New Videos!

If you're on Facebook, you've already seen all the videos I linked to on the right sidebar. But, hey, I just watched them all again :-)

Also, I've just added a way for our blog readers to find my Instagram pictures (which doesn't make much difference to Facebook users, but I know there are some out there who will enjoy this)! The only kind of bummer is that you have to make your own Instagram account and then "follow" me. Hopefully it's not super annoying.

Sorry for the ridiculously short post after two months of silence. Summer is busy. This week is VBS at church. Last week Andrew was gone at camp with our high schoolers and I went up to visit the Santa Clarita Gilmores. In two weeks he's gone again to Mexico. So, summer is busy and I need to get to bed!

I wish I was this cool...

Or this cool...

But I'm pretty sure he is...

I love my family :-)

Alice in Wonderland

Love these adorable girls! More pictures of Halloween & October here.

Family Pictures

A very good friend of ours took family pictures for us. For the non-facebookers out there, you can check them out here. Though we did get a small handful of "good" ones, I think the bloopers are quite excellent. Thank you Lauren!

Twenty-two (Months)

It's very important when you're two months away from your second birthday to learn how to do things on your own. Alice actually discovered the importance of this before she was 22 months old, but it's really taking hold these days. This is how I found her after her nap last week. She was trying to take off her shirt. Clearly that was an unsuccessful attempt. It looks like she put her arm in the bottom and brought it out of the hole for her head. She didn't get the fact that she needs to remove her arm from the sleeve first. Sleeves are a bit much for her still.

She's also becoming proficient (ish) with using utensils. Here she was thoroughly enjoying her yogurt. I'm learning that it's best to remove her shirt (sometimes her pants as well), just so I don't freak out as much as she's learning. Is this a common strategy? I feel like the moms who leave the kids clothing on while they learn to feed themselves with utensils must have their own washer and dryer. It's just easier for me to have less food dried and crusty on her clothes. I must say, yogurt is actually fairly new-user-friendly when it comes to eating it with a spoon. Aside from the streak in her hair, she did a pretty good job keeping it generally in the same mouth-chest area.

Then of course we had a warm day and, smart mommy that I am, I decided Alice would LOVE to play in a bin of water on our balcony since we couldn't really go outside while Emma was napping. She had a blast. I filled our dish bin with water and gave her two plastic cups and her sand toys. Then I took pictures as she splashed around in it. I'm not really sure why, but it didn't occur to me that she'd dump it over her head and on herself. Seeing as how this is her favorite activity in the bathtub, it really should have dawned on me that this might happen. Eventually she picked up the whole bin and dumped it all over the place. In hindsight, that would have been a good "ending" time to her fun. Nope, I got her more water and then tried to bring her inside before she'd dumped all the water out. Bad move. Tantrum extraordinaire. Plus, it was lunch time and then nap time. She was ready for bed. But, we all survived.

Her new favorite toy is her pirate turtle sandbox, which we purchased off craigslist (ironically from a Biola grad) for $15. I call the turtle a pirate because, well, he's missing an eye. I think we might make an eye patch for him. Seems appropriate. Right now there's no sand in him, but that doesn't seem to bother Alice. We'll probably wait to get some sand until after we move in two and a half weeks!

Bunny trail... Yes, we're moving again. This will be our fifth apartment in five and a half years. Sigh. Moving is getting old. Hopefully we can stay at this one for a while. It's about a mile and a half down the street and we have some friends already living in the complex, which is really nice. We'll also save $300/month on rent, which is REALLY nice. The new apartment is a townhouse style, which means indoor stairs and first level entry! YAY! We've always lived on a second level apartment (I don't like having people above me), but it's a little harder to deal with when you have two little ones to carry up and down the stairs along with all the groceries. We'll also have a bigger patio where the sandbox should fit nicely. One bummer: no barbeques allowed. We're not sure what we'll do with ours yet, but I don't think we want to get rid of it.

Return from bunny trail... After we got the turtle (in Huntington Beach), we decided to have a picnic dinner on the beach. It was Emma's first trip to the beach. Not sure she was impressed, but her sister certainly was! It was pretty cold and getting late so we didn't stick around long, but we decided picnic dinners on the beach needed to happen more often... and earlier in the evening.

Last, but not least, more pictures of the aforementioned events have been uploaded to the web album. There's also an excellent album of Alice's Bows, which you should check out. We put EVERY bow in Alice's hair after her bath the other night. She really loves her bows. For those of you that may be inspired to purchase more bows because of this... Well, I probably can't stop you, but we don't need any more pink ones. Just saying.

p.s. Children don't understand this whole daylight savings adjustment. Alice has been "napping" (i.e. playing in her crib) for over an hour. Sounds like she might be close to napping soon...

