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Three Crazy Munchkins benjamin michael 7.1.04 noah park 1.6.06 kate elise 7.19.07 |
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Stories February 9th- I can't believe it's been over a month since I last updated the kid's website! We've had a busy month and it finally has slowed down a bit. Not much, but a bit. How can it completely when you've got three kids and a dog?! Right?
After Noah's birthday at the beginning of January, G & G Donaldson flew in and the next day Dave and I flew out. We left for Hawaii for a wonderful vacation that included whale watching, the road to Hana, many days eating awesome food (the macadamia nut white chocolate pancakes were my favorite), drinking mai tai's by the pool, etc. You get the picture! It was a great trip and we can't wait until we can go again. Next time might be the whole family. By that point, all the kids might really enjoy it.
When we returned we spent some days relaxing with G & G Donaldson before the rest of the Donaldon family flew in. In all, we had 13 1/2 people staying in our house. I was a bit overwhelmed with the idea at first but it truly worked out great and we all had a good time together. While everyone was here we got Noah and Kate baptized. The cousins got to spend some more quality time together which was a lot of fun. Ben and Cousin Mallory really took to one another and had a fun time. Cousin Casey and Kate are only 4 months apart so it was neat to see how they interacted with each other. Or should I say lack of interaction. It's the age! Someday they will be great buds!
Since all the fun we've been trying to get our lives back into a routine. Kate is really starting to say a lot of words. Her favorites are sticker, mama, dada, ben, stinky, up, hi, and bye bye. That's all I can remember at the moment. She's a real ham! She waves and says bye bye to anyone that pays attention to her, especially in Starbucks. She's a wonderful eater (including a mixed green salad with goat cheese). I'm not going to get too impressed as I'm sure her pickiness will shine through soon. She loves to dance, scale down the steps on her belly. Feet first of course. She wants to wash her hands constantly, wants me to put lotion on her hands so she can rub it on her body, loves brushing her hair, teeth, and follow the boys around wherever they might be. The other day we stuck in the house because of the rain and I found Kate in the backyard out in the rain jumping in the puddles of mud. At first I wanted to grab her but soon realized how often do we get rain and how often will they get to play in it? Soon all three kids were in the rain, mom ready with towels to dry them off and get them in a warm bath.
Noah is doing really well! He's always so curious. His teachers are very happy with what he's doing at school except for ever since Uncle Josh came to our house with Lego Starwars Wii game, Noah wants to "shoot" everything. Thanks Josh! Ha! Ha! Noah got in trouble at school a couple times because he was shooting his friends. Noah also decided one day that he didn't want to wear his pants so stripped down naked and ran around his classroom. Of course I was so embarrassed to hear all this when I picked him up. He and all his classmates thought it was hilarious. He's speaking a lot more clearly these days, asks questions all the time, and is starting to learn to read. He moved up to his big boy bed this past weekend and really seems to enjoy it.
Ben is doing well too. He loves to be such the helper. Tonight he rinsed all the dishes for me. I didn't even have to ask him. He asked me if he could do it. He's always been such a little helper and I'm going to let him help as much as he wants because I know someday it's going to stop. We're trying to teach him about money, why we use it, how we get it, etc. He has a few chores he does around the house for just being part of this household but there are some things he can do to earn money, like fold the towels, take the trash out to the big trash can, dust, vacuum the stairs, and rinse the dishes. He also helped out our neighbor about a month ago pick up leaves. He's earned about $4.00 and is so excited! It's been a bit tough teaching him that 4 quarters equals one dollar. He very much prefers to have the dollar bills than the coins.
