Santa, 2011

Our annual visit to Santa......

That's how we roll

Several years ago I took Mo to see the Nutcracker. Mo was just 3, and it was a DISASTER. I won't go into details, but let's just say at one point, she was putting buggers in the man's hair that was sitting in front of us.

Fast forward to this year, some friends won a Nutcracker package....which included getting to the show in a limo. They invited us to go along, and we had so much fun riding in style. The girls had a blast, and this time really enjoyed the show. Mo is the perfect age for it.

This is the only picture I got of the whole evening, which is a shame, because we all looked GOOD!

Zoo Lights

This year, we went to Zoo Lights. We haven't been in several years, so it was time. We have a friend who works at the zoo, and she gave us the inside scoop on how to enjoy it. The trick is to go either early or late, and go straight to the train....otherwise, you wait in line for the train for over an hour! This year, the weather has been so dry, that zoo lights is packed every night. So, we bundled up the kids, got our hot chocolate ready, and headed out the door before the sun even began to set.

Enjoying our hot beverages!







Getting some animal love (which sounds bad, but it is very innocent!)

Hook, Line, and Sinker

This year, Mo asked (almost not thinking about it) if Santa was real. I couldn't tell if she had heard something from school, or if she is just starting to figure it out on her own. We both assured her that he was real, and that he comes every year when you believe. She was very happy with that answer, and it hasn't come up since.

Then, this showed up in my email this week........cut and paste the link and you can see it.

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/g6aoTfaRFnfVeN_hxl94oZw?utm_campaign=share-video&utm_medium=share&utm_source

We should've taken a video of her watching it, her face was frozen, her eyes were as big as saucers.....she is totally back into Santa magic.....and I think if we keep getting these videos each year, we may have 3 more good years left!

That damn elf.....

So, it is Thanksgiving, which means wonderful food with friends and family. It also means the return of Tito, the Elf on the Shelf. If you have forgotten Tito, and what he means to us, check out this past blog post.

Tito (named after Michael Jackson's brother).......is suppose to come the day after Thanksgiving. So, tonight, I went to the closet where I thought we put him last year. No elf. Went to the basement. No elf.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the damn elf had gone!!!!

So, while I sit on the computer, trolling the internet looking for a place to order just the elf.....Scout's remembers where it is and finds it. She put it away last year in our canning jar collection.

Crisis averted......

The Nursery

So, I have not done the best job on showing pictures of the Bean's room. I am proud to say that everything in that room we already owned....or I made. I have been getting my craft on lately....

Here is the grand reveal......if we were on HGTV, someone would have their eyes closed and start squealing about now....

Here is the view from the hallway. You can see it is a small room, but it has everything you need. Beanie is sitting in the chair....she is getting used to have her picture taken!

This is above her crib. It seems like everyone on the Internet is doing this these days, but I still liked it anyway. It was super easy (and cheap)....just fabric quarters and embroidery hoops.

The other side of the room. I made the curtains for the windows and the closet doors.....I was impressed with myself. Behind the window curtains are black-out curtains....for better napping!


Standing in the room, here is her changing table. It is a bookcase from IKEA that we got a while ago for Mo's toys. It wasn't really being used, so I reused it here. It is very narrow, which is what we needed for the space in the room. Plus, it holds a ton of stuff.


These 2 gems are my latest creations. Don't they look like something you could buy off ETSY? I made these with my 2 little hands. I think they turned out super cute, and I would even do this project again. I may write up a little tutorial, it was so easy, and very rewarding. Again, this was another idea I adapted from others on the Internet!

I want to add something hanging in the corner.....maybe a mobile of some kind, hanging lamps, something......gotta put my brain to work on that one, but for now, it is good.

That's about it.....the nursery.....she seems to like it. Now it is all nice and neat....but I know, it won't stay that way!!!!

An Updated Bean

I was so excited about her little outfit today, that we had to have a photo shoot! Her legs are almost long enough for leg warmers (almost).....

The bean is doing well, we have had some issues with nursing which has also meant some trouble with sleeping, but I think we have figured it out. The Bean has always been a snacker! She is what the lactation people call a "lazy nurser." She would hang out on the boob, just snacking all day if she could. As a result, in the past few weeks, I am not producing enough milk for her. She isn't demanding enough to make my body produce the milk. So, she has gotten frustrated, and hungry....which has led her to not sleep as well as she was.

