The Wakeman Family

Bathtub Gymnastics

2012-02-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

Mom gets a little nervous at bathtime when the kids want to do "pushups" in the tub. I had to snap a picture though.

Let's hope these pushups do not lead to big head bonks! I tell them not to do them.

Snowman

2012-02-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

We had some good "snowman" snow on Valentine's Day. Here's Nathan with his snowman!

In true Nathan fashion, he knocked it over about 5 minutes after the picture was taken.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth is wearing her hearts shirt. Nathan is wearing a red shirt, but he doesn't always want to have his picture taken.

The shirt wasn't all! She also has a jacket with hearts on it.

Time to go to the preschool party!

Valentine's Day cards

2012-02-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

Nathan worked really hard on his Valentines this year. He wrote the names of all his classmates on this cards and created some cards for the grandparents and Uncles and Aunts. He had a lot of fun. Elizabeth did some good coloring.

Elizabeth's 2nd birthday party

2012-02-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday!

She blew out the candle like a pro!

Eating cupcakes with Aunt Laura at her new little table.

No, you cannot have my cupcake Papa Ray!

Playing her new xylophone at her table.

Fun new car ramp! She LOVES this new toy.

Games with Papa Ray

New Xylophone

New bath toys

More new bath toys

Fun dress up clothes!!

She's getting good at opening presents

Eating her birthday lunch with Papa Ray. She wanted the Hello Kitty plates!

Me with my adorable 2 year old girl!

Balloon bonking games with Kim

Balloon bonking games with Papa Ray

Balloon bonking games with Papa Norm

Balloons are so much fun!

Static games are quite fun too.

Elizabeth with her presents

Elizabeth with her Gram

Ag Expo

2012-02-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

Papa Norm came up on Thursday to take Nathan to the Ag Expo at the Spokane Convention Center. Here are some photos.

Riding the shuttle bus over to the convention center. Nathan ate his lunch on the way!

Nathan loves the big combines. He can climb all the way up there by himself. He says it's his favorite part.

Sitting on a little Kubota. He said it was ok, but he likes Papa's 3 big Kubotas better.

It's fun to eat lollipops in tractor tires.

A bucket John Deere

Elizabeth is 2!

2012-02-11T08:01:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday!

It's hard to believe but Elizabeth is 2 today! She thinks she's 4 and she acts like a 4 year old. She wants to be Nathan and does EVERYTHING he does.

I find her so cute I just want to squish her all the time. I spend my days hugging and kissing her. Yes, this might seem a bit ridiculous but I just can't help myself! It starts in the morning when she's in her crib in her footie jams saying "Hi Mama! Morning! Good sleep." I just can't wait to hold her and start talking to her about our day and all the things she's excited about. She always wants all her stuffed animals out of her crib.

She loves going to preschool. Nathan is technically the one in preschool, but I bring her with us so she gets a lot out of it. She can sing her entire ABC's and counts to 16. She knows all her basic colors and most of her basic shapes. She can sing and dance to the hokie pokie, twinkle twinkle, patty cake, the chicken dance, and head shoulders, knees and toes. She loves to sing songs and repeat nursery rhymes. Her vocabulary continues to amaze me. She can say any word. Anything. She speaks in sentences and can string together pretty nice paragraphs too!

Her favorite foods are burritos and noodles with cheese. She likes to eat apples and grapes too. And of course she'll devour any cookie or marshmallow put before her if she eats a good dinner. Luckily, we've still not found any other food allergies besides the sunflower seeds. I hope it continues to stay this way! I haven't given her any peanut butter yet as we don't keep it in the house but her blood test says she's ok with it.

She LOVES to laugh at Nathan. She always has. She loves to play with him. He still doesn't play with her as much as she'd like and he doesn't always treat her nicely, but he is improving. Now that she can converse with him, they have cute little conversations in the car and at home sometimes. Tonight they both complimented the others pajamas. Elizabeth said, "Nice jams Nathan! I like footballs. Very nice." Then Nathan said, "Thank you Elizabeth. Your piggie jams are nice too. Cute."

All in all, she's a very good little girl. Yes, she has her moments, but for the most part she's very cooperative and a pleasure to be around. I wonder if this will change now that she's hit the magic number of 2? Uh oh.

She doesn't seem to be interested in potty training yet. She tells me when she goes, but isn't interested in the potty. She does like to make her stuffed puppy use the potty. She makes him go potty and then she wipes him.

She has a Mommy Obsession and it's pretty bad! She doesn't want Daddy at all right now. She only wants Mom. She wants me to get her dressed, change her diapers, get her food, play with her, etc. I guess I don't mind too much as I am kind of obsessed with her too. I remember Nathan was the same way around this age except that he had a Daddy obsession.

Her hair is getting longer and longer! She won't sit very still for me to trim it though...I love to put it in ponytails. She always yanks them out though. I wish she'd like the bows and ponytails but she just doesn't.

Eczema is still a big problem. Hers is HORRIBLE. She would scratch all day. I've used all kinds of steroids, hydrocortisone creams, powders, lotions, and ointments. She often scratches her legs and feet until they bleed. We often have to tape her socks on so she doesn't yank them off. She has to take naps in her footie pajamas too. We don't know when it's going to get better. Nathan's was much better by 2, but hers is still a daily problem and hindrance. You can see her hands in the top picture. She just scratches and scratches.

She say the cutest things when she hurts herself or bonks. She'll cry for about 5 seconds. Then, she'll tearfully say, "Getting better." She'll cry for 2 more seconds and then say with a smile, "Happy now!" She does not cry for long.

When she does something that she knows is naughty or if she just wants to be by herself, she'll go off to her room crying and say "Baby time out." She'll shut the door and cry for 4 seconds. Then, she'll start talking to herself and playing. Then she'll be perfectly happy when I go in.

Here's her daily routine.

She wakes up around 8. She eats breakfast (usually cereal and a bottle of milk) in her high chair. We get her dressed and brush her teeth. During the week, we usually leave the house by 9:30-10 to go to various activities. Preschool is Tues/Thurs, Library Storytime is Wed, we do our shopping on Friday mornings to beat the weekend rush, and church is Sunday morning. She's used to doing morning activities.

We usually come home around noon and she has her lunch. She likes to have hummus, sandwiches, burritos, or noodles and cheese. She also has fruit and a bottle. We play together until 2. We read a lot of books and just play silly games.

She usually naps from 2 to 3:30 or sometimes even 4. She's a tired girl! This is my break for the day so I spend that time exercising and playing with Nathan.

We play some more from 4-6. We like to try to get outside after her nap now that it's not dark and we can walk around some as a lot of the snow is gone! She likes to play around in the shop and with the gravel in the driveway. She likes to explore the fort and sometimes she likes to swing. She LOVES going for walks around the neighborhood.

We eat dinner around 6 and she sometimes eats what I cook. We eat a lot of meat due to Nathan's protein problem. Elizabeth doesn't like meat very much. She eats a lot of her starches and will eat some vegetables.

At around 6:30, the naked runners show up. Both kids strip off their clothes and run in circles around the kitchen while I clean up. They like to turn on classical music. Gosh do they run! Sometimes they run for half an hour! It's so funny. She likes to skype with the grandparents and Aunt Laura during this time.

7:00 is bathtime. She enjoys bubble baths and likes pouring water in cups, playing with little bath toys and pretending to "swim." She loves to have her tube towel after bathtime. Then, we get on her overnight diaper, LOTS of Aquafor on her horrible eczema, and then her cute footie jammies.

