The Adventures of Noodle and Boo

Waiting...

2012-02-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

Recently I often find myself reciting a part of Dr. Suess' Oh the places you'll go. It's about the waiting place
"The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a
Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting."

Although by no means am I overdue (in fact tomorrow marks 39 weeks), I feel like I'm waiting for this baby more than the others. In some ways it makes sense since I was very stressed with both kids at work and had one day between projects and actual delivery (with Alexandra I spent one day in the office after completing client work and with Emmett I finished delivering training on Friday and went into labor on Sunday night). Since I finished client work last Tuesday and took a few days off I feel like I've had nothing but time on my hands and then of course I find myself just waiting. Looking for signs that labor will start...

Baby Care 101 from Big Brother perspective

2012-02-06T19:37:00.001-08:00

E: Mama, Winnie doesn't like babies*
Me: Really? What is she going to do when new baby gets here?
E: Probably just lick it.

There you have it. If you don't like babies, just lick 'em.

*Not sure where this statement came from but clearly this is not a factual statement

Milestone Alert!

2012-01-29T20:55:00.000-08:00

This morning, after packing up the kids' swim bags I headed down the stairs and Alexandra announced she lost her first tooth. Both kids were having a snack at the time and the news totally took me by surprise, in fact it didn't even register this would be a possibility since she hasn't had a loose tooth. There it was though... one tiny missing tooth.

When you ask Alexandra she'll tell you "I was eating a crunchy bar and I tried to bite on my tooth thinking it was the bar but it wouldn't break. I bit it again and it still wouldn't break so I spit it out. There it was, my tooth!"

Baby Update

2012-01-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

A recent photobooth shoot at a company event.

Sheesh. After one announcement back in October or so I really haven't mentioned Baby #3 so I figure it's time for a dedicated blog entry for this wonderful child. I'll start with the key items people always want to know:

When am I due: February 14 but my guess is the 9th

What is it: A human boy

Any Names: Nope, it never worked out to pick one in advance with the others so we just have our long list

A couple of hints from the list? Nope, appreciate the interest but opinions and general thoughts are not necessary.

How am I feeling: (hate, hate, hate this question). Standard answer "Fine, how are you?". That said, I'm ok but will admit this is the hardest of the three pregnancies. No complications or concerns though. Once again everything is measuring up perfectly average.

Emmett and Alexandra are both thrilled about "New Baby No Name" coming and we are prepping them for the day that I head to the hospital. Alexandra will be fine but I have to admit I"m a little worried about Emmett. He's a mama's boy and his morning time routine is pretty important to him. I'm a big part of that routine so we'll see how things go. It's not like I can avoid it so we'll just have to manage.

I wrap up client work next Tuesday and hope to have a little time to catch up on office work, spend some time with the kids individually and rest before labor. This is the one thing I missed out on with both other pregnancies. It just so happened that I finished up work a day or two before going into labor. With Alexandra I had two days to catch up on internal work which was just enough to complete key items and with Emmett I finished on Friday only to go into labor by Sunday night.

The one thing I'm mostly looking forward to is spending some extended time at home with the kids. Although not quite ready to be a stay-at-home, since I really enjoy my work, I will admit I'm ready to spend some quality time with them. I may even have more blogging time then!

I'll keep you posted on the actual arrival of New Baby No Name!

Christmas Vacation

2012-01-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

I think I'm probably one of the few moms that is actually NOT looking forward to school starting up tomorrow. I thoroughly enjoyed all the time I got to spend with my kids over the last 10 days (my company has the awesome benefit of giving everyone off between Christmas and New Years). Below is a quick summary of our adventures over the last several days:
- Wednesday before Christmas - Opa and Oma arrive and join us for Moroccan dinner. Great fun and good food.

- Thursday before Christmas - Tante Jacqueline, Uncle Adam and cousins Naomi and Julia arrive at the hotel. Too many drinks at dinner meant they didn't quite make it to our house that night but that was probably good, Alexandra started throwing up around 7pm (somehow getting every nook and cranny in the bathroom). New bunk beds were set up around 7:30 and Alexandra ended up sleeping on the ground after all that.

- Friday before Christmas - Alexandra wasn't feeling too great and threw up one more time in the morning so BRAT diet was implemented. By lunch she was feeling good enough that we decided to move forward with the plan of going to OMSI & seeing the holiday light show with the cousins. Regrouped at the house for pizza and a showing of the Polar Express.

- Christmas eve - Alexandra throws up again in the morning and I'm now convinced it's anxiety. Food prep is in full swing to prepare two breakfast casseroles (for Christmas day), two soups (for Christmas day) and two stews (for Christmas day). The intent was to have healthy, from scratch heat and serve type meals. Then dinner prep for Christmas eve dinner. Nana, auntie Heather and friend Nathan come over for dinner and some initial gift giving. Emmett gets a leapster and Alexandra an easy bake oven. They are both over the moon. Cookies are set out for Santa and kids scurry off to bed. Cousins arrive for sleep over.

- Christmas Morning - ahhhh. After much anticipation the day is here. Alexandra gets her much requested American Girl doll and Emmett a ride on firetruck. Emmett is clearly overwhelmed by the day and acts like his body is made out of suction cups that only stick to mom and dad. Lots of play with toys of course and some fresh air by walking the dogs.

On a geo-caching adventure

- Day after Christmas - more play with toys, a dip in the hotel pool, more play with toys and out to dinner at the Italian.

Playing Pooh Sticks (stick races)

- Tuesday - bowling at Big Al's by popular request from Alexandra who wanted "to try real bowling, not just on the Wii". Cousins depart for California and Oma and Opa stop by for dinner. Now Emmett starts throwing up. Unlike Alexandra who fared pretty well he is dry heaving and very uncomfortable. We sleep together and by 2am Mom and Dad are in the same boat. Let me tell you, throwing up while pregnant is no fun. I've now suffered through Noravirus when Alexandra was 2 months old, bad stomach bug when very pregnant with Emmett and mild stomach bug while pregnant with "New Baby No Name". All three of us were feeling a bit better by morning. No more throwing up but clearly eating hurt for all of us. Come to find out that the cousins and Oma were also sick. Apparently Alexandra had a bug after all.

- Wednesday - mellow day to allow everyone to recover a little more. Baking with the easy bake over, playing board games and making lego cars. The rest of the week was more fun with trips to the playground and a big geocaching adventure where we found 4 caches (all by foot).

Every adventurer must stop for a snack

Other mentionable events - we got great tickets to the Nutcracker this year. Unfortunately Emmett was sick (with Roseola we later found out) so he couldn't make it. We did invite our friend Gabrielle and her mom so the tickets were put to good use. This illness also resulted in Emmett's first hospital visit as his fever was 105.6 and wouldn't drop after Motrin and a cold bath. Once we got to the hospital his fever was 102.6 so I felt like a fool. We really had been trying to get it down for an hour!!

And of course every adventurer has books packed just in case...

Now I'm mentally preparing to head back to work. On the positive side, it's the homestretch. About 4 more weeks of client work and then 2 weeks or so (depending on baby arrival date) of catch up / prep time before some extended time off.

Taekwondo Testing

2011-12-08T21:01:00.001-08:00

After months of practice, today was Alexandra's belt testing. She was pretty nervous about the test but she passed with flying colors. In fact she got an A+ on her focus and balance. Now she's asking questions about her progress to a black belt. Questions like "how will we know how to get to the place where I go for black belt testing?" Although I appreciate her concerns, we have a little time to figure that out!For now a quick video that is badly edited by Mom. If I don't do it tonight though, I'll never get to it...

A conversation with Emmett

2011-12-06T20:22:00.001-08:00

Me: Emmett, can you grab some socks before you head down?
E: No, you do it.
Me: I'm not going to get them for you honey
E: Me neither
Me: It's very cold out, you don't want to have cold feet do you
E: It's ok mom, I'll wear warm shoes

Obviously I can't mimic his cute little accents but it's clear that Emmett's vocabulary has increased a lot!

Funny Moments in Life

2011-11-30T22:39:00.001-08:00

So often I have these moments where I realize parenthood totally changes what is important. This morning I was just about to start the morning ritual to get Alexandra out of bed when I realized I wasn't sure if Josh had moved 'The Elf on the Shelf'. As he was just about to step into the shower I dashed in (ok, waddled probably) asking him somewhat panicked "did you move the elf?'. No he says as he quickly gets back into some clothes, heads downstairs to move the elf while I get Alexandra up.

Phew. Crisis averted! For tonight the elf is already moved so we're good to go.

Let the Holiday Season Begin!

