Baths, Bubbles and Babbles

I feel like I could start every blog entry with "It's been a busy couple of weeks...".  Life just doesn't seem to slow down at all.  We're still moving forward at lightning speed.  I can't believe May is almost over!  I feel like it just started.  Evelyn is already 7 months old!  AND, Krystal (one of my best girlfriends as most of you know) will be celebrating her daughter Moriah's first birthday!  I swear it seems like just a couple of months ago I was anxiously checking my phone every minute, waiting for the call that Moriah had made her appearance.  These kids are growing too fast!  But I digress.  Here's what's been going on with us in the last few weeks:

Evelyn is no longer sitting in her baby tub anymore!  She's sitting in the regular bathtub with Max now.  I would post a picture of it, but I dropped my camera in the tub trying to get one and haven't wanted to destroy our back up camera too, so I've been keeping it out of the bathroom.  Maybe I'll get some pictures later.  Max loves having his sis in there with him and they both love splashing and making a huge mess of things. 

Evelyn is also becoming more and more vocal.  She is constantly squealing and screeching and laughing.  She's also saying gaga, dada, and baba among other incoherent noises.  I think she loves the sound of her own voice.  Speaking of speech, Max is progressing quite well with his.  He can now make the sound of pretty much every letter in the alphabet.  He is even learning to read though this whole process.  He can point at a letter and say what sound it makes.  He's up to saying about 10 words now.  His speech pathologist has been feeling really good about his progress.  Since he's able to make all the sounds, we're going to be working on blending them together to make more words.  He even said his first sentence on Monday- Bubbles up.  Sure, it's only a 2-word sentence, but a sentence nonetheless.  I was a proud mama. 

That's about all that's been going on around here lately.  We have FINALLY been getting some consistent sun, so we've been able to get outside a bit more.  We even took Evelyn on her first hike!  We also got a visit from Matt's sister Julia and our friend Frankie.  We had a great weekend while they were here.  We went to the market, had dinner at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, got some shopping in and just hung out.  I miss those girls so much and had such a great time with them!  I was even more appreciative that they came when I found out Julia was SWAMPED with a bunch of stuff at work and Frankie was at the tail end of the process of buying a new house.  Yet they came anyway.  Thanks ladies!

I'll end for today with a super cute story.  The other night I fed Evelyn and put her to bed as I usually do.  Matt, Julia and I gave her kisses before I put her down for the night.  Shortly after that, Max started getting really upset.  He was crying and pointing toward the hallway.  I saw that I had a bottle of water on the ledge where he was pointing, so I thought he was thirsty and offered it to him, but that wasn't it.  I asked him to get up and show me what he wanted.  He started walking toward the bathroom, so I asked him if he wanted a bath and he said no.  He pointed to Evelyn's room so I figured he must need a diaper change (we have the changing table in her room), but he said no and even bent over so I could double check.  Ha! Ha!  Then he went into Evelyn's room.  I was a little irritated since she was falling asleep and here he was crying in her room.  Then I realized he was pointing at her crib.  Then it dawned on me.  I asked him if he wanted to give Evelyn a kiss good night.  He nodded.  So I lifted him up and dipped him in the crib to give his sister (who immediately put her arms up for him as soon as she saw him) a kiss.  That was all he needed.  He went to bed after that and my heart almost exploded from the sweetness of it all.

Apparently grass doesn't taste as good as it looks.

Messing around at the zoo

Daddy blowing bubbles with his little girl

Hiking on a beautiful spring day

Angel face

20 Lessons Learned Since Becoming a Mom

I can't believe today is my third Mother's Day as a mommy!  In honor of the occasion,  I have compiled a list of observations and lessons I learned since becoming a mom. 

1) Sleeping in as a single girl meant staying in bed until noon.  Sleeping in as a parent means being able to stay in bed past 7am.
2) Spit up, drool, and snot have replaced earrings, bracelets and necklaces as go-to accessories.
3) There are two things parents have infinite supplies of: love and patience.
4) It takes 30 minutes to get the kids rounded up and ready to go for a 20 minute trip to the grocery store.
5) Kids learn everything at their own pace.  You just have to sit back and let the process happen without worrying that they're not "keeping up" with other kids.
6) It's impossible not to worry about your kids.
7) Shopping for myself is not nearly as fun as shopping for my kids.
8) Sometimes it is REALLY hard to keep a straight face when trying to discipline an adorable toddler.
9) In under a minute, kids can make a perfectly clean living room look like it was hit by a hurricane.
10) Grey hair comes in twice as fast after kids.
11) Nothing makes me love my husband more than watching him play with our children.
12) I am willing to look like a complete idiot in public for the sake of making my kids laugh.
13) There is no sweeter sound than their laughter.
14) There is no sweeter sight than the kids sleeping peacefully.
15) Kissing a boo boo really does make it better.
16) The terrible twos begin at age one.
17) Looking into the eyes of my little ones makes me feel optimistic about the world.  I know they are making it better just by being in it.
18) The most perfect parents are imperfect.
19) As a parent, it is really easy to read a dozen books in a day.  They just all happen to be about 10 pages long and have lots of colorful pictures.
20) There is no love on Earth as powerful as the love a mother feels for her children.