January 6th- Happy 3rd Birthday Noah!!! Noah had a wonderful day celebrating his 3rd birthday. He started the day out with mama going into his room singing Happy Birthday. He stopped mid song and said "Stop singing. You have to wait until we get downstairs so EVERYONE can sing to me!" Of course I stopped then. On to school we went where they had a little party in his class with more songs and cake. This was Noah's first of many sweets for the day. While the boys were at school I was in a frenzy trying to get his cake made. TWO days ago Noah said he wanted a strawberry cake so my intentions were to make a straweberry flavored cake, cover it in Cool Whip and fresh strawberries. Well, on our way to school this morning Noah said he didn't want a strawberry cake anymore. He wanted a Spiderman cake. I was in shock! What was I to do? Normally I would have just ordered a Spiderman cake like I did with Ben's golf course cake, but there was no time. So it was time for me to use my creative skills and come up with something! So I did. I used the strawberry flavor cake mix I had and made my own Spiderman cake. I also stopped at the local party store and turned our dining room into a Spiderman theme. It was a hit! We got home from picking up the boys and Noah was in shock. He started screaming and yelling "Spiderman Mama! Spiderman!" I knew at that very moment everything was going to be ok! Noah had decided that for his birthday that he wanted to go to Chili's for dinner. As an adult I thought "There are so many choices here in the OC and you want to go where?!" But I'm not three and my taste buds don't cry out for chocolate milkshakes, grilled cheese, and french fries. So for dinner, we headed down to Chili's where the boys ate a very healthy meal, french fries, milkshakes, and very small amount of protein. When we all were done, we headed back home to stuff ourselves silly with more sweets...the Spiderman cake!!! After a few bites of cake, it was time for presents! Noah received many nice presents. Thank you family!!!
These past few weeks have been pretty busy. Christmas was a lot of fun! The boys loved it! Especially Ben since he really started to understand Santa Claus, the reindeers, etc. The night before Santa came Ben helped me put out cookies, carrots, and milk. In the morning Ben was so very anxious to go downstairs to see what Santa had brought. Ben was a lucky boy and received his first real bike. Both Noah and Kate had a great time too opening all their presents. We were lucky to have my parents and brother, Mike, in town for the holidays. Mike brought over his dog, Rocky, who Maggie just loves. The two of them had a great time together.
In a few days G & G Donaldson arrive and Dave and I head to Hawaii for 5 nights. Thanks G & G Donaldson for ALWAYS making yourselves available to watch the kids! When we return from Hawaii all of the Donaldson grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins (thirteen of us to be exact) will be together for a nice family visit and Noah and Kate's baptism. So much fun stuff to come this month!
December 8th- The Donaldson household is finally getting into the Christmas spirit full speed! Last weekend we put up most of the outdoor and indoor lights and decorations. Today we put up the Christmas tree. The kids had a blast putting the non fragile ornaments on the tree. It was hard to keep them away from the breakable ones. Most of the ones they put up ended up in one little area of the tree. Pretty funny! This week I'll be sending out our Christmas card. I just love receiving them from you all!
Ben's really enjoying the Christmas season this year. He's really starting to get who Santa Claus is. He has a list (in his head) of things that he wants Santa to bring him. I try to explain to him that Santa comes down the chimney and looks at me quite confused.
We're having a difficult time with Noah at night right now. Starting a couple weeks ago he figured out how to get out of bed. Last week he was getting out of bed and coming to us in the middle of the night or would stand in the hallway screaming because of a nightmare. However, late last week he started doing some crazy things. First we found him at the foot of our bed reading a book...in the dark...at 2am. Dave put him back to bed. We thought it was pretty cute. However, the cuteness wore off pretty fast when he did it two more times that night. Instead he was in the hallway with all the lights on, reading very loud. The next night I had left on my girls getaway weekend for Palm Desert. I had a great time but Dave wasn't so lucky. At 4am Dave was woken up by Ben yelling downstairs "NO! NO!" Dave ran downstairs to find both Ben and Noah eating cereal at the kitchen counter. It was 4am! Needless to say we are having a difficult time keeping Noah in his room so he won't wake Ben or Kate up in the middle of the night. I finally decided to reverse the doorknob on Noah's room so that I can lock it from the outside. I feel bad but we all need some decent sleep! We'll see if it helps or if he just spends the whole time screaming in his room. On a great note, Noah knows all the sounds of the letters to the alphabet. At least to the uppercase letters. He's not sure when he sees lowercase letters. His favorite thing to do right now is walk around and tell everyone he is 2 and that on January 6th, he will be 3.
Kate's starting to say a few things. She's very good at shaking her head up and down and from side to side when she is saying yes and no. She's starting to say mama and dada. She used to and then stopped. Now she is starting it up again. Also, she is starting to say "hair". She points to her hair or my hair and says it. It's a start I guess to really speaking! Her favorite books right now are Goodnight Moon and The Going to Bed Book. The same books we would read to Ben and Noah over and over again.
