww quiet moments, if even just a moment, is appreciated). Just as I was finishing that last sentence lily whined "Are we there yet?". We just left.

I like big butts and I cannot lie.

2010-05-12T21:03:00.004-05:00

Tonight, in the middle of dinner, Harrison stood on his chair, turned and stuck his butt out and asked if we liked his big butt.

Wow. I can laugh now because he's sleeping.

Date with a blog

2010-05-07T21:11:00.003-05:00

So yeah...right...I'm supposed to be a blogger. Ummmmhmmmm. Right.

There have been some rough patches in the past few months with myself, family and a friend. I like to think of myself as a positive person but for a while I encountered some sad times and even the most positive person would be down for the count. On a rare occasion when I thought about my blog I feel the pang of guilt but it came down to one saying. If you don't have something nice to say don't say anything at all.

Now the dark clouds are clearing and the sun is shining (well, not at this very moment since it's 10PM but you get the idea) so I'm back to blogging. For now. No promises. Just roll with it.

Sooo...here I am on a Friday night with my laptop in bed. Hey, it's a blog date. My date for the night...a mildly snoring yet severely adorable 4 year old snuggled asleep next to me. Yes, she made it back into our bedroom but only because her feet were dangling over her toddler bed. Bunk beds have been ordered but they are taking their sweet time.

In the past few months we have taken a family trip to Hawaii. Lily's statement on the last day in Hawaii can sum up the trip..."I don't want to leave." Can anyone travel to Hawaii and NOT have an amazing time? Refrain from saying yes because that is just a travesty. I'll post more about Hawaii later.

A few weeks after our Hawaii trip I accompanied Randy to Holland/Netherlands and England. He worked most of the time so me, a small town South Dakota girl, wandered around 2 foreign countries trying to get lost. I really only got lost once but my goal was to walk and take pictures of everyday life in a different land. I loved seeing the gorgeous architecture and people watching foreigners (haha, jokes on me since I was the foreigner). I'll post more about Holland/England later.

Kid Updates:
Lily...is a 4.5 year old that loves school, can "read" books without knowing how to read (inheriting her father's seasonal allergies=not so great; inheriting her father's photographic memory=very, very good)and she loves to draw. Her drawings are getting more detailed but 99% of the time involves a princess. Now the princess has longer hair, shoes, 3 fingers on each hand, a crown AND a necklace. If that princess is really lucky her long princess dress might have flowers on it. When we potty trained Lily it was a breeze. A light, airy, fresh breeze. However, 2.5 years later she's been having tinkle accidents. I suppose she's busy playing and makes every attempt to postpone that darn interruption but her bladder isn't big enough yet. So...in an effort to encourage dry panties we started a new reward chart. A star for each day her panties were dry...only needed 7 and she would get a bike. Yes, a B-I-K-E. Pretty good deal, right? Well it took about 12 days but she finally got her bike. The nice thing about the reward charts and Lily...once she reaches her goal she keeps going and doesn't even notice she's not getting a NEW reward. Cool. Next reward chart might have to be an encouragement to FIND her toys. She'll stand in one spot and whine that she CAN'T FIND HER HIPPO. Nope, she won't move an inch. She might turn her head around but surprisingly she STILL CAN'T FIND HER HIPPO. She won my heart on April's Fools Day. I know I didn't play ONE SINGLE joke on ANYONE. But Lily loved it. Her first joke..."Momma, I can't get my straw to work" and when I tried to help her she April Fooled me. That makes me happy.

Harrison, oh Harrison. My baby is growing into a boy. Just a few days ago Randy and some friends went boating/fishing. When Harrison asked where they went I replied "To do boy things." He proudly proclaimed he was a boy too. But the tone of his voice meant he should be doing those boy things too. He is talking a ton. Actually he doesn't stop. Lily wasn't a "WHY?" kid, Harrison is. Big time. I attempt to answer each and every WHY? question in detail, even knowing it will lead to another WHY? I have tried to respond with "Because" a few times but it doesn't work because then we start the battle of "Because why?" He is still in his crib and I've been in no rush to get him out. He seems to enjoy it and doesn't plan his escape after we close his door at night. He will scream, let me emphasis that a little more, he will SCREAM in the morning for us to come get him. It's usually "MOM, WHERE.ARE.YOU? MOOOOOMMMMMMM. WHERE....ARE.....YOU????? MMMMOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!" When the bunk beds arrive we plan to have Harrison and Lily share so that should be another blog post or 10. Harrison is still in love with Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear. He'll "fly" around the house (or the mall) with his arms out front screaming "To infinity and beyond!!!!!" I can't leave out his love for the outdoors. He would prefer to play outdoors for hours over anything. Even food. He would never eat again if we let him play all day and night outside. He's loving his daycare, Appletree. He's learning so much as evidenced by reciting his numbers...in Spanish...while sleeping. :) He slept in our bed (2 kids in bed=no sleep and stiff necks) when he was sick last week and I awoke to his foreign language sleep talking. Too funny.

Randall is great too. He's working hard as always. I know he gives his work 100% and his family 100% and that is not easy. But he does it and wouldn't have it any other way. Have I ever mentioned just how good this guy is? Seriously, he does everything. Okay, maybe he won't readily clean the toilets but that's about it. He does baths, takes care of dinners/breakfasts, does daycare drop off/pick up, cleans the house (minus the toilets) and tends to the ridiculous amount of house work and yard work. Then he'll massage me. Hint hint..my neck is straining from all this blogging. ;) We're coming upon 10 years of marriage this August and 16 years of being together. I just love him with my entire heart. That's about all I can really say....I love him.

My blog date is coming to an end. It's been a good one...we'll go out again soon. No good night kiss though.

FAMILY RULES

2010-02-10T10:57:00.004-06:00

1.) No hitting
2.) No yelling (including momma)
3.) No spitting
4.) No peeing in undies
5.) Stay in time out
6.) Take turns with toys
7.) Clean up toys
8.) Listen to mom and dad
9.) Be nice and say nice things

I got the idea of a big poster of family rules from my neighbor/friend Shauna. The kids helped me create the rules and we have the poster hanging in the kitchen. The rules are hanging on the patio door and have been hidden by the curtains since it's cold and the curtains help keep drafts out. Apparently, having the rules hidden must mean they are not valid.

I would like to publicly apologize to the nurse that attempted to take my 2 yo son's temperature. I regret to say that he violated #3 and spit at the nurse. Thankfully it was more of a "sherbet" spit and no secretions went flying but still. I would also like to publicly apologize to my 2 yo son's swim instructor. He violated #2, #8 and #9 for the entire 15 minutes of his swim lesson.

