Disney World Was a Blast!!

We obviously found the drums in the Africa section of the Animal Kingdom.




Maya was much more enthralled with meeting the characters. Ethan tended to take a swing at them until we got after him for being rude.


Todd and Maya trekking through the jungle. Okay, well somewhere within the Animal Kingdom. I'm not sure exactly where I snapped the photo.


ET and Stitch, before the feud. To test his strength, Ethan clasped hands with Stitch. They then both pushed to see who was stronger. Ethan pushed Stitch back a ways. It was about time for Stitch to go, so we started to leave. Stitch followed Ethan with his hands up to request a rematch. It was great fun.


Here's Maya kissing Tigger. She must really like Tigger, because he's the only character that received a kiss, at least from Maya. Ethan was kissing a cute French hostess at one of our dinners.

Christmas Soon Will Be Here

We can't escape the excitement of Christmas. Especially now that Ethan is almost 5. He is more than a little enthusiastic every time he sees Christmas lights as we drive around, or decorations in the stores.

We recently received a gingerbread house kit, which he saw. Of course he started hounding us to make it ever since we got it. So, one evening before he could ask yet again, we broke out the set and made a gingerbread house.

The kids loved it, and I have to say, with really young kids the sets are the way to go. We've baked our own gingerbread and made our own icing in years past. All that waiting wears on the patience of little ones. This kit had all the pieces cut and icing already in a squeezable bag. Simple, slightly neater and much faster for that holiday tradition.

I'm not saying we won't bake them in the future when the kids are older, have more patience, and better fine motor skills. But for the next few years I think I'm going to cheat a little. At least on the gingerbread houses for the kids. We may become quite the gingerbread family if the excitement factor holds out a few more years.

Giving Thanks

Once again, Thanksgiving is upon us and we find ourselves counting our blessings. While we watch so many people around the country getting laid off, we are blessed to continue to have income. We are also blessed with health and good friends.

So we find at this time, that it is one of the ways that we can help the Lord help others. We will again be hosting a Thanksgiving meal and have asked some grad. student families to join us. We know that it is difficult to be far away from family during the holidays and offer ourselves as a meager substitute.

I pray that we will continue to recognize the blessings that Heavenly Father has granted us and we will continue to inpart what we can to others. I will also strive to be thankful for what I have, instead of yearning for what I don't. (Although, I don't think yearning to see family is a bad thing. So that I'll keep.)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

On our way to church, Todd stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. A car came up very quickly on our right and we thought we were going to witness a nasty accident. Luckily we didn't.

Todd - "I thought we were going to have to stop and give CPR!"

Kara - "And first aid."

Todd - "And call the police."

Ethan - "Why?"

Todd - "So we could get that guy help and tell them what happened."

Ethan very adamantly - "And tell them it wasn't us!"

Just a few Halloween pic. Afterall, a picture's worth a thousand words.

Halloween Make-up

Being in our ward comes with a tradition of a trunk-or-treat activity each October. As usual, we got the kids in their costumes. I then decided to put just a little make-up on Maya. Todd just rolled his eyes at me.

Maya, on the other hand, was giggling as I tried to put on some sparkly eye shadow and lip gloss. She thought it was great fun, especially licking the lip gloss as I tried to put it on. I had to laugh at how excited she was about it. At a year and a half, my baby already naturally loves shoes, purses, babies and make-up. Could she be any more girl?

Todd was less than thrilled that our little angel is already liking make-up and giggling at the prospect. It may take a few years for him to get used to it.

Music is a BIG part of my life!!!

I know, most of this blog is about my kids. But hey, maybe it's time I made a front stage appearance on my own blog. Those who know me well know that I love music and love to sing. I finally gave in and created a playlist. (Sorry to those of you who hate being assaulted by music on blogs.)

You'll see that I have a few songs from Wicked. You can thank Paul and Kyla for that. I really like the single version of Defying Gravity. Steven Schwartz is an incredible composer. I was kind of upset that I couldn't find Stranger to the Rain. Some of the more current songs are a bit obvious, but you may not know the Dan Fogelberg songs. Longer, I just flat out love the melodies, harmonies and lyrics.

