LOst in space

 

The other morning T came downstairs and without preamble said: "We need to make a spaceship." Suprised, I paused and said "OK."  I went to the basement, retrieved a packing box and started cutting away. 

 I added a steering wheel that turns for more accurate ship navigation. T never wants to be the driver though. She makes K be in front.

 

I have such fond memories of hanging with my siblings in a similar fashion. Our "buttons" were a little more elaborate though. Microwaves, light blasters, invisibility rays, whatever we could think of we had a button for.

T's cousins and friends have liked hanging out in it too.

 I liked her cousin's attitude.

T wanted me to give it a try but that was as far as I could fit. I have a big head, OK?

 

Here was my solution....

And here is Baby K, playing peek-a-boo. 

There is the joke that kids often like the packaging more than the toy, and I would definitely say that this is true. 

SO what are the fun things you did as a kid? I am always open to fun suggestions :)

What I have been up to

Please excuse the lengthy time I have left those appalling pictures up of my feet.  I hope that some day readers will come back to the blog again!

In a way, I am conflicted about blogging. I love posting about the family and what we are doing. But I secretly want to simply post what is on my mind, have this be more of a diary of sorts. I'm not sure that those two thing belong together. A simple answer would be to have two separate blogs, but that sounds like way too much work. (As you can tell, I so terrific about keeping this one current.). I guess I am just into complaining and not really fixing the problem.

Lots of big events have happened in the last few months. Baby K turned one. T turned three. I turned 33. We did a big family trip to Disneyland to celebrate T being a big girl and being all done with diapers. Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone, and we are now busy Christmas-ing.

Baby K is still not walking, or consistently sleeping through the night, but he is talking up a storm. He says daddyyyy (always long y like that, it's really cute), momma, up, boo, cup, thank you, clock, duck, peach, drink, nanana (banana), shut, poop, teacher, down, more, hop, and a ton of animal sounds. He will replicate most things we say to him, but he won't consistently use them yet. His not walking has made him creative in alternative methods in getting around. He will crawl with no knees on the ground. Or walk on his knees if he wants to carry something, which is hilariously slow. His most effective method of getting around is getting on one of these and being a speed demon all over the house. The more we have encouraged him to walk, it seems the more he has resisted it. Stubbornness is definitely a family trait.

We have also had the first couple of snowstorms hit already. Have I mentioned how much I dislike being cold? I have? Well, I still really do. My running/training has taking a real beating because of it. As if it was hard enough to get out before.... Signing up for a Half Marathon in February was not the smartest of choices.  S and I ran a 10k on Thanksgiving morning in 5 degree weather. That's right, a balmy 5 degrees. I don't feel any tougher for doing it either. Just more wary of getting out. I think there is a little over 10 weeks until Austin. I've got to get running. I've got to get running.

I also need to get to sleep. War and Peace is excellent bedtime reading. Let's just say it's gong to be awhile before I finally finish.

Battle Wound

S and I have been training in the wee hours of the night to run a 10k in a few weeks. We also got a little crazy and signed up for the Austin half-marathon in February.  Running again feels so good. As if it wasn't great enough that S came to live with us, I now have a running buddy who is motivated and up for pretty much anything. We mix up our running between laps at the park and hitting up the hills in our neighborhood (Gertie, as we have named the biggest one on our route, has defeated us so far, but one day we will defeat her (shake of the fist)). We have come against some aches and pains but I now have my first battle wound.

I should preface these pictures with a warning and apology. There is blood. There are toes. Ick.

After S and I got home from our 5+ mile run last night, I pulled off my shoes and saw this...

                

 

I have come to the conclusion that I really need some new running shoes, real running shoes, not the crappy Skechers I have been wearing. I also should stay away from glitter nail polish. It's a bit like sandpaper after a few minutes. Lesson learned.