Lazy Saturday

Some February pictures here if you haven't already seen them on Facebook. Love this one of Emma.

We're having a lovely "lazy" Saturday, which means we don't have much planned for the day. We went on a family walk this morning. Andrew's been busy this afternoon reading for his class. Alice & Emma are just finishing their naps. I got to shower.

Awesome. Day.

Phew...

Alice did go back to sleep this afternoon and then really woke up after two hours, like usual. Very thankful.

I added some pictures to our web album from the Christmas season. Here's one that didn't make it onto an album yet. She's so put together. Such a classy young lady. So much potential. That's my girl!

Small Miracles

At this very moment a miracle is happening in our apartment. The first miracle happened about two hours ago when Alice pointed to her crib after a short 5 minutes of rocking/singing with mommy, indicating that she wanted to lie down in there. Whoa. I put her down, she was awake. As I listened to her over the monitor, she settled herself and fell asleep after less than 10 minutes. Yes, that was miracle number one.

Miracle number two is still in process. She's... still... asleep... TWO HOURS LATER!!! After three and a half weeks of bad naps I am SO thankful for this one day. I don't know how long she'll sleep. I don't know if she'll do this again tomorrow. I don't know if this is a result of bad naps on Saturday and Sunday. Frankly, I could care less what caused this excellent nap. I still haven't heard a peep from her. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

We also had another doctor appointment this morning and little Emma's heartbeat sounded good and strong. She kicked the machine several times, but everything is right on track. Alice really doesn't like it when mommy lays down on the table so we can hear Emma. She sat next to me on the table today and it helped a little. Funny girl. I asked about making a Christmas (driving) trip and the doctor said he'd give us the okay as it gets closer, but I'll probably be fine.

Speaking of Alice... She just started making noises. Wow. That was just over two hours. She's not crying, but making happy noises. YAY!! Miracle number three.

Here are some updated pictures for those of you who haven't seen them on Facebook. And of course, a really excellent family picture. Because every woman who is decently pregnant around Halloween should have a jack-o-lantern shirt and carve a pumpkin to match.

Octoberness

Alice finished lunch just after 12:30 and went down for her nap around 12:40. She fell asleep at about 2:10 after I went in there (for the second time) and scratched her back/arms/feet until she fell asleep. I also went in with Tylenol. I'm pretty sure she's about to get like 10 teeth. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but she's been super crazy for the past two weeks. Not once has she taken a 2 hour nap. Most days it's more like 50-80 minutes. Then she's basically a disaster for the rest of the day, wanting me to pay complete attention to her at all times. "No, you can't prepare dinner! No, you can't use the bathroom! No, you can't clean up after me!" Bummer for me. She's been crying a LOT. Makes me appreciate the fact that she's normally a very easy-going, calm and cheerful girl. I've also begun allergy season, which makes me more exhausted than the normal pregnant-tired. I wonder if Alice has been bothered by allergies too, but it's hard to tell since she has recently discovered what tissues are and would be thrilled to use one every five minutes throughout the day.

We did make a trip up to Santa Clarita to visit Grandpa, Grandma and Alice's two uncles. I think Alice's favorite part was the pool Grandma got for her. It was pretty fun watching her play in it. We also made a trip to a baby consignment store. They had two large final clearance dollar racks and were having a special "Buy 10 items, get 10 items free" sale. I totally scored. Alice has some pants now for the cooler weather and a few more long sleeved shirts. YAY!

Here's a slideshow of October pics.


And you'll never guess who just woke up. Maybe she'll fall back to sleep...

Where Did the Nap Go?

Seems like I'm getting bigger by the second. Okay, that's probably an exaggeration. At our last doctor appointment (Monday) I was measuring right on the money: 27 weeks. I really don't remember when I started to measure bigger for Alice, but I'm thankful that Emma seems to be sticking to the charts so far. She still could become a moose baby... Our next appointment is in three weeks and then we'll start the every two week visits. Whoa. I can't believe we're already this close to her arrival. Actually, it really hit me the other day that we're having another baby. We're going to have two babies under age two.

Alice seems to be making steps toward potty training, though it's a bit hard determining whether she's pointing at her diaper because she has to pee, she just went pee, she has to toot, she has to poop... or some other reason that I've yet to figure out. If Alice had her way, she'd get a diaper change about 15 times a day, even if the diaper had next to nothing in it. She'll point and grunt at her changing pad and then her diaper and pat the changing pad and grunt. So funny. We're currently working on getting her to use words. Most of the time she just points or grunts or says animal sounds, though she definitely has "ma-ma", "duck" (duh), "tug-tug" (from a book), and "hot." She gave up on "da-da" and "da-dee" which she used to say exclusively. The last two days when I ask her to say "da-da" she says "na-na." Not really sure where that came from, but she does seem to be associating "na-na" with her daddy.

