What we did on our summer vacation

I am ashamed that it has been so long since I blogged. I really don't know where our summer went. Oh, yeah. We did this a lot at home:

Then we all drove to Chicago and met my parents there for a wedding. Man, we miss Chicago. It is too much fun!

Then we went on to Albuquerque and had some lady like fun at a tea party at Gram's house, where Bear also got a new coat. We went to the Albuquerque zoo (love those reciprocal memberships!) and saw some kangaroos and got to ride the train.

We got another 5 generation photo, even if the Boy doesn't quite fit in with that line of ladies.

Then we had a little unorthodox fun, because, after all, we were at Nana and Papa's house.

Like, reading Christmas books in August (Grace's request). That is Aunt Sara and boyfriend J.J.

Swimming naked, because they can. And eating in the pool, because they can. And getting a bath, in the pool, because they can. Hey, I said it was unorthodox (but fun!).

Painting rocks, naked. Again. I promise, they really were clothed most of the time. Why wash out paint when you don't have to?

"Uh, this posing for pictures is such hard work."

Grace and her adored (or is that adoring?) Aunt "Sasa".

And get this: Matthew and Grace both decided swimming in an icy pool was fun after all! They didn't know that Papa puts warm water in the baby pool at home. What service.

I left my heart on.... Vancouver Island

Here are the pictures from our trip to Vancouver Island. Like I said, it was fantastic! (Still haven't found that thesaurus.) The trip was as wonderful as our honeymoon (stop your snickering!) and I think I've decided I like "winter" beaches more than "summer" beaches. We were visiting over their cooler months, but it never really gets hot. My kind of place. No sweating or sunburns! It is a temperate rain forest, so there is also a lot of rain, although in all our time there we only had one wet day (thanks, God!). Now all we have to figure out is how to take a trip like this every year, just the two of us, not every eight years!

Check out these tidal pools. You can see how vast the tidal difference was- about 12 feet every day.

I was joking that Erik was trying to kill me off on this trip to collect on my life insurance (kidding, kidding!) because he had planned on us taking a sea plane tour. I deplore little planes. And it didn't help that I had a movie in the back of my mind in which one crashes in the wilderness. However, I must admit it was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. The pilot took us into the glaciers and then at the end we flew over the ocean and spotted three gray whales migrating! I will never forget that sight. I couldn't decide which pictures to post. They all were fantastic (there's that word again!).

Our pilot also said that he came here on vacation and never left. I had the same thoughts...

A 1500 year old tree (fuzzy picture- it was raining that day) that we saw on our kayaking trip to one of the inner islands. Think of all that this tree has seen!

An old open pit mine that was turned into a garden 50 years ago. I'm wondering if I could get my yard to look like this...

A sprinkle of pixie dust

Maybe I should be blogging about the fantastic trip that Erik and I took just the two of us at the end of May. Suffice it to say it was wonderful. Glorious. Magical. Did I say fantastic? Where's my thesaurus? Anyway, we had to drag ourselves home. Except that there was the draw of these two very cute kids waiting for us...

Here's the fairy, at her ballet recital last week:

In case you were wondering, yes, they were the cutest ones there!

If you are curious as to why they are all doing different things on stage, have you ever tried herding cats?

Luckily she didn't notice the giant crowd of people until towards the end! And like all good things in life, after all that time, effort and money, their performance was over just like that. Like, one minute and fifteen seconds. Um, can we get an encore?

Matthew thought his sister was the star of the show, clapping and screaming when she came out to perform. Only problem was he was trying to be the star from the audience. Needless to say the men left during intermission.

Growing

Maybe it is Spring heading into Summer, maybe it is being surrounded by children who seem to grow an inch overnight, but I have been thinking of all the growing going on around me lately.



Let me start with Matthew. At his one year check up, the doctor was very concerned that he had only gained ONE pound since his six month check up. In fact, for the "little man" who started at the top of the weight chart when he was born, he is now not even on it. I admit, I was concerned, but I really was thinking that it all had to do with him being sick for practically six months and all the antibiotics he had been on during that time for his ears that, er, gave him the runs (I'm sorry- there is no nice way to describe it!). Anyway, even though our beloved doctor really wanted to go ahead and start running some tests, she decided to give me another month with the condition that I keep a food journal and if he hadn't gained any more weight in a month, the gauntlet would fall.



