Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Tonight we read The Baker's Dozen (Look at that price on Amazon!! We just got our copy at the library) and then we made these cinnamon ornaments. They are amazingly strong scented, I think I am a little light headed as I sit a few feet away from them right now. I am anxious to see if they stay together after drying overnight.

Malachi and our friends' kids that are staying with us all put their shoes out tonight for their big surprise in the morning!

Our Garden Pictures

Newspaper...
Blood meal and bone meal...
Alfalfa...
Straw...
Compost...

I will post more when we see sprouting plants. I hope we see things, I just found Rafiki sprawled out in the garden...we may need to put something around it to prevent that. :)

Advent Pictures

Advent Calendar...filled with fun activities to do each day.Advent Wreath...to light each Sunday. I still need to get a rose colored candle to switch out one of the purple ones, or maybe I won't get around to that.

Jesse Tree...despite the strained look on Malachi's face, he is thoroughly enjoying this. :)

37 Years!

It is Kurtis' birthday today. Thank you Lord for blessing him with 37 years! I pray for many, many more years to come.

Thank you for being an amazing husband and father. I couldn't imagine a better best friend or soul mate. I love you! Happy Birthday!

What were you thinking??!!

Today, Malachi was sitting on his potty. He tends to sit for a while when he needs to go number 2 :). He was in there for a while but I had this feeling something was amiss so I decided to check on him.

I walked into the bathroom and noticed he had a washcloth in his hand that was clearly wet and he was sucking on it. I didn't recall hearing a faucet running so I asked him how he got the washcloth wet. And, yes, he had soaked it in the toilet water. That's my son, a toilet water drinker. :) Of course I proceeded to ask him, "What were you thinking??" but the only response I got was, "Because I like it." Oh, the mind of a two year old boy.

Tonight he threw up a little and had some loose problems on the other end which I was somewhat grateful for. I have no idea if it is related to the contaminated water he drank but it was a great object lesson for why NOT to drink water from a toilet...even when it looks clean!

Advent Festivities

We are having a wonderful time celebrating the season of Advent. We have our Advent Wreath, our Jesse Tree and the Advent Calendar. Last year we had little chocolates in the calendar. This year I have written activities to do each day. Well, if I must tell the truth, I have not actually filled out each piece of paper yet I am kind of doing it as we go. However, The Crafty Crow is revisting her Advent activities she posted on her other site Bella Dia last year. Go here to see the list in it's entirety. I definitely want to do that next year. Maybe not all the same books but she sure has some great ideas.

Garden, Tree and Herpangina...8 months old

So there is a lot going on at the Olson home. This weekend we finally put in our garden. I have been wanting to have one for a while now and since Kurtis has not been working on the weekends lately we have been able to get a lot of projects done at the house and that was one of them.

We went 'organic' and did this crazy layering method that we read about in this article. Well, in all honesty I don't know if it is all that crazy, maybe this is how all of our friends do their gardens and I just am clueless. Anyhow, we layered newspaper, blood meal, bone meal, alfalfa, straw and compost. I have some great photos of the process but I can't find the cord to hook up my camera to the computer right now so you'll have to imagine it until I find the cord. Then we planted broccoli, bell peppers, green onion, spinach, lettuce, carrots and radishes. We also planted a different section with some herbs. It will be so interesting to see what we get especially considering Malachi helped with the planting. :)

Advent started yesterday and we lit the first candle in our Advent wreath (which Kurtis made and did a fabulous job at I might add). Then today Malachi and I put together our Jesse tree and tonight we read the story of creation and hung our first ornament. Again, I would love to post a picture but... I have not completed all the ornaments so now I have the fire under my bum to make sure I stay at least one step ahead.

Today I took Zoe to the doctor and found out she has herpangina, it's also called hand, foot, mouth disease but I like how 'herpangina' sounds. :) She had a fever for a couple days, it even got as high as 103.9 but now that seems to be subsiding and the pain of the little sores in her mouth seem to be bothering her. Hopefully she will get over it soon and the 4 other children that are in our house right now will not get it from her.

