Speechless...ok, so totally cracking up

Because we are INCREDIBLY lucky to have the greatest babysitter, Tina, Brian and I went away for 22 hours and it was wonderful. Where did we go? 10 minutes from our house to the Davenport Hotel. Our wonderful friends, the Prizemans, had given us a gift card to the hotel over a year ago, so we finally were able to take advantage of it. We then scheduled couples massage, never done it before, dinner at Nikos (yummy) and then back to the hotel for the night. We woke up at whatever time we wanted, which of course was still before 6am, because our bodies are used to getting up early, then to the Davenport brunch buffet (yummy again), off to the mall for a few kid items, and then back home. It was wonderful and Brian and I realized we really do still like each other and we enjoyed feeling like we were back to our prekid days, staying in hotels and eating out (we traveled A LOT before kids and enjoyed it). As for the massages, sorry but they sucked. Not to give bad press to Spa Paradiso, but our massages were not great. Brian and I were very disappointed, especially for the price. However, we both agreed that it was better than fighting with our kids to eat dinner.

As for why I titled this post Speechless, here ya go...When I called to check in with Tina she said I have to tell you what Shane said, oh brother. She said Shane was asking why mommy and daddy were going to be gone all night. Tina explained that sometimes mommies and daddies needed to get away and spend time alone. Shane's response, "Are they going to make another baby?" Tina said she had to turn away because she was laughing so hard. She said she told Shane no, not this time anyway. Shane then told Tina that God decided if the baby was a boy or girl. Tina agreed and the conversation was over. Now, I must tell you, not long ago, as described in a previous post, Shane told Brian that mommy made him all alone and daddy didn't do anything. Where did Shane get his new insight? We have no idea, and I don't think I have even used the term "make a baby". So Brian and I are very afraid that Shane is a little too wise on the world at this young age. That said, there will not be a baby anytime soon. We are still debating whether there will be a 4th and it won't be within 15 months.

Myann's cuteness in regards to our leaving...Brian was telling Myann that we were leaving. Myann said she didn't want us to leave and wanted to go with us. Brian said no she had to stay home so she said, "Then I need Tina." Brian reassured her that Tina was on the way.

Riverfront Park Fun

It's warm, so we can enjoy all the fun that Riverfront Park has to offer. We met up with friends and took the kids to do the carousel and rides, though they are too short for most of the rides, then we went and played in the fountain.
How many kids can you fit on a coin operated ride? Hmmm---5

We're too little for the real rides, so we'll have to settle for the strollers.

Lovin' the water.

First Flashback Friday

Oh how my boy has grown. It is really sad how fast you forget what they were like. I look at these pictures of Shane and I can remember what he was like, but they don't seem to match the pictures. He looks like such a baby in these pictures, but he was already so much the person he is today.

These are at the Carlsbad Flower Fields near San Diego - we loved this place. Shane was just getting better at walking and loved the flowers, though he wanted to smell them all and you aren't supposed to cross the barriers and step into the field. We did a few times. Shane was 13 months old.



Right after Myann was born, I enrolled Shane in dance class, but it was really more of a ballet class. He was the only boy and he LOVED it. He did really well too, he was very concerned about doing the moves right. He was 22 months old. In this picture they were jumping over the ponies. Wouldn't Daddy be proud? I wish I could get him into a dance class now, but the "boy" in him has taken over and he thinks dancing is for girls. Myann will have to wait until she is 3, since that is the age for the classes I have found here.


This is the picture I took for Shane's first birthday invitation. He was so sweet and good. His party was farm animal themed with a petting zoo and pony rides. To brag on my boy, he was so verbal that he could say all the animals in the petting zoo, as well as happy birthday and blueberry. It used to be so creepy to see a baby talking. Now, many days I wish he wasn't so verbal.

New posts coming soon...I promise

Brian is my biggest nag when it comes the blog, but it really does take time, particularly when it comes to loading pictures, and video, a lifetime. Why I can't always blog...I have to choose to blog, sleep, or clean up the house. Based on the normal state of my house, you'd think I blog a lot, but I don't. For the past few nights, I have chosen sleep, and it has been wonderful. I got 8 hours each night for the past 2 nights. I can't even remember the last night I had 8 hours of interrupted, much less 2 nights in a row. Well my allergies were bothering me, so I decided sleep was in my best interest. I felt so good today, that I didn't need coffee, I still had some at 2pm, but I didn't NEED it.

So I promise posts are coming, so you may need to scroll back a few pages to see all the new stuff once I get to it. We have had a fun 2 weeks and have been loving the awesome weather. Summer has arrived in Spokane, let's hope it lasts.

