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Grace has been cracking us up lately. She’s always been pretty silly, but she’s turned it up a notch. Lot’s of fake, manic laughter is involved. She is officially sleeping in her big girl bed. We just transferred her cold turkey last week. She’d already been waking up about four times a night for at least two weeks. We couldn’t figure out why. She did tell us one morning that she saw her baby doll floating on the ceiling. So dreams maybe? Plus, we moved her into a pack-n-play about eight weeks ago so that Adon could take over the mini-crib. (Poor Beej mentioned it was killing his back to reach over so far and pat and comfort Adon back to sleep when he was in the pack-n-play.) But Grace has been too big for both the mini-crib and the pack-n-play for quite a while. I’m sure the rock hard, thin mattress isn’t the most comfortable thing to sleep on. I just hid the pack-n-play before she got home from my mom’s one night, and we tucked her into her big girl bed. She loves that we can lay down next to her and snuggle while we tell stories at bedtime.

Adon has regressed! We are back to waking up everything three hours at night, but his bottom tooth has finally cut through. You can just barely see it. It's amazing to me how happy and smiley he is considering how little sleep he's been getting. I wish I could say the same for myself! I'm working on it. He is melt-my-heart adorable though. He’s been busy exploring the entire house, getting much faster at pulling himself around. And he's really into following Grace around and trying to touch and play with whatever she's into. I'm hearing "Mine. No, Adon. Mine" more and more often. 

Other memorable moments recently:

My best friend’s step-dad passed away suddenly on May 11^th. My heart breaks for her family and it was a privilege to serve them last week in different ways. 

The weather has been extremely nice lately—lots of sun, which always makes me just want more!

Beej gifted me a massage at The Spa LAST Mother's Day. I am going as soon as we can make it happen! I can't believe it's been a whole year since he gave me the gift card--you know what I'm gonna say, "time flies"!

My mom and her friend Mike rototilled two areas in our tiny side yard. I have some planting I need to get done soon!

I’m ordering THIS for Adon. As soon as I saw it, I thought of my dad, who loved to go deer hunting every Fall. So many funny stories of his adventures with my Uncle Steve and brother Dan. 

I can't believe May is almost over! Summer is on it's way. Yay!

Mother's Day 2012

I know Mother's Day is long gone now, but we've had such a busy time of it since then that I have had no time to share some of my favorite memories from that day. So, here goes...


Adon was very excited for Mother’s Day this year. So excited, in fact, that he couldn’t sleep. He just had to wake up early and shout “Happy Mother’s Day” in his own special words. You know, the loud and wailing kind. But don't worry, I knew what he was really saying, you know, deep in his heart. If only he had the vocabulary to express what he really meant!

I joke about Adon, but I really am beyond thankful for him and Grace and the amazing amount of joy being their mom brings me.

And I was incredibly blessed this Mother’s Day. On our date, Friday, Beej took me over to a local jewelry shop and I got to pick out a pair of earrings. Every time I’ll wear them I’ll remember this special Mother’s Day. I love meaningful gifts like that.

Grace greeted me in bed Sunday morning, “Happy Mom’s Day! Happy Mom’s Day!” She gifted me a new book, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, which I can’t wait to start. With some help, she’d written a sweet note and traced her hand on the inside cover.

Adon gifted me Mama’s Milk. What? You haven't heard of it? Let me show you...

With this special note written inside: "Mr. Adoniram can’t really attempt to write but he found this particularly meaningful on his first post natal Mommy’s Day."

Hilarious! I laughed pretty hard when Adon handed me his gift. It’s a sweet little book all about animals nursing their young. Did you know kangaroo’s milk is pink? Now we both do! You learn something new every day.

Beej took me out to breakfast and it was really packed. I loved seeing tons of families out honoring their moms and having breakfast together. At one point later in the morning, we were in the car and Grace kept saying "Happy Birthday". I explained Mother's Day, and she kept shouting, "Mommy Party! Mommy Party!" It was SO cute! That's just what we did too. We had both our mom’s and some family over for a barbecue lunch. It was such a great way to spend the afternoon, just laughing and telling stories. 

Thank you family for making my day so special! And thank you Mom and Mick for all your love and years of sowing into your children! I hope you both know how much I love you! 

