Natalie:
What a cutie. She uses the term "eyes" for lots of things: Sunglasses, lights in the ceiling, hand-held mirrors, actual eyes... You have to interpret when she asks for "eyes" what she means. It's really cute, and neat to see her associate the word "eyes" with all things that make you see/see better.
Alli:
Alli has gotten so good at spelling and reading that Kim and I used Pig Latin at the dinner table this evening. I wonder how long *that* will last! And let me tell you how rusty I am on hearing pig latin and then being able to figure out what is said. Good thing we only have to use it for a few words here and there!!
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
4th of July - 2014 Style
This year was the first time in about a decade that Fountain Hills put on its own fireworks display. We decided to spend the afternoon at the Belt's house so the kids could play and swim, and since they live closer to the Fountain than we do, watch the fireworks from their house.
The kids had a blast playing all day together. Alli, Gage, and Reegan were in the pool until we made them get out (at almost 9pm) to change so we could watch the fireworks. What Marcie didn't tell me was that the plan was to sit on their roof to watch!! They have a small, flat roof at the front of their house, and so they popped out the screen of one of the front windows from an upstairs bedroom and we all climbed through to watch. All adults made sure kids got out there and sat down immediately - there wasn't much of a barrier at the edge, and we didn't want anyone to accidentally fall over!
All the bigger girls watched the fireworks through their phones, videotaping it. We thought that was strange - it was LIVE! Watch it live we kept saying! Whatever. And then the little ones kept saying "that's it?" It was past their bedtime, and they were tired, and I guess the repetitive fireworks exploding just wasn't exciting enough for them. :)
Natalie slept through that part of the visit, but I'm pretty sure she had fun with all the kids and swimming before that!
Here's Alli, all decked out and showing off her 4th of July spirit.
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The kids had a blast playing all day together. Alli, Gage, and Reegan were in the pool until we made them get out (at almost 9pm) to change so we could watch the fireworks. What Marcie didn't tell me was that the plan was to sit on their roof to watch!! They have a small, flat roof at the front of their house, and so they popped out the screen of one of the front windows from an upstairs bedroom and we all climbed through to watch. All adults made sure kids got out there and sat down immediately - there wasn't much of a barrier at the edge, and we didn't want anyone to accidentally fall over!
All the bigger girls watched the fireworks through their phones, videotaping it. We thought that was strange - it was LIVE! Watch it live we kept saying! Whatever. And then the little ones kept saying "that's it?" It was past their bedtime, and they were tired, and I guess the repetitive fireworks exploding just wasn't exciting enough for them. :)
Natalie slept through that part of the visit, but I'm pretty sure she had fun with all the kids and swimming before that!
Here's Alli, all decked out and showing off her 4th of July spirit.
Pumpkin Patch
As much as I would like a garden, it seems like too big a task to tackle at this point in time. We have to clear room in the back of the yard, level it out, raise the beds (preferable for critter control), add irrigation, and then finally, we get to plan a garden. Oh, and figure out what other critter control is needed.
But we heard pumpkins grow quickly and decided to try to at least grow our own pumpkins for carving this October. To help in all the above-mentioned problems, we decided to put them at the side of the house, near a tree whose irrigation lines we had plugged, and in pots. So we now have 3 pots, with irrigation, and pumpkin seeds in them. Fingers crossed - we hopefully will have a pumpkin patch!
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But we heard pumpkins grow quickly and decided to try to at least grow our own pumpkins for carving this October. To help in all the above-mentioned problems, we decided to put them at the side of the house, near a tree whose irrigation lines we had plugged, and in pots. So we now have 3 pots, with irrigation, and pumpkin seeds in them. Fingers crossed - we hopefully will have a pumpkin patch!
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Road Trip
Our family usually flies to our far-away destinations. But this year, we were presented with a circumstance that led us to drive, 16+ hours, to Houston. We are not a family that does road trips. We are not a family that seems to be happy when taken away from our "comfort zones". So this was quite a challenge for us.
Kim and I asked many people how they travel with kids. Everyone had different ways, but all were great suggestions. We decided to venture off by leaving at 3/4am and seeing how far we could go in one day. So, the night before we left, we packed everything in the car except the food (snacks and sandwiches, fruits, veggies, and milk). Kim was determined to spend the 18 hours in his "ultimate driving machine" (aka, the BMW). And sure enough, he got it all to fit. Pack-n-play, travel high chair, stroller, and all our clothes, toys, and food.
