Jerel and Mandy

Our life-changing magnet

2012-01-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

So I saw this online and they were putting some together for Super Saturday, but I couldn't go. I ordered all the pieces and finally got around to making mine. It ended up being one of the most annoying craft projects I've ever done....although if I did one again I could avoid all of those problems, so don't let that deter you! I made mine a little different from the one here, mostly because I never have a week where all of my shopping needs will fit on one little post-it note so I wanted room for a bigger list. Anyway, the way it works is we have little strips of paper with a common dinner written on each one. Every Sunday, Jerel picks 2 things he wants to eat that week, I pick 2 things, Zay picks one thing, we have smoothies one night, and leftovers one night. On my menu item strips I also wrote down the cookbook & page number for the recipe. This way even though I do the shopping and Jerel does the cooking we can make sure we have what we need. It's been handy so far. Partly because almost every night Jerel would say "What do you want for dinner?" and I would say "I don't care." and he would try to think of something that sounded good, but since he doesn't like to eat he'd never think of anything, and even if we did come up with an idea by that time it was usually too late to cook anyway...So now we have all 7 meals picked out and as long as nothing perishable is about to perish we go ahead and switch it around how we feel like during the week. So here's what mine looks like:

I have a new addiction

2012-01-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

It's Pinterest. Have you heard of it? I just signed up recently and it's so fun! It's a website where you can "pin" pictures of things you want to do, things you want to make, things you want to eat, etc. Then you can go to your page and it'll quickly link you back to the source.

One thing I pinned was this cute chore chart for toddlers. I've been wanting Isaiah to start doing some chores but I haven't figured out a good way to track it. Here's the chart I saw:

I like that it is simple and that it uses pictures of the chores rather than words...as advanced as he is, Zay isn't reading yet :) The woman who made this one said her kids put stickers on when they do each chore. I made mine a little easier by putting a dot for each chore so Zay wouldn't have to try to figure out where on the big blank part her should put a sticker. Then, because I am so cheap, I am going to laminate mine so I can use it over and over (either by marking it with dry erase pens, or by just peeling off the stickers, whichever ends up being less annoying).

I also changed the colors (which meant remaking the whole thing, except I copied her cute chore pics) so they would match my new menu board (which reminds me, I need to do a post about my super cute menu board). Anyway, here's the one I made:

Romantic Getaway

2011-12-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, I'll leave out the romantic parts! Jerel's mom agreed to watch the kids so we could spend some time together. Jerel found the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City. It was gorgeous! The only other time I stayed in a 5-star hotel was when I was in Egypt as a student, and I have to say they must have smaller stars there or something because this was MUCH nicer! We were greeted by three people (all of whom had foreign accents)--one who drove our car away to park it, one who carried our bags, and a third to open the door. Then two people to check us in. Then Brantley showed up to escort us to our room. I'm pretty sure he had a British accent and will make a fine butler someday. Actually he didn't, but he seemed like he should.

The room was great with a hot tub and a jetted tub. AND a bathroom scale that weighed me four pounds lighter than I actually am! Definitely a highlight of the trip for me!

For dinner we went to Talisker on Main. Jerel pretty much won't blow his nose until he's done research on the best brand of tissue, so you can imagine a fair amount of thought and work went into selecting our dinner choice. The restaurant was really good. I had rabbit and Jerel had, um, something. Ski season hasn't really started yet so there were only a couple of other people in the restaurant and the waiters would stand around just waiting for you to need something so they could have something to do. They even brought us a complimentary dessert, which I think was due solely to their boredom. It was super good--a carmel flan, a chocolatey fudgy moussey thing, and then carmel ice cream with carmel popcorn (which sounds weird but was fabulous). One of Jerel's favorite parts was that the cold I had made me lose my voice for the whole day so he had to do all the talking, which is a little bit opposite of how it usually is. Although I do want to mention that earlier that morning when he needed to return a thermometer to WalMart, he made me do it even though I could only whisper. He's a wimp about returning things.

For breakfast we went to The Eating Establishment. I had taken the day before off my diet but decided to take that morning off too once I saw that they had biscuits and gravy. Nothing ever measures up to my grandma's, but I still like to try it everywhere I go. It was a good casual restaurant. After that we went to the outlet stores up there. Jerel was less than thrilled, but I really wanted to. We found lots of pants for Eliza (she's coming to the end of her baby shower gifts, so once she grows out of what she's in now we'll have to start buying. So I plan ahead and buy them when they're on sale). We looked for pants for Zay but didn't find any. Jerel also picked out a few outfits for Eliza so she has a few more cold-weather things to wear. Then of course Jerel wanted to go to the Levi's store. Ugh. He should know better than to buy things for himself when Christmas is less than a month away. I've already had to return two things this year!

After that we headed home. It was fun to see Eliza get so excited and kick her legs and laugh when she saw us. Grandma said they behaved well for her and Zay only cried once when he missed us, so that's good. Maybe we'll make a yearly tradition of it. Jerel says next time he wants to try a bed and breakfast instead, he wasn't all that impressed with the five-star lodge.

Chef Zay

2011-12-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

Here he is with his latest creation: Mac n Crispix. He said he wanted Mac n Cheese for lunch and Crispix. Then he explained he wanted them in the same bowl. Yuck. But he ate it...

Kitty's Birthday

2011-12-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

Zay Zay loves to show his sister how to do things. "Do like this Lizey" he says all the time. (He has been calling her Lize-y lately. For a while it was E-yi-za, now it's Lize-y). He was really excited to show her how to open her birthday presents. He was also disappointed that it wasn't his birthday. She mostly wasn't interested in ripping the paper off, which was good, because we couldn't keep him away from it. She had fun watching and trying to eat the wrapping paper after it came off.

Here's Zay on his way to find another present to "show Lizey how open." Eliza's playing with her new puzzle while Grandma Atkinson looks on. (yes, all of her presents were wrapped in Christmas paper--it was all I had). Kitty also got four new sippy cups, some forks, and two books: The Lion and the Mouse, which was the Caldecott award winner for the year she was born, and Are You My Mother, which is one of my favorites.

Here she is in her new outfit from G&GA. I love her in striped pants; it's a style you can only wear for a few short years of your life so I am taking advantage of it as much as I can. She'll thank me later I'm sure.

Here's a cute one of Eliza with daddy glowing in the background.

We'd just had cupcakes a few days ago for another cousin's birthday, so we decided to do cheesecake (for the grownups, the kids still got cupcakes). It was fun to have the whole extended family there.

Grandpa tried to get Kitty to eat some of her cupcake. Then mom tried. Then dad. None of us had much success. Which I'm not disappointed about. My side of the family doesn't have great genes, so it's just as well they don't develop a taste for sweets too early.

What Liza lacks in cupcake enthusiasm, Zay makes up for--and then some.

Zay has started this thing lately where he likes to eat with just his face--no silverware, no hands, just face. This morning he dropped part of a cheese stick on the floor and when Jerel asked him to pick it up, he leaned all the way over and picked it up with his mouth. It reminds me of my brother, who used to pick up everything with his feet. You'd say "Can you hand me the remote?" and he'd pick it up with his toes and give it to you. (Of course then you didn't want it anymore). Anyway, I think it's safe to say that Zay enjoyed Liza's birthday more than she did, but that's okay. First birthdays are not for the birthday kid anyway.

Up in the sky, ever so high...

2011-12-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid I played a piano song that was about swinging and that's how it started. Not the most creative blog title ever, but I feel like it would be boring if they were all called "the kids playing." Anyway, we spent the afternoon over at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Nicole's house. Both of our kids LOVE to swing! Isaiah likes to slide too. It was pretty cold so Eliza didn't last long (notice her neglectful parents didn't even put socks on her) but Zay had plenty of fun. I think he only ended up coming inside because the dog was outside and Zay is super scared of dogs. The best part about Jeff's play structure is that their neighbor GAVE it to them, Jeff just had to haul it over to his yard. So I'm just putting it out there that if anyone has a play structure they want to give me, I'm willing to haul it away!

Isn't this a darling photo of Eliza? I'm not skilled photographer, but once in a while I get a little bit of luck.

A little bit of the Beehive State

2011-12-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

This year is the Atkinson side for Thanksgiving. We came down a bit early so our kids could have more time with their cousins.

While we were here, Eliza (finally) got her first tooth! We were at Ryan & Amy's house on the 23rd talking about how our almost one-year-old is pretty much like a 6-month-old: no walking, no talking, no teeth, etc. Just a few minutes later Aunt Amy came over and showed us the tooth! Her bottom right. Of course you can't see it in the picture, but it seemed like a photo-worthy moment anyway. Eliza's starting to look like a big baby. She's getting taller, wearing 12-month size, her hair's getting thicker, and she stands up really well now when she's holding on to things.

Aunt Nicole made gingerbread girls & boys for the kids to decorate. Most of the kids had a fun time decorating. Isaiah had a fun time eating "m's" (what he calls m&m's).

Jerel and I met up with an old friend at Temple Square. I thought it would be so fun for Isaiah to see the lights. There were a few flaws in my planning. First, the night I picked was the night of the official Lights-On ceremony so it was super crowded. Second, it was super windy. And third, it was not so fun for Isaiah to see the lights. He's only smiling in the photo because we promised we were about to go home. I get so frustrated when I plan things that I think will be so fun for the kids and then they end up hating it. Oh well.

This is me with our old friend Stephanie. Jerel and I both knew her and her roommate Kim really well. A few years ago they both moved to Salt Lake so I planned a reunion. Kim was out of town, so it was Stephanie and her husband, uh, Jake I think and twin 9-month-olds Caleb and Zachary. It was fun to see her as a mom and to see her so happy with her husband! By the end of our little excursion her boys were crying as much as Isaiah, so we shouted our goodbyes over the screams and headed for home.

Halloween

2011-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Here's our family pumpkin, courtesy of the chicken lady. Zay and Eliza had a fun time watching my amazing carving skills...I was actually pretty suprised that Zay didn't cry more because I wouldn't let him use the knife! We definitely need to get us a carving kit because the kitchen knives just don't allow for the fine craftsmanship I had in mind. Isaiah was excited when we put it outside and put a candle in it. I put it on the porch but turned it to face inside because he kept going over to the window to peek out and see it. I'm glad he has such happy memories because the day after Halloween, Daddy put our pumpkin in the trash, which Isaiah still talks about. "Daddy throw 'way pumpkin."

For Zay's first Halloween I spent hours (and about $30) making a cute little elephant costume for him. He refused to wear it. A few days later I saw some glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas and bought them for him to wear as his costume the next year. But for his second Halloween, he slept right through the ward party and didn't care about trick-or-treating, so he never really knew Halloween happened that year. This year I saw a bunch of animal costumes at Costco for $12.99. Since I still haven't forgiven Zay for not wearing the elephant, I told him to pick one since I wasn't going to make one for him. I thought he'd pick the monkey because he LOVES to watch (and read) Curious George. But he picked the tiger instead. He was much more cooperative this year and even kept is hood up despite the fact that he hates hoods.

And so Eliza got to wear the famous elephant costume. I was pleasantly surprised by how cooperative she was. I pointed it out to Jerel and wondered what was wrong with Isaiah that made him hate it to much. But Jerel pointed out Zay was only 3 months old when he wore it, and Eliza is 11 months old. Okay, okay, so maybe it's a matter of maturity and not actually a character flaw in my then 3-month-old! She was a cute little elephant. We went to the ward Halloween party this year. It started with a trunk-or-treat, which Zay really liked. He wouldn't talk, he'd just walk up to people and hold out his bucket, but I think that's okay when you're two. Some people tried to give me candy for Eliza, but I explained that we have a strict rule at our house--if you don't have any teeth, you don't get any candy! Seriously, when is she gonna get some teeth?! After the trunk-or-treat we went inside where they had some games and a spook alley. It turns out the fog machines were a little overactive, so the fire alarm went off and we all went outside and watched the fire trucks come. It took the firemen about 40 minutes to get everything cleared and figure out how to turn off the alarm, but by that time we'd already given up and gone home to put our little trick-or-treaters to bed. Zay and I did go trick-or-treating again on Halloween night, but he still didn't talk. He'd just knock and hold out his little bucket. Then after they gave him candy, he'd still stand there holding out his little bucket. Not a bad tactic, he got many a second piece as people tried to figure out what to do with the awkwardness! I told him to say "thank you" when he got candy, and at every house I would say "Did you say thank you?" and he would say "Not this time. Maybe next time."

Fall leaves

2011-11-15T06:41:00.000-08:00

The truth is out

2011-11-15T06:35:00.000-08:00

After all these posts about trips to the zoo, football games, pumpkin patches, etc. I thought I should do a post about what life is really like at our house...

