Sprout Spot: February 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

This One

Loves peanut butter toast

Builds elaborate trains out of Nathan's old blocks

Sings her own versions of most songs

Could strike up a conversation with a rock...and sometimes does!

Is loca for Dora

Loves the library, mostly for the computers

Could do art projects all day (paint, dough, coloring...)

Is struggling with sharing

Misses her friend Kendall and asks to see her all day

Secretly loves her baby brother and her doggie

Cracks me up all day long

This one:

Follows me around the house in an army crawl, huffing and puffing as he goes

Is still as snuggly as ever

Screams like nothing I've ever heard before (for fun!)

Loves bananas

Would eat all day if we'd let him

Thinks his big sister is hilarious

Likes blowing raspberries and spit everywhere

Has eight teeth

And is having trouble sleeping because of them

Is getting more hair every day

Is growing too fast!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Just feeling really thankful for my Bible study group today. This morning's lesson was all about the importance of prayer and I was needing some today! Anna woke up in an okay mood, but before I even opened her door I could hear the daily shouts of, "No! You not dress me! I need to stay in my jammies!" playing out in my mind. Sure enough, that's what I encountered yet again. Nathan left for work as she was melting into a screaming pile at my feet and I started wishing he and I could trade places for the day. The rest of the time before we left was somewhat rushed. She cried and fought as I dressed her and pulled up her hair. Poor Noah sat crying in the exersaucer waiting for some attention. I was looking forward to dropping them in the church childcare for a few hours.

I sat and listened in the large group discussion, but I was somewhat distracted by a decision I needed to make in the next few minutes. My small group is moving into one girl's house for the next 6 weeks, and starting up a new study. I took this study last summer but I knew I could benefit from going through it again. My real hesitation was Anna. I was worried about how she would behave. This time everyone would see if she misbehaved because she would be in their house not off in a childcare room. I was worried about how she would treat my classmate's children, would she break something in their homes, would she listen to me at all?!

When we first got into our small groups I told them that I couldn't answer whether or not I was coming to the new study. I wanted more time to think. I mentioned my fears about Anna's behavior to our discussion leader and before I knew it the whole group was offering me advice and support and I was crying all over the table like the emotional wreck I become when there's a problem with my kiddies. The girls in my group shared stories that helped me realize that my child is not the first 2/3 year old to refuse to put on her coat or get into her stroller. She's not the first one to scream in public, and I'm definitely not the first mommy to feel like a big ol' failure! I look at Noah now and realize that before Anna was two I thought I had this parenting thing all figured out. Now I know she just wasn't old enough to give her opinions yet!

In the end I decided to stay in the group for the next study. There's no way I could fix Anna's issues overnight anyway and now I know that they won't be looking down on me just because my child has a tantrum. The real lesson is to not worry so much about what other people think and to just do my best as we go along. My group helped me remember that I need to give these issues over to God and trust that He gave me these children because I am the best mother for them. I know Anna will grow and learn and soon these difficult days will be just a memory. Until then, we'll take all the parenting advice, tips, and prayers that anyone has to offer!

And I think it goes without saying that I am beyond thankful for my little monkeys. They stretch me and teach me and make me a better person every day. Thanks for letting me vent :)

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Cousin Time

Yesterday we had Sam and Max at our house all day. I admit that I was a bit worried about how the day would go. With 4 kids all age 4 and under, I couldn't even fit them all in my car to get out of the house. So I hoped they would all get along, and take naps! I had an early morning dentist appointment, so Nathan stayed home for an hour or so and took care of them. When I walked in everyone was happy, and Nathan had made about 15 pieces of toast trying to feed them all breakfast. He's so cute ;)

This first picture kind of sums up how the early morning went. Toys everywhere, Sam playing ball, Anna rolling on the floor throwing a fit as she adjusted to the idea of someone else playing with all of her toys, and Noah just going along for the ride. Oh and Ruby sniffing. Don't worry, that ball bounced right past Noah.

This just might be the sweetest boy I know (besides my own of course). He was so lovey and snuggly all day. He's at that age where he talks with great conviction, but it's almost all in baby gibberish. Every time he heard a sound he would look around and say, "Wha zat?". It was cracking me up!