She also hasn't been napping real well for about a week now. The longest nap she's taken has been about 1 1/2 hours when it used to be up to 3 1/2 hours. Bummer for me, but I think she's getting more teeth. She's got all 8 in the front so now I'm expecting molars or canines... right? Something like that. I'm just hoping that these short naps are not indicative of a new habit. We shall see.

Alright, I've got lots to do before she wakes up from her probably too-short nap. Dude. She just started making noises after I finished typing that line. It's been 45 minutes. Seriously. Done. With. Lame. Naps. Off to dishes. Oh, and here's Alice playing with some friends in the nursery at church and at the birthday party of one of those girls.

Words

I can't believe it's already September 20. Sorry for the lack of posting these past couple weeks. Apparently being under the weather sucks out of me any desire to blog. I think we're all mostly better now, with a lingering cough or runny nose here and there.

In the last couple days Alice has started to really try to say words. For about the past week she's been making animal noises and before that was particularly interested in the different parts of her face. The cutest and most recent word she's been attempting is "Amen" which sounds more like "ah-nnn." Unfortunately, she's camera shy and I haven't been able to capture ANYthing on video. Most of her performing happens when it's just Mommy & her. Even with Daddy around she gets a little shy at times. I've seriously considered hiding a camera some time and letting it run. Surely I could capture something then...

But did you know that a cow says "buuuuu" and a dog grunts twice and a cat says "mah" and a monkey makes a high pitched "AH" sound? The animal she's closest to the actual sound is a sheep "baaa" and that's stinkin cute. She also does a horse noise that's pretty good and a bear "BAAH!"

Parts of her face & body that she knows: eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, lips, cheeks (some times), chin, ears, hair, hands, knees, and feet. If you ask her "Alice, where is your nose?" She'll usually point to hers and then yours and probably anyone else around who's listening. The same goes with ears and eyes and sometimes a few of the others. When you ask about her mouth she opens it wide and squints her eyes a little. Her tongue is stuck out of her mouth when requested and she runs her fingers over her lips and says "bbbb" when you ask about those.

I know I'm biased, but does every parent think their child is THIS cute???

Oh, and you can find more pictures from the month of September (granted, not that many) on the web album or click here.

Last Days of Summer

In honor of the last days of summer before school starts (on Wednesday) for my hard-working husband, clouds on the blog seemed appropriate for a few days. After that, you'll have to stop by and see what NEW and EXCITING theme we have for the start of the school year.

Tonight we went to Red Lobster for dinner with a coupon and a gift card (REALLY excellent). I got snow crab legs and a shrimp skewer. Crab is delicious. It reminds me of lobster, although is much harder for me to work with. Maybe I'm just more accustomed with how to get the meat out of a lobster, having watched it my whole childhood. I guess I'll just need more practice. Anyone want to take us to Red Lobster?? We're ALWAYS up for it :-D

Tomorrow Andrew/Happy preaches for the second week in a row at church during the morning service while our senior pastor & family are on vacation. Tomorrow's passage is Mark 8:1-21. Last week was really good, even though he preached for nearly an hour. Didn't feel that long at the time :-) If you think of it, I know he'd appreciate prayers. In fact, he's at church right now preparing notes to be inserted into the bulletin and he's been a little longer than I would have expected... Could mean issues.... Hopefully not!

Monday marks 19 weeks pregnant for me and I'm just (sort of) starting to feel mostly good. My appetite seems to be coming back, which is nice. Up to this point food has mainly been something I have to choke down because I need to. Not that it's been coming back up (no actual "morning sickness" with this little guy), but nothing sounds good. Ever. Or, nothing WAS sounding good. But I'm definitely not at the point where I'm hungry all the time, which is fine by me!

Monday is also our official ultrasound where they do lots of measurements and the gender is revealed or, in our case, confirmed. They'll probably confirm the due date (Jan. 16) as well, though up to this point everything seems to be on target for mid-January.... and another moose baby. Alice was 8 lbs 14 oz. I'm really hoping that by some miracle the next one will be a little less monstrous. Not that I'm expecting it, but I can hope.

Just for good measure, here are some Alice pictures of the spaghetti hat video that's on facebook. If you haven't seen it, you should :-)

The Nursery (Take 2)

As I was going through Caleb's clothing (well, really it's Alice's gender neutral clothing that she's handing down to her brother) again today, it occurred to me that I don't remember this eager anticipation feeling with Alice. Perhaps there was more fear of the unknown with her arrival... maybe with the overshadowing of going back to work after maternity leave... not to mention nursing for the first time... Anyway, I've had some MAJOR nesting "symptoms," if that's what you call it. The latest was the purchase of a glider with matching ottoman from craigslist. I decided it would be good to have since I had been standing and rocking Alice to bed at night. As she is now around 25lbs and my belly is getting more and more prominent (had a stranger ask me today if I was expecting #2), holding her like that is HARD. Sitting and rocking with her is easier.

