Forrest and Amy

A New Scarf

2012-01-24T20:53:00.000-08:00

Selah has been very into scarves lately. She won't leave the house without one on. She had been stealing one of mine and it was ridiculously large - so I knit her this child sized one.

(her don't take a picture of me face)

It would have only taken me about an hour to knit - if I hadn't chosen to unravel it twice.

She loves it and says "I cu!" (I cute!)

Fall Soccer

2012-01-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

From early November, 2011

Ephraim played soccer again this fall. He had a blast. There is such an improvement in skill level and comprehension of the game from the 2 year olds to the 3-4 league.

Ephraim had a hour of practice on Tuesdays and games on Saturdays. It broke up the week perfectly. I only brought my camera to the last game - and I took a bunch.

Ephraim and his buddies kicking the ball before the game.

Pre game face.

More practicing.

In the game.

There is a huge herd mentality at this age - but at least they get that they are supposed to kick it in the goal, no hands, etc.

Running.

Switching directions.

Kicking the ball.

Go!

More of the herd.

Downside of last game - giant mud pits.

Watching his friends fall into the mud.

Trying to get the ball.

Watching the game.

Trying to stay out of trouble.

Stinker.

Running through the tunnel at the end of the game.

Ephraim had a lot of fun playing soccer, made some new friends and improved. Hopefully he will have even more fun next fall! Selah will get to play soccer next fall too - so that should make things really interesting.

Small Spaces

2012-01-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

from mid October, 2011
I think these pictures could speak for themselves, but they also say:

*My children don't like to wear clothes

*They like to squeeze into small spaces

*They break things (No doors on their play kitchen)

*They are approximately the same size

*I have a hard time putting away clean laundry

*They like each other

*Selah is a climber

*A sitter

*and a relaxer.

A Pirate and a Ladybug

2012-01-08T22:15:00.000-08:00

From October 31, 2011

These two cuties had lots of fun trick or treating around our neighborhood. Ephraim refused to say trick or treat and Selah quickly figured out that you run up to the door and hold out your bag.

Pirate Princess

2012-01-08T19:51:00.001-08:00

From October 25, 2011

Practicing Good Dental Hygiene

2012-01-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

I often find her like this.

A Day at the Races

2012-01-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

About once a week (usually Tuesdays) I have to put the kids down to bed by myself. I am not good at this. So... my secret is that the kids and I climb into my bed, snuggle, and watch the movie Secretariat. They love it. Both of them can sit and watch the whole thing if they need to, but they really love the races. Selah will ask "Where's Terry? (Secretariat)" and Ephraim knows which horse is Secretariat and which is Sham.

To fuel their love for the movie - in mid September we took the kids to Emerald Downs. It was really overcast, but a lot of fun.

If you look closely - you can see that the track conditions says - sloppy. Pure mud.

There is a lot of down time in horse racing - something I didn't know. The kids enjoyed running around the open areas and playing on the benches.

They started with the shorter distance races (which start at the opposite side of the track), but we were seated right at the finish line.

I wish I had placed a bet on this horse. I might have won a few bucks.

Playing on the fence.

The starting gate.

Off they go!

These guys work the starting gate and after it is moved to the side they were filling in the mud tracks with their boots.

At the end of each race 3 of these tractors would circle the track smoothing it out.

We checked out the bouncy house.

Shaped like a horse - fitting.

It started to rain while we were in the bouncy house - so we watched one last race and then went home. Can you see the horses on the far side of the track?

It was a lot of fun to see in person what the kids and I enjoy watching once a week. Maybe we will go next season too.

Woodland Park Zoo

2012-01-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

From August 10, 2011

Back in early August I took the kids to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. We have memberships to the zoo in Tacoma, so the kids have never been. We were running errands north of us anyway so it seemed like a fun excursion

The kids had a lot of fun seeing animals they don't get to see at our zoo - hippos, lions, gorillas.

These two were something else that day. Full of energy and lots of laughs.

I spent a lot of time chasing. At one time Selah was in the wagon waving and saying "hi" to all of the people in line waiting to get into the concert that was going on that night.

We ended our time at the zoo in the play area.

Climbing through turtles.

Exploring tunnels.

The zoo was fun. We probably won't go again for a while, but the kids had a blast.

2011 - A Medical Review

2012-01-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

I feel like the Arnold family spent a vast amount of time (and co-pays) at the doctor's office in 2011. Here is the rundown.

January
*Selah gets nasty stomach bug and we get sent to the ER by our doctor because she is so little and concerned about dehydration
*Ephraim has low fever and can't move his neck. Spend day at doctor's office ruling out meningitis.
*X-rays from doctor's office show large adenoids leading to ENT visit.
*Ephraim has diminished hearing as well. Schedule surgery for adenoidectomy and ear tubes
*Selah has ear infection. Get to go to doctor's twice since she refused to swallow any medicine
*Amy has nasty sinus infection

February
*Ephraim has surgery

April
*Ephraim needs a stitch in his mouth
*Get to call Poison control on Easter Sunday because Selah decided to try to taste the toilet cleaning gel in the toilet

June
*Spend 8 hours in urgent care/ER because Ephraim is unable to put any weight on his left leg. Diagnosis: toxic synovitis in his knee. He is able to walk a few days later.
*Have a slight scare while camping thinking Selah might be allergic to shrimp.

July
*Get to call Poison Control for Ephraim - he poured himself some children's Motrin.

August
*Selah gets to have 9 stitches in her left palm. (3 internal, 6 external) after falling on a broken piece of glass

October
*Forrest has a subcutaneous cyst removed from his back
*Selah has allergy testing (and thankfully is negative!)

December
*Amy ends the year by having to go to the dentist over the holidays while in Oregon and learns she needs a root canal.

Here is to hoping that 2012 is a little less busy in the medical department for us!

Dinosaur hoodies and owls..

2011-12-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

AKA. The Christmas gifts my kids know they are getting. The downside to me crafting in the dining room is that my kids see what I am making.

These cute owls are filled with rice and are heat pads. Tutorial from justanotherhangup.blogspot.com

Dinosaur hoodies. I followed this tutorial. I bought sweatshirts at Walmart and some cheap felt. With Selah's I added interfacing to the top four and I didn't on Ephraim's. I had a lot harder time sewing the felt on E's and I think it was too much fabric for my machine and I gave up on having it look nice after taking out the stitches 3x on the hood. He's 3. He won't care.

Hopefully they will act surprised on Christmas morning

He gets it

2011-12-13T22:40:00.000-08:00

Today I took my kids to Costco - not an unusual trip around here. In addition to our normal shopping, I had Ephraim chose a toy for him and Selah to donate to kids in need. He and I talked a lot about how there are kids without families, and sometimes there are kids with families that cannot afford to buy new toys for Christmas. Ephraim asked a lot of questions about how and why that could happen. We talked about how blessed we are that his Daddy has a good job that allows us to buy new toys and allows me to stay home to play with him and Selah. He chose a really cool helicopter that makes noise and a neat baby set that came with a bed and horse for Selah. (He at first tried to chose the really cool motorized miniature snowmobile and then we had to talk about budgets and how Mommy and Daddy can't afford that toy for him or anybody).

After Costco we drove to the fire station to drop off our toys. Both kids did really well and Ephraim enjoyed putting the helicopter in the big bin. As we were walking back to the car he said "But Mommy? Kids need families." Yes they do bud, yes they do.

Jules

2011-12-02T13:35:00.001-08:00

From November 11

One of my closest friends from High Schoo - Julie (or as I call her - Jules) got married on 11/11/11. It was so much fun for me to be able to be there on her special day. Jules - you were a beautiful bride and I wish you and Dennis great happiness!

me and the bride. All of the guests were in black and white, which was a lot of fun to see - and I got to buy a new dress.

Forrest and I.

Jules and her dad walking in. I love all the rosettes on her dress.

Julie and Dennis. Congrats!

A new view

2011-11-17T09:44:00.001-08:00

When I woke up this morning and went downstairs, I saw this outside of my kitchen window.

During the wind storm last night this branch decided to make a new home next to our deck.

Forrest and don't need to go looking for a Christmas tree this year. This branch is over 10 feet tall and should do nicely.

I should add that there is not a single branch of any size anywhere else on our property.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T14:40:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I think she looks like a Fraggle.

Just goofin around

2011-10-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

My kids are fun!

9 stitches

2011-10-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

From August 15th

August 15th started out as a normal Monday. Forrest works from home on Mondays - which is a huge blessing. The kids and I had been playing outside in the yard and came in for lunch. I made macaroni and cheese, gave it to the kids and went downstairs to talk to Forrest. (I was out of kid bowls, so both were served in small Pyrex bowls.)

While Forrest and I were talking we heard the sound of glass breaking (not the sound you want to hear) followed by crying. We both raced upstairs and I immediately picked up Selah who was sitting in a pile of broken glass by her chair. I was trying to comfort her when Forrest said "she's bleeding." We took one look at her little hand and knew we needed to get in the car and go. The cut was deep. Forrest grabbed some paper towels for me, his keys and phone and Ephraim. I tried my best to stop the bleeding with the paper towels and we got in the car. We didn't even try to put Selah in her car seat. She sat in the front with me.

We decided to go to the urgent care by us. The closest ER is 20 minutes away - and while she needed to be seen immediately, we didn't think it was an emergency. We walked into urgent care and the receptionist called a nurse to have Selah's hand bandaged. I was covered in blood and looked a little scary so the nurse tried to clean me up as best she could.

After getting a bandage wrapped around her hand we sat in the waiting room for an hour. The poor baby whimpered most of the time. Ephraim talked about how he had an "owie" (his finger had been pricked by the glass) but Selah had a "big owie"

After we were taken back, things moved very smoothly. The same doctor that had seen Ephraim in June saw Selah. She was papoosed with two different sheets so that she couldn't move while they were trying to stitch her up. It was a deep cut - she had cut into the muscle, but thankfully she had not injured any tendons or ligaments. She had 3 internal stitches to put the muscle back together. Before they got to the external stitches, she fell asleep. The poor thing was exhausted and tired of fighting her papoose. She then got 6 external stitches.

We had planned on leaving that week to go down to my mom's for a week of vacation, but were strongly advised not to go. River water has a ton of nasty stuff in it, and could easily cause her hand to get infected.

After we got home - Selah continued to use her hand as if nothing had happened. She bent and used her thumb and hand as if it had never been injured. She didn't seem to be bothered or really notice the bandage.
She would cry hysterically when we had to change the bandage twice a day - but we think that is because she was scared of her scary stitches.

Ephraim showing off his "owie"

Proving that falling off of her chair onto broken glass is not a deterrent for climbing up on the table.

The scary stitches. I would have been afraid if I were 17 months old and had to see those too. Her scar has healed up very nicely. If you see Selah now and ask to see her owie - she will proudly show you her scar.