The next 6 weeks are going to be quite busy. We have my family coming for Christmas, then we have Noah's birthday, then Dave's parents come out, Dave and I leave for Hawaii for 6 days, and then the rest of the Donaldson family comes out for a visit. It's all very exciting! We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!
December 1st- We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We did! We had a full house with Jenny's parents, her brother and his girlfriend, and our friend Esme. Together we all helped make a great turkey and sides and finished the evening off with two pies. Thanks for the AMAZING chocolate pecan pie Es!
It's hard to believe it is December already. We spent most of the weekend putting up Christmas decorations. Our street goes a little nutty with all the lights and decorations so we felt that we really had to do our part this year. I'll try and get a photo at some point. This coming weekend Jenny is going to Palm Desert with some girlfriends for two nights but hopefully on Sunday we can get our tree up. Ben is definitely understanding more this year who Santa is. He already has a few things on his list, pictures and all, that he wants to take to show Santa when he goes to sit on his lap in the coming weeks. Very cute!
Ben is all about sports these days. He's playing more and more with the kids on our street. Most of them are a couple years older but that doesn't bother him. He's outside most afternoons playing soccer, hockey, basketball, or baseball with them. Noah's very much into seeing how things work. Maybe we have an engineer in our future?! He's still very intrigued with turning the light switches on and off. It's also very normal to find him on the ground, with his head on the ground at eye level with his trucks or cars to see how all the parts work. At school Noah is learning phonics. Between school and at home we are practicing with him letter sounds. Kate is getting more steady on her feet, almost running now, and enjoys walking on her tippy toes a lot. She's a daredevil! She's outside with the boys riding Ben's big wheel and loves going down the driveway sitting on a skateboard. Nothing seems to scare her! Not even the 150 lb French Mastiff across the street. She loves to sit on him. He's a very nice dog.
November 19th- Well it happened, Noah had his first trip the ER on Sunday. Dad was at a hockey game and I was home alone with the kiddos. As I was making dinner I saw that Noah and Kate were chasing each other around the ottoman in our living room. In the corner of my eye I could see Kate laughing and then all of sudden Noah was on the ground crying. I went over to him to find him face down and blood on the carpet. When I picked Noah up I found him throwing up blood and realized he had one of the vacuum cleaner extensions (the long tubes) in his hand with blood on it. I guess he had been running around with the tube in his mouth because it when through the soft tissue of the roof of his mouth. I was in such a panic with all the blood and tissue coming out of his mouth, I called 911. It's all still a blur but the fire department showed up in 5 minutes. Five firemen took a look at Noah while we waited for the ambulance to come. It seemed like forever! By the time the ambulance came most of the bleeding had stopped. Thankfully my neighbor Becky was home and took Ben and Kate while I took Noah, in the ambulance, to the hospital. I managed to call Dave at the hockey game during all this and he met me at the hospital. After much blood work, CT scans, and other lab work, Noah ended up having surgery that night to fix his soft palette. He stayed overnight in the pediatric ICU. Dave was a wonderful daddy and stayed with him while I stayed at home with the kids. The next day Noah was feeling pretty bad in the morning but by early afternoon, he wanted to go home! He was eating normally and taking on Tylenol for the pain. Kids bounce back fast! I, on the other hand, was still a mess...of course feeling guilty for letting this even happen! Noah is back to his normal self, he's got a bunch of stitches in his mouth but is back at school, showing off his boo boo. November 10th- It's been a LONG while since I've really updated the kids website! I feel like our house is in a chaotic state at all times! Maybe it's because we introduced a dog into the mix and that our kids are getting bigger, meaning more mouths talking, more attitude, and more opinions! Dave went on his annual golf trip mid October and I came home with a dog. Let's just say, Dave wasn't too happy with me in the beginning but is now wrapped on the couch with her at night watching TV just as much as me. Maggie came into our lives because my brother's friend found her roaming the streets of Orange County. She needed a home fast and I couldn't say no. She's transitioned amazingly well. The kids love her, especially Kate. She can't get enough of sitting on her, kissing her, and giving her hugs. We're very lucky that Maggie is such a sweetie and doesn't mind any of it at all. She definitely needs a little puppy school though as she loves to eat the kids toys. Nothing can be left on the floor. Over the past few weeks many books have been destroyed as well as a sippy cup and a few of the boy's trains. Ben is very helpful with her. In the mornings he lets her outside and even gives her breakfast. We've had to teach Ben a few things too as he gave Maggie TEN cups of food the first time he fed her. She's only supposed to have 1 1/2. Also one morning Ben was going to let Maggie out back to go to the bathroom but it was raining, so he let her in the garage to do her business. Ben said he didn't want Maggie to get wet. Guess what I had to clean up?! But how could I get mad? Ben was trying to help.
