Dental Checkup

Thursday Kristen had a dental checkup. After the dentist was done looking at her teeth, he looked up at me, paused, and said, "Her teeth are excellent!, absolutely excellent!" I was a super proud mama at that moment.

Kristen did really well and let Dr. Baker poke around in her mouth. I was a definite proud mommy! I couldn't stop smiling and telling her how proud I was of her.

Santa 2007

This past Wednesday we went and visited Santa. Kristen was so excited, but when we asked her if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap she would say, "NO!". Well after seeing how jolly Santa is Kristen was very excited to give him a hug and sit on his lap for a picture. She did great, all smiles and no tears. Austin was very tired and pretty much looked at us like, "what are you doing to me and who the heck is this I am with?" It was pretty funny. The picture of the two of them with Santa is classic; Kristen is smiling big, and Austin could care less about smiling.

100% Walking

Austin started totally walking, about 1 week ago! (11 months) It is so fun to see him toddle across the room and look up and smile at you because he knows you are so proud of him!

I think it's time...

Yesterday morning (11-24-07) Kristen went pee-pee on the potty for the first time ever!! We were so excited..we did the potty dance and all! I am thinking maybe next week we will tackle potty training........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Not too excited about it!

A little caffeine doesn't hurt....right??

So yesterday I took the children to Costco and before we went in Kristen asked for a hot dog, so I ordered the hot dog combo (hot dog and a drink). I also got her a water cup so that she wouldn't have any of my diet coke that I had been thirsting for. We got our combo and were on our way shopping! Well, I had been having sips of my oh so desired diet coke while Kristen munched on her hot dog. (Austin was eating the bun!) After awhile it got a little difficult to hold onto my soda so I put it in the cart next to Kristen, big mistake. When we were almost done shopping, I was parched and reached down to find my diet coke totally EMPTY!! Kristen had sipped away ALL of my diet coke, while her little body filled up with caffeine. And boy did it fill with caffeine, I think we finally got her to go to sleep at 10:15pm...she usually is asleep by 7:30. Amazing what caffeine can do to a little body...

Boo

Kristen started this game, "Boo", right before Halloween. What it entails is that she says, "Boo", and then we act scared. She gets a big kick out of our reactions. Well in all this fun we have everyday, still even after Halloween, Austin has picked up on it. So every now and then he will say, "Boo" and we of course act scared and he laughs his pants off! It is so cute. He tries to "Boo" Kristen and when she hears him she says, "Oh, you scared me!". It's so fun to watch them interact in so many different ways.

Halloween 2007

Haloween was so much fun this year! Kristen was a Bumble bee and Austin was the cutest turtle! Kristen totally understood what Trick or Treating was all about this year. After the first house she realized they were putting some good candy in her pumpkin and she wanted some. She did a good job waiting until we got home and then she got a few pieces to enjoy! Austin just loved being in his turtle costume and being pushed around in the stroller. Uncle Joe did take him up to a few doors and the people loved seeing him! We had a great time this year!

Disneyland's Mickey Mouse Trick or Treat

Last night we packed up the car after dinner and were off to Disneyland for the Mickey's Trick or Treat night. Kristen was dressed up as a bumble bee and Austin was a turtle. They were adorable! Well the night started out by going through a few stands that were Trick or Treat stations. At these stations Disneyland workers would give you two huge handfuls of candy. The first time we went through one, Kristen opened her bag and said, "Trick or Treat" and to her suprise got a ton of candy. She looked into the bag to see what it was that they put in there, and she figured out it was candy. Well from there she was the happiest girl, holding her candy bag tight and eating it ALL night! She had so much fun..you should have seen her eating NERDS..it was too cute. I taught her how to tip the box up in her mouth to get more than one, she loved it! She was a candy eating pro by the end of the night. She had so much fun, hanging out, eating candy, going on rides, taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie, and just being with the family.

Austin had a good time as well, although he didn't get to enjoy any candy, he loved looking at all the lights and characters, and of course everybody dressed up in costumes. It was a super fun night, the children were totally in their element which is always so fun to see.

