Sunday, January 25, 2009

Twenty-Something


Today is my 29th birthday! My days of being a twenty-something are numbered. I can remember when 30 seemed so old (isn't that a lyric in a song?) Birthdays are different when you get older. On your "special day," your baby still cries, you still have to wipe butts, and you can't get out of church meetings just because you want to be lazy on your birthday. Oh well. I get to go shopping with my mom and sister next week (between mine and my sister's b-days). It has been a tradition for a few years now and boy is it a good one! No kids, no hubby's, just the girls, the mall, and a good restaurant!

"Wii" don't go there


I have come to realize that A LOT of people have Nintendo Wii. I am not a huge fan of video games because I think they are a real time waster. Carter is the kind of kid that if we had them around, that's all he would do all day long. I just don't want to deal with that. Anyway, he was at a play date with a new kindergarten friend the other day and this was our conversation when he got home.

Mom: What did you do that was fun?

Carter: We played his Wii.

Mom: He has a Wii too?

Carter: Everyone has a Wii . . . except us.

Mom: No, not everyone has a Wii.

Carter: Well, maybe not homeless people, but everyone else does!

Habit-Forming

Sydney was sick off and on for well over a week. We just couldn't get her stomach right. The doctor had me keep her on a strict starchy diet. No fruit (except bananas), no veggies, no dairy. Only bread, cereal, noodles and all other things starchy. She has been doing much better now for a couple of days and is allowed to eat normal - Hooray! Unfortunately, her week of sickness diet was very habit-forming. She doesn't want to eat real meals, she just wants to walk around with dry cereal all day. I also let her get away with too much whining, sassing, and melting down this week because she is a real bear today. Anyway, we will get over it and she will get back to normal but it just made me think . . . what have I done all week that is becoming a habit? What have I let my kids do all week that might come back to bite me in the butt? Yikes.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Derek is One!

I can hardly believe Derek is one already! Here are his stats:
Height 31 1/4 inches (90th percentile)
Weight 23 lbs 7 oz (50-75th percentile)
Head 47 cm (50-75th percentile)

For his birthday he got some much needed clothes from a few grandparents. Maybe I'm vain but so many of the clothes saved from Carter just aren't cute anymore.








One of his favorite things right now is balls. He laughs so hard when you throw them up or roll them to him.






Hopefully this ride on/push toy will help him learn to walk. We are on a schedule here with a new baby coming. I can't carry him and an infant around!




Sunday we celebrated at our house. I made him his own little cake to eat. I hated to waste a whole cake mix on him so I made some cupcakes for the cousins and put the rest in my pyrex bowl and it made a nice small personal cake for him. It was nothing fancy. I was just looking at my friend's blog and she had pics of these amazing cakes she made for her neice and nephew's birthday. Hopefully my kids won't be too scarred by not getting fancy cakes on their birthdays!

At first he just massaged the cake. I guess he liked the feel of the frosting. Garth quickly stripped his shirt off.
It didn't take long before he was indulging in the cake. Sometimes I wish I could do that, but stuffing your face with cake when you are 28 just isn't as cute or acceptable.


You could hardly see his hands !
What a happy boy! He ate almost the entire cake then Garth swooped him out of the chair and straight to the bath tub.

Happy Birthday Derek!!



Friday, January 16, 2009

Rough Day

Yesterday was a very rough day. A puking, pooping, preschooler doesn't bode well with pregnancy. That's all I'll say about that. The bummer is that today started out very reminiscent of yesterday. Great.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Prima Ballerina

Conversation during breakfast. . .

Mom: Sydney, come finish your oatmeal.
Sydney: I'm doing my ballet.
Mom: You can do ballet after breakfast.
Sydney: No mom, I want to do it right now.
Mom: Ballerinas need to eat their oatmeal so they will be healthy and strong.
Sydney: Mom, Ballerinas don't eat breakfast! They don't need to be strong like fighters.