Well, praise God that last week at the check up he had gained a couple of ounces, which under the circumstances (he had some sort of stomach virus for about 10 days) was acceptable. I am to bring him in again in another 6 weeks and I'm sure he will have gained more weight. After all, as I told our doctor, he eats like a pig! He routinely out-eats Grace, and on a number of occasions has matched what I ate. This is what I had in mind as I am telling her how much he loves to eat:



I admit it, the table doesn't always get cleaned up right away after a meal. There is on occasion a potty emergency, a phone call, or I just get distracted and plumb forget. Matthew has never been one to pass up food, so seeing that he left some on his tray, he decides to help me out by cleaning up for me. I just happened to catch him in the act. Hey, could be worse. He could be eating off the floor again!


This year we decided to finally grow that garden we have talked about since we first moved in five years ago. My Dad and Erik built the frame, Erik hauled in the dirt and added our compost, and then he and Grace bought the plants on a "Daddy date". Have you heard of the book about the $64 tomato? Basically this man starts a garden, and after all the materials, the plants, the dirt, the fertilizer, he figures out that his one tomato cost him $64. I think he got his inspiration from our little plot here:

After all the time and work this project has taken, I'm sure it would have been easier just to go to the grocery store! But it sure wouldn't have been as much fun (well, fun for me- all I had to do was stick the plants in the ground!). And these three were about as helpful as you can see:
Now this is a father's love: he lets his daughter eat the $64 strawberry! :)
Oh, I forgot one last tidbit. Matthew is finally all weaned. I dropped the dreaded evening feeding last week, and he hardly complained. He even let Daddy put him to bed! Now that is an accomplishment for a mama's boy.

And lest you think this is one of those "clever" blogs (like you could be so fooled!) that ends a blog about growing by telling you I am pregnant, let me put your fears at ease. :) I am not! That would fall under the crazy mommy category right now! However, I do have a funny story to end with.

Grace telling Daddy at dinner: "Well, I am going to have a baby in my belly, and Mommy is going to have a baby in her belly."

(Me, side glance to Erik, "No, honey, don't panic, I'm not pregnant!")

Grace: "We are going to have Matthew, me, one boy and one girl." After pausing for just a moment, she says "We are going to need more mommies and daddies!"

Amen to that, sister! I couldn't stop laughing at her perceptiveness!

Matthew's Birthday

Here are Matthew's birthday pictures. We were so blessed with a day of sunshine between weeks of rain.

Don't let that first picture fool you- if you notice, he was quite disgusted by his birthday cake, and hated the way the icing felt on his fingers. Mind you, I know that the dislike of sugar is not to last. After all, he does have me as his mother and I have never met anything sweet that I didn't like! :)

P.S. ABQ crew- Sorry that these took me so long to post!

One year ago today

It was one year ago today that our "little" man was born, nearly two weeks overdue and 9 1/2 pounds (think there was a correlation there?).

It was one year ago today that we were driving to the hospital for the c-section I had tried to avoid for 10 months by trying for a VBAC. One of the few times in my life that I actually feared a "known" over an "unknown".

It was one year ago today that we added one child to the family, and yet somehow more than double the work load (does anyone else feel that way?).

It was one year ago today that my sweet boy, who loves to cuddle, who has always wanted to hold my hand while he nurses, that will rest his head on any one's shoulder became my son.

This year has gone by faster than any year before. How many times have I said I feel like I was just pregnant? I feel like that surreal drive home from the hospital with both kids in the backseat was just yesterday.

What a difference a year makes. I now have a super fast crawler, who somehow knows instinctively that anything with wheels must make a vroom vroom sound. He still loves to be held, still wants to hold my hand while he nurses (which, sadly, we are starting to end) but is also much more independent than Grace ever was. I didn't need a baby gate with Grace because she followed me around like a puppy; but Matthew will wander around, entertaining himself. He will out-eat Grace any day, and that is no exaggeration. We are constantly getting up from the table to get him more food. I have no idea where he is hiding it, because he is no longer that super chubby baby.

