Blanket Face

Luke loves his blanket by his face to sleep. Despite my best tucking efforts, he still manages to get it up to cover his nose and mouth.  He's always liked when he can feel his breath on his face.  My baby is no longer stationary. :(  He's a roller.  He hasn't attempted any kind of crawling or scooting, but he rolls all over the place and is nowhere close to where I leave him.   The other day he flipped himself in his crib to his tummy and he went crazy.  He didn't like it at all and looked really confused. He's still a decent sleeper.  He sleeps 7ish to 7ish but usually wakes up at either11pm or 5am, never both.  I'm sure I could get rid of this feeding, but haven't tried at all. I just savor holding him while no one else is climbing on me. It's nice, so I'll keep it as long as he wants it.                                        

Who's Bigger?

Michael loves to hold Luke.  It's pretty funny to see it.  They both recently had checkups.  Luke was 15 lbs. Michael was 23 lbs.  We were worried about Michael's size.  He is still in 18 month clothes.  However, he was in the 40th percentile for height and 10th for weight.  He was only 10th and 8th at his last appointment, so I thought for sure by now he was completely off the charts low.  The dr. said she wasn't worried and "I look at genetics too.  You two aren't basketball players."  Yeah, she called us short. The beauty of Mike's job.  He's at all our dr. appointments. :)

Gross...

Isabelle has always loved plain flour tortillas.  I love the tortillas you cook.  I got addicted to them when I had to go off dairy.  Anyway, Isabelle wanted one and I wasn't going to cook one for her....so...she just ate one raw. They are now her favorite. I think it's nasty. She has to eat them with an orange peeler and she cuts shapes into them.  It's pretty funny.

A Favorite Thing

When we first moved here, I kinda started going a little crazy not having any friends and being home all day every day with nothing going on.  We found the YMCA and I fell in love.  With a family membership you get 2 hours of free daycare daily for as many kids as you have (6yrs and under). I tried out all the classes and found what I loved. I love the daycare ladies.  They have an infant room (non-walking kids), a little kid room (walking - about 3) and a big kid room (3ish-6) that are all connected, so Isabelle can room hop.  I love the pool.  We go swimming together as a family.  With Luke still so young, we can just check him into the daycare while we take the other two. Michael never wants to swim as long as Isabelle, so he swims for a bit, and we take him to the daycare while Isabelle finishes up. It's fabulous.

When we first started going, Michael was only about 9 months old and Isabelle was 2.  Every day I exercised and then showered and got ready for the day.  I didn't have to speed through hoping no one is getting into something like my showers at home.  I actually got dressed every single day.  Michael would usually take his morning nap there in the baby room, so when I picked up the kids we were ready to go home and play for the day or grocery shop on the way home.  It was fabulous. It's continued.

I got to keep going through my entire pregnancy.  I had to start going to different classes, but still was there  3 times a week to exercise and 2 days a week for Isabelle's swim lessons.  When we had to stay home after I had Luke, the kids started going crazy asking to go to "Gym Care" as they call it.  They absolutely love the social time.  In the big kid room, there is usually a craft of sorts, so Isabelle really enjoys that.  She also loves to play in the baby room with Luke or in the little kid room with the dramatic play and dress up stuff.  

There were a few times when I was pregnant I didn't feel like exercising, so I took a book.  That was great too. :)

The kids have their own "routine" with going to the gym.  I was laughing the other day at our "event" of going to the gym. I had to take pictures.

They have to take turns pushing the handicapped buttons to open the doors for us.  Which actually has been nice since having Luke.  My arms are more full.


When I pick them up, my "kitties" make their way to drinking fountains to get drinks.  Yes, they are meowing the entire way too.


If they were good, they get to throw 2 rocks (straight back down into the rock pile).


They have to go through the bike racks and count them and make sure they are all still there.


They are awesome in the parking lot.  We play red light, green light and they know to stop on the white part before we cross.


I forgot to take a picture of their faces in all this, but these pictures are what I see, their backs. :)

Now that I've got 3 kids, it's a little crazier around the house.  I now take have to have one day off a week to spend a bit more time on housework.  I have made some great work-out friends.  My kids look forward to it.  I look forward to it.  This is one of my favorite things about our move to Spokane.

Luke's Roller Coaster

Isabelle is so helpful with Luke. She wanted to take Luke down the stairs a few months ago and I said she could on her bum.  It has become dubbed "Luke's Roller Coaster," and he absolutely loves bumping down the stairs.  Smiles all the way down.



P.S. Gotta love Michael in leggings. Best potty training trick I ever learned.  It soaks the leggings, rarely makes it to the ground, which means icky on them and almost nothing to clean out of the carpet.  At least this is the blue pair...he looks awesome in pink! :)

Traditions!

Mike invited some friends over for Corned Beef and cabbage for St. Patty's day.  It is one of his favorite traditions.  I always get nervous cooking for other people.  I was even more nervous this time around.  I have never made Corned Beef and cabbage.  Just one of the many moments I miss living by my mother-in-law.


I forgot to take a picture of the before, but this is the after. Everyone claimed they liked it.

Another pure Julie moment, this is my kitchen towel that was in flames.  Details, um, I wasn't paying close attention...awesome. And I didn't put enough water in the bottom of my pan and burned the cabbage.  Thank goodness for knives.  Once it was all cut off, no biggie.

Spring?

Spring showed its face for a few days last week.  I'm sure it will get cold and miserable again, but we enjoyed it while it lasted.

Isabelle swept the rocks around the driveway.


The kids rode things, and chalked on the driveway.


Michael threw Jake's tennis ball in the two tiny patches of mud that were left.


Jake ran around trying to get some tennis ball time in too and I cleaned out the truck.  So refreshing!

Brothers!

