Mom...

Mom...
I can't have any more kids, I don't have any more arms!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Escapee

I can't believe I forgot to include this -- yesterday at nap time the kids were not sleeping & I heard a little more discussion than I felt I should...so I went in & checked. ANNIKA was in the middle of the floor, playing! She had climbed out of her crib! I put her back in, & 5 minutes later she was asleep...& she didn't get out at bedtime. I am actually a little surprised that it took her this long!

Annika wants to type:
jhhhfhhfhfhhhhhhhhhh nvc

Good Morning

I am posting this in the morning, as all the kids are still asleep. I really love that they are not 'morning people,' since I am not either.:) Even at 8:00 I hate getting out of bed. But I truly have a difficult time going to bed before midnight! Some things are hard to change...:)

Kellen was the special helper at school yesterday, which also means that he provides the snack. I asked him what he wanted to take & he told me blueberry muffins, milk, & watermelon. Easy enough. We made mini blueberry muffins, we always have milk (I think he is the only kid who brings milk - all the others bring juice!), & fortunately Costco has watermelons this time of year! The snack was a HUGE hit, & the only thing I brought home was 3 mini muffins! I am hoping I actually sent enough watermelon, since I didn't really count how many pieces I put in...I guess it is just a 'snack' & not their lunch! Kellen did some drawing last night at the dinner table, & told me he was drawing trees with big trunks so that they wouldn't tip over, & thunder & lightning. He is a little obsessed with the wind blowing things over, it really worries him at times! I think it stems from our trip to Palm Springs last year when we had some huge wind & it blew his basketball hoop away & a few other things, & also the umbrella on the outside table tipped & cracked the table while he was eating lunch. Poor guy. Any time the wind blows he asks if the trees are going to tip over. But, it is fun to see him actually trying to draw specific things instead of just scribbles.:) He also finds letters in his drawings, usually unintentionally occurring -- he finds lots of 'u's.:)

Last night at dinner Annika asked for more mango. I put 3 pieces on her plate & she said (like I knew she would), "No, 5." I said, "That is 5" & she said, "No, 3." Whoops! Caught in my fib!;) I don't know if it was a fluke (if she would have said 3 no matter how many) or what, but it was pretty impressive at the time.:) She is learning so much from Kellen, & she can make sure she gets out 2 vitamins, etc., when I tell her a specific number. So I wouldn't put it past her!

Kaarin has been standing up in her crib in the mornings when I go to get her up. It's so cute! She is shorter than the other 2 were at this age, so she can barely see over the top of the crib. I will try to get a picture of it.:) I took her in for her 9 month pictures on Monday & they turned out SO CUTE!! I always order too many of the kids at 9 months.:) Funny, then by 18 months I can barely pick one out to order....

I hear the kiddos, must go get them up now.:)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Still a Peanut

Well, apparently my assessment of Kaarin getting downright chubby was wrong, as she is still little & now is not even ON the growth chart for weight!! She had her 9 month check up today & is 14 lbs. 15 oz. & 27 inches. To compare to the other 2, Annika at 9 months was 18 lbs. 1 oz. & 30 1/8 inches & Kellen at 9 months was 19 lbs. 11 oz. & 30.25 inches. She has another appt. with the dietician on 3/4, so the Dr. wants to see what her recommendations are. She has been fairly unconcerned, so I don't think she'll do much.:) I think it's o.k. to be petite! Otherwise, she is awesome.:) The good news is that she can still use her infant carrier car seat -- she can be up to 29" in it! Kellen & Annika grew out of it at about 6 months. She may never get to face forward, though, LOL.