A bunch of crazy animals

2011-11-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

And I'm not just talking about the wildlife at the zoo...

Zay's friend Emma has a zoo membership and she's taken us a few times now. This time I had our neighbor friend Esther with me too while her mom was at an appointment. We had two double strollers with 3 two-year-olds plus Eliza, and we didn't even lose any of them while we were there! Esther likes to run away, Zay likes to whine, and Emma hides behind her mom if I try to talk to her, but we all survived. It's fun to see the kids get excited about the animals. And it's funny to watch them copy each other and just generally act silly. We're lucky to have many good friends for Zay to play with--it makes the terrible twos a little less terrible!

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-15T06:26:00.000-08:00

While Jerel and I were at the football game, our awesomest babysitter ever took the kids to the pumpkin patch! Some moms might be annoyed with someone who took their kids for their first pumpkin patch experience, but not me! Pumpkin patches are one of those things I think my kids should experience, but I don't really enjoy doing myself. So now it's all taken care of and I didn't have to get muddy! They even came home with a pumpkin for us to carve!

Isaiah was very excited that his coat matched the pumpkins. For a while afterwards, whenever we asked him which coat he wanted to wear "red one, brown one, or orange one?" he would pick orange because it was the pumpkin coat. Then he would tell us all about how it matched the color of the pumpkins at the pumpkin patch with the chicken lady. The chicken lady? Sometimes Zay forgets the name of the babysitter, but he knows they have chickens at their house, so the house is the chicken house and the baysitter is the chicken lady! We're so grateful to have the chicken lady. She is always willing to watch the kids, in fact she's the one who watched Zay while I was having Eliza. Nap time, crying time, crazy time, she's done them all with my little ones!

BYU Football Game

2011-10-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

So Jerel and I are both BYU grads and decided to head down for the BYU/Oregon State game. It was super fun! We saw a few people from our ward, Jerel saw a few people he knew from when he grew up in Utah, and we got to watch the Cougars win. I wasn't surprised at the win because they've NEVER lost a game I've attended. (This is the second one I've gone to...) We even went to a CougarTown tailgate party beforehand. We left our kids with a friend (an AMAZING friend to watch our kids for ten whole hours! She even took them to a pumpkin patch.) but we saw lots of people there with babies and toddlers. For a minute I felt guilty for leaving my kids at home, but then I remembered how they would've just cried the whole time and then I felt fine.

Our unappreciative little girl...

2011-10-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I put her in the most darling little outfits and she just doesn't seem all that grateful! I made her this little skirt, which I think turned out pretty cute, plus the fabric only cost me $1.98. How thrifty is that?! (Of course when we got to church Jerel asked me if I had purposely made it so short it didn't cover her little bum, or if that was a mistake; perhaps I should've used a bit more fabric).

Eliza is more and more fun every day. She army crawls really well now, can pull herself up on a few things, switched from bottle to sippy cup (except when Daddy feeds her at night), and loves trying table foods. If only some of that love for new foods would rub off on Isaiah "Mac-n-Cheese" Atkinson...

Octomom (for a few hours anyway)

2011-10-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

Some girls in our ward started a "Temple Swap." Every two weeks one or two of us stays home to watch all the kids while the others go to the temple. This time Carolyn and I were on babysitting duty for these EIGHT little cuties! You can see here that snack time was very popular! Carolyn moved in down the street from us this summer and it's been so handy having a good friend so close by--last minute babysitting, a grocery item needed on Sunday, etc. Her girls are 23 months and 3 months so she knows all about 2 under 2 just like me!

Two tiny Atkinsons

2011-09-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Once again when I was taking Eliza's monthly pictures, Isaiah insisted on getting in the action. Lately he loves to show how he's bigger than her. They often have crawling races and Zay gets so excited when he wins (which is every time because Eliza doesn't crawl yet). He also will come running to me in the other room, breathing hard like he barely escaped, "Eliza try to get me, mommy!"

The cool part in this picture is that you can see his front teeth are starting to come back down. Phew!

Oh, and the reason for the post title is that when I mentioned to Zay the other day that his name was Isaiah Atkinson, he was very upset. "Me not at-y-son. Me Zay-a." And again this morning when I called Eliza "Liza Mae" he said "Gaga not Mae. Gaga Gaga." Just wait until he finds out he has FOUR names!

Refashioning

2011-09-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

So I went to a clothing swap a couple weeks ago. It was mostly kids' clothing, but I found this cute cotton shirt for me. I was disappointed when I got it home to see that it has a tear in it, so I couldn't wear it after all.

So I thought back to all those cute websites I see where moms who should be too busy to brush their hair somehow manage to "refashion" old things into new things and I decided to give it a go. And so, with no pattern in hand, I took a stab at turning my torn shirt into a cute little shirt for cute little Eliza.

As you can see, it did in fact turn out to be a pretty cute little shirt. Sadly, it was a little too little for Eliza. I made her tough it out for the evening so I could admire my handiwork, and then sent it along to our littler neighbor Rocky to enjoy. (I am an, well, uh, whatever you call an Indian Giver these days now that I'm sure that term is politically incorrect. I've successfully switched from telling kids to sit "Indian style" to "criss cross" or "cross-legged" but I haven't yet heard the new term for Indian Givers. It seems Native American Givers would be just as bad. Anyway, I am one of those, so I told Carolyn (Rocky's mom) that if I ever have another girl I want to borrow this shirt back when she's tiny so I can admire my work some more).

She's related to her photo-hating father.

Another cute shot of Liza.

Zay wanted to take a photo of me & Eliza, so I let him give it a try. He got one and a half of us at least!

"Grrrr...I-ZAY-uuuuuuhhhh, what are you doing!?!" --Mom

2011-09-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

"Me reading, Mommy." --Isaiah

Our cute girl

2011-09-14T18:01:00.001-07:00

No exciting post here, just a cute picture of our smiley girl!

Holey Bread

2011-09-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

This is for those of you who read my previous post about how my loaves of bread never turn out quite right--I wanted to present photgraphic evidence lest you think I was just being humble (which I rarely am).

The Beach

2011-09-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

While my niece Elise was visiting we convinced Jerel to join us for a day trip to the beach. Here he is heading down to the water with Isaiah and Eliza. When mom's too tired to haul them around, dad always steps in to help them have fun.

Here's Eliza in her cute little sun tent. You don't really need sun protection in rainy Oregon, but it's always windy at the coast and this works great to protect her a bit. She is (usually) so content to sit and watch her brother play.

Isn't he cute? I made him this sunhat last year and sadly for him it still fits. I guess next year I ought to buy (or make) him one that's a bit more boyish.

My oldest niece Elise came and stayed with us for a week. What a handy helper she was with the kids! She even tolerated sharing a room with Eliza, who has a habit of not sleeping through the night. It was fun to have her here!

A few random pictures

2011-09-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

I decided to stop eating sugar for the month of August and that included cutting out as many white flour items as I could. We have some whole wheat flour Jerel's dad ground for us so Zay and I have been making bread about once a week. Zay loves to make his own tiny loaf, which he kneads, shapes, and places in the tiny bread pan. My loaves keep falling and having other problems; Zay's always turn out perfectly!

Isaiah loves loves loves trains, so we took the light rail to the zoo last month. He thought it was pretty fun riding a train--I think mostly because he could stand up rather than be strapped in a carseat.

Here's Zay with a giraffe. Our friend Emma has a family zoo pass that allows one guest to come. Since Zay & Emma & Eliza are all still free, we use the pass for me. Heidi & I are in the primary presidency together so we always have lots to chat about.

I know this isn't a fine example of my limited photography skills, but I really like this picture. It captures one of the first times when Zay & Liza were actually "playing" together. Zay likes to show Liza how to crawl and roll and such. He also tattles on her already "GaGa not listening." As if I don't already know that...He also growls at her if she doesn't cooperate with him, which I am ashamed to admit is something he learned from me. I didn't want to be one of those moms who yells all the time. Instead I'm a growler. Not really any better.

And here's sweet Eliza. She's getting so big lately! I definitely prefer older babies to the newborn stage, so for me she's getting to be more and more fun. She laughs & giggles, is super ticklish, and even likes to cuddle sometimes.

It really was a cute idea

2011-09-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

I take the kids on lots of stroller rides (I have to be careful not to call them "walks" otherwise Zay thinks he gets to walk, which has a serious negative impact on our speed). Anyway, it's summertime so I thought Eliza could use a sunhat. And since she's a girl I thought it should be really ruffly. It was much cuter in my head.

Don't worry, I threw it out, I'm not making her wear it.

Remember back when Zay had teeth?

2011-09-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

I was out in the garage putting some things away, Jerel was at the kitchen table feeding Eliza, and Zay walked up the steps from the garage into the kitchen. Except he tripped and bounced his jaw on the top step. I went and picked him up, then asked Jerel to bring a towel because he was bleeding. Then I noticed he didn't have his two front teeth anymore...Zay was absolutely hysterical, Jerel said words that I'm hoping Zay didn't hear, and once it became apparent that he was in a serious amount of pain we headed for urgent care (it wasn't business hours for his doctor). They said they didn't do head injuries so they sent us on to the ER. Fortunately it wasn't very busy and we got in without too much of a wait. Poor little Zay was trembling and crying, and poor little Jerel had blood all over his shirt. They kindly took us back before they took the guy who came in ahead of us with a bloody hand, which he reported he had cut on a beer bottle...

Did you know they make baby vicodin? Yep, you can just drink it up. Or, like Zay, just vomit all over the nurse when she gives you a tiny bit of it...The doctor explained that he hadn't actually knocked his teeth out like we thought, he had hit so hard that he impacted them, which is a fancy way of saying he jammed them all the way back into his gums so far that you can't see them anymore. Like this:

They sent us home with the vicodin and he took it for about a week. He couldn't eat much, everything was "too crunchy" and now that he's not in pain anymore, he still says everything is too crunchy.

It's been about a month now and his teeth are starting to come back down. We originally took him to our family dentist, who told us they don't do anything unless an infection develops, and then they take them out. So that seemed weird to just wait for an infection to develop rather close to a kid's brain. So we took him to a pediatric dentist who gave us some more accurate information. It turns out if you leave them and they don't come down, they can fuse to the jawbone, which would be messy and would affect his permanent teeth. So now it's a waiting game. If his teeth keep coming down, we're probably okay. If not, they will have to pull them. And even if they do come all the way back down, they could turn purple/red/black/gray at any point. Sounds pretty, huh? Luckily he's the cutest kid on earth so it's not affecting him too much!

Big Boy Chair

2011-09-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

As much as I love love love our Chicco 360 high chairs, Zay got away with sitting in regular chairs at Grandma's house in Utah and when we got back home he wanted nothing to do with the 360. So I did a bunch of research on the best booster seats, and then got so confused that I just went to Target and bought whatever looked good. (And then I was at WalMart later that day and they had it for 50 cents cheaper so I bought it there and then returned the Target one. This probably cost me $8 in gas, but I still feel like I saved 50 cents).

It comes with a tray, but Zay likes to be right up the table since that's what he's used to from the 360, so we didn't bother with that. He loves sitting in his big kid chair now. Oh, and for some reason when I say "smile" he thinks I'm saying "stick out your tongue" so that's what he does.

P.S. If you were wonding about me "love love love"-ing the other high chairs, I get that expression from Isaiah. If something is quite large, he will say it's "big big big." I think it's funny, so rather than teaching him how to use words like "really" or "very" or "extremely" I just let him keep on saying "big big big."

Mandy Plus Eight

2011-09-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

Scout camp came up this summer and we were having a hard time getting enough parents and other volunteers to go help the cubs. I finally told our primary president, "Look, I could go to camp, but I really don't want to. How about volunteering me to babysit children for other moms who are willing to go?" And so she did, which was great because I'd much rather stay and play with the girls than go to camp and play with the boys. It just so happened that I ended up babysitting all of them on the same day. So I had one 8-month-old, four 2-year-olds, one 3, one 5, and one 10. The 10 was a sister of two of the 2's and she was a HUGE help. It was a pretty funny chaotic day of diapers and sippy cups and although by "funny chaotic day" I mean "I almost died it was so crazy" I still stick with my decision to stay home with the girls rather than venture into the unknown (and probably life threatening) world of Cub Camp!

