Guess Who?

See that attractive young man in the back dressed as a hobo?

Yep.  That would be my husband.

Oh, and Aaron--you look stunning in your fiery cape.

(Thanks, Claudia--I stole this from your blog!)

Force Feeding

In a desperate bid to get Catherine to sleep longer at night (her longest chunk lately has been four hours.  Usually less.), we decided to start her on rice cereal.  I was nervous about how it would go down--she has NO interest in food, nor does she seem super hungry.  Except at night.

She did much better than expected.  And by that I mean she did much better than Seth did.  But poor Seth was a victim of  our first-time-parenthood and had to suffer through my attempts to make my own rice cereal.  Let's just say it was most definitely not smooth.  No wonder he wouldn't touch the stuff.

Anyway, Catherine did pretty darn well.  She didn't like it, but she was actually opening her mouth and swallowing.  Not just tonguing it all back out like I thought she would.

Poor girl.  She had no idea what was coming.

Trying to pry her mouth open.

She loved it.

Any by that I mean she hated it.

Take two.

Still not tempting.

Seth in the Bumbo.

He told us he wanted some rice cereal, too.  I was all for giving him a taste, but he quickly changed his mind.

Catherine, tell us how you really feel about solid food: 

Five Months

(modeling her ballerina dress from the Lunts)

At five months old, Her Royal Highness the Princess Sara Catherine is:

*Still in size 1 diapers (although as soon as this batch runs out, I'm forcing her into size two), but has graduated to 3-6 month clothing (once again, I kind of forced her into them because I was getting bored with 3 month clothes).

*Grabbing.  But not at my face and eyes, like Seth.  This girl is a clothing and hair grabber.

*The drooling has calmed down a little bit, thank heaven.

*She still has to be swaddled to fall asleep.  I tried leaving one arm out and she used it to pull out her pacifier and scratch her eye.  So...back to swaddling.

(Chewing on her blanket--a favorite pastime)

*We're still on the 'one good nap in the morning and several short naps in the afternoon' schedule.  Although today we were on the 'no good naps' schedule, which almost killed me.

*FINALLY going to bed somewhere between 7:30 and 8 pm.  Sometimes she'll wake up after 40 minutes thinking she's had a great nap, but more often than not lately she'll cry for a few minutes and then go back to sleep.

(Tummy Time!)

*She's been an absolute MONSTER at night.  I'm up nursing her every three hours.  If I'm lucky, she'll give me four hours.  She was better as a newborn!  I should probably start sleep training, but it's so much easier to just go feed her...

*She had her first taste of rice cereal today (my desperate attempt to get her to sleep longer at night).  She was not thrilled with it, but she did actually swallow quite a bit!  Tomorrow we'll try again when she's not exhausted and hungry.  Is she really old enough for solid food?!

*She love, love, loves her big brother.  She looks for him every morning when she wakes up and gives him the biggest smile.  He loves to go get her when she wakes up from naps--he'll jump in the crib next to her and I'll hear giggles and shrieks from both kids until I go get her.

(She does okay in the Bumbo right now.  Practice makes perfect, though!)

*Stranger anxiety is kicking in.  Not too badly, but more than with Seth (who had none.  Ever.).  She's usually okay unless she's tired or hungry.

*She's a professional toe-grabber.  She has both feet in her grasp for 90% of her awake time.

*Still no rolling over, although she will push up with her arms.  We do tummy time 2 or 3 times every day, but she's more interested in propelling herself forward than rolling over.

(Chewing on her Ariel doll.  Another favorite pastime).

*Not hearing any babbling, but her shrieks are quite impressive.  And when she gets really mad, her cries sound like, "met, met, met!" which is so pathetically cute.

*Still just a sweet, happy little bug.

I'm not even close to ready to think about six months.  This is going by so quickly...

PS--Me at 5 months?  Still shedding, but it's slowing down (I think).  My pants are all baggy on me now--I'm down below my norm.  But it's nothing like it was with Seth...  Generally I'm feeling pretty good.  I can talk about having another kid without freaking out (but not for a LONG TIME).  Seth just keeps asking me when I will have three babies.  I tell him not until Catherine is big like Seth...

This might just be my favorite picture in the entire world.

Gosh, my kids are adorable.

