Adventures of a Family

We love you and we can't believe it's been a whole year. You have brought us so much happiness with your happy, smiley, delicate and loving ways.

The Sprouts Co-op Preschool had a wonderful Halloween party hosted by Jon, Kate and Isabel. All the kids dressed up. Thanks to Sandra's sewing skills (Stu's mom) Jonah had a punk rock outfit that matched his buddy Stu's. He was so thrilled that in most pictures his feet weren't even touching the ground (and that was before candy). Mae was a sweet little lion and enjoyed the comfy warm costume. Hallie was a faerie and I couldn't wear my costume as it was just too scary for the kids. I went as a zombie (though some of the students at Athey Creek thought I was a hobo). The only problem I see with Halloween is that now Jonah thinks that when we go on walks around the neighborhood he can just knock on a door, say trick or treat and receive candy. If only life worked that way.

Jonah has made some wonderful observations and posed some intriguing questions recently. While talking about leaves falling from trees Jonah said, "Do leaves have parachutes?" While playing down in the basement Jonah found the wireless doorbell button in his horde of toys and said, "the ding dong." Hallie teased Jonah, "You are a ding dong." Jonah replied, "I'm not a ding dong mommy I'm a little boy." Jonah is kind of becoming obsessed with a couple animated movies at the moment. Though he typically only gets to watch about 20 to 30 minutes of tv a day he still chooses to watch the same video each time... Monsters Incorporated. In a quest to end his obsession (because I really can't bare to hear Billy Crystal as the voice of a one eyed little blobby monster anymore) I showed him the movie Cars. Now all he wants to know about is "What is Lighting Mcgween doing right now?" While in the stroller Jonah asked, "Do cars h

I started to realize the other day that although Michael and I do a lot of work keeping these two little ones alive and happy, it is all the amazing helpers in our lives that keep the two of us alive and happy. And so we are able to keep it together (for the most part!), get on with the task of being parents, and have enough energy to love our babies just a little more. We keep thanking our lucky stars that we have such giving and amazing people in our lives. So thanks grandma and grandpa diltz, grandma and grandpa clark, kealie and chris, heidi and joe, sandra and sean, gabrielle and ellie, shannon and mike, lori and ryan, terri and ro, erin and craig, jess and dylan, matt and alexis, elke and byron, miq and thui. You are all family to us and we couldn't pull this off without you. Here's to a wonderful community of friends and family that has enriched our lives so tremedously.

Having two children is not as easy as having one. Of course no one in their right mind said it would be but I still didn't imagine that it would seem more than twice as challenging. For me it often is. Things I thought I'd still have time for, like writing for our family blog, pulling weeds from the garden or taking deep breaths seem to have been pushed to the side for the past 10 months. I often wonder if years later Jonah and Mae will read these entries and realize that many moments of Jonah's early life were catalogued here whereas Mae will wonder to herself, "I wonder if they love Jonah more than they love me." Not possible my little Mae. So many things have gone un-recorded here and to recreate a bunch of posts to relive them will not do it all justice so I have put together a bulleted list of the many things I missed posting but think about each and every day when I see my sweet little girl. You say dadda like it is the best word in the world (nevermin

Today was Jonah's first day of our little community co-op called "Sprouts" and this is what our friend, Luke, had to say about how the kids did. Priceless. "Let's keep those tips about how to interpret and engage our kidscoming -- they are invaluable. For example we were glad to have heard from Jonah's folks that "I want a snack" usually actually means he is ready for something else to do. Because we knew what that meant we were able to keep engaging him in new activities. He asked to go home a couple times but was never very upset about it and it was not hard to get him engaged and having fun again quickly. Overall he and all the kids did great being patient and engaged and self-entertaining and were excellent at following directions and making transitions. I was totally impressed with our little guys! That's pretty much it for comments on how our kids did. They all seemed pretty happy."

Crazy us decided it would be a great idea to do a remodel our kitchen and bedroom while taking care of two little kids. One word for that: smart! So as there is no way to have a 9 month old and a 2 1/2 year old in a house without a kitchen, we decided to take off for three weeks while the place was getting a much-needed face lift. First we took off for the beach, Manzanita to be exact. Our good friends Sandra and Sean and their son Stewart stayed with us a couple days, then grandma and grandpa Clark came out, and we even had a short visit from Auntie Deanna and cousin Carter. We then took off for another beach house in Canon Beach and had our friends Elke and Byron and their little girl Skyelar stay with us. And the trip kept going!.....we then hoped on an airplane and took off for Shamu land..that's right, we visited Ivan and Elena and their two beautiful daughters Lily and Isabel. Despite the 100 degree temperatures, we had a blast at Balboa Park, at the beach (where, unlike Oreg

Jonah just asked Mae if she wanted to play with him.