So, after a week of pumping all the time....I mean 4-5 times a day, and also trying to pump 10 minutes after she nurses, I feel like we are back on track. The only problem still is she eats better from the bottle. She doesn't have to work so hard at it.....so we are bottle feeding her more, which means I have to pump more....which really is just a time suck....20 minutes of pumping, 20 minutes of feeding....and doing that 4-5 times a day.....really cuts down on the amount of time I have.

But the upside is....she is back to her great sleeping self.....what mommies won't do for a full night of sleep!

But, we are trying to figure it all out. I am going back to work soon, and she will be mostly bottle fed at that point.....so I guess we are just moving into that a bit earlier than I would have liked....but the bean wants what the bean wants.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Mo has been super into writing out her list for Santa. She has written and rewritten it several times. This morning, she decided to take another run at it....

Mo: How do you spell Barbie Fun House?

Me: b-a-r-b-i-e f-u-n-h-o-u-s-e

Mo: How do you spell Little Pet Shop?

Me: l-i-t-t-l-e-p-e-t-s-h-o-p

Mo: How do you spell IPhone?

(short pause)

Me: n-e-v-e-r

Halloween

Spooky times......Mo woke up this morning, and the first thing she said was "I get to trick-or-treat tonight!" I feel sorry for her teacher today, Mo was AMPED for the whole event tonight.....

Here are some pictures of our whole Halloween season this year......lots going on....

These are all Halloween decorations that we put up this year.....mostly homemade....by yours truly!


...ignore the peeling wallpaper.....one day, it will all come down.

spooky spiders crawling up our walls

Our ghost tree....this was very fun to have on our dining room table.

We went trick or treating in the neighborhood. Stefani and little R came over to go with us. This was R's first Halloween where she really understood what was going on. It was super fun, and the girls were very cute together. R was a cat, and Mo was Supergirl.


Lida went as a monkey.....
She wasn't happy.


Hitting up all the local houses.




Making sure everything is accounted for..


Lida loved going around in her stroller....at least for a little bit.

A great night.

Side tracked....in a good way.

I know I said that I would focus on getting the dining room taken care of......but, I have lost focus (surprise, surprise). This weekend, we decided to deal with the bathroom cabinets.

When we moved into the house 2 years ago, we had about 3 weeks to get everything moved in and settled before I went back to work. Needless to say, somethings got shoved behind a closed door, and have remained that way. The bathroom cabinets were one of those things. We didn't have time to figure out where to put things, and we didn't have time to really set it up for easy use.

Somehow, I don't have a before picture.....not sure where that went, but here is the after. Take my word for it, it is a BIG difference! The storage baskets make such a difference.

Taco Night

A glimpse into our family dinners.....

Yup, it is really red

So, for a while now, it is clear that the Bean has red hair. Although, I can't really believe that it is going to stay red....but so far, she is certainly a red-head....the proof is in the ginger pudding!!!

Introducing the bean.....

Isn't she fantastic!!!

THe difference between #1 and #2

So, there are many differences in our parenting between our 2 kids....things we never did with Mo, we are doing now....and vice versa.....Overall, we are much more laid back with this new baby girl!

Case in point, today at the grocery store....I was checking out, and realized I had forgotten cottage cheese. I could have left the line, wheeled the cart (with the baby in it) to the dairy aisle and gotten the missing cottage cheese.....instead, I looked at the clerk, and said, I have to run get cottage cheese, can I just leave her here. She said yes, and off I went.

I left her with a total stranger (well, not so total, she has checked out our groceries before)....and what do you know...everything was fine!

Scout wasn't too down with it though.....

The Foot.....

I feel like 'the foot' has taken on a life of its own. People know that I broke my foot last year, had 2 surgeries, yadda, yadda....I am "supposedly" healed....meaning, my foot won't get much better than it is right now.....after intense physical therapy, seeing a doctor for a year.....this is a good as it gets, ladies and gentlemen.

That doesn't mean that my foot is back to normal. It won't ever be. My foot makes itself known in my life every single day. When I come down the stairs in the morning. My foot is stiff, achy and I have to stagger my steps like a toddler, one foot at a time.......no sauntering up to a curb or step and just stepping up on the front half of my foot. Those days are OVER! At the end of the day, my foot is tired.....and not sore, just tired. The other foot is fine, and it did the same amount of walking as the hurt foot, but I just FEEL it in my hurt foot.

Buying shoes is the worst of all. I have to have super wide shoes. Wides shoes that you get at a store aren't wide enough. I have had to buy shoes at Jay's Wide Shoes (and even half the shoes in there don't fit)........it is horrible!

I hate my foot. I hate that it is such a pain in my ass all the time.

