Torgesen Family Times

Snow!

2012-01-30T08:08:00.000-08:00

We had some snow around here recently, about 10” in fact! Alex was in heaven and this was the first time Sara was walking and had opinions about things. Alex LOVES the snow. Sara, not so much. She would stay out in it until her hands touched too much snow, and then she was done.

The power went out for 12-18 hours and our generator worked perfectly. We had our gas heat, gas water heater and gas stove to keep us comfy.

Cabin progress

2012-01-27T07:05:00.000-08:00

It’s been a long time since I last updated on the cabin, and so much has been done. So, here we go -

We have the boat structure up and the boat is in it – being protected from the elements as we speak (and apparently storage for some wood).

The cabin is up and level, sided, the door and windows are on/in, the roof is done, the stairs up to the cabin are up, all it’s major pieces are put together and done! There is so much left to be done, but it’s great to recognize how far we’ve come. Lance was sweating the roof for a few weeks with the rains coming in November and the roof not finished yet, but we made it! There was only a few minor rains before the roof was done…

We have yet to paint the outside (the yellow color is the primer) and the door. We also hope (someday) to put on a small deck surrounding the front of the cabin, by the door, and to the left of the house facing the fire pit.

This is what the inside looks like right now. We have a lot of work to do here. Electrical, insulation, walls, paint, floor, furniture, bedding and an outhouse. That doesn’t seem like too much, right? Well, the good part is that we are in no rush and we can take our time (except the outhouse which needs to be done first thing this Spring/Summer).

We bought some twin mattresses (the only size that will fit up the pull-down ladder up to the loft area) and put them up in the loft. We’ve used the cabin a few times in September, once in October as a whole family and Lance and Alex did one time in November by themselves. But, with no insulation and only a space heater, it was pretty cold I guess. We’re waiting for it to warm up in late Spring to stay down there again.

We plan on getting a couple more twin beds for the loft area to make a nice sleeping area up there for all of us. Downstairs is planned to have a hide-a-bed couch (for extra sleeping space), some furniture for storage and a table & chairs.

We are so excited for this Summer to spend many weekends down at the beach in our cabin. We hope to have many friends and family join us!

Kids playing with glow sticks up in the loft.

and two happy, lucky cabin kids

It’ almost looks like what we imagined last summer before anything was built!

Sara pig-tails

2012-01-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

I’ve been patiently waiting for this day to arrive, when her hair is long enough to get into pig-tails (and when she’ll let me). That day finally arrived! It lasted a good half a day, but a glorious half a day it was!

So cute!

Ear tubes for Sara

2012-01-25T07:38:00.000-08:00

After 6 months and 6 ear infections – we were ready!

Ear tubes worked perfectly for Alex and we were ready for some miracles with Sara’s ears. There is nothing wrong with her ears, it’s just the Eustachian tubes are so small and relatively flat in young kids. For some kids, it makes it so they get recurrent ear infections that impact quality of life, the vast majority have no problems at all. In time, as they grow, kids grow out of this stage. Just like Alex did. He had his tubes removed this summer and hasn’t had any problems since.

It was an early Christmas present for Mom and Dad – these little tubes.

First, we get to the hospital and “Bobo” the monkey gets a bracelet too, just like Sara. And then you get this lovely gown and “one size fits none” socks that don’t stay on (very long). Sara was calm and her usual happy self through all of this. I don’t know if it was because of this calmness, they didn’t give her any of the valium like relaxer that they gave Alex prior to surgery. But, no matter – she didn’t need it. How different two kids can be boggles the mind sometimes!

Some quiet snuggles with Dad and Mom before the procedure and before you know it – it was her time to go. We were the first surgery of the day and we were ready.

I asked, once again, to be able to take my child back to the OR and get her comfortable. They agreed to let me go back and I got all doo-ded up. I took her back to the operating room and she was calm as I laid her down on the table. They placed the mask over her face and allowed her to breathe the gas. She didn’t really like this, so I helped hold it there. It only took a few breaths and she was out. They escorted me out, I thanked them for allowing me the opportunity to do this as it is so much better for me and her. Otherwise, they would take her from us and she would start crying/screaming and be put to sleep that way. This way, she sees my face back there and goes to sleep seeing my calm face.