Why Not Drag it Out?

Seth's party was on July 9th.  His actual birthday was July 12th.  And, being the awesome parents we are, we didn't order his present from us until the night of the 11th.  So...Seth had a very extended birthday week.

Angelina wasn't able to come to Seth's birthday party, so she came over on his birthday for a mini party.  And they are both stripped down because the water table on our deck was very, very exciting that morning.

I shoved some candles into what was left of the cake and let Seth blow them out again.

He seemed much better with the idea when there weren't 30 people around watching him.

Between the two of them, they managed to blow out all the candles.

That night Seth opened his family gifts while Skyping with Grandpa Russell (and the Mikesells and Giles in the background).  Once again, he is a very, very spoiled young man.

That week was also Jon's big work party.  Seth had a blast on the giant blow-up slide--I had to lure him off with balloons or food.  Otherwise he would have spent the entire time on that slide.

Catherine, on the other hand, spent the entire time in her daddy's arms. 

Which is exactly where she prefers to be. 

A sleepy, happy princess. 

Unlike last year when it was so hot & humid we wanted to die, this year was GORGEOUS.

Temperatures in the mid-eighties and a nice breeze off the bay.  Perfect.

Orange hat, orange shirt, orange balloon.

And yes, I am perfectly aware of the fact that his hat is too small.

Seth on an MRAP (I'm sure that's the wrong acronym--Jon can fix it later)

After managing to keep him away from the cotton candy all afternoon, some woman walked down the line for balloons where we were standing and offered one to Seth.  He accepted graciously.

Post-cotton candy (and pre-naptime) face

He asked the balloon man for a sword.  Not a car, or a rocket, or a bear--a sword.  Nursery is rubbing off on him.

For his birthday gift from us, Jon wanted to get him something with 'guys'--meaning some action figures.  We're trying to expand his playtime to something beyond cars.

Jon found this castle on Ebay and decided this was just the thing.  Seth was so excited to open it: "It a castle! Like in Nursery!"  He immediately stuffed the turret full of cars, which is apparently what he does in Nursery every week...

But then I taught him how to cannonball the guys, and that was way cooler than stuffing cars in a turret.   

After we get his birthday Italian Ice from Rita's this weekend, I think we can call Seth's birthday officially over.  

Are You Still There?

I was looking back at some old blog posts and remembering...when people used to leave comments!  Even my boring posts got two or three--now I'm lucky to get that many!

I can't complain too much--my own commenting has dropped significantly.  I blame Google Reader and smartphones.

So what I want to know is, are you still there?  Even if you're not commenting, are you still reading?  If you are on the blog list on the left, then I'm reading yours (I don't get to you private blogs as often--sorry!).  If you're not on my list, leave me your address and I'll put it on.

Just wondering--sometimes I feel like my family & Adrian are the only ones who read this thing anymore!

The Party

I must be insane.  That's all I can figure when I realized we had over 15 children at Seth's party, plus parents and siblings.  This is what happens when you live too far from family--your friends get to substitute!

I was probably in a little over my head.  Besides Seth's cake, I had two other cakes to make that weekend.  One was a simple cake for a friend's daughter.  The other was a bridal shower cake that ended up being a lot more work than I originally anticipated.

Basically, what this meant was that by the time guests started showing up, I was still in the kitchen trying to make cute little star cake pops to match Seth's rocket cake (curse you, Wilton Candy Melts!).  My kitchen was a disaster and I had absolutely no makeup on.  No pretense here!

(I had big plans for these pops, but they were foiled by Wilton)

I think the party turned out well, despite a cake disaster the night before and my lack of a cute centerpiece (once again, curse you, Wilton Candy Melts!).  Yes, it was sheer chaos in our house, but I think they had fun.  We'll just skip the part where Seth turned to Jon and asked, "Birthday party all done?  Friends go home now?"  I promise he was much happier once we got everyone outside where we weren't all standing on top of each other.

Here was Seth's official guest list (minus Angelina, Victoria, Jack and Emma, who couldn't come):

Eliana

Lianna

Sierra & Brooklyn

Brandon, Nathan & Austin

Owen, Tessa & Everett

Garrett & Tristan

Brynn, Kennedy & Shea

Brie

Stryker & Hunter

Gabe

If you keep in mind that Brooklyn, Hunter & Austin are not much older than Catherine, it doesn't seem quite as crazy.  Right?  Okay, it was still crazy.