I also cannot fail to mention that our beautiful Zoe is 8 months old. I have to admit I actually scheduled her doctors appointment today a while ago because I was not thinking and figured it was necessary for her 8 month well baby...ya, no, that would be the 9 month well baby. So I was a month early :), I only felt a little dumb, I seem to be having more and more blonde moments as I get older. And speaking of getting older...Kurtis is turning 37 on Thursday!

Well, sorry about the lack of photos. Maybe I will find that cord and post them at a later date. I
think I will sign off for now and go sew some more ornaments next to the fire in our "hick pit".

I finally made a decision!

I have been working on my ornaments for my Jesse Tree over the last couple weeks and I would post a picture of them but I am too lazy to go through that whole process right now. Maybe I will get around to posting a picture when they are hanging on the tree. Anyway, in my online search for help with the ornaments I have realized that there are different lists of Bible characters and passages to use. I have been very indecisive up until this afternoon. I thought I would share and add my idea to the numerous other ideas out there. Maybe there are some of you that like my idea as much as I did. :)

We have The Jesus Storybook Bible that we read to Malachi almost every night. We usually let him pick whichever story he wants to read. (Interestingly enough his favorite as of late is "A little girl and a poor frail lady" which is the story of Jairus' daughter, from Luke 8) One of the great things about the JSB is that the stories are written in such a way as to point to Christ being our Rescuer. If you do not have this Bible for your kids, I highly recommend it!

Well, back to my Jesse Tree ornaments. I decided tonight that I will follow the Old Testament stories in the JSB. Due to the number of stories it works out that we will not do a new ornament on Sundays but that's okay because we will have our Advent Wreath. So here is what we will be doing...

Nov. 30 - Advent Wreath
Dec. 1 - Creation (pg. 18) *globe*
Dec. 2 - Adam & Eve (pg. 28) *apple with snake*
Dec. 3 - Noah (pg. 38) *rainbow and ark*
Dec. 4 - Tower of Babel (pg. 48) *tower*
Dec. 5 - Abraham & Sarah (pg.56) *?baby with stars??*
Dec. 6 - Isaac (pg.62) *ram*
Dec. 7 - Advent Wreath
Dec. 8 - Jacob (pg.70) *???*
Dec. 9 - Joseph (pg.76) *coat of many colors*
Dec. 10 - Moses (pg. 84) *burning bush*
Dec. 11 - Moses (pg. 92) *parted Red Sea
Dec. 12 - Moses (pg. 100) *two tablets of stone for the ten comm.*
Dec. 13 - Joshua (pg. 108) *trumpet*
Dec. 14 - Advent Wreath
Dec. 15 - Samuel (pg. 116) *jar of oil*
Dec. 16 - David (pg. 122) *5 stones*
Dec. 17 - David (pg. 130) *shepherd's staff or harp*
Dec. 18 - Namaan & Elisha (pg. 136) *??river??*
Dec. 19 - Isaiah (pg. 144) *letter/envelope*
Dec. 20 - Daniel (pg. 152) *lion*
Dec. 21 - Advent Wreath
Dec. 22 - Jonah (pg. 160) *big fish*
Dec. 23 - Ezra, Nehemiah, Malachi (pg. 168) *heart*
Dec. 24 - Mary & Joseph (pg. 176-181) *??lily and saw??*
Dec. 25 - Jesus (finish story from yesterday pg. 182, cont. reading til 199?) *manger*

I am excited to see how it goes. I really liked the idea of doing a devotion of some sort with Malachi but I think being able to read the stories with pictures will be perfect for him at this age. I figure I can always change it a little next year if I don't like any part of it. I also like that it cuts down the number of ornaments since I am a tad behind schedule on sewing them. :)

The Plight of the Second Child

Zoe got Malachi's old carseat...

...Malachi got a new one.