Noah and Max spent pretty much their entire lunch time smiling at each other. Well, at least when Noah's dolphin screeching wasn't making Max cry.

Sam saw Anna's play tent as soon as he walked into the living room and he asked me about 400 times what that "ABC and 123 tent" was for. After lunch I set it up for them and he was super excited to play inside.

If I had known the tent would inspire this kind of harmony, I would have opened it up right away!

After nap everyone was happy and calm. Anna was still sleeping, and she needed it the most! In a house full of boys she more than held her own on the hyperactivity front. Sam showed the younger boys how to string beads (with close supervision) until their daddy came to get them....

And paid me for watching them with this:

So much better than cash! Anna even slept long enough for me to drink it without any grabby hands. She was sad when she woke up and Sam was gone, but she has already told me that she's ready to go to his house next time. So Amy, you just let me know when to drop my kids at your house and we'll be there!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Let's Play Dough

Anna is unaware that this product is actually named Play Doh. She has always just called it "dough" as in "Mommy, I want to play dough now". Like other Anna-isms, I call it the same thing just to keep it going because I think it's cute.

This past weekend she wanted to play dough while wearing a grass skirt and a lei. She loves cutting out shapes with the cookie cutters, but the Play Doh scissors cause huge amounts of frustration. But she is determined to figure them out, and practices as much as I'll let her.

Here she wanted to show her circle to the camera. The blue penguin behind her is a humidifier that she calls Horace.

Noah has turned into a super speedy army crawler, even when still in his sleep sack. Here he's asking, "Umm, am I not supposed to be touching this?".

I took this picture of him without looking. He was crawling all around the chair I was in, so I just held the camera down by my ankles and took one. Pretty cute for not looking!

His new speedy mobility is cute but man! This boy is into everything now!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Yosemite

I spent 90% of this trip in an anxious state, waiting for disaster. When we were in San Francisco I waited for the earthquake that would bury us all. In Yosemite I was convinced a giant tidal wave was going to sweep down the hill and wash the entire hotel away. I worried that somehow Anna was going to get through the bars on the patio and fall into the water. Just having her out there made me nervous! The hills and mountains were just too big and I was sure we would be the next victim of a rock slide. Then there was the park itself, teeming with bears and wolves and enormous birds that could probably eat us all. I tried explaining to Nathan that being in these situations with a toddler, and being almost 9 months pregnant, made me extra cautious and protective of my young (mama bear). But I'm not sure he really heard me over the clicking of his camera. We really did have a lot of fun, I just felt better when we were out of the wild : )

This was the second hotel that we stayed in on our trip last spring. It was perfect for us because each room had a kitchen where we could make meals for Anna, even if a can of soup at their store was six dollars. Nathan loved the scenery. As you can see there was a little river thingy that ran right behind the rooms. Ours was on the ground level so he insisted on sleeping with the windows cracked so we could hear the rushing water at night. Nightmare.

Making mama nervous:

She was so small then! As we looked at these pictures Nathan and I were remembering that she needed help to climb that tiny little step:

I was much more comfortable with her playing in the hotel closet:

Here's what we drove through to enter the park. Tell me again why I shouldn't be afraid?

These trees are just way too big:

Yes, Anna wore her little backpack harness. Call it a baby leash if you want, but I had to keep my girly from falling off some cliff or something!

If you click on this you can see that the stoplight and "Expect 15 minute wait" sign are there because the main road is closed due to a ginormous ROCK SLIDE that had covered the road, and they had to open an alternate route. Tell me why I should want to drive my babies around on these roads?

Then, out of nowhere, we spotted a rare pregnant Sasquatch frolicking in the woods!

Wait, that's just me and Noah :)

Nathan kept taking pictures. This was his favorite.

While he snapped away, I sat in the car eating doughnuts. Yes I did. Repeat: Almost 9 months pregnant.

Anna slept while I plotted the best escape route.

A quick stop to walk the baby ;)

Ack! Get outta there sweetie!

