Saturday, November 29, 2008
David ate some cereal for dinner again tonight. He keeps getting better at it! It was so cute to see the kids grin at eachother at the table. Sara pulls the high chair over by her chair and says "David sit by me! I talk to David." He just grins and yells.
After dinner we put up the Christmas ornaments. Sara danced to Mariah Carey while Ben and I got the tree and lights up. She "loves Christmas music, Mommy! Dance with me!" She helped put the ornaments on and had fun counting the red ones. Check out the video posted below! I think she's so cute and smart! The tree is decorated with a concentration of ornaments at Sara height. She wanted to do it herself!
David seemed to like the sparkly lights and reached for the shiny ornaments. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he had fun laughing at Sara. It's so cute to see them grin at eachother. Sara told him all about Christmas trees and presents.
Now the kids are both bathed and PJ'd. Sara got to watch Dave and the Giant Pickle and now Ben is reading her bedtime story. She's been fussy about bedtime lately even when she's exhausted. We just stick to the routine and hope she gets over it. We're going to watch a little football by Christmas tree light while sipping some hot buttered rum. How relaxing!
Friday, November 28, 2008
We have so much to be thankful for this year. Our kids are healthy, cute and bright. We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving day together (mostly). After church we went to the Haveman's for Thanksgiving lunch. It was a good time with good food. Sara and David were the only kids until later in the afternoon when Buck and Grady showed up. Sara really enjoyed the squash and turkey and ate lots of pie! She liked seeing the calves and the kittens on the farm. And of course, seeing Grandma and Grandpa is always a highlight. They got big hugs. After lunch Sara watched football with Dad and the uncles. "I go downstairs now, see football with Uncle Richie!" The Lions lost pretty spectacularly, but she didn't care.
I had to work for a few hours in the afternoon, but got sent home at 7. So we had a nice evening at home. Sara loved having Mom and Dad with her all day!
Today we started out slowly. Our new dishwasher was delivered in the morning and Ben spent a few hours getting in installed. It only took two trips to Menards! The first load of dishes just finished up. It runs so quietly! I guess I won't be using the dishwasher sounds to soothe David anymore. Which isn't such a problem since he seems to be leaving his colicky days behind.
In the afternoon we had a housecleaning fit and I did some cooking. Sara loves chicken pot pie! "Veggies so good, Mommy! Thank you! I eat big sporks full!" She calls her utensils sporks, and insists on eating everything with them. "No eat with fingers. I big girl!" David got some rice cereal and pears, which made him laugh and spit.
Now the kids are both in bed and Ben and I are enjoying some hot chocolate and blogging. I suppose we should go get some sleep, since David will be calling for me in way to short of a time.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I just finished giving her a bath, and it is so good to see her play and splash. The last few baths have been tired scrubbing ups with only a kick or two. She's really starting to get back to her old self. It's taking a while! She still gets tired quickly and looks a little thin and pale. But the sparkle is coming back to her eyes.
We made monkey bread this afternoon for our kitchen project. Sara really loves to bake! She likes to eat too. She said "Monkey bread (insert crazy monkey noises here) is SO good!"
David is sitting next to me in his little onesie. His pudgy legs are so cute! He's learned to suck his thumb and it makes him very happy. He's been smiling and laughing most of the day. He sat in Sara's rocking chair for a few minutes today and looked like such a big boy!
I should be getting my little ones into bed. We're all sitting on the couch watching Biggest Loser and snuggling. It's so nice.
Friday, November 21, 2008
It's Ben again... with a little explanation of the last post. Emily started the post, but Sara started saying "I blog! I blog!" So we let her punch at the keys for a while. The funny thing was, she actually posted it! We were just watching her type and all of a sudden, the screen said "Your post was successful!" I guess we have a very tech savvy daughter!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
This is Sara's entry:
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Hey, I actually feel well enough to type! We've been hit hard by this stomach bug. We're moving into the nasty diaper stage of things. Yuck! Sara is still awake after throwing up after dinner. She "feels all better now, stay up now!"
Ben stayed home this morning because I couldn't get myself off the couch. He took some very cute pictures of David sitting on my lap. He says he is feeling very paternal today. Look at my little toot! What a grin. He loves his mommy.
Sara has been taking very good care of me too. She read me stories and let me cuddle her dolly today. "You hug dolly and me read to Mommy. Make all better now!"
Hopefully we will all be better soon and David and Ben will stay well. I'm imposing a quarentine on us for at least another day or so. I don't want to pass this on to anyone else!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Well, it is time for me (Ben) to write a blog post, this is my first! This is Sara this morning... she was pretty miserable all day. She layed on the couch or her bed most of the day. When I got home from work, she was still napping, but she came downstairs and drank a whole sippy of juice and perked right up. That led to the next picture. She was running around with a mop bucket on her head... who knows the mind of a two year old!
