Friday, November 27, 2009

Photo Friday-Update

Well, after two weeks off, I figured it was time to post a little something. Sorry about the break. We've had a couple birthdays, a couple parties, multiple ear infections, lots of coughing, a trip across statelines...not to mention the usual chaos that goes into life with three kids and a remodel. So, I'll give a little update about each kid so you feel like you know what's going on...

Robbie
Sir Robert has been busy over the last couple weeks. On the 17th he turned 7 months old. I think I failed to post a 6 month update (or comparison for that matter) so I'll have to make up for that in the coming week. I can tell you that he had his 6 month appointment when he was 6 1/2 months old on October 30th. He weighed in at 16 pounds, 7 ounces which allows him to remain squarely in the 25th percentile. He is (mostly) sleeping through the night, (usually) taking 2 or 3 naps and is eating 3 solid meals a day. Currently his favorite foods seem to be yogurt, sweet potato and pears. He also eats rice cereal, baby oatmeal, green beans (but not so happy about it), banana and avocado. He seems to like eating as evidenced by the next photo:Other things that Robbie can now do-roll from his back to his stomach (though not very often)......hold and drink out of a sippy cup......and (mostly) sit up unassisted (but with many pillows around for when he invariably falls on his side or face).For Thanksgiving this week we went to Grandma and Grandpa L's house in Oregon. While we were there, Daddy's sister, Aunt Hezzie, and Uncle Greggie where driving down from Washington, so they came and stayed with us for a couple days. We all got to meet Cousin Tommy for the first time. Tommy is almost 3 months old. I never thought of Robbie as big until we had the two right next to each other.Robbie seemed to enjoy Grandma's house. His favorite thing turned out to be the dog. Good thing King Leo is such a good sport...
Lastly, Mr. Robbie is the only one of my children to not get an ear infection over the last couple weeks. He does have the cough that has lasted the longest, though.

Padyn
As you know, Padyn had her 6th birthday a couple weeks ago. Since Grandma and Auntie hadn't celebrated with her yet, we had ANOTHER little celebration the day before Thanksgiving at Grandma's house. I've lost track of how many candles Padyn has blown out now. But this candle was the best. We couldn't find birthday candles, so Padyn blew out a tea candle. But hey...at least it was purple. Other events for Padyn over the last couple weeks-she had her color belt promotion. Here is her instructor tying on her new orange belt. Hi-Ya! Padyn ran her first race last Saturday. She ran the 1/2 mile kid run in the annual Turkey Trot. I, too, ran the 1/2 mile kid run in the Turkey Trot. Do you think I was going to let her run through the streets by herself? I have to say, I was impressed. She's a lot like her Mommy...not very fast, but she ran all the way to the end. (I really thought she was going to poop out on me and want to walk). I might have been dragging her a little at the end...Like her brother, Padyn had a great time at Grandma's for Thanksgiving. It's hard to say what her favorite thing was, though. My guess is it was a four way tie between watching TV, making cupcakes with Grandma, throwing the ball/kong for the dogs and decorating her Rice Krispie "house." Oh, wait. I forgot about eating all the junk food. Make that a 5-way tie.
Lastly, Padyn was diagnosed with her second ear infection ever the day after her birthday...the day Kate was finishing the antibiotics for her ear infection.

Katelyn
Kate still manages to be the one who wears me out on a daily basis. It could be the incessant talking or the constant motion...I'm not sure which. All I know is a breath a sigh of relief when she is tucked into bed at night. Here's what she's been up to lately...

She loves loves loves her brother. Both girls do, but Kate is really adamant about it. She wants to show him every possible second. Usually her love takes on the form of shouting in his face or squeezing him way too tightly. He certainly knows he's loved.

Her next favorite thing after her brother (and strawberry yogurt) is watching TV. I think Friday mornings are Kate's favorite time. It's the only morning of the week where she is home and Padyn is not. She has free reign of the TV. I think in these pictures she is re-watching her favorite episodes of Kipper. But, have you seen Kipper? Even I love it.She has gotten much more skilled in the fine-motor categories lately. I'm sure it's preschool since I do nothing with her. I've noticed she is better at cutting, coloring and gluing. She also seems more interested in reading/spelling. She's always asking me what letters and words say.

At Grandma's, I would have to say her top favs were watching TV and eating sweets. Here she is with her Rice Krispie house...

Kate used to be plagued by ear infections, but the one she was diagnosed with on Veteran's Day was the first in over a year. Fortunately for us, she likes the medicine. What a strange child.

Well, I'm sure there is more to say, but since it is past 11pm and we were on the road for 7 hours today, I'm heading to bed. I promise to get some comparison photos up this week.

Happy Friday and Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have as much to be thankful for as I do.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

My Baby Turns Six

"Padyn, what did you enjoy best about your birthday?"

"EVERYTHING!"

She seems to have had a good day.


Happy Birthday, Padyn Baby. We love you!
If you are interested in seeing Padyn's birthdays blog entries over the last couple years, go here and here. And here and here.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Photo Friday:Hi-Ya!

