And then there were three...

Thank goodness I've been keeping little notes!

2012-01-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

It’s been months since I’ve done a full catch up for the kiddos. Since this site is, for the most part, a way to help me remember all the little things in their lives that I want to savor, I’m going to spend the next week or two filling in some gaps. After all, how am I supposed to finish their mythical baby books if I don’t write down these things somewhere? So prepare yourself (you few and faithful readers) for some timeline confusion to come.

October 2011

It's 6 A.M., do you know where YOUR chicken is?

2011-12-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Anna had an assignment at school this week to write several sentences using contractions and some of her spelling words. Here's what she came up with. Let me know if you sense a theme:

I didn't catch a whale.
I won't light a match.
They've come for your chicken!!
I can't whip the cream.
You've caught my chicken!!
I've come for some whip cream.
Don't touch my chicken!!

The Infamous Chicken Grab Nabber (Doesn't every family have one?)

Halloween

2011-11-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

This year, Anna wanted to be a bat. I tried to talk her into any number of other things, but she was set on it. So Terry stepped in and put together some spooky wings. PERFECTION. Anna was thrilled, she was adorable. Best bat ever. :)

Silvia was a pink princess because she is always a pink princess.

Jack was a baby in pajamas because... he is always a baby in pajamas and I am lazy.

We saw some seriously creepy house decorations, too. There was one house that had the front set up as a gruesome body part store, complete with shelves of dripping arms and feet and blood spatters on the sidewalk. The lady handing out candy kept calling out, "Come on in for a special treat! Watch out for the blood... it's FRESH."

Needless to say, my kids did not go anywhere near that candy dish. Cici wouldn't even stand by the house, we had to go wait a ways down until everyone else was done. I spent the rest of the night explaining that it wasn't REAL blood, ha ha, so silly, no really kids, it wasn't real. Yes, probably ketchup. No, Anna, someone did not kill their pet. Remember, ketchup?

All in all, a fun time had by all and the candy was delicious. Ummm, I mean, I'm sure the kids enjoyed the candy because of course I didn't steal half of it.

Anna the Bat

Silvia, Anna and Dhanushri (our neighbor and Anna's classmate)

Jack is SO impressed... and he wants her Twizzlers.

A little shopping, anyone?

"No, really, kids. No one was murdered."

Who's a pumpkin?

2011-10-25T03:37:00.000-06:00

Instead of trying to play catch up, I'm going to jump to the highlights of the past two months and then try to keep up from here on out. We'll see how well I do. Cross your fingers.

Biggest and best and most life-altering things first-- Jack is walking. He is a tumbling, toddling little Frankenstein, moving with arms held out in front for balance. He often doesn't seem to know which direction he'll end up going. Sometimes his feet move to fast ahead of him until he finds himself in an inadvertent run, which he resolves by the simple expediency of plopping down on his butt, grinning and starting over.

Next, though equally life-altering, the heat here in Texas has finally broken. Around the 2nd week in September, 80 and 90 degree days became the norm. Now at the tail end of October, the mornings are a brisk 45 or so and most days have settled nicely into the mid-70's. It makes a world of difference. The comfort is marred a bit by the onset of fall allergy season. It seems a strange thing to be sneezing and runny-eyed at Halloween, something more appropriate for Memorial Day. But that's Texas.

Speaking of, Halloween! It's the beginning of the end-of-year craziness. Anna has decided to be a bat. I have tried to talk her into many other things: witch, butterfly, spider, cat, anything. But she is adamant; it must be a bat. Since, strangely, bat costumes are not all the easy to come upon, Terry has once again stepped in to save Halloween and give Anna some spooky wings. Silvia is much easier. She will be, as usual, a pink princess. This year she has a fancy store bought dress which she has already worn into the ground, but she couldn't care less. It's pink, it's pretty and she's thrilled. Jack, as the baby, will be a pumpkin, simply because there are pumpkin PJ's to be had everywhere you turn. I suppose I could have asked Monica for the frog costume Anna, Silvia and Ryan all wore, but pumpkin is easier. So a pumpkin he shall be.

Then the big day comes. November 3rd, 2011. Anna will be 7 years old. It's a big thing. Something about 7 has always made it seem like that turning-point age where she is no longer a little kid. Of course, that's been true and evolving for some time now, but just the official day of it, 7th birthday, feels so strange.

After much thought, we had to accept that this house is simply NOT set up for entertaining. There's no real way we could easily have a party here, so Anna lucked out big time. On her actual birthday we'll do a small family thing, but the following weekend the REAL event will take place. She is having a Fancy Nancy party at a fancy little party place called Sugar and Spice, made exclusively to throw the girliest, pinkest and silliest parties ever with everything from hair, nails and glittery make-up to fashion show dress up and karaoke. She is thrilled. This is also the first year where she's inviting friends from school, people we don't know. See? All grown up now. Told ya.

Walking, cooling off, growing up. Time just keeps slipping by with or without my permission. Funny, that.

Anna, 81 months and counting

2011-08-31T10:34:00.000-06:00

“How much time does it take the Earth to go all the way around the sun? I better look that up in my planets book after dinner."

***

“Mom, come look at this cloud! I think it’s a funnel cloud, it has ominous striations all over it!”

***

“I can’t find a book! I’m supposed to bring my favorite book and I can’t find one!”

“Anna, you have a dozen books all over, just pick one.”

“But I can’t find ONE, Mommy! I’m only supposed to bring ONE!”

In lieu of any other description, that is Anna in her own words. She checks out encyclopedias from the library, just for fun. She has a lightening quick memory and picks up little facts everywhere, dropping them casually throughout her conversation, as innocently as a toddler reciting the alphabet. She would sit, oblivious to the world, all day if we didn't tell her to just, "put down the book and step away", words I never thought I would utter.

Of course she’s still a little kid and just as gullible as your average 1^st grader. “Harushi in my class says her parents are out of town and she gets to drive herself everywhere and go to McDonald’s all by herself and see movies at the theatre (pronounced thee-A-ter) every night! True, she does! REALLY!”

Since she was born, Anna has been more sensitive than the other kids. She has a thinner skin. She feels insults more deeply, empathizes with others to the point of her OWN tears and can (more rarely now as she gets older) have violent fits of temper over strange things that leave her hysterically inconsolable for hours. When this happens, Kurt and I just give each other the look and, depending on the circumstance, either let her settle herself alone in her room or just hold her until the storm passes. We've learned it's basically unkind to try to punish her or tell her to "just stop it and calm down". She is an emotional sponge and sometimes things, often just little things, start to wring her out. She gets that from me, actually.

In the same vein, her love is extreme. She hugs, she kisses, she holds on tightly for longer than is almost comfortable. At any given opportunity she will snuggle in against us as comfortable as a kitten. Throw in a story and she’s in heaven on high. Her gap-tooth smile (she's lost 4 teeth and plays constantly with the loose ones, to my disgust. Ew.) is just about my favorite thing ever.

If you ask her, Anna will tell you she wants to be a scientist or an artist when she grows up. I keep telling her she can be both. For the moment, she remains undecided.

Most of all, Anna is a big sister, a caretaker. She teaches Silvia what she has learned, though sometimes the lessons come with a certain air of condescension and impatience. I find them sometimes curled up together as she reads her sister a story. The love to play “Tea Cafe” with made-up menus where they set up the house as a restaurant and, together, make fabulous dinners for us (I wonder if it’s bad that they always put beer on the beverage menu?). She loves all things Jack, wanting to hold him and carrying him around when I’m not looking. If he’s in his crib or high chair while I try to get something else done, she will happily entertain him with dancing, singing, random screeching and anything else that wins a smile.

At a play area yesterday I saw a little baby girl, not yet two, wearing a dress exactly like one Anna had at the same age. So tiny. It made me smile, a little sadly, but mostly just with pleasure. I still remember the clothes she wore back as a baby, yes, but that is just the cover of the book. What she’s come to be inside those pages is so much more a wonder to me. She is beautiful, precocious, tempestuous, caring and bright as a star.

And, for now, those are my kids at six, four and one… and counting.

Silvia, 54 months and counting

2011-08-27T10:44:00.001-06:00

Princesses. Pink. Dresses. Parties. Pink. Adventure. Singing. Drawing. Pink.

Pink princess doll parties in dresses and skirts having adventures all over the world, captured in pink-centric art scattered to the winds in every direction.

Silvia is a girl’s girl. She spends her every moment (between sibling tiffs, artistic retreats and pouting fits) taking her dolls all over the house on fantastical journeys, singing them little nonsense songs with wardrobe changes at every destination. If I dare to interject a question about what they’re doing, she stares at me with a vaguely affronted look and says, “Mooooommy, I’m just plaaaaying”.

As in, leave me alone, woman, you’re interrupting my princess tower rebellion.

(On a side note, she just realized that Ken’s clothes come off. Princesses and a naked prince all a mix at the party. Ah, the innocence of youth.)

None of this is to imply that she is faint of heart or in anyway dainty. Dainty does not apply to Silvia. Cute, pretty, devilish and temperamental, yes. But not dainty. These adventures often have her princesses dangling off cliffs, jumping canyons and going off to college (all dangerous activities). She herself spends much of the day running laps around the house, up the stairs, down the stairs, across the couch, ad nauseum. Literally, her circling leaves me queasy.

Silvia cannot sit still. For the most part, unless enthralled by the magic of TV, she is constantly twitching, bouncing and twirling. This, hopefully, explains my somewhat guilty over-use of kid’s shows in the afternoon. If I don’t turn on Backyardigans, then she doesn’t turn OFF until she passes out in a lump somewhere in the house.

These impromptu naps are another one of Silvia’s trademarks. At four and a half years old, most kids have outgrown the afternoon nap, but not my blonde whirlwind. While she will vehemently refuse me if I ever dare to suggest it, Silvia puts herself down for a little rest more days than not every week. She will make a bed of pillows with a neatly straightened blanket, tuck herself underneath and sleep, oblivious to the world. Sometimes it comes on her stealthily and I will find her curled up on the hard tile of the front hall with her hands still outstretch towards a doll or asleep in the rocking chair of Jack’s nursery from one moment to the next when I turn away from her to change him.

In her last year of preschool now, Silvia is very excited for kindergarten next year, mostly so she can ride the bus with Anna. She’s more physically focused than Anna ever was and hasn’t started reading at all. That’s not to say she doesn’t know her letters and numbers, but it’s not in anyway the focus of her day. Still, she has her favorite stories half-memorized and will take the rare break during the day to sit and read two or three books cuddled up against me on the couch. She will be the athlete to Anna’s scholar.

An artist, a singer, a fighter, a lover, a darling and terror all at once, Silvia is my wonderland of childhood rolled up into one perfect little body.

On the move and feelin' fancy.

Jack, 13 months and counting

2011-08-26T15:45:00.002-06:00

Jack's favorite foods are:
bananas
carrots
peaches
bagels
raisin bread with jam or peanut butter (MESSY)
pancakes
chicken
applesauce
hot dogs (nitrate-free and cut up, just in case you were worried)
raisins
spaghetti
pizza
cheddar cheese pieces, but not slices
cake, ice cream, cookies, etc. (in moderation)

Jack's most-hated foods are:
carrots
peaches
bagels
raisin bread with jam or with peanut butter (MESSY)
pancakes
chicken
applesauce
hot dogs (nitrate-free and cut up, just in case you were worried)
raisins
pizza
cheddar cheese pieces, but not slices
cake, ice cream, cookies, etc. (in moderation)

In case it's not immediately clear, the only things Jack will eat consistently are bananas and spaghetti. And yes, sometimes with one in each hand. To say he's picky, well-- that just about covers it. We rotate what he's offered throughout the week to try and keep everything in some level of favor, but there are times when he just won't eat anything except a banana and bottles of milk for days.