Some time away

This weekend Paul and I went to Warner Springs to have some alone time..and left our children with my mom (Marmee) and Uncle Joe. Paul and I had a great time just hanging out and playing golf together (me for the first time). Who knew golf was such a hard game? I would have never put those together!

Kristen and Austin had a great time with Marmee and Uncle Joe. They played non-stop! Kristen couldn't stop talking about all the things that they did while Mommy and Daddy were away. We would talk to them both on the phone before they went to bed, and every time Kristen would rehearse what they did that day. The neatest thing was that while we were away she told Marmee and Uncle Joe that, "I miss my Mommy. And, I miss my Daddy." Can I just tell you how good that makes you feel as a parent. I know those days that she actually misses us will be few..so we just have to soak it all in for now!

Almost walking!

Today Austin finally got behind his walker dealy/thingy and pushed and walked at the same time!!! (10 months) YAY!!! He is so close. I think if he knew he was able to walk without holding onto something, he totally would! He is so cute when he walks, because he doesn't really bend his knees at all..so he just walks like he has sticks for legs..so cute!! I am really excited for him to walk..crawling is good, but I could do without dirty hands and knees from dirty floors!

Yay and Bye Bye

Austin claps now when he hears other clap or you say, "Yay" while clapping your hands. It's so cute. He also just started waving "bye, bye". He is 1o months. Amazing how fast this year of his life is going by...I would have to say that it is going to fast...actually. Another thing he is doing is eating more table food, such as cheese, meat, peas, black eyed peas, carrots...and a few other things. He is finally not gagging over everything and he seems to really be enjoying trying all these new foods and textures. It's so fun to watch him look and examine something new that I have put on his tray. He has to take a good look at it before he will put it in his mouth!

Funny Words

I love the way Kristen says, elbow, BELBOW. It is just the best thing to hear when you wanna smile. She is speaking in full sentences which is just crazy to me. It's neat to watch her wheels spin as she tries to put together a sentence that makes sense. Sometimes she says the cutest things, like, "A sneeze my nose" for "I need to blow my nose". We love her...she makes us laugh everyday!

Croup

Austin (9 months) has croup...so sad. I have to say that this is probably the scariest illness I have ever experienced...he is on steriods...which seem to be helping..hopefully this won't last for more than a few days..so I am praying anyway.

Kristen feeding Austin

Kristen is very into what Austin is eating and also into feeding him pretty much anything. Usually she tries to feed him what is on his tray, like cheerios. Well today she thought it would be a good idea to feed him her dinner, which consisted of salmon, yogurt, and brocoli. Luckily only a few bites of yogurt made it into his mouth once I clued in and turned around to see what my two sweeties were up to!

Eyes of love

Tonight I was feeding Austin while Kristen was eating her dinner at the table. Every few minutes Austin would look over at Kristen and just smile a little grin. It was absolutely adorable..and it was just so obvious how fond he is of her!

Play Wax...

A few days ago I was waxing a few hairs off my chin and Kristen looked at me and said, "Mommy what's that?". I told her what I was doing and not two minutes later she was off playing. Later in the evening, the wax was sitting on the stairs to go up to my bathroom, Kristen was sitting on the stairs ready to go to bed and she looked at me and said, "Mommy, play wax?" I laughed and explained to her that wax was only for Mommy and we hope she never has to use it!

Pee pee and poo poo....

This morning I was changing Austin's diaper and of course I wasn't fast enough and he decided to go pee pee...but the craziest thing was he peed in his own eye! I felt so bad..so I quickly undressed him and put him in the bathtub, and not two minutes later did he poo poo all in the tub!!! aaaaaaahhhhh! What a bodily function morning!

Eczema

Both Kristen and Austin have Eczema..sad..Kristen's little hands are all red and itchy..no fun.

Army Crawl

Austin has begun to do the Army Crawl!! 7 mo. He loves to stand and has two teeth now! He is getting so big...we are anxious to see how much he weighs at our next appointment.