The two most beautiful things I have ever laid eyes on.

Doggie Update

For those of you who know our furry kids, I thought I should give an update on what's going on with big Jack.  We had been giving him insulin two times a day and switched over to a special kind of diabetic dog food.  After that, we just kind of crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.  We were also supposed to get his blood glucose readings ever hour or so to give to the vet so she could see how he was reacting to the insulin.  It was around this time that everything kind of started going in the crapper.  We discovered after a few days of trying to get his glucose readings that the reader (which we paid an arm and a leg for) was broken, so we had to send it back to get repaired or replaced.  While we were waiting, Jackson was just getting sicker, thinner and slower.  Once we got it back, we realized we only had a few test strips left and needed to order more of those before we could get his readings.  We FINALLY got everything we needed and once again started the process.  We had to do it on Matt's days off because I am terrible at drawing enough blood for he reading and it is really hard for me to do when taking care of the kiddos at the same time.  So eventually we got the readings to the vet.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that Jackson also woke up one morning with a very swollen leg.  Apparently he got some kind of infection and needed to be on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds.  Ugh.  The vet got back to us and said that his readings seemed normal, but that she was a bit alarmed that he was losing so much weight when most dogs GAIN weight when they get diabetes.  He also had been having some trouble getting up on things like the bed or into the car.  His back legs seemed to be going out on him.  So...back to the vet's office we went for more tests and x-rays.  We were pretty nervous- we thought he had cancer.  It turns out that he just has a nasty case of arthritis and needed meds for that and a higher insulin dose.  We were relieved our big guy is cancer free.  As I joked to Sue, he's a perfectly healthy dog.  Except for the epilepsy.  And the diabetes.  And the arthritis.  So now he's on the different dosage of insulin and medicine for his arthritis.  In another week or so we'll have to get new glucose readings to make sure the insulin is doing it's job.  Jackson seems to have more pep in his step, so we're hoping for the best.  We really can't afford for anything else to go wrong at this point.  Between all his medicines, syringes, needles, special dog food and testing supplies, it is literally costing us more to pay for him than it is to raise our children.  And that's not even including the cost of the vet visits!  Poor Matt has been having to work as many extra shifts as he can to pay for it all, and it's taking it's toll on all of us.  But we can't bring ourselves to NOT do everything we can for Jack.  So like I said, we're hoping we won't get any more curve balls thrown at us and that his body will respond well to what's being given to him now.  I'll hopefully be able to post some good news a little further on down the road.  On the brighter side of things, Margie is very healthy.  A bit pudgy, but otherwise great!

Max and Big Jack just before the diabetes diagnosis

Grandmas, Easter and SUNSHINE!

As I've mentioned earlier, things continue to move full speed ahead for us.  We hit the ground running when we got home from Las Vegas and we haven't slowed down since.  My mom came to visit during her spring break not too long after we got home.  It was a wonderful visit, but then again, every time my mom comes is wonderful.  What is it about a visit from mom that just makes everything seem right in the world?  Anyway, the kids had a great time with Grammy.  We spend one beautiful, sunny day out in Sherwood, where the kids played with my mom, aunt and cousins while I had a nice, grown-up lunch with Becca for her 30th birthday.  Then we went out to see the Tulip Festival.  It was so gorgeous and there was so much for Max to see and do.  He even went on a ride where he was put in a harness that was dangling from a long, mechanical arm and was bounced up and down on a trampoline.  I was pretty nervous, but he had a blast.  The kid has no fear.  Other than that little trip, we mostly just took it easy, played outside, and did a little bit of shopping.  Mom got to come and watch Max at one of his swim lessons.  He just finished up about a week ago, but I think I'm going to have to sign him up for more.  He loves the water.  He was crying the first day because he wanted to get out and crying the last day because he wanted to get back in.

