joy

Joy: Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness

These kids just bring so much joy to our lives.  Where does the time go?  I wish I knew.  I'd bottle it up.  It's just that precious.

These pictures were taken on Easter, last year.

Graham, the week he was born.  We're so blessed to soon be celebrating his first Easter.

Graham. The day we brought him home. October 13, 2010

sous chef

Sweet baby Graham always accompanies me during dinner prep.  You can find him in the jumper, on the play mat slobbering all over a toy, or in his Bumbo seat on the counter.  The counter is his favorite spot.  He loves the view and is always intrigued at the impeccable meals I pull off.  Insert pat on the back. I know, the directions explicitly say, "do not put seat on counter as a dangerous fall could occur".  Ok, but I once saw in the directions of a stroller, "remove baby before folding stroller".  Really?  Do we need these warnings? Well, I may have seen a person or two while waiting at the Department of Licensing that needed a few "extra" instructions.  I'm moving on....let's not get into this topic.  However, I will tell you that I have not experienced a baby falling off of a counter under my supervision. I'm 3 for 3.

"You're really not making me eat all of that broccoli and cauliflower, are you?"

 Cold and frozen.  Come on lower incisors!!!

We also had a package waiting on our doorstep.  A shipment from Diapers.com.  Our favorite delivery service, "delivering everything but the baby!".  The kids love opening packages and popping the air bags inside.  They also love crawling into these boxes.  Tonight,  the special delivery decided she didn't want to get out of the box and eat dinner.  So, being clever parents........we found another way.

"You can't make me eat that!". 

words to remember

These kids continually amuse me with their thoughts and toddler words.

Grace

"I want make-up syrup on my oatmeal".  (maple syrup)

"I want to stomp in the muddle puddles."  

While watching our wedding video, she asks, "Did you have a wedding with daddy so you could get baby Graham?"  (Still uneasy about how her mental rolodex is working.)

She recently walked William to a time-out by his hand and counted to 10 before she "allowed" him to emerge.  In which case she asked, "Are you ready to be nice to mommy now?".

She wanted to go to Nana & Papa's house but I knew they weren't home so I told her there wouldn't be anyone there to take care of her.  She replies, "But you could be Nana and stay there!".  Brilliant!!!

She spent the night at Nana & Papa's house last week and I called during the day to talk to my mom.  My mom later told me that as the phone was ringing Grace was telling her, "if it's my mom, I'm not here!". 

Grace has always called breasts, "moles".  When she first saw Graham breastfeeding, she asked, "Why is baby Graham chewing on your moles?'   (This one still makes me laugh.)

William

As I'm counting the infamous "1-2-3" to get him to come back to the kitchen so I can wipe his hands off after a snack, I get to "2" and he jumps out from behind the door and yells, "3!". 

I'm giving him a kiss and a hug before bedtime tonight and he tells me he "doesn't want a hug right now".  So, we kiss night-night and then he proceeds to wipe it off his lips as he turns and walks upstairs. 

My feet are "doody".  (dirty)

The kid won't say the word "water".  Forget it.  He has always said "agua".  Always.  We will be travelling across the 520 bridge and we will say, "Hey kids, this is Lake Washington".  He repeats, "wake agua".  I'll ask if he wants coconut water. He replies, "yes, coconut agua".  It's crazy.  When asked if he wants milk or water he always answers, "agua peez.". 

a boy and his pup

I love these 2 boys and I love the times I see them together.  Koby tolerating William's shenanigans.  These moments don't come often as Koby isn't your "typical" Lab.  When Koby sees one of the kids walk into the room it goes something like this:  eyes open wide, eyes twitch to and fro watching every toddler movement, slight growl, get up and move on with a slightly louder growl, settle into a new spot and hope they don't find him for 10 minutes.  Let's be fair-I can't say I haven't growled a time or two when one of the raccoons has come into the room.

I caught this moment while I was weeding the flower beds this past week. 

 A little dirt "paw-dicure". 

I overheard William telling Koby he would get "shivers" in his mouth if kept eating the stick.

What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?

Frogs and snails

And puppy-dogs' tails.

I now know the true meaning of this nursery rhyme.  William loves dirt.  William loves worms.  William loves bugs.  William loves dump trucks.  It's amazing how you notice these gender differences so early on in life.

Wanna share a worm?

on the prairie

There are some words or phrases that remind you of days "on the prairie".  You know, when Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family lived in Walnut Grove.  "Churning butter", "hitching up the team", Sunday best", and "the plague" all fit in this category.  Yes, the plague.  Just like "the croup".  We have croup in our home this week and I feel like we are living in the prairie days.  The word sounds as dated as "the plague".  Why can't we just call it exactly what it is- laryngotracheobronchitis?  Or LTB for short?  I feel like we are not allowed to leave our home.  Gracie stayed home from preschool, the whites of people's eyes get larger when they here the word, and the doctor tells me to "keep him inside" for the first few days and away from other children.  Lovely.  You might as well say we have been stricken with the plague. 

