Yeeeeehhhhaaaaaa!

Ok, seriously?! How cute is she??????

 

TWO!

On Sunday July 15^th, Mallory Rose turned TWO! I can’t believe that my little baby girl is already two… and yet she is ONLY two (and we already have another one that’s 5 months).  How is any of it possible?!?!?

We had a Cat in the Hat birthday party for her on her b-day, thank you to all who were able to attend/help (I have to give a special shout-out to Shawnon who made the amazing cake, and used her embroidery machine to help me make the kids outfits... THANK YOU!). At one point there was close to 50 people in our little home!!!!!!!!!!!! Mallory had a blast, playing with friends/family, jumping in the bounce house (which mom found at S.A for $10), coloring, opening a sinful amount of gifts and eating cupcakes AND cake! Could life get any sweeter? (It seemed like all the adults had a good time too, which was an added bonus).  Friends and family came from all over (Denver, Oregon, San Diego and Sacramento) so it became a mini family reunion at the same time (hey, why not kill two birds with one stone, right). Wait, why are we killing birds?

Any way.

Mallory Rose, you are such a joy. You are funny, sweet, helpful and stubborn (all qualities that I am proud of). You know your mind, your wants and other people’s wants (even if they don’t know it)! You are my little monkey girl, my love-al-buggal, my baby girl and my Malla Rose. You make me smile, motivate me and have helped me be a better person. You are the life of the party, you have the memory of an elephant and when you set your mind to doing something there is NO way to stop you. You are bright, joyful and truly amazing. I adore you and am so proud and blessed to call you my daughter. Thank you for making me a mother.

 I have so much more to tell about. So much has happened over this past week/two, and I’ll get to it all…but I wanted to spotlight our little lady first.

Rolling

Poor Wesley. He started rolling over on the 4th of July and it's taken me an entire week to talk about it. But he did it none the less! Matthew, Mallory and I were all there to watch it too!!!!! The look on his face was priceless... it was pure shock!
He's such a sweet little man. I feel my love growing and growing for him daily. Matthew has started calling him "Face Time," because that's all the little guy wants. Just someone to sit next to him and look at/talk to him. I feel like sometimes we are so busy running after his Super Charged Sister that he doesn't always get the one-on-one time that he is craving. That being said, he LOVES his sister! He loves watching her run, jump and sing... but is favorite is when she grabs a book and reads to him. He gets the biggest smile and his little feet start kicking. It's darn cute!

Yes, Wesley is on the bed listening to a story... he just hiding under the covers. He's a silly little boy, if there is ANY fabric around him (blankets, clothes, toys...) he will grab it and rub it on his face and in his mouth! It cracks me up.

Rugby... The Next Generation

Just like Daddy!

San Diego Fun

Potty update: Mallory is doing great!!!!! She’s got the hang of it and only occasionally forgets that she’s supposed to go in to potty. She has started resisting me (I mean tantrum throwing resisting) when I try and get her to randomly ‘try’ to go potty… even if I KNOW that she has to go. I don’t know what the deal is with that but I want it to stop! So besides her tantrums and the annoying lower eyelid twitch that I developed right around potty training time, things are going great.

A couple months back I got the feeling that I needed to get down to San Diego and visit my family there. Being the loving and supportive people they are, my hubby and mom thought that it was a great idea and they took time off work and came too! We were there for about 4 days and it was amazing!!!! I think I took around 600 pictures, so I’ll just put in the highlights.

We stayed at my Aunt Alicia house (thank you, thank you, thank you), so we spent an amazing chunk of each day swimming, going in the hot tub, playing on her ranch and letting Mallory ride Lacy the pony (my aunt has 12 horses and lacy). We got to visit a ton with Beena, have a HUGE family dinner with all my mom’s siblings, and even made it to the zoo. Matthew and I even got to head out on a little date one night! Oh and Mallory, in true Mallory style got yet another black eye!

We had such a wonderful time; the one down side was that it went too darn quickly!

Potty Training

There is no perfect time to start potty training, but this week I don't work until Saturday, so we would essentially have most of the week to work on it, so yesterday afternoon I though, what the heck, lets give it a shot. We are now about 20 hours in, and I am starting to go crazy! It's a TON of work! For me and her!!!!! Between the potty talks, potty songs, potty books, potty videos and liquids, liquids, liquids (in the cup, in the potty and some on the floor) I feel like I have 'potty brain'! But Mallory is doing great! She has only had 3 accidents all the rest has been in her potty.... so that's nice. She's getting 'good' at running over to it and going (and the jelly bean treats are a great motivator). Good thing I have a food motivated kid. Once again I am reminded of puppy training. I am truly amazed at how frequently those two worlds cross. My favorite part (aside from not having to change her diapers) is watching her cute little bootie run naked around the house. She is just too cute!
Way to go Mallory Rose, I am soooooo proud of you!!!!!!!

Happy Daddy's Day

Happy Fathers Day!