2011-11-26T16:37:00.001-08:00

I have to admit that when it comes to the holiday season that I love this time of year. I hate shopping in crowds so do little of that, but I just enjoy the simple traditions. We have been hosting Thanksgiving dinner for a long time and continued the tradition this year. As always we had some old friends, some new friends and of course the Bickel side of the family. I always enjoy not having to travel anywhere.

We had a great time and the food was good, and got to the table hot so I was happy. The kids had their own little table this year and at one point they had all us adults under the table having a 'party' with them. Once the kids were in bed (way too late!) there was the drinking of a yard of ale. People had fun. It was good.

The day after we always go to our local tree farm to pick our Christmas tree. I love this little farm. They charge $25 for a tree, doesn't matter what size, and they are all nobles (a requirement in our house). There's no fancy rides for kids, just a basic traditional tree farm. We had a tour of the owner's collector cars this year which probably includes the premium experience. Love, love, love this place because of it's simplicity.

Saturday was the civil war game, which the kids and I skipped out on due to crowds, cold etc... instead we visited Sinterklaas at the Dutch store. Alexandra had no fear this year and went right up to hug him. With Alexandra being that open and excited, Emmett was even willing to go up and give him a hug. Santa pictures might just work out this year.

Tomorrow we'll decorate the tree and hopefully complete the transformation of the house. We may just need to bake some cookies. Then back to work for three weeks. I'm already looking forward to the 10 days off at Christmas (best company benefit ever!).

Halloween

2011-11-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

The fact that I am blogging about the event indicates that we made it through! I have to say this particular holiday comes with a lot of activities and the weekend itself was hectic to say the least.

The weekend started with our company Halloween party which was at the Pumpkin Patch down the street(conveniently picked by me!). This was followed by the school's Trick or Treat event.

Saturday was the Duck Football game which meant leaving at 7:30am. We actually left at 7:35am since swim registration opened at 7:30. After tailgating, the game and then dinner we finally came home at 7:45pm. With all the sugar (which was actually not that much) and excitement it was no surprise that Alexandra had a bad stomachache and ended up throwing up several times in the middle of the night. By Sunday morning all was well again though and she recovered quick enough to make it to Sunday's birthday party.

Sunday morning was bliss as the kids were perfectly entertained playing together for hours. For over three hours I would just hear giggles and laughs while I cleaned up. It was awesome.

Monday I got to attend the class Harvest Festival. Put me in front of a room of 100 adults and I have no problem presenting or having a discussion. Put me in front of 20 five year olds and it's a different story. I felt totally awkward! The kids had fun though and all was well. After work the whole family dressed up and headed to the party at the TaeKwonDo studio where Alexandra won an award for best movie costume. This was finally followed by trick-or-treating. Emmett had a blast knocking on the door and saying trick or treat! Alexandra figured out last year that the faster you moved the more you could get so she raced ahead with her friends. We enjoyed seeing Emmett work his cuteness with all the neighbors.

Martial Arts

2011-10-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

Alexandra on the first day of class - love her little sandals!

At the end of summer we enrolled Alexandra in martial arts class (Tae Kwon Do to be exact) in the hopes of boosting her confidence a little. Given how much she loves dance and all the girly stuff I wasn't too optimistic that this class would stick. After the two week trial Alexandra wanted to stay on longer so we enrolled in the 6 month program. At first I still hesitated since she seemed to enjoy it but I wasn't sure if it would last.

The last couple of weeks I've been amazed by Alexandra's love for it and her desire to excel. She seems to have a competitive streak for sure and she really likes to show up the boys in her class. Given that she is more focused (pretty normal for girls over boys at this age) she does seem to do quite a bit better than the boys in her class (and she is the only girl). Several times she was the only one who would get a sticker for doing well. After the second class Master Lee changed course so she wasn't constantly the only sticker receiver.

Receiving her white belt, which must be earned by doing chores and learning about respect

I'm very happy to see the progress Alexandra has made and she is super excited for her belt testing opportunity in December so hopefully more good news then.

First Parent Teacher Conference

2011-10-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we had our first parent teacher conference forAlexandra. I have to admit that I wasreally looking forward to meeting with her teacher and getting a betterunderstanding of how she is integrating. Ever since the incident at daycare* I have worried about how Alexandrawould do in a larger classroom with less hands-on attention. It seems there was no need to worry!

Her teacher is clearly fond of Alexandra and appreciates havingsomeone like her in the class. She saidshe was “always kind to others and very respectful of adults”. She also “listenswell and will ask for help when needed” which is a skill they really lookfor. Apparently many kids just stoptrying or are too shy to ask for help.

We then got a tour of Alexandra’s art work and as herteacher said “Alexandra seems very artistic”. We then got to see her version of Clifford, which had wings added todifferentiate from all the other Cliffords. Then there were the Sunflower pictures where everyone drew aSunflower. Of course Alexandra’s picturehad three flowers.

In her class work she was excelling with a rating of 13 inreading (this puts her at about the first grade level) and very highcomprehension skills. Her math skillswere also advanced. Can you tell I’m aproud mom? My intent isn’t to brag but Ireally am proud of Alexandra and how well she is doing. I’m also very pleased that our school can accommodatethe advanced skills (as well as some of the kids that are struggling!) andAlexandra will continue to be challenged throughout this year.

The teacher wanted to spend a little time to build a plan toadvance Alexandra’s skills so we are going to focus on three things:

Giving her advanced math opportunities throughat-home learning
Focusing on her written skills
Having a playdate (so she can better bond withsomeone in the class since all her BFF’s are in the other class)

All in all a good start to the year. Now if we could just improve the morning timeritual (more about that coming up…)

* The daycare incident was one of the final things I neededto experience to decide that we were getting a nanny instead. Not that it was that bad but basically as Ipulled up to daycare I could see Alexandra in her class room through thewindow. She was sitting at a littletable, by herself, with nothing in front of her. She didn’t see me and after walking in andgreeting several parents and teachers I finally reached Alexandra’s classroom,about 5 minutes after pulling up. Alexandra was still sitting the exact same way. The two teachers were just talking to eachother and other kids were running around (to help paint the scene). When Iasked Alexandra what was wrong she just said “someone took my toy”. I was heart broken that Alexandra was justsitting there without engaging an adult to help her and the teachers didn’tnotice her at all.

Lego Imagination

2011-10-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

A while back I gave Emmett a lego set that let's you build 3 different types of cars. We decided it was time to transform the Jeep into a red sports car. After working on it together (i.e. Emmett playing with pieces and me building it) Emmett had his red sportscar. He was so excited he was yelling at Alexandra "Mama made car! Mama made car!". After playing with it for about 2 minutes he took it to the rug. He then decided it was a vacuum. It seems this hasn't changed. The car is now a vacuum. The kid is obsessed with cleaning!

Apple Picking

2011-10-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

Since Saturday promised to bring some decent weather we decided to head to the apple orchards to pick some, you guessed it..., apples. Alexandra was well prepared with her sketch book and crayons. She went there with the goal of drawing pictures of the apple trees and she came through. Both kids had a great time and after having them try 4 different varieties of apples (needless to say they were regular all weekend) they helped pick. We somehow ended up with 40 lbs of apples. The kids were still not ready to leave but given that I only had so much cash on hand I finally convinced them we should head to lunch.

Once we got home we made 4 loaves of apple cheddar bread, a large batch of applesauce, and some baked apples for dessert. Given that I also still had 15 pounds of tomatoes to use from our garden we made a few batches of marinara sauce too. We had to finish off the ice cream to make room in the freezer!

School Fundraiser

2011-10-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that the public schools in town are pretty good and of course fundraising is a big piece of that. Friday was our first fundraising experience as the school had organized a kids fun run and an adult 5k. Since I work I generally feel guilty for not being more involved in school things so of course I made sure we participated in this fundraiser.

Alexandra did a great job in her run completing 3 laps, but somehow getting about 9 stamps (you get one stamp per lap). After she got out of school it was time for the 5k so both kids were snuggled up in blankets, in the stroller with lunch on their lap while I ran the 5k. Given that I was 21 weeks pregnant I have to say it may have been a little crazy. For once I wasn't competitive though! That said, I still beat a few women (and one man) that were running and none of them had strollers. Ok, so I'm still a little competitive.

Mt. Hood Railroad

2011-10-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Given that Emmett is fascinated by trains, we recently took a trip to Hood River to ride the train. As we got up early to drive more than an hour to get to the train where we would be riding for another hour and a half so that we could spend 60 minutes in a tiny village and then ride another hour and a half back so that we could then drive more than an hour home, I realized this might be a long day. The kids had a good time though and apparently getting some pears in Parkdale made their day.

