Big Snow

We had our first decent snow at the beginning of February. By the time E and I got to the backyard, it had quickly started to melt. But it was still exciting. We're big fans of occasional snow. Despite our colds, we ventured out.

The boys didn't like being left behind.

Welcome March! March brought us a well deserved rain shower that turned into a fabulous snow storm. We were so excited. Reports were coming in about possible inches of snow and it kept climbing up to 5-10 inches. (Granted people, this is NC. We don't get good snows very often. Utah people are laughing I'm sure). Well, we got it! We got about 6 inches of beautiful snow. Now since it rained first we were concerned about losing power, so before the snow arrived, I got out our candles, had plenty of clothes out for the kids to bundle up, and gathered plenty of food to munch.

Look at her...she likes snow... I was surprised she stayed out for a couple hours.

We had the brilliant idea to use our laundry basket to sled down our backyard slopes. Daddy was getting a good workout pulling everyone around. E had a good time with her friend from up the street.

The boys came out this time. After several layers of clothes, sleepers, and big sister apparel, they were ready.

Since we were still sick, they weren't out too long.

Daddy even pulled me along and I was surprised at how fast we got. It reminded me of snow tubing when I was younger. But I soon found out Daddy's intentions...sharp turn and splat...right into the snow!

Thanks A!

Here's A about to take his turn down the slope. Our neighbor did the honors.

Now it's over...completely melted and Spring is on the way here. I think it's supposed to be 70 tomorrow. Ahh...that was a fun day. However, nothing like the week of snow fun we had back in January of 2000. THAT was awesome. I was back at school and we got hit with about 22 inches of snow. How could I be snowed in and not see A? Well, my sweet and daring fiance came to my rescue. Armed with snow boots, a shovel, and a trunk full of sand and mulch, he whisked me away to his parents house where we stayed snowed in for a week of wood burning fires, snowman building, hot chocolate drinking and movie watching. Now that was a good snow storm.

Be My Valentine

After sleeping in on Valentine's Day, E and A woke me up with a pink heart. Written upon the heart was a clever poem from my hubby, which led me on a treasure hunt through the house and solving clues along the way. It was fun and the poems were humorous and very touching. At the end, I found one of my favorite candy bars, which I haven't had in years...a king size Whatchamacallit. I love my hubby. You know...I think I can make a homemade version of that bar. That way we can spread the love all year long. I'll have to experiment.
E and I made Daddy a vase full of heart shaped flowers for his office. We cut hearts into potatoes and stamped them onto a grocery bag. Cut them out. Threw in some pipe cleaner and buttons. Arranged flowers. Ta-da! He loved them.

February Recap

What an exhausting month! We have been so preoccupied with other things that I haven't had time to blog. It seems we have experienced much more than 28 days of growth, new tasks, snowstorms, and sickness. What a month...

Let's see...for W (at 10 months) he has been walking for the past month and loves his ability to walk and carry toys at the same time. He has also been talking a lot more with "daddy" being his favorite word. He is still a very picky eater. He wears 6-9 month clothes and refuses to wear socks. He enjoys playing catch and peek-a-boo. He's an extreme screamer...shattering glass screamer. It's lovely when big sister mimics him...over and over.

O has been amazing everyone by how quickly he's attempting to do new things. He tries to copy just about everything E and W do. As a result, he harms himself several times a day. But at the age of 7 months, not only can he crawl, but he can pull up on anything, maneuver himself through chair and table legs, climb stairs, and walks on his legs with his hands still on the ground. He wears 12-18 month clothes. He will eat anything in sight. He's my IRobot Roomba.

E has been extremely sensitive and emotional this month. We've had a lot of meltdowns. She's phasing herself out of a nap and it's not going well. However, we've had lots of hugs, kisses, and expressions of gratitude from E. She's telling stories, coloring pictures, and has been pretty excellent playing quietly while the boys sleep. She's been doing really well staying dry through the night. Her favorite shape right now is the triangle . She likes to make them out of the food she eats and then count the sides and corners.

Other fun things this month:

Lots of basket rides through the living room, which includes several pillow "bumps" to slide over or sometimes fly over.

Lots of blanket rides...very funny to see who can stay on the longest.

Cousin Laurel came to play.

