Tuesday, September 22, 2009
thinking...
I was in the car today, thinking about life being busy and stressful...about getting Henry to sleep (or NOT getting him to sleep, but trying to), about my desire for more freedom these days, how tiring this apartment management job is, etc....and all of a sudden I thought to myself that I am truly happy.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
For the few in this world who haven't seen it...
There are still a couple of you who read this that aren't on Facebook, so enjoy this wonderful video of our dear little Joshy. I've never seen anything on Facebook get so many comments!! More are always appreciated :c)
Monday, April 27, 2009
Joshua!
Sorry no pictures because they are all on the back computer...but there are some good ones we've taken recently - I'll try to get some of them posted soon!
Joshua is seriously amazing...and a stinking genius. I hope that Henry doesn't feel like we're constantly comparing him to Joshua, like if Henry has perfectly normal language development, I don't want him to feel like we are disappointed in him because he isn't as extraordinary in his verbal-ness (yeah, I don't know where Joshy gets it...) as Joshua was. Anyway, I have awhile before he'll start resenting me, so I'll put that worry on the back burner for now.
So Joshua...he LOVES to sing, and he's a great singer. He can sing full songs, pretty much on key, and often with nearly all the words. He knows the whole ABC song perfectly, knows the first and second verse and chorus of "I am a Child of God," and can sing (I'm going to avoid putting more quotes cuz that's annoying) The Itsy Bitsy Spider, You are my Sunshine, The Lion Sleeps Tonight (actually I'm not sure what the actual title of that song is), Here we are Together, Albuquerque Turkey, Happy Birthday, Row Row Your Boat, Skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink (you know what I mean), Rock-a-bye Baby, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, some of Silent Night...man tons more - I'm probably forgetting some key ones, but I'm running on 4 hours of sleep, so be forgiving. One of the funniest parts of his singing talents is that he loves to change the words to the songs, and he knows he is hilarious, so he laughs at himself so much. He'll change it to, the itsy bitsy MAMA or ABCDEF DADA, or I am a child of EMMA-WEE...funny things like that.
There's no way I could even come close to listing all of his words at this point, but for some time now, he has been speaking in long full sentences, and he's really doing great with all his pronouns, tenses, etc. He'll be like, "Pees mama can you get me some mo cereal bar?" or "I don't want to push the boo button." He's also looking out for our hydration levels, often saying, "Mama, can you drink your water?" or our hunger, "Dada, eat your pizza!"
Today, I was on the phone with my supervisor, and he was climbing on his table, and I heard him say, "There is a lot going on!" I don't think I had said that yet today, but maybe. That cracked me up, though.
Several weeks ago, maybe a couple months...time is all hazy to me these days, he picked up the office phone, pushed the button that switches the ring tone, so it sounded like the phone was ringing, and said, "Minto Pawk Apawtments, this is Amanda." I laughed SO hard, and he kept it up, changing the last part each time, this is..."Joshy-wa" or "Baby Henry's Winnie Pooh" or "window" or "computoh." HILARIOUS! And he is perfectly aware that he's hilarious.
Months ago, at dinner, for some reason I said to Nathan, "whatever, chicken," about something, and Joshua was sitting there in his high chair next to us. He got a big smile on his face and said, "whatevoh chickadee!" We laughed SO much, and he said it several more times. After he'd said it several times, we were still smiling but had stopped laughing, and he said, "can we wapp again?" It was so sweet.
Also long ago, he was sitting on the floor with Grandma Palmer while she was building some towers with his blocks, and he looked at it and said, "Stonehenge!" because he remembered that the picture on the wall is of Stonehenge.
He's adjusting pretty well to having this new baby in our home, and has said some pretty hilarious things. The other day, he said, "Can Mama's tummy get big again?" I asked him if he knew why it wasn't so big anymore. He said, "Cuz Baby Henry came out." I asked if he wanted another baby - he said, "Yeah." I asked if he wanted Baby Henry AND another baby. He said, "Can Mama have ee-weven babies?" Eleven is the number he uses most often to mean a lot of something. If I ask him how many fruit snacks he wants, he either says 2 or 11. Sometimes when he counts, he counts one two fee eight nine ten ee-weven eight nine ten. Other times he gets the other numbers in there.
He can recognize and say all the letters and numbers 1-11, he knows his colors and a lot of shapes. He likes to bite a fig newton or a chip or a chicken nugget and then tell us what it now "is" such as a fig newton being a cow. I gave him a good little joke, telling him that a fig newton cow says, "moo-tun" and he thought that was pretty funny. I asked him what a crouton cow said, and he said (all on his own) "moo-tawn!" He bit a chicken nugget into a cow shape (in his mind at least) once, and said it was a "hot cow."