I dread the next year because I know how much faster it too will go. Matthew will turn from a baby into a toddler. From crawling to walking to running (oh, Heaven help us!). He will start talking, further reminding us how much he has learned even though he seemed to be too young to do so.

I know birthdays are supposed to be happy, but for this mother, they are sad because they are blatant reminders that my children are growing up, getting older, somewhat wiser :) and will be out on their own before I can even blink!

Easter

"The Uncles" came for a visit over Easter weekend. Only Crazy Mommy tells a 3 year old when someone is coming before they are actually here. A point that was proved yet again when Peter's afternoon flight was late and he didn't get to our house until after bedtime (Erik took Peter and Stefan out for a little male bonding time after they both got in).

So on Saturday morning when she woke up, I went into her room and said "Grace, I have a surprise for you! Your Uncles are here for a visit!" Her answer was, "REALLY?!? I love my Uncles! They do silly things!"

Silly must run in the family. Check out my little man's hair. And Grace's reaction to discovering there was candy inside those eggs she was finding.

We tried telling her there were surprises inside those eggs. But she was more intent on finding them... that is until we showed little-miss-never-gets-candy what exactly I was talking about. :)

Next year she will have a little competition for all that stash! (I have no idea what we are talking about- I'm quite sure it was nothing as serious as it looks.)

On the move

Here Matthew sports his 'do. It got cut off a little in the picture, but he has a tuft of hair on the top of his head. Sadly, this is where most of his hair resides. Anyway, he likes to sleep wedged in the corner of his bed between the bumper pads and therefore has an almost permanent Mohawk. I'm thinking of resorting to styling gel. You think they make an all natural version for kids? My little boy will be a year old in a few weeks. I refuse to accept this. After all, is this surprising considering the fact that I have been going back in years with every one of my birthdays recently? (In theory, I am in my early 20's :)!) It's not that I don't want Matthew to grow up. I love seeing who Grace has become over the few years that we have been blessed with her. I just am enjoying this stage and age, so why rush things? After all, this is a known. I fear the unknown.
This guy is his own little person now. He says "da-doo" which translates to doggie. He would chase Dixie all day if he could go fast enough. She is the first thing he looks for in the morning after Grace. Other favorites are "uh-oh", which he says a lot because he drops things a lot. On purpose. And today he started saying "wow". What a silly vocabulary. Kind of like Grace's first words: nothing endearing like Mommy, it was "this" and "that". NOT kidding.

We tried really hard to get both a good video and a 11 month picture and failed at both. The above was the best we could do before he catapulted himself off the chair. For some reason tears and a giant carpet burn are not camera friendly.

One disclaimer on the video: we do not normally feed our children on the floor. (Although just today Matthew ate three peas from under the table as he crawled around after lunch. Thankfully, they were relatively fresh, although I cannot account for their dog hair coating.)

This was for bribery purposes only. Which I would like to say we also rarely do, but that would be a lie. :)

If the video was any longer, Blogger timed out uploading it. (Any tips, you gifted bloggers?)

Matthew's 10 month pictures

We are two weeks out now from getting the tubes put in. In that period we had one full nights sleep. Then Matthew got sick (ended up being bronchitis) and Mommy got sick and neither one of us was sleeping at night, or during the day for that matter. Everyone is back to being healthy and last night we decided to let Matthew try to settle himself down.

I never thought I would say this, but we are ready for Spring. Normally we love winter, but so far all it has brought us is illness after illness! Today it was 74 degrees. Looks like we might get our wish. :)

Anybody need a miracle?

Grace and I had the most hilarious (to me) conversation in the car today. She had been "reading" in her Bible about when Jesus brought the little girl back to life. She informed me that she could bring someone back to life. When I told her that was called a miracle and it was something that only Jesus could do, she still insisted that she could do it. I tried not to laugh, but I also didn't want her to be sacrilegious, so we continued talking about it. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to argue with a kid. The final result was that she decided maybe she couldn't do it now, but when she turned four she could. Um hm.