Ben over the past couple months has really started to read. He loves reading his Bob books to us, which they use at school. And he is learning addition. Ben is still taking his weekly golf classes and loves them. He frequently will play out back to perfect his swing. Daddy tries to take him at least once a week to the driving range. Of course Ben thinks it's wonderful to go to the golf course with Daddy. Ben is super helpful these days too. He wants to help in any way he can. Last week our neighbor was moving out and he asked if he could help her pack boxes. Then today he asked if he could vacuum upstairs. I'm not going to question him or ask why he wants to, I'm just going to enjoy it right now because I know soon it will end.
Noah officially has moved up to his new classroom. We initially thought we were going to put the boys in the same class but soon realized, through their swim class, that having them in the same class isn't such a good idea. They talk too much to each other. Noah is transitioning well, enjoying his new teachers and classmates. We having a lot of difficulty with Noah right now. He's a very strong-willed stubborn boy. We thought that the terrible two's were difficulty but we are finding that as Noah gets closer to three, he is getting worse. He has a lot to say and back talks a lot, doesn't listen, whines and throws many many tantrums. Unfortunately he spends a lot of time in his room or in time out. I'm ready to call Supernanny! Ha! Ha! He can be very loving but very stubborn too. We know this stage will pass. But when?! Noah talks nonstop, still loves to read, especially about Spiderman (Josh, you will be happy), and he loves to harass Ben.
Kate is growing like crazy! She's easily fitting into 18-24 months clothes, which sent mom out shopping for new fall clothes since she was too big for the ones I already bought! Kate's favorite word right now is "Uh oh!" She loves to drop things and say it. Kate has perfected going down the slide at the park by herself and is showing signs of early, VERY EARLY potty training. After she has gone potty she points to her diaper and runs to get a new one. A couple times she has actually gone over to the real potty and wanted to sit on it. Kate has always been a pretty easy eater but more recently she's become picky. She doesn't like meat much and has started throwing more of her broccoli on the floor than eating it. However, when she is hungry and wants to eat a snack, she'll go to the pantry, get her snack and take it to her highchair.
Oct 5th- It was a busy weekend here! On Saturday our good friends, Keith, Megan and their daughter Emma, came down to watch some college football, eat some good food, and enjoy a great walk to the neighborhood park. While Keith and Dave watched the Michigan vs. Illinois game (we won't say who won), the girls and Ben (Noah was napping) went down to the neighborhood park. Kate and Emma have matching cars so it was quite funny to push them down the sidewalk side by side. We thought it was cute. While at the park, the girls enjoyed the swings, the sand, and Kate enjoyed the golden retriever. She LOVES dogs! It's her only word she says right now and gets overly excited when ever she sees one. She's not at all nervous to touch (or even lick) them. Mama on the other hand is trying to teach her that not all dogs are friendly and she has make sure they are friendly before she touches them. If she had her way, she'd be getting a dog for Christmas. So would her mama! Maybe in a few years.
Today we spent the day with Esme our dear friend at Laguna Beach. Dave golfed and Esme and I took the kids down to the beach. Noah managed to "fall" in and had be stripped from head to toe of all clothing. Thank goodness I brought dry clothes. We learned that the last time we went to the beach. After the beach we went to a restaurant for pizza and the kids were WONDERFUL! It was a nice treat for all of us! Ben this afternoon headed outside with his chalk and made some "beautiful drawings" as he calls them. They were beautiful! Dave and I were quite surprised as to what he drew all by himself. He drew his family as you can see with our house and our sidewalks. He also drew numbers next to each one of us showing our age. Dave is 15. And I'm 13. To him that's old.
