Busted

Are they sisters?

Both at 5 months...one a bit (or a lot) bigger than the other!

Mads

Stella

il gabinetto

Madeleine refused to go potty one night before bed, so, when she finally decided to do so, it was in the trash. Of course we put her in the corner, but ohh, it was so hard not to laugh! At least she'll be prepared when we're stuck in the woods without the proper facilities.

When we're out she looks for the 'dress' so she knows which door to use; I find this happens quite often when she's bored...at Target, the restaurants, church, etc...

Now when I have to use the bathroom I refer to it as the 'potty'. Thanks Mads!

Sorry about the potty post.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Our Holiday weekend was off to an early start this year thanks to Mark's new job. Every year while we worked at Enterprise (in the rental branches), the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was insane. Always overbooked on Mini Vans, not enough SUV's and just plain rude customers. I have been enjoying the 'non' stress of this day not for a few years, but this was Mark's first...and, with his new job, he's out a 12 noon the day before holidays...and off the next day as well. So, needless to say, we had a great LONG weekend!

Thanksgiving this year was held at our place. There were probably 15 or so people here; it's nice having a place large enough for everyone to sit in the kitchen now. We made the turkey and mashed sweet potatoes while everyone else brought a dish(es) to pass. I even ventured into making my own pumpkin pie...from baking the pumpkin to pureeing it and baking it; it turned out really well! After dinner Timberly, Peter and I walked with the kids (5) down to the park to run around.

Friday night Mark and I went to dinner with Wade and his GF, Aga, in from San Jose, and walked around Temple Square to see the opening night of the Christmas lights.

Saturday night we watched Frosty the Snowman and had the fire going. Saturday also (while I was sleeping) brought Stella's first visit to the ER. All weekend she has been having problems sleeping, eating, and just being sad in general. Mark got up with her around 11 Saturday night and she was still feverish so he drove her down to Primary Childrens Hospital. Apparently she has cold sores in the back of her throat...poor girl. I guess the doctor also warned Mark that she'll be one to keep an eye on as she becomes older because of her easy going personality:-) Despite her being sick, she's up to 18lbs and crawling all over the place

9 Months

Stella turned nine months on Friday...stats to come later this week. She'll eat everything we eat, some favorites include black beans, pears, pasta, apples, sweet potatoes and chicken. When she's crying Madeleine likes to make her smile by singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and she's pretty darn good at it! She took the move very well and is now sleeping for about 6 hours straight. Stella's just about crawling, she can go a couple of inches but then gives up; with that being said, she can move anywhere she needs to go by scooting on her butt or rolling around... at least she can now sit up from the laying down position.

Fresh Fruit/Veggies

Since June, we have been participating in a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. For $15/week we recieve 2 laundry baskets, one of fruit and one of vegetables. I can not remember the last time we've had to purchase produce at the store.

We are definitely expanding our comfort zone with food which we'd never buy; Fennel, which we made African Chicken Stew, Persimmon, Oroblanco, and Pomegranates which made a wonderful fruit salad. In addition to the new (to us) items, we receive apples, strawberries, blackberries, bananas, grapes, 5 lb bag of potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery, broccoli, avocados, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, etc... The great thing is that the produce changes every week.

We LOVE it!

Another 'Out of Mads'' Mouth

Backseat driver, at its finest.
'Red light stop. Green light go. Yellow light FAST.'

Thanks Madeleine!