Craziness of Life

We are having some friends stay with us and I realized this morning that I have not been doing a very good job of updating our blog. I think it is due to the fact that our home is buzzing with noise almost nonstop. Our friends have 3 kids (4, almost 3 and 9 months), then add our two and well...you can imagine. :)

Malachi is getting a lot of practice, or should I say opportunity to practice his sharing skills. He isn't very good at it but then again he is 2 and at this stage thinks the world revolves around him. I guess with a sinful nature, we all fight against that 'natural' tendency to think everything revolves around us. It is interesting (read frustrating) to watch him just walk up to his friends and take a toy just because he has determined he "needs" (yes that is a quote from my eldest) it. Oh the challenges we get to face as parents. I wish I could say I was responding with love and patience each and every time but I'm not. Lord, give me wisdom, patience, loving words and all the other things I need, yes need, today!

Yes, I am such a proud Mama!

Isn't she the cutest! Zoe has also begun to give those wonderful first baby kisses.

Halloween pictures I forgot to post...Malachi's carving his first Jack-o-Lantern

On our way to our friend's Halloween party.

Our little Jack-o-Lantern

Don't Forget

First of all, don't forget to vote if you haven't already. But that's not why I was going to post.

I've been thinking so much about Advent and Christmas that I have not really thought much about Thanksgiving. I just came across this great idea for an activity to do with the little ones to make Thanksgiving more than just a day filled with good food.

Christmas Cards

I am trying to plan ahead this year so that we can enjoy Christmas Day AND the Advent Season as well. I am following simplemom's 12 weekly projects for a more peaceful season to help get things accomplished. She has a lot of great ideas and is worth checking out and on top of that
this week she is having a giveaway for a customized high-resolution digital photo card file of their choice from Chickpea Designs, my graphic design shop.

What a Blessing they are!!

Happy 7 Months Beautiful Girl!My 2 Sweet Blessings!

So tonight we will collect money for UNICEF and Malachi can use this little bag I whipped up (ha ha, it actually took a couple hours) to collect some candy.

An Idea for Halloween

I struggle with the idea of taking my 2 year old around the neighborhood to ask for candy that he otherwise would not be allowed to eat. Then having to fight the whining about why he can't eat all of it at once. I like the healthy treat ideas that Mama Manifesto suggests to give to trick-or-treaters but I found another idea that I think is fabulous.

In the book The Catholic Home, which my friend Jessica told me about, the author, Meredith Gould, suggests Trick or Treating for UNICEF. I went to their website today and printed up the canister wrapper. I am not sure how it will work. I may not be able to get around the candy thing completely but maybe this will give Malachi something better to focus on instead of the "gimme" attitude that pervades this holiday and our culture.

We've been busy

I haven't posted for over a week and figure I will write in order to fill people in on what has been going on at our place. We have been purging and organizing our garage. The main task at hand was to bring all of our, I mean Kurtis' :), books back indoors. For those that don't know, he has his own library.
I banished the bookshelves out to the garage before Malachi was born because we were drywalling and putting in flooring. I was happy they were out there, Kurtis was not but he lovingly let me have my way. All that changed this weekend and our walls are once again lined with books.
It is sweet honey to Kurtis' soul to have his books easily accessible however they are easily accessible to our darling-crawling-all-over-the-place daughter as well. We found out Ikea actually sells doors for our bookshelves that cover the bottom three shelves, now to figure out how we can get those cheap...Craigslist maybe.
THAT brings up a very irritating subject. For some reason I am not able to post on Craigslist. Can't get a response from them so I have no idea what's wrong. Don't know if we got blacklisted or flagged but if anyone out there can be of any help...with all this purging, we have a bunch to sell so it is driving me mad!!

Goat Hill Junction

Yesterday we visited Goat Hill Junction. Every third Saturday and Sunday of the month you can ride the miniature train for free. Kurtis and Malachi rode while Zoe and I sat it out since the sign said you can't hold kids on your lap, they have to be able to sit on their own. Technically, Zoe can sit on her own but it worked out fine for Papa and son to share the experience.

Already???

Zoe has already started pulling herself up on furniture. Yesterday she pulled herself up on the dishwasher. I took a couple photos for evidence but somehow I deleted them from our camera before I got them on the computer. :( I don't think I am quite ready for this stage. I will have to post some pictures the next time I can catch her in action. She was oh so proud of herself!

2 1/2

Malachi is a joy and a challenge :) these days. He amazes us each day with the new things he is learning. We love watching his personality develop and often crack up at the ideas he comes up with.