It was literally like – 6 minutes – before the surgeon came out and said her surgery was done and it went well. She had an ear infection at the time and placed the tubes in her ear drums. We had to wait a bit longer for her to get out of recovery (~20 minutes) and then we got to see our sweet baby.

She was calm and just wanted to snuggle and said very clearly “purple” when asked what color of popsicle she wanted. In fact, after she scarfed that one down, she asked for another purple popsicle. And some juice.

When Alex came back to us after recovery for his ear tube surgery, it was a whole different story. He was crying and hysterical. It took a good 10 minutes to calm him down. How different two kids can be.

Another thing I really appreciate about Children’s is they allow the kid’s stuffed animals back with them, so it was comforting to know that Bobo was going to be there when she woke up in recovery, but we weren’t there yet.

We were getting ready to get outta there – changed her clothes back to her pj’s - And then was the time for a full out breakdown. Fall down on the floor, screaming, no reason/logic, no cuddle, no nothing… except the warm blanket on the floor for a few minutes.

Then, perfectly fine again and ready to go home. You never know how surgery is going to affect you, but after we got home it was a pretty normal day for her. Not overly groggy, just wanted to play and eat/drink, and play some more.

The best part is that they ear tubes appear to be working really well. She’s had ~3 colds already and no ear infections (knock on wood).

Yeah ear tubes!

Christmas

2012-01-24T07:27:00.000-08:00

Gosh, I feel so behind in my blogging. Things have been busy, for sure. Well, better late than never….

Sara helped pick out the tree, Alex was at Grandma Sandy’s and Papa Tebe’s making a present for Mom and Dad (a hand carved ice cream scoop)

Sara helping Dad put up the tree (without pants – that’s how she rolls sometimes!)

We decorated with jingle bells, snowflakes and bead candy canes again this year – a hit with the jingle bells.

We had a reindeer visit us for a little bit

And the big morning – Alex was SO excited. He woke us up ~ 7:10 AM and I had to go get the camera set up before he could come downstairs. He saw the unwrapped Santa presents and went right for something that was “iPad” shaped thinking that he was getting one.

Sorry kid, no go.

It was glow in the dark stars for his bedroom ceiling. But, can’t blame a kid for wishing….

Next on to the biggest box – a globe. Has been a huge hit!

Sara even “got” unwrapping the presents and after a little help starting unwrapping – she could rip into them like a pro.

One of Alex’s favorite gifts was the whole Toy Story crew (like the movie). Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and Bullseye. And they talk when you pull their string!

Officially Woody and Buzz are Alex’s and Jessie and Bullseye are Sara’s, but they have been doing OK at sharing. Not perfect, but OK. We’ve had a lot of “yahoo”s and “ye-ha”s at our house lately!

Sara got a new “big kid” helmet for riding this year!

And Santa delivered, not a blue batman scooter like requested, but a blue razor scooter (like Mickey’s that we borrowed when we were in San Diego). This kid is a master scooter rider!

Not only a scooter, but a “real” BIG KID skate board too – I wonder who the kid here is….

We had family over for Christmas dinner and Grandma Sandy and Sara were busy making the salad with pomegranate seeds, she was eating them up!

Papa Tebe and Alex were busy drawing dinosaurs – a BIG hit!

Sara liked her drawing pad and pencil too!

Grandpa Dave was asking Alex to explain what “Angry Birds” is. Alex was good at explaining his strategy. When Alex was first learning about this game, he would ask Grandma Connie and Lance what their “strategy” was – what a big word!

All in all – a very good Christmas.

San Diego, rest of the trip

2012-01-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

After days 3-4, we needed some rest time. We stayed at the beach, played at a playground and hung around.

The next BIG thing was Disneyland! Alex was so excited to see Mickey Mouse, the REAL Mickey Mouse. That is pretty much all he wanted to do there. Although, I felt like I had one more kid on this trip – a big kid. Lance wanted to go on Star Tours, Lance wanted to go on this ride, that ride and just on one more, then we can go see Mickey Mouse. Well, at lunch time, after much breakdowns, we finally were able to go find Mickey. And there was a 20 minute line….