She's very good about letting me floss and brush her teeth. She takes her fluoride drop just fine. Then, she likes to help me set out the vitamins for the next morning.

After this, we read books. Jeremy reads Bible stories to the kids just before bed. Then, I get her her water cup and we do LOTS of hugs and kisses (she could hug and kiss all night to stall for bedtime) and I put her in her crib at 8:00.

Out for walks!

2012-02-10T08:19:00.000-08:00

When the weather is sunny and there's not too much snow covering the roads we go for walks! Yes, we still have snow but it's melted enough I can get the stroller out of the shop and onto the road with only minor trouble.

Elizabeth loves to drink milk, eat crackers and talk about the things we see. I like to bundle her up like a little eskimo baby. It's just so fun!

Pondering life

2012-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth loves to ponder life while drinking her bottle of milk. It's so cute!

Tube Towel

2012-02-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

I know I've done a tube towel post before, but she's just so cute in her tube towel!!

Elizabeth quote

2012-02-08T19:18:00.001-08:00

Tonight after dinner, Elizabeth spoke this perfect paragraph.

"I'm resting in the brown chair. I'm tired. Too much naked running!"

Her vocabulary just keeps getting better and better!

Delicious!

2012-02-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

We deposited a check today at the bank. The teller gave us 2 lollipops. We gave them to the kids. Elizabeth is not quite sure how to suck on a lollipop yet. She just takes bites. I asked her how it tasted. She said, "Delicious Mom!"
It was cute. Nathan was trying to show her to how lick it rather than bite it.

Before and After

2012-02-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

I know he looks sad in the second photo, but it's a facade. He likes to build towers but enjoys knocking them over even more.

Quidditch

2012-02-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

Nathan has been teaching Elizabeth to ride a broom. I wonder when Quidditch tryouts are?

Towers

2012-01-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

Nathan loves to build big towers out of megablocks. He likes to build big cities in the window so people have something to look at while they drive by.

Hugging

2012-01-30T13:40:00.000-08:00

The kids have been hugging a lot lately. It's cute since we don't see this very often at all!

Eating Strawberries with a straw

2012-01-29T13:36:00.000-08:00

We bought some yummy strawberries from Yokes. Nathan decided that strawberries must be eaten with a straw. Of course!

She's just cute

2012-01-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth loves to eat apples. Basically, she nibbles out the middle and leaves the rest. I end up eating the rest of the apple because I don't want to waste it! I remember Nathan did the same thing at that age.

Show and Tell

2012-01-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Nathan was show and tell last week at preschool. He brought his camera. He figured the other kids could pass it around and take picture. And if he didn't like the pictures, he could delete them. He did really well answering questions and talking about his camera!

The snow finally showed up

2012-01-26T20:39:00.000-08:00

Well, the snow finally showed up. It wasn't too bad. Probably a total of only 8 inches or so. Jeremy and Nathan did a lot of shoveling over a couple of days. Elizabeth loves to watch Jeremy and our neighbor Jim use the snowblower! Snow flying everywhere is fun to watch when you're 1.

My little shoveler

Getting the traditional paths shoveled. We need a path to the shop/wood area.

Trying to have fun in the snow.

Elizabeth faceplanted pretty quickly. She didn't stay out long.

A lovely snow angel!

Working on a 4 year old size snow angel. The 1 year old wanted nothing to do with it.

Weird places to nap

2012-01-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

They like to "nap" on the stairs. It doesn't seem very safe!

Dollhouses

2012-01-25T08:31:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth was a lucky girl and got 2 dollhouses for Christmas. She loves to play with them!

Tangrams

2012-01-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

I got Nathan this tangram puzzle book for Christmas. He LOVES it. He loves to find new ways to put the puzzles together and make shapes. Hopefully this means he'll be good at math!

Waiting for snow...

2012-01-23T20:33:00.001-08:00

We haven't had our usual amounts of snow this year. Here are some photos from last week (before we got our big snow!) Elizabeth still wanted to go out in her snowsuit even before the snow hit.

Albertsons

2012-01-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

The preschool took a really fun field trip to Albertsons!

The kids learned about healthy eating and got to sample many foods. They started in the cereal aisle (as that's where your nutrition every day) and sampled cereal. Then, they moved on and got a free toothbrush! They continued along and made wraps for lunch. They had breads, fruits, etc. It was really fun. Obviously Nathan wasn't able to taste the cheeses or other products with dairy/egg, but it was still fun. Actually, the bread sample had sunflower nuts so he was very excited to tell the Albertsons girl that Elizabeth was allergic to sunflower seeds, but he was not!

At the end, they had a bag full of sample foods, toothbrushes, and stickers. They also each got a card that allows them to pick out a free apple or banana every time they're at Albertsons!

Elizabeth filling up her bag

Nathan talking to the crabs.

Learning about apples.

Making wraps! Nathan ate the whole thing and then still came home and had lunch.

Adorable quotes I need to remember.

2012-01-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

1. Nathan and Jeremy were leaving to go get a new battery for the truck.

Me: "I'll miss you so much!"
Nathan: "I won't have to miss you Mom. You're always in my heart.

2. Elizabeth and I were playing in her room. She needed to go get a toy out of the living room.

"Be right back Mom. In 2 minutes. Really quick."

She was so serious about it and toddled off (ran) as fast as she could.

Papa Norm and Grandma Jane's house

2012-01-11T08:53:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time visiting with Papa Norm and Grandma Jane too!

Elizabeth loves Gram. Here she is waiting for Gram to come out of the bathroom. She lays there trying to poke her fingers under the door and says "Gram, coming out?"

The kids loved to look at Gram's snowglobe before bedtime.

Counting pretzels. She's pretty good at counting to 10!

Nathan helped Papa Norm build a welding table.

Playing outside.

Nathan was quite concerned with the big fire down at the feedlot.

More Travels!

2012-01-10T20:45:00.001-08:00

After Christmas, we spent some time in Naches with Papa Ray and Kim.

Papa Ray and Kim had some fresh new playdough. Here's Elizabeth making snowmen with Papa Ray.

Nathan's favorite stuffed animal "Hoppy" liked to talk and play with Ray and Kim's dog Molly.

The kids LOVE to swim in the "Big Hot Water Tub." They have such fun splashing with Papa Ray.

Relaxing and coloring

More fun with playdough!

Elizabeth looking adorable in one of the cute outfits Kim bought her for Christmas.

Nathan Q&A

2011-12-31T20:02:00.000-08:00

My end of the year blog will be some questions I asked Nathan. Here are his exact responses.

What's your favorite color?
"Purple."

If you could give Mommy any gift, what would it be?
"You know how you don't have a grill of your own like the one on the deck? I'd get you a purple grill!"

If you could give Daddy any gift, what would it be?
"You know that thing Papa Norm reads the newspaper on? I would get Dad one of those." (A Kindle).

What's your favorite game?
"Where we make all the shapes" (Tangram game)

What's your favorite dinner?
"Pumpkin Barley"

What's your favorite dessert?
"Cookies."

What do you want to be when you grow up?
"A conductor."

What is Daddy's job?
"He drives around in his police car."

What is Mommy's job?
"You stay at home. Sometimes you have to go teach."

Where's your favorite place to go?
"Walmart."

What does Mommy always say to you?
"Has anyone ever told you how adorable you are? Or also I love you."

What does Daddy always say to you?
"Let's go build something!"

Who's your favorite person to play with?
"Emilee."

