Here are two videos that Jason just got around to compressing for me.
The first is of Elsa, taken a week or two ago. If you want to see a super smiley baby, click :)
Check out this video: Talking with Elsa
And here is one from way back in May, when Ethan had his preschool graduation program. Ethan is the second in from the right, in the blue shirt with a stripe. The camera is shaky because Gwen was attacking my leg.
Check out this video: Ethans graduation "program"
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
So my camera is absolutely broken, and despite RadioShack advertising a very enticing price for the same model, and despite us traveling all the way to this very location specific RadioShack where it stated online that said camera was residing, guess what? It wasn't there, and sorry, their website isn't updated very often. Well. Imagine our feelings on that.
Anyhoo, long story short, I won't be having any pictures for a bit. Ebay came through and one is being shipped, but it will be a few days at least.
Saturday, before the RadioShack debacle, we met with April and her husband Gregg, and their loverly boys Gibson and Grady at Willis D. Tucker park for some spray pad fun. Even at 9:45, the time we met, it was warm and by the time the water came on at 10 it was perfect for splashing. We stayed till about noon, then went to La Palmera with the "G's" for lunch. 5 kids, 4 adults, mexican food, numerous bathroom trips (potty training is fun) and mess and guess what? We actually enjoyed ourselves, which proves that Gregg and April are good folk because believe me, it could have been rough.
Its been hot and very humid, which will wilt any native Washingtonian. We ain't built for this stuff. The fans don't seem to move the heavy air nearly enough to provide relief.
Today, I got up very early to bake two items for our Likkel family reunion in the afternoon before it got warm. Unfortunately, everyone else got up when I did so our day started a bit rougher and earlier than I generally enjoy. We had a great time at the reunion and there were so many people there (I think I heard my Mom say 75 or so). It was not only a reunion, but a celebration of my great-Aunt Dellis and Uncle Bob's 60th wedding anniversary. Wow. Of course, lots of nummy food was available, and it was so good to touch base with people that we pretty much see once a year.
I'll tell you something. When I was a kid, I viewed the family reunions with some boredom. They were long, they were full of adults talking about things I didn't know or care about and I was forced to play with kids I didn't know. As a young adult, it was easy for me to just skip the reunions because I was a busy person! I had so much going on! How could I drive the 45 minutes! I'm important, things to do, things to do! As a regular adult (not a young, but not an old one either), I'm starting to really and fully appreciate the significance of these get togethers. The multi-generational aspect. The reminiscing. The story-telling, teasing, and familiar faces. Its good to see my great-Uncle Berk or my Uncle Brad (not really an uncle, but that's what we've always called him) because they bear striking resemblance to my beloved Grandpa in their faces. And I can see him in so many others, in the way they talk and move their hands, and their postures and that is so good to see because I don't want to forget those things.
Point is, these people, these people that I see once or maybe twice a year, whose name I may not remember (but the face I do!), these people would support me, and I them. They would house, clothe and feed me and mine at the drop of the hat, for any reason. They would get down and pray for me. They would give me the shirt off their backs. And I'd do the same for them. Can many others say that about their close families? How about their super extended families? Today while sitting and eating we stretched our brains trying to figure out how my kids were related to another persons kids and it was something like 4th cousins. That's a pretty far relation. Despite the distant relations, people keep making the effort to stay close and I think that's amazing.
Anyway, I'm rambling here. Its just that the past two years have been more special to me than 28(?) previous reunions that I brushed off or was too young or shallow to care about. Perhaps its me getting older or that the loss of my Grandpa has changed my perspective. I don't know, but I do know that these kin of mine are pretty super special.
Speaking of super special kin, I wanted to share with you the blog of one of my, well, I *think* she's my second cousin. I'm too tired to draw out the family tree to be sure, so we'll go with that! Her name is Jennifer and she has 6 of the cutest kids you'll ever meet and she has a pretty entertaining blog here: http://squawcreekranch.blogspot.com/. I'm adding her to my sidebar because its become a daily read for me!
Ok, off to bed. Its cooled down considerably so I think we'll actually get some good rest!
Anyhoo, long story short, I won't be having any pictures for a bit. Ebay came through and one is being shipped, but it will be a few days at least.