Oh man - ALSO, he'll be eating something...a piece of canteloupe or a little dill pickle, and he'll bite off a piece of it that looks like a door to him, and he'll tell us what is inside. Lately, Cookie Monster is inside, and he wants to eat him. So he takes Cookie Monster out, and I'll say, "run, Cookie Monster!" Joshy says, "Can I give him a hug?" all innocent. Then he gives him a hug and tells me that he just ATE HIS EYEBALLS!!! Crazy kid.
He LOVES to pretend. He talks on blocks as phones (usually to rubber ducky, talking for a bit and then telling him that he has to go to the store), brings us drinks in all sorts of things that look like cups to him, puts measuring cups and spoons in between the drawers and plays them like a piano, drives his dinner bowl as a steering wheel - it's so funny.
The other day, we were driving to Lafayette to go to Nathan's parents' house, and we drove by the library. I didn't mention it, but he pointed at said, "There is the library!" We've only gone there probably less than a dozen times, and I had no idea he paid so much attention that he'd recognize it as we went by. I don't think I paid much attention until about the time I got my driver's license!! Ok, a bit of an exaggeration...but c'mon - he's barely 2!
Another adjustment note - I asked him the other day, "Joshy, baby Henry cries a lot, huh?" and he said, "Yeah. Babies cry." Like...get used to it Mom!
I love Joshua - he is a great companion during the day...even though he does get into a lot of stuff. He's been acting out a bit more cuz he's feeling the change in my attention levels, but he is still a sweetheart and all his sweet little hugs and thank yous and hilarious things...and yes, his mischief too, get me through the day.
Joshua is seriously amazing...and a stinking genius. I hope that Henry doesn't feel like we're constantly comparing him to Joshua, like if Henry has perfectly normal language development, I don't want him to feel like we are disappointed in him because he isn't as extraordinary in his verbal-ness (yeah, I don't know where Joshy gets it...) as Joshua was. Anyway, I have awhile before he'll start resenting me, so I'll put that worry on the back burner for now.
So Joshua...he LOVES to sing, and he's a great singer. He can sing full songs, pretty much on key, and often with nearly all the words. He knows the whole ABC song perfectly, knows the first and second verse and chorus of "I am a Child of God," and can sing (I'm going to avoid putting more quotes cuz that's annoying) The Itsy Bitsy Spider, You are my Sunshine, The Lion Sleeps Tonight (actually I'm not sure what the actual title of that song is), Here we are Together, Albuquerque Turkey, Happy Birthday, Row Row Your Boat, Skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink (you know what I mean), Rock-a-bye Baby, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, some of Silent Night...man tons more - I'm probably forgetting some key ones, but I'm running on 4 hours of sleep, so be forgiving. One of the funniest parts of his singing talents is that he loves to change the words to the songs, and he knows he is hilarious, so he laughs at himself so much. He'll change it to, the itsy bitsy MAMA or ABCDEF DADA, or I am a child of EMMA-WEE...funny things like that.
There's no way I could even come close to listing all of his words at this point, but for some time now, he has been speaking in long full sentences, and he's really doing great with all his pronouns, tenses, etc. He'll be like, "Pees mama can you get me some mo cereal bar?" or "I don't want to push the boo button." He's also looking out for our hydration levels, often saying, "Mama, can you drink your water?" or our hunger, "Dada, eat your pizza!"
Today, I was on the phone with my supervisor, and he was climbing on his table, and I heard him say, "There is a lot going on!" I don't think I had said that yet today, but maybe. That cracked me up, though.
Several weeks ago, maybe a couple months...time is all hazy to me these days, he picked up the office phone, pushed the button that switches the ring tone, so it sounded like the phone was ringing, and said, "Minto Pawk Apawtments, this is Amanda." I laughed SO hard, and he kept it up, changing the last part each time, this is..."Joshy-wa" or "Baby Henry's Winnie Pooh" or "window" or "computoh." HILARIOUS! And he is perfectly aware that he's hilarious.
Months ago, at dinner, for some reason I said to Nathan, "whatever, chicken," about something, and Joshua was sitting there in his high chair next to us. He got a big smile on his face and said, "whatevoh chickadee!" We laughed SO much, and he said it several more times. After he'd said it several times, we were still smiling but had stopped laughing, and he said, "can we wapp again?" It was so sweet.
Also long ago, he was sitting on the floor with Grandma Palmer while she was building some towers with his blocks, and he looked at it and said, "Stonehenge!" because he remembered that the picture on the wall is of Stonehenge.
He's adjusting pretty well to having this new baby in our home, and has said some pretty hilarious things. The other day, he said, "Can Mama's tummy get big again?" I asked him if he knew why it wasn't so big anymore. He said, "Cuz Baby Henry came out." I asked if he wanted another baby - he said, "Yeah." I asked if he wanted Baby Henry AND another baby. He said, "Can Mama have ee-weven babies?" Eleven is the number he uses most often to mean a lot of something. If I ask him how many fruit snacks he wants, he either says 2 or 11. Sometimes when he counts, he counts one two fee eight nine ten ee-weven eight nine ten. Other times he gets the other numbers in there.