Baby Loaf

2011-09-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

This summer I thought it would be fun to have a weekly field trip for the kids. I would pick somewhere fun to go, invite the stuck-at-home moms I know, and have a day tending children somewhere other than our boring old houses. This trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory was actually the only field trip I planned. So it was more like once per summer rather than once per week. But still, it was fun. A friend & her 3 kids came with us, proving that you can fit 5 car seats in the MDX--3 rear-facing and two forward facing. Then a few other mom/kids groups met us there. Zay loves to watch the cheese being made (well, not really made, more like packaged) and then we stand in line for samples and although we have to limit his cheese intake at home, he refuses to eat it there. Most of the kids enjoyed some Tillamook ice cream, but Zay doesn't like ice cream so I got him a tiny Tillamook van (think Hot Wheels style) instead. Anyway, we had a good time and I definitely should've planned a few more things, but life (namely prepping the house for the market) kept getting in the way.

Kennecott Copper Mine

2011-09-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

While in Utah we visited the Kennecott Copper Mine. It's something cool like the largest copper mine in the world or something like that. Having lived in Utah myself for several years and never hearing about it, I have my doubts as to it's world-class famousness, but since Zay likes rocks & trucks and this place promised both we went up there. It's sort of close to where Jerel grew up in Bingham, Utah. Hmm, that doesn't sound right. I don't think Bingham is where he lived, but I remember seeing a Bigham High yearbook in the garage, so somewhere near there. (Yes, I am a fountain of inaccruate information).

An amazing fact about this place: The trucks that haul the ore are larger than many houses and weigh more than a jumbo jet. They stand over 23 feet tall and can carry from 255 to 360 tons of rock. So some big trucks, hence the big tire here.

And another amazing fact: The mine is 2-3/4 miles across at the top and 3/4 of a mile deep. You could stack two Sears Towers (now known as the Willis Building) on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine. So a big mine, hence the big hole here. We had a fun time. Trudy came, as well as Jake (Jerel's brother) and his boys. Well, and his girl too, but she and Eliza were more just along for the ride. Grandma bought each of the kids a rock in the gift shop which Isaiah loves to carry around. Eliza got one too, but I confiscated it since she's in the oral stage and I'd rather if she didn't choke to death!

Temple Square

2011-08-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

A bit of advertising before I get on to my post...We love love love our Chicco 360 High Chairs! We bought one for Isaiah when he was about 6 months old, and borrowed a second one from my sister for Eliza to use. Here's our smiley Eliza with her cousin Jocelyn attached to the island at Grandma Atkinson's house. The chairs swivel in a full circle so that you can either have the kids facing the table to eat, or facing another direction to watch the action. So fun! Though I do have to note that Zay got lazy about using his high chair in Utah (Grandma has tiny kids' chairs for the kids that are much more fun) that when we got home he refused to go back in it, so now he's in a booster instead.

It seems like if you're LDS, have kids, and visit Utah you are under some kind of religious obligation to visit Temple Square, so we did. This isn't a fabulous picture or anything, but it shows how much Zay loves to follow around after the big kids. Here he is chasing after Isaac and Zachary. There are always plenty of cousins around so the older boys don't mind and are really good about including "baby Isaiah."

This is what Eliza did for just about the entire Temple Square day--just relaxed happily in the back seat of the stroller. She is such a calm, easy-going baby so it's never any trouble at all to take her places. Well, not never, she's had a fit or two at the grocery store, but that's only because it's hard to sleep when you're strapped into a shopping cart. If you feed her, change her diaper occasionally, and provide a semi-flat surface for her to fall asleep on, she's good to go.

We went up in the Church Office Building to see the view. Here's my best shot of Zay gazing at the temple....I know, he's not gazing at all, and not even looking at it, but a good longing gaze at the temple was what I was going for. As it turns out I have a bit of a weird photography philosophy: I would rather have my children enjoy the moment and have memories of the event than have a perfect photo that took so long to pose that all my kids remember is that time when Mom made them stand still and smile for yet another picture. So sometimes I don't get great shots, but I sacrifice them for the sake of my children having great memories and being able to enjoy being where they are. When I was in college I used to scrapbook and I got so into it that after a couple of years I realized I would attend activities not because I enjoyed them but because I could visualize what a great scrapbook page I could make about it. So I (mostly) quit scrapbooking and starting attending activities because I wanted to. I guess I feel a bit that way about photography sometimes--its' easy to get caught up in capturing that perfect moment, but sometimes the capturing becomes the moment and the original experience is lost. I'm not explaining this very well. I asked my photographer friend and former college roommate, Sarah, what she thought and she said "A couple weeks ago I was at the coast watching the sunset and a flock of herons flew over. It was beautiful, what with the lighting and how silent they fly. So beautiful that I put my camera down and just watched. I think it's important to just enjoy some moments and not try to capture them."

Anyway, that is all completely off topic, but it does make a lovely excuse for why my photos aren't that great! I did love how all the kids lined up together at the viewpoint. Zay loved seeing all the tiny cars down below.

The not-any-more-terrible-than-almost-two Twos

2011-08-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

I'm way behind on my blog, so here's my first attempt at updating. We spent our annual summer week in Utah the first week of July. On Independence Day we celebrated Zay's birthday. The whole (Atkinson side of the) family came to Karee & Dave's for dinner, Zay's party, and fireworks. Jerel picked this dinosaur cake for Isaiah. He did better this year and actually attempted to blow out the candles. It was cute though because he wouldn't lean towards the candles, he just sat straight back in his chair and did little puffs of air from there. Afterwards he licked all the frosting off of his cupcake and then asked for more--he gets that from his mom!

I'm enjoying him being two. It was getting annoying at the grocery store when people would ask how old my kids were. I'd have to say "6 months, and almost 2" and that made it obvious that they are practically the same age. Now I can say "8 months and two" and that allows people to think Zay could be almost 3, and thus there is a reasonable age difference between the two of them. Should I stop worrying about this? Yes. Will I? Maybe.

After the cake we went outside to watch fireworks. Isaiah was completely uninterested but luckily found something else to entertain him...Just before leaving for Utah, we put our house up for sale. So for the entire month of June all Isaiah saw me do was clean house for Vickie (our realtor). Anytime I picked something up he'd say "Vickie coming?" and he always wants to help. So he found this broom out on the patio and got back to his usual game of cleaning up. (In the background you can see the normal kids watching fireworks while Zayderella does all the work!)

I asked Zay to make a mad face and this is what I got. He was trying really hard, and he has a really good mad face--his eyebrows go down so far you can hardly see his eyes glaring up at you--but he knew he was being funny so his little smile is creeping in. I love the way his eyebrows are fighting to push his eyes down but his smiling cheeks are fighting to push them up!

And finally, here's our manly-man riding a pink bike. When Isaiah was born, I had wanted a little girl so badly that I think Jerel was genuinely concerned I would put him in dresses and make him play with Barbies. Luckily I don't believe in cross-dressing, and I definitely don't believe in letting children of any gender play with Barbies, so Zay has been able to grow up boyish after all. (Unless you count the fact that after cupcakes, his shirt was so dirty that I grabbed one of his cousin's shirts for him to borrow. He closest-in-size cousin happens to be a girl and when he came out everyone laughed at the ruffled shirt he was wearing. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but in defense of his masculinity I changed him into his boy cousin's t-shirt. I'm happy to report that he doesn't seem to have any long-term damage stemming from this brief episode of cross-dressing. Wait, didn't I just say I don't believe in cross dressing? I don't. But in a pinch you just do what you have to do.) As it turns out Isaiah, of his own free will and choice, happens to like pink. If I let him pick the color of something at a store he frequently picks pink and I say "For Eliza?" "No, me."

Ring Around the Rosie

2011-07-04T07:01:00.001-07:00

Ring Around the Rosie a video by Jerel & Amanda on Flickr.

Here's Zay doing Ring Around the Rosie with cousin Jocie!

Ellie & Eliza

2011-07-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Ellie is one of Eliza's 23 cousins. She's four years old and just about ready to be a mommy--she did a great job holding Eliza and helping to keep her happy! We went to Ryan & Amy's for their son Brigham's 9th birthday party. After the party we watched some fireworks and Zay was even brave enough to try a few of those snap-it things that make a popping sound when you throw them at the ground. He also had lots of fun leading cousins Molly and Jocelyn in Ring Around the Rosie. He just loves having so many kids to play with, so I guess we might just have to have 15 kids of our own...

Another announcement from our growing family

2011-07-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

Thank heavens we're not having another baby, in case that's what you thought! With the addition of Zay Zay and Liza to our family, we just don't seem to fit in our house anymore. I detest moving and told Jerel I only want to do it once, so we are looking for a house that will suit our needs for quite some time. I further explained that I don't want to move since I've finally made some friends in our ward, and that means the sooner we move the better because if we wait longer I'll just be more attached. But the real prompt for moving has come from a lot of research into the education opportunities for our kids. We have a found a school with a learning approach that we really like and the only way to ensure our children can attend it is to move into that school district, and specifically into that school's boundaries. So we are looking for a house in the Bethany area and have put our house on the market just a few days ago. For those of you who wonder why you didn't get a personal notification, well, that's just the way we do it--our big announements are done via this blog.

So if you know of anyone looking for a great house, huge yard, and lots of recent upgrades and remodels send them here and look up ML: 11084679.

Big Projects

2011-07-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

We've been doing lots of big projects around the house lately. Here's Zay Zay next to a huge pile of barkdust that Jerel spread around. It sure looks nice now, but it was a ton of work. Jerel says next time he's going to just pay someone to put it in for us--it costs an extra hundred dollars but saves you 10 hours of work!

Our big baby

2011-07-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've heard that sometimes when you have a new baby, the older siblings will start doing baby things again. Isaiah hasn't really done much of that, but I did think it was funny when he asked to get into the exersaucer recently.

Little sleepyhead

2011-07-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

Eliza was happily playing in the exersaucer, so I ran upstairs to take a quick shower. When I came back down she was sound asleep!

Five Whole Years

2011-07-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

To celebrate our Wooden Anniversary, and to honor Jerel's life long, yet very secret, passion for the Wizard of Oz, we went on a hot air balloon ride. It was so fun! We had to be at the launch site at 5am, and it's about an hour from our house. Luckily I have a friend who was willing to let our kids sleep over at her house the night before and then watch them until we got back. Getting Zay Zay to sleep in a strange place was a bit tricky, but we managed.

So we got up super early and headed to the launch site. Jerel got to help a bit with inflating the balloon and it was cool to watch the whole process.

I was a bit nervous about the flight since I have a bit of a fear of heights, but it wasn't bad at all. I think since the basket was pretty tall I didn't have to worry about falling out. We were in the air for about an hour and saw lots of Oregon's vineyards, and pretty farmland that looks like a quilt when you're up above it. Jerel was laughing at me because I had my camera and kept zooming in on things down below. I guess when you're up high the whole purpose is to see the big view; if you want to see something close up you should just stay on the ground. He had a good point, so I quit zooming!

What have the past five years of marriage been like for us? Let's see...there's been a lot of the mundane things in life--Jerel has taken out the garbage about 250 times; I've done about 900 loads of dishes and more than a thousand loads of laundry. Then there have been the fun, pre-kids trips--England, France, Israel, Italy, Croatia, and Spain. Jerel has spent about 10,000 hours at work; Mandy has had lots of different jobs from working for a book publisher to coaching preschool gymnastics and now doing CPA work from home. In the past few years Jerel and I both lost our last grandfathers, but we've also added 13 more nieces and nephews. (In fact since my little sister had her baby last week, for the first time in our marriage we don't have any pregnant siblings).

Then there was the hardest part of all--giving birth to our two kids in (unplanned) quick succession. They have brought us so much joy. Zay Zay is almost two now and it's so fun to watch him as he talks more and more and has started singing songs. Last night he was leading some of his cousins in Ring Around the Rosie and it was adorable! He likes to keep repeating the "Ashes, Ashes" part so you never know when "we all fall down" is going to come. And sweet Eliza Mae is such a content and happy baby; she smiles spontaneously all the time and although people often tell me what a cute boy she is (she wears a few too many of her brother's hand-me-downs) she's really quite pretty with long dark eyelashes and big blue eyes. Should I write a whole paragraph about the approximately 3,000 diaper changes? I'll save that for another time...

Jerel has been a comfort and support for me countless times. He makes me laugh all the time and has had a calming influence on my life; I, on the other hand, have spent the last five years trying to get him to wear colors other than tan and beige, and I've spent the last four years trying to convince him I'm still just as funny as I used to be! We were both a bit older and a bit independent (read: set in our ways) when we married, but because we have a deep respect and love for each other we are able to respect each other's need for independence while still developing a strong reliance on each other. Our wedding announcement had a little poem in it, "Today I'll take your hand, then offer you my heart. I'll look into your eyes and whisper, soul to soul, 'The love you give has made me whole. You've made me whole.'" I feel more whole, more complete with him in my life now than five years ago when I wrote that poem. He is a blessing in my life and I'm so glad we've spent the last five years together.