The past 2 nights have been the worst on record for our brood of 3 kids.  We have never experienced sleepless nights like these...not even with our kids when they were newborns.  Baby Graham is up at every hour, all night long, for 2 nights now.  We expect at least one more night of this.  The "barking seal" cough is extremely hard to hear from such a little person.  He has episodes where he sucks in air and we head for the hot, steamy shower to alleviate the symptoms.  Nightime is the worst as the mucous increases, causing the cough and gasping for air sounds.  He hasn't really slept in just over 30 hours now.

I can't wait for this sweet boy of mine to recover and sleep soundly in my arms just as he did in this picture on the day we brought him home. I can say I'd like a little snooze time for myself, as well. 

signs of Spring

Welcome Spring!  Although I was still holding out for just one more snowfall, I am eager to welcome Spring.  It's amazing how quickly your mood can change when the mercury hits 50 degrees, when you experience your first morning of birds chirping, when the tulips emerge from the ground, and when you still see daylight at seven o' clock in the evening.  We celebrated the first weekend of Spring with beautiful weather, yard work, kids playing in the pasture and yard, permanently pulling the horses blankets off, and the horses gaining access to the back pasture that has now dried out enough to support their hefty weight.  The hens are laying beautiful eggs of chocolate brown, blue, and light brown.  They have made a new nest in the barn and lay their eggs next the to the bales of hay.  The flock will lurk around the barn door as if waiting their turn in the "ladies room".  Mr Easter bunny has even found himself a home just outside our front door. 

 What's that bright yellow thing in the sky?

 Graham in his camouflage

 Graham hoping his camo will hide him and keep him from doing the "chores".

Planting in our newly cut wine barrels-we have to support wine country!

 

 The entire gang enjoying the warm sun

 Treasures by the hay

 Thank you, girls!

with a little bit of Irish luck

Thursday was St Patricks Day and with a bit of luck, I pulled off a "green dinner" by the seat of my pants. I had every intention of making an Irish dinner that would knock the socks off of a kilt wearing, Guinness drinking, golf playing, Irishman but didn't get to the grocery store due to a meltdown or two of the little ones.  When the raccoons were finally in bed, I scoured my house for anything that would taste Irish, look Irish, or sound Irish.  I dove into my pantry and linen closet to find green linens (a wedding gift-never used until now), natural food coloring for the beer and milk, and visited Epicurious.com for an Irish themed recipe that had only ingredients that were in my kitchen

 Since Grace turned 3, she has acquired the skill of expecting holidays, asking about them, and partaking in each and every tradition.  She loves to decorate the house, make appropriate holiday cookies, read "holiday" themed books, and construct art associated with that particular day.  Ok, ok, ok.....I love to do all of this!! Isn't this why you have kids?  To express your inner child-like excitement and euphoria for an Irish holiday, a Spanish holiday, a "hallmark" holiday.  You name it, we celebrate it. 

The kids learned of leprechauns, made St Patricks Day cards with shamrocks, wore green, pinched those that didn't (the best part of the day according to Grace), helped make a green dinner, and Grace even found a gold chocolate coin that a leprechaun hid at her school.  You would think the green milk and green whipped cream would score high on the toddler radar screen.  Nope.  They both thought it was weird and asked for "normal" milk.  Go figure.

.

Menu

sage cheddar cheese

kale chips

cabbage potato bundles

Irish soda bread

green milk

green beer

vanilla ice cream with shamrock whipped cream

 Irish soda bread

 "shamrock" milk

Graham quickly avoided a pinch by jumping in his green jumper.

great idea, columbo

Gettting William to stay in his crib is about as successfull as a trip in the car without snacks.  It just doesn't happen. So, 2 nights ago handy husband decided he had had enough and was throwing down the hammer.  His solution: put the kids to bed in their room, lie down on the hardwood floor, and stay there until the persistent boy fell asleep.  Me: "sure honey, I'll be downstairs but remember this is YOUR can of worms you're opening.". 

Forward 2 hours-no handy husband to be seen. However, I begin to hear his quiet footsteps coming downstairs, fiddling around in the kitchen, and then fiddling around in the laundry room.  After about 10 minutes, I had reasons to be suspicious as handy husband never spends this much time in the laundry room.  I head that way, only to find William with his hand in the washing machine. He had pushed the button to stop it and was playing in the bubbles. 

Me: "William, what are you doing?"

