On Sunday we noticed Addison's first tooth was cutting through her gums. The very next day we noticed her second tooth cutting through. Can you see them peeking out there on the bottum. Poor Baby! Two teeth at once means double drool, double the sleepless nights, double the runny noses, double the fussies. And, yes, double the trouble. POOR ADDISON!!!
Uncle Andrew (Anthony's brother) is a pilot and so he was in Portland for the night waiting for his next flight and so we met him at his hotel and went out to dinner. The kids had a blast and it was nice to see Andrew.
I took the kids on a little nature hike up at the Magnuss Tree Farm. I remembered this place when I was single. I used to drive up to it and go jogging. I loved it because the trail is covered with trees and so it was shady the entire time. The kids loved it and they ended up collecting an entire box worth of "nature" to bring home and make an art project for Nana and Papa. We had a picnic lunch in the middle of the Forrest about half way through. It was so much fun and quite the adventure for the kids.
I have been tagged by my very good friend Shauna. So here goes my first tag.
Two names you go by:
Carrie
Mom
Two things you are wearing right now:
lotion
contacts
Two things you want very badly at the moment:
my husband to pass his first final of the semester
to loose the "baby weight"
Two people who will fill this out:
Jodi
Jen
Two things you did last night:
hung out at Mom and Dad's house
had a good long chat with Anthony
Two things you ate yesterday:
Saralyn's delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies
Mom's delicious beef brisket
The Last Two people you talked to:
Maya
Kai
Two things you are doing today (or did):
helped Amy make an invitaion for Grandma June's birthday
steam cleaned our carpet
Two longest car rides:
California to Navoou, Illinois
Utah to Colorado Springs, CO
Two favorite beverages:
Diet Coke
Crystal Light (right now Ocean Sunrise is my fav.)
Today I asked Maya to feed Addison one of her little baby crackers while I was on the phone. I walked into the kitchen a few minutes later to this.....Maya had carried Addison all the way to her high chair, strapped her in and proceded to feed her some sweet potato baby food. YIKES!!!! Sometimes I wonder what they even need me around here for. And, yes, I think that shirt is ruined!!!!
I am so glad and incredibly grateful that you were born. And even more grateful that we were able to find each other. Life would not BE without you. You brighten up so many lives. Anyone that knows you or has had the privilege to even meet you, has been touched by your kindness and genuine love. The world is so much brighter with you in it. You are my world and I am so lucky to have you as a friend and husband. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!!!!!
Anthony turned 32 on thursday and we had a super fun birthday party for him at our house. Nothing better than a bunch of friends and family over for a BBQ. The Allen's and Rich surprised us with a visit from Utah on Sunday and so they were here to help celebrate Anthony's birthday. It was such a fun day.
Jumping on the tramp
I guess the card was funny....(it was from the Strehlow's so how could it not be)
Uncle Rich and Emma
Kai amazes me every day. Between the many sets of magnetic plastic letters, foam stamps, foam bathtub letters, flash cards, cookie cutter sets, stencils, puzzles and so on, on any given day, we have over 500 letters floating around our house.
His obsession with the alphabet started just after his 2nd birthday. I thought it was cool and shocking that a 2 year old could spot out all of the alphabet letters wither they were upper case or lower case, but thought the obsession would surely fade and he would start to play with trains and trucks and action figures and whatever else little boys play with. But, to our surprise and amazement, it has not. Kai is now 3 and a half and his alphabet obsession has not only NOT faded but it has grown and grown and he adds new dimensions to his obsession every day.
He has played with his A,B,C's as if they were his pets. He takes a handful with him to eat meals and make sure they all "fill up their tummies". He puts them all to bed by tucking them in and singing them the ABC song(of course). They have time outs by being shoved into the couch cushions. A handful always has to come with us to run errands. He even figured out a way to take them on the trampoline with him so that they could have some fun too, but without them falling off the edge and getting hurt (because they get hurt and need band aids sometimes, too). So he but them all in a wipey box and jumped with the box.
He plays birthday party with me by shoving some of his abc's into a box and says "Mommy, I have a present for you", and then I would open the box and act so surprised every single time, as he would take out each and every one and say, "I got you a D and a baby e and a F and a Q and so on and so on, making sure each and every one got his OR her turn in the spot light (because, according to Kai, some are boys and some are girls).
He plays "action figures" with them and has P fight with X. Or just plays with them as if they were little friends and has them talk and jump and play with each other.
He loves to make alphabet soup in the play kitchen by putting a bunch of them in a bowl and feeding them to everyone.
He will sit at my desk with the keyboard and goes through the alphabet from a-z and finds them on the keyboard.
He plays puppy with me where he "fetches" the letters all throughout the house and will bring them to me in his mouth. Once I have enough I have to throw them so that he can run and get them and bring them back to me like a little puppy playing fetch.
He lays out his letters in a long row and "builds words". Then once he has built a word he will wave his hand over the long word and say what he has spelt while sounding out each letter.
During prayers he thanks his Heavenly Father for mommy and daddy and abc's.
We sing a song to our kids while tucking them in and every night. For about the past year it has been the same request from Kai. we ask, "what song do you want, Kai?" and EVERY single night he requests non other than, A,B,C song....... EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!!!!!
Kai's newest obsession is his love of the vowels. A friend of mine here who knew of Kai's "love" of the alphabet told me about a the leap frog series that helps kids prepare for reading. She said her son learned how to read the summer before he went to kindergarten largely due to these videos. So I thought they would be great to get, especially since Maya will be going to kindergarten. So I bought the whole group (now sold at Costco :) ) There is a song in one of them that talks about the vowels. It is a fun song and Maya and Kai love to sing it all the time. SO, now Kai's new dimension to his obsession with the alphabet is the vowels. He will gather a huge pile of letters and sit there and sort through them and separate the "comspiments" (as he calls them) from the vowels. While we are driving around, Kai is constantly spotting and calling out, look mom, an E, look mom a S.....Now he calls out when he spots a vowel or a "comspiment".
Here is a video that shows just a touch of how edible he is with his new found love of the vowels. He is so, so, SO Chewy.