All that to say, we made the purchase on Saturday and I spent the rest of the day moving around and redecorating Alice's/soon-to-be also Caleb's room. I'm such a dork. I was most proud of myself for not purchasing anything new (aside from the obvious chair & ottoman) in my redecorating. Not to mention, the blanket my mom knit for Alice (which I LOVE) is now out in plain view, along with the beautiful quilt made by a very talented lady in my church (which I also LOVE). I then spent much of Monday sorting all of Alice's baby clothes and reorganizing her closet. The nursery is ready. Now I just need another baby to add to it!

Alice Finds Her Ear

 For lunch today Alice decided when she was finished with her cheese that the last piece fit quite nicely inside her right ear. Of course, we had to get a picture. Needless to say, that piece of cheese went in the trash.

Pictures!

This is me and my beautiful wife at some friends' recent wedding. Click here and here and here and here to see many more, including a lot of pictures of the little person you really want to see!

New Pictures

Check out Web Album 2 on the sidebar to see updated pictures from Amy's dad's and wife Belen's California visit!

Meanwhile, In Garden Grove . . .

First things first, there are hundreds of new photos (mostly of Alice!) if you just click the link to Web Album 2 on the right side of the page.

Last night, Amy and Alice and I visited our friends Jacob and Sarah Ailes in the hospital and got to see and hold their baby girl, Lucy Amanda Ailes. Sarah's blog details the meaning of Lucy's name, which I think is very thoughtful. That, and I'm a Narnia fan!

October is a busy month. This Friday is our "dateiversary" and we'll be celebrating six years since we started dating/courting/going out/"liking" each other. It's a surprise to Amy where we'll be going, but it's going to be a blast!

I have an exam on Wednesday and one on Thursday.

On Sunday I have a missions team meeting after church on Sunday and then we have a youth fellowship night that evening.

Next Wednesday I fly up to Oakland to help move my 86-year-old grandpa move out of the house he bought in 1954. It's time for grandpa to move to an assisted living place across town from my parents. It will be a bittersweet time as a lot of family says goodbye to the home Grandpa raised a family in. I'll be driving home on Saturday. Amy and Alice will meet us in Santa Clarita so that Grandpa can meet his great-granddaughter.

Then, on Reformation Weekend (Oct. 29-31), we'll be in Santa Maria celebrating my maternal grandmother's 75th birthday.

Phew! A lot's going on, but God is gracious in supplying strength and his power is made perfect in weakness. Amy continues to work hard at Pan-Pacific and I'm working at church and going to school full time. Alice is growing up so fast and we're amazed at her alertness. She brings lots of laughter and joy into our lives.

So often I'll see something while driving and think, "I should totally blog about that!" only to forget about it until I'm going to bed or before class or before church. Maybe some day soon I'll stop and blog about one of those things.

Growth Spurt

Alice has been going through another growth spurt over the last several days. Today it seems like she's really heavy. I think yesterday she felt heavy, but today she feels particularly heavy. Weird how she grows so much in such a short time. Her next doctor appointment is Tuesday so we'll find out how much she's gained since her two month check up. In the meantime, here is a picture of Alice today at work :-)

Daddy-Daughter Day the Fourth!

Today was another Daddy-Daughter Day, and a pretty successful one methinks. Of course, when your almost-three month old daughter is wearing her Cal onesie (thanks Grandma!), it's automatically a great start!

Alice slept really well and we had some good play time before and after her meals. In the afternoon, she guzzled almost seven ounces of milk and then slept for almost three hours. This allowed me to read a bunch today and with school coming in two weeks, this was very much appreciated.

Go here to see more pics!

Daddy-Daughter Day Dos

Try saying that 10 times fast!

Today was my second Monday watching Alice. Pan-Pacific Plumbing has been very gracious in providing a nanny three days a week in the same building that Amy works in. Those days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Fridays are days where various people in our church watch Alice and Mondays are all mine!

Alice hadn't eaten from a bottle for five days, so I was a little scared she wouldn't drink from the bottle and just cry all day. She wasn't as voracious as she was two weeks ago during our first Daddy-Daughter Day, but she did pretty well nonetheless. I had her at my office at church for about three hours and she did just as well there as at home.

Per my grandmother's request, I've uploaded a bunch of pictures to our web albums, which you can access here. I'll also be posting some of the many videos that we've taken recently. Enjoy!