Ethan is working on tooth #7! On the bottom, to the left of his current teeth. It's about half way out now.
Kaylee is working on tooth #3! Her first top tooth, just right of center. Just today it actually broke through. She is not loving the breaking through process, but soon she'll be able to take bites out of nerf balls... just like ethan did today. no more nerf balls I guess...
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
goodbye milk
Be warned. This is a post about boobs and milk. Continue at your own risk.
goodbye milk. As I (think) I blogged about already, on June 10 I dropped from pumping 4x day to 3x day. One of my boobs is apparently offended by this. It's gone on strike and declared that if I don't love and appreciate all the milk it's given me thus far enough to pump 4x day, it just won't make any milk at all. Last night when I pumped, I got 20 drops from it. I counted them as I dripped them into the other bottle. 20 drops. I still have some fenugreek and blessed thistle (which are herb-pills that are supposed to increase your milk supply) and I'm taking those. I realize the end is near, and nearer than I'd hoped or expected, but as long as I've already bought the pills, why not take them?
My insurance stops paying for the pump on July 10. I think at that point I'll go down to pumping 2x day. Then, over the next month, I'll drop down to 1x day and then be done. I had originally planned to last a little longer, but I've given it a good fight, and given where I'm at now, it's just not worth pretending that a few ounces a day is really worth pumping for that much longer. So this is the beginning of the end. Goodbye pumping. I have hated you, but loved the benefit you darn well better be giving my kiddos.
goodbye milk. As I (think) I blogged about already, on June 10 I dropped from pumping 4x day to 3x day. One of my boobs is apparently offended by this. It's gone on strike and declared that if I don't love and appreciate all the milk it's given me thus far enough to pump 4x day, it just won't make any milk at all. Last night when I pumped, I got 20 drops from it. I counted them as I dripped them into the other bottle. 20 drops. I still have some fenugreek and blessed thistle (which are herb-pills that are supposed to increase your milk supply) and I'm taking those. I realize the end is near, and nearer than I'd hoped or expected, but as long as I've already bought the pills, why not take them?
My insurance stops paying for the pump on July 10. I think at that point I'll go down to pumping 2x day. Then, over the next month, I'll drop down to 1x day and then be done. I had originally planned to last a little longer, but I've given it a good fight, and given where I'm at now, it's just not worth pretending that a few ounces a day is really worth pumping for that much longer. So this is the beginning of the end. Goodbye pumping. I have hated you, but loved the benefit you darn well better be giving my kiddos.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
ethan's new trick
check out ethan's new trick! (hint: it is not sucking his thumb)
I realize the sound is similar when his thumb/hand is in his mouth, but he's laughing there, not crying. He thinks his trick is pretty darn neat.
Monday, June 13, 2011
i love the weekends
I love the weekends.
My friend jackie recently got her Master's degree from UW and on saturday we went to a little party to celebrate her. way to go jackie! it was a fun little BBQ and the kiddos got to interact with a little dog, which was entertaining to watch. they weren't really sure at first, but then they decided little dogs were pretty fun. :)
we drove to the party (at debe and rob's, in seattle), a funny round-about way to avoid UW graduation traffic. the way we went followed the bike trail and we saw a tandem with a bike trailer go past! So on Sunday we went on our own little bike ride. we went to Wilmot Gateway Park in Woodinville, which is where we'll be having the kiddos' birthday party. (It's the same place we had the bike picnic for our wedding for those of you who went to that.) It took us about half an hour to bike there, then we stayed and played in the grass and on the baby swing for a bit over an hour and then we biked back. we learned that kaylee does not like her helmet at all (we eventually took it off, otherwise it was clear we weren't going to be going at all) and that other people bike with part of the trailer uncovered. our trailer has a few layers of "cover" so after noticing that all the other trailers were less covered than ours we rolled up the main rain-proof cover and just left the bug-shield down. the babies didn't mind either way, they were asleep most of the time, but I think getting a breeze is nice, so hopefully it wasn't too much of one!
we also learned that the kiddos love the baby swing. blake was doubtful about putting them in the swing back to back, but later he said it was his favorite part of the day. ethan loved it, but kaylee really loved it - she was just squealing and giggling the whole time.
anyway, here are a few pics.
more pics might come later, but blogger kept crashing while I tried to upload these so... that's all for now.