Wow. It's happened. Jonah has suddenly decided that he wants to sleep bar-free in his red fire truck toddler bed. It's been set up beside his crib and he has adamantly refused to sleep in it, until yesterday at nap time. He was a little nervous, and I had to go back up to his room three times to tuck him in, retrieve his bunny from the floor, and then sing him a song, but he slept in that bed for his entire nap. Last night he also wanted to sleep in it and he did great. Woke up at 3am and came to get Daddy, but was right back to sleep. He came in our room in the morning and got in bed and snuggled for a little while. I'm sad and happy at the same time, like I am everyday with this parenting thing. Luckily the happys happen way more than the sads!

Here are some photos and a video from our first camping trip with all four of us. We had a wonderful time. We kept it simple by going to Champoeg state park; a 45 minute drive from Portland. We got through about 30 minutes each way before Mae started screaming bloody murder, so thank goodness we were smart and stayed close to home. Plus we forgot Jonah's shoes, but conveniently grandma and grandpa's house is right on the way to the park, so we picked up his extra pair there:) We stayed three nights and actually started to relax after about a day and a half. Jonah and Mae did a good job of sleeping..although at some point during the last two nights, all four of us were in the same bed....a queen air matress! We can't wait to do another trip with these guys again.

This is the cutest darned thing in the world:

16.5 lbs 26 1/2 inches long 90th percentile for length (!) 50th for weight

Today we all got home from a lovely morning picking berries on Sauvie Island with Michael's parents, sister and her son Carter. We arrived home just in time for Jonah's nap, and Michael promptly took him upstairs, while Mae and I stayed downstairs. About 1/2 hour later, as Michael had not come downstairs, I assumed that the two of them had fallen asleep in the rocking chair. All of a sudden I start hearing this quiet voice from upstairs calling "Mommy, Mommy." Confused, I walked upstairs to find Jonah in the doorway to his room. I opened the door to find Michael asleep in the rocking chair, surrounded by Jonah's favorite sleep things; two stuffed animals, and a fuzzy green blanket. Well, I said, laughing to myself, at least one of them is getting a good nap:)

Jonah cracked this joke at dinner a few nights ago. Here it is again, in all its glory.

Ok-admitedly this isn't all that interesting, just a cute shot of the two of them in the double stroller on our way home from the farmers' market last weekend.

Here they are, the two of them just playing. Sometimes things are so tranquil!!

Here's how Jonah plays hide and seek: 1-Jonah points to the spot where Mommy is suppose to hide 2-Jonah goes to a corner and counts sometimes to 4, sometimes, to 7, sometimes to 10 3-Jonah runs over to the designated "hiding" spot while giggling his head off 4-Mommy leaps out and tickles Jonah as he runs away FUN!

Our friends Byron, Elke and Skyler, loaned us season 1 of Fraggle Rock and I couldn't help but notice the resmeblance between the cute little Doozers and my cute little Mae.

Mae turns 6 months old this Wednesday and I can hardly believe it. So here are some of the things I have been thinking about: There is a direct correlation between number of kids and reduction of "free" time. Though for some reason it doesn't seem to matter much. Mae is in love with all of us. She has the most beautiful sparkle in her eyes when she looks at Hallie and me. When she looks at Jonah it makes me jealous that she doesn't look at me that way. She LOVES Jonah. Anything he does is funny to her. He touches her on the head and says in a sweet voice, "Hi Mae" and she sighs, giggles and wiggles with delight. Hallie says that this is the reason that older siblings can totally take advantage of their younger brothers or sisters. Now I think that is not true but don't talk to my sister about that. She'll just lie and tell you a story about how I used to make her look in the sleeve of my long sleeve shirt (while I was wearing it) and then

What a mess!! Babies learning to eat are so cute. We pretty much can't shovel it into her mouth fast enough. We're pretty sure she's working on thigh roll # 6.

I am so fortunate to be able to hold my babies all day, to be the one to see their smiles, to kiss their bruises, to make sure they are clean, and fed, and rested. I am the one one who gets to witness their burgeoning friendship, and watch them discover and enjoy each other. I wouldn't trade it for all the financial security in the world.

Just for comparison, I thought it would be fun to post photos of Jonah, who was about 4 1/2 months, and Mae who is almost 5 months, enjoying the excersaucer:)

Oh man I have a beautiful family. Enough said.

Our little Mae weighs 14 pounds and 25.5 inches long and sleeps 8 hours in a row at night. She is a beautiful, smiley baby. She loves to giggle when she is tickled. When cats walk through the room at her line of sight she now notices them and follows their movements. When really interested in sucking on her fingers she prefers all ten to the usual one or two.

Yes, I know, it's nearly a month later, but WE HAVE TWO KIDS FOR GOODNESS SAKE! Here are some of the best photos of that day. Jonah's best buds Boris and Gus were there, plus both sets of grandparents, Mae in her sunday best, and Auntie Kealie and her boyfriend Chris.