A true Oregonian

2011-05-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

After church I sat down to feed Eliza and Zay asked if he could go outside. We have a covered part on our back deck so I let him go out even though it had been raining. He came back inside a minute later and was absolutely soaked. He is so efficient when it comes to getting wet, dirty, etc.

All winter long I've been feeling bad because I only took him puddle jumping once. As it turns out he didn't need me to take him after all, he managed to figure it out on his own. He found where the roof drips the rainwater along the edge of the deck and makes a long (muddy) puddle and splashed around in it while it poured. As a northwesterner myself, I'm proud that when it comes to loving rain he seems to take after me rather than his desert-born daddy!

Binky Trick

2011-05-23T11:42:00.001-07:00

Binky Trick a video by Jerel & Amanda on Flickr.

Zay & Emma at the zo

2011-05-23T10:25:00.001-07:00

It took me forever to get this video to upload. It's Isaiah and his friend Emma at the zoo last month.

"Mommy walk"

2011-05-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

When Zay wants to go outside, he cleverly phrases it as a suggestion for something I might want to do, thus "Mommy walk." He said it a million times the other morning because I'd told him we were going to walk to story time at the library and he was getting impatient to leave. I explained that I still needed to pack the stroller--it's kind of a long walk, so I bring extra bottles & sippy cups, snacks, diapers, toys, etc. So while I was in the kitchen getting snacks ready, Zay took care of packing the stroller...He cleared off a whole shelf of books, shoved in every diaper he could find, and thew in a dozen Hot Wheels cars to top it off. I'm not sure where he thought Eliza was going to sit, but he's sure a funny little helper!

The Park

2011-05-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Zay, Eliza, & I went to the park with my friend Stephenie and her two kids. She has a son Zay's age and an older daughter. Zay played really well with Finley and that was fun to watch. Most of the time he just plays next to other kids rather than with them, but he actually made a few attempts to interact with Fin. He was even brave enough to go down the slide by himself and kept saying "Cooooooo" (cool) when he got to the bottom. He always says it in this really high-pitched voice; it's pretty cute.

Little Laney

2011-05-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

Laney is a friend of Isaiah's. It's handy since I'm also friends with Laney's mom. They live right in our neighborhood and also attend our ward. Zay and Laney attend nursery class together and seem to get along well (that means Laney doesn't get TOO mad when Zay hits her). Laney got to stay with us the other day while her mom was at work. She is so quiet and shy compared to Isaiah and it was fun to watch them interacting. Zay even let Laney wear his warm coat while we went on a walk. He loves having kids to play with and I think Laney enjoyed herself too. We had fun being the backup daycare for the day!

Our little party animal

2011-05-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

That's right, Eliza is a party animal. She is so afraid of missing out on something fun that she even sleeps holding on to her toys. I thought it was cute when I found her like this the other day. She loves to lay there and play with all the toys hanging above her. This time she just got all tuckered out and decided to take a little snooze.

Eliza's Heart: The Saga Continues

2011-04-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

I wanted a post title that would make it sound really dramatic, even though it isn't. So we had our early follow-up appointment with Eliza's cardiologist. (See earlier post for the back story) I was all ready to announce that she only has 5 holes in her heart now (she had 6 before) but then I heard Jerel telling someone she has 3. So now I'm all confused. My version is that she still has one PDA (she had two before) and all four of the VSD's. All of the holes she has are either the same size or smaller, so that's good. We are set for another checkup in 6 more months to see how things are going. The doctor seemed confident things would continue to improve and didn't anticipate any treatment being required.

So it was pretty funny because the reason we had to go in early for a follow-up was that our pediatrician was concerned because Eliza's weight had plateaued and that could indicate that she's having difficulty eating due to her heart problems. Or it could indicate that she has two particularly small parents. We are fully aware of this and realize we're pushing our luck hoping for at least one of our children to break through the 5-foot barrier. Anyway, the doctor was trying to explain that he didn't think her heart was causing any growth issues, and said something like "Well, it could just be that...I mean...well, neither of you are the tallest people in the world..." I just thought it was funny that he was tiptoeing around it, as if we aren't already well aware of the fact that we're short and that normal people don't need a step stool in each room of their house. We're glad she seems to just be shrimpy, rather than being unhealthy. He also commented at one point that babies who are malnourished because of heart problems don't tend to have rolls on their thighs like she does. Maybe he thought we were in there because we were super paranoid? We just went because the pediatrician told us to. But even so, I do wish she'd grow; I'm getting bored of her 3-month size outfits. By the way, this picture is in her current church outfit. It's a dress my mom bought her that reminded her of a dress her little sister used to have.

The False Meaning of Easter

2011-04-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

We all know what the TRUE meaning of Easter is, but on Saturday we went ahead and celebrated the fake meaning of Easter by going to an Easter egg hunt. My friend Tammy hosted one at her home. She has tons of land (well not tons, acres would be a better measuring tool for property) and had different areas for different age groups of kids. Zay had a good time filling up his basket (courtesy of Grandma Greene Jr.) with the plastic eggs. And, as you can see here, he also thought he was supposed to eat the egs. He had such fun that we kept letting him pick up more and more eggs and then when he looked the other way, Jerel would toss them from his basket back into the grass for him to happily find again.

The night before, the muffin fairy visited our house. I had told Tammy I'd bring muffins for the Second Breakfast meal that preceded the Easter egg hunt. Then I got a terrible cold. By Friday evening, I decided I'd just buy a muffin mix and do the easy way. By Friday slightly later in the evening, I decided I'd just buy already made muffins. I told Jerel my plan and he volunteered to go buy a muffin mix for me so all I'd have to do was mix it up in the morning. And then, I put my tooth under my pillow--wait, wrong fairy--And then, I went to sleep while he went to the store. Magically when I got up in the morning, there were fabulous made from scratch muffins all ready to go!

And so, while the TRUE meaning of Easter is the best part of Easter, the second best part of Easter is definitely watching cute kids hunt for eggs that are right out in the open in the "Ages 0-3" field at Tammy's house! (The third best part of Easter comes later tonight when I sample the chocolate in the baskets Grandma Atkinson sent...)

The Zoo

2011-04-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be sunny and less cold so we decided to go to the zoo, It ended up raining, Oh and I should mention that Zay pulled the "period" key off my laptop so I will be using commas instead,

We went with Emma & her mom, The main attraction for the two of them was splashing in this puddle, We are both bad moms so we let them get as wet as they wanted, Isaiah didn't seem particularly interested in the animals; he would look at them when I pointed them out but he was mostly just excited to be outside,

As it turns out, Zay is afraid of elephants, We were looking at them and there was a trainer there who had the elephant put his trunk up and down, Then he had the elephant spray out of his trunk and poor little Zay just trembled and cried until we finally left,

Emma has never been to the Portland Children's Museum, so that is our next adventure, Zay & Emma play really well together (with other kids Zay plays next to them at best, but with Emma he actually interacts) and Emma's mom is willing to watch the two of them while I'm hiding away feeding Eliza, Despite the rain and the discovery of Isaiah's pachydermophobia, it was a fun time!

Eliza Eats!

2011-04-18T09:13:00.001-07:00

As another step in trying to get Eliza to gain a bit more weight, we're trying to give her more solid foods. For those of you who don't have kids, you should know that when people say "solid" foods they really mean "liquid" foods. It's pretty messy. Luckily we had Isaiah there to help by pulling Liza's hands out of her mouth throughout the process.

Pull up a chair

2011-04-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of my sister, Theresa, we now have a second high chair so that Eliza can join us at the dinner table. It's exactly the same as Zay's and he has been very excited to have someone right across the table from him. It's cute how he sits up all tall in it and then her little head barely pokes over the top. I was a little worried when she was born that he'd end up not liking her, but he still does. He's funny though because sometimes he gets annoyed with her. He'll come and tell me "GaGa crying." And I say "Eliza's crying?" and he says "Okay (okay is his word for yes) GaGa crying all night." But he loves to give her kisses and binkies!

Our little mini

2011-04-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are tired of hearing about how small Eliza is, please skip this post. Eliza is so small! She's not really much below average, but since we're used to our big boy Isaiah she seems tiny. Zay loved the Exersaucer. He'd bounce around and have all kinds of fun. So I pulled it out of the shed [realized it was moldy and spent 3 days cleaning it, sorry Theresa, but I promise it's back in as-new condition] and put her in it. Poor little thing--her feet don't even reach the bottom! She likes to sit in it and play with the toys, but I don't leave her in for very long because since her feet can't touch, I worry that the seat will cut off the circulation to her feet, and I have a 14-year-old paranoia about cutting off circulation to babies' feet (my sincere apologies to my niece Elise. I just didn't want those church shoes to keep falling off, so I buckled them as tight as they'd go...) Extra points for anyone who can see what movie is playing in the background. It's Zay's current favorite.

Conference

2011-04-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

We just had conference weekend. It happens twice a year and aside from other more spiritual things, you happen to watch 4 hours of television. Jerel just gives in and falls asleep on the couch, but I at least try to fight it by keeping my hands busy. So I made this cute (?) headband for Eliza. It's nice because it's big open stitches, so when it slides down over her eyes she can still see out through the holes.

I also made this hat, wait, it won't upload the picture. Anyway, I made this purple & yellow beanie for one of my brother's friend's kids in the colors of the school he attends. It's part of my new not-making-any-money venture, http://www.chanceofshowerscrochet.com/ and should be a fun way to waste my time.

Eliza had her four-month checkup last week. She's only in the 18th percentile for weight, which is okay except that she used to be higher. Does that make sense? She's not losing weight, she's just not gaining at a normal pace. Because she has a heart murmur, they are being extra careful (for babies, their only "exercise" is eating, so if they have a hard time exercising that could mean the heart is not keeping up). So we take her in again next week to check her weight. If she hasn't gained then we have to go back to the cardiologist to have him do another ultrasound of her heart. It seems a little tricky to me because if we go back in and she's gained 8 oz. they'll say "Oh, she's gaining weight fabulously!" but really she's had wet diapers that weigh more than that, so it seems to me like there's a lot of room for error here. Jerel suggested just not changing her diaper and giving her a big feeding right before the appointment, so that she'll look like she's gained weight and we won't have to go back to the cardiologist. As another alternative, I was thinking of feeding her as usual and actually getting an accurate picture of the situation...it's still up for debate.

It sure is different having a little baby! Isaiah was into 9 month clothes at this age and sweet Liza is still happily sporting her 3 month outfits! The other day I was behind on laundry and Eliza was ahead on blowouts so I had to pull out some of her 6 month clothes to put on her and she was just drowning. We sure love our little one and hope all will go well with her checkup!

Our outdoorsy boy

2011-04-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

Isaiah loves to be outside. It's not warm enough yet, but I let him out anyway. I sit on the front porch holding Eliza and he wanders around the yard and plays with the rocks on the walkway. He and Eliza have also been joining me on lots of walks lately. He loves it when he sees airplanes fly by. There is also some road construction on our walk and he just stares and stares at all the heavy equipment. The other evening Zay wanted to go on a walk, so I put Eliza in the stroller but he didn't want to get in. He walked and I assumed he'd jump into the stroller after a few minutes, but he walked the whole time. He made it just over a mile, which took over an hour, but when you consider the little guy covers only about 3 inches per stride, that's not such a bad pace!

Big brother

2011-04-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

Every month I take a picture of Eliza on this blanket in the same onesie and with the same doll next to her so that you can see how she's grown. (Check back once she's a year old to see my version of time-lapse photography!) Anyway, this time Zay wanted in on the action. He obediently laid down on the blanket, and after I commented on how big he was, he stretched out even taller. What a couple of cuties we have!

Baby not included

2011-03-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

That's what the box said that our new stroller came in. We finally got it last week. We had selected one, but there was no point in getting it before we got a new car because the stroller wouldn't fit in my old car. So once we got the car, we just waited for the stroller to go on sale (because when Jerel starts researching things, we usually end up with the be$t there is, and since the stroller cost more than some cars I have owned, I insisted on waiting for a sale) and then we ordered it right up. I had tried to go on a walk recently with Isaiah in the single stroller and Liza in the baby bjorn carrier, but then the next day I couldn't stand up straight because my back was so sore.

Here's a picture with the kids in their normal seating arrangement. The back seat has less of a view, so I let Zay have the front because I figure he'd whine more (or at least louder) than Liza if he couldn't see anything. Zay really seems to like it, and Liza seems to really not care much. My favorite feature? The white wall tires. I have always liked white wall tires on cars and seriously wish they'd come back in style (or at least be available to purchase, since I don't require things to be in style in order for me to use them), so I am delighted every time I see these ones.