What does Mommy do really well?
"The laundry and you're the best exerciser. You run on that treadmill and do the girls a lot."

What does Daddy do really well?
"Builds stuff. Like my train table."

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T20:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a photo recap of our Christmas this year! Jeremy worked until 5:30 am Christmas morning. Laura and I got up with the kids and they got out the fun stocking stuffers from Santa. Later that morning, Papa Norm, Grandma Jane, Auntie LeAnne,and Uncle Rick came! I made a ham dinner and Grandma Jane brought some fantastic pies. After a yummy dinner, we opened the rest of the presents (that weren't opened yesterday). Then, Elizabeth went down for a nap. Everyone left. Jeremy went to work at 5 pm. Now I'm blogging to recap Christmas!

Nathan was so excited to look in his stocking and see what Santa brought him. (Yes, he wears that Union soldier hat to bed and wears it all day long). He's wearing his new Thomas jammies that he got from Grandma Pam.

Elizabeth wasn't quite sure what stockings were all about, but she had fun pulling stuff out anyway.

Elizabeth with Auntie Laura and Grandma Jane. When Grandma is around, Grandma's lap is always full!

Uncle Rick and Auntie LeAnne brought some GREAT puppets from Salt Lake City. Nathan had SO much fun playing with them. Uncle Rick and Auntie LeAnne are great at doing voices. Nathan told me he loves his Auntie LeAnne so so much and he hadn't seen her in so long.

Elizabeth doing her traditional holiday olive dance. (Dancing with an olive on each finger).

Nathan being silly and playing puppets with Auntie LeAnne.

Elizabeth and Auntie Laura playing on the couch.

Papa Norm, Uncle Rick, and Grandma Jane

Yes, the suitcase is upside down. Auntie Laura got Nathan and Elizabeth their own personalized suitcases. How fun! Elizabeth's is purple.

Auntie Laura also got Nathan dress up clothes. He gets to be a police officer and a firefighter. He's going to love this!

New bath toys. They had a great time using them in the bath tonight!

Nathan has been showing a strong interest in beginning sounds and trying to sound out words lately. This game will be perfect!

Auntie Laura got Elizabeth some bunny slippers. She LOVES them. She'd been eyeing Nathan's ducky slippers and needed some of her own.

Beads, beads, beads. This little girl loves beads!

Now that Elizabeth has stopped eating playdough (mostly), she's going to have fun playing with this!

It looks like not all the space shuttles were retired. Nathan's got a new one! He loves space.

Nathan got some great lincoln logs from Auntie LeAnne and Uncle Rick.

I love holding her in my lap.

Sister picture. It's been a whole year since we've all been together. Last Christmas in fact!

Santa baby! Elizabeth loves to put bubbles on her face and say "Ho, Ho, Ho."

Christmas Eve!!

2011-12-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a recap of all our fun activities on Christmas Eve day! Auntie Laura came over in the morning. A little later, Grandma Pam and Uncle Brian showed up too! We made cookies, played, had a tasty lunch, fed the reindeer, checked out Uncle Brian's new car, and opened some Christmas presents!

The frost on our tree made for some nice family photos!

Our little family

Uncle Brian too!

Me and my baby girl

Putting out reindeer food. It's a mix of oatmeal and glitter. The oatmeal is for strength. The glitter is the magic that helps them fly!

Elizabeth pouring her reindeer food.

Nathan pouring his reindeer food.

We girls LOVE to play with dollhouses.

Girls also love to farm. Thanks for the farm Aunt Karen!

Nathan LOVES his new truck that hauls all his cars.

You can never have too much equipment. (Isn't it great how there is snow falling in the background?)

Playing with the new toys.

Elizabeth got some adorable clothes from the Grandmas and Kim. Here's a cute one!

Having fun opening kids' presents.

Elizabeth loves to build playdough towers.

Aunt Laura found a Nathan safe (egg free) sugar cookie recipe. We used fake milk and fake butter and they turned out all right. Here are Dad and Nathan mixing the dough.

Ingredients lined up. Ready to make cookies!

Nathan, Dad, and Aunt Laura making cookies.

Baskets

2011-12-23T09:10:00.001-08:00

Baskets make fantastic toys. They can be used in many ways. Usually, you KEEP toys in them. However, if you dump all the toys out, they can be used for imaginative play. If we didn't already have them, I'd say baskets make great Christmas presents!

They make nice turtle shells. Watch out, the blue one pinches!

They make nice little beds.

They're perfect for crouching low and then jumping up and saying "Peekaboo!"

They make excellent little boats and cars. You can pretend to fish out of them. You can also push them around and bump them into each other.

And a Happy New Year

2011-12-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth has been really getting into singing Christmas songs. She's pretty good at Jingle Bells, Rudolph, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Now, she attaches "And a Happy New Year" to everything she says. Examples that she says:

"Plug it in myself. And a Happy New Year."

"Rain, rain go away. Come again and a Happy New Year."

"Naked Runners show up and a Happy New Year."

Dental Hygiene

2011-12-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

The kids like to sit up on the counter to have their teeth brushed. It's pretty cute. Here's Elizabeth getting brushed up before bed!

Pictures from Preschool

2011-12-21T08:11:00.000-08:00

The kids LOVE going to preschool. We go twice a week. Here are some photos of our last day at preschool before Christmas break.

Here are Nathan and Jeremy working on a really neat gingerbread man!

Elizabeth and her friend Gracie working on their gingerbread girls.

Nathan dressed up as a really scary dinosaur!

Skyping

2011-12-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

We have discovered skyping. Right now, the kids mostly skype with Aunt Laura and occasionally Nathan's friend KJ. They like to call Aunt Laura at night before their baths so she can watch them run naked. They like to run like crazy before their baths. It makes Laura laugh and they adore the attention.

Here they are skyping. They jockey for position in front of the camera. Nathan is a pro at making calls and answering.

Nathan's Mr. Conductor outfit

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is Nathan's Mr. Conductor outfit.

Nathan LOVES Thomas and he loves trains. He wants to be a conductor when he grows up.

Papa Norm and Gram went on a trip this past fall. Their travels brought them to Vicksburg. While there, the grandparents purchased some Union solider hats.

Nathan says the hat is his conductor hat. He likes to wear his lightweight blue coat and his irrigation boots to complete the outfit. He wears it ALL the time. He loves to wear the hat wherever and whenever he can. He wears it all day!

Our local librarian says he rides trains all day and fights the Civil War at night.

Napping Games

2011-12-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

The kids like to play napping games in our bed. It's pretty funny. No room left for the parents!

Santa!

2011-12-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

Every year, Santa drives through our neighborhood passing out candy canes. He has a great float! It's complete with reindeer and Santa on his sleigh. I didn't manage to get a good picture of the reindeer, but here are the kids getting their candy canes from Santa.

It's a big parade complete with firetrucks, Santa, and an ambulance. It's really neat!

Preschool Singalong

2011-12-17T11:55:00.001-08:00

Nathan's preschool did a short singalong at our local community center. We were supposed to sing at 6. We showed up at 5:50 and they were just starting to sing. Therefore, Nathan was kind of thrown into the group and didn't do well. He kind of stood there in front of everyone. He didn't want to put on his Santa hat and since we didn't get there in time, he didn't get a jingle bell. It was kind of sad. I thought I'd put up the pictures anyway!

Elizabeth liked the tree. It spun around.

Nathan is not too happy.

Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up. This was as close as Elizabeth would get. Nathan broke down into tears and we left. He's never been a Santa fan!