We loaded the girls in the car in hopes it would be early enough in the morning that they would just keep sleeping. Nope! Natalie stayed awake the whole time. Alli slept a tiny bit in the morning, and took a nap later in the day. The girls played iPad games most of the way. When we hit San Antonio, about 13+ hours in, we decided that another 3-4 hours wasn't do-able for us. So we crashed at one of Kim's co-workers houses for the night. I was amazed by how wonderful the family had done on such a long trip in the car, and it made the 3+ hours to Houston seem so short!
Houston was nice for visiting everyone and we got to see Jonathan (my nephew) graduate from high school! Holy cow!! Alli unfortunately got sick, so the rest of the trip was laying around the house the entire time. Bummer. But we still enjoyed the company.
Then we all took off back to San Antonio for Ben's Bar Mitzvah. We travelled one day and got settled in to our hotel rooms. The next day our whole family (ours, Andy's, and Mom) went to SeaWorld. It was a lot of fun!! And hot!! Alli was totally amazed at the tricks the animals could do!
The Bar Mitzvah service was early the next morning, and it was a bit of a struggle to get the whole family ready for it. But we did it! And for the full 1.5 hour service, Alli was sooo mature. She tried to follow along in the book. Thought Hebrew was Chinese. :) But was a wonderful example of a well-behaved young lady. Natalie on the other hand.... :)
After the service the kids got to run around, and then our family went back to Uncle Irwin's for some swimming with cousin Addison. The girls again put on their best behavior. Natalie even went to sleep by herself while there! Woo Hoo!! No laying with her to get her to fall asleep.
The next day was the long trek home. What I noticed was a big change in Natalie. Over the course of the trip, the bottle became less necessary. And a bottle before bed or nap was completely unnecessary. She suddenly started refusing the high chairs in the restaurants, and instead preferred just sitting in a chair, just like her big sister.
The ride home was a little more stressful as I didn't have as much food, and we had started out tired. But we made it. And the first thing the girls did when they got home was run into the green room and start pulling out toys and playing with them. (Alli used to do that every time we went out of town, but this was prompted by Natalie. Pretty funny.)
What we learned: I learned how to pack good snacks for a car ride. I learned that riding so long in a nice riding vehicle is a good thing (hence, I might look at a different 4WD vehicle when I'm ready to switch vehicles). And, our family is concentrating on saying all positive things when things don't go the way we want.
So, I think that means more road trips in the future! haha
Kim and I asked many people how they travel with kids. Everyone had different ways, but all were great suggestions. We decided to venture off by leaving at 3/4am and seeing how far we could go in one day. So, the night before we left, we packed everything in the car except the food (snacks and sandwiches, fruits, veggies, and milk). Kim was determined to spend the 18 hours in his "ultimate driving machine" (aka, the BMW). And sure enough, he got it all to fit. Pack-n-play, travel high chair, stroller, and all our clothes, toys, and food.
We loaded the girls in the car in hopes it would be early enough in the morning that they would just keep sleeping. Nope! Natalie stayed awake the whole time. Alli slept a tiny bit in the morning, and took a nap later in the day. The girls played iPad games most of the way. When we hit San Antonio, about 13+ hours in, we decided that another 3-4 hours wasn't do-able for us. So we crashed at one of Kim's co-workers houses for the night. I was amazed by how wonderful the family had done on such a long trip in the car, and it made the 3+ hours to Houston seem so short!
Houston was nice for visiting everyone and we got to see Jonathan (my nephew) graduate from high school! Holy cow!! Alli unfortunately got sick, so the rest of the trip was laying around the house the entire time. Bummer. But we still enjoyed the company.
Then we all took off back to San Antonio for Ben's Bar Mitzvah. We travelled one day and got settled in to our hotel rooms. The next day our whole family (ours, Andy's, and Mom) went to SeaWorld. It was a lot of fun!! And hot!! Alli was totally amazed at the tricks the animals could do!