He can recognize and say all the letters and numbers 1-11, he knows his colors and a lot of shapes. He likes to bite a fig newton or a chip or a chicken nugget and then tell us what it now "is" such as a fig newton being a cow. I gave him a good little joke, telling him that a fig newton cow says, "moo-tun" and he thought that was pretty funny. I asked him what a crouton cow said, and he said (all on his own) "moo-tawn!" He bit a chicken nugget into a cow shape (in his mind at least) once, and said it was a "hot cow."
Oh man - ALSO, he'll be eating something...a piece of canteloupe or a little dill pickle, and he'll bite off a piece of it that looks like a door to him, and he'll tell us what is inside. Lately, Cookie Monster is inside, and he wants to eat him. So he takes Cookie Monster out, and I'll say, "run, Cookie Monster!" Joshy says, "Can I give him a hug?" all innocent. Then he gives him a hug and tells me that he just ATE HIS EYEBALLS!!! Crazy kid.
He LOVES to pretend. He talks on blocks as phones (usually to rubber ducky, talking for a bit and then telling him that he has to go to the store), brings us drinks in all sorts of things that look like cups to him, puts measuring cups and spoons in between the drawers and plays them like a piano, drives his dinner bowl as a steering wheel - it's so funny.
The other day, we were driving to Lafayette to go to Nathan's parents' house, and we drove by the library. I didn't mention it, but he pointed at said, "There is the library!" We've only gone there probably less than a dozen times, and I had no idea he paid so much attention that he'd recognize it as we went by. I don't think I paid much attention until about the time I got my driver's license!! Ok, a bit of an exaggeration...but c'mon - he's barely 2!
Another adjustment note - I asked him the other day, "Joshy, baby Henry cries a lot, huh?" and he said, "Yeah. Babies cry." Like...get used to it Mom!
I love Joshua - he is a great companion during the day...even though he does get into a lot of stuff. He's been acting out a bit more cuz he's feeling the change in my attention levels, but he is still a sweetheart and all his sweet little hugs and thank yous and hilarious things...and yes, his mischief too, get me through the day.
This blog
Back when I started this blog, my reasons were to vent and use it kind of as a journal, as well as post pictures about my little baby Joshua. He was around 8 weeks or something, I think (I don't want to go back and check right now), and I was just starting out as an apartment manager, and trying to figure out how to be a mom...all sorts of stressful and wonderful stuff. Then it became all about Joshua, and then when nearly all my blog readers were on Facebook, I pretty much stopped posting, except in big bursts of update posts. such is the way of many blogs - i admire anyone who continues to post consistently as time goes on.
Well here I am now, typing one handed while I hold baby Henry, who has taken a (probably short) break from screaming when he isn't sucking on my finger, feeling exhausted and frustrated. This little guy screams a lot - especially all night long - I think his little digestive system is giving him a lot of tummy pain - poor baby...hopefully this will pass soon as his little muscles strengthen and his system gets used to all the stuff it has to do.
I'm glad I had 6 weeks with Joshy before we were apartment managers - I probably would not have survived. Anyway...this is kind of my first week really being back, since mom was here the first week, I was "closed" and didn't do much work the second week, and emily was here last week. So I'm easing back into it - my current plan for the week is to have the closed sign up except when Nathan is home...which isn't much, but we don't have any apartments we can show right now, so being open isn't that helpful to people anyway.
My list of stuff to do is VERY short compared to what it was before emily came, when it had been building and building for weeks. There are only 14 things on the list so far this week, and i have done 6 of them already...before lunch on Monday - that's pretty good!
While having a toddler and a newborn is definitely hard in itself, i think i really could handle it ok without this job. The person putting the pressure on me, though, is me. both the owner and my supervisor have been very understanding - the owner said that the place probably wouldn't burn down if I went away for a week or two - I appreciated his support...it would be nice to go away for a week...sort of. Or maybe just take our home away for a week. That might be difficult, though.
But I can't really get away from the job, and taking a break still means dealing with all the stuff going on...like the big leak under the east building that is flooding one of the residents' apartments as we "speak". Hopefully the contractor will get here soon to tear apart her walls and floor *sigh*. These things happen. I'm just glad we've got a couple weeks before the move-outs start happening like crazy. We've got one on the 5th, I think, then the 10th, then the 21st, then two on the 31st...yikes. All those notices came during the week I was on "maternity leave".
And our home has way too many ants, even though they keep spraying.
I'll admit that when I see a blog post that is all text and no pictures, sometimes I don't read it...so if you read all of this, I'm impressed. I think I'll publish this one and then start a happy one about my amazing Joshua.