There were some lessons learned on this Disney trip…

1) get a hotel there, even though you are only staying 1 hour away.

2) go in the morning, let you and your kids have a break mid-day (in said hotel) and come back in afternoon/evening

3) otherwise, suffer the consequences of your parental decisions…

4) have lots of patience, the lines were MUCH longer than LEGOLAND and 4 year olds don’t understand lines (let alone 15-20 minute lines)

We had some tired kids on our hands. Even though we did very little the day before and tried to “rest up”, the kids were tired and cranky after all the travel and all the places we were going. We probably should’ve gone earlier in the week. Let’s just say this was an expensive ~6 hours at Disneyland.

At one point before lunch (~11 am) we wondered if we should leave the park, drive the kids around so they could nap and come back. Instead, we decided to break for lunch early at 11:00 and see what happened. If things got better, then we would power through knowing we would only make it to ~ 3:30 or 4:00 pm. Or if things were still bad after an (expensive) lunch – then, we would leave and try plan B.

Lunch seemed to do the trick and we powered through. The highlights were Tarzan’s tree house, storm troupers and of course Mickey. Lance liked the rides he went on. I only went on Space Mountain with Alex and he was so scared since it’s an all in the dark rollercoaster ride. Sara’s highlights were riding on Daddy’s shoulders for the best view in the whole place!

All in all – we probably won’t be going back any time soon…

expensive, crowded….

After the Disney fiasco breakdowns, we decided to just stay at the beach the rest of our time. We got some good family photos, with all of us in it at the same time. We played on the beach with Grandma Connie in the water, admired the BEAUTIFUL sunsets, surfed some more with cousin Mickey, played video games at Mickey’s house, played Angry Birds together with Mickey (Mickey is a favorite person in this house), and then, as fast as we arrived, we were on our way home. The airplane was a hit with both kids. Sara still talks about it all the time.

We had a splendid time and can’t wait to get back!

“see Mom – I want to surf like this”

Alex actually did get up surfing one time – he was so excited! And then he fell (he thinks real surfers don’t fall) and was pretty scared/cold. Grandpa T. rescued him right away, but it shook his confidence for a little while.

But, after a little warm up – he was back at it!

One of the best parts was Mickey was there too!

And Mickey loved playing Angry Birds as much as Alex did – and showed him some new tips/tricks.

On our way home – weighing ourselves for the fun of it!

San Diego, Day 3 and 4

2012-01-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

Days 3 and 4 of our San Diego trip were great, we were feeling rested and ready to explore! LEGOLAND was a mere 10 minutes away from where we were staying, so naturally – we went!

It was great for little kids, but not too little. They were strict on height and age requirements, which meant Alex could go mostly on everything, and Sara could only go on a few things. The good news is that Sara, being an easy going toddler who really didn’t care about going ON the rides, made it easy and just had a fun time being around her. Alex had a BLAST! He loved it! There were basically no lines, no wait times at all, you just got right on. The park was easy to navigate.

Alex’s favorite of all favorites was the roller coasters. He loved them and probably went 10 times. Sara’s favorite was the bins of Legos!

The stroller was a hit – Alex loved riding on the back where they have a stand where “big kids” can rest a bit from walking. Sara snoozed away comfortably when it was her time to nap while we were out at LEGOLAND. This was her first day taking a nap at the park while out and about, so it took a bit of walking around, but it finally worked and she had a good 1+ hour nap. Which is good for out and about naps. My plans for the stroller on the trip worked perfectly.

The next day we took the Coaster down to San Diego and Lance, Alex and Grandpa T. went to the aircraft carrier and Connie, myself and Sara went shopping at a village by the water right downtown. We all had a great time, no pictures except for the Coaster ride (aka train or choo-choo ride!). The kids loved the “real” train ride! And we did too, since it’s so convenient!

San Diego trip, days one and two

2012-01-03T07:33:00.000-08:00

We are all better now, thank you. Sara had another ear infection, then got ear tubes (finally! all went well, more later), then we all got the stomach flu. It was a rough couple of weeks around this house. But, with a little R&R, we are all better and the ear tubes have been doing their jobs.