Here are the cool things: the back seat is removeable so you can use it as a single stroller if you want; it has really big, fully adjustable sun shades, which comes in handy when I go on long walks and the kids fall asleep; the handle is super adjustable so even shorties like me can push it comfortably--some strollers have such a high handle that my arms are way up high, like a little kid pushing a shopping cart; it has a much smoother ride because of the jogging stroller wheels so the kids get jostled less; it is so much easier to push than our old stroller--no more getting stuck everytime I hit a bit of uneven pavement!

Here's a picture with the sunshades up. I love that there is a shade on the back seat too. When I have that up I feel like Liza is pretty well insulated from the elements. Zay hates having his sunshade up, but when it's sprinkling he doesn't have a choice. The side/back of his sunshade also has a pocket on each side which is really handy for my water bottle, keys, iPod, etc.

Here's another way you can arrange the seats, although Zay hates it so much we'll probably never be able to use it. You can put a baby in the main seat (the one Isaiah is in in the previous pictures) and lay the seat flat so the baby can sleep. Then you take the back seat off the back and attach it to the front, sort of on top of the baby. It makes the baby a bit hard to access--you can see Eliza's little foot poking out under Zay's feet--but I guess if the baby was sleeping it would be fine. Mine tends to be screaming and needing her binky popped back in every few seconds, so this arrangement probably won't work well for us at this point.

And here's our old stroller with the new stroller behind it. One of my favorite things about the Phil & Ted's stroller design is that it takes two kids without being that much larger than a single stroller. Many of the double strollers are either super duper wide so that you'd never fit through a doorway, or they have one kid in front of the other and the stroller is so long it feels like you're pushing around a train. With this one since the front kid sits higher and the back kid is sort of underneath a little bit you don't end up feeling like you're at the grocery store with one of those enormous carts made to look like a school bus or something.

And that, my dear friends who actually read this whole post about something as boring as a stroller, is the latest excitement in our lives. I love it so much already. I think I've walked about 15 miles with it so far and it's great! Tomorrow we're getting a rain cover for it so I'll be able to use it even more. The rain cover is for the kids, in case you thought I was worried about my fancy new stroller getting wet, I'm not, I'm worried about my fancy new kids getting wet.

lingering effects of pregnancy

2011-03-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about how I'm still wearing maternity clothes, although that is true...I am still suffering from "pregnancy brain" which is basically when your brain stops working while you're pregnant. It seems to have turned into a chronic condition for me (of course, it sort of seems like pregnancy was becoming a chronic condition for me too...) Anyway, my tired brain mixed up Zay's size 4 huggies with Liza's size 1 huggies, which is why the diaper comes up to her armpits in this picture. In my defense both size diapers are the same color. And I think this mistake is easier to make than accidentally putting a size 1 on Zay!

In other news, now that it's the end of March and I'm definitely not pregnant, I think it's safe to say that 2011 will be known as the year the Atkinson's didn't have a baby... having one in 2009 and 2010 made me scared I was going to turn into one of those ladies who seem to be perpetually pregnant! And as much "fun" as we're having with 2 under 2 we've decided to leave 3 under 3 for braver, more energetic souls.

First skinned knee

2011-03-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a slow news day around here, but I thought I'd let everyone know Isaiah skinned his knee for the first time. He and I were on a walk and we started practicing jumping. He occsionally (accidentally) gets both feet off the ground at once, and this time he didn't land so well. He handled well though, quite a tough little fellow really.

He says some cute things sometimes. He always wants us to go upstairs to play with him because that's where his race tracks are. So he'll pull and pull on you towards the stairs. Then if you say "Do you want to go upstairs?" He says "Oh, okay!" as if it was your idea all along.

He can't say Eliza's name; he calls her "Gaga" instead. Every time he says "Gaga" we say "yes, that's E-li-za" but he hasn't made any progress yet. It's been funny because Jerel and I are both anti-baby-talk, not on any serious moral grounds, but just because it seems silly and annoying. We just call things what they're actually called, unlike my little sister who adds a "y" sound on the end of every word she says to her kids "Clary, come cuddy with mommy and we can coly" which means "Clara, come cuddle with mommy and we can color." At our house you would hear "Isaiah, come sit with mom and we'll color." Yep, we're boring like that. Of course we're not opposed to other people using baby talk with their kids--it gives us something to make fun of :) Anyway, despite all of our efforts to avoid baby talk, Zay says "mommy" and "daddy" and "booky" and a few others that I can't think of. I actually think it's kind of interesting. Maybe there is something to baby talk after all, since he comes up with these on his own, and we never reinforce the incorrect way of saying it, but he sticks with it anyway. I'm sure there's a good infant linguistics book I should read or something. (Oh, and by the way, I don't think "mommy" and "daddy" are incorrect, and I don't mind them at all, it's just interesting to me that although we never refer to each other that way, he's done it on his own.) (Oh, and also by the way, when I was younger I always thought for sure I would only have my children call me "mother." So for those of you who think I'm uptight, I am, but at least I've loosened up a bit.)

My favorite thing he's said lately happened a couple of weeks ago. He and I had gotten up (he gets up between 6 and 7) and were enjoying time reading books together and just having a fun morning. Then I heard Eliza starting to wake up and I thought "Oh man, Isaiah and I were having such a good time together, and now it'll all be interrupted. Ugh." But I didn't say that because I try to not complain about my children to my children. So I had to laugh when Zay said, in a very disappointed tone and with his little brow furrowed, "Oh. Gaga awake." followed by a heavy sigh.

Eliza's blessing dress photos

2011-03-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

I finally got them up...sort of...I accidentally added a bunch of other pictures at the end, so if you start seeing repeats that's my mistake, which I can't figure out right now, so I'm leaving it. Click here to see pictures of Eliza in her blessing dress, in her tutu from Aunt Karee, and pictures of both kids in some hats I've made.

Some pictures

2011-03-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

I finally got the pictures from Eliza's baby blessing festivities. Click here. Next I'll work on loading the picture Erika took (the formal ones, these are just candids from my camera & Karee's)

Eliza's big day

2011-02-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

Eliza was blessed on Sunday. She wore the most gorgeousest dress ever. Oh, funny you should ask, actually I did make it...It is thread crocheted, similar to how doilies are made (real doilies, not fake store-bought ones) and took me about 4 months to complete. Jerel blessed her along with his dad, Dave, Jeff, and our Bishopric. She was wrapped in a white blanket that I bought years ago in Bethlehem (as in where baby Jesus was born). Zay used the same blanket. She was pretty much the darlingest baby ever, and the blessing was beautiful. You can see more pictures here, courtesy of Glimpses by Erika. [NOTE: you actually can't see more pictures yet. I can't find them so once Erika resends them to me I'll post them]

Cousins

2011-02-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

Zay had lots of fun having some cousins visit last weekend--13 of them to be exact--because he always had someone to play with. Somewhere during that time one of them taught Isaiah how to use his race track. We bought it for him for Christmas, but he isn't strong enough to push the button that makes it go. One of them figured out a different way to do it and taught Isaiah, so now he can play with it by himself. Of course he still prefers to have someone playing with him, but he loves that he can make the cars zoom all by himself!

Twins (born 8 years apart)

2011-02-25T08:44:00.000-08:00

Zay only has one church outfit right now so he wears it every week. Then my nephew Mason showed up and his sweater was almost identical to Zay's! I was so excited by the cute darlingness of it. Jerel decided we needed to change Isaiah's outfit immediately because matching is dorky. One of these days Jerel and I will agree on something...

Please leave a comment to vote for whether this is the cutest thing ever, or dorky.

Grandma Sunny

2011-02-25T08:36:00.000-08:00

My paternal grandmother came down for Eliza's blessing. We chose Eliza's middle name--Mae--after her. She moved up to Bremerton (WA, where the rest of my family lives) last year so now we get to see her more often. My great-aunt is moving up there next month and once they're all settled in, Grandma has invited me to stay the night with her. What kind of crazy 80-something-year-old invites two crying babies to stay the night? Grandma said she figures she'll probably get kicked out of her old people housing since they're not so kid-friendly, but she doesn't seem to care. I think when you've lived that long you can sort of do whatever you want!

Grandma is an old pro at hosting big dinners so she jumped right in and helped with the prep. We had homemade enchiladas (including homemade enchilada sauce) and tacos. We tried to get Dave to serve himself before everyone else. See, when I was pregnant with Eliza and Jerel and I were already arguing over names, Dave suggested the name Eliza. Neither of us hated it, so Dave said if we ended up using "his" name then he wanted to be first in line for food at the blessing. But when it came down to it, he let all the kids eat first, so I guess we still owe him a dinner for saving our marriage (naming Isaiah was near disastrous for us).

Family Photo

2011-02-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

Here we are on the morning of Eliza's baby blessing. This is the first (and only, so far) picture of the whole family.

Altitude sensitivity

2011-02-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

Some people get sick at extreme altitudes. Eliza is sensitive down to a few inches...if you're not standing up with her, she's crying. So you stand, bounce, and she finally falls asleep. You carefully sit down without moving any muscles that are touching her so that she won't know you sat down, but she somehow knows you're comfortable and instantly wakes up screaming. Well my sister in law Ivy was holding her sitting down and it didn't make any sense for her to not be screaming. Then I realized it's because Ivy is 6 feet tall (a whole foot taller than me) so basically when Ivy's sitting down holding Eliza, Eliza is at the same height as when I'm holding her standing up...

Ivy came down with her three boys (Mason & Asher here, and Cooper who was upstairs playing) and she brought my grandma down too. It was fun to see them! The boys are getting so old--9 and 11--but I still remember them as the little preschoolers who stayed the night with me and fell asleep with silly putty in their hands...and it had been such a pretty blanket...

Mr. Popular

2011-02-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

You know those people who make friends everywhere they go? I've heard of them, but never been one myself, probably because I generally find it annoying when people talk to me...Anyway, Theresa, my mom, and two of Theresa's kids came to visit last week and we went to Out of This World Pizza to get some energy out. (The kids' energy, we were already out). There is this huge play structure and Zay likes to climb up it and then go down the slide. But he's about 2 feet too short to do it on his own, which means mom has to haul him all the way up and then slide down with him. Repeat 27 times.

So we were playing and this little boy, probably 8 years old or so (seen at right in blue shirt) came up and was talking to him. Then he started following us, in a friendly non-creepy sort of way. The HE started hauling Zay up the play structure and sliding down with him. After a few times I let them go without me. Then the boys' friends came over and told him they were going to play somewhere else and he said to them "Oh, I can't come. I'm with Isaiah." So all his friends stayed and they ALL hauled Zay up the play structure and down the slide. The slide had three humps and they would even make sure they stopped just before the last hump and let Zay do that one alone, which he absolutely loved, and which had absolutely never occured to his boring mom. Zay tends to like playing with kids, especially older ones, and mom tends to like it when other people do the hauling of the children, so it worked out great. Later on the boys had gone to do something else and then they kept coming over to me to find out where Isaiah was so they could play with him again. So thank you, mom of stranger boy, for raising such a nice son who helped my son have a fun day!

Farewell, Lil Red

2011-02-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

When Jerel and I got married, I was driving The Squeezebox--a Honda Accord that I loved. But the frame was bent in a car accident and we had to get rid of it. Since we knew we weren't going to do anything crazy like have kids, we decided to just get me a small car. A tiny car, in fact. A two-door, no back-seat access for installing car seats or for installing children into aforementioned car seats, and no trunk space for groceries, strollers, and diaper bags for the children installed in the car seats. In fact, no trunk at all. All I can say is it seemed like a good idea at the time.

My favorite part when we got her was that the hood of the car is so teeny tiny. I was telling Jerel's mom about it and she said it was like Little Red Riding Hood, since my car is red and has a little hood, and thus the official naming of the car was completed.

4 and a half years (and 2 babies) later it's time for something bigger. It didn't seem too urgent until I was quite pregnant with Eliza and suddenly didn't have the energy, or the requisite narrow waistline, for climbing into the back to buckle Isaiah into his (still rear-facing) car seat. And so that task fell to Jerel. After Eliza was born, I couldn't put her car seat into the car for a couple of weeks because of the c-section, so again that task fell to Jerel. And suddenly a 2-door car was definitely too small! And although the "make it do or do without" pioneer woman inside me would like to think that I could have managed with 8 kids and a couple of oxen to get us & Lil Red around, it's probably not true. Just this once Jerel might've been right, and we might really have needed a new car...

So Tuesday was the big day. Our car-buying-helper-guy drove up in the new Acura MDX (new to us, not new new) and drove away in Lil Red. I'm surprisingly a bit sad to see her go. I mean we drove both kids home from the hospital in that car, and now someone else will be using her for boring, non-sentimental, plain old commuting. I told our car-buying-helper-guy to please let the new owners know that her name is Lil Red and to please take good care of her.