Funny Nathan quotes

2011-12-12T07:04:00.000-08:00

"These Christmas lights are so pretty they make my eyes spin!"

"Miss Jenny got fired from her job as a foreman on the island of Sodor. So now, she's a fiveman. That's sad. But since she's 5, she gets to go to kindergarten!"

Playing with Papa Ray and Kim

2011-12-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

Papa Ray and Kim came to play!

Hugs

Elizabeth showing off her beads.

Playing laundry basket games with Papa Ray

Big Boots

2011-12-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

I think Dad's work boots are a little too big for Elizabeth.

You know your Mom is a teacher when...

2011-12-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

Anything you're doing can become a math problem! Today, the kids were playing in the candy bowl (we still have a lot of Halloween candy.) Elizabeth took out all these candies and so we practiced sorting them into colors and making graphs.

Here's a funny quote Nathan said about candy.

"Mom, there are sure a lot of "head" candies. Warheads, Airheads, Lemonheads. They really don't look like heads. They look like balls."

Tube Towel!

2011-12-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

Here's Elizabeth after her bath all wrapped up in her towel. She calls it her tube towel. It's so cute!

MIss Jenny's adventures

2011-12-07T19:35:00.000-08:00

Miss Jenny is Nathan's imaginary friend. I'm just writing down a few things he said today.

"Mom, did you know that Miss Jenny is actually from Texas? She decided to move to Washington because she was just tired of summer, summer, summer all the time! She wanted to move someplace with cold, wind, and some seasons. Plus, she really likes pine trees."

Miss Jenny just got back from a roadtrip. She has lots to say about the places she visited.

Christmas Lights!

2011-12-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

The kids and I have been having a lot of fun driving around our town looking at Christmas lights. People here really put up amazing displays! A local radio station plays all Christmas music so we turn that up loudly.

After Jeremy goes to work, we get in the car and drive around. They now have specific houses we must see. Nathan likes to sing along with the songs he knows.

It's quite fun!

Funny things Nathan says

2011-11-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

1. We were reading a book yesterday. In the book, a little bear licks a stamp. Nathan said, "That's silly. Why would you ever lick a stamp? You're supposed to only lick the envelope."

Then, he laughed and shook his head.

He'll never have to lick a stamp!

2. We were leaving the house today and he was climbing into the car. He noticed something on top and said, "Mom, someone dropped ice-cream on the car. I won't touch it or I'll get hives."

It wasn't ice-cream. He won't get hives from touching it, but he might get something else.

Visit with Papa Norm and Grandma Jane

2011-11-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth has decided to become a fan of olives. She was dancing around with olives on each finger. It was so cute! A future Junior Miss talent?

Nathan driving tractor with Papa Norm. Just today, he told me that when he grows up he wants to be a tractor driver and that Papa Norm can teach him everything he needs to know. He says he's going to have 4 Kubotas, 2 John Deeres, and a Case.

Poor Grandma Jane. This is pretty much the scene every time we visit. Elizabeth wears her out. Elizabeth only wants "Gram." "Gram do" is pretty much her favorite thing to say. Elizabeth ignores me when Gram is around.

3 generations of girls.

Elizabeth just being cute.

Elizabeth is a great vet in a diaper. She was giving this little toy dog shots. First, she checked the dog with a stethoscope and pronounced "sick" with a sad shake of her head. Then, she says. "Shot! Better. Happy now."

Eating a snack at the tiny table. That was our table when we were little. It's cute to see them using it too.

Playing the piano. Nathan has really taken an interest in music lately. He loves to listen to classical music. He pretends to play all the parts. He uses an invisible piano, violin, etc. He kept pulling out Christmas song books and pretending to play them. He had a lot of fun with the piano! Elizabeth liked to pound on it too. I'm sure the piano will make a better Junior Miss talent than dancing with olives.

This old cash register is always a hit. Nathan loved it and Elizabeth is getting pretty good at it too.

Thanksgiving at Grandma Pam's house!

2011-11-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Grandma Pam's house. Jeremy's days off happened to coincide with Thanksgiving this year so we made a trip to visit.

A family photo. Elizabeth was not doing so well at this point. She did well skipping her nap. But around 5:00 she just broke down. The poor little thing was so tired. Luckily, we'd had dinner and had a good visit. We put her in the car and she was asleep in less than a minute.

Uncle Brian's cat was there. Neither Elizabeth or Nathan has had much to do with cats. Jeremy is allergic and we're not big pet people so they just haven't been around them. Both kids adored that cat. Elizabeth kept hugging it and petting it and said, "Soft. Cute!" We felt sorry for the cat.

The kids love playing with Uncle Brian. Here is Uncle Brian making bridges for Nathan to drive trucks over.

Here is Uncle Brian playing Flying Elizabeth. She had a blast.

Grandma Pam had some anthills that were causing her problems. The boys took care of the problem in true Wakeman fashion.

Here's Nathan hanging out with Uncle Brian and Great Uncle John.

A happier family photo.

Grandma Pam had some great cups with lids. I think the kids drank most of her orange juice.

We were so happy to see Great Grandma Helen.

I love to hold this baby girl in my lap. She doesn't appreciate it as much anymore. It makes me sad.

Elizabeth hugging the cat.

Grandma Pam had the best toy ever. PLAYDOUGH. The kids love playdough. It gave them lots to do while at her house. Nathan made lots of Christmas cookies out of the playdough. They played over at that little table and were quite happy.

Grandma Pam is great at making Nathan safe foods. She made this great cranberry bread. Nathan liked it so much he ate most of the loaf. He grazed on it for a good part of the day and didn't have much room for Thanksgiving dinner. It was that good! Thanks for such yummy bread Grandma!

We waited too long to take some 4 generation pictures. Elizabeth was breaking down and Nathan had just bonked his head. But we tried!

I think Pam's face says it all here.

Elizabeth's vocabulary

2011-11-27T22:14:00.001-08:00

Well, Elizabeth is now pretty much speaking in sentences.

She's been putting 2 words together for awhile.

On our way to Thanksgiving a few days ago, she spoke her longest sentence yet. We were in the car and we hear.

"No hitting me...Nathan."

Yep, her first long sentence.

Along with all this talking comes a lot of fighting. That's all they seem to do now. And here I was hoping they would play together.

Self Diagnosis

2011-11-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

Checking her temperature.

"Sick!"

Somebody's got to do it

2011-11-19T13:51:00.001-08:00

We've had snow on and off the last few days. No huge accumulations, but still snow.
Nathan has always enjoyed shoveling snow.

This morning, he looked outside at the probably .25 of snow and said, "Gosh, somebody's got to shovel that snow. Dad is still sleeping. I'll go get my shovel."

So he went outside and shoveled. He shoveled the sidewalk. He shoveled around the cars. Then, he started shoveling the driveway. Last, he shoveled in the flower beds.

He just LOVES shoveling show. He likes to throw it over his shoulder. Luckily, there is not too much so he does make good progress with his little shovel.

It's been snowing a little all day and there is another dusting. After lunch, he decided to go and shovel more. He likes to keep the sidewalks clean. It's just so cute!

Cute

2011-11-18T15:28:00.000-08:00

I have a problem. Elizabeth is just so cute I want to squish her! If I could, I'd spend all day just holding and kissing her. I can't resist those cheeks. And she just says such cute little things! It just makes me want to hug her every time she talks. I guess that's just part of being a Mom. Your kids are so cute you can hardly stand it. Here are a few of her recent cute photos.