Leader of the Band is a little more special to me. The lyrics, especially the last verse, remind me quite a lot of my father. Sometimes I get all teared up listening to it. Apparently I'm not the only one of my siblings that feels this way about the song. I recall bringing it up once, and then having a great discussion about the mutual love of our dad and the song. (By the way Justin, Mike, Aimee and Paul, I have the sheet music so we could sing it for Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary.)

Oh, Nuts!!!!!!!

Literally, nuts. The source for an evening of extreme anxiety. I didn't think that an evening snack would turn into such a headache, but it did. Maya, our beautiful little girl, tried a cashew nut last night. She'd had a little peanut butter before without reaction, so we didn't think twice about it. Boy was that a mistake.

Luckily she spit out most of it. But then her body reacted. She threw up a little. Then her mouth became surrounded with hives. Then the symptom that really scared us, her voice became hoarse as her throat started swelling shut. I immediately gave her benedryl before the slight chaos of finding wallets and keys. We took just a moment to decide whether or not to wake Ethan, and then Maya and I were out the door.

A few blocks away, the terror hit me, I can't monitor her while I'm driving. I could go back for Todd, but already almost a quarter of the way to the clinic, I kept going. I couldn't chance the time. I kept talking to my little one, trying to get her to laugh or say anything just so I could hear her breathing.

Though the drive was probably only 5 minutes, it felt like 20. I ran her inside and straight to the pediatric desk, cards already out to check her in. A triage nurse was immediately sent for while her information was placed in the computer. "Did we call in?", what kind of question is that? Like I'm going to waste time on the phone while my baby can't breath.

The nurse comes, yay!! We skip the initial weighing in and go straight for the oxygen stats and stethoscope exam. While the nurse checks Maya as I explain what happened and that Maya's had benedryl. Oxygen stats at 100, I finally feel like I can breathe. Her lungs are clear, another sigh of relief. But her voice is still so hoarse. She sounds like she's whispering as she says bye bye to the room and we are taken to an official exam room.

The nurse practitioner comes to examine Maya. Already the hives are fading and her voice is coming back slightly. Maya is given an oral steroid and some extra benedryl. I was told that we chose well, other than not bringing the whole family. While we could have called 911, not all vehicles carry epinephrine. If we ever do have to call, we have to specify that it be brought to make sure it's there.

By the time we get our discharge papers, Maya's voice sounds clear and the hives are just slight pink discolorations around her mouth. Then we get to wait in the building for 2 hours, to make sure she doesn't have a relapse in her condition.

At the end of the long evening, Maya is exhausted and, for the first time ever, falls asleep in her stroller, which we obtained after the exam but before our 2 hour jaunt through the halls. We go home with an epipen, which gives me more comfort than you can know, and orders to benedryl the baby to kingdom come for the next 2 days. We also go knowing that we will have to be extra cautious about all food given to our little one.

While I don't generally allow the kids to sleep in our bed, I felt that this night would be an appropriate exception to that rule.

Connecticut Coast

The government has this wonderful rule that as long as it doesn't cost the country any extra money, then an employee's family can join them on a business trip.

Todd had to go to Connecticut, and we went with him. We enjoyed 3 beautiful days in Old Saybrook. We walked around the town quite a bit, and enjoyed the quaint main street. Ethan and Maya both enjoyed seeing all the water.

Ethan was also enthralled with watching some men fish from the side of the river. He asked all sorts of questions and kept trying to get closer to look. I had to keep reminding him to back up so he wouldn't get a hook in the ear while they cast their lines. It was a bit of an education for him. He'll definitely be wanting Todd to take him fishing.

Apparently it was an early location for a ferry that went to Long Island. There was a small park that gave a little info on that history, but the need for a restroom quickly ended that visit as well as finding out more of the story.

Old Saybrook was also close to the spot where Yale started. Yes, the Yale. There were some commemorative stones there, ironically in the middle of a graveyard, where some remnants were left to rest. Obviously, Yale has since been moved.

Gas Prices Six Years Ago

Most of you who know us are also aware that we moved to the east coast 6 years ago. The time has absolutely flown, especially the last four years with our little ones.