Supa Fly

Helloooo

Yesterday was family photo day. I was so happy with how the photos turned out! We went to a place called FotoFly and they were amazing!!! I would recommend them to anyone, especially those with kids. They really worked hard to get good smiles (especially from T who is in a no smiling for photos phase), are friendly, we got to preview the photos and take them home the same day. The best part is, we now own the copyright to the photos so I can print and post as much as I want.

Baby K

T

This is telling of the dynamic between the two.

The Family

Grandpa and Grandma B

Baby K (10 days old) and Grandma B

I'm not the type of girl who thought I would marry someone for reasons beyond who they are, for instance for their money, but I realize daily that I married K in part for his family.

We are so so blessed to have K's parents in our lives. They are who I would like to be when I grow up. Kind, generous, happy, concerned, involved, gracious, and thoughtful are just a few adjectives that come to mind.

For instance, K's parents have the family over every Sunday for dinner. They are amazing home cooked meals too. Grandma B does the cooking, Grandpa B the cleaning and we get to go and enjoy. It's so nice. Then on Tuesday they come over to our home to be with the kids and give me a chance to relax a little- plus they always bring a donut with sprinkles for T (and us too.) On bonus weeks, some Thursdays we go out to dinner as a family. (whoo-hoo! Even less cooking for me :)

But it is more than that. They just love our kids so much and want to be involved in their lives. Our kids are so lucky. And we are too- because I know they care just as much about us.

I am so glad to have married K and I thank Heavenly Father every day for him and the family that came along with him.

T (1 year old) and Grandpa B

Well, it was bound to happen

But we have Y paraphernalia on Baby K.

He makes it look so cute, I almost don't mind.

An "Abencher"

S and I concocted a plan for St. Patrick's Day. For a few days leading up to today we told T about Leprechauns and rainbows and pots 'o gold. Then last night we had a visitor, a leprechaun came to visit! He left a shamrock trail in the house that led to the front door. When we looked outside, there was a rainbow trail to follow. I told T we were going to have an adventure. She was really cute about it. K caught some of the action:







T loved the green bubble wand and said we went on a "abencher." Baby K was just happy to be along for the ride, but the sun was really bright so he was pretty squinty eyed in a lot of the photos.

Scrub, scrub, scrub, we're in the tub

We just got some new bubble bath and the results were spectacular.

See T's mad stylin' skills below.

Part Mohawk

Part Headdress

Did you think I was dead?

Well, I'm not. The blog was this close to being done for though. I love it when I finally post, but sometimes it is more of a burden, this thing. In certain moments, I think to myself, you need to remember this and savor it later. So I am setting out a goal. One blog a week. (I know, Reeeeaaaal ambitious, Z!) But, If I can blog weekly for awhile I can feel like I'm at least recording the highlights of the week and maybe I'll try to do more when that time comes.

This next bit is from a post I started on Feb. 8.... I figure I'll just get it in and go from there :)

Baby K is adorable. He just smiles and smiles, it kinda makes up for all the not sleeping and angry crying he did for so long. OK.... that he still does. Both of my kids love it when I do the "piggies" and brush their faces with a strand of my hair. It's one of the things that I use to stop baby K from just crying and crying. It seems to help him break out of the cycle.

We put Baby K in the Jumperoo the first week in December and he still loves it so much. He just rocks and bounces. He even rocked himself to sleep once to our astonishment. He has hit so many milestones lately. Baby K had his first taste of cereal last Monday. I'll post pictures to show how it went. He decided that rolling was his new thing a few days ago so keeps going back and forth. He doesen't sit for extended periods yet, but he is working out those abs with all his might.

We kept getting asked how much he weighed, so I finally put him on the baby scale a few days ago... 18 lbs! It is funny watching people pick him up because they get this look like "Woah!" It makes me laugh. Baby K has a great laugh too. And he does it so much. He will laugh just because we are laughing.

T decided that she wanted to help blog too, so here is her contribution:
nnnnmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnmnmmm

There you go. That just about says it all.

I love you

How sweet are those three simple words. T said them to me for the first time tonight. Twice.

I really love that kid.