Kellen is so funny sometimes. He is still not the biggest participator at school, he does a lot of art since he can sit by Miss Karen while he does it.:) Tuesday I asked him if he went outside & he said yes. Then I asked him if he rode a bike or played & he said, "Some kids don't like to play outside." Hmmm...are you 'some kid,' Kellen? Then today one of his classmates announced that she has a new baby at home & I asked Kellen if she got a brother or a sister. He said that she got a brother. I asked him what his name is & he said, "I think his name is Brother." :)

Annika is adding new words to her vocabulary every minute it seems.:) She is doing great & is using lots of sentences. They are not always complete sentences, but she gets the gist. She knows most of her colors by name & is quantifying 1-2 objects. Her favorite number is 5, anytime you offer her something she wants '5' (Kellen always wanted 2) & if you tell her --more minutes she always wants '5.' Fortunately she can't tell time, so she doesn't know that 1 & 5 minutes end up being the same.:)

Monday, February 15, 2010

Valentine's Weekend

Erik took Kellen & Annika to the beach to have a picnic lunch.:)

Eating her cheese fondue (I did these photos in backwards order -- oops!)

Dipping her bread into her cheese


More dipping.:)




Yum, cheese!


9 months old already! Such a big girl!:)





Reading "Larry Gets Lost In Seattle," one of our favorite books!!


Annika didn't get a nap...she fell asleep watching Finding Nemo.:) So cute.:)


Here she is taking a nap...:) Sitting up, with all of these animals! Thanks, Kellen...
I just got back from a girls night out -- so fun! I can't even remember the last time I did that. We all had so much fun (we were just at Red Robin) & are planning to do it again soon!! Yay!
Today was actually a really nice day, so the kids decided that they wanted to go to the beach to throw rocks into the water. It was right about lunch time, so I told them they could go if they took their lunches with them -- like that was going to be hard to convince them of!:) They thought it was great to be taking their lunch on a picnic! And I thought it was great that they were getting some nice fresh air!:)








Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!:) Erik & I celebrated last night by going out to dinner 100% kid-free!:) We went to Chili Thai in Puyallup...yum! We hadn't been there before, but it was very good. We had leftovers for lunch today, which were still really good! We picked up Kaarin from grandma & grandpa & then Kellen & Annika spent the night. We got a few things done this morning before going to pick the kids up. We had our new traditional family Valentine celebration of fondue! The kids really got into it this year, I'll post pictures next time.:) We did cheese with bread & pears & chocolate with cookies, marshmellows, bananas & cream puffs. They actually ate more of the cheese, but perhaps that was because they were too full by the chocolate?:)

Our washing machine is on the fritz AGAIN. I think this is the 5th or 6th service call we have had on it in the last 10 yrs. Not good. Erik is going to stop in & look at new washers on Tues., & the service guy comes out on Wed. I think the problem is with the pump again, basically the washer won't drain. And lovely as it is, I was right in the middle of washing diapers....so you can guess what the water sitting in the washer tub looks like. YUCK! We'll see what the prognosis is, but we are farily tired of putting $$ into this thing. The bummer part is that when it works, it's a great washer. But it breaks down so frequently (& unexpectedly) that it is really such a pain. Fortunately we were heading to my parents' house so I was able wash some loads there. But...ugh!

Some funnies from the kids:

*The other night I was heading to choir, so I was saying goodbye to the kids since they are in bed (theoretically) when I get home. I gave them each a kiss, then was doing something & said goodbye again. I asked Annika for another kiss & she said, "DID!" I asked her if she wanted to give mommy another kiss & she said no!:)

*Kellen has a little boy in his class (Drew) who is allergic to peanuts. One morning Kellen had had peanut butter on toast for breakfast so I told him I needed to wash his face real good before he went to school because peanuts could make Drew really sick. Another morning he had smoothie for breakfast & had it all over his face. I told him I was going to wash his face off, & he said, "Does Drew not like smoothies either?"

*Kellen came out of school one day & told me "Titus had silly hair today!" I asked him what he meant, & he said it was silly in the front (he pointed) like Drew's -- kind of spiked up.:) I told him I could do that to his hair, did he want me to? And he said, "No, I don't want to have silly hair!"