Time for an intervention

2011-02-19T21:31:00.000-08:00

Someone in our house has a serious addiction, and I'm not talking about me & my stash of Halloween chocolate out in the garage...

Zay is only supposed to have binkies when it's naptime or bedtime, but sometimes he's not very cooperative. He has a Mo-Mo for nighttime. You can see the silly product here. We got it because when he was little (you know, back when he was just a baby, not a big grown up kid like he is now) he would go to bed with 5 binkies in his crib and by halfway through the night he'd have lost them all through the crib slats. So this "binkie blanket" as we call it attaches right to the binky and keeps it from falling out of the crib. I realize we are pretty much attaching a blanket to his face, and I also realize that "blanket" is just another word for "suffocation hazard" when it comes to babies, but he doesn't seem to have been harmed by it yet.

Anyway, the other morning I changed his diaper and was getting him dressed and he refused to let go of the binky blanket long enough for me to pop it out, put his shirt on, then pop it back in. So he kept the binky in and had the little blanket stuffed underneath his shirt for a good hour that morning. I am already picturing putting him on the schoolbus as a kindergartener, making sure he has his backpack, his shoes are tied, and his binky blanket is tucked in...

Life in the short lane

2011-02-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

Can you tell we need a bigger car? I snapped this after my most recent grocery shopping trip. If you look carefully you can see Isaiah's head peeking out on the right, and the top of Eliza's car seat on the left. It's a tight squeeze. In fact as I was loading up the car, this lady stopped (to pick up the sippy cup Isaiah had thrown on the ground) and said "Oh sweety--you need a bigger car!" Yep. I need a bigger car. My little Yaris has been great, but it seems to be shrinking. In between the two carseats in the back is about 4" of space, definitely not enough for a 3rd person to sit back there, but luckily enough space that it keeps Isaiah from reaching (and assaulting) Eliza while we're driving. And then there is the issue of how the carseats take up so much room that neither of the front seats can be pushed back, so you have to drive hugging the steering wheel (more on that later). So in case of a crash, Jerel and I would both die instantly from being too close to the airbags, but our babies would be fine thanks to their car-seat paranoid mother! I think the headline would read "Orphans saved by martyr mother" or something like that...

So we are looking for a new car. Something with room for kids AND groceries. Or kids AND a stroller. Or, dream of all dreams, kids AND grocerise AND a stroller! Jerel and I aren't ready to bite the mini-van bullet so we've been looking at crossovers. First we wanted a Nissan Murano, but it's only a 5-seater. Jerel panicked when I told him we need at least a 7-seater--I think he thought I was secretly pregnant with triplets--but it's just because a bench that seats 3 doesn't really seat 3 when the 3 are in enormous carseats, and I plan to leave my children in enormous carseats for as long as possible. So if we got a 5-seater then when we (someday far distant) have our 3rd (and last) kid we'd have to get a new car again. So a 7-seater it is.

Jerel wanted an Acura MDX and I wanted a Mazda CX-9. Fortunately I had the brilliant (and apparently radical, it took some convincing to get Jerel to agree to it) idea that we should test drive some and then decide, rather than deciding and then being stuck with something we hate for the next 10 years. I hate test driving because I hate driving. I've only driven maybe twice with Jerel as a passenger, and we both feel good about that as we share a mutual dislike for my driving (I also dislike his driving, but that is more one-sided). Test driving is worse because you have a stranger in the car.

The sad part is that cars don't come in petite. Normal people don't worry about being able to reach the pedals (without being so far forward that the airbag is about to kill you) or see the speedometer through the steering wheel or being able to read the back liftgate to close it. Sadly I'm not normal people. Every car we drove, Jerel would laugh as I held down the "slide seat forward" button for a good 20 minutes until I could reach the pedals. Then he would insist I was too close to the steering wheel, as evidenced by the fact that my knees were touching the underneath of the dashboard. So I would slide it back until he said it was good and then point out that I couldn't reach the pedals. The best was in the acura I moved the seat forward until I could comfortably reach the pedals, and then when I went to fold down the sun visor, it hit my head. Okay, maybe a little too close. In my defense I am used to driving a stick shift and you have to be able to reach farther to get the clutch in...It was also funny when we drove the Toyota Highlander. It has this cool mirror up near the rearview mirror that shows you a view of the backseat (so you can see the kids). I thought this was awesome and was ready to buy the Highlander just for that feature until I drove it and once I had my seat up far enough, I was basically right next to the mirror so I couldn't see anything in it at all...Yep, wo is me, cars don't come in petite *heavy sigh*

After the test drives, the only one we drove where I could see out of the car was the acura so that's what we're going with. Now we're just waiting for the right one to come along and then it will be goodbye for Little Red (the Yaris).

By the way, I am completely aware that this post is entirely too long and rather uninteresting, but it's the most exciting thing happening these days. When you have two tiny kids in enormous carseats, the prospects of a car that fits everything is thrilling!

Future model, for sure!

2011-02-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

Here's our cute boy modeling a hat I made this morning. I make hats for my friend Erika to use as props for newborn/baby/children photography and she's been encouraging me to set up a shop on Etsy to sell them because she's had people ask where they can get them. The problem is that tax season is upon me, and so are Eliza & Isaiah, so I think the hat shop will have to wait until April. In the mean time I'm making some here and there so I'll have a few to sell when I do get it all set up.

And just in case you thought Isaiah might not be Jerel's kid after all, what with all this cooperation with photo taking, here's a picture that will ease your mind. It's very Jerel-esque...

The latest stats

2011-02-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

Mom had a really fun day on Friday taking both kids for their checkups (Zay's 18-month and Eliza's 2-month). I figured it would be rough, but what I hadn't counted on was Zay remembering getting shots. As soon as the nurse came in (it's the same one every time) he started screaming. It was pretty much a disaster. He wouldn't sit down on the scale to get weighed, he just stood there in his nakedness crying and doing the sign for "all done." Then I diapered him and she and I held him down for measurements, which apparently in Isaiah's head are fatal. I put him down and he continued to cry all through Eliza's measurements, but luckily she didn't cry too!

After the nurse left (she comes back at the end to do shots) I sat down to nurse Eliza. Zay took this as an invitation to empty the contents of my purse throughout the room. After that he took the doctor's chair (on wheels) and pushed that around for a while. Then the doctor came in. Wait. Then the doctor TRIED to come in...Zay had left the chair behind the door, wedged between the door & Eliza's car seat, which were both pushed against the wall. So I hollered at her to just push harder and eventually she made it in and there we were, both kids in just diaper, credit cards & chapsticks all over the floor, and instead of a panicked look on my face she saw just my normal "I've given up" look. Fortunately she's nice.

Anyway, after Eliza ate half a feeding I had to hold Isaiah down for his exam. He refused to go on the exam table even with me up there with him, so instead she did his exam on my lap. He wanted nothing to do with any of it. She went as quick as she could while we chatted about how he won't eat anything that looks like a fruit or vegetable but is always eager to eat dirt.

Next was Eliza's turn and she did fine. When I came home Jerel asked what the doctor had said about the holes in her heart and if she still heard the murmur that was there before. Ooops. Forgot to ask about that...how do you forget to ask about holes in your own kid's heart? I don't know. Try taking two screamers to the doctor and see how on top of things you feel...(did I mention between them they had FIVE stinky diapers at the appointment alone! I was barely keeping up!) Eliza hasn't gained as much weight as they'd like, but she doing okay. Actually she said from her birthweight her weight gain isn't good, but since she lost quite a bit right after birth, her weight gain from that point is good. She's 9lbs 14 oz (Zay was that much at his two WEEK appointment and over 12 pounds by 2 months, so we're still adjusting to having a small one. She's around 25th percentile for all her measurements.)

Anyway, they are both healthy and (now that we're not there anymore) happy. Both got shots and both screamed. I promised Zay a treat for getting shots so we went to Krispy Kreme on the way home. He ate like 1/4 of one sprinkle from his donut. Luckily he's done with shots until he's 4 (except for flu shots).

Jerel is very worried because Isaiah is so short. He reported recently that Isaiah is the shortest kid in the whole nursery class. The whole class of like 5 kids, among whom Isaiah is absolutely the youngest...Zay is still in the 65th percentile for height, so I'm not worried, but Jerel thinks back on the glory days when Zay was in the 93rd percentile and gets sad about the 65th. Plus I think he extrapolates the downward trend and forsees the 1st percentile fast approaching. Paranoid? Yes. But it's kind of endearing.

Eliza Boulevard

2011-01-26T13:38:00.000-08:00

That's what we should call her, because Isaiah thinks she is a little road for him--see how he's driving his car on her tummy? He loves doing that. Sometimes he tries to get her to hold onto the cars but she's not very good at that yet. He loves to try to give her hugs too. He doesn't usually put his arms around her, he just smooshes his head on her and says "awwwwww." Sometimes he gets a little aggressive and she reacts like this (which has no impact whatsoever on Zay's actions):

Almost thou persuadest me to smile.

2011-01-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

That's what Eliza's been saying to us lately. She's getting really close to smiling, but it's not quite there. She has two tiny little dimples and I'm looking forward to seeing them when she smiles rather than just when she cries!

She seems to have grown a bit the last week. She's starting to fill out some of her 3 month size clothes (yes, she's wearing Zay's dinosaur pj's), is holding her head up better, and paying a little more attention to things. She's also slept through the night the last three nights. Uh-oh. You know what that means...now I think she should sleep through the night EVERY night so if she wakes up it will be even MORE annoying than it used to be! But it has been nice to sleep all night a few times in a row now--we may end up keeping her after all!

Most beautiful picture ever...

2011-01-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

My apologies to those of you who were hoping for more pictures from my photographer friend. But to anyone out there who's dealt with having 2 kids under 2 years old, you can see the natural beauty of this photo. It was a super long day and Zay refused to take a nap (which he usually does around 11). Around 3pm I suggested he "rest his head" on the couch and within seconds he was asleep--the nap was brought back! As if that wasn't miraculous enough, Liza Lou (just testing out new nicknames to see how they feel) fell asleep too. Hooray! I used this rare opportunity to do something really worthwhile (put away laundry (and if you've ever tried to put away laundry with a crying newborn in one arm and an 18-month-old "helper" dragging along the other arm, you know what a vacation this seemed like!)).

Have a seat...

2011-01-26T13:20:00.000-08:00

I told Zay I was going to have Eliza sit down (meaning in her bouncy chair) but he had other ideas. He dragged the bumbo over and even though she's still a bit floppy-headed for it we gave it a try. Zay gets really excited when she does new things and we cheer for her. I can tell he's looking forward to her being able to play with him. How do I know this? If I'm in the other room and she gets fussy for a few minutes, when I come back in Zay will have put her binky, a book, and some toy cars on her stomach for her to play with. She's not very appreciative yet, but soon enough.

Girls are weird

2011-01-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

So I've been trying to do my duty as a mother of a little girl and put these silly headbands and bows and ribbons and flowers and other such nonsense on her head all the time. But I must not know how to use them because they're always falling off. I put her down for a nap with the headband securely resting in its proper location on her forehead and when I went to check on her this is what it looked like. It reminded me of Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation because he wore that weird visor thing over his eyes which I always thought (in my 1980's childhood) looked like a banana clip. {Please note that although I remembered "that banana clip guy from Star Trek" I didn't really know the name of the character. In the interest of making my blog a bit more sensical to those of my readers who might not know right off who "that banana clip guy from Star Trek" is I decided to do a little research and actually find out his name. You're welcome. Also please note that the only similarity between Eliza and LaForge seems to be that they both wear hair accessories over their eyes. Eliza is not actually blind, helmsman of the USS Enterprise, or black.}

Which is worse

2011-01-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to decide if it's worse when they both cry at the same time, or when they take turns. And is it worse to change two stinky diapers right in a row or to have a break in between. And what about eating, and naps. I used to think the goal was to have them on the same schedule, but now I'm thinking that may not be such a great idea after all!

I bought these coordinating, adorable rompers for the kids for Christmas. Jerel was horrified. You might have a hard time picturing mild-expressioned Jerel horrified. It looks like regular Jerel but with a slight rolling of the eyes. Apparently some people (Jerel) think Isaiah is too mature to wear rompers, and much too old to wear baby blue. Silly me, what was I thinking?! Anyway, I assured Jerel this would be the first and last time they'd match so much because I had to buy Isaiah the biggest size (18-24 month) so once he grew out of it the fun would be over. As it turns out the romper was too small for him already so I had to take it back, but not before snapping a few shots of my matching, adorable, unhappy babies!

