Life in Pictures

Thanksgiving day 5k-Maggie ran the whole thing!

 

 

Classic "I'm not sure about this" Max face

 

New Year's Day picnic

 

 

The week before Christmas

Every day now Max says something new or Maggie says something funny and unexpected and I would like to write it down but then the moment passes and it doesn't happen. Max is really starting to talk and babble sentences at 20 months old and I love listening to him and see his excitement in discovering things. It's just so cool to be there watching them repeat a word in their own way for the first time while you're realizing they know what you are talking about but they just haven't verbalized it yet.

Every year with Maggie holidays get a little more elevated. I had it more planned out this year but still, once this week hit, I started feeling the pressure. Thank goodness for good friends and my hubby to relieve anxiety, red wine, and honest conversations. Oh, and Parenthood. I'm hooked on it right now and am goofily relating it to all situations I encounter...yep, pretty realistic, I know. Overall though, this holiday season has been enjoyable and in a slightly different way than past years. I feel that I am growing and with our kids growing up, it takes on new meanings. One of the things I failed at this month...not being able to pull off a popcorn and cranberry garland for Maggie to string around our tree. This is something we read about last Christmas in one of her books and it looked easy, even after googling the how-to, but I burnt the popcorn and it said to string on floss and well, I tossed the popcorn and I'd rather buy something pretty at this point :-)

We don't seem to be doing the same things as last year (gingerbread house, family the weekend before with ice skating, all the movie watching and Christmas lights, Nutcracker) and are more mellow this year. The days on the advent calendar seem to be going by very quickly. We ice skated right after Thanksgiving this year, I actually bought and wrapped gifts early (thank you online deals and free shipping), and we've used lots of babysitting to attend a progressive ugly sweater dinner and a couple other holiday parties.

Here is what 4, almost 5, has looked like lately: Maggie constantly asking for one thing or another. If it isn't gum, it's to do a craft or move on to the next best thing immediately and it might be fine if I just had Maggie to worry about but I'm also managing a toddler. So I often have to par it down with "let's just read a book" or "watch a show together" and she seems happy enough with that :-)

Pictures later...happy holidays family and friends!

October S&H

Halloween is here!

Mom's group event



So much is going on in our life constantly - it's a mixture of play, work, travel - then repeat. And, for the most part these days, good sleep, just early waking. And this blog is my one place, since I don't write in journals anymore, to document milestones in the kid's life and share it with family and friends that read it. So here's to my random monthly (or longer) posts!





Seen and Heard

Max is exploding with his words at 18 months. He loves pointing out dogs (da-da) and big trucks (weee!). He hasn't learned more than a couple baby signs and he doesn't care to. He'd rather grunt to get his point across or try out new words when he's up to it. He has used his baby potty once (#1) and has suprised me in the tub a few times recently (#2). Oh joy.

Maggie is a great big sister. Sometimes she snags toys from his hands to probably get back for how physical he is or because she simply doesn't want to share the toys that were once just hers, but I'm pretty sure she is in love with her little brother and they give each other hugs and kisses when they wake up and when they head to bed. Her story changes over time, but most recently she told me she wants to marry Max when she grows up. Hmm...

Maggie was recently talking to her cousin on the phone and I heard her tell her (after talking about nicknames) that her full name was "Maggidalena."

We also taught Maggie how to place a phone call and the next day after "practicing" she snuck the house phone and called my cell phone from the playroom on her own, what a sneak!

1st good rain of the fall season

Seen and Heard

Life is so fun. We have hard days (or parts of days) but I really think those hard bits make the good times better. At the end of the day though, I am quietly thankful for my little ones and my husband because they make my life so full and vibrant. A quiet house is nice once in awhile but the thought of the kids moving out one day makes me kind of nervous :-)

We had a thunderstorm and rain last week. It was really nice to smell wet asphalt, feel the humidity, and the rain suprised the kids. Then we went to Santa Cruz and saw sunshine, fog, and family. And now we are back in the heat.