Yesterday, I was cleaning out a binder to reuse and found an interesting scrap of paper. It was an envelope on which we had written our gas expenses from our move out here. We noted the town where we filled up, how many miles we had traveled, the number of gallons put in and the total price of the purchase. I'll list some of the gas prices per gallon below.

Green River, WY $1.239
North Platte, NE $1.699
Omaha, NE $1.369
Peoria, IL $1.349
London, OH $1.319
Annandale, VA $1.359

That trip cost us $305.75 in all. At not quite 3 times the gas prices now, that same trip in a moving truck, towing a car at 10 mpg, we would spend about $825.55. Oh, the good old days!

Holy Hanna

Okay, so I couldn't resist the cheesy title. Truth be told, we faired quite well with what was then just a tropical storm system. We got about 5 inches of rain in 6 hours, so it was very wet. Luckily, we prepared by checking the gutters and walkout to make sure that the drainage paths were clear.

We did not lose power during the actual storm, so our sump pump was able to mostly keep up with the water. We were also fortunate enough not to lose any trees this time. Ethan had fun watching the rivers of water in the streets, but did not like having to stay in doors. (For those who don't know, that muddy brown section is our ditch topping over. Sorry about the screen in the way, but I was not about to go outside just to get a clearer picture.)

We'll have to see what the rest of the hurricane season has for us this year. Hopefully we won't receive any direct blows. The last time we did was 5 years ago with Hurricane Isabel. She left us without power for nearly 5 days.

Helping Out

Maya has come to the point where she wants to be involved in everything. So she climbs up on the stove drawer handle to try and help us cook. Maya likes to help unload the dishwasher, whether or not the dishes are clean. Maya can never let Ethan be the only one in our laps, or being read to. She wants to help put away the laundry, in other words, she's really good at unfolding clothes and dragging them on the floor.

But there is one duty in which she has been able to start actually helping us. Diaper duty. Maya has now started to take her own diapers to the trash. She still needs assistance to open the pail, but throws the diaper in and joins with us in saying "Hurray Maya".

Let's Go!!

Each morning, Maya has a little routine to say good bye to Daddy. He has to pick her up, nothing else will do. Then she turns to me and waves good bye. She'll even give me kisses to let me know she'll be going with Daddy.

This morning she went through the regular routine. When I took her back, she leaned to Daddy again until he held her. She then said something that sounded remarkably like, "Let's go. Go, go."

Olympic Enthusiasm

Gymnastics has been an interest in Todd's family for years. Two of his sisters were very active in the sport, one of the two also a collegiate competitor. I was always curious if Maya would show any ability or interest as she grew.

Last night, we watched the US women's gymnastic team compete in Beijing. Maya was enthralled. She turned around the floor as she watched and occasionally tried to flourish her hand up above her. It was all quite adorable.

When the coverage switched to swimming, she was not pleased. She started to make the ASL sign for "more" and then re-imitated the hand flourish above her. She repeated this several times before she realized that she was stuck with swimming.

Perhaps we'll have to enroll her in some classes in a few years.

Face Meets Door

Poor little Maya. Now that she's gotten the walking down, she decided to start running as well. Her body also decided to have a growth spurt which has made her a little clumsy.

The other day, she was running and didn't realize how close the door was getting. Thus the red mark on her right cheek.

The poor kids also face planted 3 times that day and tripped at least 4 other times. It was a rough day in all.

Observations of a 4 year old.

Todd and I were lucky enough to go to dinner with some friends. We had picked Ethan and Maya up, loaded the tired, crying children in the car and started making our way home. Ethan, being his usual observant self, started making some comments to us, after the motions of the car calmed the two little ones.

E-Mom, there's another seat here.
K-Yeah, there is. What is it for?
E-For another baby.
T-What baby?
E-The baby that comes after the last Disney World.
K-Oh really?
E-Mmm, hmm.
K-Whose baby is it?
E-Our baby.
T-You want another baby?
E-Yeah (giggling)
T-What kind of baby?
E-A boy.
K-What would we name him?
E-Ethan.
T-Another Ethan. We can't do that, mom might call for Ethan and you wouldn't know if it was you. How about another name?
E-How about Robert.
T-Probably not Robert. (No offense intended to Robert or Roberta)
E-How about Uncle Paul
Laughter by all.