William: "Shhhh...daddy sleeping."

I promptly carried him back to his bed, gave handy husband a swift kick in the leg to wake him, and watched as he woke up in disarray wondering what had just happened.  "Well, dear, your son just climbed out of his crib, stepped over you, walked dowstairs, and was doing laundry."   Nice can of whoop-a@! you opened-that'll teach 'em.

Great idea, Columbo.

July 2009

Pictures taken when the little squirt could barely see over the crib rail, let alone get his leg over it.

the doctor is in

This girl loves to play doctor.  I'm not so sure William loves to be the patient, but he does....with patience.  I'll find William flat out on the coffee table, most likely from cardiac arrest due to extreme fear of what would happen if he didn't follow the doctor's orders.  Dr. Grace transforms into her role with the doctor coat, stethoscope around her neck, mask, "shot", and blood pressure cuff.  At this appointment, the doctor listened to William's heart and after a long and concentrated listen, he was diagnosed with, "you're heart is too slow".  Her next appointment was with baby Graham.  Poor baby Graham.  Dr. Grace tested his reflexes with a swat on the knee with a rubber hammer, listened to his heart, and took his temperature.  Thank goodness it was under the arm because she had seen me take his temperature "the less fun way".  After a good count to ten, Dr Grace looked at the thermometer and exclaimed with a gasp, "Graham, you need to cut out the desserts!".  So that's why I've been so warm lately. 

 It's a busy day in the ER

 Proper infection control

William discovering his heart beats too slow.

Baby Graham is shocked to find out he needs to "cut out the desserts".

a princess and her throne

Need I say more?

Princess Grace is busting the sequins off of her gown from excessive use.  She wears this "get-up" all day, everyday.  I'm going to rate pretty darn high on the "dislike" list once she's old enough to know I took this of her.  But I'm enjoying this all too much right now!

She goes by "Princess Grace".  She usually prances around saying she is, "late for her wedding".  She wears bright orange sunglasses when it's too bright.  She is marrying her brother, William.  (Hope they have a pre-nup.)  She's an insecure princess-always asking, "Am I pretty?".  Princess Grace usually doesn't like to wear underwear.  We just found out she likes make-up.  We were at Nana's house yesterday taking a nap, when I heard the pitter-patter of non-sleeping feet upstairs.  I found Nana's loose powder "fluffed" all over the down comforter, on the teddy bear, on the sheets, and on the floor.  Princess Grace "wasn't tired and wanted to play." She also had a nail file, clippers, a jewelry box, and floss all lined up on the footboard.  Princess Grace must have been getting ready for her stagecoach.

to market to market

"To market, to market.  To buy a fresh pig.  Home again, home again. Jiggity jig"....so goes a page in one of the kids' favorite books.  Well, we didn't buy a fresh pig, but we did saunter through the Pike Place Market on Sunday and came home with a "jiggity jig" in our step. 

Grandma and Grandpa Wasenmiller were up for the weekend and we headed dowtown for lunch at the Steelhead Cafe and then to the market. I can't think of another outing that utilizes all 5 senses to this degree.  Sensory overload for toddlers!  William's mental rolodex is still trying to process "Santa Claus" playing music. We watched cheese being made at Beechers, we poked the eyes of the fish on display, and we sampled chocolate pasta.  Gracie is still wondering why I don't make chocolate pasta for dinner. Thank you, Pike Place Market. 

We couldn't leave without our brilliantly colored tulips all nestled in white paper.  Ahhhh....I have spring fever. The kids each picked out a bunch and Grace was granted a "bonus" bunch-one given to her by the flower proprietor.  People like that just make me smile-but not as big as Gracie's smile the entire ride home.  She promptly picked a vase out of the cabinet and we headed upstairs to find the most perfect place for her flowers.   (She may not realize it, but her sweet brother that sleeps in the crib across the room from her will have these scattered about before the clock strikes 10pm.)
The kids fell asleep on our way home-it was way past nap time.  Handy husband and I made a "newbie" parent move...we took the scenic drive home to kill some time.  We knew once we got home, they would wake up.  I call it a "kids win, parents are exhausted" move. 

A lovely day, indeed.  So lovely, we even skipped naps.  Crazy, I know!

 Graham's stamp of approval

 All of this reading makes me tired.

 Family pictures like this still amaze me.  How did we get to 5??

 "Um, hey there snapper....you can take the shades off.  You're not in Florida anymore".

 Why is Santa Claus playing the guitar in March?

 Daffodils mean Spring!

 "Thanks for the tunes, Santa.  Here's a dollar. Remember me in December."

I choose these!

 Aren't they beautiful?  You should see the pretty 3 year old behind them.

Tuckered out with tulips.