{Seen and heard}

Maggie referring to a movie theater as a movie feeder. Why we asked? Because they feed people.

A conversation over dinner with Maggie:

What did you do today? We played that I was the mommy. Kellen was the daddy.
Who were the others? Livvy and Lexy were the babies. Kelsey was the babysitter.
What did the mommy and daddy do? Were the babies good? We went on a date.
What did you do on your date? We ate pizza. Lots of pizza. And we had ice cream before dinner.
Did you pay the babysitter? Yep, $10.

Who is your favorite person? (asked to Maggie at bedtime, lights out) Eden...and you, and daddy, and Maxie...but Maxie is a little rough.

Max saying more words: ow-wee, Judi, get down

Maggie being rough with Max (what goes around comes around I guess) - in one night, Max hits the pavement and scratches his face and then finishes the evening by hitting his head on the outdoor fire ring

Max and Maggie getting stung by a bee in our backyard one week apart

 

Exciting August

Surprise! Life can change in an instant. For us, that means one day we are moving along as usual, the next I am in the ER with my hubby waiting for him to get an MRI, ending up in emergency surgery that night. In the course of 24 hours, he went in, got diagnosed, operated on, came out of anesthesia (hilarious!), slept some of it off, and waited for clearance from many doctors and nurses to go home and recoup for about a month. His stay at the hospital was exciting. Hubby is not one to stay still, so it was a nice change to be the one by his side helping if needed. At home...a slightly different story but after a week, he is being pretty good about not doing too much and I think recovering well. The silver lining to when something unexpected and potentially life threatening happens to you and/or your family: friends and family are there for you wanting to help and make life easier. I appreciate the kindness, it's what makes life so special in the end.

 One of the best and most fun gifts we've received since his surgery is the building of a tortoise pen for Maggie. It was something we were in the middle of so two of hubby's best buds came over to make it happen. It resulted in a day full of laughter between three goofy guys that might as well have been kids back in high school. Maggie somehow ended up on the name Wendy, which evolved into Wendell. It has a back story but the tortoise is most likely a male, so either way, he's covered.

 

 

Our trip to Oregon this summer was brief (sigh) but tons of fun. I was a little worried about Max being a handful in the car and also at night but both turned out really good. We managed to pack in fun activites every day we were there. We travelled with our friends and one of the best parts of the trip was talking over the radio between cars while travelling. That's where we reminisced about past trips (most before kids) and laughed a lot at eachother. We were able to spend a day at Crater Lake and show our four kids combined what it was all about. While the two littlest ones slept on us in ergos, we hiked the Discovery Trail along the rim of Crater Lake. Maggie did great walking 2 1/2 miles. Overall, we got some hikes in, visited a fish hatchery, the guys fished one evening, took the kids on a fun and funky train ride, visited a native american art gallery that is always a must, and made most of our meals at our cabins family-style. All in all a great time.

 

{Kiddo catch-up}

Maggie @ 4 1/2 yrs:

LOVES having her nails painted, tea parties, music and recently Mary Poppins songs (over the movie), her stuffed animals which all have names and they often are being fed with bottles and the like, picnics, and helping me cook.

She tried out soccer this summer and had a good time. She's been asking me what words mean when we're reading books - sly, tricked, cocked (as in "the crow cocked his head" from one of our library books :-). She does not look forward to her hair being brushed but loves ponytails and all types of braids. She is very sweet with her brother. This is one of the best things about having two. Maggie will sometimes mimic us when talking to him and sounds like an adult. They give the cutest hugs and kisses to eachother.


Max @ 1 (16 months):

Max needs a lot of haircuts! He loves to dance, all you have to do is turn on some fun music or he copies Maggie. They like to dance to the intro. of the cartoons Maggie likes. The kids love dancing in the car too while strapped in to their carseats. They made us laugh on the Oregon car ride.

Max gets everything we say to him and gives big nods for yes and shakes his head for no. He says a lot of uh-ohs. He started saying mama at 15 months. Then he started saying recognizable words like turtle, blueberry, and duck after that. He's our goofy boy. Not as dramatic as Maggie but they love to fight for attention at the same time.