A long winter

2011-01-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Poor Zay LOVES to be outside but it's just too cold out there! So he spends most of his time looking out the front window. I rearranged the furniture a bit so that he can get right up to the window. And I sacrificed my aerobics step so that he can use it as his window seat (truth be told, not much of a sacrifice). Anyway, he loves to stand there and watch the birds or dogs or kids playing basketball. He gets really excited for delivery trucks. And the best part of his whole week is garbage day. We live on a dead end street so he gets to see each truck go by twice and he watches all the way until they disappear around the corner. If I hear the garbage truck coming and he's in the other room I run and get him so he won't miss it. After they leave he stand there and points out the window and says "gone. gone. gone."

He's starting to talk a little bit. He says ball, up, bink, no, broke, and a few others I can't think of right now. It's a bit tricky because he says "no" for both yes and no. And lately he gets to say "broke" a lot because everything in our house is breaking. Last Thursday we woke up to a broken furnace. Dead dead, not repairable. Jerel got the gas fireplace lit, then went to leave for work and his car wouldn't start. He took mine and Zay and I sat down to watch a movie and the DVD player wasn't working. Ugh! Anyway, the car and DVD player are working again and yesterday we got the new furnace installed. While they were here installing it, the dishwasher died. Seriously. So Isaiah thinks everything is broken, and he's usually right. Although now that we have a furnace and have turned off the fireplace, he points at the fireplace all the time and says "broke. broke. broke." So I guess we'll go dishwasher shopping this week....when we remodeled our kitchen last summer we wanted to replace the stove, dishwasher, and fridge with stainless steel appliances but that put us way over budget so we didn't do it. Since then the stove has died and now the dishwasher...I'm sure the fridge will go next *heavy sigh* and they're all only 5 years old! Pretty soon Jerel's going to start thinking I'm breaking them on purpose just so I can get the stainless steel!

Vanity Sizing

2011-01-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

Have you heard of it? It's when brands label their clothing with smaller sizes so that women will want to buy it because they'll feel better about themselves wearing a smaller size. I'm not making this up, they really do it. And it really works--I've avoided buying things when a bigger size would've been perfect just because I don't want to wear that bigger size. If the tag had said something else I would've bought it.

Now I know girls feel the pressure to be tiny earlier and earlier these days, but I was surprised to find out that vanity sizing has apparently hit the newborn market. This picture shows Eliza, laying next to a pair of tights I bought for her. The tights are labeled "0-9 months." They are as long as her whole body! If Jere weren't so against me dressing Isaiah as a girl, I could've put them on HIM for a much better photo. I mean, really, they would maybe even be a bit big on Zay and he wears size 18 month.

Anyway, I don't really think this is vanity sizing unless there are 18-month-old girls out there who feel better about themselves because they can squeeze into a size 0-9 month...I just feel the need to point out the ridiculousness of these tights and to explain why my daughter will go to church with bare legs every Sunday until she finally grows into the smallest size tights I could find...

More Christmas pictures

2010-12-27T08:14:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from Christmas morning.

2010-12-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

Zay's favorite chair

2010-12-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

This is Isaiah's favorite place to sit. He thinks it was built just for him. He also thinks he should take everything out and spread it all over the kitchen. Luckily he can't open the door by himself yet. I'm getting pretty good at getting things from the fridge super fast so that he doesn't have a chance to get in, but one misstep and this is what you end up with!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-27T07:58:00.000-08:00

Jerel and Isaiah made cookies on Christmas Eve. Well, actually I made the cookie dough, rolled it, and cut it and then Jerel baked & frosted (the easy part). Jerel had great fun watching me try to let Zay help cut out the cookies. It didn't really work. Zay just grabbed hunks of dough and poked his fingers through the shapes and such. Jerel thought it was funny not because of what Zay was doing, but because my frustration made it apparent I had expected it to work out much better. Oh well. Once we got to the frosting & eating part, Zay knew just what to do!

Because we just had a baby we called off all of our Thanksgiving and Christmas travel plans and spent this one with just the four of us. It was definitely quieter than usual--My extended family has 22 people (11 kids) and Jerel's has 25 people (15 kids) so we're used to pretty noisy holidays!

Our tender-hearted baby girl

2010-12-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

At her first doctor appointment at 5 days our pediatrician noticed a heart murmur. She scheduled another appointment for a week later to see if the murmur was still there or if it had resolved on its own. Apparently it's common for babies to have them and then they just go away. But hers was still there so she had us meet with a pediatric cardiologist for an ultrasound. The appointment was on Friday so we sent Isaiah over to his favorite babysitter (his only babysitter) and headed to the hospital for her appointment.

The cardiologist said it sounded like a hole in her heart and then took us in for the ultrasound where he found she has six holes in her heart. Two of them are "patent ductus arteriosus" which are arteries left over from the fetal stage. All babies have them but in most babies they close on their own by two weeks of age. Eliza's are still open and these two (of the six) seemed to be the most concerning to the cardiologist. Even so, it doesn't seem to be anything too serious. He said only about 1/3 of these ever require treatment (surgery) and he felt confident hers would resolve on their own.

The other four holes are called "ventricular septal defect" which is a hole in the wall between the heart's two pumping chambers. These ones he said are relatively common and generally resolve on their own in the first 2 or 3 years of life; if they don't then they have to do open-heart surgery.

Luckily for us none of her holes seem to be very serious. The cardiologist wants us to come back in six months to make sure the two PDA type defects have resolved on their own. But other than that there seems to be nothing to worry about.

Best big brother

2010-12-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

Isaiah is such a good big brother. He's always so interested in Eliza and what she is doing. Whenever I put her in the changing table for a diaper change and/or clothing change, he drags in a chair from the kitchen so that he can watch. He spends most of the time trying to force her binky in her mouth and seems completely bewildered when she doesn't want it...he loves his so much that I think he just can't comprehend anyone refusing one. In fact, sometimes when she cries he even takes his out of his mouth and tries to give it to her. His is huge, of course, and would choke her, but it's nice of him to be willing to sacrifice for her!

Zay also likes to copy whatever Eliza is doing. If she is sucking on two fingers, he will take out his binky and suck on his fingers instead. And the other day he was drinking his sippy cup of milk while I was nursing her. He put his cup down and was sort of swatting at his back. I couldn't figure out what he was doing or if something was stuck on his back or something. Then he made this funny noise and smiled and I realized he was pretending to burp himself, including making fake burping sounds.

Anyway, here his is helping me get her ready for church. He even watches her while I run around getting the things I forgot to get for her (I think there may be some eye-poking going on while I'm not watching, but I figure it's good for their bonding). Then when we're done he throws away her diaper and puts her dirty clothes on top of the dryer for me (well, he can't quite reach, but he walks them to the dryer and reaches them as high as he can). He's a great brother and I'm happy he loves her so much already.

Cutie pie

2010-12-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

This is how Eliza was sleeping this morning, all curled up. It only she'd sleep so soundly at night...but she's getting better about that. The first week or so was horrible. You may think I'm exaggerating, but it was bad enough that Jerel agreed to the use of a bassinet, which is strictly against his personal belief system. Fortunately a friend let me borrow one and that has helped. She still eats twice a night, but once she drops the night feedings we'll put her back in her own room so that Jerel and I can get some sleep.

First bath

2010-12-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

In a desperate attempt to tire her out and get her to sleep, we gave Eliza her first real bath. Isaiah was already asleep and it was risky to try it since the bathroom is right by his bedroom, but tired parents are willing to take risks. We were both dreading it, remembering Isaiah's first bath and how he screamed and hollered. But Eliza barely made a peep! She only wimpered when I rinsed her face; the rest of the time she just relaxed like it was just another day at the Atkinson Spa.

It's kind of sad how she's only #2 and the first-time baby things are already so much less exciting. We gave her a bath and I was like "Huh, I guess we should take a picture, I think you're supposed to put one in the baby book or something." But hey, at least we have a baby book for her, I have lots of friends who quickly gave up on those. Of course hers is still blank waiting to be written in, but one of these days I'll get to it....

Eliza's church debut

2010-12-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

Eight days after her arrival, little Eliza was ready to make her grand appearance at church. I had such a smooth recovery this time that it seemed silly to stay home from church when I felt so good. Don't get me wrong, I still couldn't quite stand up straight and I was partaking freely of pain pills, but compared to last time this was a breeze.

I told everyone I know not to buy any newborn size clothes for us. Isaiah was never little enough for them. Eliza came out just 4 ounces shy of Isaiah's birth weight, but she has shrunk a bit since then and has been happily wearing newborn size clothes for 3 weeks now. Fortunately at my baby shower a friend gave me a bag of newborn clothing her daughter had grown out of so that has come in handy.

So we had a dress for her to wear and the only other requirement for taking little girls to church seems to be that they have a headband with a huge flower on it. The preference seems to be for flowers that are at least as large as the baby's head. I don't think this one quite meets that standard, but it was as enormous as I was willing to go.

She did great at church and slept most of the time. We kept her in her carseat and Isaiah spent a lot of sacrament meeting standing next to it alternating between staring at her and rocking her...he's a pretty aggresive rocker so she may end up with whiplash, but it's cute to see him try to take care of her.

Isaiah & Daddy

2010-12-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

Isaiah definitely looks like his daddy! (Dad on left, Zay on right)

Babies

2010-12-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

Everyone asks who Eliza looks like and I don't really know. So top left is me as a baby, top right is Jerel, bottom left is Eliza, and bottom right is Isaiah.

More pictures of Eliza

2010-12-02T17:04:00.000-08:00

You can see more pictures of Eliza here

The play by play

2010-12-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

This post is for those of you who like to hear every last detail of the birth process. Okay, not every last detail, I prefer to keep it PG for sure, but a more extended version than Jerel would provide (so longer than 5 words at least).

The c-section was scheduled for Monday Nov. 29th. We didn't want her born on a day that could end up being Thanksgiving. I was shooting for BEFORE the thanksgiving days, the doctor chose a day AFTER. Eliza chose her own day. I woke up Saturday morning and thought "Maybe I'll have Cheerios for breakfast...oh wait, there is leftover apple pie, I will definitely have that." So I got up at 6am to have my pie for breakfast and wasn't even down the stairs before I realized something was wrong--my water broke. My first thought was "Huh, I wonder if this means I'm having the baby today." Followed immediately by "Ugh. You can't eat before surgery, that means no apple pie for breakfast." Definitely the biggest disappointment of the day.

So I took a shower to clean up, then tapped Jerel on the shoulder and said "Um, I think my water broke." He responded "Really?" Me "Yep. I"m not really sure what that means." Him "Aren't we supposed to go to the hospital or something?" Me "I dunno. I guess I should at least call the doctor." Now, before you conclude that I am completely an idiot, keep in mind that I was induced with Isaiah so I never had the normal labor/birth process. Also I had no had any contractions, so it didn't seem like delivery was imminent. Anyway, so the on-call doctor called me right back and asked if my water had broken, yes, then she said I should come to the hospital. Me: "Like right now?" Her "What were you expecting me to say?" Me (thinking great, now she thinks I'm an idiot) "Um, well, I just meant do I have time to drop off my son with a sitter or do we need to come immediately?" Her "You have time, be here in 45 minutes." So I told Jerel he had to get up, then called Tammy (our super babysitter) because I thought it had probably been awhile since anyone woke her up at 6am on a Saturday and told her Isaiah would be spending the morning with her. This is when I started thinking it might have been a good idea to pack my bags early. But remember I thought I had until Monday...so I threw a few things into a backpack and off we went. Dropped off Isaiah and got to the hospital around 7:15.

First things first--they check to see if my water really broke. I crossed my fingers because there was always the possibility that I just wet myself and that would be embarassing now that I'm past kindergarten. So the doctor comes in (the one who already thought I was a big dummy) and I proved her wrong by actually having ruptured membranes, so there! I felt much better because now she probably just thought I was moderately stupid instead of all the way stupid. Anyway, so since it was a weekend they had to call people in to assist with the surgery, so we had about an hour to wait.

A scheduled c-section was so different from my emergency one with Isaiah. This time they actually explained everything that was going to happen. The downside was there was more time to freak out and notice things. For example I don't remember the epidural hurting at all with Isaiah, but this time it hurt a lot (and this time was a spinal which is a smaller needle). Also with Isaiah I don't remember all the tugging during the surgery but this time it felt like they were pulling me all over the place. At one point I even asked the doctor why she was sitting on my stomach. And I made the anesthetist laugh because he put something on my arm and said it was a heart monitor. Well I didn't want him to go around embarassing himself so I tried to discreetly let him know that the heart is not in the arm after all, it's in the chest. It wasn't really even funny, but I felt since I'd dragged them all out of bed I should at least entertain them a bit. It wasn't all one-sided though...when the doctor was stapling me shut it sounded gross because it sounded just like a stapler. I didn't like hearing it knowing it was going into my skin so I asked if she could sing some kind of ditty while she worked. She and the assistant surgeon never could settle on a song, but it was nice of her to consider it.