Emily is feeling pretty miserable too. I feel so bad for my girls! I hope they are both up for running around in the snow soon.
Thats right. Snow. It snowed almost all day today and a bunch last night. We probably have ~6 inches on the ground, and more is coming all this week. We are VERY jealous of my parents who are in St. Thomas, USVI right now... sigh...
Speaking of USVI, I am going to take this opportunity to "advertize" my new photo blog:
So, other than worrying about Sara and Emily, and dreaming about warm beaches, things are going ok. Fortunately, David has shown no signs of being sick. Actually, he is more playful and happy then ever. He loves playing with his turtle rattle and squishy hippo. Really, he is a fan of anything that rattles. We played for a while, then he got hungry, Emily fed him, and he soon fell asleep. What a life!
Well, I think I'll sign off for tonight, hopefully the next post finds us a fully healthy family!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Poor Sara! She got so sick today. I thought I heard her vomiting in the early morning, but when I went to check on her everything looked clean and she was pretty sleepy, so I let her be. She got up and seemed happy enough, although she only picked at her breakfast. We got all dressed for church and into the car. When we got to the corner she puked all over the car seat and her Sunday clothes. We pulled over, I hopped in the back and she continued to heave into David's spit rag on the way back home. Half digested milk and bananas are gross! After a complete clean up and snuggle she did it all over again, all over the couch and herself.
I went to check out the bedroom and everything WAS clean - except for her blanket which had undigested beans in it. I felt so bad! I left a sick kid to herself at night! But she seems to have survived.
She seemed to perk up a little after a morning snuggle. She ran to the window and shouted about the snow. But as she sat by the window watching snowflakes...she did it again. Puke splashing off the window! No food in it this time because she hadn't eaten anything all morning. I threw in pukey laundry load number 2. I am happy to report that I sucessfully got the smell out of her blanket, her Sunday coat and her dolly. But I learned that dolly needs to be hung up to dry or water stores up in her legs and drips out when she gets a good hug!
This afternoon she took a good nap and snuggled on Daddy. I covered the couch with an old sheet, just in case. She seems better now, running around and eating some toast and crackers. We are a scrubbing, hand washing bunch! I really don't want to deal with a vomiting baby.
I'm getting ready to leave for work and hoping Sara's stomach contents stay where they belong for Ben. I'll bet bedtime is not a struggle at all tonight! She's so tired.
David is happy and waving his arms at me while telling me a story that involves lots of drool and cooing. He's been ignored a little today while we tended to his sister. He was OK with that. He didn't nap much and was a little fussy until he filled a diaper. It's so fun to watch him become more and more interactive. Ben just told me he said "Daddy". He gets worried now if he doesn't see someone and gives big grins when someone comes to get him. Sara loves his smiles and babbling. She told me "I speak baby talk!" I guess we have a translator!
I hope the stomach bug is done! Good luck Ben!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The story of how she acquired that pen was the highlight of yesterday. We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa who have their Christmas tree up. Sara was so excited! "Christmas tree so beautiful! Where my presents?" Grandpa told her there weren't any presents, and she took that to mean no presents ever. She collapsed into a sobbing heap. So Grandma ran to the grandkid toy stash and rolled these pens in some wrapping paper. Sara loves her light up Pooh! She's been writing all day. I'm just glad she listens to me when I tell her she may only write on paper!
Today was a great Saturday. The kids slept in until a more decent hour. We made pancakes for breakfast, which made Sara extremely happy. We made a Target run and got Sara a step stool for handwashing and toothbrushing - she's getting a litte heavy to hold up there. I got her some flannel sheets, too! They're pink with snowmen and Christmas trees. She loves them. "Fuzzy sheets like Grandma's house! I like! I show Hayden!" She slept on flannel sheets at Grandma's house when David was born. She has a great memory!
I like to try out new recipies on Saturday afternoons when Ben is around to play with David. Sara helps me. We made a tiramisu triffle! Ben calls it "faux" tiramisu since it has no ingredients in common with the real thing other than the coffee. But it was really good! Sara got to lick the beaters and she licked them clean. "So good pudding, Mommy!" She learned what spatulas are and how to use them, too. "This my spatula. For scraping sides!" I love teaching her things!
After dinner Sara played Chutes and Ladders with Ben. I got that and Candyland at a garage sale last summer. Best $1 I ever spent! Sara likes to play games even though she really doesn't get the concepts yet. We play by taking our turns and then letting her do whatever she wants for hers. Occasionally she will "get it" and take a proper turn. I guess that's how she'll learn. In six months she'll probably be routinely kicking our butts.
