Small Family Get Together

We had the second of BabyP's birthday celebrations tonight. My mom brought over dinner and I made this cake.

It has no process sugar in the cake itself. It does have carmalized sweetened condensed milk on it, so we didn't get away from sugar completely. I have given BabyP icing before and he didn't seem to be too big of a fan. He hasn't really "gotten" sugar yet. I am sure his time is coming though.

Here are a few pics.

This was my favorite. The bits of stuff is apple.

He was really into the icing part. He dug around a little in the cake but mostly the icing took the show.

His party will be dinosaur themed. Hence, the dinosaur candle.

Happy kids.

Took BabyP to the doctor this morning because he still had a fever at 6 this morning. Of course, when he woke up at 830 he didn't have one. He didn't have one at the doctor either. He wasn't feeling well today, but hopefully the worst has passed.

Yankee Noodle Dandy

My Uncle sang Yankee Doodle dandy to my uncle. However, someone who is much smaller than he didn't quite understand what he was saying. Her she is singing her version of it while on the teeter totter at the beach.



And here is our special boy doing his birthday strut. Mr. T. said he took 13 consecutive steps at the park on his own without any coaxing. I see him trying to walk on his own more and more. For a while he has only been walking a couple of steps to get to me. Hopefully he feels good enough to practice this new trick and we can be done with this crawling stuff by the end of the month.



And just so you know. This dude is famous.

Home Again

We are HOME. I have mixed emotions about it. I am tired, but I still want to be playing. I don't want to return to work. Sigh...

BabyP spent his birthday at the park with dad and sister. He spent the evening (after my class) at Ikea where he got to eat noodles and broccoli (his favorite) and some cake. He wasn't too interested in the cake as much as he was interested in wiping the cake off of his mat with a napkin. He can be so naughty sometimes. We wanted to pick up a particular animal that we call razberry for him. He has grown attached to the one he has, and I wanted backups.

On Friday I got out of school early so we did a little shopping. We made it to the Audobon Center for a nice walk through the woods. That evening we went to the Oregon State Rally. You might notice the billions of pictures of cars on our flickr site. You never guess who had control of the camera. The kids were wiped from a long day so Mr. T. took us back to the hotel. He went back to the race while the kids and I prepped for the long ride home. I don't think i have to tell you there was a lot of being really excited to see SO MANY SUBARUS IN ONE PLACE OMG!

Both kids were wonderful on the plane ride. Peanut had to pee 3 times in the 4 hours we were on the plane. I think that had to do with all of the juice her father was giving her. BabyP had a fever on the ride home. It seems to be better now but is still noticeable. I am going to take him to the MD tomorrow if it doesn't break. I get a little worried when he has a fever because he has only had one other one that I can remember.

So we are home and our house is clean. (THANKS MOM). Both kids were asleep by 8, which is crazy because they have been going to sleep at 9 pacific time. I guess it has just caught up with them both. Wouldn't it be great if they both slept until 7 tomorrow.

I am not counting on it.

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

A quick update

Mr. T. is down running the laundry. I am trying to put the kids to sleep. It is 915, and they are both only now falling asleep. I can't blame them, really. We didn't get back to the hotel until about 8:30. Schedules all go to hell with traveling. We are going to be so messed up when we get back. My kids are going to bed late for west coast time. I can't even imagine what they are going to be like when we get home. On the up side, they are sleeping much later, which is great.

The plane ride here was better than expected. Well, once we got on a plane it was better than expected. Our first flight was canceled so we arrived in Seattle about 6 hours after we were originally going to land. Baby P slept on the Chicago leg and the Seattle leg. Peanut was tuned into the DVD player for both legs. Unfortunately, about half into the Seattle leg the player stopped. I was wise enough to buy a player that could only be recharged by cord, so we were left DVD less. She did fine enough. She was antsy at the end and had a slight breakdown.

On the Seattle leg we were surrounded by this rock band called "Three inches of Blood". They had just toured with some bigger band and were on their way back to Canada. They were polite in the way that Canadians are. When they seemed too irritated with my kids yelling or kicking the seat in front of them, I handed out freeze dried pineapples. I knew there was no way anyone could stay mad after that.