Sept 25th- Today I got out all of our Halloween decorations and started putting them up. We only have ONE box so it didn't take too long but I did find a blonde wig from years past and decided it would be fun to put on Kate. As you can see she didn't find it "fun". Sept 15th- This past week Kate has made many changes. Up until this week I wasn't sure she understood anything we said but she seems to understand EVERYTHING we say now. She loves being read to and today I asked her to bring me a book to read to her and she did. When she's hungry, I'll tell her to get into her highchair. Obviously she can't get into it but she does go over to her chair and pull it out so that I can put her into it. She very much loves to give ALL her stuffed animals hugs and kisses. At Ben and Noah's school there are many birds in cages and a few big stuffed animals laying around in the office. First thing in the morning after signing the boys in, Kate and I have to say hi to all the birds and give the big stuffed giraffe a hug. Kate's also a vegetarian. She refuses to eat meat! She'll eat whatever I make except for the meat. She'll eat pumpkin soup that I made and beef & broccoli stir fry but picks through the beef. She loves her broccoli and fruit but throws chicken, turkey, pork, and beef on the floor! Is she my child?! Sept 7th- The past month or so has been crazy in our household! The month of August included a nice visit from Grandma and Grandpa D. and our trip to Park City, Utah. Grandma and Grandpa did an excellent job taking care of Noah and Kate while Dave, Ben, and I went to Park City for a week. We own a timeshare and one of the locations we can go to was Park City so we decided to visit in the summer (since Jenny hates snow), and enjoyed all the pleasures of the great outdoors. We went white water rafting, horseback riding, alpine sledding, ziplining, hiking, and of course enjoyed some wonderful restaurants and the amazing Sundance Resort (that was one of my favorites). Ben enjoyed it a ton as he is go go go all the time and enjoyed playing pool, ping pong, and making tents in our room at our wonderful hotel. A few of the nights we stayed in since we had a full kitchen in our room and made use of the great bbq's downstairs and enjoyed our meals next to the pools and jacuzzi's and enjoyed a swim before heading up to bed for the night. Our wonderful friend Esme joined us for the first three nights as she needed a much deserved break from the working world in Los Angeles. She was a wonderful traveler and companion for Ben (and Dave and I) and even babysat one night so Dave and I could go out for a nice dinner. Thanks Es! We love you! It was great trip and we look forward to go back to Park City in the future will ALL the kids.
When we returned from our trip we spent the next several days with Grandma and Grandpa exploring our neighborhood, going to Irvine Regional Park, and Ben golfing with Grandma and Daddy. Ben's very much interested in golf that he started taking golf lessons on Saturday which he really enjoyed. He'll be going once a week for 5 weeks and then will see if he's still as much interested and decide to continue or wait a bit.
While we were away Noah spent much time with Grandma and Grandpa reading. He loves to read! In fact he knows his "Trouble in the Dinosaur Cafe" book by heart! He'd read all day long. His other favorite thing to do is play with trains. He's very simple and easy going. He'll play all by himself for hours if Ben isn't around to harass him. And Noah is 100% potty trained! Yay!
While in Park City, Kate perfected her walking skills and is keeping me on my toes all the time now! She's a very independent, strong willed, and aggressive little one. She holds her own in this family! If she gets knocked down by one of the boys, she picks herself right back up! She's definitely a girl though. She knows her brush, mamas makeup blush brush, and cell phone. And she knows how to use them the correct way! She picks up the cell phone and says "Hi! Hi! Hi!" Kate LOVES, I can't stress that enough, LOVES dogs! Every time she hears one or sees one she freaks out. She gets so excited! She starts saying "doggie, doggie, doggie". Her word for doggie isn't really doggie yet, but she is saying the exact same sound over and over again so we know she is saying "doggie" in Kate language. Maybe will be getting a dog in our future!
The boys started school this past week. We were pleasantly surprised that they went off to school easy and happily. No crying from either. Actually, I didn't even get a hug goodbye. It was off to the playground without even looking back. Made me feel good to know they do enjoy it there. We also found out that Noah will be moving up the Children's House in the next week or so. The Children's House is the next classroom up from the toddler room. He'll be in the same type of class as Ben if not the same class as Ben. In Montessori schools they group the kids by ages so the Children's House is ages 3-6. Noah's only 2 1/2 but is definitely ready! We always knew his head was big. Now we know why! There's a lot of brain up there. He! He! So we all are very excited to see him move up and start the beginning of his next three years with the same teacher and classmates.