Little kids just DO that, though. They survive on air in between gorging on everything in sight including that ages old cheerio dug out from behind the couch. For all this appetite confusion, he is a happily growing boy. Even though he's still small for his age, falling around the 7th percentile for height and weight, he's perfectly healthy. I actually kind of like his smallness, just because it makes me feel like I can still enjoy the baby-ness of him a little longer while still having the fun of a near-toddler talking and grabbing and exploring.

And boy does he ever! Nothing in the house is safe. We had to buy a safety gate on practically a moment's notice when he went from being oblivious to the stairs to climbing up three steps and trying to stand up (he can't). Once the stairs were off limits, he turned to conquering the bathroom. We now have to keep the door closed at all times or he will, literally, climb into the toilet bowl. Charming.

Jack says hi, he waves, he smiles and giggles and thinks his sisters are the most wonderful thing in the world. When Kurt comes in the door at the end of the day, Jack crawls over lightening fast and gets up on his knees in front of his daddy, arms reaching high up and firmly crying to be held. He plays on his own, loves books and maracas and spends more time than I'd like blowing on the harmonica and toy recorder.

While he's not walking yet, Jack does push things around standing, lawnmower-style, and has progressed to walking unsteadily while holding only one of my hands. We travel in little gulps around the house through out the day as he tries to find and hold his center. He's almost there, I can just feel it. Because of the heat, he spends most of his time in just a diaper or, if he's feeling fancy, in a onesie. his knees have become rough from the hard floors and I imagine moving on to feet-based travel will be a relief.

He's still our little puppy, too, travelling around all the time with things tightly held between his 6 little teeth: paint brushes, his frog lovey, bagels, bottles, cups, socks, etc. Mostly it's cute and we leave him to it, but today I did draw the line when he came up to me with one of Anna's Crocs tightly between his lips.

My boy is a lover and I'm not bragging (ok, maybe just a little) when I say that I get the lion's share of that affection. He crawls all over me, climbs on me, hugs me, tickles me, dances with me... he loves me. He loves everyone else, too, but for the moment I'm still the special-est. I treasure every wet, slobbery kiss. Well, mostly. Sometimes the slobber is a BIT much.

"Would you like this paint brush? It's only a little drooly."

Belated Father's Day

2011-08-25T21:15:00.000-06:00

Picture time and soon to come, a catch up

2011-08-25T21:06:00.000-06:00

Here's a fairly random collection of recent pictures. I'm just getting my photos, internet and phone camera all sorted out here in Texas, so there will be more to come in explanations, especially concerning Silvia cleaning my house like a happy little not-so-downtrodden Cinderella.

And then there really were three

2011-08-03T12:40:00.000-06:00

Our dear friend Charlotte at Trystan Photography snapped these pictures about 2 weeks before we left Colorado. Aren't my kids beautiful?

Jack's 1st birthday and...

2011-07-18T21:32:00.000-06:00

Oh, yeah. Did I forget to mention? We moved to Texas.

We've been here in Dallas for about two weeks now and I can solidly say, without a shadow of doubt... it's hot. Like, STUPID hot. The air conditioning in Kurt's car went out this weekend (having never actually been put to the test before it died of shock) and our response was not, "Oh, well, better get that looked at," but instead, "OH NO! NOOOOO!!!!".

It's hot, yes indeedy. But Kurt's new job, the one we dropped everything for, is great and he's really enjoying it. The kids and I are settling in slowly, a little bit forward, a little bit backward, depending on the day (and the temperature). We joined the YMCA and that's been a great help. They have a splash park as part of the child watch. So while I work out, the girls run around and get soaked. Jack is, big surprise, the darling of the daycare and spends the time being cuddled, passed around to many loving arms and generally deliciously spoiled.

Speaking of whom-- Jack. One. A year gone by.

Crazy.

This time last summer I had no idea, NO IDEA, we'd be celebrating this inaugural birthday in a little rental house in the Lone Star State. I probably would have laughed nervously and looked for a quick exit if anyone had tried to convince me of that possibility. Yet here we are, a year later, and my baby boy is one in Texas.

He's so great. He's such a fun baby. He talks all the time now and has taken to pointing at things and making important sounding pronouncements. We only wish we could hook up to a universal translator and be privy to his wisdom. He started crawling in late May, the day we left for our first Texas house-hunting trip, actually. Now he's a pro with callused knees and a top speed we like to call "Jack, no, stop!".

He's recently started pulling up on things, but his center of gravity is still very wobbly and he mostly gets himself up, locks his knees and gets stuck holding on and leaning forward. Usually Anna comes to his rescue, hugging him around the waist tightly until he plops down solidly on the floor.

Even at one, though, I feel like Jack is a little more baby-like still than the girls were at this age. I'm sure that has a lot to do with him being my last but there's just something more infant-like, innocence or trust or something, than toddler-like. As soon as he's up and at 'em, ripping around the house, base jumping off furniture and terrorizing the neighbors, I'm sure that feeling will change.

For now, though, Jack is still my little one. He likes to be held, he smiles with his toothy grin (4 on top, 2 on the bottom), his sisters are his favorite source of amusement and he points and crows out happily whenever he sees Kurt after a day at work. Jack Stephen is a darling.

And now he's gonna grow up to be a Cowboy... wait. Isn't there a song about NOT letting your babies do that? Too late now. We're all in a Lone Star state of mind now. (Hahaa. Ok, I'll stop.)

Trying out his new wheels. And check out the jammies, courtesy of Auntie Mo!!

Cuteness

2011-05-09T10:09:00.003-06:00

Easter sugar high.

Sleeping baby, never gets less cute.

Jack, getting in touch with his Italian roots. "This-a spaghetti is-a molto buono!"

First spaghetti dinner is a success... and a mess.

Picnic on the porch.

Jack: 9 months

2011-04-21T14:25:00.000-06:00

Updates being far behind, I figure I'll just start with where we are and work my way backwards as needed. Jack is 9 months old. Not sure how that happened, but I'm still befuddled by the blossoming of spring all around me. I think my sense of time passing has been compromised.

Jack is loud. He talks a LOT, mostly just your standard, "dadada" but he's also recently added "annna" and (oh, I am so happy!) "mama". He's working on "uh-oh" and I swear I've heard a version of "what's that?" come from his drooly little lips. But I may have a case of maternal pride hallucinations.

Mostly, though, he's just loud. It can be happy loud, screaming for the fun of it and giggling at his sisters ("Look! They have toys on their heads! And then they jump and the toys fall off! AMAZING! Do it again!"). There is also angry, abandoned, tormented, sad, pained loud. We get that about equally as much.

He's not exactly what you'd call a peaceful baby. When he's cute, though... oh, is he EVER cute! See the picture above. Our friend Kim (of Kim Harms Photography) came over a couple weeks ago and managed to capture some of his best faces and smiles. I know, I know, I'm biased but wow, isn't he just the most beautiful boy? Am I right? I'm totally right.

Jack has been sleeping pretty consistently through the night since January, after a brief and painful bout of sleep "training" (also known as, he cries, mommy cries, and then we sleep). It makes a HUGE difference in our lives as a family. Kurt and I get some peace in the evening after all the little ones are in bed and we can wake up in the morning without feeling like total zombies. Most days, anyway. It also did a lot to improve Jack's general mood. As I said, he hasn't been a peaceful baby and not particularly an easy one. The first half of his life he basically just cried, screamed, slept, nursed, cried and then screamed a bit. In between we'd get these flashes of the absolutely charming boy he had buried inside, but it took some time for that little guy to make his way to the surface. Colic, how we hate thee.

He's been generally healthy, though, despite the tears, which is a true blessing. There have been a few ear infections but not so many as Silvia suffered through. Considering he's smothered daily with love by a kindegartener and a preschooler (both dripping germs of all shapes and sizes) it's pretty awesome he hasn't been more sick, in general.

There are a few points of concern right now, but nothing that really bothers me, despite the necessity of putting it down in his official medical records. Jack's normal height and head size for his age but his weight falls off the charts at below 2%. He's gained not quite one pound in the last three months. The verdict? FEED THAT BOY, which is convenient because he loooooooves to eat. Cheerios, baby food, oatmeal, little bites of banana and various adult foods-- all of these and more. If only I had such problems.

The other thing is he's sitting (literally) at a borderline developmental delay. He's not crawling, pulling up or pushing up with his belly off the floor. Again, I am just NOT worried. If I've learned anything at all in the past 6 years of parenthood it's that kids do everything in their own time. To hell with the charts and milestones. My pediatrician (whom I adore, by the way) was equally sanguine. He pointed out that with the family history of Anna's developmental delay, it's especially not a big deal. We know nothing was ultimately wrong with her and I'm positive there's nothing wrong with him. He'll get there when he gets there.

For the moment, I take great pleasure in the fact that when I set him down somewhere, that's where he stays. Another thing I've learned... enjoy the little things and NEVER try and rush to the next stage. You'll miss that time when it's passed!

More on the girls and our family as whole later, but it's all about Jack Stephen for now.

Kurt and Jack

2011-04-07T16:02:00.003-06:00

Diana Barbour, 1939-2011

2011-04-03T16:49:00.000-06:00

Aunt Diana was the stubborn, funny and sometimes (ok, often, but we loved her for it) cantankerous matriarch of our family. A true force of nature and smart as a whip, she was fiercely devoted to her family, friends and political views. We all loved her, I loved her, and she will be greatly missed.

Love Letter

2011-03-29T16:56:00.002-06:00

Just found this letter Anna wrote to Silvia this week:

Silvia,

I love you so much. And I am full of surprises. You are the best sister I've ever had.

Love, Anna

Photo barrage! Take cover!

2011-01-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe it's not that many pictures, but it feels like it. Some are from Christmas, too, late but not forgotten!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

2010

2010-12-08T11:57:00.001-07:00

A few updates on all the things I've neglected to mention here. What a crazy year it's been!

***
Kind of obviously, the biggest going-on this year was my pregnancy and Jack's birth. We started the year kind of in shock and gradually worked our way up to AWESOME excitement. Unplanned, sure, but so worth the surprise! Jack's filled up places in our lives we hadn't even realized were empty, most notably by changing Anna and Silvia into Big Sisters. The smothering, adoring and majorly-giggly love they bear for him knows no bounds-- except when he won't stop fussing and then it's, "Mom!!! Jack's crying! He wants YOU!". But hey, all in all, they've been amazing helpers, supporters and baby-charmers, callings they never would have realized had he not come along.

***
Team Spirit. This year the girls have gone from affectionate (mostly) co-existence to serious Dynamic Duo antics. When they're together, they're TOGETHER: dancing, singing, plotting, reading, creating amazing imaginative realities into which their parents are not invited. Of course, the flip side is that the sibling rivalry has gone through the roof, too. Silvia breaks down when Anna decides not to play, Anna randomly decides at odd moments that she needs to "have alone time!!!" and flips out when her sister follows along, begging for attention. They push, they whine, they tattle (oh, my how they tattle). And then, suddenly, they're holding hands and dancing around the living room to the melodic strains of Celtic Woman. When Anna started kindegarten in the fall, Silvia had a really hard time adjusting to being alone most of the day. Making faces at the baby doesn't really compare. But she's getting there and has become more independent (and more willful) as the months have gone by.

***
Speaking of kindegarten... it's been a major transition for all of us. First off, we've had to get on a morning schedule that's far more rigorous. Up, dressed, fed and out the door by 7:25 A.M. precisely. It's been an adjustment. Then there's the whole after-school reality. Anna often comes home fired up with her big kindegarten superiority and we spend at least half an hour taking her back down to family-friendly size. Juggling pick-ups, naps, homework, dinner and, obviously, Jack has taken a lot of getting used to. I can semi-confidently say that we've sort of gotten it down now... just as Anna's school work is about to increase with a leap. She's also on the accelerated reading plan and has two books a week she needs to get through and be tested on. We're trying to gracefully work that focused time into the evening mayhem.