My friend jackie recently got her Master's degree from UW and on saturday we went to a little party to celebrate her. way to go jackie! it was a fun little BBQ and the kiddos got to interact with a little dog, which was entertaining to watch. they weren't really sure at first, but then they decided little dogs were pretty fun. :)
we drove to the party (at debe and rob's, in seattle), a funny round-about way to avoid UW graduation traffic. the way we went followed the bike trail and we saw a tandem with a bike trailer go past! So on Sunday we went on our own little bike ride. we went to Wilmot Gateway Park in Woodinville, which is where we'll be having the kiddos' birthday party. (It's the same place we had the bike picnic for our wedding for those of you who went to that.) It took us about half an hour to bike there, then we stayed and played in the grass and on the baby swing for a bit over an hour and then we biked back. we learned that kaylee does not like her helmet at all (we eventually took it off, otherwise it was clear we weren't going to be going at all) and that other people bike with part of the trailer uncovered. our trailer has a few layers of "cover" so after noticing that all the other trailers were less covered than ours we rolled up the main rain-proof cover and just left the bug-shield down. the babies didn't mind either way, they were asleep most of the time, but I think getting a breeze is nice, so hopefully it wasn't too much of one!
we also learned that the kiddos love the baby swing. blake was doubtful about putting them in the swing back to back, but later he said it was his favorite part of the day. ethan loved it, but kaylee really loved it - she was just squealing and giggling the whole time.
anyway, here are a few pics.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
happy 10 months ethan! / happy father's day blake
yes, I'm writing this on 6/12, but back-dating it to 6/11... I took the pictures on 6/11 okay? back to the content of the post though...
blake doesn't read this blog. he says he figures I tell him everything I write anyways. that's fine by me, and has the added perk that I can tell you all about his father's day gift ahead of time. :) but, you all need to not mention it to him for the next week, okay? (not that it would be that big of a deal, but shhh anyway)
my coworker laurel has a picture of one of her kids on her desk at work. it's several years old, her kid is much younger in the photo, and there's a button you can press and hear her kid giggle. she says it's one of her most treasured things because her kid not only doesn't look the same any more, but doesn't sound the same. So... I'm going to take two pics of the kiddos having fun w/ blake and put them in a side by side frame. I've also bought these two little gadgets that record and play back 10 seconds worth of sound and my goal is to record both of the kiddos giggling. I've got Kaylee done, but I haven't made a recording of Ethan yet.
for pictures, danielle and I were extra sneaky and at one of our photoshoots (the easter one) she was like, oh blake, I'd like to take some photos of you and the kiddos. and then yesterday blake was tossing the kids in the air at a nearby park where we were picnicking for dinner and the camera was actually in the diaper bag, so I snapped a few too. anyways, in celebration of ethan being 10 months, here are the ethan and blake pics...
those are my top 10. do you have a favorite?
blake doesn't read this blog. he says he figures I tell him everything I write anyways. that's fine by me, and has the added perk that I can tell you all about his father's day gift ahead of time. :) but, you all need to not mention it to him for the next week, okay? (not that it would be that big of a deal, but shhh anyway)
my coworker laurel has a picture of one of her kids on her desk at work. it's several years old, her kid is much younger in the photo, and there's a button you can press and hear her kid giggle. she says it's one of her most treasured things because her kid not only doesn't look the same any more, but doesn't sound the same. So... I'm going to take two pics of the kiddos having fun w/ blake and put them in a side by side frame. I've also bought these two little gadgets that record and play back 10 seconds worth of sound and my goal is to record both of the kiddos giggling. I've got Kaylee done, but I haven't made a recording of Ethan yet.
for pictures, danielle and I were extra sneaky and at one of our photoshoots (the easter one) she was like, oh blake, I'd like to take some photos of you and the kiddos. and then yesterday blake was tossing the kids in the air at a nearby park where we were picnicking for dinner and the camera was actually in the diaper bag, so I snapped a few too. anyways, in celebration of ethan being 10 months, here are the ethan and blake pics...
those are my top 10. do you have a favorite?
