February 27th

Hi Everyone.

It is almost four and the house is silent! That means, uh oh, Jens fell asleep during quiet time and I am too much of a wimp to wake him up. He really is a beast.

Saturday I went to a baby shower for my friend, Michelle. It was such a nice and smart shower! She is having her 4th baby and really didn't need any stuff, so instead we had breakfast and then cleaned her house while she stayed at a friend's. It was really fun and we were able to get a lot of work done for her. Service is always nice and makes everyone involved feel good. While I was gone and we were at their house, the Harrison kids came to our house to play. Jens loves having company!

In Jens news, he is a funny guy. Also this weekend we worked in the yard and the garage. Mike and I dug up two Oleander bushes in the backyard and Jens supervised us. The result is lots of loose dirt out back, perfect for digging in with diggers and dump trucks. Jens has been in the yard every day this week getting unspeakably dirty. I finally put a towel by the door, and he has to remove all layers of outer clothing before he comes in.

He has also decided that everything, including apples, tastes best with Ranch dressing.

Here he is with a little visitor. He is trying to pretend that he is still asleep.

Sylvie continues to be our little angel. I can't believe how fast she is growing and changing. Last night at 1:30am I heard her making noise and went in to check on her. She had rolled over! She was also wide awake. I ended up feeding her to help her settle back down--I hope that doesn't mess up our sleeping through the night thing. She has the 9 pm to 7 am thing down, and I will be really sad if a 1am feeding makes a return. I guess all of our tummy time practice is paying off.

She is starting to look like an older baby--not so new. And she is so delightfully squashy. And her skin is so smooth. And her smile is very cute. And she is working on figuring out a laugh.

We keep hoping she will figure out the thumb or finger thing, but it hasn't happened yet. This is unfortunate because she is TERRIBLE at keeping the pacifier in her mouth by herself.

This week was book club. We read Uglies, which is adolescent lit. It was a quick read and made me reflect on our consumer society. It is good to be reminded that the earth needs protection and that we should do our best to protect and preserve. It was especially relevant as I was cleaning the garage and looking at all of our STUFF.

Today Mike and I went on a field trip to the library with Jens's class. They are a cute little bunch. I wasn't very helpful as I spent most of the time wrangling Miss Sylvie, but Mike walked with the kids and read them books. Afterwords we went to lunch with Michelle--no Mike (her husband) as he was in a meeting. But he gets to go to lunch all of the time, so we were extra glad Michelle came and had lunch out. Mike wrangled Sylvie during lunch, which made it nice for me, too.

That is all of our news. Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Happy Girl

She is so sweet. At least, she is sweet when Mike or I hold her. She seems to be developing a preference for her parents already--I'm not sure how to encourage her to be more friendly towards strangers. She does love Natalie, though. A lot.

Clothing disclaimer: Mike put her in this onesie, which is why it is backwards. The wrists aren't snapped, well, because her wrists are too fat.

Look Alikes?

In spite of all the comments, I'm not sure that they look so much alike. What do you think?

February 20th

Hey everyone.

Mike enjoyed the seeing the tour. He even rode the light rail down town. It did take forever, though and he was gone all afternoon. He tried to take some pictures but that was making him miss out on really getting to see the race, so he stopped doing that. He did get one of Lance, though.

Mostly the first part of the week was taken up with Sylvie being sick. I also got a little cold, but mine was a very watered down version of hers. We stayed home Sunday to rest and are both feeling better.

My big project this week has been sucking this very blog into a book. I am organizing all of the 2008 entries and pictures and will have it printed soon. I want to proof read a couple of times, though, because I know I've got plenty of typos. I think it is going to turn out really neat and I am excited to see the final product.

Our big excitement of this week was having Kristin and Mati Johnson come stay with us. After a week of wind and rain, they brought us sunshine! They got here Wednesday and we spent the afternoon playing. We took the kids to the park and they had so much fun running around.

That night we left the ever brave Mike home with all of the kids, including Sylvie, and went out to dinner. It was such a treat for me! And the house was still standing when we got home. We walked in to see Mati and Jens, both talking on play telephones and sitting on couch cushions.

Thursday Kristin had the music makers experience with us and then we picked up sandwiches and went to the zoo park. There was more running and playing, topped off with a real treat--a train ride. Jens usually has a rule that we only ride the train with Daddy (that keeps us from dealing with requests to ride every time we go to the library) but we decided to extend the rule to "We only ride the train with Daddy or Mati." They loved it. Sylvie did, too.