August 10th- We had a fun filled weekend here in the OC! On Saturday morning mama said "I've always wanted to go down the beach really early in the morning, bring donuts, and collect seashells!" Daddy replied "Well then, let's go!" So 5 minutes later we jumped in the car (as fast as you can with three little kids) and went to San Clemente to the beach. We stop at the market and picked up some fun sprinkled covered donuts. Yes, not health...but fun! The boys thought it was wonderful. That afternoon I took Ben and Kate to the pool here while Daddy and Noah went to "Costacaco" as Noah puts it. Sunday we went up to Pasadena to the Kidspace Museum and Auntie Esme met us there. It was an awesome place! The boys (and Kate) had a wonderful time exploring all the hands on areas inside, like the bee hive, earthquake center, fossil excavation, and climbing towers. Outside the boys loved riding the tricycles, going in the water, and playing on the jungle gym. All in all the weekend was a great success! Tomorrow Grandma and Grandpa D come and Ben goes on his first field trip with his school. Even though he hasn't been going during the summer, he's going to go on the school field trip to the Santa Ana zoo and a real working farm. Then on Friday Ben, Daddy, and I are off to Park City. When we planned the trip, we extended the invitation to our dear friend Esme. Finally she accepted and she will be flying out with us and will spending the first 3 days with us! Yippie!
And before I forget, both Ben and Kate had well checkup's a couple weeks back. Ben weighed 36 lbs, and is 42 1/2 inches tall, and Kate was 20 lbs, 13 oz (50th percentile), and 30 inches tall (90th percentile).
August 6th- It's been awhile since we last updated our website! A lot has been going on I guess since I haven't sat down to write. In the past month, I think Kate has changed the most. Her stubborn outgoing personality is really starting to shine through. As you can tell with her latest video, when she doesn't get her way, she lets everyone know! Today she really started to walk also. She learned to get up into a standing position without holding on to anything and then take off. I'll be attaching a video of her walking too in a bit. She can take about 15 steps before she falls down. Kate loves to dance! For the past month or so whenever music comes on she stops in her tracks and does her little dance. She's always waving hello and goodbye to people and we think she is starting to say "hi" also. She quite good at annoying the boys too when they are eating. She loves to either move their chairs or actually take their food and run away. Both boys have been in tears many times saying "Kate?!" Noah's gradually getting out of his terrible two's. Thank goodness! He's very much into pretend play. Today I had to be a crocodile and he was a monkey. He's closer to being toilet trained. He still has a hard time telling us when he has to go but there is definite progress. Noah loves to read!
Ben's life is sports right now! He loves to play golf with Dad. He goes to driving the range and has become a golf expert on the Wii. Not sure if I'm too happy about that though! Ben's swim lessons are definitely paying off as he can go across the pool all by himself! He's counting down the days until the Olympics start and is ready to cheer on Michael Phelps and Shawn Johnson! On Monday Grandma and Grandpa D. come into town and then on Friday Ben, Dave, and I head to Park City Utah for a week. We're very much looking forward to spending a lot of time outdoors swimming, rafting, horseback riding, and going down the zipline. Yay!
July 20th- Kate officially turned one yesterday! We had a nice party at the house with friends to celebrate. We decided to make it a party for Ben too since we didn't have one earlier in the month for him. We let him pick out his birthday cake and he chose a golf course cake. He's really into golf these days! Kate had her first taste of cool whip and a little cake. We say a little because we found out a little bit ago she might be allergic to egg and the cake was made with egg so we didn't want her breaking out in hives! It was a fun day. Thanks to everyone who sent and brought gifts for the two birthday kids! They are very grateful! July 6th- Ben wants to thank everyone for the great cards and gifts he received for his birthday! He had a great day. We started out by heading to Disneyland for a day in the hot sun! It was a real success. It was the first time that we took all three kids there. Ben and Noah both love it and it was Kate's first time, and she really enjoyed. Ben had the chance to go on Splash Mountain for the first time. I was a bit nervous to let him go on, thinking he was going to be petrified of it and never want to go on it again. But he insisted, met the height requirement, so I let him. He and Daddy waited in line for an hour (crazy if you ask me!) and loved it. Ben did tell Dave that he was "a little bit scared" when they were on it. While Ben and Daddy were waiting to go on Splash Mountain, I took Noah and Kate over to Looney Town and to the carousel. To end the trip we took the Train around the park and had a frozen lemonade. Afterwards, we went to Ben's favorite restaurant, Ruby's. He got his favorite shake and watched the toy train circle over head. Always a favorite in our household! We came home to open presents.
We hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the day but we had a good time. Our neighborhood street had a pig roast so we enjoyed that during the day and in the evening we headed down to the main park to watch the fireworks. We've been told that the fireworks show here is the best in Orange County so this year, rather than watching them from our backyard, we headed down to the center of it all. It was Kate's first and she did great. No crying or anything. Noah was actually the one a little bit scared. He said they were too loud.
Ben's out of school for the summer. Actually he's going for a week in a couple weeks to refresh his memory of the place but other than that he's going to be home. Tomorrow he's trying his first day camp. It's for his age group 3-5 year olds and the day consists of a lot of crafts, singing, water fun, and stories. He should have a great time! Noah is busy with school still (shorter days 8:30-11:30). Kate is still not walking but is cruising everywhere and uses her push toy to walk all the time. She's a big, HUGE, fan of blueberries these days. She can't seem to get enough of them. We're looking forward to her turning 1 in a couple weeks! We can't believe it's been a whole year already! Her little personality is shining through more and more. She loves to play peekaboo and chase. She's also VERY stubborn! I wonder where she gets that from?!
July 1st- HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY BEN! We're off to Disneyland to celebrate. Pictures to come... June 27th- Last weekend was full of fun! My college girlfriends came in. We got the opportunity to meet the new addition to our group...King Heiness Liam! He's a real cutie! My kids had a great time seeing all their "aunties" and I had a great time catching up with them. We had a small baby shower for Claire who is due in October with her first baby. Will it be a girl or a boy?! Thanks gals for coming and I look forward to seeing you all very soon! Dave and I are off to Vegas tonight! Esme is coming to watch the boys once again! What a great brave friend you are! May 30th- A lot of milestones are being made this week! Kate for the first time said "mama" yesterday! I didn't realize it at first until Noah said to me "Mama, Kate said mama!" I listened closely again, and yes, she did! All morning she's been going around saying it. I don't think it is to me necessarily but she's definitely saying it. May 29th- Noah is officially using the potty! He's asking to use it more at home these days and started doing it at school today. He definitely has a little ways to go but there is an end in site to diapers for Noah. Soon we will only have one child in diapers! Yay!
May 28th- It's been a busy household for the past month! Earlier this month, the boys started a new school. I think the adjustment has been harder on mama than the boys though. Ben was pretty attached to his friends and teachers at his old school so the transition with that has been a little difficult. He says he likes being there. I ask him ALL the time but he isn't as open and confident just yet. He's pretty shy when we drop him off but I guess 5 minutes after we leave, he's off playing with his classmates. Noah had a difficult first 2 weeks. He cried A LOT when we initally left him but one day we dropped him off, and absolutely no crying. It's been that way ever since. I'm always questioning myself if changing schools was the best decision, but they do seem to like it, once we leave them in the morning. Noah has stopped biting completely. The new school will not tolerate it at all, so he hasn't done but the one time and they got upset with him pretty bad. I definitely have noticed some better behavior between the boys since they started the school. Ben is very much wanting to help Noah. Ben's class is grouped with children ages 3-6 so Ben has a mentor throughout the day. He's acting much that way with Noah these days. It's very cute. On Thursday they have their first recital. It's a cowboy theme and they will be singing songs to us. It should be fun!