Ladybugs

Attack of the ladybugs!!! Well, it is more like attack of the toddlers on the ladybugs. We were working in the yard, and Shane was determined to find some worms. Dad found one and then lost it. I found two more, Shane lost one and killed one. He begged me to go get him some more worms. Well I had to buy some supplies, so I went to NW Seed and all they had were ladybugs, no worms. The kids were too excited to release the ladybugs, 1500 to be exact. Though some were DOA. I was stupid and dumped them on the sidewalk. Myann decided to march over them, so not sure how many ladybugs actually survived long enough to fly away, let's hope 1000 or so. It really was fun to have ladybugs all over you. I just hope they ate a few bugs on their way out of the yard.






Sorry this picture is blurry, but the joy on Anders' face is priceless.

Beer Tasting

Day 2 of Memorial Day weekend involved a BBQ with friends, the Kipps, and a sampling of their home brew. Now let me tell you I am not a beer fan, but Chris' home brew was awesome. The kids had a wonderful time playing with their friends. Sadly, Chris had just built an awesome tree house for Jordan, and I failed to get a picture. Here are some other pictures of the kiddos.

I love this face, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this baby - pure cuteness!!!


Myann jumping - I love this action shot

Myann trying to ride the big girl bike


Buddies - Anders and Hayden

Proud Daddy, unhappy mommy!


More buddies - Shane and Jameson (Jameson's face is priceless)


Myann burping Anders - what a sweet big sis

Day at the Lake

To kick start the weekend, we went out to the lake with the Frenches and Prizemans. Because our sweet children woke up at 5am, we insisted they take a nap, so we got out to the lake a bit later than planned. However, we had a wonderful time, as we always do. The kids did wonderfully and held out until 10pm.

Here are pictures of Myann's first time on a float pulled behind the boat. We did a mother daughter float with Pam and Coryn.

Anders is rolling and I'm not happy

For those who are around me, I am very quick to advertise that Anders STILL does not roll. Since this is my third go around, I am not the obsessive new mom worried that there is something majorly wrong with my child since he is months passed the average rolling milestone. One, he rolled 4 months ago and then never again, so I know he is physically capable. Two, he is a chub and that is a lot of weight to roll over. Three, I knew he would roll eventually. So I have not lost any sleep over his not rolling, but I still wanted to see him do it and I was tired of giving the same response when asked about crawling, "No he does not crawl and he doesn't roll either." Yesterday I was even at a playdate with friends and his not rolling was a topic of conversation. They were very supportive and reassuring that he was just a chub and would roll in his own time. Well, his own time came today. Day One into it and I already wish he wasn't rolling. This morning, I walked into his room to get him and he greeted me on his belly, and he went to bed on his back. Then nap time, not even one hour into nap and he was crying, I went to check and he was on his belly. This kid normally takes 3+ hour naps, so that was heartbreaking. Then tonight I thought, if he is rolling, I want to see this. We put him on his back and he does his roll to the side and doesn't roll over. Come on, at least let us see you do your new rolling trick. Now he is in bed and I am watching him on the monitor as he rolls to his side, pulling on the rails to flip himself over. So maybe my little roller, can't quite roll alone yet and cheats with the rails. Or maybe he only does it when he is really mad and wants to be rescued from bed. I guess I will find out in the morning.

This video is of his pre bedtime work out. Thanks Beth, we love using your bouncer, except he likes me to bounce along side him. So I have been getting my workout too.



And I must brag about Brian's awesome smoothies. Brian is not a cook, like some husbands. He can grill, but cooking is not his thing. But that man knows his way around a Magic Bullet, the small blender, for those of you who have been to Pure Romance parties, not THAT magic bullet. Anyway, because our kids go through finicky eating stages and Myann is prone to constipation, Brian created a Power smoothie. The kids LOVE them. It had been a weekend treat that Brian made since he was home. Brian kept encouraging me to make them since the kids loved them and they are so good for their growing bodies, but I just don't have enough hands in the morning to put together all the ingredients to his smoothie concoction. Well my sweet husband has now been putting all the ingredients together in the morning in the blender cup, and when we get up, all I have to do is drop the cup into the blender, and smoothies for everyone!!! Thank you honey, it makes my life so much easier.
In case you are interested, here is the basic recipe, though it varies depending on what fruit we have.
Brian's Power Smoothie
5 strawberries
handful of blueberries
1 heaping tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 banana
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup to 1 cup of water (depends on how much room is left)
Blend and you've got one healthy smoothie. For consistency, something above must be frozen. Typically we use frozen strawberries or blueberries. If we use fresh, then we use a mixture of ice and water to make it thicker.