Speaking of sleep

Scout and I have always said that we would not allow kids to sleep in our bed. At least not forever, the first few months are fine...but after that kids should be in the kids' beds and adults should be in the adult bed.....be careful what you say before you have kids.

Well, the Bean is almost 3 months, and she is sleeping in our bed. She sleeps on a changing pad in the middle of the bed. That way, she can't roll out, and we can't roll on her.

Mo always goes to bed in her own bed. In fact, we read a book downstairs, give hugs and kisses, and she goes up to her bed on her own and sleeps. But every night, sometime in the middle of the night, she finds her way into our bed. Most nights, I sleep right through it.....I wake up in the morning to her there. This was fine before the baby came, but now.....it makes for one crowded bed. Here is the bird's eye view!

At one point, I asked Scout if there is a bed that is bigger than a king. Which is what we have now. It is so crowded. Scout and I have just the slivers on the side of the bed.....and the kids are sprawled out....getting great sleep, while we toss and turn, and try to keep our covers!

We are starting to transition the Bean into the crib....and once she is in the crib at night, we are going to just make a sweeping declaration of no kids in our bed. I think the Bean will be fine (what does she know anyway).....Mo, on the other hand......should be interesting!

The 'ole College Try

The other day on the way home, Mo had the following conversation with Scout.

Mo: I don't like our life now.

Scout: What do you mean?

Mo: I want things to be the way the were before, things are no fun now.

Scout: You mean, now that the Bean is here?

Mo: Yes, I tried it.....and I don't like it. It is time to adopt her out.

Scout: Adopt her out?!?!?

Mo: Yes, give her to Steph and Leah, they need a baby....we can adopt her to them.

I think that just sums the whole thing up!

Sleeps Like a Baby

So, I am not sure if I have alluded to the fact that this little Beannie is an amazing sleeper! I mean really good....better than your average baby! She has been a good sleeper since the very beginning, but we thought it was because she had jaundice, and that makes babies sleepy. But we are now 9 weeks old, and this girl can SLEEP!

A typical night has her going to bed around 8:30, and sleeping through the next morning. She wakes about once a night to nurse, but she kind of sleeps through it, and frankly so do I. She goes right back to sleep, no problem! So, I am getting a ton of sleep....I don't feel sleepy at all.

During the day, she takes 3 good naps....in the morning for about an hour, a solid 2-3 hour nap early afternoon, and a short 30 minute on at 5:00-ish......

I know she is only 9 weeks old, and I am not naive enough to think that this could be a regular schedule. Even though this could change in a heartbeat, I am loving it......

Only in Portland

Last night, all of a sudden we could hear a low flying helicopter flying right over our house. It kept making passes over our neighborhood, and was clearly circling around. Scout got a bit freaked out, since it sounded like Prison Break outside, and we started locking our doors.

We finally figured out what was going on......here is the explanation from KGW 8....local news.



So, this happened during rush hour....not only did multiple people stop and hold up traffic, but the news helicopter covered this live for about 5 minutes.......Gotta love Portland.

PS.....I love the person totally busting it trying to catch the dog!!!!

School News

So, this is something that I have mixed feelings about that I need to confess.

Last year at this time, if you came to our house, you would have heard the following things come out of my mouth...."I have heard such good things about our neighborhood school, Roseway Heights. It is so important to support your neighborhood school." Scout and I fully intended on sending Mo to the neighborhood school that is close by. By close by, I mean, Roseway is less than 2 blocks away. If the house on our corner wasn't there, I could lean off our porch and see it from our house. It is CLOSE! I had visions of walking Mo to school, hand in hand, talking about her day...yadda, yadda! Mo would need a sweet little umbrella during the winter months.....I mean, I had a whole vision.

So, where is Mo going to Kindergarten? The school where I work, Llewellyn. Llewellyn, which is in a whole, different part of town.....takes 20-30 minutes one way to drive there....most definitely, not our neighborhood school.

Do I fee like a hypocrite? Of course, I do......I won't go into the reason why we made the move, but now that we have.....I am secretly LOVING it. Llewellyn is such a sweet school, and I know everyone there, and I just feel so wonderful having Mo in that environment. It feels like I can still keep her close to us for a little while longer. Even though I am off on maternity leave for the first part of the year, and I have to drive her there everyday......I love it that she is there.

The first day, I was so emotional with her going to school....with all the changes she is experiences, and how much she will grow over this year. I couldn't have imagined her doing that at a school where I don't work.