Saturday, before the RadioShack debacle, we met with April and her husband Gregg, and their loverly boys Gibson and Grady at Willis D. Tucker park for some spray pad fun. Even at 9:45, the time we met, it was warm and by the time the water came on at 10 it was perfect for splashing. We stayed till about noon, then went to La Palmera with the "G's" for lunch. 5 kids, 4 adults, mexican food, numerous bathroom trips (potty training is fun) and mess and guess what? We actually enjoyed ourselves, which proves that Gregg and April are good folk because believe me, it could have been rough.
Its been hot and very humid, which will wilt any native Washingtonian. We ain't built for this stuff. The fans don't seem to move the heavy air nearly enough to provide relief.
Today, I got up very early to bake two items for our Likkel family reunion in the afternoon before it got warm. Unfortunately, everyone else got up when I did so our day started a bit rougher and earlier than I generally enjoy. We had a great time at the reunion and there were so many people there (I think I heard my Mom say 75 or so). It was not only a reunion, but a celebration of my great-Aunt Dellis and Uncle Bob's 60th wedding anniversary. Wow. Of course, lots of nummy food was available, and it was so good to touch base with people that we pretty much see once a year.
I'll tell you something. When I was a kid, I viewed the family reunions with some boredom. They were long, they were full of adults talking about things I didn't know or care about and I was forced to play with kids I didn't know. As a young adult, it was easy for me to just skip the reunions because I was a busy person! I had so much going on! How could I drive the 45 minutes! I'm important, things to do, things to do! As a regular adult (not a young, but not an old one either), I'm starting to really and fully appreciate the significance of these get togethers. The multi-generational aspect. The reminiscing. The story-telling, teasing, and familiar faces. Its good to see my great-Uncle Berk or my Uncle Brad (not really an uncle, but that's what we've always called him) because they bear striking resemblance to my beloved Grandpa in their faces. And I can see him in so many others, in the way they talk and move their hands, and their postures and that is so good to see because I don't want to forget those things.
Point is, these people, these people that I see once or maybe twice a year, whose name I may not remember (but the face I do!), these people would support me, and I them. They would house, clothe and feed me and mine at the drop of the hat, for any reason. They would get down and pray for me. They would give me the shirt off their backs. And I'd do the same for them. Can many others say that about their close families? How about their super extended families? Today while sitting and eating we stretched our brains trying to figure out how my kids were related to another persons kids and it was something like 4th cousins. That's a pretty far relation. Despite the distant relations, people keep making the effort to stay close and I think that's amazing.
Anyway, I'm rambling here. Its just that the past two years have been more special to me than 28(?) previous reunions that I brushed off or was too young or shallow to care about. Perhaps its me getting older or that the loss of my Grandpa has changed my perspective. I don't know, but I do know that these kin of mine are pretty super special.
Speaking of super special kin, I wanted to share with you the blog of one of my, well, I *think* she's my second cousin. I'm too tired to draw out the family tree to be sure, so we'll go with that! Her name is Jennifer and she has 6 of the cutest kids you'll ever meet and she has a pretty entertaining blog here: http://squawcreekranch.blogspot.com/. I'm adding her to my sidebar because its become a daily read for me!
Ok, off to bed. Its cooled down considerably so I think we'll actually get some good rest!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Sunburn, ouch ouch ouch.
I've been applying vinegar which has helped and slathering on the aloe, but dear heavens it hurts like crazy. Last night I could barely sleep because I'm a side sleeper and both my shoulders are burned! I was up at 5:30 because I just couldn't lay down any more.
I don't want to hold Elsa all that much because she tends to scratch my skin with her fingers when I have her on my hip and you can imagine how much pain that brings me.
In other stupid Mommy news, the antibiotics I got for Ethan last Thursday were supposed to be refrigerated. Guess what I didn't do. So basically a whole week of dosing him for nothing. They're going to have to be replaced. I wonder when I will be sharp and smart again. I don't say that with jest, I really mean it. I've done such stupid things consistently for so long, I fear it may be the new me.
While I have the time, I want to blog a bit about our nighttime routine with the kids. Jason has been wanting me to put this down in writing for some time so we don't forget it later on.