We discipline with time outs and they mostly work (unless he violates #5 but then he's put right back on the time out mat [over and over if necessary]). He did apologize to both the nurse and swim instructor. In addition to discipline I keep hoping these behaviors improve as he ages/matures/learns to communicate better. But another mom just mentioned that age 3 was worse than age 2 for her son. Yikes! We could be in trouble here.

A ball invitation

2010-02-09T13:11:00.005-06:00

The ball is tonight. Every girl must be there. Even a princess. But the queen will come in the middle of the ball. Before you can kiss she will put a spell on the princess.

The End

Bringing the snow indoors

2010-02-09T09:59:00.005-06:00

Dawn had a great idea to bring the snow indoors for the kids to play. Lily and Harrison had a blast and we found some raisins and old carrots to complete the world's smallest and cutest snowman ever.

Silly Lily

2010-02-09T09:39:00.004-06:00

Fish, Part II

2010-02-09T09:29:00.002-06:00

Lily's dear roommate fish, Sunny, has died. Unfortunately his time with us was too short but hopefully he's moved onto a happier place. Since Lily has talked about her school fish, whom also died, I thought she would be "okay" with Sunny's passing. I was wrong. She was...heartbroken. It was very hard to watch as her eyes filled with huge tears and her lips quivered. We held a small ceremony and Lily, speaking through a cracked voice, told Sunny how much she loved him.

Since having a fish seemed to make her transition to her own room go easier we decided to invest in a (hopefully) more robust and longer lasting fish, a beta. His name...Sunny Funny. A day later he assumed another part to his name...Sunny Funny Dunny. The girl likes to rhyme.

True Love

2010-02-08T23:05:00.004-06:00

I love my kiddos. I love when they let me hold their hand. I love when they give me a really good hug (and I feel their body shaking they are squeezing so hard). I love feeling their chubby cheeks against mine. I love hearing "I love you mommy" whether it be in response or out of the blue. I love to see their faces brighten and their smiles widen when I come into the room. I love the excitement in their voice when they say "Mommy!"

Being a mommy to Lily and Harrison is the best job in the world. I have a lot to be thankful for. And I am. Very thankful.

2010-01-31T14:45:00.002-06:00

The house is quiet. Randy is asleep. Harrison is asleep. Lily's asleep. Both dogs are asleep. The house hasn't been so calm the past few days....

Two weeks ago Lily was sick with a higher fever (102) that only went down with tylenol/ibuprofen but crept back up as the meds wore off. At her dr. visit they said it was a virus and may last 5-7 days. It did, the full 7 days. The same day the fever broke she started complaining of ear pain. The dr. couldn't quite tell if the ear drum ruptured but it was definitely bulging with white secretions inside. Antibiotics it was.

Harrison was a bit fussy the day before we checked Lily's ears. He's had a few ear infections over the past year and really, his first symptom is being crabby. But let me remind you he's 2. For good measure the Dr. checked his ears too and sure enough, ear infection. Treated with antibiotics.

A few days later Randy started feeling lousy and was diagnosed with strep throat. Another dose of antibiotics; however, this wasn't the end. His symptoms continued and he began to have bad neck pain as well. The Dr. was worried about meningitis so the they sent us to the ER. Randy underwent a lumbar puncture that, thankfully, ruled out meningitis. His antibiotics were switched and he was given a dose of steroids that helped the size of his tonsils (imagine nickel size with green and white goo). But that's not where the story ends...the following day he felt MUCH better. He showered even. But then started to feel really bad. The strep symptoms were gone but in place was a pounding headache once he sat up. This is called a lumbar puncture headache. No fun. No fun at all. During our 2nd trip to the ER he was given IV caffeine but unfortunately, this didn't help the headache go away. So...the 3rd trip to the ER, this morning, resulted in a blood patch (they take his own blood and inject the site that was previously poked during the lumbar puncture, hoping his blood will clot the site oozing cerebral spinal fluid). It worked! It worked! His headache was gone and we're now at home. Where it's quiet. And calm. And I'm thankful.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

2010-01-29T12:24:00.000-06:00

So this is what daily blogging feels like. I like it. I like it a lot.

Meet Sunny

2010-01-29T11:54:00.002-06:00

If you do this...

You get this...

To better explain, Lily is sleeping in her own bed! About a month ago, we began discussions about our sleeping arrangements in the hope that one day she would be ready to sleep in her own room. She said she would (yay!) but once she turned 5 (hmmm). She wasn't scheduled to turn 5 for 10 months. We were thinking a month or two, not only to prepare Lily but to prepare ourselves too (we liked our electric blanket daughter). To our surprise Lily decided, on her own, 9 months before she turned 5, to sleep in her own bedroom. To encourage her new sleeping arrangement we added a new family member, Sunny. He's a good roommate.

The doodler

2010-01-28T13:15:00.004-06:00

Lily loves to doodle. She loves to draw people (mostly herself, me or Randy)and loves to write letters. Sometimes she doesn't even know what the letter is until I compliment it. She practices writing each letter until she is satisfied with its appearance. Since Lily is home with me after school she will normally doodle on sticky notes while I work. By the time I'm done working she's doodled on an entire pad of sticky notes. No joke. I'm well stocked for the rare occasion I get to use one.

My Favorite Blogs

2010-01-27T10:31:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to say that I caught myself mentally blogging last night. I had to giggle and then I promised myself I would transfer the post from my mind to the web.

I wanted to dedicate this post to introducing my favorite blogs on the left side of this page and to provide some background as to why they are my favorites. This way if I've been bad blogger you can stay entertained with these lovely girls.

To start off with Amelia's blog . This blog is written by a friend that I've never met. I mentioned before meeting ~15 moms on baby center who met online when we were pregnant and all delivered our babies in July/August 07. I've never met Kelly in person but "talk" to her almost daily. Her daughter, Amelia, is a few weeks older than Harrison so we have a lot of 2 year old issues to share.

Awk is written by a friend from Colorado. Heather's husband, Matt, and my husband Randy went to graduate school together in Colorado. After meeting Heather in Colorado we discovered she grew up in a neighboring town and went to a neighboring high school. Small world, right? Heather and Matt have 2 cutie pie kiddos too.

Ben and Josephine is a blog written by another baby center mom, Josephine. Josephine took a blog vacation and hasn't posted in a while and is unsure about the blog future but I'm holding out hope. Unlike Kelly, I have met Josephine in person a few times. She lives in Colorado so we got together a few times before we vacated the state and try to get together when I visit Colorado on work trips. Last work trip we went to the Nuggets game and had a blast. Oh yeah...Josephine and Ben also visited us in Iowa last summer on a road trip. I prepared a pudding painting activity for the kids and not surprisingly, Harrison ended up covered in pudding and had a belly full of it too. I don't think Ben touched the pudding at all!