19

2011-09-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

After swim class we generally go out to dinner and recently Sweet Tomatoes has become one of Alexandra's favorite. Given that Josh and I tend to really dislike buffet restaurants the irony is pretty significant but at least they have an assortment of flavors they try. Last week Josh wasn't able to join us so it was just the kids and myself. For those of you not familiar with the Sweet Tomato process, you get your salad first and then after paying there is soup, pasta, bread etc.. available. We generally grab our salad and then get a table and then get our soup and pasta. Of course with only one adult this means the kids are unattended at the table (and out of sight) when I get the remaining food. After my third trip to get everyone stocked with drinks, bread, pasta and soup I said to Alexandra "this is a hard restaurant when there is only one parent". Without missing a beat Alexandra says "Mom, I was going to tell people I was 19 if they asked so we were ok".

I have to love that she was smart enough to think about it beforehand but truly believed people would believe she was 19.

And for the record the kids were amazingly good while I was gone from the table!

Child Honesty

2011-09-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Recently Emmett was having a hard time knowing that I was headed into work. Alexandra, always trying to be a good big sister, mentioned to him that when I go on maternity leave I would have all that time to spend with him. In her words she said " Emmett, then you'll have so much time with mom you'll probably be tired of seeing her! Do you think you'll get tired of being with Mama?". Emmett looks at her and says "No" to which Alexandra replies "well, I would!".

She really is getting way too independent these days...

Fairy Boo

2011-09-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

Announcement

2011-09-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

I guess I haven't been good about letting people know so I'll just announce it on the blog...

Our family is growing again. In February Alexandra and Emmett will have another sibling. No knowledge on the gender yet (we'll know in 4 weeks) and so far all is good.

First Day of School

2011-09-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

After a long wait all summer the day was finally here. Alexandra's first day of school. Although she seemed nervous at the beginning of summer the school has done a great job at slowly integrating and introducing kids to the school. Also, although her school is quite big they designed the building that there are pockets or nests that separate age groups. The 3rd through 5th graders go to the right as you go in, the rest to the left. All Kindergarten classes are off of a little living room area. It's hard to explain but it's a neat layout. We've already visited the classroom twice and today was the first official day but all kids were staggered for start times so they could do some assessment on each of the kids. Meanwhile the parents got to fill out paperwork.

Alexandra did great and didn't seem that nervous at all so I think this will be a good experience.

Oregon Coast Weekend

2011-08-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

The initial plan was to take the train to Seattle for the weekend but with great weather coming our way we made a last minute decision to head to the coast instead. We got a great room right on the beach and headed out Thursday night. We left 90 degree weather and two and a half hours later got out in some chilly windy weather! Since we've never done the aquarium that was our first stop on Friday morning. Overall a good experience but for some reason I expected it to be more than it was. A great excursion if you're there but probably not worthwhile a day trip from our house.

Of course the hotel pool was guaranteed entertainment in the afternoons and Saturday we headed south about 30 minutes where the temperature was 10 degrees higher. Alexandra got to fly her own kite and Emmett was happy as a clam digging in the sand. Even our dogs got to join us this time. The beach we were at was near a restaurant I wanted to try but unfortunately that was the low light of the weekend. The food was mediocre and it resembled a cafeteria. Not at all what I expected!

It was nice to be out of town for a few days since we didn't do much travelling this summer..

Sometimes it's not as straightforward as you expect...

2011-08-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

When I came home today, later on a Friday after a roller coaster of a week, I realized Alexandra was beyond cranky. She went from ok to all of a sudden super moody and defiant. Given my week I sort of wished I could just set her on her bed and slam the door shut.
As I was cooking dinner she managed to accidentally take down the security gate, which I had asked her over and over not to touch. When she asked for help I went to check the damage and somehow managed to calmly ask her to go to her room. In my head it sounded more like "go to your F***** room)
After a few calm breaths I decided we both needed to cuddle and have a little talk. It was amazing how good that conversation was for both of us. It took about 45 minutes to get to the true cause which was that she was embarrased about an incident that happened earlier that day. To get to that point in the conversation we managed to draw how she was feeling, then moved on to putting words to it (sad, angry and frustrated) where that stemmed from (I'm getting blamed for everything today) and finally the incident. Then I had to try to explain embarrasment (go ahead, give it a try!) and she finally agreed that was her feeling. After talking it through she's been wonderful all evening.

On the one hand I was proud of myself for taking the time to have this discussion, especially given my mental state at the time but on the other hand I can't help but wonder how often I miss these things. Kids really do have complicated emotions and so few ways to express them that I think as parents we are often quick to judge or get frustrated. I know my children often cause me to be more aware of my actions and feelings and I hope I keep being open to learning from them because they really teach me more than I probably teach them.

Swim Class

2011-08-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

Although swim class is definitely not something new for Alexandra we decided to change from our regular swim class and invest in a new program. I say invest because the cost of this swim class is about three times as much as the other class. It just seemed that although Alexandra enjoyed class she wasn't necessarily progressing towards actually swimming. Granted with the ear issues we were considering her head under water a pretty major success. Apparently getting water in your ears when you have ear tubes is actually quite painful. Who knew? Not us...
Anyway, I was able to get the kids enrolled in class at the same time on the same day which works out really well. No need to have one kid waiting while the other swims. Emmett and I do class together while Alexandra does hers. Although I can catch glances of Alexandra swimming I was conveniently late to class one day so Josh was attending class with Emmett. As I was sitting in the waiting room I saw a little girl dive in the pool swim around the instructor and head back to the wall. All by herself. I was somewhat envious seeing this kid do so well in class and then as the girl got out I realized it was Alexandra. I was amazed! The kid who could basically just blow bubbles and put her face in the water was actually swimming (a little). Then today she swam across the width of the pool all by herself.

Needless to say I'm feeling like the investment piece of the class is working out well and the kids have been signed up for the next term already.

As for Emmett, well he's a little water rat and took to the water right from the start. He only hesitated going under water once and now he dips his head under water all the time. Often he gets mad that I'm holding him so I have to remind him that if I let go he goes under. Of course he comes back up with a big ol' grin. I'll be excited when he turns three and can go to class on his own though...

Elmo's World

2011-08-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

It seems Emmett has a total obsession with Elmo. He LOVES Elmo and recently he has been able to see more Sesame Street. The other day I happened to catch this in the tub (for those of you on Facebook I realize you've seen it...)

Garden Update

2011-08-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

We got another community garden this year. We lucked out because they were so popular that people stood in line an hour before they opened. I arrived about 30 minutes prior to opening and was handed number 39. Given that there are 64 spaces, and people can use up to two, I'm not sure how we ended up with one.

Once again our first crop got gophered but we replanted and tried the castor oil trick. I'm happy to say we have tomatoes, cucumber and squash which all went wild. The corn is doing pretty good too and we just replanted a bunch of sugar snap peas.
Today we brought home a gigantic zucchini. Paired with the 16 pints of blueberries I picked today I think there are a few loaves of blueberry zucchini bread coming! A decently healthy easy snack for kids that tastes good is awesome in my book.

Waiting for the garbage truck

2011-07-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday mornings are guaranteed early rise mornings as the garbage trucks come by. Ever since one of them honked at the kids they try to catch them outside. Of course some mornings are chilier than others.

Nutrition

2011-07-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

We spend a lot of time talking about what's in our food, what makes it healthy and what isn't healthy and of course that we need to balance our foods so that we maintain a healthy lifestyle. Overall this has worked pretty well for Alexandra who can at least identify her healthy foods and sometimes even asks what choice is healthier (and then she even picks it!). Of course there have been quite a few embarrasing moments as she's told several people that clearly their parents didn't teach them well. Recently she even pointed out to her friends' father that he really shouldn't be giving chocolate milk since it has as much sugar as soda. Later that night she kept asking me "can you believe Payton's Daddy didn't know there was as much sugar in chocolate milk as there is in soda?".

Anyway, the funny part I wanted to get to is the other day when I serve dinner. As Alexandra sits down and takes inventory of her plate she says "mom, you made a well balanced meal". Of course I felt very proud that she identified the balance of veggie, protein and carbs but then she followed it with "there's a little bit of yummy and a little bit of yucky". Ha.

Time to catch up

2011-07-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

I caught a post on a friends' blog which I could relate to so much. She can say it so much better but at the house of Noodle and Boo we are also full of things to blog about but the energy hasn't been there. The amazing thing is that even though I'm not always working long hours the stress of the day really taps it out of me, so that by the time I get home, the kids fed and to bed, some cleaning in hopes of pretending to stay on top of a clean house, I feel completely drained. For about two weeks I found myself watching Glee on the iPad until I finally got some chicklit for my Kindle. For some reason I feel less lazy if I'm reading instead of just watching TV. Even a good book was too hard to get through so easy reading is my savior.
Being sick for the last three weeks (going on four with a sinus infection starting) hasn't helped of course.