Jason and I tag team the kids, I start with one and he starts with the other. For Ethan, I must snuggle him (hold him on my lap like a baby, hum a song and rock him) for maybe 30 seconds to a minute. As long as his 4 year old little body will tolerate. Then we pray, talk about what we're going to do tomorrow and I remind him not to get up before his alarm goes off. When Jason goes in there, him and E hug, then play thumb war, which Ethan always wins because he cheats. Even if they do a few rounds, Ethan will always cheat and beat Jason at thumb war.
Gwen has a slightly more complicated routine. We get into bed, pray (she used to interrupt me mid-prayer to get a drink of water and then direct me to start again, but I stopped that habit!), then we must hug, kiss, eskimo kiss (rub noses) and then beep. Beep is where she touches our nose and says beep!, though she no longer says beep, she just wants to touch our noses. First it was just a single touch. Then it was a beep with her little finger for Mommy and thumb for Daddy. Now it is a quick beep with all fingers on the nose. Sigh. Jason also taught her the wind up beep which is where she swings her arm around and around and makes tighter circles until she reaches your nose. That one can take forever and you are in fear that she will smack you with her arm because she swings it quite wildly. Daddy also plays thumb war with her, but in an interesting twist, she cheats the first game and wins but in the second round will let Jason win. She then exclaims, "Yay! We both won!".
And that's basically it. Some nights it can take forever to get through the routines, other nights its shortened because the baby is crying or because Mommy and Daddy are too tired.
I've been applying vinegar which has helped and slathering on the aloe, but dear heavens it hurts like crazy. Last night I could barely sleep because I'm a side sleeper and both my shoulders are burned! I was up at 5:30 because I just couldn't lay down any more.
I don't want to hold Elsa all that much because she tends to scratch my skin with her fingers when I have her on my hip and you can imagine how much pain that brings me.
In other stupid Mommy news, the antibiotics I got for Ethan last Thursday were supposed to be refrigerated. Guess what I didn't do. So basically a whole week of dosing him for nothing. They're going to have to be replaced. I wonder when I will be sharp and smart again. I don't say that with jest, I really mean it. I've done such stupid things consistently for so long, I fear it may be the new me.
While I have the time, I want to blog a bit about our nighttime routine with the kids. Jason has been wanting me to put this down in writing for some time so we don't forget it later on.
Jason and I tag team the kids, I start with one and he starts with the other. For Ethan, I must snuggle him (hold him on my lap like a baby, hum a song and rock him) for maybe 30 seconds to a minute. As long as his 4 year old little body will tolerate. Then we pray, talk about what we're going to do tomorrow and I remind him not to get up before his alarm goes off. When Jason goes in there, him and E hug, then play thumb war, which Ethan always wins because he cheats. Even if they do a few rounds, Ethan will always cheat and beat Jason at thumb war.
Gwen has a slightly more complicated routine. We get into bed, pray (she used to interrupt me mid-prayer to get a drink of water and then direct me to start again, but I stopped that habit!), then we must hug, kiss, eskimo kiss (rub noses) and then beep. Beep is where she touches our nose and says beep!, though she no longer says beep, she just wants to touch our noses. First it was just a single touch. Then it was a beep with her little finger for Mommy and thumb for Daddy. Now it is a quick beep with all fingers on the nose. Sigh. Jason also taught her the wind up beep which is where she swings her arm around and around and makes tighter circles until she reaches your nose. That one can take forever and you are in fear that she will smack you with her arm because she swings it quite wildly. Daddy also plays thumb war with her, but in an interesting twist, she cheats the first game and wins but in the second round will let Jason win. She then exclaims, "Yay! We both won!".
And that's basically it. Some nights it can take forever to get through the routines, other nights its shortened because the baby is crying or because Mommy and Daddy are too tired.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
I have pictures from our family BBQ on Sunday, and just one or two from our foray to Jetty Island yesterday, but my stupid camera fell one time into the sand (it was off and lens retracted even), but now it won't work. I messed with it and now it won't even turn on. Googling about it does not look good. We'll probably have to replace it. I'm so irritated with the darn thing.