33 things you may not know about me...

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

On my 33rd birthday - here are some things you might not know.

1. My favorite color is pink
2. I don't like coffee.
3. I drink tea. Irish breakfast or English breakfast only. With milk and sugar. Earl grey is I absolutely have to.
4. I will wear jeans every day in the fall and winter, but I don't like jeans on my kids.
5. I am not a very good housekeeper.
6. My weakness is chocolate chips. I eat them by the handful.
7. As a counselor I loved working with kids and their families, but never enjoyed working 1 on 1 with adults.
8. If I had my way - we would have 4 kids. 3 the conventional way and then adopt a special needs baby.
9. I was a three sport athlete all through high school and my freshman year in college. 2 sports after that.
10. I have no coordination when you put a racket in my hands. (If you want to win - challenge me to tennis, raquetball or badminton.)
11. I am not really sure of my true hair color - but I think it is pretty close.
12. The majority of the rooms in my house are decorated in green.
13. I once slapped Ryan in the face - that is the only time I have ever hit somebody.
14. I do not like cauliflower.
15. Dairy makes me sneeze.
16. I don't really like pancakes - french toast is more my thing.
17. If garlic mashed potatoes are on the menu - I will often choose the entree with them, even if there is something else I would rather have.
18. I secretly enjoy reality tv - Keeping up with the Kardashians, Sister Wives and 19 kids and Counting are some of my favorites.
19. I only wear make up a few times a year. Forrest says that pretty girls don't need it. :)
20. When in doubt - I cook spaghetti or taco salad.
21. My sisters and my mom are some of my best friends
22. My vision is horrible and I can't see more than 4 feet in front of me without my glasses or contacts.
23. I often have to go up a size or 2 in dresses because my rib cage is so wide. (someone once told me I was shaped like a margarita glass)
24. I would move back to Wyoming in a heartbeat.
25. My biggest regret in life is not dating Forrest sooner.
26. My shoe size is size 10. (I have very flat feet with no arch)
27. I am missing a bone in each of my pinky toes.
28. I do not like red wine - but like all kinds of whites.
29. I am not a big fan of eggs (scrambled, fried, etc.)
30. I enjoy cleaning bathrooms and toilets.
31. My favorite movies are based on true sports stories (Secretariat, Miracle, The Rookie)
32. I get a weird satisfaction from picking my children's noses.
33. I have had one accident while driving forwards and 3 while backing up.

In case you were wondering...

2011-10-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

from mid July

This is what your bathroom mirror looks like after it has been sprayed with sunscreen.

My kids.. just trying to make sure everything is protected.

It only took 10 minutes to get off.

A new fence

2011-10-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

Back in the middle of June, the kids and I went to Wyoming for a week. While we were there - Forrest stayed home and built us a new fence with his dad.

The fence enclosed what used to be our side yard. A large unused part of our yard. It was too hard for me to play with the kids that close to the road.

After we got home, Forrest and his friend Paul removed the old fence so our backyard could be continuous.

I cannot tell you what a huge blessing this fence has been. Our backyard now feels HUGE. We play there all the time.

The kids and I spent a lot of time outside this summer and it has been so much fun.

Next year we have plans of putting in new grass, but even without new grass our new yard is fantastic.

Toxic Synovitis - it isn't as bad as it sounds

2011-09-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

From June 4, 2011

A little backstory - Hannah and her girls had been up to visit for the week while Merrick was in California working. On Thursday (the day they left) Ephraim complained that his knee was hurting. Since he was running and jumping on it, I told him it was growing pains. On Friday he didn't feel well and was running a fever of 101. We spent the day watching tv. (Don't you love when you have to text your friends that your kid is sick the day after they played with them?)

On Saturday morning (the 4th) the kids and I were relaxing in our bed before getting up for the day. Ephraim said he had to go potty and got off of the bed. He then told me "Mommy I can't walk." I told him to crawl to the bathroom (I didn't really believe him). He did. I followed him to the bathroom where he couldn't get down off of the toilet. Ephraim was unable to put any weight on his left leg. At all. He could stand on his right leg, but was unable to even put his toes down on the ground on his left leg.

He still had a low fever so I gave him some Motrin, put him in front of the tv and talked to Forrest about what we should do. It was just weird. Ephraim hadn't injured his leg, was complaining about his knee hurting, but could crawl if he absolutely needed to. After talking on the phone with my sister Colleen (a nurse) we decided we should take him to urgent care to see what was going on. Being the super concerned parents that we are - we decided to go to lunch at Costco first. I am glad that we did - it would end up being the only food Ephraim got all day.

At urgent care we were actually seen pretty quickly. Ephraim was running a fever again (101.2) so they decided to give him more Motrin (just a note - the amount they gave E was 7mL - which is more than the bottle tells you to give his age. Check with your pediatrician about what the correct dose should be for your kiddo - they do it by weight). After checking out Ephraim the Dr. decided to run some blood work to see if he was fighting an infection and started consulting with the ER at Mary Bridge (Children's hospital in Tacoma). It was decided we should head to the ER. We left urgent care (after both kids got popsicles) with no diagnosis and strict instructions to not let E eat or drink anything else. There was a possibility that he could have an infection in his joint and have excess fluid. If that was the case they would need to put him under general anesthesia to remove the excess fluid.

Forrest and I headed home to grab some stuff and then stopped by Arby's to get some food. (it was about 4:30). I also ran into Safeway to get diapers for Selah - I was all out at home - and picked up a coloring book, crayons and a magnet fishing game. Both kids slept all the way to Tacoma which was good since neither had napped earlier and we didn't have any clue how long we would be there. Urgent care said it could be a few hours or possibly overnight if they needed to remove excess fluid. When we arrived at Mary Bridge ER to check in they already had a wrist band and paperwork printed out for Ephraim and we were immediately taken to triage. After triage we sat in the waiting room for less than 5 minutes before being taken back to our room. Ephraim and Forrest played on this neat computer for the 5 minutes.

Once we were taken to our room - everything slowed down like every other ER experience I have ever had. Ephraim was given more Motrin to see if that allowed him to put weight on his leg. It didn't. Ephraim did not like the doctors and nurses asking him questions and having him try to stand on his leg that hurt. He was glaring at them. After getting in trouble for glaring - he became more cooperative. They took Ephraim back for xrays which showed nothing.

The kids did great waiting in the room. Ephraim spent a lot of time fishing with daddy and Selah explored. Ephraim was then taken back to have an ultrasound of his hip. This was the only aggravating thing about our entire day. Everything was coming back negative. (Yay!) They believed the synovial fluid in his joints was inflamed. 99 percent of the time it is the hip joint which is why they did the ultrasound on his hip. I get it. My son was complaining about his KNEE. My son is 3 and isn't going to make up where it hurts. They could have done an ultrasound of his knee and didn't. It would have taken a few more minutes. They diagnosed Ephraim with toxic synovitis (a horrible sounding way to say inflamed synovial fluid that causes one to not be able to bear weight) and sent us home with instructions to see our pediatrician on Monday. We were also instructed to continue dosing Motrin. We finally left around 9:30pm, tired, but glad to be going home.

When we met with our pediatrician on Monday Ephraim could still not walk. He no longer had a fever and had figured out that he could still play with all of his toys if he was on the floor and could crawl. Our pediatrician agreed with the ER diagnosis of toxic synovitis, but said that Ephraim was the 1% of cases where the inflammation is in the knee. Our pediatrician sees less than 1 case of toxic synovitis a year. He told us that if Ephraim could still not walk by Wed then we needed to see a pediatric orthopedic surgeon since they would be more familiar with toxic synovitis.

Thankfully by late Monday afternoon - Ephraim was doing this funky bear crawl that had him partially putting weight on his leg. By bedtime on Monday he was able to walk. He complained about knee pain for another 3 days so we continued giving him Motrin, but after that he was fine.

Some interesting facts about toxic synovitis. It is most common in boys 3-10 years old. There is no known cause. It usually lasts anywhere from 3-7 days. There is a 20% chance that it could reoccur. Motrin is believed to help and cut down the time frame.

Looking back - it was a strange couple of days. At first it was a hassle to carry both of my kids everywhere, but we adjusted. Ephraim also learned how to get around without walking and was less dependent on being carried. We are so thankful that it was nothing serious and are grateful for the good medical care that we received. Hopefully that is Ephraim's only trip to the ER this year.

18 months

2011-09-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Selah is 18 months old today. I am pretty sure she thinks she is 3 though. There is so much to say about this girl of ours. Mostly she is crazy. A lot of fun. But nuts. Our friend Merrick recently described Selah as "sprinting from mortal danger to mortal danger." That pretty much sums her up. She climbs EVERYTHING. Her latest trick is to try to climb up the wall of the bath tub using the little bar. I have given up trying to get her off of the table. I draw the line at her moving chairs to climb on top of the counter though. She does not seem to have any concern for her own personal safety - and I am waiting for her to break her arm. It is a when, not an if.

She laughs all of the time and is full of smiles. And screams. The girl is loud almost all of the time and loves to make noise. She has started screaming when things don't go her way. Which is often. And can fake cry with the best of them. With big crocodile tears. Thank goodness she can be distracted pretty easily.

Selah loves to play with Ephraim. She loves to play cars and swords with him. When she holds a sword she says "Fight. Fight." One of her favorite toys is Mr. Potato Head. She discovered babies while at Nana's house last week and carries one of her three around the house constantly. She loves to be outside and likes to scare her mom with the tricks she tries on the slide. At Ephraim's soccer practice she tries to be in the middle of what the big kids are doing and will imitate what the coach is teaching them on the sidelines as if to say "I can do this too." She loves to have clips in her hair. Selah has to be wearing shoes - she loves any and all shoes. She also likes to carry things around in little purses and bags.

Selah is not a huge talker, but has quite a few words WHEN she wants to use them. I have even heard her say phrases, but you can't get her to repeat anything. Some of her words are:

moo
wa-wa - water or Wallis
mama
dada
Eff-rum! - said just like she hears me yell it
Say-yah - Selah
mou - mouse (as in Mickey Mouse)
too - toodles (on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)
Nana
ball
pu - push
dow - down
maa - milk
mo - more
NO!
mine
shi - shine (used when she is singing This Little Light of Mine)
stop it - (said when the doctor was giving her stitches)
take it (when she was trying to feed Claire)
baby
fight
tickatickaticka - tickle
nigh-nigh - night night
wherdgo - where did she go?
bye
go!
buckabucka - buckle
five

Selah is super sweet. When Ephraim is in time out - she sits next to him to keep him company. She will give him kisses if she knows he is upset. She loves to give hugs, high fives, and fist bumps. She definitely keeps up on our toes, but we love it.