This week my hope is to catch up on some of the blogging topics I've been putting on hold. My other hope is to get a little more headway in this disaster of a house. I truly do not understand how two small kids and two adults can create so much clutter and dirt.

Alexandra - preschool graduate

2011-06-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked one of our first official graduations as Alexandra graduated from preschool. To be honest, I would generally roll my eyes when I would mention the graduation ceremony imagining another event that I travelled to from work in the middle of the day. To top it off it happened to be a really busy day at work.

The ceremony was really cute though and it was fun to socialize with the other moms for a little bit. I also realized for Alexandra this was an important milestone to celebrate. She is not one to easily transition into new things and although she did well in the ceremony, the drive home was a big sobfest.

She even had me crying at one point as she mentioned how incredibly sad she was that she wouldn't see her teacher in that school again.

Today we will likely make some scrap book pages together for the memories.

Potty Training - Success?

2011-06-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

I really hesitate to label our potty training as a success because of the fear that one day Emmett will want to go back to diapers. It has been a good week though. The last couple of days we haven't had any accidents and Emmett seems to be holding it until he goes to the potty. We do generally need to remind him to go to the potty as he doesn't think to ask so hopefully that will happen soon. I'm not always the best at gauging time since he went potty last so when accidents do happen it's generally my fault.
I guess I'll say so far, so good for now and hope for the best.

Potty training time?

2011-06-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight as we were getting ready for bed Emmett went to put his dirty diaper in the trash like normal. When he didn't return in a few minutes I went to check up on him I found him on the potty. This is the third night in a row that he went potty but the first time he got on without any mention from us. To top it off he went poop in the potty. I think the time has come for potty training. I feel like I should be ready for this but with A we just put the potty out and underpants on. A few days later we were ready. I suspect it won't be as easy this time!

Kindergarten visit - not what I expected!

2011-06-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

I know many of you read this title and probably immediately thought the public school visit was somewhat dissapointing, especially given that I've been anxious over whether public school is the right choice for us. I have to say though that I was very much impressed by our public school. Of course time will tell how Alexandra integrates since the class size is around 20 which is double what she's used to.
Last week I attended Kindergarten round up where the adults got an overview of the school values and missions, what a day in school looks like, how the school busses work etc... Given that I have no experience with US schools this was very comforting for me. Today this was followed by an hour of Kindergarten with Alexandra. This was her first time seeing the school and she seemed to warm up quite quickly. First was a visit to the library where we learned that they have 20,000 books. Then we searched for Skelly man which Alexandra spotted first (it was a big skeleton of a dinosaur), then Clifford showed up in the reading room (which is different from the library), then we headed to the Porch where they do small group activities, then the classroom where they read one of the books published by one of the classes and finally a ride on the school bus.
Once again Alexandra managed to impress many of the adults as she engaged with the teachers and principal. One example was when the principal described her job as a problem solver and Alexandra bolted out "that's what my mom does too!". Then she told everyone that her dad fixes computers and solves problems too. When they sat on the number mat Alexandra let everyone know she sat on number 12 but she has no connection to that number. One of my friends, who is also a Kindergarten teacher, was there and mentioned she would cherry pick Alexandra to be in her class if she could. Of course she doesn't teach there but it made me feel happy that Alexandra can delight others in a nice sensitive way.

My personal highlights of our school are:

- Healthy school lunches which generally include whole wheat sandwiches and fresh fruit and veggies

- The school veggie garden where a lot of veggies come from

- 250 acres of wetlands right behind the school to explore

- an advanced program for all grades where advanced kids get small group learning

- not one but two teacher coaches

- a principal that seems very good and very engaged
- PE, music and art are still part of the curriculum

Overall a great experience.

Geocaching Weekend

2011-05-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

Our first cache find for the day

What a fabulous Memorial day weekend at the house of Noodle and Boo! I had Friday afternoon off with the kids, had happy hour drinks with friends. We basically laughed non-stop which started the weekend off well. Since Alexandra was sick we took it easy on Saturday but did head out to do a little geo-caching. We found three different caches before two kids were napping in the car. Sunday was spent re-organizing the art supplies (I have to admit I LOVE re-organizing so that made me happy). While I did this the kids had crazy art time. Huge pieces of paper out on the table and never ending paint for the kids. Eight works of art and two hours later (including one piece made by me) we moved on to lunch. Then a playdate with one of Alexandra's friends that she hasn't seen in a long time.

Monday brought more geo-caching fun around town. This time we found a travel bug ( a coin that gets tracked from geocache to geocache). We're hoping to find someone far away to deliver the travel bug to the next cache. All in all it was a nice relaxing weekend. The house feels more in control and we had a ton of time to play together. I'll give it an A+.

Trike-a-thon

2011-05-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Alexandra's school was doing a Trike-a-thon fundraiser the other day and she had to do laps for 5 minutes. The weather wasn't cooperating so it ended up being indoors which meant she did 28 laps instead of the expected 7 or 8. Some donations were adjusted accordingly!

Here is the video to prove she participated. Of course the day after we ended up getting chest x-rays and finding out that she had a mild pneumonia. Awesome parenting! That said she is now on antibiotics and expected to be good as new in a few days.

Dog Time

2011-05-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

Many of you know we got Diego after Bear passed away a year and a half ago and as great as Diego is (he really is great!) I have a hard time bonding with him. Probably because I don't want to go through the pain I went through last time. Luckily the kids to love the dogs and make sure the big guy gets some of the loving he deserves.

Happy Birthday Papa

2011-05-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago was Papa's birthday and I struggled to think of how to still honor him on his special day even though he couldn't be with us. After much back and forth I figured the perfect option would be for us to do what Papa was probably wanting to do with the kids - take them out for milkshakes. Unfortunately the golden arches are pretty much taboo in my world but thankfully we have Burgerville here.

It's still fast food but the ingredients are local and fresh so it meets my overly stringent criteria. When I told Alexandra the plan she had pure joy on her face and said "Are you really going to give me my first milkshake EVER????" I still opted for the smoothie since she doesn't know the difference. Those kids were just overjoyed.

Emmett must have had about 1/5 of the whole drink and Alexandra had maybe a third before she realized she just couldn't finish it.

We also sang the happy birthday song

Tadpole Hunting

2011-05-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

We went on an impromptu tadpole hunting expedition the other day. Another benefit of living on the fringes of the city is that random wildlife abounds. While walking the dogs on the road less travelled I noticed some tadpoles in a big puddle so the kids and I came back armed with pyrex containers. We caught 3 tadpoles which are actually salamanders and not frogs like I expected to bring home. We even purchased a fish bowl for them to live in as they grow into their adult figure. At that time we will be releasing them in the wild as I have no desire to ever find out that there is a salamander on the loose in the house.

Next to the tadpole puddle

Walking with sticks

Our 3 newts

This was one of those excursions that makes me love the simple things in life. The kids had a ton of fun and my mood went from mediocre to good as we talked about how tadpoles live and grow. There wasn't even any complaints about the two mile walk.

2 Year Well Child Stats

2011-05-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

We took Emmett in for his 2 year check up so we have the updated statistics of course. Overall there is very little to report from the visit. He seems to be progressing as he should. I can say that he HATES going to the doctor. The kid seems to have a great memory. The other day he pulled out a sprinkler toy that was put away last summer and he immediately asked to have it hooked up to water. Well, he remembers the nurse from about 9 months ago. The second she walked into the room it was non-stop crying. He didn't want to be weighed, didn't want to lay on the table. The only thing he was ok with was the measuring of the head. When you ask what the doctor did he will tell you about his shots (auwie!) and the head measuring.

As for the stats:
Height: 33.8 inches 30%
Weight: 24.2 lbs 7%
Head: 20 inches 90%

Overall a happy healthy boy.

Happy Birthday Emmett!!

2011-04-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Emmett,

I'm not sure how it happened so fast but you are turning two. I will soon need to accept that you are a big boy. Lucky for me though you adamantly shake your head and give me the baby sign whenever I mention you being a big boy. Then when I ask "are you mama's baby" you nod and give me a hug.
Speaking of hugs you are such a little hugger. In the morning you often join me on dogwalks because you love to cuddle up in the ergo while we walk. You'll walk up when I least expect it and ask for a "huggie" and you stretch your arms all the way over my arms and squeeze. It's heart warming. Even the other night when you woke up at about 1am and dad went to check on you I couldn't resist coming in when I heard you yelling "Mama huggie! Mama huggie!" over and over. I gave you a hug and a kiss and back to sleep you went. Just so you know your dad probably didn't appreciate that since he was up with you for a while trying to get you to settle down.

