Thursday, February 28, 2013

Puddle Jumping

We had some rain last night. It wasn't enough to leave puddles, but Elizabeth tried anyway. She put on her boots and rain coat and jumped away. 



This was a great jump! Look at that height!

And she was done 2 minutes later. Nathan didn't want to jump because he said Elizabeth took all the puddles. Well, there really weren't any to begin with...

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Observations about Elizabeth at 3



My little dolly is now 3 years old! I thought I better write down some of the things she's doing now. 

She loves to "read" her books. It's amazing how fast she memorizes the books I read. I let the kids take a few books to bed after I tuck them in. I frequently hear her reading the words word for word. It's so cute. 

She LOVES to sing. She especially loves to sing in public. At the grocery store. At church (we still sit in the baby room for this reason). She sings to herself all the time at home. She is very loud too. Her voice is definitely not quiet and we are always trying to remind her of the difference between inside and outside voice. 

She and Nathan are starting to PLAY together! YAY! I figured it would happen once she turned about 3. They used to spend 80% of their time fighting. Now, they spend 80% of their time playing instead of fighting. I'm finding myself with more time to do things like clean. Perhaps I'll finally be able to (almost) keep the house as I like! 

She just got her big girl mattress. We told her when she turned 3, she would have to give her crib to the baby next door. Right now, Elizabeth is  sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Her actual bed will arrive next week. The transition so far has been super easy. I lay her down (and she talks and sings) and then she walks out in the morning. I guess it was the right time for a big girl bed! 

Speaking of sleeping...
I'm not sure whether or not to give up on her nap. She will nap, but the problem is then she won't go to sleep quickly at night. I like to put the kids to bed at 8, but if she's napped (and she's not tired for a nap until about 3 or 3:30) she will sing and talk in her bed until 9:30 at night. We've been skipping a few naps lately to see what happens. She gets a little cranky in the evenings, but when I put her to bed at 8, she's right to sleep. Then, I'm having to wake up her in the mornings at 8:30 or 9. So that's kind of late to wake up. It's a tricky time sleep wise! 

There is nothing she can't say. And she speaks very clearly. I have no speech concerns whatsoever. Every day, I hear her picking up new vocabulary words. It's truly amazing. And her imagination is quite something too! She and Nathan spend all day just making up games now. So they're doing their job as children. Playing! 

She's becoming VERY independent. She wants to do everything by herself or help with every chore. She can put on her own socks and shoes and undies. She's working on getting her shirts and pants on. She also wants to brush her teeth and floss by herself. I let her do these a little bit before I finish up. 

She's potty trained during the day no problem. Not even a little leak anymore.  She still wears an overnight diaper. 

Now that she's 3, Nathan's preschool teacher has invited her to come to class and see how it goes. Elizabeth was receptive to this idea until she found out that Mama would leave and go home. So for now, we will not do preschool. I think she values her alone time with Mommy (no Nathan around) too much! Next fall, I'll try her in preschool a few mornings a week and see how that goes. 

She's a pretty easy going child. Her brother is so stubborn so she ends up giving in most of the time as she doesn't care to get her way. I'm not sure if this is a younger child thing or not. I think if they were both as stubborn as Nathan, they'd have a lot harder time playing together. 

Her favorite toys are her stuffed kitties, her ponies and any imaginary and dress up costumes. 

Eating is the hard part with her. She would eat noodles and cheese or burritos every day all day. She eats lots of fruit, but is not a vegetable fan. I remember Nathan was the same way at this age. Now, he will eat some vegetables. So I'm hoping she'll improve as she gets older! And so far, she's only allergic to peanuts and sunflower seeds. She hasn't had any reactions for a while. 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Monday, February 25, 2013

Riding Around


It's getting warm enough to start riding around outside. Elizabeth has finally decided she likes to ride her trike! The trike is only 40 years old.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Witches in my house


Grandma Jane was cleaning out her closets when she found some old Halloween costumes. What luck! There was a small witch cape/hat and a large witch cape/hat. For a while, I had 2 witches flying around (until they started fighting over the broom). 






Sunday, February 17, 2013

Sunday Evening Exercises


Well, Nathan has decided he's ready to move again (we'll be buying a house in the next 5 months, we just don't know where yet). 
When Nathan gets ready to move, he starts preparing. He likes to get strong. Tonight he decided to start training again. He put in a workout DVD, got out a mat, and his weights. 
This move, it looks like he's got a little helper who also wants to get strong. 

Working on their pushups


Chest presses. It will help with those heavy boxes

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Driving Practice


Papa Ray and Kim got Elizabeth this great Jeep for her birthday. Mostly she crashes and runs over the bushes in the yard. But she thinks it's just great! Here, Jeremy tried to teach her how to drive. It's pretty cute! 




Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Cute Nathan conversation

Me: "How come you're so cute?"

Nathan (sighs): "That's something the scientists can't even figure out. I wonder what scientists that study cute kids are called? I should find out if they exist."

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Happy 3rd Birthday Elizabeth!

We had a great birthday party for our big 3 year old!

She wore this great Hello Kitty dress Aunt Charlene made. 


Balloon games with Kim

Peeking out from her Hello Kitty balloons. 

Flying games with Papa Ray! 

Kissing games with Gram

Nathan loves his Auntie Laura!