First time shopping. Of course it was Costco because of the wonderful 2 seater cart.

Several baths for the boys, whether they liked it or not.

She let me braid her hair for the first time.

E decided she didn't want to sleep in her bed for a few nights. She made her own bed on the floor and slept there with some friends.

During "nap time" E has been dressing herself with whatever she can find. It's pretty normal to find her with 4-6 layers of clothes on.

Tons of brotherly love.

Tag!

The "Devil's Tag" is circulating! Heather tagged me and since it's easy and quick, I have no excuse but to play. Plus, I was interested in what picture I would find. Hi Heather!

1. Go to my documents/pictures.

2. Go to my 6th file folder.

3. Go to my 6th picture.

4. Blog about it.

5. Tag 6 people to do the same.



This is from E's file. E received a children's digital camera for Christmas and it quickly became one of her favorite toys. We decided to save some pictures because they were just too funny. She takes a million photos, so we only upload occasionally. This is the 6th photo...a picture of her blocks on Christmas morning....but it ended up being more of a picture of her foot.

Here's another gem.

I tag Jamie, Lauren, Shena, Lacey, Erika, and Suzanne.

99 Things

I saw this on a blog and I thought I'd play along...

Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars (on a trampoline...a Utah thing to do... haha)
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (very cool)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (and DisneyWorld)
8. Climbed a mountain (Blue Ridge and Hanging Rock count, right? They were mtns. to me)
9. Held a praying mantis (and kissed a Banana Slug)
10. Sang a solo (several plays and at church...I won't do that again)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (with my uncle in Florida)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (I've got 3!)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (thanks to A)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort (complete with tunnels in the front yard while living in Utah)
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community (not a big one- a few farms and a community store)
36. Taught yourself a new language (I started learning sign language, but it's hard to keep up with if you don't use it everyday)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (several times with my hubby)
46. Been transported in an ambulance (I was sandwiched between 2 cars in college)
47. Had your portrait painted (I've had a caricature drawn of me)
48. Gone deep sea fishing (I was with my uncle in Florida)
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (snorkeling on the corral reef off the Florida coast)
52. Kissed in the rain (and the snow)
53. Played in the mud (when I was little...lots of mud pies)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (as a teenager...that was fun...did we even watch the movie?)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (no, but helped my sister with her business)
58. Taken a martial arts class - does kickboxing count?
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (several)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (had a blast with a bunch of friends...remember Jeff going into "labor" on the street corner? Ha ha!!)
71. Eaten Caviar (yuk)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square (flew to NYC with a friend to shop for the day...great fun)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (no, but I've seen the changing of guards at The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery)
77. Broken a bone (my right hand...horrible experience)
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (and almost ran off a cliff to my death...I was little)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Redwoods (amazing and beautiful)
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (winning track events, school plays, and modeling school clothes for Nordstom)
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House (I've stood in front of it. Does that count?)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (My dad has...several times)
88. Had chickenpox (severe case- covered head to toe, inside and out, and I was delirious... screaming for my mom as she was caring for me)
89. Saved someone’s life (I've given away a few BOM's...hahaha)
90. Sat on a jury (Sooooo boring. Thank goodness it didn't last long)
91. Met someone famous (Tomie de Paola, Orson Scott Card, Elder Oaks...Oh and Aaron Johnston! ;) I've seen a lot more people than I've met)
92. Joined a book club (didn't last long)
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone (emergencies only)
99. Been stung by a bee (ouch!)

Who wants to play?

Cinderella

No...it was not my idea to have E watch Cinderella. I knew she would be emotional. I knew someone would have to sit with her and talk her through the entire movie, explaining every action and making tense moments lighthearted.

When E was not quite 2, she saw a small clip of Winnie The Pooh for the first time. She was curious... she smiled. Unfortunately, it so happened to be the scene where either Pooh or Tigger fell out of a tree. She began screaming and crying instantaneously, pointing to the screen, and running to me. I tried to explain and show her that he was ok, but she was so upset and didn't want anything to do with the movie anymore. She spent the next few days asking if he was ok. Obviously, that event altered her world.