***
Family. Not only was Jack born this year, but Monica also had a baby boy, Dylan, in March. It's been hard that we haven't been able to get the kids together, especially since they are all so close in age. We plan to visit next spring, but experiencing the first year of the boys' lives through pictures doesn't really cut it.

We've been lucky, though to have so much family close by, too. Kurt's dad comes over every week and is wonderful babysitting the girls from time to time.They adore him. Mom, Kent and Terry have been amazing in giving Kurt and me support and childcare, letting us get out alone. Together. These days, that feels like a special kind of miracle.

***
Milestones. Anna lost her first tooth (EW!) back in September (I think, didn't write it down out of gross-out-ness). Barbies have finally entered our world as of November, and oh, how they have made their mark. Silvia has lost her baby face. It happened subtly, but looking back at pictures from January it's clear-- she's really started to grow up! Kurt and I had our 7th anniversary in July, just after Jack was born. Showing off our more laissez faire parenting, we took him out with us for dinner to a fancy restaurant. Hey, if he fusses, he fusses, right? Life goes on.

Jack has gone from floppy infant to holding his head up, pushing up on his arms, smiling, laughing, babbling and more recently, starting to roll over. The colic he (we) suffered for the first four months is finally subsiding. He's starting to sleep for longer stretches at night (don't jinx me!). This time last year we couldn't imagine our lives with ANOTHER child. Now we can't imagine our lives without him. Funny how it works out that way.

***
Little things have stood out, too, silly memories we'll try to hold on to when the kids start to drive us wacko again. Like Anna teaching Silvia knock-knock jokes.

Anna: "Knock-knock. Now you say who's there."
Silvia: "Who's there."
Anna: "Orange. Now you say orange who."
Silvia: "Orange who."
Anna: "Orange Door! Now you laugh!"
Silvia: *gales of laughter pour forth*

Or all the quiet moments as they sit heads together, brown and blonde, while Anna reads stories to her sister's rapt attention.

There's the lightening speed shedding of clothes as soon as we walk in the door as they rush to change into dress-up clothes. Most of their costumes are worn thin, with holes, stains and ripped seams, but it doesn't matter. I find more laundry up in the playroom than I ever do in the basket in their room.

Jack's baptism and the gift of an ever-closer friendship with his godparents, the Bundgaards, as well as being honored as the godparents for their son Trystan. The kids get together from time to time and it seems like they've never spent any time apart. Turns out, we feel the same way about their parents. Now that's what I call a blessing.

All the mornings in scrubby sweats with bed head and swollen gross eyes because I forgot to take out my contacts, hunched over a luke warm coffee cup. Anna: "Mommy, you look beautiful today!" Silvia: "I like your shirt, it's so pretty!". I love my kids.

The a-ha moment when Anna figured out Connect Four.

Silvia's constant nonsense singing in the background at all times.

Jack, falling asleep in my arms as I nurse him, leaving me afraid to move for fear of waking him and also grateful that I get to hold his sleeping form for a little while longer.

Kurt. Period.

***
I'm sure there are hundred of other moments and stories I've forgotten and missed. But regardless...

It's been a good year.

hats, glasses, dresses and baby faces

2010-12-04T16:09:00.001-07:00

new toys

2010-11-08T08:46:00.004-07:00

Jack has hands. He's just discovered them and he thinks they're AWESOME. Unfortunately one side effect of the constant hand-munching is the now constant need for bibs. Fortunately we have dozens! (Thanks Bubby Sharyn!) With his new and exciting hands, he can also pull said bibs right up into his mouth, thereby killing two birds with one stone: fun chewing adventures and drool collection, all in one!

The other benefit of hands is grasping, as in grasping toys. Much to my delight, and his as well, I found a little bag I'd tucked aside in a storage box. It was FULL of fun baby toys-- the brightly colored plastic keys, easily-grasped colored links, shaky balls with bells and best of all, the stacking tower that lights up and makes cool sounds. (While I am generally against Noise Toys, this little tower plays bell tones and little classical tunes so it's not very irritating. It does, however, tend to go off at random points all on its own, which can be a little terrifying at 2 A.M.)

Jack is growing up. His world is expanding. Of course, at this point it hasn't expanded much past his fingers and toes, but still. The bubble grows so quickly. Eventually it'll pop and he'll have the whole world in his view. Probably I've got a little more time before then.

Anna turns 6

2010-11-04T21:01:00.004-06:00

I'm not at all sure how it happened but somehow, yesterday, my oldest child turned 6. She's VERY six, too. This is the first year she's asked for specific birthday presents, the first year she's woken up in the morning and declared that she LOOKS older and is now much much MUCH more mature (her word, not mine). Really, this is the first year her birthday has meant something more concrete to her than just cake-and-presents. Not that those aren't super important, too! But this year, she really is a big kid-- and she knows it. Happy birthday, my Anna. You're amazing!

And just for the sake of nostalgia... here's Anna again, but a little bit smaller. Look at that beautiful smile, though. Some things don't change at all.

She's got the look... and the books

2010-09-23T11:34:00.000-06:00

Not only is Anna totally adorable, turns out she can read! Ok, I know, you're all totally in shock. But recently her love of the written word has been confirmed at her school. They tested her at a 3rd-4th grade reading level. Even though we knew she was a strong reader it was still kind of shock to see it set out like that. So now Anna gets to follow a seperate program from her classmates. Her teacher will send home a few books a week from the 4th grade curriculum. Anna's supposed to read them to us a few times and then return them, where her teacher will then test her on comprehension of the stories. From there we can see if she needs things to be more challenging or less. It's wonderful that the schools now have a system for individualizing skill learning instead of just trying to fit all the kids into the same mold. Her teacher has been great to keep Anna progressing while working with us to make sure she's appropriately challenged without being overwhelmed.

From Anna's point of view, all this complicated curriculum and individual tutoring just means... new books! Every week! Hurray! I'm so glad she's happy and as long as it seems to keep her that way, we'll keep offering her new things. All in all, a really exciting program for my little kindegartener.

Littlest Frog, 8 weeks old

2010-09-17T14:02:00.000-06:00

Baby Pictures of Jack

2010-09-17T08:26:00.000-06:00

The sad thing is he's already so much bigger!

The Case of the Light-Up Shoes

2010-09-03T16:16:00.002-06:00

Katie has light up shoes. You're thinking right now, who's Katie and who cares about her shoes?

Silvia cares, that's who. Katie goes to her preschool and for MONTHS I have heard every day about the shoes. Not in a whiny, begging or complaining way, either. Silvia has been filled with wistful sighs and admiration.

"Mommy, Katie has light up shoes. They are soooo pretty. I love light up shoes. Maybe someday I can have light up shoes like Katie? They have lights on them when she walks. Katie loves them and I love them, too."

Since her feet are growing exponentially and her shoes from April no longer have a chance of fitting, I decided why not? I have to get her new shoes anyway, why not indulge her ultimate fantasy and go with fancy lights? I mean, come on. When else in her life will her dreams be so easily reached? It's not like she is bombarded with new clothes and shoes and toys and fabulous treats. Most of her things used to be Anna's (including shoes) and we're not really give-the-kids-tons-of-crap kind of people. It would be a real treat for her and she deserves it.

So, I went to Kohls (I had a coupon, yay!). Or to what I now call, Shoe Hell and Home of the Sales Dragon Lady.

The had the perfect shoes-- a pair of mary jane sneakers in bright pink with lights enough to satisfy without being obnoxious. Silvia wore them out of the store, happiness coming off her like rays of sunlight.

But then, after we were home, and Jack was fed and calmed (he hates the car), we both noticed that one of the shoes didn't light up. Oh, no! Oh, horrors! I still had my wits about me, though, and felt generally calm and up to the challenge of a shoe exchange. So we waited to pick up Anna from her bus stop and headed back over to Kohls.

Can you guess what happened? Is the rule of Murphy's Law clear in your gaze? That's right. They didn't have her size. Sighing, I headed to customer service with two increasingly rowdy and grumpy children and a (thankfully) sleeping baby. The lady called the other stores (no dice), stared me down silently with no other helpful suggestions and gave me my money back. Cue mayhem from the 3-year-old whose dreams had just been dashed.

I gathered up the troops, headed home, had a piece of chocolate (medicinal, you understand) and checked online for the right size. Jackpot! Turns out, though, I'd have to pay shipping. So I call the store and ask if I can have it shipped there and skip the shipping cost.

Guess what? Turns out that, IN THE STORE, there is a kiosk set up for just this circumstance with free shipping. The catch is that you have to order IN THE STORE.

Did I mention the IN THE STORE part? The part that would have been incredibly helpful to know before I dragged my three children OUT of the store? I explained this fact to the customer service lady (the same lady I spoke to when we were IN THE STORE) and she said, "Well, I'm sorry, I can't do anything for you. If you want the shoes without paying shipping, you'll have to come back."

I told her I hoped she'd be more useful with this helpful information with other customers and hung up. Only then did I use language inappropriate for a child's blog.

In case you're unclear on why I'm so frustrated, let me expound (because this post isn't long enough yet!). Getting in and out and in and out and about and corralled with all the kids is hard. It's annoying. It's frustrating. I mostly avoid going out these days if I have to take even two kids. Jack, as I've mentioned, hates driving and tends to scream for the majority of our trips. The girls are sweet and I love them, but their ability to tackle all my nerves at once is beyond impressive. It's an art. So going to the store, leaving, going back and being the opposite of helped so that I'll have to go back AGAIN... I'm pissed.

The question now stands. Return to Kohls (hopefully to see the same lady and make rude gestures at her while letting my kids scream in her ear and getting the baby to throw up on her) and order the shoes, sans shipping costs. Or order them online, pay the fee and be free from road trips and obnoxious sales staff. Or give up on Silvia's dream and get her some plain ol' shoes the next time I happen to be out in a place that sells them.

Thoughts?

(I have to say that I'm leaning towards ordering online and considering the $6 shipping a worthy fee for my sanity. I don't really want to disappoint Silvia when she has come so close to her dream. What would I say to Katie?)

Boys and Girls

2010-08-28T10:34:00.002-06:00

Anna's first day of kindergarten

2010-08-18T13:41:00.002-06:00

Big day! We all took Anna into school this morning for the drop-off, but they hustled her into class so quickly we didn't really have a chance for a tearful good-bye (or much of a good-bye at all, really)-- which is probably for the best. She was all smiles this morning and even extra sweet to Silvia. The picture of the two of them hugging was after Silvia came up to her big sister and said, "Anna, I'm really going to miss you." Oh, man! That's pretty much the only time I did get a little misty-eyed.

So there goes my big girl, off into the world of public education. Let the adventure begin!

Pictures at random

2010-08-08T09:16:00.000-06:00

Anna loves Jack

2010-08-02T11:37:00.002-06:00

Sisterly love takes on a whole new perspective when you get Anna into the mix. She adores Jack. She can't get enough, which sort of leads to some problems around here. Well, not problems exactly, just... effusiveness. She exists perpetually within 3 inches of his face, with his hands and feet and anything else she can get grasped gently (mostly) in her hands. She gives him his pacifier even when he is in no need of pacification. We've had to try and establish rules of distance and personal space.

It mostly doesn't work. Anna LOVES her Jack.

(Silvia loves her Jack, too, but she's a tad more interested in Jack's toys, blankets, paci's and various cute noises. She finds his diaper changes fascinating, mostly so she can get into his onesie drawer and pick out a new shirt for him if needed. Beyond that, she's happy to just play with her own baby doll-- for now.)

Cuteness

2010-07-24T08:15:00.000-06:00

He's here!

2010-07-23T16:53:00.006-06:00

Jack Stephen was born last Sunday, the 18th, at 6:52 P.M., weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces. It was a tiring day but ultimately a very fast and furious labor and delivery. I'm very happy to say that Kurt and I were able to have the birth experience we'd hoped for, though of course it was nothing I could have imagined beforehand. We spent most of the day at home together in what was an incredibly emotional and intimate experience we'll never forget, only heading to the hospital a little more than an hour before Jack was born. In fact, the midwife told us that had we waited any longer, it's very likely Kurt could have been delivering him for me on the side of the road! Thank goodness, it all worked out perfectly.