Friday, June 10, 2011
happy 10 months kaylee!
Today kaylee is 10 months old. 10 months, how crazy. (also, in other really exciting news which I am trying to pretend is not more exciting than my kid turning 10 months old... today is the day I am going down to pumping 3x day. I am SO excited. but back to kaylee...)
a few cute pics of kaylee in her birthday suit to celebrate...
I can get this thing off...
ta da! I did it! :)
(kaylee doesn't like things on her head. yesterday she got sunburned because we went to play in a park w/ audria and her kiddos ben and claire and a) I am a terrible mother and didn't put sunscreen on her b) it was sunnier than I expected, and c) she took her hat off every 5 seconds. I prob put it on at least 20 times... sigh.)
a few cute pics of kaylee in her birthday suit to celebrate...
I can get this thing off...
(kaylee doesn't like things on her head. yesterday she got sunburned because we went to play in a park w/ audria and her kiddos ben and claire and a) I am a terrible mother and didn't put sunscreen on her b) it was sunnier than I expected, and c) she took her hat off every 5 seconds. I prob put it on at least 20 times... sigh.)
Thursday, June 9, 2011
silence
so yesterday I was reading my friend lisa's blog, and she wrote about how silence is ominous. and I smiled to myself and thought, so true... and then, later on in the day, I encountered silence from my own little kiddos.
our dishwasher is currently broken, so the kitchen has been a mess. so I was in the kitchen, cleaning, and the kiddos were in the main room. at first they were playing together, but then kaylee wandered off. when I wasn't hearing them chatter anymore, I peered over the kitchen counter to see...
eating his diaper. it was still attached to one leg, so he was only able to access one end but...
sigh. silence is golden when they're napping, but ominous when they're awake...
our dishwasher is currently broken, so the kitchen has been a mess. so I was in the kitchen, cleaning, and the kiddos were in the main room. at first they were playing together, but then kaylee wandered off. when I wasn't hearing them chatter anymore, I peered over the kitchen counter to see...
kaylee eating daddy's running shoe. at the time I found her, she was just working on the laces. considering how many trails and streets those shoes have been down, I'm hoping she started with the laces, and not the bottoms or something...
then I went over to investigate what ethan was up to and found him...
sigh. silence is golden when they're napping, but ominous when they're awake...
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
kaylee can crawl!
kaylee likes to be sneaky. She learned how to roll months ago, and then she decided rolling was uncool. lately however, she will roll, but she doesn't like to be seen rolling. I am semi-serious about this. every night for the last 2+ weeks, she has rolled over to sleep on her tummy. she'll roll over occasionally during the day too, but I have never seen it. never. she's on her back, I walk out of the room to fill a bottle, and I walk back and she's on her tummy.
it's been somewhat similar with crawling. we were encouraging her and trying to help her learn to crawl, but no success. then, maybe 3 weeks ago, when ethan was sick, I was sitting in the glider holding a sad, upset, crying Ethan and blake was helping by suctioning his nose or something, and suddenly Kaylee, who had been in the middle of the room, was crawling over to us! Blake was like, "hurray Kaylee! did you just see that, she was crawling!" But after that it was back to very short spurts - often we would see both arms move and then one leg move, but not the other before she flattened to her tummy. or both legs move, but no arms. she was trying, but she did not care to try too long before complaining. BUT, if we were out of the room, and there was nobody to complain to (or if I was spying on her and she couldn't see me) then it was slow progress, but she was moving!