I decided she would not see movies any time soon, which was more than fine. We started watching little shows like Sesame Street, Barney, or Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. All shows I felt she could handle. Well, we still had episodes of grief or fright. Just a few examples are as follows: Baby Bear got caught in a net, Grover fell from the sky, Elmo fell off his bike, Baby Bop was sad and cried, a ball was thrown and broke a toy, Lady Elaine got lost, and a strong wind blew everyone around in the neighborhood. (As a side note, I love Mr. Rogers'. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this show with E. Yes, it was dated, but excellent programming for young children.)

So, when gathering with family and friends it can be somewhat difficult to avoid a movie being shown to the kids. Sometimes we can distract the little ones with something else, but other times...hmmm...it's tricky, especially if the adults are busy doing something and can't narrate the movie for E in order to avoid an emotional outburst and days of recalling the events that upset her.

So many people think I exaggerate the magnitude of E's sensitivity.

When we were visiting with family, Cinderella was the movie of choice. Was there anything in Cinderella that could upset her? I quickly scanned the movie in my head and thought that the stepmother could be frightening to her. So I decided against it. While I was playing a game, Cinderella started anyway and it was within minutes that we heard the wails from down the hall. Come to find out, the cat was chasing the mouse. You see people? I'm not exaggerating. Grandma was kind enough to sit with her for the entire movie, explaining everything. Thanks Grandma. There were no lasting effects from the movie and E wanted to watch it again the next day....with Grandma. I managed to get a few shots of her watching it a second time.

First Date

We finally got ourselves out of the house on a real date! This is a first since having all three kids. Crazy. My hubby got free tickets to the UNC game vs Miami, so we hit the road for dinner and a game.

My sister-n-law and nephew came over to watch the kids for the evening. (Thanks again!) Our intention was too leave early and enjoy a nice restaurant in the Chapel Hill area before the game started, however, we were running late. We knew it would be almost impossible to get into a restaurant. Out of curiosity, we checked 2 places...at least a 90 minute wait...what?! We laughed our way to Chick-fil-A. Scrumptious! Before we left, we got some shakes, and I must say, they were pretty good and much larger than I imagined. They're now part of my top 5 shakes, behind Cook Out and Dairy Queen.

Off to the game. As we drove, A asked if it was ok if we walked to the game instead of taking the shuttle bus. Sure! No problem. I'm all for saving $10. He neglected to mention that it was a 20 minute walk and it was 35 degrees out. Ok...I'll warm up as we walk....nope. Since we just had shakes, it was as if we were being frozen from the inside out. My lungs felt like they had chunks of ice in them. We warmed up quickly once we were at the sports arena and we quickly discovered how sweet our seats were. No one sat in front of us, just a railing to put our feet up on...niiiice! A couple from A's work sat on his right and I had the sheer pleasure of sitting cozy with Mr. Tipsy on my left. A lovely man, yet reeked of alcohol and had several wild outbursts of enjoyment. He tried so hard to be polite and chit chat with me..."So, do you come to the games often?", "Do you get season tickets?", "Do you get to see the games much?"....I repeated my brief answers, he may not remember me in the morning.

The game really was awesome. If you saw it on tv, you may remember how intense it had gotten. The excitement was ten fold in the arena. UNC won...we had a great time being together.

I took several photos of the event. Enjoy the slide show.

First Trip to the Dentist

It's amazing. She's old enough for the dentist! It seems unreal.

I may have mentioned this before, but E has always been an extremely sensitive little girl. The littlest things can bring on the alligator tears. So, we knew visiting the dentist would be a traumatic experience. Believe it or not, we started preparing for this special day last Spring when I had an appointment. The whole family came to watch me get my teeth cleaned and we talked E through each step. They even allowed her to move up and down on the dentist chair. During the summer, E watched A during his appointment and then read several books about the dentist. Her original appointment was in the fall, but the office goofed and we had to reschedule. After a moment of annoyance, it was fine with us...more prep time.

Periodically, we'd mention the dentist to E. We talked about things she would see, hear, and taste. We talked about the mask on the dentist, gloves on their hands, a light that shines in her eyes, and the tools they would put in her mouth. We even showed her how to floss.

Finally, the day arrived and E was eager to go.

She held Daddy's hand most of the time.