Well here I am now, typing one handed while I hold baby Henry, who has taken a (probably short) break from screaming when he isn't sucking on my finger, feeling exhausted and frustrated. This little guy screams a lot - especially all night long - I think his little digestive system is giving him a lot of tummy pain - poor baby...hopefully this will pass soon as his little muscles strengthen and his system gets used to all the stuff it has to do.
I'm glad I had 6 weeks with Joshy before we were apartment managers - I probably would not have survived. Anyway...this is kind of my first week really being back, since mom was here the first week, I was "closed" and didn't do much work the second week, and emily was here last week. So I'm easing back into it - my current plan for the week is to have the closed sign up except when Nathan is home...which isn't much, but we don't have any apartments we can show right now, so being open isn't that helpful to people anyway.
My list of stuff to do is VERY short compared to what it was before emily came, when it had been building and building for weeks. There are only 14 things on the list so far this week, and i have done 6 of them already...before lunch on Monday - that's pretty good!
While having a toddler and a newborn is definitely hard in itself, i think i really could handle it ok without this job. The person putting the pressure on me, though, is me. both the owner and my supervisor have been very understanding - the owner said that the place probably wouldn't burn down if I went away for a week or two - I appreciated his support...it would be nice to go away for a week...sort of. Or maybe just take our home away for a week. That might be difficult, though.
But I can't really get away from the job, and taking a break still means dealing with all the stuff going on...like the big leak under the east building that is flooding one of the residents' apartments as we "speak". Hopefully the contractor will get here soon to tear apart her walls and floor *sigh*. These things happen. I'm just glad we've got a couple weeks before the move-outs start happening like crazy. We've got one on the 5th, I think, then the 10th, then the 21st, then two on the 31st...yikes. All those notices came during the week I was on "maternity leave".
And our home has way too many ants, even though they keep spraying.
I'll admit that when I see a blog post that is all text and no pictures, sometimes I don't read it...so if you read all of this, I'm impressed. I think I'll publish this one and then start a happy one about my amazing Joshua.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Here's what happens...
...when we're all sick. My dear husband showed me this picture that he took this morning, planning to post it for all the world to see the way our home gets when we are sick and don't clean up Joshy's area for a few days. I decided that while he was in the shower, I'd get an "after" shot ready. We're still sick, though - but getting better I think. Here's the honest truth...
It really only took about 15 minutes tops to clean it all up.
You've gotta love the Joshy shot - he's sitting in his bucket of blocks, "goin potty."
Saturday, February 28, 2009
February
This video got posted on Facebook, but I know there are a few of you reading this who aren't on Facebook...and Tawnia said she was having trouble getting it to work, so here you go - enjoy!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
More like a medicine ball, but whatever
Ok, so it seems like about 700 times a day I hear people say, "oh it looks like you just have this cute BASKETBALL under your shirt," and so I wanted to take a couple pictures and see if what they are saying has any reality, or if it is a myth we can bust. Looks like this one is plausible.
I do want to point out, though, that if it is a basketball, it's a TWENTY-FIVE POUND basketball, so not as easy as that sounds.
Ok that is all with the unflattering pictures...hope you enjoy seeing my gigantic belly and "stretchy pants" :c)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Let's see what else...
Other than partying, we've been busy doing other things, too.
Ashley came to visit us soon after we got back from Washington. Joshy still had his splint on then. Joshy loves his aunt Ashley and it was a fun visit - she even helped us put together all those blocks!
Showing off some of his new Christmas pjs, and brushing his teeth with Dada.
Working hard at trying to pick out a name for his baby brother - Mama and Dada still aren't quite sure.
I think he was kind of sick this day, or just really sleepy waking up from his nap. Here's a fairly good tummy picture of me, too...but I really should post a side-shot, just to prove how gigantic I am now. That was several weeks, ago too.
I can't believe how long his hair was! I get so sad when I cut his hair short, but we really had let it get REALLY long, huh? Here, he is singing songs and playing with his Legos - two of his favorite pasttimes.
I just really like this close-up...and the studly trucker jacket.
Joshua is really getting good at Calculus.
And then I cut his hair. Someday (maybe) I'll cut it even in the front, but I suppose if the point of a haircut is to make it shorter, I accomplished that goal. Actually in this picture it does look even...that's the thing about cutting wet hair - it looks good wet, but then when it dries, it goes all over the place. Especially extra super curly hair.
For Nathan's birthday this year, we went on our first overnight away from Joshua (long overdue...he didn't really miss us). He stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Palmer, while we had dinner at Olive Garden, caught a Comedy Sportz show, spent the night in a hotel (and had some Konditerei cake I sneakily brought with us), and then went to the temple the next day before heading home. I think Nathan enjoyed it - I know I did! Here's Nathan blowing out the candle in his gelato at Olive Garden.
Joshy modeling some watches that one of our residents gave him when he broke his arm. Kinda funny, but Joshy loves them!
