so small....

...she can fit in Nicole's doll crib.

Adam loves his "Rurbecca."

And Nicole wanted to read her a story.

Little cherub baby. :)

pics from lately

It's been a few weeks, so here's the update.
We'll start with our greatest achievement from January: giving up pacifiers (Nicole) and potty training (Adam)! Here they are with their Big Prizes from the goals:

There was a lot of excavator-drawing, of course.

And here is Nicole, practicing the law of Where There is One Picture Taken, There Shall Two Be Taken Also

Here's Adam climbing on large fake rocks at a park nearby that they've just started to develop. I don't have pictures of Nicole at the park because her favorite thing to do was say, "Oh no.... I running away!" and take off.

So here is a cute picture from bedtime instead.

There was also building of things, like excavators, and garbage trucks, and what Adam called a "flying excavator, which is so cool."

And yes yes yes I am still working on taking pictures of our house... the problem is I want daytime pics, and we're usually really busy during the day, or really crabby. :) But we did get Adam's new dresser put together and all the dressers rearranged, so progress is being made! Pictures soon to follow. Really.

this week

This week we had lots of good fun. Going to the mall play area, working on learning the new primary song for this year, fixing dinner together (yeah right to all those magazines that say kids will eat foods they help prepare... our kids are pretty good eaters but they draw the line at asparagus, despite helping steam it), and of course, these moments that were actually documented:

Nicole likes to have her hair done-- frequently. She still only leaves it in for a few minutes, usually long enough to go "pretty, pretty" and show the other parent.

And I just realized how big she looks... I was used to Adam getting bigger, but now my baby's growing up, too.... guess it really is time for the next one! :D

Nicole graduated to the toddler bed.
We bought Adam a twin bed; we'll have pictures of that next week.
(and hopefully some of our house)

Lately they like to give each other "BIG hugs!"

This excavator, in Adam's words, is "really busy because it has THREE scoops!"
He even drew M birds in the sky. :)

Cookie break! They love to help with the mixer. Even though I still (sigh) can't get my chocolate chip cookies to turn out right.

And that's our week in review. Cute babies, fun at home, and working on organizing/decorating our house (can you say nesting?) :)

all grown up

Yesterday was Adam's first day of Primary (he was sick last week). Steve and I cannot believe that he's already so big! Our baby boy is almost 4!

Merry Christmas!

Yay! Merry Christmas!

We've had a wonderful day and our kids have been thoroughly spoiled by Santa, grandparents, and aunts and uncles. Thank you everyone, and your card will be in the mail Monday. :D

New toys!

First look at what Santa brought (this was the first year that Adam understood what Santa is and got excited in advance).

Yes, he got his chainsaw!

I hope every one of you got to spend lots of time with your family and friends, and that you were able to truly feel the spirit of the season. I'm grateful for this time of year to remember our Savior's birth and the miracle of His coming and the great Gift He gave to each of us. I hope we can remember to be like Him all the year long.

Love,

Margaret

the extra-long catch-up post

So, yeeeah. Turns out blogging just falls to the bottom of the to-do list when you're moving. BUT.... we are all moved in, and almost every room is unpacked! And I have to say, we are in love with our new house! We want to post pictures but not to brag, so I think we'll just post a few as we get our rooms in order, curtains up, etc. So more good stuff to come in 2011! :)

As for the rest of November and December, here's some things we've been up to:

This is how we crash after moving and not getting naptime (this was around 4:30pm).

Thanksgiving in our new house-- yippee!
I love how there's room for our table with both leaves in!

Playing at the Pacific Science Center.

Going to see the Bellevue Botanical Gardens lights.

First picture with Santa-- they got pretty scared!

Adam's letter to Santa, showing Santa (middle) bringing Adam (right) a chainsaw (left).

It was wonderful to have some family up for Thanksgiving, we loved playing with everyone and managed to have some good times despite the crazy SNOW and the fact that we were moving!

The Farm

Last Saturday we spent the afternoon at The Farm, a place out in Snohomish that does a corn maze in the shape of the state of Washington! While our kids were too little to enjoy the maze, we did do some other fun things. They had all kinds of animals to pet (our kids loved the little white bunnies), they had a huge, long trough of water that they raced live ducks in, they had old farm equipment to climb on, hayrides around the corn maze border, a mini hay maze in the barn for kids, and a little "cow train" that was pulled behind a tractor. Adam has been obsessed with machinery and tractors lately, so he especially loved it.
It was muddy and rainy, and we really didn't have the boots and stuff one should have for the mud, so we were pretty dirty by the time we got back to the car! It was fun, though-- next year, we're going to pick our pumpkins there!

Adam wasn't a fan of the bracelet he had to wear.

This is what she does when you ask her to "say cheese!"

She has the best daddy ever-- not just anyone would squish into a tiny car just so his daughter can go on the ride, too. (He actually said this was pretty fun.)

Adam was big enough to ride alone. I think this ride was their favorite.

Halloween Costumes

This year I decided to take a break from costume-making, and though part of me regrets it, most of me is SO DARN RELIEVED that costumes are already finished and ready for Halloween.

To celebrate, I decided to do some photo ops in a nearby park. Nicole is very hard to wrangle; she would run waaaay off and Steve would have to chase her (example: in the second picture, you can see a teeny Nicole followed by her Daddy). Adam, on the other hand, loves having his picture taken and was more than willing to pose for me. Here they are, our little Pumpkin and Butterfly:




Happy Haunting!

more from my camera...