I’m finally getting back to my San Diego photos and have days one and two to show you.

The kids were so excited about the airport and the airplane. They had their backpacks packed with toys for the airplane and they were ready! Once again the airport playground was magnificent!

We arrived in San Diego after a non-eventful, yet toy filled airplane ride. We were worried since Sara had an infection and was on antibiotics. We were thinking she might have some ear problems with going up/down. But, it was actually Alex whose ears hurt a bit going down. A lovely fellow airplane mate gave him some gum to chew and that solved the problem right away. We arrived and got to our rental car and drove about 30 minutes to Oceanside. During this time both kids slept, since they both hadn’t slept on the plane.

The beach was beautiful! The sun was shining and we had to adjust our eyes for a day or so to this bright sun. It was glorious!

We went walking on the pier and Sara was a little unsure of those cracks and proceeded to walk very carefully! She loved her “I-goo” (Owl) lovey this entire vacation and carried her around most places. We saw pelicans galore on the pier – so cool to see up close (but not too close!).

We played on the beach and felt the warm sand in our toes. The ocean was cold, but you could get used to it. The warm sun on your skin made up for all the cold water.

Once Alex knew there was a thing called “surfing” or “boogey boarding” – he wanted to do it. Connie’s grandkids wetsuits to the rescue! We fit Alex up just right and out he went into the water! He got right out there and loved it! He did it until he got too cold and wanted to just come in a be warm again.

Sara’s favorite thing was the sand and she loved tasting it too! That made for some “rough” times later on…

A nice warm up on the deck facing the beach with some snacks will do just the trick, for all.

Sick around here

2011-12-19T16:39:00.001-08:00

First Sara had another ear infection

Then Sara caught the stomach bug going around

Then she had ear tube surgery today, which went really well.

She's almost back to her normal self.

Now Lance and I aren't feeling good and we're hoping we didn't catch the same stomach bug (at the same time).

We won't be posting anything until we all get better.

San Diego Sunshine

2011-12-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed 9 days of sun-filled San Diego sunshine, and just for good measure – the last day of pure So-Cal rain (just to get us used to coming back to Seattle).

I still have yet to get ALL the photos onto my computer (coming soon!), so I’ll just post a taste from my iPhone. In reverse order of occurrence….

When you have so many bags to carry through the airport and you just want to get home, you have to ask your preschooler to be a big kid and push your toddler in the stroller. It wasn’t easy, since he can’t really see over the top, but he did it! We are so thankful and proud of him. Literally, we had too many bags to carry and were too determined to get one of those carts.

Sara wanted to sit on Alex’s lap during take off and look outside, they were so cute!

The airport was much more fun with stickers….. ummmm….. everywhere….

We enjoyed walking on the Oceanside pier and did the long walk many times. I bought this stroller from a friend of a friend, and so thankful we did! It was great! Sara loved riding in it and it was very easy to get around. It also had a cool preschooler standing ledge on the back where Alex loved to ride when he got “tired”.

This is how Sara loved to lounge around…

Alex found a new love this trip, Angry birds the iPad game. Oh my gosh! He loves getting stars and opening levels. Who knew he would be addicted? How do you wean a 4 1/2 year old off of Angry Birds… we’re about to find out!

Sara and Alex loved sitting at the counter at the condo. They ate breakfast, lunch and dinner there.

Alex went to the Animal park with Dad and Grandpa – our cute little gorilla!

Sara loved the beach. We would ask her if she wanted to go to the beach and she would shake her head yes, and say “beach”. She loved having her toes in the sand and she ate a fair bit of it too!

This was Sara’s favorite ride at Disneyland…

All Alex wanted to do at Disneyland was see Mickey Mouse – and that we did!

Legoland was fun and very nice. Not crowded at all like Disneyland, but there was a lot less things for Sara to do there. The height restrictions were pretty tight and they were checking….

Alex had a blast at Legoland and he could go on most everything. Here – we were going on an airplane ride. There were almost no lines at all on anything… it was great!

Again – walking on the pier was a really fun activity. We saw many pelicans and surfers. This was Alex’s favorite ride!