Oregon State Baseball

2011-08-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

Back in May we were able to attend an Oregon State vs. University of Washington baseball game. I probably would have wanted to go regardless. Beavers plus baseball equals fun in my book. The super fun part was that the game was at Safeco Field. We went with several of Forrest's coworkers (fellow Beavs) and all of us were decked out in orange and black. (I actually don't own anything with Oregon State on it, so I wore Forrest's OSU baseball cap.)

Daddy and Selah at the game.

There were a ton of OSU fans there. Safeco had several food options available, but no alcohol. The kids ate french fries. I ate chocolate covered strawberries.
Ephraim (with his glove) and Matt. Ephraim kept wanting to catch a foul ball. We were sitting behind home plate and there were 2 opportunities, but Forrest decided to not sacrifice his body running over chairs to get them. Ephraim was a little bummed.
Do you see that little itty bitty section of purple? The Husky fans. We FAR outnumbered them. They did bring the school band though.
It was a blast to go to the game - even though we didn't get to stay for all of it because we had a party to go to. The Beavs won the game and we hope they get to play at Safeco Field next year too!

When Daddy's In Charge...

2011-08-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

Over Father's Day Weekend, I saw a chance to take a shower in the morning (A very rare occurance in my life lately.) Forrest was watching tv, I placed Selah on top of him, closed both gates and told him "You are in charge."

I came down the stairs after my shower to find Forrest disciplining both of our children for this:

Covered in markers. Head to toe.
Apparently Selah got off of Forrest he fell asleep.
Oops.
Into the bath they went. The water turned purple.
And just to show that I have lost any control in my house - This is how I find her often.
On top of the table. Happy as a clam.

Preschool

2011-07-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

We have been doing preschool at the Arnold house for the past few months. Before I share what curriculum we are using, let me say that the debate between homeschooling, private, and public school can get pretty heated - so I want to share where we are in our decision making process. I think every parent, and especially Christians - wrestles with finding the balance of insulating our kids from the stuff that is going on in the world but not isolating them. It is a tough decision and every family is going to have a a different answer that is right for them

Forrest and I have chosen not to put Ephraim in preschool, and I am teaching him from home. One of the main reasons is that I know I can teach him the basics - colors, ABC's, numbers, etc. - so I don't really want to pay someone else to do it. If we were going to send him to a preschool, the best Christian preschool in the area is expensive. I also like having him at home. We are involved in several activities during the week (MOPS, MOTS, Bible study and a Mom's group in my neighborhood) so he is getting socialization with his peers. We are also committed to homeschooling him through kindergarten. While we live in a good school district, the elementary school by our house is the worst performing school in the district. The only choice is all day kindergarten - and I can't see sending our then 5 year old to six hours of school. After that we will take it on a year by year basis. Most likely he will be attending the school by our house as any private school is really too far and not really in the budget.

I am using the Letter of the Week program found at Confessions of a Homeschooler. It is all free, and I just print it off of my computer. I did buy a laminator so I can laminate some puzzle pieces and the practice writing sheets. I supplement with stuff from Homeschool Creations and 1+1+1=1. Both of those sites have great Preschool packs with different themes (including How to train your Dragon - one of E's favorite movies). For Bible we are using My ABC Bible Verses and 1+1+1=1's Raising Rock Star printouts that go with the verses. Ephraim LOVES school. I usually have to cut him off and tell him that he is done, or he would try to do most of the week's activities in one day. We probably do more activities in a day than would be suggested, but he loves it, so I am going to go with it.

Ephraim loves these Dot-to-Dot markers. They are fabulous.
Using clothespins to put the correct amount of legs on the caterpillars.
Coloring goats the correct color.
I would call out a letter and he would hammer it.
Trying to keep Selah occupied and out of trouble has been a bit of a challenge. She wants to be a part of school - loves being at the table with us - but can't be trusted with markers and is often destroying Ephraim's stuff. I am most likely going to purchase some things from Timberdoodle's Toddler Curriculum to help keep her occupied, and they will only come out during school time.

Easter 2011

2011-07-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

Uggg... I can't believe I haven't posted about Easter yet.

Dyeing eggs was quite the adventure. It was Ephraim's first time and he loved it.

Selah enjoyed munching on the eggs.
Forrest always does fun stuff with his eggs.
Selah getting in on the wax crayon action.
Easter morning. I had them stay upstairs with Forrest while I hid the eggs. (I always hunt for eggs in my underwear and backpack - don't you?)
Selah found the obvious ones.
Ephraim searching.
Can you find the egg?
After telling Ephraim that there was an egg on the monkey - he tried to grab an invisible egg.

Superheroes

2011-07-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

They make a daily appearance at our house

Little Helper

2011-07-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

Someone in our house has figured out how tools work.

And likes to use her brother's toy tools to help fix things.

First Stitch

2011-07-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

From April 14th, 2011 (I know.. I know..)

This morning started off great. The kids and I ran some errands and ended at Walmart - ready to go home and have lunch. Ephraim loves to enter the car through the back door and then climb over the seats to his seat. Today, he slipped on the third row seat and hit the top of his car seat (which is in the middle row.) He split his lip. After I got him calmed down enough so that I could look at it, I knew we were headed to urgent care. He split it right in the corner - so every time he opened his mouth it was gaping open.

Thankfully urgent care is right across the street from Walmart. It was a quick wait (we were the only ones in the waiting room). The doctor confirmed what I already knew - he needed a stitch. I got to hold a numbing solution on his lip for 15 minutes before they could give him the stitch. Trying to do that and keep Selah out of trouble was tricky. Ephraim was a champion and handled getting the stitch great. He and Selah both got a popsicle for their trouble.

As we were leaving they explained that stitches in the mouth usually dissolve really quickly - like 2 days, but if it was still there a week from now then to come back. We got to come back. And both kids got popsicles again. Urgent care is now known at our house for their popsicles. Awesome.

Getting Along

2011-05-10T15:41:00.000-07:00

For the most part,
these two really like each other.
They want to be with each other.
And play pretty well.
It might not always be like this,
so I am documenting it now,
so I can look back and remember.

Just Cuz...

2011-05-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Selah the screamer. This is how she lets you know she is mad.

New Pretties

2011-05-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

I am done with winter. DONE. Since Spring doesn't seem to be coming, I embellished some kitchen towels so I would have something fun and springy to look at.

April Shenanigans

2011-05-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

My kids seem to have a knack for getting into things or causing trouble. Here are some photos of what they did in April.

Climbing into the oven.

Emptying a bag of powdered sugar on his plate. He was saying "Yum. I like sugar."
I was just saying (in my head) "Thanks for not being on my couch."
What I don't have pictures of:

~Ephraim pouring a quart of pure maple syrup on his plate so he could make a lake.

~Having to call poison control for Selah since she decided to lick some toilet gel out of the toilet.

~Ephraim getting his first stitch (in his mouth)

We are hoping there are less shenanigans in May (or at least less messy)

E at 3

2011-04-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that our little guy is now 3. Here are some of the fun things he says/does.

Opening presents on his birthday

~Can count to 10. Always skips 4. And then says 16, 17, 19

~"That would be silly"

~"That's better"

~Is OBSESSED with swords. OBSESSED. Everything that resembles a sword has become one. I'm not a huge fan of swords, but we are rolling with it and teaching sword safety. :)

~Loves to hide (under blankets, pillows, etc.)

~Loves to build "ports" (forts)

~wears a hooded towel on his head so he can "run just like a hero!"

~weighs 29 pounds, 4 ounces (with clothes on) (25th percentile)

~is 38.5 inches tall (51st percentile)

~terrified of bugs (more on that in another post)

~loves his friends and is always wanting them invited to our house

~favorite toys are cars and trains

~enjoys stories

~prefers to be without clothes on as much as possible

~talks all of the time. In full sentences.

~likes to drum

~all "L's" in the middle of the a word are pronounced "Y's" (Selah = say-yah)

~calls his bottom his "body" - "you have to down the slide on your body"

favorite birthday present - the 1$ velcro ball thing at Target

~adores his sister

~loves to play "crash" where he tackles Selah to the ground

~favorite food is pancakes and he asks for them all of the time

~favorite color is green

~still wakes up once a night and crawls into our bed

~loves to snuggle

~only naps once a week, if that

~is usually asleep by 8PM

~is up anytime between 6:30 and 8AM

Dairy free ice cream sundaes

~is still very lactose intolerant and understands that he has special "Ephraim butter" and "Ephraim milk"

~can tolerate ranch dressing (to dip veggies in) and Kraft macaroni and cheese (but not Annie's - that has real cheese in it)

~loves to play basketball

~loves to jump

A Cowboy Birthday Party

2011-04-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

From April 2nd,

Since the kids birthday's are only 3 weeks apart, we decided to have a combined birthday party for them. The theme was cowboys - since Ephraim loves "Cowboy" aka Woody from Toy Story.

Here is my rendition of Woody for a little game of Pin the Hat on the Cowboy.

Dairy free cupcakes. Yum. I think that in preparing all of the food for the party I used the equivalent of 8 tubs of Earth Balance.
The cupcakes had little sweet tart candies in cowboy shapes on them. We also had brisket and pulled chicken sandwiches, chips, veggies, lemonade and root beer.
Every kid was greeted at the door and given the option of wearing a cowboy hat. Elisa is modeling it for me.
Selah wore the leftovers.
Decorating paper bags for cowboy vests.
Playing pin the hat on the cowboy.
Digging into her first cupcake.
Ephraim just ate the candy off of his.
Selah thoroughly enjoyed hers.
Raina.
Kids playing. There were 16 kids 8 and under at the house. It was a little crazy.
Lots of fun.
But a little crazy.
Thanks to everyone for celebrating our kiddos with us!

The Zoo

2011-04-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

From March 17th,

I had planned on taking the kids to the Point Defiance Zoo on Selah's birthday, but the forecast was for showers. When I saw that there was going to be a break in the rain, we went the following day.

I am showing these next photos - not because they are good (they aren't), but because they document that I am a complete moron. We have been members of the zoo for 2 years. I really like it, the zoo is pretty small, so it is a great 2 hour excursion and my membership lets me bring in guests so friends can join us, but not have to pay.

Until March 17th, I had no idea there was a South Pacific Aquarium at the zoo. No idea. For some reason today I followed the little path to see where it went and voila! It was probably Selah's favorite part.
This smaller tank holds tropical fish. The picture is blurry, but you can see the delight in Selah's face.
The bigger tank has sharks. Lots of them. I think this one is a Lemon Shark - but don't quote me.
Selah loved being able to be right next to the giant sharks.
The tiger twins. They turn 1 in May. Ephraim was making kissy sounds and saying "Come here Tigers. Here tigers." We talked about why we wanted the tigers to stay over there.
Daddy tiger laying on a heated rock.
Going into the Pacific Northwest Aquarium (I did know about this one.) a zoo keeper was standing outside with this little owl.
The polar bears are my favorites. I like to go the zoo early in the morning because they are usually being fed and are more active.