This time, I found some good stuff! So, without further ado, here are our children and the sundry mischiefs they've been up to.

Burying one's sister in coverings of any kind is a favorite game.

I know what she's thinking: please let me survive the snuggles...

Oh, come on. Boys like their share of fluffy skirts, too!

And if it makes you feel any better, he's been watching Garfield's Thanksgiving Special where the grandma cuts up a frozen turkey with a chainsaw. So now, instead of mixers, he builds chainsaws, makes the sound effects, and chases Nicole around screaming, "THIS... is WAR!!!"

Yeah, she's cute.

And I don't think this needs an explanation, but I do think we should submit it to Quilted Northern for some kind of ad campaign.

Messy house, messy hair, happy child. That's life around here in a nutshell.
(And oh how sweet it is)

Surprise-- I never post pictures of me. But, well, it was my birthday.

I'm getting so old.

And those of you who know me are probably laughing sarcastically now, but seriously.
I'm feelin' the age.

Last but not least my birthday present-- a new stroller!
4 inflated tires, amazing comfort for them and ease in pushing for me, and..... it fits through doorways! Hallelujah!

at least he's polite...

I asked Adam if I could hold the phone (he was talking to my mom). He politely said, "No, you may not have the phone." It catches me off guard when he's so civil, because the next minute he'll be screaming because I gave him a time out for something... ah, life with a 3 year old! :D

He also keeps me in line. The other day I was frustrated about something and I mentioned how I thought the situation was stupid. I hear this little voice from the back seat saying, "We don't use that word stupid." He was right. It's good to have a reminder that the rules are for everyone. :)

Meanwhile, Nicole has developed a love of wipes. If she is crying or throwing a fit, all you have to do is offer her a wipe and the world is right again. She'll usually wad it up and wipe her mouth, then spread it out and play with it. She'll clean with it, wrap her toys in it, and use it as a mini blanket for her dolls. I think it's hilarious, and hey, it keeps her pretty clean in the process.

And I don't have any pictures, but maybe I'll take some this afternoon at the mall playground. This weekend is our big Fall Cleaning, so wish me luck! And then all the fall holiday fun can start!

Bath time always presents a chance for arguments over who must be washed first.
Steve asked,
"Who should I wash first?"
Adam, who hates being washed, said, "Wash Nicole, she's reaaally dirty."
Steve then said, "I think I should wash both of you."
Adam replied, "Wash both of... Nicole."

Adam writes his name...

...instead of sleeping.

p.s.-- he now adds the second "A"

our latest doings

Sooo.....
It's been a while, yes I know, and while I did miss blogging about some things this summer, for the most part it was pretty boring, with nap schedules ruining any chance to go to library story times or playgroup. However, now that it's fall (my absolute favorite season), I have activities scheduled for every weekend.
Last weekend, we decided to zip off on a trip for Labor Day. I have always wanted to be the kind of person who could just take off on a trip and love it. Unfortunately, when I do that, I forget things. Important things. Like a crib for my daughter to sleep in. Or my husband's CPAP machine. So I guess I need to be a plan-ahead type of person when it comes to trips.
We went to the Olympic Peninsula, just a couple of hours away. We got to take the ferry (the kids' and my first trip) and we went down and walked the trail to Dungeness Bay beach. We were planning on seeing the Olympic Game Farm, but we didn't have time, and everyone was exhausted by Monday because a) Steve got no sleep without his machine-- how on earth did he ever survive college we look back and wonder-- and b) both kids wound up in our bed both nights.
We did get to go to a neighborhood park by our hotel, and the trip was just refreshing because we stayed in this little town where it's just trees and farms and little tiny communities every so often. Everyone was friendly and kind, and we decided that it would be a fabulous place to retire.

In other news, Nicole is talking quite a bit now, and she and Adam have a great time playing together. Adam is really good at playing pretend, though if you try to join in, he feels the need to remind you that's it is "just pretend." Nicole loves dolls and wearing dress-up frilly skirts, and both of them can "sing" a song or two by themselves.

So here are some visuals for what we've been up to:

Tired and hot at Snowbird:



Adam and Nicole on a family picnic at a favorite park here:


Adam at that same park, doing the zipline by himself:






Wading in the freezing waves at Dungeness Bay:




So there you have it! More posting next week if we get to do our weekend plans!

Adam put his own pajamas on, the ones with a big monkey on the tummy. However, he got them on backwards.
The result? A cute little boy running out to us saying, "I got a monkey on my back!"

hehe. oh the irony.

what was supposed to be on my camera

I had the brilliant idea to blog all the random photos on my camera. I was expecting some cute shots and stories to go with them. Instead, it was a slideshow of Kids In Motion. For example:

This was supposed to show off her adorable new pajamas.

And this was supposed to show off their loving sibling relationship.
(I promise he was hugging her, not putting her in a headlock. And she's smiling. Anyway.)


As it turned out, I had about 35 pictures and came out with only 3 that were not fuzzy around the edges:

A still shot of my 19-month-old--- that's rare!

Adam put shorts over his pants and looked like some kind of tiny hockey player.

And this is one of the cutest fluffy skirts I've ever seen-- and Costco had 2 more colors! Hardest thing I ever did, just buying one.

I have discovered, after weeks of blurry photos, that our new camera does its best flash work when the battery is freshly charged-- so the longer you wait to charge up, the slooooowwer the flash is, and the more you end picture sessions with, "Erg! I wish we'd never bought this thing!"


I usually remember that right after I finish my "Erg!" exclamations.