And, last but not least – the view from Grandma and Grandpa’s condo! Right on the beach.

A bonus pic – a sunset

Candy stripers

2011-12-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

I’ve got two candy stripers at my house this holiday season…

Peppermint

and

Spearmint

Wiggle Worms

2011-11-30T07:49:00.000-08:00

We signed Sara up for the beloved Wiggle Worms at a local gymnastics gym and have had 2 sessions already. She definitely has a different personality than Alex, and we wondered what it would be like with her.

She absolutely loved it!

It took her a little bit to get to go on the trampoline, but after that – she was off! Loved the foam blocks, the bath of balls, and loved the rings. We have a wiggle worm on our hands!

Reading a book

2011-11-28T07:42:00.000-08:00

Apparently you can sometimes get so tired when reading a book, that you just have to lay down…

Raindrops and sunshine

2011-11-23T07:56:00.000-08:00

I have not been blogging as much as I usually do. Things have been extremely busy and it has been difficult for me to sit down and do this. There are so many reasons for this:

First lack of time to take pictures, let alone download them, edit and get them ready for the blog. I have not had my usual inner motivation on this.

Second, the late Fall / early winter “light” just is difficult to work with. I have to get out my flash if I want to take any inside pictures because it’s dark as night in here. Outside is just rainy and wet. I’m having a difficult time thinking the next ~6 months are going to be this way, or worse – colder and wetter. I think I need a vacation in February… hint… hint… somewhere warm and sunny. Anywhere – warm and sunny. Anywhere.

Third, my work life has been b.u.s.y. Good busy, thank goodness it’s ending soon busy, but extremely busy. I’ve been learning a lot and have done some good work. But, it has been challenging. With traveling 3 times in October and a big project that was high profile and not going well at first, my October was shot. Here is to December looking better work wise.

Fourth, I’ve been trying to take care of myself in all of this and have really started to step up my workouts. I’ve started yoga at 6 AM, first going once a week, now trying twice a week. It’s been OK to get up that early, and I love the yoga, but it sure does make me want to go to bed earlier, hence no time for photos/blogging, etc. I have been doing Zumba 2 times a week, or so, and have been loving it. So much fun! But, all this leaves a tired Mama at the end of the day/week.

And Last, but not least - Sara has been sick. Ear infections, fevers, snotty, and now the croup. Which will most likely lead to another ear infection because of all the mucus/snot in her nose and throat. Ear tubes are hopefully coming soon, which should help A LOT. But, this has been difficult.

To try and remedy all this – this past weekend was cold, but sunny. I just caught this wonderful light in the morning, with the rain drops on the trees and it just made everything feel OK.

I’m thankful for moments like this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November garden

2011-11-17T07:45:00.000-08:00

Sick little Sara

2011-11-14T07:48:00.000-08:00

No fun when you have a fever and don’t feel good – no fun at all! Sara had another ear infection this past week, two days at home with Mom and Dad.

First day was Doctor appointment and first doses of antibiotics, sleepy and just wanted to lay around, not wanting to eat and not wanting to take Tylenol or any medicine. Second day home was party time, antibiotics were kicked in, and it was Mom and Dad all alone to play, party, play all day. She couldn’t go to preschool that day since she had a fever the day before.

Needless to say, we have the ENT(ear nose and throat doctor) appointment scheduled with Children’s Hospital, after 4 ear infections in ~ 4-5 months (and during the summer months, which is not usual). In the month waiting for the appointment (ENT is very hard to get in to see them), we are expecting another. Then, in the month to schedule the surgery, another one.

No fun to have to go through all of this, but ear tubes were a miracle with Alex and we are hoping for the same with Sara.

Sara is watching a cartoon in these pictures below, and fell asleep not long into it. It feels better to sleep leaning up, since laying down flat hurts your ears when you have a bad ear infection.

Wish us luck, another ~ 2 months to wait, but the light at the end of the tunnel (sleep, kid without ear infections) is priceless.

Little Girl

2011-11-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

There is a moment, when you see a picture of your own child, after seeing so many of photos of them already, and realize that she is not a baby anymore, but a little girl. That moment is in these pictures below.