On your birthday trike

It's rare that you're upset like that since you are actually a really easy child. You seem to have a long attention span for your age, you're a great listener, a good eater, sleeping is good, you love to hug, you get along with your sister (most days), you show compassion, you are just amazing. Your dapper good looks also gaurantee that we will have a conversation with a stranger wherever you go. Every time you'll get someone's attention and bust out that Emmett smile that just warms their heart. Clearly you are learning the value of a good smile at an early age. I think girls will be waiting on you hand and foot your entire life. I'm not saying this is good, I'm just aware that you have a way about you.

When I carried you in my belly I worried about second child syndrome and that you wouldn't get the attention you deserved but a sister who adores you, Winnie who cares for you during the day so you don't have to be shipped off to daycare and your parents still always thinking about your needs, you are well taken care of. In fact I even finished your 1 year book before your second birthday. That's about 19 years before I got mine :)
As you reach the two year mark you are definitely getting much more independent. You pick out your own pajamas, your own clothes (my one hope with a boy was that I would have a say in what you wore!), get into your own carseat, you get the idea. You want to do it yourself. I once put you in the carseat when I felt you were taking too long. You were mad the whole drive! Granted it was a 7 minute drive and once I gave you a hug you were fine but still, you were mad.
You now sleep in a big boy bed which was the easiest transition ever. You had a few nights where you would get up and come visit with me around 3am which only meant we would cuddle in the big bed until it was time to get up. After a few nights you were back to sleeping in your bed though. It seems you like your space.

For your party we couldn't really decide whether the theme should be dinosaurs or trains since you love them both. Dinosaur train seemed the natural choice of course to incorporate both. As we started talking about your cake you clearly understood a cake was coming and it would have a dinosaur train on it. When Alexandra made you a playdoh version of cake and said to me "Mama I'm making Emmett a cake" you got so upset and kept telling me it would be a train cake! There will be plenty of dinosaur train little man!

The day before your birthday we got you in for your first haircut and although the experience wasn't a happy start the cut is so dang cute. You're like a little man now with a little boy cut. I'm sure you will get annoyed with me playing with the short hairs on the back of your head but for now you'll just need to deal.

Happy second birthday little man and thanks for all the joy you've brought us!

Love,

Mama

Birthday haircut

More Tulips

2011-04-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

Each summer we went to Oma's house in the Netherlands and at some point we went to some touristy place where they had these big klompen. We had a multitude of pictures of us in those ginormous things so I love having pictures of my kids in these as well.

A tulip with dew drops

Peek a Boo

Emmett and Henry playing in the mud and looking for worms. Even Alexandra was picking up worms, which I wasn't able to capture on film but it happened! In fact, the internet now says it did so it must have.

More attempts at artistic photos

Tulip Fields

2011-04-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

A little early in the season for tulips apparently

We were able to make it back to the tulip fields again this year. We lucked out that the weather was decent although having the sun out mid morning actually made picture taking harder. The tulips aren't expected to be in full bloom for another week so there were stretches of tulips that weren't open yet.

There was a ton going on for the kids so they had a blast. The flowers itself was probably not their highlight. Stomping in the mud and riding the cow train were. The ducky races were a big hit where they got to pump water to get their ducky to race down the slide.

Ducky Races!

More duck races!

The cow train was a big hit which wasn't open when we first got there but of course it was out so Alexandra was eager to take it for a ride. She finally got in hoping the ride would just start.

Alexandra hoping that if she sits in the Cow Train somebody will notice and the ride will be opened

After telling her it wouldn't we got this face:

So Sad

Of course Emmett had to be just like Sis so he climbed into a cow too. I think he recognized his name when he picked his cow :). Later in the morning we did get to go for a ride and it didn't dissapoint. In fact since I got to go with Emmett I can vouch that it went on and on...

Emmett on the cow ride

Another form of duck racing

The Downfall of Spring

2011-04-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

As beautiful as these blooms can be... they make my life uncomfortable this time of year

Playdate

2011-04-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

Emmett having a playdate with his friend Cole. He kept trying to peek in this window and say "Hi".

Spring Weekend

2011-04-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

Emmett loving the steps on the playground

Although I feel slightly guilty about all the things I should have done around the house, I had a great time playing with the kids this weekend. I was able to clean the sheets for all so at least we're sleeping in clean beds. The rest of the weekend was filled with trips to playgrounds, dinner with friends and an afternoon playdate.

Alexandra always up high. I'm starting to get used to it and relaxing...

Look at me mom!

Very focused on something behind me

Alexandra playing in the sandbox (baseball field)

Peek-a-boo

Toddler Bed

2011-04-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

For a while I have been wanting to upgrade Emmett's bed to his toddler bed but I kept hearing "Why mess with something good?". When I noticed Emmett thinking about climbing out of the crib this morning I decided today was the day! He was very excited to climb into his own bed tonight. When I went to check up on him 10 minutes later we found him like this. So awesome.

Scary Oatmeal

2011-03-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

This morning I made banana oatmeal for breakfast and decided to delight my kids by sprinkling a few mini chocolate chips in there. After a few bites the chocolate chips started melting a bit and Alexandra tells me: "Mom, this oatmeal looks just like Japan right now. The chocolate chips are the little houses that got all messed up in the Tsunami. It's just all messy right now".

Wow. Can you imagine what she would be saying if we actually let her watch some of this stuff on TV?

Career Choices

2011-03-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

Six months ago, if you asked Alexandra what she wanted to be, she would have said "a Problem Solver, just like my mom!". I figured the best way to explain Business Consultant was to label it a Problem Solver. It seems to be the majority of my time. After her trip to the firestation Alexandra told me she wanted to be a fire fighter. For weeks she told me she was eating protein so she could be strong like a fire fighter or calcium so her bones would be strong like a fire fighter. After the police visited her at school she still wanted to be a fire fighter. Tonight though she said "I used to want to be a fire fighter but then I realized the word fire is in firefighter and I'm not sure I want to go into fire so I think I'll be a policeman instead".

Eyes

2011-03-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

Riding the Gondola

2011-03-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Since Oma was in town this week helping out we decided to go out and ride the Gondola (or Tram as the Portlanders call it). Once we got to the top we had a little snack and headed back down. Alexandra thought the tram was quite the exciting adventure so even though I hoped riding the tram would stop the constant request to ride it, it actually hasn't reduced the number of requests...

Alexandra showing me she loves me

Rainbow Hunt

2011-03-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

Over the bridge we go

Spring weather is here which means rain and sun. Today the kids were playing in the pouring rain when all of a sudden the sun came out again. Alexandra immediately wanted to find the rainbow so we headed out on a rainbow hunt. Unfortunately no rainbows were found but thanks to Alexandra's wonderful imagination we found a raft to go on, we exercised in the field and had a few treasure hunts.

Emmett in full raingear

Muddy Hands!

The log aka "the raft"

Following the path less travelled

Yes, I took a picture before pulling him out of the goopy dirty water

Dentist Visit

2011-03-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Today was our bi-annual dentist appointment for both kids. Emmett was once again fine in the dentist office but the second he saw the dentist chair he cried and cried and cried even though he was sitting on my lap. Alexandra on the other hand was called out of the waiting room while I was with Emmett. She just followed the lady to the room and by the time I could check on her she was in the chair with the shades on, watching happy feet and getting her teeth cleaned. Next she had her teeth x-rayed without a single complaint.

Afterwards she was told she could pick out two toys and, being the awesome sister she is, she picks up two dinosaur pick up sticks and gives one to Emmett. She is just so incredibly caring it just makes me proud.

Outside Time

2011-03-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

Emmett loves the outdoors and it doesn't matter if it's raining or sunny, he'll go out there. Yesterday I was able to capture this great shot.

Things to know about Emmett

2011-03-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

I realize with Alexandra every singly tiny milestone was blogged about because at the time it was just so interesting. Since Emmett hasn't received the same courtesy I thought I would list out some of the things you might not know about Emmett:

Emmett will be two years old in a little over a months
He can sign up a storm and communicate just about anything he wants. My favorite things he has conveyed to me through sign language include "the elf doesn't blink" and "this hot dog looks like my penis". He also made up a sign for camera which involves him scrunching his eyes and smiling.
He has probably close to 40 words but he usually has very little interest in using words
Words he does use a lot include mama, dada, ball, woof and yuccch
You will often hear the following in our house: mama, mama, mama, mama, yes emmett, pause, mama, mama, mama
Emmett is the BEST sleeper, he will lay down in his crib and go to sleep without complaint
I never needed him to cry it out to get him to this wonderful sleep place
He loves to cuddle and give kisses
He can be stubborn but often very understanding, for example he might really really really want something but if I explain that it won't make his tummy feel good he just says "Oh" and move on
He hates going to the doctor, the nurse just has to come in and he starts to cry
Cracking eggs is one of his favorite things, he often asks to eat eggs just so he can crack them
Helping me cook is one of the things he enjoys tremendously, I have even changed menu items to allow him to help more
He loves and admires his big sister. They're best friends and play all the time
Trains. He loves them!
Tools. He loves them!
He knows exactly what he wants, whether it's what room he wants to play in or what to eat. He knows...
He smiles A LOT, except when we're at the doctor
His nickname is Boo, or BooBoo or BooBoo Begoo or even Boobug

It's fun and hard at the same time to see him grow up. His demeanor is just great and I hope that his relationship with his sister stays as strong as they grow up because I find it fantastic.