Jack is a dream, a beautiful, perfect little miniature person. His sisters love him to pieces, almost literally, as they spend so much time holding his little hands and smothering him with kisses and petting. They're adjusting fairly well, I think, though of course we've had a big increase in attention-seeking, whining and sibling arguments. Hopefully, that will all smooth out over the next couple weeks. (fingers so so so crossed!)

Kurt is home from work with us for this week and the next and we've pretty much retreated into a little family huddle just trying to get things calmed down around here. But we're happy even in the midst of the mayhem and couldn't possibly be more in love with this little boy! So, welcome Jack! We love you!

Anna loves me, this I know

2010-07-08T16:45:00.004-06:00

Every afternoon these days, after Silvia goes down for her nap, I find myself barely conscious on the family room couch. I try not to give in to it, but I'm just tired, y'all, what can I say?

Anna, my amazing little 5-year-old daughter, totally understands. She pats me on the shoulder, kisses my head and lays little soft hugs on me. Then she says, "You have a nice rest, Mommy," and heads off to the playroom to finish up some coloring and read quietly for the hour or so it takes before I can face the conscious world again.

Sometimes she'll come and have me tear out a picture for her or help her get a snack if she can't reach something, but mostly, she just plays quietly, tiptoes around and stops by to drop the occasional kiss against my hair.

I am the luckiest mother in the world.

Looks can be deceiving

2010-07-04T06:34:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Anna stationed herself on the front porch with her big bin of crayons and several coloring pages. While Kurt worked on the front lawn (and I hid inside with the A/C preventing late-pregnancy heat sickness), she doodled away at her various masterpieces.

Then Silvia woke up, the girls discovered Daddy was messing with all the sprinkler heads and the coloring was forgotten in the resulting water play. When Anna came back to her crayons about 6 hours later, looking to draw some American flags for the 4th of July, she discovered a bin of goo with little bits of crayon wrappers stuck throughout. The colors had all melted together in the hot afternoon sun.

At first, devastation. Oh, no! My crayons! My vehicle to the world of art and self-expression! Melted, lost, destroyed! And then... hmmm. That melty puddle right there doesn't look like a crayon.

That part looks like chocolate!

Yes, my 5-year-old daughter, for all her brains and panache, took a big scoop of melted brown crayon on her finger and popped it in her mouth. Sweet chocolately goodness it was NOT.

She came inside, carrying the bin, making "ew, gross" faces and dragging her tongue across her sleeve. She looked up at me with a slight expression of betrayal, as if I had somehow tricked her into eating colored wax. Then she ran upstairs to brush her teeth... for about 20 minutes.

Later that night, as the girls gobbled up fresh, juicy cherries for dessert, Anna stated, "My crayons all melted today and I tasted one and chocolate crayons are NOT GOOD. Cherries are way better!".

Lesson learned: Everything in moderation... and context. If it's surrounded by inedibles, don't risk it!

Good Horsie!

2010-07-02T10:27:00.000-06:00

Nursery in progress and Silvia, just because

2010-07-02T10:20:00.001-06:00

Middle of the night

2010-06-14T08:49:00.004-06:00

Her cry at 2 A.M. is so different from her cries during the day. Anna normally is a real screamer in full glory. Her wails start in low as she puts some air behind it and then, WHAM!, she's got a heartbreaker pouring out.

At night though, when she's half-asleep, scared, and groggy, it's a whimper. A sad, rolling moan of a cry, it is totally unique to my daughter. There's no way I'd every, even woken from a deep sleep, mistake that sound for any other child.

Anna has nightmares. Sometimes I'd go so far as to call them night terrors, but mostly they are just aimless fears she doesn't remember upon opening her eyes, lingering only in a gut reaction against the shadows in the dark. She's been having them less and less lately, but last night they came back in full force.

At the first sound I always pop up out of bed, a reflex born from years of mom conditioning. Or, at least, I used to pop out of bed. Now I start to pop up, groan, then slowly lower my legs off the side of the mattress and sit for a few seconds until standing becomes a possibility. Kurt usually doesn't hear anything, so I give him a nasty look (it's not his fault, though, it's a chromosomal inadequacy of male hearing, poor guy), then waddle my way to her room.

And here's the other hurdle now. It's not just her room anymore. As she cries and gains volume, Silvia is sleeping right underneath her in the bunkbed. I stumble into the room, whisper, "Shhhhh, shhh, baby, it's ok, you need to be quiet, you'll wake Silvia...", go forward to pat her head, and lay my arm across her shoulders (remember, she's on the top bunk).

Then it hits me. I realize this is too much detail for some (Hi, Grandpa Bloom!!), so I will be brief. I have to use the bathroom. Immediately. The baby has settled in from my short walk down the hall and I have to go RIGHT NOW.

Poor Anna. She's in a foggy haze of fear and mommy's hopping around trying to soothe her while apologizing for having to run frantically from the room. "I'll be right back, I'll be fast, it's okay just... oh, please, wait!". Once that's all resolved, I return and cuddle Anna's head. I used to lay down next to her, but there's no chance of me climbing up top these days. The good thing is, she always calms down right away once I get there. The bad thing is, she needs me to stay until she falls asleep or the moaning cries start back up.

So from about 2:30 until 3:15 A.M. this morning, I rocked in the girls' chair while Anna drifted back off. Sitting in the glow from the nightlight, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. How many other nights did I sit in this chair, rocking with my children while the rest of the world slept? How many more nights do I now have to come?

As exhausted as I am today, there is still a certain satisfaction that comes from those private moments. My child, me and a quiet world wrapped in night. Tired? Yes. But very lucky, too.

Touch the sky

2010-06-10T16:20:00.000-06:00

We went up to Breckenridge a week or so ago and they had up some fun bouncy stuff for the kids. Anna volunteered for the bungie jump, much to my surprise. I was sure she'd be terrified but... no. My little adventurer drew a crowd from all her gleeful screams and laughter.

I, of course, forgot my camera, but Opa caught it all!

Bunkbeds!!

2010-06-10T10:08:00.000-06:00

And now they share a room. It's been a rocky start, but we're hoping by a month or so they'll have settled down and bedtime will no longer take an hour and half. But still, yay! Bunkbeds!

"Anna wil mary adin"

2010-06-04T09:18:00.005-06:00

Good God.

Yesterday during quiet time (Oh, how I love thee, quiet time), I found Anna peacefully coloring a lovely, rainbow-y picture at her table. It looked like two people holding hands, with words across the top I couldn't quite decipher.

"What's your picture, hon?", I asked innocently.

"Me and Aidan," she announced with a cheery grin.

I leaned over to take a closer look and found, scrawled across the top of the page, "Anna wil mary Adin".

Gulp.

"Aidan from school? You like him?"

"Yes, he's my friend. Except he won't play with me, he only plays with the other boys but we're going to ride bikes together tomorrow and I'm going to give him this picture!"

Double gulp.

"No. No, sweetie... let's leave the picture here, ok? You can ride bikes and talk to him first."

"Why, mommy?"

"Well, sweetie. Hmm. Then you can marry him when he least expects it. Everyone loves a good surprise."

Anna's Graduation

2010-05-17T09:38:00.000-06:00

I used to always discreetly roll my eyes when people talked about their kids "graduating" from preschool. But that's one of those parenting things you learn as you go along-- don't knock it til you've been there. When they played a country song called, "Let Them Be Little" while showing slides of all the kids as babies and then as five-year-olds... yup. I got all misty. My big girl!

Next thing? I have to survive her first day of kindegarten. Lord help me.

My favorite faces

2010-05-14T09:43:00.000-06:00

The pile, on its way out

2010-05-14T09:40:00.001-06:00

My thanks, in hard copy. You'll notice on the bottom several sheets of construction paper, too. These are letters and pictures Anna has done for her uncles which I promised to send. Sorry, Anna. Sorry, uncles. It's the thought that counts!!

Thank you... and you... and YOU!

2010-05-13T16:00:00.002-06:00

On the corner of my desk is an ever-growing pile of cards. Most of them are sealed in envelopes and addressed, awaiting a zip code or, most likely, a stamp. Some have cards tucked into the fold of the envelope and are yet to be written, with a sticky note inside saying "new books" or "pretty dress" or some such thing. The pile has been shuffled, moved, dusted, put away and even transferred to the keyboard of my laptop in an attempt at motivation through line of sight.

With each event that takes place in our lives, I find myself pulling out fresh thank you cards. You see, I really WANT to express, personally, my gratitude. For all the books on Anna's birthday, for the fancy dress that Silvia wears at least twice a week no matter what, for the Christmas presents that the girls are still getting giggles from... I want to write beautiful notes in pretty cards. I want to imagine someone smiling to open their mailbox and receive, instead of junk and bills, a personal letter from me.

But the pile only grows. And grows. AND GROWS. Now, I just tell people about their card, just so they know I haven't forgotten. A few friends have several cards in the pile and each time I add a new one, I let that person know. As if the existence of the written note is almost as good as actually getting to see it?

This weekend some friends are toasting me with a baby shower and I just KNOW the thank-you note pile is going to fail me like never before. Already I have received loving thoughts and wonderful tokens to celebrate this upcoming birth and I am hopeless at ever being able to write, stamp and post my appreciation.

So here it is. I'm giving up, just a little bit. Perhaps a clean slate will leave me with room to start a NEW, evolving pile of timely missives.

Dear Grandmas and Grandpas, school friends, playgroup friends, old friends and new friends. Dear thoughtful aunts and cousins, loving sisters (in-law and otherwise) and hilarious brothers.

Thank you. Thank you for the gifts, the Christmas toys, the clothes and dress-up toys for my ever-so-girly girls, the books that have taught Anna to read and allowed Silvia to channel her energy in creative play. Thank you for my own birthday presents, from unexpected Starbucks treats (and the sincere notes of friendship that came with them) to Buffy comic books that only a truly wonderful and old friend would know hits the spot in a perfect way. Thank you for beautiful jewelry that makes me smile (or will, when my fingers shrink back down and I can wear it).

Thank you, too, to the family I see only rarely but that never forgets birthdays and always sends a note of love at the exact time I can use it most. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Bloom, specifically, for the priceless gift you send each year of a night out with my husband in the form of a handy envelope of cash. We always use it for dinner and a movie and we ALWAYS toast you in the course of the evening.

Speaking of nights out, thank you to my mom and Terry and Opa for all the childcare we've received. I know lots of people without family around who haven't spent any time alone with their spouse in too long and we're always grateful that you give us that opportunity.

It's a cop out and not so personal, but really, everyone (and that for sure means YOU!), thank you. Your generosity makes my family happier, brighter and better. Every gesture, big or small, is really important and does not go without notice over here.

And if you do happen to ever receive a card from me, please don't be surprised to find it's dated three or more years in the past. It just means I'm starting at the bottom and working my way up!

With Much Love,

Megan (and Kurt, Anna and Silvia, though they never write much)

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T16:53:00.002-06:00

Look at those beautiful girls! As a mother and wife, I've scored the jackpot. Hope all you other moms out there are having a wonderful day, too. You deserve it. (photo courtesy of Trystan Photography, of course.)

About Baby

2010-04-28T07:31:00.004-06:00

I haven't spent much time writing about this pregnancy, so I figured I'd give a little update. Things just seem too busy around here all the time to really sit down and think about our impending five-some!

I'm 29 weeks down, 11 to go (give or take however much time the kid decides works for him/her). And speaking of him or her, we've stuck to our decision not to find out what we're having. Now that the end is approaching, I have to admit there's part of me that wouldn't mind knowing just to help me feel a little more in control of our preparations. But mostly the mystery is fun!