The Bar Mitzvah service was early the next morning, and it was a bit of a struggle to get the whole family ready for it. But we did it! And for the full 1.5 hour service, Alli was sooo mature. She tried to follow along in the book. Thought Hebrew was Chinese. :) But was a wonderful example of a well-behaved young lady. Natalie on the other hand.... :)
After the service the kids got to run around, and then our family went back to Uncle Irwin's for some swimming with cousin Addison. The girls again put on their best behavior. Natalie even went to sleep by herself while there! Woo Hoo!! No laying with her to get her to fall asleep.
The next day was the long trek home. What I noticed was a big change in Natalie. Over the course of the trip, the bottle became less necessary. And a bottle before bed or nap was completely unnecessary. She suddenly started refusing the high chairs in the restaurants, and instead preferred just sitting in a chair, just like her big sister.
The ride home was a little more stressful as I didn't have as much food, and we had started out tired. But we made it. And the first thing the girls did when they got home was run into the green room and start pulling out toys and playing with them. (Alli used to do that every time we went out of town, but this was prompted by Natalie. Pretty funny.)
What we learned: I learned how to pack good snacks for a car ride. I learned that riding so long in a nice riding vehicle is a good thing (hence, I might look at a different 4WD vehicle when I'm ready to switch vehicles). And, our family is concentrating on saying all positive things when things don't go the way we want.
So, I think that means more road trips in the future! haha
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Catching Up - N&Q, The Slide, Purple, and Bagheera
See, this is the problem when you don't blog very much. You have a lot of catching up to do. So here goes:
N & Q: Years ago, Andy and Wendy got us a wooden alphabet puzzle. It was for Alli, but she didn't do much with it. Natalie however just LOVES the alphabet, so she plays with it all the time. Molly uses the letters to quiz her, and yes, at 19 months, Natalie knows most of the letters and their sounds. But for some reason, N & Q are very special to her. She walks around with them, cries if she can't find them, you name it. If we put the puzzle back together, she will always go and grab out N & Q. Not sure why. It's really funny though! And she never picks other letters, just N & Q!!
The Slide: When Alli was little, I got a hand-me-down plastic slide/climbing thing from a lady at work. Hard to describe, but it stands about 3 feet tall, has a small slide down it, and has lots of different holes and stuff so kids can climb all over it. It also has a space in the bottom for a little "club house". Anyway, it's outside on our patch of grass. But all summer long, it just sits there and is never used because it's just too hot. Idea!!! With our pool project, we kept many flagstone pieces and created a path to a flat area where the infloor cleaner pump is. We built up that area by stacking extra flagstone pieces and then moved the slide over to it. Now Alli has a path around the pool to the slide, and she can slide right into the deeper end of the pool. We broke it in last weekend. (Sorry, no pictures - we were just enjoying the moment and we were already wet.) It has been a big hit with Alli!
Purple: Natalie has 4 pacifiers. Only one is purple, the rest are pink. She now calls all pacifiers "purple", but if given the choice, she always chooses the purple one. So, we really only use 1 pacifier, unless we can't find the purple one, and then she settles for the pink. Anyway, I recently decided that she doesn't think about the pacifier until she sees it, so I thought taking it away might be a good idea. I decided she could still have it for nap times and bed. So the first day we tried it, we just told her we put it away, and Molly put all the pacifiers in a container in a drawer and didn't show Nat where they were. She's been very easy about it. We just tell her it's put away and she's good. Of course now she's chewing on her hand and the drool is horrible. But I think we are doing the right thing. She only chews on her hand with teething. I'm guessing her 2 year molars are on the move. Poor kid. She hasn't had a break from teeth since she was 2 months old!
Bagheera: Well, our beautiful old man finally got too old. He had degenerative nerve damage down his spine due to old age. What happened was he didn't alway know where his back legs/feet were. Eventually, he couldn't always get up. And sometimes he couldn't feel bowel movements come. And then for a couple of weeks he barely was able to get up by himself, and even when we helped him, he would take a couple of steps and fall. It was horrible to watch. So we decided to talk to the vet because we figured it was time. And we made the decision. And then he did great for the whole week while we waited for his appointment. Stubborn dog! But the vet said it was still the right decision. And we put him to sleep on Thursday, May 29. :( He was a good dog and we miss him.