Random Pictures

2011-03-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

As I was downloading pictures I stumbled on some funny ones.

Emmett with his "say cheese" smile

Naked kids in a travel crib

Emmett's Dog Ears

Super Mom Moments

2011-03-09T20:12:00.000-08:00

Parenting can be extremely hard and often it's hard to find the balance between being the super fun friend and the strict parent. I'm a big believer in consistency which sometimes inhibits some of the super fun moments. Recently I had a few that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Snowday

We finally got some snow in town and I woke up to two inches of snow. Given that my client's workload is highest when extreme weather hits it's not really acceptable to call in because there are two inches of snow. So, knowing that I had to be at work by 8am for a meeting I decided to wake up Alexandra at 6:30am and make a snowman. It was AWESOME.

Grocery Store Crowns

Alexandra had decorated crowns for everyone in the family. As we were heading to the grocery store Alexandra asked if we could wear our crowns there. My first thought was trying to find a way to not dissapoint her as I declined when I thought "why the heck not!". So I did. We both wore our paper crowns with pride through the store. Most of the employees just loved it and my favorite part was watching people's reactions. We should wear crowns all the time!

Dealing with Death

2011-03-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

So as I mentioned in an earlier post, it was a very difficult start of the year with Alexandra and Emmett's Grandpa passing away very unexpectedly.
I have such strong memories of dealing with my grandfather's death when I was 8 that I became hyper aware of what Alexandra has been going through.  It was interesting watching Alexandra over the course of the last few months.
When I first found out I was just putting Emmett down for a nap after coming home from work when I got the news. I immediately called our nanny and asked if she could come back. My instinct was to make up some excuse for Alexandra but the second I went to explain that Winnie was coming back, I knew there was no use fooling her. I told her that Papa had died, just like Bear (our dog) and that I needed to go to the hospital to help daddy and Nana. Her immediate reaction was to start this fake cry. It's like she knew she was supposed to cry but wasn't ready to.   Of course this caused a few discussions on why some people want to cry and some people don't. Feelings are different for everyone.
Later she went through a phase where she had to carry Papa's picture everywhere.  The tipping point on that one was when she forgot it once and used significant drama to get attention. I have no doubt she wanted attention because she wasn't feeling great, I also have no doubt she was using the situation a little (or quite a bit actually) to get Mama's attention.
Alexandra does have an extreme amount of empathy so the number of conversations we have had over Nana's feelings and Daddy's feelings are too many to be counted. At the funeral it was as if she felt that Nana needed her support and afterwards she held her hand while everyone paid their respects. She didn't let go for 15 minutes, when she spotted the juice and cookies.  During the funeral she also snuck up to the front (she had been sitting in the back with our wonderful nanny) and gave each of us a huge hug. It was just way too precious.
Amazingly helping Alexandra through all of this has actually helped me the most since talking about everything seems to give me a better perspective. Anyone in my family will vouch for my complete inability to deal with death. I've come a long way...

Maui Vacation

2011-02-22T21:23:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to be able to head to Maui again during the whale migration season. This year the whale sightings were apparently significantly higher than previous years. Although there wasn't anything as cool as hearing the whale song when we were scuba diving on our honeymoon, we did have several whale sightings. At one point we witnessed two paddle boarders out in the water where a whale came within about 25 feet of them. Clearly they were both a little afraid at the time and I couldn't decide whether I was jealous of them or grateful that I wasn't them. Either way it was cool to watch.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

The vacation overall was very low key, which I think the family needed (more on our rough January coming up in a future post). Josh and I did have a babysitter for two days. One day we headed out ziplining on the Ka'anapali zipline which was pretty fun. The second night started off with the thought of a nice dinner and we finally settled on a casual happy hour. Much more my style!

One of my New Years resolutions has been to shoot in manual mode on my SLR to get my skills down better, which I did in Maui. The camera was ALWAYS on manual so I included a few artistic shots. I will also note that there was no editing done on any of these pictures...

A day in the mountain

2011-01-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

Back in December we all decided to take a trip up to the snow. Emmett and Alexandra both love the snow and they had a great time. Until they got cold.

Making snow balls

Alexandra on the trail

Sledding

Emmett on ski's

The Cleaning Fairy

2011-01-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

A long time ago we started the cleaning fairy story with Alexandra to help entice her to clean her room before bed. Basically the cleaning fairy comes at night and looks for neglected toys to take to kids who will love them more. We haven't really had to ask Alexandra to clean her room much since.

Imagine my surprise when I came downstairs one morning and saw the actual cleaning fairy! He even looked a lot like Emmett...

Christmas!

2010-12-26T12:53:00.000-08:00

What a fun day... Although Emmett had a bit of croup the night before Christmas, which meant he and mom were tired on Christmas, we still had a great day. The presents were out by about 11pm and I headed off to bed. The next morning Emmett was up by 6am but Alexandra slept in a little.
Emmett enjoyed opening up the first 3 gifts and then that part became a bit overwhelming for him. Alexandra was pretty much done after opening her Tag reader. She has barely put that thing down since she opened it.
After a fun and relaxing Christmas at home we headed to the Bickels for more Christmas. Emmett got a ton of trucks and was especially enamored with a small drill which he didn't even put down when he napped.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

The Annual Tree Hunt

2010-12-24T06:41:00.000-08:00

Although the tradition is that the tree is selected the day after Thanksgiving we broke the tradition this year since there was a Duck game. Josh offered to pick up a tree first thing in the morning we decided the following day would be better.

It was great fun picking out the tree and decorating it.

Rainy Day Fun

2010-12-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

Carrying a bag, purse style, is very popular with Emmett. Notice Alexandra's "great" smile!

Snow Day

2010-12-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Snow in the mountain + Day off work = Snow fun!

We headed up the mountain for some sledding fun with Christie and Henry. Emmett loved sledding and kept asking for more whenever we got to the bottom of the hill. Of course with very little sleep his asking for more sounded more like crying and screaming. The message was clear though.

Alexandra and Henry played together very well and were seen rolling down hills and sledding. The best part was that I figured out how to get three car seats in my car. Woohoo!

Nutcrackers

2010-12-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

I would be surprised if our nutcrackers make it through this year. A definite source of entertainment for both kids!

Sinterklaas

2010-12-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

Our house is full of random traditions around this time of year. One of those is of course the yearly Sinterklaas celebration. This year we once again put out our shoes with carrots for the horse and snacks for Sinterklaas. In the morning presents were waiting! This year both kids got robes since they are always downstairs waving good bye in the morning in their pajamas. It gets cold around here!

Emmett looks so big to me in this picture!

Updates

2010-12-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

Today I made a joke to my friend Christie about my lack of blogging which made me realize it was time to get back into it. So many times the kids say or do something that makes me think "That's bloggable!" and then I never get to it. Those memories must be notated!

Alexandra is all the way on the right

For now a quick update on Alexandra's school. She started pre-school this September in a little local preschool that has one class at a time with a total of 10 kids. It so happens that there is only one boy in her class! She definitely enjoys it and she's made some great friends. I've learned that putting your child in a pre-school that caters to stay-at-home-parents is not always the best idea. With frequent volunteer requests and never ending parties we've had a few moments where we're scrambling to get someone to attend (our caregiver could of course but school is during Emmett's naptime). For the Christmas party Josh was able to attend and Alexandra was quick to point out that he was the ONLY boy. Between the two of us we're getting this done!

Impromptu Santa Visit

2010-12-08T17:23:00.000-08:00

Had I anticipated this particular visit I probably would have dressed my kids a little differently. Nevertheless some good pictures and the kids are themselves.

Alexandra did really good even though she was originally quite afraid. It only took the mention of a candy cane for her to sit on Santa's lap (it might be time to have a conversation about adults who offer candy!!). Emmett was more than happy to answer Santa's questions from the comfort of my arms. He was finally willing to give Santa 5.

After seeing Santa we headed back to the car and found the train that was going around. We had a great time riding around the mall. The train was completely solar powered so we were the last trip of the day and the kids got to sit in the kaboose. Can an impromptu visit like that get any better?