Checkin' out her smile. This was the calm before the storm. Everything was running so smoothly until the actual dentist came in to see her wearing his funky googly-eyed magnifying glasses. E began crying at this horrific sight and started climbing out of the chair as fast as she could to jump into A's lap. Things calmed down after A told him to take his glasses off. E then left on a high note after fishing through the Treasure Box and then receiving a new toothbrush and colorful flossing sticks.

Beautiful!

Birthday Celebration

This month is such a special one, it's birthday time for you. We'd really like to celebrate your happy day with you. Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho here's something we can do. We'll sing a song that we all know...Happy Birthday to you!

We celebrated my sweet A's Birthday this month and he was so bold to suggest we go out to eat. Hmmm...a toddler, two babies, two booster seats and a highchair, very cold weather which means coats and hats, AND it was about 6:30pm. It doesn't sound like a fun time. But we decided to go for it.

We went for Mexican. The initial arrival was a bit hectic. It was tight quarters in the restaurant as we arranged two booster seats and a highchair, took off coats and hats, sanitized the table and kid seats, broke out the Cheerios, ignored the eyes of half the restaurant, and ordered our drinks. Phew! We brought our booster so W could be strapped in.

Here's O chillin' out. He was so tired, yet did a great job throughout dinner. I really didn't want to have to deal with crying babies while we were out eating. Both boys were awesome.

Cheese! This is E very pleased with her meal. She loves her quesadillas with chips and salsa. To help with the salsa dripping all over, we wrapped a burp cloth around her. She didn't mind a bit.

E loves to sing Happy Birthday, blow out the candle, and shout hooray. What 3 year old doesn't? She and A are shouting and pounding for ice cream pie. Yea!

So we survived an evening out to eat with all the kids, another first for 2009. We had a good time.

2009 Brings Several Firsts

Let's name a few...

The Big O
*Solid food- he gags on every bite and wants to cry.
*Began crawling- moves like a bulldog, it's very cute, and became W's shadow.
*Sitting position- can hold up all his weight and can also sit up from a crawling position.
*Pulls up on everything- goes crazy and cries because he can't get down.
*Puts everything in his mouth- constant vigilance...from the tiniest lint to my kitchen table legs, he's made his mark. He has just about chewed his way through the slats on his crib! Ugh!
*Rides in the cart pushed by big sis- though he's much more difficult to push than W.
*Flipped himself out of the bouncy seat- he is banished from the seat now because of his flip and, well, he is way too big for it now anyway. Seriously, the seat about touches the floor. If he bounced, it would most likely break!
*Has 5 teeth now- so watch out, he still likes to chew on your feet.




Little Man
*Standing up on his own from any position- he's got great balance.
*Walks- along furniture, behind a cart, and tries to walk by himself, but skittish to walk alone.
*Eating table food- loves graham crackers and bananas.
*Initiates games- peek-a-boo in the curtains, roll or throw an object back and forth.
*Comes to me- I'll call his name and he'll come to me. If I walk into the other room with his bottle, he'll come to me. If I bend down holding O in one arm, W will come to me, stand up and place himself in my other arm to be carried away. Actually, he has been doing this for awhile.
*Pushing buttons- tv, printer, phone...you name it, he'll push it.
*Blocks- likes to stack and destroy Mega Bloks (big Legos).
*Beginning to climb- this could get dangerous fast.




Big Sis
*Visiting the dentist- we prepared her for months (more detail in later blog entry).
*Drags brothers by the arms to wherever she wants- she tries to do it slowly so they don't get hurt or quickly when she thinks I'm not looking. She knows I don't like it either way.
*Dressing herself up during nap time- this consists of several layers of clothing to the point where she can barely move (couple pairs of underwear, tights, 6 pants, 4 shirts, socks on feet and on hands for gloves, sometimes shoes and random hair clips dangling from her hair).
*Handmade dress from Grandma- she was thrilled to wear it and everyone said she looked like a princess.
*Played Pretty Pretty Princess Board Game- I'm not surprised we're already missing a few pieces...where's Big O?!
*Watched Cinderella- this was not my idea...more details on a later post.
*Watched Mary Poppins- after the initial shock, she's addicted.
*Attending Primary- Is this crazy or what?!
*Plays a computer game on a toy computer- it took some time to learn, but she can now play a game where she moves the computer mouse to direct a mouse through a maze in search for the cheese. A lot of force is behind each move...and heated palms.

