My how time flies!

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Monday, May 28, 2007

Silliness

Some of the random times I have caught the silliness of toddlerhood on film. (Er, uh... on disk. I haven't used actual film in about 8 years...)

10/5/2006 - Sammy fell asleep playing in Katie's carrier. Later that day Katie nearly wiggled herself out of her swing.


3/17/07 - When we went to check the mail, Sammy said he wanted to walk. So I took the single stroller. When we left the mailbox, he insisted he wanted to "diiiide... in go-go!" I couldn't convince him there was no room for him - apparently because that wasn't true!


3/23/07 - Katie found herself a new place to sit to watch her videos. ON her videos!


3/28/2007 - What kid hasn't had fun playing in Mommy's kitchen cabinets?

4/19/07 - or any other cabinet they can fit in!


4/16/07 - Katie figured out how to open the sidewalk chalk all by herself...

... Mama figured this fact out from the green tongue!


4/22/07 - Katie is a fast little monkey! I had barely turned around before she climbed up on my computer table.


5/12/2007 - This is the day Katie finally decided applesauce was edible. She stole Sammy's off the snack table and made off with it. (To get the full effect, make sure to click on the images to see the larger ones!) Spoon??? What's that? ;)


5/23/2007 - I find baskets and boxes to store the kids' toys in, and what do they do? They take the toys out, and play with, or in, the boxes and baskets!


5/25/07 - Sammy was so exhausted, he fell asleep mid-draw in Daddy's lap!

Playing in the yard

It was a really nice day outside Saturday afternoon. The breeze was a little heavy, but it was nice and warm. The kids had a great time playing outside on their new slide from "Grandma" Robbi (Rachel's grandma).



They also had fun exploring the yard. Sammy had a blast in the grass.

And rocks are always a favorite to play with!

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Photos from Rachel's skating competition

My little computer geeks

When you marry into a family full (and I mean FULL) of computer geeks, you should expect your offspring to follow suit. But it just might suprise you how early that starts!!! (And by "early" I am referring to both age AND hour of the morning!!!)

Katie being cute in the kitchen

Last night while I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, Katie climbed up on the step stool and was just generally being too cute not to take her picture. So here you are:


She is getting more daring in what she will do while on the stepstool.

This is how she makes the "I love you" sign.

When she wants to, she can be all attitude...

...or all sweetness!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Waterplay Table

This video is several weeks old. When MawMaw was here she bought the kids a water play table. This is the first time they played with it.



My floors got really clean that afternoon. And the table has long since moved outside.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Rachel's First Ice Skating Competition

We are so proud of our Goddaughter Rachel! She competed in her very first ice skating competition this weekend in Santa Fe. We were able to drive down this weekend and visit, and be there to support her. I was very impressed with her skating ability. Unfortunately, she, who turned 6.5 that day and has been skating about 11 months, was stuck in a group with 3 other kids who were 8 and 9, and had been skating 2.5-3.5 years. So she came in fourth place. But she will always be first place in our book! And the kid who won first place said there was no way he could have skated like her after his first year. So I bet in another year or two (or sooner!) she will be taking first place in her competitions!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Increasing verbal skills, and quite a long memory!

Katie used two complete sentences yesterday!

In the morning, shortly after we woke up, Sammy crawled in her crib. I said, "Where's your bubba?" Sammy said, "There he is!" and she repeated (with identical intonation), "Zzere ee izzzz!"

Yesterday evening I was showing her this photo


and said "Who is that pretty baby?" And she said, "Datzz Gay-gee!"

Sammy came to see what we were talking about, and said, "Mama... oot Kissmass tee ack uh-gaga???" ["Mama, (will you) put (the) Christmas tree back together?"]

Update on Aiden

Got an email last night from his grandmother (my SIL)

Ellen was finally able to hold him and successfully nurse him yesterday, and the doctor plans to send them home on Saturday.

Thank you for all your prayers!

Praise God for the growing families!

In addition to the new baby (Aiden) in our family (and my DSIL pointed out to me that he makes us Great Aunts! Oh my!!!)...