He enjoys playing with his cars, reading, going to the store, and loves chocolate milk! (well anything labeled as "dessert" really.) He can be a little introverted at times when around a lot of other kids, but has no problem asking adults questions when we are at stores. He is now very big into asking "Why?" which is a lot of fun! I tried to interact with him last night via the camera and this is what we got.

A New Kind of Crawl

The crawl of choice, the Army crawl - good for getting somewhere fast, especially when on the wood floor.


Slowly becoming the crawl of choice...

Yes, I am cracking up at that crazy left arm. Kurtis and I wonder if she is already working on that leftie swing for hitting the volleyball. ;)

Friday Favorite

We have been reading the book The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis quite a bit lately. I love to read books that pertain to the season. This is a fun one with great rhyme. I read it today with my son and 3 other toddler friends and then we made a construction paper jack-o-lantern. We talked about the shapes as they glued the eyes, nose and mouth on to their orange pumpkin. The Granny in the story makes yummy pumpkin foods at the end of the story, Malachi and I want to try these pumpkin spice muffins...I wasn't about ready to try baking with 4 toddlers, though I considered it :).

What is your favorite book for the fall season?
Add it to the list for Friday Favorites at withpurpose

6 Months! How Time Flies!

Zoe had her 6 month appointment yesterday. She's growing up way too fast, so is Malachi for that matter. She is babbling and squealing all the time, sits on her own without toppling over, army crawls all over the house and can go from sitting to crawling and back to sitting. And apparently is off the charts in length, it is anyones guess whether she will be taller than her brother.

Rethinking Christmas Planning

Not too long ago I wrote this post about getting ready for Christmas. I am 15 days into it and have finally accepted the fact that 100 Days to Christmas is a little bit too organized for me. I love the idea, but have failed tremendously at doing each days 'assignment.' Lo and behold, I hav e found another blog that has a list to help with planning. Let's see if I can follow this one, at least a tad bit more than the first. I am hoping since it is broken up by weeks, I will find time to do it. I have enjoyed reading simplemom's great ideas to simplify, but admittedly I don't always take the time to implement. So let me give this a whirl.

Eyes

People comment on Malachi and Zoe's eyes often. I love how they both have blue eyes (at least for now with Zoe) but the shades of blue are so different.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Do you see any resemblance?

A Broken Tooth and Avocado

Malachi was pushing a truck on the sidewalk the other day at the park and apparently hit a uneven crack that stopped the truck. He unfortunately had more momentum and continued over the top, landing on his face. When I heard him continue to cry more than a few seconds I got up to check him out. I immediately noticed a little blood on his lip, to be expected, but then after further inspection noticed he chipped his front tooth. Thankfully it is a baby tooth and will eventually be replaced, until then he is sportin' a new grin.
And the new thing with Zoe...the avocado. Yesterday was the first time she had anything other than mama's milk. We chose avocado for her first food. She didn't really have much, I'll let the pictures tell how it went.

In this picture you can see avocado on her face, but she hadn't really gotten much in her mouth yet...hence the smile

Then we had to get down to business, mama took hold of the spoon to ensure a good taste.

And this was the result.

100 Days to Christmas

I absolutely love that we attend a church that follows the Church calendar. I have learned much and have much to learn about it but I know it has helped my faith in God grow deeper. There is so much more to celebrate than Christmas and Easter, the birth of our Savior and His death and resurrection for our salvation, these of course are of huge importance! However, there is so much more to be reminded of. So many more people of unbelievable character and strength and trust in God that have gone before me that I can learn from. The Church calendar helps remind me I am part of the Body.
All that to say, I was reminded today when I came across this site, that we have only 100 days till Christmas. This year I would like to be a little bit more purposeful in my preparation for the Advent season and Christmas day. I am wanting to be reasonable with spending and so my goal is to give gifts that are thoughtful, useful, fun and homemade (all the gifts may not meet all criteria but it's a "goal"). I realize posting that on here will be an accountability thing for me which is scary but good. I hope 1oo Days to Christmas helps me on this endeavor. Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any fabulous tips or other websites that could be helpful. :)

a first

I laid Zoe down on her tummy in the living room and went to make our bed. When I returned she had managed to get herself into a sitting position! She was quite pleased with herself and so engrossed in soaking in Mama's "Good job, Zoe" (in a nice high, excited voice) that she lost her balance and fell backwards. :|