Campbell and Cassidy is written by Michelle, another baby center mom (and there will be more to come!). Cassidy is a few weeks older than Harrison too and Michelle also has Campbell who is ~5 yo. She's a busy mom and works too so she hasn't updated her blog for a while either. But she's got great pumpkin patch pictures to see. :)

Dawnieboo is written by Dawn, another baby center mom. Like Kelly and Josephine we all talk pretty much daily. Dawn is very good at updating her blog with cute pictures of Delaney, her 2 yo. Dawn also makes adorable hair bows and tutus if you're interested. I just ordered Lily one for Valentine's Day and one to show her Hawkeye spirit!

Derek and Candice is written by Candace a friend from college. Like most of college I can't remember exactly when we met but we met through her husband, Derek. Derek and Randy met their freshman year in college which means I met Derek around the same time. We have many tailgating memories with Derek and Candace and travelled to IL for their wedding 5(??) years ago. I've never met Colin, their 1.5 yo son, but Candace is great with updating her blog to show off her sweetheart. Derek visited us this year for a Hawkeye football game. It's been years since I drank alcohol in the morning but it was FUN! The Hawkeye quarterback got injured so that part was awful.

The next blog is very well known in the blogging community. Dooce is HILARIOUS, SHOCKING, LAUGH OUT LOUD, PEE YOUR PANTS FUNNY. The writer, Heather, got fired for her blog years ago and now it's her career. She went on to write books and does public speaking around the country. She talks about EVERYTHING, no holds barred. You'll think "Oh no she di-n't" and you swing your head back and forth because SHE JUST DID.

Goddess in Progress is written by a mom with twins (~2.5 yo). Her blog changed from the early days and I haven't been able to keep up with her as much but it's a great read. And I can count on her to have a new post every time. I admire that. And she's a full supporter of OBAMA. I admire that too.

I am what I am is written by Becky, another baby center mom. Her 2yo Kyan (born on the same day as Kelly's Amelia) is due to become a big brother ANY DAY now. Becky's blog is always fun to read because she's hilarious...she tells it like it is and it's honestly funny.

Jules 411 is written by Jules, another baby center mom. During our family vacation to San Diego last summer we met Jules and her son, Adler, at a park. Alder is very cute with big, brown eyes that he inherited from his mom. Jules brought a bubble launching rocket to the park. I don't think it produced a single bubble but the boys loved stepping on the peddle to launch the rocket.

Lily's pad is written by Amelia, another baby center mom. Lily is a 2 yo (like Harrison) but she just became a big sister to TWINS! Amelia had her twin girls, Eleanor and Violet, ~1 month ago. It's been fun to watch her family grow from her and her husband to welcoming 1 baby and now 3 babies! As you can see from her blog she continues to update it (again, let me remind you she has newborn twins AND a 2 yo). Amazing!

Noah's ark is written by a local! I met Katie (the author) through the kid's in home daycare. None of our kids go to that daycare anymore but we've kept in touch. Audrey is ~9 months younger than Lily and we just discovered the girls will be in the same school year. I've attempted once and will continue to attempt to get Katie to move the family closer to us since the girls are in different school districts. Katie also has a son, Luke, who is ~6 yo. He's the proud tiger cub with no teeth. :) I just accompanied Katie on a volunteering project (The Preemie Project) and we sewed out little hearts out making preemie blanket sleepers for our local hospital.

Randi and Kayden is written by Christy, who was a baby center mom. She delivered both her girls early (Kayden was supposed to be ~ Harrison's age, but was born ~12 weeks early) and even though we lost touch through baby center I like to see how the girls continue to grow bigger and bigger. Both girls were born very premature so there were times that were very rough but they are strong girls who are true miracles to their mom.

So glad I'm here is very well written by Renee. I met Renee through Staci, who I'll talk about next. Renee and Staci are married to brothers. Renee has a gorgeous family...3 adorable boys with cute little noses and rosy cheeks. I've meet Renee only once I think. But I read her blog almost daily. She's a very good writer and has a great sense of style. I love seeing her house pictures because her paint colors and decor is gorgeous, simple and classic. Her blog posts remind me to appreciate EVERYTHING about my kids and being a mom. Their newborn smells, their messes, everything. And she doesn't know this but she's my personal shopper. She researches and posts links to natural toys and fabulous ETSY findings.

My final blog to introduce is like saving the best for last. Little Tiny Hangers is written by Staci. If you like my blog you should thank Staci. She got me started with this whole blog world. Staci's husband, Nathaniel, and Randy went to graduate school together (with Heather's husband Matt too) in Colorado. We met in 2000-2001 so we have memories before kids (they DO exist, memories that is). Thursday nights at a bar/restaurant for super cheap drinks and multiple drunk camping expeditions. Yes, I really did say "drunk camping." I remember our first visit to their apartment (Remington??) when they made brunch (including monkey bread!!). Not only did the monkey bread seal the friendship deal but we followed it up with an entire night of Dr. Mario in that same apartment. We helped them move into their first house and I visited them in the hospital after their first daughter, Marianne, was born. We also visited them in the hospital after their 2nd daughter, Ruth, was born (and Randy brought them a Baby Ruth candy bar-silly boy). For a while Staci and I worked in downtown Denver and met frequently for lunch. Nathaniel and Staci saw us move into our first house and welcome Lily into our lives. We were not happy to see them move to NE a few years ago but with the journey life took them on we could only wish them the best. Without being able to have board game nights (Pit anyone?), meet for lunch or have play dates, we've stayed close through our blogs. We did host them last fall for Ted and Kristi's wedding and got to meet their 3rd daughter, Meg.

Another poop story

2010-01-26T09:59:00.003-06:00

Daycare called during the day to let Harrison tell me something....He POOPED IN THE POTTY!!!! It's hard to comprehend what he said over the phone so initially I thought he was saying "I burned by body" which had me FREAKING OUT. What kind of daycare would let a child tell their mom they got burned? Needless to say I was very happy he didn't get burned AND that he pooped. I could hear how proud he was in his little voice.

So far this is a one time occurrence. The following day he proceeded to poop in his diaper. Upon seeing him alone in the hallway (his normal pooping habit) I offered the potty but he refused. No biggie, he'll get there!

A new form of blogging

2010-01-25T09:29:00.002-06:00

Just so you know I've switched blogs. Since Dec 4 (my last blog post) I've been mentally blogging. It's really cool and so easy. I blog nightly while waiting to fall asleep. Before I drift off I think back over our day. I prepare a narrative and decide what pictures to use. And VIOLA! I just blogged. Mentally blogged that is. :)

But I'll switch back to the old school manual blogging. I know my grandma appreciates it.