Anyway, the operation started at 8:56 (which I remember because 56 is my favorite number) and Eliza Mae arrived at 9:18 (by "arrived" I mean "was forcibly yanked out of me). The doctors were all talking about how huge she was so I was picturing a 15 pound monster baby, but when I saw her she looked normal size to me. Turns out she was 8 pounds 4 ounces, so 4 ounces smaller than Isaiah. And since I'm used to children being Isaiah's size she seems tiny to me. But everytime I mentioned to a nurse how small she is, they looked at me like I was crazy. Jerel reported that she is already overweight because she's only 19 inches long (Zay was 21) and when I rolled my eyes he defended himself by saying the nurse had said she seeemed a bit short for her weight. Good, I'm glad we're all paranoid about her weight already...But really I think she's perfect.

So after she came, Jerel left with her and they finished stitching and stapling me. It was so much more relaxed this time. I even remember the radio in the O.R. was playing Lyle Lovett's "She's no lady." I also remember wishing it was playing something else because that's a dumb song to play while a baby's being born.

The doctor said it was a good idea I had a repeat c-section (which I did because if it's been less than 18 months since your previous c-section you have an increased risk of uterine rupture, which doesn't sound fun) because there was some sort of blood clot in the uterus that would have been "dangerous to labor on." I think that means I almost died and, therefore, Jerel should buy me presents.

Last time I took a long time to recover because I hemorhaged and even with blood transfusions was weak for quite some time, but this time was all normal and I can already tell a big difference. Last time I was in the hosptial for 5 days, this time I stayed just 2 nights. And they must have given me better painkillers this time because although I'm plenty uncomfortable and walked hunched over like an old lday, I feel much less pain. I'm definitely not back to normal and still have a lot of restrictions on what I can do. The hardest part is that I can't lift Isaiah. Jerel is giving him lots of attention and he is doing just fine, but I miss holding him and kissing him and playing with him.

Zay loves his little sister. He always wants to see her, so Jerel will pick him up to show him where she's sleeping. He likes to poke at her eyes, so we're working on getting him to touch just the top of her head instead of her face. And, smart little guy that he is, he knows those tiny binkies are not his they're hers!

Anyway, that's all the details I can think of right off. Thanks again to Erika for the picture. She took them when Eliza was just a day old and although she hasn't let me see them all yet (she's editing them first, which could be quite a chore because I hate pictures that show the gross belly button...) she did send me this one which is so adorable!

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

2010-11-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

Eliza Mae Atkinson

Born: November 27, 2010, 9:18 am

Weight: 8 lb 4 oz

Length: 19 inches

Yes, she decided to come early. Amanda and Eliza and doing well and should be coming home either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Arctic Storm

2010-11-25T15:18:00.000-08:00

The "Arctic Storm" has been all over the news here. We ended up getting what they called a "solid dusting." Those of us who have ever lived somewhere with real snow make fun of the news during storms like this. Up in Seattle they got the real storm. My parents even had a tree fall through their roof into the house.

I took Isaiah outside to enjoy the snow. I think he might be related to Jerel because he just cried and wanted to come back inside.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T15:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Family & Friends,

Thanksgiving is fast approaching so it’s time for our annual update. Mom & Dad are so busy getting ready for the new baby that they didn’t have time to write this year’s letter so they asked me (Isaiah) to take care of it. I love being a helper so I’m happy to do it!

Yes, you read that correctly—there is a new baby coming to our house! I made the announcement myself back in May while Mom & Dad were panicking about how to get ready for having another baby so soon (I’ll just be 16 months old when she comes). They still haven’t figured out how they’ll manage, but I think it’ll be just fine. I’ve been practicing showing people where the baby is. When Mom asks, “Where’s your sister?” I obediently pat her tummy (which is getting enormous, by the way, she hardly has a lap for me to sit on anymore!). I’ve also been busy the last few weeks trying to get used to my new toddler bed. Mom & Dad say they need the crib for the new baby. I think I should get to keep it since I was here first, but they disagree. To show my irritation I fall and climb out of the bed as often as possible, and of course I refuse to ever just lie down and go to sleep. I’m pretty sure they can tell I don’t like it but they haven’t given me my crib back yet. I don’t think they realize how stubborn I can be!

I’ve done lots of fun things this year. Mom & Dad had the kitchen remodeled in the spring so I got to get into lots of messes. They think it looks so pretty now, but I’m still belted into the same old high chair so I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. A few times this summer I got to go to the Oregon Coast. It’s so pretty there and the sand tastes so good, but someone should tell Mom it’s not a good idea to dip a 12-month-old into the cold ocean water—that was not fun at all even if I had been begging to try it!

In June I went on my very first cruise. We went with 27 of Mom’s relatives for a week in Alaska. I got to see glaciers, play with my cousins, and go on a hike. Mom & Dad didn’t realize mountains weren’t designed to be stroller-friendly so Dad & Uncle Rick carried me the whole way. I got the feeling it was more fun for me than for them. Mom worried the whole time on the cruise that I would fall off the boat, but I was just fine; it was dad she should’ve been worrying about—he got so seasick!

Alaska wasn’t the only new place I visited this year. I also spent a week in Utah with Dad’s family. I have 13 cousins there so it’s always fun! One night we even all stayed in the same house. We also got to drive up to Preston, ID to visit my great grandparents. I’m glad I got to see them because my Great Grandpa Weber passed away a few months later and I’m glad I got to meet him. We went on another trip—my first airplane ride—to Wyoming for his funeral, which makes five states I visited this year—I’m quite an experienced traveler now! Mom and Dad, by the way, were so excited about taking me on an airplane. We live near a small airport and I love seeing all the planes so they were sure I’d love riding in one. But they lugged on my carseat and strapped me in and it was just like being in the car!

And that, my friends, is what I’ve been up to all year. Now I’m just waiting for my sister to come. She’s supposed to get here just a few days before Thanksgiving so keep your eyes peeled for a baby announcement! You can always keep up to date on our adventures and see lots of pictures of me by checking our blog at www.jerelandamanda.blogspot.com. Me and Mom and Dad sure love you all and think of you with grateful hearts during this Thanksgiving season!

Coming soon to a birthing center near you (okay, near me)

2010-11-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

Had my last checkup this morning and everything is set for a c-section at 8am on Monday. What the doctor neglected to tell me was that if you agree to an 8am surgery you have to be there at 6am. That part won't be fun. Actually I sleep so poorly lately it probably won't matter much. But I'm not allowed to eat that morning and that will be torture...Yes, I realize they're going to cut me open and cause major trauma to my body, but it's missing one day's breakfast that's really weighing on me!

ZayZay is doing so much better with his babysitter. He's been going over there during my doctor appointments to get used to it (before this he hasn't really had a babysitter) and is really making progress. The first time he went, he sat by the front door and cried the whole hour. Last week he only cried 20 minutes, and today he only cried for 5 minutes! Yea! I guess he cried when I left, then looked around the house to see if I was there somewhere, then gave up and looked for the cats. I'm not sure how I feel about being so easily replaced by felines, but I guess if it keeps him happy that's good! He's also doing much better in the toddler bed. He still won't fall asleep in it, he falls asleep in our bed, but we move him in there shortly after he falls asleep and the last week he's been sleeping through the whole night again. Hooray! It's so nice when everyone sleeps through the night...oh wait, I don't sleep through the night, I have to get up for a bathroom stop and a swig from the heartburn medicine bottle, but at least I don't cry and scream like Zay does when he wakes up!

Guess who's trying to be more like me?

2010-11-24T14:49:00.000-08:00

Jerel. I know it's hard to believe but he's turning into me a little more every day. No he's not struggling into control top nylons every Sunday, or crocheting doilies, or doing the laundry. But he does have initials after his name now! That's right, Jerel is officially a CCP. Certified Compensation Professional. What does that mean? I'm not really sure, but he got a plaque so that must be cool right? I mean when I got my CPA license I had to PAY for the certificate, and it was only paper not a plaque. I noticed on the plaque (which arrived yesterday) that he was certified on October 29th. You might be wondering why it took me a whole month to tell you guys. Well, I was wondering why it took Jerel a whole month to tell ME! Anyway, congrats to Jerel, you're one step closer to being just like me!

Zay's new room

2010-11-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

Here are before and after pics of how we (I) painted Isaiah's new room. Before it was kind of a gray-blue and it was a pretty bad paint job. So I painted the ceiling (to cover where they'd messed up and gotten gray-blue on the ceiling) and then after about 6 years of negotiation with Jerel we finally settled on new colors. Tan for the bottom (because Jerel has a special place in his heart for all things beige), and sky blue on the top (to go with the airplane theme), and a chocolate brown stripe around the middle (because I have a special place in my heart for all things chocolate). Then we ordered this dark red airplane decal. Imagine in your head that I have made darling vintage airplane accessories, curtains, bedding, etc. in blue and red. It hasn't actually happened, but that's the plan.

Family Pictures

2010-11-18T07:38:00.000-08:00

Jerel hates having his picture taken. A lot. For example, when we had our engagement pictures done he purposely came late and knew we had another appointment right afterwards for the cake. So our poor photographer had a total of 12 minutes to take engagement photos for us...Picture time just doesn't bring out Jerel's most cooperative side. So you can imagine his excitement when I told him we were having pictures done. Actually I was too scared to tell him, I just wrote it on the calendar on the fridge. Then when he saw it he said "I don't remember agreeing to this." But he came along anyway, after much discussion over whether or not he could wear black when I was wearing brown (my answer, of course, was no). He got even more excited when the photographer (Erika, also my official baby-shower-thrower) explained how this particular pose would work. It didn't turn out quite right because Isaiah wouldn't look at the camera, but I like it just because I can't believe we got Jerel to do it. And also because it makes Jerel look like he's about 3 inches thick and I look about 3 feet thick.

You can see the rest of the photo shoot here http://www.flickr.com/photos/28030935@N06/sets/72157625293188403/show/

By the way, if you're in Portland and need family pictures done you can see Erika's photo website at http://www.glimpsesbyerika.blogspot.com/

Zay's retirement account

2010-11-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

We decided since he's coming up on 16 months old it's about time we open a retirement account for him. Okay, not really, but we did have some dollar bills here and there that he has received as gifts and I decided we may as well put it all in a bank account for him. So I took him to our bank, after checking the website to see what documentation I needed, and got him all set up. They almost wouldn't do it because I didn't have his social security card with me and even though the I explained that the website specifically said it wasn't required, the lady insisted it was. So I looked as pregnant and frazzled as possible while she tried to tell me I'd have to come back another time. It helped that Zay was running around like crazy and that I seem to pretty much always look pregnant and frazzled these days. And she magically figured out she could do it without the card after all. Seeing as this was such an exciting event in his life I decided to get a picture of him with his money, but this blurry snapshot was all I could get (after several tries) because as soon as I put the money in front of him he'd throw it on the ground. Oh well. He'll thank me when he reaches retirement age and his $31.25 deposit has turned into a whopping $768! (Based on the first future value of money calculator I found online, which I think I used incorrectly).

While we were there, Zay found a quarter on the ground. Since it wasn't ours I tried to give it to the bank lady, but she wouldn't take it. She said "Sorry, we're not allowed to accept cash here." Wait, what? Bank tellers aren't allowed to accept cash? So instead she added it to Zay's deposit. I guess they're allowed to encourage receipt of stolen property by others, just not take it themselves?

Baby shower for #2

2010-11-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

I am a little slow getting things posted these days. I am actually a little slow about pretty much everything these days. But last weekend my friends Erika & Jeana threw me a baby shower for the little girl. I felt bad because Erika also threw my shower for Isaiah, which was just over a year ago, but she didn't seem to mind. The theme was Sugar & Spice, colors were pink & brown, with an emphasis on polka dots. It all turned out so cute! This picture shows my favorite part--the pink, brown, and white milk. Of course served in carafes. And of course tied with coordinating ribbons. And let's not forget the adorable food labels Julie made. Everything was so fun & festive & girly! We have most of the baby gear we needed so everyone brought clothes for the baby. We got so many nice things! It looks like she may not have to wear all of Zay's boy clothes after all. My mom & sister & nieces made the trek down from Seattle to celebrate with us and many of my friends were able to come. We all had a great time and I've promised Erika she never has to throw me another shower. Although when we were jokingly planning the shower for 2011 (since I seem to have one every year) I suggested a parasite theme, because having a baby growing in you is basically like having a parasite feeding off of you, and we came up with lots of fun bug/parasite ideas...