Thankful

2010-11-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

I have to be honest that I'm not one to really get into Thanksgiving. It seem to focus feeling thankful on one day when in reality I feel thankful most days. The last few months in particular I've rarely had a day that I haven't felt grateful for everything we have. I thought today I would try to make a list of some of the big items I appreciate every single day. So here it is (not in any particular order):

My great kids who make me smile all the time
A great husband who is my best friend
Alexandra being an amazing, caring person and a particularly caring big sister
Emmett for his easy going demeanor, frequent smiles and amazing cuddles
A career that challenges and inspires me every day
Having enough financial stability that I don't have to make choices between eating or heating the house
Having a caregiver for the kids who loves them like they were her own
Having enough financial stability to pay this caregiver

Wood floors that easily wipe up dog hair
Mikah making it through her surgery and blessing us with her presence a little longer
The ability in my career to spend a lot of time on philantrophy, in fact this year I helped distribute close to $37,000 dollars in our local community
My work heading towards my passion of sustainability
A healthy body that allows me to run, play and dance
A healthy family

Diego mellowing down in his "old" age
Great friends who stick around even though I rarely have time (bullet 11 impacts that a bit)
Living in a state that has seasons
Grandparents that love their grandkids
Not travelling anymore
My new guitar

Obviously this isn't an exhaustive list but given that the turkey needs attention I will now wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Phoenix

2010-11-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we travelled to Phoenix for the service of Josh's Aunt. We decided to spend a few extra days to see family and enjoy the sun. The pool was a big hit for both kids and it was nice to spend my birthday lounging by the pool. Emmett fell asleep on my chest and Alexandra cuddled up with me for a while too. Since I had my Kindle with a good book at the same time it was perfection.
Both kids were great travellers but Emmett was adamant to carry Alexandra's backpack so we ended up buying his own backpack so he could be just like his big sister. Luckily Alexandra was willing to share her backpack on the way there so there was little issue. Honestly I think Alexandra enjoyed her brother carrying her backpack.

Music Time

2010-11-19T20:48:00.000-08:00

For quite a while I've mentioned that I really wanted to learn the guitar. For my birthday this year the kids got me exactly that! A guitar and lessons to go with it. My company also got my an online guitar lesson package to fill the void between in person lessons. I have been playing every day and Emmett LOVES playing with me. I think I'll need to buy him his own little one so he stops being so rough on mine.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

A little late for a Halloween post you say... well, you're probably right but I'm still within the right season so I'm allowing it.

The trick or treating foursome

This year was a big and seemingly never ending Halloween event. It started on Friday with Alexandra's school party which Daddy, Winnie and Patrick got to attend. As soon as that was over we raced over to my office where we had a party room reserved and Alexandra got to decorate pumpkins, play pin the face on the pumpkin, the skeleton scavenger hunt, get her face painted, make buttons, and have story time. It was a candy free event and overall I don't think anyone missed the candy. After re-grouping on Saturday we were ready to head off again on Sunday which started off with brunch, then after a short rest we had the neighborhood Halloween party where kids played and did a parade around the streets. Finally it was time to trick or treat. Since Alexandra was so excited we started with a short loop before dinner where we probably got through 8 homes in 30 minutes. After dinner we headed back out and after meeting up with her friends the speed increased significantly and we managed to do not just our neighborhood, but the neighboring neighborhood too. When we got about 2/3 of the way through Alexandra asked to go home and get ready for bed. That's a first!!!

Creepy Taco's for dinner

Emmett headed out with us after dinner and he quickly got into the activity too. At first Alexandra was patient enough to help him to the door and stay with him but once her friends were there little bro was left behind with his parental units. I felt a bit awkward trick or treating with just Emmett since he obviously wasn't eating the candy but what the heck. Overall we had a great time and we were all pleasantly exhausted by the end of the weekend.

Alexandra aka Rosetta the Fairy

Emmett the Dragon

GO DUCKS!

2010-11-04T21:56:00.001-07:00

Sibling Fun

2010-10-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

These two kids just get along so well. The other day I actually found myself saying "I think having two kids right now is easier than one". Amazing really. This evening Josh and I were chuckling as Emmett was just following his sister doing everything she was doing and both of them were loving it. Here is a fun sequence of pictures where I was trying to capture Alexandra's new hat.

As a side note, Alexandra found this hat at REI and she comes running over with it and asks politely if she can have the hat. When I mention she has enough money in her piggy bank she responds, somewhat sadly, with "well, that's for college mom. I don't want to spend that". Then she put the hat back with no fussing or begging or bad behavior. The hat is so stinking cute I got it for her anyway!

Noodle Eating

2010-10-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

Noodle eating is hard work. First you need to twirl the noodle onto the fork.

Then you use your hand to shove the whole thing in your mouth.

You just don't want to have your noodle hanging out of your mouth. That just comes back and haunts you when you start dating.

Face Painting

2010-10-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Alexandra was so excited to get her face painted at the "Love Life Run" but somehow in the busy-ness we were never able to but lucky for us we had tons of facepaint left over. After doing a witch face Alexandra decided to try and paint her brother.

He wasn't quite as patient as she was so a blue outline is about as far as we got.

Spray Bottle

2010-10-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

If you need to entertain Emmett for a while just hand him a spray bottle and a cloth. He'll head straight to the windows and start cleaning. When he first started he kept spraying himself in the face but he's figured out to turn it around now. He used to crack me up as he tried to move his face next to whatever he was cleaning to get the spray to hit the wall as well. Of course in a pinch the spray bottle makes a good hydration device. For the record this bottle was thoroughly cleaned and then filled with water.

The Love Life 5k Update

2010-10-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Helllooooo! I'm back.
I'm sure many of you expected me to kick in the blogging on October 10th, right after completing the Love Life 5k but I spent a little time catching up on the house. Floors are cleaner, doorknobs disinfected, kids cuddled and some tv shows were watched. I feel like I've caught up on life again.

A quick update on the event, even though it rained it was a huge success. We had 160 people pre-register and close to another 40 register on the day of. We've exceeded our stretch goal for fundraising dollars.

Seeing Sara's energy on that day and her huge smile made it so worth it. It's interesting to realize some of the things that Sara taught me. Having her help out gave me a different perspective on life and I've really come to enjoy some of the small joys in life. Alexandra will benefit since I've noticed I'm a little more likely to suggest going out for frozen yoghurt or some other fun unhealthy activity on a whim!

Getting everything done for the 5k was a lot of work but I had a great team of colleagues help out. The volunteers that were there were great too. A big thanks to work for letting us all work on this!!!! Lately I've had a lot of autonomy and I've noticed this motivates me more than anything and I know that's a big reason the Love Life 5k was a big success. No boxes within which to work. I guess that manager that told me accounting wasn't my field because I thought too creatively was right after all.

I'm ecstatic at the outcome but I'm also glad I get to spend more time with my family again.

Love the Life You Live

2010-10-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me, you have heard me talk about the "Love Life" 5K event that we (my company) are organizing. This started somewhat as my brain child and I took the lead on getting it organized. I've always had a secret dream to organize an event like this so a lot of passion has gone into this event. Planning a wedding was nothing compared to this event which we're pulling together in 2 months.

The event is a fundraiser for Sara Turley, the daughter of one of my colleagues, who has cancer (again). She's fourteen years old and is just an amazing person to listen to. Her motto has been "Love the Life You Live" after finding out that she is out of treatment options. She doesn't want to waste time feeling sorry about the things she can't do anymore. I first met her when we invited her to speak at a company offsite and I just love her outlook on life. She is such a fun, exciting person that you would never know the background if she didn't tell you.

Last Saturday Alexandra and I met with her at CHAP to discuss the event in more detail (she has become quite involved in this event by figuring out the side activities, the color scheme and other fun stuff). At CHAP the kids can draw, paint, bead or do any other art to their hearts content. Parents are not allowed to provide guidance or else we get a time out (which means a trip to the coffee shop and sitting on the couch). Alexandra and Sara definitely bonded and they had so much fun. We're heading back to help Sara paint her photobooth tomorrow.

With 6 years of treatment behind her I can only imagine the mountain of medical bills the family has and this event will hopefully help out a little bit. For those of you who haven't checked it out yet go to http://www.lovelifesara.com/ and consider registering or donating some money. It's a great cause.

Sarcasm

2010-09-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Not surprisingly Alexandra and Emmett are exposed to sarcasm quite regularly. Comments like "two cranky kids, I'm so excited to be part of this!" were followed by Alexandra asking why we would be excited about that. After explaining sarcasm a few times and giving some examples Alexandra started to get the concept. When we were in Seaside she opened the fridge and said "it's so nice that they have a handle on this fridge". After a short pause she said "Mom, I was using sarcasm because there isn't a handle on the fridge".

I worry that she might struggle to integrate with her little friends! Time to tone down the sarcasm in this house.

Surfer kids!