He was working on his chameleon skills here.
We picked up some of the 3-D glasses at Fred Meyer to watch Chuck on Monday night...we weren't very impressed with the effect, but the glasses were pretty stinking cool.
Joshua is a big fan of boxes...I'm not sure if he was looking for any leftover Cheerios, or what, but he was having a good time.
I love this picture. Nathan's best friend Jeremy got Joshua this "NPR baby" outfit back when he worked at NPR, and it almost fits. It's pretty adorable. Joshua was reading a Grandma Loves Me book with Elmo and his pelican, and modeling Dada's hat. Yikes, I just noticed my tummy is in this picture...but it's kind of hard to tell how big it is proportionally.
This was today - Joshua loves to wear these sunglasses now. One of his very first tantrums (very very long ago) was on a really bright sunny day, I tried to get him to wear these for the first time. We were out in the parking lot and he was in his stroller, and he truly screamed bloody murder until I gave up. He was terrified of them. Clearly he didn't see their fashionable nature, but now he likes to wear them around the house.
Now that pretty close to none of my maternity pants fit anymore, I'm starting to feel very envious of Joshy's incredibly comfy pj sets that he has. Maybe I could find some in my size.
Ashley came to visit us soon after we got back from Washington. Joshy still had his splint on then. Joshy loves his aunt Ashley and it was a fun visit - she even helped us put together all those blocks!
Showing off some of his new Christmas pjs, and brushing his teeth with Dada.
Working hard at trying to pick out a name for his baby brother - Mama and Dada still aren't quite sure.
I think he was kind of sick this day, or just really sleepy waking up from his nap. Here's a fairly good tummy picture of me, too...but I really should post a side-shot, just to prove how gigantic I am now. That was several weeks, ago too.
I can't believe how long his hair was! I get so sad when I cut his hair short, but we really had let it get REALLY long, huh? Here, he is singing songs and playing with his Legos - two of his favorite pasttimes.
I just really like this close-up...and the studly trucker jacket.
Joshua is really getting good at Calculus.
And then I cut his hair. Someday (maybe) I'll cut it even in the front, but I suppose if the point of a haircut is to make it shorter, I accomplished that goal. Actually in this picture it does look even...that's the thing about cutting wet hair - it looks good wet, but then when it dries, it goes all over the place. Especially extra super curly hair.
For Nathan's birthday this year, we went on our first overnight away from Joshua (long overdue...he didn't really miss us). He stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Palmer, while we had dinner at Olive Garden, caught a Comedy Sportz show, spent the night in a hotel (and had some Konditerei cake I sneakily brought with us), and then went to the temple the next day before heading home. I think Nathan enjoyed it - I know I did! Here's Nathan blowing out the candle in his gelato at Olive Garden.
Joshy modeling some watches that one of our residents gave him when he broke his arm. Kinda funny, but Joshy loves them!
He was working on his chameleon skills here.
We picked up some of the 3-D glasses at Fred Meyer to watch Chuck on Monday night...we weren't very impressed with the effect, but the glasses were pretty stinking cool.
Joshua is a big fan of boxes...I'm not sure if he was looking for any leftover Cheerios, or what, but he was having a good time.
I love this picture. Nathan's best friend Jeremy got Joshua this "NPR baby" outfit back when he worked at NPR, and it almost fits. It's pretty adorable. Joshua was reading a Grandma Loves Me book with Elmo and his pelican, and modeling Dada's hat. Yikes, I just noticed my tummy is in this picture...but it's kind of hard to tell how big it is proportionally.
This was today - Joshua loves to wear these sunglasses now. One of his very first tantrums (very very long ago) was on a really bright sunny day, I tried to get him to wear these for the first time. We were out in the parking lot and he was in his stroller, and he truly screamed bloody murder until I gave up. He was terrified of them. Clearly he didn't see their fashionable nature, but now he likes to wear them around the house.
Now that pretty close to none of my maternity pants fit anymore, I'm starting to feel very envious of Joshy's incredibly comfy pj sets that he has. Maybe I could find some in my size.On another note, after finishing this blog post, I'll have completed 28 things on my to-do list for this week. There are still 23 other things, but most of those have been on there a long time. I'm getting a bit caught up though, so that's good. I'm not sure what I'd do without to-do lists. Oh man, I REALLY need to eat now. I'll write again someday.
Party month!
Here are some pictures from the parties that were filling Joshua's social calendar in January.
Singing Happy Birthday to his Dada, getting ready to help blow out ALL those candles.
So proud of Dada for blowing them all out, and wanting to sing again.
Stuffing his chubby little cheeks with carrot cake.
Attempting to wipe off his own face...
And here are some pictures from the Elders Quorum Presidency get-together, where Joshua enjoyed playing with his friends, falling down the stairs, and eating a LOT of fruit salad.