Ben broke his arm about 2 weeks ago. He was playing around in our family room and jumped off the ottoman (which we are always telling him "no!") He fell on it and we heard it crack. I freaked out and Ben was screaming. If Dave hadn't been home, I would have called 911 but Dave was home, and in a calm voice he said "let's get in the car and go to the ER. Dave was a wonderful daddy! He held Ben the whole time in the ER through it all. I did a lot of crying. That night, Dave slept with Ben in his bed and held his arm. What a great daddy! Since then Ben has been riding his bike, going to swim lessons (his cast is waterproof), and acting like his normal self. Auntie Anji sent him a baseball set for outside and he's even been doing that one handed. He's got a strong right arm!
Noah's getting big. We can definitely see him changing and he's keeping us on our toes. He repeats everything Ben says and does. He really looks up to his big brother. He's in swim lessons with Ben too and is doing a good job.
Kate is cruising the furniture and in the past week has learned to wave hi and goodbye (same thing), shake her head no, and even gave Daddy some really kisses last night.
April 30th- Today I added some photos of the kids that were taken about a month ago by our photographer, Paul Gero. He's making a book called "Kids of Ladera Ranch" that supports CHOC (Children's Hospital of Orange County). We thought it would be great to participate! <div> <br class="khtml-block-placeholder"> </div><div> April 29th- It's been a busy household around here lately! Last weekend Uncle Doug, Aunt Wendy, and Cousin Casey came down from Seattle for a visit. We all got to meet Casey for the first time and they got to meet Kate for the first. We had a fun filled weekend that included a dinner out for the parents, time at the pool, and a lot of good old floor time playing together. It was good to meet Casey for the first time...she's almost as big as Kate if you couldn't see that in the photos! <div> <br class="khtml-block-placeholder"> </div><div> In other big news, Noah is starting to use the potty. He did it at home for us yesterday and did it a handful of times today at school and at home. This is such a big step in the right direction for us (mom and dad). Maybe we'll only have one in diapers soon! Go Noah! Also, Noah OFFICIALLY is off the pacifier. One day I told him "No more binkie!" and he said "Ok!" We couldn't believe it would be that easy! <div> <br class="khtml-block-placeholder"> </div><div> We have more big news. The boys are starting a new school on Thursday! For some time now, we haven't been very happy with the overall management in their current school. The teachers were WONDERFUL and the boys were really happy, but we weren't very happy with how the place was being run and how the staff was being treated. All these things are out of our control so after having seen and gone on tours of other schools, we've found one that we really like and that actually has room for both boys. Starting on Thursday, they will be going a Montessori school (Rancho Viejo Montessori School) that isn't too far from us. We were VERY impressed with the whole school and hope that the kids like it as much as we did. We know Noah will transition with no problem but Ben has been at his current school for 2 years and has made some good buddies, so we are a little concerned about that. However, he's still little and seems to adapt well to new situations. We think our biggest problem will be the uniform policy (Yay for mom! She's really happy about the uniforms), Ben won't be allowed to wear his favorite shoes, his black Crocs. This might be our hardest battle! We truly hope they like this school and see it as a place they can be long term if need be. Because of the budget cuts that are happening here in California, many of the teachers in our neighbor public schools are being laid off, programs are being cut, and class sizes are increases greatly. For these reasons we might not put them in the public school here like we had intended. Ben starts kindergarten in 16 months so we want to make sure we have a good school for him to continue at if these budget cuts really do happen. We'll let you know how the boys do! <div> <br class="khtml-block-placeholder"> </div><div> Kate hasn't been feeling that well over the past few days so on Saturday I took her to Urgent Care because she seemed pretty uncomfortable. I thought she had an ear infection and they said no, just a bad cold. Well, today I took her back to our normal peditrician because she won't stop pulling her ear. For sure I thought she had an ear infection. Nope! The doctor looked in her mouth and could see she is getting FOUR molars. He said that could be the reason for the pulling and her being so cranky. Makes sense! The doctor said in the next 2-4 weeks we should see four molars. April 24th- Ben has reached a BIG milestone today! Maybe he's done this at school before, but today he wrote his name, "mommy", and "noah" all by himself, no tracing, and is also learning to read. He knows how to sound out all his letters and learning to put them together and make words. Mama was so excited this morning when he sounded out the word "yellow".
In other news, Noah is being TERRIBLE! His teacher is not very happy with him these days. He bites, hits, scratches all of his classmates. These were his teachers words "He is the meanest kid a lot of the time but can also be the most polite child." Hmmm? Not sure what we should think?
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