It was a simple party--as soon as the guests arrived, we set them to work on decorating their 'rockets' (2 liter soda bottles).  

Once all rockets were decorated, it was time for candles and cake: 

The rocket cake

(lemon cake with lemon/lime icing--obviously Jon & I chose the flavors)

It was supposed to be taller, but the bottom layer fell to pieces on me.

I think I salvaged it fairly well.

(Me, in my au natural glory)

Seth was not entirely sure he liked the candles.

Or all the people singing.

He didn't want any of his rocket cake.  

Just a cupcake and a hunk of fondant (gross).

Brandon, Stryker & Nathan enjoy their cupcakes

Opening his awesome gifts.

He is a very spoiled young man.

After gifts were opened, we headed outside to launch our rockets.  Since it was ridiculously hot & humid outside, I supplied the partygoers with waterguns and otter pops (which melted within minutes).

Tristan, Tessa & Brie watch the rockets

Aaron & Jon make a great flight crew

Hanging out in the shade

Seth retrieves his rocket

If you didn't watch the video posted previously, you should.  Our rocket launcher is AWESOME.

Seth wasn't entirely interested, but the 5-11 age group was VERY into it.  

Guess we can use it again here in a few years.

Once all rockets were launched, our guests headed home.  Garrett & Tristan stayed to play for a little bit, which made for a happy Seth (until Tristan tried to play with his new tractor.  Then it was fairly obvious that he had skipped his nap that day).

I did find one straggler after everyone else left that night.  

At first I thought it was the top of a strawberry or tomato, but no: 

Don't worry--I had Jon kill it.  

Because that's what we do to guests who overstay their welcome.

Thank you to all who came to celebrate Seth with us.  I apologize (again) for the chaos, but I hope you had as much fun as we did!  

(Many thanks to Katelyn, Eliana's big sister, who graciously took pictures for me so I could do everything else I needed to!)

Three Years Old

Dear Seth Man,

Part of me can't believe you've been in our lives for three years--how did it go by so quickly?  But another part of me can't believe you're ONLY three--you're so smart, so independent.  I actually had a freak-out moment yesterday thinking I needed to register you for kindergarten next year.  Thank heaven I still have two years before I have to deal with that!

Here are some things I want to remember about you at age three:

*The way you say your name: "Sech."  That's not even quite right--you have some strange Eastern European 'ch' sound going on...

*Your imagination is in high gear right now.  You spend a good chunk of the day being "Seth doggie/fish/car/etc." and addressing me as "Mommy doggie/fish/car/etc."

*Scripted conversations are a big hit right now, too.  Seth: "Say, 'Seth, what are you doing?'" Me: "Seth, what are you doing?"  Seth: "Nothing."  Repeat.

*You also like reversing roles.  You'll tell me "you the little boy and I the mommy" and then proceed to tell me to clean up or go to my room.  Which kind of makes me feel like a rotten parent, if that's what you think being a mommy consists of...

*Cars are still your absolute favorite.  Of course, now the cars are having conversations and living in family arrangements, but they're still the toy of choice.  We tried to supplement you with some animals and army men, but you pretty much just dump them into your dump truck and drive them around.

*You LOVE books.  Several times a day you try to lure me into your room to read to you.  You would be content to lay there and listen for hours.

*You also try to lure me into your room to play monster trucks.  That one just isn't as tempting for me.

*You are 100% potty trained, with the exception of nights.  You're even good for naps.  I love it!

*We're currently working on getting you to put on your shoes and pull up your pants/underwear after a bathroom run.  You know how to do it, you just choose not to.

*3T shirts, 2T pants (and those sometimes still fall off your skinny little waist), size 7 shoes.

*Things we hear a lot: "Why?"; "You play with me?";  "That's my fwavorite/that's not my fwavorite"; "I can get another present" (I need to record you saying this--you say it like it's something slightly scandalous); and, of course, "I don't want to!"

*Friends you ask about often: Brie, Angelina, Lianna, Ethan, Brynn & Tristan.

*You still have pacifiers for naps/bed.  Hoping to get rid of those sometime this year.