Austin's new tooth!

Austin cut a tooth...yay for the 7 month mark.

It's been awhile...Kristen's now 2

Well a ton has gone on in the past month. We went to Ohio to visit my dad and Judy and had a great time. Kristen and Austin loved spending time with Grandfather and Gran. We went to water parks, the zoo, hung out with family, and swam in the pool until we were prunes! Kristen remembered a ton from her swimming lessons..we were so proud. Austin went into the pool for the first time and loved it! We really had a wonderful time!

Kristen turned 2 on July 11th. Auntie Stacy came out for a few days and both Kristen and Austin loved having her here (and me too of course!). For Kristen's birthday we went to the park and ate some packed dinners..and then Kristen played her heart out..she and her Daddy flew kites, and Auntie Stacy went down the slide with her many times. When we got home we opened some presents and ate cake..good times. Kristen really enjoyed opening presents..she gets it now!

We had her birthday party on July 14th and we celebrated Winnie the Pooh style. The tables were covered with red gingham table clothes and blue honey pots that Daddy painted. We had tons of balloons..that Kristen loved...a few streamers..and a big cling on thingy that had Pooh and friends that said "Happy Birthday!". We had hamburgers, salad, watermelon, baked beans, and good o'le cake. Kristen loved opening all her presents and has enjoyed playing with everything. She was so cute when we sang Happy Birthday, her face looked like, "Really, for me, my birthday, wow!"

Kristen also got her Big Girl Bed..which as of now is box springs and a mattress..with super cute bedding! She loves it...although she has had a hard time sleeping at night...tonight was the first night that she fell asleep within an hour..usually it has been a 2-3 hour battle...let's not talk about it..it gives me the shivers thinking about it!

Two is a good age! We are excited about this year to come!

Cereal then Pears

A few days ago I gave Austin cereal for the first time and he loved it so much that he didn't want to stop eating. We started him on Oatmeal cereal and he just can't get enough...then we tried pears.

Tomorrow it will be a week since we started cereal..so I thought today would be a good day to try a new food, pears. Well I am not really sure how well it went..because at first it looked like Austin really liked the pears, but then he started shuddering every time I gave him a bite, and then he just started to cry..so as of now I am not sure if he had had enough food or if he just doesn't really care for pears...we will see.

Tomorrow we will try again.

Laughter

Recently Kristen has been making Austin laugh with the silly things she does. (They are 22 months and 5 months) All I have to say is when this happens I usually stop, drop what I am doing and just watch and smile...it is the best thing to me right now...

Sprinklers

Today we were suppose to have swim lessons for Kristen, but since it is Memorial day they were cancelled..so we had Kristen all ready to go swimming and needless to say, she was really bummed she wasn't going to get in the pool. So Paul and I thought fast and we thought of running through the sprinklers! Let's just say that Kristen had the best time running through the sprinklers with her Daddy..Austin and Mommy just watched and took pictures! It was pretty cold out, but Kristen just kept on running back and forth, back and forth. She really loves water.

SD Zoo

Two weeks ago we went to the zoo and Kristen, and Austin too, saw an elephant in real life. Kristen is very into elephants...I should say all animals and of course what sounds they make (22 months). It was so fun to see her reaction to the huge beast just walking around...she was pretty amazed.

The love that Kristen shows to Austin is exactly the love that I want them to show to each other the rest of their lives. Austin always smiles at her with sweet adoration.

Tonight we were rocking in the rocking chair, reading a book, when Kristen just started to gently rub Austin's head just the way he likes it. His heavy eyes blinked slowly and began to shut, but of course Kristen moved on and was ready to go to bed herself.

This is the love I pray for daily. This sibling love. I want it so bad for them. I want them to be two peas in a pod, always looking out for each other, and always reaching out a hand when one is in need, hugging each other with a kiss on the cheek. Sibling love.

Tonight

Before I lay Kristen in her bed I pray with her. Tonight I closed the door and as I was about to walk away I heard her start praying again..boy it made me proud.

Earth worms...