4 Months

Ok, no laughing at the fact that "months" in the picture is spelled wrong... That's what I get for trying to spell, take a picture, make a baby smile and keep Mallory out of the frame. (Anyone what to give me a hard time about it and you can come take the dang picture!) Any I'm just too tired to tray to set the whole thing up again with the correct spelling. :) It'll make for a good memory, right?
Mr. Wesley is now 4 months old. Time is flying by. Today he had is 4 month dr appointment and Mallory had her 2 year appointment. The check up went very smoothly and the kids were deemed healthy... the shots were another story. 2 kids getting poked virtually at the same time is quite an ear full (to put it mildly). So here are their stats. Mallory at 23 months is in the 98% for height (36 1/2 inches), 88% for weight (29 pounds 15.6 oz) and 43% for head circumference (47.1 cm). Wesley is weighing in at 13 pounds 15.3 oz (30%), 24 3/4 inches long (44%) and has a pea size head 40.2 cm (8%).
Wesley is really thinking about rolling over. He gets over on his side and giggles and laughs about it, but gets held up by his other arm. He loves sitting up (with help) and watching his big sister play. He is not on any solids yet... since he hasn't really shown interest in watching food/spoons... but even flash a boob in his direction and he focuses in like radar! He still loves his night sleeping (9-10 hours straight) but is not a very good day napper. He loves to put everything in his mouth and he sings, coos, giggles and talk (with the occasional cry every now and then). All in all he is perfect!!!!!

Hello Mr. Blue Eyes

Could he get any cuter? I mean really!!!! Those eyes!!!! They just kill me!!! It is inevitable, every time we go out, someone stops to comment on how beautiful his eyes are or how stunning his alabaster skin is (which is just a really polite way of saying 'wow, your baby is so pail').  :)  Which he is and I am loving it. Wesley is such a wonderful little man and he has the sweetest personality. All you have to do is look at him, or talk to him and he will give you the best smile. When he's really excited about what you're doing, he'll not only smile, but he'll get his legs pumping and fists waving! It's such a HUGE difference from Mallory; who, if you remember, would just mad-dog any and everyone no matter how happy she really was. And have I mentioned how he talks, coos and giggles??? Oh it just turns me into a puddle each time. (can you tell I'm enjoying this little man?)

Now We're Cookin'

After MONTHS of not having an oven, we finally got a repair guy out... he proceeded to (kindly) tell us that it would cost us just about the same price for him to fix the old one as it would to buy a new one! So that's what we did. It's basically the exact same oven, just 10 years newer (and cleaner). But honestly be best part about having a new oven (aside from fresh baked cookies) is that it came in a HUGE box... and as any good parents would, we turned it into a house for the Little Miss. She loved it (for a day). It was still really fun to watch her play in it, however short lived the novelty may have been. We are now finally getting around to eating the frozen meals that people so kindly brought us when Wesley was born. So thank you all, they are wonderful.

4th In The Nation

Matthew just got home today from the Rugby National Championships in Denver. No, he wasn't there watching, the Santa Rosa Men's Team actually was playing in it! They came in 4th in the NATION! Pretty impressive, huh? I know Matthew wishes that they ranked even higher, but I am mighty impressed by 4th! I have to be honest though, this season has been a tough one.... on me (and I wasn't even the one getting hit/tackled/kicked/scraped). The season has lasted 7 1/2 month, the first of it I was WAY preggers, the middle I was pushing out a kid and the last I was trying to figure out how to be a single parent (while Matthew had practice 2 nights a week and games Saturdays... or tournaments that last Friday to Monday). Despite the pride that I have for him in this moment, I wasn't always supper supportive. And more then once I wished he was home helping me deal with crying/whining/dirty/hungry/sleepy kids (which now I feel slightly bad for) instead of at practice/a game. But I AM very proud of him, he is a great rugby player and an amazing team player and when he commits to something, he is committed ALL THE WAY... which is honorable and one of the many qualities I love about him.
Great job Santa Rosa Rugby! And thank you to my Colorado family for going and supporting my husband and the team.

Workin' At The Car Wash

Isn't it great when kids think chores are fun?????

Safety First... Or Not.

Yesterday Wesley fell asleep on the changing table. I stood there looking at him and had an internal debate running through my head. This is kind of how it went...
'They say, never wake a sleeping baby. But this is not the safest place to sleep. But they do say, never wake a sleeping baby. Mallory's napping now too and I could get so much done. But he is really not sleeping in a safe place. But he's quiet and sleeping and they say, never wake a sleeping baby. What if he rolls off? Well he's not really rolling over yet and they say, never wake a sleeping baby. It's not safe. But there are small rails, a buckle and a baby monitor... plus THEY say, never wake a sleeping baby.'
So that's what I did :)

I may not be getting the mom-safety-award-of-the-year, but I did get lots done while both kids napped and who am I to argue with the "theys" of the world???