She’s so big looking when she wears jeans. She loves her boots and her matching purple coat right now. She’s very interested in everything around her and says “That” and wants you to name it. That, point…. that, point… that, point…. She is interested in colors and the names of colors, obviously purple is one of her favorites right now. But, she LOVES yellow. She also loves Legos – which surprisingly sounds an awful lot like the word yellow when she says it. You have to know the context to tell the difference between yellow (color) and yellow (lego). She is talking up a storm and absorbing language daily. She is so much fun!

I remember this moment well with Alex, when he was about the same age, and when I look at it now - he looks so little.

Firefighter pancakes

2011-11-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

Every year the firefighters put on a safety fair where they cook up some pancakes and talk to kids (and parents) about safety. There is everything from “change your fire detector batteries”, to electrical safety, to how to turn off your water/gas, to power outage recommendations, etc.

We go every year and it is so much fun. The kids get to see “real” firefighters, climb all over fire trucks and this year was the highlight of them ALL!

Learning how to put out a fire (uhhh… can you say a 4 1/2 year olds dream come true!). Seriously, they started a fire and taught the kids how to use a fire extinguisher. The fire fighters were so wonderful with the kids and taught them how to do everything, yell for 911, take the pin out, aim and pull the trigger. Alex got a really big kick out of it.

Sara was just a little 6 month old baby last time, and the year before that was in uteruo. So, this time around she made sure to do some climbing and exploring of all the fire trucks. No putting out fires this time, but watch out next year!

Pumpkin wash

2011-11-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

Instead of a car wash, we had a pumpkin wash!

It’s a really fun thing to do to get your pumpkins ready for carving. The kids loved it! This is the first year we’ve done something like this before, and I’m sure we’ll do it again!

Just get some warm soapy water, two scrubbers and some pumpkins (and two eager kiddos) and you’re set!

I feel confident is saying, that our pumpkins are the cleanest on the block this year!

Basketball

2011-11-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic time playing soccer with the Kirkland Parks and Rec, Alex loved it! So, when Lance saw a advertisement for Basketball with the same league – he signed him up without even talking to me.

It starts in January and I’m really hoping that Lance coaches the team. He loves Basketball and I think he would really be good at it. It’s not really about Basketball, anyways. It’s more about learning a bit about Basketball, but more about confidence and trying (for the kids). It’s about enjoying the kids at this age, assuring everyone gets a turn, and most important – having fun (for the adults). Everyone will have a chance, everyone will get cheers, it will be so fun!

So, when Alex heard this – that he would be playing Basketball – he immediately wanted to get started practicing. He got out his hoop and ball, we pumped them up so they would bounce properly and we were at it!

We had so much fun – Sara got to make baskets, Mama and Dada got to play defense (which Alex loved!). Alex made baskets. We talked about dribbling the ball, and he would say things like “Mama – look at my juggling (dribbling)!”, not quite understanding what we were saying about bouncing the ball. I would just love this, of course, and now I call it juggling too.

It was a wonderful Fall weekend day and we took full advantage of it!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

Here are my little Trick-Or-Treaters! Happy Halloween!

We had fun dressing up in every costume that we have. We had a “fashion show” where we put on all the costumes and I took pictures of each of them in each costume.

Wonder Woman

Captain America

Monkey

Super Alex

Mr. Incredible

Batman (from last year)

Super Girl!

Boots

2011-10-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Sara loves her boots! She goes out to the shoe bins and picks these out to wear and brings them to us to put them on. All the while saying, boots, boots, boots. She’s trying to put them on herself, which sometimes she can do all by herself.

I saw these at consignment and could not pass them up, I mean, come on! Purple rain boots! No way! Done!

Pumpkin patch

2011-10-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

So much fun!

Sara’s 18 months stats

2011-10-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

We’ve got a girl who is off the charts! (surprise!)

35” tall (~125th%)

24 lbs 8 oz (75th%)

And looking so grown up all of a sudden. She nods “yes” when I ask her a question. Sometimes when she’s really tired (before her official bedtime) and I ask her if she wants to go to bed, she nods yes, whimpers a bit, and says “night-night”. A sure sign of a tired girl. Her favorite food is still banana.

