Blue Lips

Nothing says Happy Birthday like blue smiles from yummy cupcakes!!




See some more cutes pics of these little hilarities HERE.

It was a dark and stormy night. . .

We had a horrific storm come down our street back in Jun. We've actually had quite a few tornadoes and crazy thunderstorms this summer. And most of them seem to happen on Sunday nights. This night started out no differently.

Nick was at work and I had just put the kids down when there was a huge lightning strike and thunder following almost instantaneously. That jarred me a bit. Randy (my father-in-law) came in just then to use our computer. So at least I wasn't alone. The wind was really strong and it was dark. The trees were blowing so far over I was surprised they were still standing. Since we don't have TV we started looking on the internet for tornado warnings. As I was sitting on the couch something changed outside and I looked out the window and there was a WHITE-OUT. No kidding. It was crazy. I couldn't even see my driveway or his car parked in it. My first thought was, "I've got to go get the kids out of bed and lay on top of them so that when our house is blown of it's shoddy foundation we don't all end up in munchkin land!!"

When it passed/calmed down/stopped and I could see out the window this was what I saw across the street: (these pics were actually taken all the next morning - too dark that night).I'm not really sure if you can tell, but the tree on the left used to be as big as the one on the right. 2/3 of it was strewn across the lawn. Here is another shot.Neighbors started spilling out of their homes to collect trash cans and recycling bins and debris that had been blown down the street. We didn't see any funnel clouds - but with the winds as strong as they were it was something like that.

Nick was on his way home from work and was unable to get into our street because trees had fallen blocking the only street access. Luckily he was able to go around and come through the park several houses down.

Here are more branches down.
And this one, you have to see that that big mound of dirt is actually the root base of a VERY large tree. The roots are taller than the 6-7" fence!This about 1/3 of my neighbors Bradford Pear. so sad - I love that tree in the spring!
And here are the tree cleaner-uppers taking care of part of a tree that had fallen onto the neighboring house.
It was definitely the most exciting thing that has happened here on Dewey Drive. Randy emailed the local weather guy and asked if it was a tornado. His response was basically - the radar doesn't show that it was, but the winds and damage do, so if you want to tell people it was a tornado, I won't dispute it.

Someone said they thought it was a Microburst. After reading about them and seeing the trees down around our street (some facing in opposite directions) I am inclined to believe that's what it was. Either that or aliens. Scully, Mulder? are you there?

summer fun

We are back at the pool this summer. Alison is loving it as much as ever. Andrew enjoys his poolside naps. He doesn't like the cold water so much. Every time I get his feet wet it is answered with a very annoyed cry - something along the lines of "Moooom, what are YOU doing!??!".
She's standing on top of a spigot that sprays water up in the air. I wish I had the shot right after this when she took her foot off and got sprayed in the face! It was pretty funny.
Alison is a flip-flop thief. If your's are missing, she has probably managed to take them. She is fearless and merciless. She sees an unworn pair (no matter where we are - or for that matter whose they are) and they will be on her feet in seconds. Here she is sporting mine.
She loves to "help" with the garden. This mainly involves spraying water, dumping water, playing with water, oh yeah, and eating the tomatoes.

A couple to tide you over

Whoever 'you' is. I guess if you are reading this - then I'm talking to you!
These were taken by my friend Charlotte Geary - Photographer extraordinaire. Click HERE and HERE to go to the rest of the photos from the fun baby shower we went to. My favorites are the baby Zoolander shots.

And just check out her photoblog (on my left sidebar under links) if you want to see some amazing wedding photos and scenic shots of the Denver area and environs....

Andrew's first laugh

I've been trying everything to get Andrew to laugh lately. He gives me the cursory toothless grin most of the time. So I was just feeding him and he's all over the place, not staying focused on the task at hand, and then this.

Me: Andrew! (clap my hands to get his attention)
Andrew: baby giggles (smiles)
Me: Are you kidding me? (thinking to myself, his first laugh is AT ME!!!)
Andrew: more baby giggles
Me: Oh boy, I'm in for it.

So now instead of eating this whole time he's watching me type. Can you say, "we've reached the curious stage"?

I have a ton of pictures to post, but can't get around to it as he sleeps in the office and he's sleeping A LOT.

picture update

they are both looking at Uncle David - they know he's more entertaining than me any day!