*You LOVE the waffle blankets.  All eight of them.  I have to sneak them into the laundry because you'll see them and pull them back out.

*You're still in full-on wimp mode.  Daddy tried to put on Veggietales for you the other day and you freaked out when the bully showed up.  Veggietales!  Basically you'll watching Signing Time & Blue's Clues.  Awesome.

*Current favorite activity?  Pulling out either Life or Monopoly and running around distributing money while saying, "I'm the money man."

*"Holy gosh!" --makes us laugh every time.

*Favorite foods: cottage cheese, bananas, plain rice/noodles, bread with sugar and cinnamon.  And, of course, any sweets you can get your hands on.  Fondant is your favorite (so, so gross).

*You've started singing songs to tunes.  You used to just chant the words, now I'm hearing some musicality.

*You also ask me to make up songs.  "Sing about the race cars crash."  "Sing about Baby Cafrin crying."  "Sing about the Lamanites fight the Nephites and take their stuff."  I'm getting really good at improvisation.

*You adore your baby sister.  You'll race me up the stairs to get her out of her crib.  You love making her laugh and piling her toys on top of her.  You're an awesome big brother.

*The first thing we hear from you in the morning is, "I want my chwocwat miwlk".  You insist that it be warmed up.  In fact, we've been warming up all your beverages since you were a baby.

*You play by yourself 95% of the day.  You're a very independent young man.

*In Nursery last week, your teacher announced that it was time for singing time.  You said, "No!  You can't sing, I'm sleeping" and proceeded to lay down on the floor.  Your leaders often find you  laying down under a table when you get overwhelmed (and with 25+ kids in the nursery, you get overwhelmed a lot).

*You love being in the tub.  Sometimes I'll just put you in there so I can fold laundry without you jumping on the piles.  You insist on bathing with 7 cups, several cars, and your crocodile.  Bubble bath is preferred, but not necessary.  And you still throw a fit every time we wash your hair.

*Anything is the past is "asterday".  Anything in the future is "tomorrow."  And you frequently try to tell me that Sunday is "not special" because you want to go play on the swings.

*It's been several months since you've woken us up in the middle of the night crying.  Not sure if it was the nightlight we put in or just a maturation of some type, but it's great to only have one kid waking us up at all hours of the night.

*Phone conversations with Daddy/Grandma/anyone last about ten seconds before you slip in, "I love you! Bye!" and push the phone back at me.

*We've instituted a nightly clean-up period, as well as introducing the Gunny Sack.  Most nights you do pretty well with cleaning up, but some nights you'll announce, "I'm yazy" and refuse to clean up.

*You know all your letters, numbers up to 12, and are starting to recognize some sounds.  When I hung up your birthday banner, you were so excited: "Look!  Two 'P' for 'poop's!"  Obviously Daddy was in charge of teaching the letter 'P'.

Seth man, I love you so much.  Being your mommy is the greatest job in the world.  I'm trying my best to make sure I take the time to play with you, to make you laugh every day.  Thank you for being so good, so obedient.  You make us look good!  I'm grateful for every day I have with you--they go by much too quickly.  Happy Birthday, Little Man!

The Fourth

For the 4th of July this year we were invited to our friends' house for a big potluck dinner and fireworks after.

And the people who brought enchiladas to the 4th of July potluck?  Yeah, that would be us.  

The enchiladas were a hit, but something else we brought was a bigger hit:

Our water rocket launcher.

We made it for Seth's birthday party, but Jon insisted we needed to 'test it out' at the party.

Guess what?  It works. 

I don't know who was more excited: the kids or their fathers...

All the kids watching the launches

 Seth loved the rockets, too, but for a much different reason:

...when the rocket was about to launch, all the kids would jump out of the playhouse and go try to catch it.  Which is when Seth would proceed to close the door...

...and the trapdoor, thus effectively locking all the other kids out and getting the place to himself.

He was pleased as punch with himself.

Doing poppers with Daddy

Somehow we ended up as the sparkler distribution center.

Good thing we had tons of sparklers left from last year...

Seth gets his sparkler

Not sure how he feels about it.

Catherine's first 4th of July

Doing some poppers at home since we opted out of real fireworks.

Daddy & Princess

(in her adorable outfit from Aunt Lori.  I might just be in love with those shorts.)