Two weeks ago, Kristen and I were working in the front yard. We were pulling weeds and moving dirt around. All of a sudden I came across an earth worm and as I pulled it out of the dirt and I showed it to Kristen. At first she just stared at it, and I explained to her what it was. Then the worm started moving and she did a deep excited sound that goes something like this, "hunh, hunh, hunh, hunhhhh". She was so excited and couldn't believe that the worm was moving. After looking at the worm for a few minutes I explained to her that worms live in the dirt so we would have to throw him back in the flower bed. So we did..and she went over to where she thought the worm landed and said, "Where'd go?". About an hour later I found another worm. Kristen was filling her buckets with dirt when, "plop", I dropped a worm in her bucket. She couldn't believe there was another worm. She played with the worm for a little bit and then told me, "back, back", which means "We need to throw him back". So we did just that. I love that my girl is into earth worms...

Kristen's words

The other day Kristen bonked Austin on his head with her head and said, "Sorry Austi, head ow". It was so great to see almost a total 5 word sentence!

Austin's cool moves..

On April 17, 2007 Austin rolled over!! He also can get his pacie to his mouth with no help..hallelujah! (4 months) He is very interested in toys and loves to reach out and grab them when you hold them above him. We love him here in the A-Team house!

Gymnastics

Kristen started gymnastics last Thursday, March 29, and had a blast. She jumped on the spring floor the entire time of her class. She loves to jump, and amazingly she can get both feet off the ground.

Dancing Feet

Sunday, April 1st, we went to a wedding for our good friend Lisa. This was the first wedding that Kristen could really enjoy..and boy did she. Once the dancing started it was all over. Kristen sat with Marmee and watched all the people dancing for about an hour. She swayed back and forth and finally Marmee asked her (for about the fourth time) if she wanted to go out and dance. She was ready and her feet hit the dance floor. It was all over from there. She danced with Marmee and me for at least an hour. Her feet didn't stop moving. She had the best time out there...she's got beat for sure. I wish everyone could have seen her shakin' her tush..it was so fun to watch.

Rollie Pollie

I love when Austin is on his back and curls up by grabbing his feet...he loves his feet..but the best part of it is he looks like a rollie pollie. He is so adorable.

Praying for Pooh

Tonight on the way home, Kristen reached her hand out from her car seat and said, "Pray". This means lets all bow our heads while Kristen says a prayer. Well tonight she went through and prayed for Daddy, Mommy, baby (Austin), Uncle Joe, Marmee, Raleigh, her food, and then she went on to pray for Pooh, honey, Rabbit, Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, and Pluto. It was so dang cute to listen to her innocently pray for those who are makebelieve.

Lumpy...

In the movie, Pooh's Heffalump movie, there is a character named Lumpy. Lumpy is suppose to be a heffalump, also known as an elephant. Well Lumpy is small and he wants to make a trumpeting sound like his mother, but he can't. All he can do is a "Pflpbt" sound. (Put your lips together tightly and blow out and you will know the sound I am going for here.)

Well Kristen really likes Lumpy. Today I put her down for a nap and about 15 minutes later I hear, "Pflpbt, Pflpbt, ha ha ha ha ha". She was making the sounds of Lumpy and then laughing really hard. I went upstairs to peek in her room and she was sitting in the corner of her crib spitting out her pacie's, making Lumpy sounds and laughing. It was so hard for me not to burst into laughter while peeking through her door, but of course I bit my tongue so she wouldn't hear me...oh these are the moments that make you keep going.

Toys

Today 3.22.07 Austin brought a toy to his mouth...he found his feet a couple days ago..he thinks they are neat.

Weight Gain...

Austin is having the hardest time gaining weight..I have to say that while breastfeeding every child should gain weight appropriately and have no problems..sometimes I don't understand why there is so much stress with breastfeeding when all I am doing is using the two sacs for their sole purpose-to feed a baby-At 3 months he weighs 9 lbs. 14 oz.

On a side note..we got a Bumbo seat for Austin and he loves it..he sits up in it even though he can't sit up on his own (This is the purpose of the seat) and smiles like he is having the best time..