last week my boss Renee made me some delicious banana cupcakes for my bday. one morning kaylee woke up before ethan and I gave her a bit. she was a big fan. so the next morning, I gave her another taste and then put a piece on the floor and she begrudgingly crawled to it! (let it be known that I just spell checked begrudgingly and I spelled it correctly pre-spellcheck. yes, I'm proud of that.) I'm also proud of kaylee! that was the first time I was able to get her to crawl for something - otherwise it was "yes mom, I want that, and I will lean toward it, rock back and forth in crawling position, but then I will just scream at you until you bring it to me." (and no, we don't always bring it to her).
this week, however, I think it's finally fair to say that Kaylee can crawl, and she's no longer embarrassed to do so :). this morning she even crawled from their room where they were hanging with blake, toward our room where I was pumping. she got distracted by a cord on the way and stopped to consider eating it before blake whisked her away, but I like to think she was originally headed for me. :) way to go little girl!
it's been somewhat similar with crawling. we were encouraging her and trying to help her learn to crawl, but no success. then, maybe 3 weeks ago, when ethan was sick, I was sitting in the glider holding a sad, upset, crying Ethan and blake was helping by suctioning his nose or something, and suddenly Kaylee, who had been in the middle of the room, was crawling over to us! Blake was like, "hurray Kaylee! did you just see that, she was crawling!" But after that it was back to very short spurts - often we would see both arms move and then one leg move, but not the other before she flattened to her tummy. or both legs move, but no arms. she was trying, but she did not care to try too long before complaining. BUT, if we were out of the room, and there was nobody to complain to (or if I was spying on her and she couldn't see me) then it was slow progress, but she was moving!
last week my boss Renee made me some delicious banana cupcakes for my bday. one morning kaylee woke up before ethan and I gave her a bit. she was a big fan. so the next morning, I gave her another taste and then put a piece on the floor and she begrudgingly crawled to it! (let it be known that I just spell checked begrudgingly and I spelled it correctly pre-spellcheck. yes, I'm proud of that.) I'm also proud of kaylee! that was the first time I was able to get her to crawl for something - otherwise it was "yes mom, I want that, and I will lean toward it, rock back and forth in crawling position, but then I will just scream at you until you bring it to me." (and no, we don't always bring it to her).
this week, however, I think it's finally fair to say that Kaylee can crawl, and she's no longer embarrassed to do so :). this morning she even crawled from their room where they were hanging with blake, toward our room where I was pumping. she got distracted by a cord on the way and stopped to consider eating it before blake whisked her away, but I like to think she was originally headed for me. :) way to go little girl!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
1st birthday party in 2 months!!!
I am going to try to write shorter posts more frequently - we'll see how it goes. :)
Today's excitement is that the kiddos' first birthday party is scheduled for 2 months from today! I ordered invitations this past weekend, and they should arrive in about 2 weeks and then I'll send them out! I know 2 months is a ways away, but I'm having fun and it makes for a relaxed planning pace. :)
The fact that the kiddos' bday party is 2 months away also means that Evan and Alyssa will be married in less than 2 months. how crazy is that?
Fun stuff coming up!
Today's excitement is that the kiddos' first birthday party is scheduled for 2 months from today! I ordered invitations this past weekend, and they should arrive in about 2 weeks and then I'll send them out! I know 2 months is a ways away, but I'm having fun and it makes for a relaxed planning pace. :)
The fact that the kiddos' bday party is 2 months away also means that Evan and Alyssa will be married in less than 2 months. how crazy is that?
Fun stuff coming up!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
triathlon / uni-althlon?