I got my guitar out and played a little this evening. It's hard to practice when Sara wants to play, too, but I'm going to try to make time for some music every now and then.
Sara splashed and swam through her bath and then got into her "so snuggly pjs" to watch a little football with Dad. She was very excited to sleep in her pink sheets. She's sound asleep now, and David is nearly there. It was a very satisfying family day!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
It's been that sort of week. I've been saying things that sound so funny when I think about what I said. "Honey, we don't stand in the toilet" or "Don't put Smarties in your brother's diaper." Ah, life with a toddler. She discovered that she can stand inside the potty seat. How fun! There she was, standing in poopy water. I cleaned her all up and kept a straight face.
She's been doing pretty well with potty training and I want to keep encouraging her! She loves to wear her princess pants as a prize for telling me when she has to go. Before church on Sunday she pulled up her dress and told people "I have princess pants! Big girl me!" Her pull ups have princess Barbies on them.
David has been much happier this week. See him after his bath? He loves being wrapped up in a big warm towel. He's really starting to grab for things and chew at them. He got himself up and out of the Boppy last night, ending up face down on the rug. Unhappy baby! We'll get the video up soon.
I gave him cereal yesterday and he seemed to like it. He made a big mess of course but he laughed and opened wide! It's fun to start feeding him. I wonder if he'll like green beans as much as Sara did...ha ha ha.
Sara has been singing and dancing all day, and the living room is trashed because she was looking for something in her toybox. I can't wait to get our basement fixed up so I can hide all the kid junk down there. I can't believe what an imagination a 2 year old can have. She makes up stories for her stuffed animals and "reads" to David. She makes gourmet meals and serves them to Mom and Dolly, napkins and all. She sings Jesus Loves Me, Deep and Wide, ABCs and This Little Light of Mine. Yesterday, she brought me her Bible story book and said "Read story about God?" Of course we can, big girl! She likes Noah. "Made big boat. Pretty rainbow! Two animals!" We also introduced her to Veggie Tales. She loves Dave and the Giant Pickle! "Dave has tippy sheep!"
She seems to be hitting the twos, though. She needs to be in control! I have to give her choices as often as possible. Get dressed in her bedroom or downstairs. Waffles or cereal for breakfast. Green shirt or owl shirt. Sliced apple or whole apple. It works, but it can be challenging to always come up with two ways to do things. She has been throwing a few more tantrums than usual in the last couple days, usually when she is hungry or sleepy, which she has been more often than usual. Growth spurt? Who knows. She's a good girl 90% of the time.
Ben and I had fun creating a Wiki today. Mom Z told us about these web sites for planning things as a group. We are planning our summer camping trip. Basically, it's an easy to edit website. Ben is so hooked we can't even discuss the trip face to face; "No, we can only discuss this on the wiki!" We're having a lot of fun. We hope to go to Sleeping Bear Dunes sometime in the summer. Check it out.
Yes, Ellen, I realize that the blog is behind. So here is a week in pictures.
David got some cereal! He seemed to like it. Look at him smirk.
David loves his hippo. He loves to strangle it and chew on it. Poor hippo.
David has been getting us up early. Davey wakey now!
Sara loves to bake with Mommy while wearing her chef outfit.
Sara learned to play Candyland. She follows her own rules, and always wins!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
It was another beautiful, 70 degree day here in Holland. We spent as much time outside as we could.
Wendy and Hayden came over in the morning and we headed to the park. Sara loves playing there and runs around skipping and laughing. She climbed to the top of the climbing spiral by herself today. Of course, I was standing right behind her holding my breath the whole way. I got some pictures of her big grins, you can check them out on Flickr!
When we got back home it was time to play in the leaves. I raked them up and Sara and Hayden scattered them. Sara discovered how much fun it is to pounce Mommy in the leaf pile. David liked crinkling leaves in his hand and getting buried by the two year olds. Both kids had leaves in their diapers when I changed them!
Sara ate a big lunch and went down for a big nap. David was right behind her. I got a little time to relax and finish raking up the front and side yards. When Ben got home we had to hurry to get the leaves to the curb before the rain started. It looks like the nice weather stretch is over. Sara grabbed her raincoat and stood in the garage while we finished. "Have my raincoat, Mom, I can go out!"
We made dinner and I went out to get groceries after a hug and kiss from Sara. The kids were very playful for Ben. Sara loves to read her books and make block stacks. David likes to grab for his rattle ball and drool on Snoopy.
It was bath night and that meant a whole lot of splashing and yelling. Sara loves to swim and splash and then put her own lotion on. "I lotion my skin like Mommy does! So pretty, smell yummy." Then she gets to help with David's bath. She washed his toes for me today.