The baby is totally healthy so far as our midwife and diagnostics can tell. If we go by movements alone, it's definitely strong and hearty. Most nights around bedtime I am subjected to serious internal rearrangements, often to the point of real discomfort. Last night, after a minute or so of nearly-painful shifting, it was apparent that the little one had completely flipped over. Up next to my ribs we could actually feel its back pressed against my skin with the heartbeat bouncing against our fingers. The shape of my belly even looks different this morning, believe it or not!

Anna is open to a brother or sister. She's more interested in the baby itself-- how small it will be, how much hair it will (or won't) have, how she'll hold it and all the help she's determined to offer. For instance, she keeps saying that when the baby cries at night she's going to come and take care of it. Riiiight. We'll see how well that one works out!

Silvia, on the other hand, is having a baby sister. She is. There is no other possibility and she corrects everyone in case they might erroneously refer to the baby as a he. She's very excited, too, though. A couple friends recently had babies and she goes nuts with giggles and happiness every time she seems them.

As for ME, well, I've gotten over the shock of it all, too. I'm excited to meet this little person, boy or girl. This pregnancy hasn't been the same as my other two, though. I'm more tired and have a lot more discomfort, just aches and joint pains. My midwife has helpfully reminded me that I am "older and more stretched out" this time, which makes the stresses a little more noticeable on my body. Thanks! That makes me feel WAY better!

Speaking of midwife, we've decided to take a different route with this, our LAST (REALLY!)birth and delivery. From past experiences, I know how much I hate interventions at the hospital, as well as having outside distractions of people popping in and out all the time and the doctor showing up for about 30 minutes of the whole thing. So this time around we'll have a midwife supporting our wishes and privacy. Our goal is to keep the experience very intimate between the two of us and as "natural" as possible. That's not to say I'm not open to all possibilities, of course. I know how things can change at a moment and not follow any textbook ever written. But, hey, the new hospital is fantastic and comes with private rooms and even jetted tubs for labor, gotta give that a try!

Now that the countdown is rolling downhill, Kurt and I have both had some moments of nerves and panic about how much everything is going to change. All our routines with the girls, our day-to-day pace and decisions, our roles and responsibilities-- it's all up for an overhaul. EEEK. But we're an awesome team and have gotten through our share of upheavals before, so in the bad moments I remind myself of this family's resilience. The girls are old enough to be helpers, too, so I'm looking forward to milking that for all it's worth-- at least until they get tired of it!

Besides which, as hard as this could be, you can't argue with the upside, too. Baby Baby Baby!

Next week we've got our just-for-fun 3D ultrasound, so I'll post pictures if we come up with anything normal looking.

Florida vacation pictures!

2010-04-14T14:21:00.002-06:00

Here's us living it up at Clearwater Beach, just outside Tampa. There aren't as many pictures as you'd think, but we spent more time just enjoying the moments then we did looking through the camera lens. There's a whole evening of watching wild dolphins play in the Gulf that's completely missing from this montage, but it's still very clear in my head-- especially Anna's delighted shrieks and Silvia getting confused and staring in the opposite direction.

Enjoy! We sure did.

The things they say

2010-03-12T08:33:00.003-07:00

Catching butterflies and playing dress-up, all at once. Multi-taskers!

Making pretzels with Kurt over the weekend. They came out great, but the baking was the best part!

I've been so enjoying the girls lately. Recently they were in a REALLY difficult sibling stage, full of whining, constant crying, wrestling and generally doing their best to abuse each other AND me. I felt terrible and drained and overwhelmed and helpless and every other word you can think of to describe the total powerlessness that parenthood sometimes serves up.

And then it stopped.

Just... stopped. Cuteness reigns supreme. Talk of the baby is everywhere. Anna is determined to get up in the night and rock the baby back to sleep "if" it wakes up and cries. Silvia tells everyone that her little sister (because no way will she consider we might have a boy) will be here soon and Mama will feed her mommy milk from my "nibbles" (by the way, I've tried to get her to STOP telling people this, but since it makes Kurt laugh and snort his coffee, she won't). All the stuffed animals go through speedy pregnancies every day, complaining about their backs and needing naps.

On top of that, Silvia cannot stop talking. I remember this stage with Anna, where everything was a running monologue ALL DAY LONG. Not that she's stopped, mind you, but the flow of words has slowed down some and she even sits quietly for long moments, reading her books.

Now it's Silvia's turn and, boy oh boy, has she embraced the moment! All through every meal, all day playing, on the potty, during stories-- every minute seems filled with her observations. She's delighting in rhymes right now, making up silly words to go with whatever she's saying.

"Can I have that book-dook, Anna?"

"It's time to take a bath-dath-math!!"

All these things, of course, send her into hysterical giggles at which point Anna also collapses. Because, you know, there's nothing more contagious than giggles. And I tell ya, having the house filled with screaming laughter most of the day is WAY better than shaking down with screaming tantrums.

Last night we were watching a thing on the History Channel about how the Earth was formed. They like all the space pictures and get all gasp-y and excited at the shots of a volcano-covered planet. During one of those scenes, Silvia started talking rapidly about olives. Olives?

"And the volcanoes are full of olives and they come out and are hot all over the world and make the planet! Look at all that olives!!".

Anna got up and went to the TV, really scanning the screen for olives, totally confused. Then I figured it out.

"Lava? Do you mean lava, honey?" I asked. She nodded vigorously.

"Yeah. Olives!!"

Fresh air in February

2010-02-24T15:03:00.001-07:00

Anna's enjoying a little snow sketching.

Here's Silvia planting a "blue seed" (not sure what it was, hope it wasn't expensive) in our frozen flower pots.

Anna tormenting, oops, I mean visiting our next door neighbor's dogs.

Birthday fun, birthdays done!!

2010-02-08T08:41:00.005-07:00

Well, the weekend of birthdays has been and gone. Silvia's third was on Friday, kicked off with a great family dinner and present extravaganza plus VERY FANCY CAKE. Since for the time being Kurt is doomed to share some of his own festivities (his big day is the 7th, two days after Silvia's) with his as-yet youngest child, I splurged (and we're talking SPLURGED here, people) on a gourmet Black Forest cake from a local bakery. It's his favorite and no one else seemed to have any complaints.

We followed up the family shindig with a morning play party Saturday at Lil Biggs with a few of her favorite 2- and 3-year-old friends. It was a blast and guess what? More cake!! In the great tradition of my girls' parties, Silvia cried for about (at least) half the party, mostly from wanting to play with everything at the same time. I have to admit, despite some inconveniences, it's a great play place for kids with a bounce house, all kinds of video and token games and a big play area with dress-up, toys, climbing and a sandbox. We've got a cup of leftover tokens and I plan on spending a few snow days playing there in the near future.

For Kurt, his big present was a night off. He's been working like a madman lately, with nary a moment to catch his breath, much less sleep, eat or look out the window. The girls spent Saturday night at my mom's indulging in waffles for dinner and snuggling up together in the guest room's big bed for the night.

While they enjoyed the luxury of grandma's house, Kurt and I enjoyed the luxury of our own home-- all to ourselves. We had a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant, Edelweiss, and then bolted home to curl up in jammies in front of the big TV for a long-postponed dive into our neglected Netflix collection. We got to sleep until TEN IN THE MORNING, totally unheard of in this household. I mean, seriously, I think the last time I slept until 1o was when Anna was a newborn. We'd be up all night long with her tears and colic and then finally crash out around 7 A.M. just as Kurt left for work. So really, that probably doesn't even count.

We finished off the mini-vacation with a lazy breakfast of cappuccinos and croissants at La Baguette-- and then Kurt headed back down to his office to catch up on the work he'd missed while taking a birthday break. Still, he looked practically rested as he headed out this morning, even after staying up until 2 A.M. working, so I call the time off a complete success.

Now with our big February festivities behind us, all that's left to do is sort and purge some toys to make room for the new loot and then... enjoy the snow, the winter and each other!

P.S. I'm extra proud of Anna, too! She handled all Silvia's attention and gifts with grace and maturity, with the exception of one toy (a stuffed animal cat) that she really wants for her very own. But after 48 hours, Silvia's fascination with it has mostly waned and she even let Anna sleep with it last night. So that worked out, too.

Silvia's 3rd Birthday

2010-02-05T21:11:00.001-07:00

It's in there!

2010-01-26T08:35:00.003-07:00

So, for those of you who don't know, we're (SURPRISE!) having another baby. I'm due this summer, mid-July, though it's hard to pinpoint an accurate date since we're not totally sure when I got pregnant. I'm guessing more towards the end of the month. I'll leave out the gory details, but the moment of actual conception is a bit foggy since I was on the Pill at the time. Let that be a lesson to you, young readers! You know who you are.

It was a shock, for sure. Kurt and I took some time, like several months, to get used to the idea. There were some tears. But it's starting to settle in and each appointment we have to check up on things helps me settle down to the reality more and more.

Besides, yay! I get a new car. It may be a minivan, but I'm totally insisting on heated seats this time. As a mom of three (THREE! EEEK!), I think I deserve it.

Anywhoo... we had the 4 month check-up yesterday, and yup, there's definitely a baby in there! The midwife (I'm skipping the OB this time around. I figure this is my last chance to try something new) ran the Doppler across my belly and right away caught the strong beat of a heart that WAS NOT MINE. It's funny, but I never get used to that. There's something ALIVE in there! It still feels sort of like alien invasion. But, you know, in a good way.

Baby is healthy and so am I. As this is my third time around, all my symptoms and signs have popped up (get it? popped? haha!) much sooner. I'm bigger earlier, already having trouble sleeping and generally feeling a little slower on the uptake. Of course, that could be from chasing two little nuclear generators around all day.

I've decided that if we could only harness their power output somehow, we could save THOUSANDS off our electric bill. I'm working on it, but they don't really like all the electrodes I keep trying to stick to their heads.

So that's what's new around here, chez Schwartz. Soon we will be Five. I'll have to change the name of the blog. And that will be it, as our family planning will become... permanent following this child.

Kurt is SO excited for that. I promised to buy him an ice pack.

"And then it EXPLODED, Mom!"

2010-01-13T08:15:00.003-07:00

It's not my fault. These things happen, just about everyone's done it at some point. The problem is, I happened to slip up whilst my jumpy 5-year-old daughter was sitting right in front of the... incident.

After much debate last night, the girls agreed to PB&J for dinner. I had tried for pizza and salad but it was no dice. The last dregs of the peanut butter were a little too cold and hard for spreading, so I popped the jar into the microwave for 15 seconds to soften it up.

Oops.

Turns out, a bit of the foil seal was still hanging onto the edge on the rim. The whole thing let off a LOUD static-like pop and flames shot up from the jar and filled the microwave. Did I mention it was loud?

I hit the roof in a Matrix-like spin and beat at the off button until everything instantly went back to quiet peanut butter peacefulness, though a tad smokey.

Anna however, started screaming, threw herself out of her chair and ran in blind hysterics out of the room, tripping over chairs and couches on her way to safety. Her terror set off Silvia (who I don't think even saw the event). I spent the next half hour on the couch with the girls velcro-ed to me, shrieking. As soon as I'd get Anna on the verge of calm, she'd say, "I want DAAAAAADDY to come home!!!", and then start wailing again. Kurt's on a business trip so the poor kid had to settle for mom to rescue her from the exploding peanut butter.

In case you feel I have not described this story in enough graphic detail or captured the complete horror that enveloped my daughter... just wait. Anna will be HAPPY to tell you about it. Every few minutes. For the rest of her life. Just in case you didn't understand the first time.

On the bright side, I'm hoping this will replace the story of how I forgot to buckle her car seat THREE YEARS AGO and she fell out and bruised her hips. I don't think I deserve to have both stories trotted out every few days. One example of how much I've failed her is plenty, don't you think?

And the peanut butter is fine. A little singed around the edges, but otherwise still quite tasty.