There Are No Words...

2011-03-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

from the end of February/beginning of March:

to describe the shenanigans that have been going on in this house this last week.

Exhibit A:

I was changing out the laundry and came back upstairs to find this:

and Exhibit B:

the best part - I heard absolutely no crying or whining which means she gladly let him do this to her face.
Exhibit C:

After putting on an "Ephraim show" (cartoon) so he would stay out of trouble while I got Selah down for her morning nap. I came downstairs after laying her down to this:
2.5 pounds of flour. On my couch.
All I could do was laugh. And take pictures. And then spend 20 minutes vacuuming it up.

3/16/11

2011-03-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

Selah started off her birthday with a breakfast of bananas.

We then moved on to opening presents and Ephraim was very willing to step in and help.
Sorry this picture is blurry, but it is the best picture I got all day of her birthday shirt that I made.

The girl doesn't sit still long enough to read books, but I am hoping that a bunch of new Olivia books will change her mind.
I didn't make cupcakes for her birthday, but she enjoyed getting to eat a whole chocolate chip cookie for the first time.
Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Selah - 1 year

2011-03-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it happened - but Selah is one. In some ways she seems so big and in other ways she is still so small. Here are some of the things she is up to.

Teeth: Still only has her bottom two. I think she might be getting her top two in (at least I hope that is why she has been so grumpy) but you can't see anything yet.

Eating: Selah enjoys eating. She loves peas and carrots, avocados, corn, potatoes, peaches and bananas. She will eat meat, but doesn't devour it. She has recently discovered graham crackers and LOVES them. She also likes fruit leathers and puffs. She has had strawberries, pancakes, waffles, and I found her licking my plate that had peanut butter on it the other day. The only food group we have been avoiding is dairy, and we will ask our pediatrician about that when we go in for her check up.
Nursing: Selah still loves to nurse and nurses 3-4 times a day. She also nurses 2-3 times at night. For a few weeks she was only nursing off of one side and I had to pump off of the other and she took the milk in a sippy cup without any complaint. I am hoping that is a good sign that she will wean sooner than Ephraim did (22 months).

Sleeping: I didn't think it was possible to have a worse sleeper than Ephraim - but I was wrong. For a few weeks last month she was up every 30-45 minutes. We worked past that and she is now up every 1-2 hours. She had been waking up when I would check on her before I went to bed, so I have stopped checking on her. She is still waking up and then will take at least an hour to fall back asleep (only then - other times she falls asleep easy.) I think the most annoying part is that when she first goes to bed it is a dream. We do the same routine every night and it takes 10 minutes or less. Why that changes in the middle of the night - I wish I knew. I also have a piece of paper from August from when I was jotting down fun memories of her and it says "You sleep through the night from 8-5 and if you wake up I just have to turn your crib toy on and give you a pacifier." I should throw that piece of paper away. It is mocking me.
Moving: This girl walks everywhere. She climbs everything. She has taught herself how to climb our chairs. She can go up and down the stairs with ease.

Talking: Last week Selah started saying "bye-bye" (buh-buh). She will sign all done. She understands when I sign more or please. She babbles all of the time and makes a bunch of different sounds (ma, da, ba, etc. ) She screeches all of the time. She is LOUD. Happy or sad - LOUD. There is no volume control with her.

Tricks: She waves, claps and gives high fives. She will move her arms in a circle when we sing the wheels on the bus. She has started shaking her head no.
Other fun things:

She loves Ephraim. On the days he takes naps and she is without him she doesn't know what to do.

She loves her daddy and gets really excited and runs to the door when she hears Wallis barking announcing that he is home. In the morning she won't let Forrest leave without giving her several hugs.

Selah is our very happy, spunky, funny girl and we love her!

Happy Birthday Sister!

Testing... Testing..

2011-03-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

From February 23rd

Today was Ephraim's post op appointment. His hearing was re-checked and has improved by 10 decibels. He was also given a set of ear plugs that he will need to wear when he goes swimming. Green - of course.

A bath doesn't count as swimming, but we decided to give them a trial run.

He didn't like them at first, but cried when we took them out.

How To Take a Shower

2011-03-14T10:16:00.001-07:00

Take a shower Thursday night, when kids are asleep and husband is at soccer game
Get out of shower and hear baby screaming hysterically.
Decide to take showers when your husband is home
Decide to take shower Saturday night
Spend evening comforting child who woke up screaming due to growing pains
Decide to take shower Sunday morning before church - when husband can watch both kids
Find out husband has to work all Sunday morning. No church, no shower
Decide to take shower Sunday night after kids go to bed
Crawl into bed at 12 after spending 3 hours convincing obnoxious youngest child to stay asleep in her own bed
Decide to take a shower Monday morning when husband who usually works from home on Mondays comes upstairs to eat breakfast and he can watch kids
Find out husband has an early meeting and is going to work
Decide to take a shower during youngest's nap time
Give up
Dreadlocks are cool and there is a reason they invented clinical strength deodorant

Mowing the Snow

2011-03-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

From February 24th

The kids got a lawnmower for Christmas. It is a little loud for inside, but Ephraim loved using it to "mow the snow".

Every day he had snow he was out there mowing lines on our deck until his hands got too cold.

Playing in Snow

2011-03-13T11:06:00.001-07:00

From February 23rd

During "Winter Storm 2011" (don't you love the dramatic titles weathermen come up with?) we accumulated about 4-6 inches at our house over several days. Every single person in our house LOVES snow so we tried to play in it as much as possible.

Making snowballs
Not quite sure
Wallis loves snow and chasing snowballs.

A Little Thief

2011-03-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

From February 16th

We babysat for some friends tonight and I made spaghetti. I didn't give Selah any - since she has never had it before and I didn't think she would like the tomatoes. She spent the rest of the evening stealing from poor Paris' tray.

Stuck

2011-02-16T15:22:00.001-08:00

I might have left her here for a minute or two to see if she could figure it out. Nope.

Helping Daddy

2011-02-13T20:10:00.000-08:00

Surgery

2011-02-10T14:03:00.000-08:00

Early on February 7th, we headed down to Mary Bridge Day Surgery Center in Tacoma. I woke Ephraim up when I put him in the car and the first thing he asked was if he could eat.

We checked in at 7AM and were brought to our little room to get Ephraim changed.

Pants first!

Selah checking out the room.
Ephraim thought it was pretty cool to get to wear special clothes. We had spent a lot of time talking about how he was going to go to the doctor's and "take a nap" to have tubes put in his ear and have the "owie" taken out of his throat. He was prepared for them to put a mask over his face to help him sleep. At no time during the morning did he show any fear or nervousness.
After getting checked out by the nurses and getting his "bracelets" put on, we headed to the toy room. Ephraim loved this little coupe car.
Selah loved just wondering around with things in her mouth.
They came and took us back to the operating area and put us in a holding room to talk with the doctor and anesthesiologist. Ephraim thought it was really cool that everyone was checking out his bracelets.
Selah was getting really hungry and tired by this time, but she managed to hang in there until after the doctor's had met with us. The OR nurse had E give us kisses and then told him she had a button for him to push. She turned him around so he wouldn't see us leaving and had him push the button for the doors so we could exit. (Ephraim loves buttons.)

We hung out in the waiting room for maybe 20 minutes before Dr. Erwin came to talk to us. There was a monitor on the wall with all the patient numbers that let you know when they had gone into the OR, when the surgery was coming to an end and when they had been moved to the recovery room. We had been told Ephraim would probably be in recovery for 30-45 minutes before they brought him out. We were a little surprised when 20 minutes later he was wheeled out. Apparently he had woken up immediately after the anesthesia had worn off and they had given him Demerol so he would sleep. That lasted for 20 minutes and he woke up again so they brought him out.

Ephraim never cried, but was pretty confused. He kept looking at his wrist where the IV was and asking "what is this?" (They put the IV in after he fell asleep, so he didn't remember it).
They brought him Popsicles and some apple juice and he began to perk up.
This picture is us asking him to smile. (and might be my favorite)
After spending an hour recovering in our room (and never taking a nap like they suggested), he was ready to go. Two more popsicles and we went home.
Ephraim seems to be recovering well. He takes all of his medicine like a champ and has not complained about pain. He will vary between having lots of energy and being completely drained. He doesn't have much of an appetite, but that is pretty normal and I was warned to expect weight loss (up to 5 pounds would be normal.) I'm hoping he doesn't lose that much since then his sister would outweigh him. Since his surgery he has been sleeping through the night pretty consistently. He also hasn't complained about his tummy hurting and has not needed to take his prevacid. We are hypothesizing that since his adenoids were weeping fluid, they were causing him to experience some heartburn. We are very thankful that our little guy is doing so well. Thanks for your prayers!

A Chocolate Mess

2011-02-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

Somebody found Mommy's empty hot chocolate mug and helped herself...

Brownies

2011-01-28T11:07:00.001-08:00

The other day I came upstairs to find Ephraim like this:
He had buckled himself in Selah's seat, gotten the brownies off the counter and was digging them out with his finger. When I asked him what he was doing, he smiled and said "Me like chocolate."

Taking Things to the Extreme

2011-01-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

The past two and a half weeks have been filled with sickness at our house. Starting with Selah's stomach bug and ending with colds. For some reason my children have decided to take common viruses and make them extreme. On Sunday the 16th, I noticed that Ephraim could not move his neck. He could look right, left and down, but could not look up at all. He would stare forward and then roll his eyes up as high as he could. He also started to come down with a cough, runny nose and low fever. By Tuesday morning he was also complaining of his throat hurting. In to the Dr's office we went. Dr. LeClair sent us down to get an xray of Ephraim's neck. He did great laying still and thought the lead apron I wore was neat. While we were getting xrays, Dr. LeClair was consulting with other doctors at Mary Bridge about the possibility of Ephraim having meningitis. They decided we should give E a dose of motrin and wait an hour to see if that helped him move his neck. Ten minutes after that dose and E was able to move his neck without any problems. Dr. LeClair and I just laughed. The little dude had made us worried for 2 hours, Dr. L had several consultations and all of a sudden he was fine. Dr. L sent us home with instructions about what to look for (high fever and stiff neck) and when to go to the ER.

Fast forward several hours and Ephraim woke up from his nap screaming. He could not move his neck at all - up, down, to the side, anything. He still had a low fever (99.5) but this was the one scenario we didn't cover. I called back, and by the time I talked to the nurse, and Dr. Leclair had consulted again with the doctors at Mary Bridge, had all decided to send us to the ER (I was wearing the exact same outfit and hairstyle that I wore when we took Selah in - talk about deja vu), Ephraim could move his neck again. ER avoided. Again. In the middle of the night Ephraim spiked a high fever (103.5), but could move his neck. Getting a very sleepy 2 year old to comply with your instructions at 3 in the morning isn't fun, but we were so glad he never had the two symptoms they were concerned about at the same time.