I initially snubbed my nose at these smoothies, because I am a bit of a smoothie snob, and typically only like Jamba Juice or Thirsty's (both more commonly found in southern parts of the US), but I have sipped on the kids a few times and I really like these. Plus they are so healthy, Dr. Oz would be proud.

Japanese genes are still there

Probably just sleepy eyes, but when Myann woke up, I took one look at her eyes and thought, she looks Japanese. My grandma would be so thrilled that 3 generations later and her genes are still going strong.

BTW, I have said before, Myann is not a morning person, so she was not happy that I was sticking a camera in her face first thing in the morning.

Summer has arrived

We enjoyed our day at home. Shane said it was his best day ever because he got to watch a movie, paint, play in water, and eat ice cream. Really, kids can be so easy to please some days. We painted a brown shipping box, but I convinced the kids it was their secret fort, so they were all too happy to oblige.



Handsome boy!!!


And yes, I gave Anders a chocolate popsicle. I ate the chocolate coating off first and gave him the ice cream center. Don't worry, it was Weight Watchers, so as not to make him any chubbier :) Sshhh, don't tell Daddy, he doesn't approve of babies eating sweets. BTW, Anders LOVED it, he kept stabbing himself with the stick, probably why you don't give an 8 month old a popsicle, but whatever. He screamed when I took the stick away, just confirming he is my child, my children must love ice cream.

Anders' First Tooth

Anders is getting his first tooth!!! It is barely poking through, but he had been drooling a lot the past few days, so Saturday morning I ran my finger along his gums looking for the culprit and I felt a poke on the bottom. Time to pull out the bibs, because he is going through a lot of shirts. He has been fussier too, but he is a trooper. We had dinner at our neighbor's house Saturday night and all the kids did fantastic, considering we stayed until 11pm. Anders slept in a bedroom, but only after flirting for hours with any female he could find. Such a good sport since I knew the tooth had to bother him. Shane and Myann had a wonderful time too, they played for hours. Myann played with the kids and made sure she got her flirting time in with the men. I'll post a video later of her dancing on Tommy while the rest of us were hysterically laughing.

Other news...Myann has slept on the bottom bunk 3 nights in a row now. Daddy gets credit for getting them to sleep in the room together, while I enjoyed a movie night with my friends. She is still napping in the crib, I'm not ready for that battle most days.

And Myann, she has been quite the mommy lover the past week. She tells me she wants to love on me, which means snuggle time. She also tells me that she will come sit in my lap once I put Anders to bed. I am loving all the attention from Myann, because she has not been a snuggler since I quit nursing her this time last year. However, this also means she is wanting me to hold her a lot and sometimes she tries to sit on or behind me when I am nursing Anders, and the chair is not big enough for all 3 of us.

Yesterday we had the Prizemans over to BBQ and break in the outside toys. We pulled out the bounce house and little roller coaster. Shane took Bree out for her first truck ride. That made me a little nervous, since Shane and Myann suffered injuries from their first truck accident. Shane drove his truck into a tree and Myann hit her head on impact, causing a bruise above her eyebrow. Thankfully, he was a little more cautious with Bree, but then he ran James' leg over.

Gotta love video

So here is the video footage of Myann dancing on Tommy at our neighbors, the Ossellos, on Saturday night. This was at about 10pm, so my kids should have been in bed, but we were having such a good time that we just didn't want to leave. As you can see, Myann was enjoying herself.
The first video is mostly Myann dancing while Tommy and Heather provide the music.

The second video is more dancing, but I think Mark on the left side, totally cracking up is hilarious, and the adults' sound effects in the background. (Can't get the 2nd video to load)

Sadly, I pulled out the camera after some of the funniest moments, by this point, I was laughing so hard that my stomach was killing me.

As I have said before, Brian hates that Myann flocks to the men wherever we go. As you can see in the video, she loves Tommy and Mark, on the left, is another favorite.

St. Al's Fund Run

Today was the Fund Run, but the kids had a lot of fun. Our going was kind of a last minute thing, but I'm glad we did, because Shane and Myann had so much fun. Shane actually ran a lot, I was so impressed. When he got tired, I sent him after his buddy James, and they ran together.

Lined up and ready to go






Myann's class was less of an organized run and more of toddlers running wild in the gym, but hey, they had fun and that is the point.
Myann walking with Miss Lorrie

Alex update

So I am updating Alex's blog while they are in Houston. Alex doesn't know, but I suspect he doesn't mind. See the link on the side. To summarize, the chemo is shrinking the tumor, so the plan is to move forward with the chemo for as long as it works and as long as Alex can handle it. Heart transplant is on the backburner for now.