Blake and I are doing a triathlon this morning. I'm really just posting this so you can all laugh. In two hours I will be swimming in a very cold lake. but then, here's the best part, when I get out of the lake, blake will do the rest - we're doing a relay!
pretty much the story behind this is that our friend Dave (aka Jackie's husband) signed up for the triathlon, and told Blake he should do it. So we hmmed and haa-ed and I told Blake I would watch the kiddos, he could do it. But then when I went to sign him up earlier this week (a little last minute, I know), they had a just do the 5k option. and I was like, oh, I could do that... but then we would need a babysitter and yada yada. but I felt like I shouldn't be a lazy bum... but we would have to be there at 6:00 am... but the babies have been waking up at 5 am anyways, so it's not that much earlier... so on thursday, I was at my parents' house, and I asked them. they said okay, so Thursday night I went to sign us up, discovered that signing us both up for the relay was cheaper than blake triathlon + me 5k, so I did that instead. and yesterday I thought, oh, well I could swim... so that's the plan! blake actually likes running so he'll do the 5k and I'll swim.
pretty funny huh? blake is dropping the kiddos off at my parents' now, and I'm pumping. and now I'm done, so gotta go put my tri-suit on now. I can't believe we're really doing this - I have no idea how a relay works, but I guess we'll find out!
pretty much the story behind this is that our friend Dave (aka Jackie's husband) signed up for the triathlon, and told Blake he should do it. So we hmmed and haa-ed and I told Blake I would watch the kiddos, he could do it. But then when I went to sign him up earlier this week (a little last minute, I know), they had a just do the 5k option. and I was like, oh, I could do that... but then we would need a babysitter and yada yada. but I felt like I shouldn't be a lazy bum... but we would have to be there at 6:00 am... but the babies have been waking up at 5 am anyways, so it's not that much earlier... so on thursday, I was at my parents' house, and I asked them. they said okay, so Thursday night I went to sign us up, discovered that signing us both up for the relay was cheaper than blake triathlon + me 5k, so I did that instead. and yesterday I thought, oh, well I could swim... so that's the plan! blake actually likes running so he'll do the 5k and I'll swim.
pretty funny huh? blake is dropping the kiddos off at my parents' now, and I'm pumping. and now I'm done, so gotta go put my tri-suit on now. I can't believe we're really doing this - I have no idea how a relay works, but I guess we'll find out!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
my bday
yesterday was my bday. i don't even know where to start with how awesome it was. darren came home on saturday (in the wee hours of the morning). on sunday we went to the zoo with the kiddos and brianne and danielle - the babies really enjoyed the petting zoo goats.
on monday blake made me blueberry and banana waffles and bacon for breakfast. kaylee got me some see's chocolate, ethan got me flowers. we had monte cristoes at home for lunch and monday afternoon blake's parents came over and then we went out with my parents, darren, blake's parents, brianne and danielle, and the kiddos to claim jumper. dessert was not for the faint of heart - between the 11 of us (or 9, since the kiddos didn't have any), we got... one piece of mud pie, one piece of creamcheese cake, a brownie finale, and... yes that's right, a slice of the motherload cake. with a side of ice cream of course. wait, you're not familiar with claim jumper and their portion sizes? alright, here are two images (from the internet... not sure where my camera is at the moment).
(pic is from the internet, I don't actually know those people) and that's the motherload cake. it's 6 layers of chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. yum. (but fear not, there is more chocolate to come in this story of my birthday...) we then wrapped up the evening with some game playing (dominion, ticket to ride w/ alvin & dexter, and then spot on! - spot on could have it's own post, but I won't go into it now...)
then bri and danielle spent the night and suddenly it was tuesday, my actual birthday! Blake and I woke up with the babies, handed them over to danielle for another hour while we went back to sleep (glorious), and then I headed off for an 8:00 am appt w/ the eye doctor to get my prescription checked (apparently my eyes got slightly better w/ pregnancy, although not enough better to warrant changing prescriptions). bri and danielle headed off to work, and my mom and darren came over to take the babies and blake headed off to work too. whew, this really was a marathon birthday as I'm exhausted just remembering it all.
so then I went to work, where my boss had made me banana cupcakes (delish!) and after a couple hours we headed off to one of my favorite restaurants (pogacha) for lunch w/ 6 of my coworkers. then danielle swung by the eye doc w/ me and chose some prescription sunglasses w/ me (dark purple with bling). because our lunch had run a little long I went back to work just to pick up my cupcakes and fill out my timesheet and then I raced home to pump, kiss the babies, and then brianne picked me up at 4:20 to head out to an evening of fun w/ the girls!