This week we got to visit the doctor's office again for Selah. The silly girl WILL NOT take her antibiotics so we went back in. I was mixing the stuff with blueberry syrup and she still spit it out. Selah turned her cold into bronchiolitis and her ear infection is still raging.

We also got to visit an Ear, Nose, Throat specialist for Ephraim. On his neck xray our doctor noticed that he has very large adenoids. He asked us to see an ENT specialist in Tacoma. Nothing urgent, just needed to get done. Yesterday we drove to T-town. They did a hearing test on Ephraim - with little toy dogs that played music and barked. If he looked at them, they knew he could hear them. A woman also spoke to him through some speakers. Ephraim always looked at the dogs, but stopped looking at the speakers as she got quieter. He has fluid in both ears and is not hearing as well as he should be due to the fluid. The doctor believes ear tubes will help him. Ephraim's adenoids are enlarged and "weeping fluid" as though they have been continuously infected for quite a while. He needs those removed. Surgery is scheduled for February 7th. It is being done at Mary Bridge's day surgery center in Tacoma. I am very thankful that our pediatrician recommended this ENT. If I have to put my child under general anesthesia, I want it done in a place that specializes in kids.

Needless to say, this momma is tired of sickness. I have come down with a bad cold, probably from all of the holding and snuggling I have been doing. I am ready for January to be over and for my kids to feel better. I am actually looking forward to being able to really clean my house - it has become more of a disaster than normal as my priorities have been elsewhere. I am also looking forward to doing our weekly activities that we haven't participated in for 3 weeks. Poor Ephraim keeps asking to play with friends. Soon buddy, I promise.

First Trip to the ER

2011-01-26T21:03:00.000-08:00

From January 11th,

This morning I went to MOPS, like I do every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Ephraim went to his class and Selah came with me. Selah played at my feet, nursed and played some more. As MOPS was ending and people around me started to get up, Selah began vomiting. A lot. We went home, she took a nap and I tried nursing her again. As soon as she was done she threw up again. I called our doctor's office and they told me to try giving her small amounts of pedialyte every 5 minutes to keep her hydrated. She would immediately throw up the teaspoon I gave her. Selah took another nap and I tried the pedialyte again. Same result. I called our doctor's office around 4:30 and they instructed me to take her to the ER since she had not kept down any fluids since her morning feeding and had not had a wet diaper since 12. I waited until Forrest could get home (around 5:30) so we could go together. I tried the pedialyte again and she was able to keep down 2 attempts. This might sound silly - but as I was attempting to give her the third teaspoon - I prayed that God would make it obvious if we should take her in or not. I do not want to take my children to the ER unless it is necessary, and when she kept those 2 teaspoons down I was doubting the need to go in. Selah threw up immediately after swallowing. Prayer answered.

Our doctor sent us to Tacoma - Mary Bridge Children's Hospital ER. If you ever have the option of taking your child to an ER that has a pediatric unit - do it. They just know what they are doing with little ones. So worth the extra driving for us. The waiting room had touch screen computers kids could play games on. I had brought some cars for Ephraim to play with and he had a lot of fun in the open space.

Forrest and Ephraim in the triage room.

Selah and I. They took her temperature and were amazing at how quickly they did it (rectally) and she hardly even noticed. They gave her a dose of zofran and had us wait in the waiting room. Within 20 minutes you could tell Selah was feeling better. The rumbling that you could hear in her tummy before was quiet. The poor thing wanted to nurse, but I was under strict instructions to not feed her until a doctor saw us.
In the exam room waiting to see the doctor. You can tell in her face, she is not happy and wants to eat.
This cool magnetic board had different face parts that you could move around with little wands.
Ephraim and Selah. The staff also brought Ephraim some crayons and coloring pages. This was not just a 8 crayon set. It was a 48 crayon set. Ephraim thought that was really cool.
They sent us home with some zofran tablets and antibiotics for a nasty ear infection. We got home around 10:30. 4 hours in the ER - not bad. I came down with Selah's stomach bug in the middle of the night. She threw up again in the morning, we gave her a tablet and she and I were both pretty out of it for the rest of the day and watched a lot of tv and slept. She then was fine except for throwing up at exactly 11:30 at night for 3 nights in a row. Weird.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-25T13:10:00.000-08:00

We spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Oregon/Vancouver. We had a lot of fun and these pictures are the extent of what I have. (What can I say - I'm a slacker).
Frank and Lona's Christmas palm tree. The majority of these gifts were for my children. It is a good thing we brought the suburban.
Selah and Grandpa
The kiddos
Selah loves to help unload the dishwasher. She is quite the climber.

Gingerbread Trains

2011-01-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

From December 21, 2010

I had some friends over to make gingerbread houses with our kids. We had a 5 year old, 3 year old, Ephraim, 3 one year olds and Selah. It was a crazy house. My friends were much more talented than I and designed trains for their boys. This is Eli's.
This is Thad's
Ephraim's. This is what you get when the non-engineer of the family starts building things. Good thing Ephraim doesn't care.

A weekend trip

2011-01-23T15:30:00.000-08:00

From December 12, 2010

We took a weekend trip to Leavenworth, WA with my cousins Dennis, Mindy and their two kids Jacob and Joelle. Michelle traveled up to Yakima and we met up with all them Saturday afternoon. I don't have any pictures from our time in Leavenworth, but we can't wait to go back. We were there for 5 hours and there was over a foot of snow on top of our car. Ephraim loved the snow and kept asking to go sledding. The lighting ceremony was awesome. We are planning to go back next winter and spend the night so we have some place to dry off. We then traveled to Dennis and Mindy's and spent the night.
Ephraim had a blast. He got to ride a tractor, a snowmobile and build a snowman.
Dennis and Ephraim riding the snow mobile.
"Driving"
Ephraim and Daddy.
Jacob and Joelle and Forrest and Ephraim.
Jacob.
Michelle and Ephraim building a snow man.
Ephraim and Joelle attacking Michelle.
Ephraim and a snow ball.
Ephraim and Murphy (their dog) watching from inside.

Finding a Tree

2011-01-23T15:20:00.000-08:00

From December 5th

This year Forrest and I went with a group of his friends to the National Forest to get our Christmas tree. I will admit that we were not very organized and it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I had envisioned us having a base camp, getting our trees and then having hot chocolate and hot dogs at base camp and playing in the snow. That didn't happen. Some of the people there were expecting there to be a bunch of Christmas tree farm trees at the top of a mountain and not wild, unpruned and unshaped trees. We did a lot of driving up and down the mountain, never set up base camp and it was super windy when we got our tree so we didn't spend a lot of time playing in the snow.

The kids did great in the car for the amount of time they spent in their seats. Poor Ephraim was hungry and tired and did not get enough time in the snow and conked out on our way home.
Our tree. We got it up the next night, but never got it decorated. Forrest is doing the lights. When I tried to help I was asked "what are you doing." Apparently I put lights on the tree wrong. It's fine by me, I enjoy watching my husband figure it out.
The kids loved the tree and we had the lights on all the time. When we took the tree down it had a total of 5 ornaments on it. Maybe next year we will actually get to decorate it.

Playing in Snow

2011-01-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

From November 21st

Right before Thanksgiving we were blessed with a bunch of snow. The night it came down Ephraim had a lot of fun throwing snowballs for Wallis. (It doesn't look like he is having fun in the picture - but trust me.)
Selah wanted to join in on the fun, but mean Mommy wouldn't let her.
The next morning Ephraim was appropriately dressed and we played outside.
Whee!!!

Sick Ephraim

2011-01-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

From November 4th, 2010

I feel like I need to preface this story. Sick has taken a whole new meaning with what is going on with Claire - so I kind of feel silly posting this. However, I am sticking to my rule of it happened and I have pictures, therefore I blog about it. I also apologize for the small size and picture quality - they are from my phone which has been dropped in the water at least twice.

After Halloween Ephraim started having diarrhea. Multiple times a day. On the 2nd of November I took him to the doctor's office. We were on day three of diarrhea, but I was most concerned that he had an ear infection on top of his stomach virus (he had goopy eyes - which in my kids is usually the tell-tale sign of an ear infection.) No ear infection and I was told to keep pushing fluids.

By nighttime on the third Ephraim started having bright green diarrhea. Craziest thing I have ever seen. After calling Colleen she said it was probably bile from his stomach being empty. Ephraim had pretty much stopped eating and I was trying my hardest to get him to drink Gatorade and eat Pedialyte popsicles.

I called the doctor's office early on the 4th - which also happened to be Forrest's 32nd birthday. Ephraim started the morning by having diarrhea that leaked all over our bed. I am by no means an alarmist when it comes to my kids and being sick - but enough was enough. My kid was pooping bile and even though we had just been in we went in that afternoon. Ephraim had 8 bouts of neon green diarrhea before we arrived. Our pediatrician decided that although Ephraim wasn't technically dehydrated enough to need an iv - he was dehydrated and Dr. Leclair thought that an iv would help Ephraim get over this faster. He sent us downstairs to the Urgent Care and talked to the doctor in charge about what he wanted.

The physician's assistant that we first saw didn't think Ephraim really needed an IV, but after he spoke with the doctor in charge Ephraim got one.
It wasn't until they were trying to get an iv in Ephraim that I really wished Forrest would have been there. It took three of us to do it. If you look at the above picture he has a bandage on his right hand. He was dehydrated enough that the iv wouldn't go into his right hand - she tried twice. Thankfully she was able to get it in his left hand. The gauze was so he wouldn't pull the IV out. I felt so bad for him as he was crying so hard while she was trying to prick him. Sweet Selah played with the trains I had brought on the floor and didn't really care that her brother was upset.
Ephraim calmed down after the IV was in and they gave him a popsicle. In the hour it took to get 240 ml in him he ate 7 popsicles.
Selah goofing around. She did really well considering we spent a total of five and half hours at both the doctors and Urgent care.
They sent us home even though Ephraim still hadn't had a wet diaper (he hadn't had one all day) with the expectation that he would soon with all the popsicle and fluid in him. He did while we ate dinner (Mommy went and got take out). I am so thankful that our doctor "prescribed" an IV even when Ephraim wasn't technically dehydrated enough. He didn't have another episode of diarrhea and was back to himself the next day. It was so nice to have my boy back. Although trying to get rid of his addiction to tv and juice from that week is whole other blog post.

The Cowardly Lion

2011-01-13T16:09:00.001-08:00

From October 31 2010,

When I asked Ephraim what he wanted to be for Halloween this year - I was expecting him to say Lightning McQueen or Mater. Instead he said a "lion, like sister." I was more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, the little miss was sick with an ear infection and refused to let me put her in her costume.
Ephraim liked running away and hiding from me.
We went to several neighbors houses. Ephraim never got enough courage to actually say "Trick or Treat" but he did say "thank you" and loved getting candy in his bucket.