Paperclip Tip

I am thoroughly enjoying doing art with Malachi these days. I recently got some tempera paint and got a chance to let Malachi and some of his friends enjoy sponge painting with it. I had some extra sponges that I cut up into shapes and thought we could have fun as well as review shape names since this was a group of toddlers.
As a last minute thought I grabbed some paperclips and pushed them through the sponge shapes so they had a handle of sorts in order to minimize the amount of paint on their fingers. It worked beautifully. Thought I would pass along my 'discovery'. Happy painting!!Malachi's artwork. There were plenty of other shapes, he just really like the rectangle;).

Favorite Parenting Advice

I must admit, God has blessed us with two fabulous kids. Malachi is now 2 years (and 5 months) and Zoe is just over 5 months. Having two has not been as difficult as I imagined or was told but I think the majority of that is due to God's grace. But in the anticipation of having Zoe I received a piece of advice from my cousin (thanks Autumn) that has been helpful:

"Don't be afraid to put down the baby in order to follow through with disciplining the toddler."
(paraphrased, but you get the idea)

Malachi is an intelligent, funny, sweet and helpful boy but he still is human (and a toddler) and is therefore not without a sinful nature. He wants to push the limits and boundaries and see what he can get away with. And following this advice helps him to see that he cannot just do whatever he pleases while I am breastfeeding or whatever, cause I WILL stop and deal with his disobedience to put him in time out, take something away, etc.

Being a second born, I am very concerned about giving Zoe what Malachi had...being fair, if you will. But I realize it is much better for ALL of us if I can be consistent in disciplining, Zoe will not be traumatized if she has to wait for the boob while I do what needs to be done. In fact, it models to her at an early age that some things can wait and that mommy is serious about her and her brother's soul formation.

All this to say...I work on this every day and am not anywhere near perfect at it. Find out about more Favorite Parenting Advice at withpurpose, or add your own to the list.

Oh, the joy and laughter they bring...

We visited Kurtis' mom today. She suffered a stroke in June, following heart surgery, and is in rehab working hard to regain the use of her left side. The place she is at is fabulous and they have a large yard in the back where we were able to lay out a blanket, thanks to Kurtis' aunt who was there as well as was his dad, under a tree and relax.
I think the best part for mom, and the rest of us, was being able to watch the kids enjoy themselves. Both having fun with where they are at right now. What a great picture of contentment.

Malachi enjoyed running around shirtless and drank a cold Gatorade, hence the blue mustache. Zoe enjoyed sitting and 'crawling' around on the blanket finding her toys, or her brother's sippy cup, to chew on.

We noticed a tiny snail on the blanket that captured Malachi's attention for a short bit, then he went back to running around.

Things I Love Thursday

So, my fabulous sister is hosting a new meme called,
"Things I Love Thursday,"
(which I guess will turn into "Friday Favorites" next week)
on her inspiring, entertaining and resourceful website, withpurpose.
This week she is asking all to post about their favorite children's book.
The task of choosing one sparked up the cheesy poet in me:

So many 'favourites'
So difficult to choose
I will pick one author
AND her book, Koala Lou!

Mem Fox, an Australian author, writes a beautiful story about an adorable animal.
"There was once a baby koala so soft and round that all who saw her loved her.
Her name was Koala Lou."
The story tells of how Koala Lou trains for and enters the gum tree climbing event in the Bush Olympics in order to get the attention of her mom who is now busy with taking car of her little brothers and sisters.

Read more about the book and the story behind the story here.
Click here to listen to the book read aloud by it's author.
I can't forget to mention that
I also love the detail in the illustrations.
Pamela Lofts is an amazing artist.