Now Sara is in her bed after stories. Last night, she was so tired she put herself to bed! I wasn't feeling well, so I was napping in my room. Ben was walking fussy boy. I felt a little hand on my face "Good night Mommy. Love you!" She walked out of my room, into her room and got into her bed! Ben covered her up, gave her a kiss and turned out the light and that was it! Wow. She did wake up in the middle of the night while I was feeding David. I just about laid down on her! She looked at me and said "Owl got my pipie. Need pipie!" She had lost her pipe and doll and couldn't get back to sleep.
Hopefully tonight will be better. David is 90% asleep in Ben's arms and we're watching Kitchen Nightmares. Ben wonders what Gordon Ramsey would say about my cooking. It's true I am not a gourmet cook, but I think I have a little bit of talent. The food doens't stay to long on his plate, at least!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
After voting, we went to see Grandma and Grandpa. It was such a beautiful day that we could go play outside with Allison and Andrew. Ellen has some extremely cute pictures up on Facebook. Go check it out! The kids had fun throwing leaves and jumping in Grandma's piles. David got to sit in leaves for the first time. I think he liked feeling the different textures. He grabbed leaves and waved them! Sara giggled "It tickles me! It tickles me!" when Allison dumped leaves on her head. A good time was had by all.
Sara took a really good nap after all that and so did David! So I did too. When Ben got home we went downtown to get some food. We planned to go to Froggy's but they are closed on Tuesdays in the winter! Who knew! We also wanted to see if Ben and Jerry's was participating in the free ice cream for voters. But we no longer have a Ben and Jerry's! Sigh. So we ate Quizno's, which was good, too. It's so warm outside it's easy to forget that Holland has switched to the non-tourist schedule.
We came home and Grandma and Grandpa called for a Skype call. Sara loves to see them on the computer. The kids were both a little tired and fussy, but now they are both sleeping. Ben and I are watching the election results with some munchies and warm drinks, discussing what we would do if we had an evening without kids. It's been to long! I'll have to work on a babysitter for some night.
Mine is nerdy though... This is a wordle of a design justification document for the instrument cluster that I am working on.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Some other wordles..this is getting addictive...
Declaration of Independence
Isaiah 53
In Christ Alone
The morning was a little rough. I think the kids are still adjusting to the time change. Plus, we were out a little late at Great Grandma's last night. Wendy and Hayden came over to walk, but that didn't even make it all better. Sara didn't want to go for a stroller ride and didn't really want to share toys either. She took an early nap and was much improved after it.
After dinner, we sat down to read some books. I found out that Sara has pretty much memorized Where the Wild Things Are. It's so funny to hear her say "Be still!" and "let the wild rumpus start!" I'm going to try to get it on video soon so you can all laugh with us.
David is taking an evening nap. This is a little worrying, I hope he sleeps tonight. Sara is getting a story before bedtime. Ben and I are going to sit down and watch the SNL Presidential Bash. We'll see if the kids let us!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Well, I didn't have a new picture to upload today, so I'll show you one of Sara's. She likes to play with the camera. That's why we bought one that's shockproof and added a screen protector. She has a modern art sort of theme to her photography.
We had a very relaxing Saturday here. David has been short on sleep lately so we just took it easy to recharge. Sara slept in a little bit after her sugar rush yesterday, but was ready to rip once she got going.
Sara and I did our whole workout video uninterrupted today. She had a great time, I'm feeling it in my aching muscles. Ben tried very hard to keep a straight face. At least he didn't get out the camera. He'd never seen the great performance we can put on. Sara loves downward dog and fit frog!
She ate like a horse today. While Ben was making dinner (Thank you! The burritos were great!) she laid on the floor crying "I need food! So hungry! Hurry!" Trust me, we aren't starving her. She'd had a snack an hour before that. She was just being silly. She loved the burritos, though! "Daddy, these good burrito. Yum yum!"
We tried a couple bites of rice cereal for David. He grinned and giggled and grabbed at it but a lot of it ended up on his face. Oh well, he's just learning. He's not even 5 months old yet, but he's been so hungry lately! I thought we'd just start playing around with it. I'll probably wait till closer to 6 months to make it part of his diet. We'll see! I think he's going to like food like his Daddy does.
After dinner we went to the Carter's outlet to get David some footed sleepers. I love those things. They're comfortable and easy to put on. And I don't have to worry about pants and socks falling off his wiggly little butt. He's getting to be a scooter! Everything was 50% off or more, so I'm thinking about going back to get some holiday party clothes. They had some cute stuff.
Both kids had their bath already. Sara was not super excited about it, but she didn't sob this time. It's so strange! I used to have to pry her out of the tub when she started to prune up!
Now she's sitting next to me eating pretzels and milk for a bedtime snack. Hopefully the time change won't mean she's up at 6 tomorrow. We're watching some football and all snuggling on the couch. It's so nice.