Cruising...

2011-01-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

From October 28th,

How She Spends Her Time...

2011-01-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

From October 23rd

Escaping

2011-01-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

From October 13th

Thomasson Family Farm

2010-12-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

From October 12th,

Today we ventured out to Thomasson Family Farm. It is a great pumpkin patch in Enumclaw that we also visited last year. Last year Ephraim had a lot of fun. This year I think he enjoyed it more. The weather was beautiful and he just "gets it" more. It was fun to have him run to the horse and ask to climb on and ride it.

I had to convince him to climb off so that we could explore other activities.
The bubble wands were fun. Ephraim got really excited when he was able to make bubbles come out of the wand.
The rubber ducky station was by far the favorite though. He would line up as many duckies as he could and then pump as hard as his little arms would let him. He is still a little short to do it properly, but he sure tried!

We then went to the corn box. Ephraim was more adventurous this year and was jumping off of the bales and crashing.
Proof that Selah was there.
We ended our afternoon by riding the tractor.
It was the perfect fall afternoon and a great way to spend my 32nd birthday.

First Big Girl Bath

2010-12-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

From October 3rd,

With the newly acquired skill of sitting up, Selah had her first big girl bath.

This is now a part of our nightly routine and she and Ephraim LOVE it.

6 months

2010-12-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

Since Selah's 9 month appointment is this week... maybe I should write her 6 month update

From October 4th

Height:27 inches (81st percentile)

Weight: 21 pounds .2 ounces (99th percentile)

Head circumference: 16.75inches (42nd percentile)

There is no getting around this. The girl is big. Some (her mother) would call her gargantuan. The 99th percentile in weight is only because you can't go any higher. She is super strong and is very active. Sweet Selah has been crawling on her hands and knees for almost 3 weeks. She started to pull up to standing while we were in Wyoming and has perfected that move. In Wyoming she taught herself how to tripod and that quickly moved to sitting up. She never had any major falls backwards like her brother did.

Selah enjoys eating solids. I started her on rice cereal two weeks before she turned 6 months because she stopped sleeping through the night. She likes to eat her fruits and veggies mixed in with her cereal and not by themselves.

Selah loves her brother and wants to be right next to whatever it is he is doing. The majority of the time Ephraim loves it and it doesn't cause a lot of problems. She is usually smiling, but can get really mad if you leave her alone and she doesn't want to be. She snuggles, but only when she is tired - otherwise she wants to be on the move.

These next pictures happened after our doctor's appointment. I went downstairs to switch out the laundry, leaving Ephraim at the table coloring and Selah in the family room playing with toys. I found this...

Gotta love the posing.

Honoring

2010-12-04T22:11:00.000-08:00

From October 1st

My mom had a tree planted at the hospital in Jackson in honor of my dad and it seemed fitting to visit the tree on the third anniversary of his death. Forrest and I had not seen the tree and we wanted to make sure we did before we left. This plaque is on a rock right in front of the tree. You can click on the picture to make it easier to read.
The big kids in front of the tree.
All of us.
We were sad to end our time in Jackson, but real life was calling. Things that we enjoyed

~Forrest taking 2 weeks off in a row and not working a single day we were there. That has never happened

~Ephraim took a nap every day but one in Jackson and brought that habit back home with him.

~Getting to enjoy God's creation in warm 75 degree weather

~Both Forrest and I find Jackson refreshing and feel replenished when we are there

~watching cousins enjoy each other and get to know each other. Ephraim says whenever he sees a picture of Elisa or Sadie "me miss them". Me too buddy.

~I think that we saw almost everybody on our "list." Although we definitely did not get to spend enough time with all of them. You are all welcome to visit and stay with us anytime.

Our Last Full Day, Part 2

2010-12-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

From September 30th, continued...

After spending time with the Green family, we met up with Erik at his parents house in Kelly. These bison or (bison bison) as Sadie and Elisa would tell you (It's their scientific name) are on the way to Doug and Becky's house.

Colleen was sandwiched between Ephraim and Sadie. She started playing this game where they would tell her to "Go to sleep!" and she would flop forward. They would then yell "Wake up!" and hit her and she would sit back up. It brought lots of laughs and Ephraim still plays it.
Picture proof that Selah started to pull herself up at barely 6 months old.
Ephraim driving the Land Cruiser.
Doug and Becky live at the Teton Science School and this is the view from their house. (Sorry for the haze, there was a fire).
After a yummy dinner we went for a walk to the river.

The kids played in the water and threw rocks.

Sadie had just fallen down and was a little startled but came back up smiling.

My beautiful sister.
Erik.
Becky and Raina. Is there anything sweeter than knowing that your kids grandparents love them?
My handsome hubby. Do you see those eyes? No wonder I can't ever stay mad at him.
The view on the hike back.

Our Last Full Day, Part 1

2010-12-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

From September 30th

We (everyone but Erik) met up with the Green family up at Jackson Lake Lodge. On the way we pulled over at Oxbow Bend when we saw these two:
My mother-in-law loves moose and the first time we saw a moose on this trip I called her and rubbed it in. :) I didn't call her this time. Forrest, Colleen and I were trying to figure out how all of the photographers on the other side of the river got to where they are. It is hard to see, but they had on some gigantic lenses and I am guessing they got some great photos.
At the lodge we ordered some snacks and ate on the outside patio. There were some elk wandering around in the meadow.
Eating french fries and drinking apple juice.

We went on a very short hike up to the top of a small hill above the Lodge.
The group minus me. Thanks Green family for inviting us! We didn't get to hang out with you enough!

String Lake

2010-12-04T21:22:00.000-08:00

From September 29th

Today we went on a hike to String Lake. This has always been one of my favorite spots to hike. We probably only hiked a mile total, but I thoroughly enjoyed being outside on such a beautiful day.
I'm not sure what they are looking at, but I love that they are all bent over the same way.

The big kids all got down to their skivvies and played in the water.

The kids were all soaked and rode home in just pull ups. The girls don't wear them, but we didn't think it would be very comfortable to ride in a carseat naked.

A Trek to Idaho

2010-11-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

From September 28th

This morning I called our friends the Jacoby's and invited my family over for dinner. :) It was the only day that worked for us to see them, and thankfully they had no problem with having us over.

Colleen, Forrest and I had the kids nap in the car and drove to Grand Targhee in Alta, WY to go on a hike. The kids loved being able to sit in the chairlift (the resort is closed in the summer).

Our hike was not very long, but it was with some of my favorite people on a beautiful fall day. I don't know if you can get much better than that.

Elisa brought her own "journal" and markers to draw with. Ephraim and Sadie joined in.
I love aspen trees and they were starting to change colors.
We had to sit on the chairlift on our way back down.
There were 16 kids at Steve and Cindy's house.
Jaymie reading a story to his nephews.
Ephraim (the naked one) playing with Salim and Asher.
Thanks Steve and Cindy for letting us come over and invade and for feeding us with delicious hamburgers! We hope to see you soon!

Playing with Cousins

2010-11-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

We did a lot of playing in Wyoming. I think that both Colleen and I were very grateful that the three oldest played so well together. They hadn't seen each other since Christmas and they did great. There were very few squabbles in two weeks.

The two sweet babies just hung out with us and played with each others toys.

Every morning during the week Colleen does preschool with her girls. Since Ephraim and I have started to do preschool we just joined in with them. I think that typically Sadie pays better attention, but Ephraim was no help.
I like that in this picture you can see Colleen and Elisa working hard on her letters with the two hooligans wrestling over the chair behind them.
I have to show a picture of Ephraim in "his" Cubbies gear. Colleen is the Cubbies director at their church, so she let Ephraim join Elisa and Sadie and twenty other Cubbies both Mondays. Ephraim LOVED it. He wanted a bag just like them, he loved the vest and I think next year we will get him involved.

Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve

2010-11-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

From September 24th

On Friday we went to the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve in Grand Teton National Park. The preserve was donated to the park in 2007 - it used to be a cattle ranch. Colleen and a bunch of her friends have created a preschool group that does a different activity every Friday.

This picture doesn't show all of the kids. I think we are missing at least 4 or 5.
Checking out the pellets they had to look at.
Sadie talked intently to the park ranger.
We went on a short hike and split into two groups (older and younger). The preserve had a bunch of these cool backpacks that we could borrow. (Free to borrow, but have to leave your credit card in case you lose any). The backpacks had small journals, pencils, glue sticks, magnifying glass and binoculars. The younger kids loved wearing them, and the big kids really got into finding things and putting them in their journals.

Sadie. She is a ponderer and enjoys taking in God's creation. Ephraim loves to run. I was in charge of the two of them and Colleen went with Elisa. At one time Ephraim took off up the trail and Sadie was still behind me and there was a moment of panic - "which child do I go with?"
One of the waterfalls.
On the way home I made Colleen stop so I could take pictures of the bison. You can see Sleeping Indian in the background.

A Tea Party

2010-11-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

From September 23rd

From the moment I knew that we were going to Jackson and the boys were going to be gone over Colleen's birthday, I knew I wanted to do something for her 30th. Colleen wasn't quite sure. She doesn't like to be the center of attention. I attempted to find a balance between honoring Colleen's dislike of being the center of attention with my belief that 30 is a big deal and your friends should help you celebrate.

I came up with the idea of a tea party - something that the little girls would enjoy and wouldn't be filled with birthday banners. Since I don't live in Jackson I talked with my friend Jenn and she helped me come up with a date and time. Jenn then handed the coordinating to our friend Dancy, who is amazing. She is seriously had everything coordinated and I didn't have to worry about inviting anyone or figuring out food. She even did the decorations. All I came up with was a craft for the kids (which is a sore subject since I left my craft supplies in Washington)

Dancy came by while we were doing preschool and set up the adult tables. Complete with china tea sets.
Everyone brought food and we had two different food tables.
Our kids testing out the craft picnic table before the party really started.
The kids made little crowns. Here is princess Raina.
And her Royal Highness Selah.
12 mommas and 22 kiddos.
It was a beautiful day and I think everyone had fun. Including Colleen. :)

Colleen's Birthday

2010-11-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

From September 22

Today was Colleen's 30th birthday. We started off the morning with cinnamon rolls, opening presents and preschool. Colleen took the big kids for a bike ride down to their neighbor Patti's house while I stayed home with the little ones.
We then packed up the kids and drove to Jackson Lake Lodge. This picture is of Mt. Moran. Forrest proposed to me at the base of it.
We went for a short hike before we saw a thunder storm starting to roll in.
Colleen and her girls.
Me and my goofballs
Since our trip to the Lodge was cut short we went to the Visitor's Center in Moose. The kids are sitting on these screens that change every few minutes. I believe this one is a frozen creek, but there was also a running creek, skiing and leaves. They were fascinated.