That afternoon it was time for them to go back to Grandma's house. Before they could leave, however, Jens puked all over himself and the floor (too much excitement). I took off his clothes and sent him upstairs in his underwear to get dressed. Mati accompanied him and we soon heard lots of running, laughing, and screaming. After about ten minutes, I realized Sylvie was sleeping and they needed to be quiet. Kristin and I ran to the stairs in time to see Mati go streaking across the landing in her birthday suit. Jens followed right behind. Instead of putting on clothes, they had both removed ALL of them and were running around like crazy nuts. We laughed and laughed, then got the kids dressed and had to say goodbye. We certainly enjoyed our visit, though.

Last night after Costco pizza, Natalie came over and helped me, Sophia, and Ehryn make a "diaper cake" for Michelle's shower, which is tomorrow. It turned out very cute, and I hope that the shower will be really nice for Michelle.

That is all from our part of town--it has been a quiet week. I'll end with a photo of my tub of chub, who, incidentally went from 9 pm to 8:45 am last night. What a good girl! We had such a nice morning. I even managed to get a walk in and do some weeding. Sylvie has also started waving her arms on purpose to hit her toys and make them shake and jingle. She will sit in her exersaucer looking at the jingle cat for five good minutes. I don't know what it is about that cat--Jens loved it, too.

Don't laugh. I know you all are jealous of the hair AND the chin. Also, in real life it is very cute.

I tried to put up a video of Sylvie from earlier this week, but it didn't work. I will try again when Mike is around for tech support. Have a good week, everyone.

Big Boys

I came down this morning to see that Jens had helped himself to some cookie bars from last night as well as his V. Day candy.

"Mom," he said, "I had some treats."
"I can see that. We aren't supposed to have treats for breakfast."
"Well Mom, (sigh) that's what happens. That's what happens when boys get bigger."

Happy Valentine's Day!

We love you, our family and friends! We hope you have a wonderful day.

Of course, they couldn't both smile at the same time.

Valentine's Photo Shoot

For Valentine's Day I wanted to give Mike a picture of the three of us to put at work. Natalie came and took pictures for us and they turned out well. Jens is not the easiest to get pictures of, but we managed. Thank you, Natalie!

February 14th

Hi Everyone.

Aside from birthday parties, we have swung back into full gear here, or at least, that is what it feels like. I am realizing that even though we are doing about two thirds of the things we were doing before Sylvie arrived, somehow having an extra child in the mix makes it feel like we are doing twice as much. Saturday the washing machine broke. Let me tell you, with a 10 week old, that is akin to disaster! Then we went to our favorite shopping destination, Lowes. While we were there, Jens decided to ride under the cart. Then he decided to stick his fingers on the wheels. Then his finger got stuck and great sorrow ensued.

The owie was pretty bad and he cried a really long time. Fortunately, he was distracted by a trip to JP and Natalie's where Mike was setting up his computer for a nerd party.

Sunday I taught YW for the first time since Sylvie's arrival. I was really nervous about how it was going to go with Sylvie, but wonderful friend Janis volunteered to hold her for me and had her sleeping all through Relief Society. I really dressed her up Sunday, and I have to say she looked very, VERY cute.

Monday Jens had school off, so we played with friends. Tuesday Wendie picked Jens up and Mike and I went out for dinner with JP and Natalie. Sylvie tagged along and was quite good. Jens was so hard to take anywhere as a baby, so it was nice to make it through the meal and be able to enjoy it. I think we sat at our table for an hour and a half. Wednesday Natalie came over and helped me pull up juniper in the front yard. We filled up two huge garbage cans, but we still have lots to do. Also on Wednesday the washing machine repair man came. Our washer is still under some kind of warranty, but I thought it was just partial. Apparently it is full coverage. The repairman not only fixed it, he also fixed the horrible squealing noise that has scared so many of you, and it was all free. Hurray! I celebrated by washing clothes and playing Frets on Fire.

Thursday was music makers, our Valentine present photo shoot with Natalie and dinner at Costco, our favorite. Also, I put Sylvie in her jeans. They are so cute!

Friday I went to Jens's school for his Valentine party. It was fun--the kids were very excited and especially loved Sylvie. They all wanted to touch her and rushed the car seat as soon as I set it down. I held her for most of the party. Last night was a night of quiet for me--Jens and Mike went partying and I sat in silence for 45 minutes until Laura arrived. We watched a movie, heard the details of the party, and visited.