Time to Swim

I think I was more excited than she was. I signed her up months ago. Last week, we went to Target and got a new swimsuit. We've been talking about swim lessons for weeks, really building it up. This last Tuesday, we headed in to EPT for her first, official swim lesson.

It was a ton of fun! I taught swim lessons for a number of years in my later teens and early twenties, so of course, I want all of our kids to learn how much fun the water can be at a young age. Hands down, teaching swim lessons was my favorite job. It was just a blast to climb in the pool every day with a group of kids and see how excited they got to learn a new skill. I think Grace is just ready to do this too. She was a little apprehensive when we first walked in. It's loud with so may little ones and parents singing and splashing about. Once we got in though, she had a great time kicking, doing the hokey-pokey, and blowing bubbles. The pool was a glorious 86 degrees (the warmest the pool I taught in ever got was 76). It's so much more fun when no one's teeth are chattering!

The last five minutes of class were "hot tub time". Yes! We climbed in, and I thought I was going to have to drag her out. "I need more hot tub. I need more hot tub. I NEED MORE HOT TUB MOM!" Thankfully, she did listen, and we were one of the last ones to leave.

As we were leaving the building, she kept saying, "I need more swim Mom" over and over. I think the first lesson was a success.  Looking forward to the next one tonight!

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Grace is just changing so much lately. She's talking, talking, talking up a storm! "No, I not" when I tell her to stop eating the cookie dough she's helping me make and then I look over to see her eat some more. "Grace." "No, I not Mom!" We are working on what it means to be honest and tell the truth with lots of "I love you always, forever, no matter what". She loves watching episodes of "Peppa Pig" right now. And she always says, "I watch George" when she wants to watch the television. I guess only letting her watch Curious George for so long really made an impression on her. And the sweetest thing this last week: I love to tell her, "Come here Grace. Get close. I have something important to tell you." Then I whisper, "I love you." She called me over a few days ago and did the same thing to me for the first time. I just melted!

Adon is seven months old today! He's a drool machine this last week, and I can feel little bumps on is bottom gum. Teeth are on the way. He still absolutely loves getting a bath (always has), but now he's trying to roll over every time I put him in the tub. It's getting to be more of a workout for this mama to keep him still enough to soap up and rinse off. And in the last two weeks, he's begun to realize who is family and folks he's used to and those he's not. A sweet old lady in Target bent over the cart to admire him and he burst into tears, quivering lip and all--again!



Other memorable moments: 


We ordered a Vitamix through Costco. It should be here in a week, and I'm looking forward to all the things we'll be able to do with it. Do you have one? What do you use it for most often?

I spilled coffee all over inside the car--yes, stinky and gross!

I am the most un-creative woman when it comes to doing things with my hair. My sister got that gene in our family--she's great at doing interesting and beautiful things with her hair and it always looks fabulous! I found several great tutorials HERE and HERE and thought I'd pass them on in case you too are anything like me. I need all the help I can get!

I just came across lay baby lay a few weeks ago. It's chock full of nursery ideas and resources. Make sure you have some time because you'll get sucked in and want to explore the whole site!

One of my dreams is to open an etsy shop and sell creative stuff I make. I am inundated with ideas, but need to, uh, actually start making stuff! Still working on it. In the meantime, did you know they offer a ton of free classes on how to better your shop. You can get insight info. before you even get started!

After a busy week, we are looking forward to some down time as a family this weekend. I hope you enjoy your's! 

Overheard

Time to Swing

The weather has been really nice the last few days, so we’ve been trying to make the most of it. Yesterday evening, we all headed over the park. Adon got to test out the swings for the first time. He was really pleased with himself. He kept looking at Grace. Then she’d look at them. Then they’d just sit there and look at each other for a bit, until Grace was ready to swing again. 

Grace would be outside every second if she could. She enjoys the park, but she really LOVES to swing. She stayed in the swing the entire hour we were there. Right now, her thing is “High. No, really high!” And she’s ok with underdogs. She wasn’t always, but now she likes them.

There is some serious concentration going in this last one. All this sun and fresh air has been WONDERFUL. They both came home from our time outdoors and slept wonderfully last night. I am ready for summer to arrive!