She's doing her funny "glaring" face here. It makes me laugh so much. She wrinkles up her eyes. And look at the curls she is getting. Uh oh.

She's concentrating so hard playing with playdough. She's such a big girl. She's finally stopped eating it. Now, she smashes it down with her hand and uses the cookie cutters to make animals. She'll get so excited when she makes an animal and then yell out "Dada!! Made a duck!" Or "Dada!! Made a donkey!"

When she's done, she'll put all the playdough back in the containers and put it away. While doing this she sings the clean-up song. "Clean up, clean up." It's so cute to hear her try to sing.

We've been playing a LOT of playdough lately. Nathan sits on one side of the table and Elizabeth sits on the other. Now that she doesn't grab for his anymore (she has her own) he's fine. We have a lot of fun.

Popcorn fight

2011-11-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

The kids LOVE to pop popcorn. We get out the air popper and pop a big bowl. We got into a bit of a popcorn fight here. It was very fun!

Nathan's Turkey

2011-11-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

This picture is just amazing.

Nathan is finally writing his own name and actually trying to color! He's always avoided coloring before and never even attempted to do anything like "staying in the lines."
Yet, here he colored a perfect turkey and wrote his name at the top. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Nathan's new interests

2011-11-15T22:51:00.001-08:00

Within the last few days, Nathan has taken an interest in some wonderful things!

1. Writing his name. He's never shown a bit of interest before. Now, his name is popping up everywhere.

2. Flossing. He's always fought flossing and I just gave up. Tonight, he let me floss every tooth.

3. Classical music. He likes to spend the evening listening to classical music while pretending to play the violin and piano. He moves his arms around like he's conducting. Elizabeth calls it "noise" and tries to shut it off. This leads to fights.

Uncle Brian

2011-11-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

Uncle Brian came to visit. The kids love playing with Uncle Brian. He always has such fun games! Here they are reading bedtime stories.

Plus, he brought along some fun slinkies that Grandma Pam got for the kids. They love those!

Halloween Night

2011-11-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

Jeremy had to work Halloween night so the kids and I did Halloween activities.

First, the kids enjoyed dumping all the candy in the big bowl and liked going through and looking at it.

Then, we got dressed up.

We went to some neighbor houses and had fun getting some candy. Most people don't have Nathan safe candy, but what we do is just accept the candy they pass out. Then, when we get home, I take out all the candy he can't have and switch it with Nathan safe candy. It works pretty well. (Jeremy and I eat up all the chocolate candy!)

After a little trick r treating, we headed over to the school for the Halloween carnival. It was so much fun! Nathan could do most of the activities and received candy (none that he could have of course) when he completed the fun. It was a great!

When we got home, we switched out more candy. Then, Nathan sat on the stairs and waited for trick r treaters. He was so excited about this. He says giving out candy is his favorite part of Halloween. Sadly, we only got one group of people, but Nathan did such a good job passing out the candy! He yelled. "You're welcome and Happy Halloween" as the people were leaving.

Then, I let him sit there for a while more waiting for more people, but no one came. He was sad.

Candy makes a good toy.

He scared two deputies and a county commissioner. That is one scary ghost!

Fun with Grandparents

2011-11-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

Papa Norm and Grandma Jane took their big trip this year. When they came back, Nathan and Elizabeth were so excited to play! We celebrated Papa Norm's birthday and made apple crisp.

A 64 year old and a 4 year old.

Learning to peel apples.

Nathan loved to turn the crank!

Apple skins are very tasty!

Grandma Jane always makes Nathan safe cupcakes for birthdays. Here is Nathan putting pumpkins on Papa Norm's cupcakes. He loves to decorate cupcakes!

Who is the center of attention? She knows she's adorable.

They love to walk around in big shoes and boots. It's so funny!

Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

Here are our pumpkins! Elizabeth didn't try to eat the pumpkin junk this year so that was good.

Halloween Preschool Party

2011-11-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

There was a fun Halloween party at preschool! Nathan wore his ghost costume for a little bit, but it got in the way for the games so he took it off. Our little ladybug did look cute of course!

They were getting set up to bowl.

Bean bag throwing games

Fishing for candy!

Leaf Piles

2011-11-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

This will be my last post about playing in leaves. They just have so much fun! Here, Nathan and Jeremy raked up huge piles and then everyone played a lot.

November 3, 2011-32 years old!

2011-11-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday! Jeremy's birthday tradition is cheesecake. It's quite yummy!

Happy birthday Jeremy!

2011-11-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how good this video is. I got Nathan singing Happy birthday, Elizabeth saying "Happy birthday Dada" AND both of them blowing out the candles. You never get videos this good!

Happy 32nd birthday Jeremy!

Halloween at the library

2011-10-31T22:56:00.001-07:00

It's always fun to dress up and go to Storytime at the library for Halloween.

This year, Aunt Laura made some great costumes.

Nathan had been saying for a long time that he wanted to be a ghost. Aunt Laura made him an old school ghost costume. It was perfect and he loved it. He liked to hide behind it and go "Whooo!!!" When we got to the library, a lot of people were scared.

Elizabeth was a ladybug. Laura made her costume too. Sparkly red shoes, black pants and socks with a tutu. Also, she glued felt circles on the red shirt. I tried my best to stick her ponytails up straight like antennas. Her nose had some black on it like a bug.

Here's the ladybug getting her stamps from Miss Brooke. She LOVES to get her stamps at Storytime each week.

They decorated cookies. Nathan couldn't have the cookies, but I had found some vanilla cookies at Huckleberries that he could have so we brought those and he was able to do some decorating.

Can anyone find Nathan in this photo?

Here's a whole shot of the ladybug herself.

Leaves

2011-10-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

The leaves are starting to fall off our trees. Nathan is having a BLAST raking them up into piles and jumping into them.

We got a cool Halloween door mat that Nathan wanted to get a picture of.

Throwing leaves

Fighting over leaves. (Like there are not enough...)

Raking!

Fall Play

2011-10-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

We've been outside in the yard trying to play as much as we can! I know that in just a few weeks our playtime will be quite limited for the next 6 months.

Nathan likes to rake leaves into big piles and then jump into them and run around in the leaves. It's really cute.

Jeremy used the air compressor to blow out our sprinkler system so it won't freeze over the winter. We put away all the hoses and are pretty much ready for winter now!

We've been outside in the yard trying to play as much as we can! I know that in just a few weeks our playtime will be quite limited for the next 6 months.

Nathan likes to rake leaves into big piles and then jump into them and run around in the leaves. It's really cute.

Jeremy used the air compressor to blow out our sprinkler system so it won't freeze over the winter. We put away all the hoses and are pretty much ready for winter now!

Soot face

2011-10-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, we were looking out the basement window. Jeremy was leaving for work and we were waving goodbye.

Elizabeth turned around and she looked like this! She had pressed her face into the screen.

When Jeremy starts fires, sometimes the smoke goes a little crazy. That's the window he blows all the smoke out of.

Looks like we need to clean the screens more!

Being Silly

2011-10-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

The kids like to play with things they've outgrown. They think it's hilarious. Most of this stuff is out in the shop and we'll be giving it away soon.

This baby horse used to be LeAnne's when she was a baby! It still fits Elizabeth but she's getting pretty big for it. I guess I'll just give it back to my Mom and Dad?

Nathan thinks it's great to sit in Elizabeth's stroller. It won't be too long before she won't need it anymore!