Jetty Island was fun. The ferry was shorter than even I imagined. It was literally like 2 minutes. April and I had wagons which was very smart of us, if I do say so myself. Alyssa and her husband Corey and their two kids, AJ and Andrew joined us too. We walked a little ways to a more secluded part of the beach and the kids had a great time. The tide was WAY out. Like 1/4 of a mile from the beach, so there wasn't much water play. Sand was good enough though. There was a nice breeze too, which made April and I forget to apply sunscreen to ourselves. Weeeell. Both of us are scorched. So very painful. My shoulders and back is quite bad, but even my face has it. My nose will peel. How icky! I hate peeling!
Here are some pictures that April took.
Gwen and Gibson on the ferry
Elsa and her amazing tongue!
Nana making sure Elly stays happy (thanks Nana!)
After the long walk to the water, some deserved splashing around. All the kids were icked out by the seaweed
Uh, Gwennie... your dress?
Ah well, lost cause!
Little Grady enjoying himself. Such a smiley kid!
Gwen and her sand socks
Elsa chilling on the blanket. No, she wasn't like this the whole time, just for the two minutes that we were finishing packing up. She was out of the sun the entire time... unlike me.
Jetty Island was fun. The ferry was shorter than even I imagined. It was literally like 2 minutes. April and I had wagons which was very smart of us, if I do say so myself. Alyssa and her husband Corey and their two kids, AJ and Andrew joined us too. We walked a little ways to a more secluded part of the beach and the kids had a great time. The tide was WAY out. Like 1/4 of a mile from the beach, so there wasn't much water play. Sand was good enough though. There was a nice breeze too, which made April and I forget to apply sunscreen to ourselves. Weeeell. Both of us are scorched. So very painful. My shoulders and back is quite bad, but even my face has it. My nose will peel. How icky! I hate peeling!
Here are some pictures that April took.
Gwen and Gibson on the ferry
Elsa and her amazing tongue!
Nana making sure Elly stays happy (thanks Nana!)
After the long walk to the water, some deserved splashing around. All the kids were icked out by the seaweed
Uh, Gwennie... your dress?
Ah well, lost cause!
Little Grady enjoying himself. Such a smiley kid!
Gwen and her sand socks
Elsa chilling on the blanket. No, she wasn't like this the whole time, just for the two minutes that we were finishing packing up. She was out of the sun the entire time... unlike me.
Monday, August 11, 2008
My first "retail" project
A lady from my message board asked me to make her two dresses (after seeing Gwen's dress), one for each of her daughters. She picked a beautiful palette of green/pink/white and I was able to find some great fabrics for her locally at good prices. They need to be washed and ironed to look their absolute best, but I just loved how cute they looked and couldn't wait to snap a picture to send to her!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Friday, August 08, 2008
First, some pictures of my "garden".
Strawberries... I thought for sure we planted too late and would only get the teeny-tiny ones that came out 2 months ago. To my surprise, a huge bunch grew again and these look like they'll be much bigger too.
My ginormous "Early Girl" tomato plant. I'm going to have to rig up a taller trellis.
And my precious tomatoes that I check on daily (sometimes twice a day). Little tomatoes are popping out every day!
Elsa... Look at that head strength!
Awww
These pictures are from my Mom's church camp-out last weekend.
Can you guess what is wrong with this picture? How about having to bundle a baby up in August! That is just wrong.
This little girl loved Elsa so her and Gwen had lots in common :)
Later they put the bikes in the sand and made "exercise" bikes (since the back wheels wouldn't move).
Gwen and her funny face
Her mad face (check out the lip!)
Princess face
For the record, I wasn't ignoring my son. He was with the other kids and watching the relay races. Speaking of races...
My brother Michael and cousin Ben (they're in the red)
Jenni and Ben balancing eggs on a spoon
Later, there were eating competitions. Our family was well represented
Ben going to town!
While I was taking pictures, Mom was holding Elsa, who, from all appearances, was having a great time.
Strawberries... I thought for sure we planted too late and would only get the teeny-tiny ones that came out 2 months ago. To my surprise, a huge bunch grew again and these look like they'll be much bigger too.
My ginormous "Early Girl" tomato plant. I'm going to have to rig up a taller trellis.
And my precious tomatoes that I check on daily (sometimes twice a day). Little tomatoes are popping out every day!
Elsa... Look at that head strength!
Awww
These pictures are from my Mom's church camp-out last weekend.