Easter Sunday 2012

Last week flew by, so I'm a little late sharing the last of our Easter events with you, but we had a wonderful day despite a crazy beginning. I had set my alarm for 7:30am and was so tired I didn't hear it until 8:15am when we jumped out of bed and started sprinting around the house to get ready for church. Easter breakfast started at 8:30. We were bringing zucchini bread and some fruit. We got there a little after 9am! So much for being on time, but it was good to eat with others and see some close friends Easter morning.


The kids dug into their baskets after lunch. It's so fun to watch Grace get into all the traditions this year. They each got a few books, some bubble toys, a shirt or new pajamas. I never did find Grace's basket in our incredibly messy garage (that's on this summer's to-do list!), so she got to use a different one this year. Adon's is a basket some friends gave to us. I looked for something for him this year, but never found one I loved, so we'll see next year. I just love the idea of them having the same basket they get to use over and over each year and then pass on if they want to. 

We tried many times to get a family photo. These are probably a few of the better ones. Grace has this new "cheese" face for photos. She's just so silly--I love it! And I also hope to get some photos sans "cheese", know what I mean?! We'll have to try again soon.

Really, it was just a great day with family. Papi and Gammie popped by with some gifts before naps, and then we headed over to my mom's later in the afternoon for another egg hunt and dinner. The last two years, my mom has filled eggs with some serious cash and the adults have gotten to find them. It gets competitive--no joke! But it's always a lot of fun. I know we drive each other a little crazy at times, but I love getting together with my family. Everyone is so great with the kids, and I laugh more with them than anyone else. 


Hope you had a good Easter this year! 

Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday, we hid a ton of plastic eggs around the living room for Grace to find. I filled them with candy, quarters, a few dollar bills, little rubbery bunnies, and more candy. At first, she wasn't sure what to do exactly. She wanted to open each and every egg up right when she found one. And I think she ate more candy Easter weekend than ever before. We're going to hit the Dollar Tree later this week so she can spend her money. "My money" she kept saying as she stuffed it in her little pocket. It's funny, because she loves quarters and could care less about the dollar bills. I think it's because whenever we go out for pizza, we give her a few quarters for the little toy machines, so she knows those are important! 

Adon slept the whole time. 

I sent all the leftover candy with Beej to the office this morning. I can't keep it around, or I'll eat it all!

What about you? Did you hunt for eggs this year?

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Grace has really been into maps the past two weeks. She's been drawing her own little maps to Papi's and Baba's houses. Tell me, who doesn't like to draw maps in their swimsuit? She's also been coloring for hours each day--mainly because it's been raining so much we haven't been outside a lot since we got sick. Everyday she says, "Go outside?" and we look out the window. "Maybe not." I don't know where she got "maybe not", but she's been saying it all the time for the last week. It's cute to hear. 

Adon took a 2 1/2 hour nap on Monday. This is seriously amazing folks! I kept checking on him because that's the longest he's ever napped in his short little life. Another growth spurt maybe? Or just trying to knock out that lingering cold? Whichever, it was glorious! He's just super smiley and so cute! He's chatting it up more and more. And he's got to be the gassiest little guy I've ever met. Ha!

Other memorable moments from this week:


We've been having fun creating more family traditions leading up to Easter this year. 


Have you heard of washi tape? I love using it lately on cards and the kids' albums. 


My Costco impulse buy last week was Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. It's a great read about two young kids growing up at the end of World War Two and the hardships they endure because of their race--Henry is Chinese American and his friend Keiko is Japanese American. She gets sent to an internment camp...and I don't want to give anymore away. But if you read it, let me know what you think!

Beej got me a Wacom Intous4 writing tablet for Christmas. It was a complete surprise gift, and I was shocked because they are pricey! I had mentioned how neat they were a couple times and a few of the ways I thought I could use one. He totally remembered and decided to just go for it because he was able to get a great deal on one. I just opened the box the week before last. I have thought about it over and over and just haven’t had a ton of time to sit down and figure out how to use it. I am getting it and it's a lot of fun to play with!

Are you a mama? Want a good laugh? Go read THIS. Seriously, it's hilarious! We are right at this point with Adon, and I think he's onto us! 