Markers

The other day..I let Kristen draw with her washable markers that she loves. I usually watch her with a pretty close eye..but this day in particular I was dealing with our accountant on the phone and lost track of time...looked over and Kristen and noticed that her face was colored with marker..I went over to her and she said, "uh oh Mommy"...while holding up a marker with the end (marker end) up in the air...that had been totally bitten off!!!! She had bitten all the marker ends off...good times with a 20 month old!

Good Times...

The best feeling is when your child shows you that they love you..with a hug that isn't asked for, or a smile that isn't prompted. It can make you feel like you are the best mom in the world.

Austin has been laughing a ton when mommy tickles his tummy or behind his ears. He is growing to be so long..he is almost out of the infant carrier at 3 months old! I have really been enjoying moments with him throughout the day. I love to cuddle with him, and tell him I love him and watch him smile. He is mesmerized by the TV..I think he likes to watch the movement. I am pretty sure he cant' see that far, nor in color yet. I can say now that I am enjoying breastfeeding so much more. It is so nice to have a baby that desires to nurse...I am learning to treasure the breastfeeding moments.

Kristen and I really played together today. Some days I feel like I don't get down on the floor much with her and play. So today that is all I did, while the dishes piled up and everyting else I needed to get done. But I have to say I feel so much more accomplished by spending quality time with her more so than getting the dishes done. We built blocks, played chase and just had a good time!

Being a mom is so rewarding...

Talking..milestones

Kristen has been repeating pretty much every word that we say..she also is recognizing zoo animals and saying their sounds without being prompted..she's so dang smart!! Can you tell we are proud??!!

Laughing

Austin laughed for the first time Tuesday, February 20,2007. Paul was, of course, jostling him around!

Pray

Kristen has now learned how to pray..before meals we pray for Mommy, Daddy, baby Austin, Raleigh (our dog), Marmee, and Uncle Joe. She loves to say Amen and clap when the prayer is over...

Play food...

A couple of days ago Kristen was playing with her kitchen and was making me all kinds of pretend food. She would hand me a plate and a fork and I had to pretend what I was eating. Suddenly it clicked to her that I needed some food on her plate so she took my plate back and went to her kitchen and got me a piece of "plastic" pizza, ran over to me and said, "Mommy, Mommy!". It was so fun to see her pretend playing.

She also loves to get water from her sink in a cup, (that has no actual water) and run over to me to have me drink it..it is the best water I have ever tasted!!

Wow, has it been a long time since I have written about what Kristen is up to and now her baby brother Austin! Well, Kristen absolutely loves Austin..she can't get enough of him. She loves to tickle him, especially his feet, kiss him and take pictures with him. Every now ant hen she tries to pick him up..but mommy comes to his rescue of not being dropped on his head. She also, loved to cover him up with a blanket and tell him, "Night, night". She has been excited about him since the day he was born. When she first met him she just couldn't stop looking at him and smiling the biggest smile I had ever seen. There is no doubt she loves her brother.

So, what new things is Kristen doing..talking up a storm. She has her own language plus english thatshe uses regularly everyday! Right now she is into praying with us. She loves to say, "Pray" when we tell her we are going to pray, and she also loves to hold our hands during the prayer. A couple of weeks ago at dinner she bowed her head when we started to pray, but instead of Daddy praying, it was Kristen. She said, "Dea Lor, biddi boddi baddi bah. YaY!!" She was so excited that she was the one saying the prayer.

This week Kristen has been super sick with a high fever, bad cough, double ear infection, and super sore throat. Good times here! The greatest part is when we saw the doctor and she asked Kristen to take a deep breath, Kristen was able to follow her example! It was so fun to see her be able to do that.

Tonight, Kristen was playing at her kitchen, totally pretending. She was taking her play dishes and washing them in the sink, meanwhile pretending to wash her hands in between each dish. It is so great to see her mind pretending and her reaching great milestones.

Other things have happened I just can't think of them now..so until I remember..have good times.