Today we are celebrating Valentine's Day by:

1. Sleeping in. We didn't wake up until 9:30 this morning. Jens got up just a few minutes before us. Sylvie was up at 7 but went right back to sleep. She is sick again--has a very sad cold and runny nose.
2. Pink, heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. Plus cards. And I let Jens have a sucker.
3. Mike is on his way downtown to watch the Prologue of The Tour of California. He is excited--all sorts of pro-racers are here including all the druggies who are allowed to return this season. (Basso, Landis, Hamilton) plus a veritable who's who of racing including the return of the great Lance. He was giddy as he left the house. I hope he will get a good view. They are doing time trials today, so he should be able to see each racer go by individually.
4. I am letting Jens watch a movie IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY. After last night he is tired, and I am tired, and a movie sounds great. He got Dinoco Chick Hicks for V Day, so he is watching Cars with his new car.
5. I am updating my long ignored blog. (ok, it has only been a week, but I have been updating so frequently that seems like a long time)
6. And hanging pictures.

Hope you all have a great one!

In Sylvie News

She is growing and growing! We did these pictures with Jens, and I still think it is fun to see the changes on a tummy scale. (Jens is on the left, the big pictures are Sylvie)

After her last doctor's appointment we decided to start helping her exercise on her tummy a little more. The doctor was not impressed with her inability to push up and balance on her elbows. We attribute that to her great weight, so we are doing some strength training with her now. At first she didn't like it so much,

but then we figured out that the key was no clothes and she would happily hang out for half an hour.

Birthdays

Lots of celebrations this week! Jens has been partying it up around here with two birthday parties. We also took a card and cookies to our dear friend Wendie. Jens did a pretty awesome drawing--at the bottom you can see Wendie, dancing in an airplane.

Next celebration was Oliver's party at a gymnastic place. There was a foam pit, trampoline, bounce house with a slide . . . Jens had a great time.

Last night was celebration 3 at a place called "Jump Sky High," which I had never heard of before. It is a place that has several big rooms where the floor is made entirely out of trampolines. The kids ran and jumped and had a great time, according to Mike, our birthday expert. I stayed home with Sylvie, and my friend Laura came over and kept me company. So it was a great night for everyone!

Jens says:

"I'm going to bring you cookies and candy canes because I'm Santa."

Sylvie Stats

Today Sylvie had her two month check and shots. Mike and I guessed she would weigh in around 14 pounds. We were both wrong. She has even outdone her brother on this one!

15 lbs. 3 ounces
24 inches
Totally off the charts.

Jens, on the other hand, was

14 lbs. 10 ounces (keep in mind, he started off 9 ounces heavier, too)
24 inches
95%

They do both have very fat chins in common, though.

One Last Birthday Note

For those of you wondering, the iPod DID miraculously turn on, and the steak and cake DID cheer Mike up. Also, the purple car was not the victim of foul play but rather needs a 1k new fuel injector. That car. Let's just say we have many regrets.

I like this picture because Sylvie looks so impressed.

Fire

Last night we had FHE about fire safety. Today Jens had a friend over and they were playing with his toy kitchen. He was the dad and she was the mom. Sadly, "baby sister" (who was imaginary) kept opening the oven and catching herself on fire. "Oh no!" Jens would shout. "Baby sister is on fire!" Good thing Jens knows how to "stop, drop, and roll."

Happy, Happy Birthday

Mike dear! Mike is 32 years old today, and Sylvie is 2 months old. We had a lovely and slow morning with a good breakfast and some birthday singing.

Sadly, in honor of Mike's birthday, the purple car decided not to start, forcing him to work from home for the morning. Mike arranged for the tow truck to come but decided to give it one more try, and what do you know? It started up. It almost made it to the shop before it stalled and refused to start again. The tow truck had to come and haul it the last (uphill) block. I am not sure what is wrong with it, but I am highly suspicious of foul play--our neighbor's car was also towed this morning. I am sure I will let you know what happens.

Mike got a game guitar to use for his "Frets of Fire" game, but it hasn't been installed yet, so he played with his keyboard for a captive audience.

Apparently today is not quite going Mike's way--he just let me know his iPod died at work. It has been a faithful companion these three years. Maybe it will have a miraculous healing like the purple car--just long enough for Mike to get most of what he needs off of it. Hopefully steak and carrot cake will ease his sorrows tonight!