A lot has happened since Dec 4. Normal stuff, nothing unusual. Holiday parties at the kids' schools, visiting Santa (both kids loved him, nobody cried), Christmas celebrations (3 to be exact), trips to visit the families, a new vehicle (bye-bye minivan, hello 4 wheel drive)and recent illnesses (ear infections, coughs [the kind that sputtered around the small hand trying to cover it right into your mouth], runny noses, fevers). Our future holds exciting times of traveling without kids and with kids, 2 hotel water park weekends, swim lessons, etc. Our family to-do list is jam packed and sure to provide plenty of blog posts. Stay tuned.

Snow plow or truck?

2009-12-04T10:39:00.002-06:00

I know, I know, I know. My grandma and Aunt Mady already reminded me that I haven't posted in a l-o-n-g time. They were happy to see Harrison's crazy hair picture but I'm sure they would appreciate more. :)

I've enjoyed the mini blog vacation and haven't put much thought into writing on here until this morning. The van conversation was too good to forget.

Harrison: "Mommy, look! What's that?"
Me: "A snow plow."
Lily: "A snow plow is a truck."
Harrison: "No truck, snow plow!"
Lily: "A snow plow IS a truck!"
Harrison: "NOOOOOO!!!!"
Lily: "YES!!!!!!"
Harrison: "NO!!! SNOW PLOW!!!"
Lily: "A snow plow IS a truck!!"
Harrison: "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"
Lily: "YES!!!!!"
Harrison: "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"
Lily: "YES!!!!!"
Harrison: "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"
Lily: "YES!!!!!"
Harrison: "No, snow plow."
Lily: "A snow plow is a truck, Harrison."
Harrison: "Huh?"
Lily: "A snow plow is a truck."
Harrison: "A snow plow is a truck?"
Lily: "Yes."
Harrison: "Oh."

After my initial answer I stayed out of it. They went back and forth for ~5 minutes but they ended up working it out.

Crazy hair day

2009-10-08T10:44:00.002-05:00

Harrison's daycare is celebrating Iowa's Homecoming week with fun days...pajama day, silly sock day and

CRAZY HAIR DAY!

Buddy Boy

2009-10-01T10:05:00.003-05:00

Harrison, Harrison, Harrison Lee

Our boy doesn't want to be called "baby" anymore and tells us to call him "boy" or "buddy boy." Harrison started a new daycare a few weeks ago and switched from a very small in home (all older and younger girls) to a daycare center, which we call his "school". He's been counting to 10 and trying to sing the alphabet. He's also working on playing nice. Just yesterday, I noticed a little girl poking him and I know this would have irritated him. He did get irritated but he told her no and didn't use his hands or shout. Yay!! I was very proud of him! Harrison loves, loves, loves to watch movies, including his favorites Toy Story and Thomas and the Jet Engine. He loves to help me with baking and cleaning. He is starting to wipe away my kisses but mostly cuz he knows this will get a reaction out of me which leads to more and more kisses. He is still in his crib (knock on wood) and follows his same bed time routine nightly (loves to brush his teeth). He loves to hear stories about anything...I'll talk to him about our trip to San Diego, his new daycare, being a ring bearer, etc. Our daily story telling has replaced singing songs before bed. Now he'll snuggle with me in the dark and listen to my story.

Ted and Kristi

2009-09-28T12:34:00.004-05:00

Our good friends, Ted and Kristi, got married this past weekend. Randy met Ted when he was in graduate school at University of Colorado. He's a crazy, goofy, good guy and a few years ago he met a great girl. Ted and Kristi moved to Iowa at the same time as we did a year ago and Randy and Ted continue to work together. Not living around family brings you closer to your friends. We love them and were very happy to be a part of their wedding and wedding weekend.

Boys have peanuts

2009-09-18T09:40:00.004-05:00

Every once in a while Harrison will show interest in sitting on the potty chair. The other day I undressed him and let him try it out. It becomes a fun time, sitting for 0.5 seconds, hopping up, looking into the potty and then running around naked, sitting for 0.5 seconds, hopping up, looking into the potty...(you get the idea).

Randy and I will use the appropriate body part names in an effort to teach the kids what they should call their private parts (not inserting those body part names here to keep the crazies from finding this blog because of those non said body parts).

As Harrison was attempting to sit on the potty Lily started to speak about the differences of boys and girls. She said "Girls have (insert correct body part) and boys have peanuts."

Design dazzle!!

2009-09-15T10:58:00.001-05:00

It's a good thing I just came upon this design blog today, otherwise I would of had a hard time creating a playroom using my ideas. Once I see another person's cool design I have a hard time thinking of anything else! Often I search for design ideas for the kid's rooms and have a hard time finding a great website but now I've found one and want to pass it on...

http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/

New Playroom!

2009-09-14T12:46:00.004-05:00

It took a year but the kids' playroom is now finished!

Old playroom...pretty basic...nothing to exciting...too many toys.

Fun, new playroom! Complete with reading corner, painted chalkboard and dress up area.

We Love Family

2009-09-08T21:56:00.004-05:00

We love our visitors...

We give good hugs to our visitors...

We lounge around and relax with our visitors...

We put together princess puzzles with our visitors...

We love our visitors so much we don't want them to go without us...

Even the Iowa City ducks love our visitors...(sign, what sign?)

We get to show off our Friday folder to grandma and cousin Connor...

We get to spend time with our cutie patootie Cami...

And we get to veg out while watching Toy Story (Jay included)...

The kids

2009-09-08T21:44:00.002-05:00

Just in case you're wondering (i.e. my husband) why I take SO many pictures it's because of this...

To get 2 kids to look, let alone smile, for the camera is a painstaking task. But in all those silly, staring off into space, eyes closed (on purpose-Lily), grumpy faces I find a needle in the haystack. Granted these are ones of each kid separately but I'm contemplating learning how to photo shop 2 smiling kids into one picture.

Happy 2nd Birthday Buddy

2009-09-08T21:19:00.004-05:00

Harrison is officially able to throw a tantrum and Randy and I can blame the terrible twos. No big deal, it won't last forever. At least the screaming, whining uncontrollably...oh wait...the teen age years will definitely include some screaming and whining uncontrollably. Oh the joys!

I took the day off work to spend with my little buddy. We opted to don hats for our trip to the Children's Museum (just spent the day before with Lily for our special time together before she started school, glad to have the annual pass!). Harrison and I returned home to find my mom and Gram waiting in our driveway. They surprised not only Harrison but me too! Randy was in on it but he's the best secret keeper ever (except when it comes to my b-day and Christmas presents, he can't wait for me to open them). Harrison helped me pick out the decorations which were Mickey Mouse and Lightening McQueen (why choose just one theme?) and Lily had helped me pick out a train for his cake. We almost forgot to get a cake picture which is why the end is already gone. :) After his nap we started the birthday celebration since Randy and Lily were already home too. It really fell into place...afternoon snack of sugar loaded cake and frosting didn't affect bed time at all. Harrison didn't mind Lily opening almost all of his presents and was really excited to see his big present, a train table.

