Skyler's First Tooth

Oh thank goodness! Just when we had decided that Skyler was going to be a toothless wonder, her first tooth popped through!

Easter 2010

With our busy March, we failed to get our acts together and make Easter plans. We are trying to simplify life a little bit by not over-booking ourselves and our kids with non-stop activities but I have to admit, not having family around this Easter was a little sad. The kids woke up to Easter baskets full of toys. They had so much fun sitting in Liam's room and going through all of their new "stuff." Leif made us a big breakfast which we (sort of) ate together. We went to church and decided on our way home that we would make a picnic and eat lunch in the back yard under the play set. However, just as we were packing up the food and heading downstairs, Carsten and Chabree invited us over to their house for a roast. Thus, our picnic was put on hold and we headed over to the Larsens. Good food, good friends, a few glasses of good wine, and happy kids. It turned out to be a wonderful Easter.

What is going on with my hair!

I know Skyler will hate that I posted this later on in life but I absolutely love her hair! It is always sticking straight up! Sorry sweet heart - I promise it will grow out!


Catching up....

Well, it has been WAY too long since I have updated the blog and it kills me to think I might have missed some key blogging events so I will do my best to catch up. I have to admit, things are a little crazy right now. Skyler is crawling and gets into everything she is not supposed to - if there are stairs within reach, she will try to crawl up them, if there are crumbs on the floor, she will eat them, if there is anything to pull herself up on, she will - and it often times ends up with a bump on her head. You can't let her leave your sight and yet she will no longer sit content in your arms... Liam isn't quite at the point where you can let him out of sight either and he is still almost 100% reliant on us for, well, everything. WOW - two kids under 3 is NO JOKE!

Liam has been a charmer lately. He went threw a 2 week stage there where I thought - oh geez - the terrible twos have finally hit. But, it passed and I honestly think it was just because we were "going going going" and he was overly exhausted. Leif and I have recently come to the conclusion that we do indeed need to SLOW DOWN our lives for our children. We tend to go until we are both so exhausted we can't go any more - and if we are tired, you can only imagine our poor kids.

Liam talks 24/7 about just about anything. He narrates his day and what he is doing, he is constrantly asking questions about things he does not yet know, he counts (now in Spanish too due to our nannie's influence), tells you the color of everything. He loves to organize everything and then destroy whatever has been put together. He is an absolute sweetheart to Skyler and LOVES to play with her. He gets upset if Skyler is not there to wake him up in the morning - mom and dad just don't cut it anymore. When she is napping, he continually asks if he can wake her up. He reads books that he has memorized, he sings nursery rhymes better than me, and he makes up stories to tell (always starting with "once upon a time, there was this boy..."). He is an absolute riot and cracks Leif and I up every day. We were in the car a few weeks back and Skyler started crying. Liam says to her "PULL IT TOGETHER BABY!" This morning when Skyler was fussy, Liam went and found the tylenol syringe and stuck it down her throat. When I angrily asked what he was doing he said "Baby doesn't feel good - she needs tylenol." How could I possibly be upset. He always tells her that he is "right here baby" and when I let him wake her up from her nap he walks in and says "oh good morning baby...good morning...."

Skyler had roseola last week as her temperature shot up to 104. Then, with a rash all over her body, she started teething. The poor little thing has been miserable and her way of expressing it is with a high pitched squeel that could honestly break a window! However, how could we complain as today, she has been back to her smiley self, charming the pants off of anyone that walks by. She is in to sharing - she picks things up and then holds them out for us to take (as long as we then give it back) and she is mimicking her brother and us. She can clap, giggle, waive hello or good bye, and pull herself up onto just about anything. Although she wants her freedom, she also loves to be held - especially when she gets tired or uncomfortable.

Leif and I have both been extremely busy at work and, as always, are trying to find some sense of balance between work, kids, alone time, date time, exercise, etc. We are both very involved in Crossfit and try to fit that in more than a few times a week when we can. Not only does it mellow both of us out to get a great workout in, we have found a wonderful community there who supports us tremendously. Most people there have young kids - not as young as ours - but they all get it.

We hired a wonderful nanny a couple months back who is making a HUGE difference in our ability to "do it all." The kids adore her and it makes it so much easier to leave in the morning (I haven't driven to work in tears in almost 2 months!). Liam actually walks her to the door and gives her huge hugs when she leaves for the day. I feel so blessed. I come home to projects that Liam has made, the kids happy, fed and napped, the house clean and sometimes even my laundry done. It is priceless.

So I will try to find more time to keep the blog up to date but that is the re-cap for now.


Chasing Ducks

We went down to the park at the bottom of our hill today to watch the kite surfers. Liam was obviously much more interested in chasing the ducks!


Liam and Skyler's New Playset!!!

Well, it might have (1) cost a fortune, (2) taken Leif and his buddies two 8 hour days to put it together, and (3) look like we are running a daycare out of our house but the new playset has been 100% worth it! The kids and all of their friends absolutely LOVE it and we will be the central hub for bbq's this summer which is exactly what we wanted. Now we just need to extend the deck!!! ;) Poor Leif!

Our New Nanny...

Since our new nanny, Jessica, started working for us, my life has once again become manageable. Not only is she a wonderfully attentive, sweet, caring, fun-loving caretaker for the kids but she is also clean, observant and SO helpful. Neither of the kids fuss when I go off to work in the morning as their days are filled with fun projects, tickle fights, races, books and always some good nap time. Thank you Jessica - you are truly a life saver!

Our trip to Arizona

Well, we wanted a vacation, but the best laid plans always fail, right? We packed up the kids, Ted and Stephanie readied their house, my mom got on a plane to meet us, all with the best intentions - we were all hoping for some FUN IN THE SUN! However, we did not anticipate Skyler getting the stomach flu the minute we landed in Arizona! Liam fought it off for 2 days but then it hit him hard on night three! Leif and I could not believe it! 2 sick kids and over 1000 miles from home!

However, as I look back at the pictures, I realize that we really did make the best of it even though it wasn't what anyone had hoped for. The kids got to see their grandparents which is something Leif and I value tremendously and it makes for a great story!


Daddy's kids

The kids absolutely love it when Leif comes down from work! It's like a wave of fun energy goes through the house.


Everett Children's Museum

We all had a great time up at the Everett Children's Museum with the Larson's today. What cool place! Splashing in the ferry boat, dancing in the psychedelic video room - Liam even climbed all the way up the slide tower and went down the slide by himself! His Dad was a bit nervous watching him.

Watch out for the pink eye!