Polka Dots

Oh, Rory. The other night she saw freckles on my shoulder and got so excited: "Mama!! You have POLKA DOTS, Mama?!?! You have POLKA DOTS?!"

I found that to be so cute that I mentioned it to my inlaws the next night. My mother in law then turned to Rory and asked, "Does Mama have polka dots?"

Rory replied, "Nooo! Mama has boobs."

Hmm. The logic of a two year old.

Boys and Such

Last week we learned that our third cute little babypie is another boy! While I was hoping for a girl (hairbows, you know), I'm thrilled that Bashy won't be surrounded by girls and that he'll have a baby brother to be buddies with! His first name is a secret (until Rory spills the beans, anyway), but his middle name is Victor, after my grampie and uncle.

Blake: His semester started last week and he has 17 credits and a big 'ol non credit course too.
Britt: I'm tweaking the toy rotation system, doing the ladies' Bible study at my church for the first time, trying to put a little more effort in my appearance, working on other organizationy things, and having fun with cooking. Rory "helps" me all the time in the kitchen, which is trying; I know it's good for me to include her though, so I take deep breaths and grin (hard to do when she's stirring over enthusiastically and eating random handfuls of ingredients). She helped me make whole wheat corn muffins with little hot dog pieces in them, which were a huge hit with both babies and Blake! During nap time the same day I made whole wheat breakfast calzones for the freezer so Blake can take something with him when he works early. I'm back to my old diet of only whole grains and no refined sugar, though I'm allowing myself frozen yogurt along with dark chocolate (I am pregnant, after all!). The occasional piece of pizza or burger is okay too! I'm sure my resolve will weaken as I get closer to delivery day. I'm going to start a new cloth diapering method with this little boy: prefolds and Thirsties covers; I'm excited! I've also tried to be good about coming up with crafts and other fun out of the ordinary activities for the kids; early childhood is far from my specialty, and it's so hard for me to think of and implement things! But this week we fingerpainted, colored and mailed greeting cards (fun to teach Rory about stamps and such!), and I made Bash a game out of drinking straws and an empty oatmeal container!

Rory: We experimented with Rory bringing her preferred baby doll and purse in her little shopping cart to the grocery store. It went really well! She pushed Tina in her cart right next to my cart, and she was so earnest and cute! She got lots of smiles and comments from people. I'm hoping we can keep that up so Bash can sit in my cart. Rory talks so much, and says so many funny things. Example: we were driving in the car and Rory told me, "Papa has a beard. Papa's handsome. Papa's a cute boy!" She explained in detail to Blake how the wood stove works while he was building a fire: "It has a side, and a top, and another side, and a hole in it..." So many things she says are original thoughts and observations, and she picks up random expressions and laces her conversations with them; so fun! We've started looking at preschools for next year; we want her to go for just a few hours a week. She'll love it and hopefully pick up on some social things before we start homeschooling for kindergarten.

Sebastian: Not too much here; he'd been teething and thus hasn't had any major accomplishments. He is such a dreadful teether, but he's popped out a bunch of molars over the last couple weeks. He's so snuggly and cute and kissable and adventuresome!

Sweetened condensed milk and food coloring makes great fingerpaint! It is edible (and apparently tasty) and dries shiny, which is fun!

Rory loves making hand prints and having her hands traced.

Static electricity in the tent!

Playing with mama's homemade straw game!

Funny how Rory never cared for balls and cars but Bashy just instinctively loves them! I can't believe we're going to have two little boys in a few months!

Old and New

We got home from a visit to Seattle late Tuesday night. We had a wonderful trip, but it was good to get back to "normal", whatever that means! We didn't do a whole lot of visiting or sightseeing; we focused on hanging out with family, which was great. All of us were together, including my brother and sister in law from Alaska, and my sister and brother in law and nieces who live in the area. My niece, Gloria, was born Christmas day and was discharged from the NICU after just nine days! We got to visit her there and also celebrate her homecoming, which was awesome! Other trip highlights included a whirlwind trip with Joe and Andrea to far northeastern WA to see our grandparents (it's so hard to see them getting so old) who are not in very good health, Blake went snowshoeing with my dad, my mom took my sister in I to see Les Mis, which was outstanding, and Blake and I had a date-day to the Museum of Flight and a local seafood establishment. We also visited a good friend who dates back to That Summer when Blake and I met (I was hired to fill in while she was on maternity leave!) and my dear friend and mentor who recently relocated to a lovely West Seattle home. Rory was astounded at the rain and Bash progressed in his walking abilities. Both kiddos went on special ice cream outings with their Grampa and enjoyed special treats and attention from Gramma!