Ironing

From a previous holiday post, you read that E received a homemade ironing board for Christmas, yet didn't know what it was. She has never seen me use one and rarely has seen the iron. Well, I came across this and thought it would be funny to post.

The Mouth of Babes

E approaches me with a big smile on her face and says...

"I'm gonna be big soon and when I'm a mommy I can wipe myself!"

~~~~
A scowl faced E comes quickly into the room. "Mom, there's something in my hair!" She promptly turns to show me that she has my round brush completely tangled in her hair.

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After reminding E not to talk with food in her mouth, she's appalled when W starts to make noise. "Don't talk W. You've got a Cheewio in your mouth."

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While jumping off a bin over and over and over...E somehow slips and comes crashing to the floor. She quickly jumps up and announces, "THAT didn't happen."

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Children learn a great deal when they attend Primary. We were surprised at how much after E's first Sunday. As we were going home, she matter of factly stated, "Hi. I'm not E. I'm Jennifer. I like to play baseball."

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After "horseback" riding with Daddy, E came to me to play. "Mom, you're a cow."

~~~~

Another Haircut

Yip. You may have noticed in our Christmas photos that W desperately needed a haircut. We wanted to do it before Christmas, but...well. So a few days after Christmas, we finally cut his mane. He wasn't happy about it.

Here's the Before.

Maybe it was a mistake to start with the clippers. I think it scared him and he continued to swat at them. And so the loud whining began.

How many people does it take to cut a now crying 9 month old? We had three, plus a cameraman.

I was cutting extremely fast, hoping it would turn out ok.

All those curls...

Look...he's fine! All smiles. What a cutie.

Snippets of Christmas

After discovering the thrill of each stocking...which, by the way, A had the best discovery in his stocking. He was given Flan, a pudding type dessert he ate on his mission in Mexico. Although it was not made in Mexico nor by a real Mexican woman, it was still worth trying and good for a laugh as he almost gagged. Anyway, Daddy and the kids waited at the top of the stairs until I was ready to video the big reveal. Next year we'll take pictures instead. E quickly found what Santa had left her and was content with just that. She loved her cowgirl hat and pretend food for her kitchen. As the kids played with Santa's gifts, we made breakfast.

E was completely thrilled over her "piano". Ever since she could walk she has made her way over to any piano in order to play it. She has always played the keys gently and likes to flip the pages of the hymnal or sheet music. Now that she has her own piano, she can make music anytime.

One of Daddy's favorite presents was a bike trailer for the kids.

W and O got fabulous quilts from Grandma. Each stitched with love!

E was excited to receive a homemade ribbon twirler, just like in the Olympics. She was moving so fast this seems to be the best picture. Thanks Aunt Melissa.

E also got another homemade gift from Pa and Grandma. It was exceptional. Pa made her a real true blue wooden ironing board with 3 adjustable heights. And Grandma gave her a wooden iron to go with it. How awesome. What's really funny about it is that she had no idea what it was. She has never seen me use an ironing board and she mostly sees me use an iron when I'm sewing. So that's the first thing she said when she saw it...Yeah, I'm gonna sew! Thanks Grandma and Pa. She loves it!


The boys also got a VTech Move and Crawl Ball. It lights up, plays music and animals sounds, says numbers...surprisingly, it's not that annoying. But what's fun is that it rolls around all by itself. Now the boys really have something fun to go after!


As for me, I was given several lovely gifts...beautiful fall decor for the house, several yards of fabulous fabric, a couple books from my favorite children's author, Tomie dePaola, the fantastic DVD movie Jane Eyre, which I've seen 3 times now, and a great big box of Turtles...YUM. I was also given a surprise gift from A and my mother-n-law.

Isn't it great? It's a dress form to help me make clothes for myself. I have never asked for one, but I've secretly wanted one for years. I have even watched tutorials on how to duct tape myself to create my own form and then fill it up with poly-fil. Odd little visual, I know. But look at this! Thanks to A and his mom, I'll be one happy seamstress.

We're very grateful for the gifts that were given to us this holiday. Thank you to everyone!