It's time to blog

2009-09-02T13:41:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm ready to blog. I've been saving up so get prepared for the projectile blogging.

San Diego

2009-09-02T09:32:00.031-05:00

As Dora would say "We DID it!" "We DID it!" We turned Randy's conference into our first official family vacation. And I'm alive to blog about it.

Planning for the trip was pretty darn exciting. I made not just 1 list, not just 2lists but MULTIPLE lists. What to bring on the airplane, what to bring in the kids' suitcase, what to bring in my suitcase, what to bring to the beach, what to bring to Disneyland. Maybe only Staci can understand but planning and packing was a fun challenge to conquer.

We departed from the Quad Cities Airport which had very few people traveling that same day. This meant a lot of space for the kids to run around. We seriously had one wing of the airport to ourselves. Mom likes this. The kids were excited and in very good moods.

When we got on the airplane Lily sat with Randy a few seats behind Harrison and myself. I planned appropriately knowing I was responsible for the almost 2 year old wild boy that would be confined to my lap for 2 hours. Yes, I was a little nervous imagining Harrison testing the sound of his screams on the airplane or flailing upper extremities while attempting to escape the clutches of his mother. As the plane took off, Harrison drank and ate a snack to help with his ears and then proceeded to take a nap cuddled on my lap. The entire flight. I repeat, the entire flight my almost 2 year old wild child slept. Randy, on the other hand, didn't rest the entire flight while entertaining a very energetic Lily. She behaved perfectly well but she was excited about her new books and activity pads.

We had a 3 hour layover in Denver which was just fine. We went to the end of the terminal that had running room and Harrison befriended a construction truck that entertained him for quite a while. The flight from Denver to San Diego was also great. Harrison was entertained with his new activity books and snacks and Lily continued to behave perfectly well.

The rental car took a while since Randy had to install the 2 car seats that we also rented. We got to the hotel, Embassy Suites, around 9PM. The kids jumped on the bed and examined the room with a fine toothed comb and then we went to bed. Harrison had a nice crib and Lily slept with us (same as always). Staying at Embassy Suites was great...Harrison could fall asleep at his earlier bedtime in the bedroom and we could close the door and watch TV in the next room. It worked beautifully.

On Sunday, bright and early, we headed for Disneyland. I know the kids are too young and it's expensive but seeing a particular little girl meet her first princess was worth every penny. My first memory was meeting Mickey Mouse when I was around 4 years old (I was really scared so my mom had to accompany me to meet him). I figure if we keep talking about Disneyland and have pictures Lily might continue to remember it...we'll see. Again, it wasn't about lifetime memories for the kids. It was about living the moment and in that moment we had a 3.5 year old little girl who LOVES, LOVES, LOVES princesses. Lily even dressed in her Cinderella dress but had unfortunately got pretty upset (the kids didn't like driving more than 15 minutes on vacation, if we drove for 16+ minutes all hell broke loose) and ended up vomiting all over her princess dress. In the car. Do you know how much fun it is to clean vomit pieces in a car seat? The straps, the fabric, the little spaces in the plastic clips. To be able to calm a child, scale the front seat, organize garage bags, and clean vomit while not breathing takes skill. I got mad vomit cleaning skillz. My most important packing item---BABY WIPES!! Good thing they were on my Disneyland list. Most importantly, Lily was just fine. After I saw the Cinderella dress vomit damage the imagine flashed in my head of purchasing the $60 Disneyland Cinderella dress which made me cringe. But Lily didn't even mind changing into a "normal" dress and we proceeded into Disneyland. Within 1 minute we saw Goofy running around. Lily was happy to stand next to him for a picture (gotta love the size of his glove compared to her head) but Harrison showed his first sign of bashfulness (Snow White later nicknamed him Bashful). He was smiling but didn't want anything to do with Goofy.

Since our Disneyland mission was princesses we started with Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Lily enjoyed it but it was a little dark (i.e. scary at times). No tears though so that's a success. Then we headed for Princess Fantasyland. And waited. And waited some more. From our waiting line you can't see which princesses are in the castle garden so it's sort of suspenseful. Are we going to see Cinderella? Or Belle? Or maybe Jasmin and Ariel?? Because of the expected long wait, Randy and Harrison held our place in line while I took Lily to get her face painted in the Castle beauty salon. I recommend this. She loved sitting in the chair, she loved getting her face painted (I thought she was going to fall asleep she was so relaxed) and it was a nice 15 minute distraction from waiting in line. After we returned Harrison and Randy went to ride the adjacent train ride. They made it back in enough time to go inside the garden. The first princess Lily met was Sleeping Beauty. Each little kid gets to spend 1:1 time with each princess for a few minutes. Sleeping Beauty scoped down and Lily jumped on her lap. It was so sweet. Lily had the biggest smile and Sleeping Beauty was so good with her, hugging her and asking her questions. Sleeping Beauty attempted to say Hi to Harrison but the greeting wasn't reciprocated. Then on to Snow White, again the princess was so great with Lily. Hugging her and posing for pictures, while talking to her and asking questions. Again, Snow White attempted to include Harrison but when he, smiling, wouldn't even make eye contact with her, she asked Lily if she brought her dwarf, Bashful. The final princess was Jasmin. Lily loved her pretty jewels and was in princess heaven. The 1.5 hour drive, the cleaning up vomit, the high price tag to enter the land of Disney, the hour wait in line was all worth it in that moment. The magical moment when a little girl met her first princesses.

We hit other kid attractions, the tree house which Lily could do all by herself which made her proud (and she really did do over and over), play grounds and of course Mickey Mouse's house. We sort of accidentally found it, it didn't seem to be labeled as such. We started with a tour of his house and ended up being in line to meet him. It was a shorter line that Fantasyland but maybe it was the room decor, short movies and air conditioning that helped. Again, Lily did great going up to Mickey and wasn't shy like her little bro.

Next we rode Casey the Train. If we rode it continuously for 15 minutes Harrison would have fallen asleep. Randy was due to eat so I strolled the kids around for a few minutes before Harrison conked out. Hard. Randy sat with him while Lily and I rode the Dumbo ride, which she loved. We strolled around for a while before we watched the parade. Harrison woke up a little grumpy so he wasn't as trilled about the parade like Lily. She sat on Randy's shoulders while I snapped a couple off center photos before walking around with Harrison.