That little boy cracks me up.

Disclaimer-This story is not announcing any impending conditions or plans, known or not known, about the current size of our family. It is simply the musings of our son. Sorry Grandma.

First Miniature Golf

Today, for the first time, Ethan and Maya played miniature golf with us. Ethan was complaining when we first arrived. He could see a pool and some water slides just next to the course and wanted to go over there instead. We coaxed him onto the course. He waited, rather impatiently, for our turn to start.

Although we tried to teach him correct hand position, etc., that all went out the window with our four year old. We gradually made our way around the 18 holes, Ethan helping all of us with our puts. Ethan tried to hit every water hazard and sometimes tried to do a hole two or three times. Luckily the group behind us was quite slow, so we had no problems taking our time.

Maya just wanted to be in the middle of everything, literally. She sat down in the middle of the greens and grabbed at balls. We tried to play around her as best we could. Maya often used her new favorite word "share" to ask to hold the ball. Then she would chuck the ball to the ground. This was a little challenging when walking between holes, juggling the clubs, camera and baby while trying to keep up with Ethan.

All in all, we had a blast. Ethan already asked to go back "next week" which loosely translated means tomorrow.

Thirsty Monkey

Our little Maya decided she was thirsty and attempted to get the orange water bottle on the cupboard. She climbed up on the oven drawer handle, but soon found that she was stuck. She started to call out to get someone to help her down. We were more than willing to help, but just after we snapped a few photos.

Bye bye!!!

Our poor Maya has developed some allergies. Unfortunately, those allergies were triggered by our dog, Belle. While Belle has been an energetic, happy part of our family, we needed to put Maya's needs first.

Sadly, yesterday we sent Belle to live with someone else. A lady in Pennsylvania has a ranch and a soft spot for Scottish Terriers. So now Belle is off barking at horses and playing with other dogs.

Ethan is taking the news quite well. He said good bye to her without tears. He later asked if we could go visit Belle. (I hate those moments when you feel like you should lie to your kids.) I told him no, she's not our dog anymore. Besides, I don't know where in Pennsylvania or the name of the lady as our vet acted as an intermediary.

Maya might be more upset if she were not already distressed about 2 new teeth coming in. Poor princess. I found them this morning and realized that was the cause of her decreased appetite and slightly less cheerful demeanor.

What a Strange URL!!!!

Okay, so we've been catching some flack about the address to this blog. Yes, we love our two little ones with all our hearts. I may be a bit biased, but I think they are two of the most beautiful children I've ever seen. And yes, sometimes we get frustrated in parenting. If you've found a parent that doesn't, please introduce me to them so I can find out all their secrets.

But really, the name came from a little bit of an inside joke with some of our friends. One of our good friends, Cathi, is actually decendent from gypsies. No joke. That is her lineage. So, as is common with her friends and family, we joke that we will sell the kids to the gypsies, or ship them off to Cathi's for a while.

But we all know that it is an empty threat. As she has 3 daughters whom my children adore, it would be more of a reward than punishment to send them to her house for a day.

Our Princess is Walking, Kind Of

Yes, Maya is taking steps around the house, unassisted. She has been doing it for about a month. (Sorry I didn't update sooner.) She is still unstable though.

Often, she decides that it is just easier to scoot, so she drops to the floor and resumes her unique hobbling. She learned to stabilize herself on our wood floors when going to both knees resulted in a few face plants. Ouch!! So she started putting her right leg forward, using her arms and dragging the left leg a bit behind her.

This is also apparent in her walking. She tends to drag the left foot when she takes steps. So we're still working on the whole walking concept.

In other news, we've found that playing hide and seek can be quite dangerous for mommy. Maya and I were hiding under a blanket while Ethan did his Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum bit. Maya gets very excited when he does this. She launched herself backward and planted the back of her head against the bridge of my nose. Crunch!!!