Padyn tested for her orange belt this past Monday. She has been in Tae Kwon Do for almost 3 months now. This was her first belt testing. Passing from white to orange is pretty simple. A few kicks, blocks and punches are about all it takes. But she was nervous beforehand. Mostly she didn't want a bunch of people watching her. Fortunately, we did her testing during her regular classtime instead of the set testing time. I think that helped ease her nerves.

Here's a few shots from the class. Her form may not be fabulous, but she does seem to like it.

posing for a sidekick
palm strikes and knee strikes

blocks
punch
final bow-thank you, ma'am
She is very excited to be getting her orange belt. I'm sure she will want to show it off in a photo or two.
Oh, but she's more excited that she turns six tomorrow. Guess I better get working on that post, too.
Happy Friday!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I Knew There Was Something Different About Us Teachers...

Kate reading to her brother from our new library book, The Teacher From the Black Lagoon:

"Robbie, this is the teacher from the black lagoon. Teachers are always from lagoons."

Friday, November 06, 2009

Photo Friday-Pumpkin Carving

I waited until the very last minute to carve pumpkins this year. Maybe that's because I waited until the very last minute to buy said pumpkins. I didn't actually buy our future jack-o-lanterns on this trip to the pumpkin patch. I didn't manage to get back to a patch until Friday, October 30th. That's right...the day before Halloween. Surprisingly, many people apparently waited until the last minute as well. When the girls and I arrived at 5:30 last Friday evening, there were a ton of people at the patch. And they weren't just petting the farm animals and winding through the hay maze. They were also purchasing pumpkins. Needless to say, we waited at least 20 minutes in line to pay for ours. But, in the end, I think it was worth it. The girls were pretty happy with how their pumpkins turned out. Here's the photo breakdown...

Upon arriving at the impossibly crowded pumpkin patch, the girls and I spent the first few minutes conquering the hay pyramids.The next morning (yes...we didn't carve until Halloween morning), we set up shop in the front yard while the baby took an excessively long nap. Each girl picked a pattern out of one of those carving kits and Mommy got to work. I have to say, Padyn did an impressive job scraping out her pumpkin. Kate took a few stabs at it and then left the rest to me. She was more concerned with washing the other pumpkins.
And here we are with our creations...
On display Halloween night. First, with the flash... ...and here without the flash.
We didn't get many trick or treaters. Possibly they all came earlier when we were on the other side of town with our friends. So, if you come over sometime during the next few months, expect to be offered candy. We have lots of candy.
I just realized there are no pictures of young Robert in this post! So, here's a random one of the boy...

Happy Friday!

Thursday, November 05, 2009

I just walked in and found this...


I think I may have to hide the iTouch...

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

World Conquerers


Who is dressing the older one these days?

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Halloween

I know, I know...I haven't posted any Halloween pics yet. But really, there aren't many good ones. You can look at these two while I sort out the rest...

Since you might not be able to tell, I should tell you who everyone is. Kate was a ballerina. She was going to be a bunny...that's what she wore to school on Thursday. I stitched a cotton ball tail on her pink footy jammies and everything! But we had a last minute change of heart. I'm not sure if it was the tutu or the tap shoes that excited her more. Padyn was a unicorn. Not just any unicorn...she is Goldalicious. We don't own the book yet, but I'm sure we will soon. And Robbie was Tigger. Mommy? She's a Mommy, of course!
Here's a fuller explanation of Padyn's outfit. It all started when our friends decided to be Pinkalicious and Purplicious. If you have girl children in your house and you don't have these books, you might want to get them. They aren't my all time favorites (that's reserved for the Olivia and Fancy Nancy series), but they are decent. Anyways, Goldalicious is the newest book in the series. She is Pinkalicious's imaginary unicorn. Padyn had already said she wanted to be a unicorn, so when we found out that Ninners was going to be Pinkalicious, it seemed like a natural fit. They were pretty happy to complete the series that way.Now if we could only get Purplicious to smile...

All By Myself

Apparently my son can sit up by himself now. I didn't notice it until he was in my lap tonight. I let go to type something on the computer and he remained upright. So, I tested it out with the Boppee as support. Here's the proof...


He's six and a half months now.

Other updates...

At his 6 month check-up last week, Robbie weighed in at 16 pounds, 9 ounces. He is still in the 25th percentile for height and weight, but what do you expect from a kid who wanted to enter the world 4 weeks early?

We are now at two solid feedings a day...they consist of brown rice cereal, pears and bananas, or some combination of those three. He loves it. He is still getting 6 or 7 liquid feedings a day, as well. Talk about a lot of eating.

He's napping 3 or 4 times a day and is sleeping 8 hours at night. He's up for a feeding around 4 or 5 am, then back to sleep for another couple hours. The time change has shifted things for him a bit-he's very bright eyed and bushy tailed by 6:45am now. Mommy's not so thrilled about that.

He continues to love jumping in his exersaucer. I'll have to post the video I have of it. You'd swear he was going to launch himself right out of the thing.

He is into grabbing everything he can reach...he's particularly fond of my hair. He also puts everything in his mouth. But the upside of that is he's figured out how to get his pacifier into his mouth on his own. Now if he could only keep it there...

I know I seem rushed, but that's because he's lying here on the couch next to me yelling. It's bedtime. But I'll leave you with one last picture...

He was one tired Tigger Halloween night.