Singing Happy Birthday to his Dada, getting ready to help blow out ALL those candles.
So proud of Dada for blowing them all out, and wanting to sing again.
Stuffing his chubby little cheeks with carrot cake.
Attempting to wipe off his own face...
And here are some pictures from the Elders Quorum Presidency get-together, where Joshua enjoyed playing with his friends, falling down the stairs, and eating a LOT of fruit salad.
Rowan was at the height of fashion with her evening-wear tutu.
Hina (actually I'm not sure if I'm spelling that correctly!) missed much of the festivities, taking a late nap, but we just had to show a picture of her in that bib. She's pretty close to the LEAST wild toddler I've ever met - and so adorable!
I'm impressed that Nathan got such a good group photo!
The Takara kids - they were so great with hanging out with all the little ones so we could enjoy our sushi and chicken - deeeelicious dinner and a good time had by all.
And on to Rowan's second birthday party. I missed a lot of it cuz I got really sick in the middle and had to go home, but they brought home a blue cupcake for me.
Hina (actually I'm not sure if I'm spelling that correctly!) missed much of the festivities, taking a late nap, but we just had to show a picture of her in that bib. She's pretty close to the LEAST wild toddler I've ever met - and so adorable!
I'm impressed that Nathan got such a good group photo!
The Takara kids - they were so great with hanging out with all the little ones so we could enjoy our sushi and chicken - deeeelicious dinner and a good time had by all.
And on to Rowan's second birthday party. I missed a lot of it cuz I got really sick in the middle and had to go home, but they brought home a blue cupcake for me.
Here's Joshy just arriving at the party, ready to dump a high chair tray of food all over the floor, climb up and down the stairs, and enjoy some games and cupcakes!
I love Hugh's face in this picture - I think he was enjoying himself, but it sure is funny.
I'm pretty sure Leia was pretty happy with things as well! I think Rowan had a happy birthday. Joshy drew her a picture and we laminated it so she can keep it forever and ever. I wonder how many of these little guys will stay around here long enough to grow up together? Not sure how long we'll be here, and Leia will probably be heading off to other adventures in the next year or so, but we'll see about everyone else!
I love Hugh's face in this picture - I think he was enjoying himself, but it sure is funny.
I'm pretty sure Leia was pretty happy with things as well! I think Rowan had a happy birthday. Joshy drew her a picture and we laminated it so she can keep it forever and ever. I wonder how many of these little guys will stay around here long enough to grow up together? Not sure how long we'll be here, and Leia will probably be heading off to other adventures in the next year or so, but we'll see about everyone else!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Christmas A La Washington
The snow did eventually melt enough for us to get ourselves up to Washington, and we were very excited to get there. We spent some time at Aunt Lynn and Uncle Mark's, seeing them and Krissy, Brett, and Chloe who were up visiting from California. Chloe is getting so big and it was fun seeing Joshua and Chloe interacting a LOT more than last time they were together. It was a ton of fun. Here, Chloe is holding her Magic Tree, and Joshua is checking out Chloe's new books!
Chloe appreciated Joshua's thorough inspection of her Christmas books, but then was rather interested in having them back.
Too bad Joshy kept making funny faces in these pictures, but he did his main duty and hid my huge belly! I think Chloe looks absolutely adorable in this picture.
While we were there, Joshua needed to cover his splint with a plastic baggie while eating, and when he was through with it, Chloe wanted to give it a try! Kris said on her blog that she has continued to enjoy bag-wearing...what a trend-setter Joshua is. He prefers eating without the bag these days, though.
Joshua spent a lot more time with the dogs and cats this trip than he has in the past, which went just fine, but he bonded most of all with "Benjamin Kitty" (formerly Phantom, formerly Benjamin Bandit the Fierce, Bobcat, and most currently and commonly known as Benjamin Bad-Kitten). Ben was incredibly tolerant of Joshua...that cat seems to have learned a good deal of patience from dealing with his best friend, who happens to be a big clumsy sheep-dog! Joshua was good with him - for the most part not pulling his tail or fur or anything...it was fun to see them together.
The highlight of ever trip to Washington is Joshy getting to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa, and I think they crammed in a LOT of fun memories. Grandma rocked Joshy to sleep at night and they made up all sorts of songs and rhymes that they'll get to share again next time we see them. In this picture, Joshy brought Grandma a "pea-ball" in a pan that he has been cooking with in his play kitchen. Mom & Dad got to keep the old kitchen set from the nursery at the church, and they got him all set up with some play food and pots and pans and he had a great time with it! Brought back a lot of happy memories for me, too!
Dorothy, Pat, Kya, and Alia (I can't remember how her name is spelled - Mom you can correct me and I'll edit it in the post) came to visit us and it was so fun seeing how much they've grown up! They are adorable and hilarious girls, and they were very kind to Joshua. He was really shy (as he often gets around beautiful girls), so he didn't show off a whole lot of his new language skills, but he had a lot of fun being with them. We took a series of pictures, and while Kya is absolutely a professional at posing for pictures, Alia made the photographer's job a bit challenging - I think I like this one the best!