After the Visitor's Center we met up with Colleen's mother in law, Becky at McDonalds for "Smiley Boxes" (happy meals). These smiley boxes come with 2 animal cracker type cookies. I think I should complain to the McDonald's by my house.

We then went home and Colleen blew out the candles on her cupcakes with a few helpers.

Library, Lunch and the Park

2010-11-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

From September 21

Tuesday morning was filled with preschool and then heading to the library for story time. We met up with Jenn, and some other friends of Colleen's.

Hayden and Elisa listening to the story.
After the library Colleen, Jenn, Becca and I took all of our kids to New York City Sub Shop for lunch. (That is a total of 9 kids). This is seriously the best sub shop ever. When I am pregnant I have cravings for this place. They have one in Hood River and 2 in the Bend area. If you live in Portland, you need to go.
The sub shop is across the street from a park so we headed there after lunch.
Elisa and Trinity. Trinity is the same age as Sadie, but thinks that she and Elisa are the same age.
Sadie.
After naps, look who taught herself how to sit up?
We went for a walk in the afternoon. I think this picture shows the size difference between the cousins. Selah outweighs sweet Raina by 3 pounds.
Pure sweetness.

The Museum

2010-11-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

From September 20

On Monday we did preschool in the morning and then headed to the National Wildlife Museum. They typically have an art class for preschoolers on Mondays but today they didn't. We played in the children's section for awhile and then ate lunch outside.
One of the cool statues outside of the museum.
Trinity. Her expression cracks me up.
Looking back towards town and Snow King.
My buddy eating an apple.

Game Creek

2010-11-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

From September 19

We started off the morning with a photo shoot before church. Aunt Shell sent this coordinating outfits with me for all of the kids to wear.
Isn't Elisa big holding the two babies?
That afternoon we went for a hike up Game Creek with my best friend Jenn and her two girls Trinity and Zoe. Selah spent most of the time riding in the chariot.

The big kids walking on the trail. Did I mention that it was 75 degrees almost every day we were in Jackson? It was great to get to wear our summer clothes a little bit longer.
Sadie, Trininty, Elisa, Ephraim, and Zoe

Hidden Falls

2010-11-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

Forrest and I took a 2 week trip to Jackson in September. He went hunting with Erik for the first week while Colleen and I held down the fort with 5 kids. The next week was relaxing and we did some hiking and visiting with friends.

From September 18th

Forrest and Erik left early this morning to go on their week long hunting trip with Erik's dad, Doug and his uncle Dave. Colleen had planned activities for us the week we were by ourselves and the first adventure was to hike up to hidden falls.

From the Jenny Lake parking lot you can take a boat over to the trailhead. Ephraim loves all things boat so he thought this part was a blast.
The hike is only about a mile. It is pretty steep at times and I was a bit worried about how the Arnold's would do with the elevation change (going from sea level to over 6000 feet can be hard) but we did great.
Colleen's good friend Addie joined us with her little girl. We got so many comments about how brave we were. My favorite came from the man who took this picture and called us "pioneer women".
Cousins.
Hidden falls.
Elisa and Ephraim ran most of the hike.
Huckleberries. There were just a few left on the branches and we had to eat them.
This park ranger was also picking huckleberries and shared some with the kids.
Beautiful fall colors (and cute kids)

Puyallup Fair

2010-10-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

From September 12

I love the Puyallup Fair and we have gone every year with Ephraim. This year it was a lot of fun to see how much more he understood.

Here he is milking the play cow.

Running around in the petting area. He was too timid to pet any animals, but he loved to look at them.
Riding down the big slide with Daddy.
Tractor!
He made me drive one too.

First Foods

2010-10-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

From September 9th

Since Selah has gotten so big and has stopped sleeping through the night, we decided to start her on solids before she was 6 months.

We tried rice cereal first (I am a bit of a rebel and refused to pump just so I could mix the cereal with breastmilk)

Food has been a hit. She loves her rice cereal and I am sure will enjoy other foods as well.

First Soccer Game

2010-10-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

From September 11th

I signed Ephraim up for 2 year old soccer. A little crazy, I know, but my kid loves balls and running.

Here is his team, the Little Tigers.
How Selah spent her time at the game.
Two year old soccer is pure chaos. Parents are encouraged to be on the field to help the kids (stay in bounds, kick the ball, etc) Since I was wearing Selah, Forrest got to be the lucky parent helper.
Kicking the ball.
Awhile ago Forrest taught Ephraim about fumbles in football and how to protect the ball. Ephraim didn't understand that a loose soccer ball is not considered a fumble.
The goals of the season are to have fun, learn how to not touch the ball with our hands, and to understand that we should kick the ball in the goal. We might need to work on the "no touching" rule.

A Trip to the Allergist

2010-10-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

From August 30th

Back in February, after I had stopped nursing Ephraim - I started to notice that he was having diarrhea. A lot. Most of the time it was everyday, sometimes more, occasionally less. I am by no means an alarmist, but I did think that there was something going on. It just didn't seem normal for my happy, otherwise healthy 2 year old to be having this issue. I wasn't worried about Ephraim being sick, but I did want to find out why this was going on and see if we could find a way to get it to stop. I deduced that it was most likely something he was eating and my thought was that if I can eliminate something from his diet that would make the diarrhea stop, we would do it. Ephraim didn't seem to be in any pain, but I also didn't think he would be able to verbalize any discomfort either. So I pushed the issue. After discussing with his pediatrician, we had him tested for celiac and in June we did 2 weeks of going gluten free to see if it made a difference. There were some slight improvements, but not enough to keep going with the diet. We consulted with the pediatrician again in July and he made a referral to an allergist and also ran several stool tests to make sure his body was absorbing everything correctly and that he didn't have any parasites.

At the end of August we had the appointment with the allergist. After listening to Ephraim's symptoms the allergist immediately said "it sounds like he is lactose intolerant." He decided to go ahead with the skin prick tests to make sure there wasn't anything else.

Ephraim was not at all happy about being pricked.
The one raised bump is histamine - the control to make sure his body is reacting.

Selah chilled in her carseat the whole time.

It has now been a month and a half since we took Ephraim off of dairy and the difference has been huge. He no longer has diarrhea. He will tell you that "cheese make a me sick" and doesn't get upset when I tell him he can't have something. It is very apparent if he does ingest something with milk. In Jackson he and Sadie switched milk glasses during dinner and he had a few sips before we caught it. The next day he had major diarrhea.

I am very relieved that it was a simple problem to fix. I am glad I was "right" about something going on with him. Throughout the whole process, I think a lot of people thought I was crazy - including my husband. Since Forrest doesn't change as many diapers as I do, he didn't see it as often as I did. At times I wondered if I was making things up, especially when Ephraim would have a bunch of diarrhea free days in a row. I am now glad that I was pushy with our pediatrician to get answers and followed through with my mommy gut feelings.

I have struggled with changing our menu(we ate a lot of cheese), but I know that it will get easier in time. I am learning how to cook with coconut oil instead of butter and Ephraim is learning how to like almond milk (we are avoiding soy due to its estrogen properties). I am hoping to get some questions answered the next time we see our pediatrician (will he grow out of this? what about yogurt? are there any cheeses he can eat?) but for now we will steer clear of all dairy for him.

Today I Choose...

2010-10-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

Today is the 3rd anniversary of my daddy's death. In full disclosure, I realize that what is right for me as I walk through this grief is not always right for others, including those in my own family. And that's okay... there is no right or wrong way to grieve. Knowing that, today I choose:
*to laugh often
*to drink a Coke with ice from a straw (and preferably a large cup) and let Ephraim sneak some like my dad used to let us
*to visit the memorial tree in honor of my dad at the hospital in Jackson
*to eat Banana Cream pie
*to remind my sister Michelle that Daddy would have rooted for the Pac-10 and NOT Boise State
*to snuggle Ephraim close and sweetly remember that my last conversation with my daddy was about Ephraim and how excited Daddy was to have another grandchild
*to kiss both of my kids and tell them their Boppa loves them
*to call my mom and tell her I love her
*to pray a prayer of thanksgiving as we drive by the place my Dad collapsed tonight for the EMT's that worked hard to try to save him
*to dance goofy just like Daddy did
*to kiss my husband deeply as a thank you for walking through this with me
*to cry freely if I want to
*to not feel guilty if I don't
*to hug Leeners and wish I could hug Ryan in Europe
*to remember my Daddy

Seafair

2010-08-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

From August 7th

One of Forrest's co-workers was turning 60 this weekend and decided to throw himself a birthday party. When Forrest first told me we were going to the party, he didn't tell me anything about it. As it turned out, the party was on Seafair weekend at the Oh Boy! Oberto house! In case you aren't from the Seattle area, Seafair is a big deal. The Oh Boy! Oberto house is right on Lake Washington with an amazing view of the H1 Unlimited races and the air show.

The only downside to the day was that it was cool and a little rainy so we were under tents all afternoon.

Ephraim sat with our friend Reshma to watch the air show. He would say "fly!fly!"

The Blue Angels are amazing. We have seen their show from the other far side of Lake Washington, but having them fly in formation right over our head was so cool!

Do you see the circle of air around the plane? It is pushing the sound barrier. So cool.

Selah enjoyed the festivities. I love her little raincoat and she has only been able to wear it once.
The I-90 bridge. (Just so you can see how close we were)

The hydroplane races. So stinking fast. They were averaging 130 miles per hour. The Oh Boy! Oberto boat. It won this heat and then ended up winning overall on Sunday.
The birthday boy.
Forrest and Ephraim watching the races. Ephraim kept saying "boat! ook it(look at)!"
Ephraim playing around under the tent. I am not sure that we will get the chance to see Seafair this close again, but I hope we do. It was so neat to see the races and the Blue Angels.

Anticipating September

2010-08-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

As I am trying to get caught up on posting about our summer (the Family Fun Center, SeaFair, and boating all need to be written) I am trying to get prepared for September. We have a lot of things going on in September. Ephraim is going to start potty training, he and I are going to do preschool 3 days a week, MOPS starts up, I am going off of sugar (trying to lose those last 5 pounds) and hopefully a trip to Wyoming. If it takes me a bit longer to get caught up on blogging - know that it is because I am enjoying these last few days of summer before a busy fall gets started.

Cooler Fun

2010-08-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

From August 3rd,

After spending the previous day on the boat, I had a cooler full of drinks and water in the kitchen. Ephraim took all the drinks out and proceeded to play in the water for about half an hour.

A Little Big...

2010-08-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

From August 3rd

We bought Ephraim a Britax Marathon at a great price and have loved it. It was my plan to keep my eye out for marathon deal for Selah too. One of my friends alerted me to the fabulous deal at FAO Schwartz for a Britax Boulevard and I couldn't pass it up. I paid 135 for this carseat and it is normally 329. It is basically a Marathon on steroids, with the extra padding. Hopefully Selah will enjoy it in a few months when we move her out of her infant carseat.