As a side note, I think this would be a great gift
to give to a child that is expecting a new little brother or sister.
A special book to remind them they are loved,
and remind mom to say those words, "I DO love you!" often.

paper shredder AND babysitter

i whipped out the scissors today to let malachi give it a try...i think i discovered a good thing. he can shred the pile of papers i've been meaning to get to AND it will take so long and he will be so engrossed in it that i can get some other more important stuff done ;) (just kidding).

he did thoroughly enjoy learning how to cut but i will keep them tucked away for use only when i'm around, otherwise we might end up with some unplanned haircuts. :)

Canvas City

check out this awesome idea for kids that love playing with cars. malachi is very much into collecting the cars from the movie cars and i think this would be an awesome gift! maybe i'd be able to finish one by christmas?!! i know there are a few of you out there that have children also infatuated with cars, thought you might like the idea as well. inexpensive, packs away nicely and encourages creative play!

a new find

for those of you that live near the lakewood mall, have you visited the 'one dollar bookstore' that just opened up in march, located near joann's? i just went today to check it out and was pretty excited about the find. i am always on the lookout for inexpensive children's books cause even though we enjoy borrowing books from the library i think it's vital for kids to have books they can read again and again and again...without the worry of renewing. :)

ALL the books in the store are $1! they are not in top notch condition necessarily and you do need to sift through them since they are not displayed in a terribly organized fashion but for a buck i think it's worth it. they are displayed on shelves along the walls but they are not alphabetized by author or anything.

i took both kids with me this time but i think next time i'll leave them at home with papa so i can really enjoy searching. ever since i visited my parents in texas and was introduced to half price books i have been searching for something like here. i think this is the closest thing!

another month older

5 months today! our zoe girl continues to brighten our lives with her mesmerizing smile, adorable giggle and big, blueberry eyes. she is still working on cutting those two bottom teeth. she can sit on her own, only falling over every now and then. she has figured out how to lunge forward but showing frustration that she doesn't know how to truly crawl yet.
she isn't letting that get in her way though. the other day malachi left his sippy cup on the carpet near her. she figured out how to move close enough to grab it and decided she was thirsty. i found her sucking away on the straw. i'm not sure how much she got but she was enjoying it while it lasted.

all fours

a few days ago zoe figured out how to get up on her knees. she's doing some lunging and making great efforts to learn how to move forward. she is VERY good at going in the reverse. :) she spends most of the time rocking back and forth. she is also sitting briefly on her own and chewing on everything, mostly her fingers and toes.

who needs high tech toys

our boy is such a boy!

8 Years of Blessings

yesterday we celebrate our 8th anniversary. it has not always been easy, actually we have had some very challenging times but through it all god has sustained and blessed us! kurtis was able to take the day off work and we spent the entire day together as a family! with kurtis working quite a bit lately time together has been a rare thing so this was the best gift we could give one another.

after getting to sleep in a bit we woke up and got out the door by about 9. we drove into la and had breakfast at the pantry.

i had never been there and we figured it would be fun to enjoy some of the historical things that surround us in this city. after a yummy and indulgent breakfast we had to work off the calories so we did a hike to the hollywood sign.

we had brought our back pack for malachi but we have a stud of a son and he was able to complete the 3 mile round trip hike on his own! (kurtis only carried him for about a quarter mile)

we stopped at home for a quick shower and then went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner, open sesame.

what a fabulous anniversary, spending it with each other and the 2 biggest blessings god has given us in the last 8 years. we had a lot of fun talking about all that we have experienced since august of 2000 and about hopes and dreams we have for the next 8 years. only god knows but we look forward what he has for us!

did my 2 year old just say that?

in the car the other day i noticed malachi holding zoe's hand. when i commented on how kind that was he said, "i hold zoe's hand otherwise she cries." otherwise? when did he learn that? probably when he learned the word "actually." what a fun time this is, watching malachi's vocabulary explode! :)

face painting...

...with yogurt!
this is what happens when
mom is distracted and i am left at the breakfast table
by myself.

4 months

our baby girl is growing so fast. we went to her 4 month check up today and she weighed 15 lbs 6 oz which is in the 86th percentile. she measured in the 98th percentile for length, but those are just numbers. the fun growth is watching her little personality come out and watching her learn so many new things.

zoe is...