Modeling his new hat!

Sillies

Gloria in the NICU

Me and Grammie

Our travel companions

Pickin' da toes is a new favorite pastime. Weirdo!

Taking Glo home!

Rory was so excited to hold her!

Rory wore her new tutu to a wedding!

At the Museum of Flight, in front of a BA plane (we met while working for British Airways in Seattle!)

Blake was so excited about the space shuttle trainer- it's the actual one that was used for astronauts!

The Blackbird is my favorite plane!

Grandma Ducky knows what babies love!

Sweet Gloria got some clothes that fit! Here she is at 2 weeks old!

Festiveness

For once I can't say I'm sorry Christmas is over. It was great, but I'm ready for life to return to normal! Here's how we celebrated this year:
- New niece: Baby Gloris surprised the world by being born Christmas morning! She's doing quite well and is super cute! Hopefully she'll be out of the NICU for at least some of the time we're in WA next week.
- Small family Christmas: we had a special Christmas breakfast (including red Italian creme sodas) on Christmas Eve, just the 4.5 of us. We enjoyed stockings and presents and had a super lazy and nice rest of the day.
- Unfortunately, a few days earlier Rory told Blake what his gift from me was: Blake- "Rory, what'd Mama get me for Christmas?" Rory: "A coffee maker!" I screamed, Bash cried, and Blake had no surprises Christmas morning. I didn't even realize that she knew what I got him! Guess two is a tricky age...
- We were heading to Chritstmas Eve service at FCF but the roads were sooo icy; we ended up at a church much nearer to my inlaws' house. The people next to us were drunk, and Bash tried to burn the building down during the candlelight song.
- Mexican food: Christmas Eve tamales may be becoming a tradition! Then we spent the night at Nana and Baba's house (Auntie B and Ryan got in super late that evening).
- Rory really got Christmas for the first time. She kept singing happy birthday to Jesus, and she recognizes Santa and Rudolph and what not, and was super excited about stockings and presents. It makes it so much fun, but also so tiring!
- We ate yummy cinnamon bread and whatnot and did stockings and gifts again. We all crashed during the afternoon since it was an early morning (thanks to an exuberant two year old).
- We went to Blake's uncle's home for Christmas dinner. I made fun Neapolitan rice krispie treats!

She's really into "makeup" these days

Bah, humbug

Her Auntie made her some play makeup!

And we made this bench from a craigslist coffee table for her Auntie!

Recent Thoughts

Other than a relatively quick bout with the sickies, things are humming along dandily here. Christmas preparations are coming along and we're loving the homeworkless time in between semesters.

- Our toy rotation system is working great! Last week I ended up leaving the same toys out; the kids were still very engaged with them and enjoying them. I swapped them yesterday though (leaving the blocks, which are played with multiple times a day), and the kids were thrilled with the switch. I have to remind myself that the system itself isn't the goal, and it's okay to tweak it and be flexible according to what works best for our family.
- Crawling is the worst age for snow. Bashy wants to be out in it, but he gets soaked and can't really enjoy it yet. Hopefully in a couple of months he'll be good to go!
- Fun things we've done lately: Eat lunch on 12-12-12 out of muffin tins/ice cube trays with 12 slots each. I put pieces of cheese, homemade jello, cucumber, etc. in the slots and they were beyond thrilled; painted with homemade bathtub paints pre-bath; decorated graham crackers with green frosting and sprinkles (should have been done pre-bath- yikes!); and drove around a neighborhood that has luminarios and lots of Christmas lights, along with a Santa and a few bands. Oh, and a living nativity.
- I can't believe that the horrible tragedy in Connecticut is making gun control such a hot topic right now. I feel like the mode used to complete the crime is so far from the big issue; the murderer could have just as easily used a bomb, knife, or many other things to kill a huge number of babies. What people really need to be talking about is the fact that our world is a fallen, dark and evil place, even at Christmas. These awful things happen not because weapons are available, but because humans are capable of horrendous things when they refuse to bow before the Almighty King. More than ever our greatest concern should be mankind's heart, and our most fervent prayer be that Jesus returns soon. Thank God for his coming judgment; may many choose His freely given grace before that day.