Thank you God for

  • Gianna Molla, born on Mother's Day, long-awaited blessing of our longtime friends David and Stephanie and big brother Maximilian Kolbe (and three other siblings in Heaven)
  • Eva Brooke born Tues to my high school friend Bianca, her husband Brian, and big brother Ethan
  • Lidiya and Igor, adpoted (after a VERY LONG wait) Wednesday in the Ukraine by my online aquaintance Nichole from the Catholic-Fertility Yahoo Group

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Little Repeaters

You never really realize just how much your kids are listening to the things you tell them. Or how often you say things. I just heard Sammy have the following conversation with himself while coming down the stairs:

"Einnnn. Twoooo. Teeeee. Fauuux. Ivvve. EEtsss. EE-ehden. Telv. Telv teps! Good Countin!"

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Prayer Request

Please join me in prayer for my nephew TJ, his wife Ellen, and their new baby Aiden. Aiden was born last night around 8:30 via C-section. He weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces. Some within a couple hours of his birth, he was put in the NICU. These are all the details I have:

He has fluid around his lungs, preventing them from fully expanding, so he is being kept in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Ellen won't be able to hold him to nurse for at day or two more, but is pumping breast milk for the bottles for him, so she'll be ready when he is.


I don't know what kind of Neanderthal hospital they're in that doesn't realize babies who are separated from their mothers experience stress levels equivalent to babies in serious pain! Or whether Ellen has a good lactation consultant to let her know she should be pumping every 2-3 hours.

Let's all pray that Aiden will be breathing normally ASAP so they can all be together as they should be.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Why I want to homeschool, part 1

(now I realize not everyone had the same kind of school experiences I had. nevertheless...)

Untrue things I learned in public school, that I don't want my kids to ever learn:

  • That God, religion, and faith are separate from the rest of my life
  • That relationships with people in my peer group are more important, and more fulfilling, than relationships with people in my immediate (or extended) family
  • That learning is not fun
  • That learning only happens between the hours of 8 am and 2:30 p.m., and only in a classroom with a teacher actively forcing it on people.
  • That teachers who actually make me work and/or think for myself are the worst teachers
  • That I can skate by and still completely succeed with a minimal amount of effort (e.g doing homework for a class on the bus on the way to school, or in the previous period, the same day it's due. In some cases this even included big things like term papers)
  • That subjects I don't like are just as important as ones I love, and I should devote equal amounts of time to the study of either
  • That extracurricular activities (in my case dance lessons) are not nearly as important as academic pursuits
  • That the arts are something that only really weird people enjoy
  • That musicians (band members) are geeks, pariahs not to be associated with under any circumstances
  • That sports are even more important than academics. Or at least that student athletes are much more important than the "nerds"
  • That if I'm older than you or in a higher grade, I am better than you are
  • That if I'm smart, I am socially unacceptable
  • That if I don't have the "right" friends, I am worthless
  • That even if I have the right friends, if I don't wear the "right" clothes, I am worthless
  • That gossip, rumors, and badmouthing my elders (behind their backs, of course!) are a good use of my "free" time
  • That lying to my parents is no big deal; that there's no reason I shouldn't lie to my parents, teachers, or anyone else if it gets me what I want, gets me out of trouble, or otherwise suits my fancy.
  • That it is OK (and even expected!) to make fun of people who are different or less fortunate than I am
  • That I should never engage in any kind of physical exercise unless I am wearing white athletic socks
  • That if I don't kiss right, I am socially unacceptable (this was in elementary school, mind you!)
  • That having a boyfriend (or girlfriend) is a crucial and required part of pre-teen development
  • That pre-teen and teenage sex is normal, healthy, expected, and harms no one (as long as you don't get caught!)
  • That writing peoples' lines for them is a good way to make friends and money, as well as to practice my forgery skills
  • That I can make money and a friend for life if I can accurately sign a mom or dad's name to someone's bad grade notice
  • That a friend "for life" will talk bad about you behind your back in a week or two, or completely ignore you, if it makes them more popular with the "in" crowd
  • That if I find the right people to bum 2 dimes off of, there is no reason I shouldn't skip lunch and instead drink a can of Dr. Pepper and eat a bag of M&Ms at 2nd recess for most days of the school year

Please feel free to add more in the comments!