A gift for Andrew

Thanks to all my Oceanside friends, headed up by Allyn, for putting together this absolutely adorable quilt!! I LOVE IT!!! (and guess what, the stripe is an Amy Butler!)
This is going to be a wall quilt. Allyn doesn't want Andrew choking on any of the buttons!

Disclaimer

This is what happens when someone like thiswho knows what they are doing (see Charlotte Geary Photograpy)

Takes pictures with my camera.
I got to spend some time with some high school friends this weekend and Charlotte is one of them. We all had a great time laughing, eating, catching up and watching old colorguard footage! What a hoot!

Milestones

So we've been hitting milestones around here lately. Andrew has rolled over, front to back and back to front, started eating rice cereal and is going to sleep rather easily at night. BUT! the big news is. . . . . .

NO MORE DIAPERS FOR ALISON!!!

I didn't understand how big of a deal this was until we were faced with it. Potty training isn't just something the kid needs to be ready for - the parent needs to be ready, geared up and prepared for it. I was given the potty training in less than a day book by a friend and I decided Monday would be the day.

I spent all last week talking about her elmo panties and saying good bye to diapers and using the toilet. And then Sunday night I put on her last diaper, we said bye bye to rest of the package and she picked out her byebye diaper book for me to read to her that night.

Monday morning came and we got down to it. For 5 hours it was nothing but:
"are your panties dry?"
"let's go sit on the toilet?"
"Hurry hurry so you don't have an accident!"
"here's some more juice/milk/water"
"good job! here's an M&M"
"daddy/grandma/grandpa/elmo/mommy/annie,leo,june,qunicy will be so proud of you!"

I was beat by lunch. But with just two accidents (one of them being right in front of the toilet) she was good to go. She knows when she needs to go and goes. She made it through her nap yesterday. AND through the night last night! And no accidents today even. I'm amazed and convinced she is a potty genius. Whatever - that book was the key! (Thanks, Karen!) Our next step will be conquering the fear of public toilets. I think she gets that from me.....

Last night she was exclaiming, "I'm so happy! I have hello kitty doll on my panties! I'm so happy! I use the potty!" She looks cute in her undies too - I didn't snap a picture - but maybe I will tomorrow. Would that be 'inappropriate content'?

4 months!

So Andrew is 4 months old today! He had is check up yesterday and weighed in at 13 lbs 5 oz and 24.5 inches long. He was great at the doctor until they gave him his shots. We got real tears this time. Last visit it didn't phase him at all. The doctor tested him to see how well he keeping his head up and she was surprised how strong he is and that he is rolling already. She asked if he was showing interest in us eating. I described to her dinner from the previous night. He was sitting in his swing across the room, leaning forward in his seat, staring intently at us while we ate. He also puts everything in his mouth. So she said he was ready and we gave it a go tonight. Here's a little video. . .


Alison is getting to be very clever. She is speaking her mind and coming up with stuff on her own instead of just repeating what she hears. I wonder what goes on in her head half of the time.

Here's a conversation from the other day when I caught her post- digging through my purse.
Alison: (looking guilty) I ate them!
me: ate what?
AK: I ate them!
me: have you been in my purse?
AK: yes
me: you ate my tic tacs didn't you!
AK: I ate them!
me: get the box and throw it away - now they are all gone and we can't have any treats.
AK: well mom, you need to go to the store and buy some more!
me: what? no, you ate them they're all gone now.
AK: C'mon!!

she's getting a little sassy. She got sent to her room after that.... I had to - i was on the verge of laughing my head off! I can't get caught laughing when I'm trying to discipline her!

Welcome baby Ryan!

Congratulations to my brother Jason and his wife on their new baby! He is so cute and I love that he and Andrew are so close in age! What a cutie, I can't wait to meet him!

randomness

How cute are baby shoes? Andrew wore some for the first time on Sunday. It's official: I'm obsessed with baby feet.I got Nick to snap this tonight while we were have reading/singing time with Alison. She wanted to include Andrew and she actually got him to settle down. She was holding/hugging him and he stopped crying. We may have to wake her up at 10 pm to help him out when he's super cranky!

Photoshop tip: you can apply the diffuse glow filter and minimize the shiny forehead action!