Can you guess what is wrong with this picture? How about having to bundle a baby up in August! That is just wrong.
This little girl loved Elsa so her and Gwen had lots in common :)
Later they put the bikes in the sand and made "exercise" bikes (since the back wheels wouldn't move).
Gwen and her funny face
Her mad face (check out the lip!)
Princess face
For the record, I wasn't ignoring my son. He was with the other kids and watching the relay races. Speaking of races...
My brother Michael and cousin Ben (they're in the red)
Jenni and Ben balancing eggs on a spoon
Later, there were eating competitions. Our family was well represented
Ben going to town!
While I was taking pictures, Mom was holding Elsa, who, from all appearances, was having a great time.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
We took Ethan in for allergy testing today. The nurse swabbed his nose first thing and when the doctor came in he was almost excited at how bad his swab was. He said he'd never, in 12 years, seen one so dirty and that he was sorry we had to wait so long because he had to show it to the nurses as a teaching tool. Way to freak me out in the first 30 seconds! This doctor was so geeky.
P.S. When I say dirty, I don't mean that there was actually dirt and dog hair and gunk up there. I mean that there were lots of white blood cells (the doctor used a word for themthat I did not know and my best attempts at googling haven't found anything so I think I heard him wrong) in a certain state. There were tons of them under the microscope. That's what he meant by "dirty".
Anyway, basically it means that Ethan has likely had sinusitis since he was 1(!) and we need to get that cleared up like now. He said its not uncommon for it be overlooked by pediatricians because unless there is mucus pouring out they aren't really trained to look for more. DS's nose was 80-90% closed with swollen tissue. So he's starting us on a 3 week antibiotic and daily steroidal nose spray.
His prick test showed that his highest response was to grass and cats (dogs was there, but just borderline), which was sort of a relief. Grass is pretty easy to manage, and we don't have cats. We'll have to be more vigilant when we're at my Mom's (she has two cats), but it could have been much worse.
We're to give him the spray every day until two weeks before his next appointment in October. Then they'll swab him again and see if he'll only need the nose spray during high grass pollen months or year round.
The doctor does feel that given the very dirty swab that statistically the allergies will likely worsen over the next few years and he'll need weekly, tapering to monthly, allergy shots. Because family history of allergies and asthma, he feels we should be aggressive now to prevent asthma from forming.
I'm so glad that we got this done and things were not as bad as they could have been. I'm not thrilled about the nose spray and need to research that more. But hopefully Ethan will finally have clear sinuses!
Ethan did great. He was brave and obeyed all the instructions the doctor and nurse gave. He got an ice cream sandwich on the way home for his excellent behavior.
Guess who has taken a bottle of pumped breastmilk two days in a row with not one single fuss? Elly! She took it like it was nothing at all. That means next girls night out, I'll go sans baby. Woo! She's such a easy baby.
P.S. When I say dirty, I don't mean that there was actually dirt and dog hair and gunk up there. I mean that there were lots of white blood cells (the doctor used a word for themthat I did not know and my best attempts at googling haven't found anything so I think I heard him wrong) in a certain state. There were tons of them under the microscope. That's what he meant by "dirty".
Anyway, basically it means that Ethan has likely had sinusitis since he was 1(!) and we need to get that cleared up like now. He said its not uncommon for it be overlooked by pediatricians because unless there is mucus pouring out they aren't really trained to look for more. DS's nose was 80-90% closed with swollen tissue. So he's starting us on a 3 week antibiotic and daily steroidal nose spray.
His prick test showed that his highest response was to grass and cats (dogs was there, but just borderline), which was sort of a relief. Grass is pretty easy to manage, and we don't have cats. We'll have to be more vigilant when we're at my Mom's (she has two cats), but it could have been much worse.
We're to give him the spray every day until two weeks before his next appointment in October. Then they'll swab him again and see if he'll only need the nose spray during high grass pollen months or year round.
The doctor does feel that given the very dirty swab that statistically the allergies will likely worsen over the next few years and he'll need weekly, tapering to monthly, allergy shots. Because family history of allergies and asthma, he feels we should be aggressive now to prevent asthma from forming.
I'm so glad that we got this done and things were not as bad as they could have been. I'm not thrilled about the nose spray and need to research that more. But hopefully Ethan will finally have clear sinuses!