Elizabeth likes to sit in her old baby bathtub. She's a bit big!

Cute

2011-10-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

They're just too cute!

Arboretum

2011-10-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went to the Finch Arboretum last week. The trees were just starting to turn and there weren't too many leaves on the ground. The preschool class went. We picked up leaves and climbed in a huge tree. We also went on a children's nature hike. It was COLD though. Here are a few photos.

Nathan under the umbrella tree.

Snack time.

Trip to Greenbluff

2011-10-16T20:28:00.001-07:00

We took a preschool field trip up to Siemers Farm on Greenbluff. It was a lot of fun. It was a on a Friday which is currently Jeremy's day off AND Laura's day off. So we all went!

Elizabeth loves it when Jeremy makes her fly. She laugh and laughs. This picture is so cute!

Aunt Laura is the best. Nathan and Elizabeth love her so much!

We got to go on a train ride! Nathan and Elizabeth loved it! They loved watching the pumpkins go by. Notice that awesome line of maple trees turning colors? I couldn't stop looking at those!

Sister picture!

Nathan sitting on a swing at "Fort Siemer" with his friend Emilee. It was a little fort built for the kids to play in.

Eating lunch. I always think the kids are adorable when they drink out of straws.

Picking out pumpkins. Nathan basically picked all of them for us.

More train ride

Nathan jumped right up and wanted to drive "Little Toot."

Nathan giving a cute smile inside the corn and hedge maze. We couldn't find our way to the castle in the middle of the maze. Luckily, they had a cheater gate!

Here is me and my little doll walking out of the castle.

This was the best family photo we could get!

Elizabeth tried to get up high to find the way out of the maze. Sadly, she wasn't a big help...

Another try at a family photo. Elizabeth's eyes are closed.

Nathan with the exotic animals. They had some big stuffed animals like a pretend zoo!

There was also a pirate ship that had some slides. They loved climbing all over it with a ton of other little kids.

More cute Elizabeth conversations

2011-10-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

Me: Are you tiny or are you big?

Elizabeth: Big!

Me: Well, at least you're not big enough to go to kindergarten yet.

Elizabeth: College!

Nathan's fun day

2011-10-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

Nathan had such fun today!

Most weeks, we go to Storytime at the library on Wednesdays. We went today and after Storytime, the kids got to make their own applesauce! Nathan helped crank the lever and got to each lots of applesauce.

Tonight, our neighbors were finally ready to harvest their potatoes. Nathan had been waiting ALL summer to pick those potatoes. They told him months ago he could help. Today, our neighbor knocked on the door. Nathan got on his shoes so fast and grabbed his little bucket. He was such a big helper picking those potatoes! He loved it.

We now have red potatoes and yukons from the neighbors.

Plus, Papa Norm brought a whole bunch of russets the other day.

Looks like we're going to be eating a lot of potatoes!!

Cute things Elizabeth says

2011-09-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth loves to talk. She says the cutest things. I just wanted to jot a few down so I can remember them forever.

"Count! One, two, three....ten!"

"Claire!! Come. Here." (Rather demanding, huh? And what happened to Mama?)

"Ready, set, go!"

"Knees and toes." (This is from the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.")

Spokane Fair

2011-09-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

We went to the Spokane Interstate Fair last week. The whole preschool went on a field trip. The kids are wearing their orange preschool field trip shirts.

It had been very hot out. However, the day of the fair, the weather changed dramatically. It was very cold during the morning we were at the fair! However, by lunchtime, the weather had warmed up.

Nathan and Elizabeth loved watching these water balls. It was their favorite exhibit.

Nathan was also a big fan of the hot tubs. He ran up to every one to check inside. He especially enjoyed the huge one that was also a pool.

Nathan also enjoyed the can crushing machine. He would have watched that thing all day. We had to go back twice.

Rides are ridiculously expensive. $3 a ride per kid! But we let the kids go on a few rides. Elizabeth was only big enough to go on the carousel as long as I was with her. She really enjoyed it!

Here she is watching Nathan on the car ride. She was too little. She seemed a bit sad.

Here is Nathan on the car ride! He always loves the car rides. He says they are his favorite.

I love to see Jeremy holding hands with both kids and walking around. It's just darling!

Lunch time! I was trying to get the kids to look at the camera. It didn't work so well.

Nathan also really liked the big pumpkins.

We got to ride on a little train. Nathan really liked that. First, we toured the big train and then got to go on a little ride.

The kids weren't too terribly impressed with the animals. Probably because we see the animals all the time on our rambles! I was hoping they would have some pigs at the fair because we don't see pigs often, but there were none there.

There were some ducks and rabbits that they liked to watch.

All in all, it was a fun day at the fair. It's so much nicer now that they are older. Elizabeth isn't quite as fussy and can walk.

Nathan doing cute things

2011-09-20T15:33:00.001-07:00

Nathan is wearing: Thomas shirt, Thomas shorts, and Thomas undies. He has a Thomas plate, Thomas cup, and Thomas napkin. Too bad there is no Thomas silverware!

He loves to blow bubbles and pretend he's blowing "gold dust" just like on Thomas.

This is the biggest piece of Cinnamon Toast Crunch he's ever found. He said, "Look! It's as big as my head!" And yes, those are Thomas pajamas.

Mornings

2011-09-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

I treasure mornings in our house. The kids are fresh and at their cutest. I just adore them in their pajamas. They're so soft and darling and rested.

Elizabeth likes to toddle around the house drinking her bottle. Then, I get her into her high chair and she and I eat breakfast together. We laugh over the cereal I put on her tray that she shoves in her mouth and she giggles when the pears I give her disappear. Our breakfasts go on for a long time, but it's so much fun. We arrange her stuffed animals and books so they "watch" her eat breakfast since they're not allowed to be on her tray. She LOVES these little "My Little Pony" books Aunt Laura got her. She toddles around with them and pretends to read them. She organizes them.

Nathan likes to lounge in the brown chair while eating copious amounts of breakfast sausage, cereal, fruit, and drinking his oat milk. He likes to watch "The Cat in the Hat" and "SuperWhy."

Then, he'll shut off the TV and disappear into his room. He'll emerge a few moments later all dressed and ready to go. Then, he'll go in the bathroom and brush his teeth by himself. (I then come in and help him brush the "backs" just to make sure he gets his teeth done well).

Elizabeth and I get her dressed and then the kids like to play in the bathroom and we talk and laugh while I put on my makeup and try to make my hair decent.

Preschool starts tomorrow. We're going to need to pick up our pace! We tend to dally in the mornings.

Elizabeth is so cute in these pajamas I can hardly stand it! Purple is definitely her color. Thanks for the jams Grandma Jane! See, she has her pony book and her bottle.

Here's Nathan looking adorable in his Thomas pajamas while eating his breakfast and watching his little shows. Again, thanks for the jams Grandma Jane!

September playtime

2011-09-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

We've had such amazing September weather so far!! We've spent as much time as possible playing outside while we can. I grabbed the camera on one of Jeremy's days off to capture some family play time.

Swinging. Elizabeth only wants Jeremy to push her because I apparently do not perform underdogs correctly. Nathan thinks my underdogs are satisfactory.

Frisbee.

Playing in tunnels

Any guesses as to who took this picture of Jeremy and I? Hint: It was a 4 year old boy.

They love to jump in the jumpy castle Jeremy found at a yard sale!

Peekaboo!

Picking tomatoes in the garden.