Early Riser

2010-01-08T08:36:00.002-07:00

Yesterday both the girls teachers at preschool pulled me aside to say they were concerned. Seems Anna asked to lay down several times during the morning and Silvia was very quiet, shy and withdrawn all day. They didn't have fevers or seem sick, but the change in their temperments was enough to stand out.

It got me thinking. Anna's been WILLINGLY taking a two-hour nap with me in the afternoon while Silvia goes down. And Silvia's nap has been very deep, with nary a word of protest. They're still going to sleep at 8 P.M. as usual, so where was the disconnect?

Then I remembered that they've been getting up together in the morning, playing for a bit before coming to get Kurt and me. Looking back now, I can see that these morning meetings have been getting earlier and earlier. Yesterday I heard a door close loudly at 6 A.M. and when I investigated, I found the two of them sitting up in Anna's bed, playing with flashlights in the dark.

"Mama, Cici came into my room. AGAIN," Anna said with resignation.

Ah-HA!

So last night I informed the culprit that she was to leave Anna alone and when she woke up in the morning she could come lay down with me if she wanted to. Want to know what time she's been getting up?

4 A.M.

FOUR in the frickin' morning.

No wonder Anna's been in a stupor! Having a little whirlwind crawl in bed with you and start talking non-stop before the sun has even considered coming will take the mickey out of anyone!

While having a nearly-three-year-old in bed wasn't exactly restful for me, either, at least she stayed quiet and actually fell back asleep. Guess I'm not as entertaining as her big sister. But now that I've got her leaving Anna alone in the wee hours, I'm stuck with the task of getting her out of MY room.

Any ideas for getting her to sleep til 6? Besides drugging her?

Toot Toot

2009-12-15T21:08:00.002-07:00

Silvia has been staying dry for naps lately and I always make a big deal about it to keep that train a-movin'. Today:

Me: "Wow! Cici, are you dry? Did you stay dry for your whole nap?"

Silvia: "Yeah, I did! There's just toots in my bed."

Hey, as long as I don't have to change the sheets, then toots are just fine with me!

Snow Day!

2009-11-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

Birthday pictures

2009-11-14T17:33:00.001-07:00

Yes, that's right. Kurt gave Anna a beginner's engineering set for her birthday. Kurt gets so excited for each project. Oh, and Anna really likes it, too.

And finally, just for old times sake... Anna at 7 months. Look at all that hair! (oops, I mean, look at all that scalp!) Cutie pie. That smile never changes.

Five

2009-11-14T17:05:00.002-07:00

She's a big girl now. You can tell because (drum roll, please) Anna didn't cry at her birthday party! We got together with a handful of friends at a local play area last weekend and she had a blast. Even at the finale as we dragged everyone out of the bounce house and said goodbye, she didn't put up a fight.

Of course, she was really excited that I bought WAY too many cupcakes and we had to take them all home with us, too. That might have had something to do with it.

With five comes a lot of excitement for Anna. She's started reading, on her own. She got dozens of books for her birthday and is tearing through them with total abandon. Her first chapter book (which she reads TO me) is Junie B. Jones and The Stupid Smelly Bus. I think she mostly loves this because she gets to say 'stupid'. Believe me, there's a giggle every time. We also just started Charlotte's Web, which I am reading to her. After all, it's wonderful that she can do it herself, but you can't beat curling up together to sink into a story. I love it as much as she does.

Anna loves her workbooks, too. Her writing is really improving and she's starting to grasp the idea of money. I don't know if this is exactly a good thing, but we'll take it. Today we went to buy her a booster seat for the car (she's totally outgrown her car seat) and she wanted to pay for it with her little tub of random coins she's collected. You can't imagine the look of disappointment when I told her that wouldn't be enough!

Her check up went great, the expression on her pediatrician's face when he asked about reading was priceless. Anna, as always, giggled. She came in at 42 inches tall and 36 pounds, two inches up from last year. Somehow, even with the impending shots, she still thinks the doctor's office is AWESOME. I had to shush her a few times because she was laughing so loudly with Silvia that they were startling babies in the hallway.

I general, five and these months leading up to it, is wonderful. She's smart and happy and so inspiring. One of her favorite things to say is, "A long time ago, when I was four...".

I feel like it was a long time ago, too. I know it's beyond cliche, but time just slips by so fast, doesn't it?

A cut above the rest

2009-10-31T14:12:00.003-06:00

Walking up into the playroom one afternoon this week, I noticed a dark blur on the carpet next to Anna's little coloring table. I hunkered down for a closer look and then groaned. I knew it would happen, it's practically a right of passage for all children, but still... ugh.

The blur was a sifted pile of c-shaped curls. Anna's curls. I guess safety scissors only protect fingers, not style. More than half my irritation was because I'd JUST taken the girls a week ago for haircuts and they'd both looked coiffed and adorable. It occurred to me that the whole day I'd been wondering at Anna's spiky hair but just assumed it was a bad case of bed head.

But no. She's cut herself some lovely wings right over her ears, a chunk along the back left and at least an inch off a top layer of bangs. When I called her in, she just smiled.

"Anna, did you cut your hair?"

"Mmmhmm...", delivered with a pleasant smile.

"You are NEVER supposed to cut your hair. I'm taking your scissors away until... until... until it all grows back!"

I know I can't really get mad at her, it's just hair and it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. Hell, when I was little my brother just about left me bald with his gentle ministrations. Which reminds me, that's another warning I need to pass along to my budding stylist.

"You are NEVER supposed to cut your sister's hair either!"

I'm sure that'll just put the idea in her head, of course. But what can you do? At least she cut her hair and not the curtains or the sheets or the electrical cords, right?

And it's winter. Hat season.

Big Girl Bed... how time flies

2009-10-13T14:45:00.002-06:00

Silvia moved into a big girl bed this weekend (aka the toddler bed version of her crib). We were a little worried at first because she is so much more feisty than Anna was at that age. I figured we'd spend a week or more walking her back to her room in the middle of the night when she escaped.

But no, she loves it and she stays happily in bed until someone come to get her. She has a real blanket and her very own pillow and is just thrilled to pieces to be All Grown Up now. I'm a little misty, just because this is the final good-bye to the crib, once and for all. But it's so nice that she can get in and out and feels safe and comfy in her room. Remember all those months, years, trying to get her to sleep in her own room; night time hysterics, coming to bed with us at 3 A.M.? Those are (mostly) behind us.

(Truth be told, though, both girls have been having night terrors lately, leaving mom and dad groggy in the morning from midnight comforting. But that's another story for another day.)

Next thing you know, she's going to want her Big Girl Porsche.

Guess this means it's time to clean my room

2009-10-07T14:44:00.003-06:00

While I was getting ready this morning, I noticed a disturbing amount of total quiet coming from the other side of the room. Anna and Silvia were playing by my bed and, as I walked over to see what was going on, I was met by a distressing sight. And gross, so gross.

They were both sitting there with pacifiers in their mouths that Anna had fished out from underneath the bed. Now, considering Anna hasn't used a binkie in years, Silvia never used one, and the ones under the bed were infant-size, those suckers had been entertaining the monsters under the bed for at least 4 years.

AT LEAST.

I let out a big "EEK! EWWW! YUCK!!!" and un-plugged the girls with a distinct popping sound. Then I marched them both to the bathroom for an extended date with their toothbrushes.

Probably I need to peek under the bed and see what else is there. Lord only knows what other relics of newborns past are lurking there.

Here's the one, I knew I'd seen it before... Anna, age 6 months.

Sisters

2009-10-02T12:13:00.000-06:00

Anna's Owl

2009-09-30T07:05:00.004-06:00

I went to pick Anna up at preschool on Monday and her teacher pulled me aside as soon as I walked in the door. Of course, my first instinct was, "Crap! Did she do something?", but of course that was unfair to Anna's place of supreme honor in her teacher's heart.

"You have to see something! Anna, go get it, where did you put it! Go get it! Oh, Megan, you won't believe this, the other teacher's and I just about cracked when we saw it."

Then Anna came running up, a coloring page in her hand. Turns out, they had been going over the letter 'O' that day. The assignment was to draw an owl in the designated spot. Shannon, Anna's teacher, had not yet put out a picture of an owl for them to reference. All the other kids scribbled different versions of smiley faces with legs when she noticed Anna hunched over in concentration at her seat. This is what she drew:

Clearly, she is destined to be the next Monet, Rembrandt and Lisa (my talented friend) wrapped up into one. Plus, how cool that she didn't need a picture to copy? Kurt and I have begun to use it as a truism for life.

"If Anna can draw an owl from just her imagination, then we can do XYZ, too." Just goes to show you, there's more to life than scribbles if you give it a little effort.

The Windy City and Uncle Val

2009-09-20T15:17:00.001-06:00

Schwartz Roadtrip 2009

2009-09-20T15:08:00.002-06:00

Last week we hit the road to drive out to Iowa to visit my brother John. The girls went nuts-- from running through the fields, checking out the ENORMOUS corn spiders and baby pigs to Uncle John "teaching" them the ceramic basics (aka, letting them play with clay in his living room), the farm was the best place they'd ever seen.

So when it came time to stuff ourselves back in the car and turn back to the mountains, we were understandably reluctant. Here's when the wild wind hit us, or more like the wild hair. With the adrenaline rush of a last minute change of plans, we turned the car towards Illinois and spent the rest of the week crashing at a friend's house and visiting my brother Val in Chicago. SO MUCH FUN.

To say we felt free doesn't describe it. Somehow cutting lose, dropping all obligations, deadlines and responsibilities just to do something FUN enervated the whole family in a way nothing else could. We got back yesterday after two days of marathon driving (and a million pit stops along the way, but more on that later) and home felt so nice. I personally am excited to get things back in order, do laundry, tidy up all our travel stuff and get groceries and meals planned for the week. I'm ready to take it all back up and that's saying a lot. I'm certain the laundry fervor will wear off in approximately 12 minutes, but in general real life just seems a lot nicer than in did 10 days ago.

As much as I feared our first family road trip and the potential for disaster, I am happy to say we'll be making this an annual event.

Uncle John's Farm

2009-09-20T14:47:00.005-06:00

Uncle John's Farm. Uncle John's corn, house, field, clay, pigs and windchimes. Uncle John's school. As far as the girls are concerned, everything about Scattergood Friends School is all thanks to Uncle John. And for that... we send him our heartfelt and loving thanks.

"No TV? Are you kidding me, Mom?"

2009-09-04T14:48:00.001-06:00

Selective amnesia and a reluctant experiment

2009-09-04T14:07:00.004-06:00

I've been going back over all the old entries from when Anna was Silvia's age, looking both for references to potty training and terrible two's. Guess what? Anna potty-trained with nary a hitch from about 2 and half. By the time she was 3 it was an afterthought.

I'm looking forward to the afterthought part, but I have to admit that Silvia is doing really, really well. She's still having accidents, but it's been about two months now and the dry and clean days are totally outnumbering the drippy days. We can go out, run errands, see friends and generally live our lives. I carry a bag with a travel potty seat and a change of clothes everywhere, but I've only had to use the clean clothes a handful of times.

As for Terrible Two's, well. Silvia has it bad. The other night, Kurt and I talked about how she is SO much whinier than Anna was at this age, SO much more infuriating. But then I thought, really? Is she really? Or possibly are our memories decaying from child-induced-amnesia? Thus the blog re-hash.

And here's what I found. Anna WAS whiny, super whiny, oh so so so whiny. It drove me crazy, I yelled and had to put myself in time-outs. Then, as I absorbed all this revelation (that I experienced first-hand and have not a shred of memory to show for it), I came across two very interesting posts. Here and here.

As the girls got older and things got busier and hazier and generally just sucked into the vortex of time and space, Anna got back her shows. It only follows that Silvia is right along side her on the couch. When I need to make dinner or fold laundry (which somehow quadrupled in our lives upon Silvia's birth), or let's face it, just get them out of my face for a little bit, they watch TV. It's still not very much, just as with Anna in that first post from back in the day-- maybe 3 half-hour shows a day, tops, with the odd movie or two thrown in after dinner during the week.