Tide Pools

2010-08-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

From August 1st,

We woke up, ate breakfast (delicious again), checked out of our hotel and went to the jetty to check out the tide pools. Ephraim had fun scrambling on the rocks and touching a star fish with Nana.
We overturned some rocks and found these little crabs.
Forrest picked on up for Ephraim to touch.
Ephraim was pretty sandy and needed to wash off with Nana's help.
We parted ways with my mom and went to the Brownlee's beach house for Hannah's birthday party. I took absolutely no pictures, but it was a lot of fun!

5 Months

2010-08-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Selah - At 5 months old:

~you can roll over from back to front. You have only rolled over from front to back once (July 31st to be exact - the same day you learned how to roll back to front).

~you no longer sleep through the night. We had a rough week once you learned how to roll but didn't like sleeping on your tummy, but now you like it. Mommy refuses to feed you until 4 AM, but you seem to like to wake up around 1. (and then 4 and are up for the day around 7)

~you want to be on your tummy all the time

~you have discovered your toes

~you have found your tongue (and make silly noises)

~your favorite person is your brother. Momma and Daddy are a close 2nd and 3rd

~you have developed a preference for Nuk pacifiers (which is fine, but Momma misplaced all of them yesterday and you threw a fit - don't worry, I bought more today)

~you love the boat

~You fight going down for naps, but still take 3. The first and third are about 45 minutes long and the middle one is around 2 hours if you don't get interrupted.

~you enjoy being carried

~you hate being left alone

~you eat every 2.5-3.5 hours

~you get called "Sister" way more than you get called "Selah"

~you are a very happy and easy baby. (You make momma want more and have daddy thinking about it - keep up the good work!)

Following the Brownlee's

2010-08-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

From July 31

After a short stop at our hotel to swim and see if the kids would take a nap (they didn't) we met up with the Brownlee's at their rental house for dinner.

Ephraim and Grace goofed around on the bar stools.
The Brownlee's were having family pictures taken by a friend at Twin Rocks so we tagged along. I was trying to get Ephraim to sit next to Selah, but he kept inching away from her.
Ephraim wanted to be with the Brownlee's (and probably would have gotten in the middle of their pictures) so we brought out the frisbee to keep him occupied.
We then followed the Brownlee's to the beach for some more pictures.

Ephraim loved the sand and finding sticks.
After pictures the Brownlees came to our hotel for some swimming (and eating - the kids put away a ton of pork sliders, crackers, cheese, and salami). Nana joined us right as we were getting out of the pool and we headed our separate ways for bedtime.

Tillamook Cheese Factory

2010-08-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

From July 31,

Next stop: The Tillamook Cheese Factory. They were packaging Pepper Jack and Ephraim thought it was pretty neat.
The cheese samples.
Ephraim has recently developed a love of cheese and really enjoyed the samples, until the last taste - pepper jack. He thought it was way too hot.
Selah sleeping thru lunch.
We of course had to have ice cream. Forrest got huckleberry, Ephraim got marionberry pie and I had French Silk.
I think you can tell that the ice cream was a hit!

Blue Heron Cheese

2010-08-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

From July 31,

Our next stop was the Blue Heron Cheese Factory. My main goal was to have Ephraim see the animals at their petting zoo. Ephraim had fallen asleep on the way there and when he woke up he immediately said "ook! Horse!" (They had horse rides, but they were way too expensive)
Checking out the sheep.

I think this is an alpaca, but I can't ever tell.
There was a little sheep in this pen that kept baa-ing. Ephraim would yell "more!" and then when the sheep did he would softly say "wow!"

Nehalem Bay Winery

2010-08-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

From July 31st

We headed out to the Oregon Coast for the weekend. Our friend Hannah was having her 30th birthday party at Rockaway Beach on Sunday and we decided to stay at the beach all weekend, rather than drive there and back home on Sunday. If you find yourself staying out by Rockaway Beach, the Garabaldi Inn and Suites is FANTASTIC! The food really makes it worth it. The breakfast was delicious, but the happy hour Pulled pork sliders were amazing. And they have an indoor pool. We arrived Friday night, but were ready to see the sights on Saturday morning.

First stop - Forrest and I headed out to the Nehalem Bay Winery. It was a beautiful drive from our hotel. We didn't know it, but they were having free tastings - perfect! Normally Forrest and I will buy one wine when we go tasting.
We bought six! And we could have bought several more, but decided our checkbook probably needed a break. All 6 wines are different. We love dessert wines and bought a reisling, a gewurztraminer, peach wine, blackberry wine, a muscat and a mead.
We have already enjoyed one and look forward to drinking the rest.

The River

2010-08-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

From July 18th

The Brownlee's and the Moody's came over in the afternoon for a little lunch, camping planning, and jumping in the river.

Ephraim loves Grace. LOVES her. He talks about her all the time. He always has fun playing with her.
Grace giving Ephraim a ride.
Ephraim struggling to give Grace a ride.
Merrick and Grace
Forrest and Ephraim
Ramie and Judson
Merrick doing a cartwheel into the river.
Sunbathing
Jump!
Hannah and I went in at the very end.

Indoor Picnic

2010-08-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

From July 15th

I have been working on recovering and painting our kitchen chairs. Our table and two chairs are from Forrest's college days and the other four chairs are from my college days. They don't match. My chairs are cushioned and have been taking quite the beating from our 2 year old. I painted the chairs white (I have 2 left to do) and recovered the cushions in a laminated cotton fabric. The spills don't sink in - it is fabulous. I only wish that I had done this 2 years ago.

While I was painting the kitchen table, I laid out a blanket and we had several indoor picnics. Ephraim thought it was pretty cool to be able to eat on the floor.
Four of the completed chairs.
This was also the day that Ephraim decided he liked sandwiches. Yummy PB&J!

Bubbles

2010-08-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

From July 14th

Ephraim has become obsessed with bubbles lately. So, we have been spending time outside blowing bubbles.
I know that I am posting a lot of pictures - but I love how seriously he takes blowing bubbles and how hard he tries...
even when he doesn't get any.

Headbands and Flowers

2010-08-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

From July 13th

Several times lately I have been asked how old my son is. Our friend Joani took compassion on us and sent us this adorable flower and headband.
Forrest thinks it might be a bit over the top...
but I think Selah is so cute she can pull anything off.

A New Toy

2010-08-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

From July 11

When I can't find Ephraim... this is the first place I look

4 Months

2010-08-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

From July 23
Weight: 17 lbs 6.6 ounces (98th percentile)

Height: 25.5 inches (88th percentile)

Head: right around 41 cm (close to 60th percentile)

Selah is our big, happy girl. She is super chubby, but is pretty proportional so she just looks older than she really is. I am going to have to move her into 9 months clothes, but am waiting until August 1st. I know it is silly, but it just seems crazy to me to have my 4 month old in 9 month clothing so I am waiting until she is 4 and a half months. That is much more reasonable. Selah is a great sleeper. She goes down around 8:30 and sleeps until 5, I feed her and then she and I sleep until around 7. She loves her brother and giggles the most when he is around. She can't roll over yet (in either direction). My theory is that she is so chubby that it is hard to move that much weight around. (The doctor thinks I am probably right). I kind of enjoy laying her down and not having to worry about her moving so I don't mind.

Selah is generally happy, but is becoming bored more quickly so I need to change her location more frequently. She gets mad if she is left by herself, but takes her brother loving her to death in stride. She is becoming good at getting her pacifier in and out of mouth and loves to grab things that are nearby. She is making more talking noises and Ephraim likes to tell her to "talk."

Naps... or the Lack Thereof

2010-08-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has read this blog knows that Ephraim has never been a good sleeper. You could say that he is a crappy sleeper. Naps have always been difficult, but since the addition of Selah, they are becoming rarer. Ephraim has always needed help to fall asleep - this is mostly his personality and a lot of my fault for not forcing him to learn. (Some people can handle the cry it out routine, but I am not one of them). Forrest and I have decided that I can battle with Ephraim to try and take a nap until around 2 (or when Selah wakes up from her after lunch nap) and then I can give up.

This has lead to many afternoon movies (to deter the whining that happens when he doesn't take a nap) and random falling asleep on the couch episodes.

Exhibit A: Ephraim had done a good job falling asleep but then woke up when the dog barked. I brought him downstairs, went back upstairs to get Selah and found this. He slept for another 2 hours.
Exhibit B: Ephraim fell asleep on the couch around 3PM after watching a movie.

Fun In the Pool

2010-08-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

From July 10

It has been hot lately and our house quickly becomes an inferno since we don't have any air conditioning. When Forrest got home from work we lathered up the kiddos in sunscreen and filled Ephraim's bouncy ball pit with water.
Selah spent some quality time in the shade.
Filling up the pit.
Ephraim loves the hose.
Running around with Daddy.

These next pictures are from when we connected the hose to the sprinkler.

Forrest demonstrating how to run through the water.
It is hard to see, but this is Ephraim running around the sprinkler and not getting wet.
So... Daddy had to pick him up and take him through it.

A Trip to Oregon

2010-07-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

Forrest had to work over the 4th of July weekend, so to get out of his hair (and not have me get annoyed with the fact that he was working on a holiday) the kids and I went to Oregon. We drove down Thursday afternoon and stayed with the Brownlees for a few days.

I got to babysit Claire while Merrick, Hannah and Grace took Grace to the allergist. I was quite proud of myself for getting Claire and Selah to sleep and then getting Ephraim and I in the shower. After naps I was able to get both babies dressed, but that was the end of my feeling accomplished. I fed Claire her cereal, while holding Selah, but the Brownlees came home to a destroyed living room because I was unable to keep Ephraim out of mischief. I don't think I accomplished much else the rest of the day after that.
These two little girls are exactly 17 weeks apart and are very close in size. It is going to be fun watching them grow up together.
Ephraim might have been in trouble when I took this photo.

On Saturday we met up with the Coleman's at the farmer's market, but I have no photographic evidence of our fun time. After Ephraim woke up from his nap, Hannah drew a race course for the kids to ride bikes in. Ephraim tried out the scooter and talked about "bikes, Gace" for days.

Saturday evening we traveled to my mom's house. My cousin Paige also came down for the weekend. It was too cold for me to get on the boat on Sunday, but Ephraim went for a ride while Michelle, Paige and some of Michelle's friends went wakeboarding.
On Monday we went shopping. Ephraim needed new shoes. He now wears an 8.5 (he was wearing size 7's. I knew I was pushing it, but didn't realize how badly I was squishing his toes.)
I also went a little crazy at Joann's. In my defense they were having a great sale and I had a 10% off coupon.
We traveled back home on Monday night. We had a great time, but were very happy to see Forrest.