We changed Harrison's diaper in the nice kid room. It was air conditioned (this perk would give any room a A++)but also offered kid size toilets, multiple changing stations, nursing rooms, activity table and chairs, and a kitchen. After a fresh diaper we pretty much headed home. Meet princesses--check. Everyone happy---check. We didn't purchase Mickey ears (next time!) but we did make 1 purchase for the ride home.

That night we walked across the street to Seaport Village for dinner. We ate at Buster's and had a great view of the bay. It was our 9 year wedding anniversary so we celebrated with alcohol. One glass is all it takes but let me tell you it was great! After dinner neither kid wanted to get back into the stroller, no, instead they wanted to push their strollers at full speed. Neither are good at steering so imagine Randy and I running around trying to protect innocent passerbys while juggling left overs--but it was okay because I had a glass of wine with dinner. It was actually fun and we laughed and laughed while chasing run away strollers.

Monday meant Randy had to work. Poor guy. But that didn't slow us down. :) I packed up the kids and walked a few blocks to Ralph's Supermarket. We bought goodies for our hotel room fridge (another must have with kids) and shovels and pails for the beach. Then we went to the beach. Oh how I love thee. Oh how my kids now love thee. We went to Coronado Island and the beach was amazing. We never went to another beach. There was no need, we found our pot o' gold. While I was organizing our towels and stuff, Lily and Harrison danced around on the sand. Lily was on a beach high, she loved being there and hadn't even been in the water yet. She was doing jumps and dances so I had to capture it...

The kids loved the water. They loved it when the water chased them. Lily found some tiny sea shells which accompanied us home. Not many people around on a Monday so we had space to run. And we did. We ran around, danced around, sat in waves, etc. One lady asked who was having more fun, the kids or me. To be honest, I don't know. It was a fantastic day of just playing and laughing. After a few hours I took my sand covered kids back to the hotel to bathe and nap for 3 hours. All of us. Again, poor Randy. He ended up working all day so I took the kids to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We did some laundry and hung out. The Cinderella dress is now without evidence of any vomit!

Tuesday was a lot like Monday. Randy worked (poor Randy--it's my theme) so I took the kids back to Coronado beach. This time we opted further down the beach by the showers. We dug huge holes for the kids to play in and danced and ran through the waves again. After a few hours later we attempted to shower (didn't really help much)and went back to the hotel for a 3 hour nap. All of us. Tuesday night we meet up with Randy's collaborators for dinner. It was what we expected with adults and kids. The people under 4 weren't interested in discussing x-ray optics but really enjoyed walking outside, getting birds put on their heads and anything that didn't have to do with sitting at a table with strangers discussing diffuse hot interstellar mediums (don't know what that means I just got it off Randy's web page).

On Wednesday, Randy was free! We headed to Sea World. A very nice lady offered to use her membership to get us a discount which we gladly accepted. It saved us $60! We decided we'd buy her kids a stuffed animal to say thank you but never again saw her. So very pregnant, very kind lady, if you're reading this (haha) thank you!! First we headed to the Killer Whale show. We sat in the splash zone but unfortunately never got wet. The sun was beating down on us and it was h-o-t. It was fun for the kids and I had a good time (although I have an internal battle of captivity of animals vs. educational aspect to better the environment of their peers). Surprisingly Sea World had a great ropes course that Lily and Randy did while Harrison and I found a splash pad which helped cool him off. We rode another Dumbo like ride, saw penguins, dolphins, turtles, and finally petted some stingrays before heading home. Randy purchased 2 Shamu animals for the kids since he had a childhood memory of his parents bringing him one (which helped make up for them not taking him).

Thursday we headed back to the beach with Randy in tow. Randy got a few minutes to relax before spending the next 2 hours splashing and holding kids in the ocean. Because it's my blog, I get to say that I pleaded with Randy to apply sunblock. He refused. Actually he let me apply it to his neck that was exposed the previous day at Sea World and got a little red. He refused the rest of his body. We spent 3 hours at the beach in the full sun. It's been a month and he's still peeling. Poor Randy.

We meet up with a friend, Julie and her son, Adler. Adler and Harrison are a few days apart and we met online while pregnant. The boys had fun playing with a bubble launching rocket, swinging, meeting a doggy and playing at the park. we spent our last night at Sea Port Village where we walked along the bay and ate ice cream.

Friday we leisurely took our time packing and leaving. We even headed back to Sea Port Village for a carousel ride and a final goodbye to the ocean. Our flights mimicked the first day with Harrison eating and drinking during take off to fall asleep the entire first leg. I forgot to mention he fell asleep to me singing row, row, row your boat a 1,000 times the first flight and hush little baby (yes, another 1,000 times) on the flight home. Our Denver lay over was a little over an hour which left enough time for dinner and for the kids do magic and clean the airport. Hey, whatever keeps them quiet and busy works for us!

look we're still smiling (and haven't drank a drop of alcohol)!!

We safely arrived in the Quad Cities around 10PM which meant the kids fell asleep quickly on the hour drive home. Thankfully everyone was west coast time and slept in until 10AM!

In a nutshell, it was a great trip. Far better than we expected. Will definitely travel with kids again. Probably not internationally until we don't require strollers, car seats or diapers but definitely back to the beach.

Lily's First Day of Preschool

2009-08-20T10:04:00.003-05:00

Lily's first day of preschool is today. She woke up 20 minutes early and wanted to leave 30 minutes too soon. She is beyond excited!

I be CARS!

2009-08-20T09:50:00.002-05:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Harrison!!

He's helping me bake his cake this morning and he's very happy about it.

Lily used to say "I be 2!!!" so we taught Harrison to say it. Instead of saying it just like Lily he added his own flavor..."I be CARS!"

You get another post because I'm not sleepy yet.

2009-07-31T01:03:00.003-05:00

After seeing a commercial for Chuck E. Cheese Lily requested to go there. It was approximately 1 year later and thanks to our friends in Chicago for granting Lily her wish.

This occurs daily (cheesy smile and all)

Her hair was perfectly intertwined together into beautiful ringlets of curls all by themselves. She wasn't wearing a shirt so it was difficult to produce a full picture without providing her evidence in her teen years to hate me.

We definitely need a supply of boy dress up clothes. He opted against his normal dress up as Ariel for the bumble bee on a toasty July day. He mastered stinging every member of his family with a cute buzz while softly touching us with his pointer finger.

What kid doesn't enjoy putting on their parents' sunglasses?

