baby in a box

This is day one of Astrid's box.  Something came in the mail and then the boys and I decided to teach Astrid about how much fun playing in a box can be.  And after that morning the box became her perch for the next several months.  Who needs a baby bumbo seat when you have the perfect size box to hold you up?  

you better watch out...

Let's face it...I'm kind of a mean mommy.  However the tactic had a lot of impact!  

being humble

So this is a post in which I will do a considerable amount of bragging.  Which is not good but I am just so darn full of pride, I have to put down the stories for posterity.  These boys.  These three boys.  They love to ski more than anything else in the world.  Ski days are full of joy, whooping and hollering, and generally the best behavior.  I have not once heard them complain about bad weather or being cold.  They beg for just ONE more run at the end of each day.
Today a woman followed the boys down Cirque Bowl and when they stopped she skied up to talk to them.  She asked for their autographs because "in 15 years you will be famous pro skiers".  Unfortunately for Mommy, kids these days usually go pro earlier than that and I'm afraid it might be more like 10 years before they take off to tour the world.

6 months

Well, these are going on the blog out of order.  Astrid turned 6 months at Thanksgiving, not Christmas.  Disorganized Mommy!  Oh well.  Here is our cutie wearing our favorite family hand me down, the Tana sweater.  I bought this chocolate lab sweater while pregnant with Walter.  I love that they have all worn it.  She is our mascot! 

4 months, take 2

At 4 months, Miss Astrid has lost all of her original blue/grey eyes and she has a solid grasp on blowing spit bubbles.  Making strides! 

4 months

In 21 out of 28 of the photos I took on this occasion, Astrid has her thumb in her mouth obscuring her face.  The 7 without her thumb were only because I pulled it out of her mouth quickly snapped the shot (with her hands on their way back up!).  So at 4 months, Astrid thinks her thumb is pretty great.

doc visit

Geez, you've got to take babies to the pediatrician's office a lot!  But it is fun to see how she is doing and get the new stats each time.  This girl gets an A+ every time.

bump in the road

Walter had two rough days at school this month where his stubbornness got the better of him.  But his teacher mommy does love a cute apology letter.  All in all he is doing great.  

go hornets, go!

We had such a great time on our soccer team this fall!  This year both boys were able to play on the Highland kinder soccer team.  Fritz got in on a bit of an exception (being old enough even though not in kinder) and of course turned out to be the star of the team.  He is so good it is just silly.  Wally has made huge strides since last year and did amazingly also.  The one week we missed a game all the other parents told me they were lost without our boys!  Cue the swelling with pride mommy.  

I don't think these guys will be on the same team again (at least for soccer) until maybe high school.  Which is crazy and kind of sad!  

got it

"I've finally got my thumb.  And now that is all I ever need to make me happy.  Hooray!"

2 months

Thanks to Auntie Bridget for the month stickers.  We missed the 1 month mark, but will do our best to keep up with the rest!  

sleep training

Who knows when our remodel will even start... so frustrating!  In this family you've got to be a good sleeper (by mommy's royal decree) and so it begins for Astrid  even though she doesn't have her own room yet.  She has been such a snuggle bug in our bed, so it is somewhat bitter sweet to kick her out.  Let the sleep training begin!  

thumb sucker

baby on board

Here we are 13 days before her arrival.  I really meant to take some better pictures while pregnant, but it just didn't happen.  Amazing to think of who was inside of that big bump!  

new dentist

One thing we did have in Vancouver was a super pediatric dentist.  We managed to get back over there for check ups for about a year but that wasn't a realistic thing to keep up.  And so it is that we have a new dentist.  And he is also fantastic!  (He happens to be friends with our Vancouver dentist.)  Both boys got a report card A+ on their teeth.  

winner, winner!

Here is a funny little anecdote that I don't want to forget.  Before Easter the boys and I were at the craft store picking up a few items and the sales clerk gave them each a coloring contest.  Well, they had never before heard of a coloring contest (it isn't nearly as common as when we were kids) and so quite the interesting conversation ensued in the car about how it works, etc.  They were very intrigued.  They were also convinced that this meant they were each going to win.  I spent a lot of time over the next few days assuring them that tons of kids would be entering the contest and only one in each age range would win, that it was very unlikely to be them, but that it was still a lot of fun to participate.  We later submit their pictures and over the coarse of the week reached an understanding about not winning (or we just forgot!).  Until the day before Easter, when I received a call inviting Fritz to come as a special guest down to the store to collect his prize.  Honestly.  Who can believe that upon entering his first coloring contest, he won!  After all of my PR work trying to limit unrealistic expectations and entitlement... he in fact won.  He was greeted at the door, treated to a "behind the scenes" tour of the store (back room at Michael's-whoot whoot!), they took his photo with the prize for the store wall and gave him a pretty huge bucket full of prizes.   Daddy's text to me with this photo "Proudest boy ever."  

Footnote: Proudest mommy ever because Wally congratulated him whole heartedly and without jealousy.  And the minute Fritz came home with the prize he split everything to share with his brother.   

architecture

Car parking garage designs by the architecture firm of W & F.  

epic parenting fail

For the sake of posterity I am writing down this tragic story as a record of our most epic parenting fail to date.  You might laugh...we did some screaming and wanted to cry!

Pet sitting:
Upon arriving to Mexico this year, we had the assignment of pet sitting for Xena and Harry (Grandma Kelley's dog and canary) for 5 days. Due to our delayed and cancelled flight, we were already arriving 24 hours late and the poor pets had been mostly faring for themselves.  Once we got there all was well and we settled into relaxing vacation mode.  The boys loved caring for the pets and especially loved Harry.  They helped change his water and food and clean his cage.  They visited with him on the back porch all day long. He sang and sang.  Xena got her first few doses of a new prescription that we had brought down to help curb her seizures.  She was feeling like a very peppy puppy with the help of phenobarbital (which was a scary drug to give her...um, hello Michael Jackson and Whitney Huston over dose drug!).  All was smooth sailing till Saturday evening.  When all. heck. broke. loose.
The boys suddenly came screaming into the house.  "Harry, Harry, Harry is gone!  He flew out!  He is gone!"  That's right.  My worst nightmare.  One that hadn't even occurred to me.  My children let the bird out of his cage and away he flew.  I have no idea why they did this, we thought they understood the rules.  I know it wasn't intentional or malicious, but it was a massive mistake.  Matt and I came unglued.  It was pretty comical really, we were demanding answers and yelling like a shameful mess.  Matt was yelling at the boys "You KILLED Harry!  He is out there alone in the Mexican wilderness!"  First they blamed each other, then they both admitted guilt, then the tears came streaming down their faces.  There were long time outs and apology letters written and prayers of forgiveness said on their knees.  It was ridiculous.  I had to track down Grandma Kelley in California and deliver the news.  I sent texts to my brothers and sisters in law telling them to rest assured because our kids had just committed the worst grandkid sin in the history of time and their future children could never possibly top it.  It was awful.  And then I prayed.  I prayed fervently for the next 20 hours that I could successfully deliver Xena in one piece back to my mother in law the next afternoon.  Not on my watch, Xena, not on my watch!!

Postscript:
Thankfully Xena is still alive and well and I have a very gracious and forgiving mother in law.  Whew.

big news!

We have a reader in the house!!  Fritz started working on the "moveable alphabet" and by two days later he was reading his first book solo.  Wally followed suit the next day.  I'm so, so impressed with our preschool and have really seen the Montessori way working with my boys.  Proud mama.

oh dear...