Thanks for making cupcakes Gram!

She loved her cupcakes. 

It was such a nice February day we were able to eat outside!

Grandma Pam and Papa Norm enjoying the sun and warmth. 

Just being cute

Again...just being cute

A Veggie Tales castle!!

Pippa managed to buy and wrap this Dora umbella. Amazing Pippa!

She unwrapped everything all by herself! 

Hello Kitty matching game



Hello Kitty airplane! Lots of fun!

You should have seen her eyes when she saw this Dora backpack!


Papa Ray and Kim brought this great Jeep!

The Jeep even says Elizabeth! She's got to do a little practice driving though...

Singing Happy Birthday!


Eating the cupcake

Everyone watching her eat cupcakes



Saturday, February 9, 2013

Pirate Dad/Dog/Cow/Mouse


Dad is a silly guy. He thinks he can wear 3 animal masks at one time AND be a pirate.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Emergency Room Visit

Well, I had an emergency room visit last week. There were a few amusing things about it, so I wanted to write down the story.

I had a nasty cold over Christmas. Toward the end, it kind of settled in my chest, but seemed to go away.

Then, last week, I started having trouble breathing. I couldn't seem to catch my breath and I had like a lump in my chest. I had Mom come down to watch the kids and I went over to Urgent Care.

The doctor at Urgent Care told me my symptoms were too concerning to him and he didn't have anything there to try to figure out what was wrong. Apparently chest pain and trouble breathing will get you sent to the emergency room quickly. He wanted to call an ambulance, but I just drove myself over there.

There was NO parking at the hospital. I had to park like 3 blocks away. It took me forever to walk to the ER since I was having trouble breathing.

I was behind 5 people in line. All 5 people were told to go sit in the waiting room. My symptoms of chest pain and trouble breathing got me admitted quickly and I had no wait.

I told the doctor of my virus, but they wanted to rule out big problems first. They were mostly concerned about a blood clot in my lungs.

As I'm lying there, Jeremy shows up. He'd left work so he was in uniform. I started to get strange looks and weird glances from hospital people walking by.

Apparently, whenever a cop is in the hospital with a patient, it means the patient is either under arrest or mentally ill. So on this day, people were not seeing what was really happening! It was pretty amusing to me. They may have thought I was a criminal!

After an X-Ray, blood tests, and even a CT scan of my chest, it turns out I just have some inflammation in my lungs from that dumb virus. No blood clot or lung cancer or pneumonia. I was prescribed some strong anti-inflammatory pills and released.  I was there over 4 hours (each test took less than 10 seconds).

Jeremy said he'd drive me down to the car since he was parked out front. He wasn't kidding. His police car was parked right next to the front sidewalk in a no parking zone. Again, we got lots of looks as he was helping me into the car. I'm sure he's totally used to getting stared at, but I am definitely not! (Well, unless Elizabeth is having a breakdown).

I've been taking the pills for about a week now. My chest and breathing are much better. I still can't run too hard or fast though or I can feel my chest start to tighten up. So slow running for now. I can't wait to get back to regular Bloomsday training!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

1997 vs 2012. Not much difference.


I came across the top picture recently and realized it is SO much like the bottom picture. 


Here are Laura and I in the fall of 1997. We are at a cross country meet in Cle Elum. I can tell because it's the only place we ran cross country meets that had trees like that. I was a senior and she was a freshman. This is obviously after the race as we are looking tired and our hair is windblown. 
Another point. Look how much clothing we are wearing. The meet must have been in October. Most normal people would have just run in their uniform top and shorts. Not Laura and I. To stay warm, we needed long sleeve shirts and spandex. We are just always cold! I'm sure people thought we were overdressed. It's the same way now. We are always cold and have to keep our houses at 76 degrees all the time to stay warm. 



Here are Laura and I in the fall of 2012. Look, we're running another race and even standing in the same spots! It's funny because our numbers almost match with the numbers we were wearing in 1997. Back then, I was 322 and in this recent race I was 333. Laura was 324 back then and 327 now. Funny huh? I bet Holly was 323 in the race from 1997. 
We were also cold during this race as it was the end of October. The wind was quite nippy as well. This was before the race as our hair is not windblown. Although over the years, we've both been able to figure out how to tame our hair and work with it better. 

Well, time to start training for Bloomsday! Be prepared to be cold for that race too L! And yes, I know how much you hate it. But who knows? The shirts could be purple this year! 

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Pirate Swordfights



The kids have developed yet another bedtime stalling tactic. 

So first we do baths, brush teeth, and put on pajamas. 

Then, they dress up as pirates and have sword fights. They know it makes me laugh and I can't help but let them stay up a few extra minutes because it's so funny. 

Elizabeth started calling herself "Captain Feathersword." Nathan is "Captain Puppy." 


Some great foam sword action


Whoops. They both dropped their swords at the same time. Who won? 

Back in action


Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Eating Papa Ray's face


Today is Papa Ray's birthday. To celebrate, the kids ate cookies with his face on them! Good job with the cookies Aunt Charlene. 





End of the Year Survey

Nathan:  16 Elizabeth:  13 1. What is your favorite color: N:  Blue E:  Pastel lime 2. What is your favorite toy? N:  Legos E:   squishmello...