In a Pickle

Sometimes, when you are 7 months old, the world must seem so big.

Those of you who have been fortunate enough to spend some quality time with Addison lately knows that she has developed her lung capacity quite a bit. SHE IS LOUD! Some may say she takes after me. Whatever could they mean? Anyways, so Addison is always LOUD. Just jabbering on and on ALL THE TIME. However, there is something about her jabbering when she is in a pickle. Just when you think she couldn't get any louder... she does. And the jabbers are a slightly higher pitch and more distressed. So this was the "mountain" she tried climbing today and couldn't quite make it. So, I noticed the "I am in a pickle" in her voice and came in to this:



She was so excited to see me. I think if she could speak she would have said, "oh thanks mom you are just in the nick of time. I was really about to loose it."


But that face is really all the thanks I need.

Life is Good Again!

Wicky-wicky-

Innovative Parenting

Anthony is always coming up with, what I call, "carefree parenting" ideas. Here is his latest "idea".....


Addison didn't seem to mind one little bit.

Grammy and Bapa's visit

Anthony's parents came to visit us for a few days and we all had a blast! It is always a special treat when Grammy and Bapa come to visit!

Maya with her Grammy

Maya with her Grammy and Bapa


No highchair???? No problem....


On Sunday we had a special dinner treat. Anthony made his Kim Bop. His best friend James and his wife taught Anthony how to make this Korean specialty and it is a rare treat to have it here because it requires a special trip to the Korean Market and a lot of work and preperation (for Anthony). It was a piece of cake for me. I just had to cut each piece and enjoy the fruits of my dear hubbies labors. Grammy seemed to enjoy them but Bapa took a little more convincing. (I ended up having to make him something else to eat). But he did try some!

Yummmmmm....
Don't they look beautiful!

Maya is riding a two wheeler!!!!

Okay, so I know that she is my first born and I have a really hard time with lettting her grow up but isn't she really too young to be riding a two wheeler. This whole summer Maya has been without a bike because I ran over her bike and bent the rim (ooopsie) So, I finally found a pretty good one at a garage sale but it didn't have training wheels. So the other day, Maya got tired of waiting for Anthony to put some training wheels on her bike and decided she wanted to try riding it without them. Of course I was all "no way, you are too young, yada yada yada". However, our stubborn little Maya insisted on trying and what do you know... After a few attempts, she is now a pro. I guess we will be saving her Disney princess training wheels for Kai :)

Sitting Pretty!

Addison has been sitting up now for a couple of weeks but since I am turning my blog entries in to a scrapbook each year I thought I better slip this one in since it is a pretty monumental event. P.S. Thanks for the BEAUTIFUL dresses, Shauna. As you can see, they look absolutley darling on her!

Big Day!

Last Saturday was a big, busy day. Our friend, Daisy had her baptism and birthday party. Thayne David also had his big BIRTH day.
After the baptism we went to meet Thayne in the hospital and then went to the Strehlow's for Daisy's birthday party and then we all went to Red Robin for a fun family dinner. Such a very long and very fun day!


Kai with Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Mike

Addie making a mess with a bread stick

The birthday girl, Daisy & Amy and Aaron

Anthony and Emmalicious
Emma was so tired. The only break we had was in the car so she used the time to take a short nap. Smart girl.

It is amazing how much fun a little digital camera can bring to a really boring trip in the car. Kai loves to "cheeeeeze" at the camera and then see the immediate results of his handsome little face

Thayne David Campbell

Thayne David Campbell was born on Saturday the 6th of September. We were watching Emma for Spencer and Sara and so we went to visit Thayne and mom and dad soon after he was born. What a cutie. He is 100% Anderson (Saralyn) and 0% Campbell. It is amazing how much he already looks so much like Saralyn.


Kai and Emma got a little restless pretty quickly. They had fun playing with eachother and, of course, all the many buttons on the hospital bed. What a couple of goofballs!

Magic Mud

I have been trying really hard to make the days that Maya is off to school fun and exciting for Kai. So I tried a new recipe for "Magic Mud". I came across it in one of my crafts for kids books. It was a HUGE hit! Kai played with this stuff for ever. I even got hooked playing with it for a while. As you can see, it made quite the mess. But it was well worth the clean up....to me. It actually looks a lot worse than it actually was.
Here is the recipe if you are brave enough to try it out
Magic Mud
5 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp water

Spoon cornstarch into a mug. Add water and stir. It should be difficult to stir, even when the water and cornstarch are fully mixed. Squeeze a small quantity of magic mud between your fingers and roll it into a ball or sausage.
What happens when you stop squeezing the mud? When you press the mud, it feels solid because you squeeze out some of the water. But when you stop squeezing, water flows back again and the mud becomes runny.
Children will enjoy picking this mixture up with spoons and pouring from 1 bowl to another. This is a great treat for a warm day in the back yard. Washes off with water.
Note: You can revive your magic mud when it becomes too dry with a drop or 2 of water.

On the Move!

Addison has started scooting around the house. She puts on arm in front of the other and pulls her way along. Her favorite target is Roxie. She is such good and patient dog. She will slowly move around the room until Addison gets just close enough and then she will move to another spot and wait again. Almost like she knows that is how you should play with a little baby. Ocasionally she will even let Addison get a hold of her and pull and yank and tug away with out moving an inch. She really is such a great dog and our kids are so lucky to have her.

First Day of School!

I can not believe this day is actually here! I have been anxiously counting down the days and absolutely dreading it all at the same. Maya was, of course, beside herself excited. We ended up walking her to school as a family and she was practically running the whole way. Once we got there she settled right into her spot, said her goodbyes to Kai and Addison and was already to start the next 16 or so years of her life. I was doing so well......until we had to turn around, leave the class room and just walk away. How could I?... Just walk away and leave my little baby all alone in a sea of potential bullies, inevitable heart ache, disappointment and tears. It has only been 5 years since we first met Maya and I have been trying so hard all this time to keep her safe and protected in this little bubble called home and then, just like that, one day I pluck her from everything safe and warm and cozy and send her off in the hands of (until yesterday) a complete stranger for 7 hours a day Monday thru Friday!!! What kind of mother am I???? I know it sounds a bit "dread and gloom" but at the moment that is exactly how I felt. I am so glad Anthony was there because I just broke down sobbing.
So, all day long I was so out of my element. I kind of just mopped around all day. When it was time to finally pick Maya up, I felt a bit more rational, but I was expecting to see her with swollen, puffy eyes and a red runny nose from crying all day because she just missed her loving mother so much. NOPE!!!! NOT EVEN SO MUCH AS A SNIFFLE!!! Instead, she came running over to me and proceeded jabbering on and on like you wouldn't believe about how much she loved kindergarten and Mrs. Phillips, and the cafeteria and the play ground and yada, yada, yada. I don't think she missed me one bit. It stung for a moment but, of course I was so comforted and happy to know she had a positive and fun experience. Let's hope it stays that way for the next 12+ years of her life.
I can not believe my baby is going to kindergarten. Time goes by way too fast!






Maya's first kindergarten assignment. Isn't she a genius!!!

Date Night

We recently had a fun date night with Chris and Erin at Chris's bachelor pad. We played a new game called something Cataan. We had a ton of fun hanging out with Chris, Erin, and, of course, Stitch!