That's it folks! Have a wonderful weekend. And if you celebrate Easter, I hope you realize just how much you are loved by the Father! His grace is overwhelming!!

Build Your Own Peep House

I saw this cute idea on Apartment Therapy, so we tried making some peep houses of our own last night.

At the last minute, I realized I never purchased candy to decorate the "houses" with. So I used what I had on hand: razzles, jelly beans, gum eggs, and sixlets. We bought the graham crackers and mixed up our own batch of royal icing. It was fun! I helped Grace set her house up and then let her go for it. Beej made his own peep house, and even Gammie and Papi came over to get in on the fun. Two houses in, we had to cut Grace off from the candy. She's never had a peep before and man, did she chow down!

Overheard

Melt my heart. My baby girl thinks to save me a fake donut while I'm away so I can enjoy it when I get home. How sweet is that?!

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My two favorite kiddos in all the world.

Adon just had his four month checkup and weighs in at 15 lbs. 13 oz. and 25.5 inches long. He's the exact same size that Grace was at five months. And of course, his head is HUGE. I don't even remember how many centimeters, but around the 90th percentile for his age group. The doctor showed us the stats, looked at me, then turned to Beej and asked him if he ever has trouble finding hats that fit. Ha! Poor Beej. Remember when a similar thing happened with Grace? He's been battling a cold, again. Little guy has already had three in his short life.

For the most part, people know how to say his name now. It's pretty funny to hear all the variations people have tried though. My favorite story was one my mom passed onto us. She mentioned "Little Adon" to a coworker. "Huh? They named him Aladin?!"

He loves to suck on his hands, be outdoors, watch Grace zip about playing, be held facing outward--he likes to see what's going on, and he just discovered his feet this last week.


Grace is bursting out of her 2T clothing and wears a size 6 shoe, but only certain shoes because her cute feet are too chubby on top to fit into all the new size 5 shoes we bought for her. Oh well.

She absolutely loves to play outside and visiting the fish hatchery is still one of her favorite places to walk to. She is talking like crazy now, and really is very helpful around the house. She asks all the time, "Mom, help?"

A really sweet moment happened a few days ago when after I swept the bathroom, she came up and patted my back "Good job Mom!".

She has done pretty well with Adon so far. She likes to lay down by him or sit by him on the couch. She's great about showing him how to do things. She's also great at telling him, "NO Adon!". I think she's got the bossy big sister role down! And I find myself saying often, "No Grace, you can't put that box of wipes/drive that toy car/balance that book/you name it on Adon's head".

Grace's 2nd Birthday Party

Grace turned two on October 26th, but we waited to throw her a party for a few weeks until my brother and sister-in-law could make it up here from Sacramento. Here she is, deer in headlights look, as we sang Happy Birthday to her. We'd been talking about her party for awhile, but she still seemed pretty surprised by the whole thing. Once I asked her "what would you like" and she said "a bike". Well, we'll have to keep working on that one, but she did get a ton of gifts and enjoyed all the extra attention.

This was, of course, the only picture of her and I that didn't turn out really blurry. What can I say? She's two!

Thursday Morning

Adon was a bit of a night owl last night, so I was tired this morning. Grace too has been waking up often at night. I’m hoping she’ll get it all sorted out soon and go back to sleeping peacefully throughout the night. But this morning was fun…and productive. Two things I wasn’t expecting considering no one really slept all that well.

I pulled out some new water color paints for Grace to try out. This is the first time she’s ever painted—and she spent 2 hours painting at the table, completely enthralled with it all. And so was I! I should’ve pulled the paints out months ago. At first she was a little hesitant, then she let loose and even painted the table.  That’s when I pulled out a really old cookie sheet and had her just paint on that.

Then she wanted to help me wash dishes—which is really her just playing with bubbles in the sink. This is a favorite pastime for her. She also helped me vacuum the whole house. Her job is helping roll up the rugs. It’s such a fun age because she loves to help with whatever I’m doing at the moment.

Adon just hung out the whole time. We all ate a snack together and then they both went down for naps at the same time. Hallelujah! Not everyday will be like today, but man am I thankful when it does go this well.