Ethan did great. He was brave and obeyed all the instructions the doctor and nurse gave. He got an ice cream sandwich on the way home for his excellent behavior.
Guess who has taken a bottle of pumped breastmilk two days in a row with not one single fuss? Elly! She took it like it was nothing at all. That means next girls night out, I'll go sans baby. Woo! She's such a easy baby.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Just a quick note that Gwen has been dry at night for 3 nights without nary an effort on our part.
Inspired by April and her 3-day potty training program, we told Gwen that we'd tossed all her diapers away and it was time to do nighttime sleeps without a diaper, like Mommy, Daddy and Ethan do. The first night we roused her twice for potty and she remained dry. The last two nights we've let her be and she's been totally dry. Well, that was pretty easy! I figured the first few nights would be troublesome, but like much of Gwen's training, its been smooth and easy.
Inspired by April and her 3-day potty training program, we told Gwen that we'd tossed all her diapers away and it was time to do nighttime sleeps without a diaper, like Mommy, Daddy and Ethan do. The first night we roused her twice for potty and she remained dry. The last two nights we've let her be and she's been totally dry. Well, that was pretty easy! I figured the first few nights would be troublesome, but like much of Gwen's training, its been smooth and easy.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Sorry I've been so lax in posting. I must be in some hormonal swing or something because I'm cranky, constantly irritated and, in general, kinda pissed off at everyone. As you can imagine, I'm just a peach to be around!
Friday night, I joined my friend April and a few of her friends for a Girls Night. We did this in July and enjoyed it, and enjoyed perhaps even more the second time. I hope we can keep up the once a month thing. Its fun to get out and away (though Elly comes with me) and visit. Here's a picture of all the girls. It was the same group as last time. Unfortunately, a number of people haven't been able to make it both times, but maybe in September we'll have the whole group. (Why am I so hunched over? Gotta work on the posture).
Usually I like to have one drink while out, but this place only had wine and beer. Uncertain of what to choose, the server recommended that I try a Lindemans Lambic beer. Well, I hate beer, but he assured me that this was totally different. He had a cherry and peach flavored one and I ended up with the cherry. Incredibly delicious! Closer to a wine than a beer in flavor. Wow. Really good. And not at all intoxicating, at least for me. Which is a plus since I'm a real lightweight!
Saturday, we headed out to my Mom's church campout at Jim Creek Recreation Area. Jason stayed home to do some work, but the kids and I went out and played and chilled out for a few hours. I have some great pictures but I left my camera there and my Mom has it. She's dropping it off today so hopefully I'll get those pics up.
Besides that we've been pretty dull. Today we're going to go to West Seattle to visit family that are up from Astoria and California and have a BBQ. Should be fun.
Oh, and there is SUN. Yay! And I see the first tomato appearing on my tomato plants. Double yay!
Friday night, I joined my friend April and a few of her friends for a Girls Night. We did this in July and enjoyed it, and enjoyed perhaps even more the second time. I hope we can keep up the once a month thing. Its fun to get out and away (though Elly comes with me) and visit. Here's a picture of all the girls. It was the same group as last time. Unfortunately, a number of people haven't been able to make it both times, but maybe in September we'll have the whole group. (Why am I so hunched over? Gotta work on the posture).
Usually I like to have one drink while out, but this place only had wine and beer. Uncertain of what to choose, the server recommended that I try a Lindemans Lambic beer. Well, I hate beer, but he assured me that this was totally different. He had a cherry and peach flavored one and I ended up with the cherry. Incredibly delicious! Closer to a wine than a beer in flavor. Wow. Really good. And not at all intoxicating, at least for me. Which is a plus since I'm a real lightweight!
Saturday, we headed out to my Mom's church campout at Jim Creek Recreation Area. Jason stayed home to do some work, but the kids and I went out and played and chilled out for a few hours. I have some great pictures but I left my camera there and my Mom has it. She's dropping it off today so hopefully I'll get those pics up.
Besides that we've been pretty dull. Today we're going to go to West Seattle to visit family that are up from Astoria and California and have a BBQ. Should be fun.
Oh, and there is SUN. Yay! And I see the first tomato appearing on my tomato plants. Double yay!
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