Mother's Day

Traditionally a day of great stress and sorrow for me... This was my third one with a baby to hold, the second one with TWO babies to hold, and it still stings a bit. I guess the pain of infertility is something that will always stick with me to some extent. I hope it is at least making me a better, more appreciative mother.

Please join me in praying for my sisters on the catholic-fertility Yahoo group, for God's blessings and lots of children and peace in their hearts. Although I no longer share their pain, I remember it vividly.

And many thanks to God for my own wonderful mother, the 2 of my 3 grandmothers that are still with us, and my dear mother-in-law.

And it wasn't...

Long, that is. About 26 hours.



Please forgive the crazy hair. She'd been playing peek-a-boo with a rather staticky blanket.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

A stand up kind of girl

Katie stood up for 30 seconds today. And has been practicing it all morning. Wonder when she will decide she is balanced enough to step on her own. Shouldn't be long.

Rant: Who ever decided lying to kids was a good idea?

You know one of the things I really love about the Catholic church? Its stance that life is life, and that people are to be respected and cherished, from conception to natural death.

Inherent in that teaching is that children are human beings too. I remember as a child, how devastated I was each time I figured out that my parents and other important adults in my life - the same ones who always maintained that lying was bad and I shouldn't do it - had lied to me. How I was more crushed every time it happened. I'm not saying they made a steady habit out of it. Or that the lies were 'big.' But it happened enough times to really damage my trust in/respect for them (and consequently adults in general).

I had to call my mom on this at least twice while she was here. We were in the grocery store at the Deli counter. Sammy, feeling a little braver and more exploratory these days, started to walk behind the counter. Before I could say "Sammy, come back please!" (which works 90% of the time with him) she said "UNNNNNH! Don't got back there. They'll put you to work!" (Never mind the fact that he's now going to get the idea that work is a bad thing. That's another rant for another day.) Another time Sammy wanted to sit on one of coin-eating rides outside of Toys-R-Us. She asked if I wanted her to put money in. I said "No, right now he's just happy to sit on it. He doesn't need to know it moves." She said, "You can just tell him it only works when MawMaw is here."

"Don't make that ugly face. One day your face will freeze like that and you'll look like that for the rest of your life."
"Eat your vegetables so you can grow up to be strong like Popeye."
"Yes, of course there's an Easter bunny! It's just a strange coincidence that he writes just like I do."

I asked her what made her think it was OK to lie to kids. Her reply was something along the lines of "That's what we always did. We didn't think they knew any better."

Well, guess what, people! Kids are humans too, created intelligent by God and every bit as deserving of your love, respect, and TRUTHFULNESS as any adult in your life. They are not stupid, they are ignorant. You are not doing them any favors (and indeed are doing them harm) teaching them untruths about the world they live in and the way it works. Especially if right along side that you are trying to teach them that lying is bad.

Think about it.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Speaking of lovebirds...

Daddy just came home for lunch (a rare treat for us!) and pointed out the two birds making baby birds in our back yard. I have never had the opportunity to witness birdie love before, and have to say it looked a little violent. They were constantly pecking at each other, and one kept kicking the other one in the face. I also found it amusing that several other aviary species were sitting on the fence and in the neighbors' trees, looking on. Did they have something to learn? Were they cheering them on?...

My little lovebirds

Here are some photos from last night that just melt a mother's heart -
 
 
 
 
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Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Open for comments

Apparently Blogger has a default setting I didn't know about, that doesn't let people leave comments anonymously. Thank you Jena for letting me know. I have fixed that. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE leave me some comments now. ;)

"Ging!!!"

We played on Zachary's "ging" (as Sammy says it) at his new house today, and Katie did something new - Look!

She's come a long way from her first time on a swing (9/5/06)

I used to think cell phones with cameras were just plain silly, until I found myself without a real camera and my kids doing something cute, or something for the first time. (In case you're wondering why these pictures are so terrible.)

Sammy and Zachary had a blast, too!

Monday, May 07, 2007

Art time

Sammy wanted to paint today. Katie thought it was a great idea, too.