Changes

There have been a lot of changes on my side of the family in the last year. My mom and I were talking and realized the following:

• 5 people got new jobs or promoted: Deneille, Ernie, Kristen, Patt and Todd
• 4 people Graduated from college: Deneille, Kristen, Patt and Todd
• 3 families bought a house: Kristen, Stacie & Ernie, Todd & Nicole
• 3 people had surgery: Emily, Mom, and Todd
• 3 people bought new Cars: Dad, Kristen, and Stacie & Ernie
  
• 2 new babies: James and Rhett

It's been a busy year with a lot of things happening. To finish the crazy year off Deneille decided to start a family Fantasy Football league. If anyone has played games with us in the past you would understand why this might be a crazy idea. To say we're competitive is a little bit of an understatement. As long as no one leaves crying or angry I think my mom might let us keep playing and the game won't be banned like Phase 10 was a few years ago. There are just some games that shouldn't be played at our house, hopefully fantasy football isn't one of those. We just had our draft and so far I think we're off to a good start.

Maid to Order

A few years ago my mom got a doll house for when her grandkids were around. Hailee absolutely loved it. It was quite entertaining to see how she played with it. She was about two and a half and at one point she had the mom in the kitchen running around like crazy making dinner and the dad was in the chair reading. I had to laugh because since Todd had just started MBA school he was spending a lot of time doing school work and I guess I was spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

Recently she was playing with her doll house and I found the little girl sitting on the counter just like she does when she is helping me cook.

This week I was babysitting my friends little boys and they started playing house. It was adorable. When it was time to wash the dishes, the "dad" wanted to wash the dishes. Hailee informed him that she wanted to do the dishes because her mom always did the dishes and she was the "mom."

And just this evening she was reading her Cinderella book and she related in dismay how the step-sisters were making Cinderella do all the work. Hailee's response: "That's not right! That's the mom's job!"

What are we teaching our child?

What's for Dinner

We LOVE Tuesday's at our house...the reason being is that is when we get our farm shares. This weeks shares includes lettuce, summer squash, cucumbers, sweet peppers, candy sweet onions, tomatoes, basil, tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, melon, fresh beets, and a padron pepper or two. We look forward every Tuesday to see what fun things are awaiting for us.

As I was taking pictures I noticed a little hand in the bottom left corner. Hailee just couldn't wait a second longer to eat her favorite thing.

Hailee just can't wait for dinner, she grabs a tomato and starts eating.

I am always still amazed that she'll eat an entire tomato. The only thing that is left is the top part and a few seeds.

Weekend Fun

This past weekend I celebrated my 31st birthday. Last year I was miserably sick and pregnant, Todd was in the hospital and we spend the day taking turns throwing up...this year was considerably better. So nice not to be pregnant and to have Todd healthy again. That in itself was the best birthday present, but Todd and Hailee made sure I had a great day. It started out with breakfast in bed. I really wish I could have video taped it, it sounded so funny. We then went swimming as a family. James is still a little young for the water so Todd and I took turns, although after I felt how cold the water was I wished I would have just volunteered to watch James. How does the water get colder as the summer progresses.


....and James was just as a happy little one as usual. I don't know why we got so spoiled with him.


That evening we got a baby sitter for the kids and Todd and I went into Portland for dinner. Todd got a recommendation from people at work for Indian food. The Indian food was a little "American" for our taste, but the location was fun. We got to eat on the patio and the weather was perfect. It was a great day.

Sunday we had a nice relaxing day. Reading stories, taking naps and talking a little on the phone.


I was texting one of my friends when Hailee came up to me and told me. "Mom I think it's time I learned how to do that." Her favorite part was finding the "smile" faces on the phone and sending a million smiles to her aunts.

Extra Hands

James absolutely hates being left out of anything that is going on. One morning Hailee was in the bath and it was time to wash her hair. I left him on the bed happily playing until he realized that there was something going on in the other room. He started to protest with cute little squawks. As soon as I picked him up he was very happy to see what fun was going on in the other room. And what fun it was, he loves taking a bath and really wanted to jump right in. Since I need two hands to wash Hailee's hair I needed a place for him to be. He did not appreciate being set down where he couldn't see anything so the mostly full laundry basket made a perfect place for him to be. I think if he could have he would have jumped right in. He loves the bath, but it just wasn't his turn.

Growing up

We are busy getting Hailee ready for Kindergarten. New clothes, school supplies and a new school are almost all ready to go. I can't believe she is growing up so fast and that she'll be starting school. She isn't sure she wants to leave her brother (for a whole 2 1/2 hours) every day and she is just sure they will miss each other too much.

"But mom he will miss me too much and I will miss him too."

Those two are quite sweet together and no one can get James laughing like Hailee, it's quite funny to watch. The other stress for Hailee is learning how to write her last name. She's a pro at writing her first name, but her last name is just too long and there are way to many n's, m's and u's in it. I remember feeling the same way when I was learning to how to spell my last name about her age.

She is looking forward to a few things about going to school...like loosing a tooth. She thinks once she is in school she will start loosing her teeth. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't loose a tooth until the end of my first grade year. Hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later. She is also excited about the play ground, but a little nervous about a new teacher and new friends. I'm sure the nervousness will last all of 5 seconds once she gets there.

I took this picture of Hailee because I was trying to get a picture of her freckles. She is getting the cutest little bunch of freckles on the top of her cheeks and nose (the camera didn't quite catch all of them). I remember as a little tiny girl she was so sad that she didn't have any freckles. The first one she got was right on the top of her nose, she was so proud. She still keeps track and knows every single freckle on her body.

Sleeping

So this is my baby when he sleeps. He is quite a pro at putting himself to sleep (something his sister still struggles with). When he starts to get a little fussy all you have to do is hand him his blanket, he covers his head kicks his legs for a minute or two and falls asleep. I always uncover his face before I go to bed, but in the morning if I check on him before he's awake, the blanket is back again. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the fact he'll put himself to sleep, but I'm so worried that he'll suffocate in the process.


This is my baby in the morning when he wakes up. He never cries when he wakes up, I just hear him kicking his legs like crazy. Then he gives me the biggest smile to say good morning. He is at least happier than his dad and sister in the morning.

Pictures

I recently went over to a friends house and we took some pictures of the kids. We went over at 8:30 and I discovered that it takes a lot of work to get my children to smile before 11:00 in the morning. Next photo shoot we'll have to wait until the afternoon so the smiles come a little easier.


Hailee can be bribed....James cannot.