New Friends and Happy Dads

Happy Father's Day! I wanted to do some special things for Jason this year - so we bought t-shirts from Michael's and wrote things like "My Dad Rocks!" and "My Dad is the Best!" and "I Love My Dad!" so the kids could wear them to church this morning and surprise Jason. They made him little cards and we made up a song to sing to him (but I'm the only one who really ended up singing the song). We wanted to make him breakfast in bed, but we're out of eggs, flour, and jelly. So - we made him toast - but he was already out of bed. When Aurelia woke up she was so bummed that he was already up. She asked me "did we already make him breakfast?" because she thought she had slept in "so late." It was only 7:15!

Other news this week - some doggie friends from the neighborhood came to visit. Our front door was open to let in the cool air while we ate lunch and two goofy dogs came sniffing around so the kids ate outside and visited for a while. Ezra really liked the black and white dog. The next day they wanted to leave the door open again for the dogs, but the dogs didn't come back - so sad.

I got some great grins from Oliver He's such a sweet little heifer. He's in the 90th percentile for height at 24 1/2 inches and in the 95th percentile for weight at 15.5 official pounds. Yowza! He's sleeping better through the night for me at almost 6-7 hours at a stretch between his nine o'clock meal and his early morning meal so if I could just get to bed early I'd be in good shape!

Mima took us to Chuck E Cheese's (it's so close!) for a "goodbye" party. She leaves Monday for Montana (*waaaahhh*) so we'll be without for a month. Ezra enjoyed his candy prize and Aurelia picked out a hook and some pirate treasure with her tickets. We've been watching Peter Pan lately and making a lot of treasure maps so these prizes worked out great for us.

We stayed cool by misting the trampoline and other than that - we're just trying to stay busy and happy -- you do the same!

Paint fumes clogging my brain

Yup - we painted this week - wait, we? I meant me. I painted Aurelia/Ezra's room this week in anticipation of moving Ezra and Aurelia in together and putting Oliver in his own room. Jason brings home so much paint that can't be dumped in liquid state that I had many color options -- well, not really. I wanted some kid colors and the blue I picked turned out to be a greyish/black - but Ezra said that it's "beautiful" and Aurelia liked it to so we went with it. Then I painted a purple stripe above to make it a little less "gothic." We had to paint over the princess but since no one (except me) was much attached to her, she went under. It took about three days since I could only paint during naps while Ezra was not around. Aurelia helped paint a bit too and feels pride at her work on her room. We rearranged too, to fit Ezra's toddler bed in. A & E slept in E's room while I painted and they had much fun talking and laughing for at least an hour before sleeping each night - it was fun to listen to them interact in that way.

What else? We had "Daddy Mark" over for dinner on Tuesday and he brought presents for the kids. Here's Aurelia with the crafts she made with her new cutting system.

And . . . here are pictures of Aurelia during the time she spent with Grama Sama and Uncle Richie on Saturday while I was at a MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) planning meeting. Ezra spent the day sucessfully with my friend, Lindsey's husband and daughter, Josh and Madelyn - I hope I spelled that right) and Aurelia spent the day with my Aunt and Uncle. They got BLUE slurpies, fed the geese and collected feathers! So much fun!

Here's Oliver. He's up to 15.5 pounds now - getting hefty. Ezra's at 25.5 and Aurelia's at 35. Almost ten pounds off from each other. Weird.

Ezra's new skill nose picking.

So that's pretty much it : )

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a great week, ya'll! We had a fun BBQ on Monday with family and friends - we ate good, played in the sprinklers, jumped on the trampoline and rested much! Jason had Tuesday off so we got to hang out with "daddy" and run some errands. Friday was my birthday and I got so many calls and songs and some presents and one FANTASTIC letter from one of my bestest friends which totally made my day *thanks, Erin!!* so I felt super special and loved. Mostly, it was unexpected (all the love) so that's what made it an extra special day. Plus, Jason quit work early and came home with TWO bouquets of flowers, and got dressed up, and took us all out to dinner (can you say "chila quiles" from Los 3 Amigos? YUM!) Saturday, Aurelia, Mima and I went to the Walnut Creek Rep's ballet of Sleeping Beauty. It was interesting to see how involved Aurelia got with the music and dancing. She just couldn't keep still! Ezra spent the day (by himself -- a first!!) with Aunt Kitty, Uncle Dusty, Lily and Isaac -- and he did REALLY well! He actually took a nap! Whoa! Which is good news because next weekend is the MOPs planning retreat and he'll be spending one day without Aurelia at a friend's house. anywho - that's the long and the short of it. Here're the photos!

Aunty Becky showing off her "moves" on the trampoline

Jason and gramps talking

Ezra, Lily and Aurelia having "high times"

Aunty Kitty and Isaac

Gramps and the newest "monster"

Oliver putting on the charms

My birthday roses

Mima and Reia checking out the program

And they lived happily ever after . . .

Mud, Flies and Disguises

We moved rock from our dead flower bed and plowed up the dirt so we could plant zuchinni, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes and snapdragons. Aurelia and Ezra played in the mud and got "messy!" They had a great time getting clean again too!
Aurelia found a new "friend." She named him Fred and actually carried him around for over four hours. She dropped him a few times, but found him again quickly and she kept telling me what an "unusual" girl she was to be hanging out with a fly because "girls don't usually do that." Well, flies don't usually hang around with little girls either, but I guess poor Fred was dying and just wanted some company. Eventually she dropped him and didn't look for him again. When I asked about him she found him and he was dead. Poor Fred. My ever-sympathetic girl *snort* just put him outside. No tears and no kisses. (Thankfully!)
But who's this? The same mustachioed man or three different men?? Jason took us to Chuck E. Cheese's to play because he has been working so much and decided that he needed to spend some fun time with the kids. We DID have fun and this "disguise" is what Aurelia chose to get with her tickets. I really had to beg Ezra to let me hold the glasses to his face for the photo. He really didn't want to wear them. Oliver had no choice, and Aurelia looks like my dad with glasses and a cigarette. Funny.