The Return of 24

Garth and I are huge fans of the Fox show 24. We got turned on to it a couple of years ago and watched the first 3 seasons on DVD. We are faithful watchers every Monday night now. Garth says there is nothing like a little graphic violence to start off your week! We are so excited that it started again this week because it wasn't on last year (due to some DUI's and jail time for our dear friend Keifer). I guess his character Jack Bauer was starting to influence his personal life. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, go get season one on DVD. You'll love it!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Happy New Year

. . . only 10 days late.

For New Year's Eve this year we went downtown for First Night Spokane. We got a hotel room at the Double Tree (it's connected to the Convention Center where all the kid stuff was, so we didn't have to go outside!). We got to see lots of shows, had pizza in the hotel room, saw more shows, and went out to the pool to watch the fireworks at midnight.

Here is our assessment:

The not-so-good:

An old guy magician
The mimes

The good:


Lots of fun stuff for the kids to make at the convention center, we did necklaces and viking hats.






Eric Herman (a children's song writer). Carter and Syd both got to sing and dance with him on stage and Carter won a CD!








The bubble wrap room.









Bubbillusions (Jarom Watts does some very cool stuff with bubbles). Carter got to be covered by a bubble. (this may have to be our next birthday party)


We also thought ballet arts was good. Sydney has been doing ballet in our living room since she saw them.


The Best:
Brothers from Different Mothers (juggling/comedy). They were amazing and pretty funny too!
The Celtic Dancers and Musicians in the opera house had to be the best show we saw all night. The music was so good and the dancers were a joy to watch.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Frosty

Last week, the kids nad I made a really cute "frosty" (that's what Sydney calls all snowmen). My camera batteries were dead but he was much like this one. This morning when Sydney looked out the window and saw frosty she said "Oh no! Frosty only has two balls!"

Translation: It rained and warmed up last night and our precious frosty is melting.

Let it Stop, Let is Stop, Let it Stop!

I am all for a white Christmas. I think the snow is beautiful and if it's going to be freezing cold, there might as well be snow. . .But this is rediculous. Garth got off the roof last night (after checking for ice dams and knocking off icicles) and said "okay, winter is not fun anymore." School was supposed to start on Monday but all the schools are still closed. I am ready for a schedule again. I am ready to be able to go to the grocery store without worrying about the snowy roads or wondering if the roof is going to cave in on me. With 30+ local businesses closed due to roof problems, you can't even be sure that the place you are wanting to go will actually be open when you get there. It is only the first week of January and I have had enough!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Christmas 2008

Have you seen that new movie called "Four Christmases"? That is a little how Garth and I feel around the holidays. We are blessed to have 3 families who love us and want to see us each holiday so here are our "Three Christmases"

Christmas #1 with the Hamiltons:
Last year John and Lori started the tradition of doing an outing together the weekend before Christmas. I love it! This year we made ornaments at Polka Dot Pottery.



Sydney made an angel.












Carter painted his to be a race car on a track.



Garth did an icicle. (Simple and sweet and I think it was the best of everyones)



These are all the finished ornaments. Mine is the bottom left with the thumb print reindeer for each member of my family. I can't wait to see them when the come out of the kiln. The colors are supposed to be much more vibrant!




After ornaments, we all went to John and Lori's for dinner and presents.



Keith and Karyna gave Carter this awesome trooper helmet and gun.








After a nap, even Derek got into the presents!









Sydney loved the cleaning kit Ele got her. Too bad she doesn't really clean the house.




Christmas #2 with the Fredericksons at my mom's house.
It is our tradition to act out the nativity story. Luckily, there is a new generation of kids to act it out. For a while there, we had some old shepherds!
This year Carter was a Heavenly Host saying "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men!"







Sydney was Mary this year and Maxwell (my cousin's son) was Joseph. Once Sydney got into character, she never quit. She was Mary until she opened her new pajamas to wear home.








Lots of fun on Christmas Eve!
Christmas #3 at our house (yay!) with the Giannettos.

We did Santa, famly presents and brunch with Garth's mom, step dad, brother, and grandma. Santa was a big hit this year for all three kids. He got some great deals on Craig's List and the kids were none the wiser!