Playtime with Andrew

Andrew is now getting big enough and is awake enough to have some fun with. He gives us lots of sloppy smiles and is on the verge of laughing. Don't get me wrong, he still loves to scream when he's tired and you lay him in bed.

He was taking a nap on our bed and Alison wanted to play with him - peekaboo is better when both parties are awake. . .

So she just pretended to sleep. I don't know who sleeps like that with a big smile on their face.Here I had put Andrew in her bed while I got her ready and read stories. She got really upset when I took him out. So I let them hang out for a minute. She is being her usually silly 2 year old self and Andrew's got a look on him that says, "what have you gotten me into?!!"Playing super-baby with Daddy

"Uh oh, what are they doing to me?!"

I made Andrew a hat like Alison's - he looks like a little snowboarding thug here, cheshire grin included.

He thinks he's funny too!

Someone commented that there weren't any pics of me with him on here. So my friend took this for me a couple of weeks ago. Please note, Andrew is asleep while I am holding him. This has only happened with Alison once, maybe twice. And that was just last year.

Happy Mother's Day

I feel like a total slacker today when it comes to accurately expressing my thanks to my own mother on Mother's day. I didn't send a card, I didn't find the perfect gift and our phone call was interrupted by a hungry and cranky 2 year old and hungry and cranky baby. I guess that's typical in the day of a mom. Besides, no gift or store bought card (read: cheesy card) would suffice in expressing my love for my mother. She is amazing and I was indebted to her the day I was born and have only grown deeper in debt every day since then. She is strong, loyal, loving, funny, a walking encyclopedia, and is the one person who can get Alison to sleep just by cuddling with her! She saved me after Alison was born and sacrificed some important time with my dad to be with me after Andrew joined us. I bug her daily with a phone call - often still catching her in bed ( I hate the 2 hour time difference!). I offer unsolicited (read: annoying) advice, and she loves me anyway. I'm proud to be her daughter and hope that I turn out half as good as she is. I love you, Mom!
P.S. When are you coming back!? I promise I'll make you a nice big mother's day brunch when you come.

Not-so-terrible-twos

I was talking to my friend Megan who also has a two-year old. She was remarking how 2 year olds take center stage of their family blogs. It's true - if there is a two year old in the house there is always something funny going on. So even though Alison drives me crazy some days - most of the time she is amazing me with her conversations, observations, antics and physical comedy. So, yes, I do get frustrated when she doesn't nap, or when she doesn't listen, or she shouts, "i do it!!" when I'm trying to help - but, she is sweet and funny and overall a good kid. Not too bad for a 2 year old.

She was so tired out from the weekend with Aunties and Uncles in town, she fell asleep on the couch at 10:30 Monday morning. She was in just a diaper because she had taken her pj's off so she could put on her shoes. She loves shoes (such a girl!). I left to change Andrew and got on the computer and then I realized it was really quiet, that eery- what-has-she-gotten-into kind of quiet. So I rushed into the other room and found her sound asleep. Heavenly. She's taken 4 naps this week - those of you who know how she's been about napping can only imagine how much happier we all are about this!!!


I was doing yoga the other morning and was in a pigeon pose (basically on my stomach with one leg bent under me - good hip stretch) and Alison came running in and hopped on my back like we were going to play horsie. Actually, her extra weight helped me get a deeper stretch. I couldn't quite snap a picture of that - so I got one of her resting on my knees while I was on my back.


Like I said, she loves shoes. She loves taking them on and off. It doesn't matter where we are.

Blue and Brown Photoshoot

I had a little alone time with Andrew this afternoon and he was happy so of course Ihad to get out the camera!! Plus, he coordinated so well with his blanket!

rolly-polly

I finally captured some good smiles!

Here he is all smile-y and squint-y eyed

Sneaky smile

Gurgle-y smile

This shirt says it all!

Water Works

Andrew has finally decided that his bath is not so bad. Until I start washing his hair!

If he's anything like Alison - he'll be turning into fish within the next year. She loves the bath, the pool and playing with the hose. We were out gardening (See my other blog) and she was dry and clean when we started. I should have taken an after picture. Dirt and soaking wet clothes. But we had a good time. We were making a soil mixture and so we got to dig and stir and basically play. Now I just have to teach her not to pick the leaves off the plants.