Oh, the pain. Not just the instant watering of the eyes from the stinging, which I'm sure most parents have experienced. No, it takes quite a bit of pain to actually make me cry, and tears were running down my cheeks.

Maya was upset at seeing me cry so, being the sweetheart she is, she kept kissing me to try to help me feel better while I applied ice, lied down and tried to minimize bleeding and swelling. So two days out, I've got some bruising across the bridge of my nose, congestion, unrelated to allergies, and the constant throbbing pain through the sinuses. I still don't know if my nose was actually broken, as I was too cheap to pay $30 over the weekend to get it x-rayed, but it's not crooked, no leaking cerebral fluid or gray matter, so I figure why bother.

I'll just have to remember to place my face a bit more strategically in the future, or at least make sure it happens on a weekday.

Utter Disappointment

Poor Ethan!!! He has been so excited to see Wall-E ever since he saw a preview on the Playhouse Disney website. He has been asking to go see it for months, trying to save money, reminding us it was almost time, etc...

So, finally, the family loads in the car and drives to a local theatre. We fork out $30 for matinee tickets, a small popcorn and a drink. Of course the line is huge, but Ethan is so excited he can hardly sit still. We get seats and sit through some previews.

Next up, the short film. We laughed the whole way through, as it is one of the best short films I've seen from pixar. Ethan was laughing so hard we almost needed to shush him.

Then Wall-E starts. Ethan was a little confused by the setting, but got to see all of his favorite parts within the first 20 minutes of the movie. Then wham, the political message hit and continued through the rest of the show. Ethan was not very interested in the show anymore and asked repeatedly to go home.

I can't blame him one bit. Most of the humor is adult humor. Little kids don't pick up on the small nuances in love and attraction. While animated, it is not meant for small children, even less so than Ratatouille. But even Ethan couldn't miss that Earth was messed up, and wrong.

That brings me to the political statement. Okay, obviously I should have done a little more research about what the show was about. But I hate, repeat, hate being force fed a political message, whether or not I agree with it, especially after spending $30 of my own money to do so. We wanted to be entertained, not preached to.

We left with a bad taste in our mouths, and it wasn't from the popcorn. We all agreed that it was one pixar show that we would not be buying.

I feel especially bad for my poor four year old boy. This is one of the largest disappointments he has had to face and survived it with just a few minor meltdowns. Next time we will have to read all the reviews and spoilers to be sure that we don't waste our time, money or disappoint our little ones.

Power Outage Blues

Luckily, we live far enough east that we are not getting the full force of the vicious storms raging through the midwest. But, we do get some pretty big storms all the same. Our area has had 4 major power outages in the last 3 weeks.

One of these power outages lasted several days during 100 degree weather. Luckily we had a friend whose home did not lose power and they had an extra room. We got to escape the heat. Ethan enjoyed getting out of the heat but was a little more enthusiastic about the visit than I thought.

The latest of these power outages was earlier this week. The power had been out for over 20 hours and we left to run errands. When we returned, we were lucky enough to have power restored. I was excited to have air conditioning and a working refrigerator. Ethan was less than enthusiastic.

Ethan, aren't you glad that we have power again.

No, I wanted to go to Heather's house.

Lawyer in the making?

Ethan has been developing his negotion skills quite well. As most children do, he tries to manipulate the situation to his liking. His latest venture has been with items that we use as rewards and incentives.

Rather than just asking if he can play on the game cube or have a piece of candy, he's learned to phrase it in a way that sets him in the advantage.

"Mom, have I been good enough to get a peanut butter candy?"

"Mom, I helped you do laundry, can I play on the TV (game cube).

"Dad, I helped in the yard, can I play on the computer."

When he actually has been good, it is extremely difficult to tell him no.

Separation Anxiety

Maya has recently decided to let us know when she's not ready to take a nap. Not only does she sit up and move everything she can, but she has started to vocalize her discontent. After a few minutes of crying and shuffling you start to her this call get progressively louder throughout the house.

"The baby Maya." ........... "The baby Maya." ............ "The baby Maya."

As if we could actually forget that she's there.

She has also expanded this call to when we leave the room to do dishes, or laundry, or anytime she just can't see us.