The best thing I brought for the plane ride was pipe cleaners. They made a great toy for both peanut and babyP. I also brought finder puppets and stickers. Baby P enjoyed peeling the stickers off of cups and things while Peanut worked on putting them in her coloring book.

We had a wonderful visit with my aunt and uncle in Anacortes. They live in a really special area just south of the Canadian border. My aunt and uncle were very accommodating of my crazy crew. We overflowed their toilet, threw up on the carpet, and managed to smear poo into the rug in the bathroom. They just went with the flow taking care of us, feeding us, and showing us around. The good thing about having small kids is that you are forced to take a break in the middle of the day and nap. I am sure they appreciated it.

We had a quick stop in Seattle to see my tallish cousin. She took us to some of the busiest locks in the nation. It was amazing to me because people were everywhere. They were walking over the gates for the lock freely. They were taking pictures and peering into the lock chambers while boats were locking through. After watching the yachts lock through, we walked across the dam, eye level with the spillways to see the fish ladder. For security reasons, this would never be tolerated in Arkansas. We also did a quick tour through Pikes Place market. We saw them throw fish, and we saw the original "chocolate milk store."

We were also able to catch up with two families who used to leave near us. One friend lives right on the river. It was so great to sit and watch the rain come down on the Willamette River. What luxury! (oh and seeing him and his wife after 7 years wasn't so bad either, but did I mention the river)

My girl likes to do two things

She likes to read

and she likes to watch TV

I am about to take a plane ride with the two kids. I think it will be interesting. It will either go really well or be a total disaster. If Peanut doesn't nap and the TV quits on us, I am in for a world of hurt.

We had the interior designer over today to present her ideas for our living room. I really like her. Her ideas kind of what we were thinking but really cool. We are going for a contemporary space. The walls and curtains will be very pale with lots of color in the artwork, couch, and rug. She even suggested a chair. I would never have thought of a chair in there. We are going to end up repainting the kitchen, which is fine. I don't particularly want to repaint the hallways, but I think we are going to have to, eventually.

Here is the colors and an idea of the abstract natural pattern we will be working with

Seeing all these great ideas made me want to change our backsplash in our kitchen to something more fun. Oh well. There is always next year after we finish the living room and work on the bathrooms. and the playroom. and the office. and peanut's room. And painting our room again.

Seven Years Ago

Seven Years ago it was raining. It was hot. I couldn't rouse my bridesmaids to get up and help me decorate or put the flower arrangements together.

I had a breakdown.

And then I saw my fiance, my mom, susan sims and my mother in law. They told me I didn't have to help get the reception ready.

It never occured to me that I didn't need to help.
That I didn't need to be in control of it.

So I went home and got ready.

And I was late to Knoop Park. I thought Mr. T. was already there because our car was there.

It wasn't our car. It was our photographers. I guess that makes two blue Honda Accord Wagon's with Bike Racks in Little Rock. I wish I hadn't of thrown my stuff all over it.

It quit raining.

My God Son and my dog went down the aisle before I did. Our friends went down next. Then me and my dad. My dad and I started out on the wrong side and had to switch so he could give me away.

My dad was crying.
My mom was crying.

I was crying and couldn't get the words out for our vows. Mr. T. told me. "Just say it!"

We somehow had a parade back to the reception. My father in law played the bagpipes. My wedding was kilted. Two little kids were up in the bushes yelling "I see her. I see the bride."

I can see Peanut doing that now.

Mr. T. told me that I looked like an angel coming down the aisle because the sun came out behind me. I beleive him.

It was sunny and humid and hot. We couldn't figure out how to turn the air conditioner on in the building. It was the best day of my life.

This all happened seven years ago.

And I am happy.

Ahoy me hearties!

me: Do you want to put something else on besides your pirate outfit?
Peanut: Why?

She has been wearing her pirate outfit all day. To go to the restroom, she has to take it completely off. (it is one piece).

She wore it to the museum and to Bath Junkie. One of the clerks asked me. "Why is she wearing a pirate outfit?" I looked at her with my brows furrowed... then said. "because she is 3 and she can." I mean really... how long is she going to be allowed to wear something like that and people not think she is looney. She needs to take advantage of it while she can. (Rolls eyes at clerk who thinks she is ssssssssoooooooooo coooooooollllllllll)