Nathan is so wonderful about always taking all the pictures when we go on trips, and I often forget to include him in them! I tried to get a couple this time around...but I need to try harder. Joshua wasn't super interested in sitting still for this one. I love my boys.
You can see this little kitty in several of the other pictures, but Joshua "borrowed" him from his cousin Chloe while we were over there. They were so kind to let him come back with us temporarily. Joshy just loved this little kitty - the whole time he had a splint on, he usually wanted to be carrying around an animal with his broken arm...definitely a comfort thing. It was very sweet. Apparently, the kitty hadn't been well-fed, so Joshua took care of him. We didn't realize until right before we left (and it is just as well) that the kitty makes very loud meowing noises when you squeeze his tummy! So the white kitty stayed at Grandma's, to return to Chloe. Don't worry - Joshy hasn't mentioned anything about him, so it's all ok.
Posing in his Christmas outfit - what a stud, right?
Before we had dinner and opened Christmas presents, Grandpa got to open birthday presents! Joshua was VERY helpful, as he often is.
For those of you who read Tracy's blog, you may have read my mom's comment about Geoff's Thanksgiving meltdown regarding a subpar Stupid Jello Salad, so Mom outdid herself this time, and Geoff was chosen as the official unmolder. He left it in the hot water for quite some time, so it was a bit more ah...puddly than I remember it, but it still tasted delicious as always! Geoff had Joshy help so that he could share in the blame...er...credit!
This year's four layer Stupid Jello Salad (this is the official submission picture, Tracy). It didn't have any snow like yours...well there was perhaps some melted snow pooled around it and in the middle...but we won't give Geoff TOO hard of a time! I'm not even sure if he reads this blog - maybe we SHOULD give him a hard time.
Me, Joshy, and the white kitty, getting started on Christmas presents!
Joshy got some adorable elephants, books, clothes, and a lot of wonderful toys - here he is reading, "But not the Hippopotamus."
He got a set of those bricks that take about a million years for parents to put together, but we had a lot of fun putting them together, and Joshua likes to knock down the walls we build (and he occasionally has been building as well!) with them. This was the only gift that I especially requested, and I was pretty excited about it.
Joshy showed off his singing talents once again, singing Happy Birthday to Grandpa. I was so glad that Dad had all day off on New Years, so he got to spend a lot of time with Joshy! We had birthday apple pie...yummmmm.
Joshy enjoyed seeing his Uncle Geoffy, and will be grateful once it's a little warmer out when we can set up the awesome outdoor playhouse that Uncle Geoffy got him. I LOVE that when Joshua says, "Uncle Geoffy," it sounds nearly identical to how he says "Uncle Diapey" (as in diapers...if you weren't catching on to what as funny).
We went to visit Joshy's Nonna (my grandma) right before we headed home, and though he was pretty sleepy, he had a very good time with his new blue piggy bank, bulldozer, and getting to show off for all the nice people she wanted to introduce him to. All that being cute exhausted the poor guy, but he did great, and I'm glad we got to see her!
When we got back to Oregon, we opened a mysterious gift from Nonna, which ended up being this great gigantic fold-out fort type thing that looks like a school bus or a fire truck, depending on how you fold the flaps. Joshua loved it - that is a happy face in the picture! It takes up our whole living room, so it'll be even more fun to play with when we have more space some day, but it was pretty cool!
We had such a wonderful time up at Grandma and Grandpa's, and Joshy loves looking at the pictures from our visit over and over - he often says, "see Ramma Rampat gain?" which means Grandma and Grandpa's (when he adds an s to words, it often sounds like a t lately). I'm not sure when we'll go up there again, but we are so grateful that we had such a wonderful visit! And I'm also grateful that I got all these photos posted!
Chloe appreciated Joshua's thorough inspection of her Christmas books, but then was rather interested in having them back.
Too bad Joshy kept making funny faces in these pictures, but he did his main duty and hid my huge belly! I think Chloe looks absolutely adorable in this picture.
While we were there, Joshua needed to cover his splint with a plastic baggie while eating, and when he was through with it, Chloe wanted to give it a try! Kris said on her blog that she has continued to enjoy bag-wearing...what a trend-setter Joshua is. He prefers eating without the bag these days, though.
Joshua spent a lot more time with the dogs and cats this trip than he has in the past, which went just fine, but he bonded most of all with "Benjamin Kitty" (formerly Phantom, formerly Benjamin Bandit the Fierce, Bobcat, and most currently and commonly known as Benjamin Bad-Kitten). Ben was incredibly tolerant of Joshua...that cat seems to have learned a good deal of patience from dealing with his best friend, who happens to be a big clumsy sheep-dog! Joshua was good with him - for the most part not pulling his tail or fur or anything...it was fun to see them together.