Hiking in our neighborhood

So hiking yesterday inspired us to FINALLY hike the trails behind our house. Yes, we have lived here almost 2 years and never set foot on the trails behind our house that wind through the forest and hills of our neighborhood. It was wonderful. We loaded up the kids and the dogs and went exploring. The trails were great and I'm excited to go further next time. Shane was worn out before we reached the top of the hill, so we went back, since with Brian and I each carrying a kid on our back, carrying Shane was not an option. I also discovered we have another house set back in the woods behind our house, not far at all and I never knew they were there. Crazy.

On to the kids, still no luck getting Myann to sleep in the bunk beds. Last night I thought we were there. I went to check on them 10 minutes after we put them to bed, and it was quiet, so I thought we did it. But no, a few minutes later, Myann came out because she had pooped. After that, she was up and not in to staying in the bed, though Shane was out cold. So back to the crib. We will keep trying. Several people have told us to give up and just convert the playroom, but I know this can be done. Kids share rooms all the time and I have wonderful memories of sharing a room with Alex for years. So we will persevere. Shane begs for her to sleep in his room, so the kids are willing, just not good at falling asleep together yet.

Mother's Day

To all the mothers in our lives, Happy Mother's Day. We are blessed to have 4 "moms" and the kids 4 "grandmas" so we are a pretty fortunate bunch. I put them in parentheses because they all go by different names than mom and grandma, but they are every bit as much moms and grandmas each in their own unique way.

Grammy and my stepmom - Without my stepmom, my Dad would not do anything but work. Pam had little experience with kids until she became a grandma and she has been wonderful, even changed a few diapers, that's how much she loves our kids.


Grandma and My mom and my best friend - rarely a day passes without talking to her at least once. Seeing her with Myann is one of my favorite things. I love that they have a great relationship and I hope that Myann and I will stay as close as my mom and I are.


Grandma Anne and my stepmom-in-law - Hard to believe Anne has only been in our lives for 6 years because she seems so integral to it. I love every minute I spend with her and so do my kids. Anne is an amazing example of selflessness.


Grandma Jo and my mom-in-law - She is not the dreaded mom-in-law and actually known as the cool mom. I give her all the credit in the world, since she raised Brian and is probably the only other person on this earth who knows what a challenge he can be, so maybe his sisters know too. :)


My Grandma - don't be fooled by her small size, she has the spirit of someone twice her size. I love this woman with all my heart and she taught what joy it brings to be generous with people.


I don't have any digital pictures of Brian's grandmas and sadly they have all passed. But since this is for my kids one day, I feel it important to write something about each.
Grandma Jo was a kind woman who knew how to put Brian in his place.
Grandma Stout - there are not words to describe how amazing this woman was. I knew her only a few short years, but she will be with me forever, as the most loving person I've ever known.
Grandma Mallett - It breaks my heart that I never met her, as Brian affectionately refers to her as his best friend. She was a pistol to say the least.

As for my mother's day, it was a good one. I have no problems telling Brian exactly what I want and how I want to spend the day. This year, my gift was new knives and pots and pans. Despite what you may think, I am SUPER excited. I have had terrible knives and pans from my single days, so we upgraded and did we ever. I LOVE them!!!! I may even cook more now, well I cook a lot now, I may cook better now. The day started with getting to sleep in and by sleep in, I mean I did not even have to get up and nurse Anders. Brian got to him before I heard him, so Brian gave him a bottle. This is the first time Brian has gotten up with Anders since he was born, so I was pretty excited. Then I got to have coffee in bed and read magazines. The kids came in with my cards and school made gifts. Love the school made gifts, God Bless preschool teachers. After that, I packed a picnic lunch and we ventured to Riverside State Park for a picnic and hiking. We have heard great things about the park, so I was thrilled to spend one of our first nice and warm days this year out hiking. The kids loved it. Shane was heard saying, "This is crazy hiking", in regards to the rocks we had to pass over. Myann had to stand on every stump and say "Whoooaaaa!". Anders pooped, I guess he was too relaxed out hiking, so I was fortunate enough to change a diaper out in the wilderness. And the highlight, we saw a SNAKE!!! Pretty cool, it passed right by us while we were on the rock above it, so we watched it for a good 2-3 minutes. Then home for naps, dinner and bed.









We are guessing it was a gopher snake. It was the biggest snake I have seen that close before.

Jr. Lilac Parade

Of course you must take advantage of the good weather, so to the parade we went. Very cute parade and we loved the school band music. We met up with Tina, who was sitting for our friends.

James and Shane watching the parade. No picture, but I did get video of Bree dancing, she loved the music.