2010-09-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Playing Together

2010-09-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Emmett and Alexandra play together so extremely well it amazes me. Emmett just adores his big sister and will usually follow her around anywhere. When we walk around he wants to hold her hand and he usually accepts mine too. Alexandra in turn is also a great big sister. So often she will proactively do nice things for her brother. The other day we were waiting in the car and Emmett started to get frustrated and she immediately started to explain to him why we were in the car and when that didn't work she just made funny faces to make him laugh. She constantly giving him hugs and kisses too. Today I was lucky enough to get this quick snapshot of the two of them as they were playing choo-choo train. They travelled all across the floor like. I wish I had thought of putting them on a towel so they could clean at the same time!

First Day of School!

2010-09-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Showing a little 'sass'

Today was Alexandra's first day of preschool. Of course last week she was starting to get nervous and saying she didn't want to go, she would be bored, she had no friends etc... After a shopping spree for new clothes, a lunch box and some time with Mommy telling school stories she was a little more excited by today. A quick visit to the hairdresser and she was ready to go. Daddy was having a hard time accepting that his little girl is getting big too.

Here are some pictures of her first day.

Mom snuck in this picture

Walking to the car so we can finally go

Waiting for the door to open!

Waitress of the house

2010-09-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Another recent conversation:
A: Mom, can I have some rice and curry with my noodles?
M: I'll get it in just a few minutes.
A: Why not now?
M: Because I'm not a waitress and I'm eating too.
A: What's a waitress?
M: The person at a restaurant who brings your food and waits on you.
A: But Mom, you're the waitress of this house!

So true my little one. So true. Hopefully she'll be a good tipper!

Surfcamp

2010-08-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

Ready to head out!

This weekend I went to surfcamp, which I had to reschedule after breaking my toe on July 4th. Since Josh had a bachelor party to attend the kids came with me. Luckily Winnie and Patrick were able to join us so the kids were in good hands while I was being beaten by the ocean.

The first day we got there we headed to the beach just to look around, meaning I didn't pack up towels or extra clothes. As soon as we got near the water Emmett got so excited I couldn't keep him out of it. The kids played in the water and got soaked, then played on the beach and got super sandy. Can you think of a way to have more fun???

Wet clothes but still she's not cold

Emmett after the cold water got to him

Trying to climb out of a sand pit

Sand!

Old Lady

2010-08-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Another recent conversation with Alexandra in the car.

A: Mommy, have you been to heaven?

M: No honey, once you go to heaven you can't come back.

A: Oh. Mommy, how old will I be when you die?

M: You'll be an old lady.

A: Yeah. I think I'll be twelve and a half.

M: What do you think you'll be when you're twelve and a half?

A: I'll be a rock star!!!!

short pause

A: Mom, what do rock stars do?

M: Well, they usually play music and sing.

A: Yeah, I'm going to play the guitar. I'll play it really fast too!

Her first career choice several months back was cleaning lady so there is definitely a diverse interest here...

A Geocaching Adventure

2010-08-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

In Sunriver we started geo-caching after talking about this for years. Geo-caching is a treasure hunt where you have GPS coordinates and the objective is to find the "treasure". Here are some pictures from our latest day of geo-caching where we ultimately found 5 caches!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Bragging

2010-08-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

A recent evening conversation between Mom and Alexandra, although this entire paragraph is Alexandra just talking. This isn't uncommon...

A; Mom, I'm beautiful. You're beautiful too but not as beautiful as me which means you're just a teensie bit uglier. I'm not trying to brag mom. If I was bragging I would say "ha ha I'm prettier than you". I'm not trying to brag but I'm just a little more beautiful than you.

Hmmm. Well two years ago we were worried about her self esteem and now it could be dialed down a bit. I'm sure school will take care of that.

A lesson in Economics

2010-08-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Weekends tend to have a few routines in them, one of which is Sunday Market (the local farmers market). Every Sunday she asks for cheesy popcorn which we then take home and it's barely consumed. When the neighborhood garage sale came I decided I would teach her a lesson in money management. I gave her $4 which she could use to buy her popcorn or she could buy something at one of the garage sales.
As we went from neighbor to neighbor the only thing she wanted to get was a lemonade from the lemonade stand. She spent the quarter. Later that afternoon we were hanging out with one of the neighbors and she finally found the one thing she wanted to spend money on. A pair of earrings for me. They're dangly ones which I generally NEVER wear but these I can't help but wear with a smile.
Amazingly she's been saving her $4 every week and saving up for Poppy's Pony Adventure. Thanks to a recent sale and some extra money from great grandma and great grandpa lindeen she has been able to get it. I'm so proud of my little saver girl.

Train Table

2010-08-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the recent neighborhood garage sale we managed to score a train table and some great tracks. Emmett loves all things that look like cars, trucks and trains. It's apparently built into the male genetics so even though he's not quite got the concept of keeping the tracks together he seems to enjoy it. Alexandra loves it too and has accepted that the train game is often interrupted by the attack of Godzilla (aka Emmett).

More Jeep Fun

2010-08-08T20:50:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the small size but the full size is just too big to upload

Getting the Jeep

2010-08-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

After Alexandra's party we had a little BBQ with family and this is where Alexandra got her gifts (the kid party was once again a gift free event). We also didn't want the Jeep to be received prior to or at the kid party. We parked it out back and gave Alexandra another clue envelope. Here is her reaction to getting the one thing she's been wanting for almost two years.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Alexandra's Birthday

2010-08-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

This year we did a slightly different spin on Alexandra's birthday. First of all we decided to do something at the house so we limited the number of kid invites to 4 which caused a constant prioritization exercise for Alexandra. Given that we wanted to do some games we also kept all the kids in the same age range so they could follow the instructions. Since then I've learned that this isn't necessarily true for all 4 year olds so some of the games didn't work out. Hippos in the mud (think musical chairs but adjusted for the jungle theme) was a little too complex for some. The scavenger hunt however was a big success. We also got to decorate jungle hats and snakes and of course some free play time too.
Although Alexandra had seen some of the items for her birthday we kept the jungle animal decorations hidden until she went down for a nap. She was so excited when she came downstairs! Overall I think the party was a big success. Next year I would be quite willing to spend the money to have everyone go somewhere else!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Emmett 15 month Check Up

2010-07-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

Once again a great check up. Emmett is doing well and immediately recognized the nurse who gives shots. Immediate crying as she touched him even though she was just weighing him. Two shots this time and unfortunately they no longer split up the MMR vaccine so that'll put a kink in our vaccination plan for a while.

This months stats:

Weight: 20.8 lbs (7 %)

Height: 30 inches (25%)

Head: 19.5 (95%)

The kids really enjoy each other's company and the majority of the time they play together so well. Sometimes when one is snuggling in our bed in the morning and then the other joins I know sleep is over because the second they see each other they start giggling and having fun. I'm really glad they've bonded and hope it continues through their school age years!

Classic Moments

2010-07-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

As Alexandra snuggles up in bed at 5am.
A: Mama, I put on my monkey underpants.
Me: Ok
A: I think monkeys are cool, that's why.
Me: Uh, ok.

Sunriver Vacation

2010-07-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Hello dear neglected readers!

After a week of vacation, a broken toe (after vacation) and some other extra curricular work activites I finally have a little time to focus on my blog again. Does this seem like a reoccuring thing to you too??

As I mentioned we had a recent vacation to Sunriver where we were joined by Oma, Opa, Tante Jacqueline, Uncle Adam, Naomi and Julia (her cousins). The three girls had a blast playing together. I really appreciate that they get along well. As for the rest of us, I think it was nice to be in a beautiful location and be mellow. We spent one day floating the river, we went pony riding one day, there was a little family birthday party at the outdoor bouncy house and even a geo-caching excursion. Overall a great time. All the pictures are on Flickr but below are some of the better ones.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

It's never too early

2010-06-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Making pancakes with mom...

College Fund

2010-06-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

The other day Alexandra came over and nicely asked for scissors to cut the string on Emmett's balloon. Three minutes later I look over and notice that the entire balloon is cut into pieces. Of course since this isn't her balloon there are consequences and I tell her she can either give up her birthday balloon or she can pull $4 out of her piggie bank to buy Emmett a new balloon. She starts to cry as though I've taken her first born and says "But Mom, we're saving for my college!".

And just for the record, although I made her go through the motions of taking out the money I did put it back into her piggie bank when she wasn't watching. She picked out a nice silver balloon for Emmett the next day and peace was restored.

Strawberry Thief!

2010-06-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

There's not much that Emmett loves more than a strawberry. Since the amazing Oregon strawberries are here we have plenty on hand. Apparently Emmett couldn't wait...

Shopping

2010-06-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

A recent trip to the coolest neighborhood toy store. Emmett seems to have it down...