The highlight of ever trip to Washington is Joshy getting to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa, and I think they crammed in a LOT of fun memories. Grandma rocked Joshy to sleep at night and they made up all sorts of songs and rhymes that they'll get to share again next time we see them. In this picture, Joshy brought Grandma a "pea-ball" in a pan that he has been cooking with in his play kitchen. Mom & Dad got to keep the old kitchen set from the nursery at the church, and they got him all set up with some play food and pots and pans and he had a great time with it! Brought back a lot of happy memories for me, too!
Dorothy, Pat, Kya, and Alia (I can't remember how her name is spelled - Mom you can correct me and I'll edit it in the post) came to visit us and it was so fun seeing how much they've grown up! They are adorable and hilarious girls, and they were very kind to Joshua. He was really shy (as he often gets around beautiful girls), so he didn't show off a whole lot of his new language skills, but he had a lot of fun being with them. We took a series of pictures, and while Kya is absolutely a professional at posing for pictures, Alia made the photographer's job a bit challenging - I think I like this one the best!
Nathan is so wonderful about always taking all the pictures when we go on trips, and I often forget to include him in them! I tried to get a couple this time around...but I need to try harder. Joshua wasn't super interested in sitting still for this one. I love my boys.
You can see this little kitty in several of the other pictures, but Joshua "borrowed" him from his cousin Chloe while we were over there. They were so kind to let him come back with us temporarily. Joshy just loved this little kitty - the whole time he had a splint on, he usually wanted to be carrying around an animal with his broken arm...definitely a comfort thing. It was very sweet. Apparently, the kitty hadn't been well-fed, so Joshua took care of him. We didn't realize until right before we left (and it is just as well) that the kitty makes very loud meowing noises when you squeeze his tummy! So the white kitty stayed at Grandma's, to return to Chloe. Don't worry - Joshy hasn't mentioned anything about him, so it's all ok.
Posing in his Christmas outfit - what a stud, right?
Before we had dinner and opened Christmas presents, Grandpa got to open birthday presents! Joshua was VERY helpful, as he often is.
For those of you who read Tracy's blog, you may have read my mom's comment about Geoff's Thanksgiving meltdown regarding a subpar Stupid Jello Salad, so Mom outdid herself this time, and Geoff was chosen as the official unmolder. He left it in the hot water for quite some time, so it was a bit more ah...puddly than I remember it, but it still tasted delicious as always! Geoff had Joshy help so that he could share in the blame...er...credit!
This year's four layer Stupid Jello Salad (this is the official submission picture, Tracy). It didn't have any snow like yours...well there was perhaps some melted snow pooled around it and in the middle...but we won't give Geoff TOO hard of a time! I'm not even sure if he reads this blog - maybe we SHOULD give him a hard time.
Me, Joshy, and the white kitty, getting started on Christmas presents!
Joshy got some adorable elephants, books, clothes, and a lot of wonderful toys - here he is reading, "But not the Hippopotamus."
He got a set of those bricks that take about a million years for parents to put together, but we had a lot of fun putting them together, and Joshua likes to knock down the walls we build (and he occasionally has been building as well!) with them. This was the only gift that I especially requested, and I was pretty excited about it.
Joshy showed off his singing talents once again, singing Happy Birthday to Grandpa. I was so glad that Dad had all day off on New Years, so he got to spend a lot of time with Joshy! We had birthday apple pie...yummmmm.
Joshy enjoyed seeing his Uncle Geoffy, and will be grateful once it's a little warmer out when we can set up the awesome outdoor playhouse that Uncle Geoffy got him. I LOVE that when Joshua says, "Uncle Geoffy," it sounds nearly identical to how he says "Uncle Diapey" (as in diapers...if you weren't catching on to what as funny).
We went to visit Joshy's Nonna (my grandma) right before we headed home, and though he was pretty sleepy, he had a very good time with his new blue piggy bank, bulldozer, and getting to show off for all the nice people she wanted to introduce him to. All that being cute exhausted the poor guy, but he did great, and I'm glad we got to see her!
When we got back to Oregon, we opened a mysterious gift from Nonna, which ended up being this great gigantic fold-out fort type thing that looks like a school bus or a fire truck, depending on how you fold the flaps. Joshua loved it - that is a happy face in the picture! It takes up our whole living room, so it'll be even more fun to play with when we have more space some day, but it was pretty cool!
We had such a wonderful time up at Grandma and Grandpa's, and Joshy loves looking at the pictures from our visit over and over - he often says, "see Ramma Rampat gain?" which means Grandma and Grandpa's (when he adds an s to words, it often sounds like a t lately). I'm not sure when we'll go up there again, but we are so grateful that we had such a wonderful visit! And I'm also grateful that I got all these photos posted!
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