I'm sitting here going, "Hmmm...". I know, I remember NOW, what a big difference it made when Anna got cut off from her drug of choice. I know she played more, and danced more and whined and cried LESS. Considering Silvia's behavior right now is almost a complete mirror to how Anna was then (screaming for her shows, telling what she wants to watch as we come down the stairs in the morning, freaking out every time I say no), the solution should be pretty clear.

Oh, but I hesitate. Because no TV helper with a 2-year-old and a baby is not the same as no TV helper with a 2 and almost 5-year-old. They are busy little people and demanding and loud and fill the house with their consciousness alone. As much as I love my kids, I really hate doing crafts and Candyland all day. Shows give me a break from that. I don't want to say that I NEED those breaks, but... maybe possibly I do?

So this experiment begins with a few qualms and disclaimers. I am not taking away Saturday Morning Cartoons. That's coffee time for Kurt and I and we look forward to it all week. I'm also going to leave open a Classical Baby option in the evenings (that's sort of like telling a kid they can have a nice bowl of applesauce instead of the gooey ice cream sundae to which they have become accustomed). Movie nights are fun family time and totally safe from the chopping block.

But the rest, I am sad to say, needs to go. Silvia is driving me wacko with her constant whining, crying and demanding. If there is even the smallest possibility unplugging her will help, I'd be a moron not to give it a try.

Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it. This time it's harder. This time, God help me... I'm going to have to do crafts.

Bikes, Horses and Poop

2009-07-31T10:02:00.006-06:00

I'll start with the first last because, as we all know, it's best to get poop out of the way first. Silvia did not want to potty train. Do you hear me? NONONO. I tried, I really did, to get her at least comfortable with the idea, but after about a week she went into rock-solid denial and I was forced to retreat and regroup.

Then suddenly, two days ago she was all, "Hey! I want my panties. I will not wear anything but panties, don't come near me with those diapers or you will live to regret it!". At first I was thrilled. And then the reality of it sunk in-- specifically, into the carpet. She's aware, she knows when something is happening down below but, for the most part, she's not really participating in the whole Big Picture of the thing.

Yesterday we went through 5 pairs of panties, and one had to be thrown away after the aforementioned poop episode. I will not bore you (or traumatize you) with the details. Finally around 3 o'clock she condescended to wear a pull-up and save my aching back from scrubbing floors.

It hasn't totally been a loss, she is having some success and I am releived she's at least ready to start consciously trying, but all this is bringing back the reality that I HATE POTTY TRAINING. I have, quite literally, blocked out the entired process that we went through with Anna. I vaguely remember cleaning off the couch and sitting in the floor reading 7 books to her as she made her efforts, but that's about it. Hopefully, in a few months I will be able to block this period out with equal effiency.

Horses and bikes are much more pleasant to cover, so let's move on. About a month ago, I arrived at the girls' school to find that everyone had brought in their little bikes. Everyone, that is, except my kids who did not have a bike to boast of. After school, Anna told me with a gently wistful tone that, "All the kids rode their bikes down the street and had helmets and it was so fun!", and then... "I walked. I didn't have a bike so Miss Diane held my hand instead."

Oh, the heartache.

We went out that weekend and got them bikes and helmets and the rest is history. The happiness can not be explained but fortunately, I captured it all in pictures. Same goes for horses-- rocking horses. It's all just sisterly cuteness and needs not introduction.

Trip to Beulah with Renee and company

2009-07-22T10:05:00.000-06:00

Beautiful

2009-07-10T10:27:00.001-06:00

2009-07-10T08:56:00.002-06:00

For some reason I can't paste anything into blogger, and since I have no desire to type in the html by hand, I'll just leave you this link and let you go ALL THE WAY OVER to another web page to look at some pictures from the 4th of July weekend. I know, it's a lot of work, but please bear with me during this time of Blogger trial.

As for the holiday weekend, we spent the actual 4th up at a friend's house in Monument to see the fireworks over Palmer Lake. It was nice, but the best part of the evening was watching the kids (all little girls) ran rampant through the house and dress up as fairies and princesses while collapsing into fits of giggles, as little girls are wont to do.

Well, that and the fact that one friend brought a whole container of homemade pineapple vodka. I couldn't drink much, I have no tolerance at all, but what I did have... yum! Now THAT is a holiday.

On the 5th we drove up to Breckenridge, one of our favorite retreats. It's about 2 hours away and the girls are usually pretty happy the whole trip, now that they've been conditioned to fall asleep once we hit the mountain passes. It was raining the whole time we were in the city proper but by the time we headed to Lake Dillon the sun had come out and the girls had a blast peppering the water with big handfuls of gravel. (I am sure all the people fishing loved us.)

Unfortunately, all the lake pictures are on Kurt's camera and I am, once again, having technical difficulties retrieving them. Look for it in a few days.

Breckenridge Pictures Link, redux

Elephant, Piggie and the Pigeon

2009-06-27T09:23:00.004-06:00

"Come on, just once around the block! Tell you what, let's play drive the bus! I'll go first..."

The pigeon wants to drive, he really really does. And he tries his best, but Anna and Silvia always shout, at the top of their lungs, "NO! You cannot drive the bus!!"

"Is there still a bird on my head?" asks Elephant. "No", says Piggie. "Now there are two birds. They're in LOVE."

Anna counts the birds, counts the eggs, sympathizes with Elephant and loves the surprise ending (I won't ruin it for you). Silvia, of course, just dances around, putting birds on her head.

The point of this post (aside from shameless hinting that the girls would love the entire Mo Willems collection...), is that Anna is reading. All kids start memorizing familiar books around age two, it's part of the normal language development. These days, though, there is a difference.

She's reading. It's slow, she stumbles, but she's sounding out the words, putting together the sentences, jumping up and down when she figures it out and then moving on to the next page. The Mo Willems books are great because the stories are simple enough for her to read through almost totally on her own, but funny enough for her to want to know what happens next.

Of course, the memorization thing backfires on us, because after she's read through it a few times, she stops reading and starts reciting. That's cute, too, though. She'll settle Silvia down for a pretend nap (they love to play at naps, go figure), and then sit and "read" her a story she's learned.

I know she's at the reading age, now, according to all the Big Important Government Charts. A lot of kids start picking up the trick of it around 4 or 5 years old. I stopped paying attention to the age-appropriate developmental milestones when Anna didn't walk until she was 2. Most kids, whether they start doing something early or late, all end up in approximately the same place by about 5 years old. The cool thing to me isn't whether it's "time" for her to start reading but simply that she is. It's so crazy to see! She sits down, looks at jumbles of letters on a page and then-- magic! It makes sense! It makes her giggle!

Reading has always been a huge part of my life and to see Anna enter that world is leaving me in a whirl. Suddenly I'm filled up with all my favorite books from childhood, reviewing what will make good chapter books to start reading at night, getting all excited to talk about how cool Gone Away Lake is. Of course, she's years off from reading those kind of books, but still... it's starting and I'm so happy for her. Reading is some of the best fun I've had (does that make me boring?) and now she can start knowing that kind of fun, too!

Father's Day

2009-06-23T15:05:00.005-06:00

Sunday was filled, absolutely bursting, with gorgeous and poignant Kodak moments. Kurt flying the kite with Anna, helping Silvia on her trike in the street, planting flowers, dancing with them both in the morning, and sitting on the porch in the early evening of a perfect day as the girls danced around. Perfect, perfect moments.

I did not have my camera.

Still, even without photographic evidence, all of our memories are filled up with that excellent day. Kurt's an amazing, engaged and doting father and you know what? The girls know it and delight in it. And so do I.

Happy Father's Day, sweetie. Next year I will take pictures. Promise. For the moment, these memories will have to do... can you guess which baby is Silvia and which is Anna?

Happy Birthday, John!

2009-06-23T15:03:00.002-06:00

Today is Uncle John's 35th birthday! The girls, Kurt and I send out lots of love, bro! I hope it reaches you in time for your big day, in the form of scrumtrulescent chocolate cake. *smooch*

Opa's visit and girls finally getting their sunshine

2009-06-04T11:22:00.001-06:00

Of course there are more pictures of the family visit-- but they are on someone else's camera. I'll post those when I finagle the download.

Pictures from Sacramento

2009-05-22T10:54:00.001-06:00

And then mom cried

2009-05-17T14:32:00.006-06:00

Today I finally had to admit defeat in the battle against Anna's hair. Someday she'll be old enough to tame and care for it herself, but right now the snarled and tangled cloud of frizz is just too much to handle. Every morning, afternoon and night we comb it out with water and within 5 minutes it's reverted to barbarian chic. She's been begging to go back to the "Haircut Store" and saying she wanted it short- so today I took her.

She barely noticed the procedure and giggled the whole way home, talking about Kurt's lawn work. I stared in the rear view mirror at her so much I nearly caused a traffic accident and fought back tears. There's just something so difficult about cutting off a little girl's hair! She had none for so long, was bald well past her first birthday, so it seems like we should have treasured every honey-colored curl. But the fact remains that the curls lasted an hour and then the rat nest settled in. Here she is now, a little lady-- with short, SHORT hair. She's both happy and oblivious. I'm struggling. Sigh...

Playdate pictures

2009-05-07T08:45:00.000-06:00

Favorite Quotes of the Moment

2009-05-07T08:31:00.002-06:00

Anna:

"When I was a baby and my sister tried to hug me, I started to drink."

Silvia:

"I'm just getting my La-La's right now." (she was singing)

Who else loves me?

2009-04-19T21:22:00.002-06:00

Conversation last night as I put Silvia to bed:

Me: "I love you, sweetie."

Silvia: "Yeah, you do. Who else loves me?"

Me: "Daddy loves you."

Silvia: "Yeah he does. Who else loves me?"

Me: "Anna loves you."

Silvia: "Yeah, she does. Who else loves me?"

Me: "Uncle John loves you."

*pause*

Silvia: "He has a fuzzy shirt."

Me: "Ummm, okay... probably he does."

Silvia: "He won't gobble me up."

Me: "No, he won't gobble you up. He loves you."

Silvia: "Yeah, he does."

The room goes quiet and then... "Who else loves me?"

Snow, princess and Silvia's first haircut

2009-04-14T12:52:00.001-06:00

More photos. Note Kurt's incredible pride- in his snowman! :)

New Family Pictures!

2009-03-26T08:42:00.002-06:00

Once again, our friends over at Trystan Photography have made magic. Take a look at our new family pictures, they're awesome! I don't know how Charlotte did it, but she has Silvia smiling in almost everything even though that little angel cried nearly the entire photo shoot.

They've hooked us up with their special Friends and Family rates for a limited time, so if you'd like prints, please order them from the site. Thanks!

Anna's fashion sense and a trip to the zoo

2009-03-16T16:27:00.002-06:00

You'd never know from the smiles that the girls were not exactly on their best behavior at the zoo. Oh, well. The photo makes the memory, right? As far as the future is concerned, the trip was all smiles.

Don't you love Anna's choice of pattern and color combination in the first pictures? My world has never been so vibrant since she started dressing herself.

Choking Scare

2009-03-12T09:09:00.002-06:00

Oh, man. That so sucked. I don't think I've been that scared for my child since Anna nearly threw herself down some concrete stairs.

Last night we took the girls out for pizza at a local joint. They love it there, Silvia especially because they have awesome corn chips that she always dips in their homemade ranch dressing. She usually ends up happily covered head to toe in dressing and eats about two bites of pizza.

Last night, I had looked away to talk to Kurt a bit. When I glanced back at her, she was arched back, sliding off her chair, mouth wide open. She wasn't making any noise and look terrified. I freaked, pulling her onto my lap and pounding on her back. Nothing. Kurt grabbed her from me as the people sitting nearby started to call out, flipped her over upside down and beat her back as hard as he could. She finally coughed and started screaming. I've never been so happy to hear that cry in my life.