...having a lot of fun discovering her voice: cooing, squealing, babbling and giggling
...happiest when comforted by her mama
...learning that it's a lot of fun to be on her belly where she can look around
...pushing herself up with her arms quite well and is learning how to push with her feet
...scooting her way toward toys, though it takes her a little while :)
...interested in watching her brother no matter what he is doing
...happy to sit with malachi and i when we're reading
...grabbing at anything and everything she can and puts everything into her mouth
...sucking on a pacifier to help her go to sleep but prefers to suck on her fingers when she is awake
...attaching herself to a little blanket that was given to her from some friends of ours
...adorable when she sleeps. she has one arm covering her face, the other is usually holding the blanket
...still waking at night, which i think is fine for a 4 month old, call me crazy
...loves to cuddle, during the day or night ;)
...a beautiful girl with big blue eyes (dark blue, but still blue for now, we'll see if they change), cheeks that call to be kissed a thousand times a day and a full head of hair, still dark brown in color but seems to be getting lighter
...showing interest in what goes on at meals, though i have no need to start her on solids any time soon (you just can't beat the convenience and nutrition of mama's milk, not to mention at 15+ lbs she is obviously getting plenty)
...very content laying on the floor or 'standing' in her exersaucer
...an amazing BLESSING!

earthquake

did you feel it? we did. the kids didn't seem to notice, they were both sitting in the stroller (our fabulous, most wonderful new BOB duallie revolution that we got THE most amazing deal on, but that should be another post but it won't be...you can ask me about it if you are interested) annnywaay...
earthquakes have never seemed to bother me much in the past but i think this is the first one of any significance that i have felt since having kids, it actually shook me up a little bit.

during the few seconds it lasted all i could think about was, where can i go to make sure my kids don't get hurt. do i stay put (under this patio roof) or do i push the stroller out onto the sidewalk (closer to a large tree) or do i make a run for the empty lot across the street?

what are the 'rules' about earthquake safety? i think i'd better freshen up on them before the next one hits.

First for this summer

tonight we met some of our good friends at a park to listen to some wonderful music. our city puts on free concerts in the park during the summer and this was the first one we had a chance to go to this year. it was zoe's first time, she spent it sucking/chewing on her hands. malachi enjoyed running around with his friends, dancing and applauding at the end of each piece and kurtis and i enjoyed relaxing and catching up with old friends. we did bring some dessert to enjoy together but next time we plan on packing a yummy dinner as well. can't wait 'till next weekend!

talking our ears off

updates on the little ones

malachi finished his swimming lessons yesterday. can't really say he graduated from level 1 but he at least learned to be a little more comfortable in the water, specifically going under water. he even went off the diving board yesterday with his instructor. of course it was the one day i forgot to bring my camera, so i failed at capturing the moment. hopefully i will get a picture the first time he jumps by himself. watching the lessons gave us some ideas of what to do with him in the water, so hopefully we will get many opportunities to swim the rest of the summer.he continues to love playing with his cars. he loves jumping and playing in the sand and dirt. we'd be rich if i had a penny for every time i heard someone say "he is all boy." he continues to enjoy testing all the boundaries and can be very challenging at times, but then again he is a 2 year old. :) he is very talkative and communicates quite well and he makes us laugh with the comments that he comes up with. he is a ton of fun!

and for zoe...our beautiful girl with a smile that lights up a room, her content soul makes it a joy and relatively easy to have two kids. she is coming up on 4 months and weighs in at about 16 pounds already (according to our scale). she can roll both ways, though she doesn't roll from back to front too often. she grabs and plays with her toes which is adorable, grabs and hits at toys, coos and talks a lot and loves to watch her brother as he plays. she is also working on her first two teeth already. we can see the white spots on her bottom gums, we'll see how long it takes for them to cut all the way through.

she continues to amaze me with her sleeping. she is not really on a strict schedule with sleeping but she goes down easy. she usually has about 3 or 4 naps a day an hour each. she goes down at night at the same time as malachi and wakes a couple times at night. laying her down awake and having her go to sleep on her own (with a pacifier) is something i am very grateful for.