N & Q: Years ago, Andy and Wendy got us a wooden alphabet puzzle. It was for Alli, but she didn't do much with it. Natalie however just LOVES the alphabet, so she plays with it all the time. Molly uses the letters to quiz her, and yes, at 19 months, Natalie knows most of the letters and their sounds. But for some reason, N & Q are very special to her. She walks around with them, cries if she can't find them, you name it. If we put the puzzle back together, she will always go and grab out N & Q. Not sure why. It's really funny though! And she never picks other letters, just N & Q!!
The Slide: When Alli was little, I got a hand-me-down plastic slide/climbing thing from a lady at work. Hard to describe, but it stands about 3 feet tall, has a small slide down it, and has lots of different holes and stuff so kids can climb all over it. It also has a space in the bottom for a little "club house". Anyway, it's outside on our patch of grass. But all summer long, it just sits there and is never used because it's just too hot. Idea!!! With our pool project, we kept many flagstone pieces and created a path to a flat area where the infloor cleaner pump is. We built up that area by stacking extra flagstone pieces and then moved the slide over to it. Now Alli has a path around the pool to the slide, and she can slide right into the deeper end of the pool. We broke it in last weekend. (Sorry, no pictures - we were just enjoying the moment and we were already wet.) It has been a big hit with Alli!
Purple: Natalie has 4 pacifiers. Only one is purple, the rest are pink. She now calls all pacifiers "purple", but if given the choice, she always chooses the purple one. So, we really only use 1 pacifier, unless we can't find the purple one, and then she settles for the pink. Anyway, I recently decided that she doesn't think about the pacifier until she sees it, so I thought taking it away might be a good idea. I decided she could still have it for nap times and bed. So the first day we tried it, we just told her we put it away, and Molly put all the pacifiers in a container in a drawer and didn't show Nat where they were. She's been very easy about it. We just tell her it's put away and she's good. Of course now she's chewing on her hand and the drool is horrible. But I think we are doing the right thing. She only chews on her hand with teething. I'm guessing her 2 year molars are on the move. Poor kid. She hasn't had a break from teeth since she was 2 months old!
Bagheera: Well, our beautiful old man finally got too old. He had degenerative nerve damage down his spine due to old age. What happened was he didn't alway know where his back legs/feet were. Eventually, he couldn't always get up. And sometimes he couldn't feel bowel movements come. And then for a couple of weeks he barely was able to get up by himself, and even when we helped him, he would take a couple of steps and fall. It was horrible to watch. So we decided to talk to the vet because we figured it was time. And we made the decision. And then he did great for the whole week while we waited for his appointment. Stubborn dog! But the vet said it was still the right decision. And we put him to sleep on Thursday, May 29. :( He was a good dog and we miss him.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Pool Safety / Usability Project 2014
Being carved out of a hillside, our backyard has never been extremely kid-friendly. And really, neither was the pool we added. With Alli, we figured 2-on-1, or even 1-on-1 were good odds to keep her safe. And based on the fact that she is still alive, I think we did okay. But with two kids, we weren't liking our odds as well, and the pool seemed to get more and more dangerous with different aspects. So, we embarked on a little pool project this year: Re-flagstone the patio, re-work the steps to the patio and to the hot tub, and add a railing at the edge. (We also fixed some pool issues and gave it a good scrubbing so we could really showcase the whole area.) Here are some pictures of our project.
Steps Before:
Steps After:
Patio Deck Before:
Patio Deck After:
Hot Tub Steps Before:
Cliff After:
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Steps Before:
Steps After:
Patio Deck Before:
Patio Deck After:
Hot Tub Steps Before:
Hot Tub Steps After:
Cliff Before:
Cliff After:
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Natalie at 18 months
Ready for these stats?
Height: 33.25" (89th percentile)
Weight: 19.15 lbs (2nd percentile)
Ok, skinny minnie. Thanks for not gaining any weight. That actually bought us an additional weight check!!