(see? marathon birthday here). we went to purple where we split some pizzas and salads because the girls knew we had more eating in store (this did not stop us from ordering a little creme brulee however). then they whisked me off to a secret location... which turned out to be a candy and cake shop in the back of a party store where we spent 4 hours making truffles. 36 truffles. EACH. I made 14 flavors. (the lady recommended 5-7 flavors so I started with 5 bailey's truffles, but then I got a little carried away...) let's see if I can remember all my flavors...
in summary it was crazy awesome, as was my whole bday. thanks to all who celebrated with me, called, emailed, texted, facebooked, sent gifts... it was a great weekend, and I feel very well loved. thanks guys :)
on monday blake made me blueberry and banana waffles and bacon for breakfast. kaylee got me some see's chocolate, ethan got me flowers. we had monte cristoes at home for lunch and monday afternoon blake's parents came over and then we went out with my parents, darren, blake's parents, brianne and danielle, and the kiddos to claim jumper. dessert was not for the faint of heart - between the 11 of us (or 9, since the kiddos didn't have any), we got... one piece of mud pie, one piece of creamcheese cake, a brownie finale, and... yes that's right, a slice of the motherload cake. with a side of ice cream of course. wait, you're not familiar with claim jumper and their portion sizes? alright, here are two images (from the internet... not sure where my camera is at the moment).
that's the mud pie... too tall to fit in the picture...
then bri and danielle spent the night and suddenly it was tuesday, my actual birthday! Blake and I woke up with the babies, handed them over to danielle for another hour while we went back to sleep (glorious), and then I headed off for an 8:00 am appt w/ the eye doctor to get my prescription checked (apparently my eyes got slightly better w/ pregnancy, although not enough better to warrant changing prescriptions). bri and danielle headed off to work, and my mom and darren came over to take the babies and blake headed off to work too. whew, this really was a marathon birthday as I'm exhausted just remembering it all.
so then I went to work, where my boss had made me banana cupcakes (delish!) and after a couple hours we headed off to one of my favorite restaurants (pogacha) for lunch w/ 6 of my coworkers. then danielle swung by the eye doc w/ me and chose some prescription sunglasses w/ me (dark purple with bling). because our lunch had run a little long I went back to work just to pick up my cupcakes and fill out my timesheet and then I raced home to pump, kiss the babies, and then brianne picked me up at 4:20 to head out to an evening of fun w/ the girls!
(see? marathon birthday here). we went to purple where we split some pizzas and salads because the girls knew we had more eating in store (this did not stop us from ordering a little creme brulee however). then they whisked me off to a secret location... which turned out to be a candy and cake shop in the back of a party store where we spent 4 hours making truffles. 36 truffles. EACH. I made 14 flavors. (the lady recommended 5-7 flavors so I started with 5 bailey's truffles, but then I got a little carried away...) let's see if I can remember all my flavors...
- bailey's
- raspberry
- PB&J (half raspberry, half PB, my idea)
- PB
- guava
- cheesecake
- rasp cheesecake
- cayenne (jackie made these for her hubby, and I just stole the filling for one for blake)
- hazelnut
- lemon gingerbread (danielle's creation)
- pear
- peppermint
- almond (I may have over-almonded the almonds... a little scared to try these later)
- butterscotch
in summary it was crazy awesome, as was my whole bday. thanks to all who celebrated with me, called, emailed, texted, facebooked, sent gifts... it was a great weekend, and I feel very well loved. thanks guys :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)