Love

Mallory followed me out to the garage today and wanted to help write the blog. When I asked her what she wanted to write about she said "love." I then asked her "what do you love?" To this she replied "I love all the people." So there you have it...

Happy Mothers Day

A Little Visit

A couple weeks ago Lindsay brought sweet Connor down for a little visit! We were all so excited to see him (and her too). The boys were much more responsive with each other (though when you realize that what we were starting with was just laying there and sleeping... so it wasn't hard to get to 'more responsive). I cant wait to see these boys together in a year, with Mallory still pulling and bossing them around I'm sure. Mom and dad couldn't have been more excited to have all three of their grand babies in the same place. Thanks for the visit Lindsay!!!!!

3 Months

Our little Wesley Robert is already 3 months old! Time is flying by. With Mallory I was always excited for her to move on to the next stage... always looking to the future. Wondering when will she do this, and I can't wait for her to do that. It's so different with Wesley (probably because I know know how short baby-hood truly is and how quickly they really grow up)...with him, I don't want him to get bigger...I get sad when he out grows an outfit. I want him to stay this perfect tiny little size. Sigh.
But he is growing up and hitting small milestones. His head control is great, and when he's doing tummy time he spends most of it pushed up in a supper man position. He is a coo'er and a smiler now (though he'll still stare you down first... pretty sure he learned that from his sister). He has been sleeping 8-10 hours a night stright for the past 2 weeks and I am loving it. He is still a snuggler and I hope that never changes and his blue eyes are here to stay! They are beautiful (though I have to admit, it's strange to look at MY child with blue eyes... it's like it doesn't quite fit... since, Matthew, Mallory, Sonny, Krush and I all have brown eyes, that's what I have been used to seeing). Now I have these indigo baby blues staring at me, it keeps taking my breath away. Yes, I am in love.

Our 'Little' Yard Project

As much as I would really like to say that the jogging is what has taken up the majority of my ‘free’ time… the real reason has been the ‘little’ yard project. Since living here, the city has upped the cost of water 4 times in 3 years!!!!! We just finally had enough and decided to rip out some lawn (especially since we had three lawn sections)! We only ever used the back lawn, so the side and front were just wasted space and we were pouring money into them to keep them green. Plus, the city is offering $0.50/square foot of lawn removed… so we thought, hey we could get a little money back too! So slowly over the past 60 days we have been removing lawn, dirt and plants and replacing it with flagstone, drought tolerant plants, mulch and drip lines (thanks in part to Mom, dad, Robert, Carle and Thomas).  We JUST finished it all yesterday! I am loving it!!!! I feel like not only are we being environmentally conscious (in terms of conserving water) but we have just gained a HUGE section of usable space. Our flagstone patio is going to be perfect for BBQ’s, playing with toys/bikes and roasting marshmallows on those summer nights. And I love walking up our beautiful flagstone pathway and looking at all the happy plants (the majority I transplanted from moms yard). Thank you again for all those who help!

Double Duty

I would like to say that THIS is the reason that I haven’t been able to get my tushy to the computer to write… but sadly it’s only a small fraction of that excuse. Anyway, here is my new toy! It is actually an early mother’s day gift! And I love it! (Which is good because I wasn’t too sure about it when we bought it over the internet). Not the double stroller part, but the brand. It’s a Schwinn. Sure, they make good bikes, but can they make a good stroller???? Apparently they can!  When I started looking for my new toy I was really leaning towards getting a ‘Bob’… which are the cream of the crop when it comes to jogging strollers… but I was blown away at the price of them.  And as much as I enjoy a nice name-brand item every now and again, we just couldn’t make it work financially. So I kept looking and found this little beauty. Its reviews were actually (just about) on the same level as the Bob and WAY WAY WAY less in price. So we ordered it with the knowledge that I very well may just send it right on back. But I love it! Its light, has great shocks, easy to push, is comfy for the kids and even has a spot for music to be plugged in (if I has an i-pod).  Mallory like it too and in this picture was actually crying because we were done with the run (ok, jog). So now, each time you check the blog and I haven’t updated it… just think of me out there jogging and getting back into shape! :)

Note Worthy

I have neither the time or the energy to fill you all in right now on ALL the things we have been doing. But here are just a few note worthy things...
Last night Mallory informed Matthew that she had to go potty (not an uncommon thing.... she likes to sit and sit and sit on the potty.... and nothing ever happens). But last night she actually peed IN THE POTTY!!!!!! I was so excited and proud of her (you would have thought that she just cured cancer... which she probably will do within the fext few years). :)
And today I started work at my new job. It went great! It felt great! I loved the feeling of practicing medicine again. But I was shocked at how very sad I was to leave the little kiddos. I had to walk away quickly before I started to cry! I know that it'll get easier (which is kind of a sad thought on its own). But any way, the day went great and even after 10 hours of working I was still happy, smiling and excited to be there.
Ok, I have to get more snuggles in with the little ones before they go to bed. Hope to write more soon.