A super cool double waterfall:

We stopped for lunch at The Ahwahnee:

Anna was happy to be out of the car. She saw some people playing croquet and she ran right into their game yelling, "Ball! ball!".

Soooo not wanting to have her picture taken:

But Nathan got up early the next morning and got a much better picture that even had a rainbow! He was gone for about two hours, and I sat in the hotel waiting for the park rangers to come tell me that my husband had been carried off by a pack of angry bears. He survived, and had a great time clicking the morning away with no whiney baby or nervous wife :)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Yummy

The other day Noah woke up from his nap with only one shoe and one sock. I normally take his shoes off for naps, but he was sleepy from the car and I didn't want to make him cold. I guess he decided to play for a little once he woke up and I couldn't resist taking some pictures of those little piggies.

Mmmm, socks.

Love that fuzzy hair!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Goodness

Brownies from scratch + A pan that's too small = Super tall, seriously like 3 inch tall, brownies

Nathan took some pictures, and while he did some crazy woman tried to steal the brownie! I mean, who would do that? And how did she get a wedding ring just like mine?!

Then a littler woman walked in and said, "Well hello there! I love this cake!". She immediately tried to pick up the plate and carry it away, but we told her she had to have dinner before she could have any bites of the "cake". So she just smelled it, and stared at it and sort of petted it a little. Poor girly forgot all about it by the time she had dinner, and she never did get those bites.

Trying not to touch the brownie requires concentration.

Tap, tap....

Sniff, sniff....

Yay! Let's go eat dinner so we can get on with this brownie business!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Mommies!

This morning we had Bible study but after only twenty minutes the head of the childcare program came in and told us all that they were closing for the day. All of the schools in the area had decided to close early in anticipation of a bad ice storm that is coming through. So I went downstairs and got Anna in the stroller, and we headed down the hall to get Noah from his room. All of the moms were walking to their children's classrooms as well, and Anna yelled out, "Hey! Look at all these mommies!" Every few feet we would pass another woman and Anna would point, "There's another one! There's another mommy!". As we rounded the corner to Noah's room she threw both hands up over her head and cried, "There are mommies everywhere!". The workers were cracking up. I wonder what gave these women away as mommies. The super stylish clothes with spit up on the shoulders? The ultra hip diaper bags? (Here's my new one. I love it!) Maybe the little people hanging off of their legs?

The picture above is the most recent one I have of Anna and I together. That should silence all of you who look at this blog and then tell me that my house and kids look perfect everyday. I sacrifice myself and my bad pajamas in an effort to keep it real. But you can keep saying my kids are perfect. That won't bother me one bit ;)

Ramblings

Nathan put Anna to bed tonight and when he came out he grabbed a notepad and started furiously scribbling what she had just said to him so he wouldn't forget. I don't know how many times I have to assure people that we do feed this child, but her love of listing foods out loud isn't helping my case. Here's what she said to Nathan as he was tucking her in for the night:

"Syrup

sugar

ice cream

pears

peaches

applesauce

fruit cups

oranges

strawberries

the beach

sand

a giant clam

starfish

hug me please Daddy.

Okay, you can go now."

Sugar?! Like she's ever just eaten sugar? If you know Anna then you know this is a completely probable conversation with her. Just this afternoon on the way home from the gym she told me, "Applesauce, pears, oranges, bananas, peaches, blueberries. They are all fruits." She just starts listing all of her favorite foods in this sort of monotone (robotic?) voice.

I'm not sure Anna's ever had bacon, but here's a little food humor for you all:

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Squishy Siblings

Saturday was a lazy sort of day where the kids stayed in their jammies and played all day long.

Telling secrets:

Also known as falling on each other:

Anna said she wanted to hold Noah. But there's a fine line between hugging and strangling.

The most fun thing for both of them is steam rolling into each other. Anna laughs maniacally and Noah just sort of plays along.

While they were rolling on the couch, Ruby stared longingly at the wooden food. She was hoping she could use the power of her mind to turn it into real food.

This is old news now, but here is Anna with the Valentines she made and the treat bags that she took door to door.

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