Aunt Laura's house

2011-09-09T22:13:00.001-07:00

The kids love to go see Aunt Laura! We went over to visit on this fantastic warm September weekend.

She has a park right around the corner!

This lasted about 10 seconds. I was lucky to get a picture!

Aunt Laura cooked us some chicken nuggets and tater tots. She also had some tasty fresh food out of her garden! Nathan helped her pick some peppers and tomatoes. She also had some cantaloupe so that was gone in about a minute.

We tried to eat outside but those annoying wasps wouldn't allow it.

Conversations with Elizabeth

2011-09-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

I was putting away laundry today. Specifically, I was putting away Nathan's underwear. Elizabeth was watching. Here's how the conversation went.

Elizabeth (pointing to herself): "Undies. Baby. Store."

Me: "You want me to get you some undies at the store."

Elizabeth: "Potty!"

Me: "Wow, I'll have to find you some cute undies. You can pick some out."

Nathan: "I think she's going to want princesses. Or Tinkerbell."

How does he know about the "girl" stuff? I'd rather she NOT get princesses or Tinkerbell as I get sick of seeing that stuff, but that's probably all they have. I wonder if they have just flowers or girly colors?

I also can't believe a 19 month old wants to have undies! I guess girls are just earlier than boys in this department.

Rambles

2011-09-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of fun going on family "rambles." The kids and I go on a ramble most days when the weather is nice. When Jeremy is home on his weekends, we all go together. Nathan will still sit in the stroller and Elizabeth loves it! Our neighborhood has so many animals that they love to look at. Elizabeth especially loves the animals. We see lots of chickens and horses and dogs. We get barked at by a lot of dogs! Their favorite thing to see are the goats. Elizabeth is also a big fan of the donkey. We also see quail and a big turkey.

We ramble along and don't go too fast. The kids just enjoy the views and we get to spend some time outside in the beautiful summer weather!

Starting out on our ramble.

Look, here are the chickens next door! Elizabeth likes the one with the fluffy white head.

Looking at some horses.

Walking along the trail.

They love to watch these goats! The owner told us we can feed them anything we want. Weeds, apples, carrots, etc.

Elizabeth likes to run along when we let her. Nathan doesn't want her to run away so he tries to hold her hand.

Pretty sunlight.

Elizabeth is telling this dog to "come." She wants all the animals to come.

Nathan found a feather with a lot of pretty colors.

Elizabeth come back! She likes to run up the trail away from us.

There are quail in the trail. Elizabeth tried to catch them.

The Fort

2011-09-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

This spring, Jeremy cut down a bunch of little trees in our "Back 40." It's the back 1/2 acre of our property that we haven't really done anything with. We're trying to clean it up a bit. Well, he cut down a LOT of little trees.

So, he decided to make the kids a little fort. He spent a few hours here and there this summer cutting logs and nailing them together to make the fort. Elizabeth liked to help bring him the nails. And Nathan helped him pick which logs would go where.

Well, the fort is finished! Jeremy even made a little table and some little stools to go inside and play at. It's a neat little playhouse!

Here are some photos.

The day the fort was finished, they were running laps around the outside of the fort rather than playing inside!

Here's Nathan eating some tomatoes he picked out of the garden. He has really enjoyed being the "tomato picker." Every day, he takes a bowl and goes and picks the tomatoes. He still calls them potatoes though. I think it's easier to say. It's cute!

Here's a view of the fort with a very small person running out of it.

Inside of the fort. Elizabeth is showing off the table and stools Jeremy made.

Little cabin in the woods. Complete with a fire pit!

Melon Eaters

2011-09-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

The kids LOVE melons! Nathan and Elizabeth eat melons like they are going out of style. Nathan will eat a whole cantaloupe in a day. If I don't stop him, he'd probably eat a whole watermelon! Thanks Papa Norm for bringing us such wonderful melons!

Here, have a piece! We can probably eat this whole bowl if Mom doesn't take it away!

Another day, another cantaloupe devoured.

My melon baby!

Elizabeth is 18 months!

2011-08-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our baby girl is 18 months old!

She seems like such a toddler now rather than a baby. I like to put her hair in ponytails. It makes her look so cute! Too bad she likes to pull them out all the time!

She talks all the time. I am still shocked at just how many words she knows. She's beginning to put 2 words together. For example, today she was putting a string of beads on and off of her doll. She said, "Turn doll." They were taking turns!

If I read her the "First words" type books, she can say what pretty much every picture is. It's so cute!

Her favorite stuffed animals are her hop (she named her bunny Hop), her frog, her duck, her puppy, and her baby doll. She wants to sleep in a crib full of animals all the time.

She loves to go on stroller rides. (We call them rambles). We take a ride around the neighborhood and see all kinds of animals. Horses, donkeys, chickens, lots of dogs, turkeys, and goats. Elizabeth likes the goats best. Nathan likes to come along for the ride too. They eat snacks and I get a little extra exercise!

She's finally starting to like listening to books! They have to be short books. However, if she's stalling for bed, she'll listen to the long book that I'm reading to Nathan. That's pretty funny. She's a smart little thing!

Running around is become a popular activity as well. Just a few weeks ago, she wanted to be carried around all the time. She's becoming more independent!

Nathan's hard hat

2011-08-26T21:20:00.001-07:00

Nathan has his OWN real hard hat!

A few weeks ago, Avista came to do some work. They brought a backhoe and parked it right in front of our house! The kids loved watching them unload the equipment.

Nathan and Jeremy walked down the road to see what they were walking on. The Avista guys gave Nathan one of their hard hats!

It made Nathan's day. Plus, he loves big equipment so playing around near a backhoe was quite exciting!

Elizabeth's figuring out that being cute is an advantage

2011-08-23T22:02:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth did something really cute today. She tried to use her cuteness to her advantage!

This happened just as it was time to come inside for her bath.

Elizabeth: "Swing?"

Jeremy: "No. Bathtime."

Elizabeth: "Swing?"

Jeremy: "No. Time to go in."

Elizabeth: "Hug?" She then gave Jeremy a big hug.

Elizabeth (while hugging and being cute): "Swing?"

She knew that if she was cute, it might get her time to swing. Amazing how she's figured out how to use being cute to her advantage.

However, Jeremy did not cave. She still had to come in for her bath. She can swing tomorrow!

The joys of figuring out how an MP3 player works

2011-08-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

I know you get music out of this thing somehow. But it doesn't seem to be working.

Wait, what are these? It appears there is one for each ear. I will try to put these in my ears.

Woah! It worked! And it's kind of loud.

I like music!

Nathan's 4th Birthday Party!

2011-08-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Nathan had a great birthday party! Every grandparent was there and so were Uncle Brian and Auntie Laura. It was a beautiful day, so there were many fun things to do outside.

Nathan got to show everyone his bouncy castle and his fort. After he opened his presents, he got to shoot rockets at Uncle Brian and practice hitting off his new tee.

Jeremy barbequed burgers and hotdogs. Papa Norm and Grandma Jane brought watermelon, cantelope, fresh corn, AND cherries. They always bring the best produce.

Grandma Jane is the queen of making Nathan safe cupcakes. This year, she put Skittles on top to make them special. The skittles were primary colors. Thanks for making those Grandma!

Nathan picked out "large equipment" plates and napkins.

He got such wonderful presents!

He got his "Day of Fun" with Auntie Laura. She also got him some Thomas puzzles today.

He got a great lunchbox with neat new water bottle, a puzzle, and a window toy that was a great hit!