I don't know where this height is coming from, but I'm guessing this little cutie has my genes where you just eat and don't gain weight, which I'm not all that upset about, but still!!! All these additional weight checks. Ugh. And every visit we have to go over what she eats, and what she drinks, and how we proportion it. I SWEAR I am not starving my child!! :)
Kim and I have decided, she's just going to be a super-smart model. ;)
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Update on the Girls - Alli's Reading and Natalie's Clothes
We have noticed that Fountain Hills school district doesn't always do well for kids with special needs, whether they be advanced or behind. The class that Alli is in seems to have quite a few kids that don't listen and need special attention, which leaves the learning of advanced kids a little lacking. The kids do have a reading program on the computer and the kids can advance at their own pace. Alli is a whole grade level above her class... So this last parent-teacher conference we asked again what we can do to keep Alli challenged. Apparently, the school offers an "Advanced Reading" program, where the kids check out a book from the library and then take a comprehension quiz on the computer after they have read the book. This program is available for first graders and older, but Alli's teacher said she was ready, and responsible enough to be able to handle it. Her first book came home over the weekend. Sunday night we read it and Monday she took her computer quiz. A print out came home - 100%. Woohoo! So Monday night we read her next book. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does. What did shock me was the level of books she is bringing home - way farther advanced than I thought she could read. And even though she struggles with words sometimes, she is reading VERY well.
Natalie is fast approaching her 1-1/2 year birthday, and with that all her changes - vocabulary, personality. It's all so cute. She is such a cuddly little girl and loves to give hugs!! And of course, we love getting them! The weather is warming up so we started putting on the shorts that are still in her drawer. They are 12 month old size. And they are falling off her waist (or lack-there-of). She is so tall and skinny that her clothes don't fit. Even some of her stretchy things fall off because she is just that small. But she's so tall!!! It's really crazy. I thought we had problems with Alli, but Alli was pretty well proportioned, just really tiny. Natalie is tall and very thin, and we can't seem to find very good clothes to fit her. Fortunately, she's just so cute in anything we put on her that it just doesn't matter.
Natalie is fast approaching her 1-1/2 year birthday, and with that all her changes - vocabulary, personality. It's all so cute. She is such a cuddly little girl and loves to give hugs!! And of course, we love getting them! The weather is warming up so we started putting on the shorts that are still in her drawer. They are 12 month old size. And they are falling off her waist (or lack-there-of). She is so tall and skinny that her clothes don't fit. Even some of her stretchy things fall off because she is just that small. But she's so tall!!! It's really crazy. I thought we had problems with Alli, but Alli was pretty well proportioned, just really tiny. Natalie is tall and very thin, and we can't seem to find very good clothes to fit her. Fortunately, she's just so cute in anything we put on her that it just doesn't matter.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Terrible Twos!
I know Natalie is only 16 months old, but I swear she is entering the terrible two's! She gets so upset about everything that we misunderstand, or if we tell her no, or anything. Of course, so does Alli so maybe it's just inherent of my children!
We may be in for an interesting year with all the temper tantrums occurring in our house! Crazy kids!
We may be in for an interesting year with all the temper tantrums occurring in our house! Crazy kids!
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Smart Little Cookie
Since Natalie still isn't clearly speaking many words, I always think she's still the baby blob of old. But she's really smart and knows what's going on.
The other day when we were changing her diaper, she wanted to look at her number poster. So I asked her where the butterflies were. And she put her hands on the butterflies and said "bu.." Then I asked where the frogs were and she pointed to the frogs and laughed. Asked about kitty cats, turtles, dog, bunnies. She knew them all! I was pretty impressed.
And this morning, she woke up early and wanted to watch TV. (That is communicated by pointing to the TV and saying "T?" I said no, it was too early and I didn't want to wake up her sister. So I said "Natalie, why don't we read a book instead. Go get a book." She toddled over to the stake of books in the living room, picked one out, and brought it back to me. We sat on the couch and read together.
It's really impressive how much she understands. Her vocabulary is sorta there - beginning sounds of a lot of words. Too bad almost all of them start with "b"!
The other day when we were changing her diaper, she wanted to look at her number poster. So I asked her where the butterflies were. And she put her hands on the butterflies and said "bu.." Then I asked where the frogs were and she pointed to the frogs and laughed. Asked about kitty cats, turtles, dog, bunnies. She knew them all! I was pretty impressed.
And this morning, she woke up early and wanted to watch TV. (That is communicated by pointing to the TV and saying "T?" I said no, it was too early and I didn't want to wake up her sister. So I said "Natalie, why don't we read a book instead. Go get a book." She toddled over to the stake of books in the living room, picked one out, and brought it back to me. We sat on the couch and read together.
It's really impressive how much she understands. Her vocabulary is sorta there - beginning sounds of a lot of words. Too bad almost all of them start with "b"!
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