Crazy summers=absent blogger

2009-07-31T00:42:00.004-05:00

Dear devoted knucklesandwich readers (aka my mom, grandma and in-laws),
I'm going to ignore the fact I haven't posted in over a month and I hope you can too. :)

In current news:

Harrison had his first ER visit. Right after we arrived in Sioux City, he fell off a concrete step and landed right smack on his head. Randy was standing close enough to hear the thud which makes him cringe to recall. Harrison cried for a while and his 2 bumps kept getting bigger and bigger so we took him into the ER. The doctor was happy he didn't lose consciousness (um...me too)so didn't want to do any tests. Besides the huge owie on his head he was just fine.

Lily has been doing really well with her reward charts. We've gone through about 7 weeks of charts and still going strong. I guess the excitement of blindly digging into a bag of cheap toys is enough to keep up the good behavior and I'm not complaining! It took a few weeks to fill in all of her stars (that darn listening star was really hard to get 7 days straight) but her reward for a full chart was a date with mom and dad. Harrison stayed with a babysitter while Lily joined Randy and I for dinner. Since she ate earlier her "dinner" was an ice cream sundae. Following dinner she got to pick out a new toy which of course was a princess doll.

Our summer has been filled with trips to visit family in J-town and Sioux City, a trip to Chicago to visit friends over July 4th, 2 work trips for myself (CA and CO), and we leave for San Diego in 2 days for our family vacation. I'm extremely excited because I know Harrison will love the airplane (hopefully everyone else will love him too), Lily will love picking sea shells on the beach and Randy and I will love the memories we'll always have of our first summer family vacation. San Diego and Disneyland here we come!

Like Father, Like Daughter

2009-06-25T14:03:00.003-05:00

Lily was tested for environmental allergies today. The results just prove another way Lily takes after her father. She is allergic to tree pollen (Chinese elm, maple-box elder, cedar, cottonwood [big time], birch, ash, and oak), grass, weeds (ww.hemp, lamb's quarters) and had a borderline reaction to dogs and cats.

The Dr. didn't think we had to get rid of the dogs (cats at daycare) just yet since Lily is only reacting to seasonal allergies, starting March until now.

She is starting Zyrtec so hopefully it works!

Cool new park

2009-06-24T10:14:00.002-05:00

We're always on a mission to find a great park. I keep in mind the height at the top, the open areas where little ones can fall through, and the amount of things to keep the kids entertained. They both like slides, the store structure thing where they deliver food (i.e. bark from the ground) in exchange for money (i.e. bark from the ground), the steering wheel, etc. We spotted a park that looked really cool and after testing it out it proved its worth. In addition to 3 slides, the store, and relatively few open areas on top, it had a nice climbing wall and "balance beam." With having so much to offer the entire playground was pretty small which means kids are in my view the whole time. We'll be back to this park a lot.

Of course I had to try out the slide for myself. Kids are not the only ones who get to have fun.

Grandparents

2009-06-24T09:57:00.002-05:00

Happy Belated Birthday to my mom. I know she had one of the best birthdays ever because all of her kids and grandkids were there to celebrate with her. Even if the grandkids attempted to remove any evidence of icing from the cake.

Also wanted to say good luck to Roger and Kim who are currently hiking inside the Grand Canyon. We can't wait to hear from you. I guess having kids DOES make you worry more because I'm a bit worried about the heat, their water supply, their heavy packs, etc. I will be very happy to hear from them in a few days!

The coolest thing in the world

2009-06-24T09:39:00.003-05:00

I love Barbies. My best friend, Melissa, and I played Barbies almost daily for 6+ years. She always called first pick and got the best Barbie but I'm over it, I really am. We even secretly played one time after we were clearly out of the appropriate age for playing Barbies.

I was very excited when Lily first saw my old Barbies and her eyes got big and mouth dropped open. A good sign! Much to Randy's dismay (but to my mom's relief) a large plastic bin accompanied us home. Lily and I went through all my old Barbie dolls, clothes and accessories. It was so much fun and brought back memories of playing Barbies with Melissa. It was fun dressing up the dolls and the pretty dresses and combing their hair. Lily combined her love of Sleeping Beauty into the mix so my Barbie was the evil fairy that wasn't invited to the party. :)

Lily and Harrison

2009-06-24T09:25:00.002-05:00

When Harrison isn't torturing his sister by messing with her reward chart (this morning)...

When Lily isn't annoying Harrison by standing thisclose when he clearly needs his personal space...

When Harrison doesn't grab Lily's blanket and bolt...

When Lily doesn't make that horrible grunting sound that clearly annoys Harrison...

When Harrison isn't pushing Lily for NO reason...

When Lily isn't horrified about the baby slobber on her cup...

They are buds. They laugh and chase each other around the circle in our house. Lily will tell Harrison to run after her and he will. Harrison will make a monster noise "raaahh" and Lily will scream in delight and run faster. Harrison, with a lot of cheering on, will 99% of the time, share with Lily. Lily will color pictures for Harrison, one of which was taped to his wall next to his crib. He will say "Lily" while pointing to it, which translates to my sister loves me and colored me a car picture which she knew I'd love.

Gymnastics

2009-06-23T16:16:00.003-05:00

Can you tell I decided to upload my videos all at once today?

When Lily was around 20 months old we joined a parent/toddler gymnastics class at a rec center in CO. We all had fun in the class but now Lily is ready for more "serious" gymnastics, which means she is old enough to do it alone, without mom and dad. She is doing great and listens to her teacher really well. She loves the stamps she gets on her hands and feet after class and after class she asks when she can go back.

Harrison is also doing gymnastics in the parent/toddler group. Randy and I take turns and both of us have been quite impressed with him! He listens pretty well and will stretch (which is so very cute to see him touch his toes and raise his arms in the air) and he's pretty darn good on the obstacle course. He likes to roll down the mats and hang from the bars. It's a very good outlet to use up some of his energy. Fortunately, his class is at the same time as Lily's so that makes gymnastics even better.

Life with a boy

2009-06-23T16:03:00.002-05:00

There isn't a whole lot to add that isn't communicated in the video below. But I will say that raising a boy is MUCH different from raising a girl. Not just any girl, but Lily, who is one of the girliest girls around. Yesterday she commented "I don't like trains or fire trucks, I like princesses and ponies." Harrison, on the other hand, loves trains and fire trucks so much that we drive by both modes of transportation daily after pick up from daycare. Not only does he love "boy things" per Lily but he is WILD. Not wild in an out-of-control way (although that is debatable at times) but this kid has no fear. He falls, hits his head and keeps going. Occasionally he'll come to me for comfort but it's short lived before he doing the exact same thing that previously caused 10 seconds of tears. He's our crazy little man.

Sprinkler Time

2009-06-23T15:44:00.003-05:00

Since I grew up in the Midwest I know what to expect from the summer. However, the weather for May and June threw me for a loop. It's been too cool to get out the sprinklers until last week. The heat...and humitidy have arrived. The kids are loving the sprinklers and I love how all the running wears them out. The last picture is pretty funny. Harrison learned how to aim the sprayer from Lily. Little did she know she would become the target.