Ok, ready for fall and Halloween costumes!

Summer

Is summer halfway over already? I'm finding it harder to post and more time goes in between when I do but I still want to keep at it because it helps me remember all the wonderful little things that are happening during this time of our lives. It doesn't really get documented anywhere else besides in my mind and it's become pretty clear that the little intricacies of those memories fade away over time. I thought I would remember all the little things about Maggie's baby sleep patterns, the exact month when she started potty training, the length of her curls at certain ages I see in photos, the faces she makes in relation to certain things, all of the funny things she says, and so on in comparison to Max but it really drifts away and morphs into bigger overall memories.

Life is full. Much of the time I don't want to sit down and post just as I don't have any umph to read new knitting patterns or look at my yarn envisioning new projects. I simply get excited these days (and I know I'm repeating myself) to be with my family, especially when I'm away from them. A couple days ago we spent the morning blueberry picking with our mom friends and all the kiddos. I watched them play together and create their little worlds in the moment. I love watching kids free play. I love letting my kids go in the backyard and learn to play with eachother without me interferring. It is full of funny words, sharing, fighting, rolling around laughing, eating plums and tomatoes, swinging, and them running around naked or Max in a diaper exploring the dirt, sticks, or hose. I cherish the time I have with my little ones, it makes my heart very full.

Summer Bucket List

Make ice cream
Make lots of forts indoors {we've started a couple and discovered that the art easel makes a great teepee}
Swing Max around in a big blanket {we did this when Maggie was a baby and she loved it}
Kiddie pool and sprinkler play {the kids got a couple cool sprinkler attachments for their birthdays and this is always a good idea in the 100+ degree heat}
State fair {we've been once with family, we're going to go a second time with friends}
Blueberry picking {check!}
Date nights {last two...Sellands market on couples night out with our mom's group friends last night, the one before that we did sushi + movie}
Watch Mary Poppins (Maggie told me" "I DO NOT want to watch Mary Poppins") {we watched it and didn't make it all the way through but Maggie was fascinated. I think she likes the songs more than the movie}
Read lots of books {visiting library about once a week, one of Maggie's favorite activities}
Make gazpacho
Visit grandparents
Make mock apple crisp with zucchini!
Frame lots of family photos
Visit Oregon {planning for it, especially the long car ride there and back}
One of us take Maggie out to a movie
Have a tea party with Maggie using a special teaset I got from our wedding
Set up obstacle courses in our backyard for the kids

 

Maggie quotes

Me: "I noticed you were making a fort today under the picnic table." We were at Boeger winery after blueberry picking and she was cutely playing with some friends. Maggie: "No, that was our house."

Maggie comes in from the backyard with real tears...me: "What's wrong?" Maggie: "There was a squirrel in the backyard." I think for a minute. Ok wait, she has spent the last couple years doing little screams at squirrels running on the telephone wires or up the trees and around age 2 or 3, she told my mom as she was watching one that they are so talented! Naturally, I was waiting for her to go on but that was simply it. Many animals, big and small right now, are scaring her. She's having wild dreams about them. After talking about it she said: "I wish squirrels weren't in this world." Over the next few weeks we talked about squirrels here and there, encountered them at the park, and sort of faced her fear to where she was again ok with them. Then this week Maggie came in again from the backyard right after she had gone out and shut the door looking outside. I asked her what was up and she said "I saw the squirrels eyes".

Maggie found a yellow jacket nest in her play structure and came in to describe it to me. I knocked the nest out in the morning but they were still swarming so I told her later we would go back out and check it. She reminded me that we needed to go out there in the afternoon. I asked if she had been over there to check it and she said: "No, I wanted to be on the safe side."

Maggie: "Mom, look at my tummy. It's full. I ate all my cereal. I ate all of my fruit cottontail."

Me: "Do you want a hermit crab as a pet?" Maggie: "No, too pinchy."