I had to buy her some new clothes lately, 18mo was too tight and more like a half shirt that always showed her belly button and was too tight to put over her head. 2T size was not much better. So, 3T it is! I bought her some new pjs (size 3T), knowing they would probably be baggy for a bit. They FIT! She’s 18 months old, this is crazy! But, 3T it is, for shirts and pj’s at least! We have to roll up the sleeves a bit, but the rest fits just fine. She’s still in 2T pants, thank goodness. 3T would fit her, but they are just too long. It’s amazing to look ahead like that (and know how this goes, having gone through it with Alex). The only real difference from 2T to 3T is in height (or length) of pant legs or shirt arms. Their little bodies just start stretching up and up and up.

She is letting her personality shine at preschool and has come out of her shell. She has friends, likes her teachers, loves having her brother at the same school, and is generally happy and smiley. It does take her quite a while to warm up to people, but once she does, she is connected. We had a date night not long ago and she went to play with Nanny Melanie and Renee. I said we were going to see Melanie and Nay-nay on the drive over, so she could get excited. When Melanie opened the door – she ran and gave her the BIGGEST hug! It was so heartwarming! And she didn’t let go for a long time! She missed them so much. We are going to make a point for her to seem them from time to time, it is very important to us.

She is still (mostly) so easy going, although she does have her rough times (don’t we all!). She is getting to be a little dare-devil, just like brother (learning from brother?). But, she has a different way about it. She’ll climb up on the coffee table and wait for you to come and get close enough (comfortable distance enough) for her to “jump” off and into our arms. Alex was such a dare-devil he would climb up, and leap before you even could possibly think what he was going to do.

Her hair is getting pretty long and I bought some clips to keep the hair out of her eyes. Lance asked, why don’t we just cut it? I quickly said to get that nasty though right out of his mind and never bring it up again! She’s a girl and we’re going to let her hair (glorious curls and all) grow for quite a while, thank you.

She knows so many words now and understands so much! I ask her questions, tell her things (like take this toy and put it in the basket, and she knows what that means) and she understands most of it, it seems. She has a large vocabulary, like body parts (eyes, ears, nose, chin, cheeks, knee, toes, fingers, belly button, hair, feet, and the cutest one of all – elbow. She can very easily tell me if she wants more food (mo’) or milk (mil) or if she’s all done. Her favorite word right now by far is brother (brudder). Every night when we are going to sleep, we say night night to everyone.

She started this herself… I have just followed.

Night night brother. Night night Dada. Night night Mama. Night night Bella. Night night Rock.

We often include others, like grandmas and grandpas, grass and soccer balls, playgrounds and friends, teachers and stars, the moon and stuffed animals (“Bobo” the monkey, bear, teddy, owl, and “Moo” the cow).

There is just so much I can write about her, but I will stop for now.

XOXO

Washington, D.C.

2011-10-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

I had an opportunity while traveling for a work conference to do a bit of site-seeing – Washington DC is so cool! I can’t wait to take the kids there when they’re older. The White House is not as big as you would think. Pretty cool! I took a big circle walking from downtown to the White House, around to the WWII memorial, the new MLK memorial, the Lincoln, Vietnam memorials. Whew! It’s a longer walk then you would think – by the end of my walk I was so thirsty and had probably walked 4-5 miles!

North White House

South Lawn – White House

The Washington monument is HUGE and you can see it above everything in the city.

I made a point to see the new Martin Luther King Memorial and WOW – it is amazing! Especially in these times with wars, injustices, human rights issues, etc.

Behind the sculpture of MLK is all these sayings he said – I particularly liked this one.

“I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world.” California 1967

Just take out Vietnam and replace it with Iraq/Afghanistan…

and of course – the Lincoln memorial is Grand. Stunning. Amazing!

The reflecting pool is being renovated and is all torn up, someday I want to see it full with water.

The Vietnam Memorial is so elegant and subtle. It looks so plain until you walk by it and see all the 59,000 names… and then it hits you. Being a mother now sure has changed the way it struck me. Last time I saw this I was pregnant with Alex, but he was still in my tummy…

I saw the most amazing sunsets going back and forth across the country outside the window of my plane.