Wormins

We've had a few beautiful days around here.  Isabelle came running in the house with her bucket.  "I CAUGHT A WORM!!!!!"  She had to show it to me and off she ran to find more.  She caught a few more worms and gave them a little dirt and has been keeping them on our front porch.  She keeps going outside saying, "I have to go out and check on my wormins."  Yeah I'm pretty sure they died a few days ago, but she hasn't realized it yet.

Oh, and how about that outfit?  Yes, that is a stripped hoodie underneath a dress.  What you can't see is the skirt and sweatpants she is also wearing.  Gotta love this girl!

Oh Dear....(eyeroll)

Remember we just started the whole time consuming daily event of rice cereal in our house? I came to the kitchen and found this....



Michael actually was eating smoothie from a bowl being fed by Isabelle.  When I pulled the camera out, she had changed to feeding him egg and he was done with egg.  They happily ate all their breakfast on the counter that morning.  Oh the things we do to get our kids to eat a healthy breakfast. :)

Food!

Somehow my baby just turned 6 months.  I haven't quite figured out when that happened, but it did.  One afternoon, it was a pretty day, Isabelle and her friend and Michael were all playing outside and I was watching them from my kitchen window.  I took the quiet opportunity to enjoy Luke's first solids.  It was cute and fun to do it one-on-one.  He ate it all with almost no mess and just really wanted to suck on the spoon.  He didn't love it, nor hate it.




He loved his rice cereal more the second time around, and Michael and Isabelle joined in on the new event this time. He's definitely at the "grab everything and attempt to get it in my mouth stage."  He's loving that there are new things to eat and watches me like a hawk every time I'm eating waiting to see if he gets a taste.  He is so happy right now.  He's just at that easy, cute baby stage.  He's starting to scoot around a little and roll all over the place.  My days of him staying put in one place are all but gone. :(  He also is getting fussy when he gets stuck in his car seat for a while.  He's wanting to move!  Happy 6 months to my owl-eyed Lukester!

Skiing Lessons with Dad

Mike and Derrick used to work at Deer Valley as ski instructors for the little kiddos. Mike is an excellent ski teacher and I've been so excited to have kids old enough to get going! In the mornings Derrick and Mike went skiing while Missy and I played with all the kids.  After they came home for lunch, they took the bigger kids for their ski lessons. Missy and I took turns going or staying with Michael and the babies. Then the boys skied more after the kids got tired.

Look at this girl strutt her stuff. She was so excited for Mike to teach her how to ski.



Here they are ready to go! Derrick took his kids last year so they were a year ahead, but they all did the bunny hill together the first day.


Look at her face! She loved it!  It was adorable watching her ski! She looked so tiny out there.


Isabelle wanted to do the tow rope by herself. She fell and got dragged a bit and decided she was done for the day. Mike got her to go again to end on a positive note.


The first day she still need alot of help, but the second day she was doing everything on her own, the tow rope, skiing down the hill and stopping.  She was starting to get the hang of turns when she got too tired.  Mike's hoping to get her skiing at least one more time this winter here in Spokane. She had a blast and is excited to go again.


I forgot my ski pants....yeah....awesome. Mike loaned me his pants for an afternoon (he doesn't fall down). I went Isabelle's first afternoon, and got my act together again on the bunny hill with the little kids :). I haven't been skiing since I was pregnant with Isabelle, and even then I have only been skiing a handful of times. I really enjoy it and can't wait to get better. When Isabelle decided she was done, I headed up a lift while Mike took her back to the condo. I skiied a couple of runs by myself and then met up with Mike and got to ski with him a bit. I got a lot better with Mike's help.  It was a fun trip and so much fun to watch Isabelle learn how to ski!

Ahhhh, A Vacation!

We got to go on a weekend getaway!  It was fabulous.  We met another family at a condo at one of the ski resorts by Mt. Hood.  We went with Mike's best friend from high school, Derrick, and his family.  They have a daughter a bit older than Isabelle, a boy a bit older than Michael and a baby girl a bit older than Luke.  Our kids get along perfectly!  Michael and Trevin are so alike and have some of the same struggles.  It's great chatting with Missy to figure out "what we are going to do with theses boys!"

Here we are on the road.  Michael brings Luke paci's all day long at home without ever putting one in his mouth...the second we are in the car only on a road trip he cries and cries and cries wanting a "ba-bye-er" (paci).  For everyone's sanity, some battles aren't worth it and then it stays in until we make it home and he gives it up without a fight...I don't get it.   Anyway, love these sunglasses.  So cute!


The first morning it snowed a ton!  There was a tractor plowing and the kids just stood in the window yelling and giggling at the tractor forever.


Isabelle and McKall always want to match.  Just so happened they actually had the same shirt packed.  These two little girlies just played and played and played their little hearts out.


Love this picture!


Trevin has a Leapster Explorer with a "Cars 2" game.  Michael wanted it ALL weekend.  That's all he wanted to do.  He kept hiding to steal a few minutes with it.  If he didn't have this, he was trying to steal one of the ipads, smart phones, or other leapsters.  We are going to have to get on the ball with some technology boundaries with him before he's 3!


There was this gate thing the kids had a blast playing in.


Luke hung out the whole weekend being a good baby after his initial 15ish hour "this is not my schedule" revolt.


The kids bundled up to play in the snow out on the deck. We never actually took them out to play in the snow.  Our sled flew out of the back of our truck somewhere between Spokane and the ski resort. We took turns watching kids and skiing.  We made sock puppets, played with balloons, did puzzles, played legos, made popsicle stick velcro building things, colored, cut, and all sorts of other things to keep the kids at home  entertained.


I'm doing a separate skiing post.  Us adults played games, shuffle board, watched movies, and got all caught up.  It's fun hanging out with good friends.