It took her quite a while to calm down (me, too!). She threw up a little bit, getting the stuck chip fully out of her throat. After that, she happily wandered about and then went to play, all giggles, in the kids area at the back of the restaurant.

The whole thing probably lasted less than a minute, but my skin is still crawling.

No more corn chips.

Sleepover

2009-03-10T16:52:00.003-06:00

She thinks she's ready, but I don't know if I am.

Anna wants to have a sleepover. In a big, big, BIG way. She's got it all arranged in her head: there will be sleeping bags and PJ's and then in the morning there will be breakfast. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. We had dinner with friends this weekend and their daughter, Ella, and Anna hatched this plan. Since Sunday night, I have been inundated with requests to know when Ella would be coming over and when Anna would be going to Ella's and WHEN IS MY SLEEPOVER, MOM!?

I tried to explain to her on Monday that this wasn't something we'd be able to just throw together and that we'd have to set it all up with Ella's parents. Anna's response was, "Ok, you can Charlotte today and we can have our sleepover after school." You can probably imagine the dissappointed hysterics when I gently informed her that this wasn't the case.

Probably she'll be fine over with Ella and probably Ella will be fine over here. I don't anticipate any troubles with the girls. I am more hesitant only for nostalgia's sake. Is it possible that Anna's old enough for sleepovers? Hard to imagine that so much time has passed since she was miserable anywhere but in my arms.

Remember? (Photo -and sleepover Ella, strangely enough- courtesy of Trystan Photography)

Emotional Attachment

2009-03-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

Since Anna's been rather messily sick this week, we gave her this blue barf bag to keep nearby in case the mood should strike again. In a bizarre twist, she has become COMPLETELY dependant on the bag. She's been walking around with it, like in the picture, held to her face at all times. Every time I've tried to get her to set it down, you know, to maybe take a drink or something, she has hysterics and NEEDS HER BARF BAG BACK RIGHT THIS MINUTE OR ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE.

Last night I spent many long hours gently pulling the suffocation device away from her face as she cradled it in her sleep. Tonight, Kurt thought he'd solved the problem by simply snipping off the bottom of the bag. Sure, it wouldn't really serve its mess-prevention purpose, but it made her feel better to have it and now she could breathe at night, too. Perfect, right? No.

DADDY BROKE HER BAG. She finally calmed herself down by fiercely clutching the cut portion closed in her hand, while at the same time still holding the ring firmly to her face. She hasn't actually thrown up in almost a whole day now, but I'm not sure we'll ever get the bag away from her. It's a shame, really. She has such a nice smile, I'll miss seeing it.

2009-03-05T14:32:00.002-07:00

There's not too much new going on around here, lately, but that's the nature of staying home with preschoolers. Every day is a little adventure in unique repetition. This week has been a little bit novel in that both girls, and I, were really sick. They'd seem ok during the day and then, with blissful oblivion to their parents despair, stay up all night, in need of new diapers, new jammies and fresh hugs.

We seem to be through the worst of it, though I'll probably have to keep them out of school tomorrow, too, just for good measure. As for school, they're both doing really well. Silvia speaks about as well as your average three-year-old. Precocious, isn't she? Just like another little girl I know. Anna, too, is ahead of the game. She's started reading vocabulary words, which just impresses the heck out of me. She sounds them out, gives it a moment of thought, and then jumps to the next step of putting the sounds together into an actual word. It's not just "cat" or "dog", either. Last night she put together "computer". She's also picking up on the short and long vowel sounds and how different letters make different sounds when you put them together, like "oo" and "th" and "sh". Pretty soon I'll have her on Gone Away Lake, just about my favorite book from my childhood (and still, for that matter).

Kurt and I have been riding a wave of exhaustion since we got back from his birthday ski trip to Park City, Utah. We had a blast, though I decided once and for all that skiing is NOT for me. Kurt made the most of the slopes, though, but upon our return he has been in the office for long hours and weekends, trying to catch up. Hopefully we'll get some relief this weekend, from work, repetitive stay-at-home days, and sick kids.

Sorry it's only a few mismatched pictures, I'll try and remember to grab my camera more often. (Ha! good luck with that, Megan!)

Cake and cuteness

2009-02-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

Two? She's two? When did that happen?

2009-02-05T08:31:00.007-07:00

Happy birthday, my no-longer-baby. She's walking all about with a grin and singing, "Happy birthday to Cici, happy birthdaaaaay!". Anna is just about as excited as she is, too. We're having a little dinner party with cake tonight. Some of our friends who saw us through Anna's babyhood, my pregnancy and all the wackiness since Silvia was born are coming with their kids to celebrate. I anticipate much running and screaming, it should be a blast. Best of all, Kurt is making his famous deep-dish pizza, yum!

Looking forward to old friends, balloons and party hats, but mostly to the grown-up smile on my girl's face at the sight of her cake. She's been practicing blowing out her candles. Hope no one minds a little spray on the frosting, though, heheee.

It's a little sad to put her baby years behind her, but it's been so exciting seeing her learn so much and get so cheeky and funny. Here's to all the years to come!

A few of my favorite words

2009-01-28T16:05:00.003-07:00

As the girls grow, they start to drop their funny little expressions and personalized pronunciations. I know it's important to encourage the correct words and tenses and what not, but there are just some things too cute to hurry out of their vocabulary. A few of my favorites, for posterity's sake.

Anna:
"I'm so exciting to go! I'm so EXCITING!". This was Anna's until just a few months ago, and now she corrects me when I try and encourage her to say it anymore.

Jamammies instead of pajamas.

"That's disgusty!". She's particularly fond of this one right now, especially when referring to Silvia's drool phenomenon.

"What's all the drama going on, Mama!". I think she picked this up at school and she says it constantly- on the potty, in the middle of dinner, at bedtime, etc. This makes me wonder, of course, what is all the drama going on?

"That's MIND!". Sadly, this passed into history about a year ago, but it still makes me laugh. Everything on God's green earth was "MIND!".

Silvia:
Dimosaur. She loves her dimosaurs. Anna keeps correcting her on this, but I'm trying to be as bad an influence as I can to keep it around.

"What's wrong with your face?". She hasn't been doing this lately, but for a long time she'd reach up at you during her diaper change and say it, looking all concerned. Very, ummm... sweet.

"ABC... twinkle star... rock-a-baby... lullaby... ABC". When we'd put Silvia to sleep, up until just a few months ago, she'd request all her favorite songs while we rocked. She'd request them so quickly, in fact, that we'd get the first two or three syllables in on one song and then she'd be asking for the next.

"Mama, make love!". I didn't even think about this one when she first said it, I just drew her a heart. Eventually the double-meaning sunk in, too.

I'm drawing a blank now on a lot of little quirky turns of phrase, but there are lots more. I love that they are so articulate and well-spoken, but I still miss the cute baby talk as it fades away. Proof that they're growing up... think I'll miss the last diaper, too?

Princesses

2009-01-26T11:10:00.006-07:00

I fought it, I railed against it, I bemoaned the stereotyping and ubiquitous copyrighted characters... but the princesses won.

Disney princesses live in my house. They are in every room. The costumes are strewn across my floors, the books fill our baskets. Cinderella has taken up permanent residence in our DVD player. Every coloring book, sticker and pretend play scenario is princess-centric. We thought at first we'd lucked out with Silvia, who seemed to lean towards tomboy and would never let Anna put crowns on her head, but that's all changed.

"Mama? Cinderella's crying!", is one of the constant phrases I hear all day, those blue eyes shining in shared distress, regardless of if we've watched the movie that day or a week ago.

"Mama! Cinderella fairy gaa-mother! She go to the ball!" And then, of course, then it starts.

"I wanna be a blue princess!" And then, 10 seconds after I arrange the dress on her small frame, "I wanna be a pink princess!"

Anna, ever helpful, goads her on. "Silvia, don't you want to be Sleeping Beauty now? Then I can be Cinderella and we can dance!"

It's all very cute except for two things. One, Silvia cannot get into the dresses on her own and two, they are too long for her to walk in, so she invariably gets caught up, tangled in a princess pile on the floor having a princess tantrum.

Royalty is a heavy burden to bear.

Dust

2009-01-08T15:09:00.002-07:00

Overheard this morning, as rays from the morning sun slanted into the room and highlighted dust motes floating in the air:

"Those are my fluffs! MOM! Cici touched my fluffs!"

Thief

2009-01-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here's Anna in her nightly bed-stealing. Notice the center positioning and wide-spread arms covering the ENTIRE sleeping surface.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2008-12-19T16:27:00.001-07:00

From 2008_12_19

Hold still for the camera!

2008-12-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

2nd Christmas

2008-12-12T09:17:00.002-07:00

Anna keeps asking for her second Christmas. While Kurt's family was visiting this past weekend, we had a great mini-Christmas for the three kids- Ryan, Anna and Silvia. They each got a few presents and we adults were able to sit back and just enjoy the delight and excitement that only young children seem to glow with on that most-anticipated of holidays.

Opa took them all up to the playroom so that Santa could come with their goodies and then they came boiling down the stairs, running straight for the tree. Silvia's reaction was my favorite. She simply walked up, grabbed the nearest package to hand and brought it to me, ordering firmly, "OPEN IT, Mama. OPEN." It was for Ryan, but that didn't seem to slow her down at all.

At some point, we must have said that this was the 1st Christmas so we could celebrate with our family. Now Anna is very confused and adamant that it is now time for the 2nd Christmas. She comes home from school-"Is it 2nd Christmas yet"? Or the same after dinner every night, after any brief naps she might condescend to take. "Is it? Now?"

I sure hope we don't have to expect a 3rd or 4th Christmas after the 25th.

Broken Glass

2008-11-24T08:59:00.002-07:00

The other day, as Silvia and Anna were chasing each other like puppies through the house, Anna bumped into a table and knocked a glass vase onto the floor where it shattered in a spray of shards. I think the average adult's response to this is to step away and find a careful way of cleaning it up. Anna is neither average or an adult.

By the time I got to the scene, she had reached down and scooped up a handful of pieces and was holding them out to me in supplication. "Mommy, I broke the vase! Here!"

And me? I instinctively reached out and took the handful of glass into my own bare hands. Ouch.

We both ended up with small cuts along our palms and it could have been much worse. Best of all, I got to add to that list of things, either too obvious or too bizarre, you never think you'll say- "Never pick up broken glass! Wait for mommy and daddy, ok?"

Beds

2008-11-24T08:49:00.004-07:00

I've had a list sitting on my desk for weeks. I jot down things that I mean to post here. That list has been growing... and growing.... and growing. Time to do some catching up.

First off, for Anna's birthday we moved her to a grown-up bed. She had reached the point where her feet were bumping and into the bottom of her toddler bed and her hands would get tangled in the sideboard every night. She'd end up sleeping curled in a ball or with half her limbs hanging off the mattress.

Now she has a big queen size bed where she looks about as small as a stuffed animal , swimming in all that space. We considered buying her a smaller mattress, but figured we'd just use what we already had lying around. (hehee... sorry for the pun) While she loves her new big bed, we still struggle with her new tendency to come into our room in the middle of the night. First we put a sleeping bag down on the floor to keep her out of her bed, but she started sneaking into it about two seconds after we'd put her to bed in her own room.

Our solution resulted in a night practically out of a Pink Panther movie, there was so much traveling back and forth between bedrooms. She'd sneak in, I'd walk her back and put her in her bed. She'd sneak back in about 10 minutes, and so on and so on. After a few nights of that she started to settle, but it's still going on at least once a night. As cute as she is, there is something inherently creepy to wake up in the middle of the night to a silent, though small, figure standing directly over your head in the darkness.

Snow White and Prince Charming

2008-11-18T08:46:00.000-07:00