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Coffee

Kellen & Annika have been very into drawing/coloring lately. They both like to 'write' their letters.:) I can't wait until some letters actually start appearing! Anyway, they often do their art on our coffee table. The other day Kellen was drawing & said, "Is this a coffee table? Could we eat coffee here?" (that shows you how much coffee gets consumed in our house, that he thinks you eat it-haha). I said yes, we could. He said, "Do you like coffee?" I said no. He said, "I don't like coffee either. I could spit it out of my mouth!" Then Annika said, "Me!" And Kellen said, "You don't like coffee either, Annika. It is yucky. Just like the boy in the Polar Express spits it out of his mouth." (Ah, so that's where the spitting comes from...) Then Kellen said, "Grandma & Grandpa like coffee!"

Kaarin is doing awesome. She is just at a great age. She is eating well, though still isn't a huge eater. She is sleeping great, 11 hrs. most of the time. She is so cute with her crawling & is starting to really explore. For some reason she always heads to the bathroom.:) She is clapping her hands. She totally adores her brother & sister. And her mom & dad, of course. And Mookie. She is just a delight. I want to freeze time with her right now, before the attitude & the "ME DO IT" & the screaming out of anger kicks in....just lovin' my baby. (& the older 2 OF COURSE - they just add a bit more challenge to the adoration.;) )

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

more pics

Nursing her baby.:)

A close up view...

Lightning McQueen!

















Pics

Legs starting to split...uh oh!!!

Pulling herself up on the dishwasher.

My cousin, Erika, visiting from Finland, holding Kaarin; Mommy & Annika


Standing at the coffee table - she loves this one because it's easy to grab on to.



First bath with all 3 kids together! Kellen (who had not had a nap & was very cranky) did not want Kaarin in the bath for some reason...too many girls or something!




Monday, February 1, 2010

A day at the zoo

I need to get on the ball & upload some pictures...but it takes a bit of time since I have to identify the number of all the pictures I want to upload before I can upload them. All I see when I try to upload is the # of the picture, not an actual image. So...maybe tomorrow!

Today the weather forecast was for rain in the afternoon, so we risked it & took a trip to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. I was doubting my sanity for a few moments when I had 3 screaming kids before we were even in the car...but decided to go for it anyway. The trip was fine overall. The kids had a great time, & we saw some things today that we hadn't done in the past: the touch-tank in the aquarium (Kellen could stay there all day), the camels, & the Seahorse exhibit. While we were in the aquarium, however, a crow decided to make off with my lunch -- the entire BAG!! We came out to find the bag on the ground, the juice box on the ground, an empty Frito bag, & no sandwich to be found...AND bird poop on the stroller! Nice. After we went to see the elephants, tiger, monkeys (they're not really monkeys, but that's what I call them to my 2 & 3 yr. olds), otters, etc., we sat down to eat lunch. The crows were really hovering, but I really didn't think they would be as bold as they were: Kellen got up to throw something into the garbage (Annika & I were still sitting at the table!!) & 2 crows swooped in & took off with the rest of his sandwich & his bag of chips!!!! Fortunately he wasn't too upset about it...! Anyway, we went from there to see the walrus, who was quite entertaining today - he was using his flipper to make waves/bubbles, then was also blowing bubbles with his mouth - & then rode the carousel & left. We had to stop at Costco to get gas, so we ended up going inside since we were hungry!! Bad idea to shop at Costco when you're hungry...$$. The kids were pretty tired by this point, so their behavior was starting to deteriorate. We headed home (4:00 by this time) & watched Finding Nemo (since they had seen several of the fish at the zoo), had dinner, a bath, then hit the sack. All in all, a good day.:)

We also had the privilege this week of seeing my cousin, Erika, who is here from Finland! She grew up here, then moved to Finland as part of a grad school program, & ended up staying & marrying a Finnish man. They have 2 kids, Lukas & Mia, who are just about a year older than Kellen & Annika. Anyway, she was here this time without the kids, since it was an unexpected trip home as my uncle was having surgery to remove cancer from his intestine. The surgery went well, & he is recovering in the hospital. It had been over a year since I had seen Erika, & it was great to get to spend time with her, even if she was here for a less-than-happy reason. It is hard to live so far away from family! I am thankful for those who do live close.