We intended this to be a one year thing....for kindergarten only.....but we are loving it so much, who knows what we will decide next year......all I know is.....we are all so happy!

The Dining Room

Otherwise known as the deep, dark bane of my existence. I am not a huge fan of the dining room. It is dark, has awful shutters on the windows and a horrible light fixture....here are some photos to remind folks about this room.....


Don't you love the pile of junk on the floor in the right bottom corner!!!!

So here is my to-do list....

1. Do something with the light fixture
2. Recover the chairs
3. Remove the shutters and put up some curtains.....cafe-style?
4. Re-think the built-in corner cabinet....maybe take the doors off?
4. Get some decent artwork on the walls
5. Have a nice everyday centerpiece

Eventually, we want to replace the paneling that is on the lower half of the walls, and replace it real wainscoating. But that has to be on someone else's to-do list....not mine!

I usually jump around from project to project, and stuff sits half done forever (which drives me crazy)....but this time, I am taking it room by room.....keeping my focus, and getting it done. Let's see if the baby will cooperate!

What To Do.....

So, I am officially off work until January. I may have to go back in December, but I think it will work out that I won't go back to teaching until after Winter Break. Hell to the yah!!!! So anyway, I have this time on my hands. Mo is in school every day, the Bean is home with me......and I know the purpose of the whole family leave is to spend time with my baby, which I fully intend on doing. But, at the same time, it would be nice to get some projects done.....fun projects....things I never have time to do, but want to.....

I don't think many people read this blog, and frankly, it really has just been a place to record all our families comings and goings, but I want it to serve as a place where I can document things that we are doing around the house.....I mean, our house is 100 years old...it could use some sprucing up! I love looking at home renovation blogs, so I am dipping my toe in with this one. You will see more home projects posted here, if for nothing else, so I can see the progress! So, for right now, here is my "TO-DO" list......it may be complete wishful thinking that I can get this stuff done, but you never know.....

Full Circle

My first year at Llewellyn, I was pregnant with Mo. There was a student teacher named Michele that was also pregnant. We both had girls...born 10 days apart. We have become friends over the past 5 years, and so have our daughters.

Fast forward......now our girls, are both going to Kindergarten at Llewellyn....where it all began. Talk about full circle.

First Day of Kindergarten

Mo is going to Kindergarten. The day has finally come. We both knew it would, but I never thought it would be that hard....not for her, but for us. The day before it hit us that we wouldn't have a preschool any more, that her entire world was about to change. Literally, we were looking over all her first day paperwork, and Scout and I were BAWLING. Tears streaming down our faces. It was super intense. Mo was so excited. She has been ready for kindergarten for a while now, and she was about to jump out of her skin to get there.


Starting to get nervous as we waited on the playground.


Mo has her own locker...she shares with a girl aptly know as Georgia!!!




This is her table....she is ready to go.

Go Dawgs!

And, yes....I think that is some red hair!!!!

Holding the baby!

Mo LOVES to hold her sister. She is such a little mama! At first, it would scare me, just because the bean is so little, and fragile....and Mo isn't know for her delicate touch! She throws her around like a sack of potatoes! She is very sweet with her little sister, but Bean has to get a bit stronger before I totally trust Mo. So, for now, we practice. She can hold her when we are right next to her....even then, I am tempted to grab the baby away because she is being "too rough."

When she does hold her, it is super sweet. She talks baby talk to her.....gives her kisses...is just the little mommy. Warms the heart.

Grandparents!!!

The past several weeks have been busy. We have had Nana come to town to meet her newest grandbaby. We enjoyed spending time with her. Mo talked her into going to the park almost every day...one day, they went 2 times!!!! Somehow, Mo talked my 78 year old mother into going down the slide! There must be serious love there.

Also, My dad and stepmom came to visit shortly afterwards.....I had to go back to work for about 2 weeks, and they came and kept the girls for one of those weeks. It was a tremendous help, and the bonus was.....they all had a great time. They went to see The Smurfs and Winnie the Pooh. They went for walks, and just had a great time! Plus, Elaine discovered the newest ice cream shop that has WILD ice cream flavors.....I am partial to the lemon basil!!!

Cutey-Patooty....

Not sure if I spelled the title correctly, but you get the point!


Here are the cute girls...who can resist!




Mo is getting so good at holding her sister. She loves her so much. She kisses her, and holds her hand....and is always helping pick out her clothes, and helping with diaper changes. She is such a good big sister. I knew should would be, but it is so amazing to see. I love her even more (if that was possible).......

We are so lucky to have such beautiful daughters.....