The Stressful Life of an Infant

With the tears that accompany childhood, learning is obviously tough. My discovery the other day made me start to wonder though.

As I was at a park with the kids and some friends, I noticed that Maya had a funny, wiry piece of hair near the front of her head. As I looked closer, to my dismay, I found that it was a gray hair. I plucked it from her head, which didn't even make her flinch, and sought validation of my discovery.

Another mom confirmed that it was indeed a gray hair. I didn't know you could get gray hair before your first birthday, but apparently you can. Maybe a baby's life is harder than I thought.

More and More Teeth

Maya now has 6 teeth. Poor kid hasn't stopped teething in a month and a half. We're hoping for a small break for her poor little mouth. All that said, she has been remarkably good for a teething baby.

She is also now trying to say a few more words. More, Belle and Brother are among those. Obviously she only gets approximations of them, but her actions help make the meaning clear. We don't know why she won't call him Ethan, but brother works.

She is becoming very social. Having an affectionate family, she thinks she is supposed to kiss everybody. Other 11 month old babies don't quite know how to react when she kisses them, or tries to play directly with them. It is cute though.

Where does he learn these words?

When Ethan gets in trouble and is sent to his room, he has the choice of going himself or having help with increased consequences. Today was a day that he started bright and early with hitting and sassing, both of which are not tolerated, and was sent to his room. He refused to go so I began taking him.

"No, Mommy, I want to go in myself."

I set him down to give him the chance.

"Mommy, I don't need you to escort me in my room." He stood statue still just outside his door. As I finish helping him to his room, I am stunned at his vocabulary. Where on earth did he learn the word escort, let alone what it means and how to use it in a sentence?

A Tooth

Last week, Maya finally cut her first tooth. She's still adjusting to the new feeling. It looks like there are a few more on the way.

Modesty Please Mommy

During the day, Ethan and I like to scrapbook together. Okay, so Mommy scrapbooks and Ethan helps trim items and apply glue. What he mostly likes is to look through his baby book and have Mommy explain what it says.

We recently finished the page about my ultrasounds while I was pregnant with him. (Yes, I'm behind.) He looks at the page and asks, "Mommy, what's this?" He's pointing at the picture that shows his gender. "That shows that you are a boy. See, those are your boy parts." Ethan looks a little puzzled for a moment.

"But Mommy, why did they take my diaper off?"

Miss Maya

Our littlest angel is doing much better now. No more RSV or ear infections, hopefully. But, she is beginning to teethe. Her two bottom front teeth are trying to push their way up. Man, it is making for some rough nights at our house.

Other than that, Maya is trying to decide whether or not she actually wants to crawl. Right now, she much prefers to scoot around on her bottom. It just seems that everytime she tries to crawl, she does a face plant. Being all wood, our floors are far from soft. Ouch!!

She is beginning to pull herself to standing. Who knows, she may just skip crawling all together.

First Ski Trip

While we took our early Christmas Vacation, Ethan had the chance to ski for the first time. Initially, he wanted no part of these weird sticks on his feet. He made his father stay with him at the bottom of the hill while his cousins, aunt and uncles skied. Since Ethan didn't want to ski, Daddy called to have Mommy pick him up early.

As Mommy and Grandma came up the mountain, Daddy convinced Ethan to go down a small bump. Ethan liked it so much that he insisted on more. But would he get on the lift? Oh no! He had Daddy carry him up the hill time and time again.

When Mommy did show up, Ethan was on the hill ready to show his stuff. Down he came, thumbs in the air and grinning from ear to ear. He was so proud of himself. He could even almost turn. He never did manage to figure out how to stop. Maybe next time.

Comments

Now that we are back from vacation; over the illnesses; and trying to get back in the swing of things; we'll update the blog a bit. We decided it is just too much hassle to go by initials for the family, so we'll use first names only. (If the kids weren't so darn cute we wouldn't worry so much.) =)

So those who know us, please refrain from using our full names and locations while making comments. Todd, and/or Justin, says that I am just too paranoid that something will happen, but I'd hate to become a target.

Enjoy the stories, photos, and hopefully videos (assuming I can figure it out).