Flying high

Mom and I with the kids

Evelyn in her Griz colors

Max showing off his summer 'do

Max and I at swim lessons

 After mom left, Matt and I took the kids sledding up at Mount Hood.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect.  Max couldn't get enough- he would have been happy to keep sledding through the whole weekend.  I can't wait until next year when Evelyn can get in on the action too.  I have a feeling she'll be a little thrill seeker just like her brother.

 That weekend was Easter, so we had "Uncle" Skip come over for dinner and egg dying on Saturday.  The messiness involved with egg dying is right up Max's alley, so as you may have guessed, he had lots of fun.  I think he loved squeezing the eggs until they cracked as much as he loved getting into the dye.  On Easter Sunday, Matt hid the eggs outside and we sent Max out to hunt for them.  He was really good at it too!  He caught on pretty quickly as to what he was supposed to do and was running all over the yard tracking them down.  Then we let the kids go through their Easter baskets  and play with their new toys.  That afternoon we went out to Sherwood again to have Easter dinner with my aunt, uncle, and cousins.  My cousin Amy and her husband Trevor brought brisket that he smoked all night.  Yum.  It was a delicious dinner with wonderful company.  My family is awesome!   It was a great way to spend an Easter Sunday.

Having fun with Skip

Hunting for eggs

Look what I have!

Max and Evelyn with cousins Rylie, Parker, Abbie and Logan

And last, but certainly not least, we got a visit from Matt's mom Sue.  Matt had to work most of the time she was here, but we did all get to go to a fish hatchery near the Bonneville dam.  It was more fun than it sounds.  Ha! Ha!   There was a pool where Max got to feed salmon.  Or was it trout?  Either way, he loved it.  We also went below ground to get a glimpse of at 10 foot, 400 pound sturgeon.  It was UGLY, but pretty interesting to watch.   Sue and I later took advantage of another beautiful sunny day to go to the Portland Market downtown with the kids and met family friends Jimmy and Julie.  It was so nice to shop, relax, listen to some music and eat some tasty and greasy food.  It was a great visit and I'm so glad we got enough sunshine to actually get outside for a bit. 

The kids with Grandma downtown at the Market

She was too distracted by all the activity to focus on eating

That look usually means he's up to something

So April and May (so far) have been crazy busy, fun, exciting, and somewhat overwhelming.  But we're loving life and are looking forward to more great times.  Coming up: A visit from Julia and Frankie!

A Whole Lot of Firsts

We've been on a wild ride around here over the last few weeks.  It's been especially exciting for Evelyn since she has crossed several milestones.  She has gotten her first tooth, eaten her first solid foods, sat up for the first time on her own and had her first swim lesson.  Busy, busy.

But I suppose I should back track a bit.  I took both kids in the the pediatrician's office for their wellness exams.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it was Max's 2 year appointment and Evelyn's 6 month.  Where has the time gone?!  Both kids are strong and healthy and took their shots like champs.  I think the shots are harder for me than for them.  Max is now officially over 3 feet tall!  Matt has always joked that Max will be taller than me by the time he's 5.  Now I'm starting to believe that might happen.  Ha! Ha!  Max was off the charts for height and head size, but only in the 65th percentile for weight.  So he's  built just like his mama, except for the tall, skinny part.  I call him my little lollipop.  At this point the Dr isn't concerned about his weight.  He eats plenty and is very healthy.  He just has a fast metabolism and NEVER sits still.  If he's awake, he's on the move.

Evelyn is a bit more proportional.  She's a tall, chubby, sturdy bundle of cuteness.  We started feeding her rice cereal with breast milk just before she turned 6 months and have since added in apples, sweet potatoes, pears, peas, bananas, carrots and squash.  She's a pretty good eater, but LOVES the pears and carrots.  Her first tooth finally made it's appearance a couple of weeks ago, and her second one is on it's way.  She's been handling it really well.  So far I've been able to keep her comfortable just with teething rings, teething tablets and a little Tylenol at bedtime.  My wonderful friend Krystal gave us "teething bling", a round, black, pendant that I wear around my neck that Evelyn loves to chew on and can actually pass as real jewelry.  Whoever came up with that idea is a genius.  As for Evelyn's other firsts, she can sit up unassisted now and continues to roll all over the place.  I think she's trying really hard to keep up with her big brother, who she adores.  And last, but not least, she also went to her first swim lesson and loved it!  I was so relieved.  I thinks it's also a great way for her to burn off some energy, because she also never wants to sit still.  She's even squirmier than Max was at this age (YIKES!).  She spend the whole time in the pool laughing, splashing and kicking.  It was great.

 
I am absolutely loving going through all these great times again.  These kiddos keep me on my toes, but I love re-discovering the world with them.  Every day is a new adventure.