My little princess asked me to take some photos that she posed herself for. I have more. . .she just turned on the ham and started baking. Of course, I think she's the prettiest little girl in the whole wide world . . . unbiased mother that I am.

And now presenting some true cuteness. . .Oliver's cooing. Enjoy.

In other news, Jason bought a trailer this week so he could just get up and go to work instead of driving all over creation just to find one that he could borrow for each day - so that's good, and we're looking forward to seeing family tomorrow and BBQing, and the FAIR on Thursday - free from 12-3!! We're going to buy some honey and see the cows! Havea good one!

Recovery

Wow - has it been HOT or what? This week, after we recovered a bit from the illness (Jason enjoyed his turn on Sunday and I enjoyed my version on Monday -- Oliver being the only one who escaped it -- YAY) we tried to stay cool and keep occupied so we wouldn't get stir-crazy.

On Monday Ezra found a poster in sissy's paper drawer so they colored while Oliver "watched."

We went to our friends, Julietta and Sarah's, house to play in their newly filled sandbox and swing on their playset on Tuesday. That's Sarah in the picture. We call her "Mei-Mei," which means "little sister" in Chinese, when we are together so we don't get confused.

On Wednesday we put up the cardboard (found in between the layers of cans and stuff at Costco) and painted. I can't post the close-ups because Aurelia has no shirt on! But, they both really enjoyed painting. Oliver and I hung out underneath the trampoline - it was much cooler under there.

By Friday we were just lying around listlessly, uncreative and bored. Even with the AC on (set at 82 -- we're doing our part!) it was just too hot to even wear any cute clothes! Not to mention the fact that at six weeks Oliver's already in 3-6 month clothes. He's really packing on the weight!

Oliver has really bonded with Aurelia. He smiles when he sees her and coos at her. She's getting really good and holding and lifting him up, rolling him over and supporting his neck, so she can kiss him and play with him. She's really helpful too when I'm trying to make dinner. Ezra loves to kiss Oliver and bring him toys, but he's having a hard time with all the time I have to spend feeding and holding him. I think he's finally realized that Oliver is a permanent fixture in our home. He still wants me to do everything for him too and doesn't want Jason's help, unless Jason has something to eat or is going to take Ezra for a ride in the "big truck!"

Here's a funny little story about Ezra - he's really learning that he's got some clout and he tries to push us around by yelling, screaming and refusing to obey (well, he IS two!) Yesterday we were really working at him to say "no, THANKYOU" instead of just "nope" when he doesn't want something. Finally, in tears, he says to Jason, "No Ezra say 'no, thank you." and "Ezra be boss." WOW - I'm so glad he's most of the time an easy going kid. I can't imagine having to struggle with him every moment of every day, and of course, he's the most easy going when he's getting his way. "Lord, help us!"

Shades of Bile

Happy Mother's Day! That's what I told myself, tongue in cheek, this morning at 12:12AM when Aurelia was vomiting again for the, what, eighth time, since 10PM. Poor thing. For both of us. This was my third night of vomit. Ezra started it at 3AM on Thursday morning. With the vomit, poop, and Oliver's feedings I think I haven't gotten much sleep, but I'm too tired to keep track.

However, I am a happy mom. I think of all the ladies out there who can't have kids and I realize how blessed I am to be a mom. Thank you, God, for choosing me (to have vomit and poop and milk all over me and my house.) I feel extra blessed because Aurelia vomited all over Jason instead of me and that was a first. I got to clean it all up, of course, but at least I didn't have to wear it (that time.) I did get some precious photos, however, of Ezra and Oliver sleeping together. I mean, one plus of having sick kids is that they are super snuggly and somewhat lethargic. We watched maybe six full-length movies yesterday alone -- poor Ezra just didn't have the energy to do anything so we just layed around. Aurelia went swimming with some friends (and probably passed her illness on to them) so I had less to do yesterday. . . Anywho. Some really good things happened this week too!

Saturday my sister-in-law, Carrie, and my friend, Rebecca, threw me and Oliver a "welcome home"/diaper party. Some good friends came and blessed us with diapers and we ate and visited and everyone there got to hold Oliver. He did really well with it too.
(Rebecca made this totally awesome diaper cake!)

Tuesday we went to MOPs and since I had no idea that my children were being infected, I enjoyed being with my mom friends very much. Ignorance truly is bliss sometimes.


My daddy called just to say that he loves me on Friday -- that was a very good thing.


Here are some cute photos of the kids. Enjoy, feel free to comment and have bile free week!
(Cutie Pie hairdo)
(a little skinnier since the illness, but still sweet as sugar!)
(daddy and daughter time)

Fun Fotos

It's almost the end of the week and time to post again so I'll just post a little earlier than usual. Here are the photos of the kids painting their dollhouse. Ezra loves to tell anyone who'll listen that he helped paint -- and they had a great time. . .

Jason actually got his own camera this week so I'll be able to take more pictures at home now : ) and he got me a new card so I can take more than ever! Whoopee!

Aurelia's really into "disguises" lately so we made ourselves up as cats (Ezra is a tiger!) and meowed and roared accordingly.

This is the only photo the "third child" took this week. So sad. (but Oliver finally started smiling!! hopefully we'll get some photos of that this week: )