Now he has Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. He also got a super neat Thomas the train kit to play with.

More playdough, a big Case tractor, some puzzles and a t-ball set were some great presents he got for this birthday.

We got him a Stomp Rocket and it was a BIG hit. I highly recommend this present for any preschooler.

Too much roughhousing

2011-08-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

I like to roughhouse with the kids. They love it.

However, I get injured a lot! I had to post this photo because this was the damage done to me in an hour of playing. They don't mean to turn me into one huge bruise, but sometimes I feel like a big bruise! 3 bruises in about 20 minutes. That must be a new record!

In fact, it looks like Elizabeth is about to bang into my leg with a sippy cup. Perhaps bruise #4 will be appearing soon!

More Outdoor Play Pictures!

2011-08-09T14:37:00.001-07:00

We've been spending a LOT of time playing outside! Here are some more pictures.

Soccer

Nathan swinging with his friend Eli

Nathan loves to have Jeremy chase him around in the sprinklers

Nathan loves to get SOAKED.

This is what happens to your hair when you take our your ponytails.

This is what happens when you step in bark without your sandals on. Then, you say "Coco!" (Coco means "Pick me up and carry me!")

All Things WSU

2011-08-09T14:26:00.001-07:00

Here's a WSU themed picture post.

Nathan with Butch Cougar ( I don't think Uncle Brian will appreciate the choking action).

Elizabeth with Butch Cougar

Playing downstairs in cougar clothes!

Miss Jenny

2011-08-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Nathan has an imaginary friend that he talks about constantly.

Her name is Miss Jenny.

Miss Jenny is a character on the Thomas videos. She is the supervisor of the construction equipment.

Here at our house, she is around all day. She does everything we do....but better! She goes everywhere we go, but always gets there faster.

She is quite the one upper. It makes us laugh. Here's an example of something said the other day.

Nathan: "I like your new Cougar shirt!"
Jeremy: "Thanks, me too!"
Nathan: "Miss Jenny has 3 Cougar shirts. She got 2 this year and 1 last year."

Papa Norm: "I caught 2 gophers today!"
Nathan: Miss Jenny caught 8190 gophers. "(8190 is Nathan's favorite number.)

Miss Jenny likes to build imaginary parks at our house. She also likes to invent different kinds of equipment which she charges enormous prices for.

She's invented an apple combine, a gopher crusher, and a cat poop squasher.

We're glad we have Miss Jenny!

Food Allergy Update

2011-07-31T14:15:00.001-07:00

We just had our yearly appointment with the allergist to check the statuses on the food allergies here in our house.

This year, we did a blood draw on Nathan so we could actually see how allergic he is. Last year, we just did the skin test which is just a positive/negative on if a person is allergic.

The results from the blood test are mostly the same as they've been in the past. He is still highly allergic to milk protein, egg, and peanuts. Eating even a small amount of these foods will lead to anaphylactic shock.

Due to the severity of these allergies, the odds of him outgrowing them are very slim. Usually 80% of kids will outgrow a milk and egg allergy. However, since Nathan is SO allergic and is showing no signs of getting better at the age of 4, he will likely be allergic to these for life. A peanut allergy is also an allergy for life.

However, there was a slight improvement on his tree nut allergy. Tree nuts are all the nuts that come from trees: almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc. He is only moderately allergic to tree nuts. The allergist said there is a possibly he may someday outgrow this allergy since his allergy is only a moderate one.

Moving on to Elizabeth. She had an allergic reaction about a month ago while eating a sunbutter and jelly sandwich. I was pretty sure she was allergic to sunflower seeds. She was covered in hives.

The skin test confirmed it. She is allergic to sunflower seeds.

Ironic isn't it? I give Nathan sunbutter and jelly sandwiches and he loves them. We can't have peanut butter in the house due to the severity of the allergy.

However, now Elizabeth is allergic to sunbutter!! The allergist said it would probably be safe to give Elizabeth almond butter because Nathan doesn't have a severe allergy to almonds.

The allergist said that Elizabeth's severe eczema could be due to other kinds of seeds. We didn't test for other seeds, but the allergist said that a seed allergy could be causing this! So we'll cut out the hummus for Elizabeth. There is tahini in there which is a seed. We also have to keep her away from poppyseed and mustard.

The allergist also recommended giving the kids bleach baths to help kill the staph bacteria that like to live on skin with eczema. So a few times a week, we are supposed to put a little bleach in the tub. The allergist said it should help with the red rashiness.

That's the update for now! We'll see what new allergies pop up for Elizabeth as she tries more and more foods. I'm guessing it's not just seeds!

Nathan and Laura's Day of Fun

2011-07-31T14:05:00.001-07:00

Nathan's birthday is coming up in 2 weeks.

Laura decided that her gift to him this year would be a "Day of Fun."

A few days ago, they set out on their day of fun.

First, they went shopping at "The Party Palace" to pick out plates and napkins for Nathan's birthday party. He picked out large equipment tractors.

After that, they went jumping at a place called "Sky High." It's just a huge room full of trampolines. There are even trampolines on the walls!

Then, they went to Riverfront Park. They rode on the carousel and Nathan got to smash a penny. Nathan also went down the big red wagon slide. They had a picnic there in the park.

After lunch, they were supposed to go see "Winnie the Pooh" in the movie theatre. It would be Nathan's first trip to the movie theatre! However, the movie was already not playing at the theatre Laura was going to take him too. And the movie had only been out 2 weeks!

Nathan was kind of bummed. We checked at another theatre and they were still playing the movie, but only in the mornings.

SO, Aunt Laura even came back the next morning to take Nathan to see "Winnie the Pooh." We popped out own popcorn at home since Nathan obviously can't have the popcorn at the theatre.

Nathan enjoyed seeing his first movie. He really likes Tigger and is always going around saying, "Hi, I'm Tigger. T-I-double gg-ER." It's really cute.

On the way home, they stopped at the Splash Pad. It was a really hot day so Nathan had fun running around in the water.

Thank you Aunt Laura for spending TWO days of fun with Nathan. I hope he never forgets what fun he had for his 4th birthday with Aunt Laura!

Nathan quote of the day

2011-07-24T15:46:00.001-07:00

Jeremy: "Hey, if you don't come over here, I can't put your shoes on."

Nathan: "And you can't fly a kite if there's no wind."

Aunt Laura has fun things at her house!

2011-07-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Aunt Laura has many fun things to do at her house!

Pushing scooters

Riding bikes

Riding scooters

Auntie Laura has a long paved path in front of her house that is ideal for bike riding!

There are cute babies in mirrors.

There are fun rocks to throw and plants to play with!

We also went to the Liberty Lake park and splash pad. Nathan had a lot of fun in the water while Elizabeth slept in the car.

Visit to Grandma Pam's

2011-07-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

We went to see Grandma Pam! She has a lot of great places for kids to play.

We all rode around on the lawnmower! Elizabeth and I rode in the wagon.

More lawnmower fun!

Picking out rocks to throw in Grandma's pond

Throwing rocks in Grandma's pond.

Elizabeth relaxing in the wagon.

Playing near Grandma's stream.

Visits to Papa Ray and Kim's

2011-07-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time visiting Papa Ray and Kim in Yakima!

Nathan and Dad played in the small pool. Nathan practiced blowing his bubbles and had a GREAT time.

Nathan had a fun time driving Papa Ray's lawnmower.

Elizabeth wore her pretty pink flowered dress!

Smashing bubbles

Playing with bubbles

Playing with some of the fun toys