Random Photos

2009-06-15T09:57:00.008-05:00

Pretty pictures from our yard

2009-05-29T15:22:00.007-05:00

From the mouth of Harrison

2009-05-29T15:15:00.002-05:00

Harrison has gotten used to my interview questions and will blink, meow, roar, go to sleep, cry, laugh, wink (or try to), sniff, etc. on command. I'm glad his meow has been captured because it makes me laugh every time.

Randy and Lily's wild ride

2009-05-29T14:36:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we went to Lily and Harrison's first carnival. Harrison wasn't in the mood for much besides cotton candy and running wild. Lily, on the other hand, enjoyed a few rides, the crazy mirrored fun house and the slide ride with Randy.

Who's the police officer?

2009-05-28T09:28:00.003-05:00

If you're being too loud, beware of the Lily police. If you're running around the house, beware of the Lily police. If you throw crumpled up wrapping paper, beware of the Lily police. Here is uncle Brian being TOLD by his 3-year-old niece. He didn't know the crumpled up wrapping paper law before it was too late.

After the Lily police issues her stern warning it usually leads to surprise laughter from everyone in the room which leads to Lily trying NOT to smile.

Free summer fun

2009-05-26T14:53:00.004-05:00

I've never met a kid who hasn't LOVED a park and my kids are right in line with everyone else. If they could eat and sleep at a park they would be quite happy children. But the minute we say it's time to leave all hell breaks loose, tears start flowing, limbs start swinging. If only Starbucks would realize the potential of having a little coffee stand next to every play ground then we'd all be happy.

Sesame Street Live

2009-05-26T14:22:00.003-05:00

Despite Randy being sick as a dog we went to Sesame Street Live a few weeks ago. Lily seemed to like it as evidenced by sitting quietly with an open mouth the entire show. Harrison liked it for the first 15 minutes as evidenced by sitting or standing quietly with an open mouth. Then he decided laying on the cement floor was way more fun. I walked around with him the rest of the show and he lasted until the it was over. We decided against going broke over expensive light sticks and elmo basketballs. Thankfully our kids are too young to realize they can't sucker their parents just yet.

Months of Mays Past

2009-05-12T10:33:00.017-05:00

May 2006

May 2007

May 2008

May 2009

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-12T10:11:00.002-05:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. My darling husband woke up with both kids and let me sleep in while they made breakfast. They bought me breakfast in bed which became breakfast on the bedroom floor to avoid huge messes with kids. We hung out around the house and played before heading to a Fossil preserve about 5 minutes from our house. We "hiked" around the fossil preserve for a while before finding a playground for a picnic lunch. Lily did excellent when hiking and was independent with rock climbing compared to her little bro. This kid threw himself off a rock and was caught mid-air by his attentive father. Nice reflexes Randy.

Lily was very aware of Mother's Day and how it is a special day for moms. But every once in a while she'd wish me a "Happy Valentine's Day" which was pretty cute. The kids also gave me home made cards which will be kept forever.

Randy-props to you! He also bought me a wonderful card and helped give me a relaxing and fun day. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

KIDS!!!!

2009-05-11T10:06:00.005-05:00

Last weekend the kids helped me plant flowers. They enjoyed playing in the dirt and all the flowers were planted without too much mess. Although this type of activity isn't much fun without some mess. I also found a deal on a sand and water table from a second hand store. It proved to be a hit by entertaining these kiddos for a good hour.

The serious side of Harrison

Pretending to be napping

Eyes glazed over by the Sprout Channel (either Dragon Tales or Caillou)

Time to goof off

Typical weekend wear...ballgowns.

This picture is for Randy. He loves her little dimply hands. Our last reminder of our little baby girl.

Harrison's all smiles for momma

I could eat these cheeks over and over again.

PRAGUE

2009-05-04T11:07:00.011-05:00

Charles Bridge-statue lined bridge that connects Old Town to the Little Quarter and Prague Castle. Filled with tourists and people selling jewelry and paintings. The bridge was named after Charles IV, a Holy Roman Emperor (also on the 100 Kc bill) who ruled in the 14th century. Previous bridges were built on the same spot but washed away by floods. In 1342, Emperor Charles IV decided against repairing the old bridge and had a new bridge built (foundation laid in 1357). St. Vitus Cathedral is visible on the hill.

Statue in front of St. Vitus Cathedral.

Bridge Tower-Gothic gate from Charles Bridge into Little Quarter.

Czech leaders have ruled from Prague Castle for over a 1,000 years. Four main parts make up the Prague Castle (St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, Basilica of St. George and the Golden Lane).
This picture is of the castle (guards standing under "fighting giant" statues)where the Czech President has his office.

St. Vitus Cathedral-the best part of the Prague Castle if you ask me. It contains the tombs and relics of the most important local saints and kings, including the first 3 Habsburg Kings. The cathedral was started in 1344 but due to plagues and war wasn't finished until 1929.

Wenceslas Chapel-to the right is St. Wenceslas tomb and a locked door that contains the crown jewels. Czech kings used to be crowned in front of the coffin. The entire chapel is roped off because the wall paper is encrusted with precious and semi-precious jewels.

First view inside St. Vitus Cathedral.

Stained glass inside St. Vitus Cathedral.

More views of St. Vitus Cathedral.

Basilica and Convent of St. George-Prague's Romanesque Church. We didn't tour inside but the outside definitely had a simple look. I don't know how old it is but St. Wenceslas' grandmother was reburied there in 973. After seeing St. Vitus the Basilica of St. George was a little too simple. :)

I love the doors in Prague. This picture was taken after passing the Basilica of St. George and heading into the Golden Lane (which we didn't pay to walk down but it was a street lined with old buildings that used to house goldsmiths that now contains tourist shops).

View from top of Prague Castle

Another view from the top of Prague Castle. Especially handy when you are shooting arrows at the enemy.

Before we walked over Charles Bridge and roamed around Prague Castle we found a vegetarian restaurant, Lehka Hlava (Clear Head) that was tucked away on a cul-de-sac. Here is Randy posing for another door picture (this one is one of my favorite Prague pictures. It brings me back to that exact moment and the feeling...which was all good)

The ceiling was filled with little, sparkling lights.

Local artists designed the tables and decor.

This was the alley to get to the resturant. Not only do I love the doors but the tiny streets lined with neat, old buildings.

If you can believe it this was only 1 day of our vacation! More to follow at a later time!

Ahoj from Praha

2009-04-20T17:22:00.004-05:00

I'll write more later but wanted to share some of the Prague sights that we've seen in the past 1.5 days. It's awesome!