Thanksgiving

We went to Coolidge, in southern AZ, to spend Thanksgiving with Blake's grandparents. We had a great time; lots of family, lots of food, lots to be thankful for! I made healthy and delicious sweet potatoes and of course, Blake's favorite pear pie. My diet was thoughtfully put aside for a couple of days. I imagine that trend will continue through the holidays!

Aunt Nancy sent the kiddos matching jammies!

Rory is always saying she's going to work at the airport and she's going to pick up Evie.

The whole gang

Good morning, Sunshines!

Slow to wake, like his papa

Where does she get these ideas from?

I used to love playing with nesting dolls! I'm so glad Rory enjoys it too!

Oh My, Oh My

Where to even begin! Let's take it person by person:

Bashypoo: Says "Mama" now! Not always, and usually when I'm not around to hear it. When I ask him to say it, he laughs and pats my cheek. He seems to be considering walking a little more, but I don't really expect it for another month or two. Teething is NO FUN for this little man, but he's delightful in every other way.

Rorykins: Silly, goofy girl! She regularly uses 10+ word sentences and her grasp of logic is increasing daily. She asked for waffles for breakfast and when I told her I couldn't make them because we were out of milk, she looked thoughtful, grabbed her purse and said, "Okay, I go to the grocery store 'n get milk, Mama. Okay?" Two expressions she's been using lots are "all the time" and "all night long," which get pretty amusing: "Oh Mama, I hungry all the time!" And, "I wanna kiss. I want kisses all night long!" Sometimes she's so difficult and I feel so burdened with the gigantic task of rearing her in a way that pleases the Lord and teaching her about him; nothing is more important but getting bogged down in the day-to-day can make it such a challenge. Since Rory looooooves to sing, we're going to get her some fun catechism songs for Christmas to make it easier for us to dialogue with her.

Blakey: We're celebrating today because a job just fell into his lap. Who can say that in this economy? We willingly gave up employment because it wasn't working for our family even though we did not have another prospect for him. The next thing we know, the Guidance Center called asking him to come interview (he had never even applied!). Today they officially offered him a job as an EMT! The pay is way better than his previous work (no flight benefits, of course!), and it sounds like interesting work, though definitely challenging. We're optimistic about family-friendly, flexible hours, and there's a possibility of benefits. All we can say is that we're amazed at God's generous provision. We're fumbling and bumbling our way through this crazy stage of life and he continues to be so good to us. We keep getting affirmation that we're doing the right thing; God is so good!

Me: We took Evie to Phoenix to meet up with her daddy a week ago! It was such a sweet reunion, and it's so nice for their family to be together again. Now we're all waiting for baby Gloria's arrival; poor Lindsay was diagnosed with gestational diabetes again, right before Thanksgiving- good grief. She told me she's going to try to "make a deal" with the doctors, which doesn't sound very promising to me, but is kind of amusing.

I finally got around to implementing a toy and book rotation, which is something I've wanted to do for a while. We found that when all the books and toys are out, it proves to be overwhelming for our kiddos. Usually they end up dumping them all on the floor and not really playing with them. I chose to go with a weekly rotation, so I divided all the toys into 4 groups. One group is cycled in at a time. Exceptions include Rory's beloved baby doll and her cradle. A few "big" toys will be left in for multiple rotations before being swapped. I think I'll go every two weeks with the books, leaving approximately half out at a time (a few favorites will always be out). My goals are practicality and simplicity above anything, so I'll certainly tweak and make adjustments as necessary. So far it's been a huge success! The toys out are being played with and hold their attention longer, it's easier to clean up, and they were excited to see the "new" toys yesterday.

Bash wearing his papa's old jammies!

Rory went on a date with her baba- they saw Aladdin!